A fourth consecutive double is almost secured for Juve after a Coppa Italia final that featured redemption for Mehdi Benatia and despair for MilanA 4-0 victory to seal a fourth consecutive Coppa Italia. So absolute is Juventus’s domination of the domestic scene these days that they can apparently even afford themselves self-referential scorelines. No team had ever won so many consecutive editions of this tournament. Then again, that was already true last year.Milan were the opponents whose dreams they shattered this time at the Stadio Olimpico. Before kick-off you could take your pick of the storylines: from Leonardo Bonucci seeking to get one over on his former team to the duel-at-a-distance between a nation’s greatest goalkeeper, Gigi Buffon, and his...
The title will go to Juventus again after Napoli’s impressive season faded but the fight for Europe and to survive is set to go down to the wireFor the seventh season running, Juventus will be champions of Italy. The Scudetto is not officially theirs just yet, but we are into the realm of technicalities. A 3-1 win over Bologna, accompanied by a draw for Napoli, extended their lead to six points with two games left to play.The first tie-breaker, head-to-head results, would be split with the Partenopei, since each beat the other 1-0 away from home. Next is goal difference, where Juventus are ahead by 16. Realistically, it will not come to that anyway. The Bianconeri’s final game of the...
Jürgen Klopp’s men did what they had to do by scoring first in a tense semi-final second leg at Roma, where they lost on the night but squeezed into the Champions League finalIt was, of course, never in doubt. Or perhaps only a little in doubt in those moments when Roma pressed and suddenly Liverpool’s defence began to look alarmingly zany, pockets of space opening up as though subject to a sudden buckling of the earth’s crust.Certainly the Champions League has never known anything like this. A 4-2 victory for Roma brought to an end a double-header that has seen 20 goals scored in two semi-finals, capped by a pair of hysterically open second legs. Defending is over. Clean sheets...
The two late goals in the first leg at Anfield have given the Giallorossi hope they can repeat their Barcelona heroics and beat Liverpool to reach the Champions League finalIn the last few days the city has been trembling with excitement. No one speaks about anything else: there is only Roma v Liverpool, in the bars and in the restaurants, among friends or on the metro. It will be a great celebration of sport with an extraordinary atmosphere: trust me, the Olimpico will be an inferno.For Roma it is only their second time in a European Cup semi-final, and therefore something historic: the climate inside the stadium will be even hotter and even more fiery than what we saw against...
Max and the gang talk Wenger’s Old Trafford tribute, trophies for Celtic and Barcelona, Sunderland’s latest woes and podders as Premier League managersRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, John Brewin and Lars Sivertsen to look back at the weekend that was, starting with Arsène Wenger’s final trip to Old Trafford as Arsenal manager. Continue reading...