Monday 6 May 2013

A Nearly Scoreless Super Sunday


The blockbuster line up of games in the Premiership failed to provide a goal in the first 175 minutes of stalemate.
Neither Liverpool nor Everton have much chance of making it to the Champions League places now, and despite their city rivalry, Steven Gerrard pointed out that the bragging rights over who finishes above whom don’t really matter, and it showed as neither side managed to find the breakthrough.

In the later match between the newly crowned Champions of England and the soon to be deposed Champions of Europe, Chelsea have a much better chance of qualifying for Europe.  Their desire was shown to be slightly greater than that of the champions whose line up was marked by a number of players making the required appearances to gain a medal.


It took until the 87th minute for Chelsea’s Player of The Season last year, and almost certainly this year, Juan Mata to make the difference.  Chelsea next face Tottenham on Wednesday, and should they win that match, they will be guaranteed Champions League football for the 11th season in a row.

Elsewhere in Europe there were more exciting matches, particularly in Italy where Miroslav Klose showed that he still has the predatory instinct of old by scoing 5 goals for Lazio against Bolonga, the first person to do so in Serie A in 26 years.

Klose also stands alone as the only man to have scored more than 5 goals in consecutive World Cups.  With the next tournament in Brazil just over a year away, it appears despite his increasing age, Klose stands a good chance of making it to the finals as part of a very strong German squad. 
He only needs one goal to equal Ronaldo’s record of World Cup Finals goals, and two more in any competition to surpass Gerd Muller as Germany’s top international goalscorer.

Juventus secured their 29th legitimate Serie A title with victory against Palermo, although the fans have not given up their claims to the two titles they were stripped of for match fixing in 2004.  The next challenge for ‘The Old Lady’ will be to build on this domestic success and become a force in Europe once more.

Barcelona also demonstrated at the weekend just how important Lionel Messi is to their team.  Two headed goals from David Villa and Alexis Sanchez were only enough to have Barcelona level with Real Betis by the time Messi was introduced.  However with his first touch, Messi bent a free kick into the top corner, and his second followed soon after in a vintage Barcelona move he started and finished off with a tap in.

Jose Mourinho looks certain to leave Madrid now with players such as Pepe, thought to be in alliance with Mourinho due to their Portuguese connection, coming out in support of dropped goalkeeper Iker Casilas after Mourinho made a less than thinly veiled dig at the club captain, suggesting he should have bought replacement goalkeeper Diego Lopez a year earlier.

Galatasary, helped by their luminary January signings Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder, secured a record 19th Turkish League title, while PSG missed the chance to secure the French Ligue 1 trophy, but are still well positioned to do so in their next match.  Ajax sealed the Dutch title, while Bayern Munich and Dortmund played a dead rubber match in the German league in a dress rehersal for the Champions League Final.  With Bayern already champions and Dortmund secure in second, the match was expected to be a drab affair, however there was still some bad blood between the two teams.

At the start of May all Europe’s major League titles have been secured or look to be all but won, meaning there will be no drama to match Manchester City’s last day title win last year.  There may be a few more Sunday’s like this weeks to endure before next season begins.

Friday 3 May 2013

Is Benitez Brilliant?


Rafael Benitez has successfully guided Chelsea to the final of the UEFA Cup meaning he is one match away from adding another European title to his CV.

Benitez was brought in to ensure Chelsea’s season did not become a disaster when it became obvious that they would not qualify for the second round of the Champions League.

His primary objective was to secure Champions League football for next year, and while Chelsea are in third place, with the first four teams in the league qualifying for the Champions League, they do have Tottenham and Arsenal close behind them.

However Rafa Benitez has never managed to win over the Chelsea fans.

Booed on arrival, with his predecessors name, Roberto Di Matteo, still being sung at every home game, with a round of applause going around the ground in the 16th minute of every game as a homage to Di Matteo’s shirt number when he played for the blues.

Benitez was also a fierce adversary of legendary Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, and made a number of scathing comments about Chelsea’s fans which have not been quickly forgiven.

Benitez took over Chelsea as they hit a run of bad form which saw them narrowly edged out of the Champions League by strong Juventus and Shakthar Donetsk teams, with the team four points off the top of the Premier League.

Di Matteo managed Chelsea through a run of fixtures which included Manchester United twice, Swansea, Shaktar Donetsk, Liverpool, Juventus and an in form West Brom.  This run knocked Chelsea off top, however they were still only 4 points behind, 5 points ahead of Tottenham and 7 ahead of Arsenal.

Now Chelsea are 20 points off the top, only 1 point ahead of Arsenal, and 3 ahead of Tottenham.   
They lost in the Club World Cup final, in the League Cup semi final to Swansea and the FA Cup semi final to Manchester City.  They still have a tough Benfica side to overcome in the UEFA Cup final.   

Benitez has not won anything yet.

While the performance is not poor, even by Chelsea’s high standards, it is difficult to see where Benitez markedly improved on the performance of Di Matteo, who brought Chelsea the Champions League and FA Cup trophies last year.

To have a club legend replaced by a manager who has previously been successful with your rivals, was understandably difficult for Chelsea fans.


Whether it has brought Chelsea any improved results on the pitch is still debateable.

Thursday 2 May 2013

Bayern Munich the Best Team in Europe?


Real Madrid may have recovered some pride from Tuesday night’s 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, however the same could not be said for Barcelona, who suffered another comprehensive defeat at home to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The 3-0 loss to the Bavarians raised the aggregate score to 7-0, the heaviest score line ever recorded in a Champions League semi final.

Barcelona were a team considered favourites for the trophy, and Bayern Munich dispatched them with ease.

Bayern’s rise should have been more predictable for most.  While Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United are talked about as the favourites normally, it should not be forgotten that this will be Bayern Munich’s third final in four years.  While they may not have won the famous trophy, they should have been given more respect by journalists considering they only lost the last final on penalties.

This year they have moved up another level, reclaiming the Bundesliga title from fellow Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund in record time, conceding only 14 goals so far, and within range of scoring 100 goals in the campaign (they have 91 with 3 games remaining).

Borussia Dortmund are the deposed Bundesliga champions, having won the title for two seasons in a row before this season.  It appears they have focused more energy on the Champions League this year as this is the first time they have reached the final since winning it back in 1997.

They go into the final as major underdogs against Bayern however due to the teams respective performance in the league this year.

This weekend however, they face Bayern in the league in a dress rehearsal for the Champions League final.

With Bayer already champions and Dortmund clear in second, it may be the case that both teams field a shadow side in order to save their star players for the showpiece event on the 25th of May at Wembley Stadium in London.

The final should have extra spice as Dortmund player Mario Gotze has already agreed a move to Bayern Munich for next season, while Robert Lewandowski, tormentor of the Real Madrid backline has also been actively courted by the new champions.

Bayern will feel they are due the victory, having come so close in recent years, while Dortmund will want to make the most of their most talented team for a generation before the vultures of Europe, and their direct rivals Bayern, begin picking away at their team’s star players.

With the trophy and the humbling of Barcelona, Bayern Munich would rightly be regarded as the best team in Europe.  With one of Dortmund’s best players heading to Bayern, Dortmund may only be able to have a say in whether Bayern Munich are the best team in Europe this year.