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Hello! Smile KDB, the Premier League title might be yours.
(Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
In today’s newsletter:
🏆 Pep Talk — will City be champions again?
😰 Klopp and Arteta sound rattled
🇩🇪 Bundesliga redemption for ‘Neverkusen’
🤦 Goalkeeper howler — how on earth did it happen?
Gary Lineker’s quip about games involving England and Germany was that you played for 90 minutes and extra-time — and then the Germans won on penalties.
The Premier League has a touch of that inevitability. You play 30-odd times and then, when it matters, Manchester City step up and take the title.
Only last week, Pep Guardiola was warning that City were in “big, big trouble” owing to injuries and fatigue. If you say so.
The title is not a done deal, far from it, but this juncture in the season is so often City’s time, precisely when they turn the screw — and after their victory and defeats for Liverpool and Arsenal over the weekend, they have returned to the league summit. There was swagger in their win over Luton Town on Saturday, and a couple of cracking goals too.
One thing to remember: in tight races like this, going back to 2012, City have never come off second best. Ever.
Are Arsenal feeling the heat?
Half the battle for a manager when the blood starts to drain is to look and sound like they are still in control.
After a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa yesterday, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta was asked why he had chosen to play Leandro Trossard ahead of Gabriel Martinelli.
“Because I’m the manager and I decide the line-up,” Arteta replied, firing back daggers. Hmm.
You can excuse him for being rattled. Arsenal have had an exceptional year but a flaky display against Bayern Munich and a wobbly showing against Villa, in which question marks over Oleksandr Zinchenko emerged again, have severely worsened their chances in both the Champions League and the Premier League.
Arteta has proven his ability to build a quality team. But he’s yet to prove he can take a team over the line.
A week is a long time in Liverpool
Speaking of choice quotes, Jurgen Klopp is sounding a little beaten. “I feel really, really rubbish,” he told Sky Sports in the wake of Liverpool losing to Crystal Palace. No wonder.
In the space of a week, Liverpool appear to have forgotten how to play, and how to finish. So dependable, so apparently confident — until Bruno Fernandes took that gift at Old Trafford, and the wheels came off.
Again, there might be lead left in their pencil but they are in the most trouble suddenly. Either the dressing room digs deep and digs up something, or Klopp is going quietly into the night.
‘Neverkusen’ no more
Farewell, then, Bayer ‘Neverkusen’, Germany’s perennial bridesmaids.
The nickname (or Vizekusen, as the Germans would have it) stamped itself on Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 after the club contrived to finish runners up in the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League. But say goodbye to it because Leverkusen are Bundesliga champions for the first time. And not by the skin of their teeth either.
A banger from ex-Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka epitomised a 5-0 rout of Werder Bremen yesterday, giving Leverkusen an unassailable 16-point lead over Bayern Munich. The story of their season is incredible.
Bayer Leverkusen players douse Xabi Alonso in beer — the customary way to celebrate a Bundesliga title win 🍺
📼 @bayer04_en pic.twitter.com/FAl4h7lTF4
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 14, 2024
In truth, Bayern’s race was run weeks ago and Leverkusen’s triumph breaks not only an 11-year run of titles in Munich but also the unhealthy trend of a small cabal of clubs dominating Europe’s top leagues.
As for coach Xabi Alonso (whose players treated him to the traditional beer shower after full time, above), he’s in top-job territory now. The future for him could well be Real Madrid, though not for a while longer.
Enjoy this bit of romance while it lasts.
Welcome to Wrexham… in League One
The strange thing about the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series is that the football club make no money directly from it.
They do, however, benefit from the vast exposure it gives them, proven by a turnover of more than £20million ($25m) and United Airlines sponsoring their shirts.
With that clout behind them, the Hollywood ownership pairing of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have done it again. On Saturday, Wrexham were promoted for the second time in two years, jumping up to League One.
It’s a big achievement, no doubt, but one more promotion into the Championship is when this would get really interesting. Is Premier League football genuinely possible?
‘Keeper Calamity
Managers will tell you being a goalkeeper takes a certain degree of lunacy. They train in isolation, they’re the last line of defence — and when they blunder, they’re completely alone, as we’re seeing with Burnley’s Arijanet Muric.
Muric is a good keeper. He got Burnley promoted from the Championship last season. But presently, he’s having a nightmare.
A week ago, a slack clearance deflected off Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin into the net. Then, on Saturday, this happened against Brighton…
The goal that got us level… 😅
Highlights in partnership with @MPBcom. Buy, sell and trade used camera gear. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/5jKV6KWaXn
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 13, 2024
For US readers…
DISASTER FOR BURNLEY. 😱
A horrible mistake by Arijanet Muric gifts Brighton an equalizer! pic.twitter.com/5HsiOZvggz
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 13, 2024
Play up front, kids. Here ends the first lesson.
ICYMI
The Athletic Archives
It’s 35 years since the Hillsborough disaster, which cost the lives of 97 Liverpool fans. First published in 2022, Simon Hughes’s feature with some of the survivors is the most important thing you’ll read today.
(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
