While I was in Europe

I just spent ten days in Europe: Barcelona, Prague, Brussels and Madrid. I had originally planned to try to go to Munich to the CL final, but when I could not get tickets, I went to Prague and watched the final at the lovely and lively Old Square. It was on the same day where the Czech Republic had played and lost to Slovakia in the semifinal of the hockey World Cup, so there was a disappointed atmosphere under the sun in the square. Still, most places were full as the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea started.
Much bad has been said of Chelsea's defensive style in their defeat of Barcelona, so surely how they played against Bayern Munich cannot be surprising. Chelsea has been reborn under Roberto DiMatteo, so why change style? Surely Bayern Munich was most attacking, but it is also about defending and counterattacking, and Chelsea have proven great at both. Just as we were expecting a home triumph after Thomas Mullers' late goal for Bayern, Didier Drogba scored after Chelsea's first corner kick in the entire match. Undeserved perhaps, but any football fan knew what this meant for Drogba, who again scored in the most important game ever for Chelsea.
Then, that Bayern's great player Arjen Robben could not keep his nerve on the penalty spot, made everyone feel that this would be Chelsea's night after all, and indeed it was: after penalty kicks Chelsea took their first, and well-deserved CL title ever!
Roman Abramovich, the guy that did exactly what I would do if I had a billion dollars, has finally taken the most prestigious prize of all. And he should surely keep Roberto DiMatteo as coach!

 

I was in Madrid on May 25th on the day of the Copa del Rey Final between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Two hours before the match I went to Vicente Calderon Stadium, in part to experience the already lively atmosphere around the stadium, but also to see if it was possible to find some re-sell ticket. The latter was impossible, but surely experienced the lively atmosphere between fans of two teams that were having their last chance to win something this season. FC Barcelona surely would have expected to be somewhere else, but were triumphed by Chelsea and Real Madrid in the CL and Spanish League respectively. In the meantime, Athletic Bilbao had not expected to be so close at the start of the season, but they have surely grown under coach Marcelo Bielsa. They nevertheless lost the Europa League final to Atletico Madrid, and were surely hoping for glory in this match. Before the match started I found a tapas bar to watch it in, and talked with a passionate Bilbao fan who told me with tears in his eyes his memory of Bilbao winning the league as a child, and how for them, this meant much more than for Barcelona fans: "We have the club in our hearts, and we have won nothing for 28 years!"
There really was no contention about the best team of the match though: With two goals by Pedro and one by Lionel Messi, Barcelona was comfortably ahead 3-0 in the first half, and really did not seem to make too much of an effort to win the match in the end. The biggest pleasure of the players was clearly to give coach Josep Guardiola a proper goodbye with yet another title.
A pity for the Bilbao fan I talked to, but he was right about their passion: after the match I saw proud and dignified Bilbao fans all around the streets of Madrid, while Barcelona fans seemed to disappear into bed to sleep over yet another victory of those they are so used to...

Bayern Munich-Chelsea! The best final!

Perhaps it is because I live in South America, where almost all European football talk is limited to Barcelona and Real Madrid. Granted, they are amazing sides, but I have been kind of getting tired of all the hype for a while, and was really hoping we would not get another Real Madrid-Barcelona final. We had many of them last year, and now there has gone a bit of inflation into their matches.
After last night's elimination of FC Barcelona, hopes were nevertheless set high by Real Madrid and its fans, that they finally might take the crown as the world's best team from their archrivals.
But they had to get past Bayern Munich, a side that in spite not having the German title in sight any longer, has been strongly focusing its attention on the Champions League, where the final is set to be played at home, in Munich. This seems to have escaped the attention of many overly-focused to-2-Spanish-league-enthusiasts.
Granted Chelsea had a lot of fortune in its defensive victory over Barcelona, but Bayern Munich was clearly fully up to facing Real Madrid. Today's match was splendid, perhaps the best match of this season's Champions League. Real Madrid seemed to have it all in their hands, just like Barcelona against Chelsea, and like Barcelona, they were not unable to keep the lead. Bayern Munich was still dangerous, and when the game went into extra time, both teams seemed very careful. I understood this more about Bayern Munich, but it surprised me more of Real Madrid. Perhaps it shows that Mr. Mourinho did have careful respect for the German side, him being a far superior footballing brain than most of us.
In the end, the penalties may be a lottery, but if you are smart, you increase your chances. Real Madrid seemed to be solely relying on Iker Casillas' brilliance, while I think Manuel Neuer (who is also a very strong goalkeeper!), had more carefully studied the Real Madrid players, and played more on the psyche of the shooters. The pathetic miss by Sergio Ramos was a case in point, where Neuer could be seen as approaching Mr. Ramos before his shot.
I am happy we will see an English-German final of the greatest European football tournament, and I think it will be a great match. I would put my money on Munich though.
And I wish I could be there to see it...

The fall of Barca

After losing 0-1 in Chelsea, I was personally expecting (though not hoping) that Barcelona would pull through at home. And after leading 2-0 and being one man up after John Terry's pretty silly red card, it looked as if Barcelona were on their way to a new final. But then Lionel Messi, the "best" player in the world, missed a penalty, and with a 1-2 goal by Ramires, Chelsea was suddenly in the match again. Barcelona needed another goal to get through, and pressed on in the second half, but only to see Fernando Torres score the equalizer in the last minutes of the match during a counterattack.
Last weekend Barcelona lost the league after also losing at home to Real Madrid, and only a few days later, is now out of the Champions League. They may also lose the Cup final to Athletic Bilbao, and this will be the end of the Barcelona dream team. Used to winning at will over the last few years, Barcelona does not have the mentality or the style to rise above these disappointments. What it needs is a major overhaul and build up a new team.
I am happy for Chelsea!

Champions League

My dream remains to go to Champions League final after I tried to sign up for tickets at the UEFA site for the second year in a row. It does seem that going to see a final is even something only for the selected few, and not for the masses.
Just as actually playing!
Four teams have made it to the semifinals after the quarterfinals. FC Barcelona dispatched AC Milan after a 3-1 home victory, while their Spanish rivals of Real Madrid had few problems in defeating Apoel Nicosia 5-2. Bayern Munich continue to aim to be playing the final at home, after defeating Olympique Marseille 2-0, while Chelsea defeated Benfica 2-1 to make it as the only English team in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals will look as follows:

• FC Barcelona-Chelsea
• Real Madrid-Bayern Munich

Chelsea will be eager to avenge the 2009 semifinal, where a lousy referee stole the match from them (even though Barcelona became the right winner of the tournament). Real Madrid against Bayern Munich will surely be a geat match.
But I believe that the script has already been written: it will be a final between the two great Spanish rivals in Munich, and I will not be there to see it.

Messi five, Leverkusen 1

I am becoming more annoyed at Barcelona, but I do not believe that anyone can doubt Lionel Messi's genius after a night like tonight, where he (with some help from his teammates) trashed Bayer Leverkusen 7-1.
Barcelona had won the first match 1-3 in Leverkusen, and I must admit that I had doubts whether even to watch a match that would undoubtedly have as much excitement as paint drying. Still, I turned on the TV and let the match go as I did other things. In the end, one could not but help watching, even against a very poor Leverkusen side, awaiting for Messi's fifth goal that I think everyone knew would come, to become the first player ever to score five goals in a Champions League game.
Messi is a record-breaker, soon to become the most scoring player in the history of FC Barcelona, and well, to the rest of us, we are just without words.

Champions League play-off draw

The draw for the Champions League 2011-12 1/16th play-off took place today with the following pairings:

• AC Milan-Arsenal
• Napoli-Chelsea
• CSKA Moscow-Real Madrid
• Apoel Nicosia-Olympique Lyon
• Basel-Bayern Munich
• Benfica-Zenit St. Petersburg
• FC Barcelona-Bayer Leverkusen
• Olympique Marseille-Inter Milan

Some very interesting matches indeed! In particular the big matches between English and Italian sides, as well as Marseilles' clash with Inter Milan, and if Basel can continue its surprises against Bayern Munich!

The surprises

The last round of matches of the group stages of the 2011-12 Champions League had a couple of surprises.

Firstly, Manchester United was elminated for the first time in the group stages of the tournament since the 2005-06 season. More surprising than this fact is nevertheless that it happened against the underestimated FC Basel in the last match of the tournament, where the English side needed only a tie to follow Benfica to the next round. However, the Swiss side was much more efficient, when they went ahead 1-0 early in the match they played a controlled defensive that kept United away for most of the match. Add a bit of luck and a late strike, and Basel managed to win 2-1 to complete Manchester United's sensational exit. In group A, Manchester City was also, less surprisingly, eliminated in spite of their win against Bayern Munich, so there will be no more CL football in Manchester this season.

Another surprise was that Olympique Lyon managed to follow Real Madrid to the next round in group D, after they needed to win with six goals away to Dynamo Zagreb to overtake Ajax Amsterdam (who losing to Real Madrid, could have solved it for themselves). Lyon won 1-7 in Zagreb, but the odd thing is how it happened: One man down, Zagreb nevertheless took the lead, only to see the French equalize before halftime on a gross defensive mistake. In the second half the home side fell mysteriously apart when Lyon scored six goals to take the ticket to the next round. French authorities are now looking into the match for the suspision of it being fixed, a thought that I think must have crossed many football fans' mind, including my own. Sadly, the fixing of matches at this level is not unheard of... It involving French sides is not unheard of neither.

That said, it may be wholly fair, and in that sense, one must congratulate Lyon, but the surprise simply looks too suspicious not to be looked into. I hope it was not fixed though.

The usual story

Every year, around these dates, which incidentally includes my birthday, the Champions League is entering the last round of the group stages. And often, around my birthday, my favorite team of Valencia is eliminated from the Champions League.
Yesterday was no exception; leading up to the match much of the talk had been about the pressure on Chelsea. I must admit, that I never saw it that way. Chelsea were surely favorites against a Spanish side that has not been convincing in the tournament until last rounds trashing of Genk. And my bad feeling about the match were totally confirmed, as Valencia had no chance against Chelsea in the 0-3 defeat, where Didier Drogba scored two of the goals, and former Valencia star, Juan Mata, played a great match against his former teammates.
The difference between the two sides is also an expression of the different levels of the Spanish and English leagues: Number four in the Premier League is far better than number three in La Liga, where the two top teams are really also the only competitive sides in the Champions League.
Another birthday present from Valencia...

Champions League fever!

This round of the 2011-12 Champions League has been splendid, as teams are struggling to get over the last hurdles to the next round of the tournament.
The Premier League leaders of Manchester City have not had an easy time in Group A. A great Napoli side, with two goals by the perhaps best striker in Europe right now, Edison Cavani, defeated City 2-1, and just need to defeat Villarreal to make it to the next round. Bayern Munich made sure they made it to the next round by defeating the poor Spanish side 3-1.
The other Manchester side has also been struggling in group C, and last nights' 2-2 at home against Benfica will make the last match an all-or-nothing against the big surprise of Basel, who will look for the sensation of eliminating Manchester United at home in Switzerland!
In group D, Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid are looking as a serious candidate for the title after trashing Dynamo Zagreb 6-2.
Another Spanish side, Valencia, also trashed another team, Genk, 7-0, in group E. But things are looking bleak for Valencia: Bayer Leverkusen defeated Chelsea 2-1, and are now leading the group before facing Genk in their last match. In the meantime, Valencia will have to pull an unlikely victory in London...
In Group G one of the biggest surprises is on the way, as the Cyprus side of Apoel Nicosia made it to the next round after their 0-0 tie to Zenit St. Petersburg. The Russian side will now face an all-or-nothing match in Portugal against FC Porto, who in spite of defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2 away, must defeat Zenit to make it to the next round.
Finally, AC Milan and FC Barcelona gave us the best match of the CL this season as Barcelona won a great match in Milan 2-3, and are now sure to go on to the next round on the first spot, while AC Milan takes second spot. Still, it is these kind of matches that the CL is all about, and one can only look forward to some feverish dramas in the final round!