#1

on. But the Habs scored once, twice, and a third tim

in Mariah Carey Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:18 am
by sakura698 • 255 Posts

As the sun sets on another dramatic La Liga campaign, Sky Sports Spanish expert Guillem Balague hands out his season awards. Fake NBA Jerseys . Barcelona claimed their 24th title with a 3-0 win at Granada on Saturday, pipping Real Madrid by one point, while Atletico Madrid and Villarreal made up the top four.But in Balagues eyes, who was the best player in the league, who is most-improved, and which team has flopped? Best player - Luis SuarezNot only for the 40 goals this season, but for the fact he turned up during Barcelonas worst time. There were doubts around the club in late March, early April; physically they were not at their sharpest, the football they created was not causing much danger, and they actually lost three out of four La Liga games. In the last five games he scored 14 goals, and has also provided four assists. Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick at Granada as Barcelona won the La Liga title for the second successive season While Barcelona have been struggling to create the football the club is used to, Suarez has helped them get the points needed.This is a season where weve seen a different Lionel Messi, one that has dropped deeper and obviously helped Luis Suarez. He definitely was another big reason, along with Suarez, as to why Barcas season got back on track.Most-improved player - Antoine GriezmannThis was a year that consolidated what he had been building up to. Last season he didnt have a guaranteed place in the line-up, but hes the first name on the team sheet now. Antoine Griezmann has been on fine form for Atletico Madrid this season He has done it in a way that keeps in line with Diego Simeones philosophy; he works hard without the ball, and with it he has been key in breaking up defences. He is on the verge of being in the top five players in the world.Hes negotiating a new contract with Atletico Madrid, and although he has left the door open to other offers, I think his intention is to stay.Most-improved team - Celta Vigo and EibarThere are two; Eibar, who finished 14th with the help of Borja Baston, the striker on loan from Atletico Madrid, who scored 18 goals. Suarez is Barcas MVP Luis Suarez was Barcelonas most valuable player in their title-winning campaign, says David Moyes. But I would also give it to Celta, who managed to jump up the table by nine points, still with wonderful football. Eduardo Berizzo has been able to keep the team competitive despite losing Michael Krohn-Dehli in the summer to Sevilla and Augusto Fernandez to Atletico Madrid in January, as well as the injury to Nolito.Best game - Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona, November 21It has to be the Clasico at the Bernabeu. It was the return of Messi after two months injured, while Neymar and Suarez had been scoring the goals for Barcelona in that period. Suarez scored two, Andres Iniesta was probably the best player on the park, and Barca played so well that Real managed only one shot on goal in the first half, as well as keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet. Barcelona players celebrate after beating Real Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico I said after the game that these kinds of defeats have consequences, and as we saw, Rafa Benitez never recovered, and it was only a matter of time before Florentino Perez looked elsewhere.Best goal - Alvaro Cejudo, Real Betis 1-1 Real Madrid, January 24It has to be Cejudo. Its a nice build-up, and as the ball arrives to him, he manages to shoot in an awkward way and beat Keylor Navas, one of the best goalkeepers in the world with a wonderful strike. Our pick of the best goals of the season from La Liga. Which one gets your vote? Moment of the season - Deportivo 0-8 Barcelona, April 20Barcelona had just lost three of their last four games in the league, before going to Deportivo and winning 8-0. Luis Enrique has not rotated very well this season, the defeats came around the international break and he never trusted his bench.They would play the same 12, 13 players, but with Real Madrid and Atletico making life difficult for them, Luis Enrique trusted his favourite players and Barcelona came out and managed to get a superb result when they needed it. It was a message for La Liga. But I feel that next year, to avoid the same drop at the end of the season, Luis Enrique will have to return to more rotation and a few signings that will make the bench stronger.Flops of the season - Valencia and James RodriguezAs a team, Valencia. They have come from having 77 points, their joint-highest tally ever, to 44 points, the worst in 30 years. James Rodriguez has had to settle for the bench on occasions this term As a player, James Rodriguez. He has not accepted the fact he has to fight from the bench, his physical condition has not been perfect, and he is not strong enough mentally for Real Madrid. The club want to get rid of him now.Best XI of the season(4-3-3): Jan Oblak; Mario Gaspar, Diego Godin, Pepe, Marcelo; Andres Iniesta, Bruno Soriano, Antoine Griezmann; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo Six Real Madrid and Barcelona players make Balagues team of the season Manager of the season - MarcelinoFor a man who started his career as manager at Villarreal with a 5-0 thumping away to Real Madrid reserves in a second division match in January 2013, his progress since then has been nothing short of remarkable.Just five months later, the Submarine were back in the top flight, and in their first season back they finished high enough to gain a place in the Europa League. Villarreal manager Marcelino has improved the side this season, qualifying for the Champions League Despite falling just short of a Europa League final place after a defeat by Liverpool this season, Marcelino can console himself with the thought that his side have done enough to secure fourth place and a spot in the Champions league play-off round. It is also worth noting that Villarreal have never finished lower than sixth in the table since gaining promotion under the guidance of the canny Asturian tactician.It was disappointing how they performed at Anfield, but Marcelino has maintained a good level of performance throughout the season, and has improved on last season. Also See: Suarez fires Barca to title Suarez is Barcas MVP Fifty up for Ronaldo Getafe and Rayo relegated Fake Soccer Jerseys . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week. Fake Hockey Jerseys . -- Kevin Stadler might be playing in the Masters for the first time, but hes already showing his old man a thing or two. https://www.fakejerseys.us.com/ . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years.When you grew up in Ottawa, back in the days before the Sens, you really had just two choices when it came to NHL teams to cheer for: the Habs and the Leafs. If I could afford a therapist, I imagine the good doctor would tell be that my affection for the Leafs was part of an ongoing and pathological need to be alone and unhappy. Though, quite simply, its more likely that its because thats what was on local TV in Ottawa. I admit I could be wrong. I dont have a PhD. Thats right. I was a Leafs fan. I had a Leafs sweater that I slept in, that my dad bought me after some endless whining in the aisles of a Canadian Tire. An Allan Bester poster hung above my bed. I wore number 9 in Little League because of Russ Courtnall, and I may have cried when he was traded to the dreaded Habs for John Kordic. My parents werent sports fans, but they let me bring an old black and white TV into my room to watch Hockey Night in Canada, to fall asleep to the third period charms of Bob Cole and Harry Neale. I cant often remember my postal code, or where I lived in 2009, or the name of that girl, but I easily recall the names of Dale Degray, Peter Ing, Brad Smith, Ken Yaremchuk, and Dan Daoust, forgettable Leafs from a forgettable era.The arrival of the Ottawa Senators coincided with the arrival of my first love. Well, the first reciprocated love. Fittingly I used this sea change to shift my affections to the Sens, whose losing was familiar but who provided a new hope, a virginal slate upon which to build a new love. The Sens got better, but love did not. Like it tends to, it left, mostly my doing, as I had found affections for all sorts of other things one does as they enter their 20s.The Sens and I remained true to each other, even though I carried the relationship. I lived in Vancouver for a few years, but never felt any connection to the Canucks, nor for any West coast girl. Well, there was one girl, but she left me for my best friend. In that manner, she was not unlike the Sens. All kinds of promise, ending in sure disappointment; the better looking, more mature Leafs beating the Sens in the playoffs year after year.With both the Sens and the Leafs the pain was the same: expectations were crushed by reality. No matter what I did, season after season they hurt me. They left me alone in June, as other teams and their fans moved on to full playoff beards, Cup parades, and what I can only assume is happiness.Years passed. I moved back to Ottawa. I watched hockey less. I dated seldom. I grew a playoff beard in January. My mother worried. She had nightmares that I was floating through life without RRSPs, without a mortgage, without a wife, and without kids. My dad seemed to understand, even though he wasnt much for hockey. I moved to Costa Rica. My beard got longer. My tan was superb. Televised hockey was difficult to find. Beer was cheap. There was no fear of commitment, because everyone was transient, moving on, moving forward, or at least sideways.But the rains came and I returned to Canada, but this time to Montreal, a city that truly appreciates the lovelesss. Replica Jerseys. A city where the bars are open late, and life exists only in the present. And I found myself watching hockey again, with people who didnt know about my past, about the Leafs and the Sens, who didnt know of my failings in my mothers eyes. And I found myself cheering for the Montreal Canadiens, the longtime enemy of both the Leafs and the Sens. Outwardly I was a fan, but inside I was in turmoil. I felt like I was cheating on myself, as if I was committing hockey adultery, even though I was single and every team I ever loved sucked.And then came 2010. And a magical run through to the Conference Finals. And Halak signs. And PK Subban. And overtime wins. And there was a girl. A girl I loved. And for a brief moment I thought about breeding, about ceremony, pageantry, making my mum happy, a parade down Ste. Catherine, about my dad in a tuxedo, about rings.But, as hockey and love have taught me, all good things end in horrible, crushing, debilitating disappointment sometime in June. The Habs lost to the Flyers, and someone else won the Cup, and Halak was traded, and the girl left because I was afraid she might not, and summer arrived with condolence beers and late nights on terrasses and waiting for next year. Always next year. My mum didnt say anything, but I could see her deleting imaginary grandchildren in her mind, and transferring familial hope to my sister and her young family.And life went on. Seasons changed, both on the calendar and the NHL schedule. I still rocked a playoff beard, out of both laziness and hope, so Id be prepared in case of victory. The Habs sunk back to middle-of-the-pack mediocrity. The Leafs and the Sens lived in that same ether. My mum would send me promotional materials for post-graduate programs and ask how my married friends were doing. My dads tuxedo remained in the back of his closet, dry-cleaned and at the ready. I still watched Habs games, but my interest has waned, my commitment faltered.Then, two weekends ago, I was having a few adult beverages and watching the Sens and Habs battling each other in an important late-season game. It was like watching the past fight for your affections. With just under four minutes left, it looked like the Sens had the game won. But the Habs scored once, twice, and a third time with only .3 seconds left to tie it, before winning it in overtime.So buoyed by the victory, and spirited by the spirits, I headed out to the local to meet a friend and celebrate the victory. And in the back of the bar, a bar cheered by the win and the hour, was the girl from 2010. And we talked for a bit. And she asked about my folks. And we smiled when youre supposed to smile. And we spoke longingly about spring coming. And after a silence, and a pause, she had to leave, and as she did she looked back and said, "Maybe Ill see you soon." Maybe. And maybe the Habs will make a run, and my mum will stop worrying about matrimony, and my dads tuxedo will be content in its stasis, and maybe I will see her soon. That wouldnt be so bad. Better than being a Leafs fan. ' ' '

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