Champions were crowned and dethroned in various places over the last few days, so let us take a look back at some of the biggest games and results in our weekly column.
By Neel Shelat
🏆 Asian Champions League Final: Urawa Red Diamonds 1-0 Al Hilal (2-1 agg)
The biggest game of the weekend was played on Saturday morning UTC in Japan, where the Saitama Stadium hosted the second leg of the 2022 AFC Champions League final.
This edition of the tournament has been very unique as it served as the transition for the scheduling change from a year-round format to a cross-year format that will be implemented from the 2023/24 season. As a result, Urawa Reds qualified for this final way back in August last year when the East Zone knockouts were held, whereas Al Hilal only booked their palace in February during the West Zone knockouts.
That meant that the Japanese side were in an interesting position where Ricardo Rodríguez oversaw all of their matches leading up to the final, but Maciej Skorża was in the dugout for the big one having replaced the Spaniard between the J League seasons. The biggest change he made was adding a lot more defensive solidity to the Reds, and that proved decisive in this final.
The possession split in both legs was the exact same – 71% to Al Hilal and just 29% to Urawa Reds, who naturally found themselves defending a lot. Thanks to Skorża’s compact 4-4-2 block, though, they were able to keep Al Hilal at bay for large periods, particularly in the second leg when they never really looked threatened.
They were rather lucky to come away with a draw from the first leg in Riyadh as Al Hilal created a fair few chances and only conceded a freak goal for the equaliser, and also ended up losing star attacker Salem Al-Dawsari late on as he saw red for kicking an opposition player who had fouled him, thereby earning a suspension for this game.
He was certainly missed by his teammates in Japan, as they could only fashion 10 chances altogether even after going one goal down just after half-time. André Carrillo’s own goal ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides, although Urawa Reds would have gone on to become the first side to lift three AFC Champions Leagues without that thanks to the competition being one of the last in the world where the Away Goals Rule is still in use.
🇪🇸 Spain: Real Madrid 3-1 Osasuna
Over in Europe, we had a couple of domestic cup finals this weekend. The big one in Spain saw 19-time Copa del Rey winners Real Madrid face Osasuna, who were only playing their second such final and did not have a single major trophy to their name.
The Pamplona-based outfit have been one of the feel-good stories in La Liga this season and indeed over the last few years, as they have comfortably finished mid-table after winning promotion from the second tier in 2018/19. Most neutrals certainly would have been supporting them here, as they are seen as an ideal club by many thanks to their total fan ownership, emphasis on local youth development, ability to maximise a minimal budget and vibrant support at El Sadar.
Indeed, this cup run has been filled with many memorable moments for them including the penalty shoot-out success against Real Betis, extra time win over Sevilla and the two-legged triumph over Athletic Club when thousands of fans stayed up till the early hours of the following morning to give their side a hero’s welcome upon their return from the Basque Country.
And although they were ultimately defeated here, Lucas Torró’s stunning equaliser and the celebrations that ensued can certainly be added to that list. That goal will live long in the memory of Osasuna fans, just as John Aloisi’s late equaliser in the 2005 final does.
Rodrygo will remember this night for a fair while too, as he scored both of his side’s goals to get them the trophy. His fellow Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior was instrumental in both goals as he set up the opener less than two minutes after kick-off and did most of the hard work ahead of the 70th-minute winner.
Los Blancos have no time to celebrate and must quickly lock this trophy away in their vast cabinet, as Manchester City await them in the Champions League this evening.
🇵🇱 Poland: Pogoń Szczecin 2-1 Legia Warsaw
Legia have had quite a week, as they’ve been involved in two title deciders in the last few days.
First, they beat Raków Częstochowa on penalties to win their 20th Polish cup. Then, on Sunday, they made it up to the defeated finalists by losing their league fixture, handing the Ekstraklasa title to Raków even though they too lost earlier in the day.
The celebrations in Raków are sure to continue for quite a while, as this is the club’s first top-flight league title in their 103-year history. Despite being around for so long, this was only Raków Częstochowa’s eighth season in the Polish top flight. They only made their debut at this level in 1994, and after four seasons, went on a relegation slump that saw them sink straight to the fourth tier.
Raków did bounce back up to the third tier in a couple of seasons, but then found themselves stuck there for over a decade. Their fate started to change after 2014 when a new owner came in and started to take Raków back to the top. They returned to the second tier in 2016, which also was the year that head coach Marek Papszun joined.
He brought them up to the Ekstraklasa within three years, and after comfortably steering them to safety in their first season back in the big time, got them competing for major honours already. They won their first two major trophies in the form of the cups of 2020/21 and 2021/22, when they also came within touching distance of the league and finished as runners-up.
The inverse has happened this time as Raków lost the cup final but won the league title, so their disappointment from midweek has quickly disappeared. Given how they have been building up to this success, this could well be the start of a long period of success for Raków Częstochowa.
Interestingly, we had two more first-time champions crowned in Europe this weekend – FK Struga in North Macedonia and Swift Hesperange in Luxembourg.
🇦🇷 Argentina: River Plate 1-0 Boca Juniors
There were no champions crowned in Argentina this week, but there was the small matter of the Superclásico.
The two big rivals found themselves in very different positions going into this match. River Plate were comfortably leading the way in the Liga Profesional having dropped points on just three occasions so far this season. Boca Juniors, meanwhile, were knocking about in the mid-table spots with just 18 points from 14 games.
They had endured a very poor start to the season that saw Hugo Ibarra pay with his job in spite of guiding them to the title last year, so this was Jorge Almirón’s first Superclásico experience in the dugout. He had somewhat stabilised his side as they came into this fixture with a record of three wins in the last four matches, but they knew that River were going to be a different level of opposition altogether.
Indeed, they found themselves dominated at the Estadio Monumental, getting outshot eight to one in the first half. The home side’s performance seemed to have everything but a cutting edge in the final third, so as the second half wore on, a draw seemed inevitable.
But, there was some very late drama in store for the 80,000 fans in attendance. River Plate won a penalty a couple of minutes into stoppage time, which Miguel Borja converted. While he went off to a corner flag and celebrated, an almighty scuffle kicked off on the other side of the pitch. It took about ten minutes to calm everything down, after which the referee brandished seven red cards.
Ultimately, River will not mind that late scrap as it could not stop them from adding three more points to their tally, taking them ever closer to reclaiming the Liga Profesional title after missing out last year.
🏴 England: Manchester City 2-1 Leeds United
Big Sam was back in the Premier League as Leeds United parachuted him in to steer them to safety with just four matches left in their relegation battle. The first of those was a very simple one – a visit to the home of the defending champions.
Given the fact that Manchester City still had a job to do in the title race, no one expected Leeds to be able to come away with anything from this match. Still, all eyes were on them to see how Sam Allardyce would set his side up, and how well they would be able to defend having let in 24 goals since the start of March.
There were somewhat encouraging signs in that regard, as the visitors’ very compact 4-2-3-1 low block did an okay job of keeping City at bay. Their main weakness seemed to be defending in and around their box as they often allowed opponents to find pockets of space, but it is always hard to prevent that from happening against Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side controlled the game throughout and established a two-goal lead in under half an hour thanks to İlkay Gündoğan’s brace, so they seemed on course for another comfortable victory. There was some late drama as the German international failed to score a penalty for his hat-trick in the 84th minute after which Leeds went up the other end and scored, but City were able to re-establish control and did not allow their visitors to pose the threat of scoring an equaliser.
Leeds dropped in to the relegation zone after the Monday night matches. With their remaining fixtures coming against Newcastle United, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur the search for the points they need for safety could be a tough one.
🏴 Scotland: Queen’s Park 3-5 Dundee
Celtic successfully completed their Premiership title defence in Scotland this weekend, but the more entertaining action came from the second tier where the regular season drew to a thrilling close. Of course, all the matches kicked off simultaneously, and nine of the ten teams still had something to play for.
The headline fixture certainly was Dundee FC’s visit to Queen’s Park – a straight showdown for the title and the sole automatic promotion spot. The hosts looked set to clinch it for most of the season, but a terrible run that saw them pick up just four points from their last six games rather derailed their campaign.
As a result of that, they went into this match in second place and therefore had to win it if they were to finish first. After conceding early on, they scored twice in quick succession (including through a pinpoint strike to the top corner from Charlie Fox) to take the lead by the 12th minute.
The match remained frantic and end-to-end as ever throughout, but Queen’s Park never got into a commanding position again. After conceding the equaliser in the 17th minute, they trailed again after the half-hour mark, but Fox pulled them level on the stroke of half-time. In the second period, Dundee quickly took the lead again, before sealing the win with their fifth goal of the match in the 81st minute.
The result saw the Dee bounce straight back up to the Premiership after their relegation last season, but Queen’s Park route to joining them was made even tougher by Ayr United’s win over Raith Rovers which saw them sneak into second spot on goal difference.
So, Scotland’s oldest football club will first have to get the better of Partick Thistle to get the chance to face Ayr United for the spot in the promotion-relegation play-off. Their dream of winning three consecutive promotions to reach the Championship in as many seasons after turning professional is still on, but the path now has a few added twists and turns.
Cover Image from IMAGO