It has delivered to the fans lots of ups and downs and mixed feelings. But what specifically happened during the week and as a result had serious..side-effects on fans mood ?
But let us take things from the beginning ..
A. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE .
The blogger had only one doubt about the outcome of the second leg among all contenders , leading to the pre-semis ( Final 8 ) : Should Olympiacos make it through and..escape from Old Trafford withought been ..drowned ?
Greek champions retained a 2-0 advantage from first leg, a score that many teams would be jealous for..
And versus whom ? The reigning champions of Premiere League ( even in its worst shape in years ), ManU !
...Having all above in mind, I decided to invite my close friends Sophie and Jon, to follow the game together.
Jon, of a Scottish origin and Edinburgh native, as well a long and loyal ManU's supporter, is exactly the kind of the opposite's team supporter, you wish to follow such a crucial game. All that was proven during the two hours that the game lasted. By..the way the game ended into a nightmare ( for me and the team of my heart ). 3-0 for ManU, and Olympiacos waiting for next year to do better..
Jon, as expected kept his sang-froid and proved that the notorious Brittish temper, is totally accurate.
He remained calm and sure of his favourite's team potential even when Olympiacos lost critical occasions to score.
When the night was over, and having realized the disappointing result, I recalled that I have never followed a single game of my team, with the " company " of a Panathinaicos fan.
The latters, having litterally NOTHING to celebrate in decades, are simply living with one and only wish : ( which makes them really happy..)..To see Olympiacos loosing !! And then maybe die..Unbelievable !
So, in Nyon's ( Switzerland ) friday's draw, strong duos emerged; The Draw : Atletico de Madrid -Barcelona, Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund, PSG-Chelsea, and finally ManU-Bayern Munich.
All wavering games, allowing me to predict a slight precedence of Atletico, Real, PSG and Bayern. We shall have to wait and see the accurance of my forecasts.
B. EUROPA LEAGUE : Friday's draw also set off following
couples :
The draw : AZ Alkmaar-Benfica Lisbon, Olympique Lyonnais-
Juventus, FC Basel-Valencia, FC Porto-Sevilla FC.
FINAL : TORINO 14 th of May.
My first comment : An uber favourite Juve, with an extra motivation ; Final in front of the majority of their fans, in their home town..Strong candidates Valencia, Benfica. And a ..distand outsider, FC Porto.
Having followed the second leg, most games were more exciting than those of the Champions L. And three of them ended in a dramatic way !
Fiorentina-Juve 0-1 courtesy of artist Andrea Pirlo, Rio Guadalcivir's derby Betis-Sevilla sent to extra time, and penalties, sending Sevilla FC to the pre-semis ( aggregate 2-2 ).Poor left bank's Betis supporters couldn't believe their eyes having in mind memories from 1st leg ( 0-2 ) !
A true suicide..Benfica ended second leg in a rather disappointing style 1-3 from Tottenham Hotspurs, was qualified though, after upsetting its fans till the last minute.
Finally in Napoli, Italians lost huge chances to overturn their defeat 1-0 in Portugal, equalized 1st leg's score, but were then punished and kicked off the tournament with a shocking 2-2, despite efforts of ex Real Madrid's striker Gonzalo Iguain.
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B. EUROLEAGUE : Olympiacos P. after its giant step forward ( beating Laboral Cutxa at a comfortable 30 points win ), dominates the headlines. After 4 defeats in the row ( caused mainly from a series of injuries, including legendary captain V.Spanoulis ), the "reds " are back with a message to whom it may concern : Don't underestimate us !!
It will be a pity for this colossal team, not to make it at least to the playoffs..
In the group, Barca walks unbeaten, EA7 Armani, having lost due to injury Euroleague's MVP American guard Keith Langford, have 99% secured position 2 and have started thinking the cross with Maccabi Tel Aviv ( best of 5 games ).
Panathinaicos, in a game without tomorrow, has beaten at home Fener-Ulker and hopes for 3d place in the group.
Still the green team faces serious threats in its three remaining games, starting from friday's trip to Barcelona..
Not to mention of course its "visit " at SEF Stadium in Pireaus "hosted " by their eternal rivals, on the last day of the Top16.
( People say that the port's waters are VERY DEEP.....).
In group F, both Cska and Real will test position 1, in Tel Aviv, with Maccabi deciding which of them ends first...
Galatasaray, Lokomotiv and Bayern fight for one place in the sun...
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In other football news, Chelsea smashed 6-0 Arsenal in London's derby, proving once again that Arsene Wenger is more of a teacher to young talented players than a real winner manager..20+years without a title, incredible !
Liverpool's 3-6 in Wales give well deserved dreams for something "special " to this glorious club.
Yaya Toure's hat trick helps Manchester City at an easy 5-0 v struggling Fulham, and justifies the blogger for his early season forecasts, that the Citizens aside with Chelsea will fight for the title till the end.
Spain keeps its breath, minutes before the kick off of the Clasico, in Santiago Bernabeu..
Whatever the score is, Athletico de Madrid will cash in..
( especially in a draw scenario ).
That will be all for now, please remain calm as things can always turn to the better for the teams you love and support !
