Champions League 2019-20 Quarterfinals

I must admit that I hugely enjoyed watching the round of 16 matches the past week, and watching Europa League and Champions League quarterfinals and semifinals for the next two weeks will be great. And as they are only played as one match knock-outs, on a neutral venue, there should be extra excitement!
The quarterfinals are as follows:

• RB Leipzig-Atletico Madrid: Both of these teams knocked out last years' finalists, Tottenham and Liverpool respectively. Atletico Madrid shocked the defending champions, and will be looking for yet another shot at the title that has always eluded them despite three finals.
• Paris Saint Germain-Atalanta: Atalanta are probably the surprise side in this years' CL, but have in my view not really been tested against one of the best sides. We should expect this to happen now as PSG has their eyes firmly set finally being able to have a shot at the title; they have only been in one semifinal (1995), and their last previous quarterfinal was in 2016. I would bet on them making it to the semifinal, at least.
• Manchester City-Olympique Lyon: Two teams who have a decent Champions League record over the last 20 years, but have never been in a final, but each have been in one semifinal each (Manchester City in 2016 and Lyon in 2010). Manchester City took out mighty Real Madrid, highly deserved, while Lyon eliminated the elderly Juventus side (and cost the Bukowski- loving banker, Maurizio Sarri, his job). Manchester City has always had ambitions to get a CL title, and will see this as a great chance. At the same time a young Lyon side will play without pressure in a surely exciting match!
• FC Barcelona-Bayern Munich: This is certainly the match most people are waiting for. FC Barcelona has not had a good season, and will look to redeem itself in the CL. Lionel Messi was again outstanding in the 3-1 victory over Napoli, and people seem to expect him to carry the side. In the meantime, Bayern Munich totally cruised to the final via Chelsea, and are perhaps slight favourites to make it to the quarterfinal. However, with Messi and in a knock-out, anything can happen!

Be sure to have some beers if you, like me, are watching these matches alone and locked down at home!

Hamburg SV-Manchester City

The UEFA Cup is often an underestimated tournament, standing at the shadow of the Champions League. Nevertheless, this is a bit unfair, as the quality is often as good as in the CL, and one gets to see some other excellent European teams which are more rare in the CL, that too often seems dominated by the same ten teams or so.
So last night I was in O'Leary's in Copenhagen with some friends to drink beer and watch the exciting quarterfinal in the UEFA Cup between Mancherster City and Hamburg SV, and it proved no disappointment: Manchester City scored after some 30 seconds, but then Hamburg played a splendid match to carry a well-deserved 3-1 victory home!
In another quarterfinal Werder Bremen defeated Udinese 3-1, and we may thus be looking at an all-German semifinal (and so, German football is not only symbolized by Bayern Munich's disaster in the CL) on the one hand, and an all-Ukrainian semifinal on the other, as both Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev managed to get good results against Olympique Marseille and Paris St. Germain respectively.

Aalborg out of the UEFA

The did well Aalborg B: they played wonderful matches in the Champions League and after two stunning victories against Deportivo la Coruña (who as all Spanish teams nevertheless always underestimates any team from any other country but England and Italy) they faced Manchester City. The Danes put up a great fight, and after winning 2-0 in the second leg forced a penalty shoot-out that the English came out of victorious.
Still, for a small irrelevant league like the Danish, the northern Juts' achievement is quite extraordinary, and they certainly have the best record of any Danish team in Europe. I think this achievement is due to hard work, modesty and knowledge of own limitations and forces, some things that the bigger and arrogant Danish teams from FC Copenhagen and Brøndby IF know nothing about.

So congratulations and thank you to AaB although I must add that as a football fan, I would any time prefer to see Manchester City progress to the next round, with its big stars, than the charming but unknown second-rate players from some unknown faraway corner of northern Europe.

The wolves from Midtjylland

When I was a young lad I lived for a while in central Jutland, not far from Ikast. Back then, Ikast had a team in the top Danish league, and did quite well: they played a memorable cup final against Brøndby in 1989, and I went to many of their matches. It was all a bit strange for this little town in the middle of the marshes, but it was so: local traders, traditionally with a lot of money, poured money into the team.
Some years ago the teams of central Jutland, Ikast and Herning, got together to make a big team, seated in Herning, but pulling from Ikast's success. They created a team with the really stupid name, FC Midtjylland. I have always found it a silly thing, and have never supported them: I would prefer good ole' Ikast, and I find that FC Midtjylland is an artificial money-creation, more than a team with traditional support.

That is my personal opinion, but not to take away the extraordinary results over the last years as the investment of FC Midtjylland money-men starts to pay off: FC Midtjylland is leading the Danish Superliga, and last night they opened up at European level! In the UEFA Cup qualifers FC Midtjylland was to face the Premier League team from Manchester City. A Danish team should be no problem for a Premier League team, and although the English stars grossly under-estimated the Danes, it doesn't take away the fact that FC Midtjylland played a great match and deservedly won 0-1 in Manchester.

The team emblem is a wolve, so the wolves roared in England last night.

Pathetic Glasgow Rangers

In last seasons' UEFA Cup final the Russians of Zenit St. Petersburg were far superior to a poor Glasgow Rangers side.
With a new Champions League season starting, Glasgow Rangers had the opportunity to get a qualifier against the Danish champions AaB - all they had to do was defeat the Lithuanian champions, FBK Kaunas. One would expect that for a team like Glasgow Rangers this should not even be an issue, but in one of the first surprises of this seasons Champions League, the Lithuanians eliminated the UEFA Cup finalists.
On the one hand it is positive that we will have a team in the Champions League from such puny leagues as the Danish or Lithuanian, on the other hand it is pathetic that Glasgow Rangers can't manage to go through (all due respect to the Lithuanians).

Zenit St. Petersburg UEFA Cup Champions

One can only imagine the amounts of beer and vodka being drunk today in Manchester, as thousands of fans of Glasgow Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg decended upon the English city to see their teams clash in the 2008 UEFA Cup final.
In reality, there was only one team on the pitch: the Russians deservedly won their first European title. They were far superior in every facet of the game to the overly defensive and boring Scots, and it was a victory for football that Zenit St. Petersburg won.
I must admit that I know little of the Russian team; first time I heard about them was last year, when they won the Russian league, and after a poor start in the UEFA cup, I don't think anybody would have expected them to win. But the team under Dick Advocaat has been impressive, in particularly against Bayern Munich, which was the first time I had the pleasure to watch them play.
I am certain that this is not the last time we have heard about the Russian team, but I will also be looking forward to seeing more of their players at this summer's European Championship, and against some better teams in next season's Champions League.
Until them, congratulations to Zenit, their fans, and cheers in vodka!

Rafa Benitez and Liverpool

I have lately heard some rumours about Mr. Rafa Benitez shaky position as Liverpool manager, partly due to a tense relation with the club's American owners, as well as the fact that Liverpool is yet again with meager chances of winning the Premier League.
Liverpool has great players and under Mr. Benitez the team has had some amazing results in the Champions League, most memorably the 2005 victory.
Mr. Benitez is a great coach, and competition in the Premier League is bitter to say the least. Victory in the Premier League goes over a long season, and I find it doubtful whether anyone could do better than Mr. Benitez.
Instead, Liverpool people reconsidering Mr. Benitez should remember that when he coached Valencia CF, he won both the Spanish Championship and the UEFA Cup, only to leave Valencia for Liverpool the following season. Valencia has never really recovered from losing him, and Liverpool should consider whether it could recover from losing Mr. Benitez!

Sevilla!

I love Seville. A beautiful city in Southern Spain, with wonderful people, who love a good party. I can therefore only imagine the massive party there must have been after the Sevilla last night demolished Middelsborough in the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven, to take their first European title ever.

The end result was an astonishing 4-0 victory for the Andalucians, the goals being scored by Enzo Maresca (2), Luis Fabiano and Kanoute.

Seville deserves this. Congratulations to all Sevillanos!

Middelsborough's amazing comeback

Middlesborough is in the UEFA Cup final, after an incredible comeback against Steua Bucharest. Having lost 1-0, the English went down 0-2 at home against the Romanians. But with four goals, the last one in the very last minute of the match, they made their amazing comeback to get to the final.
They will be facing Sevilla, who defeated Schalke 04 in a close match. I would say Sevilla is slight favourite, but should certainly not feel they have a comfortable lead!

Brøndby in the UEFA Cup

Tonight the Danish Champions of Brøndby will be playing the second match in the UEFA Cup Group stage Group B, against Lokomotiv Moscow, in Moscow. This being the only Danish representation in European football this season, the game carries some weight for Brøndby. Furthermore, the Danish Champions have before had good results in the UEFA Cup.

Brøndby started this season's tournament well, by defeating Maccabi Petach-Tikva (from Israel) 2-0 in the first match. On the other hand, Lokomotiv Moscow has started poorly, only collecting one point in their first two matches. Although it is always difficult to play against Russian teams away, Brøndby's chance lies in the apparent bad period the Muscovites are going through: disappointment in Europe and in the domestic league, which currently is on winter-break. A good result in Moscow will really give Michael Laudrup's boys a head-start in the tournament, and make them very ready to face Espanyol and Palermo, who are the two other teams in the group (and who are facing one another tomorrow night).

Go Brøndby!!!

Valencia out

Last night, Valencia only managed to get a 0-0 at home against Hamburger SV in one of the finals of the UEFA Inter-Toto Cup. After losing 1-0 in Hamburg, Valencia will not be playing any European football this season. This is sad for a team that only a couple of years ago had its best season ever. With a new coach I had hope things would improve, but it seems it is heading towards another meager season. It is sad.

While I was gone

Due to a lot of travelling lately, I have not had the opportunity to update this site. However, I have closely followed some of the exciting things that have happened in the last four weeks.

Firstly, I must join the choir of praise for the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan. What a match! I guess I am not the only one that could never have imagined that AC Milan would throw away a 3-0 lead in a final. At the same time, Liverpool showed the same spirit and perseverance with which they defeated Olympiakos earlier in the season. Liverpool showed again, that football is about showing team spirit, fighting, and not about what players are on your team. They are true Champions.
An anecdote: I watched the game in a hotel room in the town of Wa, in the Upper West region of Ghana. After being thrilled for two hours, as the penalty kicks were about to begin, lights went out... I almost destroyed the room! I only got to know the result through the phone...

In the UEFA Cup there was also a surprising winner, as CSKA Moscow were the first Russian team to win a European title. This happened with their surprising 3-1 victory in Lisbon, against Sporting Lisbon.

Many of the leagues in Europe have ended. In Spain, the enthralling Barcelona team finally won the championship, their first since 1999. Real Madrid's stars went into the second season in a row without a single title. Personally, I was sad that Valencia did terrible, not even qualifying for the UEFA cup. A terrible season, which showed how wrongly it was to let Champion coach Rafa Benitez leave for Liverpool, and change him for the negative Mr. Ranieri.

Bayern Munich and Juventus have won the leagues in Germany and Italy respectively, while Olympique Lyon continues to awe in the French league. This fall, they will all be strong contenders for the Champions League title.

In England Chelsea won the league for the first time since 1955. The investments of number one football-fanatic Mr. Abramovich have finally started to pay off. At the same time, Arsenal and Manchester United were left to fight for the leftovers in the FA Cup final. I found it a very disappointing match, with only Manchester really trying to play football, while Arsenal undeservedly winning after penalty kicks. The most annoying about this, was that I was surrounded by annoying Arsenal fans as I watched it.

There is now coming a period of almost 2 months with very little football. Hard times...

The champions are out

Week after week has been ruined for me, because of Valencia's terrible season. One of the last hopes I had were on the UEFA Cup. After a 2-0 win at home against Steua Bucharest, continuation in the tournament would not be too much to ask for!?

But no. Valencia, defending UEFA champions, lost 2-0, and were but after penalty kicks. Pathetic. Horrible. Not only another week ruined for me, but this pretty much wraps it up for the whole season... Losers support loser team. That is why I feel so bad these days.

A friend recently told me to find another team to support... But how to do that!? To support a team is a feeling! Does a man choose who to love!? Thanks for absolutely nothing Ranieri. Leave, please! I want my old champions back!

Ferencvaros-Millwall

Big trouble with fans at the UEFA Cup match between Millwall and Ferencvaros in Budapest. While the Millwall fans are known to be rather troublesome, it does in no way excuse the fact that four were stabbed. I certainly hope they recover and that the perpetrators are found. Nobody deserves this to happen to them when going to watch the greatest sport on Earth.
Most fans of any team are great people (in spite of what I might feel when my team looses...). Therefore, the first to denounce such incidents are the real fans of Ferencvaros and Millwall respectively, in spite of the disagreements engendered by the fights.
It is hard to make an example, but a good thing so far has been to let Ferencvaros play its home games in an empty stadium, and give fines to the clubs, so that they may work harder to take the violent elements out of their fan-clubs.
Please, no real football fanatics need this shit in football.

On a more amusing note, I would recommend all to go into the Ferencvaros website (http://www.ftc.hu/), where you will be welcomed by the "YMCA" in Hungarian... Dunno how proud I would be if it were my club...