Season’s End – 2022
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12,000 watts of electricity being generated to the right of me.
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6,000 watts of electricity being generated to the left of me.
It’s loud and ruckus all around as I consider season’s end for both the Premier league and La Liga. Jim and I have fought like warriors today to be able to watch the final day of soccer’s greatest leagues in the aftermath of a generational storm. No one has power for miles around us. Hydro lines have been snapped and flung like matchsticks all around the community where we live. Some 500,000 souls are without electricity, telephones and the internet.
Fortunately, Jim and I had the foresight to install a back-up generator, a full 12,000 watts, to make sure we had the ability to continue reporting even through the worst of times. All around us, telephone poles have been snapped like twigs and flung into the fields. Trees that were full and mature during the 2nd World War have been dropped across roads and fields and yards like barricades making travel difficult and, in some cases, impossible.
Even in these conditions, with phone and internet failing, Jim and I were able to watch as first, the final day of the Premier League unfolded and finally watched Barcelona finished a near unprecedented season.
On the early shift, Jim and I watched as Manchester City, with the title on the line, fell behind 2-0 to Aston Villa. Understanding that neither Jim or I have a rooting interest, we were fascinated to watch Aston score not one but two goals against City. With less than 20 minutes to play in their season, Manchester City had coughed up an open door through which Liverpool would surely walk for the Championship.
Only Liverpool choked early and conceded the first goal to the Wolves. Before the half however, Liverpool responded with Mane drawing them level. But level wasn’t enough to make a difference and with less than 10 minutes left to play, Liverpool still had not found a way to walk through that open door before the impossible happened.
With 18 minutes left to play City was still down 2-0 and it was obvious to their fans in the stadium and to those millions joining in electronically that City was leaving the door open for Liverpool to score a single goal to secure the Championship when suddenly City did what they hadn’t been able to do the entire afternoon – score a goal. And then 3 minutes later they added a second and it was tied. Still not enough to stop Liverpool, but with nearly 15 minutes left to play, suddenly, City had life. But they didn’t need 15 minutes. Only 8 minutes later ILKAY GUNDOGAN scored his second and City had enough points to thwart whatever plans Liverpool might have.
Liverpool would indeed go on to get the goals they needed to win their game against the Wolves, but with City finishing with a win it made no difference. City wins the title again.
Meanwhile, later that afternoon, Barcelona was beaten 2-0 in their final match of the season. It has been a unique season for Barca to say the least. Almost everything that could go wrong went wrong due in large part to extreme financial mismanagement colliding headlong with COVID-19. It resulted in losses so large and dramatic that the venerable old club couldn’t even re-sign their signature player Lionel Messi. In what was surely the biggest shocker in the last several decades for the Club, Messi had to leave and ended up with his old pal Neymar Jr at PSG.
After a decade and a half playing with the best player in history, Barca struggles early and often to put the ball in the net. It was almost as if the strikers kept waiting for Messi to return and pot the ball. Winning only 4 of their first 12 games, the Manager was sacked and replaced by Xavi, the coach Messi had wanted all along. Too late for Messi perhaps, but the ship started to turn. Week after week Xavi worked his magic and Barca started to win, started to hone their attack and score some goals.
It wasn’t enough to win them any trophies – which they should have had – but it was enough to not only get them back into the Champion’s League but to finish 2nd in La Liga and instill some hope that one more transfer window could bring the talent they need to climb back to the top of the hill. Will they do it? Can they do it? Will Messi return?
Stay tuned here. As soon as we have the news, we’ll make sure it’s available to you.
Bob out.