07/19/2020 - 7:00
- Clarín.com
- sports
Leeds United, already established champion of the Championship, visits Derby County in the premiere of the brand-new promotion to the Premier League , which he obtained thanks to the adverse results of his immediate pursuers in the standings, and will face an opponent who already has goals ahead until the end of the competition.
The match, corresponding to date 45 of the English Football League, will be held at 10:00 (in Argentina) at the Pride Park stadium in the city of Derby, with live and live television from ESPN 2 (channels 103 from Cablevisión and 623 from DirecTV) .
In his second season as head of the team, Marcelo Bielsa finally secured the title and promotion to the elite of British football thanks to defeats suffered by West Bromwich Albion against Huddersfield Town 2-1 on Friday, and Brentford vs. Stoke City by 1 to 0 this Saturday, in two other games on the same day 45 of the contest.
Bielsa's celebration in the victory against Barnsley, last Thursday. (Reuters)
The team from the north of England has 87 points and can no longer be reached by its two immediate escorts : West Albion with 82, and Brentford with 81, and both with only one game to play until the end of the championship.
Bielsa returned Leeds United to the Premier League after it descended in 2004, in a sports and institutional crisis that led to the bankruptcy of the club and the sale of some assets, including the Elland Road stadium training ground.
In this way , the coach obtained his first club title outside Argentina , where he had achieved three First Division crowns with Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield.
With the institution of Rosario, Bielsa was crowned in the championships of the 1990-91 season (he defeated Boca Juniors in the final) and the 1992 Clausura Tournament. With the Liniers club, meanwhile, he won the 1998 Clausura.
Yorkshire The Yorkshire Pirlo choir pic.twitter.com/s4UGvu4bvF
- Leeds United (@LUFC) July 18, 2020Thus, the Fool celebrated, even if in the Second Division, a title with a club after 8,084 days that had elapsed since the last consecration , since the title with Vélez dates from May 31, 1998, when on the penultimate date he defeated 1 to 0 to Hurricane.
The gap is shortened when considering the Olympic gold medal that Rosario obtained as coach of the Argentina National Team, in Athens 2004, when on August 28 of that year he defeated Paraguay 1-0 in the final (Carlos Tevez's goal). That was the last title achieved by Bielsa and since then 5,803 days have passed (15 years and 10 months) .
In addition to Newell's, Vélez and the Selection, and before landing in Leeds, Bielsa directed in Atlas and America in Mexico, in Espanyol in Barcelona and Athletic de Bilbao in Spain, in Olympique de Marseille and Lille in France, and in the selection of Chile.
During his career in Europe, Bielsa had been close to achieving titles, but thus far he had succumbed. In Bilbao, he lost the 2012 Europa League final against Atlético Madrid by Diego Simeone, and also fell in the decisive match of the Copa del Rey against Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
In Marseille, meanwhile, he was leader for a good part of Ligue 1 during the 2014-15 season, although his performance fell in the final stretch and the tournament remained in the hands of Paris Saint Germain, while Bielsa's team finished fourth, also surpassed by Olympique de Lyon and Monaco.
In his first season in Leeds he caressed the passage to the Premier League, but he faltered in the final stretch of the tournament . He was the leader of the Championship until date 32, when he lost 1 to 0 against Queens Park Rangers and gave the lead to Norwich City, who finally became champion. And he left the direct promotion positions, which he left on date 43 after falling against Wigan by 2 to 1.
The Spanish Pablo Hernández, one of the figures of Leeds United. (Photo: Twitter @LUFC)
Finally, in the third-place playoff for the following Premier League season, he was eliminated at the first crossing by Derby County . In that final stretch of 2018-19, Leeds suffered seven losses in 16 games, which conspired against success in the campaign. Anyway, he was confirmed in his position and launched the illusion to achieve the promotion that was confirmed a year later.
In this opportunity,the Argentine coach avoided giving clues about his continuity in Leeds even though the promotion was crystallized, although both what was expressed from his environment and expressed around the club seems to give the signal that, indeed, he will take on the challenge of managing in one of the most important leagues. competitive in the world.
😍 Thank you Marcelo! pic.twitter.com/4hf8T0QW8Z
- Leeds United (@LUFC) July 18, 2020"Marcelo will have a hard time saying no to the Premier League," said Rafael Bielsa, brother of the coach and current Argentine ambassador to Chile, about the decision that Loco would make for next season.
While Paul Robinson, former goalkeeper of Leeds and a glory within the club, expressed himself in the same sense about the continuity of Bielsa. "I think he will commit himself in the long term. He has achieved a fantastic achievement and the club must maintain a coach of his quality, who is highly praised by coaches like Pep Guardiola. He is a game scientist , ”he said.
The owner of the club, Andrea Radrizzani and Marcelo Bielsa in the presentation of Rosario as coach of Leeds.
In Leeds , since his debut on August 5, 2018 (3-1 win against Stoke City), Bielsa has led 98 games, between Championship, FA Cup and League Cup. He recorded 54 wins, 18 draws and 26 defeats , with 154 goals for and 86 against, and with an efficiency of 61.22 percent of the points obtained.
Bielsa became an icon of Leeds supporters, who have reinforced the already existing signs of affection for the Argentine with the confirmation of the promotion after 16 years of being absent from the Premier League .
The arrival of Marcelo Bielsa to Elland Road after the rise of Leeds.
The decline in 2004 was followed by a terminal economic crisis. In May 2007 they filed for bankruptcy, were sanctioned with 10 points and relegated to League One (Third Division) for the first time. There the club was about to disappear, since, unless they came out of the financial situation they were in, they could not start the next season and would be excluded.
For this match, the Portuguese midfielder Helder Costa, of the Leeds figures , is an almost certain discharge due to the injury suffered in the last match against Barnsley. Bielsa will also not have Kalvin Phillips available, marginalized for the rest of the season.
Goalkeeper Kiko Casilla has already served an eight-game suspension for alleged racism, but Illan Meslier would continue as a starter in the last two games.
Leeds United fans celebrate their team's promotion to the Premier League. (Photo: Paul Ellis / AFP).
Derby County plays to comply, as it is eleventh, with 61 points, far from the promotion and relegation zones . Last season he had reached the playoff final for third place in the Premier League, but lost to Aston Villa.
That team was led by Frank Lampard, and on the way to that final he had eliminated, precisely, Leeds de Bielsa. Cocu arrived in Derby this season, after the English coach was hired by Chelsea.
Possible formations
Derby County : Ben Hamer; Jayden Bogle, Mathew Clarke, Curtis Davies, Max Lowe; Wayne Rooney, Max Bird; Jason Knight, Louie Sibley, Tom Lawrence; Martyn Waghorn. DT : Philip Cocu.
Leeds United : Illan Meslier; Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Gaetano Berardi, Stuart Dallas; Ben White; Ezgjan Alioski, Tyler Roberts, Mateusz Klich, Jack Harrison; Patrick Bamford. DT : Marcelo Bielsa.
The legendary Wayne Rooney will start in Derby County in the match against Marcelo Bielsa's recently promoted Leeds United. (Photo: Jason Cairnduff / Reuters).
Hours : 10:00 (Argentine time).
TV : ESPN 2.
Stadium : Pride Park.
Referee : Oliver Langford.