The Premier League is set for an exciting climax after Paul Scholes put Manchester United’s ‘noisy neighbours’ to the sword, to close within one point of Chelsea with only three games remaining. But England’s top division merely reflects the excitement of leagues all across Europe.
As the clock ticks down to trophy season, only one of the continents top leagues seems settled. And until Lyon managed only two wins from their last seven games, all four Champions League semi-finalists were chasing domestic success.
The slump from Claude Puel’s charges has allowed Marseille to storm to the top of Ligue 1. Thanks to a run of just one defeat since the new year, L’OM are 11 points ahead of Champions Bordeaux and nine points clear of third placed Lyon who are set for a second year in third place. Which is a severe dip coming after seven straight league titles. But one suspects they are willing to sacrifice a league title for a shot at ‘the big eared trophy’.
If Marseille manage to close the deal, the southern French city is set for a major celebration, they have already shown a glimpse of the passion for silverware on the Mediterranean coast. After their league cup success earlier this year, the club took the unusual step of having an open top bus take them on a victory parade to show off their wares through the streets.
In Spain, Barcelona had their own local derby to navigate last weekend. But on a rare occasion when, ‘el Messiah,’ Lionel Messi failed to perform, the champions dropped two points to Espanyol allowing Real Madrid to close the gap to the minimum with a 2-0 win over Valencia.
With five games to go in La Liga, Real appear to have an easier run in, a trip to fourth place Mallorca the toughest proposition for Los Blanco’s, who will surely have the blinkers on and all eyes trained on the Primera trophy, despite many of their players being purchased for the singular purpose of achieving European success.
Barca must navigate through tricky journey’s to Villareal and Sevilla, neither of whom will have given up on the coveted fourth Champions League place. Any stumble now and the Blaugrana face the very real possibility of following up their all conquering treble season with a trophyless one (apart from being world club champions of course.) Particularly after Inter Milan dealt an acute psychological blow by becoming the first team to score three against Pep Guardiola’s side. That result evidently ruffled the feathers of Xavi whose post match confrontation with Jose Mourinho betrayed his club’s oft exaggerated corinthian spirit.
Despite their impressive showing on Wednesday, Inter look to have loosened their stranglehold on Serie A after being overtaken by AS Roma.
Like Madrid and Manchester United, Mourinho’s men lie one point behind their title rivals and the next two weeks of action are likely to be pivotal, assuming that the special one will not sacrifice a fifth title in a row to ensure his troops are well rested for his return to Camp Nou. The Nerazzuri travel to Rome to face Lazio, before the Giallorossi host fourth place Sampdoria, all could become clearer if either side stumbles over these hurdles.
The fading AC Milan lie in third place, seven points behind the leaders with four games to go and, not before time, Andrea Pirlo has admitted: “The Scudetto is lost: we are only thinking about finishing the season well.”
It is hard to avoid thinking that little more than Leonardo’s approachable nature and legendary status at Milan has kept him in the job thus far, Silvio Burlusconi may be forgiven for picking out a replacement for the Brazilian before the World Cup has finished.
“Typical German’s” was how Alex Ferguson described Bayern Munich, and as they lie two points ahead of Schalke with three games against bottom half opposition to come, “FC Hollywood” look set to efficiently bring another Bundesliga title to Bavaria.
But will Franck Ribery’s travails and European suspension derail them from a possible treble? Werder Bremen are the opposition in the German Cup final, and Louis Van Gaal is just one result away from a Saturday night final in Madrid, rest assured, when Arjen Robben is fit and well, anything is possible.
Across the border, in Robben’s homeland, Martin Jol’s Ajax are feeling sorry for themselves. Despite conceding just four goals at home all season, and currently being on a run of 13 consecutive league victories, they still trail Steve McLaren’s FC Twente by one point going into the final day. “Twente just seem to never lose” lamented Jol regarding Twente’s impressive record of just two defeats this season.
The Eredivisie’s day of reckoning will come next weekend (May 2nd) and both pretenders to the crown must travel to claim to the points, But McClaren is in the driving seat.
The top four spots look cut and dried in Portugal and so major prizes are no longer up for grabs. Benfica are well clear at the top, their three pronged attack of Javier Saviola, and the highly rated pair of Angel DiMaria and Oscar Cardozo proving too much for the chasing pack to compete with.
That chasing pack consists of the usual pairing of FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon (in third and fourth respectively) but also Sporting Braga, who sit comfortably in second, five points ahead of Porto.
Back to the big boys: and they don’t come much bigger or bolder than John Terry and Didier Drogba. Chelsea could be without both stalwarts for the visit of Stoke City this weekend.
The Ivorian appeared to aggravate a hernia injury last week and requested to be substituted after he re-emerged for the second half. But the striker opted to play through the pain barrier for the remaining 45 minutes as trailing 2-0, Carlo Ancelotti had already made all of his substitutions.
Terry was subsequently booked for two rash challenges in quick succession, and the deserved red card which followed rules him out for Saturday. In previous encounters, the blues have used both Drogba and the captain as pillars to defend the blunt, yet potent, threat of the Rory Delap long throw in.
After putting major dents in both Arsenal and Chelsea’s title charge in the last week Tottenham Hotspur will travel to Old Trafford with more expectation than ever before, hoping to complete an unlikely treble in the space of ten days.
United will feel they need all available points to claim a record 19th league title. Should they beat spurs they must then travel to Wearside to face a rejuvenated Sunderland before hosting Stoke City on the final day.
Terry is likely to return to action when his team venture into Anfield to face Liverpool on what could be Rafael Benitez’s last game in front of the Kop. It is the standout fixture for the league leaders and it has been made more winnable with the news that Fernando Torres has being ruled out for the remainder of the season.
El Nino intends to undergo surgery on a knee injury so that he can be fit to return for his country’s summer assault on South Africa. Spain go into the tournament as favourites but have failed to deliver on the biggest stage on each previous occasion, their best ever performance a fourth place finish in the bygone footballing era of 1950.
Perennially accused of being from a bygone era himself; Scholes’ header at Eastland’s demonstrated his intense and unflagging will to win. After 93 minutes of the most pressurised game of the season, the midfielder contorted his 35 year old body to inject every available ounce of power into a header, perfectly placed to the the only place Shay Given could not have reached it.
All across the continent those involved in tight scraps for trophies will know they must replicate that desire if they are to come out on top.
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