A break from the cup tournaments gave way to a number of domestic club football games around Europe with some big results this week. Manchester City and Tottenham kept their slim hopes of catching up with Chelsea alive with wins in the league, while Arsenal’s loss to Liverpool not only means Wenger might finish outside the top four but also puts more pressure on Mourinho’s Manchester United who dropped points against Bournemouth.
It has been a fantastic week for Barcelona after they beat Sporting Gijon 6-1 and brushed Celta Vigo aside with a 5-0 victory. To add to that, Real Madrid drew against Las Palmas on Wednesday which means Barcelona are provisionally the leaders of the Spanish League.
A routine win for Bayern sees them extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points while Monaco maintained their three-point lead over PSG with a 4-0 victory over Nantes. To round up this week of European domestic football, here are five best moments from Europe this week.
#1 Leicester City resurrect with a win over Liverpool
Liverpool is certainly the Robinhood club of the Premier League as the Merseysiders lost to yet another club battling to stay in the Premier League in Leicester City. In the first game since the sacking of Premier League-winning manager Claudio Ranieri, the Foxes came out all guns blazing and looked closest to the squad that won the league last season.
Jamie Vardy was at his clinical best and bagged two goals while Danny Drinkwater scored a stunner to give Leicester City a 3-0 lead before Coutinho pulled one back for Liverpool in the 68th minute.
This performance from Leicester City certainly brought back some wonderful memories to the fans at the King Power Stadium. After winning the title last season, Leicester has never looked to even challenge for a top six spot. The sacking of Ranieri has certainly proved to have a positive effect with Leicester City winning two out of two games so far.
#2 Fernando Llorente’s late winner gives Swansea three vital points
Swansea’s new manager Paul Clement has had a tough start to 2017 with the Welsh club facing four of the top five teams in their eight Premier League games this season. Despite the tough fixtures, Swansea have managed to win five of their last eight games which almost assures them safety, unless their performance drops drastically.
Against Burnley, Swansea City dominated the first half, hitting the woodwork thrice but only managed to score one goal which saw the game level with the scores 1-1 at the half-time break. Burnley took the lead through Gray in the 61st minute leaving The Swans feeling robbed.
Olsson’s 69th-minute goal levelled scores for Swansea but the Welsh club seemed hungry for all three points. Their star summer signing Fernando Llorente yet again scored a last minute goal to give Swansea win which now pushes them to 16th on the table.
#3 Footballing world rallies behind Fernando Torres after his horrible injury
Atletico’s Madrid’s legendary striker Fernando Torres might be well beyond his prime but has been a vital player for his boyhood club. After coming on against Deportivo on Thursday evening, the striker suffered what seemed like a horrible injury to his head after landing awkwardly which left a number of players on the pitch close to tears.
The quick thinking of Gabi and Vrsaljko ensured that Torres did not swallow his tongue. The following few minutes after this injury left the players shocked and unwilling to play the game as they saw the clock off. Messages of strength and prayers flew in from across the world for the former Liverpool striker including his ex-club Chelsea.
After spending a night at the hospital, Fernando Torres returned unscathed to the relief of not only Atletico Madrid fans, but also all football fans around the world. However, this whole incident will be remembered by many for the love and human spirit that the footballing fraternity displayed towards Torres.
#4 Ronaldo’s late double denies Las Palmas a stunning victory
Real Madrid have had a shaky end to February in the La Liga after dropping points against Valencia and narrowly escaping a loss to Villareal. Their poor form continued into March after Las Palmas gave the Los Blancos a tough fight which ended in a 3-3 draw.
While Real Madrid dominated the first half of the game, a 1-1 scoreline was all that they could manage. The second half turned the game on its head after Gareth Bale’s silly antics saw his earn a red card. Las Palmas quickly made the score 3-1 after goals from Viera and Boateng.
When it looked like Real Madrid were on their way to the second loss in three games, the Ballon d’Or winner stepped up to earn them a point. His first goal was a stunning penalty in the 86th minute which was followed by a brilliant header in the 89th. Despite being in shaky form, Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence is priceless for Real Madrid.
#5 Lionel Messi lights up the Camp Nou yet again
Amidst all the off-field chaos at Barcelona regarding the manager, the board and the players, there is one thing that remains constant – Lionel Messi’s brilliance. With Luis Enrique to step down at the end of the season and Lionel Messi’s contract talks dominating the news, Barcelona has slowly been improving their performance game after game since the PSG defeat.
While it looks like Barcelona’s improvement is a team effort, which saw Enrique experiment with a new 3-4-3 formation, as well as the return to form of key players like Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets, Barcelona can never be the team they are without Lionel Messi.
Is a repeat of last season where Celta Vigo decimated the Barcelona side at home but go thrashed by the Catalans in Barcelona, Lionel Messi ran riot, bagging two goals to take him to 23 goals this season. Both of Messi’s goals were a work of art, to put it in simple words.
