Remontada?

Real Madrid put too much pressure on themselves and that was one of the reasons of their surprising elimination from the Champions League at the feet of Arsenal. After a 3-0 defeat in London the entire Madrid machine was talking about how they would win it in Madrid with limited thought that the team currently appears unbalanced and that the rout in London was no coincidence. The players may have been psyched as much as the fans but this was not obvious on the pitch as Arsenal were organised and level-headed, something that they kept even as Bukayo Saka missed a penalty to a save from the great Van der Saar.

It was 0-0 late in the match with little prospect for a Real Madrid goal when Saka himself made it all good and brought Arsenal ahead. Vinicius Jr. equalized shortly after following a gift from the Arsenal defense giving the locals a bit of hope, but their attacks were feeble, and in the dying seconds of the match Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner for Arsenal.

A lot will likely change in Real Madrid the coming weeks as it appears that Carlo Ancelotti will leave and with him many players, and many new signings may happen.

No matter what, there is one thing that may be forgotten as everyone talks about Real Madrid: Arsenal are splendid! They will now face PSG in the semifinals, a strong side yes, but also one that could shake under pressure, and Arsenal have demonstrated that they can put anyone under pressure.

Starting up

 Following a post-tournament hangover and a pretty boring Olympic tournament that I did not even find worth writing about, we are now starting the European leagues with the Premier League starting yesterday when Manchester United defeated Fulham 1-0, starting a new season with a victory as they will try to improve on their 8th place in last year's PL.

In the meantime other favourites have also started well: Liverpool defeated Ipswich 2-0 with Mohammed Salah setting Diogo Jota up for the first goal and scoring the second himself. Arsenal, a side with huge ambitions after coming close to win the league the last couple of seasons, defeated Wolverhampton 2-o on goals by Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, while last season's number four, Aston Villa, defeated West Ham 1-2 and will the looking to repeat their great season.

The champions of the last four seasons, Manchester City, are playing tomorrow in a clash against a Chelsea side that also will want to improve on their 6th place of last season.

In Spain the league started today as well with Valencia losing 1-2 at home to Barcelona. I don't think we can expect anything from the Valencians while Barcelona will be looking to upset a Real Madrid side that frankly looks like nobody can threaten them.

I am moving soon. My TV is gone and my place is full of boxes, so I did not in fact watch the matches, but certainly expect to watch more soon!

Today Manchester City got the League

The Premier League title is a race between Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Until today it appeared that Liverpool and Arsenal were the most likely candidates as they remained on top, equals on points, one point ahead of City.

But that changed today.

Liverpool lost 0-1 at home to the generally unnoticed Crystal Palace. This would give a clear advantage to Arsenal who were playing at home to Aston Villa, who is fighting well to take a Champions League spot. Within the last 10 minutes Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins giving Aston Villa a 0-2 victory and a step closer to the Champions League.

In the meantime Manchester City defeated Luton 5-1, and they are now on top, and seeing how City is playing now, they must now be the favourites for the title, unless the unlikelihood that they slip.

Big disappointment for both Liverpool and Arsenal. Liverpool are looking to have a good final season for Jurgen Klopp, while Arsenal have looked like title contenders all season, only to crash at the end just like last season.

It is all good for Arsenal

The Premier League is as exciting as could be, and two of the title contenders faced one another today when Manchester City went to Liverpool, and with both teams fighting to keep a hold on Arsenal, who took the first spot in the league after defeating Brentford 2-1, their eight Premier League victory in a row!

Jurgen Klopp's announcement that he will leave appears to have given Liverpool new fire as they want him to leave with a title. At the same time the team is littered with injuries, and this is a cause of concern despite the fact that many young players have stepped up, and the side won the League Cup and have managed to stay afloat despite losing 3-1 to Arsenal in early February. 

Manchester City is also pushing hard to win their fourth Premier League title in a row.

Liverpool appeared as the more organized and pressuring side throughout the match, but never really overwhelming a Manchester City side that was always a threat, and even went ahead 1-0 in the first half on a goal by John Stones following a corner kick during which the forward post of Liverpool was strangely abandoned by the defense. It was not deserved as Liverpool continued to press forward, but with Darwin Nuñez continuously running into off-sides, and Luis Diaz constantly frustrating the City defenders, but never defining. In the second half Alexis Macallister equalized for Liverpool on a penalty awarded to Nuñez, and Luis Diaz came very close to score; the Colombian fought hard but was incredibly inefficient.

1-1 in the end meant that Arsenal stays on top with 64 points, followed by Liverpool, also with 64, and City with 63 points.

With 10 matches left, it proves to be an incredible end-race for the Premier League title.

Champions and losers

 Both the Premier League and the Bundesliga ended this weekend. 

In the Premier League we already knew that Manchester City won the league ahead of an Arsenal side that had it all until the last stretch. Liverpool were close to catch Manchester United, but the Manchester side did well in its last stretch and even made it to third place, while Liverpool stayed fifth and will only play the Europa League next season. In the meantime, Newcastle's Arab investment paid off and on fourth place the old club full of traditions will be in the Champions League next season. Birghton is the other big surprise as they will be playing Europa League next season, after taking sixth spot.

The biggest disappointment in my view is in terms of relegation: two big clubs, Leicester and Leeds are being relegated. Leicester only seven years after winning the league in one of the biggest sensations of all time.

I hope both sides will return soon.

The Bundesliga had no champion until the last round, and it all looked set for Borussia Dortmund to take the title from Bayern Munich. All the had to do was win at home to Mainz. Alas, it didn't work. They were down 0-2, missed a penalty, and only managed to equalize in the dying seconds. In the meantime, Bayern Munich was playing Cologne; also needing to win, Jamal Musiala gave them the winning 2-1 goal in the 89th minute, and with that the 11th Bundesliga title in a row, in a league that is evermore onesided.

No league football for a while now....

Manchester City on the way

 Arsenal has had a great season under Mikel Arteta, and for a long time have been leading the Premier League, which they have not won since 2004. But for the last month mighty Manchester City have been edging closer to the top as Arsenal's run started to falter, and last week Manchester City edged much closer when they defeated Arsenal 4-1 in Manchester, and with two games less than Arsenal, took all cards to get the title into their own hands.

Today they took the first ace in the race to win the title, when they defeated West Ham 3-0, with goals by Nathan Aké, Phil Foden, and mighty Erling Halland, who already has 35 goals, the most in a Premier League season (and surely it will be a few more). With five games to go, and four for Arsenal, Manchester City appears likely to win the title, and also being in the FA Cup Final (where they will face Manchester United) and still in the run for the Champions League (where they will face Real Madrid), it appears that this could still be the greatest season for Pep Guardiola's team.

Another Manchester derby

Another great match between United and City. City went ahead by Jack Grealish, and one had the feeling that they could hold, but led by a splendid Marcus Rashford Manchester United came back to win 2-1, with Rashford himself scoring the winner. All this despite the fact that the equalizer was controversial: Rashford was in a clear off side position but did not touch the ball as it went to Bruno Fernandes who scored. That said, in my view, Rashford clearly had influence on the play (he followed the ball without touching it), and directly influenced the movement of the defenders.

But this is one of those controversial plays that no VAR or anything can answer, and at the bottom why we love football!

Since Cristiano Ronaldo left, Manchester United have not lost a match, and after a weak start of the season they are now on third place, one point behind Manchester City. The United victory was good for Arsenal, who remain as leaders of the Premier League with five points ahead of Manchester City, and with what will be an exciting clash with Tottenham tomorrow, where a victory would put them further ahead in the league.

Five Hundred Years from now

My Grandfather took me to my first football match. It was not virtual, but on the actual ground, Nick Hornby Arena, for a local derby between Arsenel and Tottenham. It was their first Premier League clash following the Dark Centuries, when Arsenel had struggled in the lower leagues, while Tottenham had gone on to win their legendary 18 Champions League titles in a row, even winning the Penta in 2432 (Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup and the Toto Cup).
My Grandfather was a sucker for Arsenel, just like all our ancestors back for generations. In fact, when nations were eliminated my Grandfather had immediately taken Arsenal (as it was called back then) as his primary identification marker.
"Some suckers take some old nation state, a religion or some city! But not me! I am an Arsenal man, because that is REAL!", our ancestor appears to have said, although no definite proofs have been found in his Life-Social-Media-Footprint that otherwise registered most of his life to an embarrassing level of detail.
I had not really wanted to go to the Nick Hornby Arena. As most kids in our generation, more accustomed to the virtual world, I was more comfortable with the crowds of Avatars in the Immersive Internet, where nothing physical could hurt you.
"Nonsense kiddo", my Grandfather had said. "You will love it! It has happened to everyone in our family! And who knows? You may be the first to see Arsenel defeat Tottenham for three-hundred years!"
I did love it. And I have loved Arsenal ever since. That match in the Nick Hornby Arena became legendary, not just because it was the first victory of Arsenel over Tottenham for 311 years, but also because it was the return of the legendary Arsene Wenger to manage the team.
"Ever since Arsene Wenger left Arsenel in 2018, everything just went downhill", my Grandfather was telling me as he usually did when he wanted to educate me about history.
"The Sea Rising, the Alien Invasion or the Robot Rebellion were just mere details compared to what happened to Arsenel! After 22 years of being one of the best clubs in the world, it just went downhill. Back then fans never knew how good they had it with Mr. Wenger, but they soon knew all right! Only ten years later Arsenal were playing in the lower European Leagues, mainly against other shite clubs from Finland and Catalunya!"
Indeed, things had gone from bad to worse. Arsenal's best result for 298 years was a quarterfinal against FC MidtogOstjyllandGymnastikOgIdraetsforening in the Danish Cup, where they only lost on penalties (and to pour salt on the wound, it was a John Jensen who scored the winner for the Danes).
During the Dark Centuries, when Tottenham was winning everything and an evil Alien Force was ravaging the planet, and people were returning to religion, Arsenal fans had gotten together to erect shrines and pray to Saint Arsene: please come back and lead Arsenal back to glory! It was then that the club had been renamed Arsenel, and initially things had looked good when they made it back to the Championship, where they had stayed for some decades as the Robots, who had helped defeat the Aliens, rebelled when their team of Real Madrid Robots was destroyed in the Champions League final by none other than Tottenham (and to be frank, every Arsenal fan had supported the Robots, meaning that they had fared quite well during the Robot Rebellion).
But it still took another 160 years before Arsenel were back in the Premier League. By then the club had been bought by a Jovian multi-billionaire who promised Arsenel fans all over the Galaxy that he would make Arsenel champions of something, but only managed to get them back in the Premier League after a legendary promotion match against Charlton Athletic played on the low gravity of the Moon (Charlton fans have been complaining ever since that the low gravity was the reason they kept shooting over the goal).
Nobody knows where the idea first came to create a new Arsene Wenger. Some rumours said it was after two drunken Arsenel fans working at the robot facility on Mercury, visited Madam Tussaud's museum, where they had seen a pretty bad wax-android version of Jose Mourinho discussing Relativity Theory with David Bowie. They posted it on Instagram, and soon Twitter-Galaxy was swarming with the hashtag #createanewWenger.
Arsenel fans all over the Galaxy poured all their economic and scientific efforts into the endeavour. Of course there had been many advances in cloning and bio-engineering, but to create a true exact copy of a historical figure had never been successful until these Arsenel fans took over. Some decades later Arsenel signed their new (old) manager Arsene Wenger, and he was to have his debut as manager in a clash against the defending champions of Tottenham.
311 years since Arsenel had last beaten Tottenham I was there when Arsene Wenger led them to a legendary 5-3 victory, and eventually the first title since the FA Cup in 2017 (also under Arsene Wenger).
I was only a kid who fell in love with Arsenel. Since then I have seen Arsenel win 12 Premier League titles, 17 Champions Leagues, 3 FIFA World Cups, 15 FA Cups (where Mr. Wenger beat his own record from the 21st century), and an unprecedented 23 Toto Cups! Five Hundreds years after Wenger left Arsenal, we are again winning because Arsenel can only win anything with the great Arsene Wenger as manager!
My Grandfather is not with us any longer, but today, FA Cup Final 2518, I am taking my own Grandson to Wembley Stadium in Paris to watch Arsene Wenger lead Arsenel to another victory against Tottenham! 

PS: The match ended 5-5 and went into extra time, but we are still awaiting to hear the final result

Comeback week

With Roma's comeback and Juventus' close comeback (arguably halted by a referee decision) it was now the turn of the Europa League, where we got another amazing comeback when Red Bull Salzburg was behind 2-4 against Lazio. Ten minutes into the second half Lazio went ahead 0-1, and there you might have thought that Salzburg was done for. But no: after an equalizer, Salzburg scored three goals in three minutes to win 4-1 and make it to the semifinals of the Europa League.
Less impressive comeback was that by Olympique Marseille, who, trailing Red Bull Leipzig 0-1, won 5-2 and also made it to the semifinals. CSKA Moscow was up 2-0 against Arsenal, with hopes of another amazing comeback, but Arsenal scored two and progresses to the semi-finals. Finally, Sporting Lisbon managed to defeat Atletico Madrid 1-0, but that was not enough after having lost the first match 0-2.

Two teams that will not be champions

Liverpool and Arsenal tied 3-3 in a very entertaining but poorly played match. "Entertaining for the neutral but not for the knowledgeable" as I saw on a tweet that was later deleted. Liverpool are currently on a roll; they play intense and high pressure, and with a Mohamed Salah who is at the top of his career (I have never been a big fan, and I am still of the opinion that he misuses too many chances) they are a scoring machine. But football is also about defending, and here Liverpool can in no way be hoping to win the title! 0-2 ahead, in full control, and it only took them 3 minutes they fall apart! While defending is absolutely dreadful, you also have to question why they were not 4-0 ahead against a dreadful Arsenal. On top of that you have a goalkeeper in Mignolet who costs goals: I still wonder where his hands were on Xhaka's equalizer.
Jurgen Klopp is a great manager because of his approach to football, confidence in his young players and passion for the match. But if he does not also focus on defending, he will remain a great manager without titles.

Arsene Wenger has given Arsenal more titles than such a club could ever hope for. That said, one has to wonder whether he is over the top, or whether it is even his responsibility that his players seem unmotivated for such a match. Arsenal's first half was a disgrace in attitude and fight in front of their fans. There were some improvements in the second half, where Alexis Sanchez 1-2 goal seemed to give them some faith. But in the end one came away with a bad impression of players like Alexis and Ozil, who really only show glimpses of their quality. Maybe Arsenal needs an overhaul, and maybe, just maybe, it will have to start with the man who they owe everything to, Arsene Wenger.

In any case, a great match, but I will come with a daring prediction (because all prediction about the PL are notoriously hard): none of these teams will be Premier League champions!

Champion Wenger

Lately Arsenal fans have been trashing their manager over 20 years, Arsene Wenger. For yet another year Arsenal did not win the Premier League title, and for the first time in 19 years they did not qualify for the Champions League.
No matter what, today Arsenal won the FA Cup, 2-1 in the final against the PL champions from Chelsea. This is the 7th FA Cup title under Arsene Wenger, now the most-winning FA Cup manager ever.
So is this a team with no titles???
I really do not understand Arsenal fans' criticism of Wenger, as their mediocre club could never have done better. Has Manchester City done better with all their money and fancy managers????
Arsene Wenger is the best manager that Arsenal will ever have, and they should be thankful about this latest title. Because if Wenger leaves, Arsenal will be waiting many many years before they win any other title.

Two good and two bad things

After 1-1 in the first match of the Champions League group stage between Paris St. Germain and Arsenal, there are two good conclusions for Arsenal:

• That the reserve goalkeeper David Ospina is in great form (he basically saved Arsenal)
• The result

For Paris St. Germain, there are two bad conclusions from the match:

• Edison Cavani's number of missed chances 
• The result

Transfer deals in the Premier League

This season's Premier League is looking to be very interesting following the summer's Euro and Olympic games, and the arrival of new managers in some major clubs, just to add to the existing rivalries. Excitement was only added to the mix with a lot of interesting news coming from the transfer window that just closed.

In particular in the big teams of Manchester United and City, under the eternal rivals of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. At Manchester United Jose Mourinho has gotten hold of three stars for his team: Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Paris St. Germain, Hernrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund and most interesting of all Paul Pogba from Juventus. Ibrahimovic has already proven he will be good for goals and fight with his experience, while Mkhitaryan could be one of the type of players that could thrive under Mourinho. And the same can be said of Pogba: he is an incredible talent, but is arrogant and self-centered - just like Mourinho, who could plausibly tame the Frenchman.
In the meantime Mourinho is making his club unpopular again: the freezing out of Bastian Schweinsteigger is just the kind of thing a great player does not deserve.
That said, I am sure Mourinho will do great things with United.

At Manchester City Pep Guardiola has been more drastic that Mourinho, letting go of the English goalkeeper Joe Hart (to Torino), Edin Dzeko (to Roma), Samir Nasri (to Sevilla), Eliaquim Mangala (to Valencia) and releasing Martin Demichelies. In have come a group of players much more attuned to how Guardiola will want to play: John Stones has come in from Everton - likely to strengthen a slow back four under Demichelis. On goal Hart has been replaced by the Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, much better with his feet, and likely to venture out of the penalty area more than Hart would ever have done. A very interesting transfer is that of Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras, one of very promising Brazilians of late, who could do great things under the style of Guardiola if he adapts quickly. Ilkay Gundogan (from Borussia Dortmund), Leroy Sane (from Schalke 04) and Nolito (from Celta Vigo) are the other interesting arrivals in Manchester City.

The defending English champions of Leicester have managed to hold on to some of their most prized players, although N'golo Kante left for Chelsea (where he will miss out on European football this season). That said, the champions have attracted some great players: the Algerian Islam Slimani has joined from Sporting Lisbon where he had an outstanding goalscoring record, and many may remember Slimani from Algeria's outstanding 2014 World Cup. The striker Ahmed Musa has joined from CSKA Moscow and the defensive midfielder Nampalys Mendy from Nice, who has often been dubbed the as the new Claude Makalele.

Much of Jurgen Klopp's work at Liverpool was to get rid of a long list of players that do not fit into Klopp's style, so Liverpool released a lot of players: Christian Benteke (who never managed to convince, went to Crystal Palace), Joe Allen (simply too slow and varying to play the tempo of Klopp, went to Stoke), Mario Balotelli (Liverpool never managed to tame the Italian, who went to Nice), Martin Skrtel (the veteran has gone to Fenerbahce), Kolo Toure (to Celtic) and Lazar Markovic (to Sporting Lisbon) have all gone.
Although arrivals at Liverpool have been less, the main one has been the Senegalese Sadio Mane, from Southampton, who became the most expensive African transfer in history. Expectations will be high, but he has already shown his class with a splendid goal in the 3-4 victory against Arsenal.

At Chelsea Juan Cuadrado has gone definitively (to Juventus), while Mohammed Salah has returned to Roma. In the meantime manager Antonio Conte has gotten hold of Michy Batshuayi from Marseille, who along N'golo Kante can give Chelsea a strong edge on midfield. But also the back has been "reinforced", with Marcos Alonso (from Fiorentina), and rather oddly, with David Luiz, who now returns to Chelsea from Paris St. Germain for 34 Mio Pounds after they sold him to the French side for 50 Mio in 2014. It was too much then, and it is too much now.
I do not know who has lost most from this deal; Chelsea or Paris St. Germain....

At Arsenal it is always difficult to figure out what Arsene Wenger is thinking. I still think he is one of the best managers in the world, but if I were an Arsenal fan, I would understand creeping frustrations. Jack Wilshere has gone to Bournemouth, a strange move for a player that has continued to contribute to the team. The exit of Joel Campbell (to Sporting Lisbon) and Tomas Rosicky (to Sparta Prague are less strange).
The arrivals in midfield seem strong: Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach and Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia look like strong complements to midfield. The arrival of Lucas Perez from Deportivo la Coruna seems like more of a gamble: surely he has been a few of the Spanish scorers in the Spanish league dominated by foreigners, and Spanish offensive players have traditionally thrived with more space in the Premier League, but it still seems a gamble as Arsenal fans scream for a striker other than Oliver Giroud.

West Ham is one of the sides that has had most arrivals: Andrew Ayew has joined from Swansea (where he never really thrived, so hopefully he will in London), Simone Zaza from Juventus will be an interesting addition up front, while Sofiane Feghouli, coming in from Valencia, could potentially be a player to watch. Also, interestingly, Alvaro Arbeloa, has joined on a free transfer, coming from Real Madrid.

Tottenham's most interesting purchase is Moussa Sissoko, joining from Newcastle. The Frenchman was very strong in Euro 2016, and could have strong impact on Tottenham. Victor Wanyama from Southampton and Vincent Janssen are other strong additions in London.

Look forward to seeing all these players, and many more, in this fantastic new season!

Manchester United's new star

Just a week a go I had never heard about Marcus Rashford. The 18-year old got his debut in Manchester United's first team in this week Europa League match against FC Midtjylland. In that match he scored two goals, becoming Manchester United's youngest player to score in European matches, and led Manchester United's 5-1 comeback.
Today the young Rashford started in his Premier League debut against title contenders Arsenal, and again scored two goals in Manchester United's well-deserved 3-2 victory against an Arsenal side that is no longer likely to contend the title.
After a long period of poor performance the success of young Rashford comes at the right time for coach Louis Van Gaal, whose job has and surely continues to be on the line. However, no matter what, as a football fan, it is great to see a new young player take up his debut with such storm, and it will be great to follow his future career.

Feeling sorry for the top team

A few weeks ago I said that with good results against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, Leicester should be considered serious title candidates.
After defeating Liverpool and Manchester City, the Premier League leaders were now facing Arsenal away. Arsenal is under enormous pressure to win the league, and that is perhaps why they appear more as a bunch of arrogant school boys who think they are entitles to the title, than actual champions. In fact Leicester, who despite everything must start to feel the pressure of being leaders, seems much more like a side deserving of the title.
And it all seemed to go Leicester's way when Jamie Vardy scored on a penalty (yes, it was a penalty). Leicester had actually been the better team, with a risky high pressure and more possession. But early in the second half it could have been the pressure that got to Danny Simpson, who received a second red card for a silly grab on Olivier Giroud. With this Arsenal upped their pressure while Leicester defended heroically, but were unable to prevent Theo Walcott's equalizer.
And it was only in the fifth minute of extra time when a returning Danny Welbeck gave the Gunners a new shot at the title. It was also after Leicester had conceded a silly free kick outside their area, and Danny Welbeck got the header.
Leicester are still two points ahead of Arsenal on top of the league. Despite what happened today, I think nobody would have expected this three weeks ago either. But the late defeat to Arsenal could cause Leicester to falter in their faith in the title, and may give Arsenal renewed belief that the can win the title.
I think all neutrals, like myself, would love to see Leicester remain on top, and I did get very disappointed when Danny Welbeck scored!

Can Leicester win?

It seemed the most unlikely thing when the league started; a curiosity by December; and there are still many who say that it will not happen (among them, many from Leicester itself). But it is about time that the unlikely, or impossible, must be contemplated seriously: Can Leicester win the Premier League?
They are currently three points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, so most definitely we must admit that the possibility is there; it is not impossible. Not least because in the struggle for Champions League places and in the most competitive league in the world teams that seem to (still) be the main favourites for the title, most notably Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United (and here I am not even going to bother mentioning the defending champions of Chelsea, who will not even make European football), continue to stumble against each other and against other competitive teams that are competing for Europe, such as West Ham, Tottenham and Southampton. And it is against these that Leicester should be compared: a small, yes, but highly competitive team with an experienced coach in Claudio Ranieri (although I do not like him myself) and a good collective group of players that have hit the best form in their lives at the exact time when other larger teams are struggling with stability and injuries.
If Leicester wins the Premier League it is because of stability in its form and results, as well as the fact that they can play without nerves, while everyone else is playing against the ghosts of expectations. Even if Leicester ends in third or fourth place, their season will have been considered a success.
The next three matches will probably define if Leicester is indeed the serious candidate for the title that still eludes expectations: they will face Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. If Leicester is still leading the Premier League after these three matches, the answer to the question if Leicester can win must be a resounding Yes.

The Cup Final weekend

 I had looked forward to a weekend of Cup finals in Monrovia, but was disappointed with two matches that did not live up to expectations, although the outcome was perhaps to be predicted.

I watched the FA Cup final in a small local shop in downtown Monrovia. Atmosphere was not as lively as expected; although Arsenal commands many loyal followers in Liberia, Aston Villa hardly raises any passion.

And it seemed the lack of passion was also on the pitch at Wembley, where Arsenal were far superior to an Aston Villa side that simply seemed to lack the spirit of the FA Cup. 4-0 to Arsenal was good entertainment, but it was not the excitement one has grown accustomed to in the FA Cup final.

The Spanish Cup Final, “Copa del Rey”, I watched in a local bar called Sajj. Most people were there to watch circus Barcelona, with their main magician Lionel Messi, and were not disappointed: Messi scored two goals, the first one spectacular, to give FC Barcelona a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao that was never in any doubt, and that, if anything, could have been much larger. The Basques were a mere sideshow to the Barcelona act, and they never really stood a chance in a match whose result could have been called beforehand.

After a difficult start to the season (do any Barcelona fans remember how they were whistling and attacking Messi at the start of the season?), FC Barcelona are well on the way to winning the Triple if they take the Champions league against Juventus next week. As much as one has to respect Messi's magic and the joy of Suarez and Neymar alongside him, I would prefer to see Buffon and Pirlo lift the trophy next week.

One of the eight best in Europe

What happened to Arsenal? They lost 1-3 at home to Monaco in a match that all Arsenal fans probably expected would give them a comfortable victory before the away match. No Arsenal fan could have imagined that Monaco could defeat them, and perhaps that is what happened: the players were infected by this underestimation of an opponent that may not be among the fashionable cream of Europe, but is surely a competitive side! They all seemed to ignore that, and perhaps most of all Arsene Wenger who should, if anyone, know Monaco.
Arsenal is out. They are still a strong team, but whether they are among the eight best teams in Europe is more than questionable. On the other hand, Monaco is.
Who in Arsenal would have thought?

And some other Champions League results

It has been another great round of Champions League matches, where all teams but three have managed to get points after two matches. CSKA Moscow are the only bad team, while Ludogorets Razgrad have been unlucky to lose to Liverpool and Real Madrid. In the meantime, Benfica, with two losses, must be the biggest disappointment so far.
In this round Malmo FF defeated Olympiakos, and while Atletico Madrid defeated Juventus, all teams in that group A have a victory, making it a very exciting and surprising contest. In Group B FC Basel today defeated Liverpool, who is performing far below (their own) expectations. FC Basel has been a giant killer for many years, and Liverpool seems to have forgotten... So in Group B Basel and Liverpool are trailing Real Madrid, but do not discount Ludogorets just yet!
In Group C, where I had the pleasure of seeing Anderlecht and Dortmund play, the Germans from Dortmund seem to be the team to beat. In the meantime Arsenal rose from the ashes to trash Galatasaray 4-1, with three goals of their new star, Danny Welbeck.

Small contribution to a never-ending discussion

I watched two fantastic football matches yesterday. First, Manchester City and Arsenal tied 2-2 in an intense match. Both teams will be contenders for the title, and both showed their determination. Alexis Sanchez and Jack Wiltshere scored two fantastic goals for an Arsenal side that had some excellent moments in the match, while the Argentinians Sergio Aguero and Martin Demichelis scored the goals of a Manchester City side that with a couple of shots in the post at the end, almost took all three points.
The next match I watched was between numbers one and two in the Premier League, Chelsea and Swansea. Swansea started well, and seemed poised for an upset when they went ahead 0-1 on an own-goal by John Terry. But Chelsea's new goal machine Diego Costa then struck with three goals, making it his seventh in four Premier League matches! Chelsea won 4-2, and are now leaders of the Premier League. Diego Costa is not an extraordinary striker, but a great coach can bring the best out of him, and Jose Mourinho has most definitely done that. Chelsea has an awesome striking force, but their defense is looking weak, and that could well prove to be

The discussion about which league is the best continues to be lively, with many concluding that the Spanish league is best due to last season's Spanish dominance in the European tournaments. However, in my view, the reason that the Premier League is the best (followed by the German) is that you get many more of these high intensity, dramatic and goal-rich matches than you see in for instance the Spanish league.