The return of Valencia

 In December it looked as though the (former?) great club of Valencia was on its way down. They were in relegation spots in the league, and were playing awful. But how things can change with a new manager! Ruben Baraja was fired and on Christmas day Carlos Corberan was brought to his home town from West Bromwich Albion, where he had been coaching for 2 years.

And in his first few months Carlos Corberan has changed the team, which now seems to have faith in its qualities. Slowly but steadily the team moved above relegation, and last weekend they defeated none other than Real Madrid 1-2 at the Santiago Barnabeu. This victory was notable for being their first away victory in the league for nearly a year, as well as the first time they won at Chamartin since 2008. And just yesterday they pulled an important 1-0 victory at home against Sevilla, and the team is now on 13th place, safely above relegation.

Valencia will not be playing in Europe next season (although some are dreaming of this unlikely prospect), but the revived Valencia also has some fantastic youngsters like Javi Guerra, Christian Mosquera and Diego Lopez, that hopefully will help build a new and great Valencia.

Sevilla on the way

 Sevilla are the side that has won most Europa League titles, and today they continued on the way to win their 7th title when they took out Manchester United 3-0 at home in Seville. The first match in Manchester had surely been thrown away bu the Reds as they went from 2-0 ahead to a 2-2 result in the last minutes, with captain Harry Maguire scoring an own goal as equalizer. And Maguire was also the culprit at the start of the match when he threw away the ball to Youssef En-Nesyri, and the Moroccan made sure he scored. There was later no marking in the center when Loic Bade made it 2-0 after a corner kick, and towards the end of the match David de Gea also gave away a goal to Youssef En-Nesyri, when he misplaced a kick that the Moroccan easily scored on.

It was a poor showing by the English side, but more so a sure show by the Andalusians, who look at the team to defeat to win the Europa League title.

Valencia in crisis

 I have supported Valencia for many years, but the last few years under the ownership of Peter Lim the club appears to have gone from bad to worse. Yesterday I went to a local pub in San Salvador to watch an important home game as Valencia are in a relegation position with only 30 points. So they were in need of a victory at home against a Sevilla side that is neither in a good position.

They were two organised sides, with Valencia having a few more attacks in a closed first half that ended 0-0. But it was a mistake by Dimitry Foulquier in the center that gave Loic Bade a free chance by which he brought Sevilla ahead 0-1. Soon thereafter we had one of those interpretative situations that VAR cannot give a definitive answer for: the ball clearly hit the arm of a Sevilla defender in the penalty area; nowadays these situation often give a penalty, but this time the referee did not give the penalty after checking with VAR. Surprising, as well as disappointing for Valencia, but there is no definitive answer....

Instead of an equalizer, Sevilla went ahead 0-2 on an elegant shot by Suso.

After this, Valencia pressed on, but did not seem to believe in it, and soon after another penalty call went against the side, Ilaix Moriba also got a red card, and the game was effectively over for Valencia.

Valencia are in great risk of relegation, and the red lights must be flashing. Only Elche seems certain of relegation, and only ten points separate numbers 11 to 19 in the table, so there are still chances, but the side must certainly improve and start believing.

A future record?

The young Norwegian striker of Borussia Dortmund, Erling Haaland is one of the players to watch, not just this season, but as he is only 20 years old, also for the future. He has been a veritable goal-machine, and with Borussia Dortmund's elimination of Sevilla in the last-16 of the CL, he scored his 20th CL goal in only 14 matches, becoming the fastest and younger player ever to reach 20 CL goals.

This season he has minimum two more games left to score more goals, but he is likely to have many years ahead to reach the levels of the CL record-holders of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Raul and Karim Benzema (the top five goalscorers of the Champions League). Surely a lot of bigger teams must be looking at Haaland, but football fans will also be looking for years to come!

The owners of the Europa League

Sevilla did it again: they have won their sixth Europa League title since 2006 and is surely the most dominant team in this tournament. But also consider the fact that they have won six European titles since 2006!
It was a fantastic first half with a 2-2 score in an intense match, where both sides had been in the lead: Luuk de Jong had scored two headers for Sevilla, while Lukaku had scored on penalty and Godin on a header. Despite the parity, I had the feeling that Sevilla had an edge against an Inter Milan side that seemed more nervous on the night. The second half was more controlled, with Sevilla getting the lead late in the match and cruising to the title with experience and a certain degree of cynical time wasting.
Whom I feel really sorry for in Romelu Lukaku: he misdirected the ball into his own net following Diego Carlos' wide bicycle kick, and thus, in my view, scored the goal that gave defeat to his own side (Diego Carlos has nevertheless been credited with the goal). An unlucky finish to Lukaku's great season.

I watched the match under lockdown at home. I would have loved to have someone to debate with during the match, which was very eventful. The problem of discussing with the TV is that despite the fact that I am always right (I would anyway), is that they do not seem to listen to me!

Sevilla-Inter Milan final

Sevilla and Inter Milan are the two most successful sides in the UEFA Europa League/Cup since its creation in 1971: Sevilla has been in five finals, and won them all (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016), while Inter Milan have been in four finals, and won three (1991, 1994, 1998).
Sevilla has made it to their sixth final as if the cup belongs to them. While Manchester United had its moments in the semifinal, one never felt that Sevilla was nervous or that they would not be able to turn around being 0-1 behind, and indeed, they made it with a well-deserved 2-1 victory.
But they will not have it easy against an Inter Milan side that under Antonio Conte appears confident and plays with discipline and organization. In their 5-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk was achieved by these qualities as well as a superb attacking due in Romelo Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez (each one scored two goals) that Sevilla's defense will have to control to have a chance.
Although I never bet, I think that Inter Milan has a small edge to take the Cup that Sevilla has won so often!
Don't miss it!

UEFA Champions League quarterfinals draw

Exciting times in football! The quarterfinals following the draw today are as follows:

• FC Barcelona-Roma: The Italians managed to squeeze past Shakhtar Donetsk and are facing mighty Messi, who defeated Chelsea in the previous round scoring his impressive goal number 100 in the CL. The Catalans are surely the favourites, and Roma can play almost without the pressure of expectations.
• Sevilla-Bayern Munich: One could argue that this will be Sevilla's first real test after they defeated a very poor Manchester United in Old Trafford. United were so poor one can only be happy not to see them facing Bayern Munich, who took out Besiktas with ease, winning 5-0 and 1-3 respectively. The Germans are favourites, but one has to wonder if there is more in Sevilla, who after years of success in the Europa League, may now be looking for CL success.
• Real Madrid-Juventus: A repeat of last year's final, when Real Madrid trounced Juventus. Real Madrid have only this title to play for this year, while Juventus are not looking as strong as they were last year. That said, this is an unpredictable match: while Real Madrid are favourites, Juventus showed with their comeback against Tottenham that they will always be a team to be reckoned with.
• Liverpool-Manchester City: This should be a great match as it features two of the most attacking and entertaining teams of the moment. Add the local rivalry and the high profile managers of the clubs, and this is a must-see match with an unpredictable outcome. Both sides have been outstanding in the CL, easily getting past their last-16 opponents. In the Premier League, Manchester City is leading, and that may make them slight favourites, but they have already lost to Liverpool in the league.

We are eagerly awaiting for April to arrive!

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!

Top Ten Best teams of 2016

As every year I make my personal top ten list of my favourite football teams of 2016. It is not a list with objective criteria, but a subjective list of teams that for some reason or other have caused impression on me during 2016. It is of course not so subjective that I just post about my favourite teams (It has been a dreadful year for Valencia, a hugely disappointing year for Argentina and Denmark, while Brøndby has been doing well, although still dwarfed in the Danish one-team league by FC Copenhagen).
So my list is as follows:
10) Atletico Madrid: Although they did not win anything this year, they continue to be one of the most difficult teams to defeat in Europe, and must always be considered a candidate. Most memorable was their victories against FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich on the way to the Champions League final, where they were only penalty kicks away from a victory over Real Madrid.
9) Brazil Olympic side: For the first time ever Brazil took Olympic Gold in a penalty kicks final victory over Germany. While this was a historic achievement it also presaged a return of the Brazilian national team in World Cup qualifiers. And we all hope 2017 will be great for Brazil!
8) Chile: In a special Copa America Anniversary tournament Chile won their second Copa America in a row after penalty kicks in the final against Argentina. I was personally very disappointed alongside the rest of Argentina (and notably Lionel Messi), but that does not take anything away from Chile's great achievement.
7) Portugal:  Portugal were the victors of the European Championship, and for that they deserve to be on the list, although grudgingly, since they were poor champions of a hugely disappointing tournament with hugely disappointing matches. These types of tournaments, with 24 teams, are the early swan-song on national team football.
6) Iceland: While Portugal won, Iceland were the real champions of Euro 2016. Once in a while a small underestimated team makes people dream, and that is what Iceland did, not only against the later champions of Portugal, but notably in their incredible victory against overrated England. And their fans were truly fantastic!
5) Real Madrid: In January Zinedine Zidane became new Real Madrid manager, and under him the team seems to have found a stability they have been missing for years, as well as a good balance between the expatriate superstars and the local youths. While not taking the Liga title, they are leading at the end of the year, and most memorably was their Champions League final victory against Atletico Madrid on penalty kicks.
4) Sevilla: Sevilla has become the new team to challenge the duopoly of Spanish football. They made it to a memorable Copa del Rey final (which they lost to FC Barcelona) but most memorably took their third Europa League title in a row, completely outshining Liverpool in the final.
3) Chapecoense: Had it not been for the tragic plane crash that made them headlines all over, Chapecoense would still have made this list, since the small Brazilian team had made a stunning achievement in making it to the Copa Sudamericana. Chapecoense are forever champions.
2) Atletico Nacional de Medellin: Playing offensive and entertaining football Nacional de Medellin won the Copa Libertadores, and were on the way to another title when their final against Chapecoense was cancelled due to the tragic plane crash. In the face of the tragedy the club and its fans gave Chapecoense a fantastic farewell, and showed that what makes a team great is not just its titles but its dignity! They had a bad (and strange) Club World Cup, but that does not take anything from a great year.
1) Leicester: At the end of last year Leicester were first in the Premier League, but nobody actually believed that the little English side could get away with taking the title. Lo and behold, by May the impossible had happened, when Leicester were proclaimed Premier League Champions. This was surely one of the greatest football upsets of all time. Although they have been struggling to defend the title, they won their group in their first Champions League ever, and no matter what, 2016 will always be Leicesters' year!

The Great Andalusians

It is a pity that most talk about the Europa League final was about, and continues to be, about Liverpool. Because lets face it: number 8 in the Premier League proved to be far below the level of number 7 in La Liga (and this does prevent me from saying that I much prefer to watch the Premier League). Although Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp may have a plan for the future, the final proved that there is still a long way to go, and that much of the material inherited from the hapless Brendan Rogers is not up to the level of Klopp: Moreno, Lovren, Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge (despite his fantastic goal, but it was the only thing he did the entire match); none of this were really up to standard of a European final. And Mignolet is not a class goalkeeper.
I know many Liverpool fans will not like this, but it must be said that if Liverpool is to achieve what Klopp wants, they have to overhaul half the players.

Sevilla has made history: third consecutive Europa League victory, and fifth over the last 11 years. While many (in particular in England) may look down at the Europa League, this is an incredible achievement for a team that has no chance of winning anything in the domestic league, and largely have players that were discarded from other teams, but whose quality cannot be questioned from yesterday's incredible second half performance (although Liverpool were pathetically bad, in my view, it was largely Sevilla who were good): Ever Banega, Coke and Vitolo were all spectacular (all showed a level Liverpool players are far from achieving), and Carrico, Escudero and N'Zonzi all showed high class.
But most credit should go to Sevilla manager Unai Emery. The Spaniard spent four years in Valencia and then a short spell in Spartak Moscow, two clubs that are very hard on managers. In Sevilla since 2013 he has found glory and the respect he deserves. Not only is he an avid tactician (something that has often been overlooked), but he must also have great man management skills as he managed to lift Sevilla to their second half performance in half time, when they were down 0-1.
I have no doubt that Unai Emery is one of the most overseen managers in Europe.

I have never been a big fan of Sevilla, but of course this achievement is worth a big congratulations!

European semi-finals

The quarterfinals of the Champions League and Europa League were great, and we now have the semi-finals draws.
In the Champions league:

• Real Madrid-Manchester City: Real Madrid's giants made it through thanks to an incredible Cristiano Ronaldo, but do not look unbeatable, so Manchester City's semi-final debutants surely have a chance. To beat Paris St. Germain they were organized and intelligent, and not least had a fantastic Kevin DeBruyne. The League title seems lost for both sides, who are bound to put everything into the Champions League.
• Atletico Madrid-Bayern Munich: Atletico Madrid eliminated the defending champions, mighty FC Barcelona, playing their typical committed, physical and tactically intelligent football. They should have good chances against a Bayern Munich side that plays similar type of football as Barcelona, but who are at the same time much more cool-headed and a has more complete tactical variations than the Catalans.  

In the Europa League:

• Liverpool-Villarreal: Liverpool are in the semifinals after a thrilling quarterfinal contest with Borussia Dortmund. Villarreal are there after defeating a strong Sparta Prague side in two matches. In terms of next season's CL, Liverpool are unlikely to be there, while Villarreal are almost ensured at least qualifiers being 4th in the Spanish League. Be sure though that both teams will fight for this title, and I think this could be one of the most entertaining matches among the semi-finals.
• Shakhtar Donetsk-Sevilla: Sevilla are the defending champions and most winning side in the Europa League, has won the last two, but had to struggle to get there on penalties against Athletic Bilbao. They should nevertheless probably be favourites in this match. That said, Shakhtar Donetsk won the competition in 2009 and swept aside Braga to make it to the semifinals. Both teams qualified to the Europa League through the Champions League, and will be looking for Champions League next year: Sevilla are very unlikely to make it next season, while Shakhtar Donetsk are in comfortable second spot in the Ukranian league, almost sure to get CL qualifiers next season.

Top 10 Best Football Teams of 2015

There have been many great football teams in 2015. The following is what I consider the ten best teams of 2015:

10) Australia: Although not heard much about, Australia took the Asian football championship at home this year.
9) Sevilla: Again the south Spaniards took the Europa League title. They are among the best in Spain, although far from contesting the title. In the Champions League they ended trailing behind Manchester City and Juventus, but that means they will be defending their Europa League title in 2016.
8) Bayern Munich: The south Germans continue to be among the best in the world, leading in the Bundesliga and favourites to go all the way in the Champions League.
7) Juventus: They dominated in Italy in the first half of the year, and upset Real Madrid to make it to the Champions League final, where only mighty Barcelona stood on the way. They have been weaker after the great Andrea Pirlo left for the USA, but continue fighting for the Italian title and the Champions League title.
6)  River Plate: The winners of the Copa Libertadores also made it to the final of the Club World Cup, where Barcelona defeated them. That said, they showed that they have some of the best fans in the world!
5) Serbia U-20: The Serbian youths were surprise winners of the 2015 u-20 World Cup in New Zealand, defeating Brazil in the final. It augurs well for the future of Serbian football!
4) Cote d'Ivoire: The Ivorians finally won the Africa Cup of Nations that has been eluding them for many years in a final against Ghana.
3) Chile: Chile hosted a highly competitive Copa America and for the first time ever took the title in a final against their Argentine neighbours.
2) FC Barcelona: The Catalonians have only become better in 2016, winning everything in Spain, the Champions League, and lastly the World Club Cup. They are leading the Spanish league at the end of 2016 with a scoring record of 40 goals, 35 of which have been scored by their attacking trio of Suarez, Neymar and Messi.
1) USA: With a fantastic World Cup in Canada women's football showed that it is fully at the level of Men's football when it comes to national team football (there may be more differences at Club level). The tournament was at least as good as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, culminating in a splendid final between USA and Japan. USA were amazing, winning 5-2, and in particular Carly Lloyd's performance should pass into World Cup History. With this, USA's Women's side is in my view, the best football team of 2015!

Seville champions in Warsaw

On a day with a lot of football news of the bad kind (FIFA politics and corruption), we had a great Europa League final in Warsaw between the defending Champions of Sevilla and Dnipro Dniprotovosk from Ukraine.

I think nobody expected much from the Ukrainians; but you do not get into a final for nothing, and with spirit and skills they gave the Spaniards and football fans a great match. 3-2 was the Spanish victory with two goals by the tearful Carlos Bacca, who is following in the step of another Colombian, Radamel Falcao, who also won two Europa League's in a row, albeit with two different teams (Atletico Madrid and FC Porto).

This is not the first time Sevilla win the title twice in a row: they also did it in 2006 and 2007, and with four victories they are surely the best team in the Europa League over the last 10 years. 

Dnipro could not repeat what another Ukrainian side, Shakhtar Donetsk, did in 2009, by winning the title. But surely Dnipro should be proud of their team, which has made a mark in Europe this season.

Higuain the missing machine

Napoli are one semifinal away from a European final, and are surely favourites against the Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. And in the first match in Naples tonight Napoli had 70% possession and 22 shots on goal. Still they only got a meager 1-1. Although Dnipro's goal was a clear off side, it does not take away that Napoli can only blame themselves for not taking advantage of their enormous pressure, and their striker Gonzalo Higuain, who missed some big chances.
This is not the first time Higuain misses chances. In fact, throughout his career in different teams, he has almost been more known for his misses.
In the other semifinal Sevilla seem to be underway to their second final in a row after trouncing Fiorentina 3-0. 

The curse lives

In 1961 and 1962 the legendary Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann led Benfica to two European Cup triumphs. Following the second victory, over Real Madrid, he left the club in a dispute over salary. When leaving he said that Benfica would not win a European title in one hundred years. Since then, Benfica have lost European finals in 1963 (AC Milan), 1965 (Inter), 1968 (Manchester United), 1983 (Anderlecht), 1988 (PSV Eindhoven), 1990 (AC Milan) and 2013 (Chelsea). Tonight was their eighth try as they entered the Europa League final against Sevilla.
It was a very tactical game, but Benfica surely had the best chances to score during the match, but continuously hit a wall of Sevilla players and the goalkeeper Beto. In the end it all went to penalty kicks, and this is where the curse may really have kicked in: Oscar Cardozo and Rodrigo looked more like little children with very weak penalty kicks that Beto easily saved. It was enough to give Sevilla a 4-2 victory.
Everyone cried: Benfica fans in desperation and Sevilla fans of joy.
The late Eusebio, who was brought to Benfica by Bela Guttmann, famously prayed at Bela Guttmann's grave to lift the curse, but this has not happened. The curse lives on, and maybe Benfica will have to wait to 2062 before they can win a European title again...

From light into darkness in a moment

I have been supporting Valencia CF since 2000, and they made me incredibly happy in 2004, when they won the Spanish league as well as the Europa League title. Since then, Valencia has done from bad to worse. They have no chance of playing Champions League next season and are not much more than a mediocre side over the last season's. But against all odds they had made it to the Europa League semifinal to play another Spanish team, Sevilla. Despite losing 2-0 in the first leg in Seville, hope was there: in the quarterfinal Valencia had lost 0-3 to Basel, only to win 0-5 in the second leg!
Why not a comeback against Sevilla...?
And it seemed to be on the way. Until the 94th minute Valencia were 3-0 up, and heading to the final. But then Sevilla scored one of those goals that should never happen. One of those goals that brings you from heaven to hell in a moment; that turns happiness into sadness; euphoria into disappointment; light into darkness...
It could have been a fine football week. Now it was only a football week. And a horrible week at that.

A very bad weekend

I was not expecting, but merely hoping that Brøndby could pull a surprise against FC Copenhagen. I spite of leading 0-1, it was not to be, and FC Copenhagen own 3-1. Then it was Valencia's turn to round off a bad weekend: at home to Sevilla Valencia needed a victory to keep ahead on third spot, but in a match full of both offensive and defensive mistakes (except by goalkeeper Guaita), Sevilla won 1-0.
I can't wait for it to be Monday...

Barcelona or Real Madrid

In the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Sevilla defeated Barcelona 3-1 at home, and there was hope that someone besides Real Madrid would be able to challenge the Catalan giants this season. However, in today's second leg, Sevilla were mere spectators to a spectacular Barcelona side. Xavi and Iniesta, the architects of Spain's World Cup triumph were outstanding, and with three goals Messi is probably confirming that he is quite worthless without the two generals behind him.
Barcelona will be truly exciting to watch this year, because of their style, since the Spanish League is now virtually a two-team affair: nobody but Barcelona and Real Madrid have any chance of winning it, and the only question is whether José Mourinho can do his magic in Real Madrid and make them take the title from Barca.
Real Madrid is looking interesting because of the many changes; of course José Mourinho's entrance on the team, but specially because of the many new starts that have entered the team, such as Angel di Maria, Mesut Özil and Ricardo Carvalho, and whether Mourinho can build up a team using some of the other stars such as Ronaldo, Benzemá, Higuaín, Casillas and Xabi Alonso. The quality is undoubtfully there. It will not be easy for them though if Barcelona plays like they did today, but Mourinho has been known to have a good run with the Catalans.
In any case, it will be exciting, but only for one thing: Barcelona or Real Madrid?

Thank you Olympique Lyon

All due respect to Real Madrid, which I have never liked. But the royal Spaniards have a tendency to blow themselves up after one good match: their incredible 3-2 victory against Sevilla last weekend, had caused them to predict another large victory over Olympique Lyon. The French had been the far better team in the first match in Lyon, although they only won 1-0. Still, a star like Sergio Ramos had before the match said that Real Madrid would win 3-0.
I think it is wisest for players to shut up before matches, because they only look like fools. Real Madrid started well, and were leading 1-0 at halftime. But they were a complete disaster in the second half in particular, and Lyon should have won the match after their equalizer.
It is always wonderful to see arrogance pounded, and arrogance was yet again defeated by Real Madrid's elimination.

Barcelona out

Barcelona won everything they participated in last season, but it is now certain that this feat won't be repeated. Last night Sevilla eliminated Barcelona from the Spanish Copa del Rey. Although losing 1-0 in Seville, the Southerners had won 2-1 in Barcelona, and are now ready for the next round.
Barcelona did defend its title feverishly though, and it was only bad luck and extraordinary goalkeeping from Palop that hindered a second goal for Barcelona.
The Catalans are still leading La Liga and in the CL, and it was bound to be difficult to repeat the amazing feat of last season. Still, with last night's result, many will be smelling blood!