Some good Champions League matches (despite it all)

I have already said that I dislike the new format of the Champions League, so I will not dwell into that, but just that I enjoyed this week's CL football which I had the fortune to watch in full as I am in Denmark on vacation.

Real Madrid have been lazy in the tournament and appeared to have their back against the wall as they faced Atalanta in Bergamo. Atalanta, on the other hand, are riding on a wave, as they were second in the CL league and first in Serie A before the match, at home.

But Real Madrid did what they have done so often: won 3-2 in a match where they were not the better side, but were efficient and punished mistakes. Kylian Mbappe, who has not been at his best, scored a splendid first goal early on, with Atalanta deservedly equalizing only on a penalty by Charles de Ketelaere in the last seconds of the first half. Real Madrid put more high pressure on Atalanta's defense in the second half, something that clearly made the Atalanta defenders nervous, and it was this high pressure that gave Vinicius Jr. an easy chance on a rebound that he did not let go to waste. The Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman was a threat throughout the match, and he made it 2-2, and one felt that the tide was now with Atalanta, but Jude Bellingham made it 2-3 on a quick counterattack which caught the Italian defense on a wrong foot.

The Spaniards fought for the victory as the Italians pressured, but carried the day in a good match thanks to the "BMV" (Bellingham-Mbappe-Vinicius).

The other match I watched was between the giants Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona. First half ended 0-0 with Barcelona creating more chances, but not dominating, before the second half where Hansi Flick proved the smartest with his substitutions. Raphinha brought Barcelona ahead 0-1, but barely five minutes later Dortmund was awarded a penalty on a really stupid foul by Pau Cubarsi, and Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy equalized. 

Then Flick substituted three of the most important offensive players: Dani Olmo, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha all left the pitch for Fermin Lopez, Frankie de Jong and Ferran Torres. Only five minutes later Ferran Torres scored for Barcelona in what seemed renewed dynamism on the Catalan side, but again Guirassy striked back for Dortmund to make it 2-2. Five minutes to go, and Lamine Yamal appeared with an absolutely splendid pass to Ferran Torres who did not disappoint to make it 2-3 and a victory for Barcelona, who are now second, after Liverpool, in the 36-team CL table....

 

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...

The curious case of Anders Dreyer

I  have not watched the FC Midtjylland side that became Danish champions before (as I don't live in Denmark), and have therefore been curious to watch this ambitious club make its debut amidst the best in the world in the Champions League. I have thus watched all three matches of the Danish champions, and I have not been impressed: they opened with a rather naive 0-4 home loss to Atalanta. They then played a decent match in Liverpool, although losing 2-0, and last night they lost 1-2 at home to Ajax Amsterdam.

The Danes have been not only been incredibly naive about what they were to face in the Champions League, but also lacked 90-minutes concentration and physical skills in facing teams that one feels did not play their best (but it was enough to win rather easy victories). I had heard about some of FC Midtjylland's players, notably the young Anders Dreyer, who is touted as one of the great talents of Danish football, and whom many are calling for to join the Danish national team.

At least based on these three matches, I cannot see what the fuzz is about.

Granted; he scored a nice goal (FC Midtjylland's only in the CL) against a very passive Ajax defense. However, he has also missed some huge chances, in all three matches, that you simply cannot afford to miss at the highest level. But more than missed chances, I feel that he in all three matches has not had much impact in the build-up and has too many poor passes in the attack. Of course, I have also been largely unimpressed by other FC Midtjylland players, but Anders Dreyer to me seems to be the most overrated; he may be good enough for the Danish Superliga, but to me does not seem good enough for the Champions League nor for the Danish National team.

I hope I am wrong and wish him and FC Midtjylland the best of luck for their last three matches in the CL. They will need it.  

Midtjylland-Atalanta

Last night I watched the ambitious Danish champions of FC Midtjylland get their debut in the Champions League against Atalanta. The side from central Jutland has invested heavily to make it among the best, and expectations to their opening match were high as they hosted last season's quarterfinalists from Atalanta.

FC Midtjylland had started with an offensive lineup and careful optimism, but this now appears somewhat naive as they faced a far superior Italian side that trounced the home team 0-4 in what was perhaps a wake-up call for the Danes; they will also face mighty Liverpool and legendary Ajax Amsterdam.

Atalanta must be given a lot of credit though; they continue attacking, play well for another, and could certainly make it at least as far as last season in the Champions League. 

In the meantime, FC Midtjylland must analyse and learn from this debacle as they prepare to continue their quest for European glory.

Paris in the semifinals

I felt sorry for Atalanta, who played a great match, and seemed headed for a historic semifinal after Mario Pasalic had given them a first half lead. But in the last minutes of the match the lead fell apart as Marquinhos equalised and Eric Chuopo-Moting gave them the victory goal after a build-up by Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe and Chuopo-Moting both came in in the second half to give more power to an attack that completely depended on Neymar (who had two enormous misses in the first half), and it helped against an Atalanta side that seemed more and more tired as the match advanced, despite them playing an excellent match throughout.
But in the end I feel that Paris deserved the victory after they have kept on pressing against a difficult opponent, but surely they will have to play better to advance to the final: why not start with Mbappe?
It will be Paris St. Germain's first CL semifinal since 1995, so they have already improved from all their previous years!

Champions League 2019-20 Quarterfinals

I must admit that I hugely enjoyed watching the round of 16 matches the past week, and watching Europa League and Champions League quarterfinals and semifinals for the next two weeks will be great. And as they are only played as one match knock-outs, on a neutral venue, there should be extra excitement!
The quarterfinals are as follows:

• RB Leipzig-Atletico Madrid: Both of these teams knocked out last years' finalists, Tottenham and Liverpool respectively. Atletico Madrid shocked the defending champions, and will be looking for yet another shot at the title that has always eluded them despite three finals.
• Paris Saint Germain-Atalanta: Atalanta are probably the surprise side in this years' CL, but have in my view not really been tested against one of the best sides. We should expect this to happen now as PSG has their eyes firmly set finally being able to have a shot at the title; they have only been in one semifinal (1995), and their last previous quarterfinal was in 2016. I would bet on them making it to the semifinal, at least.
• Manchester City-Olympique Lyon: Two teams who have a decent Champions League record over the last 20 years, but have never been in a final, but each have been in one semifinal each (Manchester City in 2016 and Lyon in 2010). Manchester City took out mighty Real Madrid, highly deserved, while Lyon eliminated the elderly Juventus side (and cost the Bukowski- loving banker, Maurizio Sarri, his job). Manchester City has always had ambitions to get a CL title, and will see this as a great chance. At the same time a young Lyon side will play without pressure in a surely exciting match!
• FC Barcelona-Bayern Munich: This is certainly the match most people are waiting for. FC Barcelona has not had a good season, and will look to redeem itself in the CL. Lionel Messi was again outstanding in the 3-1 victory over Napoli, and people seem to expect him to carry the side. In the meantime, Bayern Munich totally cruised to the final via Chelsea, and are perhaps slight favourites to make it to the quarterfinal. However, with Messi and in a knock-out, anything can happen!

Be sure to have some beers if you, like me, are watching these matches alone and locked down at home!