The battles for titles in England and Spain will come down to the final games.
In England, Liverpool remains one point ahead of Manchester City and two ahead of Chelsea after a demoralizing 3-3 draw to Crystal Palace on Monday. The Reds, the surprise team of the season, were ahead 3-0 before a defense that has been shaky at best all season collapsed in allowing three goals within nine minutes in the second half.
To win its first first-division title since 1990, Liverpool will need help. It first must defeat a Newcastle team on Sunday that is limping to the finish line. A victory would give Liverpool 84 points.
It would then need Manchester City to lose one of its last two games, which will also be played against teams without much left to play for: Aston Villa on Wednesday and West Ham on Sunday. Chelsea, holding on to third with 79 points, also has a chance. It would need to defeat Cardiff City on Sunday, hope that Liverpool loses its last game and that Manchester City either loses both, or loses one and draws another.
Though it is highly unlikely, Liverpool would win the title should all three contenders go winless down the stretch. If Manchester City and Liverpool finish the same point total, the Blues have the tie-breaking greater goal-differential.
In Spain, Atletico Madrid has a three-point lead over Barcelona and five-point lead over rival Real Madrid, which has three games left, compared to two games remaining for each of the other two contenders.
Atletico will host Barcelona in season’s final set of games on May 18. If Atletico wins out, it takes the title. If Real wins out and Atletico loses or ties either of its remaining games, it wins the title. If Barcelona wins out and Real loses or ties any of its remaining games, Barcelona wins the title.
MLS
The usual suspects continue to remain atop their respective conferences in MLS.
Seattle knocked off Philadelphia 2-1 on goals from the enigmatic Obafemi Martins and Chad Marshall to stay two points ahead of Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference. Kansas City edged Columbus behind goals from Jacob Peterson and Claudio Bieler in stoppage time to keep pace with New England and New York in the Eastern Conference.
Portland, last year’s darling, knocked off D.C. United 3-2 for its first win of the season.
With few marquee games this week, the standings should stay static.
National team
The Washington Post reported that Arsenal midfielder Gedion Zelalem is working on securing his U.S. citizenship, which would make him eligible to play for Jurgen Klinsmann’s U.S. national team.
If Zelalem, 17, elects to play for the U.S. and not Germany or Ethiopia, he would be the second promising youngster to pledge his future to the U.S. Julian Green, a forward for Bayern Munich who was born in Tampa but was raised in Germany, recently pledged and appeared in a friendly against Mexico in April.
Relegation
If your team isn’t in the running for a title, it might be more interesting to follow the relegation battle in England. Each year, the teams that finish in the bottom three of the 20-team table drop down to the Championship, England’s second tier.
The fates of Fulham and Cardiff City have been decided: they are going down, losing out on the millions of dollars that come with playing in the Premier League each year. The third slot will likely come down to Wednesday’s game between Sunderland, which is in 17th place, and West Bromwich Albion, which is in 16th. If Sunderland wins, it will remain in the Premier League next season and Norwich City, which is in 18th place and two points behind Sunderland, will drop down to the Championship. Sunderland really needs just one point from either of its remaining two games and it will stay up because of its smaller goal difference compared to Norwich.
Norwich City needs to defeat Arsenal on Sunday and hope Sunderland loses to West Bromwich and again to Swansea in the finale.
Sunderland’s run has defied logic. Left for dead at the bottom of the table, the Black Cats roared back to life with wins against Chelsea, Cardiff City and Manchester United. It would be nice to say that U.S. striker Jozy Altidore has been the catalyst, but he only participated by winning a penalty for the deciding goal against Chelsea. It’s safe to assume that he will be somewhere else next year.
Champions League
If the race in Spain’s La Liga wasn’t exciting enough, for the first time in Champions League history two teams from the same city will compete for the title when Real Madrid takes on Atletico Madrid on May 24 in Lisbon.
Powered by counter-attacking skill, Real Madrid surprisingly destroyed defending champs Bayern Munich 4-0 last week for a two-game aggregate of 5-0. Munich had no answer for Sergio Ramos on set pieces, or the speed of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale on the flanks. Ramos scored two goals and Ronaldo added two more, the first his record 15th goal in the Champions League. You can watch video of the goal celebration below.
In the other semifinal, Atletico Madrid had no trouble breaking down defensive-minded Chelsea, rallying from 1-0 down early to win 3-1. Like its bigger neighbors, Madrid used its speed down the wings to send crosses to the back post that Chelsea’s defenders couldn’t handle. Goals by Adrian Lopez, a penalty by Diego Costa (who is rumored to be signing with Chelsea this summer) and Arda Turan pushed Atletico into its first Champions League final in 40 years.
Silverbacks win again
After a rough start to season, the Silverbacks have found their footing.
Atlanta’s NASL franchise defeated Ottawa 2-1 on Saturday to improve to 2-0-2 this season. Deon McCaulay and Jamie Chavez scored for the Silverbacks, who trail Minnesota by six points in the Spring season.
Atlanta will play at Fort Lauderdale on Saturday in a big game. A Silverbacks win will see them draw level with the Strikers at nine points and stay within distance of league-leading Minnesota.
The NASL tweaked its playoff format this year. The champions of the Spring season and Fall season are granted berths in the playoffs. The two teams with the next best records in the combined seasons will earn the third and fourth seeds. Because of that tweak, earning points in both seasons is critical.
Quotes of the week
I would love to include a quote from Atletico coach Diego Simeone, who used a euphemism to thank the mothers of his players for giving them the ability to play well in Wednesday’s game. But I can’t. You’ll have to look it up for yourself.
-
“I have my ideas as a coach and that’s how my team will play. I must convince the players and coach them that way. I’m open to new ideas. I know the quality of the whole squad and I’ve adapted to them. I noticed from the day I arrived that the players were different to teams I have previously coached.
"Next season, we will play 100 percent with my ideas. I can't coach this club or its players without believing in my ideas. I'm a strong person. There was a lot of criticism but that's the nature of the beat. Criticism is normal." – Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola, as reported by numerous sites.
-
“In Germany we would say we had a ‘blackout’. We had no chance from the beginning, we were not in the game. The team felt too much pressure, we could not run, pass or play. We were never being in the game – we had no chance. At half-time I tried for sure.
"In the dressing room at half-time, they seemed to fight. Nobody said a word at the end, everybody looked down at the floor. There were some tears. But I have to take responsibility and I apologise for not managing the situation. For the fans, I say sorry for this bad performance, it was not right for fighting against relegation. It's not that the players don't want to fight, they could not. They were not for that situation." – Brutally honest Fulham manager Felix Magath to The Guardian after the Cottagers were relegated from the Premier League after Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Stoke City. It's the first time in 13 years that Fulham won't be in the top flight.
Goals of the week
Cristiano Ronaldo pulled off a piece of magic with this goal, which isn't related to the Best Celebration of the Week.
Best celebration of the week
MLS and Atlanta
How MLS players with ties to the metro Atlanta area did this week:
Joe Bendik, Toronto, GK, Kennesaw
Started on the bench but did not play in team’s 2-1 loss to New England on Saturday.
Next game: Will host Vancouver in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday.
Mark Bloom, Toronto, D, Marietta
Played 87 minutes at right back in team’s 2-1 loss to New England on Saturday. Video highlights of game can be found at www.mlssoccer.com.
Next game: Will host Vancouver in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday.
Alex Caskey, D.C. United, M, Dunwoody
Played 14 minutes in team’s 3-2 loss at Portland on Saturday. Video highlights of game can be found at www.mlssoccer.com.
Next game: Will play at Philadelphia on Saturday.
Ricardo Clark, Houston, M, Jonesboro
Did not play in team’s 4-1 win over Chivas USA on Saturday.
Next game: Will host Columbus on Wednesday and Real Salt Lake on Sunday.
Warren Creavalle, Houston, D, Acworth
Started on the bench but did not play in team’s 4-1 win at Chivas USA on Saturday.
Next game: Will host Columbus on Wednesday and Real Salt Lake on Sunday.
Sean Johnson, Chicago, GK, Snellville
Played 90 minutes and made three saves in team’s 3-2 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Video highlights of the game can be found at www.mlssoccer.com.
Next game: Will play at New York on Saturday.
Steven Kinney, Chicago, D, Norcross
Did not play in team’s 3-2 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Next game: Will play at New York on Saturday.
Chris Klute, Colorado, D, Silverbacks, Clayton State
Played 90 minutes in team’s 1-0 win over Los Angeles on Saturday. Cleared one potential goal off the line. Video highlights of the game can be found at www.mlssoccer.com.
Next game: Will play at San Jose on Wednesday and host Chivas USA on Sunday.
Jack McInerney, Montreal, F, Alpharetta
Team was off during the weekend.
Next game: Will play at Edmonton in Canadian Championship on Wednesday and will host Sporting KC on Saturday.
Joe Nasco, Colorado, GK, Silverbacks
Did not make the 18 for team’s 1-0 win over Los Angeles on Saturday.
Next game: Will play at San Jose on Wednesday and host Chivas USA on Sunday.
Michael Nwiloh, Chivas USA, D, Georgia State, Conyers
Did not make the 18 for team’s 4-1 loss to Houston on Saturday.
Next game: Will play at Colorado on Sunday.
Walker Zimmerman, Dallas, D, Lawrenceville
Played 90 minutes in team’s 1-0 loss to New York and was beaten by Thierry Henry for the game-winning assist. Video highlights of the game can be found at www.mlssoccer.com.
Next game: Will play at Seattle on Wednesday and at San Jose on Saturday.
About the Author
