Crappy final

This year's Europe League final was a bore between two teams who have been playing so badly this year that had it not been for their historical names, the final would have not been watched by anyone. The final was crowned by one goal that was so full of mistakes and coincidences that had it been a Sunday-match in the park, it would have been transmitted again and again on TikTok as a ridiculous play.

Yet, it was Tottenham's only "shot" "on target" the entire match, and enough to make them the most boring champions in world football ever, I dare say. 

Ange Postocoglu's Tottenham has finally proven that you do not need to try to score to win a tournament.

It was Tottenham's first title in 40 years (it appears that this year will be remembered as the-year-those -who-never-won-finally-win: like Crystal Palace and Harry Kane...), which is a sad irony considering the much better Tottenham sides in those 40 years.

Congratulations to their fans. 

What a shame for the rest of us.

Atalanta Super Champions

I had expected Bayer Leverkusen to do better. I think everyone had expected Leverkusen, undefeated for 51 matches, to take their first European title, and to continue the crowning of a super season. 

Maybe Xabi Alonso and his team took victory for granted; underestimated the fact that they were up against a Super Atalanta side under Gianpiero Gasperini, who had exactly read how to play the Leverkusen of records.

Because there was only really one team on the pitch. Despite Leverkusen having the ball more, they were unnerved by Atalanta's constant high pressure that forced constant mistakes and lost them the midfield to a splendid midfield where Ederson was just one of the Atalanta players who fought with heart and played a marvelous match.

But the man of the match was undoubtedly the English-Nigerian Ademola Lookman. With three goals he was a constant headache for Leverkusen. In particular his second goal was a splendid strike in between the defenders, and his third a classic and well-executed counter-attack goal (when Leverkusen was feebly trying to go forward). 

Atalanta are fully deserved champions and one must congratulate them for a fantastic match when they seemed to be against the odds.

Bayer Leverkusen can still take a double when the face 1.Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final. But Atalanta has shown that the record-bearing Laverkusen are not unbeatable...

Sevilla on the way

 Sevilla are the side that has won most Europa League titles, and today they continued on the way to win their 7th title when they took out Manchester United 3-0 at home in Seville. The first match in Manchester had surely been thrown away bu the Reds as they went from 2-0 ahead to a 2-2 result in the last minutes, with captain Harry Maguire scoring an own goal as equalizer. And Maguire was also the culprit at the start of the match when he threw away the ball to Youssef En-Nesyri, and the Moroccan made sure he scored. There was later no marking in the center when Loic Bade made it 2-0 after a corner kick, and towards the end of the match David de Gea also gave away a goal to Youssef En-Nesyri, when he misplaced a kick that the Moroccan easily scored on.

It was a poor showing by the English side, but more so a sure show by the Andalusians, who look at the team to defeat to win the Europa League title.

Eintracht Frankfurt Champions

The two teams playing the Europa League final today are not usually considered amongst Europe's best, but both sides were deservedly in the final after a strong campaign.

On the one hand Eintracht Frankfurt may not have had a strong Bundesliga season, but they have shined in the Europa league: they won their group undefeated and went on to defeat Betis (Copa del Rey champions), FC Barcelona and West Ham to make it to the final.

On the other hand Glasgow Rangers had only finished second in their group, but went on to eliminated Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig.

Frankfurt seemed to have the edge at the start of the match, but it was Rangers who went ahead in the second half on a goal by Joe Aribo after some clumsy mistakes in the German defense. But only 10 minutes later Frankfurt deservedly equalised on a goal by the Colombian striker Rafael Santos Borré. The match ended 1-1, and despite chances to both sides, the game went into a nerve-wrecking penalty contest. 

It is often said the stars miss the crucial penalties, and in this case it was Rangers' star Aaron Ramsey who missed the penalty in an extremely poor shot. Rafael Santos Borré scored the final winning penalty, and ended up being the star for Eintracht Frankfurt's first international title since they won the UEFA Cup in 1980!

The owners of the Europa League

Sevilla did it again: they have won their sixth Europa League title since 2006 and is surely the most dominant team in this tournament. But also consider the fact that they have won six European titles since 2006!
It was a fantastic first half with a 2-2 score in an intense match, where both sides had been in the lead: Luuk de Jong had scored two headers for Sevilla, while Lukaku had scored on penalty and Godin on a header. Despite the parity, I had the feeling that Sevilla had an edge against an Inter Milan side that seemed more nervous on the night. The second half was more controlled, with Sevilla getting the lead late in the match and cruising to the title with experience and a certain degree of cynical time wasting.
Whom I feel really sorry for in Romelu Lukaku: he misdirected the ball into his own net following Diego Carlos' wide bicycle kick, and thus, in my view, scored the goal that gave defeat to his own side (Diego Carlos has nevertheless been credited with the goal). An unlucky finish to Lukaku's great season.

I watched the match under lockdown at home. I would have loved to have someone to debate with during the match, which was very eventful. The problem of discussing with the TV is that despite the fact that I am always right (I would anyway), is that they do not seem to listen to me!

Sevilla-Inter Milan final

Sevilla and Inter Milan are the two most successful sides in the UEFA Europa League/Cup since its creation in 1971: Sevilla has been in five finals, and won them all (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016), while Inter Milan have been in four finals, and won three (1991, 1994, 1998).
Sevilla has made it to their sixth final as if the cup belongs to them. While Manchester United had its moments in the semifinal, one never felt that Sevilla was nervous or that they would not be able to turn around being 0-1 behind, and indeed, they made it with a well-deserved 2-1 victory.
But they will not have it easy against an Inter Milan side that under Antonio Conte appears confident and plays with discipline and organization. In their 5-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk was achieved by these qualities as well as a superb attacking due in Romelo Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez (each one scored two goals) that Sevilla's defense will have to control to have a chance.
Although I never bet, I think that Inter Milan has a small edge to take the Cup that Sevilla has won so often!
Don't miss it!

Monday match

I don't like Mondays. And today's Europa League Monday match between Manchester United and FC Copenhagen was a disappointment worthy of a Monday.
The historical part of the match was that two Norwegian managers who had both played on Norway's 1998 World Cup side faced one another: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Manchester United and Staale Solbakken for FC Copenhagen.
The Danes started well, but as the Argentine commentator on FOX Sport said: they need to score on their chances. And they certainly did not, and as time wore on they became slower and took no risks. Despite this, they were a better side than a very bad Manchester United side, which only seemed to depend on occasional bursts by some of its star players. It had to go into extra time for Anthony Martial to be awarded a very small penalty (I guess that the referee just wanted it all to be over with as well) that Bruno Fernandes converted against FC Copenhagen goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson, who was without a doubt outstanding in an otherwise tiring match.
Manchester United will face the winner of Wolverhampton-Sevilla.

The Europa League 2019-20 quarterfinals

During this past week I have enjoyed watching the Europa league last-16 fixtures that were seriously delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am in fact somewhat glad that football can provide a little relief in this my sixth month of lockdown, although I would love a pint in a pub while watching....
We now have the following EL quarterfinals:

• Shakhtar Donetsk-Basel
• Inter Milan-Bayer Leverkusen
• Manchester United-FC Copenhagen
• Wolverhampton-Sevilla

Both the Europa League and the Champions League will, due to the pandemic, take place as mini-tournaments over the next couple of weeks, in Germany and Portugal respectively. For fans (who will nevertheless be able to attend the matches), this will be a replacement for all the tournaments we have missed this summer, and maybe the format will be a success. More interesting will be whether these tournaments will lead to different outcomes than what would be expected from the more traditional format: teams focused completely on this and playing only one match, without spectators, after such long breaks. It would appear that this format will be more open for surprises, why it will be very interesting to follow!

UEFA appears to have taken strict measures regarding COVID-19. Beyond playing without fans, teams are completely isolated in their hotels (even from their management, which is perhaps only pleasant...), and players are routinely tested. But some measures appear more symbolic, such as not shaking hands before the match (appears redundant considering how close contact that players undergo during the match) or prohibiting the exchange of shirts after each match (after 90 minutes of close contact and the need to wash the shirts anyway, this appears redundant). 

In any case, someone recently told me that the virus spreads over a distance of 600 meters, which would make any measure redundant anyway, except for every human living in sealed bubbles 600 meters apart...

The Great Andalusians

It is a pity that most talk about the Europa League final was about, and continues to be, about Liverpool. Because lets face it: number 8 in the Premier League proved to be far below the level of number 7 in La Liga (and this does prevent me from saying that I much prefer to watch the Premier League). Although Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp may have a plan for the future, the final proved that there is still a long way to go, and that much of the material inherited from the hapless Brendan Rogers is not up to the level of Klopp: Moreno, Lovren, Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge (despite his fantastic goal, but it was the only thing he did the entire match); none of this were really up to standard of a European final. And Mignolet is not a class goalkeeper.
I know many Liverpool fans will not like this, but it must be said that if Liverpool is to achieve what Klopp wants, they have to overhaul half the players.

Sevilla has made history: third consecutive Europa League victory, and fifth over the last 11 years. While many (in particular in England) may look down at the Europa League, this is an incredible achievement for a team that has no chance of winning anything in the domestic league, and largely have players that were discarded from other teams, but whose quality cannot be questioned from yesterday's incredible second half performance (although Liverpool were pathetically bad, in my view, it was largely Sevilla who were good): Ever Banega, Coke and Vitolo were all spectacular (all showed a level Liverpool players are far from achieving), and Carrico, Escudero and N'Zonzi all showed high class.
But most credit should go to Sevilla manager Unai Emery. The Spaniard spent four years in Valencia and then a short spell in Spartak Moscow, two clubs that are very hard on managers. In Sevilla since 2013 he has found glory and the respect he deserves. Not only is he an avid tactician (something that has often been overlooked), but he must also have great man management skills as he managed to lift Sevilla to their second half performance in half time, when they were down 0-1.
I have no doubt that Unai Emery is one of the most overseen managers in Europe.

I have never been a big fan of Sevilla, but of course this achievement is worth a big congratulations!

Two winning teams

Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund are both teams I really like without being a fan; they have fantastic fans, a great history, and play great football.
So I had big expectations to tonight's Europa League Quarterfinal second leg in Liverpool, and these expectations were lived up to in excess.
In an incredible atmosphere both teams played fantastic football (although one cynic may criticize their defenses for giving too much space) and gave any fan of good football an unforgettable experience. It all seemed over when Dortmund went ahead 0-2, and then 1-3 at the start of the second half. But never underestimate Liverpool, who must be World Champions in Memorable Comebacks (remember against Alaves in 2001 and against AC Milan in 2005...?): first Coutinho scored 2-3, then Mamadou Sakho made it 3-3, and in the 91st minute Dejan Lovren scored the 4-3 winner (even though Dortmund even managed a good chance for 4-4 in the last minute).
One can only feel sorry for Borussia Dortmund, but there are indeed matches with two winners, and this was certainly one of them.
Liverpool is now in the semifinal of the Europa League.

Seville champions in Warsaw

On a day with a lot of football news of the bad kind (FIFA politics and corruption), we had a great Europa League final in Warsaw between the defending Champions of Sevilla and Dnipro Dniprotovosk from Ukraine.

I think nobody expected much from the Ukrainians; but you do not get into a final for nothing, and with spirit and skills they gave the Spaniards and football fans a great match. 3-2 was the Spanish victory with two goals by the tearful Carlos Bacca, who is following in the step of another Colombian, Radamel Falcao, who also won two Europa League's in a row, albeit with two different teams (Atletico Madrid and FC Porto).

This is not the first time Sevilla win the title twice in a row: they also did it in 2006 and 2007, and with four victories they are surely the best team in the Europa League over the last 10 years. 

Dnipro could not repeat what another Ukrainian side, Shakhtar Donetsk, did in 2009, by winning the title. But surely Dnipro should be proud of their team, which has made a mark in Europe this season.

Higuain the missing machine

Napoli are one semifinal away from a European final, and are surely favourites against the Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. And in the first match in Naples tonight Napoli had 70% possession and 22 shots on goal. Still they only got a meager 1-1. Although Dnipro's goal was a clear off side, it does not take away that Napoli can only blame themselves for not taking advantage of their enormous pressure, and their striker Gonzalo Higuain, who missed some big chances.
This is not the first time Higuain misses chances. In fact, throughout his career in different teams, he has almost been more known for his misses.
In the other semifinal Sevilla seem to be underway to their second final in a row after trouncing Fiorentina 3-0. 

The curse lives

In 1961 and 1962 the legendary Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann led Benfica to two European Cup triumphs. Following the second victory, over Real Madrid, he left the club in a dispute over salary. When leaving he said that Benfica would not win a European title in one hundred years. Since then, Benfica have lost European finals in 1963 (AC Milan), 1965 (Inter), 1968 (Manchester United), 1983 (Anderlecht), 1988 (PSV Eindhoven), 1990 (AC Milan) and 2013 (Chelsea). Tonight was their eighth try as they entered the Europa League final against Sevilla.
It was a very tactical game, but Benfica surely had the best chances to score during the match, but continuously hit a wall of Sevilla players and the goalkeeper Beto. In the end it all went to penalty kicks, and this is where the curse may really have kicked in: Oscar Cardozo and Rodrigo looked more like little children with very weak penalty kicks that Beto easily saved. It was enough to give Sevilla a 4-2 victory.
Everyone cried: Benfica fans in desperation and Sevilla fans of joy.
The late Eusebio, who was brought to Benfica by Bela Guttmann, famously prayed at Bela Guttmann's grave to lift the curse, but this has not happened. The curse lives on, and maybe Benfica will have to wait to 2062 before they can win a European title again...

From light into darkness in a moment

I have been supporting Valencia CF since 2000, and they made me incredibly happy in 2004, when they won the Spanish league as well as the Europa League title. Since then, Valencia has done from bad to worse. They have no chance of playing Champions League next season and are not much more than a mediocre side over the last season's. But against all odds they had made it to the Europa League semifinal to play another Spanish team, Sevilla. Despite losing 2-0 in the first leg in Seville, hope was there: in the quarterfinal Valencia had lost 0-3 to Basel, only to win 0-5 in the second leg!
Why not a comeback against Sevilla...?
And it seemed to be on the way. Until the 94th minute Valencia were 3-0 up, and heading to the final. But then Sevilla scored one of those goals that should never happen. One of those goals that brings you from heaven to hell in a moment; that turns happiness into sadness; euphoria into disappointment; light into darkness...
It could have been a fine football week. Now it was only a football week. And a horrible week at that.

Glory for Atletico Madrid

I was on my way back to Caracas from Maturin, perfectly planning to arrive to watch the Europa League final in Bucharest between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. But due to a delay in my flight with Aserca, the match started while I was in the air, and only managed to watch the second half in my local bar "Machangos", where Atletico Madrid was already ahead 2-0 on two great goals by the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who also scored the winner in last years' final, but playing for FC Porto. A great achievement by the striker.  With a goal by the outstanding midfield general Diego, the Madrid side sealed a 3-0 victory against a Bilbao side that had entered the final as favourites, but proved weak and ineffective when it counted. Surely a disappointment for coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has nevertheless lifted the Bilbao side since his arrival, and will still have one more final to fight for when they face FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.
Atletico Madrid did not start the season well, but have also grown under coach Diego Simeone, who must take a lot of credit for the victory.

The all-Spanish final

A Spanish team will win a European title in 2012.
If someone had said this a year ago, most people would have probably burst out either Barcelona or Real Madrid, but truth is that neither of these sides will win a European title this season. Instead, Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid will face one another to be the Spanish side to take the title in the UEFA Europa League.
It was certain that at least one Spanish team would make the final when Atletico Madrid faced Valencia in the semifinal, and went through easily, by winning both matches. In the other semifinal, Athletic Bilbao faced Sporting Lisbon. After losing 2-1 in Lisbon, the Basques took the final after a 3-1 victory.
On the way to the final Bilbao has eliminated Manchester United and Schalke 04, and are also fighting for the Spanish Cup title (where they could leave FC Barcelona without titles in 2012). They are surely the team of the moment in Europe, and should not be underestimated! In fact, I think they are the ones most likely to lift the trophy!
In any case, everyone should look forward to this all-Spanish final!

Spanish might

The Spanish League is a boring affair. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the ones always fighting for the title, glory and money, while the rest of the teams are left with the spoils. And one of those spoils is the UEFA Europa League, as the two giants are left to fight for the Champions League title.
The UEFA Europa league is indeed a B-league, where one sees the teams that are simply not strong enough to make it in the Champions League. That said, the Europa League is not devoid of quality or entertainment, and one can look forward to semifinals where three Spanish teams will be fighting for the spoils:

• Valencia-Atletico Madrid
• Sporting Lisbon-Athletic Bilbao 

Valencia is still third in the Spanish league, but has looked unstable of late, something that Atletico Madrid has not; under coach Diego Simeone and a splendid striker in Radamel Falcao (who won the UEFA Europa League last season with FC Porto), Atletico Madrid are looking like a slight favourite.
Another succesful coach (and also from Argentina) is Marcelo Bielsa, who is doing wonders with the talented Basque side of Athletic Bilbao. They are in the Spanish Cup final and after eliminating both Manchester United and Schalke 04 (two teams who were coming from the Champions League) from the tournament, should be counted as favourites against Sporting Lisbon.
I would put money on a purely Spanish final.

A great Bilbao victory

I had not watched the first leg of the UEFA Europa League match where Athletic Bilbao to everyone's surprise defeated Manchester United 2-3 at Old Trafford. Tonight's match, in San Mames in Bilbao, I nevertheless managed to see. And I saw what I had read about: a great Athletic Bilbao team that was superior to a too- disillusioned Manchester side. The 2-1 victory was only too small, and Manchester should thank Wayne Rooney's spectacular late goal for the small comeback.
Seen over the two matches Bilbao has been superior, and it is becoming a very interesting team to follow under the charismatic Marcelo Bielsa. In Bilbao, a team with strong Basque nationalist credentials that only wants players of Basque heritage, Mr. Bielsa has a strong and well-organised youth school that forms the base for creating the type of attacking football that he wants to play. Against Manchester United we have now seen it, and it will be very interesting to see whether over the longer run, Athletic Bilbao can become a much needed challenger to the duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. Personally, I believe that they will be much more likely challengers than teams like Valencia, Malaga or Atletico Madrid.
This closes a bad European season for Manchester United, who is surely not used to being out of European football this early! They still have the Premier League title to fight for, and they are bound to give it all in that fight against the other Manchester team, City.
Manchester City are not going to be busy either though: today they also exited European football after only managing to defeat Sporting Lisbon 3-2, and were eliminated on away goals.

Another Brøndby flop

Last year Brøndby was eliminated from the Europa League in the most pathetic way, after being up, and then fucking it all up when it counted.
Now, this bunch of useless idiots have done it again, and this time against an even worse opponent than last season, the unknown Austrian side SV Ried. Brøndby had lost the first match 2-0 in Austria, but midway through the second half they were 4-0 up, and one step from the Europa league. But with two goals against the most useless group of talent-less pieces of shit, SV Ried managed to get 4-2, and qualify for this season's Europa League.
Brøndby used to be a flagship of Danish football. Now, it is a club run by incompetents, and a team without talent, spirit or discipline. Worthless

Porto champions

The 2011 UEFA Europa league final probably did not raise much interest outside Ireland (where it took place) and Portugal, from where the two finalists, FC Porto and Braga, came from.
I must admit that the match was also a big disappointment. Porto's 1-0 victory was fully deserved. Although Braga was organised, when Porto went ahead on a goal by the Colombian goal machine Falcao, Braga had nothing to offer in terms of threatening their fellow Portuguese.
FC Porto has been awesome in this Europa League, and adds this title to their dominion in the Portuguese league. This next Sunday they will have the opportunity to take a "small triple", if they win the Portuguese Cup, something they are undoubfully favourites for, if they are not too hungover from this victory!