loud shout
In his spare time, Football Daily occasionally wonders if, in his spare time, Harry Kane occasionally wonders what would have happened if he had not played in a major cup final on one leg. Has he considered an alternate universe where he selflessly chose to make a cameo on the bench so that a fully fit, firing, in-form Lucas Moura could take his place against an obviously sub-par team? Liverpool? While he may not feel like he’s earned this medal, he could conceivably have received a championship medal, and his current predicament might not seem quite as discouraging. That predicament could see him sweep Europe’s Golden Boot away at season’s end and become part of an all-conquering Bayern Munich team that, for the first time in 12 years, has overcome the shortcomings of others to win nothing.
While it’s still too early to write this season’s obituary, Bayern have already lost the German Super Cup, been knocked out of the proper cup by third-tier opponents and finished behind the Bundesliga rivals who have recently passed them by. Defeated Leverkusen. To make matters worse, Bayern lost the first leg of their last-16 tie to Lazio in a performance that would have been anything but ordinary for a walk in Norwich city centre. While their season could unravel quicker than a tattered cardigan, it’s still possible that Bayern can turn things around, but on current form that seems unlikely. While no one except the most vengeful Gunnar wants to see Harry wandering around another football pitch at the end of the season, clapping sadly and looking wistful, that scenario currently seems very likely to happen. .
“It’s been a really tough week,” said Harry, whose performance earned him a run of low ratings in German tabloid Bild. “We started well in the first half and had clear chances, which were my own. In these games they are big moments. The second half was disappointing. We came out with less energy and less confidence. Coming less and less. We were punished. We have to find it among ourselves. We are still in contention for the Bundesliga and still in this draw. We have to keep fighting.”
Meanwhile, in Paris, perennially stifled Paris Saint-Germain mimicked Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes in the first half of the first leg against Real Sociedad. While it may have been Valentine’s Day night, the air was filled with Parisian blame rather than love, with Kylian Mbappe and his pals being outdone, outdone and beaten by the relatively poor. In the end, goals from Kylian Mbappe and youngster Bradley Bakla made their second-leg capitulation more interesting, much to the relief of PSG coach Luis Enrique.
“If someone had told me after the first half that we were going to win 2-0, I would have danced for two hours,” he said, even showing a TNT sideline reporter some moves to illustrate his point. “It was like a nightmare; it was very, very difficult. I thought in the second half, it was more like what we wanted, so I’m happy.” In a game of football where the defending champions played such great football, it was like Like a completely different sport, one suspects Guardiola will be the last smiling manager.
Live broadcast on big websites
It’s big-time action, with Dominic Booth taking charge of the steaming clock for the 5.45pm GMT game before Scott Murray takes over for Milan 2 -1 Rennes, with the remainder of the fixtures kicking off at 8pm GMT.
Quote of the day
“For a variety of reasons, the coach concluded that [Jürgen] Korean Football Association technical director Hwang Bo-kwan told reporters after the emergency summit that Klinsmann can no longer play a leadership role as the national team coach and needs to be replaced. Asian Cup semi-final against Jordan. Klinsmann has been repeatedly criticized for frequently working in Los Angeles, where he lives, although he initially said he would spend most of his time in South Korea for the job. Klinsmann participated in Thursday’s meeting via video call from his home in the United States.
“In my opinion, Sonia Bompast and assistant Camille Abili can fulfill the dual task of taking over Chelsea’s men’s and women’s teams brilliantly. The former plays worse than the latter, who needs less Coaching and team selection” – Graham Lees.
“It’s one thing to drive yourself crazy when your son plays table tennis. [Wednesday’s Football Daily]but the list above wouldn’t be complete without Liverpool goalkeeper Michael Stensgaard dislocating his shoulder while setting up the ironing board” – Kev McCready.
“Can I be the first of the 1,057 readers to mention Robbie Keane in their reply to today’s Football Daily email? Robbie hurt himself while lying in bed reaching for the remote control. Also. There was Dean Windass, who injured his back while taking his bag out of the car, and of course, there was Santiago Cañizares, who missed 2002 after dropping a bottle of aftershave The tendon in his foot was crushed and severed during the 2018 World Cup.” – Brendan Mac Cullen.
“According to reports from the big websites, ‘Brexit means Brexit’ is apparently what the kids in North London are shouting now when they tackle, but they’re not tackling for the ball, they’re taking the player out game (or as the old saying goes, ‘doing Vinnie Jones’). Taking back control, etc.” – Nobel Francis.
“Regarding Mark Bennett’s letter yesterday, just wanted to point out that Bayern technically did score a point on the board against Lazio” – Brian Paisley.
Write to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s award-less letter winner is… Brendan Mac Carron.
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