FootballFanatic

In two six-goal thrillers, one coming from 3-0 down, Switzerland were stunned at home while Norway and Sweden had a see-saw final 10 minutes.

Norway vs Sweden: 86′ ( Norway 2-2 Sweden)

Sweden were 2-0 down and Sweden were given a lifeline when Viktor Claesson’s right-footed shot from the six-yard box goes to the bottom left-corner of the goal after a missed penalty. However, an own goal by Håvard Nordtveit allows Sweden to equalise. 

Norway vs Sweden: 90+1′ ( Norway 2-3 Sweden)

It almost looks like scenes of Belgium vs Japan as Robin Quaison fires a shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.

Norway vs Sweden: 90+6′ ( Norway 3-3 Sweden)

It’s not over for the hosts yet, though. A corner kick allows Ola Kamara to head the ball in to the bottom-left corner.

Full Time: Norway 3, Sweden 3.

The final whistle blows as a goal fest comes to an end.

Switzerland vs. Denmark: 84′ (Switzerland 3-1 Denmark)

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, Breel Embolo and Remo Freuler allowed the Swiss to lead at a comfortable 3-0 scoreline. With just under 5 minutes (plus injury time) to play, a sleepy (and overconfident) Swiss defense concedes a goal by Huddersfield defender  Mathias Jorgensen after a header.

Switzerland vs. Denmark: 88′ (Switzerland 3-2 Denmark)

Jumping to conclusions, the Swiss think they will win with at least a 2-goal lead. But that might have changed when Christian Gytkjaer took advantage of some more slack defending, scoring in the empty net.3-2, 4-2 or 3-3? 7 minutes of play would give us the answer.

Switzerland vs. Denmark: 90+3′ (Switzerland 3-3 Denmark)

Denmark silence the away crowd. The Swiss were back in mentally in the game. With plently of player’s in their home box, they fail to clear a high ball. Brentford’s Henrik Dalsgaard converts the pass by heading the ball in. 

Switzerland vs. Denmark: Full time- 3-3

The final whistle blows. The Danish complete ‘Mission Impossible’ by taking advantage of sloppy defending by the Swiss ten minutes before.

Those were two incredible matches. When you assume that your team has won the game at 85mins and you go to sleep if you are watching at midnight…

Things don’t always go your way in football: there are always good and bad times. At the end of the day, you have to have a positive attitude and a strong mentality and not let any setbacks get you down. And that’s what I’ve done – I’ve tried to keep my composure, even when things aren’t going the way I’d like.

– Giovani Dos Santos

Citation:
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/giovani_dos_santos_950210?src=t_football

N’Golo Kante is a French Midfielder who will turn 28 next week. Many of us know him- not for his goals, or his tricks-but for his humility. Shy and quiet, Kante has won all the love of every football fan- whether he supports Spurs, Arsenal e.t.c. But for those whose interest is piqued, how does his humility earn him the love he deserves?

1. He goes to training on either a scooter or on his mini Cooper

Unlike many other footballers who come in the poshest car models, Kante prefers a simple mini Cooper to do the trick. If you don’t believe this, there is no way that you would believe that he wanted to run to training when he joined Leicester City in 2015.

Once, he was involved in a minor car accident that dented the front-right part of his car. 2 days later, he came to training with the dent still there. Unbelievable.

2. Gratitude

As a Muslim, Kante never goes astray from his faith. In 2018, he told the daily mail this:

“ We are lucky to be playing football for a living. For me, this is what I have always wanted to do. To get to this level is all down to Allah’s blessing,” he said.

“There are millions of ­people out there, who every day want to get the opportunity to do the work we are doing and it’s a short career. That is why I give it my all at every given opportunity.

“To play for your nation on the world stage is worth more than money can ever buy, and I get to do that, so I am very ­fortunate.”

You’ll never see any other footballer show such gratitude. 

Credits ( for green ): https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/11-reasons-why-its-impossible-not-to-love-ngolo-kante/

3. He REFUSES to dodge tax

When Kante signed a five-year contract in November 2018, Chelsea advised him to pay tax through an offshore company. Rejecting the offer, Kante decided to pay full tax.

Short two sentences but very touching.

This is why Kante is very humble and loved by all football fans.

 

 

 

 

1st leg 4-0, 2nd leg 6-1. (Agg. 5-6)

1st leg 3-1, 2nd leg 1-2 (Agg. 2-5)

1st leg 0-2, 2nd leg 1-3 (Agg. 3-3, lose on away goals)

These were the results for PSG in the Champions League last 16 for the last three seasons. They’ve had extraodinary players- Verratti, Di Maria, and the dreaded MCN (Mbappe, Cavani, Neymar). Then why are they constantly losing out on the UCL? Even Marseille have won it!

There could be one reason- arrogance.

During the first leg against United, PSG were just breathtaking. Mbappe constantly put pressure by sprinting toward the United goal. Di Maria threatened his former reject club with long range shots.

3 weeks later. We see a more subdued Mbappe. Although he bagged an assist, he could have won the game in the 90th minute when he could clearly shoot without anyone near him to defend. He misfires, allowing De Gea to save. PSG lose at home 1-3, despite possessing 68% of the match.

Then, against Real Madrid away, they surrendered a 1-0 lead for 45 minutes to concede 3- with Ronaldo scoring an impressive double. Then, they were sloppy again- losing 1-2 to Real and Verratti booking a red.

The best one yet- giving away a 4-0 first leg lead at home to concede 6 against Barcelona. PSG stunned the then ‘MSN’ 4-0 at home, with Di Maria bagging 2 goals. Barcelona had to do the impossible- beat them by a 5 goal lead. They did just that. However, while leading 3-0, Cavani scores a goal at the 62nd minute. Nou Camp is stunned. Barcelona need to score 3 more. Even if they win 5-1, PSG would go through on away goals.

PSG were actually very decent in defense for the next 26 minutes. As the 90th minute approaches in 2 minutes, things get sloppy for the Ligue 1 dominators. They think that they would win 3-5 on aggregate. A foul right outside of the box allows Neymar Jr to take a free-kick and to score. However, Barcelona need to score 2 more and are given 7 minutes of stoppage time to do just that. Honestly, I felt that PSG jumped to conclusions too fast and thought that there would be a maximum of 4 minutes of injury time given. Sergio Roberto scores, after Neymar scores a penalty.

These 3 examples summarise the possible arrogance of PSG, when winning by a huge or small margin. They are just dominating Ligue 1 due to the excessive amount of money. But in the UCL, money isn’t everything.

 

 

The UCL draw on 16 March was an interesting one. Here are the fixtures and predictions:

Man City 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur (0-1, 3-0)

Barcelona 4-3 Manchester United (2-1, 3-1)

Liverpool 7-2 FC Porto ( 5-1, 1-2)

Juventus 4-1 Ajax ( 2-1, 2-0)

This could mean:

Manchester City vs Juventus ( 2-3)

Barcelona vs Liverpool (5-3)

and then…

Juventus vs Barcelona

This is the possible UCL final. Another possibility is if Manchester United beat Barcelona which is possible, there could be a Manchester derby for the UCL final. What are your guesses?

 

Juventus won Atletico 3-0, winning 3-2 on aggregate. Coming back for a 2-0 deficit, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, including two wonderful headers. This is Karma for Atletico, as their fans were insulting Ronaldo and trying to bring down his spirits. The Juventus star has scored 4 goals this season, and scored his first hat-trick for The Old Lady.

City made Schalke 04 look like 11 clowns running on the field, thrashing them 7-0, with goals from Agüero, Sterling, Sané, Bernado Silva, Foden and Jesus. Unsurprisingly, they won the fixture 10-2 on aggregate. Schalke themselves have a crisis, with the team falling out with their Manager.

Liverpool won Bayern 1-3 away, with goals from Sadio Mané and Virgil Van Dijk. An own goal from Joël Matip allowed Bayern to equalise after going 1-0 down after Mané’s goal which humiliated Manuel Neuer. Van Dijk’s header from a free-kick and another goal from Mané secured a 1-3 win for Liverpool, going through 3-1 on aggregate.

Barcelona won Lyon 5-1, with two goals from The flea. He scored a penalty and a goal with the ball rolling awkwardly across the line. Coutinho got on to the score sheet, after an assist from Suarez. Messi then assists 2, continuing the perpetual Ronaldo-Messi debate. If one shines in a match (Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Atletico), the other will in another fixture (2 goals and 2 assists by Messi).

From the past 4 articles on UCL, here are the results (on aggregate):

AS Roma 3-4 Porto (Stunner or not?)

Lyon 1-5 Barcelona

Liverpool 3-1 Bayern

Juventus 3-2 Atletico

Man United 3–3 PSG (Stunner)

Manchester City 10-2 Schalke 04

Ajax 5-3 Real Madrid (Stunner)

Spurs 4-0 Dortmund

The quarter-final draw (Which indirectly involves the semi-finals and final) is at 11.00 GMT (12:00 CET). You can view the draw at the UEFA website at https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2019/draws/round=2000982/

 

Arsenal won Manchester United 2-0 at home, coming back after their 3-1 shock Europa League loss to French club Rennes away. Aubameyang scored from the spot in the 69th minute, after French striker Lacazzete was brought down by Fred in the box. Xhaka scored in the 12th minute by swerving a strike past De Gea in what was a poor poorformance by United. The best was when Shaw’s dangerous cross allowed Lukaku to shoot but the ball hit the Crossbar. Anyway, United are finally defeated by one of the most unexpected clubs- Arsenal. Arsenal are now 4th in the Premier League with 60 points- 2 points ahead of United. This game shows some flaw’s in United and that they need some signings to make a dream team like in 2011.

Below: Aubameyang converts from the spot.

PSG were defeated 1-3 at home by Manchester United. With their injury crisis, it was simply stunning to see the Red Devils go through. Ole Gunner Solskjaer gave Manchester United their greatest night after 11 years (2008 UCL final).

Neymar may be given a 1 to 3 game ban, though. Watching from the stands, he was mad that there was a penalty given 4 minutes and 9 seconds after Kimpembe’s handball. He commented inappropriate things about the 4 match officials.

Porto defeated last season’s semifinalists Roma 3-1 after a late extra time penalty, allowing them to win 4-3 on aggregate. This season is interesting, right?

In last night’s UCL (5/3/19), Ajax completed one of the most stunning comebacks of the Champions League. Defeating Madrid 1-4 seemed impossible, with the fact that they lost at home 1-2. In the end, Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate. The UCL holders are out. Seems a bit weird, considering that they won for 3 consecutive seasons.

Spurs make history by going through to the quarters for their second time. A 0-1 win for Tottenham Hotspur means that the win 0-4 on aggregate, causing the current Bundesliga leaders to crash out of Europe.

I have a feeling the Manchester City will hold the trophy. It looks like the Champions league of the underdog. The match I’m most hyped up for is LFC vs Bayern and Atletico Madrid vs Juventus. Who will lift the trophy?

In the usually uneventful Merseyside derby, Liverpool settled for a 0-0 draw, allowing City to be on top of the table by a point with the same amount of matches played.

However, this could be an advantage for LFC. Man City are now the team under pressure by Liverpool. Sure they may be the best in Europe, but football is the beautiful and spontaneous game. Liverpool created many chances in the first half but Everton’s defense neutralised Liverpool’s domination of the match.

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says City have the edge in one of the most exciting title races ever.

What Jose thinks- https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jose-mourinho-highlights-liverpool-handed-15915926