Off to England’s Premier League
Top of the table Liverpool Fc win 7 – 0 against Crystal Palace in what has been the biggest blowout of the season. Bobby Firminio and Mohamed Salah lead the way with 2 goals and 1 assist each. This is a defeat that could be very psychologically damaging to Crystal Palace’s season. After a loss like this, my money is on Crystal Palace star player Zaha sending yet another transfer request in.
Manchester City hang on to a 1 – 0 win against Southampton, all they needed was one Sterling goal to get past The Saints, and now sit right behind them in 7th place.
Arsenal’s luck does not turn. Coach Arteta secured 2 trophies last year, where did it all go wrong? After another loss, 2 -1 to 4th placed Everton, Arsenal find themselves in 15th place only 4 points above the relegation zone. They continue the worst start to a season the team has ever had. Gaffer: Time is ticking!
Jose Mourinho and Co are hung out to dry for a 2nd week in a row. Tottenham were EPL leaders last week, but a recent defeat to current leaders Liverpool, and today’s 2 – 0 defeat to now 2nd placed Leicester leaves Tottenham in 5th. On the bright side, Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min will continue to light up the field week after week.
The Red Devils in Manchester should be pleased with the latest match. Winning a high scoring game is a plus for United who have been under scrutiny in recent weeks. They took Leeds to town in a 6 – 2 win, while young Scott McTominay sets a new EPL record, 1st player to score 2 goals in only 160 seconds. Do we start to call him The Flash? Manchester United is now in respectable 3rd place in the table.
Heading down the Boot of Italy: Serie A
Number 1 Ac Milan, and 3rd placed Juventus are the only remaining undefeated teams in all of Europe, within domestic leagues. They are only separated by Inter Milan, who sit comfortably in 2nd place in the Calcio.
All 3 teams had a strong weekend with Ac Milan hanging on 2 -1 against 6th placed Sassuolo. Inter Milan had an easy weekend beating low level Spezia by the same score, 2 – 1, Ex Manchester United striker Lukaku bagged a goal to bring his tally to 11 for the season, 1 goal less than leading Cristiano Ronaldo.
Juventus had arguably their best game of the season, pressing high and winning balls back, while playing a calm and possessive dangerous game against out of gas Parma. Ronaldo missing a penalty last week redeemed himself with 2 open play goals, while new signee Dejan Kulusevski scored against former club Parma. Juve legend Buffon continues to defy odds at 42 years old winning a clean sheet, also at the expense his old club.
Lazio beat Napoli 2- 0, last year’s top league scorer Ciro Immobile bags 1 goal while creating another. They climb up to 8th after a poor start of the year, while the boys from Naples remain in 5th place. Last but not least Atalanta (7th) put Roma in their place with a 4 – 1 win. A big win was what Atalanta needed with all the Papu Gomez drama they are currently dealing with. The Romans have been good this year; still find themselves in the 4th and final European spot in the league.
Over to La Liga of Spain
Atletico Madrid remains at the top of the table. Luis Suarez scores 2 times to help them breeze by lower level Elche 3 -1. Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are the stingiest defence in Europe, they have only let in 5 goals in La Liga up to date, which is incredible.
Not too far away, just on the other side of the city Real Madrid had another stellar performance by main man Benzema, 1 goal 2 assists to blow Eibar out the water 3 -1. Real Madrid are in 2nd place, tied on points with Atletico, 29, only below them due to the goal difference. It’s scary to realize Atletico still has 2 games in hand vs 2nd placed Real, having only played 12 games so far.
Messi and Co are still having trouble with consistency, they are now in 5th place after an unsuccessful 2 – 2 tie against Valencia who are cemented in 13th. Messi continues to rack up personal achievements, scoring his 643’rd club goal for Barcelona, which now is level with the 643 goals legendary Brazilian Pelé scored for Santos Fc. Messi now has the opportunity to raise the bar on this one, even with speculation of him leaving Barcelona this summer.
David Silva inspired Real Sociaded drop down to 3rd place after losing 2 – 1 to bottom feeders Levante and surprise Villa Real are in 4th after a comfortable win over Osasuna 3 -1.
The Rest Of Europe
Germanys Bundesliga held the clash of the titans, 1st placed Bayern Leverkusen took on powerhouse Bayern Munich who at the time were in 2nd. The tables have turned, both teams swapping places in the table after Bayern managed a 2 – 1 win, it took 2 goals from this week’s crowned Uefa’s best men’s player Robert Lewandowski. He added 2 goals to take his tally to 17 scored in 12 matches, netting the winner in extra time 90’ +3’. Such a nail biter!
France’s favorites PSG are in 3rd place with 32 points, with 1 point separating them from 2nd placed Olympique Lyon (33) and top of the table Lille who also have 33 points. Psg and Lille tied 0 – 0 today, while Memphis Depay’s inspired Lyon beat Nice in a strong 4 – 1 performance.
Close to Home
The Montreal Impact raised an eyebrow declaring they will be going under a major ‘’identity change’’ for the 2021 season. No word on what this means yet, but they are off to a good start by signing new defender Kamal Miller trading for midfielder Djordje Mihailovic who joins from Chicago Fire Fc. Montreal signed Thierry Henry to a coaching position last year, after a disappointing season, are on a mission to build him a competitive team to attract talent from Europe. Remember the days of Didier Drogba, Bacary Sagna and Marco Di Vaio? They did manage to add Bojan Krkic and Victor Wanyama last year. Allez!
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article written by David Bruno