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Tuesday Roundup 28/9/21

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS)

Only one point separates the top six after six matches. City took some long overdue revenge at Stamford Bridge with Gabriel Jesus netting the only goal of the game. New boys Brentford stunned Liverpool by twice coming from behind to claim a point, whilst Man United followed up a disappointing 1-0 home defeat in the cup to West Ham with a 1-0 home defeat to Villa, including a shocking penalty miss from Fernandes. So much for the Ronaldo effect. Everton continued the Canaries’ dismal run of form with a comfortable 2-0 win, and Brighton missed a chance to go top but did salvage a last second point through Neal Maupay at Palace in the A23 derby. Antonio was also on target late on for West Ham, who won 2-1 at Leeds, and a late second goal from Jamie Vardy secured the Foxes a point from their tie with the Clarets. Arsenal have already caught up with lifeless Spurs after handing out an NLD pasting, having been at opposite poles of the table just three games ago. Elsewhere, Raul Jimenez got his first goal since returning from his head injury in a win for Wolves at Saints, while Watford and Newcastle drew 1-1.

LA LIGA (WEEK 6 / WEEK 7)

Real remain top after taking apart Mallorca and being held by Villarreal, but things are wide open in Spain after Atletico were finally caught out by an Alaves side recording their first win. Sociedad and Sevilla took full advantage, both taking six points from six to sit second and third. Falcao has been reborn at Rayo, with the edgy capital club now in fifth after taking a remarkable 13 points from their last 15. Barca looked better in a 3-0 win over Levante, but only after they dropped yet more points in a draw with Cadiz. Betis and Celta were the most notable climbers lower down the table thanks to two wins apiece, but Mallorca, Elche, Granada and Levante finished the week empty handed. Getafe are pointless after seven games.

SERIE A (WEEK 5 / WEEK 6)

I said it last week and I’ll say it again. This could be Napoli’s year. Victor Osimhen is unplayable at the moment, scoring three in the Azzurri’s two victories this week that maintained their 100% start. The Rossoneri are right on their heels after their own two wins, which included a debut strike from Daniel Maldini, who has a rather famous father that used to play for Milan himself. The two Nerazzurri played out a hugely eventful 2-2 with a missed penalty and disallowed goal at the death, while Lazio took the capital derby with a comfortable 3-2 win over Roma, who are now stuttering after their fast start under Mourinho. Implosion incoming. Juventus finally got their first two wins of the season this week, but they made awfully hard work of it with 3-2 wins over Spezia and Samp. Salernitana and Cagliari have only taken 1 point from the last 15 to sit at the bottom of the table with Venezia and Spezia just a couple of points ahead. Genoa and Verona, who played out a memorable 3-3 have just one point more than them.

BUNDESLIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

Lewandowski finally failed to score, but Bayern are already in cruise control, winning 3-1 at bottom side Furth, who look highly likely to be relegated. Wolfsburg slipped up again, as Andrej Kramaric got his first league goal of the season in a 3-1 home win for Hoffenheim. Dortmund were stopped 1-0 in the Borussengipfel by a Monchengladbach finding the form that had deserted them thus far. Wunderkind Florian Wirtz scored in a fifth match in a row to take Bayer second in victory over Mainz. Freiburg bade farewell to the Dreisam Stadion with a 3-0 home win over Augsburg that left coach Christian Streich in tears, and Leipzig returned to form with a 6-0 thrashing of Hertha. Elsewhere, Union defeated Arminia 1-0, Frankfurt drew 1-1 with the Effzee, and Bochum Stuttgart finished goalless.

LIGUE 1 (WEEK 7 / WEEK 8)

Eight wins from eight for PSG with more last minute goals. Yawn. Lens are nine points behind in second after the Blood and Gold shocked third-placed Marseille at the Velodrome 3-2 following a surprise setback against Strasbourg. The Moustoir fortress remained impregnable as sixth-placed Lorient saw off fourth-placed Nice, who then bounced back against a Saint-Etienne side rooted to the bottom after five consecutive defeats. There are signs of life from the other big clubs, as Lille and Monaco both won their two matches. Lyon may have done the same had it not been for an early red card against Lorient. Brest and Metz complete the bottom three with Saint Etienne, but new boys Clermont and Troyes seem to be heading in their general direction.

Tuesday Roundup 21/9/21

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS)

The passing of Jimmy Greaves was fittingly remembered with a meeting of the two sides he spent most of his career at, Spurs and Chelsea. Although the Lilywhites put in a strong first half performance, the Blues were far superior in the second, winning 3-0 to go joint top with Liverpool. The Reds also won 3-0 against Palace with Mane and Salah both on target. Man U joined them on 13 points after a dramatic finish in which David De Gea saved an injury time penalty from not so super sub Mark Noble. Things are going right this year for Brighton, who surprisingly complete the top 4 after victory over the Foxes. Pep was left to rue comments made about attendance as City were held goalless at the Etihad by the unfancied Saints. There was little cheer for the bottom 5, as Newcastle and Leeds drew, Wolves were beaten 2-0 at home by the Bees, Burnley lost at home to Arsenal and Norwich’s Premier League losing streak under Daniel Farke reached a preposterous 15 in a row at home to Watford. Elsewhere, Villa completed an impressive 3-0 win over the Toffees.

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

Ronald Koeman’s days at Barca appear to be numbered despite a late equaliser that salvaged a point at home to Granada. Real stay top thanks to two goals in the last five minutes that turned the tables on high-flying Valencia. The other top six clashes between Atletico and Athletic, and Sociedad and Sevilla both ended goalless. Things are looking grim for still pointless Alaves and Getafe, who were defeated 2-0 and 3-0 by Osasuna and Rayo respectively. Celta’s progress from last season has also stalled, with a disappointing home defeat to Cadiz leaving them stuck in 18th. The remaining fixtures ended up as draws, most entertainingly a 2-2 encounter featuring a stoppage time equaliser by Espanyol at Betis. Europa League champions Villarreal have drawn all four of their opening fixtures, scoring and conceding just two.

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS)

A towering Ante Rebic header secured a point for Milan in Turin that left Juventus stuck in the relegation zone after four matches. They are joined there by Cagliari, who battled to a point at Lazio, and Salernitana, who remain pointless after a 1-0 defeat to an Atalanta side struggling to catch fire. Roma’s stay at the top was short-lived as they crashed to a 3-2 defeat in Verona, leaving Napoli the only side with a 100% record after their impressive 4-0 win at Udinese. With the remaining members of the big 7 all stuttering, could this be their year? Despite the firesale, Inter are still seemingly in good health, Dzeko netting 2 in a 6-1 demolition of Bologna. Elsewhere, La Viola’s fine start continued with a win at Genoa, Caputo bagged two for his new side Samp in a 3-0 win at his old side Empoli, Spezia got their first win at Venezia, and Torino surprised Sassuolo to take a 1-0 away win.

BUNDESLIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

Nagelsmann’s Bayern have officially clicked into gear, following up their midweek humiliation of Barca with a 7-0 humiliation of their supposed friends, Bochum. Wolfsburg have now been caught, as their old boss Oliver Glasner snatched a barely deserved point with his new side, Eintracht. Erling Haaland’s unstoppable form continued, scoring 2 in a 4-2 win over Union, while Florian Wirtz’s impressive form helped Bayer secure a 3-1 away win at Stuttgart, despite playing much of the match with 10 men. Leipzig’s poor start continued as they drew 1-1 at Koln, while the Foals find themselves in the relegation zone after a 1-0 defeat to Augsburg. Greuther Furth lost again after leading at Hertha to remain bottom. The other games failed to produce goals.

LIGUE 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)

The ref bailed out PSG for the second time already this season, as serial cheat Neymar won a penalty for dragging a defender to the ground by his neck to bring PSG level against Lyon. Icardi finished the job with a last-minute header. There were plenty of derbies to enjoy, as Strasbourg won the derby of the east 3-0 over Metz, Lens took the derby of the north 1-0 over struggling Lille, Nantes stunned SCO 4-1 in the derby of the west and the southern Cote d’Azur derby saw Nice share 4 goals with Monaco. Elsewhere, Marseille continued their bright start with a 2-0 victory, while Bordeaux won the heavyweight basement battle with les Verts thanks to two Hwang Ui-Jo strikes. Points were shared in the remaining fixtures.

Tuesday Roundup 14/9/21

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS)

Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace on second debut as Man Utd saw off the Magpies 4-1 to top the table. Former United man Romelu Lukaku also scored two in a 3-0 win for Chelsea over Villa to sit level on 10 points with United and Liverpool, who lost Harvey Elliott to serious injury in their 3-0 win at Leeds. Everton joined them at the top on Monday after a comeback 3-1 win over beleaguered Burnley. Man City and Brighton snuck 1-0 wins at Leicester and Brentford and lie just a point behind alongside a depleted and lifeless Spurs, who crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Palace, new man Eduoard netting two in a ten minute cameo. Wolves and Arsenal finally got their first goals and points of the season in wins over Watford (0-2) and Norwich (1-0), as Southampton vs West Ham finished goalless with Antonio picking up a red at the death.

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

The mess that is the World Cup qualifying campaign resulted in the postponement of the Barcelona vs Sevilla and Villarreal vs Alaves encounters. Their rivals took full advantage as a Benzema hat-trick saw Real, back at the Bernabeu after a long absence, come back twice to defeat Celta 5-2. A reinvigorated looking Valencia also came from behind at El Sadar to win 4-1, while Atletico left it till the 10th minute of injury time to sneak a 2-1 win at Espanyol. Basque rivals Sociedad and Bilbao sit just behind the top 3 after 2-0 wins against Cadiz (an Oyarzabal double) and Mallorca. Elsewhere, an injury time equaliser saw Rayo claim at point at Levante, Betis scored a late winner to defeat fellow Andalusians Granada, and Getafe slumped to a fourth defeat in four at home to Elche.

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS)

Mourinho’s 1000th game as a manager ended in victory for Roma with the Giallorossi sitting pretty atop the table, but they rode their luck in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo. AC Milan have also won 3 of 3, as Zlatan got back on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory over Lazio. Napoli are the only other side still perfect after downing Juve 2-1, with the Old Lady amazingly still winless and down in 16th. Atalanta are also struggling to get going after an uncharacteristic 2-1 home defeat to La Viola dominated by controversial refereeing. Inter dropped their first points at Samp, who twice came from behind to draw 2-2. Udinese and Bologna continued their impressive starts with 1-0 wins over Spezia and Verona, while Genoa, Torino and Venezia claimed their first points in victories over Cagliari (coming back from 2-0 down to 2-3), Salernitana (a 4-0 demolition) and Empoli (0-1) respectively.

BUNDESLIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

Top versus bottom ended as expected as the Wolves comfortably extended their winning streak with a 2-0 win at Furth. Bayern remain right on their tail thanks to a stunning 4-1 victory for Julian Nagelsmann at his old side Leipzig, who have taken just 3 points from 4 games. The game of the weekend saw Dortmund edge out Leverkusen 4-3 courtesy of an Erling Haaland brace. Mainz remarkably sit level on points with the Schwarzgelben after an impressive 2-0 win at Hoffenheim. Hertha finally got some points on the board at new boys Bochum and the Foals returned to winning ways against Arminia. There were late equalisers in the Freiburg vs Koln and Eintracht vs Stuttgart draws, while the goalkeepers of Union and Augsburg, swapped a season ago, both kept clean sheets.

LIGUE 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)

Even if the Argentinians are missing, PSG’s squad is still so superior to any other side in the division that it barely affects them. This week the capital club swatted aside early pacesetters Clermont 4-0. A late penalty from second-placed Angers rescued a point at Brest, but “le SCO” slipped further behind the Parisians. Marseille and Nice look the most likely to complete the podium this year on early evidence; Marseille earned a deserved win in the principality as striker Dieng netted two and hit the post twice, while Nice held on against Nantes before poaching the win with two late strikes. Nice have been docked a point by Ligue 1 for the crowd trouble against l’OM and the match will be replayed at a neutral venue. Champions Lille slipped to another defeat at Lorient, but Lyon and Dembele seem to be getting their season back on track after a 3-1 win over Strasbourg. Reims claimed a convincing 2-0 win at Rennes, while the bottom 3 all lost. Metz fell to Troyes (who claimed their first victory of the season), Valere Germain scored on debut as Montpellier defeated les Verts 2-0, and bottom side Bordeaux came back from two down only to lose to a 96th minute penalty to visitors Lens.

Tuesday Roundup 17/08/2021

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS)

Were you watching Harry Kane? Spurs continued their dominance over champions City at their new stadium in a merited 1-0 win with Son once again the “killer”. Bitter rivals Arsenal suffered the opposite fate as they slipped to a miserable 2-0 defeat at new boys Brentford, promoted via the playoffs. The other title hopefuls were busy laying down markers as Man U crushed Leeds 5-1 thanks to a Fernandes hat-trick and four Pogba assists, Chelsea cruised past Palace 3-0 and Liverpool registered the same score away from home at Norwich. A sensational Jamie Vardy strike helped the Foxes sneak past Wolves 1-0, while the Hammers twice came from behind to take the spoils against the Magpies. Elsewhere, Rafa got off to a winning start with the Toffees despite a shaky start, Watford flew out of the traps to record a 3-2 win over Villa, and things are looking grim for Burnley as they let an early lead slip to fall to defeat against the Seagulls.

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

It was business as usual in La Liga, as both Real Madrid and Barca knocked in four against Basque opponents Alaves and Sociedad. Benzema netted a brace for Real, while Braithwaite did the same for a Barca side playing for the first time without Messi in the squad. Angel Correa scored two for champions Atletico as they overcame Celta 2-1 with a Suarez “injury” instigating acrimony that led to three red cards at the death. Erik Lamela was also at the double after his move to Sevilla from Spurs as they swept promoted Rayo aside 3-0. Valencia played the whole match with 10 men, but managed to hold on to beat Getafe 1-0, whilst El Comandante was back on target for the Granota in a 1-1 draw in Cadiz. Mallorca’s game against Betis finished the same way, but the remaining 3 matches failed to produce a goal. Villarreal’s Juan Foyth did see red, however.

COPPA ITALIA (HIGHLIGHTS)

The Coppa Italia kicked off the Italian season with the top 8 sides from last year not entering until the last 16. The match of the round was Ternana’s shock win at Bologna, going 5-1 up and missing a penalty before being hauled back to 5-4 and holding on for the final 15 minutes. In another enthralling encounter, a heroic goalkeeping performance from Carnesecchi was not quite enough for Cremonese, as Torino defeated the Serie B outfit on penalties. Serie A new boys Venezia needed to net 8 penalties in their shootout win over Frosinone, as the remainder of the top flight sides booked their passage into the next round, with stadium sharers Genoa and Sampdoria’s 3-2 comeback wins over Perugia and Alessandria other highlights. The second round has already been drawn with Sampdoria vs Torino and Venezia vs Ternana the pick of the ties.

BUNDESLIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

Both of the new boys ended up empty-handed in Week 1, but Bochum will be a lot happier with their narrow defeat to Wolfsburg (after playing nearly the whole game with 10 men) than Greuther Furth will be with their 5-1 capitulation at Stuttgart. Adi Hutter’s new side, Monchengladbach, took a point against champions Bayern that could have been 3, but his old side Frankfurt continued their torrid start to the new campaign with a 5-2 mauling by Dortmund, Haaland adding another brace. Florian Kainz’s brace was the difference for Koln as they defeated Hertha 3-1, Andrej Kramaric turned provider with 3 assists in Hoffenheim’s 4-0 win at Augsburg, while Mainz caught Leipzig cold in a solid 1-0 win. Elsewhere, Bayer came back to draw 1-1 at Union and Bielefeld Freiburg finished goalless.

LIGUE 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)

With the arrival of Messi and the slow starts of PSG’s rivals, the big fish seems to have got bigger and the pond even smaller in France. Yet the Parisians still needed some refereeing assistance as Icardi’s offside opener was not chalked off and Strasbourg’s impressive comeback to 3-2 was checked by a harsh red card. Their surprise companions atop the table are Clermont, who defeated fellow promoted club Troyes on the back of a Bayo brace, and Angers, who dismantled an abject and lost-looking Lyon 3-0. It was even worse for holders Lille, who are well and truly in the Doguehouse after their former boss’s new charges, Nice, rolled in four without reply at the Pierre-Mauroy. Champions League distracted Monaco also fell to Lorient, and Marseille unexpectedly let a two goal half-time lead slip against out-of-form Bordeaux to drop two. Elsewhere, a much improved Nantes claimed a 2-0 home win over Metz, Montpellier and Reims shared 6 goals in a thriller, Lens had to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw against Saint Etienne in their newly upgraded stadium, and Breton sides Brest and Rennes got their second points of the season as their match ended 1-1.

European Football Roundup 4/8/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (FA CUP FINAL HIGHLIGHTS)
The domestic season in England came to a close with an enjoyable FA Cup final between London heavyweights Chelsea and Arsenal, both sides with young former players at the helm.

Christian Pulisic got the match off to a great start for the Blues with an early goal, but after that everything that could go wrong for them went wrong. First, captain Azpilicueta was forced off injured, then scorer Pulisic pulled up with a hamstring injury when through on goal. His replacement, Pedro, later went off with a dislocated shoulder after Kovacic had picked up a highly controversial second yellow card, Xhaka making an absolute meal of a nothing challenge.

In the meantime, Aubameyang had added another brace to his two from the semi-final to once again be Arsenal’s saviour, securing a 14th FA Cup title for the Gunners and a place in Europe at Wolves’ expense. Nuno’s boys will have to win the Europa League if they want to be playing abroad next season.

Brentford and Fulham will face off today to see who will join Leeds and West Brom in the Premiership next season in the match dubbed the richest in football. It’s been nearly eighty years since Brentford last dined at the top table. (TABLE)

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 37 AND MATCHDAY 38)
If ever a scudetto was undeserved it was this one, Juve’s 36th. They ended the season with woeful losses to Cagliari and Lazio, as Inter finished just a point behind. Dreadful refereeing is the only reason they scraped home, and Sarri is unlikely to survive their poor end to the season, the bias of officials unable to blind Bianconeri spectators to the obvious deficiencies of their side.

Atalanta have been guilty of taking their eye off the ball after the scandal that was their win draw against Juventus and if they’d kept going to the end they may have caught them. Or maybe Ronaldo would have been given a few more penalties. Who knows? As it was, Inter swept them aside in their final game play-off for second, La Dea atypically unable to recover from an early goalkeeping howler.

Lazio ended up fourth after a defeat to Napoli, but not before Ciro Immobile had added a record-equalling 36th goal to his season’s tally to take the title of capocannoniere. Who says there are no goals in Italy? Certainly not Lecce. They scored 52 this season while shipping 85 as they slipped down a division after a battling 4-3 loss to Parma. Genoa maintained their Serie A status with a comfortable 3-0 win over Hellas.

Benevento and Crotone will be back in the top flight next season and will be joined by one of Spezia, Pordenone, Cittadella, Chievo, Empoli or Frosinone once the lengthy and complicated play-offs are done and dusted. (TABLE)

LIGUE 1
A largely forgettable season abandoned halfway through due to coronavirus came to a turgid end with the last ever Coupe de la Ligue final, contested by Lyon and PSG. Both sides looked flat due to a lack of football. Neither was able to muster much in the way of chances, meaning the match was decided on penalties after a very late red card for OL. Both sides scored their regulation five before Bertrand Traore saw his effort saved and Pablo Sarabia kept his cool to allow the Parisians to complete yet another domestic treble. Yawn. (TABLE)

LA LIGA
League finished. Winners: Real Madrid / Champions League: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla / Europa League : Villarreal, Real Sociedad, Granada / Relegated: Leganes, Mallorca, Espanyol / Promoted: Huesca, Cadiz / Copa del Rey Winners: Undetermined / Top Scorer: Lionel Messi (TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA
League finished. Winners: Bayern Munich / Champions League: Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach / Europa League : Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim / Relegated: Fortuna Dusseldorf, Paderborn / Promoted: Arminia Bielefeld, Stuttgart / DFB Pokal Winners: Bayern Munich / Top Scorer: Robert Lewandowski (TABLE)

European Football Roundup 28/7/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE TEXT)
Champions Liverpool went out on a scoring spree, netting eight goals against Chelsea and Newcastle to wrap up their season. City went one better with nine against hapless Watford and relegated Norwich, who made it eleven losses from eleven since lockdown. After being held by West Ham midweek, Manchester United claimed third and a return to the Champions League with a win at the Foxes, who will have to content themselves with a spot in the Europa League after being in the top four practically all season. Jamie Vardy did win the Golden Boot for the first time in his career, however, with 23 goals. In doing so, he became the oldest winner in Premier League history.

Chelsea grabbed the final Champions League berth with a comfortable victory over Wolves, who still have two possible routes into Europe next season. Should Chelsea win the FA Cup, their seventh place will suffice for the Europa League, but if they win the Europa League themselves this season, they could be in the Champions League next year as England’s fifth representative. Spurs claimed sixth spot with a tame 1-1 draw at Palace that summed up their dismal season.

Arsenal will hope to alleviate the disappointment of another year in Tottenham’s shadow with an FA Cup win, but they were hugely influential in the relegation battle as they lost to Villa (safe) before beating Watford (down). The Hornets rolled the managerial dice once too often, and the writing was on the wall once Pearson was given the boot last week. That midweek win for Villa was crucial as it meant a point was all they needed at the Hammers, as Bournemouth’s win at Everton proved too little too late.

The remaining matches were between sides who could all be very content with their season; Southampton defeated Sheffield United and Brighton picked up a surprise win at Turf Moor. (TABLE)

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 35 AND MATCHDAY 36)
It’s all over bar the shouting in Serie A with practically nothing to play for in the last two set of fixtures. It could be a good chance for the sides still in European competition to rest some key players, whilst others can try out some younger players or new systems with next season just around the corner.

Juventus officially claimed a record 36th (and ninth in a row) Serie A title by defeating Sampdoria at home following a shock last minute home defeat to Udinese. Maurizio Sarri has now got his hands on his first scudetto, but it has come whilst in charge of the “enemy”; he probably would have preferred to have taken it with Napoli. The “other Bianconeri” have had a strong end to the season after flirting with relegation for much of it.

Already relegated SPAL were given a 6-1 thumping at home by Roma, and they have been joined by Brescia, who registered another couple of losses. Lecce are all but down, but could still escape if they win their remaining fixtures at Udinese and at home to Parma and Genoa fail to take two points from theirs against Sassuolo and Hellas.

Any hopes Sassuolo had of catching their closest rivals for the Europa League spots have been extinguished by losses to Milan and Napoli. The Rossoneri continued their excellent recent run with a draw against Atalanta that handed the title to Juventus mathematically.

Four goals for Ciro Immobile this week took him to 34 in the race for the title of “capocannoniere”. Ronaldo lies three goals behind on 31 and missed a penalty this week. (TABLE)

LIGUE 1 (HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COUPE DE FRANCE FINAL)
Action returned to France this week as PSG took on Saint Etienne in a delayed Coupe de France final. A limited number of supporters were allowed into the ground in a first for the top 5 leagues since the coronavirus outbreak. On the pitch, Neymar scored an early goal that was enough to defeat les Verts after their captain, Loic Perrin, was sent off in his last ever match for the club . There didn’t seem to be much malice in the tackle, but it resulted in an injury to Kylian Mbappe, and that may have been why the original yellow became a red. It marked a record 13th Coupe de France for PSG and they’ll be aiming for the triple next week against Lyon, in a game which will also serve as a final warm-up for both before the Champions League gets back underway. (TABLE)

LA LIGA
League finished. Winners: Real Madrid / Champions League: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla / Europa League : Villarreal, Real Sociedad, Granada / Relegated: Leganes, Mallorca, Espanyol / Promoted: Huesca, Cadiz / Copa del Rey Winners: Undetermined / Top Scorer: Lionel Messi (TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA
League finished. Winners: Bayern Munich / Champions League: Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach / Europa League : Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim / Relegated: Fortuna Dusseldorf, Paderborn / Promoted: Arminia Bielefeld, Stuttgart / DFB Pokal Winners: Bayern Munich / Top Scorer: Robert Lewandowski (TABLE)

European Football Roundup 21/7/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE TEXT)
With nothing to play for, Liverpool and Manchester City are both ambling towards the end of the season without purpose. The Reds lost to the Gunners, while City scraped past Bournemouth 2-1. Chelsea picked up a crucial win over relegated Norwich and could clinch a Champions League place with a win over Liverpool tomorrow. If that fails, they may have to beat Wolves on Sunday, who themselves are desperate to clinch Europa League football after a draw at Burnley and a win over Palace.

Manchester United also beat Palace and will be hoping a win over West Ham before they meet the Foxes on Sunday will set them up for a place at the European top table. Leicester’s fall from grace has been dramatic, but they did manage to take three points off the Blades before falling to a newly resilient Tottenham, who themselves had just taken all three points at Newcastle. Sheffield United also lost to Everton, meaning their European ambitions are over. They are now level with Burnley, who moved up the table after defeating the Canaries.

At the bottom, Bournemouth are all but down after an agonising home defeat to Southampton, who had two south coast “derbies” this week, drawing the other with Brighton. Aston Villa also suffered the heartbreak of a late Everton equaliser and will need something against both Arsenal and West Ham to escape. Watford are the target of both sides after falling to West Ham, Antonio on the scoresheet again. They end their season against Man City and Arsenal in two eminently losable games. The games will be made even tougher by the shock decision to sack their manager Nigel Pearson with immediate effect. Already safe Brighton and Newcastle played out a goalless draw in the week’s remaining fixture. (TABLE)

The two FA Cup semi-finals were also played this week, with London winning against Manchester on both occasions. Arteta put one over his former mentor as Arsenal defeated City and De Gea let another shot slip through his hands as United fell to Chelsea. The final will be a repeat of last year’s Europa League final, with much younger managers at the helm.

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 37 AND MATCHDAY 38)
With Real cruising to the title and the remaining Champions League places already on their way to Barca, Atletico and Sevilla, last day drama was reserved for the race for the Europa League and the fight to avoid the drop. Celta had imploded after an excellent run of form had nearly cleared them of danger and as a result found themselves with a rejuvenated Leganes on their heels going into the final day. Lega had done magnificently under Javier Aguirre to take 10 points from 12, but needed a win at Real Madrid to overtake the Galicians. They twice went behind before equalising and on another day a handball in the box could easily have been given to afford them the chance of going up 3-2. As it was, the scores finished level and Celta stumbled over the finishing line in 17th for a second straight season. Higher up the table, newly-promoted Granada posted an excellent 4-0 win over Bilbao to surprisingly claim the final Europa League spot. They will be joined in next season’s competition by Villarreal and Sociedad, with Levante and Valencia missing out. Messi claimed a record-breaking seventh pichichi, as he took his tally of goals in La Liga to a whopping 444. Next season, Huesca and Cadiz will be joining the top flight party, with the third team to be determined via playoffs. (TABLE)

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 33 AND MATCHDAY 34)
There are still four matchdays left this season, but nearly everything is already decided. After defeating Lazio 2-1, there is no way that Juve will be doing anything other than winning the scudetto. Inter, Atalanta and Lazio will be playing in the Champions League, as they are well clear of the next cluster of teams in 5th to 7th. Roma, Napoli and an AC Milan in their best form in years will take the Europa League spots unless one of them completely collapses and Sassuolo continue their excellent recent run. The most important game of the week saw 17th-placed Genoa scrape past 18th-placed Lecce 2-1 in rather fortuitous circumstances. Lecce missed a penalty and Genoa’s winner rebounded off the post, hit the goalkeeper and went in. The gap between them has now been extended to 4 points, meaning Lecce’s showdown with Brescia tomorrow is an absolute must-win for them to have any chance of avoiding relegation. Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score 50 goals in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. 12 of his goals this season have come from the penalty spot, which is another record. No comment. (TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA
League finished. Winners: Bayern Munich / Champions League: Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach / Europa League : Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim / Relegated: Fortuna Dusseldorf, Paderborn / Promoted: Arminia Bielefeld, Stuttgart / Cup Winners: Bayern Munich (TABLE)

LIGUE 1
League finished. Winners: PSG / Champions League: Marseille, Rennes / Europa League: Lille, Nice, Reims / Relegated: Amiens, Toulouse / Promoted: Lens, Lorient / Cup Winners: Undetermined (TABLE)

European Football Roundup 14/7/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE TEXT)
It was a great week for Man City, who worked out which people they needed to bribe in order to be reinstated into European competition after 5-0 wins against Newcastle and Brighton. FFP is clearly just there to stop any upstarts threatening to challenge the hegemony of the elite. Liverpool are stuttering towards the end of the season, but managed to beat Brighton before being held by Burnley.

It’s now very tight for the third and fourth Champions League spots as Chelsea were soundly beaten by Sheffield United after a narrow win over Palace and Leicester fell to a shock thumping by Bournemouth after claiming a point against the Gunners. Manchester United could have taken third place, but their excellent run was brought to an end by a late equaliser against Southampton after they had comfortably dealt with Villa.

It was a great week for Sheffield United, who beat both Chelsea and Wolves; the latter bounced back to beat Everton. The Blades and Wolves are in prime position for the remaining Europa spots. Spurs played out an excruciating 0-0 with the Cherries before taking the North London derby thanks to yet another defensive howler from Arsenal.

Norwich have lost all eight of their fixtures since lockdown, falling to relegation rivals Watford and West Ham (Mikhail Antonio bagging all four goals) this week to confirm their return to the Championship. Villa’s win over Palace means neither the Hornets nor the Hammers are safe yet; the Hornets won their other match against Newcastle, but West Ham fell to Burnley. The week’s meaningless mid-table match ended in a draw between Everton and the Saints. (TABLE)

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 35 AND MATCHDAY 36)
Two games remain in the season and Real just need to win one of theirs against Villarreal and Leganes to claim the title. Champions League spots for familiar faces Barca, Atletico and Sevilla are now a mathematical certainty. At the bottom, Espanyol were relegated by their city rivals Barcelona. Mallorca and Leganes are mathematically alive, and four points for either of them could be enough to save them with 17th placed Alaves facing a tricky trip to Betis before they host Barca. Six would be required to overhaul Celta and their goal difference, but that is assuming the Sky Blues fail to beat both already relegated Espanyol and Levante. (TABLE)

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 31 AND MATCHDAY 32)
Atalanta are the best team in Serie A and for me they have won the scudetto, no matter what the table says. Immobile’s dive started Lazio’s comeback for an undeserved point at the Olimpico before lockdown, and this time round the referees let them down again by gifting Juventus two penalties to remove the chance of anything interesting happening in the last six weeks of the competition. If De Ligt hadn’t been allowed to play basketball in the penalty area at the start of the season (compare his weekly handballs to the two given yesterday), La Dea would be runaway leaders, not the Old Lady. Sigh.

Lazio lost to both Sassuolo and strugglers Lecce this week to end their title challenge, but the shock win for the Giallorossi has not been enough to get out of the relegation playoff place following Genoa’s win over SPAL. The Ferrara club and Brescia are now all but down. Elsewhere, there was a fine win for Milan over Juve, which threatened to throw open the title race before the officials got in the way. And Udinese’s fantastically named Kevin Lasagna is on fire after six goals in the last five games. (TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA
League finished. Winners: Bayern Munich / Champions League: Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach / Europa League : Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim / Relegated: Fortuna Dusseldorf, Paderborn / Promoted: Arminia Bielefeld, Stuttgart / Cup Winners: Bayern Munich (TABLE)

LIGUE 1
League finished. Winners: PSG / Champions League: Marseille, Rennes / Europa League: Lille, Nice, Reims / Relegated: Amiens, Toulouse / Promoted: Lens, Lorient / Cup Winners: Undetermined (TABLE)

European Football Roundup 7/7/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE TEXT)
Man City thumped Liverpool 4-0 to lay down an early marker for next season, but then fell at St. Mary’s. The Reds responded to the defeat with a win over Villa. The Champions League race is wide open as Leicester lost to Everton before putting away Palace, and Chelsea slipped up against the Hammers before seeing off Watford. Big wins for United against Brighton and Bournemouth have put them right back in the mix, but Wolves slipped up to a revived Arsenal, who made it four wins from four on the back of a pasting of Norwich. The Canaries were also defeated by Brighton, who have all but secured safety. Elsewhere, Newcastle took 3 points off beleaguered Bournemouth before a draw with the Hammers, as Sheffield United racked up 4 points with a win against Spurs and draw against Burnley. Spurs managed to beat Everton in a drab encounter, but the only meaningful thing left in their season is the North London derby this weekend. (TABLE)

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 33 AND MATCHDAY 34)
VAR CF Real Madrid will win La Liga this year, but the driving force behind their win has been the referees. Every time they’re struggling to get the 3 points with the clock running down, it’s almost guaranteed we’ll be getting an incident looked at in slow-mo followed by the now hirsute but still odious Sergio Ramos stroking in a penalty. The most recent one against Athletic was actually the right decision, but in the previous match it was galling for Getafe to see Carvajal get away with murder in his own box before winning a penalty the first time he went down in the other one. Barca and Atletico will be in the Champions League alongside Sevilla, who won both their games against lowly opposition to take advantage of the Yellow Submarine being sunk by the Blaugrana. At the other end, Leganes beat Espanyol but both will go down with Mallorca, who scored five past a normally miserly Celta defence; their first goal was perhaps the most absurd (reviewed) penalty decision in history. Albert Celades will no longer be looking like a sulky schoolboy on the touchline after Valencia relieved him of the reins. (TABLE)

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 29 AND MATCHDAY 30)
The title race is most likely run as Juventus opened up a 7 point gap on Lazio with a win in the Turin derby to capitalise on a defeat for the Biancocelesti at home to a revived Rossoneri and a shock home reverse for Inter against Bologna. Free-scoring Atalanta made it ten wins from ten in all competitions with a hard-fought victory against a combative Cagliari. Their sights are now trained on those above them as Roma’s defeat to Napoli means there are now 15 points between 4th and 5th. Time’s running out for bottom club SPAL, as the Ferrara outfit were cruelly denied a win over Milan by an injury time own goal, but 19th placed Brescia could have a lifeline after a win over Hellas. Lecce lost their sixth straight game (conceding 21 goals in the process) as they remain 18th, just behind Genoa. In mid-table, Boga is looking great for Sassuolo, while Ribery is rolling back the years with La Viola. (TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA
Bayern claimed yet another double as they defeated Bayer Leverkusen in the final of the DFB Pokal. After falling behind early on, Bayer had chances to get back into the game, but lacked composure in their finishing. Profligacy upfront was then compounded by a terrible goalkeeping error that got Lewandowski off the mark, with the Factory XI eventually going down 4-2. Lewandowski was named player of the season with Alphonso Davies the best newcomer, while Bremen’s club legend and record scorer Claudio Pizarro finally hung up his boots. He’ll have been happy to see his club save their Bundesliga status by the skin of their teeth as they edged the relegation playoff against minnows Heidenheim on away goals. Florian Kohfeldt succintly summed up his year managing Bremen as “sh#t season, good ending”. For Heidenheim, the opposite was true. (TABLE)

LIGUE 1
League finished. Winners: PSG / Champions League: Marseille, Rennes / Europa League: Lille, Nice, Reims / Relegated: Amiens, Toulouse / Promoted: Lens, Lorient (TABLE)

European Football Roundup 30/6/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE TEXT)
The title is Liverpool’s for the first time in 30 years after a dazzling display against Crystal Palace was followed by City slipping up at the Bridge. The Blues closed the gap on third-placed Leicester, who could only draw with Brighton, to a single point. Wolves are now just two behind Chelsea after 1-0 wins over relegation-threatened Bournemouth and Villa, with Adama Traore in unstoppable form. An Anthony Martial hat-trick kept Manchester United in the hunt, and Spurs recorded their first win in 8 attempts in large part thanks to VAR missing a handball for their first goal. North London rivals Arsenal finally got some points on the board as well at Southampton, who bounced back to defeat Watford with Ings on target twice. The Hornets also lost to Burnley, who made it two wins from two against Palace. With Norwich going down to Everton at Carrow Road, Villa’s point at Newcastle was the only registered by the bottom five this week. (TABLE)

The FA Cup quarter-finals also took place, with the four traditional heavyweights of United, Arsenal, Chelsea and City booking their place in the last four.

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 31 AND MATCHDAY 32)
A drop of the hat gets you a penalty these days in La Liga and it’s really ruining the spectacle. Spanish VAR needs to take a long hard look at itself. Wins over Mallorca and Espanyol kept Real firmly in top spot as Barca dropped another couple of points against a resurgent Celta, for whom club legend Iago Aspas netted his 150th strike. The Celeste would have taken all three but for a missed sitter at the death. Atletico got a couple of narrow victories to consolidate third as Sevilla dropped points at home to Valladolid. The Derbi de la Comunitat was won by the Yellow Submarine, who are now putting serious pressure on 4th spot along with Getafe. Valencia and Sociedad will have to settle for Europa at best. With Celta taking four from six and Eibar six from six this week, the bottom three are now eight points adrift. A win for Celta at Mallorca this evening would all but seal their fate. (TABLE)

SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS MATCHDAY 27 AND MATCHDAY 28)
The Old Lady is pulling clear of the pack after two comfortable wins this week against weaker opposition. Lazio’s hopes of a scudetto were dented by an impressive three goal comeback by La Dea, who won both their matches this week 3-2 to give them a nine-point gap over fifth-placed Roma, who lost to Milan. Inter remain third after a win and a draw. Brescia and SPAL are marooned at the bottom, but a lot of teams are fighting it out to avoid 18th place, which Lecce currently occupy. Like La Liga, there were multiple highly questionable penalties this week, with Lazio and Genoa two of the undeserved beneficiaries.(TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA (MATCHDAY 34 HIGHLIGHTS)
The 34th and final matchday saw a whopping 34 goals, as Robert Lewandowski netted his 34th strike of the season to maintain his average of a goal a game. Bayern have won every single match since the restart and if they continue that run, the Pokal and Champions League will follow. Timo Werner ended his career at third-placed Leipzig with two strikes, which sets a target of 95 for whoever wishes to take over as RB’s record goal-scorer in the future. Dortmund finished second again, but seemed to already be on holiday as Andrej Kramaric scored all four of Hoffenheim’s goals at the Signal Iduna. Gladbach took the final Champions League place with a win over Hertha that rendered Bayer’s win over Mainz academic. If Bayern or Leipzig win the Champions League, Freiburg will join Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim in the Europa League thanks to a 4-0 thrashing of Schalke, who will be thankful the season is finally over. At the bottom, Fortuna were relegated after a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Union was capitalised on by Werder, who defeated Dusseldorf’s local rivals Koln 6-1. Yuya Osako was the star of the show and they will need him again this week in their relegation play-off with Heidenheim, who edged out Hamburg to rule out the possibility of a Nordderby. Paderborn went down 3-2 to Frankfurt in their final match of first tier football. Arminia Bielefeld and Stuttgart will both be back in the big time next season. (TABLE)

LIGUE 1
League finished. Winners: PSG / Champions League: Marseille, Rennes / Europa League: Lille, Nice, Reims / Relegated: Amiens, Toulouse / Promoted: Lens, Lorient (TABLE)