Wasted Opportunity

I thought March and April were that only crucial month in European football but it just seems that the ball is round and you can’t expect the result of the match to go in favor of the strong team (at least to some).

The Manchester derby last 30 April was crucial to both sides because the win of Man City gave them back the top spot and if Man United won, it should stretched their lead to six points with two more games remaining. Although it is not the end of Man City’s hope to lift the Premier League championship trophy if they lose but it will give their city rivals a psychological advantage. Statistically Man United can still win but that is also very unlikely considering the recent form of play by Man City. But the catch is, Manchester City never been defeated at Etihad Stadium this season thus they prevail in the derby with a slim win. Yet it is enough to snatch the lead from Manchester United and takes the race into the final two games of the season before a champion can be decided.

Across in Italy, champions Milan wasted a golden opportunity to take control of Serie A as they succumb to the pressure when they met city rivals Inter. The loss was crucial for Milan as it became the deciding factor of who will win the Scudetto as Juve win in the other game. The win by Inter eventually handed Juve the title and keeping their hope for a Champions League spot next year.

It was another classic inter-city rivalry that decides who emerge at the top and wins the championship title. It all started with the famous El Clasico last 21 April when the Los Blancos stunned the Blaugrana’s right at their own turf at Camp Nou with another 2-1 slim win. And it was concluded two weeks later at San Mames, giving Real Madrid their 32nd La Liga title.

Another Nerve Wreaking Football Month

April is another nerve wreaking month for football fanatics and right now most of the top teams are still fighting until the end of the season.

Man City lost its ground at the top and is now chasing ManU for 5 points. And their game on Sunday, 8 April, against Arsenal is very crucial if they are going to cut off the lead and stay in contention for the EPL championship. On the other hand, United is much poised to extend the lead to 8 points (temporarily) when they face QPR (fourth bottom dwellers) tomorrow at Old Trafford.

While Real Madrid is facing its toughest test against third place Valencia on Sunday in a bid to end Barca’s monopoly of La Liga titles and retain their 6 points advantage or extend the lead to nine (if Barcelona lost at Zaragoza on Saturday). Then another difficult game is looming on 11 April against the revived city rivals Atletico Madrid. A double loss for Los Blancos will put Barcelona on top of the leader board and if Barca won their two incoming games against Zaragoza and Getafe. A Barcelona loss is very unlikely to happen knowing that Zaragoza stands at the bottom third. Although they lost to Getafe at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez for their first ever loss of the season but it was way back then and it could be another an easy match for them.

Meanwhile in Serie A, league leader Milan have the comfort of facing a miserable Fiorentina squad at San Siro tomorrow and will extend their lead from Juve to five points. Who will be seeing action later on the day when they visit the unpredictable Palermo and they still yet to taste what its like to lose. At the moment, they remain unbeaten this season.

Day 30 in Football: Could be the Turning Point?

It is day 30 in La Liga and English Premier League while it is still day 29 in Serie A, yet there are something in common amongst them. There are a lot of things that will happen if they are going to lose this game or even just a draw will turn things around dramatically.

It is crucial for Chelsea, QPR and Man City to win the game on hand if they are going to at least remove some pressure and stay with their own individual task in the standings. Although QPR is in must win situation in order to stay away from relegation or the last three should lose their own games. Man City is trying to snatch back the top spot from ManU at least for two days as they travel to Stoke City today and ManU will play at home with Fulham.

Across the English Channel, Real Madrid is trying to stop a 2-game without a win and to keep their lead from Barcelona which is already cut down to six points that used to be from 10. Both clubs have games today but it will be another two hours later before we know the result between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, AC Milan on the other hand is also trying to increase their four-point lead from Juventus who will be seeing in action tomorrow against Inter.

I am just hoping that the teams I routed with will win their respective games.

NB: Image from wikimedia commons. 

Football's Midseason Matchpack Disappointments

It is Monday… and there hasn’t any changes (barely much) with the games last Saturday and yesterday. Although there are ups and downs or should I say more with the frustrating side when you don’t expect to happen it to teams at this crucial month of January.

The results in the Premier League’s matchpack at the weekend were more on surprises or disappointments, perhaps. First was Tottenham’s pursuit of at least a tie in the top spot was spoiled with a 1-1 draw at home by Wolverhampton. Although Chelsea managed to maintain its spot with a slim win over Sunderland but Arsenal wasn’t lucky enough when they were outplayed and outclassed by the newly promoted Swansea that dealt a significant blow to their hopes to be in the top four. While Liverpool just salvage a goalless draw at home after defeating league leader Man City in the midweek, stalling their chance to go up on the ladder.

Perhaps the only good thing was ManU’s thrashing of the bottom dwellers Bolton, which was expected. And Man City’s game tonight against the league’s bottom side, Wigan, is crucial if they want to separate themselves at the top with 48 points of city rivals ManU.

Elsewhere across Italy, they also have their own disappointing moments as Milan slipped up with city rivals Inter in their first derby at San Siro subsequently giving up the top spot to Juve, who at the same time only manages a 1-1 draw against Cagliari. Udinese wasn’t fortunate as well and only Inter and Lazio continued to narrow the gap from the leaderboard, reviving their hope of bringing home the Scudetto.

The Crucial January Month

As the second half of football season has started kicking off, so does the nerve wreaking suspense if the league leaders will hold on to their respective spot. Real Madrid for that matter was able to salvage a 2-1 comeback victory and stretched their lead over Barca to eight points. But a win by Barcelona at Nou Camp tomorrow will trim the deficit back to five, while Valencia was unable to keep up the pace as they lost at home to Real Sociedad.

While across in the English Channel, the title chasing Spurs wasted a chance to joined league leaders Man City and ManU after they were held with a stunning draw at home by the relegation threatened Wolverhampton. But the opposite happened at Old Trafford as ManU don’t seem to have trouble manhandling Bolton and avoid a three-game losing streak. With the result, they are now level on points with city rivals Man City but The Blues could take back the lead if they win at bottom club Wigan Athletic on Monday.

And in Serie A, the only game was abandoned due to persistent rain which will be replayed in a later date. So Sunday is a big day for the league leaders, Milan and Juve, if they can hold on the top two spot. The Rossoneri’s has a big obstacle as they face city rival, Inter, at the San Siro. Whereas, Juventus is pretty much confident as they haven’t tasted a defeat as of the moment this season.

By Monday, 16 January, we’ll see if there will be shaking up of standings as the intensity are heating up in the crucial January month. Whoever survives January will have a bigger chance of taking home the silverware.


NB: Image from wikimedia commons.

The Title Race is so Intense

I've been a football (the real football and not American football) fan for quite sometime and was following every game of my teams. First in the list that I avidly follow is Real Madrid… that is because of Ronaldo. Not C-Ron (I used to hate him when he was still at ManU) but the “Samba Boys” member. Then it snowballed from there and it’s no longer La Liga games that I’ve been chasing but also the Serie A and the Premier League. And the 2011-2012 seasons is full of tension in all three leagues for none of the league leaders were able to build a comfortable lead.

In Serie A, AC Milan is tied with Juve at the top while a few teams chasing them. While in Spain, it seems there’s only three teams fighting for the top spot although Madrid is enjoying a 5-point advantage from Barca at the moment. And across the English Channel, it used to be city rivals Man City and ManU at the top of the leaderboard but a sudden twist of fate has brought the three teams (Tottenham is tie with ManU) with unexpected news.

What is more interesting in the month of January is the looming El Clasico that will start on 18 January at the Bernabeu. They already have met three times this season and the latest one was a Barca win at Madrid’s turf last month. While the coming match-up is for the Copa del Rey quarterfinals and The Meringues is trying to defend the only title they have last season. So keep on watching because next week is yet another crucial game that would decide which team will emerge on top at the end of the month.


NB: Image from wikimedia commons.

The Thrill of European Football Leagues

This blog has become a sports niche blog and if you have noticed in the recent posts that I had, 90% of it, I have been writing about sports and majority of it is on a sport that I haven't played a single game ever in my life. I have been writing updates, news and previews about football since March 2011 from the La Liga to Serie A that extends towards the European Champions League games with a brief stopover in the Premier League.

But most of what I wrote is about my favorite team Real Madrid, which you might notice that I have been very biased at some point. There’s just so much to say about the Los Blancos especially their rivalry against Barca and take note that there have been four El Clasico that happened in less than a month. They met each other in three different league games starting from their second Clasico in La Liga going to the finals of Copa del Rey and it ended at their Champions League semifinal meeting that provokes unwarranted circumstances.

Most of the European League at this time is almost finish and there are only two or three games left to go but only in Serie A that a definite champion is proclaimed already whatever is the outcome of Inter Milan’s game. Even if they will win, there are no enough points to surpass city rival AC Milan in claiming the Scudetto for the first time since 2004. It is even sweeter for they stopped the 5 year reign and dominance of Inter in the domestic league.

Other interesting matches to watch are the games of ManU and Chelsea and Barca against city rival Espanyol. The odds are, if ManU wins it will set them six points clear from Chelsea and needed one more point to claim a record breaking 19 Premier League trophies with two more games remaining. While Barca on the other hand, if they win, it would be near impossible for Real Madrid to catch them up and they can claim the La Liga trophy with a draw at Levante mid of this week.

AC Milan Clinch Serie A Title

AC Milan did not prolong the agony of waiting for another game to be crowned Serie A champions. The Rossoneri did not waste time in ending the five year dominance of city rival Inter Milan by clinching the Scudetto with a 0-0 draw at Roma. Milan won the Italian title for the first time since 2004 in just several minutes ago. Although Inter still has three more games left and if they win in all of its remaining matches, they could still tie AC Milan in 78 points (even if they lose in their last two games) but Milan holds the tie breaker advantage by sweeping both their league matches.

image source

The Serie A title is decided by the head-to-head record if teams finish level on points unlike in the Premier League that uses goal difference in deciding in case there’s a need for tie breaker.

While in Spain, Real Madrid kept their slim chance of claiming the La Liga title with a thrashing 6-2 win at Sevilla and hoping Barcelona will lose at home against city rival Espanyol on 8 May. A Barca loss will give the Los Blancos another day of hope knowing that there are still nine more points left to grab. If Barcelona won, the slim chance will become so dim that it is near impossible for Real to catch up unless Barca loses in their last three games. Which is very unlikely to happen for they only lost twice this season and with the kind of form they are playing they probably will win two major trophies this season.

Serie A - The Race for the Scudetto Goes on

In the past five years when Inter brought home the Scudetto and dominated all opponents, there are only 2 teams competing for the top position. And with six more games left to play, (statistically) there are six teams competing for this season’s Scudetto and the point’s difference is very close. Any single mistake could be a big thing and possibly not claiming the silverware. There are still 18 points left to grab and with this game so tight, every team is aiming for a win each time they play and every single game is so important.

image source

Despite Roma being at the bottom of the six, it is still possible for them to take home the Scudetto although a very slight chance. While the top three teams only holding a slight advantage too with a single game slip up could cause them to lose the lead. At the moment Milan is on a three point lead from Napoli, who took advantage of Inter’s loss last week at the hands of city rival Milan.

In the next two games of AC Milan is crucial since they will be playing the lower tier teams and that would mean additional 6 points. And for the next four games Milan will be playing without the suspended (again) Ibra. And I think it will go down the wire at the very last game of the season before a champion could be decided.

Go Rossoneri…!

Milan Surge Clear of Inter

The derby in Serie A between city rivals Inter and AC Milan was thought to be a match to see considering that Inter needed a win to finally catch up with the league leader but it was eventually a lopsided victory by the Rossoneri. What should be a close fight between bitter rivals became a demolition with a 3-0 win by AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina.

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Pato, the Brazilian striker, made it easy for the Rossoneris to claim the full 3 points by netting two goals and extended their lead to five with 7 more games left in the season. It could be the deciding factor of who will bring the Scudetto home or should I say who will raise the Scudetto since both teams are sharing the same stadium at San Siro. With the masterful win by AC Milan, they are opening the gap and possibly opening the way for the Scudetto after 7 years of drought without any domestic silverware.

Could this be the end of Inter’s domination in Serie A and the chance for The Red and Blacks to hold the Scudetto again?