The real champions of the world

There was nothing unexpected in Barcelona destroying River Plate 0-3, with little effort, in the final of the Club World Championship in Japan. This is really the most irrelevant tournament in the world, since European dominance is so massive: there is not a single team in the Champions League that would not be better than the rest of the world teams.
That said, there is something where River Plate has nothing to envy any European club: their fans were absolutely amazing. Even down 0-3 they kept singing and supporting their side. This is something arrogant Barcelona fans (or arrogant fans from most clubs in Europe) would never do. The River Plate fans retain that heart and passion that is the reason for football being what it is, and today at the final, they showed that they do not need to win a title to be world champions!

Mourinho out

It was bound to happen. Jose Mourinho may be one of the most winning coaches in the world, but without results in an ambitious club, he cannot stay on. In fact, the surprise is perhaps how long he managed to stay on with poor results pouring in since the start of the season. But of course, he did give Chelsea the title, so the surprise is not so much that Mourinho is fired, but WHY everything seems to have gone so wrong for Chelsea this season!
Notwithstanding that the manager is ultimately responsible, it has been surprising to see a team that won the championship with a strong defense and committed and talented players, play entirely different: players that were incredible last season seem rather tired and weak, while the defense is sailing around against teams that barely got a chance last season.
This seems to go beyond Jose Mourinho's talents (and despite anyone saying differently, his CV speaks for itself), and may be a much deeper symptom of something at Chelsea. Mr. Mourinho, with his close history with the club, seemed to be the man to solve it, but it now seems difficult to see who.
Guus Hiddink...? I would want to see it before I believe it. And even more interesting will be to see where Mr. Mourinho himself will end up now!

The Champions League 2015-16 Play-offs

Some were disappointed, some were as expected, some were surprises, but in the end, we had an exciting first round of this season's Champions League, with the following play-off matches to go:

• Bayern Munich-Juventus

Last seasons's finalists of Juventus are not as strong this season, and will surely have their hands full against a Bayern Munich side that will only accept winning the whole thing as an acceptable outcome.

• FC Barcelona-Arsenal

Arsenal just made it through by an excellent 0-3 victory away to Olympiakos. On a good day, Arsenal can beat (almost) anyone, but a Barcelona that is looking awesome in attack is probably too big a mouthful.

• Atletico Madrid-PSV Eindhoven

 Ateltico Madrid is joining the big 2 of Spanish football as another side set on the final. In their way will be a talented PSV Eindhoven side that contributed to Manchester United's early exit.

• Manchester City-Dynamo Kiev

As many other English side, Manchester City has not been convincing in the Champions League, although they sometimes show their outstanding potential. They will have to play well to beat a Dynamo Kiev side that is strong at home.

• Chelsea-Paris St. Germain

If there is a right time to defeat Chelsea it must be now, as the English champions are looking very weak. In the meantime, the Parisians have looked strong, although not sure they are ready yet to win the whole thing.

• Zenit St. Petersburg-Benfica

Watch out for Zenit! As nobody watched they were awesome winners of their group, and are surely looking for even better results! Benfica also looked strong although they were edged out in the end by Atletico Madrid, but will also be looking for a good result.

• Wolfburg-Gent

Two of the surprises will face one another. Wolfburg edged out ahead of Manchester United alongside PSV Eindhoven, and are surely a strong and talented side that will look for more. Gent on the other hand never expected to be where they are, and will play without pressure, as this is already a big success for the Belgian side.

• Real Madrid-Roma

Any hope Roma will have of beating Real Madrid must come from the fact that the Spaniards have not looked strong as of late. That said, Real Madrid were awesome in the group stages and are strongly focused on another Champions League title.

Should the European Championship go ahead?

Horrible terrorist attacks create fear, and the recent attack in Paris has swept fear over Europe, and not least over football, as the Stade de France was also targeted in the last attack. Tonight, Germany-Netherlands was cancelled in Hannover due to a credible terrorist threat.
Can France really hold a European Championship where they guarantee security? (the former great Just Fontaine recently said in an interview that it should be cancelled). Will the continuous threat mean empty stadiums and a prison-like atmosphere in the stadiums and host cities? Will the tightening security mean more harassment and less freedom for football fans...?
Yoda once said that fear leads to anger, and anger leads to suffering. Beyond football, the reaction of Europeans to these horrible attacks is fear and anger, and this may lead to a lot of suffering in Europe and beyond. Football is only an unimportant side event to all this, but if the European Championship is held in a climate of fear and anger, it may be better to cancel it completely. Football is an expression of the society we live in, and there are many things wrong right now, and football cannot and will not contribute in any way to solve them. If anything, football is more something that exacerbates differences. It is not, as many say, a friendly competition between gentlemen, but rather the "gentle" expression of ugly nationalism. Beyond the fear, the anger could erupt into many ugly actions.
I hope I am wrong, but the risk of going ahead should be discussed more openly.

Zlatan to the European Championship

When two teams that are not among the top 20 of European football clash in a play-off match to qualify for the European Championship, one is justified in not expecting much in terms of quality. Denmark and Sweden was one of these play-off matches: two former greats who have fallen low, but with one difference between these two mediocre sides: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still one of the greatest players in the world, and the one to watch out for in France. He played around a Danish side that was better than the Swedish at times, but who have no striker of any quality whatsoever, justifying Denmark's awful scoring record in qualification.
While Sweden has Zlatan, they will have to improve significantly if they are to have any chance at the European Championship. In the meantime, Denmark will have to work from scratch: Morten Olsen, the manager since 2000, is stepping down. He has been leading Danish football for 15 years, and the transition will not be easy, in particular because Denmark lacks talent in its youth. So it is unlikely to see Denmark in any major tournament for the foreseeable future.

But big congratulations to Sweden and in particular to the fantastic Zlatan!