Post Match Reaction - Round 34

[Nick@ManCity]

Missing Sheets


Errors


Error Points
Celtic - 1

[Drum@Villa]

Lazio 1-0 Inter

With GS at the helm I could have been on for an arse kicking, however with our season struggles comes a sense of smash and grab.

that was this game in a nutshell.

set up to frustrate Inter, so firstly smash and grab a goal, 7 minutes Aouar, then 45 mins shut it down and hope.

giving away any advantage, possession and just praying to either grab a 2nd or that the leaky defence can hold firm.

well held firm it did. And 3 bonus points in the lazio bag.

gg gs, sorry for the negativity buddy

[Marshy@Atletico]

Atletico Madrid 0 Monaco 2

Absolute terrible display from the home side against a Monaco side who started with a 16 and 14-rated defender and who were reduced to 10-men for 2/3s of the game. Quite bizarre that it was Atleticos on-loan midfielder Soumane who was sent off stirring rumours that Marsh had ordered him to do so with his team struggling to get into the game. 10-men made very little difference as Monaco continued to match the home side throughout. The game started shockingly bad with Atletico conceding a penalty in the first few minutes which was saved and Fati leaving the field injured. Fans and possibly the manager will be worried how toothless the home side looked without the outgoing Fati driving the side forwards.

Manager Simon Marsh commented "Fair play to Monaco and John but that was possibly our worst game of the season when you consider the above. We just never gained any control in the game. The season seems to me imploding into a mediocrity and some of the players out there must have been thinking about their summer holidays. Well if they dont show an improvement we will have them in for training every day throughout the close season".

GG Johnboy

[JasonH@Wolfsburg]

Leverkusen 3-1 Celtic

I expected Sam to start with his usual attacking A so planned on matching him, relying on home advantage and team strength to get the win, but surprisingly Sam threw out a C, but it did little to stop us and we romped home with a 3-1 win and the first in forever.

Frustratingly most of the teams we are trying to catch all won, so we need to go again and try and beat atletico to drag ourselves into what is looking an unlikely European spot.

Good game Sam, thanks for letting me win for the first time in ages, real confidence builder

[Derek]

Roma 3 1 Napoli

Another A vs C match-up. We took a while to get the breakthrough and Napoli made it 2-1 with 9 minutes to go that got the nerves jangling. No howlers from Martinez this week though so we secure another 3 points.

Nice to see KDB was not put off by this week's transfer negotiations and puts in a MotM performance. Hoping for the same on Sunday.

Somehow we've got to gain 3 points on Madrid and with away games at Madrid, PSG and Barca to come it is hard to see how we will do that. A Madrid win on Sunday should seal the title for them.

Please to ease into 2nd and give plummeting Lisbon a wave on their way down.

gg Chris

[Livi@Liverpool]

Barcelona 1 Lyon 1

Another home fixture we dominate and should win but we don't. A familiar tale.

The supposedly weakened C our nemesis again as it brings Lyon an equaliser. Even against 10 men in the 2nd half and their now 3 man defence we couldn't find a way through.

You can't expect to compete for the top honours the way we carry on frittering points left, right and centre.

Played Jase - a good week for you!

[AB@Juventus]

Marseille 3 - 1 Juventus

Awful result for us today against bottom of the league, with this result our Champions League places push seems to be over now unfortunately.

We fully expected Marseille to play C, we hoped they'd play A like they have a lot this season so played A anyway. They opted for C and took the lead just 6 minutes in.

On 30 minutes, the hosts changed tactics to E, gifting us TA...but we struggled to break them down with Donnarumma making save after save to keep their lead intact.

We went into half time 1-0 down but drew level on 61 minutes forcing Marseille to switch tactics to L, which instantly won them a penalty which they scored to retake the lead.

Back to E for the hosts and 2 minutes later they wrapped up the points with a 3rd against TA....

Despite Marseille going down to 10 men on 85 minutes, we couldn't get back into the game and we ran out losers.

Statistically we dominated the game and really should have won. 17 shots on targets and 1 goal is awful.

We need to be better next season as this is a joke. Good game Euan.

[Steve@Chelsea]

Sevilla 1 - 2 Real Madrid

Really pleased with this win. Sevilla are a tricky side to play against. Unconventional with their tactics, including going D for 20 minutes in the first half when down by 1. We went 2-0 up though with goals from Rodrygo and Sterling and the home side pulled back a late consolation goal. GG Raingod.

The win marks our intent to win the title and was the type of victory that a championship winning team has to get sometimes in close games. Elsewhere, it seems like we have sent Lisbon on a slippery slope down the league as they lose again. A 2nd time in a row which really harms their chances and Roma won again, as they must do - if they want to keep pace with us. Barca's title aspirations were dashed with a home draw against Lyon who are somewhat underated by most. Next up is a big game against Roma at home. A win would see us 6 points clear of Roma but a draw would not be the worst thing in the world either. Could be an interesting match-up tactically, although I expect Roma to set up warily as all the pressure is on Derek Hughes to beat us on Sunday to keep their dreams alive.

[Ed@PSG]

Psg 1 bayern Munich 0
Low key game in which we managed to get the only goal. Managed to keep a rare clean sheet. Despite their lowly position, our visitors are still a capable team, having won the EFL Cup. They have been a bit of a bogey team over the last few seasons, so I'm pleased to get out 15th home win from our last 16 games. Slip ups for Lisbon and barca put us a little more in the mix. 2nd still a remote possibility considering the remaining games

[Guest]

Lazio 1-0 Inter

a smash and grab as mentioned, we did not deserve to lose this, a complete one sided game but it is what it is we can only dust ourselfs down and go again we failed to unlock the door of Lazio who shut up shop and thats on us as we used to be that side for the points, we need to score more, a debut for L_Pellegrini tonight will hopefully change that. gg mate

[Gary@Millwall]

Sporting Lisbon 1 AC Milan 2

After the disappointment of losing to Real Madrid Sporting Lisbon fans were hoping their side would get back to winning ways back at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Before most fans had taken their seats Juranovic went on a mazy run before unleashing a fantastic shot to give the Lisbon Lions a 1st minute lead.

This should have been the galvanising moment for the Portuguese outfit but manager Windebank made a huge tactical error but not changing tactics and formation to negate AC Milan going attacking once going a goal behind.

In the 24th minute the game was level when Skriniar unleashed a powerful shot that Lopes saved but he could not hold onto the ball and Skriniar tucked the ball away when the ball fell back to him.

Both sides were now attacking and the game really opened up with Lisbon dominating proceedings but they were unable to find the net.

The home end fell silent in the 41st minute when a real sucker punch gave AC Milan the lead, Lo Celso low drive somehow hit the bar but again the rebound feel kindly to the away side and Lo Celso tucked the ball away.

Sporting Lisbon huffed and puffed for the whole second half but could not find a way through the well drilled AC Milan defence and for only the second time this season Sporting Lisbon suffered back to back defeats and drop down to 3rd in the League three points behind the Leagues heavyweights in Real Madrid and Roma.

Sporting Lisbon edged possession with 51% and created 14 chances to AC Milan's 12 with both sides having 4 shots on target each.

Windebank's Post Match Comments

Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay in reaction to this match but I have been away for the Bank Holiday weekend.

This result is really disappointing and our wayward shooting really done us no favours today as we slide down the table and need to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible.

Our destiny was no longer in our own hands following our defeat to Real Madrid but now we need Real Madrid to drop points in two games which looks really unlikely as they are in stella form.

It seems some in FFO are of the same opinion as the Bayern Munich manager who has been silent for 90% of the season came out the woodwork like a smelly fart to inform me we have bottled it. A comment I find quite amusing considering his side have no chance of catching our points total with 8 games and 24 points still to play for.

My players are still in with a chance of winning the League and we will fight for all 24 points still in play.

Good Game Mati and bets of luck for the rest of the season.