22 Apr Soccer Insights – April Vol. 2

Chelsea top United and step forward the title, Milan derby dissapoints and an era comes to an end at Borussia Dortmund. Time to review what soccer left us this past week.

Premier League

Results
Leicester City 2-0 Swansea City
Crystal Palace 0-2 West Brom
Stoke City 2-1 Southampton
Everton 1-0 Burnley
Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
Manchester City 2-0 West Ham
Newcastle 1-3 Tottenham
Aston Villa 3-3 QPR*

*Game played on April 7th

Table
1. Chelsea 76pts
2. Arsenal 66pts
3. Manchester United 65pts
4. Manchester City 64pts
5. Liverpool 57pts

Talking points

• Chelsea took another step towards the title by defeating Machester United with a solitary goal by Eden Hazard. The blues are just 6 points away to claim the Premier League trophy. Their next two games: Arsenal and Leicester City.
• Arsenal, Liverpool, Sunderland, Hull City, Aston Villa and QPR did not play because of the FA Cup. The latter two had played their game two weeks ago. Arsenal defeated Reading and will defend the Cup title against Aston Villa, who shocked Liverpool and trashed Gerrard’s hopes of leaving Liverpool with a trophy under his arm.
• Goalscorer title fight seems to be a three way thing, with Kane and Agüero reaching the 20 goals mark, closely followed by Costa with 19.

La Liga

Results
Levante 2-2 Espanyol
Barcelona 2-0 Valencia
Real Madrid 3-1 Málaga
Deportivo 1-2 Atlético Madrid
Athletic 4-0 Getafe
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Almería
Villarreal 0-0 Córdoba
Granada 1-1 Sevilla
Eibar 0-1 Celta de Vigo
Elche 1-0 Real Sociedad

Table
1. Barcelona 78pts
2. Real Madrid 76pts
3. Atlético Madrid 69pts
4. Valencia 65pts
5. Sevilla 63pts

Talking points

• Lionel Messi has scored 400 goals with Barcelona since his debut 11 years ago. Barcelona’s atacking trio (Messi, Suárez and Neymar) have scored 94 goals this season. The club record is held by Messi, Henry and Eto’o (100 goals).
• Real Madrid’s victory over Málaga was costly: Gareth Bale and Luka Modric left the game injured and will miss the clash against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League. Benzema and Marcelo are also out for tomorrow’s game.
• Griezmann continues his fine form, scoring an incredible half-volley that flooded the Internet with tweets and videos.

Bundesliga

Results
Eintracht 0-0 Mönchengladbach
Hoffenheim 0-2 Bayern Munich
Dortmund 3-0 Paderborn
SC Freiburg 2-3 Mainz 05
Bayer Leberkusen 4-0 Hannover 96
Hertha BSC 0-0 FC Köln
FC Augsburg 2-1 VfB Stuttgart
Werder Bremen 1-0 Hamburger SV
Wolfsburg 1-1 Schalke 04

Table
1. Bayern Munich 73pts
2. Wolfsburg 61pts
3. Bayer Leverkusen 54pts
4. Mönchengladbach 54pts
5. Schalke 04 42pts

Talking points

• Borussia Dortmund and Jürgen Klopp announced that they will part ways at the end of this season. Under Klopp’s command the club won six titles in seven years and positioned itself as one of the best teams in the world.
• Leverkusen reached the third place after an overwhelming victory over Hannover 96, and are qualifying for the group stage of next Champions League season.
• Bayern Munich grabbed three more points to boost their confidence before the Champions League game against Porto. They lost 3-1 in the first leg, but managed to recover in Berlin by scoring six goals to qualify to the semifinals

Serie A

Results
Sampdoria 0-0 Cesena
Juventus 2-0 Lazio
Sassuolo 1-1 Torino
Roma 1-1 Atalanta
Empoli 2-2 Parma
Chievo 1-1 Udinese
Palermo 2-1 Genoa
Cagliari 0-3 Napoli
Inter Milan 0-0 AC Milan
Fiorentina 0-1 Hellas Verona

Table
1. Juventus 73pts
2. Lazio 58pts
3. Roma 58pts
4. Napoli 53pts
5. Sampdoria 50pts

Talking points

• The Milan Derby has lost significance in the past few years due to AC Milan and Inter’s poor performances. this was demonstrated once again last Sunday with a boring 0-0 result.
• Juventus returned to the winning ways and beat Lazio 2-0. Carlos Tévez scored his 18th goal of the season and celebrated imitating a chicken, a wink to his beloved Boca Juniors’ biggest foe: River Plate.
• Parma was put on the market for €20million. Whoever buys the club must commit to salvage their debts (around €75million), and the club will disappear if it’s not sold by May 6th.

Ligue 1

Results
Nantes 1-0 Marseille
OGC Nice 1-3 PSG
Monaco 1-1 Rennes
Metz 3-1 Lens
Bastia 1-2 Stade Reims
Lorient 0-1 Toulouse
Guingamp 1-1 Evian
Lille 2-0 Bordeaux
Montpellier 1-0 Caen
Lyon 2-2 Saint-Etienne

Table
1. Lyon 65pts
2. PSG 65pts
3. Monaco 59pts
4. Marseille 57pts
5. Saint-Etienne 57pts

Talking points

• Javier Pastore led PSG to victory against Nice, taking the role normally played by Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who is under a three game ban). The Argentinian was hailed by Eric Cantona as the world’s best player, but played down that afirmation and told the press he is way behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Marseille failed once again to win any points and lost the third spot to Monaco. Fans have almost forgotten this season’s bright start that had them as title candidates for a while. It is rumored that Marcelo Bielsa could leave the club and go to West Ham next season.
• Lyon played against Saint-Etienne pressured by PSG’s victory a day earlier. The final result was a 2-2 draw that let them preserve the top position, but now with the same points as the Parisian club

MLS

Results
New York City FC 1-1 Philadelphia Union
New York Red Bulls 2-0 San Jose Earthquakes
FC Dallas 3-2 Toronto FC
Colorado Rapids 1-3 Seattle Sounders FC
Real Salt Lake 0-1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
LA Galaxy 2-1 Sporting Kansas City
Philadelphia Union 1-2 New England Revolution
D.C. United 1-1 Houston Dynamo
Columbus Crew SC 3-0 Orlando City SC
New York City FC 0-1 Portland Timbers

Tables
Eastern Conference
1. NY Red Bulls 11pts
2. DC United 11pts
3. New England Revolution 11pts

Western Conference
1. Vancouver 16pts
2. Dallas 13pts
3. LA Galaxy 11pts

Talking points

• LA Galaxy won their second consecutive game and reached the third place in the Western Conference, five points behind Vancouver Whitecaps.
• Orlando City was easily surpassed by Columbus Crew and registered the third defeat in their inaugural season.
• New York City played twice in four days, failing to win in both games (lost one, drew the other). They have only won one game in their first ever MLS season.

Liga MX

Results
Morelia 2-0 Cruz Azul
Chiapas 1-1 Veracruz
Tijuana 1-1 Chivas
Puebla 0-1 Atlas
América 0-4 Querétaro
Tigres 3-0 Monterrey
León 1-1 Toluca
UNAM 1-0 Santos
Leones UDG 1-1 Pachuca

Table
1. Chivas 25pts
2. Veracruz 24pts
3. Tijuana 24pts
4. Tigres 22pts
5. Cruz Azul 22pts
6. América 22pts
7. Atlas 22pts
8. Querétaro 20pts

Talking points

• América was shocked by Querétaro and lost 0-4 against Los Gallos. Ronaldinho just needed a few minutes to score twice and show some of his magic.
• Puebla’s defeat to Atlas secured Chivas and Veracruz in the top division for next season. Relegation battle is now just between Leones UDG and Puebla.
• Tigres claimed the three points in the Clásico Regiomontano (Monterrey derby), ending two draws in a row between them.

What to look out for next week

• Champions League – Tomorrow Real Madrid will face Atlético Madrid aiming for a place in the semifinals alongside Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the winner of Monaco vs Juventus
• Europa League – Sevilla – Zenit and Wolfsburg – Napoli are the most interesting games ahead of the semifinals qualification
• CONCACAF Champions League – The first leg of the final between América and Montreal Impact will be played tomorrow night at 9:00 PM.
• Premier League – Chelsea will pay Arsenal a visit in search of three of the six points they need to become this season champions.
• La Liga – The Catalan Derby between Espanyol and Barcelona will be played once again next Saturday
• Bundesliga – Bayern Munich will face Hertha BSC in the Berlin derby after trashing Porto out of the UEFA Champions League.
• La Liga – Inter Milan vs Roma is the pick game in Italy this week.
• MLS – LA Galaxy will play at NY Red Bulls in search of their third consecutive win.
• Liga MX – Mexican Super Clásico will have leader Chivas face big rivals América on Sunday.
• Copa MX – Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s last game will be tonight, when Chivas takes on Puebla for the Copa MX final.