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FA Cup semi-finals, last-four encounters in the Women’s Champions League and a three-horse Premier League title race suggest positive energy is flowing from all angles going into the biggest weekend of the season so far. And yet, it isn’t quite that simple.
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There’s a right old brouhaha surrounding the FA Cup with the decision to scrap replays from the first round onwards next season branded a “disgrace” in many quarters, a move designed to tip the scales even further in favour of the big clubs and deprive those further down the pyramid of much-needed revenue. Safe to say, the FA’s decision which includes the final being moved to the penultimate weekend of the Premier League campaign has caused genuine outrage.
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As for those big clubs fighting it out at the summit, rather than riding a wave of momentum, the trio of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all go into the weekend on a bit of a downer after crashing out of Europe in various styles. Still, good news about Aston Villa.
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Arsenal and Liverpool, who also suffered unexpected league defeats last weekend, at least have the chance to return to the top of the table with leaders Manchester City involved in FA Cup semi-final action against Chelsea.
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It’s a massive weekend for Chelsea’s Women too as they travel to Spain for the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. French foes Lyon and PSG battle it out in the other semi.
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Build-up to all this along with FA Cup replay backlash, reaction from last night, worrying coefficient news, manager chat, team news and various other random stuff starts now!
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Key events
There’s been an amusing stat doing the rounds this week that Eric Dier has reached more Champions League semi-finals than Arsenal have in their entire history. With that in mind, Max Rushden asks a question…
Hot on the heels of their Champions League exits, Manchester City and Arsenal are inevitably being linked with major moves in the summer transfer market.
The decision to scrap FA Cup replays from the first round next season has caused much outrage. As I write this, Mark Palios, former chief executive of the FA and executive chair of Tranmere Rovers, is venting his spleen on TalkSport. He’s also quoted in the story below. This is very much a hot topic.
An equation to cause alarm for those with eyes on fifth place in the Premier League. European exits for Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool + progress for Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen = Germany > England in the race for the extra Champions League spot. The Premier League looked almost a shoe-in but this week’s results have seen a dramatic flip in favour of the Bundesliga. David Hytner explains all.
“After Thursday’s ties, Germany have 125.5 points for a coefficient of 17.929 from their seven clubs while England have 139 points for 17.375 from their eight. France have 96.5 points for 16.083 from their six.”
Let’s start with reaction from last night. Disappointment for Liverpool and West Ham but not so for Aston Villa with goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez taking shithousery to new levels by somehow being booked twice and still emerging as a crowd-shushing hero in a penalty shootout.
Preamble
FA Cup semi-finals, last-four encounters in the Women’s Champions League and a three-horse Premier League title race suggest positive energy is flowing from all angles going into the biggest weekend of the season so far. And yet, it isn’t quite that simple.
There’s a right old brouhaha surrounding the FA Cup with the decision to scrap replays from the first round onwards next season branded a “disgrace” in many quarters, a move designed to tip the scales even further in favour of the big clubs and deprive those further down the pyramid of much-needed revenue. Safe to say, the FA’s decision which includes the final being moved to the penultimate weekend of the Premier League campaign has caused genuine outrage.
As for those big clubs fighting it out at the summit, rather than riding a wave of momentum, the trio of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all go into the weekend on a bit of a downer after crashing out of Europe in various styles. Still, good news about Aston Villa.
Arsenal and Liverpool, who also suffered unexpected league defeats last weekend, at least have the chance to return to the top of the table with leaders Manchester City involved in FA Cup semi-final action against Chelsea.
It’s a massive weekend for Chelsea’s Women too as they travel to Spain for the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. French foes Lyon and PSG battle it out in the other semi.
Build-up to all this along with FA Cup replay backlash, reaction from last night, worrying coefficient news, manager chat, team news and various other random stuff starts now!