The Fußball Chatter

Tottenham Hotspur. Potential Finish: 3rd. Final Position: 6th Tottenham has had one of the best teams over the past five years that often challenged for the title, consisting of the likes of Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembélé, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane. They had a fantastic run to the Champions League Final last year but their results at the end of last season masked the problems the Lilywhites had. After their defeat in the final, it was clear that the team did not recover from the final and it looked like the team had reached its zenith. Their poor form at the start of the season led to the firing of Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho was appointed to take his place. Christian Eriksen left the club in January and injuries to Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min close to the end of the season made Spurs' run-in look blink. They were fortunate that the lockdown occurred which enabled them to have a fit squad when the season resumes. Tanguy Ndombele

Newcastle United. Potential Finish: 19th. Final Position: 13th Steve Bruce was appointed following the departure of Rafa Benítez. It was an unpopular choice as Steve Bruce have not managed a Premier League team in four years and Benítez was a popular figure on Tyneside. The former Sunderland manager was able to shut down his critics as the Magpies finished comfortably in mid-table without any fear of relegation. The football was not pleasing for everyone with Newcastle playing an ultra-defensive style of play and only scored 38 goals. Only Norwich, Watford and Crystal Palace scored less goals. Allan Saint-Maximin gave Newcastle fans some excitement with his trickery while Joelinton has been a massive flop following his £40 million pound move from Hoffenheim. There seems to be changes going on at Newcastle with a massive takeover from a Saudi consortium which means that Steve Bruce will be fighting to keep his job next season if the takeover goes through. Everton. Potential Fini

The 2019/2020 Premier League season has finally ended, almost a year when the season started. The season will be known as the season where football was stopped for three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, to the credit of the league, the season was finally finished on the field rather than any technicality. Liverpool were crowned champions for the first time in thirty years while Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea will play in the Champions League next season. Leicester City and Tottenham will play Europa League football next season while Norwich City, Bournemouth and Watford were relegated from the Premier League and will play in the EFL Championship next season. It has been a long season with a long review to follow. Here's the first part of the Premier League season review. Norwich City. Potential Finish: 17th. Final Position: 20th Norwich City was expected to battle for relegation survival this season despite exciting many in the Championship

The 2019/2020 Spanish La Liga season ended on the 19th of July with Real Madrid winning the title, their 34th in history. Barcelona finished behind their rivals by five points while Atlético Madrid and Sevilla make up the final Champions League spots. Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Granada will play Europa League football next season but Espanyol, Mallorca and Leganes will be playing in the Segunda Division next season as they were relegated from La Liga this season. Lionel Messi finished as both top scorer and best provider this season with 25 goals and 21 assists while Thibaut Courtois won the Zamora Trophy for Best Goalkeeper. Here is a review of the recently concluded La Liga season. Best Player - Karim Benzema Real Madrid had a rock solid defence this season but you need goals to win games. Zidane's side scored 70 goals this season, 16 goals fewer than Barcelona. Karim Benzema has stepped up in terms of his goal output since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and this

FA Cup Action The semifinals of the FA Cup took place during the weekend at an empty Wembley Stadium. The first semifinal was between the holders Manchester City and Arsenal. Following their win against Liverpool in midweek, the Gunners pulled off a shock 2-0 win with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scoring the two goals. Despite City having 71% possession and 16 shots, Pep Guardiola's side were nullified by Arsenal and did not look to have created a key chance during the game. Credit has to go to Mikel Arteta as he has taken the North London side to another FA Cup final, hoping to add to the 13 FA Cup titles the club has won. They will meet their London rivals Chelsea in the final on August 1st as Frank Lampard was fourth time lucky against Manchester United this season, winning the game 3-1. Olivier Giroud, Mason Mount and an own goal from Harry Maguire  gave the Blues the win while United paid the price for fielding a rotated side for the semifinal with David de Gea having a poor

A brace from Karim Benzema gave Real Madrid a 2-1 win at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Thursday evening. That win, as well as Barcelona losing to Osasuna, was enough for Real Madrid to win La Liga before the final weekend of the season. This is Madrid's first league title since 2017, their 34th league title and their first major trophy since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. Following their campaign last season where they hired three managers and had a steep falloff, pressure was on Zinedine Zidane to replicate what he did in his first spell as Madrid boss but without the Portuguese icon. It's far to say that the Frenchman have delivered for Real Madrid yet again. Zidane had a fantastic spell for Los Blancos  between January 2016 to May 2018, winning nine trophies in the process including the 2016/17 La Liga title and three Champions League titles in a row, becoming the first manager in the Champions League era to win it in consecutive seasons. However, critics stated

Premier League Action The Premier League is slowly reaching its conclusion with the race for Champions League football and the battle for relegation survival heating up. Norwich City were officially relegated from the Premier League after a 4-0 defeat to West Ham United. The Canaries have found the jump from the Championship difficult losing 24 of their 35 games played, conceding 67 goals. Watford beat Newcastle 2-1, boosting their survival chances. Liverpool dropped points at home for the first time this season after a 1-1 draw against Burnley with Jay Rodriguez scoring the equalizer. Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as Manchester City hammered Brighton. Sheffield United threw a spanner at Chelsea's Champions Leagues hopes, defeating the Blues 3-0 at Bramall Lane. Wolves defeated Everton 3-0 to keep their slim chances of finishing 4th alive while Trézéguet scored a brace to give Aston Villa an important 2-0 win against Crystal Palace to, keeping their survival hopes alive.

The 2019/2020 Bundesliga season has ended albeit in strange circumstances with the global pandemic forcing the season to go on hold for several weeks. Nevertheless, the season was finally completed on June 27th as Bayern Munich become champions for the eighth consecutive year, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach completed the top four as they play in the Champions League next season. Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim will be playing in the Europa League next year while Paderborn and Fortuna Düsseldorf will be playing in 2.Bundesliga as they were relegated while Werder Bremen played in the promotion/relegation playoff and just stayed up against Heidenheim on away goals. This is a review of the just-concluded season and who stood out. Best Player - Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski has become one of the greatest goalscorers in Bundesliga history and this season has been his best season yet for Die Bayern.  The Polish striker was amazing in 2019/2020, caus

Premier League Action The race for the Champions League spots and the battle for Premier League survival had further spins and turns this past weekend in the Premier League. Brighton look like that will play Premier League football next season whilst sealing Norwich's demotion back to the Championship after the Seagulls beat the Canaries 1-0. Manchester United's front three were at it again keeping in the hunt for the top 4 after hammering Bournemouth 5-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday. Leicester's Jamie Vardy was back scoring goals as the Foxes beating Crystal Palace 3-0. He also joined the 100 club as he has now scored over a hundred goals in the Premier League. Cheslea are still 4th place after beating Watford 3-0 but Wolves have lost some ground over their top four rivals losing at home to Arsenal 2-0 with Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette scoring for the Gunners . This leaves Wolves 6th in the league table, five points behind Cheslea. Burnley and Sheffield United