Day: May 18, 2018

This game offers Manchester United and Chelsea a last opportunity to salvage their season and end on a high after yet another disappointing showing from the two English giants.

Chelsea have had the worst season with the Blues ending their campaign in a disappointing 5^th place on the league table despite coming into the season as defending champions.

With their Champions League season also ended early by Barcelona, this has been a disappointing season for Antonio Conte who would reportedly be sacked even if he wins this game and a defeat would see him leave Stamford Bridge with his reputation bruised.

Manchester United have had a better season. They finished outside the top four last season, but their focus on the Europa League eventually paid off. They have had a better season this time, with the Red Devils finishing inside the top two, however, their disappointing exit from the Champions and occasional shocking losses to small teams have left their fans frustrated, but Jose Mourinho is a man for the big occasions and should deliver here again.

Manchester United’s end of the season saw just two goals scored in Manchester United last three games as Mourinho refused to adopt a more attacking style of play. They defeated Watford, lost to Brighton, and then drew against West Ham.

Chelsea drew their penultimate game 1-1 at home to Huddersfield before losing emphatically 3-0 to Newcastle in their last league game of the season. That result would not have done their confidence a world of good ahead of this match.

Chelsea have three wins, two losses and two draws from their last seven games against Manchester United.

This is the final game of the domestic season for both of these teams, but Real Madrid have a Champions League final date with Liverpool next weekend and it would be interesting to see how they fair here. Zinedine Zidane would prioritise avoiding injuries in this game but they need a win to give them momentum ahead of the game against Liverpool and Villarreal are a team that can give them a tough time.

Villarreal’s season has been an interesting one.

The Yellow Submarines have rarely put together a run of wins all season, yet they have managed to get the points that place them inside the top six ahead of this last match of the season. They have entered top form ahead of this game also with 4 wins from their last five games, they would want to show the world what they are made of when they host Madrid in this game.

5 of Villarreal’s last 7 games have produced over 3.5 goals. Their last win was the 4-0 bashing of Deportivo La Coruna, while their last loss was a 5-0 defeat to Barcelona, Real Madrid would come here knowing there are defensive weak points they can exploit.

Real Madrid have backed themselves to outscore their opponents in their last few matches as they have scored twice or more in their last six games, but have kept only one clean sheet in their last 10 games.

Real have tended to struggle against Villarreal in recent years.

The last 6 meetings have produced 2 wins each and 2 draws. Los Blancos have only won on 2 of their last 5 trips to play the Yellow Submarine.

After clinching their 27th Bundesliga crown, Bayern Munich would be heading into this game with a domestic double on their mind as they look to send off Jupp Heynckes in style yet again.

This is their fifth DFB Pokal final in seven years, and while Heynckes would have loved to win yet another treble for them with the Champions League included, a domestic double is not bad for a team that had almost lost the Bundesliga crown under Carlo Ancelotti early in the season.

The Bavarians have some injury concern ahead of this game, but they have the squad depth to see them through this match.

This is Eintracht Frankfurt’s second consecutive DFB Pokal final and they would feel this one is more important as they need to win here to secure European football next season after their final day loss to Schalke 04.  Nico Kovac would be managing them for the last time as he takes over at Bayern Munich next season, he has a fully fit squad for this game and would hope his wards can give him the perfect sendoff.

Bayern are unbeaten in 14 games against their opponents and all but three of those matches have ended in wins for the German champions.