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Meanwhile in the far more important Championship*

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Leeds still have to play Wigan (21st, just a point above the relegation zone), Aston Villa (5th), Brentford (14th) and Ipswich (dead last, would need four wins from the remaining four matches, each by at least three goals, to even have a mathematical chance of avoiding relegation, having only won four matches all year).

Sheffield United have to play Nottingham Forest (11th), Hull (9th), Ipswich (last) and Stoke (16th).








*Relative importance of Premier League and Championship will change next year, if Leeds are promoted
 
bilby said:
Meanwhile in the far more important Championship*

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Leeds still have to play Wigan (21st, just a point above the relegation zone), Aston Villa (5th), Brentford (14th) and Ipswich (dead last, would need four wins from the remaining four matches, each by at least three goals, to even have a mathematical chance of avoiding relegation, having only won four matches all year).

Sheffield United have to play Nottingham Forest (11th), Hull (9th), Ipswich (last) and Stoke (16th).








*Relative importance of Premier League and Championship will change next year, if Leeds are promoted
Click to expand...

Well, that didn't go as planned.

The first twenty minutes were looking good - Wigan had a player sent off after just fourteen minutes, and although Leeds missed the subsequent penalty, they scored three minutes later.

Leeds totally dominated the match, with a huge advantage in possession, shots, shots on target, indeed by every statistic, this was a match Leeds should have won by five or six goals to nil.

Wigan only had two shots on target the entire game.

Leeds lost 1-2, dropping to third behind Sheffield United on goal difference.

Three matches remaining in the season. It looks like Leeds might manage to snatch an unlikely defeat from the haws of victory. Again. :(
 
bilby said:
bilby said:
Meanwhile in the far more important Championship*

View attachment 21048
View attachment 21047



Leeds still have to play Wigan (21st, just a point above the relegation zone), Aston Villa (5th), Brentford (14th) and Ipswich (dead last, would need four wins from the remaining four matches, each by at least three goals, to even have a mathematical chance of avoiding relegation, having only won four matches all year).

Sheffield United have to play Nottingham Forest (11th), Hull (9th), Ipswich (last) and Stoke (16th).








*Relative importance of Premier League and Championship will change next year, if Leeds are promoted
Click to expand...

Well, that didn't go as planned.

The first twenty minutes were looking good - Wigan had a player sent off after just fourteen minutes, and although Leeds missed the subsequent penalty, they scored three minutes later.

Leeds totally dominated the match, with a huge advantage in possession, shots, shots on target, indeed by every statistic, this was a match Leeds should have won by five or six goals to nil.

Wigan only had two shots on target the entire game.

Leeds lost 1-2, dropping to third behind Sheffield United on goal difference.

Three matches remaining in the season. It looks like Leeds might manage to snatch an unlikely defeat from the haws of victory. Again. :(
Click to expand...
Although I'm an arsenal fan coming from Bristol I want Bristol city to go up. Unfortunately they have slipped out the play off places 😕
 
Well a half of false hope from Man United. Manchester City wins 2-0 (or better?) and sets up the final three game gauntlet with Liverpool. Man City wins out, they take EPL title and Liverpool is second and can only strike at Champion’s League glory.
 
The drubbing at Goodison showed them (Man Utd) up for what they are, an average team at best. Mourinho was right to get himself out of that club. Wolves are doing pretty well.
 
Chaos in the Leeds v Aston Villa game. Villa player goes down injured, Leeds have possession but don't put ball out of play. Villa players have stopped, expecting the ball to be put out so their player can receive treatment. Leeds go on to score a goal. A melee breaks out among the players of both teams. Leeds manager Bielsa orders his players to let Villa score a goal on the restart, which they do except for one Leeds player who tries to stop Villa scoring. Funny stuff, I can't think I've seen this happen before.

DailMail
 
Bielsa made the right call - but the referee should have stopped play, avoiding the whole situation.

It's not that uncommon for a team to deliberately concede a goal after scoring one with an opponent injured and his team mates distracted by the injury. And nor should ot be - it's supposed to be a sporting competition, not just a competition.

Leeds were almost certain to finish third in the league regardless of the result, so now it's play offs to see if we go up. There's a fair chance of us meeting Villa again in the playoff final.
 
Meanwhile in the EPL:

Top two teams continue with champion results, the next four are quite uncertain if they want top 4 finish.

And in Champions League footy:

Tottenham play Ajax on Tuesday, Liverpool play Barcelona on Wednesday.

Liverpool have hopefully five games left while Man City have three. L’pool however have 4 in the next two weeks where as Man City just 2. Down the wire. Man City have not been as dominant as I feared post the VAR doom fixture, but they ain’t exactly losing.

For more fun, just think of a massive Man City loss paired with a Liverpool draw, meaning a tie atop the table and GD being the difference. ACK!
 
Ajax win 1-0 at Tottenham, putting Ajax in familiar territory of being ahead for the return tie.
 
A great game with both teams playing like they should be in the Champions League semis (or finals). But Barcelona still won big with a 3-0 final score which should make defeating Barcelona virtually impossible. Liverpool came close to drawing within two immediately after Messi's gorgeous set piece goal, but a save and then a clearance off the line kept Liverpool from gaining a crucial away goal and softening the aggregate difference to two.
 
Liverpool continues on as their role of the Cardiac Kids.

Tottenham, Manchester United, and Arsenal all decide that fourth place is just beneath them.

Chelsea will finish in the Top Four.

Jamie Vardy's presumably critical hat trick in today's game the difference against Manchester City.
 
Leeds continue their bid to avoid promotion, losing 3-2 to bottom ranked, long ago relegated, ten man Ipswich, who won in the ninetieth minute after Leeds missed a penalty. This is Leeds United's fourth loss in a row, and Ipswich Town's fifth victory in the entire 46 match season.

Leeds will now be thrashed by face sixth placed Derby in the two-legged Championship play-off semifinal.

Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion will play the other semifinal, with the winners to play Derby at Wembley Stadium. The Championship play off final is the world's most lucrative single sporting match, with the winners joining Norwich and Sheffield United in the Premier League next year; A status estimated to be worth a minimum of £60 million to the victorious club.
 
Jamie Vardy doesn't score. And it takes rifle from Kompany to finally break through. Man City seemed the best, so it was an appropriate outcome, though Leicester should have put City back on its heels when a striker was in on net, with time, and botched the shot.

Liverpool must beat Wolves (Anfield), City must tie or lose to Brighton (on the beach). Things look very up for City at the moment. The Reds will finish with no fewer than 94 points, a tidy sum that has never not won the EPL title before.

Only thing less likely than a Liverpool comeback at Anfield against Barcelona, an across the board tie, which would require some rather unbelievable scores. Liverpool would need to draw 4-4 and Man City must lose 4-0. That would tie in points, goal diff, and goals scored. Yeah... not going to happen. But, I'd welcome a loss in any form for Man City, draw may work too.
 
Meanwhile in OMFG!!! 3-0 LFC ahead in the second leg. One more goal and they are up on aggregate. One slip up and Barcelona still makes it out of reach.

Make that 4 - nil after a cheeky corner. This is unbelievable! It isn't over. One goal from Barcelona means Liverpool needs one more. If Liverpool get 5-nil, they can breath... a little.
 
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I'm convinced this game is fixed, or Barcelona just want to get their summer vacation started. Either way, I'm disappointed I may not see Messi in the final.
 
Barcelona played with the intensity of a dying kitten, even after Liverpool had scored a few. I guess going into the game 3-0 ended up working to their disadvantage.
 
Barcelona have had issues playing away from Camp Nou. I have no idea why. Unless they have strategically placed moles to divert the ball on the pitch.

Liverpool had the Europa Semi-Final against Borussia Dortmond in 2016, down 3-1 with a half hour left, and needing 3 goals to advance and Lovern headed the third of those goals with a couple minutes left in extra time, and Anfield exploded. Oddly enough, Origi scored Liverpool's first goal in that game too.

While the down the wire tension of that game wasn't topped today, this win is still the biggest comeback in franchise history with the exception of the AC Milan Champions League Final comeback from 3-0 down in the second half. Without Firmino and Salah? Incredible!
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Barcelona have had issues playing away from Camp Nou. I have no idea why. Unless they have strategically placed moles to divert the ball on the pitch.

Liverpool had the Europa Semi-Final against Borussia Dortmond in 2016, down 3-1 with a half hour left, and needing 3 goals to advance and Lovern headed the third of those goals with a couple minutes left in extra time, and Anfield exploded. Oddly enough, Origi scored Liverpool's first goal in that game too.

While the down the wire tension of that game wasn't topped today, this win is still the biggest comeback in franchise history with the exception of the AC Milan Champions League Final comeback from 3-0 down in the second half. Without Firmino and Salah? Incredible!
Click to expand...

What's your analysis on Barcelona as a whole, in contrast to Liverpool? I recall Barca being called overrated last year, but I really don't watch enough football to know.

Regardless, Liverpool better win it now.
 
rousseau said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Barcelona have had issues playing away from Camp Nou. I have no idea why. Unless they have strategically placed moles to divert the ball on the pitch.

Liverpool had the Europa Semi-Final against Borussia Dortmond in 2016, down 3-1 with a half hour left, and needing 3 goals to advance and Lovern headed the third of those goals with a couple minutes left in extra time, and Anfield exploded. Oddly enough, Origi scored Liverpool's first goal in that game too.

While the down the wire tension of that game wasn't topped today, this win is still the biggest comeback in franchise history with the exception of the AC Milan Champions League Final comeback from 3-0 down in the second half. Without Firmino and Salah? Incredible!
Click to expand...

What's your analysis on Barcelona as a whole, in contrast to Liverpool? I recall Barca being called overrated last year, but I really don't watch enough football to know.

Regardless, Liverpool better win it now.
Click to expand...
I can't say with any expertise, as I don't watch La Liga. Barcelona has a reputation of being a winner... though this was their first semi-final appearance in 5 years!

Barcelona had solid opportunities in the first half, about four of them, and Allison made a few critical plays in the game and should be the man of the match. Barcelona aren't quite over-rated... I just get upset that La Liga doesn't have the parity of the EPL, so it is easy to fly high in European Football comps because the domestic schedule is a joke.

In the first leg, Barcelona won 1-0... Messi won 2-0. They benefit from him and when he goes, they won't be able to fill that gap. Barcelona just looked underwhelmed today. Anfield can be hard to play at, but a team of Barcelona's caliber should be able to handle that. They needed to score just one goal to make things so much harder for Liverpool. As to Liverpool, I think Manchester City is the better team, as Man City are out of the Champions League because of a funky offside rule.

But Liverpool have been scraping away at the results. So on against Ajax or Tottenham in the Champions League Final. I'd put my money on Ajax... and it should be a good game. Ajax have heart, but Liverpool are desperate for a cup and regaining what was lost in last year's final.
 
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