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