Losing or winning with dignity

 Manchester City, alongside Real Madrid, are the remaining teams in the Champions League no neutral fans will want to win.

Manchester City progressed today after 0-0 away to Atlético Madrid in match that was bound to be intense  as Atlético would seek to catch City’s 1-0 victory of the first match.

Atlético surely went for it, and although City defended well, they could have deserved a goal. But let us face it; it would have been an epic fight between two great teams had it not been ruined by poor sportsmanship and attitude. City wasted time and acted (two sins every single team, including Atlético, are guilty of, and which is a shame to football in general); but Atlético let it’s desperation at a goal become the lack of dignity of being eliminated.

Felipe showed the worst character of a footballer when he went on a revenge tackling of Foden (granted Foden acted, but it does not excuse anything) and acted and even touched the referee repeatedly when he gave him a highly deserved second yellow. 

How can that kind of behavior be accepted in football…? Are there really no standards? Even in “the heat of the moment”?

And worst of all: two great managers, geniuses at their job, Simeone and Guardiola: show some dignity! Even as a n example to your players (and to young football fans). They were the biggest the biggest disgrace of what could have been remembered as an epic encounter.

It is a bit depressing to see these kind of matches. 

Real Madrid will face Manchester City in one semifinal, while Liverpool will face Villarreal. The world will support the winner of the latter in the final.

Atletico Madrid champion

On a day like today I do not like living in Latin America: I was unable to watch the Europa League final because it is in my working hours. I was half-following the match on Twitter, and was not surprised in the end when Atletico Madrid basically cruised to a 3-0 victory against Olympique Marselle. They deserve it mainly because of Diego Simeone, who has been heavily criticised this season, but is truly the reason that Atletico Madrid are where they are today: their third Europa League title since 2010; a period that includes two Champions League finals and one Spanish title. Atletico Madrid are the only team that poses a serious challenge to the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid, but also show how strong they need to be to compete against the two giants.
Since 2014 Spanish teams have won every European final, except for Manchester United's victory last year. It is indeed a testament to the strength in the Spanish league to have four top teams (although Sevilla has fallen this season), but it does not tell about the entertainment of the league. Here I am of the opinion that English, German, and Italian leagues are better. When it involves the big teams, things are just too predictable and easy for the big teams. In the other leagues (except the French) competition is much better, as more teams fight for the title and on a good day anyone can beat anyone. In Spain this is not the case.
So Spanish football is great because of its great teams, and less so because of its league.

The champions

I managed to watch both matches yesterday on two screens in a bar in Monrovia. And both teams I was supporting came out as champions.

For a week I will be Atletico Madrid fan, and yesterday they took the first step in what could be their greatest season ever. 1-1 against FC Barcelona was enough to give them the Spanish league. This is the first time since 2004 a team other than Barcelona and Real Madrid has won the league, and the first time since since 2008 that the top-two is not Real Madrid and Barcelona.
So this is fantastic for Spanish football, and a victory against the rich-man arrogance of the two big sides.
That said, and from a more footballing perspective, Atletico Madrid are hardly a very entertaining side. They are defensive, strong pressure and good counter-attack. Simeone plays the kind of football that so many people hate Mourinho for playing. Simeone is a great coach, and it will be hugely interesting to see him coach another team some day.
Martino has been a flop as Barcelona coach. I could have told them that: when he coached Paraguay he played anti-football. Without Puyol the weakness of Barcelona's central defense has been exposed throughout the season. Without Xavi and closing the wings, Atletico managed to make Barcelona's possession seem like little else but... possession...
I think that Barcelona will take much longer rebuilding than Real Madrid, who in my view are likely to be champions next year.

The FA Cup final is always a fantastic match, and this year it was no exception. Arsenal were huge favourites against Hull, but the Arsenal defense did not hear that the match had started before Hull were ahead 0-2. Hull fought bravely and Arsenal pushed with everything, and finally they managed to get 2-2. In extra time Aaron Ramsey scored the 3-2 winner for Arsenal, who now took their first title in nine years.
One cannot help feeling a bit sorry for Hull and their great supporters. That said, Arsenal deserved the title mostly because of their great coach, Arsene Wenger, who has been under increased pressure this season as title remain absent from a club that expects much more. It is not easy to win titles (statistically you have to admit that most teams don't), but more important is to be true to a style and football approach, which in Arsene Wenger's case is about good, intelligent football, using many young and talented players.

So congratulations to Atletico and Arsenal fans! I had a few beers for both teams yesterday, and I am sure that there are many people happily hungover in Madrid and London today!

Madrid-Madrid final

It was bound to be an interesting final no matter what happened between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, and indeed, it is now confirmed that the final in Lisbon on May 24th will be a local derby between David and Goliath, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
Real Madrid are favourites for sure, but Atletico Madrid showed great quality when they brushed aside Chelsea 1-3 in Stamford Bridge. It was a strange Chelsea side. The line-up without Schurrle and Azpilicueta as right-half seemed a bit surprising, but they seemed to dominate and with patience, went ahead 1-0. But Atletico's 1-1 right before halftime made Chelsea lose their nerve while it gave Atletico a boost of energy.  Chelsea's defense looked the shakiest I have seen them in the season as Atletico's pressure improved. Although it was not a big penalty, it was only deserved when Diego Costa made it 2-1. Arda Turan's Turkish delight of a third goal only sealed a legendary night for Atletico Madrid, and what must be one of the most embarrassing defeats for Chelsea and Mourinho.
I cannot help but think that Chelsea underestimated Atletico Madrid, and already had their minds in Lisbon. At this level, underestimating an opponent is an unforgiveable mistake.

I will definitely support Atletico Madrid in the final, as I think everyone who is not a Real Madrid fan will. They are huge underdogs in every sense of the word, but Real Madrid will know that their opponents will fight to the last second. That is one of the great inspirations Diego Simeone have given this side. At the same time, I cannot feel but a lingering doubt about Atletico's nerves, as I cannot but help to think of the CL final of 2000 (which is very painful to me): Valencia were having a splendid season, far better than Real Madrid, and arrived at the Champions League final almost as favourites against Real Madrid. In that final they completely lost their head, impressed by the setting and by them being so close to the title. Real Madrid tore them apart with a 3-0 victory...
I am afraid something similar could happen, but certainly hope not. It would only be wonderful for Spanish football if Atletico Madrid won both la liga and the Champions League..

"A boring league"

Just read an interview with the successful Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone, in which he calls the Spanish league "boring". In spite of his team's second place in the league he says his only expectation when the league started was to bother the two great teams, and this he has greatly succeeded at. But still, his team has to fight hard to win every match, and their second place is also, in my view, because of the prolonged crisis that Real Madrid has been in. And I certainly agree with Diego Simeone when he says it is laughable to talk about crisis in FC Barcelona, when the team has won 12 league matches and is quite uncontested in first spot.
In reality one needs only to look at the history of the Spanish league in the last years to see how boring it is: not since 2008 has another team than Real Madrid and Barcelona been in top-2 (Villarreal, who trailed Real Madrid for the title). Not since 2004 has another team than Real Madrid or FC Barcelona won the title (Valencia, ahead of Barcelona). In 2012 the point difference between number 2 (FC Barcelona) and number 3 (Valencia), was 30 points, which was greater than the difference between number 3 and number 19 (Sporting de Gijon), who went down to second division, just showing the Spanish league to be a league of two teams fighting for the title and 18 teams fighting for survival.
One can say that this is because Real Madrid and Barcelona simply are better, but this is overly to simplify it. Both teams have advantages that the other teams can only dream about. While all teams struggle financially, both teams seem to have never-ending amounts of money, negotiating their own TV deals, which are worth more than the entire rest of the league together. As such, they continue promoting themselves as global brands and making money, perpetuating their superiority.
It is refreshing that Atletico Madrid is up there, bothering the dominance of the two Monster-clubs, but just as Simeone, we all know it is just for a little while, and that Atletico has no chance of taking the title in the near future. Maybe they can take second spot, but that will also require all the hard work and luck that Simeone and his players can find.
In any case, the Spanish league is slightly better for it, but continues to be the second most boring league in the world.

Glory for Atletico Madrid

I was on my way back to Caracas from Maturin, perfectly planning to arrive to watch the Europa League final in Bucharest between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. But due to a delay in my flight with Aserca, the match started while I was in the air, and only managed to watch the second half in my local bar "Machangos", where Atletico Madrid was already ahead 2-0 on two great goals by the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who also scored the winner in last years' final, but playing for FC Porto. A great achievement by the striker.  With a goal by the outstanding midfield general Diego, the Madrid side sealed a 3-0 victory against a Bilbao side that had entered the final as favourites, but proved weak and ineffective when it counted. Surely a disappointment for coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has nevertheless lifted the Bilbao side since his arrival, and will still have one more final to fight for when they face FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.
Atletico Madrid did not start the season well, but have also grown under coach Diego Simeone, who must take a lot of credit for the victory.

Spanish might

The Spanish League is a boring affair. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the ones always fighting for the title, glory and money, while the rest of the teams are left with the spoils. And one of those spoils is the UEFA Europa League, as the two giants are left to fight for the Champions League title.
The UEFA Europa league is indeed a B-league, where one sees the teams that are simply not strong enough to make it in the Champions League. That said, the Europa League is not devoid of quality or entertainment, and one can look forward to semifinals where three Spanish teams will be fighting for the spoils:

• Valencia-Atletico Madrid
• Sporting Lisbon-Athletic Bilbao 

Valencia is still third in the Spanish league, but has looked unstable of late, something that Atletico Madrid has not; under coach Diego Simeone and a splendid striker in Radamel Falcao (who won the UEFA Europa League last season with FC Porto), Atletico Madrid are looking like a slight favourite.
Another succesful coach (and also from Argentina) is Marcelo Bielsa, who is doing wonders with the talented Basque side of Athletic Bilbao. They are in the Spanish Cup final and after eliminating both Manchester United and Schalke 04 (two teams who were coming from the Champions League) from the tournament, should be counted as favourites against Sporting Lisbon.
I would put money on a purely Spanish final.