City fans invade the pitch to celebrate their team’s title. /
international football
Guardiola’s team lost 0-2 and when it seemed to say goodbye to the title they came back (2-3) and won the title
When it seemed that the last day of the Premier League would not hold any surprises, the competition gave us one of the most intense championship finals of the last decade, perhaps the most, since that memorable goal by Sergio Agüero. The champion was once again Manchester City with the same result as that day, 3-2. The day had emotion from the first minutes. The Wolves went ahead at Anfield as soon as they started, which made any City puncture sterile. Mané equalized before the half hour mark for red calm and just ten minutes later, in Manchester, Cash put Aston Villa ahead. At the break, Klopp’s men knew that a goal would make them champions. Back in 1970, a former Liverpool player, Coutinho, scored the second for his team and madness broke out at Anfield. The five minutes following that goal will forever be Premier League history. When Liverpool saw City’s prick closer and depended on themselves (in fact, they ended up winning 3-1) Guardiola’s men got closer in the 76th minute with a goal by Gündogan, tied in the 78th minute by Rodri and brought the delirium to the stands of the Etihad in 1980, when Gündogan again scored a goal worth a Premier League. As Victor Jara sang, life is eternal in five minutes. Guardiola’s tears at the end of the match say it all about the difficulty of the citizens’ achievement. This is the fourth title in five years for them, something that in a league like the English and with a rival like Liverpool, is only within the reach of a superlative team.
The final stretch of the campaign has been tremendously exciting in the Premier. City and Liverpool have again maintained a bitter fight until the last minutes. The rivalry between these two teams does not have a long tradition, but the fight that both teams have had since Klopp and Guardiola sat on their benches has made it in its own right the great English confrontation of the moment. Liverpool have had a perfect second round with 16 wins, 3 draws and no losses, reaching 92 points, but not even with those have they managed to beat an intractable City.
1. Guardiola, very excited at the celebration. 2. Laporte and his girl, who are expecting his first child, kiss after the victory. 3. The City players, with the trophy. /
Milan 11 years later
In Italy, Milan is champion 11 years later. A draw on his visit to Sassuolo was enough for him, but in case there was any doubt, in just twenty minutes of the first half, the Rossoneri scored three goals, all of them assisted by Rafael Leão. The young Portuguese striker has probably been the most outstanding individual in this Pioli Milan, in which it is difficult to choose a crack. This is a team that has stood out mainly for the strength of the group, solid, intense, supportive, which has withstood the onslaught of its great rival, Inter, winning the last six games. Inzaghi’s men, for their part, tied at zero at the break, when the news of what was happening in Emilia-Romagna reached them. Even so, they were proud and won 3-0 against Sampdoria. Inter knows that their mistake had not been today, but that fateful postponed game against Bologna. That day Inzaghi’s men could have become leaders but a rude mistake by their substitute goalkeeper, Ionit Radu, caused the defeat. Since then they have counted their games by victories, but the Rossoneri puncture has not occurred and the scudetto remains in Milan, but, unfortunately for them, in the opposite part of the city.
