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 87^th 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 11^th 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 29^th 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 19^th 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.

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 16^th 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.

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 25^th 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.

Table Decided Early at Top and Bottom of the Premiership Table

Reading and Queens Park Rangers fought out a desperate battle for survival on Sunday that nobody survived.

Neither side was able to earn the three points which would have kept their slims hopes of survival alive, and instead both teams were resigned to relegation.

 

As QPR and Reading remain 9 points behind Aston Villa with 3 games to play, it appears that survival is still possible, however as Aston Villa play 18^th placed Wigan on the final day of the season, either an Aston Villa win or draw moves them out of reach of Reading and QPR, and likewise Wigan would move onto 35 points with a win, 10 clear of Reading and QPR – so whatever the result it is impossible for Reading and QPR not to remain in the bottom three spots.

Of more concern for teams higher in the table was the PFA Player of the Year Awards, now the destination of the title has already been decided.  Gareth Bale took the prize for the second time after a blistering run of form in the second half of the season which has given credibility to comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Robin Van Persie again demonstrated his credentials for the award at the weekend against his former club Arsenal.  He may have almost walked into the wrong dressing room at the Emirates Stadium as Manchester United arrived, however it was Bacary Sanga that seemed to momentarily forget Van Persie had moved on, passing him the ball before fouling him in the area to give Van Persie the opportunity to score from the spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBLM_TFTydY

Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale were nominated for the PFA Player of the Year Awards as they have both seemingly carried their clubs with their fantastic form, however as Luis Suarez begins his 10 match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic, Liverpool demonstrated they are no one man team, racking up their highest scoring win of the season over Newcastle without their star striker.

Coutinho and Sturridge were in inspired form, showing that Liverpool will be able to cope without the controversial Uruguayan, and possibly making members of the Liverpool hierarchy think that should a suitable offer come in, they may well decide to cash in on Suarez and avoid the controversy that follows him around.

The race for the Champions League places between Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, along with the battle to beat the drop, now looking like a straight contest between Wigan and Aston Villa are the main points of interest in the League.

It was a good weekend for Cheslea, as Tottenham and Arsenal dropped points.  Arsenal gaining the point at the expense of Man Utd was also good for Chelsea as it means United cannot surpass Chelsea’s record points total of 95, set in Jose Mourinho’s debut season.

Wigan and Aston Villa meet on the last day of the season, and it appears both their fates hang on that one game.

Elsewhere in Europe, PSG can seal the title next weekend after a bad tempered 1-0 win over Evian.

David Beckham made the headlines for the wrong reasons, receiving a controversial sending off, where he appeared to raise his leg to perform a vicious stamp on his opponent, but instead planted it in the ground and shielded the ball.  From Beckham’s body movement and his opponent’s play acting, the referee was convinced that a foul had occurred.

Beckham is no stranger to a controversial sending off, incurring the hatred of the whole of England in 1998 when he was sent off during England’s World Cup exit to Argentina.  This incident is unlikely to draw the same levels of criticism.

Germany 8 – 1 Spain

This wasn’t the scoreline in the last significant meeting between these two giants of international football.

This is the combined score line when the best of Germany’s club football teams took on the best of Spain’s football clubs.  Both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich both managed to score 4 goals each to set up first leg scorelines that have never been overhauled in Champions League history.

It looks like the Champions League final will be an all German affair for the first time.

Since the inception of the Champions League there has been one all Spanish final, one all Italian final and one all English final, but the Germans have never had the showpiece event all to themselves.

To have two teams in the final shows the strength of a country’s league.  The result is also significant as an indicator of the strength of each country’s national team too.

In 2008, a Fernando Torres goal was enough to defeat Germany in the Final of Euro 2008, and since then Spain have won the World Cup and a further European Championship. 

Going into Euro 2012, people believed that Germany would prove their biggest threat, and with the core of the German team destroying Barcelona, the core of the Spanish national team, there will be many who will see the Germans as the favourites for next year’s World Cup.

With German players like Schweinstager, Muller, Lahm, Kroos and Gomez playing key roles in an all conquering Bayern team, it looks like Bayern Munich’s success is likely to be linked with the national teams.  Robert Lewandowski may have dominated the game with his goals, but Borussia Dortmund also have a large German influence in their team.

It isn’t all over yet.  Real have scored an away goal.  Barcelona should have Lionel Messi back to full fitness for the return leg, and both the second legs are in Spain, but Germany could not have given any better demonstration of their leagues growing strength than they did this week.