UEFA Champions League Semi-Final Review - Jose's Greatest Triumph

The semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League have given the past fortnight plenty of drama and a final, that nobody probably could have predicted way back at the start of the season.  Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan will come face-to-face with Louis Van Gaal’s Bayern Munich in Madrid on May 22^nd.  Whatever happens, either manager will become only the third coach in European Cup history to win the title with two different clubs, (Van Gaal with Ajax in 1995 & Mourinho in 2004 with FC Porto.) 

Mourinho claimed Wednesday night’s aggregate victory over his former employers, Barcelona as his greatest triumph in football history.  It was another piece of tactical masterstroke genius from Mourinho, who outwitted Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea in Round Two, and now has Pepe Guardiola on his winning CV too.  Although Goran Pandev went down with a thigh injury moments before the game, the decision to bring Christian Chivu into the line-up, instead of another attacker was an inspired choice by the Special One.

Carrying a 3-1 lead from the first leg in the San Siro, any attacking hopes at the Nou Camp for the Italians were wiped away by a spectacular piece of playacting from Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets.  His 28^th minute ‘pole axed’ impression got the former Barca midfielder, Thiago Motta sent off, when TV replays suggested Motta only fended Busquets off, rather than elbowed him, as the reaction suggested.  Though Motta should know better for the experience he has of the big occasion, the Brazilian can count himself unlucky.  Following a bust-up involving both benches, plus some choice words between Mourinho and Guardiola, the match settled down into an attack versus defence game of chess. 

Eventually, Barcelona brokethrough with seven minutes to go, when the ex-Manchester United centre-back, Gerard Pique went forward and showed a genuine piece of quality skill that would make the insipid Zlatan Ibrahimovic eat your heart out.  His cool finish gave the Catalans the hope, which nearly turned into reality when Bojan scored in injury-time, only for the goal to be wiped out, courtesy of an earlier handball from Yaya Toure.  At the final whistle, Barcelona sank to their knees, whilst Mourinho ran onto the pitch, with one hand in the air, pointing at the Milan fans in sheer delight.  An ugly confrontation with the Spanish goalkeeper Victor Valdes followed, but it was Jose’s night and no-one was going to spoil this moment for him.

Bayern Munich had a much easier time of it, overcoming a timid Lyon outfit 4-0 on aggregate, with an impressive 3-0 success in France on Tuesday night.  Despite overcoming the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid on their way to the last four, Lyon had failed to capture my imagination and their negativity in the first leg in the Allianz Arena was horrifying to see.  Despite Franck Ribery’s crude challenge on Lisandro Lopez, which earned a deserved red card and suspension from the final, Bayern always looked in command and another stunner from Arjen Robben gave them a narrow advantage to take to the Stade de Gerland.  Although Cris’s sending off for the hosts was ridiculous, Munich found this to be comfortable Tuesday night stroll.  Croatian Ivica Olic, who scored two critical goals against Manchester United, clinched a masterful hat-trick to see the Germans progress to their first final in nine years.

For the first time in its seventeen year history, the UEFA Champions League final will be held on a Saturday night, in an effort to win more of a primetime TV audience.  Despite their being no English presence for the first time since 2004, this game could turn into a classic.  Madrid is a wonderful occasion; let’s hope we have a game to remember in three weeks time, between two of the European superpowers, who have had lean spells of late, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.  

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….