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Soccer Insights – May Vol. 1

Chelsea and Juventus secure league titles, America wins CONCACAF Champions League and UEFA Champions League Semifinals kick-off. These were this week’s highlights in soccer.

UEFA Champions League15MAY1V1

Barcelona defeated Bayern Munich in a vibrant game played at the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi demonstrated once more why he is considered one of the best players of the world by scoring twice in the game.

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In the other semifinal Juventus shocked Real Madrid by defeating them 2-1 with goals by Álvaro Morata and Carlos Tévez. Cristiano Ronaldo scored for the Spanish club.

CONCACAF Champions League15MAY1V2

Club América (Mexico) defeated Montreal Impact in the final with a tremendous exhibition by Argentinian striker Darío Benedetto. Las Águilas won their sixth continental cup and will represetent CONCACAF in next December’s FIFA Club World Cup.

Premier League
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Results

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

Table

1 Chelsea 93pts
2 Manchester City 70pts
3 Arsenal 70pts
4 Manchester United 65pts
5 Liverpool 61pts

Talking points

  • Chelsea secured the Premier League title after winning 1-0 over Crystal Palace with goal by Eden Hazard. This is their 5th league title (4th since the Premier League was established), and the first since 2010.
  • Manchester United lost their third straight game without scoring any goals. The club has been highly criticized and needs a victory to calm the tide.
  • Sergio Agüero scored for Manchester City in their away victory at Tottenham. He’s scored a total of 22 goals and seems to be the one to win the golden boot at the end of the season.

La Liga
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Results 

Córdoba 0-8 Barcelona
Sevilla 2-3 Real Madrid
Atl Madrid 0-0 Ath Bilbao
Real Sociedad 3-0 Levante
Valencia 3-1 Eibar
Málaga 1-2 Elche
Deportivo de La Coruña 1-1 Villarreal
Getafe 1-2 Granada
Espanyol 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
Almería 2-2 Celta de Vigo

Table

1 Barcelona 87pts
2 Real Madrid 85pts
3 Atlético Madrid 76pts
4 Valencia 72pts
5 Sevilla 69pts

Talking points

  • Barcelona demonstrated once again their offensive power. Luis Suárez scored a hat-trick and Messi a brace. Neymar, Piqué and Rakitic scored once each to complete a 8-0 victory.
  • Real Madrid won at Sevilla thanks to a hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo, current top goalscorer in La Liga. They keep following Barcelona closely in the table.
  • Athletic Bilbao ended Atlético Madrid’s winning streak with a 0-0 draw. Valencia is four points away from Los Colchoneros.

Bundesliga
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Results

B. Leverkusen 2-0 Bayern Munich
Hoffenheim 1-1 B. Dortmund
VfL Wolfsburg 2-2 Hannover 96
Schalke 04 3-2 Sttutgart
Mainz 05 1-2 Hamburger SV
FC Augsburg 0-0 FC Köln
Hertha BSC 1-2 B. Mönchengladbach
Freiburg 1-2 Paderborn
Werder Bremen 1-0 Frankfurt

Table

1 Bayern Munich 76pts
2 Wolfsburg 62pts
3 Mönchengladbach 60pts
4 Bayer Leverkusen 58pts
5 Schalke 04 45pts

Talking points

  • Bayern Munich couldn’t put shine to their league title after losing 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen.
  • Borussia Dortmund is in the ninth place, three points away from Europa League qualification spots. They could also get a place in that tournament by winning the DFB Cup, where they knocked out Bayern Munich in the semifinals and will play Wolfsburg for the title.
  • Stuttgart lost yet another game and relegation is slowly becoming inevitable.

Serie A
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Results 

Sampdoria 1-2 Juventus
Napoli 3-0 AC Milan
Inter Milan 0-0 Chievo Verona
Roma 2-0 Genoa
Fiorentina 3-1 Cesena
Atalanta 1-1 Lazio
Torino 0-1 Empoli
Cagliari 4-0 Parma
Hellas Verona 0-1 Udinese
Sassuolo 0-0 Palermo

Table

1 Juventus 79pts
2 Roma 64pts
3 Lazio 63pts
4 Napoli 59pts
5 Fiorentina 52pts

Talking points

  • Juventus secured their fourth straight Serie A title after defeating Sampdoria. They have hopes of treble: they’ll play Lazio in the Coppa Italia final and are facing Real Madrid in the UCL semifinals.
  • Roma recovered the second spot, and will try to keep it to secure a place in the Champions League group stage.
  • Lazio and Napoli are also in the fight for Champions League qualification, following Roma really close. Any points loss could be fatal for them.

Ligue 1
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Results

Nantes 0-2 PSG
Lyon 2-0 Evian
Bastia 1-0 St Etienne
Monaco 4-1 Toulouse
Metz 0-2 Marseille
Lille 3-1 Lens
Guingamp 2-0 Reims
Lorient 0-0 Bourdeaux
Montpellier 0-0 Rennes
Nice 1-1 Caen

Table

1 PSG 74pts
2 Lyon 71pts
3 Monaco 65pts
4 Marseille 60pts
5 Saint-Etienne 60pts

Talking points

  • PSG won their pending game midweek against Metz and secured the top spot after defeating Nantes on Sunday.
  • Marseille returned to the winning ways with a 0-2 victory over Metz.
  • Seven teams are part of the relegation fight. Lens has already lost the battle and will play next season in the Ligue 2.

MLS
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Results

LA Galaxy 1-1 Colorado Rapids
New York City FC 1-3 Seattle Sounders
DC United 2-0 Columbus Crew
New England Revolution 2-1 New York Red Bulls
Portland Timbers 0-0 Vancouver Whitecaps
Sporting Kansas City 1-0 Chicago Fire
Houston Dynamo 1-4 FC Dallas
Real Salt Lake 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes
Philadelphia Union 0-1 Toronto FC

*Midweek games: Real Salt Lake 0-0 LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo 0-1 San Jose Earthquakes

Tables

Eastern Conference

1 NE Revolution 17pts
2 DC United 17pts
3 NY Red Bulls 13pts

Western Conference

1 FC Dallas 17pts
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 17pts
3 Seattle Sounders 16pts

Talking points

  • FC Dallas defeated Houston Dynamo with a 1-4 score to claim the first place in the Western Conference.
  • New York City lost their sixth game in the season, and have just won one of nine played.
  • New England Revolution defeated New York Red Bulls and continue to lead the Eastern Conference.

Liga MX
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Results

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

Table

1 Veracruz 28pts
2 Tigres 28pts
3 Atlas 28pts
4 Chivas 26pts
5 América 26pts
6 Cruz Azul 25pts
7 Tijuana 24pts
8 Santos 24pts

Talking points

  • Relegation fight had a turn-around and Leones Negros now seem to be doomed to play next season in the second division. They need to win and Puebla to be defeated.
  • América returned to Mexico boosted by their CONCACAF Champions League title and defeated Toluca 3-1 at the Estadio Azteca.
  • Veracruz, Tigres and Atlas secured a place in the playoffs. Ten teams will be trying to get the five remaining spots.

What to look out for next week

  • UEFA Champions League – The second leg of the semifinals will be played to decide the tournament finalists: Bayern Munich vs Barcelona on Tuesday and Real Madrid vs Juventus on Wednesday.
  • Premier League – Champions Chelsea will play against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The Reds will have to make a Guard of Honour to welcome the newly crowned champions.
  • La Liga – Real Madrid will play against Valencia, and Barcelona has to face Real Sociedad.
  • Bundesliga – Bayern Munich will try to recover from their recent defeats and defeat Augsburg to boost their form ahead of the second leg against Barcelona.
  • Serie A – Milan vs Roma is the most interesting match-up this weekend.
  • MLS – Both New York clubs will face each other for the first time ever. This could be the star of a great rivalry.
  • Liga MX – Everything will be decided this weekend: the eight teams that will play the playoffs and who will be relegated. Puebla faces Santos and Leones Negros have to play against Cruz Azul.

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Manuel Daza
manuel.daza@acmconnect.com