City vs Arsenal — Home
Newcastle vs Southampton — Draw
Brighton vs Everton — Draw
West Ham vs Palace — Home
Norwich vs Leicester — Home
Villa vs Brentford — Draw
Liverpool vs Chelsea — Draw
Burnley vs Leeds — Away
Spurs vs Watford — Home
Wolves vs United — Home
Last week — 5/10
Season — 9/20
Inter vs Genoa — Home
Verona vs Sassuolo — Draw
Empoli vs Lazio — Away
Torino vs Atalanta — Draw
Udinese vs Juve — Away
Bologna vs Salernitana — Home
Roma vs Fiorentina — Home
Napoli vs Venezia — Home
Cagliari vs Spezia — Home
Sampdoria vs Milan — Draw
Leipzig vs Stuttgart — Home
Hertha vs Wolfsburg — Away
Bochum vs Mainz — Draw
Freiburg vs Dortmund — Draw
Frankfurt vs Augsburg — Home
Furth vs Arminia — Home
Leverkusen vs Gladbach — Draw
Hoffenheim vs Union — Draw
Bayern vs Köln — Home
Last week — 4/9
Betis vs Cadiz — Home
Alaves vs Mallorca — Draw
Granada vs Valencia — Away
Espanyol vs Villarreal — Draw
Athletic vs Barca — Draw
La Real vs Rayo — Home
Atletico vs Elche — Home
Levante vs Real — Draw
Getafe vs Sevilla — Draw
Osasuna vs Celta — Draw
Last week — 5/10
Brest vs PSG — Away
Monaco vs Lens — Draw
St Etienne vs Lille — Home
Lyon vs Clermont — Home
Montpellier vs Lorient — Home
Bordeaux vs Angers — Draw
Strasbourg vs Troyes — Home
Metz vs Reims — Draw
Rennes vs Nantes — Home
Nice vs Marseille — Draw
Last week — 3/10
Season — 5/20
Liverpool vs Burnley — Home
Villa vs Newcastle — Home
Palace vs Brentford — Away
Leeds vs Everton — Home
City vs Norwich — Home
Brighton vs Watford — Home
Southampton vs United — Away
Wolves vs Spurs — Home
Arsenal vs Chelsea — Home
West Ham vs Leicester — Home
Last week — 4/10
Lorient vs Monaco — Draw
Lille vs Nice — Draw
PSG vs Strasbourg — Home
Angers vs Lyon — Away
Reims vs Montpellier — Draw
Nantes vs Metz — Draw
Clermont vs Troyes — Home
Brest vs Rennes — Away
Lens vs St Etienne — Home
Marseille vs Bordeaux — Home
Last week — 2/10
Valencia vs Getafe — Home
Mallorca vs Betis — Draw
Cadiz vs Levante — Away
Alaves vs Real — Away
Osasuna vs Espanyol — Home
Celta vs Atletico — Draw
Barca vs La Real — Home
Sevilla vs Rayo — Home
Villarreal vs Granada — Home
Elche vs Athletic — Away
Gladbach vs Bayern — Home
Union vs Leverkusen — Draw
Augsburg vs Hoffenheim — Home
Arminia vs Freiburg — Away
Wolfsburg vs Bochum — Home
Stuttgart vs Furth — Home
Dortmund vs Frankfurt — Home
Mainz vs Leipzig — Draw
Koln vs Hertha — Draw
Brentford vs Arsenal — Home
United vs Leeds — Draw
Leicester vs Wolves — Away
Chelsea vs Palace — Home
Watford vs Villa — Home
Everton vs Saints — Draw
Burnley vs Brighton — Draw
Norwich vs Liverpool — Draw
Newcastle vs West Ham — Away
Spurs vs City — Draw
Monaco vs Nantes — Home
Lyon vs Brest — Home
Troyes vs PSG — Draw
Rennes vs Lens — Draw
St Etienne vs Lorient — Home
Nice vs Reims — Home
Strasbourg vs Angers — Home
Bordeaux vs Clemont Foot — Draw
Metz vs Lille — Away
Montpellier vs Marseille — Away
Few things in football beat the feeling of title contenders facing off in the last stages of a league campaign. The pressure and tension alone give a great sense of occasion, and every now and then, the quality and excitement matches our expectations. That’s exactly what we got in France on Sunday, as Lyon and Lille played out a barnburner of a tie.
Lille came back from two goals behind to earn a memorable win and secure top spot in Ligue 1 with four games to go. The result was symptomatic of both club’s seasons. Lille have been the more consistent side, playing with greater camaraderie and a system that enhances the collective. Lyon on the other hand have relied on the flair of individuals and been led by the talismanic performances of Memphis Depay, all the while retaining the propensity to shoot themselves in the foot.
While we’ve all enjoyed four teams being involved in the title race, the result means we say goodbye to Lyon, leaving Lille, PSG and Monaco to battle it out to be the best in France. Two points separate the top three, and for my money, Lille’s victory today was important because if they are to have any hope of pipping PSG to the title, being ahead is absolutely crucial. Lille’s Achilles heel has been their recent home form, and Christophe Galtier will hope the buoyancy of the win at Lyon gives his players the belief to get the job done.
Real Madrid drew a blank for the second time in three games against Real Betis at home, leaving them with a significant challenge in defending their La Liga tile. Many have said that Atletico have invited pressure on themselves in La Liga’s close title race because they haven’t been able to score freely when it matters. Which begs the question, what then of Real, who have played a game more than their city rivals but scored three goals fewer?
It may not be a popular narrative, but on reflection it seems to me that Zinedine Zidane has perfected Diego Simeone’s template in order to win La Liga last season and contend on both fronts this time around. They defend doggedly, have exceptional mental strength and their goalkeeper has won the team his fair share of points with crucial saves. It’s just that the traits we associate with Real’s technical players and their manager lead us to describe them in a more complimentary manner than we tend to describe Atletico’s performances.
There is no right or wrong way and the beauty of football lies in the variety of methods followed to attain success. To highlight a team’s goalscoring troubles as a reason for a failed title challenge is logically sound. But it applies just as equally to Real as it does to Atletico. After all, Barcelona have scored 15 and 18 goals more than Atletico and Real respectively. On the flip side, defences can be just as instrumental in winning leagues, and it seems unfair to praise Atletico for their defensive prowess and resilience, but if Real win, it is down to the silky stylings of Karim Benzema and Luka Modric. The truth lies somewhere in between. Simply put, Real and Atletico are more alike than many in the punditocracy would have us believe.
Two beautiful goals and a fantastic performance by Buffon lead Juve to three crucial points over Napoli. Such brilliance and character has to be praised, but at the same time one also wonders about the flaws that are masked in achieving wins like these. That in a nutshell, is the Juve paradox.
The quarterfinals of the Champions League are a few hours away, so I might as well take a shot at percentage chances of teams moving on from some mouth-watering ties.
Real 40—60 Liverpool
City 70—30 Dortmund
Bayern 55—45 PSG
Porto 40—60 Chelsea
Sensational come from behind win from the hosts that puts them five points clear of Villarreal in the last European spot. After a first half of the season that seemed almost shambolic, Manuel Pellegrini’s men have turned things around in 2021. At the beginning of February I would have laughed at anyone who said Betis would have a better month than Sevilla. The script has truly been flipped ahead of the Seville derby next weekend.
Probably one of the most significant victories in Inter’s title challenge. Atalanta always raise their game against fellow top teams and it was no different at the San Siro on Monday. Antonio Conte’s men were lucky in some regards, but considering how La Dea have run riot against other big opponents recently, the importance of Inter grinding out the three points can’t be overstated. Such wins are the cornerstones of league triumphs.
Another important win to keep the momentum going for Dortmund. It wasn’t always easy, but ultimately the visitors managed the pace of this DFB Pokal quarterfinal much better than their hosts, whose season, and in turn Marco Rose’s tenure runs the risk of completely fizzling out.
My making the semis BVB now have a genuine chance of silverware this season, though the knocks taken by Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerrerio are a bit of a dampener for Edin Terzic. With Bayern and Sevilla up next, Dortmund will hope neither player’s injury is serious.
There may be some who didn’t watch the game in its entirety and summize that 4-1 seems like a harsh scoreline, considering it was 1-1 until the 80th minute. However, on this occasion the scoreline befit the nature of the game, because other than the 10 minutes after Wolves equalized with their first shot on target, this was truly a shellacking from City. In one of the best displays on the wing this season, Riyad Mahrez gave Ki-Jana Hoever a twisted nose and then some.
It just seems like every City player is having their moment this season. We tend to frame team spirit easily within a narrative of fighting against adversity, all too often neglecting the fact that high quality players inspiring each other to shine is just as potent an element in bringing players together.
Deserved win for Koeman’s men and easily their best performance this season against a top team. Lopetegui was justified for keeping his A-listers fresh for the 2nd leg of the cup semi, but might he have ceded a psychological advantage with that game against the same opponents just four days away?
As for Koeman, he deserves credit for a 5-3-2 formation that covered a few issues that Barca have faced in these games. There was more solidity in the centre of defence, more liberation for Sergino Dest to play as an attacking wing-back and Ousmane Dembele as the lone forward shone in what has to be considered his best display for Barcelona this season.
As usual, some key games all across Europe this weekend.
Saturday
Union vs Gladbach — 8th vs 5th, only 3 points separate the sides
West Brom vs Fulham — Relegation battle, both need the win
Arsenal vs United — Classic rivalry between sides in good form
Leipzig vs Leverkusen — 2nd vs 3rd with other sides catching up
Villarreal vs La Real — 5th vs 6th in battle for Europe
Marseille vs Rennes — 6th vs 5th in battle for Europe
Sunday
Atalanta vs Lazio — Increasingly heated rivalry
West Ham vs Liverpool — 5th vs 4th in enticing contest
Barca vs Athletic — Rematch of crazy Supercopa final two weeks ago
Stuttgart vs Mainz — Home win
Union vs Gladbach — Away win
Bayern vs Hoffenheim — Home win
Werder vs Schalke — Draw
Eintracht vs Hertha — Home win
Dortmund vs Augsburg — Home win
Leipzig vs Leverkusen — Home win
Cologne vs Arminia — Draw
Wolfsburg vs Freiburg — Home win
Season so far — 45/126
Valladolid vs Huesca — Home win
Eibar vs Sevilla — Away win
Real vs Levante — Draw
Valencia vs Elche — Draw
Villarreal vs La Real — Draw
Getafe vs Alaves — Home win
Cadiz vs Atletico — Away win
Granada vs Celta — Home win
Barca vs Athletic — Draw
Betis vs Osasuna — Home win
Season so far — 61/133
Torino vs Fiorentina — Home win
Bologna vs Milan — Away win
Sampdoria vs Juve — Draw
Inter vs Benevento — Home win
Spezia vs Udinese — Away win
Cagliari vs Sassuolo — Home win
Crotone vs Genoa — Draw
Atalanta vs Lazio — Home win
Napoli vs Parma — Home win
Roma vs Verona — Draw
Season so far — 67/149
Lyon vs Bordeaux — Draw
Montpellier vs Lens — Draw
Marseille vs Rennes — Away win
Nice vs St Etienne — Draw
Lorient vs PSG — Away win
Brest vs Metz — Draw
Angers vs Nimes — Home win
Strasbourg vs Reims — Draw
Lille vs Dijon — Home win
Nantes vs Monaco — Away win
Season so far — 60/135