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VIDEO: Premier League Player of the Week – Round 35

By Andy EdwardsMay 4, 2015, 11:15 PM EDT
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Is Tim Sherwood a good manager? Is he a great manager? Is he a genius manager?

While all the above questions are still far from being answered with any semblance of finality, what’s clear is that the first-year Aston Villa boss is brilliant when it comes to instilling the confidence and belief in strikers after taking over a team mid-season.

[ MORE: JPW’s Premier League Playback: Can Chelsea now create a dynasty? ]

Sherwood did it last year with Emmanuel Adebayor after being named interim Tottenham Hotspur manager in December, and he’s done it again this season with Christian Benteke.

Benteke bagged another pair of goals in Villa’s 3-2 victory over Everton in leading his teammates to the brink of Premier League safety (35 points — three teams and two points clear of the final relegation place). For his contributions, Christian Benteke is the Premier League Player of the Week.

Premier League Player of the Week 

Week 1: Raheem Sterling, Liverpool

Week 2: Nacer Chadli, Tottenham Hotspur

Week 3: Diego Costa, Chelsea

Week 4: Diego Costa, Chelsea

Week 5: Frank Lampard, Manchester City

Week 6: Edin Dzeko, Manchester City

Week 7: David De Gea, Manchester United

Week 8: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City

Week 9: Wilfried Bony, Swansea City

Week 10: Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal

Week 11: Shane Long, Southampton

Week 12: Danny Ings, Burnley

Week 13: Lee Cattermole, Sunderland

Week 14: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City

Week 15: Andy Carroll, West Ham

Week 16: Olivier Giroud, Arsenal

Week 17: Charlie Austin, Queens Park Rangers

Week 18: Eden Hazard, Chelsea

Week 19: Mame Diouf, Stoke City

Week 20: Frank Lampard, Manchester City

Week 21: Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal

Week 22: Eljero Elia, Southampton

Week 23: Jonathan Walters, Stoke City

Week 24: Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur

Week 25: Chris Smalling, Manchester United

Week 26: David Silva, Manchester City

Week 27: Wayne Rooney, Manchester United

Week 28: Jordan Henderson, Liverpool

Week 30: Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur

Week 31: Ander Herrera, Manchester United

Week 32: Yannick Bolasie, Crystal Palace

Week 33: Jason Puncheon, Crystal Palace

Week 34: Dame N’Doye, Hull City

Ex-Arsenal man Gnabry: “London’s still red” after Bayern beats Chelsea

Serge Gnabry
Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 25, 2020, 7:20 PM EST
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Ex-Arsenal man Serge Gnabry still has love for the club.

Gnabry tweeted that “London is still red” after he scored twice for Bayern Munich in a 3-0 beating of Chelsea on Tuesday in the first leg of a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.

This after scoring four times against Spurs in a previous Champions League group stage match and Tweeting that “North London is Red.”

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

So what’s with the London form?

“I’ve got a lot of friends here,” Gnabry said after the game. “A lot of them were in the stands tonight, and it seems they give me a lot of good power.”

Gnabry only scored once during his time in England with Arsenal and West Brom but is a bona fide star in the Bundesliga.

With a three-goal advantage over Chelsea heading to Munich for a second leg, however, he’s not got his head in the clouds.

“Three goals ahead gives us a little bit of confidence, but we need to be prepared for the second leg. We can’t take it not seriously enough. … We’ve seen it last year with Liverpool beating Barcelona, so we have to be careful. We have to go into the second leg with all of our focus.”

Gnabry now has 51 goals and 29 assists in four seasons since returning to Germany from Arsenal. Not terrible production for a player the Gunners offloaded to Werder Bremen for under $6 million in 2016.

What color will London be when Chelsea buys him next year? We kid, we kid…

Champions League preview: Real Madrid renews rivalry with Pep; Lyon hosts Juve

UEFA Champions League preview
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 25, 2020, 6:28 PM EST
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The final two ties of the UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16 begin Wednesday when Manchester City and Juventus head to Spain and France.

The focus for many will be on the former, as City continues to weather UEFA drama while its manager prepares for his fiercest foe as a player and manager.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

Pep Guardiola has managed against Real Madrid 17 times and boasts a 9-4-4 record between Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

The Catalan wizard has lost his last three versus Real, two with Bayern and once in his final El Clasico as Barca boss.

Even as Guardiola stresses preparation and plan, he knows there will be bounces and that both teams will have to cope with them.

“We have to be strong, have quality and need to have luck,” he said, via The Manchester Evening News. “At this stage, it’s important but we cannot control that. We can control what we can control and we will see. This competition, last season, against Liverpool, there are decisions. You have to overcome. You need incredible concentration in our game and game plan plus try to be a little lucky.”

Real Madrid living legend Sergio Ramos has earned the ire of Guardiola on plenty of occasions, one of the few things Liverpool and City fans have in common.

Ramos wouldn’t get drawn into rivalry talk, sying the stage somewhat negates the opponent.

“I have a lot of respect for him,” Ramos said via the club’s web site. “I think he’s a fantastic coach, with loads of experience, and his numbers speak for themselves. We’re motivated by the Champions League, regardless of the players or coaches who may have been rivals in the past. We’re up for the Champions League and our next task is to beat City. From a personal point of view, I’m just focused on making the next round.”

[ MORE: Key battles for Real-Man City ]

Wednesday’s other match sees a club long linked with Guardiola, as Juventus will play the role of heavy favorites against Lyon.

Maurizio Sarri‘s side is to bidding to win what’s eluded all Juve bosses since Marcello Lippi beat Ajax in 1996. If they succeed, it will be by going down a different path than it’s traveled in recent years.

Here’s Leonardo Bonucci, via Football-Italia:

“What the coach asks of us now is basically the opposite of what the previous coach did,” Bonucci mused. “It was usually individual against individual, now it’s more about organized team movements. Obviously, you need to train consistently to get that down and playing every three days makes it difficult. But we started this journey well aware of the positives it could bring and the difficulties of getting there.”

Lyon has been maddeningly inconsistent this season, sitting seventh in the Ligue 1 table, but has the tools to surprise if Juve doesn’t bring its best. That starts in France on Wednesday.

Lampard: Chelsea first leg loss ‘quite sobering,’ ‘harsh lesson’

Frank Lampard
AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 25, 2020, 5:39 PM EST
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Chelsea manager Frank Lampard isn’t sugarcoating his side’s 3-0 first-leg loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday.

“Sometimes you have to be brutally honest about it,” he said in televised remarks after the loss. “It’s quite sobering.”

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

Lampard admitted that Bayern was firing on all cylinders at Stamford Bridge, and proffered tepid support for the idea of an unlikely comeback in Germany next month.

“The level of team they showed that they are, hence why they challenge in the Bundesliga and the Champions League,” he said, via Football.London. “I’m disappointed we couldn’t do better against them. It’s a reality check. Don’t look at anyone else apart from yourself.”

“We should never say the door is closed because our fans would never accept that. I’m more concerned with the bigger picture here. There’s a lot to be done.”

Sure is.

Chelsea leads fifth-place Manchester United by three points in the top four race and has a four-point edge on sixth-place Spurs in the scenario that fifth is enough for Champions League football.

That’s important because the UCL path back to the tournament looks like a massive ask. And Lampard said the players need to use Tuesday’s blowout loss at home “as a positive effect” moving forward.

But he also put it pretty plainly during his post-match comments.

“It was a harsh lesson,” Lampard said. “This is Champions League football.”

Griezmann gives Barcelona first leg draw with Napoli (video)

Napoli v. Barcelona recap and video highlights
Photo by CARLO HERMANN/AFP via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 25, 2020, 4:55 PM EST
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Antoine Griezmann scored in the second half to earn Barcelona a 1-1 draw with Napoli in a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg at the San Paulo Stadium on Tuesday.

Dries Mertens scored a beautiful opener for Napoli, who heads to the Camp Nou for a March 18 second leg.

Arturo Vidal was sent off in the 89th minute for a second yellow card, and Sergio Busquets picked up a yellow which will cost him the second leg.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

Gennaro Gattuso’s plan was to limit Barcelona’s shots, and it worked well in the first half.

Mertens got his goal on one of only five shots in the half, the only two on target coming via Napoli.

How a tale can turn on a moment, though, as Nelson Semedo set up Griezmann’s second-half marker to give Barca a useful away goal.

Barca was much better in the second half but could not find a second away goal.

Here’s the goal of the day, and it belongs to Mertens.