PL MONTHLY ROUNDUP: Eriksen’s Return, Bielsa’s Sacking and more.

In what could be considered a pretty chaotic month worldwide due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, European citizens have been living on high alert following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s mission to invade neighbouring country Ukraine.

As you have thought, the conflict has already had an impact on sports, with UEFA, the governing body of European football, shifting this season’s Champions League final away from Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Elsewhere, future World Cup qualification matches against Russia have fell into disarray as the broad global community attempts to unite against Putin’s Russia.

Chelsea, whom are owned by Russian tycoon Roman Abramovic, face restrictions as their owner is sanctioned. The defending European champions are among the assets of Roman Abramovic frozen by the British government after a Labour MP in the UK told the parliament that the Chelsea owner had close ties with Putin. Chelsea has since been entrusted to trustees by Abramovic.

On a lighter note, eight months after collapsing from a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening match of Euro 2020, Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen returned to action following a move to Premier League newbies Brentford FC. Featuring as a substitute in his debut match for ‘The Bees’, Eriksen came on in the 52nd minute as a sub for Danish compatriot Matthias Jensen. While Brentford lost that game by 3 goals to nil, seeing Eriksen feature for the first time since that horror of a show was a well-precedented moment.

In other news, Marcelo Bielsa was sacked by Leeds United following the club’s dismal run of form, and Antonio Conte’s inconsistent Tottenham Hotspur helped close the gap between title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool. While it seemed for a moment as though City might be running away with the league, Liverpool have caught up and are hot on their heels. With three months of Premier League football left, could Liverpool’s quadruple aspirations be possible, or will City snap out of it and win the Premier League again?

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