So let’s get to it soccer fans. The High School season is off to a very slow start. What the heck is going on with all the snow. Weather looks great this weekend, but still a few weeks away from any training on the local fields. Not sure what the High School schedule will hold for the next few weeks, but likely a lot of games postponed and then jammed into late May!
So…let’s talk about World soccer today and get caught up on the key competitions; Premier League, Champions cup and FA Cup. Things are winding down and we have a huge month of May to determine the winners.
Premier League Update
Manchester City are the 2018 Champions! In fitting fashion, Man City were guaranteed the title when their cross town rivals, Manchester United lost a game they should have won! Perfect for the Manchester City fans. Win the title when your hated rival loses an embarrassing game.
Match Week 35 is almost complete but with all the extra games from the FA Cup and Champions League, many of the teams are just completing their 34th game. Regardless, we are down to the last 3-4 games of the season and still some things to be decided. League Champion is decided…but who will finish in the top 4 and qualify for Champions League next year. Manchester United seems a lock to finish second, but then things get a bit more interesting. A week ago, it seemed done. Liverpool would finish 3rd and Tottenham would finish 4th. After a disappointing 2 months, Chelsea were destined for a 5th place finish. But hang on. Chelsea have closed the gap from 10 points back to 5 points back. Tottenham have hit a slippery spell, losing 2-3 games in the past week and maybe, just maybe, feeling some pressure. Liverpool are crushing it in Champions League and playing in the Semi-Finals, but as well have dropped points the past few weeks in Premier League and may be vulnerable. Chelsea and Liverpool still face each other one more time, a huge 3 points if Chelsea could get that win. Could Chelsea make a miraculous recovery into Top 4. Still a long shot, but now there is hope and maybe a path. Pressure does funny things to teams as they hang onto the Top 4. Stay tuned!!!
The bottom three is taking shape as well, but still lots of movement possible in the 18-19 positions. Who will drop down?
Race for the Top 4.
Manchester City 29-3-2 90 points. 34 games. Champions.
Manchester United 23-5-6 74 points. 34 games.
Liverpool 20-11-4 71 points. 35 games.
Tottenham 20-8-6 68 points. 34 games.
Chelsea 19-6-9 63 points. 34 games.
Arsenal 17-6-11 57 points. 34 games.
Race for the Relegation Zone. Still a tight race and teams fighting to get out of the zone. Southampton and Stoke City both in danger of relegation but one win could pull them out. Crazy. Teams in 15-16-17 positions are all still at risk. West Brom has picked up 5 points but are dangerously close to relegation. Likely they are going down. Stoke City and Southampton need to get wins and hope teams above them lose. Time is running out.
16. Huddersfield 35 points
17. Swansea City 33 points.
18. Southampton 29 points.
19. Stoke City with 29 points.
20. West Bromich Albion 25 points.
Big Matches Next Weekend
Southampton v. Bournemouth. Can Southampton get out of the bottom 3.
Totenham v Watford. Can Watford apply some more pressure on Tottenham and get points.
Weekly Highlights
Liverpool v. West Ham United. This is a Top 4 vs. the last place team in the league. Liverpool goes up 2-0 late but then….amazingly. West Ham mounts a comeback. Check out the 31st goal of the season for Liverpool’s Salah. Chelsea sold him a few years back because they did not think he could score goals in the Premier League. Likely he wins the Golden Boot this year. Ugh! Chelsea…what were you thinking!! The late header is pretty cool. Hang in till the end.
FA CUP Update
And then there were 2. Finals are set.
Manchester United 2 v Tottenham 1. Tottenham looked the better team, got the early lead, but then…..somehow just found a way to lose it. Alexis Sanchez played big. Pogba was a beast.
Chelsea 2 v. Southampton 0
So that sets up a marquee match up for the FA Cup Finals. Chelsea v. Manchester United and their ex-manager Morinho. Should be interesting. May 19th at Wembley. Can’t wait!!
Champions League Update
The final 4 is set. Semi-Finals action as follows:
Liverpool v Roma
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
The first round games are 4/24 and 4/25. The second round games are 5.1 and 5.2. These should be great games. Can’t wait!!
So…just have to show the Christiano Ronaldo goal one more time. One of the best I have ever seen. A special player. A special goal. When you watch the highlight, you will hear the Juventus fans cheering for the goal…against their team. You don’t see that often, but again, you don’t see a goal with this level of athleticism or pure quality very often either. Wow, just wow!