Monthly Archives: April 2017

Middlesbrough recorded a very important victory in The Premier League against the last team in the standings – Sunderland. The Boro won 1-0 and kept their chance to avoid relegation, as they are now 6 points down from the 17th-placed Hull City. In addition, Middlesbrough have a better goal difference, which can be valuable at the end of the season.

On the other hand, Sunderland left 12 points behind the 17th position with 5 games to go, which means that The Black Cats have almost been relegated. No wonders Sunderland are the last team in the standings, as the last time they won a game in the league was on 4th February (4-0 against Crystal Palace).

The Boro were on a run of 16 Premier League games without a victory. So, that was their first league win for 2017. It’s interesting that Middlesbrough are the lowest scoring team in the top 10 English divisions this campaign. The Steve Agnew’s players have only found the net on 24 occasions this campaign. However, they have performed better in defence. They have conceded 43 goals in 34 matches, keeping a clean sheet on 10 occasions.

So, nothing unusual about the final score of 1-0 in favour of Middlesbrough. The only goal of the match was scored in the 8th minute. The midfielder Adam Clayton played a long ball to Marten de Roon and the Dutchman put the ball behind Jordan Pickford to open the score. 10 minutes later Stewart Downing found himself one on one with the keeper, but his shot was saved by Pickford.
In the 34th minute Didier Ndong made a good attempt from a long distance, but Brad Guzan parried the ball away. 2 minutes after the break Wahbi Khazri tried his luck from a free-kick, but the American goalkeeper again made a good save.

At both ends, Sunderland will surely relegate to The Championship, while Middlesbrough are still in the battle. However, The Boro have a very tough schedule. They will play Manchester City, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool in the remaining 4 matches, which means that their chance is very little.

One of the most interesting matches in The Champions League quarterfinals will be between the teams of Juventus and Barcelona. This will be the 10th match in the European club competitions between these two teams. The fans still have fresh memories of the Champions League final in 2015. In that match The Catalans beat the Italian side and lifted the most prestigious European trophy.

To begin with, Barcelona made one of the greatest turnarounds in the previous round against the French champions Paris Saint-Germain. The Luis Enrique’s players lost the first leg 0-4, but managed to beat The Parisians 6-1 at home and made it to the quarterfinals! I am sure that this victory has boosted the confidence of the Spaniards and they will only improve their performance in the matches by the end of the season.

Juventus had much easier task against the Portuguese club Porto. The Italians recorded 2 victories and found a place in the next round of the competition. However, Juventus have been very impressive this season, as they have only lost once in their last 17 competitive matches. The club from Turin is again the leader in The Serie A and has already found a place in the Italian cup final game.

On the other hand, Barcelona also qualified for the domestic cup final match. The Catalans have won 9 of their last 12 Champions League matches. However, Barcelona lost twice away from home in the competition this campaign and Juventus must take advantage of it.

When playing in the knockout stage of the European club competitions, Barcelona have knocked Juve out of the tournament twice, while the club from Turin has also done it on two occasions. The last time these two teams met in the quarterfinals of The Champions League was in 2003. The first leg finished with a 1-1 draw in Turin, but Juventus managed to win the away game 2-1 and found a place in the semi-finals.

Taking a look back to the Champions League final from 2015 at Olympiastadion Berlin, we must say that Barcelona have kept their players, while 6 of the Juventus’ players, who were among the starting XI are not anymore in the squad. However, Rakitic opened the score in the 4th minute, giving Barcelona the lead, but the Italian club equalized through Alvaro Morata. Then, Suarez and Neymar scored to clinch the victory for Barcelona.

The Spurs maintained their good performance. They recorded a comfortable 2-0 away victory against the tough team of Burnley. The Clarets had a record of 9 victories 2 draws and 3 defeats at Turf Moor before the match against Tottenham Hotspur. That was the Spurs’ 4th consecutive victory in The Premier League, which boosted their chance of winning the title.

To continue with, Tottenham had the first real chance to open the score in the 31st minute, when Dele Alli missed on an open goal after a good play by Eriksen. The strengths were pretty equal and The Spurs had to wait until the 66th minute to score the first goal of the game. They took advantage of a poor clearance after a corner kick and Eric Dier put the ball into Burnley’s net. 10 minutes later Heung-Min Son doubled the score after a great assist by Dele Alli.

The leaders Chelsea lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge, which means that The Spurs have melted the difference at the top to 7 points, which is not an impossible task for them. Actually, the Tottenham Hotspur’s schedule until the end of the season isn’t that bad. There are only 2 difficult matches – against Arsenal and Man United at White Hart Lane. The Mauricio Pochettino’s players will also meet Swansea City, Watford, Bournemouth, Leicester City, West Ham United and Hull City. Reasonably, they are able to win all these games! And if they do it – they will probably win the title.

In conclusion, The Blues see to have a more difficult schedule, as they will play against Man City and Southampton at Stamford Bridge and will have to visit Manchester United and Everton. The easier matches for the Antonio Conte’s players will be against Watford, AFC Bournemouth, West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough and Sunderland. For sure, the competition for the first place in the Premier League’s is still not decided.