Like Palace four seasons ago, Getafe began with seven defeats before a motivational video and returning hero led a revivalGiovanni Trapattoni carried a battle of holy water with him, blessed by the sister who actually was his sister. In 2009 the Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino hiked to Montserrat to visit the black virgin, enlisting her help in avoiding relegation, salvation delivered soon after. And Raúl Madero, the Argentinian national team doctor, twice visited the wailing wall. The first time, before the 1986 World Cup, he asked for them to be champions; when he went back four years later, he thought that would be pushing it, so requested runners-up. True story, and when it comes to football you’ll try anything. Sometimes...
A Covid-related no-show at Udinese looks the last act for Salernitana unless they can find a new owner by 31 DecemberThere were at least 16 Salernitana fans at the Dacia Arena on Tuesday. It is no small commitment to make a 1,000-mile roundtrip to support a team that sits bottom of the standings on a weeknight in December. The group came knowing they would not have a team to support at all.Salernitana had been barred from travelling after two players tested positive for Covid, together with a third member of staff. The decision was made by the local health authority in Salerno, not the Italian Football Federation, meaning that their fixture away to Udinese was not officially cancelled. Continue reading...
João Cancelo continues to shine, Dele Alli shows his worth and Blackburn are looking upJürgen Klopp spent much of the pulsating 2-2 draw with Tottenham frothing with rage at some of the refereeing decisions and his anger was more than justified. We all have bad days at the office, but certain elements of Paul Tierney’s display were inexplicably poor. Diogo Jota was denied a blindingly obvious penalty in the first half, before Harry Kane escaped with a yellow card for a potentially career-ending tackle on Andy Robertson. Robertson was smart enough to jump, without which the damage would have been severe. “That’s definitely a red card ... if Robbo’s leg is on the ground, it’s a broken leg,” Klopp correctly...
The French forward’s remarkable return to form at 33 is one of the stories of this Bundesliga seasonIt was an evening of not one ending, but two, in Lower Saxony. It took two nods of Anthony Modeste’s head; the first, of the gentlest kind, to score one of the easiest goals of his curious career and end a mini-drought, the second a more forceful show of aerial power to provide an 89th-minute winner and send Köln’s travelling supporters into ecstasy. “My strength is my heading, not my right or my left foot as you saw in that move,” he laughed afterwards with some self-deprecation, having missed an arguably better chance 10 minutes before.The look of deflation on the face of...
The redraw of the Champions League last 16 was kind to the Premier League clubs and the quartet should progressBayern, as ever, have been dominant in the Bundesliga and they romped through the group stage winning six out of six, scoring 22 and conceding only three. Under Julian Nagelsmann they play with as high a line as they did under Hansi Flick, and Robert Lewandowski remains as prolific as ever. If there are doubts, they are only over two things: Bayern’s squad is not as deep as those of many of their rivals, making them susceptible to injuries, and top-class sides may be able to exploit that high line. Salzburg have in the past caused problems against other hard-pressing teams,...