All boots in for English soccer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2019 (2640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What a week.

Faced with what seemed like the impossible, Liverpool overturned a 3-0 deficit to treble-chasing Barcelona at Anfield and progressed to what was, only hours before, an unlikely Champions League final. Then, a day later, Tottenham Hotspur completed a dramatic comeback at Ajax with the last kick of the semifinal round to set up an all-English showdown in Madrid.

The day after that, Arsenal and Chelsea knocked out Valencia and Eintracht Frankfurt, respectively, arranging a London derby, transplanted to Baku, for the Europa League final.

It’s the first time four teams from the same country have contested European football’s biggest pair of prizes in the same season, which means the eyes of the football world will be focused on a quartet of Premier League giants over the next few weeks.

Starting on Sunday, as a matter of fact.

Given the euphoria of the past few days, it’s perhaps easy, or at least tempting, to look ahead to May 29 and the Europa League clash or June 1 and the Champions League confrontation. But the Premier League itself has yet to be decided — the sport’s most high-profile division having come down to the final day of the schedule.

Manchester City, ousted from the Champions League by Spurs in the quarter-finals, goes into the 38th match day with a one-point lead on Liverpool, meaning the trophy is theirs to lose. They would also appear to have the easier assignment — away to Burnley, while Wolverhampton will be at Anfield. Incredibly, Wolves have already beaten all four European finalists this term and will go into next semester’s Europa League if City win the FA Cup next weekend.

With the League Cup already under wraps, City can take a second step toward a domestic treble with a win at the Amex — something that has never been achieved in English football. Of course, they’d surely trade all three triumphs for Champions League success, and going into next season the European Cup will be their No. 1 priority, as it was this time around.

Even before Liverpool thrashed Barcelona 4-0 on Tuesday, City manager Pep Guardiola had insisted the Reds would be able to face Wolves “without pressure” on Sunday, given that his own side was in the more advantageous position. He won’t have foreseen it working out this way, but with Liverpool now into the Champions League final, his statement is even truer, what with his title rivals still chasing the continent’s highest honour should they come up empty-handed this weekend.

The only question marks for City ahead of its journey to the Channel coast involves its set up in the centre of the park, what with midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne injured and defensive shield Fernandinho likely to miss out with a knee problem. Nevertheless, with striker Sergio Aguero playing some of the best stuff of his career and Raheem Sterling fresh off accepting the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year accolade, the guests should have enough firepower to get the result they need.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, will welcome attacker Mohamed Salah back into his starting lineup, and both Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson, who sustained knocks against Barcelona during the week, will likely play from the kickoff as well. In his pre-match press conference, Klopp remarked that his side’s mantra of late is “It’s only pain,” and if recent performances are any indication, the Reds will ensure City has to take all three points from Brighton in order to win the league.

What a weekend. What a week. And more to come!

Valour Notebook

● Valour FC return to Winnipeg for a home match against HFX Wanderers at IG Field in today’s lone Canadian Premier League encounter. With a win and two losses from three outings, they sit fifth in the spring-season table.

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● Valour’s run of four matches in 11 days to open the CPL’s inaugural campaign has already forced manager Rob Gale to explore his side’s depth, and today against Wanderers he may well hand a debut to local product Marco Bustos, while reinserting Stephen Hoyle, who was marvellous in the club’s victory at Pacific FC, into the starting XI.

● Against now first-place Cavalry FC on Wednesday, Valour seemed unable to properly involve wing-backs Martin Aguinarena and Diego Gutierrez as they were forced into a route-one approach by the opposition midfield — something that essentially rendered their three-pronged attack ineffective. It’s early days, but in-game adjustments could end up being key to this outfit.

● In their debut match, Valour brought the late heroics to claim a deserved win. Against FC Edmonton in their home opener, they dominated at IG Field and were unlucky to have not taken at least a point. On Wednesday in Calgary, the Winnipeg side struggled to create meaningful openings and succumbed to a superb Jose Escalante free kick. Again, it’s only three matches in, but there’s already a trend here that could use some reversing today.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter: @JerradPeters