UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW

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MAN CITYIN DRIVERSSEAT

Vol 1 Issue 4 FREE | May 5, 2014

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GERMANS GERMANS NEEDNEEDTO FINDTO FINDTHEIR ROOTSTHEIR ROOTS

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CHELSEA 1 - 3 ATLETICO

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osé Mourinho put out his most defensive Jlineup yet but, despite Azpilicueta's efforts, the Belgian's lapses allowed Atlé�co in

A�er a clean sheet in Madrid and a resilient defensive performance in the 2-0 victory at Liverpool, José Mourinho was hardly likely to be

more adventurous. Even so, his decision to select six natural defenders in his star�ng XI, with César Azpilicueta and David Luiz in midfield roles, ensured this was his most defensive team selec�on of the season.

With David Luiz switching play, Mourinho's side

MOU OUTWITTED

The most

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was their

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always a�acked down the flanks, through both Eden Hazard on the le� and Azpilicueta on the right. A couple of �mes Chelsea a�acked past Atlé�co's

full-backs and looked to play cut-backs into the box, only to find Fernando Torres was not making a purposeful run towards the near post.

Chelsea's opener was the only �me the former Atlé�co striker found a pocket of space for one of these deliveries, and it was notable that Azpilicueta provided the assist, proving he is capable of a�acking contribu�ons when used in this advanced role.

As it happens, Chelsea could have done with an Azpilicueta equivalent on the opposite flank too, considering the nature of their concession for Atlé�co's equaliser. Their right-back, Juanfran, motored past Hazard into an unmarked posi�on to receive a lo�ed pass from Tiago, crea�ng the equaliser for Adrián. That would not have happened on the opposite flank, with Azpilicueta tracking Filipe Luís closely.

Needing to get back into the game in the second half, Mourinho quickly changed to a system featuring two up front, with Samuel Eto'o on for Ashley Cole, and Azpilicueta returning to le�-back. But defensive problems con�nued to hamper Chelsea

Atlé�co's third goal, meanwhile, came from an iden�cal route to the first – although eventually scored by Arda Turan, the key was Tiago unmarked and playing another excellent diagonal ball to Juanfran, who had again darted past Hazard with a late run. The Belgian is not famed for his defensive work, certainly, but these two lapses cost Chelsea and he was unable to compensate with his usual a�acking magic.

The most impressive thing about Atlé�co, though, was their bravery in the second half. Even at 1-1 they were in line to qualify through away goals, but rather than si�ng back and playing on the countera�ack, they dominated possession inside the opposi�on half and created a decent stream of chances.

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eal Madrid produced a remarkable Rperformance at the home of the European Champions to progress

to the final.This game was over before half-�me, with Real's gameplan working brilliantly.

The German side played pure possession football, and the Spanish side showcasing reac�ve play.

The style was similar to the first leg, albeit more extreme. Bayern started this match by moving the ball forward quicker, and the use of Muller (rather than a third midfielder in that role) meant they had more players high up the pitch, in goal scoring posi�ons.

With Bale in the Real side, Real had an extra counter-a�acking weapon – and never before has their counter-a�acking play been so devasta�ng against a top side.

Bayern's lack of penetra�on remained, but the greater problem was that Bayern were very poor at defensive transi�ons. At Barcelona, Guardiola's players were excellent at pressing as soon as they lost possession, partly because they covered space so evenly, and therefore prevented the opposi�on from burs�ng into an obvious gap on the break.

Rather than excessively cri�cise Bayern's bluntness, though, it's worth outlining what an extraordinary defensive effort

BAYERN MUNICH 0 - 4 REAL MADRID

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this has been from Real Madrid – keeping two clean sheets against a Bayern side packed with genuine a�acking superstars.

Real's main weakness in recent seasons,

CHASE LA DECIMA REAL MADRID

CHANCE ATTHE ALLIANZ

especially against ball players, has been the tendency of Sergio Ramos and Pepe to be drawn out of the backline, leaving gaps in the defence and diving into rash tackles. Ramos made one rather risky challenge near the corner flag considering he was a booking away from missing the final, but neither player was ever tempted up the pitch to close down Muller or Mandzukic between the lines.

LA DECIMAIN SIGHT

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anchester couldn’t have Masked for a be�er end to the season. With two

games to go they have their fate firmly in their hands and it will take a disaster of monumental propor�ons to deny this �tle.

The game against Everton could be described as the last fron�er and their 3-2 win, completes their first league

double over the Merseysiders since the 1980-81 campaign and brings to an end their five-year wait for a win at Goodison Park.

With a second �tle in three years well within reach, one thing they cannot afford is complacency because another slip up would be punished ruthlessly. All they have to do now is to match whatever result Liverpool turns out.

Liverpool, on the other hand needs a deluge of goals and a huge slice of luck to clinch their first league �tle in 24 years. The 9

MAN CITY IN AS LIVERPOOL NEED A DELUGE OF GOALS AND A SLICE OF LUCK

DRIVERS SEAT

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RESULTS

West Ham United 2 - 0 Tottenham HotspurAston Villa 3 - 1 Hull CityManchester United 0 - 1 SunderlandNewcastle United 3 - 0 Cardiff CityStoke City 4 - 1 FulhamSwansea City 0 - 1 SouthamptonEverton 2 - 3 Manchester CityArsenal 1 - 0 West Bromwich AlbionChelsea 0 - 0 Norwich CityCrystal Palace vs Liverpool

TABLE P W D L F A GD Pts

Man City 36 25 5 6 96 37 59 80Liverpool 36 25 5 6 96 46 50 80Chelsea 37 24 7 6 69 26 43 79Arsenal 37 23 7 7 66 41 25 76Everton 37 20 9 8 59 39 20 69Tottenham 37 20 6 11 52 51 1 66Man United 36 18 6 12 60 41 19 60Southampton 37 15 10 12 53 45 8 55Newcastle 37 15 4 18 42 57 -15 49Stoke City 37 12 11 14 43 51 -8 47Crystal Palace 36 13 4 19 28 43 -15 43West Ham 37 11 7 19 40 49 -9 40Swansea City 37 10 9 18 51 53 -2 39Aston Villa 36 10 8 18 39 54 -15 38Hull City 36 10 7 19 37 48 -11 37West Brom 36 7 15 14 42 55 -13 36Sunderland 36 9 8 19 38 57 -19 35Norwich City 37 8 9 20 28 60 -32 33Fulham 37 9 4 24 38 83 -45 31Cardiff City 37 7 9 21 31 72 -41 30

TOP SCORERSName Team Goals Pen. Home AwayLuis Suárez Liverpool 30 0 17 13Daniel Sturridge Liverpool 20 0 11 9Yaya Toure Man City 19 6 11 8Wayne Rooney Man Utd 17 3 7 10Wilfried Bony Swansea City 16 4 10 6Sergio Agüero Man City 16 0 10 6Olivier Giroud Arsenal 16 1 8 6Jay Rodriguez Southampton 15 0 6 9Eden Hazard Chelsea 14 4 10 4

goals difference that separates them and Man City leaves them with a huge mountain to climb. Their fate no longer lies in their hands and the most realis�c chance of winning the �tle lies in Man City slipping. Though improbable, it is s�ll possible. Meanwhile, Fulham and Cardiff City have been relegated with Norwich City in with a slim chance of surviving. The ba�le for the final relega�on spot lies between West Brom and Sunderland.

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t was an astonishing weekend in La Liga. A weekend Iwere all top three teams failed to take advantage of the gi�s thrown at them. A weekend were all top

three teams failed to win.

First Barcelona failed to pile the pressure on Atle�co as they drew with Getafe 2 - 2, then Atle�co refused to take advantage of that as they fell to Levante 2 - 0. The biggest beneficiary should have been Real Madrid, but they also failed to get a win at home to Valencia managing just a point in a 2 - 2 draw.

This is where it gets interes�ng. Let’s start with Real Madrid. All along their fate lay else where and as it

stands they will need to win all three remaining games. This will take their tally to 92 points, but they will s�ll hope that they get favours from Barcelona to win the �tle.

For Atle�co, their fate s�ll lies in their hands they will have to beat Malaga and Barcelona to be declared champions. A victory over Levante and Malaga would have made the �e against Barcelona a dead rubber. four points from the remaining 2 games will however give them the �tle. Anything

ATLETICOSTILL HAS FATE IN IT’S HANDS

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RESULTS

Elche 1 – 1 LevanteRayo Vallecano 0 - 3 Athletic BilbaoBarcelona 2 - 2 GetafeMalaga 0 - 1 ElcheOsasuna 0 - 2 Celta VigoValladolid 1 - 0 EspanyolAlmeria 3 - 2 Real BetisLevante 2 - 0 Atletico MadridSevilla 0 - 0 VillarrealReal Madrid 2 - 2 ValenciaReal Sociedad vs Granada

TABLE P W D L F A GD Pts

Atletico Madrid 36 28 4 4 75 24 51 88Barcelona 36 27 4 5 99 32 67 85Real Madrid 35 26 5 4 98 32 66 83Athletic Bilbao 36 20 8 8 65 38 27 68Sevilla 36 17 9 10 66 50 16 60Real Sociedad 35 16 9 10 59 51 8 57Villarreal 36 15 8 13 54 43 11 53Valencia 36 12 10 14 47 48 -1 46Celta Vigo 36 13 7 16 46 52 -6 46Levante 36 11 12 13 33 42 -9 45Rayo Vallecano 36 13 4 19 45 74 -29 43Espanyol 36 11 8 17 39 47 -8 41Malaga 36 11 8 17 37 45 -8 41Elche 36 9 12 15 29 47 -18 39Granada 35 11 4 20 30 53 -23 37Almeria 36 10 6 20 41 71 -30 36Getafe 36 9 9 18 32 53 -21 36Osasuna 36 9 8 19 29 60 -31 35Valladolid 35 7 14 14 34 54 -20 35Real Betis 36 5 7 24 31 73 -42 22

PICHICHIName Team Goals Pen. Home AwayCristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 31 6 19 12Diego Costa Atletico Madrid 28 5 18 10Lionel Messi Barcelona 28 6 16 12Karim Benzema Real Madrid 17 0 11 6Alexis Sánchez Barcelona 18 0 16 2Aritz Aduriz Athletic Bilbao 16 2 9 7Antoine Griezmann Real Sociedad 16 0 9 7Kevin Gameiro Sevilla 15 2 9 6Pedro Rodriguez Barcelona 15 0 8 7Bacca Sevilla 14 1 6 8

less than that will see them kiss the �tle goodbye.

Barcelona on the other hand will have to beat Elche and Atle�co Madrid and hope that Real Madrid falters again to emerge as champions.

As it is the final run in is expected to be �ght and will go to the wire. My money however, is s�ll on Atle�co to emerge champions.