Another enthralling season of European club football has
ended. As is the case after every season, some teams will be very pleased with
how their season went, while others will be disappointed with theirs.
Of course, throughout the season there were defining
moments which will be remembered for a very long time. The following are the 10
moments of the 2018-19 season which I consider to be the most memorable.
Cristiano
Ronaldo signs for Juventus (July 10, 2018)
Juventus put all of Europe’s other elite clubs on notice
with the signing of Ronaldo from Real Madrid for €100 million. It was evidence
that Juve were hell-bent on claiming their first Champions League title since
1996. Some even claimed that this signing alone made them the outright
favourites to win the biggest prize in European club football.
While Ronaldo did have a solid debut season for the
Bianconeri, scoring 21 league goals and 28 in all competitions, the Portuguese
legend was not able to lead the Turin club to the Champions League title. Juve
were shockingly knocked out by Ajax in the quarterfinals.
As Ronaldo is now 34, time is starting to run out on his
chances of winning another Champions League.
Alisson
signs for Liverpool (July 19, 2018)
Roma goalkeeper Alisson had just finished a disappointing
World Cup campaign with Brazil when he signed for Liverpool. At the time of his
transfer, he had only ever played 37 games in a major league. For these reasons,
when he was signed for €62.5 million, which was a record transfer fee for a
goalkeeper at the time, many eyebrows were raised.
However, it didn’t take long
for Alisson to silence his doubters. He won the Premier League’s Golden Glove
award by recording 21 clean sheets, played a vital role in Liverpool’s run to
the Champions League title, and established himself as probably the world’s
best goalkeeper.
His greatest moment this season
came in the Champions League group stage, when he made an unbelievable save to
deny Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik and keep the Reds’ Champions League bid alive.
Christian
Pulisic signs for Chelsea (January 2, 2019)
In what was a tumultuous season
at Stamford Bridge, a rare bright spot was the signing of American phenom
Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund for €64 million.
Pulisic, who is well on his way
to becoming the greatest player to ever come out of the United States, was pursued
by many leading clubs across Europe. In the end, it was Chelsea who signed him.
With the impending departure of Eden Hazard, this signing was a real coup for
the Blues.
Pulisic is yet to make his
Chelsea debut because he was immediately loaned back to
Dortmund for the rest of the season.
Ajax
4-1 Real Madrid (March 5, 2019)
Real Madrid’s reign as European
champions came to an end in dramatic fashion.
Heading into the second leg of
their round of 16 Champions League tie against Ajax, Real led 2-1 on aggregate
and seemed poised to continue their run towards a fourth consecutive Champions
League title and fifth in six seasons.
However, they certainly didn’t
count on Ajax coming up with a truly dominant performance for the comeback
victory. Players such as David Neres, Hakim Ziyech, and Dušan Tadić played
better than they ever had before to lead the Amsterdam club into the
quarterfinals.
Zinedine
Zidane returns as Real Madrid head coach (March 11, 2019)
Real’s loss to Ajax forced club
president Florentino Pérez to make a bold move. He fired head coach Santiago
Solari, who had only been in the position since October 2018.
Then, in a move that stunned
many across the football world, the club soon confirmed that Zidane, who had
coached Los Merengues to three consecutive Champions League titles, would
return for a second stint at the helm of Real Madrid.
Having experienced a season of
failure and disappointment, Real will certainly be hoping that Zidane can lead
them back to the top as he has done many times before.
Bayern Munich 5-0 Borussia Dortmund (April 6, 2019)
No victories are sweeter than
those which are won against a bitter rival. This is especially true when the
victory is either by a large margin or when it decides the fate of a title. In
this instance, both were true.
This edition of Der Klassiker
saw Bayern run away with the victory. Just to rub it in for Dortmund, former
Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski scored two of Bayern’s five goals.
Bayern would go on to win the
Bundesliga title by two points over their arch-rivals. Therefore, this
one-sided win turned out to be the victory that clinched yet another league
title for the Bavarian powerhouse.
Manchester City 1-0 Leicester City (May 6,
2019)
All Manchester City had to do to successfully defend their Premier League
title was win two matches: this one and a subsequent clash against Brighton. On
paper, Leicester were not expected to put up much of a fight against the
Citizens.
However, to the surprise of everyone watching, Leicester made it very
competitive. Deep into the second half, the score was still tied at 0-0. Then,
an astonishing turn of events took place.
Manchester City centre-back Vincent Kompany had the ball around 30 metres
from the Leicester goal. He took a few touches, then unleashed a powerful shot
that somehow made its way into the back of the net. Manchester City would then
go on to win this match and subsequently the league.
Liverpool
4-0 Barcelona (May 7, 2019)
In the first leg of this
Champions League semifinal tie, Barça had been utterly dominant. Their 3-0 win
put Liverpool in a position in which they were all but eliminated. However, not
even the staunchest Liverpool fan could have expected what was to come.
Roared on by the Anfield
faithful, the Reds dug deep to produce a performance for the ages. Two goals
apiece from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum were what Liverpool needed to
overturn the three-goal deficit and advance to the final.
The highlight of the match
was Liverpool’s fourth goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold fooled the Barcelona
defense with an excellent low corner kick. The ball came to Origi, and the
Belgian converted to seal Liverpool’s remarkable win.
Eden
Hazard announces departure from Chelsea (May 29, 2019)
The transfer saga that seemed
as though it would never end finally did.
In what had to have been one
of the worst-kept secrets in world football, Chelsea superstar Hazard confirmed
that he would leave Stamford Bridge for Real Madrid at the end of the season.
Hazard had been linked with a move to Real for years, and Chelsea’s struggles
throughout the season only increased the chances of his departure.
Real signed Hazard, who
leaves Chelsea as probably the greatest player in the club’s history, for a fee
of ₤88.5 million. He will officially become a Real Madrid player on July 1,
2019.
Liverpool
2-0 Tottenham (June 1, 2019)
For the second time, the
Champions League final was contested by two English clubs. This season’s final
was a cagey affair, but nonetheless intriguing from a tactical standpoint.
Goals scored by Mo Salah and
Divock Origi proved to be decisive as Liverpool avenged their Champions League
final loss from the year before. It was their sixth title and first since 2005.
The victory also assured
Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp of his place in the pantheon of all-time great
coaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment