Arsenal's week got worse on Tuesday, leading many to believe Arsene Wenger will be on his way out of the Emirates before the season end. I'll be discussing that game as well as the 3 other Champions League games from the last 3 days. I will also preview Sunday's Capital One Cup final between Swansea & Bradford.
The subject of Monday's post was Arsenal's wait for a trophy and that wait has extended with a 3-1 loss in the home leg of their Champions League clash against Bayern Munich. It follows their exit from the FA Cup on Saturday at the hands on Blackburn. And Tuesday night's result all but seals their exit from this competition too. Bayern were 2-0 up half-time with goals Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller as the Gunners were booed off at the break. They got a goal back through Lukas Podolski, a goal that broke the German team's clean sheet record of 6 games, one of the few positives to take from the game for Arsenal fans. The comeback was not on however, as Mario Mandzukic's scuffed effort left the Gunners needing a miracle in the second leg.
24 hours later, Barcelona faced up to AC Milan at the San Siro in another much anticipated clash. The Rossoneri obviously studied Barca's semi-final second leg against Chelsea last year, as they copied The Blues' backs to the wall tactics. It payed off, Barca were not able to score, but AC got 2 themselves. Former Portsmouth teammates Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari scoring. Lionel Messi had a surprisingly bad game (if he really can have one) and his evening summed up the Catalan Giants' overall performance. Riccardo Montolivo and Massimo Ambrosini were at the heart of Milan's superb resiliance, the latter the main contributer to Messi's bad night.
Champions League Round-up
- Joao Moutinho scored the only goal in the game between Porto and Malaga, giving Porto a slender lead to take across the border in the second leg.
- Schalke came out the better side in a scrappy game against Galatasaray. Jermaine Jones scored an away goal for the Germans after Burak Yilmaz had given Didier Drogba's new side an early lead.
Sunday. 4pm. Wembley Stadium. Swansea City vs Bradford City.
Both sides have created shocks to reach the final, Bradford more than a few. Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa are among the teams they have beaten on this incredible run. They are very much made up of team players so it is hard to pick one star man. But if I had to single out 1 man it would have to be goalkeeper Matt Duke. 1 year ago he was battling cancer and now he's playing in a final at Wembley. He has made some amazing saves throughout the competition and got Man of the Match in the semi-final first leg.
Swansea also created a shock when they knocked out favourite's Chelsea over the two semi-final legs.They unbelievably won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge before holding out for a 0-0 draw at home to book their place in the final, They also knocked out Liverpool at Anfield, meaning the Swans have every right to be here. The game will be the first time the Welsh club has contested a final for one of English football's major trophies and they will want to make the most of it.
I predict: Swansea 2-1 Bradford
Premier League predictions
Man.City face Chelsea in a 2nd vs 3rd battle and Reading face Wigan in a relegation dog fight. It's a vital weekend at both ends of the table...
I predict:
- Fulham 1-1 Stoke
- Reading 2-0 Wigan
- West Brom 3-1 Sunderland
- Norwich 1-2 Everton
- QPR 1-5 Manchester United
- Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa
- Manchester City 3-2 Chelsea
- Newcastle 1-0 Southampton
- West Ham 1-3 Tottenham
Olly Allen
Follow me on twitter: @OllyAllen1998
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