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!

FIVE LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE UCL

Good people! With our finalists already known, we can safely begin to book our tickets for the final game in Berlin (I’m supposing you can afford it). The beauty of the Champions League is that, while it appears predictable at the start, its winners are never predicted rightly.

Let’s share a few lessons we learnt from the semi-finals;

The fairy stories of Juventus and Barcelona-

Juventus in 2006 were relegated to the Serie B with a 30-point deduction for the next season, stripped of their 2005 and 2006 titles; they were automatically out of the 2006-2007 Champions League and a ban for their officials due to an involvement in Italy’s match-fixing scandal. These punishments prompted an exodus of many important players like Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from the team.

Fortunately, they have been able to turn that around after they qualified for the UCL finals since 2003. What is even more romantic is that, after three consecutive domestic league wins, Conte (their erst-while coach) resigned abruptly and Allegri was appointed to the disgruntlement of some of the Juventus fans. Amazingly, Allegri has brought out the regrets in those fans with a perfect season so far.

Similarly, Barcelona in recent times have had their difficult moments, especially with the exit of Pep Guardiola; they lost his successor- Tito Vilanaova to cancer, the former president had to resign following allegations of transfer irregularities and Barcelona currently are on a transfer ban till 2016. Luis Enrique was appointed after Tata Martino resigned last season following a trophy-less season but after the first eight games, he had problems with some key players and it was feared that Barcelona were going to experience another woeful season.

Enrique might be ‘old-school’ when compared to Guardiola but he has done a great job managing the egos of his top-stars, ensuring selflessness in the team, adequate squad rotation policy and has complemented Barcelona’s tikitaka philosophy with a more direct approach.

Kudos to the finalists who are both up for the treble and it is safe to say we can expect a mouth-watering final on the 6^th of june in Berlin.

Ronaldo fails to shoulder responsibility-

This doesn’t take away his genius. However, it is observed that sometimes, Ronaldo fails to take the bull by the horn. Unlike Messi (sorry to compare), he fails to take decisive gambles that could affect the game positively being the x-factor.

Sometimes, apart from the goals he scores, he doesn’t get to shoulder the team as he is constantly hidden especially in difficult games and this goes a long way in costing the team.

Messi is the best club player ever-

After the first leg, Jamie Carragher (Liverpool legend) said that he felt Messi is the best club footballer ever owing to his heroics on the night.

It is safe to say that Messi was the difference between Barcelona and Bayern Munich in this season’s UCL (Boateng can attest to this). What is particularly interesting is his instant adaptability with the other front two, thus helping them become the fiercest attacking trio in the world.

Health is Wealth-

One of the key requirements to a successful season is the fitness of key players at crunch times of the season. Primarily, I think coaches can do more in terms of squad rotation to help keep the team fit.

Clubs like Bayern (Ribery, Robben and Alaba) and Madrid (Modric and Benzema) would continue to rue the absence of the aforementioned players with the eventual turnout of things all through the season.

UEFA Champions League jinx catches up with Madrid-

Since the inception of the Uefa Champions League era, no club has been able to successfully defend the trophy.

Real Madrid were surely on course to defend the title they won last season in Lisbon but the Champions League jinx appeared strong enough to halt them.

Unfortunately, until next season, the trend continues!

MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE FOOTBALLING WEEKEND

It’s that time of the season when fans begin to exhibit mixed emotions; fans want to ‘have their cake and eat it’- some fans who have their teams leading the pack or contending for trophies want the season to end as quickly as it can so they can be crowned winners. However, these same fans do not want the season to come to an end so they can continue to enjoy good football from their teams.

Well, let’s ignore our paradoxical nature and relive the major exciting moments we experienced at the weekend. Shall we?

One down, two to go for Juventus-

Juventus at the weekend clinched their 31^st Serie A title – a fourth consecutive Scudetto with a win over Sampdoria.

Now, it can be said that Juventus were the bookmakers’ choice to clinch it, especially based on the fact that there didn’t seem to be any competition in Italy- Roma didn’t just have the attitude and Napoli never looked they were capable (forget the Milan teams!). However, Juventus had just hired a new coach in response to Conte’s resignation at the end of last season.

Allegri didn’t look like the best choice that could have been made owing to the way he ended the season with AC Milan.

Though it isn’t as flawless as last season’s victory, Allegri has ensured they are up for the record breaking treble this season. Juventus is playing beautiful football, they have become more dynamic and adaptive in their style of play as compared to Conte’s time and the club’s tradition is still kept alive.

Kudos to the Juventus setup for hiring Allegri, kudos to the team of players and kudos to Allegri for a wonderful job so far!

‘Boring’ Mourinho hands ‘boring’ Chelsea their fourth Barclays Premier League title-

If there is a coach who ‘feeds on titles’, it is Mourinho! True to his principles, he has begun raking in the titles.

Mourinho remarked that his last season’s team was a building in progress, lamenting the lack of a striker.

This season, he identified his targets as early as possible and it wasn’t long before he started churning out the results.

What is particularly interesting is the transition of the team from last season; last season, they defeated the ‘big boys’ but found it difficult against the smaller weights that mattered. However, this season, they have been able to defeat the smaller weights and get the desired results against the heavy weights.

They’ve been on top of the league since the 30^th of August, losing just 2 in the process (unbeaten at home) and keeping 16 clean sheets. Show me boredom and I’d show you consistency, implies Mourinho! Kudos!

Is Manchester United currently a flash in the pan?-

Some few weeks ago, Manchester United went on streak of six straight wins and many felt United were back at their traditional best. However, some few injuries to some players and they are back humble!

At the weekend, United lost to West Brom at home, their third straight loss without a goal scored.

By implication, their best player, Michael Carrick has been injured for those three games and United have found it difficult to scrape up a win.

Three games are left in the Premier League and the red devils are hanging on to fourth position with just four points above Liverpool in the race for a Uefa Champions League spot.

Suarez’s talent never in doubt-

Suarez had endured a poor start to his Barcelona career having scored just four goals in his first 15 appearances and many had fears that he might just trail the path of some of the big-name players who could not live up to expectations at the club.

However, Suarez at the weekend scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona-his fifth goal in his last two games. He has proven to understand the Barca style of play and has formed an excellent synergy with Messi and Neymar.

He has scored 16 Laliga goals (24 in all competitions) and 13 assists so far and it is safe to say ‘Suarez’s talent never in doubt’

‘Selfish’ Ronaldo helps Madrid remain in contention for the Laliga title-

Ronaldo hadn’t scored in three Laliga games before the Sevilla game and the frustration began to creep in, especially in the game against Almeria where he was criticised for his self-centred gesture leading to Arbeloa’s goal.

At the weekend, Ronaldo replied with a hat-trick against Sevilla who hadn’t lost at home in 34 games to stay within two points of leaders, Barcelona. He currently has 42 Laliga goals, 2 ahead of Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo may be selfish but he gets the job done and that’s what matters!