Chile – Bolivia 5:0
Sampaoli’s Chile emerged as unsurprising victors against Bolivia whose uncoordinated pressing system was exposed by the intelligent hosts’ possession game.
Copa America Preview: Chile
The Copa America promises to be a festival of South American football. Jorge Sampaoli’s Chile side are an embodiment of the excitement, skill, and intensity that South American football is associated with.
Copa Del Rey final: Barcelona – Athletic Bilbao 3:1
Barcelona winning the Copa Del Rey means they have secured the double and kept the possibility of completing the treble alive. Athletic Club came out to play with a game plan that was surprisingly bad.
The FA Cup final: Arsenal – Aston Villa 4:0
Arsenal made history by becoming the most successful club in the oldest football competition on Earth. This was Arsenal’s 12th FA Cup final win and it was probably their easiest as they came up against an Aston Villa side who were outclassed in every area.
Bayern Munich – Barcelona 3:2
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier was a pioneer of the aviation industry. He and his accomplice Marquis d’Arlandes made the first untethered hot air balloon flight on 21st November 1783. Less than two years later, on 15th June 1785 he set off from Boulogne, France in his ‘Rozier Balloon’ hoping to cross the English channel.
New York Red Bulls – New York City FC 2:1
The first ever Hudson River derby provided no shocks as RNBY rather easily beat their neighbors, maintaining a control over the game even after going a man down.
Tactical Theory: Compactness
The term ‘compactness’ has been somewhat of a buzzword in football tactics over the past few seasons,
Juventus – Real Madrid 2:1
Allegri’s team executed an excellent strategy which saw them take advantage of Real Madrid’s instabilities to give them a 2-1 lead to take to the Bernabeu.
Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (0:2 Penalties)
Following what was very much a balanced match overall, Jurgen Klopp now has the opportunity to end his time in Dortmund with silverware, going through to the Pokal final after two slips cost Bayern in the shootout.
Barcelona – Valencia 2:0
Luis Enrique’s side took a step closer to the title after a confident 2-0 victory over Valencia. Messi was vital as ever in his ‘new role’ which sees him support to a much greater extent in the midfield, supporting the progression into the attack.