Analyzing a Football Match's Outcome Based on the Teams' Competitiveness - Essay Sample

Introduction

The love of the sport is found almost everywhere on the globe today. Sports fans are very loyal to their teams and would even take oaths on behalf of the teams. One of the most loved sport is football, with some big clubs like Barcelona (Barca), Manchester United (Man U) and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) attracting billions of followers. Today, it is common for football fans to take part in detailed statistics to predict the outcomes of matches. Most of the fans go to the extent of placing bets for games, which is a reason behind their hard work and consequent success in predicting the matches' outcomes. This essay focusses of the analysis of a football match based on facts about the teams' competitiveness.

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In April 2019, a big clash will be between Man U and Barca in Europe's top-flight competition, the Champions League. In support of Man U, I would predict that they will surprise Barca (Rohde, 2016). From recent records, there is no doubt that Barca is the favourite in the eyes of many. However, Man U is a team of surprises, recently knocking out League 1 giants PSG out of the competition. Man U's recent resurgence is undeniable. For instance, they have won more than 12 consecutive premier league matches since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as manager. Therefore, their new competitiveness could lead them to see off Barca and make it to the last 4 in the Champions League (World Football, 2019).

From 1984 to 2011, the two teams have faced each other 11 times, with Man U winning 3, drawing 4 and losing 4 of the matches. On the other hand, Barca has won 4, drawn 4 and lost 3 of the encounters (World Football, 2019). According to the statistic, Barca is therefore only one win better than Man U. PSG beat Man U 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League. Many fans thought that it was over for Man U, which meant that Man U needed more than two goals to progress. Surprisingly in the second leg, Man U beat PSG 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals on one more away goal (World Football, 2019).

Barca and Man U both have strong squads. However, I think that Man U is better given their fighting spirit. Recently, they beat drew with Burnley in an eye-catching encounter. Man U were 2-0 down in the 86th minute, but Pogba pulled one back three minutes to time while Rashford pulled another in the 92nd minute to end the game 2-2 (World Football, 2019). Moreover, Man U got the winning goal versus PSG in the last minute of the match. Therefore, Man U are a surprise team capable of going all the way and take home the prestigious Champions League trophy come June 2019 (Sarmento, 2016).

It is common knowledge to understand the logic above, giving the advantage to Man U to win the match. Maybe Barca could outclass Man U at home, but looking at PSG's game, Man U overturned their 2-0 deficit away from home. Therefore, if Barca outshines Man U at home in the first leg, the loss could be reversed in the second leg away from home to the detriment of Barca.

References

Rohde, M., & Breuer, C. (2016). Europe's elite football: Financial growth, sporting success, transfer investment, and private majority investors. International Journal of Financial Studies, 4(2), 12.

Sarmento, H., Anguera, M. T., Pereira, A., Campanico, J., & Leitao, J. (2016). Patterns of play in the fast attack of FC Barcelona, Manchester United and FC Internazionale Milano-a mixed method approach. Cuadernos de Psicologia del Deporte, 16(1), 31-41.

World Football (2019). Manchester United Record Against FC Barcelona. Retrieved from https://www.worldfootball.net