Sunday 23 May 2021
Klopp also manages CL qualification
Chelsea cheers after a strange league final
Chelsea FC will be in the Champions League next season and will not have to win the final on Saturday. Thomas Tuchel’s team had to be saved by local rivals. Jürgen Klopp, on the other hand, brought a difficult season to a successful end on his own.
Thomas Tuchel breathed new life into Chelsea when he took office from the hapless Frank Lampard, and above all brought back success. From tenth place, Tuchel led the club to the 38th matchday in the Champions League final – and up to third place in the Premier League: the best prerequisites for being in the premier class again in the coming season. In the season finale, the trio FC Chelsea (67 points), Liverpool FC and Leicester City (66 each). With a win, Chelsea would have crowned the race to catch up on their own, with Aston Villa, who is in midfield, they are facing a suitable opponent.
But for a long, long time it looks completely surprising as if Chelsea would eventually fall into 5th place and thus out of the Champions League ranks: 0: 2 it is quickly from the perspective of the Champions League finalist, the FC At the same time, Liverpool confidently set the course for a successful end to a complicated season – and Leicester City is turning a deficit against Tottenham Hotspur. With ten minutes to go, Chelsea have to beat Manchester City in the Champions League final in order to be back in the coming season. In the end, Chelsea FC only managed to hit the next goal, Liverpool FC won – and Tottenham turned the game in Leicester, in the end the Londoners scored 4-2 and Chelsea FC became the happiest loser of the day. “A rollercoaster of emotions on a dramatic day of the finals,” the BBC described Thomas Tuchel’s afternoon.
Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool FC have meanwhile easily qualified. The defending champion, who was accompanied by dramatic injury concerns throughout the season, won against Crystal Palace 2-0 (1-0) and finished the season in third place with 69 points. The Senegalese national soccer player Sadio Mané ensured the acclaimed success with his goals in the 36th and 74th minutes in front of 10,000 spectators on Anfield Road. The only one that the top-class Champions League trio of applicants produced for the season finale.
The fact that Klopp and his battered team were in their own hands on the last day of the game was thanks to their goalkeeper Alisson Becker – but differently than expected: with a last-minute goal, the Brazilian managed to score two points late last weekend . The goalkeeper, who had stormed forward, headed a corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold at the already established relegated West Bromwich Albion deep in stoppage time to score a 2: 1 (1: 1) winning goal (90 + 5).
Tottenham is saving itself too
Thanks to two late goals from Gareth Bale (87./90.+6), Tottenham saved not only the Champions League for Chelsea, but also the international competition themselves – and will compete in seventh place in the Conference League. In addition to Leicester, West Ham United qualified sixth for the Europa League with a 3-0 (2-0) win against Southampton FC. Arsenal FC with German goalkeeper Bernd Leno stayed eighth despite a 2-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion and missed the international competition.
Champions Manchester City easily won against Everton 5-0 (2-0). Sergio Agüero scored twice in his last City game. Runner-up Manchester United won 2-1 (2-1) at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Fulham FC, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United have already been relegated.
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