Let the Mauricio Pochettino to Real Madrid rumours begin! – The Warm-Up
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Updated 02/12/2020 at 11:30 GMT
As England comes out of Lockdown II, and begins putting in the groundwork for Lockdown III, we take a glance at the latest round of Mauricio Pochettino to Real Madrid rumours, Caoimhin Kelleher's leading role in Liverpool's win over Ajax in the Champions League and hold a 71st birthday party for Antonin Panenka.
Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane in 2017
Image credit: Getty Images
WEDNESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Mark your diaries
It's May 26, 2021. The Europa League final in Gdansk. Jose Mourinho is one win away from ending Tottenham's 13-year trophy drought, a run that actually dates back to 1991 if you only count proper competitions.
In the opposite dugout is a familiar face. After overseeing Real Madrid's first foray into Thursday night football since 1994-95, Mauricio Pochettino has steadied the club and now has the sweetest shot of revenge. Sure, it promises to be the dullest of 0-0, but at least the touchline antics and penalty shootout will be entertaining.
Yep, the inevitable Pochettino-Madrid rumours are back. The 2-0 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk has reportedly left Zinedine Zidane with three matches to save his job: Sevilla, Gladbach and Atletico Madrid. This from Marca:
Real Madrid are beginning to believe they may have reached the stage where they have to make an important decision - one which could cut ties with their head coach.
Of course, it’s a bit silly that Zidane is facing the axe. Fourth in La Liga isn’t great, but given Barcelona are below them and in even greater turmoil, they will surely float to the top. They’ve been without Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard, Dani Carvajal and Fede Velverde at big moments, while coronavirus has also hit their camp. In their last nine UCL matches without Ramos, they have lost seven. Not being able to cope without their captain is nothing new. And Zidane, a man who delivered their 11th, 12th, and 13th European crowns, isn’t going to make this easy:
I am not going to resign – not at all. We have always had delicate moments. It is true that it is a bad streak in terms of results, but we must continue.
And he’s right. A win against Borussia Monchengladbach at home on December 9 and Real are guaranteed a spot in the last 16, so they just need to reframe their current predicament as arriving at the knockout phase one match too soon. It’s really not that bleak… until they don’t win, in which case #AnnouncePochettino.
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'I'm not going to resign' - Zidane refuses to quit after Shakhtar defeat
'He's done a fantastic job... so I dropped him'
In our age of question, cliché answer, repeat, it was delightful to see Caoimhin Kelleher at least do it with a huge grin on his face.
The young Liverpool stopper deputised for the injured Allison and made some decent saves in the 1-0 win over Ajax, although we wonder how low Adrian’s stock must be given an unknown 22-year-old was thrown into a crucial Champions League game against recent semi-finalists Ajax.
Klopp did his best to explain it, but when you have to say “I really think” it’s definitely a fib:
Sometimes with injuries there is always an opportunity and he has taken it. I really think Adrian has done a fantastic job for us but we needed the natural football playing ability of Caoimhin Kelleher. He is a good shot-stopper as well. We made that decision but you never know how they are going to cope. I am really happy with how calm he was and how good he was."
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'I'm very, very, very happy' - Klopp after Liverpool win
We're almost there (hopefully)
While the Warm-Up has tried to distract ourselves with sport, it’s unavoidable that our 2020 has largely been spent waiting for people smarter than us to do something about the coronavirus. You would think the government would be in that category, sadly not, but praise the good lord that scientists are.
So as the UK prepares to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from next week, we hope it won’t be long before we never have to write about a player testing positive or a match being abandoned again. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet, and Newcastle’s match with Aston Villa on Friday has been canned (for now) after an outbreak in the Toon camp. Less than 12 hours after we brought Callum Wilson into our fantasy team…
IN THE CHANNELS
We never thought we would see the day that someone was bored with the Champions League theme. Until Joel Matip stared gloomily into space ahead of Liverpool v Ajax:
RETRO CORNER
Antonin Panenka celebrates his 71st birthday today. He was so much more than that naughty penalty in the Euro 76 final. He was also pretty tasty at free-kicks…
COMING UP
Edinson Cavani scores for Manchester United against PSG, then Adebayor’s his way towards the opposition bench. Plus: Sevilla host Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund play Lazio and Ferencvaros face Barcelona. We’ll have live text commentary of all four games, you lucky things.
Andi Thomas might only be fourth in the Warm-Up standings, but give him a chance tomorrow please
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