Analysis

It hasn’t exactly been rosy times for Valencia CF and their fans of late. Since qualifying for the Champions League in 2015, the club has completely gone downhill. In the last two seasons, they’ve finished mid-table in La Liga, flirted dangerously with relegation, sold their best players and have had a total of five managers: Nuno, Gary Neville, Pako Ayestaran, Cesare Prandelli and Voro. However, things may finally be changing at Valencia after three important announcements were recently made by the club.  

You could say it’s been an abnormal season for Cristiano Ronaldo. We’ve all gotten used to the Portuguese star playing almost every single competitive match and reaching outrageous totals of 50 or 60 goals a campaign. 

This season, however, Ronaldo has scored 37 goals across all competitions, and he’s appeared in 43 of Real Madrid’s 57 official games — a total of only 75%. This is a significant change from last season when he scored a total of 51 goals and played 48 of Real’s 52 matches — a total of 92%. 

MLS has come under fire in the past for the gap between its stated goal of becoming an elite league and its current reality. Just last week, Chicago Fire midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger noted the stark difference between the quality of play in MLS and European leagues. 

After securing three points yesterday behind Emre Can’s wonder goal, Liverpool are primed to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in three years. The Reds have a very manageable schedule down the stretch.

The 14-point gap separating rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga was never going to be a factor here. Even the home advantage Bayern enjoyed at the Allianz Arena in this DFB-Pokal semifinal was no reason to believe that this latest version of Der Klassiker had a clear favorite.

Nine goals. Nine. Four goals for Inter, five for Fiorentina. I think it’s fair to say that no one expected that. Elsewhere, Juventus demolished Genoa with four goals and no reply. Expected. Lazio rumbled right over Palermo, going five-nil up in thirty minutes and finishing the game six to one. Expected. Napoli drew two apiece away at Sassuolo. Not that expected, to be honest, but not that shocking. But Fiorentina five, Inter four? That’s a result that makes you sit up and take notice.

For all the talk regarding what it would take for Barcelona to, once again, turn around a seemingly insurmountable lead, the difference between this return leg and the one against PSG was made immediately evident upon kickoff. Juventus played higher up the pitch, they made Barcelona entirely uncomfortable, they were sophisticatedly physical and they were capable of stringing passes together.