And taking Atlético a step closer, his penalty and a superb performance in last week’s first
Panthers Jersey leg giving them a slim but significant lead. Here they are again, 90 minutes from another semi-final, against the team in which they see themselves reflected and players they could imagine playing alongside. Jamie Vardy, say? “He would fit in at the vast majority of teams in the world,” Godín says. “He works, sacrifices himself for the team, and on top of that scores goals. Who wouldn’t want a striker who kills himself for you, then gives you attacking solutions?”“A striker like that is fundamental for a team like Leicester that plays the way that they do. If they didn’t have that kind of striker, maybe they wouldn’t be Leicester, the team we’ve seen,” he continues. “He’s a great player, who fights and competes. Against Sevilla [in the last 16], every ball that went into the Sevilla half he fought for: he never gave a ball up for lost. At the Calderón he was virtually alone and if he didn’t touch the ball often that doesn’t mean he’s not a great striker, quite the opposite. It’s because we paid him so much attention. We were focused on not giving him space, cutting off access to him.“The first leg confirmed what we knew: that Leicester are a team that shows solidarity and commitment, that works extremely hard collectively. A measure of that is that we dominated the game but it was
http://www.officialpanthersonlinestore.com/Aaron_Ekblad_Jersey hard to create many clear chances, so we’re happy to have been able to win. In a two-legged tie it’s always important not to concede; we have to make that count in England.”A semi-final awaits the other side and, beyond that, the final. And there’s the rub, the thorn buried deep in their sides. That day at the Camp Nou, Godín scored the most important goal in Atlético’s history. He might have surpassed it six days later when he scored in Lisbon, his header taking them to within seconds of a first European Cup before Sergio Ramos appeared in the 93rd minute. Two years after that, they were denied on penalties by Real again. It proved a rebellion too far, even for them. Simeone likened the weeks after Lisbon to “a period of mourning”. But they came back, and back again, as if driven by defeat.“Look,” Godín says, “no one likes to lose – and still less the way that we lost. Of course. We’re not going to hide, we’re not going to lie. But we’re not taking this as revenge and nor do we think we have to win it because of that. No. We have the
Hawks Jersey same desire to win the Champions League, the same ilusión as ever. This is the biggest dream we have and we’re going to fight for it.“We’re among the best eight again, which isn’t easy. It’s very hard to win the Champions League but we know how; we know the path we have to follow.”When Claudio Beauvue scored, Granada’s fans whistled and then they walked. Some turned to the directors’ box and chanted for the board to resign. “They could at least give us half our money back,” spat one supporter as he left. He had at least put up with it until the end. “Everyone’s hurting,” Adams said, and it hadn’t been a good night. “I’m going to kick the players up the arse,” he had promised. Momentarily there had been a reaction, something to cling on to, but that was a phrase that was always likely to boot him back and be taken down and used in evidence against him, and here, inevitably, it was: “Celta B gave them a kick up the arse,” wrote Ideal.Inside, Rafael Lamelas described Adams as a man “anchored in an age that has passed its sell-by date, an old, yellowing page, which is what distances English coaches from the front line”. “I’m off for fish and chips,” sneered one columnist, as if there was any chance of that this late – as if there was any chance of anything, in fact, except another moonlit soiree with the minibar. “It didn’t work in English either,” Marca said. AS called it “desolate”. They give out awards for each round of games: gold, frankincense, myrrh and coal. Adams got coal, a kind of Spanish wooden spoon. “He’s not the solution, either,” it read.Granada Hoy said it was all “for nothing”; it had been “deplorable”, a “disaster”. At the bottom of the page, there’s a smiley face and grumpy face, good news and bad news. The good news? “There’s not long left” – and that can only be good news when you’ve already
http://www.officialhawkstore.com/Deandre_Bembry_Jersey given up. “Make it end!” the headline ran. Other results went their way, 90th minute goals leading to defeats for Leganés and Sporting Gijónbut it made little difference. With six weeks left Granada are seven points from safety. In all probability, relegation awaits and their manager knows that, even if he can’t say it. What he did say, tracksuit off, showered and suited, was this: “I don’t like losing but it is a difficult situation we are in. It’s really important we don’t throw in the towel.”
