Hello, and welcome to Early Doors Football! This week, instead of having one specific topic, I am going to look back at some of the most important news and matches that have happened over the past week or so. As usual, football has provided us with a lot of fantastic spectacles, so there is plenty to jump into. Firstly, let’s have a look at one of the most exciting matches of the season, Manchester City vs. Tottenham!
Title race back on?!
On Saturday, there was an absolutely phenomenal game between Manchester City and Spurs, which ended 3-2 to the London side. It was a fascinating match, with talking points all across the pitch. I certainly did not expect to be saying this, but what a performance from Tottenham! Conte got his tactics spot on, and managed to threaten City multiple times on the counter-attack. While Spurs only had 6 shots in the match, they looked a constant threat despite their 29% possession. Son and Kulusevski really exploited City’s defense and got into a lot of 1 on 1 situations with the center backs out wide; this gave Harry Kane a bit of space to operate. In this match, we saw Harry Kane at his very best. He scored two goals and played a phenomenal through-ball for the other. He seemed like a man on a mission, perhaps punishing Manchester City for not splashing the cash and purchasing him last summer. Ideally for Spurs, this will inject them with confidence and allow them to push on in the race for top 4. This was quite an unexpected performance, as they had horrid results in the prior matches, but they will hope that they turned over a new leaf.
In the other technical area, Pep Guardiola was left to rue his sides’ missed chances. Guardiola always strives for perfection, so of course he will be furious. From my perspective, while this does certainly open up the title race, City will not be panicking yet. They have been in this position many times before, so they are vastly experienced fending off title challengers. With that said, this does show that City may have a few vulnerabilities. I still think this is their title to lose, but Liverpool are absolutely waiting to pounce.
Barcelona starting to click?
In their match against this past weekend, the Blaugrana thrashed Valencia 4-1, with an impressive hat-trick from Aubameyang. This match highlighted the potential Barca have, and reminded everyone that there is quality in the squad. It is worth noting that Valencia played into Barca’s hands, as they played with a very high line.
More importantly, they were able to comprehensively beat Napoli 4-2 in their Europa League second leg, enabling them to advance to the round of 16. That is now two matches in a row with big performances, which is quite rare for them. Frenkie De Jong played brilliantly and contributed with a fantastic goal, which will do wonders for his confidence. Adama Traore has been loving life at Barca, and has really increased his goal contributions. I was quite critical of this transfer for his lack of end product, but he has massively improved in that realm since his move to Spain. The Catalan side’s focus now shifts to Sunday, as they have an important match against Athletic Bilbao. While Xavi’s side has shown improvement, they will need to keep this form up if they want to solidify their Champions League qualification.
7 touches…
In Chelsea’s recent match against Crystal Palace, a rather worrying statistic overshadowed the Blues’ 1-0 win. Their huge signing, the man who was meant to be the final piece to the puzzle, Romelu Lukaku, touched the ball seven times in the entire match. While this is an anomaly, it does bring this issue to the forefront of our conversations. It has become quite clear that Lukaku does not fit Chelsea’s system, at least in the current way they play. Every match, the rift between Lukaku and those around him seems to grow. Neither the player nor the coach is willing to adjust for the other, so it is quite a worrying period for Chelsea and Lukaku. Chelsea may as well have had The Invisible Man upfront, and there is no way for me to excuse such a performance. I plan on doing an article on the disjointed relationship of Chelsea and Lukaku in the future (assuming this nightmare persists), so I will not go any deeper. 7 touches is the fewest number of touches in a Premier League match (for a player that played 90 minutes) since data collection began, so the situation has never been worse since the Belgian returned to London (Opta).
Champions League Round Up!
We have now had all of the first legs played in the Round of 16! Most things went in a straightforward manner, but I did want to touch briefly on a few of the fixtures. I will not go into incredible detail, as I will cover the UCL in-depth when the ties are concluded.
Manchester United, somehow, drew against Atletico Madrid 1-1 in the Spanish capital. Up until the 80th minute, United were absolutely horrific. No part of their game suggested that they would escape with a point. They could not beat Atletico’s press, would give the ball away in ridiculous areas, and had absolutely no coherence when they had the opportunity to break. Ronaldo and Bruno Fernades exuded petulance the entire match and seemed to think that their main goal was to yell at the ref as much as possible. With that said, they have everything to play for at Old Trafford, and have the upper hand from my point of view. There is something to be said for teams that can play poorly and still avoid losing, however this often seems to be United’s primary form of picking up points. The English pair of Rashford and Maguire were pitiful, but it was their Swedish counterparts, Elanga and Lindelof, that can hold their heads high. Atletico will be disappointed that they did not put the game away, and now have to go to England and win the match.
PSG were spared from embarrassment by a late Mbappe goal against Real Madrid in the French capital. They dominated the game, and deservingly got the win in the end. Los Blancos were extremely poor, and were pinned in by PSG throughout the match. They struggled to get past the Parisian’s press, and when they did so, the attack fizzled out. Benzema started despite being unfit, and it was evident in his performance. There was little movement, which only made things more difficult for Madrid. The one goal difference is not insurmountable, so Real should show some fight in the home leg.
Lastly, Juventus, Bayern, and Ajax all could only manage draws in their matches. They all take their opponents to their home soil, so they will like their chances. These three sides are in a bit of an uncomfortable position however, since the away goals rule has been removed. The second legs of these draws should be quite enthralling matches, as they are now essentially a one-off match for the quarterfinals. As I mentioned, I will take an in-depth look at these ties in a future article, so I will leave it there.
Well, that is all for today! As always, please let me know your thoughts in a comment below, or feel free to reach out with any feedback or suggestions. Thank you all, and have a fantastic day!
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