THE DRAMA AT STAMFORD BRIDGE

 

Image Credit- Chelsea Football Club.

New Year's Eve was full of drama for Chelsea fans; their manager, Enzo Maresca, has left the club with immediate effect. No one could believe what has happened. A manager so popular among the fans and the one who has been winning silverware after silverware has left us in the middle of the season. It is pertinent to note that Maresca won us two trophies in just 18 months, which includes the UEFA Conference League and the Inaugural FIFA Club World Cup. Mind you, he won us the Club World Cup by defeating the European champions, Paris Saint-Germain, and that too by a margin of 3-0. So, he was a brilliant manager who knew how to beat big clubs on the biggest of stages.

Presently there have been multiple stories circulating among the footballing circuit. Some say he has an offer from Manchester City, while the others say that there was a tussle with the management. No one exactly knows what has happened, but we have a new coach in the Bridge. 

Liam Rosenior, a 41-year-old English coach who has been managing the French club RC Strasbourg Alsace, has been assigned the task of coaching and managing Chelsea. Is he fit for the job or not? Something that only time can tell. But presently, it all seems like nonsense. 

The club this season has performed inconsistently. Will Liam get the side back on track, or are we looking towards another trophyless season? Amidst this uncertainty, only one thing is for sure, and that is we won't be short of drama in the Bridge. 

THE SLAUGHTER

 

Image Credit: FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich are two heavyweights of European football. Whenever these two sides meet, fireworks are expected. Most of the time the games between the two are high-class and intense. It requires a special effort to create a difference between the two sides. However, there is one such game between the two, which was not only one-sided but also actually saw one of the teams getting absolutely slaughtered. Yes. You all guessed it right. We are talking about the 2020 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the matches were played behind closed doors with no spectators inside the stadium. Moreover, the two-legged competition was also reduced to a single match on a neutral venue. Hence, the two great sides encountered each other in the city of Cristiano Ronaldo—Lisbon.

The men from Germany started off pretty well as Muller scored the opening goal of the match in just 4 minutes. However, Barcelona soon leveled the score to 1-1 as David Alaba scored an own goal. But, this didn't reduce the intensity of the Bayern attack, who soon scored 3 more goals in the first half itself, thus taking a 4-1 lead at halftime.

Barcelona started the second half pretty well as Suarez scored the second goal for Barcelona in the 57th minute. Unfortunately the Blaugrana failed to make further inroads in the Munich defense, whereas Bayern scored 3 more goals in the next 30 minutes as FC Barcelona got hammered in the most cruel manner. To add wounds to the injury, Coutinho scored a brace against the club that loaned him to Bayern.

At the end of 90 minutes, the scorecard read FC Barcelona 2-8 FC Bayern Munich. The humiliation was well and truly complete for Blaugrana. FC Bayern Munich later went on to win the Champions League that season. However, even after 5 years of the game, no football fan will ever forget that night in Lisbon.

To watch the highlights of the game, Click Here. 

THE TITLE RACE IS HEATING-UP

 

Image Credit- Corporate Sports Unlimited.

The New Year has arrived, and we have now stepped into the second half of the footballing season—the phase that will decide who will wear the crown at last. In a highly anticipated game, Arsenal thrashed Aston Villa 4-1 and has continued to maintain its lead at the top of the Premier League Table. At the end of 19 games, Arsenal has managed to secure 45 points with 14 wins and 3 draws.

However, Manchester City is not much behind the league leaders, as City too has 40 points in 18 games. A win against Sunderland would reduce the Arsenal lead to just 2 points. Thus, it can rightly be said that the title race is heating up in the moment. One mistake and the title dreams would be done and dusted.

Interestingly, it's not Arsenal and City who are the title contenders right now in England. Even Aston Villa and Liverpool are not much behind the league leaders. Moreover, we still have 19-20 games in hand. A lot can happen in this many games.

However, it is pertinent to note that historically Manchester City plays their best football in this very phase of the season, whereas Liverpool and Arsenal often crumble in pressure situations. Will the History Repeat Itself? The answer lies in the womb of time. But, for the time being, the football fans are guaranteed a blockbuster year ahead.