It is not going to be easy against Leeds!

Playing Leeds has been such an enjoyable experience in the last few years. It was always an end to end game with breathless football. Marcelo Bielsa didn’t care about the opponent. He expressed his football in a way only the most brave and courageous could do. We had reaped the benefits of it in the home game against them this season. The 7-0 battering of them is fresh in my mind and that was also the time when we were just cruising through the league.

Circumstances have changed right now and we find ourselves in the midst of a cauldron full of extreme pressure. Each moment seems to last for an eternity. The pressure is just relentless with our opponent chasing us down at full throttle. The situation has also changed at Leeds and they have become much more solid at the back. I was just browsing through their last 4 results and they have been very good to my surprise. This Leeds team is not conceding much and they have become more lethal on the counter.

I know that this will be a game where we have to be patient and look to pick the lock against a team that is fighting for survival. The problem is the nerves again. If we don’t get that goal early on, the anxiety can just creep into our play and it will be much more difficult from there on. Also, we have to remember that they are fighting for survival, so they will fight tooth and nail for every single 50-50. These last few games are going to be proper tense and we will have to be at our sharpest best to get over the line.

I know that i have not discussed any tactics or line up prediction here. The reason for it is simple. At this stage it is all about mentality. the games are won and lost more in your head than on the field. You look at the Madrid game and you will understand how much mentality matters at the sharp end of the season. So, i feel that tactics and everything go out of the window right now and the only quality that counts is your mental strength.

The race from now on until the end of the season is going to be one full of extreme pressure and only the very tough will get out on the right side of it. They say that a diamond is nothing but a chunk of coal that withstood extreme pressure successfully. This is what this title race is about. Let us see who will be the diamond here and who will remain a chunk of coal