Time to rebuild City
With Liverpool wrapping up the Premier League title following Chelsea’s defeat of Manchester City, the newly crowned champion visited the Etihad Stadium to take on the dethroned side. Pep Guardiola’s team gave the Reds a guard of honour, but the respect was limited to that gesture alone. On the pitch, the City players played like they had a point to prove, pressing with intent and passing the ball around with a sense of urgency that was rarely seen this season. Four goals were scored without reply and the City players vowed that their next season “starts right now.”
But 4■ hours later, they looked clueless at Southampton. The Saints, with the worst record at home before the game, took all three points o them and showed Guardiola the extent of rebuilding needed to overhaul Liverpool next year.
It was the story of City’s season in a nutshell. On the other hand, Liverpool bounced back from the defeat with a win at home to Aston Villa. Despite being far from its best, it managed to get the job done as it often has this season.
City’s record 100point total from 20171■ is well within Liverpool’s sights and that could be broken if it wins four of its remaining ve games.
Aston Villa remains in the relegation zone, one point from safety and staring at an immediate return to the Championship.
Manchester United’s rout of struggling Bournemouth saw it briey move into the top four before Chelsea regained its place with the defeat of Watford.
Jamie Vardy crossed 100 topight goals as thirdplaced Leicester City won comfortably at home against Crystal Palace.
Wolves’ chase of Champions League qualication was dealt a blow as Arsenal won at Molineux to boost its chances of securing a spot in European football next season.
Manchester City scored four goals in its defeat of newly crowned Premier League champion Liverpool, but then looked clueless at Southampton just 48 hours later.
Real Madrid has been good at grinding out results this season and did so against Athletic Bilbao again, winning at San Mames thanks to a Sergio Ramos penalty.
Los Blancos’ discipline and organisation have made them rm favourites for the title and they remain on top of the table, four points ahead of Barcelona with as many games left. Barca was held at home to a 22 draw by Atletico Madrid, a game that saw former Atletico star Antoine Griezmann introduced just minutes before the match ended. If that prompted discussions about his worth and future in Blaugrana colours, he shut them down in style against Villareal. A sensational chip put Barcelona in control and he then played a central role to take maximum points with a 41 win and keep his team’s faint title hopes alive.
Despite rumours growing about Lionel Messi’s future in Spain, he shut out all the noise and let his feet do the talking on the
Juventus has pulled clear of the chasing pack in the Serie A title race. Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala scored in backtoback wins against Genoa and Torino to give the Old Lady a sevenpoint cushion at the top of the table with eight games left in the season.
Lazio got past Torino but stumbled at home to AC Milan, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return from injury inspiring the Rossoneri to a muchneeded win.
Lazio stays second while Milan is seventh, two points behind a Napoli side that occupies the nal European spot.
The Neapolitan side got the better of AS Roma at home to go level on points with the capital club. With a 15point gap to the top four, both teams will be looking to secure Europa League qualication as the Champions League spots look beyond reach with each passing match week.
Inter Milan failed to make the most of Lazio’s defeat to Milan as Bologna came from behind to upset the odds. Both teams were reduced to 10 men in the second half, but the Rossoblu showed more determination than the title contender to secure victory.
Days after securing the Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich defeated Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal nal to lift the German Cup for a recordextending 20th time. The win also keeps alive its hopes of doing a treble this season.
Bayern has now completed the domestic double 13 times in its history, with Hansi Flick winning his rst nal as permanent manager of the Bavarian side. In the process, he also became the rst German to win the domestic double as both player and manager.
The win was Bayern’s 17th in a row across competitions, with the club also unbeaten in its last 26 games — stretching back to December! Its next outing will be in the Champions League against Chelsea, which it defeated 30 in the rst leg of their last16 clash in London.
VELAMURI