🔥Clash of Titans? Could City and Arsenal Set Up an Epic All-English Showdown?

Will the English clubs make it through to set up an all English semi-final?

Hey there MVP,

Before we cover this week’s ‘don’t miss’ games, we start with the latest developments in the Premier League and the Bundesliga. After City smashed in 5 goals vs Luton, Arsenal and Liverpool both lost. City are now 2 points clear. In Germany, Leverkusen ended their 120-year wait for the Bundesliga title, unbeaten and with 5 games to spare no less.

As usual, we have the upcoming games to keep an eye on —including a consequential one in Serie A between AC and Inter Milan and El Clasico. But this week we focus on the sauciest second legs in the Champions League quarter finals, looking ahead to a potential City-Arsenal semi! 

Today's game plan:

• Don’t Miss These Games

• This Week’s Shocker

• Around The World

• Games to Keep an Eye On

• Goat Trivia, Meme of the Week & Rate the Play

Manchester City vs Real Madrid | Wednesday | 20:00 IST

After a sensational first leg in Madrid, the quarter-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid is finely balanced at 3-3. And what a game of football that was: City took the lead in the second minute through a canny Bernardo Silva free-kick, but Madrid responded by scoring two goals of their own before the 15th minute mark! The intense pace of play continued into the 2nd half but momentum was swinging City’s way, and then in the 66th minute, Phil Foden curled in a sweet left-footed strike —absolutely plants it in the top corner from the edge of the box. Technique. Then, just four minutes later, Gvardiol put City ahead with a ping of a strike. Unfazed, Madrid once again showed that resilience, self-confidence and quality that gets them goals even when they’re not playing particularly well, when Valverde volleyed in an Vini Jnr cross to make it 3-3 in the 79th minute.

Form & Team News

Over the weekend City took the lead in the Premier League title race with a 5-1 thrashing of Luton at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola and his City squad will also have been delighted to watch both Arsenal and Liverpool lose, opening up a 2 point gap. In the game against Luton, Pep chose to rest Phil Foden, but City looked dangerous from the start, scoring within the first 5 minutes of the match again. The five goals were spread out amongst the team but City fans will have been relieved to see Erling Halland get a goal, even if it was only a penalty. City registered 37 shots against Luton, had 74% possession and a pass accuracy of 92% —they are looking good on the pitch, especially at home.
In fact, if City avoid losing the game against Real Madrid on Wednesday, they will equal the club record for unbeaten home games —a 42-match streak that was set in 1921.

City will be in a position to welcome key players back for the game against Real Madrid.  Kevin De Bruyne played over the weekend after missing the first leg due to illness. Kyle Walker is also likely to return as is Nathan Ake who was on the bench against Luton. Rodri also got a much deserved rest over the weekend, being an unused substitute.

Madrid go into this second leg after recording a 1-0 home win over Mallorca. The Spanish giants are sitting pretty at the top of La Liga, having opened up an eight-point lead over Barcelona. The 8-point gap means Madrid won’t be worrying too much about the upcoming El Clasico, scheduled for Sunday evening. The game against Mallorca was a stroll for Madrid, and they probably should have scored more than the solitary goal, but Madrid played some nice intricate stuff throughout. Unfortunately for Madrid, they will play without their goal scorer from the weekend —Tchouameni is suspended for the second leg after he picked up a yellow card in last week’s first leg. 

Aside from Tchouameni’s suspension, the big team news for Madrid is that Rodrygo is a ‘maybe’ for the game. Similar to Phil Foden’s situation, Rodrygo picked up a knock and didn’t play in the weekend’s game against Mallorca. The other news is that Eder Militao is back playing football, having come on at the back for Madrid in the final minutes of the game. This game hangs in the balance. You’d argue that City are in the driving seat, but as we said, Madrid are always good for scoring a goal or two.

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal | Wednesday | 20:00 IST

This quarter final is also delicately poised after the first leg at the Emirates stadium in London, after it ended in a 2-2 draw. Arsenal started the game well and opened the scoring with a goal from Bukayo Saka in the 12th minute. However, Bayern responded with a goal from ex-Arsenal man Serge Gnabry in the 18th minute, and then took the lead after a calm penalty from (who else?) Harry Kane on the half hour mark. There was a dramatic second half in which Leandro Trossard equalised for the Gunners in the 76th minute. Both teams had penalty shouts turned down, with Bayern claiming a strange handball against Gabriel whilst Arsenal fans were chirping about a foul on Saka from Manuel Neuer in the final moments of the game.

Going off the showing in the first leg, this quarter final is a hard one to call. Arsenal might be starting to crack up, but at the same time, Bayern are no longer seen as invincible at the Allianz Arena.

Form & Team News

Arsenal go into the second leg off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League, which has left angry lego man Mikel Arteta's side now two points behind Man City. 

It was a painful defeat for Arteta and the fans, as Arsenal actually played well in the first half against Villa. Arsenal were made top pay for missing multiple chances, Two quickfire goals clinically taken by Leon Bailey and then Oli Watkins has deflated this Arsenal squad. There is now a big question mark over how the players get themselves going again for the game on Wednesday, away at the Allianz.

What makes the loss to Villa worse for Arsenal, is that Martin Odegaard has emerged as an injury doubt for the second leg in Munich. The Norwegian picked up a knock in the second half on Sunday, and he now faces a late injury assessment. Other than their influential captain Martin Odegaard, Arsenal have no other new injury concerns, the real problem is the confidence level of the team.  

In Germany, Bayern beat Koln by 2 goals to nil on Saturday. Playing in a pretty quiet Allianz Arena, Bayern went ahead from a beautiful finesse finish from Rafael Guerrero and then Thomas Muller scored the 2nd goal in stoppage time. Although this was a fault mundane win for Bayern, they gave up chances throughout the game. The big news out of Germany over the weekend was obviously Bayer Leverkusen who won the Bundesliga title 16 points ahead of second-place Bayern with 5 games still to play. Bayern Munich’s dominance of the Bundesliga has finally come to an end and we’re all for it.

The big injury news for Bayern is that Serge Gnabry, one of Bayern’s goal scorers from the first leg, is a doubt for the second leg. Gnabry picked up a hamstring problem in last week’s game at the Emirates. There are other injury concerns for Bayern, including Kingsley Coman who picked up a bad groin strain in the game against Koln at the weekend. Bayern will also be without Alphonso Davies, who is suspended for the game after picking up too many yellow cards. Thomas Tuchel is hopeful that winger Leroy Sane, who missed the game against Koln, will be fit to play on Wednesday.

This Week’s Shocker…

Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t give a Saudi…

Cristiano’s Al-Nassr were eliminated from the Saudi Super Cup last week and not long after he was suspended for an ‘obscene’ gesture towards fans, Ronaldo was shown a straight after throwing an elbow into Al-Bulayhi.

Ronaldo’s move away from European football has been lucrative, but pretty disastrous professionally. At 30 years old, Ronaldo has missed more games for Al Nassr due to suspension than he has because of injury —obviously Cristiano is still physically fit, but he’s beginning to show signs that his professional mentality is cracking.

Around the world…

🇩🇪 Leverkusen win the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history 

Bayer Leverkusen ended their 120-year wait to be crowned Bundesliga champions on Sunday. Xabi Alonso’s team did it in style, unbeaten and with 5 games to spare. Remember that this is a Leverkusen team who were loitering around the bottom of the Bundesliga when Alonso took over. 

🇮🇹 Mason Greenwood linked with a move to Italy

It has emerged that Mason Greenwood might be staying on the continent instead of coming back to Manchester United at the end of his loan deal at Getafe. Lazio are very interested in securing the English forward’s services. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 After another dire show, replacements for ten Hag being discussed

Thiago Motta’s name has been mentioned as rumours begin to swirl around Erik ten Hag’s Man United future. Motta has been a revelation in Italy, transforming Bologna in the space of a season.

🇫🇷 PSG deny they are lining up Marcus Rashford as a potential ‘replacement’ for Mbappe

Will United cash in on Rashford? PSG have come out and denied they are interested in signing the English forward who can play off the left. Maybe France will suit Rashford’s style of play, but we doubt anyone can be called a replacement for Mbappe. 

🇸🇦 How much Ronaldo has earned since moving to Saudi revealed

Ronaldo’s wages with Al-Nassr have been revealed and he’s been making £3,403,846 per week or £486,263 per day, meaning he’s collected £228 million in the 67 weeks he’s been playing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

🇪🇸 Another racism incident in La Liga 

Regrettably, there were ugly scenes in the Real Madrid game against Mallorca when a fan made monkey gestures in the direction of Madrid’s Tchouaméni. 

Games to keep an eye on…

Barcelona vs PSG | Tuesday | 20:00 IST

Barca are in control after the first leg in Paris. Xavi’s Barca are 3-2 up against Luis Enriuque’s PSG, will Mbappe have more of an impact on the second leg at the Camp Nou? We’ll be watching in case he does.   

Borussia Dortmund vs Atletico Madrid | Tuesday | 20:00 IST

Atletico Madrid take a 2-1 lead into the second leg in Germany. Goals from Rodrigo de Paul and Samuel Lino saw Atletico go 2 nil up, before Sebastien Haller pulled one back for Dortmund.

Atalanta vs Liverpool | Thursday | 20:00 IST

Liverpool go into this second leg 3 nil down after getting battered at home. After losing to Crystal Palace at the weekend, there is a gloomy mood hanging over Liverpool. This could be Klopp’s last European game with Liverpool. 

Fenerbahce vs Olympiacos | Thursday | 20:00 IST 

This Europa Conference League tie is 3-2 after a mad first leg. Olympiacos went 3 nil up before Fenerbahce pulled 2 goals back in the second half. Gonna be a mad one in Turkey.

Man. City vs Chelsea | Saturday | 12:15 IST

City are looking to keep their double-treble hopes alive by beating Chelsea in this FA Cup semi final. There’s a potential cup final against Manchester United in May if they do the business against ex-city youngster Cold Palmer, who is carrying this Chelsea team.   

Wolverhampton vs Arsenal | Saturday | 19:30 IST

Arsenal bottled-it big time against Aston Villa, losing the game in the last ten minutes of the game. Can Arsenal keep the pressure on Manchester City at the top of the League or will this season’s title challenge melt away.

Coventry vs Manchester United | Sunday | 15:30 IST

After a dire showing against Bournemouth, this United team has a semi-final at Wembley. A performance against Coventry and the prospect of an FA Cup final against Man. City will get United fans back on side. 

Real Madrid vs Barcelona | Sunday | 20:00 IST

Make a mental now “El Clasico on Sunday”. Barca will have to go for a win to close the 8 point gap. Big midweek quarter finals for both teams before this one. 

AC Milan vs Inter | Monday | 19:45 IST

Inter can win Serie A with a win over their closest rivals, AC Milan. It’s a matter of time until Inter are crowned champions, so Serie A is turning into a battle for the Champions League places.

GOAT Trivia…

Say congrats to…

Rafael Benítez, the legendary fat Spanish waiter turns 64 years old today.

On this day in football…

On the 16th April 2014, Real Madrid beat Barcelona to win the Copa del Rey. The game is remembered for Gareth Bale’s goal, where he towed it round Marc Bartra and then absolutely burned him in a sprint that took Bale off the pitch.

Goal of the week…

Our goal of the week is this wonder strike from Arliem Tchouaméni. Looks like it must take a deflection but it flies into the net.

Classic game…

With El Clasico coming up we’ve been thinking about classic El Clasico games. We’ve already mentioned the Copa del Rey final where Bale scored, but remember this belter of a game from the 2008/09 season. It finished in a 6-2 win for Barca. The Henry + Messi + Eto'o frontline was incredible. 

Enjoy these classic highlights!

Meme of the week

Watch out! You never know when or how CR a.k.a “The Wrestler” will strike! 🤣 😂 ⚽️ 💫 🥴 

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