ON THE PITCH
Soccer Recap: Barça win Copa del Rey, Serie A title race heats up, Wenger to step down
Apr 24, 2018, 9:37 am
Houston Culés, the official supporters group of FC Barcelona in the Bayou City, celebrated their teams Copa del Rey win at their watch party at Richmond Arms. Courtesy photo
Despite the European schedule winding down, there is plenty happening in the football - or “soccer" - world. On this side of the pond, a new winner of the Concacaf Champions League will be decided on Wednesday while the playoff race comes to a close in Mexico. By the way, the 2018 FIFA World Cup is only 51 days away.
Premier League
Fourteen clubs took part in league action this weekend as top teams continue to fight for the coveted UEFA Champions League spots and bottom table clubs look to fight off relegation to the Championship.
The biggest shock came off the field on Friday as Arsenal released a statement revealing that Manager Arsene Wenger would be stepping down after 22 years with the London club. Immediately, personalities around the soccer world (including the Dynamo's Philippe Senderos who played at Arsenal during the 2000s) filled Twitter with their well wishes and messages of gratitude. On Sunday, the team responded with a dominant 4-1 win over crosstown rivals West Ham United.
Liverpool drew 2-2 at West Brom as Mohamed Salah scored his 31st league goal this season - tying Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez as the only players to hit the mark in a 38-match season. Salah was also awarded the Player's Player of the Year Award this weekend. Man City boss Pep Guardiola disagreed with that result and stated City’s Kevin De Bruyne should've been the winner. By the way, City demolished Swansea in a 5-0 win. Everton picked up a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Monday
Four Premier League clubs took part in the FA Cup semifinals. Manchester United came back to flip the score against Tottenham - who have been playing their home matches at Wembley, the stage of the semifinals - and advanced with a 2-1 win. Mourinho’s Men will face “The Special One’s" former club as Chelsea also advanced thanks to a 2-0 win over Southampton.
Top 5: Manchester City* (90), Manchester United (74), Liverpool (71), Tottenham (68), Chelsea (63)
La Liga
Not featuring in league play this weekend, FC Barcelona and Sevilla faced off in Madrid to decide the Spanish Cup champion. Barça demolished fellow Champions League quarterfinalist Sevilla with a 5-0 win. The victory featured a special moment as club legend Andres Iniesta scored and lifted his final trophy with the club ahead of his departure this coming offseason.
The league title is also one match away from being clinched, as without playing in a league match, Barcelona benefited from Atletico Madrid’s scoreless draw with Betis. The Catalans can clinch their 25th league trophy with a draw next week.
Top 5: FC Barcelona (83), Atletico Madrid (72), Real Madrid (68), Valencia (66), Real Betis (56)
Bundesliga
FC Bayern Munich continues to demolish opponents despite having already secured the league title. A 3-0 win over at Hannover 96 kept the Bavarians sharp ahead of their upcoming Champions League semifinal meeting with Real Madrid. Dortmund also enjoyed a big win, 4-0 over Bayer Leverkusen. Leipzig was upset at home in a 2-5 loss to Hoffenheim while Cologne and Schalke played to a thrilling 2-2 draw.
Top 5: FC Bayern Munich* (78), Schalke 04 (56), Dortmund (54), Bayer Leverkusen (51), Hoffenheim (49)
Serie A
Last week, Juventus looked solid at the top of the table. This week, they're sweating the league title as Napoli has lowered the gap to one point. This was made possible by the head-to-head encounter between the top two sides that ended with a 90th minute goal by Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. Roma, who play at Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday, picked up a 3-0 win at SPAL while Lazio kept pace with a 4-0 win over Sampdoria. Inter also picked up three points to stay in fifth while A.C. Milan lost at home to Benevento to stay at seventh.
Top 5: Juventus (85), Napoli (84), Roma (67), Lazio (67), Inter Milan (66)
Ligue 1
Already champion PSG picked up another three points while giving reserves minutes in a 1-0 win at Bordeaux. Last year's champions Monaco lost 3-1 at Guingamp, one week after surrendering the league at PSG in a humiliating 7-1 affair. Lyon and Marseille both scored five goals as they picked up big wins. Lille and Metz continue to stare at relegation.
Top 5: Paris Saint-Germain* (90), Monaco (70), Lyon (69), Marseille (69), Nice (50)
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Concacaf Champions League
Toronto FC are staring down the barrel with everything they've worked for on the line. To win would be to make history and become the first MLS team to play in the FIFA Club World Club. To lose would mean “close, but no cigar,” having sacrificed their early stretch of the MLS season for this trophy.
Chivas, on their end, are looking to salvage their season with a continental title. Rightfully so, they qualified to this Champions League by being winners of Liga MX in the Clausura 2017 season but their mediocre form the last couple of seasons have left much to be desired from one of Mexico’s soccer giants. On top of that, the second leg will be at their place and their entire squad built of Mexican citizens - a nationalistic approach that forms part of their brand - carry the pressure of not wanting to lose to an MLS team. To choke the 2-1 lead earned on a snowy Toronto night would be an embarrassment for this proud club.
The winner will be decided on Wednesday night and SportsMap will be present at the final. Additionally, you can hear an exclusive interview with Toronto FC (also Toronto Argonauts) President Bill Manning on the April 16 episode of Soccer Matters over at PodcastArena.com.
Major League Soccer
New York City looked unbeatable but a West Coast trip to Portland proved to be their undoing. The Timbers dropped City with a 3-0 win and their second at home this season. Portland's rival, the Seattle Sounders, also got right with a 3-1 win over Minnesota. Atlanta, meanwhile, survived a trip West with a 2-0 dominant win at the LA Galaxy where they held Zlatan Ibrahimovic in check for the entire game. LAFC continues to impress early, winning a 5-3 thriller in a long trip East to Montreal. LA will debut their new stadium next week. Sporting KC delivered the week 8 jaw-dropping result with a 6-0 thumping of Vancouver.
In Houston, the Dynamo redeemed themselves with a 5-1 win vs. Toronto FC. No, this wasn't the best presentation of the MLS Cup Champion as all of the starters where already in Guadalajara focusing on game two of the Concacaf Champions League final. Yes, however, this was the a result the club needed to boost confidence, break a slump and maybe start getting on a roll. Romell Quioto had arguably his best game for the club, playing a part in all five goals. The Dynamo train in Houston until Friday before flying up to Minneapolis to face Minnesota United on Saturday night.
East Top 6: NYCFC (17), Atlanta United (16), Orlando City (13), New England Revolution (11), Columbus Crew SC (11), NY Red Bulls (9)
West Top 6: Sporting KC (17), LAFC (12), FC Dallas (12), LA Galaxy (10), Real Salt Lake (10), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (10)
Liga MX
It's pressure time in Liga MX as only one matchday remains. Clubs at the top want to assure a higher seed in the playoffs, teams on the bubble want a chance to play for the trophy. Puebla shocked Club America with a 3-1 win, Toluca stayed top of the table with a 3-0 win over Veracruz and second place Santos lost 2-1 at home to Pumas. Monterrey picked up a 4-0 win over Lobos BUAP, Cruz Azul a 2-1 win over Monarcas while Tigres and Necaxa tied in a battle of the defending Liga MX and Copa MX champions.
Some will wonder if Saturday's matches will happen after the newly formed Players Union threatened to strike on this date a few weeks ago due to concerns around players rights. The Mexican Association of Footballers - the official name of this organization - met with team owners in the past days but reports indicate there was no agreement that came from the meeting.
Top 5: Toluca (36), Santos Laguna (29), Monterrey (28), Tigres UANL (27), Club America (26)
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National Women’s Soccer League
Undefeated in league play and top of the league in goals, North Carolina Courage picked up a draw and a win to stay at the top of the NWSL standings. The Chicago Red Stars built on their win last week at Utah by picking up four more points this week while Portland and Seattle follow behind in the table.
The Houston Dash continue to look for their first win - both of the season and under their first year coach Vera Pauw - after losing both matches of their two-game road trip. Houston lost 3-0 at the Red Stars in a match where they conceded an own goal in the 7th minute followed by another goal in the 11th on a rainy Wednesday night in Chicago. They would lose by the narrowest of margins in a 1-0 meeting at Orlando Pride on Sunday. The biggest positive was the return of forward Kealia Ohai, back on the pitch against Orlando after being sidelined with an ACL injury midway through last season. The Dash face a tough test Saturday vs. NC Courage.
Top 4: North Carolina Courage (13), Chicago Red Stars (8), Portland Thorns (7), Seattle Reign (6)
Upcoming matches (All Times CT):
Tuesday, Apr. 24:
1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Liverpool vs. Roma (FS1/ESPN Deportes)
Wednesday, Apr. 25:
1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid (FS1/ESPN Deportes)
8:30 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Chivas Guadalajara vs. Toronto FC (go90 app & go90.com /Univision Deportes)
Thursday, Apr. 26:
2:05 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Arsenal vs. Atletico Madrid (FS1/ESPN Deportes)
2:05 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Marseille vs. Salzburg (FS2)
Friday, Apr. 27:
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Hoffenheim vs. Hannover 96 (FS2)
Saturday, Apr. 28:
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Stoke City (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (FS2)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Swansea vs. Chelsea (NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [La Liga] Real Madrid vs. Leganes (beIN Sports)
2:30 p.m. - [MLS] Philadelphia Union vs. D.C. United (Twitter/Univision Deportes)
2:30 p.m. - [NWSL] Houston Dash vs. North Carolina Courage (Lifetime)
7 p.m. - [MLS] Minnesota United vs. Houston Dynamo (KUBE 57 in Houston / ESPN+ in other markets)
Sunday, Apr. 29:
8:15 a.m. - [Premier League] West Ham vs. Manchester City (NBC Sports)
10:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester United vs. Arsenal (NBC Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Deportivo vs. Barcelona (beIN Sports)
3 p.m. - [MLS] Colorado Rapids vs. Orlando City SC (ESPN)
8 p.m. - [MLS] LAFC vs. Seattle Sounders FC (FS1)
Monday, Apr. 30:
2 p.m. - [Premier League] Spurs vs. Watford (NBC Sports)
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.