Scars make it beautiful as Leeds deliver
Scar tissue from how it ended last time around in the Premier League in 2023 meant that promotion has felt quite different two years on.The prolonged absence from the top flight, coupled with the club's biggest moment since winning the First Division title in 1992 being constrained in a Covid bubble, made the Marcelo Bielsa era even more idiosyncratic.We couldn't share the moment communally once Bielsa's side had tossed Charlton aside 4-0 as an almost irrelevant prelude to lifting the Championship trophy at a sadly empty Elland Road.Leeds were no longer falling apart, they were back in the joy division.But it wasn't joyful. Bar that exquisite period when behind closed doors Leeds United finished ninth in the top flight, the experience was eventually to leave the club and players shell-shocked. That is why for some there will be a sense of PTSD ahead of a crucial summer at Elland Road.The moment of promotion, delayed by the increasingly staggered kick-offs of the crucial fixtures, was still sweet this time around though. The manner of the complete obliteration of an in-form Stoke City was spectacular... and so un-Leedsy. Until that point four straight victories had not happened all season across league and cup competitions. When it mattered, United delivered. Bielsa's extraordinary capability of coaching an average Championship side to greatness will always stand alone as a unique and beautiful moment. Due to the circumstances in which his success was secured it also makes it mean more this time because supporters celebrated together, drank together, cried together, hugged together but most of all bellowed out Marching on Together.If Marcelo performed a miracle then Daniel Farke produced a phenomenon. Calm, concentrated and composed Farke created two new sides, with this version less reliant on individual moments of brilliance than a collective creativity and a mental resilience than that of 2024. It feels like a vindication of his method and his ability to cope with obstacles, like selling or losing key players ahead of a campaign, and a reflection of the laser focus of the squad to redeem last season's play-off disappointment. So to Monday night and that rare feeling of an end of season game at Elland Road without jeopardy for the hosts, as promotion hopefuls Bristol City come in search of the one win which will secure them a play-off berth.Make no mistake though, Farke and his side want that 100-point total and the title so after the lights of this week's party have faded and the "fire beast" has come down from the table, the fire will be back in Farke's belly.Listen to West Yorkshire Sport Daily, weeknights at 18:00, and subscribe to BBC Radio Leeds' Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast on BBC Sounds
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North Wales Chronicle
31 minutes ago
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Belgium will be ‘shaking in boots' ahead of Wales game in Cardiff
The Red Devils, ranked eighth in the world, let slip a three-goal lead before Kevin De Bruyne spared home blushes with an 88th-minute winner. Sorba Thomas (left) battles for the ball with Belgium's Jeremy Doku in Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP) The return fixture is in Cardiff on October 13 and new Stoke signing Thomas said of Belgium: 'That's a team that is top 10. People will say 'little old Wales' but we took the game to them. 'They're going to be shaking in their boots when they come to Cardiff to play us. We're hungry, we're a young group. 'I felt when it went to 3-3 it was in our hands. But it's a devastating game, football is a horrible sport sometimes. (Against) top 10 in the world and we feel we should have walked away with a win.' Wales seemed to be heading for a humiliating night when Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku struck inside the opening 27 minutes. Brennan Johnson (second right) celebrates with team-mates after scoring Wales' third goal against Belgium (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP) There was a party atmosphere inside the King Baudouin Stadium as home supporters began a Mexican wave. Thomas said: 'Them behaving like that put it down to the pitch. The players got relaxed and we punished that. 'They might have been doing the Mexican wave but they weren't doing it when it went to 3-3. 'They're entitled to do what they want, but we deal with what's on the pitch. The whole game shifted. 'They countered us a few times, but I felt we played their big players well. 'We're a young team and we're going places. That's one loss in 10. We'll learn from this and get better and better.' After Harry Wilson converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time, winger Thomas scored his first Wales goal and then set up Brennan Johnson's equaliser to cap a memorable week. The 26-year-old also started Friday's 3-0 victory over Liechtenstein and the following day left Huddersfield to join Stoke on a three-year deal. Sorba is a Stokie 🔴⚪ — Stoke City FC (@stokecity) June 7, 2025 'Personally it's been one heck of a week,' said Thomas, who has spent the season on loan at Ligue 1 club Nantes. 'I've secured my future and got my first Wales goal. I hope my family all watching at home were proud. 'I've loved my time at Huddersfield. They took me from non-league and made my dreams reality to play for Wales and put me in this moment. 'To get it (the move) done early was important because I can focus on my football. 'I want to play well in the Championship every week next season and give the manager a headache to keep putting me in the team.'
BBC News
an hour ago
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