MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

I can guarantee that, for fans of the top teams in Europe, it was a weekend to forget. It was a weekend of upsets and I presume the bookmaking companies are already smiling to the bank (if you know what I mean!)

On this week’s edition, I would try to proffer a reason on why the big teams failed to live up to the billing or at least why the supposed lowly teams seem to be pulling their weights.

City slumps- City tops-

This wasn’t meant to be oxymoronic but that was the exact happening at the weekend. While Manchester City slipped from top position after a defeat from Stoke City, Leicester City regain top position after a comfortable win over Swansea.

Stoke City have in recent times been a stubborn team for Man City and perhaps Pellegrini could be excused due to the absence of key players to injury but take nothing away from the Stoke City performance. Mark Hughes was spot-on with his tactics; soaking up pressure at the back while similarly making efficient use of the ball on the break with a calm build-up and Arnautovic in the false-nine role. Certainly, it was the Arnautovic-Shaqiri show; they pierced through the City defence at ease.

Man City were utterly shambolic, disjointed and simply all over the place; precisely, they were all what Stoke weren’t.

On the other hand, it was an excellent showing from Leicester City over Swansea. While Jamie Vardy could not extend his goal scoring record, it was time for Mahrez to hit the headlines- so he did with a hat-trick. The pair of Vardy and Mahrez currently has 24 goals between them, more than any other pair in the English Premier League. Claudio Ranieri must also get the credit for setting up an amazing team from defence to attack.

How many times have we said Leicester City would be back to where they belong this season? This is week 15 guys!

It’s time for Mourinho to take a walk-

“If any coach could revive this down-sliding Chelsea team, it is Mourinho” so said many pundits. However, with Chelsea’s home loss against a newly promoted Bournemouth (who are missing key players to long layoffs) that statement is becoming doubtful.

It is clear that Chelsea have lost the habit of winning games and by implication, opponent teams take on Chelsea with a confident attitude believing they can pick something from the game. Similarly, I think Mourinho’s tactics are becoming unreceptive by his team and the future remains bleak going forward.

Bournemouth should get full credit for a brave performance against Chelsea. The commitment from Eddie Howe’s players was admirable.

Perhaps it’s time for Mourinho to take a walk to allow for freshness; relegation is nigh!

Newcastle hand Klopp first away loss-

Having defeated Southampton in midweek in the Capital One cup by six goals to one at the St Marys, there was no reward for predicting a Liverpool win against a Newcastle who sit bottom of the league.

However, it was a really poor, lacklustre and disjointed performance by the Liverpool side. The selection by Klopp was quite arrogant and complacent- the line-up was overly defensive and gave room for Newcastle to believe they stood a chance of grabbing at least a point- they did more than grab a point. The game also affirmed that Benteke is unfitting for the Liverpool style of play as he looked really static.

Kudos must go to Newcastle for a spirited performance. McLaren got his team selection right. He lined up a compactly defensive unit to break up Liverpool’s fluidity while attacking as quickly and as purposefully as possible. It was an energetic display and they were full value for their win.

Newcastle remain bottom but could this be the beginning of their revival?

Bayern brought back down to earth by Monchengladbach-

Bayern were at the weekend humbled by Borussia Mochengladbach. The Bavarians were unbeaten before the game and though Gladbach were on a rise with six straight wins and have been a hard nut to crack for the Bayern side in recent times; you couldn’t put it beyond Bayern Munich.

Guardiola can however rue the absence of key players. Gladbach were able to hold Bayern in the first half with credit going to the gladbach keeper for decent saves. In the second half, Bayern were impatient, it was anybody’s game and they took their chances against a shaky Bayern defence. Ribery coming on after a seven-month injury layoff was a positive however for Bayern Munich.

With Dortmund defeating Wolfsburg at the weekend to close the gap to five points at the top of the Bundesliga table, perhaps there is some competition in prospect.

Barcelona drop points, Real Madrid take initiative-

The former coach of Valencia had just resigned after a poor start to the season and with the ‘MSN’ still in fierce form having notched up eight straight wins for Barcelona, this fixture was a mismatch. Also Gary Neville, the newly appointed coach could only watch his team from the stands having arrived Spain only three days earlier.

Barcelona put forward their strongest side but the team continually missed chances as it took a poorly judged offside goal by Suarez to open scoring.

Valencia were dogged in defence and even with the loss of key players to injury, the young team managed to claw their way back to earning a point. Gary can therefore pick the positives from the game as he prepares for perhaps the most important game of his young career against Lyon in the Champions League.

Madrid on the other hand romped to a 4-1 win over Getafe with the ‘BBC’ all on the score sheet. They have closed the gap to Barcelona to only four points and thus beg the question; is the BBC on their way to grabbing the headlines in Spain?

Napoli’s unbeaten run ended by Donadoni’s Bologna-

14 games unbeaten run (in all competitions) by Napoli took a halt after a defeat from a Bologna side which seemed destined for relegation before the advent of new coach Roberto Donadoni.

Don’t be deceived by the score line, it was actually 3 nil with a brace from Destro at the 84^th minute before Serie a’s top scorer, Higuain made the score respectable with two goals. Donadoni apparently is doing something right with this Bologna side that have racked up 10 points from a possible 15, taking into consideration that, before his appointment, they had managed only 6 points from a possible 30. We can only watch how far the team goes.

Inter Milan by the way sit atop the league after their eighth 1-0 win of the season at the weekend and with Juventus also clawing their way back to the top, oh boy! The excitement is just about to begin in the Serie A.

 

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

Gratefully, club football is back on our Television screens (no disrespect to international football) and what a way to resume club actions; it was the Clasico in Spain, the huge rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool and the small matter of the Juventus versus AC Milan fixture in Italy. Did I hear you say no better way? Of course!

Well, let’s review the major club football talking points from the weekend. Shall we?

It’s official! The Bernabeu is Barcelona’s new training ground-

Going by the rate at which Barcelona have defeated Madrid at the Bernabeu and made it a fortress with Madrid having only just three wins in their last 13 games at home, it’s difficult considering this fixture a rivalry.

Pregame, Madrid seemed like the favourites, especially with El Clasico’s leading scorer, Messi half-fit for the game having been side-lined since September. Also, with Benitez’s overly defensive strategy (which could well be due to the absence of his key players to injury), being frowned at by Pundits, some of his players (alleged), and the fans, he had the luxury of these players back in training and available to be started.

Objectively, I think the eventual result was a blend of a complete Performance from Barcelona and a below-par performance from Madrid. I think Benitez succumbed to the yearnings of many by reverting from his rather defensive approach to an unlearned and particularly offensive outlook. That apparently cost him because these ‘offensive’ players were hugely anonymous all game, especially Benzema (who I felt wasn’t psychologically fit for the game).

On the other hand, Enrique risked starting Lionel Messi who was available and instead gave in-form youngster, Sergi Roberto a chance which paid off as he got the assist for the first goal. Iniesta was also at the top of his game (no wonder he got a loud ovation from the Bernabeu crowd at his substitution) and need I mention that Suarez and Neymar were the customary chief orchestrators? Bravo was similarly bent on keeping a clean sheet with spectacular saves all through the game.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be sure how much time Benitez has got to get this team back on track, especially with the rumour of his imminent sack gaining waves.

Klopp- a man for the big games-

After Liverpool’s 3-1 win away at Chelsea some weeks ago, some still felt that the ‘Chelsea test’ wasn’t the ‘real test’ for Klopp’s side in terms of progress made. However, with the annihilation of Man City at the Etihad over the weekend, Klopp can begin to earn his status even in the Premier League as one of the best in the game.

Manchester City were particularly handicapped by the injury to key players in captain Vincent Kompany and Silva. Although, I think Pellegrini shot himself in the foot with his central defensive pairing of Demichelis and Mangala while Otamendi was relegated to the bench; schoolboy mistakes from the pair were responsible for most of the conceded goals and even with the presence of Aguero, a win was still out of reach.

Klopp set out his Liverpool side exactly the way he did against Chelsea with Benteke dropped to the bench and Firmino in the ‘false nine’ role. The high pressing strategy also paid dividends. Klopp has gradually impressed his philosophy on this team and the players seem to have adapted quite well. The look on Sterling’s face going into the dressing room told the story of the night.

City are on top of the table-

Don’t get it twisted, it’s not a team from Manchester, it’s Leicester city people!

This time last season, Leicester City were languishing in 20^th position in the league and when Nigel Pearson was sacked unceremoniously and Claudio Ranieri appointed, not many pundits gave him a chance but this season has seen him turnaround the fortunes of the club and they currently sit atop the league table.

The former Chelsea coach has got the team playing exciting football with Vardy and Mahrez at the centre of it. The team has coped excellently with the exit of veteran midfielder, Cambiasso and have recruited excellently. Most importantly, he has got Jamie Vardy firing on all cylinders and over the weekend, he equalled Van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in ten consecutive league games and currently leads the top scorer’s chat with 13 goals.

It has been a Cinderella-run for Ranieri and the key question is ‘how far can the team go?’ well, the next set of fixtures will look to answer that. United is next up!

Arsenal back to status quo-

Why does it seem like Arsenal are addicted to being in fourth place? At the start of the season, the Arsenal team was pronounced favourites to win the League especially after the purchase of Petr Cech from Chelsea.

However, with Arsenal having the opportunity of playing their game earlier than City of which a win would have seen them go top of the League, they conspired to lose the game against a lowly West Brom side with Arteta and Cazorla culprits.

Perhaps, Wenger should get some sticks for not recruiting a single outfield player in the summer and with the squad getting thinner due to injury (Arteta and Couquelin the latest cases), Wenger has got it all to do in fielding a strong and competitive team in subsequent games.

Dortmund are only pretenders-

Apparently, Dortmund do not seem like they can challenge Bayern for the Bundesliga title. They had the chance of closing the gap between them and Bayern to two points with a win against Hamburg at the weekend having played a day earlier.

However, Dortmund were utterly shambolic, fatigued and jaded. They could barely retain possession for considerable spells of the game.

Hamburg were excellently set up to sit back and soak up pressure while they hit on the break. It was a perfect game by their standards as they took and converted their chances.

Moving forward, Dortmund can certainly pick themselves up but the Bundesliga is gradually becoming a one-horse race especially with Bayern increasing the gap to eight points with a win over Shalke O4. Crown them already!

Juventus are no match for Milan-

At the weekend, the Juventus versus Milan fixture was the biggest game in Italy. Milan before the game had gradually begun to get back into reckoning and with Juventus still not in spectacular form, the game was finely poised. However, on the night, it was Juventus who got the win by a lone goal.

Truth be told, Juventus weren’t at their vintage selves but Milan didn’t just show up; it was hugely one-sided.

Juventus currently sit in sixth position on the Serie table and are gradually crawling their way to the top. Meanwhile, Inter Milan go top with two points clear having beat Frosinone by four goals to nil over the weekend. Are you pondering what I’m pondering?

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

Nigerian Golden Eaglets retain U-17 World Cup in Chile-

Just so you know, I am Nigerian; so don’t ask me why I have included this story amongst other European club stories.

The Golden Eaglets as they are fondly called are champions for the second consecutive time and fifth in total.

Nigerians were particularly sceptical about their chances of retaining the title they won in the UAE two years ago owing to the fact that the team only managed to come 4^th in the African Youth Championship which also served as the qualification tournament for the World Cup. The team looked really average and they struggled with goal scoring. Some also had doubts about the tactical acumen of the new coach of the team.

However, the world witnessed a complete turnaround in the performance of the team in this competition as they eased past teams on their way to the final, scoring goals like they were out of fashion. Eventually, at the weekend, it was a two-goal win over Mali in the final to clinch the title amongst other individual awards.

The only recurrent question on the lips of Nigerians is “how many of these stars would get to transit from this level to the senior National team?” Well, I guess we leave that for now and enjoy the moment and lest I forget, I got to see Amuneke smile for once!

Chelsea struggling to survive relegation-

The defending champions could never be in this position, right? Well, unfortunately, this is where Mourinho’s Chelsea find themselves after seven losses in 12 games with just 3 wins and they currently sit pretty in 16^th position.

Interestingly, Mourinho was given a stadium ban for the game and it was felt that the team would look to express themselves and fight for the manager in his absence.

Truth be told, they played better than in the Liverpool game but against a Stoke City who had earlier knocked them out of the Capital one cup, they had to do more than play better. The Stoke City team sat deep and were disciplined in defence and against a Chelsea defence that had been everything but steady, they fancied their chances. Chelsea on the other hand were really unfortunate as they hit the bar and had a penalty appeal; they lost eventually.

Now the question is “Is Mourinho still the right man to turn the tides for this team?”

Klopp suffers first defeat of his Liverpool career-

The ‘Normal One’ gets to taste his first defeat as manager of Liverpool after six games unbeaten.

This was imminent. The team looked excellent off-the-ball but the effectiveness of the team when on-the-ball seemed questionable; struggled with goal scoring and facing a Crystal Palace team that has got very quick attackers especially on the wings, it was difficult foreseeing a win even at Anfield.

This loss helps bring Jurgen Klopp back to the reality of things at the club as he looks to restore the team back to her glory days.

Aubameyang is Europe’s fiercest striker-

At the weekend, the Gabonese scored his scored his 22^nd goal (14^th Bundesliga goal) of the season against Shalke O4 to help Dortmund remain within 5 points of leaders, Bayern Munich.

The 26 year old who is Europe’s leading scorer has been instrumental to Dortmund’s resurgence after a really poor last season and with the African best player awards in a few months, the Gabonese can begin to rehearse his winners’ remarks.

‘Batman truly returns’.

Neymar helps nail Villareal-

Perhaps, one more constant thing in life after death and taxes is Neymar on the score sheet every weekend.

In the absence of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Suarez have been responsible for all of Barcelona’s 17 goals.

At the weekend, Neymar showed once again that he’s ready to compete for the third best player in the world after Ronaldo and Messi (in no order). Particularly enjoyable was his second goal against Villareal; the technique in the execution was top class and should be competing for the best goal of the season in the Laliga. He’s currently the leading scorer in the Laliga with 11 goals.

With Messi still not cleared for the Clasico game on the 21^st of November, the question is “who cares?”

Benitez tastes first defeat of the season-

Sevilla are gradually becoming the upsetters as they are the only team to have beat Real Madrid and Barcelona this season.

Benitez’s pragmatic approach had been questioned by a few enthusiasts even though the results had been excellent. However, at the weekend, Sevilla ensured that Real would go into the international break the points behind a Messi-less Barcelona.

Real started on the front foot but with Ramos going off injured after scoring an acrobatic goal, the defence was left in shatters as Sevilla scored 3 in return. Injuries also haven’t helped as stars James and Bale have just recovered while Benzema is yet to be back. More importantly, Ronaldo seems to be off-form in recent games and was practically anonymous against Sevilla.

Unfortunately, Real have to pick themselves up as the Clasico is up next!

Roma seal derby win against Lazio-

The Rome derby is one of the biggest derbies in Italy especially in reference to fans turnout. However, the game was boycotted by the fans owing to security issues

Roma were always favourites for the game going by the form of both sides and they were able to grab the win with Edin Dzeko getting his second league goal via a controversial penalty and Gervinho sealing the points with the second.

Credit must go to Rudi Garcia who has got Roma playing exciting football while getting the desired and of course, they are favourites for the Serie A.

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

Klopp earns his first Premier League win against ‘Dumb’ Mourinho-

If you didn’t listen to Mourinho’s post-match interview at the weekend, hell! You ‘missed’ and I mean ‘nothing’ because he said ‘nothing’ (guess the outcome of the game left him dumb!).

The Normal one had earlier hinted that it was going to take some time before his team began getting the desired results and after his first two games ended in draws, questions were already being asked. Apparently, there wasn’t going to be a better time to get his first Premier League win than in the game against a Chelsea side that had lost the habit of winning games.

Personally, Liverpool were the better side even though they slowly got into the game. The gegenpress (counter-press) strategy seems to be yielding fruits. This style takes a lot of risks, energy and intelligence with midfielders and defenders running forward simultaneously and aggressively, trying to close down spaces in a bid to regaining the ball as quickly as they lose it in the half of the opponent and passing forward in the same tempo while attacking.

On the other hand, Chelsea seem to be far from the free-flowing and expressive team we all admired at the start of last season and some of the blame can be laid on Mourinho’s feet. He seems to lack in ideas on how best to utilise the flair players in his squad with the Portuguese continuously clamouring for a more defensive outlook and this was evident at the weekend; immediately Chelsea got the first goal, they took their foot off the gas and allowed Liverpool enough possession to control the game (that order must have come from the manager to defend the lead) but with the team having lost the habit of winning games, they gave in as soon as the equaliser came.

It must also be reiterated that Mourinho hasn’t been saying the right things in post-match conferences as he has continuously failed to accept responsibility for the team’s woes and instead pointed fingers at external bodies. I recommend he walks away to allow for fresher ideas!

What do United and Artists have in common?

Of course, they draw! It’s been three consecutive games and Manchester United have failed to pick a win in duration time and more distastefully, all have been goalless. Many have made Rooney the scape goat clamouring that he be dropped for his below-par performances.

Personally, I think Rooney deserves the sticks owing to his status; however, some players in attack haven’t lived up to expectation similarly. I also feel that Van Gaal shouldn’t be left out; he has been overly strict with his tactical application with players having to play strictly to instruction further limiting their creativity and like Paul Scholes said, “LVG has refused to take risks”- I agree.

I recommend that Martial be restored to the central forward position to enhance his potency and Rooney rested but who comes in his place?

Kone’s hat-trick brings Sunderland back to the earth-

Certainly, Sunderland were still in celebratory mood (after the resounding win against Newcastle) when they faced a Kone-inspired Everton and they were humbled by 6 goals to 2. The Ivorian was particularly lethal in his finishing as he leveraged on excellent performances from Barkley and Lukaku.

Everton seemingly are back to the side we saw two seasons ago- expressive and effective. However, Allardyce now understands that his team has a long way to go if the team is to survive relegation but with Chelsea just some points above them, they might just be complacent.

Chelsea’s Cuadrado gives Juventus the edge in the Turin derby-

Amidst numerous derbies in Europe, the Turin derby is perhaps the least famous. However, the game between Juventus and Torino at the weekend was the most interesting in my opinion.

Torino last season had the advantage over Juventus and with the Bianconeri side looking a shadow of themselves, the game was finely poised.

The game looked braced for a draw until Cuadrado scored perhaps the most important goal of his career in the last kick of the game. The celebration was priceless as the Juventus team took time to celebrate with the fans after the game. The Old Ladies are back!

No Messi no Problem-

At the weekend, Barcelona got a routine away win at Getafe. Neymar and Suarez appear to have taken up the mantle in Messi’s absence but I think Barcelona’s unsung hero has been the young La Masia product, Sergi Roberto.

The lad has been Barcelona’s X-factor; playing in numerous positions on the pitch and over the weekend got two delightful assists to move the Catalan side to joint top with Madrid on the League table.

In my local parlance ‘one more feather to the La Masia cap’!

Inter slowly back on track

In recent times, Internazionale have slowly fallen off the pecking order in the Serie A and seeing them in second position having beat Roma at the weekend is as surprising as Sir Alex returning to coaching.

Mancini seems to be doing something right with Inter with his overly defensive approach while grinding out important wins and with Juve still not firing on all cylinders in the Serie A, Inter can perhaps start to dream big!

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

Having endured the international break (of course responsible for the long layoffs to some of our club stars!), we are glad that club football is back on our television screens.

Here are the major talking points:

Sterling stars in Aguero’s absence-

With Aguero and Silva injured while on international duties, someone had to take up responsibility for scoring and Sterling was available.

Sterling scored the first hat-trick of his career to help Manchester City to a 5-1 win over Bournemouth as they remain top of the league table. He has thus repaid some of the huge fee paid for his transfer.

Perhaps, Aguero will not be missed if he (Sterling) consistently churns out performances of this nature but then again, it’s just Bournemouth!

Wijnaldum earns Mc Claren his first league win of the season-

It was probably worth the wait! Many had questioned the quality of the players recruited at the start of the season, some, the tactical acumen of the coach while the lot had predicted the team going on relegation in reference to the way the team started season.

However, with some of the performances the team had churned out, especially against the big boys, their best was still to come; last weekend’s performance was an indication of how good the team could be or perhaps their season is just about to begin.

Wijnaldum helped Mc Claren win his first EPL match as a manager since 2006 and must be said; in emphatic style. After scoring four goals, the Dutch becomes the second Newcastle player to score at least four goals in a Premier league game.

Unfortunately, the win still leaves them in the relegation zone but Mc Claren’s rescinding hairline can get some reprieve from consistent scratching.

Jamie Vardy can’t stop scoring-

Vardy is proving to be one of the hottest strikers in England after scoring a brace against Southampton to increase his tally as the league’s top scorer to nine goals.

Leicester City are fast becoming the league’s comeback kings and Vardy is a full representation of that. His goals have helped Leicester City remain stable on the table; a vast improvement from last season. One begins to wonder how Wenger managed not to sign a striker in the summer.

Bayern break one more record-

With the win at the weekend over Bremen, Bayern become the first German club to win its opening nine games in the league.

It’s difficult to envisage when this streak would be halted with Guardiola managing to motivate the team week-in week-out. With the Liga title already in the kitty, winning the Champions League should be the priority.

Neymar takes responsibility in ‘nailing’ Rayo-

I wrote in one of my previous articles that, if Barcelona were to cope with the absence of Messi, Neymar and Suarez had to step up to the plate.

Over the weekend, Neymar led the team on the pitch with four goals to help Barcelona remain in touch with current leaders, Celta Vigo.

With Messi still out for at least four weeks, Neymar has got it all to do in helping the team cope in his absence.

Ronaldo becomes Madrid’s all-time leading scorer-

Ronaldo’s goal against Levante ensured he became the all-time leading scorer for Madrid with 324 goals overtaking Raul. Interestingly, Ronaldo has achieved this feat in way fewer games compared to Raul. It’s difficult to see anyone surpassing him, especially in this form.

He remains a legend!

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND IN EUROPE

Rodgers becomes the first Premier League Manager to be sacked-

It wasn’t difficult to roger! Brendan Rodgers sack was imminent following a string of bad results the club had continually churned out this season.

Rodgers can content himself, knowing that he was one of the few Liverpool managers to come close to winning the League while playing exciting football on the pitch.

Personally, I think Rodgers is a decent tactician who knows what he wanted his team to play and infused that into the team but his bane was failing to pay attention to the little details especially defensively and that ensured he qualified for Europe’s elite club competition once in three seasons.

However, juxtaposing the support (financially and morally) he got from the Board with the kinds of results he achieved; he had to be improved upon. Who is next to be sacked? Mourinho?

English Champions reduced to chumps-

Mourinho’s Chelsea slumped to a second home defeat at the weekend to Southampton- his fourth defeat in eight Premier League games this season.

I personally feel that the players are shot of confidence and no longer trust the Manager. Mourinho likewise appears to have tried everything and is confused; he can’t seem to infuse the hunger and drive the team showed last season. This most times happens when a team in the previous season gives more than a hundred per cent in quest for a title; it’s difficult to replicate such performance the following season.

Unfortunately, Mourinho has failed to acknowledge this problem. He has blamed everything and everyone but himself and his team for his woes.

Sincerely, I think it’s time he took the Advocaat route or perhaps an easier one by first reconciling with Eva Carneiro.

Aguero joins the List of Five-

Aguero helps Man City recover from back to back defeats in the League, reclaim top position and overcome a mini-drought himself with five goals in about twenty minutes to join the list of players to score five goals this season and in Premier League’s history.

That about sums up City’s weekend!

Wenger on his way to recovering from the ‘United’ jinx-

Just when you thought United beating Arsenal was the third constant thing in life after death and taxes, Wenger’s Arsenal hand United a comprehensive beating over the weekend.

Kudos must be given to Wenger for employing a particularly different approach against the United side. This meant that Arsenal gave up possession in areas that didn’t matter while being quick on the break thus utilising his quick attackers. United’s make-shift defence didn’t help much not to talk of the lacklustre Rooney. It was a comfortable victory!

Is it safe to ask; like Moyes like Van Gaal? (Both have had their teams top the League for only one week)

The big teams fail to pick a win in Spain-

The injury to Lionel Messi and Iniesta meant that Barcelona had to dig deep for inspiration. They weren’t able to do this as they suffered their second loss of the season to Sevilla. They lacked the fluency, directness and more importantly the magic existent with the presence of both players. Their defensive woes continue.

Madrid also fail to get a win in their derby against Atletico for the umpteenth time. Benitez seemed to approach the game particularly defensively and that ensured the midfield was looking isolated from the attack. Atletico were the more tenacious side and had to settle for a draw having missed a penalty in the first half.

Who says there is competition in Germany?-

Just when we thought Dortmund were going to pose a challenge to Bayern for the league title especially after a brilliant start to the season, Bayern prove once again that the Bundesliga is a one-horse race with a comprehensive 5-1 win over Dortmund.

Tuchel got his tactics overly wrong with an awful shuffle of the defence line by playing players in unfamiliar positions. Also, the injury to Weidenfeller did not help matters as his replacement was utterly shambolic.

Take nothing from Pep’s Bayern; they got everything right on the day.

Milan still cannot resurrect from their slump-

Apparently, the problem with Milan is far beyond the coaching. In the past three seasons, Milan has changed coaches like diapers and still, the results haven’t improved.

At the weekend, Milan slumped to a four-nil defeat at home to Napoli.

I personally think that Milan have to set their priorities right in terms of the quality of players purchased; too many average players in a so called ‘Super’ team.

Ibrahimovic breaks one more record-

Ibracadabra, as he’s fondly called scored a brace of penalties to make him PSG’s all-time leading-scorer with 110 goals.

His goals helped PSG beat Marseille to remain unbeaten this season at the top of the league table. However, Trapp has to take the bigger credit for top saves at crucial times of the game including a penalty. Ride on Ibra!

FIVE LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCH DAY TWO

Perhaps, just perhaps, Arsenal is fast becoming an average team

In the last five seasons, Arsenal has continued to exit the competition at the first knockout round even when they have been paired with relatively lowly sides. The disturbing fact is that the team has particularly struggled to get past the group stage.

I personally think that for a team that claims to be a ‘Super’ club in Europe, the results they continually churn out is way too mediocre. This season hasn’t been an exception as they have lost their second game out of two at home against a relatively weak side, Olympiakos.

Arsenal has got to redefine their priorities; it’s time they started acting like the ‘Super’ club they claim to be by winning games commandingly and stop being second-class. Common Gunners! Bayern is next!

The champions League is an entirely unique competition

The UEFA Champions League operates uniquely to the extent that teams’ domestic league form or status is entirely thrown out of the window when they take to stage. The tactics and mentality is different and as such, teams who struggle to adapt and adjust tend to get caught out.

More precisely, the Premier league teams fall into this category and it just perhaps explains their current predicament in recent editions of the Champions League. I say kudos to the underdogs doing particularly well.

Lewandowski is certainly the most inform striker in Europe

Just a few days ago, he scored five astonishing goals in barely nine minutes in the Bundesliga against Wolfsburg and many have wondered if this form could be sustained in Europe, Oh dear! He scored a hat-trick in midweek to make for as many as ten goals in his last three games.

How far can the Pole (not electric) go to becoming Europe’s best player at the end of the competition? Only time will tell! Some thanks should go to Pep for reverting to the basics amidst injuries to key players. I wouldn’t want to be a Borussia Dortmund defender at this time.

The Manchester clubs spare the blushes of the Premier League

At a time when the Premier League teams are currently struggling to find their feet in this season’s Champions League with three out of the four English representatives losing on match day 1 and the London clubs having lost on the first night of Match day 2, it was imperative that Manchester Clubs helped save some pride; that they did, however unconvincingly.

Is it safe to say that the teams from Manchester helped spare the English teams from utter disgrace (not Arsenal though!).

Ronaldo just keeps soaring

Ronaldo extends his record as the all-time top scorer of the UEFA Champions League with 82 goals. His brace against Malmo on Wednesday against Malmo were goals 500 and 501 goals of his career and he joins Raul as the club’s joint-leading scorer on 323 for real- having played 419 goals fewer (perhaps, Pele should be scared!).

I wouldn’t be caught in the debate of if he’s human or not; I think he is, or just maybe he’s not. You know what? I’d leave you to fathom that.

MESSI OUT, BARCELONA TOO?

In April 2014, Barcelona were given a 14 month transfer ban by FIFA for breaking rules relative to the transfer of players under the age of 18. FIFA rejected their appeal in August of that year and in December; the court of Arbitration for sports rejected another appeal. Barcelona will not be allowed to sign any players in 2015 according to the BBC.

Barcelona seemed to have coped quite excellently with this ban as players whom they signed before the ban hit the ground running thus accounting for a second treble in six years. However, the impact of this retribution is quite becoming conspicuous especially with recent turnout of things in terms of results and injury cases. With Lionel Messi the latest injury casualty, Barcelona are set to face the toughest eight weeks of the season.

This therefore begs the question as to why Pedro, Song and Montoya were sold as well as the quality of output the Barcelona academy produces. In fact, someone tweeted that the current Barcelona squad is as thin as Mahatma Ghandi in his dying days.

The truth is that Barcelona cannot afford any injuries to this team but these eight weeks would be a true test of Enrique’s tactical dynamism as well as the team’s character and strength.

 “We have drawn level quickly, at a key moment. Then Messi came on and when the best is on the field, we all play better”- Neymar, after the game against Atletico Madrid

Messi is truly beyond the goals and assists (unmatched though), he drives the confidence of the team.

How therefore does Barcelona cope in his absence?

One of Munir or Sandro has to start each game from now on, there would be little rotation of the front three and opponent teams would be licking their lips knowing that the man responsible for the fluidity of the attack line is absent.

Enrique appears to favour Munir above Sandro and is expected to start subsequent games. However, Neymar and Suarez are thrust with the responsibility of helping him blend and staying confidence-high.

Iniesta whose performance has dropped with the advent of the MSN has got to take up more responsibility by standing up to the task with his impact more conspicuous especially as the link to the adjusted front three. Busquets and Rakitic also have to sit a little deeper and be more disciplined and aggressive off the ball as teams would thoughtlessly fancy a go at them on the counter.

Within the duration of Messi’s injury, Barcelona face a tough test against Sevilla whom they faced in the UEFA Super cup at the start of the season. Thankfully, Messi is expected to be back for the Clasico tie against Real Madrid in November.

Two months without Messi would be less fun for most of us except for Barcelona’s direct opponents but we’ll all be afforded the opportunity of seeing a new Barcelona team with no reliance on the little genius.

BARCELONA’S RECORD-BREAKING TREBLE SEASON; THE TRUE HEROES

With Barcelona going trophy-less the previous season for the first time in six seasons, many had attributed that to the ‘end of an era’ for the club and that it was going to take a total overhaul to get the team back to her glory days; some others felt it was the end of Barcelona’s dominance on the continent; while a few others felt the club was experiencing what economists would refer to as ‘diminishing returns’.

However, with Barcelona’s recent record-breaking treble just after a woeful last season they would want to forget in a hurry, it’s become clearly evident that the aforementioned presumptions were mere speculations and more precisely, ‘absolute fallacies’.

Hence, let’s take an x-ray (not ultra sound) of the team’s season and try to evaluate their performance, highlighting the ‘true heroes’. This we do by asking the question “what changed from last season?”

The Board-

This season has seen Barcelona make huge corrections to the mistakes they made last season with regards to transfers, appointment of coach and management of off-field issues

Last season, Barcelona made a purchase of just one out-field player (Neymar), even with the obvious lack of depth in the squad having Pique as the only major fit natural central defender to prosecute over 60 games for the club and with further injuries to other key players, they paid handsomely for it. However, this season has seen the club make wholesale quality transfers in key positions who in effect have gone on to become catalysts to this record breaking success (don’t just mention Vermalaen and Douglas).

Tata Martino is not particularly a bad coach; however, his appointment was a drift from the norm by Barcelona who have a philosophy of appointing coaches from within. It was apparently a bad choice by the board and by implications; he had to resign following the eventual turnout of things. Luis Enrique who had previously coached the B-team of the club before joining Roma and Celta Vigo was appointed and the result is a ‘Treble’.

This season has also seen the Board carefully manage some off-field issues (transfer ban, Neymar’s transfer issues and the sack of the sporting director and the resignation of his assistant) that rocked the team last season.

With the above corrections, the Barcelona board can be given thumbs up as one of the ‘true heroes’ of this success.

The Medical team

For once, Barcelona can boast as one of the few teams that were not rocked by major injuries; with the team having a fresh squad up till the end of the season.

Unlike last season where key players were injured for most parts of the season (Batra at the receiving end of this plight as he was left at the mercy of Bale in the Kings cup final against Madrid), the team remained fresh all through the season and this can be attributed to an efficient medical team. It was reported that Luis Enrique came with his medical staff and it must be said that the doctor has done an excellent job on the team and further confirming the saying ‘health is truly wealth’.

The Luis Enrique factor-

Luis Enrique must be applauded for an excellent season. While many would attribute his success to the abundance of talent inherent in his squad, it must be noted that Enrique did not have it rosy at the start. He has practically imprinted his style on the team by adding something different to the team.

Reportedly, Enrique personally requested the purchase of Rakitic and we can all attest to Rakitic’s impact on the team. He has brought back the aggression and intensity lacking since the exit of Guardiola, added more directness to the attack and improved the defence. Luis Enrique has also solved the problem of marking and utilisation of set-pieces which used to be the team’s Achilles’ heel and his squad rotation has proved important especially at the final stages of the season.

Magical Mercurial Leo Messi-

Barcelona’s success story cannot be told without mentioning the conspicuous impact of Lionel Messi. Interestingly, Messi had a woeful season by his standards (no thanks to injuries) and that clearly rubbed off on the whole team’s performance.

However, this season has seen Messi bounce back from the disappointment of the World cup and last season’s ordeal. He has formed the fiercest attacking trio alongside Neymar and Suarez (122 goals scored), has led the team on the pitch by taking the bull by the horn with decisive goals and assists and has remained calm under pressure by learning to play smart; knowing when to burst in with dribbles and when to use his vision to thread needle-eyed passes from deep positions further expanding his game as one of the best playmakers. 58 goals and 31 assists tell the true story (Boateng is probably still laughing at himself).

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

Expectedly, the Spanish and French leagues finally had its winners over the weekend and we can safely say that the top seeds for the Champions league (under its new rule) first pot from the top 8 leagues are successfully known. They are; Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, PSG, Zenith St Petersburg, Benfica and PSV Eindhoven (the fight for other spots still yet to be concluded though).

However, while some clubs have been confirmed mathematically for relegation, others have to wait for the concluding games of the season to verify their status.

Here are major talking points:

PSG make it a hat trick of consecutive League titles-

With PSG needing just a draw to be confirmed as league winners for the third time in a row, it was certain that Montpellier weren’t going to be the stumbling block.

The coach of Montpellier actually confessed that PSG were too much for the French league. Interestingly, PSG had a particularly scrappy start to the season and that meant that Marseille and Lyon were top of the league for huge spells in the season; some felt their dominance was beginning to dwindle and perhaps a season for change of champions was imminent.

However, with PSG falling short once again in the Champions League, the domestic title was perhaps a decent consolation as they soon went on a rampage and with last weekend’s win, they successfully defended their title.

Congratulations to PSG who are looking forward to a domestic treble with a French cup win on the 30^th of May. Unfortunately, they have failed to achieve same dominance in Europe!

Messi goes home with the Laliga trophy as Ronaldo manages the match ball-

At the weekend, Messi magically helped Barcelona to their 23^rd Laliga title (7^th in ten yers) with a win at the Vincente Calderon against Atletico. This appeared like a sweet revenge owing to the fact that Atletico won the League at the Camp Nou exactly a year ago but in truth, the circumstances are different now.

Unlike Ronaldo, Messi has singlehandedly decided the outcome of big games by enacting his magic. He has formed an excellent partnership with Suarez and Neymar, sacrificed his goal-pursuit for the good of the team at times and has imposed himself also as one of the best playmakers in the world, further confirming his versatility

Kudos must also go to the Barcelona board for making a huge statement in the transfer market with the purchase of players who have gone on to become catalysts for the success of the club and for the careful management of non-football related issues which seemed to rock the team.

Finally in this regard, Praises must go to Luis Enrique for building an amazing team with adequate squad rotation, management of individual egos and ensuring selflessness.

Steven Gerrard’s Anfield career concludes in defeat-

Gerrard will quit the club this summer and will be remembered as one the true Liverpool greats with 710 appearances (if he plays at stoke on Sunday) and 185 goals. He’s truly the best player the club has had for a generation.

He has inspired the team to numerous titles with the Champions League trophy in Instabul in 2005 the most famous. In his 17 year career at the club, he has consistently being amongst the top two or three players at the club.

His last game at Anfield ended in a defeat counting amongst the low moments of his career. He has never won a Premier League title. In his time at Anfield, Liverpool have only genuinely challenged for the title on a few occasions, finishing second three times and three times since 1998. They’ve also finished outside the top four eight times in his career.

Gerrard has been a spectacular player for Liverpool but unfortunately, these lows are a denting part of his career.

Saido Mane writes his name in the books of history-

Over the weekend, Mane broke Robbie Fowler’s record of the Premier League’s fastest hat-trick with three goals against Aston Villa in 2 minutes 56 seconds.

He has been one of Southampton’s brightest players helping the team to their best ever season in the Premier League amidst a wholesale of key players at the start of the season.

Keep the flag flying Mane!