May 2037
That’s a lot of games to play this month.
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Nava hasn’t scored many this season but he pops up here in the last couple of minutes to prevent what could have been a damaging defeat. Not as good as 3 points at a critical time in the season, but it will have to do.
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I cocked this up a bit, changing the starting formation to try and counter Marseille’s relative strength through the middle, although they scored after a very fine through ball. With the game wearing on, I went back to the 4-1-2-1-2 that we usually play with, brought on Baptista and his introduction paid dividends. A bit fortunate to escape with a draw and away goal after what was a tactical blunder on my part.
In the other Semi-Final, Spurs and Benfica play out a goal-less draw in Portugal.
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That was painful viewing as we struggled to put two passes together for the whole game and it’s astonishing we managed to get the 2 goals that we did - even though Tomkovic’s header, his first for the club and a great time to score it, was a thing of beauty. That result seals Champions Cup football next season, but with 3 games left and 5 points clear, I’m optimistic we can go better than this.
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Right….it’s the strongest possible team and back to what we know best. The centre-backs do the damage as they grab a goal a piece and Conti caps off the win with what was, in the end, a fairly comfortable victory.
We’ll be meeting Spurs in the final as the secured their place courtesy of a late goal surge against Benfica.
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For once, the calender has been kind and given us plenty of time between European and league matches so a strong team can be selected to try and get Serie A won as soon as possible. They were so lucky to get a point out of that, we should have won convincingly but weren’t as clinical as we might have been - it’s getting a bit squeaky *** time as Roma continue to be relentless and close the gap at the top to just three points.
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Spezia have already been relegated so this should be straightforward although our run of 4 consecutive draws doesn’t exactly inspire confidence…particularly at the business end of the season. It took El Allouchi to come off then bench to secure the victory, but we got there in the end - that was tense.
View attachment 57089
Nava hasn’t scored many this season but he pops up here in the last couple of minutes to prevent what could have been a damaging defeat. Not as good as 3 points at a critical time in the season, but it will have to do.
View attachment 57088
I cocked this up a bit, changing the starting formation to try and counter Marseille’s relative strength through the middle, although they scored after a very fine through ball. With the game wearing on, I went back to the 4-1-2-1-2 that we usually play with, brought on Baptista and his introduction paid dividends. A bit fortunate to escape with a draw and away goal after what was a tactical blunder on my part.
In the other Semi-Final, Spurs and Benfica play out a goal-less draw in Portugal.
View attachment 57086
That was painful viewing as we struggled to put two passes together for the whole game and it’s astonishing we managed to get the 2 goals that we did - even though Tomkovic’s header, his first for the club and a great time to score it, was a thing of beauty. That result seals Champions Cup football next season, but with 3 games left and 5 points clear, I’m optimistic we can go better than this.
View attachment 57084
Right….it’s the strongest possible team and back to what we know best. The centre-backs do the damage as they grab a goal a piece and Conti caps off the win with what was, in the end, a fairly comfortable victory.
We’ll be meeting Spurs in the final as the secured their place courtesy of a late goal surge against Benfica.
View attachment 57083
For once, the calender has been kind and given us plenty of time between European and league matches so a strong team can be selected to try and get Serie A won as soon as possible. They were so lucky to get a point out of that, we should have won convincingly but weren’t as clinical as we might have been - it’s getting a bit squeaky *** time as Roma continue to be relentless and close the gap at the top to just three points.
View attachment 57082
Spezia have already been relegated so this should be straightforward although our run of 4 consecutive draws doesn’t exactly inspire confidence…particularly at the business end of the season. It took El Allouchi to come off then bench to secure the victory, but we got there in the end - that was tense.
Having taken the lead twice, it’s gutting to lose that - especially conceding in injury time at the end of the second half. Our penalty taking ability left a lot to be desired as well…
View attachment 57077 - despite only playing 12 games, the young on loan CB has clearly impressed and looks like a bright prospect. He could be the natural successor for either the 35 year old Saidi, or 34 year old Santos in the next couple of seasons...if I'm still here.
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We only need a point away to Genoa as Roma in second have a much better goal difference and are likely to win their game aginst Pescara. Genoa themselves need points as they are currently sitting in the relegation zone and will be relegated unless they can get a result of some sort. It’s an edgy affair, but a solitary Marinov goal gives us the victory which we see out in a manner in the last 10 minutes which we should have employed in the European Cup Final.
View attachment 57073 - can't complain about that!
In the end, Juventus were some way off the pace and it was left to Roma, who won their final 7 games in a row to hunt us down, which they very nearly did as our results were not great this month.
View attachment 57077 - despite only playing 12 games, the young on loan CB has clearly impressed and looks like a bright prospect. He could be the natural successor for either the 35 year old Saidi, or 34 year old Santos in the next couple of seasons...if I'm still here.
View attachment 57075
View attachment 57074
We only need a point away to Genoa as Roma in second have a much better goal difference and are likely to win their game aginst Pescara. Genoa themselves need points as they are currently sitting in the relegation zone and will be relegated unless they can get a result of some sort. It’s an edgy affair, but a solitary Marinov goal gives us the victory which we see out in a manner in the last 10 minutes which we should have employed in the European Cup Final.
View attachment 57073 - can't complain about that!
In the end, Juventus were some way off the pace and it was left to Roma, who won their final 7 games in a row to hunt us down, which they very nearly did as our results were not great this month.
