The games that will decide the fate of the soccer season are coming thick and fast.
And for some teams, the heat is too much. Cape Town City’s race looks run now that they are out of the Nedbank Cup and seven points off the top of the PSL with five games to go.
Benni McCarthy’s manne had their chances and didn’t take them.
And after the defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the cup quarterfinal, I think they were already too keen to move on to the league encounter with Golden Arrows.
They botched that one too and it looks like it’s tickets now.
I get the feeling that maybe they were a little too nonchalant in seeing the trouble they were in after losing.
It’s how I felt about them allowing star man Ayanda Patosi to leave to an Iranian club in January when I think it would have served their own interests and the player’s if they stayed together.
He could really have made a difference at the sharp end of the season. Now the PSL race looks like a sprint to the finish for Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Talking of fine margins, how tight are the Champions League quarterfinals? With a 2-0 win for Liverpool over Porto on Tuesday night, that tie is the only one with clear daylight between the teams.
The all-Premier League clash between Manchester City and Tottenham looks well-balanced for the second leg.
City boss Pep Guardiola was uncharacteristically cautious at Spurs and until Son Heung-Min popped up with a winner for the London hosts, a below-par City looked like getting the job done before their home game.
Barcelona held on to beat Manchester United 1-0, but Lionel Messi will decide it at the Nou Camp.
Ajax and Juventus’ 1-1 draw was the pick of the bunch and could be the one to watch again next week.
The young Dutch team showed that knocking out Real Madrid in the previous round was no fluke and if they’d taken their chances in Amsterdam, would have had one foot in the semis already.
But now they have to worry about Cristiano Ronaldo and his ability to land the knockout blows.