EPL/CL 101

I have had a few requests from friends who are just getting into football curious about how the premier league and the champions league work.  So here goes:

Premier league:
The overall message is - whoever has the most points at the end of the season, wins the season.  There are 20 teams in the premier league, and each team plays every other team twice - home and away.  In other words, each team plays 38 games in a season.  The way the points are tallied are as follows - 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss.  So, yes, it is possible that the team who wins the premier league loses multiple games in a season.  In fact, that is very often the case.

The top four teams in the league enter into the following year's Champions league competition (explained later), the next couple of teams play in the UEFA league (a knockout format) and the bottom three teams (18th, 19th and 20th) get relegated into the lower division.  Similarly, three teams from the lower division, called the N-power championship, are promoted to the Premier league for the following season.  Here is an example of what this year's table looks like -

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables/_/league/eng.1/barclays-premier-league?cc=5901

If you noticed, this season ended with the top two teams (Manchester united and Manchester City) on the same # of points.  In a situation like this, the team with the better goal difference (GD) wins the premier league.  Goal difference is simply = Goals scored - Goals conceded.  Since City had a far superior goal difference, they won the Premier league.  In the case that the GD is also the same, the team that has scored more goals wins the premier league (as was the case back in 1989 - although it was not called the "English Premier League" back then.  In researching this article, I learned that in case the teams cannot be separated at goals scored, a playoff is provisioned between the two teams at a neutral venue.  To my knowledge, this has never occurred to date.

The Champions League
The top three teams fromm the EPL in a season play in the champions League the FOLLOWING season.  Let me embellish - if you click on the above table, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal will be playing in the Champions League in the 2012-2013 season.  Tottenham Hotspurs (team in 4th) is also technically qualified for the champions league, BUT there's a caveat here.  Chelsea FC (in 6th place) are playing the Champions League final on Saturday (for a preview of the game, please visit my podcast site - http://unitedandliverpoolfans.podbean.com) and if they were to win, they would bump Spurs out of that final Champions League spot.

Now, let's talk about how the Champions League actually works.  For simplicity, we will skip the qualifying stages.  The top 3 or 4 teams from various European Clubs (from England, Spain, Italy, Holland, Turkey, Germany, etc.) are entered into a group format.  Each team plays every other team home and away, and yet again, the two teams with the most points enter the knockout stages.  There are 3 knockout stages (2nd round, quarter final, semi-final) and then a final.  Now here's the confusing bit - how are the knockout stages decided.  Instead of a dry explanation, I'm going to use an example:

There are two teams - Manchester United and Barcelona and they are playing in the quarter final of the champions league.  The first game is at home at United.  United wins the game 2-0.  The game at Barcelona ends with Barca winning 2-1.  In this situation, both teams have the one win each.  But, United's goal difference (+1) is better than Barcelona's (0), and therefore United goes through.

But, what if the following situation presents itself - United wins 1-0 at home and Barca wins 2-1 at home.  Now, both teams have one win, both teams have the same goal differential (0) and both teams have scored the same # of goals (2).  In this situation, the team to have scored more AWAY goals, wins the tie.  Barcelona scores 0 goals away from home, while United has scored 1 goal away from home.  Therefore, United goes through to the next found.

Just some practice problems for you to work out - answers at the bottom:
1.  United wins 6-0 at home Barcelona wins 5-0 at home.  Who goes through?
2.  United ties 1-1 at home, Barca wins 2-1 at home.
3.  United draws 1-1 at home, Barca draws 2-2 at home.
4.  United wins 2-1 at home, Barca wins 3-2 at home.


1.  United - better GD.
2.  Barca - they have won more games (1) than United (0).
3.  United - More away goals.
4.  United - more goals scored away from home.

If teams cannot be separated on the away goals rule, they play extra time (2x15 min halves) and a penalty shootout after that.


Please let me know if you have any questions! Enjoy the Champions league final!

Is Barca on the decline?

Is it over?

One of the aftermaths of the loss to Chelsea was the story that Barca were on the decline.  Guardiola's decision to not renew his contract is seen by some as confirmation of the same.  In my opinion, this idea is absurd.  Let's go through some of the most common themes pervading through the internet:

1.  Barca's squad is getting old.
This one is just demonstrably false.  Here's a link to the respective age of Barca's first team squad -
http://www.footbo.com/Teams/Barcelona/Squad

As you can see, other than Xavi, Abidal, Keita and the goalkeepers, all of Barca's first team squad is in their mid to early twenties.  So, let's count this as debunked.

2.  Barca do not have quality substitutes.
There is some truth to this.  But, it's not because Barca's squad lacks quality; it's because their first team squad is absolutely phenomenal! Let's not forget, Messi, Iniesta and Xavi are three of the top 5 players in the world! Obviously replacing them is never going to be easy.  It's like arguing that United suck because no one can step in for Rooney, or that Arsenal are terrible because no one can replace RVP.  Yeah - it's true - but that's because they are incredibly good players.  It's just a pointless criticism.

3.  Guardiola's resignation proves that he does not see a future for the squad.
Again- demonstrably false.  Ever since Pep took over, he has only signed rolling one-year contracts.  He has been hinting at his desire to take a step away from football since early last year.  Yes, even when Barca had won every single thing they could win.  If he did not see a future for the squad, he would not have signed young players such as Sanchez and Affelay.

4.  No one can replace Xavi, Messi and Iniesta
This is somewhat tied to #2, but I consider it a slightly different point; in that Barca actually do have excellent substitutions for all of the above.  In Fabregas, I believe Barca have a ready-made replacement for Xavi.  And, yes, he has not had the most stellar of seasons; but that is because he has been playing on the right hand side in order to accommodate Xavi.  Once Xavi retires, Cesc will undoubtedly replace him and go on to become the best central midfielder in the world.  Messi is the best player in the world.  Period.  But, Barca actually does have players that can complement him/give him a rest - likes of Villa, Affelay, Sanchez, Pedro and the young Tello.  These are all excellent players in their own right, and can be rotated in for either Messi or Iniesta.

5.  They've lost the desire to win.
Yup - the team that is 2nd in the spanish league and reached the semi-finals of the champions league - no desire.  Stupid.

6.  Messi has grown too big for his boots.
Yes, Messi has a slight dark side to him.  but, for someone who literally has the world at his feet, Messi continues to be a model professional off the field; he's rather Scholes like.  He shies away from the media and focuses on football.  He constantly praises his teammates and famously declared that Xavi, and not Messi, should win the world player of the year.

7.  They do not have a Plan B
I mentioned this in my analysis of the Chelsea-Barca game.  But, although true, this is not applicable to a comment on Barca's decline, because this has been true for years now - Barca only play one way.  They will never be able to boot the ball upfield and score.  It's just that, sometimes, the brilliant plan A gives out. And i would argue that that is okay.

So - for all of you prematurely predicting Barca's demise - please go back into your parents' basements.

The end.  Thank your for reading.

Next up - preview of the united-City game.

Chelsea-Barcelona/Madrid-Bayern REVIEW

Champions league madness! Both games this week were thrilling and nerve-wracking.  As you might already know - my prediction of a Madrid-Chelsea final came undone.  Surprisingly, however, it was not for the reason many predicted.

Barcelona vs Chelsea

Let me start off by congratulating DeMatteo.  The man came into the Chelsea job with the unenviable task of sorting out the mess left behind by the tactical ineptitude of AVB combined with the paranoia of Abramovic.  Let me also denounce all of those denigrating Chelsea's performance as 'anti-football'.  Let's get this straight - NO ONE beats Barcelona playing Barcelona's game.  No one.  Why would Chelsea try and have 50% possession? It means absolutely nothing.  Chelsea had one goal - to get through to the final of the Champions League.  They were not trying to appease the football purists and why the hell should they be? You lot are a bunch of pedantic morons who consider 'beautiful' football to be more valuable than winning.  If beautiful football is all that matters, why exactly do Arsenal fans ever moan? Surely there has to be a balance between beautiful football and winning.  Anyway, I digress.

Once Chelsea were 2-0 and a man down, I was sure that it was game over.  Readers of my blog know how I feel about John Terry.  I am absolutely thrilled that he will not play in the final because he is pound-for-pound the most reprehensible man in football - and that coming from me - a Wayne Rooney fan.  Regardless of what he may have claimed later on, there was no 'accidental lifting of the knee'; that was a blatant disregard of an opponent's safety.

Ramires, my second favorite Chelsea player, scored an excellent goal and Chelsea were going through on the away goal rule.  Although the goal was against the run of play, it was emblematic of the Chelsea's combative performance.  After a good tackle, Frankie Lamps played in young Ramires who chipped the on-rushing Valdez to stun Camp Nou.  From that point on, Chelsea played with all 10-men behind the ball.  Other than Messi's missed penalty and his strike that hit the upright, for all of Barca's possession (~80%), they did not create too many clear-cut chances.  Besides, Cech was smothering all shots from distance and all crosses into the box.  With Pique having gone off injured, Barca were really finding it difficult to find anyone to aim at in the box, and Chelsea allowed them to have tons of width.  The fact that Barca do not have a Plan B to complement their admittedly brilliant Plan A, ended up being their undoing.  They huffed and they puffed, but they could not blow Chelsea's house down.

Although my heart goes out to Ramires for picking up a yellow that will see him missing the final, NOTHING compares to how I felt when I saw Meireles being booked.  That guy, above every single Chelsea player, deserves to play in the final.  He was fantastic over both legs - his workrate, distribution and tackling were a pleasure to behold.  And if I can make a bold prediction, it will be his absence that will lose Chelsea the final.  As a United fan, I am reminded of when Darren Fletcher received an unfair red in the semi-final against Arsenal.  His absence is the key factor to why United lost to Barcelona in 2008.  Poor Meireles - seeing him beg the referee to not give him a yellow almost brought tears to my eyes.  Oh, and if you haven't figured it out by now - he is my favorite Chelsea player.  I'm glad he left Liverpool because now I do not feel guilty cheering for him.

Despite Ramires' excellent goal, the highlight of the night was yet to come.  Although Chelsea were winning on the away-goal rule, there was an anxiety present because Barca were one goal away from securing their place in the final.  Cue a certain Mr. Torres.  As soon as he was introduced, I asked myself (and facebook) whether he would score against Barca.  He sure did.  Picking up the ball from a long clearance, he rounded the hapless Valdes to secure both Chelsea's place in the final and his name into Chelsea folklore.

But - please don't start singing 'He scores when he wants'.  Because that shit is demonstrably and laughably absurd.

Projjol "I'm sexy and I know it" Banerjea 

Shoutout to my good friends Projjol 'muscle-man' Banerjea and his beautiful wife Hickie 'she-wears-the-pants' Chatterjee/Banerjea for these recently acquired pictures from the Camp Nou.  

Madrid-Bayern

Madrid were favorites to go through after scoring an away goal.  And once they had gone 2-0 up with two quick goals by Ronaldo (and some brilliant vision by 'Avatar-eyes' Ozil), it looked like Madrid were going to run away with the game.  When i saw Ronaldo score, I was reminded of how he is often criticized as someone who goes missing in big games; especially when compared to Messi.  He had a brilliant game overall - and despite his eventual PK miss - should be proud of his overall performance.  Mourinho has added a dimension to Ronaldo's game that was non-existent during Cristiano's time at Man United - defensive awareness.  Ronaldo tracked back throughout this game and helped keep Ribery/Robben at bay.

Soon, it became increasingly apparent that Madrid's defense was shaky.  The first signs of it was a bursting run by Austrian defender Alaba.  Alaba tore past three players and hit a great cross to Robben who should have scored against his old side.  Madrid gave up a penalty via Pepe, who was lucky not to get sent off, and Robben duly dispatched the PK into the side netting.

Both Robben and Ronaldo were guilty of wasting some free kick chances in the second half, but the game was fairly even at that point.  The best chance of the game came when Alaba played in Robben.  Robben's first time pass found Gomez and the 40+ goal striker was odds-on to score.  He flubbed his first touch and found himself crowded out before he could get a decent strike away.  I thought Kaka's introduction during the 75th minute would prove to be catalytic - but the brazilian 'star' was at his disappointing best.  Extra time was uneventful and the game was finally decided by the lottery of penalty kicks.

Oh Ronaldo.  The kid never misses penalties during the game.  The kid never scores penalties during a shootout.  Neuer had a good game and Bayern were through - thereby denying Mourinho the chance to avenge Abrahomivic's mistreatment of him.  The final will be a brilliant affair and I look forward to it.

Next up, I will be previewing the United-City game.  Thank you for reading.