FILL UP THE CUPS.

      Last week, we saw some cup finals being played out among some of Europe's heavyweights to wrap up what has truly been a pulsating season.

      Dutch manager for the last time was in charge of Manchester United when his side played Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace at the iconic Wembley Stadium. Substitute Jason Puncheon looked to won it in the closing stages of the game with a crisp volley of sorts past a hapless David De Gea, but Spanish high flyer Juan Mata almost immediately put in his side level as he saw his shot brush the legs of Joel Ward into the back of the net. Chris Smalling got sent by Mark Clattenburg for a mind-bogglingly stupid challenge on African Yannick Bolasie, Every king deserves a coronation in any kingdom and Louis Van Gaal had to wait until extra time to witness something like that. English substitute Jesse Lingard along wrote his name into Manchester United folklore in the second half of extra time with a truly gorgeous hit past Welsh goalie Wayne Hennessy to win it for the 10 men. United with that win equaled Arsenal's FA Cup record of 12 wins. Louis Van Gaal got the sack barely 24 hours after, as the Special One was given the reins at Old Trafford.

       

Another English heavyweight in Liverpool faced off against Unai Emery and Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League Final in St-Jakob Park in Basel, Switzerland. English striker Daniel Sturridge brilliantly put his side in front few minutes before the interval with a really magnificent finish to stake claim for all the pressure heaped on Sevilla. In the second half, we saw a different Sevilla. Frenchman Kevin Gameiro staked his importance as one of Europe's best in front of goal with the equaliser minutes after the restart. Never say die captain Coke in an impressive fashion scored twice to condemn Jürgen Klopp to his second final defeat this season and wrap up an astonishing third Europa League trophy in three straight years.

      

 Barcelona and Sevilla clashed in the Copa Del Rey final at the Vicentè Caldèron. Both teams were in search for a second piece of silverware when they met on Sunday. Argentine defender Javier Mascherano was given his marching orders after illegitimately preventing Kevin Gameiro a clear goalscoring opportunity. Ever Banega followed suit deep into second half stoppage time as he impeded Neymar illegally from putting Barcelona ahead. Daniel Carrico also got sent off for Sevilla as it was a really intense affair. Fullback Jordi Alba put his side in front in the 96th Minute and Brazilian poster boy Neymar wrapped things up in the 122nd minute.

       

Pep Guardiola bowed out in tears after his side claimed their second trophy of the campaign in the DFB-Pokal final at the expense of almost-eternal rivals Borussia Dortmund. The final was played in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Chances were the premium in this game as Pep and Tomas Tüchel animated on the touchline to see if their respective sides could nick the win. We had to wait till the lottery of the penalty shootout as Brazilian winger Douglas Costa from 12 yards out condemned Dortmund to a third German Cup final defeat in three consecutive years and to send Josep Guardiola into a whirlwind of emotions as he broke down in tears. It was also his last game in charge of the Germans as Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti takes charge next season.

 

     

 In Italy, Juventus and AC Milan brought back a feeling of what used to be almost a norm in previous Coppa Italia finals: a game with two of Europe's high flyers. AC Milan last four years haven't found their wings at all while the Old Lady have rebranded of sorts and become a force to be taken note of in the world of football. It was a certain Spaniard who decided the game as he scored within two minutes of being introduced in the second half of extra time to send the Juventus camp into complete jubilation.

       

With all these finals wrapped up, we have one more final, a certain Spanish rivalry looking to write another chapter. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid look for their first piece of silverware play on Saturday in the UEFA Champions League final. The historic Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in San Siro will be the venue of this European Blockbuster. This final sees two sides from the same city in an encounter for the second time in the competition's history; last time out was in 2014 in Lisbon. Could it be a case of history, or a new era? The final sound of Mark Clattenburg's whistle will tell us who takes this one home.

FA CUP FINAL PREVIEW

                                                      

                                                                                   

Manchester United and Crystal Palace are set to do battle once again as they compete for the prestigious FA cup at Wembley on Saturday. Both managers will be desperate to clinch a piece of silverware after having disappointing seasons with their respective clubs.

Although Alan Pardew’s side managed to escape the drop zone this campaign, the team’s overall performances in the league, which saw them finish 15^th on the table, haven’t been a source of joy to the Palace faithful. Louis Van Gaal, on the other hand, has failed to meet his employer’s minimum expectation of qualifying for next season’s Uefa Champions League and might be well on his way out of Manchester, after the heavy speculations linking Portuguese manager; Jose Mourinho to the club.

This year’s final is a repeat of the 1990 FA cup final, which saw Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United emerge victorious in the replay of the final 1-0, after the first match finished  3-3 after extra time. Coincidentally, Alan Padrew played for the losing side on that day and can establish himself as a true Palace legend by guiding his club to what could be a huge upset and their most significant trophy yet. It is worth noting that the 1990 win was Sir Alex Ferguson's first major trophy in charge of Manchester United, this could also be Louis Van Gaal's first trophy at the club. If Manchester United win on Saturday, it will be their 12^th FA cup title, equaling the record currently held by rivals Arsenal.

                                             Ian Wright Scoring for Palace in 1990 (Pic: BBC)

Crystal Palace had to deal with the likes of Southampton, Stoke City, Tottenham, Reading and Watford  en route to the final, while Manchester United defeated Sheffield Utd, Derby County, Shrewsbury, West Ham and Everton. Some will argue that Crystal Palace had a tougher road to the final, but none of that will matter at Wembley as both teams will give their all to win the title.

Louis Van Gaal will be pleased to have a squad selection headache, as he has a fully fit squad at his disposal; it is highly likely that Marcus Rashford and Golden boy Anthony Martial will lead the attack for United while skipper Wayne Rooney will assume a role in the heart of the midfield with a centre back pairing of Smalling and Blind and David De Gea in goal. For Palace, only Welsh midfielder Joe Ledley has been officially ruled out the clash, a central midfield pairing of Yohan Cabaye and Mile Jedinak is likely to be employed, Yannick Bolasie, who was rested in Palace’s last premier league game of the season is also likely to start as well as goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and striker Connor Wickham. 

Will Crystal Palace pull off a huge upset and have their revenge for the 1990 final loss? Or will lightening strike the same place twice? A truly magnificent cup final awaits us at Wembley on Saturday.

With the Euros coming up join our fantasy league at eurofantasy.Uefa.com with the code  145838UP. Winner will get a French Jersey home or away.                              

PLAYS OF THE WEEK (15/03/16).

Sorry we did not bring you PLAYS OF THE WEEK last week, we had to sort out some technical issues and now that is behind us we can now focus on the sport we love; Football. It was another shocking week ranging from the FA Cup and other league games coming through, anyway let's get into it.


FLOP OF THE WEEK: Arsenal (FA Cup).

Earlier in the week the Gunners played their replay fixture against Hull and they went through the fixture easily seeing their opponents off 4-0 on the night. The victory got them a quarter-final tie against Watford, and as usual Arsenal tend to show their consistency of being inconsistent. They lost the game 2-1 which saw them get knocked out of the competition in which they were back to back winners over the last 2 years. Now they've slim hope of getting silverware this season as they're on the edge in the Premier League and Champions League.


GOAL OF THE WEEK: Dimitri Payet (West-Ham).

The french midfielder has been on sensational form for West-Ham all season and he kept doing his what he knows how to do best as he helped West-Ham get a replay in their 1-1 draw against Manchester United. Payet gave West-Ham the lead by scoring a beater of a free-kick, beating David De Gea from 30-35 yards. Enjoy the goal;

SAVE OF THE WEEK: David De Gea (Manchester United).

Without this man in goal for United this season, the Red Devils will not be alive in the top four race or still have a chance in the Europa League. This save showed how sharp and alert David can be but it was not enough to help Manchester United in their 2-0 Europa League win

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Sevilla V Villarreal (Spanish La Liga).

It was a good game for the neutral, goals, comebacks, cards and anything you could grace for in a Football game.

First-Half  started and both teams attacked each other from the start, but it was not till the 23rd minute we saw the first goal, Vicente Iborra gave Sevilla the lead 1-0 to the home team. Six minutes later Congolese International Cedric Bakambu made it 1-1 by scoring the equaliser. It wasn't long before the same man made it 2-1 to Villarreal as the yellow submarines took control of the game. First half finished 1-2 as the visitors won the half.

Second-Half started the same way both teams attacking each other as usual but this time Sevilla put     more pressure on their opponents. The pressured payed off and Sevilla got their equaliser when            Victor Ruiz put through his own goal and the score became 2-2. Sevilla did not rest on their                 laurels and they pushed for another goal which they got rewarded for when Yevheniy Konoplyanka    scored a worldie goal to make it 3-2 to Sevilla. It was time for Villarreal to respond but it was to no   avail as Sevilla scored another goal in the 90th to clear all doubts. Jose Antonio Reyes got the 4th  goal for the home team.                                                                                                                                                             

MANAGER OF THE WEEK: Quique Sanchez Flores (Watford).

Watford have had a above average season so far and they've copped it with a FA Cup semi-final ticket in which they play Crystal Palace. They got to this stage by beating Arsenal 2-1 in their quarter-final tie against Arsenal.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Paris Saint Germain (Ligue 1).

They wrapped up the title this past weekend in style as they beat Troyes 9-0 in their Ligue 1 fixture. With 8 games to go, this is the fastest any team in France has won the league in their history. Congratulations.

COMBINED TEAM OF THE WEEK:

GK: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus).

The Italian veteran  kept a clean sheet in Juventus 1-0 win over Sassuolo in their weekend fixture and that was his 10th clean sheet in a row for his team which records at 903 minutes. He needs 4 more minutes to break the current record held by AC Milan great Sebastiano Rossi's record.


RB: Allan Nyom (Watford).

He had a solid game for his team against Arsenal as he helped to knock the gunners out of the FA Cup. He totally isolated Alexis and challenged him on every take on the Arsenal forward had. Nyom has been one of Watford's key players all season.


CB: Craig Cathcart (Watford).

The Centre-back had a smashing as he made last ditch tackles to stop Arsenal's shots on goal. Cathcart has been one of the unsung performers for Watford this season.


CB: Timm Klose (Norwich).

The former Wolfsburg player did not give Aguero any breathing space as Norwich were able to crop out a point in their 0-0 draw against the Citizens. It's an added point for Norwich as they look to survive in the Premier League.


LB; Danilo D'Ambrosio (Inter-Milan).

The full-back has been consistent for all the blue side of Milan all season and he showed how good he has been by getting one of the two goals scored by Inter in their win over Bologna in the Serie A. Never doubt a late call up from his country.

CM: Adrien Rabiot (PSG).

The player must have settled his nerves and put his head in the game and this week his quality told. He scored in his team's 2-1 victory over Chelsea which saw them qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals, plus he scored in PSG's 9-0 demolition of Troyes which saw them win the Ligue 1 title.

CM: Dele Alli (Tottenham).

The young sensation had a simple calm and collected game in Spurs 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. The young cub set up both goals for his compatriot Harry Kane as Tottenham continue to push Leicester City for the league title.

LW: Marco Reus (Dortmund).

The tricky forward scored a brace in his team's Europa League fixture against Tottenham (Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham), He also scored in Dortmund's 2-0 win over Mainz in their weekend Bundesliga fixture.

RW: Lionel Messi (Barcelona).

The little magician scored a goal and made up 3 as Barcelona continued their rout sharing spree, this time they beat Getafe 6-0 in their La Liga fixture over the weekend. Arsenal be wary

ST: Romelu Lukaku (Everton).

The Everton forward was able to break his jinx of not scoring against his old club by scoring a brace against Chelsea as his goals knocked the blues out of the FA Cup. Romelu is having the best season of his young career so far, he has notched up 25 goals.

ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG).

He scored a milestone of goals this week, scored 1 in PSG's 2-1 win over Chelsea in the Champions League and he scored a double brace in PSG's 9-0 win over Troyes which saw them wrap up  Ligue 1 in style.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG).

At the age of 34 his numbers are still on the top, infact this should be his best tally season in his career. The veteran swede has scored 35 goals in 38 appearances this season and he has also scored a 100 goals in Ligue 1, that is in 4 seasons with the capital club. As he said he can play till his 40 and the feature on fine wine seems to be a feature of the swede's as well.