So before I get into a fight with my pillow, let’s talk. Football. Quite a lot of matches in quite a short period of time – most of them interesting. Now for the reflection on these games, I might warn you: subjective views and emotions may be found in the following short match reviews.
So let’s go to Spain first, since it is my favorite football nation. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona keep fighting for the title, however Barça managed to narrow the gap to six points. This is due to a few bad matches on Madrid’s account, like the draw against Malaga on March 18th, when the Madridistas gave away their 1:0 lead in added time, as Santi Cazorla curled in a gorgeous free kick and rescued a point for his team. By the way, since Malaga became a big budget side, they are performing quite well in Spain, currently being placed 4th in the league. I’d say well done.
Real continued their bad spell with the game in Villareal on the 29th match day, which also ended with a one all draw. Fortunately, Real Madrid began winning again on the following match day, defeating Real Sociedad by 5:1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
Probably also worthy of mentioning is the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are now both on 35 goals in the league this season, CR7 having played a match more than his Argentinian counterpart. Nevertheless, these two are running a stalemate for the golden boot like nowhere else in Europe.
Oh and before I forget, the Bundesliga is still quite a bit suspenseful too. Defending champions Borussia Dortmund are still leading the table, but with six points only
Let’s get up to the British island. In the premier league, it’s still Manchester United leading the table with 3 points over rivals Manchester City. The team in third place are currently the Gunners, but they trail Man City with 12 points. Dear oh dear, it really looks like the trophy is going to stay in Manchester, we’ll just have to wait in order to find out in which part of town. It may all be decided on the 36th match day, when City host United at home. I am really looking forward to that game.
Interestingly, FC Chelsea seem to be in a bit of a crisis. After coach André Villas-Boas had been sacked, co-trainer Roberto Di Matteo was placed in charge of things at the Stamford Bridge. Still, Chelsea are currently placed fifth in the league and things are not looking to good, except for the away win in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg at Benfica, which the Londoners won by one goal to nil. But in my opinion Villas-Boas was just too young to coach a side with players like John Terry and Frank Lampard, who supposedly did not have their manager’s back. If I try to put myself into the shoes of Terry or Lampard, who are roughly the same age as Villas-Boas, I might also have difficulties taking the coach seriously, as you will always keep in mind that he does not have more football experience than yourself. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of a professional football player to keep it professional.
Now, let’s take a glance at the Serie A in Italy. AC Milan, who just managed to hold Barcelona to a 0:0 draw in the UEFA Champions League, are leading the table by 4 points over Juventus Turin. Juventus on the other hand are still undefeated this season in the league, with 15 wins and 14 draws. That is quite a performance. The last notable unbeaten season was completed by Wenger’s Arsenal a few years back, with the likes of Jens Lehmann, Sol Campbell, Thierry Henry etc.
Inter Milan on the other hand are having a horrible season. If you’re looking for them in the table, you’ll have to scroll down quite a bit until you spot them. Currently placed 8th, with 12 defeats already and a goal difference of 0, it’s no wonder Claudio Ranieri was sacked a couple of days ago.
Oh and before I forget, let’s have a look at the Bundesliga also. Borussia Dortmund played VfB Stuttgart yesterday in an incredible match. If you had the chance to see it, chances are you’ll agree with me on this one. In the end, a 4:4 draw did not help Dortmund much to keep their lead over Bayern München, as the gap has been narrowed to six points, and if Bayern win today, it will be down to three.
Now that the domestic leagues have been covered, let’s come to the interesting stuff. Europe. The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals were played this week, with Real Madrid having won in on the small island of Cyprus as they defeated APOEL Nikosia 3:0. However, APOEL did not make it easy for Real, as the Spaniards had to wait a resounding 75 minutes until Karim Benzema opened the scoring.
As mentioned before, Chelsea managed to win in Lisbon, as they defeated Benfica with 1:0. German giants Bayern München were hosted by Olympique Marseille, who are currently having a bad spell. Situated as 9th in the Ligue 1, they ended up losing 2:0 at their Stade Vélodrome, which is partly under construction at this time for EURO 2016.
And of course, AC Milan held FC Barcelona to a 0:0 draw at the San Siro, or “Giuseppe-Meazza”, whatever you’d like to call it. Since all the odds-on favourites won, except for Milan and Barça, one could say their’s is the only second leg match worthy of watching. But then again, football is football and anything can happen in its universe…
The Germafrican 