|
 [April 10, 2023]
(Reuters) - Talking points from the weekend in European
soccer leagues:
IT'S GETTING TO THE END OF THE SEASON, AND INTER ARE OUT OF SHAPE
There was a visible sense of frustration on the face of Inter Milan
manager Simone Inzaghi as he watched his team's win slip away during
the final moments of Friday's 1-1 draw at Salernitana, maintaining
the trend of negative performance at a critical point in the season.
Fans are starting to get nervous as Inter have gone six games
without a win and have only scored three goals during this period,
raising concern that it might be too late to turn around the form.
Having slipped to fifth place in Serie A, the team are now in real
danger of missing the Champions League next season.
With the success of the season depending on this month's games,
Inzaghi admits there's no easy way to break out of this dry spell.
"We're going through a complicated spell in the league and know how
football works. We're not being rewarded in terms of results, but
what we can do is work even harder."
Inter next play away at Benfica in the first leg of the Champions
League quarter-finals on Tuesday.
EINTRACHT IMPLOSION
Less than a year ago Eintracht Frankfurt were crowned Europa League
champions and qualified for this season's Champions League
competition.
But their 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday confirmed their
sharp downward trend in 2023, having won just three of their 12
league games this year.
They have dropped to seventh place and are two points behind
Leverkusen, who occupy the last Europa Conference League spot. But
for coach Oliver Glasner, there is no reason for any crisis talk.
"I will not be provoked today," he said at the start of his news
conference when asked about his team's performance in recent weeks.
Eintracht have not won any of their last six league games.
"Easter is a celebration of peace. We will give the players two days
off. They deserved it even though they lost. I wish you and your
families the very best," he said before getting up and cutting the
news conference short.
ANOTHER WARNING FOR ERRANT DUTCH SUPPORTERS
Feyenoord supporters were handed another stark message about their
behaviour on Sunday - this time by their own players -ahead of the
league win over RKC Waalwijk in their Rotterdam stadium.
[to top of second column] |
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Rayo
Vallecano v Atletico Madrid - Campo de Futbol de Vallecas, Madrid,
Spain - April 9, 2023 Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann applauds
fans after the match REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
There has been much criticism over the violence in
the stands at Dutch matches after Ajax Amsterdam's Davy Klaassen was
struck on the head by an object thrown from the stands in Rotterdam
in the midweek Dutch Cup semi-final.
The incident caused a lengthy delay to the match, during which time
Feyenoord's assistant coach and club icon, John de Wolf, took to the
public address to admonish his side's fans and tell them to "use
their common sense".
The same slogan was on the shirts of Feyenoord players as they came
out for Sunday's league game, a 5-1 win that kept them eight points
clear at the top and inched them closer to the title.
The Dutch football association (KNVB) have since obliged referees to
stop matches if there are disturbances in the crowd, and Feyenoord
were taking no risks over objects being thrown into the field again,
as they played with netting around the entire field on Sunday.
They are next up against Roma in the Europa League on Thursday.
REAL AND ATLETICO AT OPPOSITES IN LALIGA
Atletico Madrid started 2023 clinging on to fifth place and looking
ahead to the fight for Champions League places while losing at home
to LaLiga leaders Barcelona.
Since then, Jan. 8, Atletico have not lost again, extending their
unbeaten league run to 12 games and claiming a fifth consecutive win
by beating Rayo Vallecano 2-1 on Sunday to move within two points of
bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Real, still second with 59 points, suffered a hangover from their
big midweek Copa del Rey semi-final win over Barcelona, losing 3-2
at home to Villarreal on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti's side opened the door for Barcelona to go 15 points
clear at the summit with a win over Girona on Monday and will now
aim to claim the domestic cup for the first time in nine years while
defending their crown in the Champions League, where they host
Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Tommy Lund, Janina Nuno Rios and
Mark Gleeson; Editing by Jamie Freed)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
