Pilgrim's Progress

Memorable European Night for Argyle

Plymouth Argyle made history in their Champions League tie against Real Madrid, prevailing against all odds in a memorable performance that had the capacity 18,000 Home Park crowd in raptures.  Lorenzo Battaglia scored twice and Facundo Farias once, as Plymouth beat the giant club 3-0, to send the tie into extra time and then penalties.  Plymouth had three penalties saved, as did Madrid, to send the match into sudden death.  Plymouth converted their sixth attempt to put the count at 3-2 before goalkeeper Max Baker faced Real’s sixth and promptly saved it to send Argyle through 3-2 on penalties.

Battaglia chips Courtois for his first

“What a tie.  We’ve grown up tonight,” said manager Bobby Stones.

“Congratulations to Plymouth,” said a clearly dumbstruck Carlo Ancelotti.  “Their manager surprised us with his line up and tactics, and we had no answer.”

Elsewhere, Plymouth eased past Brentford in the FA Cup 5th round, and won two matches in the Premier League, to leave them top as Arsenal stumbled with two defeats.

Plymouth will play Barcelona in the Quarter-Final of the Champions League.  "They're all hard ties," said Manager Bobby Stones.  "We should expect nothing less, now."

Crazy comeback there. A 10 out of 10 performance from your keeper, saving three in the shootout. I hardly save anything in my shootouts, so this is truly surprising to read for me. But well done! Real out, Barca next.

---

@CO88LER5 wrote:
Doesn't always work, but it's down to where the penalty taker is looking just before they take the shot.
They sometime seem to look straight ahead, and that's when it's just a real guess.
I find it more difficult actually scoring a penalty - more than it seems in real life, anyway.

---

Haha, I'm the exact opposite. I think I score from 9 out of 10... But I rarely save any. And my opponents seem to want to Panenka me far too often. Next time I'll try to notice where the penalty taker is looking. A solid tip.

Argyle Finish March On Top

Whilst Plymouth Argyle were engaged in cup competitions – FA Cup, Champions League – their rivals failed to take advantage and, at the end of March, the Pilgrims lead the Premier League, with matches in hand.

Arsenal in particular seem to have hit a wall, with a couple of defeats and a draw, one of which was a defeat to North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur that brings Spurs closer to their bitter enemies.  The in-fighting between the chasing pack is all to Argyle’s benefit, and they lead on goal difference.

Farias Leads Golden Boot

Facundo Farias’ hat-trick against Wolves on 8 March pushed the Argentine further ahead in the Premier League golden boot chase.  His 24 goals from 16 matches compares with Son and Jesus, joint second on 21 from 29 matches.

Farias also leads the Argyle ‘golden boot’ with 31 goals, way ahead of Rayan Cherki in second on 17.  The striker has also provided 9 assists this season, to round off an impressive 40 goal involvements, from only 21 matches.

More Academy Promotions

Two more youngsters were promoted from the academy in March, with exciting goalkeeper prospect Francisco Lopes (18) from Portugal and Brazilian high potential left-winger Cleber Tavares (17) making the step up to the first-team squad.

Arsenal hitting a wall - I hate to say I told you so 😉

Two games in hand, please do not let Arsenal win! 🙂

Well we all wrote off Plymouths chances making a comeback and they made us eat our words. Crazy tie overall and then to be rewarded with a tie against their rivals Barcelona. Congratulations on their first Domestic Trophy as well. 

Argyle Waste Matches in Hand

Plymouth Argyle’s two matches in hand were rather wasted, as they resulted in a defeat to Newcastle and a draw against Manchester City.

The match home to Newcastle saw the Pilgrims well beaten, with Alexander Isak in particular proving difficult to handle, including a brilliant bicycle kick finish to open their account.

Isak Bicycle Kick against Argyle

The matches being so close together in April, Manager Bobby Stones made heavy use of the squad, and the team fielded against Manchester City, being so close to the first Barcelona match, struggled to gain any momentum and fell behind to a Ruben Dias header from a corner.  It took until late on for Freddie Issaka to come up with the equaliser that prevented the damage in the two matches from being total.

Argyle Advantage in Champions League Quarter Final

The Pilgrims have the advantage over Barcelona after the first leg of their Champions League quarter final tie at Home Park.

A capacity crowd enjoyed a 3-1 victory over the famous club, courtesy of two goals from Adam Hlozek and a third from Facundo Farias.  Barcelona started the brightest and scored first from a fine piece of play by Raphinha in the 22nd minute, but the Pilgrims rallied and, after that, they looked most likely to score, as Barcelona failed to convert their marginal possession advantage into further goals.  Hlozek in particular has enjoyed his Champions League campaign and is one of the competition’s leading scorers on 7.

Argyle now just need to hold their nerve in the return leg at Camp Nou, which is, of course, easier said than done!