Champions League Semi Finals

What a pair of games these two turned out to be.  In no ones wildest dreams can anyone have envisaged a 10 man Chelsea come back from 2 down to draw 2-2 away at the mecca of modern football, the Camp Nou.  Surely not many thought that Bayern could overturn the away goal against a Real team fresh from winning their first El Clasico in a while?

No many would have predicted it, and that's what makes it all the more entertaining and stunning.


Barcelona will be left feeling empty and robbed after completely battering the Blues from West London over the two legs but without being able to book themselves into the final on May 19th in Munich.  Roberto Di Matteo who three years ago to the day was overseeing a MK Dons team lose to Walsall in League 2 certainly has pulled on all his previous experience to help push the aging and 'over the hill' Chelsea old guard over one last hurdle to reach their second ever Champions League final.  Pep Guardiola may not be in his job at the end of the season as he makes a decision on his future, sadly for Di Matteo, a man who has helped transform Chelsea in his 15 games in charge, may not get the full-time managers job even if Chelsea do go on to win the Champions League! It's tough at the top!

After that shock Barca defeat Real Madrid we're already etching their name on the famous trophy for the 10th time as they were 2 nil up within no time at all in their home leg at the Bernabeu.   Those efficient Germans had other ideas however and deservedly went through after playing with invention, guts and attacking flair, as well as taking some a few better penalties.  Ronaldo and Kaka a pair of the worlds most expensive and well known players fluffed their lines in the penalty shoot out with Manuel Neuer saving each penalty kick comfortably.  It was a crazy semi final stage and one of the most entertaining and interesting from a neutral perspective in recent memory.




Before the first leg everyone and their dog had written Chelsea off, during the first half onslaught of the second leg, that chance was even less.  Fair play to Chelsea though as they showed real fighting spirit (and not the kind John Terry was involved in when he kneed Alexi Sanchez square in the back off the ball) but the kind of steely determination and never say die attitude that used to so very British and for a night at least was again thanks for an expensively assembled team with players from all over the world selected by an Italian and man handled by a Russian Oligarch... so as British as it gets really.  The scenes of jubilation after the match we the type that money can't buy, fitting then that Abramovich wasn't even there to see it, must have been busy doing something else I suppose!?

All this leads us up to the final itself in Bayern's home stadium in a couple of weeks time.  Surely it won't live up to the games that got them there? But I'm sure both sides will give it a good go...

Lionel Messi - Simply the best

Lionel Messi is the best player in the world and could be the best player ever. The battle between himself and Cristano Ronaldo for the goal scoring golden boots and personal accolades is well documented and versed. I'm not going to go over that any more than this. Ronaldo is a powerful, talented and classy player, he is however, in my opinion missing some of the key elements of Messi's humble game. The little Argentinians turn of pace, incredible close control and guile when passing and finishing is unrivaled in the history of the game. The world game agrees with this voting him the 2009, 2010, 2011 World Player of the Year, and he's odds on to win this years award too.

If it's free kicks, scoops, one on ones, curlers, drives, dinks, one touch finishes, volley's, half volley's, penalty's, slide rule, lobs, outside of the foot, smashes, pokes, toes, laces or 'other' it's the diminutive Barcelona man that you want on the end of the ball. The only part of his game that is questionable is his heading, but he did help Barcelona beat Manchester United in the 2009 final with a great headed effort, so he can't be that bad! The only other question about him being the best all time (a title that Pele and Diego Maradona have unofficially 'shared' depending who you ask) is his international form and his ability to drive Argentina to World Cup glory as Maradona did in 1986 and Pele did for Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970 . If anyone can stop the Spanish, and his Barcelona team mates on the international stage it might be Messi. The 2014 World cup in Brazil could be the perfect stage for him to show the world he truly is the greatest player to ever kick a ball if he can lead his country to triumph. It's a big ask, but it's possible.

The 24 year old may not even 'peak' for another couple of years, which is a frightening thought to all the defenders throughout the world, but even if he maintains and stays at the level he is, he will continue to embarress teams, win trophies and break records. His personal records are already phenomenal.

-Today he scored 5 (the most goals by one player ever in Champions League history) to see Barcelona through to the 1/4 finals against Bayer Leverkusen.
- He has scored 90 goals in his last 92 league appearences for Barcelona in La Liga.

(The list goes on and on and on and on and on, so here I've copied the main awards for individual brilliance and club success.)

FIFA Ballon d'Or: (2) 2010, 2011
Ballon d'Or: (1) 2009
FIFA World Player of the Year: (1) 2009
World Soccer Player of the Year: (2) 2009, 2011
World Soccer Young Player of the Year: (3) 2006, 2007, 2008

Barcelona

La Liga (5): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

Copa del Rey (1): 2008–09; Runner-up 2010–11

Supercopa de España (5): 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011

UEFA Champions League (3): 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11

UEFA Super Cup (2): 2009, 2011; Runner-up 2006

FIFA Club World Cup (2): 2009, 2011

And there's more, much more, but these are just some highlights.  The backdrop to all these awards is what makes him the best ever for me.  Messi has done this in an intensely professional, faster, stronger and more intelligent world of football than anyone before him.  He has helped shape the modern game and reinvent the way scouts look at players, and how major clubs play their football.  He is a new breed of player, incredibly skillful, perfect technically and laser fast.  Gone are the days of big bruising lumps that hammer man and ball at any opportunity, because against someone like Messi they will get destroyed.  The best way to stop Messi is to keep the ball away from him, but you'll have to be some team to do that against the pass masters Barcelona.  He has helped Barcelona become identified as not only the best club team in the world (ever?) but also a brand, a brand of football unseen before in it's mesmerizing brilliance.  Barcelona are now a trademark for the personal excellence he exudes.

It's an honor and a real treat to be able to watch a player of this brilliance play the style and quality of football he does week-in-week-out.  I hope as many kids as possible watch and learn from him, because if there is ever anyone better than he, I won't know what to do with myself!  So this is a thank you to Lionel Messi, thanks for showing me just how beautiful the 'beautiful game can be'.

'He's my Maradona' -El Diego

Barcelona and Real Madrid, the battle for supremacy moves from home to Europe

The Champions League is back and it's not only football fans that are excited and relived to see the most prestigious and famous tournament in club football blasting out it's wonderful action, drama and goals in the group of 16 knock out stages. A certain Pep Guardiola will be more than happy to see his boys travelling to Germany to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 last night as they attempt to become back-to-back champions.

Compared to his biggest rival in Spain, Real Madrid's own 'special one' Jose Mourinho, Mister Guardiola has had a relatively quiet time in the press so far this season. Since the Copa Del Rey 'el clasico' series which Barcelona won, the pressure all seemed to be on Mourinho. There were tales of training ground bust ups including arguments with two of Spain's 2010 World Cup winning hero's and Madradista's Sergio Ramos and club and national captain Ilker Casillas. There were rumours that Mourinho wanted out of Real and was looking for a return to England where the press and public took to him like one of their own, so much so he's been linked with the vacant England managers position. During this pressurised time Mourinho has showed why he is so special, Real have been winning, and winning a lot, and winning more than their bitter rivals. These recent events in La Liga now see Guardiola facing some difficult and previously unasked questions.

Are Real Madrid now the best team in Spain?

The league title looks to be going back to the Capital after the three years it's spent in Catalonia. Real Madrid have amassed a 10 point league over Barca. This means that even if Barcelona win all their remaining games (something that looks highly unlikely on current form) Real can afford to lose 3 games and still finish as Champions come May (providing they win the other games - which is much more likely). So, why have Barca gone off the boil domestically? Head-to-head in the various clasico's they seem to be far more accomplished a side, but during the season they have struggled to turn possession and fluidity into points. Real on the other hand, outclassed in recent clasico meetings, have powered through teams with dynamic efficiency and bags of goals. Barca won the battles, but Real are winning the war.

The total football inspired by Johan Cruyff, nurtured in La Masia and polished and perfected by Pep Guardiola wins plaudits the world over. Mourinho's huge squad stacked with talent doesn't win the same respect, but certainly churns out some staggering results and scorelines. Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth hat-trick of the season in this past weekend's 4-2 win over Levante has certainly helped in the 'goals for' department, but Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema have smashed their fair share in too. Real are exciting, powerful and dangerously fast on the break and domestically this means they exploit teams in seconds. Barcelona pass you to death, Real break you to death.

The return of the Champions League means that Guardiola and the Catalan press (who have already conceded the league to Real) can try to deflect attention from home issues and allow themselves the opportunity to show that they are still the best team on the biggest stage. La Liga is a two horse race every season, but recently Barcelona have dominated Europe with three Champions League titles in the past six years and Real not even qualifying for the knock out stages in some of these. If Real can force themselves into the reckoning come the 19th of May in the Fußball Arena in Munich, then they will have well and truly knocked Barca and Guardiola off their dominant perch.

Either way, 'the special one' has done a job on Barcelona many didn't think he could, and domestically at least, his team is the most clinical and efficient. The interest now lies with how both teams perform in Europe in the next few months, something Barcelona (and their press) will be keen to make their own to restore some of their 'untouchable' gloss.