Champions League follow-up
Hey, if you haven’t noticed, I had a perfect record in my predictions for the Champions League round of 16, 7-8 correct, and 8-8 if Inter Milan manages to stave of Ajax next week. Arsenal were deserved winners, Chelsea deserved losers, and Liverpool unlucky across 2 legs against a stubborn Benfica side.
Arsenal have done what no other Premiership club has managed this season by placing themselves in the last 8 of the competition. By sinking Real Madrid they achieved the one thing that just might keep Theirry Henry at the club.
Madrid, well, what can you say other than an era is over. And Arsenal did it with their ever improving group of young players. In fact, game in, game out, Arsenal keep improving. They were deserved 2-1 winners just today against Liverpool in the Premiership. As for Real, it’s time to rebuild. Zidane looks set to retire after the World Cup, Ronaldo looks to gain weight -I mean play elsewhere after the season. Roberto Carlos will also likely make an exit. What is left can’t keep the reputation alive, and if you consider the money spent on disappointment Robinho, well, there is more money needed to get them afloat again.
Conversely, the Gunners are on the rise. The ghost of Patrick Vieira will appear again at Highbury in the name of Juventus. How many times can a team get lucky? The Old Lady’s hopes were saved because of a last minute flub by Werder Bremen’s keeper. Now Arsenal must contend with the team which will probably end their European hopes.
Chelsea-Barcelona should have been better, in the second leg especially. Chelsea just ran out of ideas. Barcelona didn’t have to bring their best to the occasion; the Blues looked beaten by about the 10th minute.
Jose Mourinho’s petulance could not be hidden and for my money he’s crossed the line of how far excuses can get you. Sometimes 'the special one' takes it on the chin and accepts defeat but too often, especially in the big games, he starts his litany of excuses which often centers on the referee. His behavior against West Brom recently was terrible.
Without Asier Del Horno’s red card I think the result would have been the same. Barcelona were just too fluent in attack to be stopped.
Liverpool lost to Benfica, twice. Simao’s wonder-goal finished things off in the first half of the second leg. Liverpool hit the post and couldn’t buy a goal which has emerged as their Achilles’ heel. They are scoring about ½ a goal per match recently. That’s not good enough with the kind of talent they have brought in. I got a lot of ‘are you nuts’ comments when I predicted Benfica would win. I’d like to see as many ‘you were right’ comments but something tells me I won’t.
As for Benfica, they play like a team from Italy. Stubborn, hard to break down and opportunist. I didn’t see Ronald Koeman as being up to the job but I have been proven wrong. He’s put together a gritty team which finds a way to win.
*PS- Again, sorry for the lack of articles, I'll be more active soon enough
Arsenal have done what no other Premiership club has managed this season by placing themselves in the last 8 of the competition. By sinking Real Madrid they achieved the one thing that just might keep Theirry Henry at the club.
Madrid, well, what can you say other than an era is over. And Arsenal did it with their ever improving group of young players. In fact, game in, game out, Arsenal keep improving. They were deserved 2-1 winners just today against Liverpool in the Premiership. As for Real, it’s time to rebuild. Zidane looks set to retire after the World Cup, Ronaldo looks to gain weight -I mean play elsewhere after the season. Roberto Carlos will also likely make an exit. What is left can’t keep the reputation alive, and if you consider the money spent on disappointment Robinho, well, there is more money needed to get them afloat again.
Conversely, the Gunners are on the rise. The ghost of Patrick Vieira will appear again at Highbury in the name of Juventus. How many times can a team get lucky? The Old Lady’s hopes were saved because of a last minute flub by Werder Bremen’s keeper. Now Arsenal must contend with the team which will probably end their European hopes.
Chelsea-Barcelona should have been better, in the second leg especially. Chelsea just ran out of ideas. Barcelona didn’t have to bring their best to the occasion; the Blues looked beaten by about the 10th minute.
Jose Mourinho’s petulance could not be hidden and for my money he’s crossed the line of how far excuses can get you. Sometimes 'the special one' takes it on the chin and accepts defeat but too often, especially in the big games, he starts his litany of excuses which often centers on the referee. His behavior against West Brom recently was terrible.
Without Asier Del Horno’s red card I think the result would have been the same. Barcelona were just too fluent in attack to be stopped.
Liverpool lost to Benfica, twice. Simao’s wonder-goal finished things off in the first half of the second leg. Liverpool hit the post and couldn’t buy a goal which has emerged as their Achilles’ heel. They are scoring about ½ a goal per match recently. That’s not good enough with the kind of talent they have brought in. I got a lot of ‘are you nuts’ comments when I predicted Benfica would win. I’d like to see as many ‘you were right’ comments but something tells me I won’t.
As for Benfica, they play like a team from Italy. Stubborn, hard to break down and opportunist. I didn’t see Ronald Koeman as being up to the job but I have been proven wrong. He’s put together a gritty team which finds a way to win.
*PS- Again, sorry for the lack of articles, I'll be more active soon enough
by Football Commentator at 3/12/2006 07:23:00 PM
6 Comments:
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I am a west ham supporter and even though Chelsea are one of our close rivals i still would disagree with you about Barca beating Chelsea. If there was no red card on del Horno i dont think that Celsea would have lost. Even though they were under pressure early with 11 men they would have eventuall won at home. Look at matches against liverpool and arsenal were in the early stages of the frist half they were under pressure but they still went on to win comfortably.
Arsenal deserved the victory against Real Madrid and it was easier (especially in the first leg) than I had expected. However, while that was partly because Arsenal play well it was also in large part because RM were really quite poor.
I think Juventus will be much harder. They are a better team at the moment and they play more defensively like all Italian teams. Arsenal have had problems with this before - they run out of ideas and can't always break teams down.
Still, they have a chance and if they play to their best, no-one can stop them. The problem is their form is so unpredictable.
Congrats for the predictions. Being an Inter Milan fans I do really hope that your record stays perfect :-)
I was lucky to see (on TV) both matches between Arsenal and Real Madrid and I do agree with you that Arsenal deserved to qualify.
Offensively they are technically gifted enough to go around every defense and their defense is perfect in closing every space.
As for Vieira you were right when you used the word ghost. With Juventus he is the shell of the valuable midfielder and leader he was.
He has clearly lost a step and he has to use dirty manners to stop quicker players. If he would not play for Juventus he would have missed half of the league matches because of a disqualification.
P.S. for AndyM. I do agree with you when you say that Italian teams are known for defensive play (unfortunately it is true) but I would not say all the teams.
AC Milan and Inter Milan always try to play offensively and when they are fit it is a pleasure to watch them.
Please do not consider the matches against Juventus. The referee permits them so many "tactical fouls" that the matches are always unbearable.
I think the red card would have changed the game. In either game the effect was to strain Makelele and Lampard in midfield. But omitting Chelsea's best player of the first leg in the return leg is just... ridiculous. And Gudjohnsen seriously deserves much more playing time than he gets – he's hardworking, drops deep, a competent Deco-like prompter, tactically sound, and if nothing, is creatively a more dependable outlet than any of Chelsea's other hapless offensive players.
But many plaudits to the Barcelona midfield for learning from their mistakes last year and keeping the passes neat, tidy and fluid. Thiago Motta and Edmilson shone in particular.
More patience with Tiago Mendes – who scored two for Olympique Lyonnais and is, for me, their player of the season so far – might have helped Chelsea, too.
Tactically, the Champions League games this season have shown an emergence of the deep-lying playmaker, which used to be just a Milan and Barcelona thing last year. All of the sides remaining have a deep-lying midfield schemer in fine form: Fabregas, Petit, Pirlo, Xavi, Marcos Senna, Tiago. Perhaps that's a clue to how the World Cup will be decided in June.
I don't think, btw, that the Italian teams are particularly defensive. They say that the Italian teams are the tactical ones, and I'd just say they're less tactically naive than the English and Spanish teams. Case in point: a Man United side with five offensive players out of ten outfield players dumped out of Europe last season by the 34-year-old fullback Cafu.
Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona has the distinction of being the sole team blessed with both superlative technical football and superlative tactical ability, so it is no surprise they are the favourites.
as an Arsenal supporter, i definitely agree with you that the Gunners deserved the victory. i was there watching the match that day. the HAPPIEST thing was to see the Gunners fighting with the spirit they once lost. i know how tough might Juventus be for Arsenal to play with, but i really wish we can go further, really.
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