Posted 1649 days ago

Football fans in the UK and elsewhere had plenty to watch and read about in early March. Leicester City remain on track to win their first Premier League title as their rivals continue to stumble, and Newcastle United hope that a new manager can salvage their season. In Europe, Lionel Messi continues to add to his records, and PSG seem confident after booking their place in the Champions League quarter finals.

Leicester soar as Manchester City, Arsenal and Spurs all drop crucial points

Leicester City were languishing at the foot of the Premier League table after 25 games had been played in the 2014-15 season, and many were baffled when Claudio Ranieri was brought in to replace the ousted Nigel Pearson. Ranieri's unorthodox management style includes using pizza to reward his team for keeping a clean sheet, but the 64-year-old Italian has silenced his critics and inspired the Foxes to the cusp of their first ever major trophy.

Arsenal were the side most tipped to seize the top spot and dash the dreams of Leicester fans, and the red half of North London must have been relishing the thought of visiting Old Trafford to take on an out of form and injury ravaged Manchester United. However, the Gunners once again failed to deliver when it mattered most, and the pressure on Arsene Wenger began to mount once again after games against United, Swansea and Tottenham only yielded a solitary point. Manchester City's season may have run out of steam after it was announced that Pep Guardiola will spend big to rebuild the team when he replaces Manuel Pellegrini on the sidelines next year, and the Sky Blues seem more likely to be drawn the battle for Champions League qualification than challenge for the title. Tottenham have quietly moved into second place in the Premier League, but Mauricio Pochettino's high tempo pressing game could take its toll as the season heads into the final stretch.

Newcastle go to plan B

It must be hard being a football fan in Tyneside. Newcastle United and Sunderland seem to always be embroiled in a desperate bid for survival, and the 2015-16 season is proving no different. Newcastle barely avoided the drop last year, but the appointment of Steve McClaren provided hope that the club's fortunes would soon be getting better. However, McClarens tenure failed to provide this anticipated boost, and the Newcastle board came to the decision that another change was in order as the number of remaining games dwindled and relegation began to loom menacingly. Former Real Madrid and Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was announced as the new Magpie's boss on March 12, and the 55-year-old Spaniard will have 10 games to turn things around and save Newcastle's season.

A record that Lionel Messi does not want

When football pundits look back on the 2015-16 season many years from now, the biggest story is likely to be the dominance of Barcelona and the sublime skills of their attacking trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. La Liga has been a dogfight in recent years with both of the Madrid clubs pipping the Catalans to the title, but Messi and company currently look nigh on invincible. However, the club may not be doing too much boasting about a couple of recent records set at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi set a club record by missing his eighth penalty during a March 12 thrashing of Getafe, and the miss also made this year's Catalans the most wasteful Barcelona side from the spot ever.

Could this be PSG's year?

Paris Saint-Germain have spent hundreds of millions on transfers and hundreds of millions more on salaries since being taken over by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund in 2011, but all that investment has yet to bear much in the way of fruit. PSG have never made it past the quarter final stage of the UEFA Champions League, but a 4-2 aggregate win over a resurgent Chelsea side in the competition's round of 16 has led to renewed optimism in Paris. Timing is often the key factor in football, and PSG may rue the day if they fail to capitalize this year. Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid look more beatable than they have in several seasons, and Pep Guardiola has announced that he will be leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season. The imminent departure of target man Zlatan Ibrahimović is another reason for PSG to cash in this year, but with typical modesty the Swedish superstar says that he will remain at the club if the French government agree to place a statue of him where the Eiffel Tower now stands.

(Photo via JonCandy)