The
major matches of the week:
Although
there were no serious problems to solve in the Derby d’Italia between Inter and
Juventus, the rivals were more than motivated to beat each other. Juventus,
having an eye on the upcoming Champions League quarterfinal match, was believed
to be less interested in wasting energy at Giuseppe Meazza, but already the
first minutes showed how important it was for the Italian champions to take a
revenge for team’s first ever loss at Juventus Stadium.
Antonio
Conte had thrown the main powers into the pitch, with the only unusual appearance
in the starting lineup being Padoin instead of Lichtsteiner. Asamoah was called
to play in the opposite wing. The attacking duo was comprised of Quagliarella
and Matri. The two communicated greatly, to create two goals and help the
champions leave the city of Milan in the winner’s role. There was a period in
the second half, when Stramaccioni’s team seemed to be getting back into the
game. They even equalized, but the Old Lady killed Inter’s enthusiasm with the
second goal on the 60th minute. Juventus’s goalkeeper and central
defenders had a very strong match, too.
PSG had to
host the defending champions Montpellier before Barcelona’s arrival. Carlo
Ancelotti left Beckham and Lucas on the bench. The Englishman, together with
Kevin Gameiro, came on later in the match, as the score still had to be opened.
They helped the team score the only goal 9 minutes before the end. Although PSG had created the best chances, it
is difficult to agree that the league leaders earned a fully deserved victory.
With the league ending in 8 matchdays, PSG has to maintain the advantage of 7
points over Marseille. It shouldn’t be too early to say, that PSG triumphed
over Montpellier, symbolically taking the crown away from the title holders.
Highlights
of the week:
-
Lionel
Messi has now scored in 19 league matches. A flat calendar means that all La
Liga teams were ought to take the ball off the net after Messi’s shots. The sequence
started in the match against Mallorca, the team Barcelona meets this
weekend. Seven out of the top eight
teams in the league tied their matches, so Malaga was the winner of the 29th
matchday. The team is now only one point away from the 4th place,
which gives a chance to participate in the Champions League 2013-14. The two
leaders Barcelona and Real Madrid are separated by a gap of 13 points. Both of
the teams will have relatively easy weekends, hosting Mallorca and Levante
respectively.
-
Bayern
delivered the most extraordinary result of the European football season. The
team scored whole 9 goals to demolish the opponent Hamburger. Interesting to
notice: 4 of these 9 goals were authored by Claudio Pizarro, a man, not even
being a part of Jupp Heynckes’s Champions League plans. After this sensational
win Bayern needs 2 points in 7 matches to be crowned German champions. The
second-placed Borussia had a tough match, but Lewandowski managed to score the
winning goal 7 minutes before the final whistle.
-
Thanks
to Burak Yilmaz’s brace, Galatasaray won its match last weekend and is very
close to defending the champion’s title. The difference of 4 points creates a
chance for Fatih Terim’s team to make the title official already this Sunday,
when rivals Fenerbahce will play their 28th match. There are three
matchdays left in the Turkish league.
The
upcoming weekend:
All the
eight teams play their matches on Saturday, the 6th of April. The
main battle for the 4th Spanish Champions League ticket will take
place among Malaga, Real Sociedad and Valencia. The first two will meet each
other this Saturday, which makes Malaga’s calendar overloaded before the second
leg of the Champions League quarterfinal battle.
As
mentioned earlier, Bayern is probably going to become Bundesliga winner on
Saturday. A win is enough for this to happen. But even no points can return the
title to Munich in case Borussia doesn’t win its match against outsiders
Augsburg.
| Club | Last Matches | Next match | Position in the domestic league |
| FC Barcelona (Spain) | 30.03 Celta (A) 2-2 02.04 PSG (A) 2-2 | 06.04 R. Mallorca (H) | 1 |
| Real Madrid (Spain) | 30.03 Real Zarag. (A) 1-1 03.04 Galatasaray (H) 3-0 | 06.04 Levante (H) | 2 |
| Malaga (Spain) | 30.03 Rayo Vallec. (A) 3-1 03.04 Borussia (H) 0-0 | 06.04 Real Sociedad (A) | 5 |
| Bayern (Germany) | 30.03 Hamburger (H) 9-2 02.04 Juventus (H) 2-0 | 06.04 Eintracht (A) | 1 |
| Borussia D. (Germany) | 30.03 Stuttgart (A) 2-1 03.04 Malaga (A) 0-0 | 06.04 Augsburg (H) | 2 |
| Galatasaray (Turkey) | 30.03 Istanbul BB (H) 2-0 03.04 Real Madrid (A) 0-3 | 06.04 Mersin (H) | 1 |
| Juventus (Italy) | 30.03 Inter (A) 2-1 02.04 Bayern (A) 0-2 | 06.04 Pescara (H) | 1 |
| PSG (France) | 29.03 Montpellier (H) 1-0 02.04 Barcelona (H) 2-2 | 06.04 St. Rennais (A) | 1 |
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