Week 35: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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Leo Messi, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Lyon and Marseille all had good weeks but not so for Burnley or Sir Alex Ferguson. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.
The Good
Good for the four teams who all made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. However, it was yet again a spectacular week for Argentinian superstar, Leo Messi. This time he scored all four goals against Arsenal to send his club Barcelona to the semi-finals of the Champions League where they will face Inter Milan in an intriguing tie. Described by Arsene Wenger as a ‘play station’ player, Messi scored a hat trick in 22 minutes before he added a fourth to leave him as Barcelona’s all-time Champions League scorer. He has now scored 39 goals this season and 24 in the last 28 games. Here are the goals.
While their rivals Bordeaux and Lyon were battling it out in the Champions league, Marseille took advantage and went top of League 1 with a clinical 3-0 victory over Sochaux. The win puts them two points ahead of nearest rivals Lyon, but the side from the south of France has a game in hand. It is still looking as though it’s going to be a cracking finale to the season in France with six teams still in with a shout.
The Bad
It’s always tough at the bottom of any league but things look bleak for English side Burnley after they lost 1-6 at home to a rampant Manchester City last weekend. The Clarets now lie three points adrift of safety and look almost certain to go down after only one season in the top flight. It also seems that new manager Brian Laws has already lost the dressing room and his short tenure which has seen only one win in thirteen games could be over very soon indeed.
We’re used to Alex Ferguson the Manchester United manager moaning about referees after losing games, but after United were dumped out of the Champions league last night in a thrilling game, his latest outburst takes the biscuit. The Bundesliga side, Bayern Munich, came back from being behind 3-0 on the night to win 4-4 over the two legs on the away goal rule and gain some revenge for the extra-time loss in 1999 in the final of the same tournament. Fergie decided to slam Bayern Munich players for being ‘typical Germans’, referring to a second yellow card that meant that United youngster, Rafael, was given his marching orders early in the second half. The United boss was implying that the Bayern players had pressurised the ref into showing the card – even discounting the hypocrisy of the statement, it borders on the racist. Fergie would do well to learn when to shut up and take defeat on the chin.
Ugly
A premature end to the season for Hamburg forward Pablo Guerrero after he was suspended for throwing a water bottle at an irate fan recently. Though the Peruvian striker has apologised, he has received a five-match suspension and a 20.000 Euro fine meaning that his already injury-plagued season is now over. Pretty stupid actually.
Vocabulary
an intriguing tie: A very interesting game – few people can decide on a winner
clinical (victory): a win with no fuss, the winning team is always in control
a game in hand: an extra game, the team has played one less than its rivals, they have a chance to get more points
look bleak: Things look very bad (dark)
a rampant: Here it means that Manchester City were unstoppable, they continued to go forward at every chance they had
The Clarets: The nickname of Burnley
lie three points adrift of safety: The team are three points behind the next team in the league – to be adrift suggests floating far from safety
the top flight: The Premier League
lost the dressing room: The manager has lost the respect of the players
moan: to complain, to whinge, to grumble
short tenure: His time in charge is coming to an end
take the biscuit: the absolute limit, an extreme example, to be especially bad
given (your) marching orders: to be sent off, to receive a red card, to be dismissed
border on: be close to, to be near
an irate fan : A very angry supporter
A premature end: An earlier than expected ending
injury-plagued season : The player has not played so much due to injuries
Category: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
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