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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Milan, Arsenal and Administration

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On this week’s review section we look at a really good week for AC Milan but a really bad one for their city rivals Inter and London club Arsenal. We also feature a controversy involving Iranian football. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast and can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.

Good

It has been a very good few days for the Serie A leaders AC Milan. First of all they demolished English side Arsenal 4-0 in their first leg tie of the Champions League last 16 match – this all the more impressive when Milan’s poor record against English clubs in this competition is taken into account. They followed that up with a comprehensive 3-1 away victory at Cesena last weekend to stay top – one point clear of next week’s opponents Juventus.

Bad

Bad news for Arsenal as they have been knocked out of two competitions in four days – yet again! Arsene Wenger’s side were badly beaten by AC MIlan in the Champions League and they then followed that up with another away defeat, this time 0-2 at Sunderland in the FA Cup to leave The Gunners trophyless for a sixth season running. Arsenal are in trouble but their decline is nothing compared to Inter who lost their 5th game in 6 – this time 0-3 at home to Bologna – at the weekend to record the club’s worst ever run in nearly 50 years. And this after one of their best ever runs – 7 wins on the trot. A remarkably inconsistent season for Inter cannot be helped by seeing their arch-rivals AC Milan atop the Italian table either.

Ugly

It has gone from bad to worse for Scottish side Rangers as they went into administration and then lost at home 0-1 to Kilmarnock at the weekend. They are now 17 points behind rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premier League and may even face a wind up order. Another club that has gone into administration is English side Portsmouth who have been taken over by the accountants after yet again being unable to pay their bills. The south-coast club have also been docked ten points and may well face liquidation – the club may disappear. Some ugly news for two British clubs.

Vocabulary

demolished: Completely thrashed

comprehensive : Complete, very clear win

trophyless: The team has won nothing for 6 years now

decline: Fall

on the trot.: Consecutively

wind up order: The club may be forced out of business

strong>have also been docked ten points : They have had to pay a penalty of ten points

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