Sorry for no posts recently, had a little trip the family took and I did not have easy access to internet. But….what a trip it was…plan to dedicate a blog in the near future. Here is a little teaser to get you excited for the full blog. Knocked a few items off my Soccer Bucket List.
Pretty cool pictures, right….you can’t wait to read the next blog, right…man, what a trip!
Now, let’s get caught up.
Premier League Update
Match Week 31-32 are a bit of a challenge to report. A few things happening. With all the activity related to FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, the Premier League has been forced to reschedule games. Teams are forced to squeeze in these extra tournament games in addition to League games. As well, we are on the International break right now with players switching to their National teams for games this past week. Friendly games between National teams as we gear up for the World Cup. Makes for a crowded schedule and forces teams to reschedule league games. Lets try to catch you up and as well let you know how many games a team has played….might be a few behind. Officially Week 32 starts this weekend.
Who will survive the Top 4 and qualify for Champions League next year. Manchester City and Manchester United feel like locks right now, but still some drama for the final two spots. Liverpool has already played 31 games while the others in the Top 4 have only played 30, so the table will adjust and teams can close the gap on Liverpool. The pressure is on Chelsea right now. they have slipped so far this year and now have to finish fast to get back into the Top 4. They still play both Tottenham and Liverpool, so they do control their destiny a bit. Huge game this weekend as Chelsea v Totttenham will either keep Chelsea’s hopes alive or maybe kill them off.
Race for the Top 4.
Manchester City 26-3-1 81 points. 30 games.
Manchester United 20-5-5 65 points. 30 games.
Liverpool 18-9-4 63 points. 31 games.
Tottenham 18-7-5 61 points. 30 games.
Chelsea 17-5-8 56 points. 30 games.
Arsenal 14-6-10 48 points. 30 points
Race for the Relegation Zone. Still a tight race and teams fighting to get out of the zone.
16. Crystal Palace 30 points.
17. West Ham United 30 points.
18. Southampton 28 points.
19. Stoke City with 27 points.
20. West Bromich Albion with 20 points.
Big Matches Next Weekend
Chelsea v. Tottenham. This is a HUGE game for Chelsea. Come on Blues!
FA CUP Update
And then there were 4. The Semi-Finals are set.
Manchester United v Tottenham on 4.21
Chelsea v. Southampton on 4.22
Highlights from the Quarterfinals. Chelsea v Leicester in a great game that goes to extra time before we get a winner.
Champions League Update
The round of 16 is complete.. We are down to 8.
Real Madrid advances with a second win over PSG. PSG, one of the pre-tourney favorites is knocked out of the competition!
Check out the Ronaldo header.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVO7-0q-Vhg&feature=onebox
Juventus advances over Tottenham on aggregate 4-3. After a 2-2 tie in the first leg Juventus wins 2-1 in the second leg.
Liverpool advances over Porto with 5-5 aggregate. A 0-0 game in the second leg after crushing Porto 5-0 in leg 1.
Manchester City advances 5-2 on aggregate over Basel. Basel wins the second leg 2-1 but Man City crushed Basel 4-0 in leg 1.
Barcelona advance 4-1 on aggregate as Messi leads them past Chelsea at home 3-0.
Bayern Munich advance after demolishing Besiktas 8-1, winning both games.
Roma advance, winning based on away goals advantage, after a 2-2 tie in the two games. Away games are hi=uge in Champions League.
Sevilla advance after shocking Manchester United with a 2-1 away win in Manchester. Wow!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WMf5GFt_aA&feature=onebox
Next round of games is 4.3 and 4.4, next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Manchester United v Liverpool
Bayern Munich v Sevilla
Juventus v Real Madrid
Barcelona v Roma
If you are counting, that is 3 teams from Spain, 2 from England, 2 from Italy and 1 from Germany.