MANCHESTER City’s failure at making the UEFA Champions League final lists them as serial losses at the critical moment. Their loss marks a serious advantage to Liverpool’s quest for a quadruple. City were supposed to be an obstacle on the bid if they met Liverpool in the UEFA final.
The contrasting dramas of the semi-finals involving the two top contenders for the EPL title against Spanish teams exposed the characters of the teams more. Rather some would say the matches were assessments of the two coaches.
Liverpool appeared doomed on Tuesday when within the half mark Villarreal had cancelled the two-goal lead Liverpool had from the first game. Some were ruling Liverpool out as Villarreal raided them at will.
The story changed from the 62nd minute. In the next 12 minutes Liverpool scored three goals, finishing with a 5-2 aggregate. Two goals in London, three goals at El Madrigal Stadium in Villarreal to book their place in the Paris final.
Jurgen Kloop planted his authority on the game. Calculated, patient, and reading the game to the minutest details, he conceded the first half to Villarreal. When he took over the game, the control was complete, Villarreal vapourised.
Even lovers of the Spaniard Pep Guardiola have been unsparing about his concluding strategy that led Man City to the exit gate of the UEFA Champions League. It was no less dramatic than the Liverpool semi-final.
City arrived Madrid with a slim 4-3 advantage which made Madrid more dangerous. All Madrid needed was a goal to go through.
But it was City that grabbed more confidence by adding a goal to their seemingly unassailable lead until the 90th when Madrid’s Rodrygo struck twice in two minutes and Benzema’s 95th minute effort put the ticket beyond contention. Madrid had pulled similar stunts against PSG, and Chelsea.
Some consider Pep jinxed. He lost his sixth UEFA Champions League semi-final game, a disrepute he shares with José Mourinho. The pains are deep. They bear consequences on the psychological state of City in tackling their remaining EPL matches. The fixtures are packed to clear backlog of matches. The pressure is at the top for the title, in the middle to take one of the seven or nine spots to play in Europe and at the rear to avoid relegation. Others are simply playing to improve their earnings at the end of the season.
There is still a lot to play for in the five matches left for Everton, Leicester, and Villa, three or four matches for most other teams. Manchester United are the only exception with two matches. Their chances of finishing in the top six are dicey.
Nervy contentions would follow May with Liverpool the busiest, chasing their dream quadruple on 14 May, FA Cup final against Chelsea; 22 May, end of 2021/22 EPL, 28 May, UEFA final with Real Madrid. Liverpool want to annex all three titles to write a new chapter into their revolving successes. Carabao Cup is already in Liverpool’s kitty at the expense of Chelsea.
Enjoy the matches all the way to Wednesday and Thursday.
Saturday 7 May
Liverpool v Tottenham
Brentford v Southampton
Brighton v Man Utd
Burnley v Aston Villa
Chelsea v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Watford
Sunday 8 May
Leicester v Everton
Arsenal v Leeds
Man City v Newcastle
Norwich v West Ham
Tuesday 10 May
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Wednesday 11 May
Leicester City v Norwich City
Watford v Everton
Leeds v Chelsea
Wolves v Man City
Thursday 12 May
Tottenham v Arsenal
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