After a couple of weeks off everyone’s seventh favourite competition is back.
Back like a bitter local rival with vengeance on its mind, back like a journeyman striker putting in a final stint before hanging up his boots, or back like the rear part of your body with a spine running down the middle of it? You decide.
This past weekend certainly had a lot of storylines across the major European leagues, and so I thought it would be most appropriate to give a general review of how things are panning out for some of our continental neighbours. In Germany and France there has been no absolutely dominant force, meaning that the excitement has built as their domestic leagues are taken to the wire.
Netherlands
Firstly a look at Steve McClaren and his team FC Twente for the final time this season. After what has been a very positive and successful first year in the Netherlands. Unfortunately for McClaren his first season in the Eredivisie came agonisingly short of a fully triumphant riposte to his critics. On Sunday night FC Twente eventually lost the KNVB Beker (Dutch Cup) 5-4 on penalties, after a 2-2 draw with Heerenveen.
Porto finally wrapped up their fourth consecutive league title last Sunday with a 1-0 win over Nacional.
Sporting meanwhile scored in the 90th minute against Vitoria Setúbal to seal second place and Champions League qualification.
Who’d want to be a referee? It’s like being a policeman, only worse. You spend your time telling people what to do, yet no one respects or likes you. It’s conferred authority on the scale of the school prefect or shop-steward. The actions of a former victim clutching at the straws of power.
Last week the world bore witness to a bout of utterly feckless decision making by a certain Norwegian official. But, alas, Tom Henning Obrevo, fear not; you are in esteemed company within our own fair shores. Let us take a look at the Premier League’s worst referees.
Another round of fixtures took place this midweek as the duel at the Bundesliga summit failed to become any clearer in its outcome. There remain two fixtures left to play and yet amazingly there are still five teams that could technically win the title, four of which cannot be separated by more than two points at this late stage of the season.
Bayern Munich continued to defy their recently departed manager Jurgen Klinsmann, by comfortably winning their third game in a row since his sacking at the end of April. This time around they eventually overwhelmed Bayer Lerverkusen 3-0 at home. Luca Toni scored his thirteenth league goal of the season soon after half-time, Frank Ribery then skilfully flicked the ball over Leverkusen's goalkeeper on the hour mark. Twenty minutes lingered when Lukas Podolski wrapped things up, with what is only his sixth Bundesliga strike thus far this term.