Vol 1 Issue 3
FREE April 29, 2014
ATLETICO S TITLE TO LOSE
BOUCHRA van Persie THE WOMAN BEHIND
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW
BOUCHRA van Persie THE WOMAN BEHIND
2
Just one season after moving to Arsenal, Van Persie was accused of the sexual assault by a pole dancer.
T
here's no doubt that Robin Van Persie is a world class striker. Bought by Arsenal in 2004, he began to display his full array of talent once Thierry Henry left the club in 2007. Often injured early on, his 2011 and 2012 seasons were brilliant and he was the leading goal scorer with 30 in 2012. So while we have left little doubt about his striking abilities, there is some question about his track record as a husband. For that, we can look to Robin Van Persie's wife Bouchra.
In a shocking story, the young Dutch and Arsenal striker was accused of rape in 2005. Just one season after moving to Arsenal, Van Persie was accused of the sexual assault by a pole dancer. While she eventually admitted their transgressions were consensual, Van Persie still spent 14 days in jail. Obviously his wife Bouchra found out and admittedly left him right then and there. They had just been married the year prior in 2004, but no one would have blamed her calling it quits. Ultimately she forgave him and they moved on with their lives, with all accounts that he has been a great husband. They now have two children, named Dina and Shaqueel. Yes, apparently the legend of Shaq made its way across the Atlantic to Europe. Bouchra is of Moroccan and Dutch decent. For whatever reason, there were questions about whether Van Persie had converted to Muslim. We really can't tell why this was brought up or why it would matter, but such is life of a soccer player in England. Up until recently, she has been very open with her husband's fans, but Arsenal fans harassed her and Van Persie to a point that they both quit Twitter around January. Bouchra was very active with charities in London and is now part of the Manchester United WAGS charity group. Culled from playerwives website
3
CHELSEA vs ATLETICO
MOU vs SIMEONE WHO WINS? M
ou vs SIMEONE; who wins? This is a million dollar question that come Wednesday would be answered. Jose Mourinho has recently come under the stick for his ultra-defensive mode. It's not like a big surprise, it's just that Jose's taken it a little notch higher, which leaves people asking in the
4
return leg how will he play? In the first leg, he played with only one ambition and that is not to lose. On the other hand he didn't play with any attacking intent. On any other day 0 – 0 would be a good result, but not in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and not when you're playing against a
The truth is as much as we despise Mourinho, he is good at what he does.
If it comes to defending, he has more than enough personnel to grind out a result and against Atletico, it is my belief that he will attack, but not with the ferocity most will expect. The truth is as much as we despise Mourinho, he is good at what he does. He will try to get into Simeone's head, he will try to get under Atletico's skin, but whether that will work is another issue entirely. Chelsea has the personnel to attack, Eto'o, Ba, Torres are players who can give any defence a torrid time. Behind them, they have Oscar, Willian, Schürrle and probably Hazard. Chelsea will however be wary of Diego Costa, Raul Garcia, Koke and Ardan Turan. Like I'd earlier highlighted, this has the trappings of being more exciting as the first leg. All it needs is a goal to change the complexion of things and if Atletico gets it first then Chelsea will be forced
VERDICT: If Atletico scores first, then Chelsea walks a tight rope needing to win to qualify and it may nigh be impossible, but if Chelsea scores first it is curtains for Atletico. A score draw is the most probable result. If a win will come, it will be in Chelsea's favour. Atletico to go through.
team that has the capacity to play ultradefensive too. The only advantage Chelsea has is playing on familiar territory.
5
BAYERN MUNICH vs REAL MADRID
R
eal Madrid will take on FC Bayern Munich in a battle to the finish with Bayern Munich looking to be the first side since AC Milan to win this trophy back to back. It is not going to be an easy task against a side that is fired up for La Decima. Real Madrid knows it won't be an easy task in the Allianz Arena but would still fancy their chances. The odds are heavily skewed in favour of Real Madrid. First, only once has Real Madrid failed to score in Munich and it was in the 1975/76 European Cup, ever since they have always managed to score. Second, since it became the UEFA Champions league, anytime these two sides meet, the team that wins any leg of the fixture without conceding goes on to win the tie (check 1999/2000, 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2003/2004). Also, only twice has any of them won the first leg and lost the tie (in 2002 and 2007 – Bayern losing once and Real Madrid losing once). With that cleared, Pep Guardiola will have to push his side from their lethargic first leg performance where they rarely troubled Real Madrid until the 84th minute. Tiki taka would guarantee them possession, but they will also need to add a bit of directness to their game. I would start a Gotze ahead of Kroos and find a formation that would include Mueller in the line-up. These two players are very direct and whilst Gotze has the trickery to unlock defences, Mueller will trouble any defence as shown in the cameo he had in the first game. For Real Madrid, they must maintain concentration for the duration of the game. If they shut out Bayern Munich before, then they can do it again even though I think that is highly unlikely. The big question is whether Carlo Ancelotti would start Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. If he does, then either Di Maria or Isco (both players have contributed defensively for Real) would be sacrificed. Like I said in the first leg the defensive partnership of Dante, Boateng/Martinez is slow and can easily be caught out as shown in the first leg. I believe,
6
REAL MADRID CHASE LA DECIMA
CHANCE AT
THE ALLIANZ
Guardiola will stick to his philosophy but also add some big men like Martinez for aerial presence.
for them, but concentration is of utmost key.
Real Madrid will rely on their pace but will see more of the ball this time around. They can hurt Bayern and will hurt them. La Decima looks ever so close
VERDICT: A draw looks likely, I however believe Bayern will win, but Real Madrid goes through.
7
T
his was a weekend of several twists. Liverpool were expected to consolidate their match to El Dorado, Chelsea was supposed to fall off in the title race and the relegation battle was to remain unchanged. However, the script was flipped and we now have race that is headed to the wire. For Liverpool, El Dorado may just remain what it is; a myth. Their fate no longer lies in their hands and this may hurt their dreams. Chelsea managed what only Southampton this season has managed to do by winning at Anfield and throwing spanners in their works. Mourinho fielded a strong team even though he said he wouldn't and played his usual ultra-defensive pattern to stifle Liverpool. Thanks to two errors on the part of Liverpool, they now find their hands slipping off the title. Liverpool may be strong offensively, but conceding 46 goals just shows where their weakness lies. Manchester City however, have jumped back into the fore front with the best chance of winning the title. If they win their outstanding game, they will go level on points with Liverpool but with a superior goal difference. Liverpool will now have to score bucketful of goals in their remaining games to cancel out the +8 goals margin that may separate them and City. On the other hand
8
STILL WITHIN LIVERPOOL S
GRASP! they will hope city rivals Everton can do them a favour by drawing or beating City to be back with a shout to win the title. At the bottom of the table, Hull City and West Ham need just two points to survive relegation, while for West Brom, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Norwich City, Fulham and Cardiff it's a battle to the end. Sunderland is looking the brightest
RESULTS Southampton Fulham Stoke City Swansea City West Brom Man United Sunderland Liverpool Crystal Palace Arsenal
2–0 2–2 0–1 4–1 1–0 4–0 4–0 0–2 0–2 3–0
Everton Hull City Tottenham Hotspur Aston Villa West Ham United Norwich City Cardiff City Chelsea Manchester City Newcastle
TABLE Liverpool Chelsea Man City Arsenal Everton Tottenham Man United Southampton Newcastle Stoke City Crystal Palace Swansea City Hull City West Ham West Brom Aston Villa Sunderland Norwich City Fulham Cardiff City
P 36 36 35 36 36 36 35 36 36 36 36 36 35 36 35 35 35 36 36 36
W 25 4 24 22 20 20 18 14 14 11 13 10 10 10 7 9 8 8 9 7
D 5 6 5 7 9 6 6 10 4 11 4 9 7 7 15 8 8 8 4 9
L 6 6 6 7 7 10 11 12 18 14 19 17 18 19 13 18 19 20 23 20
F 96 69 93 65 57 52 60 52 39 39 28 51 36 38 42 36 37 28 37 31
A 46 26 35 41 36 49 40 45 57 50 43 52 45 49 54 53 57 60 79 69
GD 50 43 58 24 21 3 20 7 -18 -11 -15 -1 -9 -11 -12 -17 -20 -32 -42 -38
Pts 80 78 77 73 69 66 60 52 46 44 43 39 37 37 36 35 32 32 31 30
TOP SCORERS prospect to make it out of the zone. For Aston Villa they may be above the rest bar West Brom, but it is far from uhuru for them. Norwich City may still trump them to survival. As for Fulham and Cardiff City, the gong may have swung on them.
Name Luis Suárez Daniel Sturridge Yaya Toure Wayne Rooney Wilfried Bony Sergio Agüero Jay Rodriguez Eden Hazard
Team Liverpool Liverpool Man City Man Utd Swansea City Man City Southampton Chelsea
Goals 30 20 19 17 16 16 15 14
Pen. 0 0 6 3 4 0 0 4
Home 17 11 11 7 10 10 6 10
9
Away 13 9 8 10 6 6 9 4
ATLETICO S TITLE TO LOSE T
he La Liga for the ďŹ rst time since 2004 is almost certain going to be won by a side different from Real Madrid and Barcelona. Atletico Madrid can almost taste it as they try win the Liga, something they've been unable to do since 1996. They are steadily doing the business, taking it and
10
getting the results needed to take them to the Promised Land. Against Valencia, a solitary Raul Garcia goal was enough to hand them the maximum points and inch closer to the title. With three more games to go they
need just 6 points to win the title and at this stage it is almost uhuru. Any slip and the biggest gainer would be city rivals Real Madrid who in third and six points behind but with a game in hand would by winning its games close in on Atletico and probably win the title. This means for Atletico to now win the title, they will have to beat Barcelona in the last game at the Nou camp. That would be a tough task, considering that Barcelona may their next two games and fancy their chances if Real Madrid also slips up. This means we have a tough title run in, but I'll still fancy the title to return to Madrid and most likely Atletico. You wouldn't bet against them not beating Levante and Malaga who both have had a less than stellar season. At the bottom of the table, the question is who joins Real Betis in Segunda B? Real Betis were relegated even before they kicked a ball, because even if they win their last four games, it wouldn't have been enough to survive the drop. Unfortunately they lost to Real Sociedad. It is a straight forward battle between Real Valladolid, Almeria, Getafe Osasuna and Elche. It is closely knit at the bottom, but week 36 may just separate the chaff from the wheat.
RESULTS Elche Granada Getafe Real Madrid Real Betis Espanyol Valencia Athletic Bilbao Villarreal Celta Vigo
1–1 0–3 1–0 4–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 3–1 2–3 4–1
Levante Rayo Vallecano Malaga Osasuna Real Sociedad Almeria Atletico Madrid Sevilla Barcelona Real Valladolid
TABLE Atletico Barcelona Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao Sevilla Real Sociedad Villarreal Valencia Rayo Vallecano Levante Espanyol Malaga Celta Vigo Granada Elche Osasuna Getafe Almeria Valladolid Real Betis
P 35 35 34 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 34 35
W 28 27 26 19 17 16 15 12 13 10 11 11 12 11 8 9 9 9 6 5
D 4 3 4 8 8 9 7 9 4 12 8 8 7 4 12 8 8 6 14 7
L 3 5 4 8 10 10 13 14 18 13 16 16 16 20 15 18 18 20 14 23
F 75 97 98 62 66 59 54 47 45 31 39 37 44 30 28 29 30 38 33 29
A 22 30 32 38 50 51 43 48 71 42 46 44 52 53 47 58 51 69 54 70
GD 53 67 66 24 16 8 11 -1 -26 -11 -7 -7 -8 -23 -19 -29 -21 -31 -21 -41
Pts 88 84 82 65 59 57 52 45 43 42 41 41 40 37 36 35 35 33 32 22
PICHICHI Name Cristiano Ronaldo Diego Costa Lionel Messi Karim Benzema Alexis Sánchez Aritz Aduriz Antoine Griezmann Kevin Gameiro Pedro Rodriguez Bacca Gareth Bale Carlos Vela
Team Goals Real Madrid 30 Atletico Madrid 28 Barcelona 27 Real Madrid 17 Barcelona 17 Athletic Bilbao 16 Real Sociedad 16 Sevilla 15 Barcelona 15 Sevilla 14 Real Madrid 14 Real Sociedad 14
Pen. 6 5 6 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2
Home 18 18 15 11 15 9 9 9 8 6 10 8
11
Away 12 10 12 6 2 7 7 6 7 8 4 6