Masters of the Universe

I watched the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus  in a bar called Lila Brown in Monrovia. Not many people and a pleasant atmosphere, but as Liberia is entering rainy season the satellite signal was unfortunately quite bad, and it was difficult to enjoy the game in full.

After the first half the score was 1-1, and it still looked as the match could go to either side: Juventus had dominated the start of the first half until Ronaldo's excellent counter-attacking goal. Mandzukic made the outstanding equalizer, and with such a goal one could justifiably expect anything to happen.
But Real Madrid turned up the volume in the second half, and won 4-1 against a Juventus side that proved broken after only letting three goals in during the entire Champions League season. Cuadrado's unfair red card against Ramos' disgraceful acting did not make any difference, except the feeling of Real Madrid players being allowed to do whatever they want with impunity. Sergio Ramos does not deserve to be called a champion.

Despite Ramos, this is Real Madrid's 12th title, and the first time the Champions League is won twice in a row. It seals the club as the best in the universe. They have been very solid during the season, all thanks to the genius of Zinedine Zidane, who must surely enter the annals of one of the greatest managers of all time, alongside that of one of the greatest players of all time.
I truly admire Zinedine Zidane. What a pity he is with Real Madrid....

The finalists

Although Atletico Madrid gave Real Madrid a scare (and fans hope for a good game) in the first quarter of last nights' Champions League semifinal second leg, the result was never in doubt: although behind 2-0, when Real Madrid settled into the match they showed their quality and after Isco's goal, their place in the final was never really in doubt. And for any major threats, Keylor Navas was solid in goal.
Real Madrid can go all the way, although they will have to play their best against a Juventus side that did not need to make much of an effort to win 2-1 against Monaco at home. Juventus will be playing their ninth final against Real Madrid's record 15th. But Real Madrid have only lost three finals, while Juventus has been defeated 6 of their eight finals, their last victory coming in 1996 against Ajax Amsterdam (after they had earlier eliminated Real Madrid in the quarterfinals). Real Madrid are the defending champions and could become the first team to re-take the title in the 21st Century (and since the inception of the Champions League format).
No matter what happens, this Champions League season has been one of the best ever, and both of these teams deserve to be in a final that is set to be match of the year in 2018! History will be made!
Countdown for June 3rd has started!

Juventus to challenge the title

It all points to it being a fantastic Champions League final. After Real Madrid made fun of Atletico Madrid with a great display, Juventus showed at least as much quality when defeating AS Monaco 0-2 in Monaco. Monaco are a young side that has won many friends in the tournament and for its young players there are surely great years ahead. But Juventus' combination of quality and experience were simply too much for Monaco, who may have attacked optimistically and with skills, but were punished by any mistake to such as degree that Gonzalo Higuain ended up scoring both Juventus goals! (always poor in finals, one can almost not expect him to do anything there if they reach that far).
If any team can defeat Real Madrid it is Juventus. If any team can defeat Juventus, it is Real Madrid.
Of course, there is still a second leg for both semi-finals, but if the final is not Real Madrid-Juventus it will be an enormous surprise!

Real Madrid still champion

It is not with delight that I say that a team that I dislike is the best, but after seeing Real Madrid take out Atletico Madrid 3-0, on three goals by a Cristiano Ronaldo on fire, I can barely see that any team can threaten them from retaking the Champions League title.
Of course a lot of things can happen in football, and both Monaco and Juventus are quality sides, but last nights' display must be among the best I have seen from Real Madrid. And it was not just against any side: it was against Atletico Madrid, a side that has had a good take on Real Madrid, and is notoriously organized and difficult to play against. But Real Madrid made it look easy.
One thing I could not help but think about is Zinedine Zidane: all attention goes to so many other managers in Europe, but no attention seems to be going to Zidane's managing qualities, which are proving to be truly outstanding as he is managing one of the most difficult clubs in the world!
If they end up taking the title again, Zinedine Zidane should be the stars above them all in Real Madrid!

Forca Juve

I was delighted, sitting in Fuzion, in Monrovia, watching a great Juventus side tie 0-0 in Barcelona to make it to the CL semifinals. As the match wore on one supported Juve more against a Barca side that just seems that they are entitled to win and when things are against them they cannot handle it, least of all Neymar.
There is a difference between a great fighter and a bad loser, and Neymar is not the former.
But with this we have four teams in the semifinals, two Spanish, one French and one Italian: Ream Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Monaco and Juventus.

Feeling sorry for mighty Bayern

It is not often one feels sorry for one of the biggest teams in Europe, but tonight I felt sorry for Bayern Munich as they were eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid.
Don't get me wrong: despite my dislike for Real Madrid they are a truly great side, but that is why such a victory as that tonight leaves a sour taste in ones mouth.
Bayern Munich played well; much better than in their hapless first match at home, and when they went ahead 0-1 on a penalty by Lewandowski, one had the feeling that they could win the match.
There are a lot of bad referees out there, but fortunately, they are seldom defining for who wins the match (despite what many unnamed managers in England may say...), but tonight there can be no doubt that the refereeing was defining for the result. First Arturo Vidal's non-existant second yellow card (and this is not to say that he was moving close to second yellow), when Casemiro should have had a red card at least as much, and the secondly Cristiano Ronaldo's equalizing 2-2 goal, which was so clearly off side that one either has to question the skills, eyesight or worse of the linesman.
In the end the Germans fell apart and lost 4-2, but the match had been decided at the 2-2 goal and the red card already.

Real Madrid, a great team, are in the semifinal to defend their title, followed by their local rivals Atletico Madrid, who had to fight hard to defeat a Leicester side who will not be in the Champions League again in the foreseeable future, if ever.

The two teams nobody wanted to face

Atletico Madrid and Leicester were arguably the two teams everyone wanted to avoid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Atletico Madrid are a passionate, skilled and disciplined side that has proven to have one of the best defenses in the world combined with an unforgiving attacking force. Leicester on the other hand, seem to be a team that is set to continue surprising; the best team in the world when underestimated.
But all teams avoided them as both of these sides will be facing one another in the quarterfinals. An interesting anecdote is that two of the previous three times Leicester was in Europe, they were eliminated by Atletico Madrid (1961 and 1997). So this may be the time of redemption for Leicester.

The quarterfinals are as follows:

• Atletico Madrid-Leicester
• Borussia Dortmund-Monaco
• Juventus-FC Barcelona
• Bayern Munich-Real Madrid

All will be incredible matches. Juventus-Barcelona a repeat of the 2015 final. Dortmund-Monaco two teams playing attacking football. Bayern Munich-Real Madrid will see two of the best teams ever having played the tournament.

Leicester among the eight best in Europe

Surely Leicester are having a bad season in the Premier League, where rather than defending their title, they are almost fighting to avoid relegation. This is what led to a very unlikeable firing of Claudio Ranieri as manager, but frankly, since the charming Italian's exit, things seem to have improved.  I was never a fan of Mr. Ranieri, but he did achieve something extraordinary with Leicester, but it seems it was time to move on...
Last night Leicester eliminated the highly rated Europa League champions of Sevilla from the Champions League, making it to the quarterfinals. Despite a lucky 1-2 defeat in Spain, Leceister was all but lucky in their 2-0 victory playing an intelligent and disciplined match where they looked more like the team that took everyone with storm last season.
Leicester are not among the 8 best in Europe, and will be facing some giant in the next round. But do not discount them: Leicester has surprised before!

The sad comeback

Last Wednesday I found myself in a bar in the city of Danane, in Cote d'Ivoire, at first only half-watching the Barcelona-Paris St. Germain match, but getting caught by Barcelona's incredible last 3 minute comeback to eliminate the Parisians.
Along with most people in the bar, I was not happy. In Cote d'Ivoire they also supported Paris St. Germain. And whom I felt most sorry for were the Paris St. Germain fans; I know how it feels when your team loses, but I do not know how it feels when you come from the heights of happiness to the depths of sadness. I felt much more sad for them than for the Barcelona fans who just ten minutes before would have trashed their team out of the stadium.
In the end Barcelona did something incredible, but not elegant. Their attitude will and should annoy any decent football fans, and the admiration for Luis Suarez' skills are just frustrated by the ugliness of his antics.
But I cannot blame them: this is part of football, as much as I dislike it, and had it been my team, I would have been celebrating it like Barcelona fans did.
All great teams know how to stretch the rules, and Barcelona were just better at it than Paris St. Germain, which just makes it more sad for the great Parisians!!!
Barcelona is in the next round, but at least in Danane, as in Paris, it was not celebrated!

A match to remember

No matter what happens in the rest of this seasons' Champions League we will remember last night's match between Manchester City and Monaco. 5-3 and a festival of goals and drama, the only bad thing that can be said is that at times defenses looked very shaky. But that has to be seen against the background of strikers who all seemed to have a good day: Radamel Falcao looked as a young man from his pre-Manchester United days (despite him missing a penalty against Willy Caballero, who may be better than hapless Claudio Bravo, but still had a difficult match alongside his defense) and Sergio Aguero had one of those rare days when he was world class in an important match.  But most impressive was the young Leroy Sane, who is really proving to be the best transfer this season.
Monaco impressed because of their attacking prowess and positive attitude, and Radamel Falcao's penalty miss when they were up 0-2 may have cost them the match, despite them eventually going up 1-3 before Manchester City's memorable comeback. Manchester City showed an amazing character which should give them confidence for better results.
The return match in Monaco will be a must-see for every football fans: Monaco must attack, which they have shown they can, against a City side that has shown they cannot defend, so must attack. Do not miss it!

Valentines Day in Paris

Everyone, except FC Barcelona, seems to know that Paris Saint Germain has a quality team who under Unai Emery has learned to prepare for a match. And Barcelona seemed stunned the entire match as they proved inferior to PSG in every regard. It would have been nice to have a "Manita" to rub in Barcelona's faces, but in the end it was "only" 4-0, a result FC Barcelona can be most thankful about.
First about PSG: They seem to be the team of the future. Young players like Adrien Rabiot and Julian Draxler excelled, while "older" faces such as Marco Verrati, Angel Di Maria and Edison Cavani totally outshined Messi, Neymar and Suarez. Di Maria and Cavani both scored goals full of love on what was also their birthday.
The main reason for the result was a splendid PSG side who could go all the way if they play like today! But one must also mentioned FCB: the fact that they played such a horrible match can only be blamed on the manager, Luis Enrique. Do not mind the demotivated side, but some choices were simply awkward; Andre Gomes instead of Rakitic made them lose the midfield and Sergi Roberto was so bad as right-back (admittedly not his natural position) that it was like handing Draxler a highway to run on.
Barcelona are all but out of the Champions League and with meager chances of winning the Liga title, they may take a consolation with the Copa del Rey, but the question is whether this is enough for Luis Enrique to maintain his job.

The potential of Manchester City

What a difference from the match two weeks ago in Barcelona between FC Barcelona and Manchester City! With Willy Caballero on goal the Manchester City defense also looked to have more confidence than with the hapless Claudio Bravo (who in my view cost the match two weeks ago), and the decisions showed that Pep Guardiola is perhaps more cynical and willing to change the style he has always promoted since his Barcelona days when the situation calls for it.
It all seemed to be going Barcelona's way in the first half when they went ahead 1-0, with Gundogan equalizing before half-time. In the second half Manchester City were a transformed side, and their energy and high pressure gave them their well-deserved first victory ever over FC Barcelona, and good chances to reach the knock-out stages of the Champions League. Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan (who scored one and two goals respectively) were simply fantastic, far overshadowing the FC Barcelona holy trinity of Messi, Neymar and Suarez (despite Messi's exquisite first half counter attacking goal on a pass by Neymar).
The match shows the potential of Manchester City: they have had a great team for years, but some kind of minority complex has continued to haunt them. If they get beyond that mental constraint, they could eventually reach the very top.
Despite the defeat FC Barcelona remains favourites for the title: they still have a splendid side, but Manchester City exposed some of its weaknesses in midfield and defense, as well as the lack of depth in some of their replacements. They seem to depend too much on their holy trinity.

Bravo goalkeeper!

Guiardiola again returned to Barcelona with another team: in 2015 he went there with Bayern Munich for the CL semifinal, just to be destroyed 3-0 on two goals by Lionel Messi and one by Neymar. Last night Messi and Neymar were as welcoming to their old manager, who now returned with Manchester City: Messi scored three and Neymar one goal to give Barcelona a comfortable 4-0 win over the English side.
If anything, it shows Guardiola's near naivite to playing his old side, which arguably made him a great coach because he had no other than Lionel Messi. Since then he has managed strong teams, but is still to show that he can do great things in teams without the great little Argentine.
One of Guardiola's weakest decisions was again exposed last night: Claudio Bravo. More than anyone he cost Machester City when, at the score 1-0, he mishandled the ball and had no other option than to make an illegal save outside the area, costing him a red card, and putting Willy Caballero on goal. Caballero did not have chances on Barcelona's subsequent three goals (even though he saved a penalty from Neymar, confirming his excellent qualities as a penalty-stopper) with Manchester City three men down.
Guardiola preferred Claudio Bravo instead Joe Hart because he apparently had more technique, but again he costs goals exactly on his lack of technique, again proving that Hart is a far better goalkeeper! On top of it, FC Barcelona must have been smiling to themselves: they sold Bravo to Manchester City, knowing that the young Marc Ter Stegen is a far better goalkeeper, something he also proved last night with some excellent saves on Manchester City's attempts.
Some credit must go to Manchester City: they did play a good match, and even down 1-0 one felt that they could have come back into the match.
But with a goalkeeper like Bravo it is not easy to win against the best....

Real Madrid-Legia Warsaw

I am not a Real Madrid fan. But as a football fan it is important to visit all the great football venues, so as I happened to be in the Spanish capital I went into watch the Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Legia Warsaw.

It is indeed a place waded in history, proud and impossible to intimidate. The rowdy and loud Legia fans screamed like crazies, but nothing can intimidate experienced Real Madrid fans, who have seen everything, and who are really there to see THEIR own side play great football. In that sense Legia and their fans were just today's complementary extras. 

I have the greatest respect for Real Madrid fans, just as for Barcelona fans, and this visit confirmed it.

Real Madrid fans were interested in seeing the team after some poor performances. Although they won 5-1, the performance was not outstanding against a quite poor Polish team. Without Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos the team looked shaky in defence, where they gave away a silly penalty, and Keylor Navas made some fine saves. Cristiano Ronaldo had a bad day (and perhaps should have been taken out earlier) while the fans were happy to see some of the lads from the "cantera" come in and score in the second half: Lucas Vazquez scored and excellent goal on a pass by Alvaro Morata, while Morata himself scored the last goal.

Borussia Dortmund defeated Sporting Lisbon and are now leading the group, but it is clear that Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid will be the two sides to progress to the knock-out stages.

Interesting experience and I am now able to say that I have been at the legendary Santiago Bernabeu.

A great Champions League round

Last night I watched Borussia Dortmund-Real Madrid. Always expect a great match between these two sides, and this was no disappointment with a 2-2 result and great play.
This evening I watched Celtic-Manchester City. A bravely fighting (and a bit lucky) Celtic side (which because of their fans is impossible not to like) managed an exciting 3-3 result against mighty Manchester City, which nevertheless looked a bit easy to shake. As FC Barcelona got a lucky 1-2 victory in Germany against Borussia Monchengladbach, the next match is bound to be a drama as FC Barcelona face Guardiola and Manchester City at home.
Atletico Madrid repeated their feat from last season's semifinals by defeating Bayern Munich 1-0 at home. Leicester continued showing their European potential by defeating FC Porto 1-0 at home.
The only thing I did not like at all, is that FC Copenhagen defeated Club Brugge 4-0....

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

Champions league 2016-2017

The draw has been made for this next season's UEFA Champions League, the greatest football tournament of all. And the groups are as follows:

Group A:

• Paris St. Germain
• Arsenal
• Basel
• Ludogorets

Ambitious bur underperforming Paris St. Germain and Arsenal are the off-hand favourites, but in particular Basel has before been known to pull some surprises

Group B: 

• Benfica
• Napoli
• Besiktas
• Dynamo Kiev

An interesting group with Napoli and Benfica at very similar level, and Dynamo Kiev being their usual power. Personally I will be supporting Napoli.

Group C:

• FC Barcelona
• Manchester City
• Borussia Monchengladbach
• Celtic

This group will have great expectations as Guardiola's Manchester City will be face to face with the club he gave greatness, FC Barcelona. Monchengladbach could surprise, but don't bet on it, and expectations are likely low to Celtic.

Group D:

• Bayern Munich
• Atletico Madrid
• PSV Eindhoven
• Rostov

Two of the greats of recent years, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, make this a great group. Add PSV Eindhoven and a yet to show its strength Rostov, and we have a very interesting group.

Group E:

• CSKA Moscow
• Tottenham
• Monaco
• Bayer Leverkusen

Basically all teams have a good chance of going through in this group, but I am expecting something from Bayer Leverkusen.

Group F:

• Real Madrid
• Borussia Dortmund
• Sporting Lisbon
• Legia Warsaw

Two of the greatest teams of recent years, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, will likely be guarantee of a great clash, and one has to tip both to go through.

Group G:

• Leicester
• FC Porto
• Club Brugge
• FC Copenhagen

The surprising English champions of Leicester had a good draw for their first Champions League, but they will indeed have to be as good as they can be, notably against FC Porto. Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen are in the tournament to make surprises (and I am not too thrilled about the Danish team).

Group H:

• Juventus
• Sevilla
• Olympique Lyon
• Dinamo Zagreb

The Italian champions and the Europa League champions are favourites although the Spaniards have traditionally had difficulties in this tournament (and then go on to win the Europa League). Olympique Lyon can always be a threat but are far from what they were 10 years ago. And be sure for a good fight by the Croatians.