The quarter-finals of the Champions League – the home and away legs are scheduled for the next two weeks – contain stories that intertwine them all with material for an old format TV series, 24 one-hour episodes. The tastiest concerns Xavi who on January 27, just over two months ago, announced his resignation (postdated) from Barcelona after a humiliating home defeat against Villarreal. In a climate also made heavy by the posture of president Laporta, capable of saying that if the coach hadn’t been called of contract.
A move of pride to avoid being kicked out first, but perhaps in some very refined way studied given that since then Barcelona have collected seven victories and two draws in La Liga – where they are back second, -8 behind Real – and have passed the European round with Napoli. Once the exemption was taken off the table, the coach and team found the necessary lightness to give their best, from Lewandowski who returned a sentence to Yamal who never stops making his eyes shine. The draw did the rest, because the pairing with PSG in the quarter-finals and the eventual pairing with Atletico or Dortmund in the semi-finals (both returns at home) were gifts from heaven, considering that the top four favorites will battle each other in the other side of the board.
Xavi and the break with Laporta
Able to smell the wind as always, Laporta began to reverse gear a while ago, “our task now is to convince Xavi to stay” and other honeyed declarations, which for now have not dented the wall erected by the coach around his choice . But what will happen if Barça goes to the semi-finals? And maybe in the final? At these levels the road is never smooth, but it could have been much more treacherous. Barcelona’s great rivals in the quarterfinals are two: the last coach with whom they won the Champions League, Luis Enrique, and Real Madrid’s next centre-forward, Kylian Mbappé (the stuff of Game of Thrones screenwriters).
Mbappé and the conflicts with Luis Enrique
It’s not that the two, head and arm of PSG, get along very well: ever since their star announced that he won’t stay in Paris, Luis Enrique often throws him on the bench – at the start or during the match – following the questionable logical thread of “we have to get used to doing without him”. At the first sign of burning, Kylian is inserted hastily, and when the match remains open like on Wednesday against Rennes in the French Cup, there’s no question of removing him, and if they then equalize in the last minute, who will take the chestnuts out of the fire? in extra time? Mbappé missed a penalty the other evening, the lively breeze brought him the first boos – also due to his annoyed attitude after Sunday’s substitution – and then he warmed up the audience with the winning goal (39th in 39 matches) and two great defensive runs, the kind that satisfy the fan because they show attachment.
Two with the dream of the Treble
PSG is the only one to share the possibility of a treble with Manchester City: the scudetto is only a matter of time (12 points over Brest), they have qualified for the cup final with Lyon and are in the Champions League quarter-finals. City still doesn’t have an armored objective, because in the Premier League it is a battle with Liverpool and Arsenal, in the cup they will play the semi-final with Chelsea and in the Champions League they are awaited by the mother of all direct clashes, having drawn Real Madrid. There is an air of “it’s not the same team anymore” around City that is difficult to explain, given that Guardiola arrived in April in the same conditions as last year, when he then filled up.
City’s motivations
Re-motivating a team that has won everything is always the most difficult task, and Pep has succeeded: yet some creaks can be felt, as can be seen from the two titanic (on paper) Premier League matches against their rivals. City barely survived at Liverpool on 10 March; on the 31st they hosted Arsenal and for the first time after a streak of 47 home games they didn’t score. It ended 0-0. So someone went to review the season roster and discovered that of the famous Big Six, City drew twice against Liverpool and Chelsea, against Arsenal they lost and drew, against Tottenham they drew and the only one they played against twice Poor Manchester United was a big player.
Criticism of Haaland
Since Haaland, despite the 24 goals between the championship and the Champions League, was heavily criticized by Roy Keane, United icon and author of the famous murderous entrance on Erling’s father, Alf-Inge, Guardiola intervened decisively in Tuesday’s press conference, and Sparks flew. However, it is a restless City that is preparing for the double ordeal with Real: it is known that Pep will stay for another year and then say goodbye, and two Italian coaches, De Zerbi who is keeping Brighton afloat haunted by injuries and Maresca who is bringing Leicester back in Premier, they are among the candidates for the second most important succession of the decade.
The succession to the king
The first was moved by Carlo Ancelotti to 2026, the expiry date of his contract with Real Madrid: he will therefore be the one to launch the Bellingham-Vinicius-Mbappé trio, the new frontier of football entertainment. If you were wondering why Xabi Alonso, the next big thing on the bench in common opinion, decided to stay at Leverkusen, this could be an answer. Four out of eight coaches registered for the Champions League quarter-finals have a Barcelona origin: Guardiola, Xavi, Luis Enrique and Mikel Arteta, the ambitious Arsenal driver who is waiting for Bayern. In the last ten seasons, Bayern have reached the quarter-finals nine times, Real and City eight, Arsenal are in the first round. Courage. He shares with Simeone’s Atletico the absence of the Champions League in his palmares, and this too is a potential final. It is painful to imagine the stellar, dramatic, exhilarating, anxiety-inducing and liberating football of the next two months, and knowing that he will never speak Italian.
#Heres #Champions #League #intrigue #ambition #Game #Thrones
– 2024-04-06 05:23:07
