Early and coming Champions

Seasons are ending all around Europe, and we can already see some of the titles being handed out!
With a 0-1 victory over West Bromwich Albions Chelsea mathematically became champions of the Premier League with still three games to go before the end of the season. This cements Chelsea's amazing season, which few saw coming I think: a disastrous last season which led to the hiring of Antonio Conte as manager, and he has stabilized the team, that plays excellent football. One has to wonder whether the absence of European football may as well have been an advantage, as they were able to focus entirely on the Premier League.
In Germany Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga again and as expected by many. That said, it is a disappointing season, as they did not win the DFB Cup and were eliminated in the Champions League. Bayern Munich is set to go through changes next season, so it remains to be seen how they will do.
In Italy Juventus is only a victory away from taking the title, while in France Monaco are on the brink of taking a title that seems to have belonged in Paris since 2013, and this also cements their extraordinary season where they won themselves a lot of friends in the CL!

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!

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!

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?

The lack of ambition

When James Rodriguez from FC Porto, one of the most interesting players in the world right now, last week announced that he was changing to AS Monaco I thought: "What a waste of a good player! He could have gone to any top side in Europe!"
But Monaco, with a billionaire Russian behind it, Dmitri Rybolovlev, has money, lots of money, for players who have no ambition.
One of these players is Radamel Falcao.
In the last few years Falcao has been a scoring machine for FC Porto and Atletico Madrid respectively, winning two Europa League titles (and the first player to score in two Europa League finals in a row), and is largely considered one of the best center-forwards in the world at the time. He could surely have chosen to play for almost any big club in Europe; clubs that would be fighting in the Champions League. But not so with AS Monaco: the side has just been promoted to Ligue 1, and Mr. Rybolovlev has invested heavily to bring in new players (other signing have been Joao Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho), without doubt with a hope to be fighting for the French title next season against sides such as Paris St. Germain, Olympique Marseille and Lyon.
What a waste of great talent for the sake of money.

Top 10 football teams of 2004

These are my top 10 favourite football teams for 2004:
10) Argentina Olympic team: Olympic champions, deservedly and far ahead of the other teams.
9) Barcelona: A year cut in two season has not given them any titles, but they have risen from a lousy 2003 to become the most exciting team in Europe at the moment, ahead in the Primera Division, and as favourites in the Champions League.
8) Monaco: No titles, but a charming team in the Champions League. A very memorable game was their victory against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, taking the Southern French all the way to the final.
7) Deportivo Caldas: Surprising winners of the Copa Libertadores, this Colombian side barely lost the Intercontinental final to FC Porto.
6) Chelsea: With Mr. Abramovich spending, they have continued to become better all year, just to rise in this season to the top spot in the Premier League, as well as being very strong in the Champions League. Titles are still missing though, but I do not think for long...
5) Brazil: Can any list like this be without Brazil? This year they won the Copa America, beating Argentina in the final - actually, first time this had ever happened! Also ahead in the South American World Cup qualifiers, makes them an obvious choice for the list
4) Arsenal: Last season by far the strongest team in the Premier League taking the League title, without losing a single match! This made for the undefeated record in the Premier League with 38 matches. However, success in the Champions League has been absent, and they seem to have been surpassed by Chelsea. There is still much left of the season though...
3) Valencia: Same season won the Spanish league and the UEFA cup, to become the best Valencia team ever, as well as the best team in Spain. Have gone a bit down the new season, but continues second in the Primera Division.
2) Greece: A major surprise when they upset everyone to become European Champions. Granted, their style was not exciting, but they did deserve the victory because of their spirited fight, and because in the end, they were the smartest. Have not continued the same though, and might have a hard time qualifying for the world cup.
1) FC Porto: Winners of the Champions League, the intercontinetal cup and the Portuguese league. After the succesful season many stars left the team, including coach Mourinho. Still they continue in the Champions League, with tenacity to defend their title.

Champions League Matchday 5

For this CL round, I only had the opportunity to watch Monaco-Liverpool and PSV-Arsenal. Liverpool against Monaco was quite a bore. Liverpool defends well, but attacked little, so the game did not swim in chances. PSV has been a great positive surprise this season, and I actually expect they can get very far. Although Arsenal was a disappointment, Gus Hiddink's troops did not do more than they had to. Even when two men ahead, they did not lose their cool: they always knew that their quarterfinal spot was secure.

A thing about the first round of this CL is that it is becoming increasingly hard to see a winner: so many teams are incredibly strong! I still would tip Barcelona, although they only got a 1-1 at home to Celtic. But you got to give Celtic the spirit thye play with is great, and Barcelona will have to open up sometimes.

However, some of the Italians are looking strong: Juventus went on to the fifth 1-0 victory in a row! That has to be a record, although it does not seem the most exiting. Inter is sure to go thrugh, while a feverish game awaits between Valencia and Werder Bremen in Mestalla for the next round! Valencia must win by 1-0 or two goals ahead (this is because in case of equal points, the decision is taken for games between the contenders). At least the results went Valencia's way, and it is now in their own hand.

AC Milan is also looking strong, now with the great Argentinian Hernan Crespo, who really returned with strength, scoring two goals in the 4-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Bayern Munich is another strong contender. The goal-machine Roy Makaay scored again in the 5-1 destruction of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Nobody will want to play the South Germans, who after a couple of dry seasons, now seem to be back at former levels.

Dynamo Kiev would also count here. They did what they had to do, defeating a disillussioned Roma side in Moscow 2-0. But this group will go to a really exiting finale. Amid appalling continued racist chants from Spanish spectators, Real Madrid could not defeat Bayer Leverkusen, and is now forced to defeat Roma in Rome (or, if they tie, hope Dynamo Kiev wins against Leverkusen). Both Leverkusen and Dynamo Kiev have their own destiny on their own hands, unless Roma saves some face and defeats Real Madrid.

On December 7th and 8th we will know which teams continue as champions, and which are losers!