Keep Attacking

 Last time Brøndby won the Danish title was in 2005 under Michael Laudrup as manager. Since then things have not been good as the club barely avoided a bankruptcy as other clubs, most notably FC Copenhagen and FC Midtjylland became the best clubs in the country.

The last couple of years Brøndby has been a title contender, but without luck for the club or the passionate fans.  This season the title race is proving particularly close, but it has always seemed that FC Midtjylland were one bit ahead in the title race. With one match left that has changed: ironically, the arch-rivals of FC Copenhagen gave Brøndby an opportunity to take first place by defeating FC Midtjylland. Brøndby "only" had to win away to AGF, from Aarhus.

Although Brøndby went ahead early, they suffered a red card and an equalizer by AGF, and things suddenly looked bleak. But deep into the second half Mikael Uhre scored a winner for Brøndby punishing a dreadful but fortunate mistake by an AGF defender. 

I did not watch the match. I am in El Salvador; I was at work, but put on the radio in the office, and must admit that I could hardly even pretend to work as the nervous second half advanced.

On Monday, Brøndby faces FC Nordsjælland at home. A victory will give them the title. So nothing is decided yet, although anything but the title would be heartbreaking for Brøndby fans all over the world, even in El Salvador...

Mighty Barcelona

 The Women's Champions League final has been dominated by Olympique Lyon, winners of the last five editions of the tournament, so today's final in Gothenburg was special in the sense that two teams that had never won the tournament, FC Barcelona and Chelsea, were facing one another in the final.

Both clubs have invested heavily on their women's sides and this investment has given fruit in what are plausibly the best two sides in Europe at the moment; both have won their respective leagues and have some of the best players in the world.

This was unfortunately not obvious in a strange final that was effectively over after a first half during which FC Barcelona walked over Chelsea: they went ahead after only 35 seconds in an unfortunate own goal by Chelsea defender Melanie Leupolz, and then basically cruised to a 4-0 halftime lead on goals by Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Caroline Graham Hansen.

A well-deserved first Champions league title for Barcelona's ladies, and the way they are playing it may be the start of a new period of dominance by FC Barcelona.

Happy Foxes

I enjoyed watching the FA Cup final, first of all because of the fans in the stadium; a small step towards the long-awaited normalcy...

It was a dramatic match only after Youri Tielemans spectacular 1-0 goal for Leicester. Until then it had been a very tactical and rather risk-free match, and in particular first half was frankly a bore. But an FA Cup final is always a recipe for drama, and Chelsea pursued an equalizer only to be denied by Kasper Schmeichel and VAR (it was a close but correct off-side call that denied them a goal, although it was harsh).

Leicester won their first FA Cup title ever, and the fairy tale of the club seems to continue. In the meantime Chelsea have another final in two weeks: the Champions League final against Manchester City.

The 2021 CONCACAF Champions League knock-out stages

During the past couple of weeks I have been following the CONCACAF Champions League knockout stages.  I must admit that the last-16 were largely a bit of a bore with huge differences in the quality between the teams, except for the fact that Toronto FC defeated a poor Leon, the 2020 Guardianes champions. 

Perhaps this would be the year for an MLS teams to take the title (since the creation of the CONCACAF Champions League in 2008, Mexican teams have won every time): of the eight quarterfinal sides, five were MLS teams (Portland Timbers, Toronto FC, Columbis Crew, Philadelphia Union and Atlanta United), while only three Mexican sides were represented (América, Cruz Azul and Monterrey). 

But it was not to be: after the quarterfinals, only one MLS team remains, namely Philadelphia, who defeated a surprisingly weak Atlanta United. 

In general, the biggest surprise of the quarterfinals was, in my view, how weak the MLS sides appeared when faced with quality Mexican opposition. 

Toronto FC, whom I would have rated better after eliminating Leon, lost 1-3 at home, but in the return match in Mexico City, looked as a side that had already given up against a Cruz Azul side that barely needed to make an effort to win 1-0 in a very boring match. Columbus Crew was a bit better against Monterrey, and gained a 2-2 draw at home as the Mexicans did not concentrate at the end of the match; but back in Nuevo León there was little doubt of the Rayados' better quality as they won 3-1 against a Columbus side that also looked that they had given up beforehand.

Portland Timbers were aided by dreadful refereeing at home against América with an extra time penalty to make it 1-1. In Mexico City, Portland Timbers at least fought for their chance in what was the best of the four second-leg matches. But America was concentrated and played offensively in a match they won 3-1 (and don't mind another round of dreadful refereeing assisted by VAR!).

After the quarterfinals the semifinals (that will take place in August) look as such:

• Monterrey-Cruz Azul
• América-Philadelphia Union

Of course Philadelphia has a chance of making it to the final, and taking the title, but odds are probably on an all-Mexican final, where América-Cruz Azul would be a modern classic between the two rivals from Mexico City.

All-English final

After the second leg of the Champions League semifinals we have the finalists: Manchester City and Chelsea.

In my opinion, the best teams also made it to the final.

Manchester City will play their first CL final ever; something they have been trying for years. They were the better team in the second leg, by far, against a poor Paris St. Germain side that without Mbappe looked rather ordinary and a bitter bad loser. Initially I would have hoped to see them in the final, but in the end I was happy it was Manchester City.

Chelsea is the unexpected finalist, but since Thomas Tuchel took over as manager, the team seems transformed and it cannot be discounted at all that they can go all the way. After 1-1 in Madrid, the second leg in London was a good match: Real Madrid went for their chance, but a solid defense and splendid Edouard Mendy kept them away. Timo Werner brought the Londoners ahead in the first half, while Mason Mount made it 2-0 at the end of the match. Chelsea was solid, and their midfield-machine, Ngolo Kante, was truly fantastic, and if he plays as well in the final Chelsea will, in my view, be a slight favourite to take the title.

Manchester City is likely to win the Premier League, while Chelsea is in the FA Cup final (against Leicester), after defeating Manchester City. The sides will also face one another in the Premier League next weekend, so the rivalry of the year seems to be between these two English sides!