Already April, already the time when ideas are made about who will reach the top, the European places and the relegation. For lack of anything better (Champion’s League in mind) the path towards the end of the season is slowly paved, slowly indeed.
Serie A
Status quo in the Serie A this weekend. In preparation for Tuesday’s delicate trip to Moscow, Inter aligned a renovated 11, with Balotelli and Materazzi starting, to easily defeat Bologna 3-0 at the San Siro. Controlled and story-less game for the Nerazzuri who can be happy to see metal-head-Chivu return, Balotelli score again and Motta back to a top form that made him so precious at Genoa last year. Roma follow the pace with a boring 1-0 win over Bari, thanks to their Montenegrin giant Vucinic, finally revealing himself as most useful instead of just scoring the pretty goals. That’s 22 successive useful results. One point still separates the Romans from the Milanese, although Mourinho’s team seems to support the frantic rhythm remarkably well after a slight doubt perioud. Milan keeps its hopes up with a precious 3-2 win over Cagliari. Five goals all within the first half for a suffered win. The Rossoneri can thank an unfortunate own goal from Astori and numerous Dida saves (rare enough to be mentioned) for a win that keeps Inter and Roma at reach. The head trio is now far away from any other contenders. Palermo lost to Catania, and more specifically to Maxi Lopez who turned two defensive mistakes into as many goals. Napoli were held at bay by Lazio 1-1 in a game that saw absolutely nothing, if it isn’t for two nice goals, courtesy of Floccari and Hamsik. Juve, on their side, were demolished by a hysterical Udinese 3-0. Di Natale scored his 22nd of the season, Pepe ate Zebina and Del Piero couldn’t even turn a free kick into a goal. Amidst this umpteenth deluding performance for Zaccheroni’s men, the hope is not lost to see Europe next year: only three points separate the fourth and seventh. Below the insignificant mid-table positions -where teams such as Fiorentina and Genoa rest unharmed and preparing for the summer holida.... euh I mean mercato-, Atalanta is the only of the three last who can still hope for a end of season miracle. Siena and Livorno, eight points below the saving 17th position, can already smell the provincial air of the Serie B.
English Premier League
Finally Manchester (the red one) and Chelsea came head to head. Unfortunately the game was not worthy, entertainment-wise, of such a standing (heartbreaking when you wake up at 7:30AM on a SATURDAY just to watch it). Without Rooney or Drogba in the starting line-ups, both teams offered an austere show. Malouda spiced things up only a little bit with a great perforation followed by a nice assist to J.Cole-the-revenant who scored with his heel. It’s become a classic, but in boring games, the referee usually tries to steal the headline. No exception here: ignored penalty kicks on both sides, unspotted offsides, unseen handballs, so on so forth. Drogba scored the 2-0 (the offside in question) and Macheda reduced it to 2-1 after a maybe-handball. Chelsea is bitter to be out of the Champion’s League and seems more than willing to redirect all their anger in their national league. For Manchester the tendency is now clear: the absence of Rooney is a real pain. Berbatov’s harmless headers won’t be useful against Bayern. Arsenal take advantage of Machester’s defeat to sneak up on the red devils, now only one point ahead. Arsenal won 1-0 against Wolverhampton after an ultra-dominated game, due in part to an overactive right side, the one where Walcott lies. The Gunners can thank their newfound decisive striker Bendtner (header at 90+4’). Let’s wait for the Camp Nou… The good operation came from Manchester (the blue one) who, with a 6-1 win at Burnley (3-0 after seven minutes…), latched on to the fourth place left vacant by Tottenham. The North London club (aka Fail Inc.) was singlehandedly defeated by an ex-of theirs, the ever present Daren Bent who can now hope for a ticket to South Africa. Tottenham seems destined to slip behind a resurging Liverpool and Aston Villa, with a difficult calendar, to end the season as they usually do: far from the European hopes placed in them some time ago.
Primera Division
For decisive games, look elsewhere, like next week, at the Clasico. Barcelona, with a rejuvenated Jeffren-Bojan-Messi attack , disposed of Bilbao 4-1. Nothing unexpected if it wasn’t for Ibra’s and Pique’s injuries. Ibracadabra injured himself during the warm-up (hence the Bojan) and will miss the Champion’s League game where he proved himself so decisive last week. For the Spanish international, already suspended for the European game, the Clasico is in doubt. Is Barcelona finally running out of breath? Real Madrid continues its usual display: no collective coherence within the team and individual performances to win games. This time it’s a valiant Santander to be the victim of a CR7 penalty kick and a one-on-one goal from Higuain. Just to remind you once more: the Clasico will tell us the utility of such a policy. (Far) Behind, Valencia seal their third place with a difficult 3-0 win over Osasuna. David Villa seems back in shape after vomiting all over the place, with two jackpot goals in stoppage time. Promising in view of their confrontation to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League quarterfinals. The Madrilene club also won 3-0 against Deportivo La Coruna and seem to finish the season full throttle (better late than never). Tasty. Sevilla regain their fourth place with a 3-0 (predilection score this week in Spain) over damned Tenerife. Villareal keep Europe in their sight thanks to their 2-0 success against just-as-damned Valladolid.
Budesliga
The hopes for a yet another Bundesliga title seemed buried last week as Bayern lost Robben and to Stuttgart. The Bavarians made up for it this weekend with a 2-1 win over last week’s hero Schalke. With two express goals (Ribery and Muller scoring within 17 seconds) and down to ten men, Bayern played solidly to regain the head of the German League. A good way to prepare their trip to a doubtful and diminished Manchester United. The years follow and look alike for Schalke who seems destined to never win anything. Kuranyi alone won’t help fate give the Ruhr team a little love, yet might convince Low to give a place on the German South Africa squad this summer, being the Bundesliga’s top scorer. With Suttgart’s loss to Frankfurt and Borrussia’s win over Bremen, the German league received a little injection of interest. Borussia, who can thank their header coach, reduce the point deficit to one point behind Suttgart. Werder on their side see Hamburg only three points behind and ready for the overtake.
TFO
1 comment:
awesome dude... so comprehensive haha
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