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Tuesday Kickoff: Liverpool collapses in draw; Man City facing FFP punishment; and more

Steven Gerrard of Liverpool consoles an emotional Luis Suarez as he covers his face at full time

By IVES GALARCEP

Liverpool’s dreams of winning the English Premier League title have all but faded amid a 12-minute collapse that saw the Reds squander a three-goal lead in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

The Reds held a 3-0 lead at Crystal Palace, and were looking for more goals to cut into Manchester City’s goal-difference edge, but the final 12 minutes saw their lead vanish as Palace fought back to earn a 3-3 draw on Monday.

The tie means Manchester City can secure the Premier League title with a win and draw in their final two matches, regardless of what Liverpool does in their final match of the season.

Dwight Gayle scored a pair of first-class goals to erase Liverpool’s lead and leave star Luis Suarez in tears as he realized just what Liverpool had given up in the draw.

Here are some other stories to get your Tuesday going:

MAN CITY FACING MASSIVE FFP PENALTY

Manchester City are facing an $80 million penalty, and could be hit with an even larger fine, after being deemed to have failed to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, and the club is reportedly fighting the charges.

Nine teams in total have been charged with violating FFP regulations, but Manchester City and Paris St. Germain are facing the heftiest punishments. While other clubs have successfully negotiated their punishments, Man City is fighting the size of the punishment the club is facing, a punishment comparable to what Paris St. Germain is facing, which is something City officials take issue with.

If Manchester City fails to reach an agreement on their punishment, they could face an even stiffer punishment from the review board that will decide their fate. Along with a big fine, Manchester City could also be punished by having the size of their UEFA Champions League squad reduced from 25 players to 21.

JUVE CELEBRATE 30th SCUDETTO

Though they technically clinched the Serie A title on Sunday when Roma fell to Catania, Juventus still posted a 1-0 victory against Atalante on Monday to set off celebrations after winning the club’s 30th Scudetto.

Simone Padoin provided the winning goal for Juve, which rebounded from a tough Europa League exit against Benfica to give their fans something to celebrate.

It wasn’t all good news for Juve, as manager Antonio Conte hinted at a potential departure from the club after three successful seasons in charge.

“I will speak with the club and we will make the right assessments,” Conte said. “It has been three intense years, I have to thank the lads for what they have done. Even tonight they went out there with the desire to win. That mentality, which I have transmitted to the lads, is my greatest merit.

“It’s not easy to improve on what we have done these past few years. I have to understand if I have the strength to continue.”

 QUICK KICKS

Ashley Cole fears his Chelsea career is over after failing to receive a solid offer for a new contract with the club. (REPORT)

Mexican National Teamer Alan Pulido could be heading to Olympiakos. (REPORT)

Bosnia and Herzegovina joined Honduras among World Cup teams to name their World Cup rosters, though the team still has one cut to make. (REPORT)

Tottenham has issued a formal apology for a Twitter video that appeared on Monday mocking Liverpool’s title collapse. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these developments? Still stunned at Liverpool’s collapse? Think Manchester City might slip up in the final weeks? See UEFA’s proposed punishment of Manchester City being fair?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. so i guess that means Cole will certainly come to MLS? Terry maybe even? not surprised to see Lampard getting another year.

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    • Some of us still remember John Terry taunting Americans after 9/11. Maybe the Canadians will take him, or Liga MX? He would be persona non grata, esp in a city like NY or DC.

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      • i remember that too. Lampard was also doing it and a few other Chelsea players. it certainly would be a topic of conversation if either signed with MLS.

    • Since Cheryl Cole (ex) is back in the UK I could see Ashley coming here. He’s not as died in the wool blue as Terry.

      Terry, who knows. I want him gone because I think he’s becoming a liability. But he is part of the furniture like Lampard, I’d be surprised if he ever leaves. I expect at least one more year to let him run a victory lap. If he quit now or moved abroad it would be very sudden.

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      • agreed, and it helps that he was already linked with MLS prior to this whole contract situation.

    • Terry and Lampard will be at Chelsea next year. Cole will probably have to go to Turkey no MLS team is going to commit DP money to a Left Back, especially an old LB.

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      • well it’s been widely reported that multiple MLS teams have already extended offers. Jose even specifically stated that NYRB, Thierry in particular, have been in contact with Cole. i certainly agree a DP contract to an old defender is not ideal, especially when they need a #10. maybe they get some kind of sponsorship deal to pay most of the salary? Adidas is trying to do this for Del Piero so he goes to MLS.

  2. Cole can grumble all he wants but what CFC needs to do is keep a handful of good players and then churn this roster, it’s not good enough nor does it have enough striking and defense to be a Mourinho team. I hope John Terry, David Luiz, and Fernando Torres go with him.

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      • All due respect, the defense still lost them games. I mean, an actual home game. Go back and look at the title years, it was even lower GA. As low as 15. If you are playing hold and counter ball it has to go very low. They would need to be better at pitching shutouts and winning 1-0 or 2-0 than City or the Reds are at running up a score.

        I don’t think Cole or Terry are young enough, or Luiz good enough defensively, to play Mourinho ball at the level necessary to win. This starts to sound like Kinnear think — if I bring back all these people who didn’t win, we’ll gel and win next year. Hasn’t worked in nearly a decade here. If you want to play negative ball you have to be darned near spotless.

      • I agree that its time to phase out Terry and Cole. I didn’t necessarily disagree with your original comment; furthermore, I agree with many of the points made in your second comment.I think Azpilicueta is ready to take the reigns for Cole. I like Luiz’s versitility though. I wonder if they’ll make a run at Luke Shaw during the transfer window. They need to bring in another CB with experience. Kalas and Ake are too green at this point.

      • I forgot about Bertrand and others on loan. But few of those players have the experience Jose prefers.

  3. I feel bad for Liverpool because they play to score goals and provide entertainment… I still think there may be a twist or turn somewhere… Villa have talent… they could pull off a shocker tonight and make things very interesting on Sunday.

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  4. Not usually a Liverpool fan, but it felt like the soccer gods were gonna bless them this year, as they mark the 25th anniversary of Hillsborough. Feel badly for Gerrard. The title was so close.

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  5. Still don’t get the point of FFP. So MC spent too much money, so your punishment for them is just making them pay even more money in the form of a fine? What does that do exactly? Reducing the squad won’t make that much of a difference either I feel. So Man City can’t use fringe guys like Rodwell and Micah Richards in the meaningless final group games when their fate for the next round is determined. Pretty useless. They can just keep spending because money is no issue and fines can just be paid off with ease. Money is nothing to these clubs, you need to hurt their status to do any damage.

    How about a real punishment, like getting demoted to the Europa league. Fining them and letting them stay in the Champions League will still bring in a lot of revenue but most teams, except the winners, don’t profit much from the Europa League.

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    • Keep fighting the good fight City, don’t pay those bastards. I really don’t want the $80m cutting into our Messi fund. CITY

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  6. Liverpool need to address their defense. Sakho is a mess and I always hold my breath when he has the ball since he’s likely to give the ball away easily, Flanagan is gritty but I read somewhere he is the BPL defender who has been dribbled by the most, Skrtel can be ok but he’s a PK machine and often is on the wrong side of strikers, so he holds and such.

    Basically Carragher was correct.

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  7. “Tottenham has issued a formal apology for a Twitter video that appeared on Monday mocking Liverpool’s title collapse.”

    We’ve become so thin-skinned, I’m surprised our guts haven’t fallen out.

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    • On the other hand, how about showing some class?

      And how about a team that has been one of the disappointments of the season keeping their mouth shout? At Lear Liverpool’s collapse occurred over 12 minutes. Spurs pathetic underachieving lasted all year.

      And no, I’m not a Liverpool fan. I just respect class and Spurs don’t have any

      Reply
      • It reminds me of the glass houses parable.

        Tottenham spent close to $100M to (a) have three fewer points than last year, assuming a best case scenario, (b) lose to Liverpool 9-0 over 2 legs, (c) somehow be in the running to finish 6th with a zero goal differential, (d) potentially finish behind Manchester United, and (e) finish behind Arsenal for the 19th straight season, all the while (f) firing a coach and replacing him with someone who is about to be replaced and (g) needed a squad overhaul 10 months after their last squad overhaul.

      • The only thing that even saved any respectability for there season was bringing back a striker they already had and the previous manager had outcast.

      • It’s ok, the original tweet is literally the only say they’ve had on this year’s title race.

      • Was the tweet misguided and petty? Sure, but it’s incredibly lame when a sports organization apologizes for talking trash. If we take the trash talk out of sports, we’re left with just another multibillion-dollar industry where rich dudes rake in money from the masses. I say let the CEOs of the world apologize for PR gaffes, while sports clubs should go on poking fun at their competition.

      • I just don’t understand why you would make fun of a team that whooped your a$$ over the two legs. I mean, it would make more sense for them to mock Arsenal’s fall from the top since they are huge rivals and all.

      • But they didn’t mock Arsenal. They mocked Liverpool, and then they apologized. That’s lame.

        It’s funny that you question the sense of Tottenham’s tweet. You do realize there’s no sense in sports at all, right? There’s nothing logical about grown men running around a field, kicking a ball to one another, and being paid millions of pounds, while thousands of people sit in chairs adjacent to said field and watch. It’s not logical. It’s just a diversion that we love.

        But I digress. Tottenham shouldn’t have apologized for a silly tweet. Just sack up and move on.

      • It’s a diversion that millions enjoy. So they play and we watch. Seems totally logical to me.

    • i’m with you, ian. i love trash talk from one club to another, because it makes soccer feel like a game, and not so much like a business.

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    • As a City fan i loved the outcome of the Palace/Liverpool matchup. But you hate to see a player of Saurez’ caliber and form not get rewarded for an great game (and an amazing season). I would hope that my team’s players would have reacted the same way following that level of collapse. Saurez’ emotions and competitive nature is what has made him arguably the best player in the world this year (and also made him one of the most hated). Congrats on a great season Saurez and Liverpool. I hope you all rebound so City and ‘Pool can face off again next season for the EPL and Champions League titles.

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  8. And it’s still possible that Cesspool could finish third of they manage to lose their final game. Fingers crossed.

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      • I agree, I hope Liverpool get 2nd so attacking, positive football is rewarded over Mourinho’s parking the bus(es).

      • Please do not misunderstand me. I despise both Chelsea and City. But, Liverpool is a whole different level of hate.

      • Yep. And all I have done is catch crap all year from gloating fans of the pool. So, this not-winning-the-League thing is very satisfying. The sudden silence is just a bonus.

        Sure, they go to UCL next year and we go nowhere. I do not underestimate the importance of that. The loss of European football is huge. But, for this season, they have no silverware. At least we got the Community Shield. paltry and meaningless as it is, it’s still a trophy of sorts.

      • Ha. Now you’re speaking like Arsene Wenger. Would you rather have the Community Shield or play in the Champion’s League?

      • UCL, obviously. I thought that was clear enough. I guess it was not. Even if we had been booted out of UCL group stage this year as a third place team, dropped into Europa League and won Europa League (which would never have happened with this crew), that would not be a significant enough trophy to make up for no UCL.

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