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Sunday, March 23, 2008

To sum it all up...

How best to describe the two overall results of "Super Sunday" part II in the clash of the top 4 in the English Premier League?


Well the forces of evil prevailed once again. The storm troopers have marched on as Manchester United registered another win over their rivals Liverpool and Chelsea scored a 2-1 win against mis-firing Arsenal to jump into second place. Liverpool now have an awful record against Man Utd under Rafa Benitez: out of the 8 league games played between the two, Liverpool have 7 losses, one 0-0 draw and have managed only one goal in these 8 games (and that too an own goal from O'Shea, a Man Utd player) while letting in 11 goals (6 of those have been scored by Man Utd defenders thanks to bad defending by Liverpool).

Of course, the perception of good vs evil is entirely based on one's point of view. Where I see evil, others see good. The truth is that Arsenal have only picked up just one win in their last 6 league games, and are winless in the last 5 games. They are not good enough to win the title, even though injuries and a horrible tackle on Eduardo changed their season. The injuries are valid reasons but they are also excuses. Despite having some of the best technical players in Europe, the players have not shown the mental strength to cope with the pressures placed upon them. When the going got tough, all the top Arsenal players just folded.

On the other hand, no one is apparently good enough to win the title in Spain. Real Madrid have only 3 wins and 7 defeats in their last 10 games in all competitions, including two losses in the Champions League and 5 league defeats including today's 3-2 home loss to Valencia. Despite their poor form, they are still 4 points clear at the top because Barcelona aren't that sharp enough to win the league. The Spanish Liga can be defined by the overall poor quality this season with no team consistent enough to charge for the title. Real Madrid might still win the title even if they lost every game from now up to the end of the season because Barcelona and other teams always find a way to make life difficult for themselves.

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