Damien Kayat looks back at the weekend's European football action which saw Liverpool and Chelsea book their places in the FA Cup final, Real Madrid stun Sevilla and more!
FA Cup final set
Jurgen Klopp’s relentless march towards potential quadruple glory has been something to behold. They blew an undercooked City team out of the water with a breathless first-half display in their FA Cup semi-final meeting.
Sure, City were always likely to suffer after that physically (and psychologically) draining debacle in Madrid. Pep’s decision to stick to his cup goalkeeper policy and play Zack Steffen backfired in tremendous fashion.
Ederson is a calming influence and very often the first line of City’s attack. Steffen just brought a defensive vulnerability to the side that wouldn’t exist with Ederson’s presence.
Sadio Mane revelled in the absence of Kyle Walker, penetrating City’s right-hand flank at will. Thiago’s influence over the side has grown as he finally evolves into the midfield general that dictated Guardiola’s Bayern Munich machine.
Liverpool have set up a mouth-watering cup final clash with Chelsea. Tuchel’s side once again showed their undeniable cup mettle with a workmanlike display against Viera’s Palace.
Blue is the colour, the #EmiratesFACup Final is the destination! 🔵🏆@ChelseaFC continued their fine form in the competition to ensure that they feature in the Final of the #EmiratesFACup for the third consecutive season! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gevMqZnHk9
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 17, 2022
Top four curse
Does anyone want to finish in that coveted fourth spot this year? It feels like we’ve wandered into some alternate dimension where fifth place guarantees Champions League football.
‘Doing a Spurs’ is an epithet that must drive fans of the North London club crazy. But I can’t really think of another explanation for their inexplicably toothless display against Brighton this weekend.
At least Arsenal were in the ascendancy against Southampton. They just couldn’t score a goal in FIFA at this moment in time. And then you have United. It’s arguable that their 3-2 victory against Norwich was the most disturbing result of the lot.
Norwich had only scored 6 away goals leading into their trip to Old Trafford. That means that they have now scored 25% of their away goals at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ (United may want to think about changing that moniker temporarily).
Still, Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics helped secure a vital three points for a United side that barely looks interested in being there. Which of these clubs can overcome their obvious performance anxiety and stamp their authority on this race?
Ronaldo's 50th career hat-trick 🐐 pic.twitter.com/hziRareUoZ
— United Goals ⚽️ (@UnitedGoals__) April 16, 2022
Bundesliga race almost over (yawn)
I don’t like to get overly judgemental on specific leagues. Every European league has its own rich tradition that can’t be fully grasped by a flowery-worded outsider. But surely something needs to change to make the Bundesliga feel like a competition again.
Bayern Munich now sit on the cusp of a 10th consecutive German title. To put that into perspective- the most consecutive titles that they had ever won prior to this run was three. Three!
I almost feel burdened by having to cover Munich’s undeniably impressive exploits. In any event, their 3-0 away victory against relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld helped to restore their nine-point lead over Dortmund.
With four games left, Bayern’s title looks assured. Dortmund did everything they could this season with an admittedly youthful squad. They destroyed Wolfsburg this week 6-1, with Erling Haaland breaking his scoring duck with a brilliant brace.
But any progress they have made in pursuit of Munich is going to be devastated by the likely departures of Haaland and Jude Bellingham. This is the dilemma of having a glorified feeder club as your likeliest title challenger.
3️⃣ goals
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) April 17, 2022
3️⃣ points
A successful trip to Bielefeld 🙌
🔴⚪ #DSCFCB 0-3 pic.twitter.com/uAhMjCFrmO
The Kings of Spain
Real Madrid just don’t know when they are beaten. What a week it has been for Ancelotti’s men. They almost threw it all away against a gallant Chelsea before Luka Modric’s sensational banana pass reignited their European hopes.
They could have been forgiven for taking it a bit easy against Sevilla this weekend. The LaLiga title was virtually wrapped up and they were still basking in the glory of their European triumph.
Sevilla probably thought that they were cruising to victory after taking a comfortable 2-0 lead. But Real wrung the changes, with substitutes Rodrygo and Nacho making Ancelotti look like a genius after their introduction.
And it was left to would-be Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema to produce the final flourish, scoring his 39th goal of the season in injury time to virtually assure Real of the title.
This was exacerbated by Barcelona’s shock home defeat to relegation-threatened Cadiz. To tell you the truth, I think Xavi’s men have checked out slightly in the wake of their Europa League defeat last week.
They will certainly be a force next year and perhaps need one more successful window to realise Xavi’s vision.
𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐦 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐞𝐦𝐚! 👑
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 17, 2022
Real Madrid defeat Sevilla having trailed 2-0 after 25 minutes. Is that the #LaLiga title secured for Los Blancos? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/l0wQLGlJ8h
Napoli title bid rocked
Could the fairy-tale be over? It just feels like Stephan El Shaarawy’s late equaliser for Roma against Napoli will be consequential. I think anyone with a cursory interest in Italian football has been quietly rooting for Luciano Spalletti’s side.
Sure, they only lie four points behind leaders Milan. But they are now winless in two games and you can just sense deflation in the entire project. With Juventus drawing this weekend, the two Millan giants have seized control of the title race.
Inter have the chance to supplant Milan atop the table with their game in hand. They were brilliant at the weekend, scoring some fantastic goals in their 3-1 away win at Spezia.
It’s so reassuring to see Alexis Sanchez playing with some of the verve that characterized his stay at Arsenal. Milan were slightly more workmanlike in their victory against Genoa.
This is a title race that looks to be going down to the wire. We also get a little dress rehearsal for the Serie A title race tonight, with the Milan giants going head-to-head in the 2nd leg of Coppa Italia cup semi-final.
AS Roma equaliser in minute 90⚽⚽ Brilliant one touch passes, fantastic finish #NapoliRoma #Mourinhoball #SerieA pic.twitter.com/oF0yPpzJu1
— james mwangi (@jmoz09) April 18, 2022
Player of the Week- Sadio Mane
What a blessing it is to be Jurgen Klopp right now. He had Mo Salah absolutely wrecking the place in the early part of the season. But the Egyptian’s recent dip in form has barely been felt due to the recent resurgence of Sadio Mane.
It’s almost as if he absorbed some of the Egyptian’s life force in the aftermath of the Afcon final. Mane has been blistering in recent weeks and it all came to the fore in a nearly perfect display of wing play against City. He pestered Zack Steffen relentlessly for his first goal before a stunning, outside of the boot volley. Sensational.
🤯 @LFC 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗧 🤯
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 16, 2022
Sadio Mané scores a beauty of a volley#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/Q4CSPHjEL4
