2011 UEFA Champions League final - Brilliant Barca down United dream

CONVINCING: Barcelona's players celebrate with the European Cup

BARCELONA turned on the style last Saturday, overcoming Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley Stadium to regain the UEFA Champions League.  It is a third title in six years for the La Liga champions, who now are equal holders for the most Champions League’s (three, with bitter arch rivals Real Madrid).  After the match, Pepe Guardiola confirmed he would be staying with the Catalans for another season, and on the evidence of this performance, he would have been crazy to think about leaving the Nou Camp.  Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who have made everyone look ordinary in the Premiership this season, were made to look distinctively average by Barcelona’s fearsome attack, which would have anyone quaking in their boots. 

      Like the 2009 final encounter between the sides in Rome, it was the English champions who started the stronger.  Javier Mascherano, playing as an emergency centre-back, seemed uncertain against Wayne Rooney in the opening exchanges.  Ferguson had shocked Dimitar Berbatov by leaving his top scorer this season out of the squad, which will raise serious questions over the Bulgarian’s long-term future at Old Trafford.  From the 15^th minute onwards, Barcelona started launching raid after raid on Edwin van der Sar’s goal.  Only some desperate defending from Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand kept the scoreline at 0-0 until the 27^th minute.  Xavi was given the freedom of the Wembley pitch, and played in Pedro, who stayed cool under a late attempted block from Vidic to beat Van der Sar, in his farewell football appearance.

HOPE: Given to United by Rooney, but it was a false dawn

     If anyone questioned the resolve of Manchester United, then the response was fantastic.  Barcelona carelessly gave possession away from a cheap throw-in and Rooney combined superbly with the off-colour Ryan Giggs to produce a stunning strike from the edge of the area, which left Victor Valdes with no chance.  Finally, Rooney had been able to produce on the biggest stage of all, after his peripheral roles in the 2008 and 2009 Champions League finals.  With the scoreline at 1-1 at half-time, the game was firmly in the balance.  What happened after the break highlighted the gulfing class between the two teams.

      Ten minutes into the second half, and with the United defence rocking, and Van der Sar having to be at his best to deny Daniel Alves, Messi seized his moment.  He stepped away from Ferdinand, and fizzled a shot which an unsighted Van der Sar couldn’t keep out.  The Dutchman will be disappointed to have not done better, but Messi wasn’t complaining.  That was the Argentine’s 53^rd goal of a staggering season.  With Darren Fletcher sill nursing a stomach bug, and Michael Owen not quite having the ultimate killer instinct he used to have at Liverpool, Ferguson’s substitute options were limited.  His only main weapon was Nani.  The dynamic Portuguese winger came on in the 68^th minute for the injured Fabio, and made an immediate telling impact.  Sadly, it was the wrong kind of impact.

      Nani gave away the ball on the edge of his own area, and a deadly Barcelona attack was never going to not punish this careless act of possession.  David Villa producing another beautiful goal, curling a shot in that gave Van der Sar no hope of keeping his attempt out.  That was that, Barcelona had completed the ultimate football performance.  There was time for Paul Scholes to make a brief cameo before he announced his retirement from the game today, and for Nani to create a late moment of panic for the untroubled Valdes.  However, this was undoubtedly Barcelona’s night, Barcelona’s season and Barcelona’s best performance ever.

     There was a nice touch at the end of the game.  Club captain Carlos Puyol allowed left-back Eric Abidal the chance to lift the European Cup.  Abidal had undergone life-saving liver surgery just 70 days ago!  His comeback to lift football’s greatest club competition prize is a story full of emotion and miracles.  For United, it isn’t the end of the world, but Ferguson knows he must come back next season, with a stronger and better squad, otherwise Barcelona will dominate European club football again.  There could be no complaints in the greatest final performance since AC Milan’s 4-0 demolition of Barcelona themselves in the 1994 final.  The class of Barcelona 2011 is quite possibly the greatest team to have graced the game.  They thoroughly deserve to be champions for such a special occasion and on this evidence, Guardiola has the ability to produce a side that can dominate European football for the next decade.

UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals, 1st Leg - Favourites on course

MANCHESTER United and Barcelona look all set to stage the 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium on May 28.  This is after both team’s earnt crucial and almost match-winning advantages in the first legs of the two Champions League semi-finals.

     Goals from Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney in Gelsenkirchen saw Manchester United canter to a 2-0 win away from home, at Schalke 04.  United completely dominated the match from start-to-finish, which clearly must show how bad Inter Milan are, if Schalke (10^th in the Bundesliga) can dismantle them in the quarter-finals.  In fact, had it not been for a man-of-the-match performance from German no.1 Manuel Neuer, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team could have won by a cricket score.  The second leg at Old Trafford should be nothing more than a formality on Wednesday.

OFF: Pepe looks astounded at his dismissal from 'El Classico'

     24 hours later, we saw the ridiculous and the sublime in the latest ‘El Classico’ saga at the Bernabeau.  The contest between Real Madrid and Barcelona seemed more akin to a wrestling match, rather than a football game.  However, it should be the brilliance of Lionel Messi which is remembered, as Barca take a 2-0 advantage back to the Nou Camp for a bruising second leg tomorrow night.  Three players were sent off, though one of those was only on the pitch.  Barcelona’s reserve goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto saw red, for being the main figure in an unsavoury touchline brawl as the players disappeared for half-time.  In the second half, Pepe became the fourth Real Madrid player to see the red card in an ‘El Classico’ game this season.  His challenge on Dani Alves was late and high, but only warranted a yellow card.  Alves’s spectacular acrobatics and the number of Barcelona players crowing the inadequate referee from Germany, Wolfgang Stark, sealed Pepe’s fate.  In fact, why don’t we give Alves a gold medal for his somersaults, rolling antics!  He is an unsporting player if there ever was one; such a shame for his undoubted talent.  Seconds later, Jose Mourinho had too much to say to the UEFA officials and was promptly sent away from the touchline and locked behind a security gate.  Mourinho’s bitter post-match press conference might land him in further hot water with the authorities and when you start blaming UNICEF for your defeat; then this suggest that Mourinho is a very sore loser.

     Enough of the bickering, let’s remember Messi’s genius, which lit up this drab and silly semi-final.  He escaped the attentions of Xabi Alonso to finish off Ibrahim Afellay’s cross with fifteen minutes remaining, giving Barcelona the crucial away goal.  Ten minutes later, Messi went on a weaving run; leaving four defenders for dead and slotting past Iker Casillas to score one of the greatest goals ever seen in Champions League history.  Can anyone stop Messi?  Well, he’s Manchester United’s problem now!  The second legs this week are nothing more than playing through the motions now.

UEFA Champions League last 16, second leg - Three out of four for England

THE second legs of the last 16 took place in the UEFA Champions League in the last fortnight.  Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea all booked places in the final eight, but England was denied a full quota by an inspirational Lionel Messi and a scandalous referee decision.

ORDERS: Van Persie receives a shock red card as Arsenal crash out

     It was heartache for Arsenal last Tuesday, as the Gunners lost their 2-1 first leg advantage over competition favourites Barcelona.  Barcelona overturned the deficit in Spain to win 3-1, with Lionel Messi the destroyer again, scoring twice.  When you consider that Arsenal didn’t have a single shot on target in the 90 minutes, there can be no complaints that the better side won and deserved to go through.  However, Arsene Wenger’s side were given a cruel twist of fate in the second half.  The game was tied at 1-1, through a Messi goal and an own goal from Barcelona shielding player Sergio Busquets.  Robin van Persie, only just back from a short injury lay-off was flagged offside, and kicked the ball away about half a second later.  The Dutchman claimed that he couldn’t hear the whistles, which is understandable, considering there were 90,000 spectators in the Nou Camp.  However, experienced Swiss official Massimo Busacca wasn’t interested and gave Van Persie his marching orders.  Wenger and Samir Nasri have since been charged and banned for one match each by UEFA following post-match comments.  With only ten men, Arsenal had little hope and a beautifully executed goal by Xavi, followed shortly afterwards by a Messi penalty had Wenger’s men down and out.

     One side who would have enjoyed Barcelona’s victory were Tottenham Hotspur.  Arsenal’s insult was completed by Tottenham’s progression to the quarter-finals, at the expense of AC Milan.  The Serie A leaders dominated the match at White Hart Lane, but failed to create many clear-cut chances and consequently, failed to overturn Peter Crouch’s sole winner at the San Siro three weeks earlier.  The 0-0 draw was good enough to see Spurs through 1-0 on aggregate.  After all the heroics and entertainment of Tottenham’s inaugural Champions League campaign, this game was a damp squib in all sense of the words.  However, Tottenham’s defending display was fantastic, and by limiting Milan to a single desperate goal-line clearance from a scuffed Robinho shot, they managed to comfortably nullify the Italian threat. 

     Despite an increasing injury crisis in defence, Manchester United made it through into the quarter-finals for the seventh successive season, seeing off Marseille 2-1 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.  After a goalless draw in France, it was always going to be a tense night for the 2008 winners and injuries during the match to John O’Shea and Rafael only made things harder.  Sir Alex Ferguson has his new goal poacher Javier Hernandez to thank for further progression in the Champions League.  The Mexican scored a brace to make sure that Wes Brown’s late own goal was of little consequence.  Marseille will rue the lack of adventure they showed in the home game between these two sides.

     Chelsea made it through into the quarter-finals, following a comfortable, if uninspiring 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday.  This meant that the two Nicholas Anelka goals in the first leg in Denmark were easily enough.  Chelsea’s performance wasn’t great in midweek and the lack of goals in the team since the arrival of Fernando Torres might worry Carlo Ancelotti.  Nevertheless, at least they have something to fight for this season.

STUNNER: Inter fought back to beat Bayern in Germany

     Reigning champions Inter Milan somehow managed to keep Italian interest in Europe alive, by beating Bayern Munich 3-2 in Germany and therefore, advance on the away goals rule.  Despite an early Samuel Eto’o strike, quick fire goals from Arjen Robben and Mario Gomez seemed to have ended Inter’s title defence.  However, Leonardo has managed to install some impressive battling qualities into the side and they kept fighting, aiding by Bayern’s ability to miss a host of chances.  Wesley Snejider drew Inter level on the night, and in stoppage time, the inconsistent Goran Pandev produced a stunning strike to win the tie.  It was Pandev’s first ever Champions League strike for Inter and left Bayern’s players and fans especially numb afterwards.

    There weren’t any issues for Real Madrid, who comfortably saw off Lyon 3-0 at the Bernabeau to make the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004.  Karim Benzema netted again against his former club and there were also strikes from left-back Marcelo and Angel di Maria.  Jose Mourinho’s quest to become the first coach ever to win the Champions League with three different clubs still remains, but Real, like Chelsea are bound to face harder challenges in the latter stages.

     The remaining quarter-final births were taken by Shakhtar Donetsk and Schalke 04.  Shakhtar are a very dangerous side and they ripped apart AS Roma over two legs, to win 6-2 on aggregate.  Philippe Mexes was sent off and Jeremy Menez missed a penalty to complete Roma’s dreadful night.  Schalke might be very inconsistent in the Bundesliga, but they seem to be saving their best form for this competition.  They came from 1-0 down to see off Valencia 3-1 in Gelsenkirchen and advance 4-2 on aggregate.

     The quarter-final draw has pitted Chelsea against Manchester United in an all-English tie, whilst Tottenham play Real Madrid, Inter Milan test themselves against Schalke 04 and Barcelona’s next opposition is Shakhtar Donetsk.  Wembley is getting ever closer and I think this competition is only going to get even more tastier now.

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final, 2st Leg Review - Majestic Messi & Bruising Bayern Shine Through

So, that’s it then.  For the first time since 2003, there will be no English representatives in the final four of the UEFA Champions League.  Back then, three Italian sides, plus Real Madrid made the semi-finals.  This time around, we have a diverse range of nations still being represented, by Spain, Italy, France and Germany. 

To be honest, English clubs have been spoilt rotten in Europe of recent times.  We had the 2008 final to ourselves, and in the past four years, have had three semi-finalists from England.  Therefore, that time did had to change, and their can be no excuses either, our sides simply weren’t good enough this season to deliver on Europe’s premier club stage.

Liverpool failed in the group stages, a brief summary of their shambolic season, both domestic and abroad.  Despite making the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, Rafa Benitez and the players must shoulder the blame for a campaign full of tactical mistakes and defensive cock-ups.  The lack of depth in Chelsea was strongly highlighted by their early departure in the knockout stages.  Jose Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge with a confident Inter side and the Serie A league leaders outmuscled, outfought and outclassed the Blues in two hard-fought contests.

The youngsters of Arsenal have been fairly impressive in Europe this season and if the draw had been a bit kinder to them, they might have had the chance of making it all the way to Madrid.  Unfortunately for Arsene Wenger, his side ran into the unstoppable Barcelona and the unplayable Lionel Messi.  Following a stirring fightback at the Emirates six days earlier, Arsenal supporters would have gone to the Nou Camp thinking of a famous night out, even though it seemed to be in more hope than expectation.  Niklas Bendtner made them believe more by giving the Gunners an early lead, but the majestic Messi quickly wiped out the advantage and soon enough, the Argentine took the game away from the Premiership title challengers.  Messi’s level was outstanding, on another planet from the rest.  He cut Arsenal single-handily to ribbons, reminders to how Maradona was at his age.  The 4-1 final scoreline did Barcelona full justice; they were three goals better and now must believe they are unbeatable on a sublime march to the final.  They will meet Mourinho and Inter in the semis, as they put in a professional performance to seal the job in Moscow against CSKA.  Wesley Snejider’s early free-kick settled the outcome in the freezing sub-zero temperatures.

The other semi-final will see Lyon play in the final four for the first time.  Despite a 1-0 defeat at Bordeaux in the second leg, they gritted it out and held on to a narrow 3-2 aggregate lead.  Sadly, for the Red Devils and the English neutral, Lyon will come up against Bayern Munich, not Manchester United after an breathtaking night of drama at Old Trafford.  The pre-game build-up was all about whether Wayne Rooney would make a surprising return from his ankle injury he picked up in the Allianz Arena the previous week.  He did play and his presence was felt, United charging into a 3-0 lead by 40 minutes, with goals from the young starlet Darren Gibson and a brace from the inconsistent Portuguese winger Nani.  Rooney though was struggling, having picked up an earlier knock and was withdrawn shortly after half-time.  By then, Munich had got back in the match, with Ivica Olic netting just before half-time to give the Bundesliga leaders hope.  With Rooney off, Rafael controversially dismissed for two bookable offences, United were on the ropes and couldn’t hold on.  With sixteen minutes remaining, Franck Ribery’s corner found Arjen Robben and the ex-Chelsea winger hit an unstoppable shot past a despairing Edwin van der Sar.  With it, went United and English hopes in the premier club competition this time around.

Honestly, United haven’t been good enough either to win it this season.  The limped to a home draw with CSKA in the group stages and limped to a shock home loss to Turkish minnows Besiktas.  Although AC Milan went down tamely at the Theatre of Dreams, their valiant effort at the San Siro showed many the cracks in Ferguson’s European campaign and Bayern Munich went on to expose them fully.

It’s a nice blend in the final four and anything is possible, but surely, it will take something special to stop Barcelona on their road to defending their trophy successfully in Madrid.

UEFA Champions League 2nd Leg Review - The Special One Haunts The Blues

As the round of sixteen concluded, Friday’s quarter-final draw took place without some key names in European football.  Liverpool and Juventus exited the competition before Christmas, but as the leaves begin to grow on the trees and the days get longer, it turned into a dark couple of games for two giants of the game.  Neither Real Madrid, nor Chelsea have made the last eight in 2010 and for the Blues, they came up short against the ‘Special One’ that is Jose Mourinho.

Holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg in the San Siro, Jose’s Inter side came to Stamford Bridge, possibly still considered as underdogs, despite the initial advantage.  However, he got his tactics absolutely spot on against his former employees and he would have enjoyed getting one over Carlo Ancelotti and Roman Abramovich.  Inter Milan made Chelsea very ordinary, and fully highlighted the severe weaknesses still in the West London side on the big stage.  Samuel Eto’o’s goal settled the tie last Tuesday; don’t count Inter Milan out as European champions this time around, after years of constant underachievement.  This is now Mourinho’s side, and his authority over the Italians is now firmly blossoming, after a rocky inaugural season at the helm.  For Chelsea, where do they go from here?  Well, Abramovich will need to spend again if he wants Ancelotti to deliver the greatest prize in the continental game.  The deadwood like Ricardo Carvalho, John Obi Mikel, Paulo Ferreira and Deco need to be offload immediately and whilst injuries to key personnel Ashley Cole and Jose Boswinga, it’s the loss of Michael Essien that once again has shown Chelsea’s vulnerabilities well and truly.  Essien is the heartbeat; sometimes the forgotten figure of the Chelsea midfield diamond and without him, the side doesn’t look as secure and convincing.  Last month’s Premiership capitulation at home to Manchester City underlines this point.  Winning the Premiership and the FA Cup is the only way for this now to be a successful season for the Londoners.  Let’s not forget Didier Drogba’s act of frustration and stupidity.  Already on a suspended sentence, he faces a possible long European ban, if UEFA decide to take action on his stamp on Thiago Motta in the closing stages.  He will be lucky if he only ends up with the red card from the game, and no further punishment.

Underachieving is something Real Madrid is very consistent at.  Not since 2004 have the Galactios made it to the quarter-finals, and even the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka, Alonso etc could not overcome a Lyon side, which may be full of young talent, but is a very unimpressive all-round unit.  However, both Liverpool and Madrid have fallen foul of Lyon, so they shouldn’t be discounted in the final reckoning.  Expect Madrid to spend heavily again this summer, with the likes of Franck Ribery and possibly Fernando Torres expected to join the bandwagon.  However, the proven fact is that money does not buy you success.  On the other hand, Barcelona romped home against VFB Stuttgart, with another mesmerising performance from Lionel Messi.  Two more wonder goals from the Argentine, Barca must be made favourites to retain the trophy. 

Their closest challenge could come from England, in the form of Manchester United and Arsenal.  In Wayne Rooney, United have the form player in the world at the moment.  He ripped AC Milan apart to shreds, and their defence is one of the best in the world.  United are always around in the final reckoning, don’t be surprised if they go all the way to the final again.  After a sketchy first-leg performance in Portugal, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal shot FC Porto down 5-0 in the return, with ease.  Niklas Bendtner scored an unlikely hat-trick, they just don’t do dull football.  With Robin Van Persie due back soon, the Gunners could gun their way through to the pinnacle on May 22^nd.  However, with a Messi-inspired Barcelona in the way, they will have to go about it the hard way.

Finally, well done to Bordeaux, an excellent and efficient team unit, Bayern Munich, always there as a pest in the quarter-finals and the Russians from CSKA Moscow, who are the first Russian side to reach the last eight of the UEFA Champions League since 1996.  They overcame highly-fancied Sevilla, with a shock win in Spain.  Considering the lack of football they have, with the Russian season having finished way back in November, this is some achievement.

The quarter-final draw was made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Friday and it has pitted the following ties together:

Lyon v Bordeaux

Bayern Munich v Manchester United

Arsenal v Barcelona

Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow

It’s anyone’s game…who has the class, quality and panache to win this year’s UEFA Champions League.  Whoever it will be is a deserved champion….