If you have18 minutes to kill, you need to watch the highlights of yesterday's amazing Barcelona-Arsenal match. It was the biggest 2-2 thrashing you'll ever see.
Quite an amazing result indeed. Barca should have killed the match beyond any doubt before Arsenal got back in the game. You'd have to think the tie is beyond Arsenal anyway with the two away goals and considering how the utter dominance of Barca's attacking will translate at home. On top of all that, Arsenal's best player, Cesc Fabregas, will miss out on a return home. But with both Pique and Puyol also out suspended (was the Puyol call the right call? Eh, I can go either way on it), it will be an intriguing match, even if Arsenal should really fear the worst (Messi wasn't nearly as devastating as he can be). Barcelona's magical, beautiful passing is what all teams should aspire too and if they go on like this, who's to stop them? Appointment viewing.
Showing posts with label UEFA Champions League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UEFA Champions League. Show all posts
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Manchester (and England) Wait with Baited Breath
If there was a piece of injury news that could completely overshadow Bayern turning the tables on Manchester United with a late injury time winner, it was the one piece of news a city and nation feared most. Wayne Rooney, injured.
Part of a double blow, Rooney awkwardly injured his ankle while the ball was taken in the other direction, eventually leading to the game winning goal after Ivica Olic ghosted behind Patrice Evra to steal the ball and slot home. As Olic and the Münchner celebrated wildly, Rooney had to be carried off the field, unable to put any pressure on his foot.
Let's get the game out of the way. Bayern were better and deserved to win. Even with key midfielders Arjen Robben and Bastien Schweinsteiger out injured, Bayern controlled the play and probably should have scored more but for some great saves by Edwin van der Saar and some bad misses by the German side. Man U also threatened on the break, and leaving the Allianz Arena down 2-1 with an away goal in the pocket is nothing to be ashamed of.
The manner of the loss will certainly hurt for the Mancunians. Ribery's goal took a wicked deflection off Rooney, though the key of play was Bayern's man in the middle of the wall. Most people are focusing on the bad luck suffered by Rooney on the play, but it showed why attacking teams try to put players in the wall (or at the end of it at least). The Bayern player peeled out, allowing enough space for the ball to squeeze past the Man U bodies and hit Rooney's legs behind him as he jumped and turned. Without the Bayern man there, maybe there's another Man U player in his spot or Rooney is tighter and the shot never gets through or the block is more solid and the ball goes wide.
When plays like that go in your favor, maybe the football gods are smiling upon you.
If more evidence of said favor was needed, the final play sealed the deal. Nemanja Vidic did well to tackle Gomez, bringing him down while the ball bounced ahead toward Evra, who was running back to goal at an angle to cut off Gomez's run. As anyone who's been caught like that by a unsuspecting deflected ball, when you weren't prepared, knows it isn't so easy to deal with. Furthermore, the deflection off Vidic played the ball slightly behind Evra, so he was immediately put in a bad position. But he was still lackadaisical in trying to stop his momentum and either control the ball safely or clear it, and unaware of Olic's position, the Bayern attacker stole in easily and finished calmly past van der Saar.
Back to the big news, Rooney's injury. So far reports indicate a layoff of about 2-4 weeks. Surely enough time to heal for the World Cup but devastating for Man U's season, what with the top of the table clash against Chelsea this weekend and the return match against Bayern next. Even if it's not bad, surely every step and tackle will be closely watched by the England faithful. Could Rooney be on the verge of being overworked and burnt out? A twisted ankle is very susceptible to re-injury if not properly healed and strengthened 100%, so how he's used by Sir Alex upon his return will have Fabio Capello up nights.
Man U will claim they can still win without Rooney, as evidenced by their weekend victory over Bolton. But let's get real, the Wanderers and Chelsea are two entirely difference propositions. I have my doubts.
From a broader view, the match showed that Man U are overly reliant on Rooney and lack a superior attacking presence in the center of midfield. I'm as big an admirer of Darren Fletcher as there can be, but the Red Devils need to add some attacking flair to support his all-around industry. The results have proven how invaluable Fletcher is to the Man U cause, particularly by looking at those big matches when he's been unavailable. But the aging Paul Scholes (or Giggs when played there), the passive Michael Carrick, or the disappointing youngster Anderson are not going to cut it when it comes to teams with superior midfield possession and attacking instincts. They've performed up to the task on many an occasion, but not consistently and dominant enough when against the big teams, and one senses that is where Man U falls short.
With Rooney potentially sidelined for a key stretch of the season, Man U's lack of striking options will also be tested. Berbatov is not a prolific scorer, and one laughs at the thought of going into the season relying on Michael Owen to stay fit and contribute as the third striker (though will anyone say the free signing wasn't worth it for his last gasp winner in the Manchester Derby alone? I think not). Meanwhile, the stable of youngsters waiting in the wings have yet to step up and hold down a first team place.
Then again, Man U is not the only team overly reliant on Wayne Rooney, and you can make that two countries that will be waiting intently for injury updates on the golden ankle.
Part of a double blow, Rooney awkwardly injured his ankle while the ball was taken in the other direction, eventually leading to the game winning goal after Ivica Olic ghosted behind Patrice Evra to steal the ball and slot home. As Olic and the Münchner celebrated wildly, Rooney had to be carried off the field, unable to put any pressure on his foot.
Let's get the game out of the way. Bayern were better and deserved to win. Even with key midfielders Arjen Robben and Bastien Schweinsteiger out injured, Bayern controlled the play and probably should have scored more but for some great saves by Edwin van der Saar and some bad misses by the German side. Man U also threatened on the break, and leaving the Allianz Arena down 2-1 with an away goal in the pocket is nothing to be ashamed of.
The manner of the loss will certainly hurt for the Mancunians. Ribery's goal took a wicked deflection off Rooney, though the key of play was Bayern's man in the middle of the wall. Most people are focusing on the bad luck suffered by Rooney on the play, but it showed why attacking teams try to put players in the wall (or at the end of it at least). The Bayern player peeled out, allowing enough space for the ball to squeeze past the Man U bodies and hit Rooney's legs behind him as he jumped and turned. Without the Bayern man there, maybe there's another Man U player in his spot or Rooney is tighter and the shot never gets through or the block is more solid and the ball goes wide.
When plays like that go in your favor, maybe the football gods are smiling upon you.
If more evidence of said favor was needed, the final play sealed the deal. Nemanja Vidic did well to tackle Gomez, bringing him down while the ball bounced ahead toward Evra, who was running back to goal at an angle to cut off Gomez's run. As anyone who's been caught like that by a unsuspecting deflected ball, when you weren't prepared, knows it isn't so easy to deal with. Furthermore, the deflection off Vidic played the ball slightly behind Evra, so he was immediately put in a bad position. But he was still lackadaisical in trying to stop his momentum and either control the ball safely or clear it, and unaware of Olic's position, the Bayern attacker stole in easily and finished calmly past van der Saar.
Back to the big news, Rooney's injury. So far reports indicate a layoff of about 2-4 weeks. Surely enough time to heal for the World Cup but devastating for Man U's season, what with the top of the table clash against Chelsea this weekend and the return match against Bayern next. Even if it's not bad, surely every step and tackle will be closely watched by the England faithful. Could Rooney be on the verge of being overworked and burnt out? A twisted ankle is very susceptible to re-injury if not properly healed and strengthened 100%, so how he's used by Sir Alex upon his return will have Fabio Capello up nights.
Man U will claim they can still win without Rooney, as evidenced by their weekend victory over Bolton. But let's get real, the Wanderers and Chelsea are two entirely difference propositions. I have my doubts.
From a broader view, the match showed that Man U are overly reliant on Rooney and lack a superior attacking presence in the center of midfield. I'm as big an admirer of Darren Fletcher as there can be, but the Red Devils need to add some attacking flair to support his all-around industry. The results have proven how invaluable Fletcher is to the Man U cause, particularly by looking at those big matches when he's been unavailable. But the aging Paul Scholes (or Giggs when played there), the passive Michael Carrick, or the disappointing youngster Anderson are not going to cut it when it comes to teams with superior midfield possession and attacking instincts. They've performed up to the task on many an occasion, but not consistently and dominant enough when against the big teams, and one senses that is where Man U falls short.
With Rooney potentially sidelined for a key stretch of the season, Man U's lack of striking options will also be tested. Berbatov is not a prolific scorer, and one laughs at the thought of going into the season relying on Michael Owen to stay fit and contribute as the third striker (though will anyone say the free signing wasn't worth it for his last gasp winner in the Manchester Derby alone? I think not). Meanwhile, the stable of youngsters waiting in the wings have yet to step up and hold down a first team place.
Then again, Man U is not the only team overly reliant on Wayne Rooney, and you can make that two countries that will be waiting intently for injury updates on the golden ankle.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Elite Eight and MLS Opening Weekend
We're down to the elite 8 of Europe's finest this week, with the Champions League featuring maybe not the most exciting quarterfinal match ups ever, but certainly a string of March upsets (sensing a theme here?) have left a number of underdogs still in the field.
The one mouthwatering tie above all others is Barcelona-Arsenal on Wednesday. If ever there was a match to get your friends who say soccer is boring to watch, this is it. Should be some exquisite, silky passing football on display, even if Andrés Iniesta will miss out through injury.
Arsenal's string of lucky draws (the Duke of Champions League draws, if you will) has come to an end, and so too should their European dreams. Even with Iniesta out, Barca are juts too devastating. Cesc Fabregas may want to show the team where he began his professional career his worth, but it's just hard to image Leo Messi being stopped right now and Barca losing out over two legs.
The other big name matchup, on Tuesday, is Bayern Munich-Manchester United, replaying the classic 1999 final. Bayern hit a rich vein of form from December through February, but they are a very average 2-3-1 in March, dropping to second in the Bundesliga. The talented team also appears to be openly afraid of Wayne Rooney. Man U, on the other hand, just keep on winning, not having lost since the trip to Everton in February. The key for Man U is twofold, both the returning health of their backline and a number of players finding good form at just the right time, including proverbial enigmas such as Berbatov and Nani.
Man U will be favored to reach the finals, with the winner of the French pairing Lyon and Bordeaux awaiting in the semi-finals. That quarterfinal I'm sure is going to be a huge TV draw.
On the other side of the draw, the Barca-Arsenal winner will face the Inter-CSKA Moscow winner. CSKA was considered the plum draw, but like a "mid-major", they are more than talented enough, particularly at keeper, to pull off another upset. Inter has also had an uneven month, with AS Roma and AC Milan crawling to within one and three points of the Serie A leaders respectively.
Could we be nearing a final four of the Champions League without a single "#1 seed"? That would be quite remarkable, though it's hard to imagine none of Man U, Barca or Inter advancing, and it's fully possible that chalk will prevail. Bayern, Lyon, Arsenal, and Inter are the home sides this week, so it will be interesting to see how Bayern and Arsenal in particular react against teams more than capable of grabbing the away goals advantage.
...
MLS opened up its never-ending season this weekend, a rather forgettable weekend from my point of view. Not that it was entirely surprising that DC United started the season slowly and couldn't win at Kansas City.
Moving on from that nightmare, Seattle looked very good and the preseason predictions that the Sounders will challenge for the MLS Cup in their second year may very well hold true. The other big new was really the opening of Red Bull Arena. The gorgeous arena, which appears to now house a passable football team, was only half full at the start, though it filled up to an announced 24k (it seats 25k). The crowd sounded quite lively and it's should immensely help the Red Bulls, and I'm very excited about making a road trip there this season. Will the crowds hold up? They will almost certainly dip as the season goes on, but it's good to just get the black mark that was playing in Giants stadium off the MLS books.
Other teams that should be good, including RSL, LA, and Columbus, won, but I don't take much stock in early MLS results. This weekend I'll see DC up close, though sadly I may be more excited just to tailgate and see Wale perform before the game than to see the actual game after Saturday night's performance. Much better will be expected by the home crowd.
The one mouthwatering tie above all others is Barcelona-Arsenal on Wednesday. If ever there was a match to get your friends who say soccer is boring to watch, this is it. Should be some exquisite, silky passing football on display, even if Andrés Iniesta will miss out through injury.
Arsenal's string of lucky draws (the Duke of Champions League draws, if you will) has come to an end, and so too should their European dreams. Even with Iniesta out, Barca are juts too devastating. Cesc Fabregas may want to show the team where he began his professional career his worth, but it's just hard to image Leo Messi being stopped right now and Barca losing out over two legs.
The other big name matchup, on Tuesday, is Bayern Munich-Manchester United, replaying the classic 1999 final. Bayern hit a rich vein of form from December through February, but they are a very average 2-3-1 in March, dropping to second in the Bundesliga. The talented team also appears to be openly afraid of Wayne Rooney. Man U, on the other hand, just keep on winning, not having lost since the trip to Everton in February. The key for Man U is twofold, both the returning health of their backline and a number of players finding good form at just the right time, including proverbial enigmas such as Berbatov and Nani.
Man U will be favored to reach the finals, with the winner of the French pairing Lyon and Bordeaux awaiting in the semi-finals. That quarterfinal I'm sure is going to be a huge TV draw.
On the other side of the draw, the Barca-Arsenal winner will face the Inter-CSKA Moscow winner. CSKA was considered the plum draw, but like a "mid-major", they are more than talented enough, particularly at keeper, to pull off another upset. Inter has also had an uneven month, with AS Roma and AC Milan crawling to within one and three points of the Serie A leaders respectively.
Could we be nearing a final four of the Champions League without a single "#1 seed"? That would be quite remarkable, though it's hard to imagine none of Man U, Barca or Inter advancing, and it's fully possible that chalk will prevail. Bayern, Lyon, Arsenal, and Inter are the home sides this week, so it will be interesting to see how Bayern and Arsenal in particular react against teams more than capable of grabbing the away goals advantage.
...
MLS opened up its never-ending season this weekend, a rather forgettable weekend from my point of view. Not that it was entirely surprising that DC United started the season slowly and couldn't win at Kansas City.
Moving on from that nightmare, Seattle looked very good and the preseason predictions that the Sounders will challenge for the MLS Cup in their second year may very well hold true. The other big new was really the opening of Red Bull Arena. The gorgeous arena, which appears to now house a passable football team, was only half full at the start, though it filled up to an announced 24k (it seats 25k). The crowd sounded quite lively and it's should immensely help the Red Bulls, and I'm very excited about making a road trip there this season. Will the crowds hold up? They will almost certainly dip as the season goes on, but it's good to just get the black mark that was playing in Giants stadium off the MLS books.
Other teams that should be good, including RSL, LA, and Columbus, won, but I don't take much stock in early MLS results. This weekend I'll see DC up close, though sadly I may be more excited just to tailgate and see Wale perform before the game than to see the actual game after Saturday night's performance. Much better will be expected by the home crowd.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday News Roundup
There are a lot of news pieces the past few days I want to cover, some good, some not so good.
Starting with the bad news, reports indicate the MLS players union voted 350 to two in favor of a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement can't be reached before the start of the season in two weeks. For a still relatively new league going into a key year, with expansion, increased attention to the sport because of a World Cup year, and the league ever-nearing the goal of having all it's teams in soccer-specific stadia, this could end up a disastrous turn of events.
This is not to say I don't 100% support the players in their fight with management, as I've already written about. Importantly for a league that struggles to legitimize itself at the gate in many markets is a situation I currently find myself in that is probably being repeated across the country.
DC United is desperately trying to get my friends and I to pay the remaining balance on our season tickets before the season starts, having already missed the designated deadline. Yet we're refusing to pay a cent further until we know we'll actually be seeing a product in return for our investment. My friend even laid into our poor DC United season ticket account manager explaining in no uncertain terms how we feel regarding the league's control over player rights and restricted movement, particularly when a hard salary cap limits how much salaries can ultimately increase (and it's a laughably low salary cap at that). We're not talking the NBA or MLB here.
The larger point is that I'm sure we're not alone in our stance, and that has to be seriously hurting the bottom line of numerous teams out there. A strike is still not certain, with the league saying that mediated talks this week have been productive even though the players are standing strong in their position. MLS needs to make concessions and it needs to do it soon. We're happy to give your our money, knowing full well I could spend my time watching the best players in the world on TV or simply spend my money watching the best hockey player on Earth in a much nicer stadium in downtown.
....
I'd like to give a nod to former DC United striker Alecko Eskandarian, who appears to be retiring, without actually using that word. Esky was never going to be a star, but he could have been a very productive MLS player, and will always be remembered as the 2004 MLS Cup MVP in DC United's 3-2 comeback victory over Kansas City. But unfortunately, serious concussions derailed his career.
I'll also love him for embarrassing the NY Red Bulls, which is always a fun thing to do. After scoring against the newly renamed Red Bulls in April of 2006, Esky ran to the sidelines, took a can of Red Bull, took a swig, then promptly spit it out on the Giants Stadium turf. He was fined for his antics, but I laughed. And it's just entertainment after all, so you can't ask for much more.
Maybe most importantly, with Yura Movsisyan now at Randers, there is no one to hold the mantle for Armenian footballers in MLS. Anyway, even though Alecko was probably too "Jersey" for my liking, I hope Alecko the best.
...
Following up on news that Jermaine Jones was with the US National Team in Amsterdam for their recent friendly against the Netherlands is some interesting quotes from Tim Howard in an interview with Grant Wahl of SI. Speaking about the team, he said that they are "hoping that Jermaine Jones makes it" and recovers from his injury problems to play in the World Cup.
Apparently the meeting, the first between Jones and the rest of the team, went well and Howard thinks Jones will fit in nicely because "he's got a lot of tattoos, he likes his music." Good to know the requirements of how to fit in with the USMNT. I think we can probably get Allen Iverson (if he's sober) and LeBron James on the team in time.
Still, the key point by Howard was that this version of the US team welcomes new comers with open arms (unlike say the reaction to the late addition of David Regis to the 1998 team). The players know well that Jones is highly regarded and feel that his addition would provide a boost to the squad and will welcome him accordingly. In fact, Howard compared the morale boost of adding a difference maker to the addition of Landon Donovan at Everton, while also noting that Charlie Davies would provide the same boost.
I previously gave up on Jones and was going to assume he was out of the picture for this World Cup, but hoped he would enter the team after that. I also worried about the chemistry issues if he just came in and took a starting spot from someone. Now, while still a little skeptical about his injury recovery, I'm suddenly much more interested in seeing Jones return to action and seeing him integrated into the team. With Clint Dempsey returning to action this week and Davies and Oguchi looking positive in their comebacks, one can only hope the injury situation will completely turn around and give the US the boost Howard was talking about for a sustained run in South Africa.
...
Lots of European action, so I'll hit on a few highlights.
A day after Arsenal crushed Porto, Manchester United was not to be outdone, routing AC Milan 4-0 on the back (or head rather) of Wayne Rooney. He's now reached 30 goals on the season and talk is turning toward him taking aim at Cristiano Ronaldo's 42 goals for Man U two seasons ago.
While there is a lot of soccer still to be played this season, this summer, and the opening of next season, but it appears Rooney is positioning himself to win worldwide honors. At the moment, I think I'd vote for him as best player on the planet over Leo Messi and others. His form has been just unstoppable recently. He doesn't give you the same flash as Ronaldo or Messi and he doesn't score as many awe-inspiring strikes as Ronaldo, such as the famous free kick against Portsmouth in the 42 goal campaign or his Champions League blasts against Porto and Arsenal last year. But Rooney's work-rate is second to none and by improving his heading of the ball this year he's turned himself into a more complete striker.
Regardless of the merits about whether Man U is better off without Ronaldo, which I still doubt when you consider their slight weakness in midfield compared to other top teams like Chelsea and Barca, you can't argue that Rooney hasn't benefited (yes that's a double negative).
Speaking of Ronaldo, he couldn't prevent Real Madrid from disappoint again despite scoring an early goal for los merengues. Truly astounding that this talented team still can't get it right. And Lyon is still a marvel.
Meanwhile, the Europa League round of 16 is poised with intrigue after the first legs of some very interesting ties. Liverpool continue to disappoint, losing by a goal to nil against Lille (how about those French clubs!). Some other nice matches include Valencia-Weder Bremen and Benfica-Marseille tied at 1 and Atletico Madrid-Sporting Lisbon goalless.
In Turin, Juve outclassed Fulham in Clint Demspey's return to action with a 3-1 victory. Juve's stated goal for this year is to climb the Serie A table and secure Champions League football for next season, but it appears they are poised for a run in the Europa League. I do want to point out that the attendance at the Stadio Olimpico was announced at 11,406. That number would be piddling for an MLS match (the last two seasons, very down years for DC United, saw them have an average attendance of 16,000 in 2009 and almost 20,000 in 2008), let alone for a big European match.
Of course that's because it's really only a "big" match for Fulham. The Cottagers are calling it one of the biggest in club history, while for Juve it's a big drop from battles against the likes of Man U and Real Madrid on the European stage. Although the Champions League is expected for a big club like Juve, the Europa League is nothing to be ashamed of, and in fact it could well prove to be more intriguing that the Champions League this season. I'll be happy to see Juve take it seriously and attempt to win the whole thing. Not sure they will, but Italian soccer could use any good news it can get.
Starting with the bad news, reports indicate the MLS players union voted 350 to two in favor of a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement can't be reached before the start of the season in two weeks. For a still relatively new league going into a key year, with expansion, increased attention to the sport because of a World Cup year, and the league ever-nearing the goal of having all it's teams in soccer-specific stadia, this could end up a disastrous turn of events.
This is not to say I don't 100% support the players in their fight with management, as I've already written about. Importantly for a league that struggles to legitimize itself at the gate in many markets is a situation I currently find myself in that is probably being repeated across the country.
DC United is desperately trying to get my friends and I to pay the remaining balance on our season tickets before the season starts, having already missed the designated deadline. Yet we're refusing to pay a cent further until we know we'll actually be seeing a product in return for our investment. My friend even laid into our poor DC United season ticket account manager explaining in no uncertain terms how we feel regarding the league's control over player rights and restricted movement, particularly when a hard salary cap limits how much salaries can ultimately increase (and it's a laughably low salary cap at that). We're not talking the NBA or MLB here.
The larger point is that I'm sure we're not alone in our stance, and that has to be seriously hurting the bottom line of numerous teams out there. A strike is still not certain, with the league saying that mediated talks this week have been productive even though the players are standing strong in their position. MLS needs to make concessions and it needs to do it soon. We're happy to give your our money, knowing full well I could spend my time watching the best players in the world on TV or simply spend my money watching the best hockey player on Earth in a much nicer stadium in downtown.
....
I'd like to give a nod to former DC United striker Alecko Eskandarian, who appears to be retiring, without actually using that word. Esky was never going to be a star, but he could have been a very productive MLS player, and will always be remembered as the 2004 MLS Cup MVP in DC United's 3-2 comeback victory over Kansas City. But unfortunately, serious concussions derailed his career.
I'll also love him for embarrassing the NY Red Bulls, which is always a fun thing to do. After scoring against the newly renamed Red Bulls in April of 2006, Esky ran to the sidelines, took a can of Red Bull, took a swig, then promptly spit it out on the Giants Stadium turf. He was fined for his antics, but I laughed. And it's just entertainment after all, so you can't ask for much more.
Maybe most importantly, with Yura Movsisyan now at Randers, there is no one to hold the mantle for Armenian footballers in MLS. Anyway, even though Alecko was probably too "Jersey" for my liking, I hope Alecko the best.
...
Following up on news that Jermaine Jones was with the US National Team in Amsterdam for their recent friendly against the Netherlands is some interesting quotes from Tim Howard in an interview with Grant Wahl of SI. Speaking about the team, he said that they are "hoping that Jermaine Jones makes it" and recovers from his injury problems to play in the World Cup.
Apparently the meeting, the first between Jones and the rest of the team, went well and Howard thinks Jones will fit in nicely because "he's got a lot of tattoos, he likes his music." Good to know the requirements of how to fit in with the USMNT. I think we can probably get Allen Iverson (if he's sober) and LeBron James on the team in time.
Still, the key point by Howard was that this version of the US team welcomes new comers with open arms (unlike say the reaction to the late addition of David Regis to the 1998 team). The players know well that Jones is highly regarded and feel that his addition would provide a boost to the squad and will welcome him accordingly. In fact, Howard compared the morale boost of adding a difference maker to the addition of Landon Donovan at Everton, while also noting that Charlie Davies would provide the same boost.
I previously gave up on Jones and was going to assume he was out of the picture for this World Cup, but hoped he would enter the team after that. I also worried about the chemistry issues if he just came in and took a starting spot from someone. Now, while still a little skeptical about his injury recovery, I'm suddenly much more interested in seeing Jones return to action and seeing him integrated into the team. With Clint Dempsey returning to action this week and Davies and Oguchi looking positive in their comebacks, one can only hope the injury situation will completely turn around and give the US the boost Howard was talking about for a sustained run in South Africa.
...
Lots of European action, so I'll hit on a few highlights.
A day after Arsenal crushed Porto, Manchester United was not to be outdone, routing AC Milan 4-0 on the back (or head rather) of Wayne Rooney. He's now reached 30 goals on the season and talk is turning toward him taking aim at Cristiano Ronaldo's 42 goals for Man U two seasons ago.
While there is a lot of soccer still to be played this season, this summer, and the opening of next season, but it appears Rooney is positioning himself to win worldwide honors. At the moment, I think I'd vote for him as best player on the planet over Leo Messi and others. His form has been just unstoppable recently. He doesn't give you the same flash as Ronaldo or Messi and he doesn't score as many awe-inspiring strikes as Ronaldo, such as the famous free kick against Portsmouth in the 42 goal campaign or his Champions League blasts against Porto and Arsenal last year. But Rooney's work-rate is second to none and by improving his heading of the ball this year he's turned himself into a more complete striker.
Regardless of the merits about whether Man U is better off without Ronaldo, which I still doubt when you consider their slight weakness in midfield compared to other top teams like Chelsea and Barca, you can't argue that Rooney hasn't benefited (yes that's a double negative).
Speaking of Ronaldo, he couldn't prevent Real Madrid from disappoint again despite scoring an early goal for los merengues. Truly astounding that this talented team still can't get it right. And Lyon is still a marvel.
Meanwhile, the Europa League round of 16 is poised with intrigue after the first legs of some very interesting ties. Liverpool continue to disappoint, losing by a goal to nil against Lille (how about those French clubs!). Some other nice matches include Valencia-Weder Bremen and Benfica-Marseille tied at 1 and Atletico Madrid-Sporting Lisbon goalless.
In Turin, Juve outclassed Fulham in Clint Demspey's return to action with a 3-1 victory. Juve's stated goal for this year is to climb the Serie A table and secure Champions League football for next season, but it appears they are poised for a run in the Europa League. I do want to point out that the attendance at the Stadio Olimpico was announced at 11,406. That number would be piddling for an MLS match (the last two seasons, very down years for DC United, saw them have an average attendance of 16,000 in 2009 and almost 20,000 in 2008), let alone for a big European match.
Of course that's because it's really only a "big" match for Fulham. The Cottagers are calling it one of the biggest in club history, while for Juve it's a big drop from battles against the likes of Man U and Real Madrid on the European stage. Although the Champions League is expected for a big club like Juve, the Europa League is nothing to be ashamed of, and in fact it could well prove to be more intriguing that the Champions League this season. I'll be happy to see Juve take it seriously and attempt to win the whole thing. Not sure they will, but Italian soccer could use any good news it can get.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Bendtner Still Sucks and Beckham Returns
Champions League football has returned and we now have the first two teams in teh quarter finals after Arsenal trounced Porto 5-0 and Bayern Munich got a screamer from Arjen Robben to push them past Fiorentina on away goals.
Here's Robben's goal:
Arsenal appear to be hitting full stride at the right time, not just in the Champions League but also in the EPL, where they sit level on points with Chelsea, just two back of Manchester United. Although Samir Nasri scored a nice solo goal, the real talk has been of Nicklas Bendtner's hat trick. This comes after critics were railing on him for a series of egregious misses against Burnley. Bendtner has long thought highly of himself and Arsene Wenger has given the young man plenty of chances despite his too oft profligacy in front of goal. No matter how many he scored, I still say he's overrated and he rarely strikes fear in the heart of opposing defenses.
Today's big drama is the return of David Beckham to Old Trafford as AC Milan have a mountain to climb against Man U. The 3-2 away victory for the Red Devils puts them squarely in the driver's seat, but let's see if Ronaldinho can conjure up some old magic.
More intriguing possibly is the Real Madrid-Lyon match. Lyon take a 1-0 lead into the Bernabeu, the key there being they did not concede an away goal in France. This will be an all important match for Madrid, as they have not reached the Champions League quarterfinals five years running, and nothing less was expected of the new galacticos this season. They should probably complete the task, but it could be a tense affair. Coming off the 3-2 victory over Sevilla and taking over top spot in La Liga will give the home side confidence, but you always get the sense that that confidence can be easily rattled and the crowd made nervous.
Lyon have probably overacheived, though that seems to be the consensus in the Champions League every year from the general public who don't fancy them as much as the big boys from the big three leagues. Of course to the Lyonnaise, they have perpetually underachieved, never taking the next step forward in the Champions League that their domestic dominance would call for. Still, I don't think today will be that day.
Here's Robben's goal:
Arsenal appear to be hitting full stride at the right time, not just in the Champions League but also in the EPL, where they sit level on points with Chelsea, just two back of Manchester United. Although Samir Nasri scored a nice solo goal, the real talk has been of Nicklas Bendtner's hat trick. This comes after critics were railing on him for a series of egregious misses against Burnley. Bendtner has long thought highly of himself and Arsene Wenger has given the young man plenty of chances despite his too oft profligacy in front of goal. No matter how many he scored, I still say he's overrated and he rarely strikes fear in the heart of opposing defenses.
Today's big drama is the return of David Beckham to Old Trafford as AC Milan have a mountain to climb against Man U. The 3-2 away victory for the Red Devils puts them squarely in the driver's seat, but let's see if Ronaldinho can conjure up some old magic.
More intriguing possibly is the Real Madrid-Lyon match. Lyon take a 1-0 lead into the Bernabeu, the key there being they did not concede an away goal in France. This will be an all important match for Madrid, as they have not reached the Champions League quarterfinals five years running, and nothing less was expected of the new galacticos this season. They should probably complete the task, but it could be a tense affair. Coming off the 3-2 victory over Sevilla and taking over top spot in La Liga will give the home side confidence, but you always get the sense that that confidence can be easily rattled and the crowd made nervous.
Lyon have probably overacheived, though that seems to be the consensus in the Champions League every year from the general public who don't fancy them as much as the big boys from the big three leagues. Of course to the Lyonnaise, they have perpetually underachieved, never taking the next step forward in the Champions League that their domestic dominance would call for. Still, I don't think today will be that day.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Champions League Group Stage Results
The group stages are done in the UEFA Champions League, here is the list of teams advancing:
Group A: Bordeaux, Bayern Munich
Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow
Group C: Real Madrid, AC Milan
Group D: Chelsea, FC Porto
Group E: Fiorentina, Lyon
Group F: Barcelona, Inter Milan
Group G: Sevilla FC, VfB Stuttgart
Group H: Arsenal, Olympiakos
For those of you scoring at home, the teams break down as follows: 3 English, 3 Italian, 3 Spanish, 2 French, 2 German, 1 Russian, 1 Greek, 1 Portuguese, 0 massive surprises.
Yes there were maybe two or three small surprises. Fiorentina finished tops over Lyon and Liverpool, which was a surprise. But you'd have to be naive to have thought going in that Liverpool was a shoe-in to advance. They were so obviously flawed, and Fiorentina is better than most people realized.
Bordeaux advancing rather than Juve is also a small surprise, but under their current situation, again it's not a big surprise that Juve was knocked out. A good Europa run could be good for them. However, it was a bit of a shock to see them capitulate at home to Bayern. This blog on ESPN said it wasn't a surprise, and even I warned that Bayern could be finding form. And considering Bayern's firepower, a victory surely wasn't shocking.
However, I would like to point out, purely because I like pointing out blatantly absurd things, that the previously linked blog based the idea that it wasn't a surprise victory on the theory that the Castrol Index Rankings of footballers foretold that Bayern was far more talented than Juve. These "rankings" are laughable at best. All you need to see is the number one player - Thierry Henry. That's right. Apparently hand balls are the triple word score here. I didn't even bother with checking out how the rankings are devised other than seeing that it's supposedly based on how they actually perform in-game because I could pull names out of a hat and do better. Rafa Marquez is tied for #5. I almost puked. Luca Toni at #10?? He doesn't even play and Bayern is just dying to offload him. OK, granted some ratings are right (Messi and Ronaldo at #2 and 3). But then Gigi Buffon is ranked #163? That puts him tied for 10th in Italy among goalkeepers. Are there even 10, no 5 keepers in the world better than him right now? Anyhow...
OK, back to the whole no surprises point. So there are really two, maybe three teams here that you'd normally be surprised to see. Olympiakos stands out, but they were in the pee-wee group compared to the Barca-Inter-Dynamo and Juve-Bayern-Bordeaux groups of death. The only surprise remaining is seeing CSKA advance above the German champs, VfL Wolfsburg. Spanish apologists will be disappointed Atlético Madrid didn't advance, but then again they've sucked balls this year.
On the winning side, I was encouraged by Man U beating Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena despite lacking a starting defense and playing a team of might mites. Still, Michael Owen scores a hat-trick and everyone in England suddenly wets themselves thinking they could have a second striker to use in South Africa. I will say I've been impressed with Gabriel Obertan even though he's been used mostly as a substitute. If they were somehow to prise Edin Dzeko away from Wolfsburg and preferred destination Milan, they could be formidable next year with young developing wingers like Obertan and Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney, and other youngsters Macheda, Walbeck, and Gibson down the pipeline. Center midfield reinforcements still needed though.
Finally, a shout out to David Moyes for getting Landon Donovan on a two-month loan for injury plagued Everton. Hopefully Donovan will get a fair shake with the Toffees and we may even see him play against some of the aforementioned Champions League failures in the Europa League. Good luck LD.
Group A: Bordeaux, Bayern Munich
Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow
Group C: Real Madrid, AC Milan
Group D: Chelsea, FC Porto
Group E: Fiorentina, Lyon
Group F: Barcelona, Inter Milan
Group G: Sevilla FC, VfB Stuttgart
Group H: Arsenal, Olympiakos
For those of you scoring at home, the teams break down as follows: 3 English, 3 Italian, 3 Spanish, 2 French, 2 German, 1 Russian, 1 Greek, 1 Portuguese, 0 massive surprises.
Yes there were maybe two or three small surprises. Fiorentina finished tops over Lyon and Liverpool, which was a surprise. But you'd have to be naive to have thought going in that Liverpool was a shoe-in to advance. They were so obviously flawed, and Fiorentina is better than most people realized.
Bordeaux advancing rather than Juve is also a small surprise, but under their current situation, again it's not a big surprise that Juve was knocked out. A good Europa run could be good for them. However, it was a bit of a shock to see them capitulate at home to Bayern. This blog on ESPN said it wasn't a surprise, and even I warned that Bayern could be finding form. And considering Bayern's firepower, a victory surely wasn't shocking.
However, I would like to point out, purely because I like pointing out blatantly absurd things, that the previously linked blog based the idea that it wasn't a surprise victory on the theory that the Castrol Index Rankings of footballers foretold that Bayern was far more talented than Juve. These "rankings" are laughable at best. All you need to see is the number one player - Thierry Henry. That's right. Apparently hand balls are the triple word score here. I didn't even bother with checking out how the rankings are devised other than seeing that it's supposedly based on how they actually perform in-game because I could pull names out of a hat and do better. Rafa Marquez is tied for #5. I almost puked. Luca Toni at #10?? He doesn't even play and Bayern is just dying to offload him. OK, granted some ratings are right (Messi and Ronaldo at #2 and 3). But then Gigi Buffon is ranked #163? That puts him tied for 10th in Italy among goalkeepers. Are there even 10, no 5 keepers in the world better than him right now? Anyhow...
OK, back to the whole no surprises point. So there are really two, maybe three teams here that you'd normally be surprised to see. Olympiakos stands out, but they were in the pee-wee group compared to the Barca-Inter-Dynamo and Juve-Bayern-Bordeaux groups of death. The only surprise remaining is seeing CSKA advance above the German champs, VfL Wolfsburg. Spanish apologists will be disappointed Atlético Madrid didn't advance, but then again they've sucked balls this year.
On the winning side, I was encouraged by Man U beating Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena despite lacking a starting defense and playing a team of might mites. Still, Michael Owen scores a hat-trick and everyone in England suddenly wets themselves thinking they could have a second striker to use in South Africa. I will say I've been impressed with Gabriel Obertan even though he's been used mostly as a substitute. If they were somehow to prise Edin Dzeko away from Wolfsburg and preferred destination Milan, they could be formidable next year with young developing wingers like Obertan and Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney, and other youngsters Macheda, Walbeck, and Gibson down the pipeline. Center midfield reinforcements still needed though.
Finally, a shout out to David Moyes for getting Landon Donovan on a two-month loan for injury plagued Everton. Hopefully Donovan will get a fair shake with the Toffees and we may even see him play against some of the aforementioned Champions League failures in the Europa League. Good luck LD.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Champions League Group Stage - The Final Days
If you'd like a preview of many of the players who'll be featuring in South Africa in the summer of 2010, today and Wednesday provides a chance to see many of those key players.
This would be the last matchday for the UEFA Champions League group stage, with a number of spots in the knockout stage still up for grabs.
First, in group A, one of the big boys of Europe will be out of the Champions League as Bayern Munich visit Turin to face the Old Lady. Juventus is coming off a nice victory over Serie A leaders Inter over the weekend. It wasn't a dominating performance by any means, but Juve seemed to have grasped the importance of that match and played with the sort of motivation and determination that they need to sustain regularly if they are to challenge for any trophies.
Bayern on the other hand are unbeaten since Sept. 26, though you'd never really know that. They were expected to romp through the Bundesliga, but that hasn't been the case. And yet, even though they've been known for up and down play this season they could be gaining steam as they climb up the German table.
This match pits a number of future World Cup participants from a number of nations, but does that mean the match will be entertaining? I'm not so sure. These are two of the more inconsistent sides, both capable of playing attacking football, but Juve sometimes reverts to a more calculated approach, while Bayern have had some fitness issues to stars Ribery (out for today) and Robben, along with disgruntled Luca Toni out of favor.
An interesting match to keep an eye on will be Man U visiting Wolfsburg. Man U has played well recently, crushing West Ham on Saturday, but are in the midst of an absurd defensive crisis. The starting center backs are likely to be Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick, with Darren Fletcher also a possibility. Edin Dzeko and the Wolfsburg goal scoring machine will certainly look to take advantage of that as they look to ensure passage at the expense of CSKA Moscow (they need to simply equal the efforts of the Russians to advance with Man U).
Of the other big name teams, no one in group C is guaranteed through, though Real Madrid only need a point against Marseille, while AC Milan will be hoping to lock things up against FC Zurich.
The Inter-Barcelona group also has it all to play for, with the unlikely but still actual possibility that Inter and Barca could be knocked out in favor of Russian champs Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev.
Let's face it, most everyone is rooting for the big teams because we want to see the big name players face off in the knockout draw. But is there an underdog poised for an upset? The knockout stages could actually be populated with teams from France and Eastern Europe, as well as German sides that are strong but not as fancied as the English and Spanish sides. I think that would make for a very interesting Champions League, and it would give some players a chance to shine prior to the World Cup that we might not otherwise see. Of course that hope just means that it's going to end up business as usual (Liverpool's early exit not withstanding).
This would be the last matchday for the UEFA Champions League group stage, with a number of spots in the knockout stage still up for grabs.
First, in group A, one of the big boys of Europe will be out of the Champions League as Bayern Munich visit Turin to face the Old Lady. Juventus is coming off a nice victory over Serie A leaders Inter over the weekend. It wasn't a dominating performance by any means, but Juve seemed to have grasped the importance of that match and played with the sort of motivation and determination that they need to sustain regularly if they are to challenge for any trophies.
Bayern on the other hand are unbeaten since Sept. 26, though you'd never really know that. They were expected to romp through the Bundesliga, but that hasn't been the case. And yet, even though they've been known for up and down play this season they could be gaining steam as they climb up the German table.
This match pits a number of future World Cup participants from a number of nations, but does that mean the match will be entertaining? I'm not so sure. These are two of the more inconsistent sides, both capable of playing attacking football, but Juve sometimes reverts to a more calculated approach, while Bayern have had some fitness issues to stars Ribery (out for today) and Robben, along with disgruntled Luca Toni out of favor.
An interesting match to keep an eye on will be Man U visiting Wolfsburg. Man U has played well recently, crushing West Ham on Saturday, but are in the midst of an absurd defensive crisis. The starting center backs are likely to be Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick, with Darren Fletcher also a possibility. Edin Dzeko and the Wolfsburg goal scoring machine will certainly look to take advantage of that as they look to ensure passage at the expense of CSKA Moscow (they need to simply equal the efforts of the Russians to advance with Man U).
Of the other big name teams, no one in group C is guaranteed through, though Real Madrid only need a point against Marseille, while AC Milan will be hoping to lock things up against FC Zurich.
The Inter-Barcelona group also has it all to play for, with the unlikely but still actual possibility that Inter and Barca could be knocked out in favor of Russian champs Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev.
Let's face it, most everyone is rooting for the big teams because we want to see the big name players face off in the knockout draw. But is there an underdog poised for an upset? The knockout stages could actually be populated with teams from France and Eastern Europe, as well as German sides that are strong but not as fancied as the English and Spanish sides. I think that would make for a very interesting Champions League, and it would give some players a chance to shine prior to the World Cup that we might not otherwise see. Of course that hope just means that it's going to end up business as usual (Liverpool's early exit not withstanding).
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Road Field Advantage
Who said that there's a big team monopoly over the Champions League? And what happened to home field advantage? This most recent round of UEFA Champions League matches bucked a few generally held assumptions and may have livened things up for some teams, while sending a few others into downward spirals from which there appears a long march back.
Tuesday in particular saw a few big upsets. First and foremost among those was FK Rubin Kazan stunning Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou. On the heels of their 0-0 draw with Valencia over the weekend, not too mention an unconvincing 1-0 win over Almeria before that, and suddenly the Barca machine has lost it's luster. Maybe Messi needs to get some of that Maradona-Argentina stench off him. He hasn't been as dynamic recently, and the return to health of Andrés Iniesta hasn't provided the boost yet that we would expect. No one doubts they will rebound and are still among the favorites to win both La Liga and the Champions League, but maybe they are not so invincible.
FC Unirea Urziceni went to Glasgow and crushed an embarrassed Rangers team 4-1, and Dynamo Kiev continued the great day for Eastern European teams by going to the San Siro and drawing Inter 2-2. Inter continue to underwhelm, with some people even already putting pressure on Mourinho. But let's face it, they're not a great squad and they won't win the Champions League, although they probably will win the Serie A with main rivals Juve and Milan looking underwhelming (and few would put money on Sampdoria and Fiorentina to keep up their current pace through the entire season). Actually speaking of Fiorentina, they also went on the road and pulled out a 4-3 thriller against Drebrecen.
Also on the road Tuesday was Sevilla, who is in fine form and look their typical dangerous and exciting side, beating Stuttgart 3-1. Stuttgart have stuttered so far this year and seem in rather dissaray, and they will probably miss out on Europe altogether without an unbelievable run from here on out.
And if we're talking about disarray and missing out on Europe, who better to move on to than Liverpool. Liverpool probably couldn't be in a worse state. They lost at Chelsea and then at Sunderland via beachball-gate, so Anfielf, usually a fortress on European nights, must have seemed a wonderful sight. Yet without injured striker supreme Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard limping off again after 25 minutes, you could tell that the Liverpool season was going down the drain all at once. A 1-2 loss to Lyon later, with Manchester United coming to town Saturday, and well, the odds on Rafa Benetiz's job security are certainly not getting better. I guess that's what happens when you don't strengthen an already thin squad and also sell one of your key midfielders in the offseason.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, who are playing some of their wonderful silky football, may have been expected to win at AZ Alkmaar. Of course Arsenal always think they're better than they are, while always having something of an inferiority complex in Europe I feel. AZ might not have the traditional name recognition of PSV Eindhoven or Ajax, but they have been a good team in recent years, and they managed to hold Arsenal 1-1.
Bucking the home trend was Olympiakos, who held fort 2-1 over Standard Liege. So in recap, it was a 1-5-2 day for home teams. Rather striking, and none of the road victories were by any of the "giants" of Europe. A good day indeed for those who like upsets and drama.
Wednesday returned some sanity to the regular order or things, but there were still a few curveballs thrown to keep up the spice.
If you can call it business as usual, the unsurprising results including Juve beating Maccabi Haifa 1-0 in Turin, Man U beating CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Moscow, Marseille beating Zurich on the road 1-0, FC Porto beating Apoel Nicosia 2-1 at home, and Chelsea crushing Atlético Madrid 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Of those matches clearly Chelsea looked the best, but the result is also indicative of the utter collapse occurring at Atlético, which HalaMadrid has touched on here in the past. Sad. Man U's win was nice, on the road, and getting a goal in the second straight game from Antonio Valencia will boost them ahead of this weekend's clash at Anfield. I'll be looking forward to seeing if they can put Liverpool's season to bed and put Rafa's head on the chopping block so early in the season. Meanwhile, Juve continues to be underwhelming despite getting a result, and it's clear that this year probably won't involve any trophies for them, but they hopefully are on the right track for next year, as long as Gigi Buffon continues to play out of his mind and can come back healthy and on form after surgery for his right knee that he's hoping to have in late December after playing through the Inter Milan game.
There were three more results, however, which did not necessarily fall as predicted. First, Bayern Munich continues to be the epitome of inconsistency and lost 2-1 to Bordeaux. While most people would be surprised by this, but Bordeaux are not to be taken too lightly, and while I'd expect them to not last too long in the knockout stages, one of Bayern or Juve could very well end up in the Europa League. Bordeaux even won despite missing two pks. Besiktas held Wolfsburg 0-0 at the Wolkswagen Arena. Pretty amazing to hold this high flying team scoreless, though much of that was from super scoring Bosnian Edin Dzeko missing a few great chances.
(By the way, most people are focusing on the France-Ireland World Cup playoff draw, but Bosnia-Portugal with Bosnia getting the second leg at home could very well be the best matchup. Bosnia is still up and coming and doesn't have all the greatest results, including a 2-5 whacking at the hands of Spain, but they have the talent to send Ronaldo home pouting.)
Last and best of all though was AC Milan's 3-2 upset of Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. This was a very exciting game, including huge gaffes by Dida and Casillas gifting goals to the other team, a wonder shot out of nothing from Andrea Pirlo, Pato scoring a game winning brace, and signs of life from one Mr. Ronaldinho. The result was rather amazing because Milan was basically playing like a shell of its former self this year. But the amazing thing about having ageing players of the skill of Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, and Ronaldinho is that if they start clicking they can put on an occasional show of beautiful passing football. It was also very heartening and pleasing to Ronaldinho having fun with flicks and skills and generally reminding the world that there was once a time where he put on a perfect show that even the Bernabéu stood and applauded (unsurprisingly, he was jeered every time he touched the ball yesterday). Granted he had large stretches where he was somewhat invisible yesterday and there's still a long way to go before he nears any semblance of being on form for him, but even just those glimpses yesterday were enough to make me happy as a football fan.
And while I applauded the nice midfield work in the second half between Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Seedorf, and Pato, I doubt the Madridistas were very happy. I've not seen much of them this year so I can't really compare it to anything, but I wasn't really impressed with Kaká and Karim Benzema looks a little off kilter. I thought Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso were alright and I liked Royston Drenthe off the bench, but there still needs time for this team to gel. And how much does Ronaldo mean to them, maybe too much already? Madrid will certainly argue no, and although I don't doubt they can get it right and play great without him, they need to prove it. Nonetheless, let's hope that by November 29, we're not seeing the Barca and Real Madrid of the past two days.
Tuesday in particular saw a few big upsets. First and foremost among those was FK Rubin Kazan stunning Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou. On the heels of their 0-0 draw with Valencia over the weekend, not too mention an unconvincing 1-0 win over Almeria before that, and suddenly the Barca machine has lost it's luster. Maybe Messi needs to get some of that Maradona-Argentina stench off him. He hasn't been as dynamic recently, and the return to health of Andrés Iniesta hasn't provided the boost yet that we would expect. No one doubts they will rebound and are still among the favorites to win both La Liga and the Champions League, but maybe they are not so invincible.
FC Unirea Urziceni went to Glasgow and crushed an embarrassed Rangers team 4-1, and Dynamo Kiev continued the great day for Eastern European teams by going to the San Siro and drawing Inter 2-2. Inter continue to underwhelm, with some people even already putting pressure on Mourinho. But let's face it, they're not a great squad and they won't win the Champions League, although they probably will win the Serie A with main rivals Juve and Milan looking underwhelming (and few would put money on Sampdoria and Fiorentina to keep up their current pace through the entire season). Actually speaking of Fiorentina, they also went on the road and pulled out a 4-3 thriller against Drebrecen.
Also on the road Tuesday was Sevilla, who is in fine form and look their typical dangerous and exciting side, beating Stuttgart 3-1. Stuttgart have stuttered so far this year and seem in rather dissaray, and they will probably miss out on Europe altogether without an unbelievable run from here on out.
And if we're talking about disarray and missing out on Europe, who better to move on to than Liverpool. Liverpool probably couldn't be in a worse state. They lost at Chelsea and then at Sunderland via beachball-gate, so Anfielf, usually a fortress on European nights, must have seemed a wonderful sight. Yet without injured striker supreme Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard limping off again after 25 minutes, you could tell that the Liverpool season was going down the drain all at once. A 1-2 loss to Lyon later, with Manchester United coming to town Saturday, and well, the odds on Rafa Benetiz's job security are certainly not getting better. I guess that's what happens when you don't strengthen an already thin squad and also sell one of your key midfielders in the offseason.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, who are playing some of their wonderful silky football, may have been expected to win at AZ Alkmaar. Of course Arsenal always think they're better than they are, while always having something of an inferiority complex in Europe I feel. AZ might not have the traditional name recognition of PSV Eindhoven or Ajax, but they have been a good team in recent years, and they managed to hold Arsenal 1-1.
Bucking the home trend was Olympiakos, who held fort 2-1 over Standard Liege. So in recap, it was a 1-5-2 day for home teams. Rather striking, and none of the road victories were by any of the "giants" of Europe. A good day indeed for those who like upsets and drama.
Wednesday returned some sanity to the regular order or things, but there were still a few curveballs thrown to keep up the spice.
If you can call it business as usual, the unsurprising results including Juve beating Maccabi Haifa 1-0 in Turin, Man U beating CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Moscow, Marseille beating Zurich on the road 1-0, FC Porto beating Apoel Nicosia 2-1 at home, and Chelsea crushing Atlético Madrid 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Of those matches clearly Chelsea looked the best, but the result is also indicative of the utter collapse occurring at Atlético, which HalaMadrid has touched on here in the past. Sad. Man U's win was nice, on the road, and getting a goal in the second straight game from Antonio Valencia will boost them ahead of this weekend's clash at Anfield. I'll be looking forward to seeing if they can put Liverpool's season to bed and put Rafa's head on the chopping block so early in the season. Meanwhile, Juve continues to be underwhelming despite getting a result, and it's clear that this year probably won't involve any trophies for them, but they hopefully are on the right track for next year, as long as Gigi Buffon continues to play out of his mind and can come back healthy and on form after surgery for his right knee that he's hoping to have in late December after playing through the Inter Milan game.
There were three more results, however, which did not necessarily fall as predicted. First, Bayern Munich continues to be the epitome of inconsistency and lost 2-1 to Bordeaux. While most people would be surprised by this, but Bordeaux are not to be taken too lightly, and while I'd expect them to not last too long in the knockout stages, one of Bayern or Juve could very well end up in the Europa League. Bordeaux even won despite missing two pks. Besiktas held Wolfsburg 0-0 at the Wolkswagen Arena. Pretty amazing to hold this high flying team scoreless, though much of that was from super scoring Bosnian Edin Dzeko missing a few great chances.
(By the way, most people are focusing on the France-Ireland World Cup playoff draw, but Bosnia-Portugal with Bosnia getting the second leg at home could very well be the best matchup. Bosnia is still up and coming and doesn't have all the greatest results, including a 2-5 whacking at the hands of Spain, but they have the talent to send Ronaldo home pouting.)
Last and best of all though was AC Milan's 3-2 upset of Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. This was a very exciting game, including huge gaffes by Dida and Casillas gifting goals to the other team, a wonder shot out of nothing from Andrea Pirlo, Pato scoring a game winning brace, and signs of life from one Mr. Ronaldinho. The result was rather amazing because Milan was basically playing like a shell of its former self this year. But the amazing thing about having ageing players of the skill of Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, and Ronaldinho is that if they start clicking they can put on an occasional show of beautiful passing football. It was also very heartening and pleasing to Ronaldinho having fun with flicks and skills and generally reminding the world that there was once a time where he put on a perfect show that even the Bernabéu stood and applauded (unsurprisingly, he was jeered every time he touched the ball yesterday). Granted he had large stretches where he was somewhat invisible yesterday and there's still a long way to go before he nears any semblance of being on form for him, but even just those glimpses yesterday were enough to make me happy as a football fan.
And while I applauded the nice midfield work in the second half between Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Seedorf, and Pato, I doubt the Madridistas were very happy. I've not seen much of them this year so I can't really compare it to anything, but I wasn't really impressed with Kaká and Karim Benzema looks a little off kilter. I thought Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso were alright and I liked Royston Drenthe off the bench, but there still needs time for this team to gel. And how much does Ronaldo mean to them, maybe too much already? Madrid will certainly argue no, and although I don't doubt they can get it right and play great without him, they need to prove it. Nonetheless, let's hope that by November 29, we're not seeing the Barca and Real Madrid of the past two days.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Those Crazy Turks!
As most everyone knows by now, and as HalaMadrid noted in his roundup of Tuesday's Champions League action, points are often hard to come by away to Turkish teams, even for the big boys. Well for those lucky enough to watch or even just hear the Man U-Besiktas match, you got a lesson on great football atmosphere. Check out these videos, which confirm why Sir Alex said it was the loudest noise he'd ever heard (clearly he wasn't at the Confederations Cup and those vuvuzelas):
Full length highlights from UEFA, which I love because it cuts out all commentary and lets the crowd atmosphere be the soundtrack to the game:
And for a cool fan view, here's a four and half minute, high quality video from behind one of the goals. The shots of the entire crowd jumping and clapping and chanting are very cool. It was like this the entire game.
Man U is certainly happy to get all three points from this trip. They'll be encouraged by signs that Nani and Antonio Valencia can be dangerous, but they still can't seem to put it all together. And fortunately for the Red Devils, with Rio Ferdinand again an injury concern, Nemanja Vidic seems in fine fettle ahead of this weekend's Manchester Derby.
As for the other match I paid particular attention to, Juve missed their new talisman, Diego, against a feisty Bordeaux. In the pouring rain, the two sides were fairly even. Iaquinta actually scored, though he's still one of the more wasteful strikers on a top European team right now. I like Amauri on the other hand, but he seems to be extremely unlucky, this time being denied by a lucky reaction save by Cedric Carrasso. Although Brodeaux probably shouldn't finish top two, they will not be an easy victory for either Juve or Bayern. Gourcuff was a handfull and he forced Buffon into a few nice saves. Fortunately for the bianconeri, this season Buffon seems to have regained his form from 2006 that saw him as the top keeper in the world.
Juve will be disappointed to have dropped two points from their first home match, especially since Jaroslav Plasil was off-side when he struck his equalizer and the goal should have been disallowed. In two weeks time hopefully Juve can travel with a healthy Diego to the Allianz Arena to get a better gauge of where they stand in this tournament.
Full length highlights from UEFA, which I love because it cuts out all commentary and lets the crowd atmosphere be the soundtrack to the game:
And for a cool fan view, here's a four and half minute, high quality video from behind one of the goals. The shots of the entire crowd jumping and clapping and chanting are very cool. It was like this the entire game.
Man U is certainly happy to get all three points from this trip. They'll be encouraged by signs that Nani and Antonio Valencia can be dangerous, but they still can't seem to put it all together. And fortunately for the Red Devils, with Rio Ferdinand again an injury concern, Nemanja Vidic seems in fine fettle ahead of this weekend's Manchester Derby.
As for the other match I paid particular attention to, Juve missed their new talisman, Diego, against a feisty Bordeaux. In the pouring rain, the two sides were fairly even. Iaquinta actually scored, though he's still one of the more wasteful strikers on a top European team right now. I like Amauri on the other hand, but he seems to be extremely unlucky, this time being denied by a lucky reaction save by Cedric Carrasso. Although Brodeaux probably shouldn't finish top two, they will not be an easy victory for either Juve or Bayern. Gourcuff was a handfull and he forced Buffon into a few nice saves. Fortunately for the bianconeri, this season Buffon seems to have regained his form from 2006 that saw him as the top keeper in the world.
Juve will be disappointed to have dropped two points from their first home match, especially since Jaroslav Plasil was off-side when he struck his equalizer and the goal should have been disallowed. In two weeks time hopefully Juve can travel with a healthy Diego to the Allianz Arena to get a better gauge of where they stand in this tournament.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Champions League Draw
Hot off the presses, the Champions League draw is out. Group-by-group:
Group A
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa
Bayern Munich and Juventus will be favorites to go through, but will have to deal with Bordeaux, which won the French Ligue 1 for the first time in a decade last season. Maccabi Haifa were the first Israeli team ever to qualify for the Champions League and return this year, but not much will be expected.
Group B
Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg
United were all set to have a comfortable draw until they drew the German champions Wolfsburg from the fourth group of teams. Still, United will almost certainly go through. More likely to be affected are Russian runners-up CSKA Moscow and Turkish champions Besiktas, who have to deal with another side with a legitimate chance to go through. Indeed, Wolfsburg are possibly favorites for the second spot.
Group C
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich
Real Madrid weirdly found themselves in the second pool of teams chosen after five years of Champions League mediocrity. But they didn't pay too heavy a price in drawing AC Milan, a very good side, but not as bad as drawing Chelsea or Man United. Still, the Milan-Madrid matchups will certainly be compelling, with Kaka returning to San Siro and Huntelaar returning to the Bernabeu. Not to be overlooked is Marseille, who will be dangerous and could claim a spot in the knockout round if Milan or Madrid slip up. To be overlooked is FC Zurich, because they are from the Swiss league.
Group D
Chelsea
FC Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL
In a word, brutal. Chelsea, Porto and Atletico face elimination early, as only two can advance. The Portugese champions and surprise 2004 champions have advanced from the group stage the last three years. Atletico returns to the Champions League after advancing from the group stage last year and falling, ironically, to Porto. And Chelsea have obviously been a consistent force in recent Champions League history, and would have been champions two years ago if John Terry could convert on a penalty. The action in this group should be intense. The team everyone will be looking to claim six points from is Cypriot champions APOEL, the second year in a row a team from Cyprus has appeared in the Champions League.
Group E
Liverpool
Olympique Lyonnais
Fiorentina
Debreceni
Liverpool also won't be sending any thank you notes to UEFA for the draw, earning Lyon, who are always a difficult out in Europe, and Fiorentina, who progressed through a difficult qualifier against Sporting Lisbon on away goals. Assuming Liverpool go through, the battle for second place will be intriguing. Hungarian champions Debreceni round out the group. Their stadium has a capacity of 9200 sitting and room for another 1000 to stand. Couldn't make that up. Thank you Wikipedia.
Group F
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Dynamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan
Perhaps the most mouth-watering fixtures come from Group F, where the Spanish champions and title holders face the Italian champions home and away. Obviously the Ibra-Eto'o swap between Barcelona and Inter only adds to the intrigue. While those two matchups will obviously capture most of the attention, the other two squads shouldn't be overlooked. Dynamo Kiev has Champions League pedigree, having made the semifinals three times. And Rubin Kazan finished champions of the very respectable Russian league, currently ranked sixth in the league UEFA rankings, just behind France. Not to mention the big clubs have to travel to Ukraine and Russia, respectively. Not fun. An intriguing group all the way around.
Group G
Sevilla
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni
Sevilla's reward for being in Pot 1 for the draw is leading a very managable group. Scottish champion Rangers are the second side, which isn't exactly like drawing Inter or Real Madrid. Stuttgart is a quality side and will have a good chance to progress. Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni round out the group.
Group H
Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiacos
Standard Liege
Arsenal also fall into the "easy draw" category for this draw in Group H. Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar worked their way into Pot 2 for the draw because of their extensive Europa Cup experience over the past few years. The Greek and Belgian champions round out the group. Arsenal should go through quite easily, the question is who else will go through.
Group A
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa
Bayern Munich and Juventus will be favorites to go through, but will have to deal with Bordeaux, which won the French Ligue 1 for the first time in a decade last season. Maccabi Haifa were the first Israeli team ever to qualify for the Champions League and return this year, but not much will be expected.
Group B
Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg
United were all set to have a comfortable draw until they drew the German champions Wolfsburg from the fourth group of teams. Still, United will almost certainly go through. More likely to be affected are Russian runners-up CSKA Moscow and Turkish champions Besiktas, who have to deal with another side with a legitimate chance to go through. Indeed, Wolfsburg are possibly favorites for the second spot.
Group C
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich
Real Madrid weirdly found themselves in the second pool of teams chosen after five years of Champions League mediocrity. But they didn't pay too heavy a price in drawing AC Milan, a very good side, but not as bad as drawing Chelsea or Man United. Still, the Milan-Madrid matchups will certainly be compelling, with Kaka returning to San Siro and Huntelaar returning to the Bernabeu. Not to be overlooked is Marseille, who will be dangerous and could claim a spot in the knockout round if Milan or Madrid slip up. To be overlooked is FC Zurich, because they are from the Swiss league.
Group D
Chelsea
FC Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL
In a word, brutal. Chelsea, Porto and Atletico face elimination early, as only two can advance. The Portugese champions and surprise 2004 champions have advanced from the group stage the last three years. Atletico returns to the Champions League after advancing from the group stage last year and falling, ironically, to Porto. And Chelsea have obviously been a consistent force in recent Champions League history, and would have been champions two years ago if John Terry could convert on a penalty. The action in this group should be intense. The team everyone will be looking to claim six points from is Cypriot champions APOEL, the second year in a row a team from Cyprus has appeared in the Champions League.
Group E
Liverpool
Olympique Lyonnais
Fiorentina
Debreceni
Liverpool also won't be sending any thank you notes to UEFA for the draw, earning Lyon, who are always a difficult out in Europe, and Fiorentina, who progressed through a difficult qualifier against Sporting Lisbon on away goals. Assuming Liverpool go through, the battle for second place will be intriguing. Hungarian champions Debreceni round out the group. Their stadium has a capacity of 9200 sitting and room for another 1000 to stand. Couldn't make that up. Thank you Wikipedia.
Group F
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Dynamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan
Perhaps the most mouth-watering fixtures come from Group F, where the Spanish champions and title holders face the Italian champions home and away. Obviously the Ibra-Eto'o swap between Barcelona and Inter only adds to the intrigue. While those two matchups will obviously capture most of the attention, the other two squads shouldn't be overlooked. Dynamo Kiev has Champions League pedigree, having made the semifinals three times. And Rubin Kazan finished champions of the very respectable Russian league, currently ranked sixth in the league UEFA rankings, just behind France. Not to mention the big clubs have to travel to Ukraine and Russia, respectively. Not fun. An intriguing group all the way around.
Group G
Sevilla
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni
Sevilla's reward for being in Pot 1 for the draw is leading a very managable group. Scottish champion Rangers are the second side, which isn't exactly like drawing Inter or Real Madrid. Stuttgart is a quality side and will have a good chance to progress. Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni round out the group.
Group H
Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiacos
Standard Liege
Arsenal also fall into the "easy draw" category for this draw in Group H. Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar worked their way into Pot 2 for the draw because of their extensive Europa Cup experience over the past few years. The Greek and Belgian champions round out the group. Arsenal should go through quite easily, the question is who else will go through.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday Rebounds
So yesterday in my Toe Pokes I apparently jinxed Sunderland by noting they were at the time leading Chelsea, but needed to do better than the 8 goals allowed against the Blues in the 2008-09 season if they were to hold on. Of course the Black Cats capitulated and allowed three goals for 3-1 loss. If there's a bright spot for Sunderland, it's that Darren Bent, who I think is extremely overrated, is starting strong with goals in their opening two games.
Here are highlights before they get snatched from YouTube.
On the other hand, Wolverhampton Wanderers ended up holding on to their 1-0 lead to get their first win of the season against Wigan.
DC United suffered another setback, losing 3-1 to Marathon in San Pedro Sula. DC United was actually the better team on the night, dominating probably 70% of the game. Unfortunately for DC, the other 30% involved Greg Janicki. I noted before that this season he's shown why he was just a USL-2 player prior to his loan to DC. Well let's just say that Janicki is an unmitigated debacle in the back. I'm pretty sure that he couldn't play for either of my men's teams, one of which has players who had never played soccer before. I won't post highlights because it's not even worth watching Janicki being specifically, 100% responsible for all three goals.
On the more humorous side, if you watched the game, you were treated to the San Pedro Sula p.a. and the Fox Soccer Channel broadcast team. As Washington Post reporter Steven Goff put it, it sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher found a new job. I think they just outsourced the job to the DC Metro. As for Christian Miles and the FSC boys, well, they simply need to do better as professionals. I kept thinking during the game about how awful and plain wrong they constantly were, and you should never get caught up in the broadcasters when watching the game. At times it's humorous to listen to someone so bad, but I guess there's not much that can be done. Oh well.
Today brings some more action, including CONCACAF and UEFA Champions Leagues. In CONCACAF, Houston takes on Metapan of El Salvador. In UEFA the games of note are Lyon against Anderecht and Panathinaikos against Atletico Madrid. Read up on HalaMadrid's informative take on the new Champions League qualifying rules.
Here are highlights before they get snatched from YouTube.
On the other hand, Wolverhampton Wanderers ended up holding on to their 1-0 lead to get their first win of the season against Wigan.
DC United suffered another setback, losing 3-1 to Marathon in San Pedro Sula. DC United was actually the better team on the night, dominating probably 70% of the game. Unfortunately for DC, the other 30% involved Greg Janicki. I noted before that this season he's shown why he was just a USL-2 player prior to his loan to DC. Well let's just say that Janicki is an unmitigated debacle in the back. I'm pretty sure that he couldn't play for either of my men's teams, one of which has players who had never played soccer before. I won't post highlights because it's not even worth watching Janicki being specifically, 100% responsible for all three goals.
On the more humorous side, if you watched the game, you were treated to the San Pedro Sula p.a. and the Fox Soccer Channel broadcast team. As Washington Post reporter Steven Goff put it, it sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher found a new job. I think they just outsourced the job to the DC Metro. As for Christian Miles and the FSC boys, well, they simply need to do better as professionals. I kept thinking during the game about how awful and plain wrong they constantly were, and you should never get caught up in the broadcasters when watching the game. At times it's humorous to listen to someone so bad, but I guess there's not much that can be done. Oh well.
Today brings some more action, including CONCACAF and UEFA Champions Leagues. In CONCACAF, Houston takes on Metapan of El Salvador. In UEFA the games of note are Lyon against Anderecht and Panathinaikos against Atletico Madrid. Read up on HalaMadrid's informative take on the new Champions League qualifying rules.
MLS and EPL also have some games to play today. Chicago facing a David Beckham-less LA Galaxy thanks to his red card over the weekend. LA has the potential to have a very strong offense, with a young and promising defense that still leaks goals, but they're still positioned well to make the postseason, while Chicago is strong but uninspiring, as always.
In England, Liverpool needs to pick up three points at Stoke or else their EPL championship bid will end before it really begins. Tottenham has a great chance of getting out to a solid early start with a second win against shorthanded Hull City. Portsmouth and Birmingham face off in what many would predict is going to be an important relegation match when all is said and done. Man U also faces newly promoted Burnley (as of this writing Burnley is leading 1-0, will they suffer the same fate as Sunderland after I wrote about their lead yesterday?).
And finally, after the off season drama and the horrible showing against Arsenal, David Moyes has shaken things up by dropping Joleon Lescott for a poor attitude. Could this be a prelude to an exit to Manchester??
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Of the Champions League and Mediocrity
It's become a yearly event that during the Champions League a retired player will make a statement to the press about how easy the Champions League has become since it stopped being a true "champions" league. That is to say, previously only domestic champions participated, while now the three major leagues send their top four teams through, Germany sends their top three teams, and the remainder of the competition is made up of domestic champions and runners-up (all at varying stages of three qualifying rounds). Usually the voice of such criticism is a curmedgeon like Di Stefano, or a bitter retiree like Platini.
Truth be told, the only competition a true "champions" league would help is the "Europa Cup." When Real Madrid won back-to-back "UEFA Cups" it was an achievement because at that time it was literally every second place and third place team competing. Now that competition is the province of more middling teams, so that when Sevilla won back-to-back UEFA Cups, while still an achievement, it was significantly less of a feat than when Real did it previously.
And yet an honest appraisal of today's club football inevitably leads to the conclusion that the third or fourth place English, Spanish, Italian, or German teams are better, and compete at a higher level, than the the Romanian, Norwegian, or Polish champions. Further, those third and fourth place teams are internationally recognized because most have accomplished something in their tough domestic leagues and generally have two or three genuinely world class players (Sevilla, Villareal, Atletico, Arsenal, Chelsea, Roma, Fiorentina, Stuttgart etc.). Thus, these are the teams that should be competing in the Champions League, and probably at the expense of "champions" from inferior leagues.
Sadly, Platini runs UEFA, and made a few changes to the Champions League format last year that we are now witnessing the results of. I won't delve into the precise changes of the qualifying phase format, but the critical text of UEFA's press release describes the changes as:
• Champions Path: The first qualifying round comprises two two-legged ties involving the champions of the countries ranked 50 to 53 in UEFA competition. The winners of those ties progress to the second qualifying round where they are joined by the champions of the 32 countries ranked 17 to 49 (except Liechtenstein). The victorious sides from those 17 ties join the champions from the associations ranked 14 to 16 in the third qualifying round, with the winners of those ten pairings reaching the play-off round. These five play-off ties will take place on a home-and-away basis with the winners qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Non-Champions Path: The third-placed side from the sixth-ranked member association, plus the runners-up from the associations ranked 7 to 15, start the competition in the third qualifying round. The winners of these five ties progress to the play-off round, where they are joined by the fourth-placed sides from the associations ranked 1 to 3 and the third-placed teams from the associations ranked 4 and 5. The victorious teams from the five play-off ties qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Teams from the Champions Path and the Non-Champions Path cannot meet in UEFA Champions League qualifying.
Don't bother thinking about that too much. The crux of the matter is this - the Champions Path and the Non-Champions Path never meet in qualifying, and group together two distinct subsets of teams. The Champions Path, as described above, pairs together the champions from several leagues, puts them through between one and three qualifying rounds, and dumps them into the fourth and final qualifying "playoff" round - a round where by virtue of their "Champions" status, they are protected from the third and fourth place teams from the elite leagues. Meanwhile, "Non-Champion" teams start in the fourth "playoff" round, and play against each other. The idea, Platini would argue, is that we're going to see more true champions in the Champions League. Conceptually it's an interesting proposal. But look at how that plays out in qualifying match-ups:
Champions Path
Sheriff Tiraspol v. Olympiacos
Red Bull Salzburg v. Maccabi Haifa
Ventspils v. Zürich
Copenhagen v. APOEL
Levski Sofia v. Debrecen
Non-Champions Path
Lyon v. Anderlecht
Celtic v. Arsenal
Timişoara v. Stuttgart
Sporting CP v. Fiorentina
Panathinaikos v. Atlético Madrid
I don't know about anyone else, but the Champions Path teams appear primed for Cinderella status in this year's Champions League. And last I checked, they didn't need to change the format to allow Cinderellas in. Just last year CFR Cluj, Anorthosis, Basel, Aalborg BK, and BATE participated in the group round. Meanwhile, the Non-Champions Path pits teams against each other that most observers would agree are simply superior teams despite not being league champions. Lyon, Arsenal, Celtic, Atletico, Stuttgart, Fiorentina, and Sporting are all quality sides, and some will be advancing at the expense of others.
Arguably mediocre teams are simply being replaced by other mediocre teams. Despite their greater name recognition are Fiorentina or Sporting really going to make much more noise in the group stage than Maccabi or Copenhagen? Maybe, maybe not. But when one group in a preliminary qualifying round has nine teams out of 10 that you recognize from Champions Leagues of the last three years, and one has Olympiacos, something's up. Previously when a team like Copenhagen or Maccabi have been in Champions Leagues (and they have), it was because after two or three rounds of qualifying they beat Spain or England's fourth place team. Now the smaller teams are getting an easier road, and no one feels sorry for the big clubs because, hey, they're big clubs.
But the big loser in this scheme is the competition itself. No one wants the minnows out of the tournament. But the key to any four team group is getting that third team in that can shake things up. If the third team ends up being rolled over in the Chelsea, Sevilla, APOEL, and Anderlecht group what have you accomplished? You've killed any drama in the group, and increased the likelihood that Chelsea and Sevilla go through to knockouts. So the competition loses, and there's less parity. Now put Stuttgart or Lyon in with Chelsea and Sevilla. How are those group games looking?
But UEFA and Platini wanted "real" Champions. Even if it's at the expense of better teams in the competition. And while this year UEFA's avoided killing off a great team early (despite the fact that only half of these teams will make it in: Arsenal, Celtic, Fiorentina, Sporting, Atletico, and Panathinaikos), it's only a matter of time before they do. And trust me when I tell you that no one's going to be pleased when Liverpool and Inter square off so that Finland's "real" champion can get a shot.
Truth be told, the only competition a true "champions" league would help is the "Europa Cup." When Real Madrid won back-to-back "UEFA Cups" it was an achievement because at that time it was literally every second place and third place team competing. Now that competition is the province of more middling teams, so that when Sevilla won back-to-back UEFA Cups, while still an achievement, it was significantly less of a feat than when Real did it previously.
And yet an honest appraisal of today's club football inevitably leads to the conclusion that the third or fourth place English, Spanish, Italian, or German teams are better, and compete at a higher level, than the the Romanian, Norwegian, or Polish champions. Further, those third and fourth place teams are internationally recognized because most have accomplished something in their tough domestic leagues and generally have two or three genuinely world class players (Sevilla, Villareal, Atletico, Arsenal, Chelsea, Roma, Fiorentina, Stuttgart etc.). Thus, these are the teams that should be competing in the Champions League, and probably at the expense of "champions" from inferior leagues.
Sadly, Platini runs UEFA, and made a few changes to the Champions League format last year that we are now witnessing the results of. I won't delve into the precise changes of the qualifying phase format, but the critical text of UEFA's press release describes the changes as:
• Champions Path: The first qualifying round comprises two two-legged ties involving the champions of the countries ranked 50 to 53 in UEFA competition. The winners of those ties progress to the second qualifying round where they are joined by the champions of the 32 countries ranked 17 to 49 (except Liechtenstein). The victorious sides from those 17 ties join the champions from the associations ranked 14 to 16 in the third qualifying round, with the winners of those ten pairings reaching the play-off round. These five play-off ties will take place on a home-and-away basis with the winners qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Non-Champions Path: The third-placed side from the sixth-ranked member association, plus the runners-up from the associations ranked 7 to 15, start the competition in the third qualifying round. The winners of these five ties progress to the play-off round, where they are joined by the fourth-placed sides from the associations ranked 1 to 3 and the third-placed teams from the associations ranked 4 and 5. The victorious teams from the five play-off ties qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Teams from the Champions Path and the Non-Champions Path cannot meet in UEFA Champions League qualifying.
Don't bother thinking about that too much. The crux of the matter is this - the Champions Path and the Non-Champions Path never meet in qualifying, and group together two distinct subsets of teams. The Champions Path, as described above, pairs together the champions from several leagues, puts them through between one and three qualifying rounds, and dumps them into the fourth and final qualifying "playoff" round - a round where by virtue of their "Champions" status, they are protected from the third and fourth place teams from the elite leagues. Meanwhile, "Non-Champion" teams start in the fourth "playoff" round, and play against each other. The idea, Platini would argue, is that we're going to see more true champions in the Champions League. Conceptually it's an interesting proposal. But look at how that plays out in qualifying match-ups:
Champions Path
Sheriff Tiraspol v. Olympiacos
Red Bull Salzburg v. Maccabi Haifa
Ventspils v. Zürich
Copenhagen v. APOEL
Levski Sofia v. Debrecen
Non-Champions Path
Lyon v. Anderlecht
Celtic v. Arsenal
Timişoara v. Stuttgart
Sporting CP v. Fiorentina
Panathinaikos v. Atlético Madrid
I don't know about anyone else, but the Champions Path teams appear primed for Cinderella status in this year's Champions League. And last I checked, they didn't need to change the format to allow Cinderellas in. Just last year CFR Cluj, Anorthosis, Basel, Aalborg BK, and BATE participated in the group round. Meanwhile, the Non-Champions Path pits teams against each other that most observers would agree are simply superior teams despite not being league champions. Lyon, Arsenal, Celtic, Atletico, Stuttgart, Fiorentina, and Sporting are all quality sides, and some will be advancing at the expense of others.
Arguably mediocre teams are simply being replaced by other mediocre teams. Despite their greater name recognition are Fiorentina or Sporting really going to make much more noise in the group stage than Maccabi or Copenhagen? Maybe, maybe not. But when one group in a preliminary qualifying round has nine teams out of 10 that you recognize from Champions Leagues of the last three years, and one has Olympiacos, something's up. Previously when a team like Copenhagen or Maccabi have been in Champions Leagues (and they have), it was because after two or three rounds of qualifying they beat Spain or England's fourth place team. Now the smaller teams are getting an easier road, and no one feels sorry for the big clubs because, hey, they're big clubs.
But the big loser in this scheme is the competition itself. No one wants the minnows out of the tournament. But the key to any four team group is getting that third team in that can shake things up. If the third team ends up being rolled over in the Chelsea, Sevilla, APOEL, and Anderlecht group what have you accomplished? You've killed any drama in the group, and increased the likelihood that Chelsea and Sevilla go through to knockouts. So the competition loses, and there's less parity. Now put Stuttgart or Lyon in with Chelsea and Sevilla. How are those group games looking?
But UEFA and Platini wanted "real" Champions. Even if it's at the expense of better teams in the competition. And while this year UEFA's avoided killing off a great team early (despite the fact that only half of these teams will make it in: Arsenal, Celtic, Fiorentina, Sporting, Atletico, and Panathinaikos), it's only a matter of time before they do. And trust me when I tell you that no one's going to be pleased when Liverpool and Inter square off so that Finland's "real" champion can get a shot.
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