szólj hozzá: atl – mu
So yet another Spanish side had Utd’s number for the second year in a row. Admittedly there was no shame losing to Barca last year in the Champions League but surely they could do better against Athletic Bilbao? But the Basques were absolutely phenomenal and in Fernando Llorente they have a striker who is everything a striker needs to be plus has huge brass balls.
His opening goal was a great first time volley that just rocketed past David De Gea. Oscar de Marcos added another after another raid down the right channel. Utd got a late consolation in the second half through Wayne Rooney’s sizzling open field goal. The only wonder is how Utd escaped with such little damage such was the dominance of the home side.
Athletico are seventh in the Liga and 33 points behind league leaders Real but something funny might be happening in the Liga. Real and Barca might be guilty of a “trickle down” phenomenon, i.e., they’re forcing clubs way below them to fight even harder for the spoils and avoid getting sucked into the vortex created by these two spinning giants. Their elevated performances come as a detriment to sides representing other leagues. The corollary is Utd are not the force they used to be but are still good enough to win a league that is shorn of quality.
Utd are out of the Europa Cup and so are City. With Arsenal gone, Chelsea is left as the sole English representative in Europe. How times have changed.