... Alonso is very competitive right now and he is ready to use full power of his car until the end of the season. There is a consistency with 3 podiums so far and I can't wait to see what he will do here also.
I'm also very curious about Alonso's future performances during the season. Because he is very competitive to do his best with a fast car like this. He didn't find this much competition with Alpine last season. Some people including me even criticized Alonso for joining Aston Martin while they were doing really bad. But I would have never expected to see them improving their car this much in one season. He has been capturing the 3rd place in every race so far. I wonder how long he will be able to keep up this consistency in most of the season. It depends on the car to not cause much problem for Alonso of course. Because I don't doubt Alonso's driving skills at all. He is very competitive like he is having his brightest times again now. |
|
|
|
|
It looks like Juventus have only the Europa League left in their hands to achieve a title this season. I was expecting them to be more competitive against Inter in the Coppa Italia rematch. They could have made the game continue in extra time at least but they couldn't manage to score the needed goal. They weren't able to have so many goal attempts either. The shots on target percentage was still nice but it wasn't still enough.
From now on they had better have most of their concentration on the Europa League title. Because they can make it if they improve their latest performance more. Sevilla is a big obstacle for them maybe but it is up to their effort level not to give up easily.
|
|
|
|
|
Atletico Madrid are at least qualifying for the Champions League group stage which is like a consolation prize for them. Normally of course winning a ticket for the Champions League is important. However Atletico Madrid are a team that can do much better than this. They must be able to be in a title competition for a long time in the La Liga. They were even a serious contender for the Champions League title back in the day.
But this season their general look hasn't been good at all. Their being eliminated in the Champions League early and being out of a title competition in the La Liga in the same way are big problems to think about for them. I will be curious about Atletico Madrid's changes for next season.
|
|
|
|
|
Chelsea are not only in talks with Lukaku from Inter as it seems. Onana is also a candidate in their transfer list. They have goalkeepers like Kepa and Mendy in the team already. In this case I assume they will give up on one of them. I assume that it would be Mendy because he hasn't had much chance in the Premier League this season. Onana is a really good goalkeeper and he might even take Kepa's place in the starting eleven.
I'm doubtful about Lukaku to bring back his old times. Besides he doesn't have a good history with Chelsea either. He can have big problems once again unless they sign the right manager who can make him fit the team finally.
|
|
|
|
|
I must admit that I'm not surprised with the result of the Manchester City - Arsenal game. Because it was already obvious that Manchester City were going to be the dominant side. Especially after seeing the drop in Arsenal's performance level on the recent weeks I was pretty sure that they were going to lose points. Manchester City made a great start to the game by scoring a goal in the first minutes already.
This demotivated Arsenal players a little of course. Arsenal still had a chance to find the equalizer until the last moments of the first half. But they couldn't and the goal came in those moments literally finished the game early. It was a solid victory by Manchester City later and now they are much higher the favourite for the league title. Haaland and De Bruyne were both amazing last night.
|
|
|
|
|
Juventus are seen as the biggest title contender for now according to bookmakers. However I have doubts about this situation. Because if you have noticed as well they haven't been showing a very high level of performance. We can take their Sporting matchup as an example. I know that Sporting did a solid work against Arsenal too but this still can't be an excuse for a team like Juventus.
Juventus needed to play better than this to increase their chance against Sporting. They still eliminated them anyway maybe but the performance in both legs was not much impressive. While Sevilla are in good shape Juventus' job about holding them off won't be easy at all. For now I don't consider Juventus as the biggest title contender.
|
|
|
|
Madrid is a killer for EPL clubs.
Even if Real Madrid are playing poorly in the La Liga, they can still win Manchester City that are playing very well and were able to remove Bayern Munich. Just as the game between Manchester City and Arsenal is considered the finals in the premier league, this game between Real Madrid and Manchester City will majorly determine who wins the Champions league. Both teams have quality in their team and have advantage whenever they play at home, it will be a very interesting game, Benzema on one end, Halland on the other. De Bruyne at one end, Modric at the other. Grealish at one end, Vini Jr at the other. For this season Real Madrid really have seemed solid against the Premier League clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea in the play offs. However there is a reason behind their being this much dominant as well. Because Liverpool and Chelsea are both having a terrible season now. Chelsea are in an even worse condition in the Premier League for example. We should take this fact into account as well. However Manchester City are the complete opposite of these two clubs this season. They are like unstoppable recently at the same time. Like I said before Haaland is the biggest change in the club for this season and his impact on the club is so big that he is going to be remembered as a very special player in the club history. |
|
|
|
|
Girona's winning the game wouldn't have made me much surprised normally. But winning in this way against Real Madrid was beyond my expectations honestly. It looks like Real Madrid aren't caring about the La Liga at all from now on. I understand them of course because they can't go for the league title anymore and they are in a safe position to join the Champions League groups at the same time.
Their main focus is on the Champions League title as you have also indicated. They want to preserve their full strength for winning that title to have a solid ending for the season anyway. But their job against Manchester City looks harder than the previous season especially due to the Haaland factor.
|
|
|
|
|
If Messi and Neymar both leave PSG at the end of the season I think this would leave a very negative effect on PSG's overall performance. I know that PSG haven't been much impressive even with this trio this season however the reason is Galtier's strategies mostly as it's seen clearly. The right manager for the team would be a big step forward for the team about making their dreams come true especially about the Champions League title.
However in case of seeing these two very important players leave the team even the right manager would have to deal with some serious problems about achieving their biggest goals. I wonder who would make a new trio with Mbappe in the attacking line.
|
|
|
|
|
Chelsea are quite the favourite against Brentford today. Both teams are in a really bad form and Brentford are five points ahead now. However none of them has a goal left to achieve for this season. I don't see any motivation source for any of these sides to play with all they have got. Of course I would prioritize Chelsea to bet on if I decided to bet on this game. But I can't even trust them in any game for now.
Because Chelsea have given up the season already you know and the recent results are just horrible. As far as I can see Chelsea are a better defending team while Brentford are much more effective at scoring goals. I think this game will end up with both teams' scoring.
|
|
|
|
|
Inter - Juventus is going to be a really important game for both sides. Inter have already won the Super Cup title though but it is an opportunity for them to increase the amount of titles to 2 this season. Juventus on the other hand are trying to not finish the season without a title. They still have a chance to go for the Coppa Italia and Europa League titles both.
However in the first leg of this draw Juventus couldn't get an advantageous result. It was a 1-1 tie at the end you know. But on the other hand Inter can't beat Juventus home for a while. Juventus beat them away in the league this season for example. I think this game won't end in regular time and Juventus will make it to the finale.
|
|
|
|
|
Benfica made me doubt about them for once after losing two times in a row. Porto won both of the games in the meantime and got behind Benfica by only four points. However it looks like Benfica are back to a good form again by winning their most recent league game. There isn't much time left for the end of the season so the only thing they need to do is to keep this up until declaring the title officially.
This is a really successful season for Benfica despite the elimination by Inter in the Champions League. Winning the Liga Portugal title must be their priority and they have done great about this goal so far. There are still games against Braga and Sporting though but let's see how strong they will play.
|
|
|
|
|
I will be expecting Milan - Inter draw to be quite competitive. It isn't like Milan are playing against Napoli. There was a bigger gap between the teams then but Milan are still the team to have advanced to this round. Inter wouldn't be as dominant as Napoli against them so Milan players can manage to play their own game more comfortably. This can increase their chance of qualifying for the finale a lot as well.
I'm not underestimating any team here of course. Inter are as strong as them here these days. But I think Leao will also make difference and Milan will manage to push their opponent out of the tournament anyway. There is no stadium advantage in this one as these teams are sharing the same one as well.
|
|
|
|
|
I didn't expect Fenerbahce to lose points in such an easy game honestly. After Galatasaray lost two points there was a big opportunity for Fenerbahce to take advantage of. Istanbulspor wasn't a big challenge for them on paper actually but the result was really surprising. Fenerbahce missed the chance to win in the last minutes and it ended by 3-3. It was such an interesting final score as well.
Istanbul are a team with no goal left in the season and they are much worse than Karagumruk. However they still did their best to steal points here and they became successful at it. Galatasaray players must be a little relieved but they think about this like a second chance.
|
|
|
|
|
Leverkusen are six points away from top four now while there are five more weeks to go in the season. They are really unstoppable these days thanks to Xabi Alonso's really good management.
He has left a really positive affect on the team honestly. They are incredible in not only the Bundesliga but also the Europa League. I know that their chance of qualifying for top four isn't too big but the point gap is still not that huge on one hand. They will need to keep this up and hope for the front duo to make serious mistakes. But even if one of them keeps a bad form the other one would secure top four in my opinion.
|
|
|
|
Nottingham appeared so confidence against Liverpool that to some point i began to doubt if liverpool will win the match.
The Liverpool second goal from Jota was fantastic, the control and the finishing was just perfect. After Salah scored a fabulous goal Arsenal defended their goal because the pressure from Nottingham were becoming much. Am sure Liverpool wouldn't want to go below where they are in the table.
Nottingham forest played so well and could have draw the game but Mohammed Salah goals won the game and Liverpool escape with the three points. Liverpool are still hopeful of the top 4 finished so they can qualify for champions league football in the coming season. I don't they can qualify as Manchester united are 9 points ahead of them and to take the last spot, they have to fight Manchester united for it. Liverpool also have other clubs like Tottenham to fight for the last spot, Liverpool with their one game advantage still won't be ahead of Tottenham if they win the outstanding game. Tottenham has a very good goal difference that puts them ahead of Liverpool when both clubs have same points. Nottingham would of course play fearlessly against a team like Liverpool. Because everyone knows how terrible Liverpool are this season. Their general performance must be rated negative. They were demolished by Real Madrid in the Champions League as well and I thought they would shift their focus on the Premier League completely. However it doesn't still seem like they are fully concentrated here. Nottingham were a little stubborn but this helped them fight really hard against them. Because it looked like Liverpool forgot how to defend their opponents. They should have had a decent winning streak not to lose their top four opportunity as well. |
|
|
|
|
My bet on both teams to score won thanks to Roma's contribution as well. But they still had a bad game of course. Atalanta beat them in both league games so far. They weren't even in a good shape before facing Roma but this wasn't any hindrance to beat Roma anyway. If Atalanta didn't score that cheesy goal then maybe the last minutes of the game would have been more exciting to watch.
Milan have taken the fourth position from Roma after this result. Despite being left out of top 4 after Juventus' punishment overturned, Milan are again in the Champions League zone. But it won't be easy for them to keep their presence while they are focused on the Champions League semi final round as well.
|
|
|
|
It looks like Bayern Munich are still seriously interested in Harry Kane to sign him this summer. But according to some news he doesn't have much intention to leave the English Premier League. Maybe he is a top striker who actually has the potential to play in every big league but he also has priorities for himself of course. I respect his decision and won't criticize it too much. But I hope he makes the right final decision for himself.
Staying at Tottenham will just increase his pain level. Because Tottenham still can't turn into a winner team despite having really skilled players in their squad. It is all about management for them but they still can't find the one for themselves. I think Kane will be out of patience by the end of the season. If he insists on staying in the same league then most probably we would see him signing for Manchester United.
I also started to think that Harry Kane's priority will be to stay in England which will make things easier for the Red Devils to make an offer for him. I haven't heard any other Premier League team being interested in so Manchester United would be really comfortable in that case. However there might be some problems about finishing the transfer without an issue. I mean that Tottenham wouldn't like to sell him on a low price. He is 29 now but his market value is still 90 million euros. His amazing level of performance is helping him a lot to keep his value at the same level these days. If Tottenham demand at least this amount then I wonder what the Red Devils would do. |
|
|
|
|
This win was really important for Sevilla to reach safety in the standings. They are in a very comfortable position now and they just need to throw hard to get close to the relegation zone once again. It is good to see Sevilla making it because it was really awkward to see them near relegation. They couldn't improve their results properly for a long time you know. That worried me a lot about their future in the season.
This season must be a good lesson for them. There is a huge difference between this Sevilla and the one in the previous season. They need to find a way to bring back the old Sevilla.
|
|
|
|
|
Manchester City - Arsenal is going to be a really crucial game for the league title. Arsenal are in a really worrying condition considering their performance on the recent weeks. They were nearly losing to Southampton in a home game as well. They still have serious issues with defending these days. They just can't have a clean sheet for many weeks which led them to get three draws in a row.
Now Manchester City have a big opportunity to take the lead by even winning their missing games. But if they win this big game as well things will be even easier for them. They have been unstoppable for many weeks while Arsenal have been struggling. Playing away is adding an extra difficulty for Arsenal. I don't feel like they can win this game.
|
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
