[Goodbye to Blackpool, Birmingham, West ham and...... Carlo Ancelotti]

What an exciting Sunday with all 10 premier league's matches kicked off at the same time. I just can't stop changing the channels to get the latest score of the other matches. Compare with the La Liga's two teams dance, Premier League is far more exciting. Five teams which struggle all season long to keep themselves away from relegation, gave their best yesterday. We didn't know which two teams will be going down until the final whistle. Blackpool has pull out every bullet they got at Old Trafford. Despite being one goal down, they scored twice and held a 2-1 lead over the new crown Champion. However, Man Utd is just too good comparably. They level the score and finished the game with a 4-2 victory. Blackpool is going down!! We may see Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell join another Premier League's team after the relegation, so as Ian Holloway.

The another team that going down with West Ham is Birmingham City. The club that won the League Cup title couple months ago, has been relegated. There is no excuse from their manager, Alex McLeish. It was him to take them to glory months ago, and it was him who dragged them to hell yesterday. I can see Alex to stay at the club for another season. There are decent players in the team that may make a move in order to continue to play Premier League's football, such as Larsson, Gardner, Ben Foster. 

For West Ham United, they need to find a successor for Avran Grant. I can expect that there are bunch of players who will be leaving the team: Scott Parker, Carlton Cole, Upson, Noble, Piquionne....... I hope Robert Green stays at the Hammer because he is just not good enough to play at the Premier League. 

Chelsea Statement to part company with Carlo Ancelotti.

At the HQ of Chelsea FC in London, Roman Abramovich has made a big decision to fire Carlo Ancelotti. The decision has been announced just couple hours after the last game of their season against Everton FC. Who will be the successor of Carlo? We know that Roman has the candidates in his mind: Frank Riijkard, Guardiola, Hiddink, Benitez, Harry Redknapp..... Seriously, I think Roman will hire former Liverpool manager, Benitez.

[Porto did it, again]

Falcao, the top scorer of the Europa League.

Will Boas becomes the next Jose Mourinho?

After 90 minutes of football, Falcao's only goal of the match brings the Europa League Cup back to Dragao again after eight years. Falcao, with record-breaking 17 goals in the tournament, makes him the top scorer of the Europa League 2011. Besides, Porto's coach, Andre Villas-Boas has become the youngest coach ever to win the Europa League. I can expect that the former Jose Mourinho's assistant has now become the target of the big clubs. Congratulation to FC Porto, they are the winner of Europa League 2011.

[Relegation Battle]

There is no surprise that Manchester United got their vital point with the 1-1 draw against Blackburn to clinch that premier league title. Congratulation to Sir Alex and his team, they deserve the title. I am a gentleman =D

Many of the fans around me, especially Chelsea and Arsenal's fans chose to ignore the remaining fixture since they got nothing to win now. They are more interested in discussing which players should be sold and who should their clubs bring in to strengthen their squad. 

For me, BPL is still interesting even though Man Utd has been crown champion. You know what I mean, just look at the relegation zone. I have to say, this is the most exciting relegation battle ever. With one game remaining, there are five teams which may go down to the Championship Football League next season. The margin between No.15 (Blackburn) and No.19 (Wigan) is just a point. The five teams that are facing the relegation threat are Blackburn (40pts), Wolves (40pts), Birmingham (39pts), Blackpool (39pts) and Wigan (39pts). Two of them have to go down next week. 

Wigan's key player, N'Zogbia.

Wigan Athletic: In my opinion, Wigan has the best chance to escape from the relegation zone by the end of the day even they are at the 19th place currently due to the goal differences. Their opponent next week will be Stoke City. Since Stoke have nothing to fight for, Tony Pulis may do them a favor. 

Will Blackburn's players the last men 'smiling' after next week?

Blackburn and Wolves: Both of them can be optimistic since they got their own fate in their own hands. Wolves will be hosting Blackburn at Edwood Park next week. Both of them will be looking for all 3 points to ensure that they are stay at the Premier League next season. A draw which gives them 41 points each may not be enough. 

Blackpool's skipper, Charlie Adam.

Blackpool: Blackpool's situation is interesting. They will be playing the Champ, Man Utd at Old Trafford. I think Sir Alex may do Ian Holloway a favor by resting his key players like Rooney, Hernandez, Giggs, Ferdinand, Van Der Sar for the Champions League Final. I can see Blackpool to at least grab a point from Old Trafford. The question is, is a point really good enough for Ian Holloway's side to stay at the top?

Carling Cup's winner relegated?

Birmingham: Which team has the worst chance to stay at the Premier League? Birmingham City. They have to play Tottenham Hotspur who are fighting to get their next season's entrance ticket for Europa League. This season may turn out to be a weird one for the Blues. They beat Arsenal to win the League Cup and now, they may go down to the Championship Football League. If I am one of the Birmingham's fans, I would rather sacrifice the League Cup for a chance to stay at the Premier League.

The best definition of 'Loser'.

Oops, you said I miss something? Avram Grant? I do not like to waste my energy on a manager that unable to save his team from relegation for two straight seasons. What should I call that? Back 2 Back relegated? That's pathetic!!!! 

 

A point away from their 19th

A vital match to see Man Utd grabbed all the 3 points.

Fergie knew that the 19th league's title is not far away.

Congratulation to Manchester United. They are just a point away from the record breaking 19th league title. Thanks to the 'little pea' Hernandez and their skipper, Vidic, Manchester United has beaten Chelsea by 2-1 at Old Trafford. Manchester United came out to battle from the first second the game started. A mistake by David Luiz allowed Hernandez to get an one on one opportunity with Petr Cech and guess what, the 'red hot pea' scored for United just 36 sec after the game kicked off. The goal shocked the Blues. It was Man Utd who controlled the game at the first half. Good defense and effective offense. The condition got even worst for Ancelotti's side when Vidic scored a header for United at 23rd minutes. The crowd at Old Trafford went crazy. 

The 'red hot pea'

Man Utd's skipper, Vidic scored a header.

Too little too late for the Blues.

During the second half, I saw Chelsea tried to get back into the game by gaining more possession. However, the front trio led by Drogba, Malouda and Kalou were just disappointing. Frank Lampard did not at the top of his game as well but he still managed to score a tap-in at 68th minutes to keep the hope alive. Since then, Chelsea did not really close to score a second goal. Manchester United came out on top with a 2-1 victory and built a 6 points lead. With two games remaining in the fixtures, they just need a point from Blackpool and Blackburn to secure that 19th league's title.

Once again, I cannot help myself to admire that Korean, Park. What a game he had. He was running like a nuts on the field, causing all types of troubles for Ancelotti's side. Besides, Valencia surprised me as he teared Ashley Cole apart. Ferguson made the right decision again by selecting Valencia instead of Nani. Nani's game is no where near Valencia. This Ecuadorian's game is simple, direct and effective. 

Remember the banner that Liverpool's fans showed at Anfield years ago? 

[Come back and sing Ooh-Aah Cantona when you've won 18.] by Liverpool's fans.

The United's fans brought their own banner today at Old Trafford, again: 

[You told us to come back when we've won 18 – we are back.] by United's fans.

Ancelotti: Don't axe me!!

There is no doubt that Ancelotti's position has turned insecure after the defeat. Unfortunately, Mr. Ancelotti once again made a wrong selection of his squad last night. After just 45 minutes, he decided to replace Mikel for Ramires (The second half performance by the Brazilian showed that he should be the one in the starting 11 instead of that Nigerian overrated midfielder), and bring on Alex for David Luiz (David is a great player, but he was not at his best last night). Another mistake he made was to start Kalou instead of Torres. Kalou was terrible last night. He just cannot create anything for the team when he played against O'Shea or Evans. Even with the defeat, I think Ancelotti should still stay at least for one more year. I think it is the time for the Blues to make some big changes. In my opinion, some of the big dogs like Mikel, Kalou, Anelka, Malouda, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Drogba or even Essien should make way for the new blood. Ehm, I can see a long long list of names appear in my head: Neymar, Alexis Sanchez, Tiote, Wesley Sneijder, Carlos Tevez, Gareth Bale, Hulk, Falcao, De Rossi, Marik Hamsik, Mascherano.... 

Preview: ManChester United vs Chelsea FC

The game that every Barclay's Premier League's fans are waiting for. This is it. There are different opinions from football pundits and Premier League's managers. However, all of their comments are not that important at all once the match kicks off tonight. 

When Manchester United lose against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium last week, Chelsea was the favorite to win this game, not until Man Utd proved how great they were against Schalke 04 at the mid-week. So, majority of people go for Man Utd to win this game now, or at least get a draw from it. The pressure is on Chelsea's side. They have to make sure they walk out Old Trafford today with all 3 points in their bag if they want to defend their title. It is uneasy for Chelsea to do so as Man Utd has a fantastic home record this season. They had only drop 2 points so far. It will be a tough challenge for the Blues. Do remember Chelsea lose 1-2 at Old Trafford in Champions League's Quarter Finals last month. If Chelsea really come out with 3 points tonight, it will be a huge boost for them and I will not be surprised if they go on to win the remaining games and win their back2back title. 

Regarding the line-ups tonight, I think Ferguson will go for 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1(which he likes to use when Man Utd played against big teams). He will still put his money on Rooney-Hernandez combination up front. I can expect Ryan Giggs to play at the middle of the midfield alongside Fletcher or Carrick. Park will be appeared at the right hand side to restrict Ashley Cole from coming forward too often. Either Nani or Valencia will be played at the left hand side against Ivanovic. The defensive line will be lead by Vidic and Ferdinand with Evra and Fabio or Rafael. Of course, their keeper, the one and only, Van der Sar. 

For Ancelotti's side, there is no doubt that he will stick with the 4-3-3 system. The back four will be lead by their skipper, John Terry. David Luiz will play alongside him with Ivanovic and Ashley Cole at both sides. Their keeper will definitely be Petr Cech. I do not expect Ramires to get back to the starting line-ups. That means Essien, Mikel and Lampard will form the middle three. The only question of the starting eleven is, who will be started alongside Drogba and Malouda. Kalou is in such a great form but Torres will provide the quality and one lethal touch may change the game. For me, either Torres or Kalou will be fine for Chelsea. 

This will be the 4th time these two teams play each other this season. Chelsea won the first meeting with 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge; then Man Utd won both home and away at the quarter finals of Champions League. This game tonight will not be an easy one for Man Utd, at least not as easy as the quarter finals of UCL. These are some of the talking points: 

1) Do remember, it was Bosingwa to play during the UCL as David Luiz was unable to play for the Blues. Ivanovic was forced to play at the middle in that two legs. With David Luiz back to the line-ups and Ivanovic plays at the right hand side, it will be tough for either Nani or Valencia. 

2) Ancelotti was playing the 4-3-3 system with Torres, Anelka/Drogba and Malouda at both legs of the UCL. Guess what, the Man Utd defense reacted tremendously against the front trio during the second leg. However, it will be different story tonight as the front trio are now in a great form especially after Drogba picked up his game. He is one of the key reasons the Blues are still in the title race. 

3) The key man for Man Utd will be Ryan Giggs. His passes were excellent at the both legs of UCL. He contributed to all three goals in the 3-1 aggregates win against Chelsea at the UCL. He will be the key man for Man Utd. It is interesting to see how Essien and Mikel cut off the link between Giggs and rest of the Utd team.

4) People are talking about how great Hernandez is. His running, his touches inside the box, his understanding of game. They do not realize how wonderful Wayne Rooney is. Even Rooney is not in the 'scoring mode' like he did last season, he is still great. Football is not only about scoring. Wayne Rooney shows the fans that he is good in creating goals, linking up his teammates and gets them involved in the attack with his passing skill. He is like an engine box for his team.

5) For the Blues, their key man will be Frank Lampard. This Chelsea team is heavily rely on Frank. Frank has to play well tonight, get involve in the attack as much as he can. 

Prediction: 

Chelsea win by one goal margin.

[Semi Finals]

Man Utd 4-1 ( M.U. won 6-1 in aggregate) Schalke 04 

Barcelona 1-1 (BarC won 3-1 in aggregate) Real Madrid

When Barcelona beaten Real Madrid in the first leg away from home by 2-0; Manchester Utd took away a 2-0 victory at Germany against Schalke at the first leg. We know that it will be Man Utd against Barcelona, again. So it will be one of these two to be crown as the European Champions 2011 at the Wembley Stadium at the end of May.

In my opinion, if there is one team that can stop Barcelona, that should be Man Utd. This does not mean that Man Utd is better than Barcelona. It is just because Sir Alex is far more experience to play against the great team. I think Man Utd may go back to 4-5-1 formation which gave them big success over the years especially played against big teams like Arsenal, Chelsea etc. And they will be playing against arguably the best football team in this planet, FC Barcelona. Conclusion, I hope the team with better performance wins in the Final.

Game Over? It still ON

Ramsey scored the only goal of Arsenal's 1-0 victory over United at Emirates Stadium.

After 35 games, the championship race is still on. After the game between ManUtd and Everton last week, I thought that the title race is over. I can hardly imagine that ManUtd will lose the game against Arsenal as United was in such a good form. I thought they will at least grab a point. However, this is football. Title race is still on, at least not over yet. It will be a big boost for Ancelotti's side to see Arsenal got a 1-0 victory over United. Wales' captain, Aaron Ramsey scored a vital goal that may change the fate of Alex Ferguson's side. 

Maybe Sir Alex will now know how important Ryan Giggs is to his team. When Hernandez and Rooney cannot find their way to score at the front, Nani and Park were unable to provide supports for their front duo. Even when he decided to make some changes, not much choices on the bench for him. When Sir Alex needed a pass from the middle that can cut open the defensive line of Arsenal, he cannot find a No.10 player. No Giggs, no Scholes, no miracle. Now u know why there was rumor that United interested to make a bid for Inter Milan No.10, Wesley Snijder. 

Poor goalkeeping from Gomes, again!

In the other side, Chelsea snatched a 2-1 win or precisely, stole it from their rival, Tottenham Hotspur. Two controversial goals from Frank Lampard and Solomon Kalou helped Chelsea to cruise on. However, you have to give credit to Chelsea as they were the better team on the pitch last night. They deserved that three points anyway. Poor goalkeeping from Gomes gave Chelsea the chance to level the score at 1-1 before half time. At the last moment of the game, it was Kalou who stepped out and scored that winning goal. Ehm, the replay showed that he was offside. Whatever.... The win gave Chelsea a chance to defend their title at Old Trafford next week.

For ManUtd, after the 0-1 defeat, next week's game will be decisive one as ManUtd will host Chelsea at Old Trafford. I do not think ManUtd has great advantage over Chelsea next week physically or mentally, even they play at home. This will be a 50/50 game. The only advantage for ManUtd is, they will be the happier side even they draw the game. The remaining fixtures for ManUtd will be against Chelsea at Home, away to Blackburn and Blackpool at Home. First at all, if ManUtd grab a point next week, they should not be over optimistic. They will be playing against two teams that fight to avoid relegation. There is potential to drop points. To be realistic, they won't be losing both of the games. They may draw one of them in the worst situation. At the last, they will still crown champion at the end of this season with 78 points and Chelsea finish second with 77 points (if they win the last 2 games and get a draw at Old Trafford). If Chelsea lose against United next week, that will definitely game over for them. Here is the situation which fans (except ManUtd fans) love to see. If Chelsea beat ManUtd next week, with both team get 73 points each. The remaining fixtures for Chelsea will be Away against ManUtd, Home against Newcastle and Away to Everton. The only team that may cause trouble for Chelsea will be Everton. David Moyes will definitely loves to do a favor for his friend, Sir Alex. However, if Chelsea do beat ManUtd by next weekend, they will climb to the 1st place by goal difference. It will be interesting to see whether the title will be decided by goal difference if both teams win all the remaining 2 fixtures. 

Ancelotti's final season of Chelsea?

If Ancelotti's side lose the title race at the last. He can still keeps his chin up and tells Abramovich, 'Fuck you Roman, forget about Hiddink, Rijkaard, Guardiola! Give me transfer fund this summer, bring me the players I want and see what I can do for you next season.' He still deserves one last chance as he never really get financial support from Roman to build his team until the arrival of Fernando Torres and David Luiz. He needs a chance like his predecessors did. 

What will UEFA do?

This was what Jose Mourinho said during the press conference after his team suffered a 0-2 defeat at the 1st leg of the Champions League Semi Final against Madrid's fierce rival, Barcelona. 

Real Madrid have also released a video on their official website which they claim proves Pepe should not have been given a red card during their Champions League semi-final first leg against arch rivals Barcelona.

El Clasico Part III - Champions League

Messi scored his 2nd goal of the game.

[Barcelona 2-0 Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu. This year's final will be the replay of 2009 Champions League final, Barcelone against Manchester United, not at the Stadium Olimpico in Rome, but Wembley Stadium in London]

The match was a little bit dull at the first half as Jose Mourinho tried to get his players sat at their own half. Real Madrid tried to catch Barcelona at the counter attack and set pieces. That was no surprise that Barcelona dominated the possession once again. However, with the presence of Pepe, Alonso and Diarra at the midfield, it was hard for Xavi to create chances especially without Iniesta by his side due to injury. 

Jose Mourinho decided to make a change during the half time. Adebayor has been brought in to replace Ozil. The match was still well in balance until the incident at 60th min. Pepe was shown a straight red card following a challenge on the Brazilian right back, Dani Alves. However, from the replay, it showed that Pepe did not make a contact with Alves. Even he did, the damage will be minimum. The yellow card will be maximum for Pepe, never a red card. It was sad and disgrace to see a player like Dani Alves to cheat and try to get advantage from it. 

Barcelona players surrounded the referee.

Pepe has been sent off at 60th minute.

Just after 16 minutes after the red card, it was Barcelona who broke the deadlock thanks to the Architect of the goal, the dutch winger, Afellay.  It was Messi who scored a classic poacher goal to get Barcelona in front. Just after 10 minutes later, the Argentinian showed his magic foot by dribbling past 4 players and scored a wonderful goal. These two goals meant that Lionel Messi has scored 11 times in 11 matches in this year's tournament. 

A good match, very much in balance until the red card. Referee changed the game. It was a turning point of the match. Even there is still second leg to be played next week, there is no chance for Real Madrid to score at least three goals away from home, especially without Pepe, Ramos and even worst, without Mourinho coaching at the side line.   

Quote of the Day:

I would be ashamed if I was Barca how they won Champions League in 2009. It was the scandal of Stamford Bridge [when they beat Chelsea in the semi-final after the ref failed to give the English side a penalty]. This is the scandal of the Bernabeu.' by Jose Mourinho after the match. 

ManUtd too good for Schalke

Giggs and Rooney scored the goals for Man Utd

[Manchester United walked away with an easy 2-0 victory away from home as both Rooney and Giggs had their names written on the score-sheet.] 

Not a surprising result, yet a surprising performance by Schalke 04. Honestly, I thought Schalke will give their best and give United a hard fought game in front of their fans. However, what I saw last night was a one sided game. It has been all United for the entire 90 minutes. Was that the Schalke that beaten Inter Milan at the quarter finals? I did not see anything from Schalke except bunch of fantastic saves by their captain, the German keeper, Neuer. Now I know the reason why the captain decided to leave his club this summer. Guess what, since Van Der Sar has decided to retire the end of the season, Neuer may become the keeper for United next season as he is one of the names on Ferguson's name list. 

Will Neuer become one of the ManUtd next season?

Schalke has to raise their performance at Old Trafford.  Maybe their performance will be improved as the Holland striker, Huntelaar will be fit for the second leg. Moreover, performance of Farfan and Jurado were far below par last night. They have to pick up their game in second leg. However, ManUtd is way too good for Schalke. There is no doubt that United will go to the Wembley for the final. The only question remains is, who will be their opponent? 

Manchester United played so well last night. They controlled the tempo of the game, their offense was good as usual and their defense was solid. The talented striker Hernandez was one of the best players on the pitch. His running was excellent. He always appeared at the right place at the right time. He was just unlucky not to score a goal, he did create the second goal though. With the rise of Hernandez, don't be surprise if United decide to sell the Bulgarian striker, Berbatov this summer. 

As United is in such a good form, I am wondering if Arsenal can beat ManUtd this weekend. 

Maybe next season, Mr Wenger

It was the same old problem that caused Arsenal to lose the vital game against Bolton. And now, it is the two-horse race for the Barclay's Premier League champion. However, like what I have said, the title race may be over if ManU beat Arsenal and Chelsea drop points against Tottenham this coming weekend.

There is one team that surprises me when I look at the League Table, Everton Football Club. They are currently sit at the 6th place, just behind their fierce rival, Liverpool. I still remember how they were struggling at the beginning of the season. You have to give your credit to that Scottish, Moyes. That doesn't mean that I agreed with his transfer policy to move Yakubu on loan during the January window and keep the faith on the former Leeds United striker, Jermaine Beckford. I mean, I never appreciate how great Yakubu is until he is compared with Beckford. Er.... anyway, I am not the one that in charge of Everton FC. 

BPL - 23 April 2011

Seriously, even you are not a Manchester United fans like me, you still have to give credit to this old man, Sir Alex Ferguson. He may not always be right, but most of the time, he is right, haha sounds weird. I respect him as a man, as a manager. He is far more better than Arsene Wenger, maybe a little advantage over Carlo Ancelotti after the win at Champions League's quarter final. He is no doubt the best manager in Barclay's Premier League at the moment.

I watched the match between Manchester United and Everton yesterday night. When the score was still 0-0 about 80th minutes, I turned my head and looked at my brother who is a ManU fans. He looked confident though. And, I got a bad feeling that Sir Alex's team will score at the last minute of the game (I said I am not a ManU fans). 'Fortunately', it did not take so long as the talented young striker, Javier Hernandez a.k.a Chicharito scored a winning header. Chicha reminds me of the younger, faster Michael Owen, the striker who once had that killer instinct inside the penalty box. I have to apologize to my brother as I did said that Chicharito is overrated and maybe just a hype.

However, today's headline in UK is, Fernando Torres, the half Billion's striker finally scored a goal for Chelsea Football Club of Chelsea's 3-0 victory over West Ham United. Yes, El Nino scored again after 903 minutes (for Liverpool, Spain and Chelsea). And he did added an assist as well. 

This was what he said after the match:

[The goal drought] was not what I was expecting when I signed," Torres said. "It's not easy when you sign in January. It's thanks to my team-mates that I can score, they have been looking for me all the time. There is less pressure on me now so I hope you will see more of me.

"It's not been so difficult. The fans have been very patient with me so I had more anxiety for them than for me. I just wanted to show them I can score and I hope it is the first of many goals."

9 matches have been played yesterday night except Arsenal against Bolton. Wenger told the press that he believed his side will be the last team standing if they take all 15 points in the last 5 matches. However, they are 16 matches unbeaten at the moment. Er, they just won 8 games from that 16 games anyway. As ManU won yesterday, the gap between ManU and Gunners will still be 6 points even the Gunners beat Bolton tonight.

For me, I don't think that both Chelsea and Arsenal still capable of winning the League Champion. ManU has one hand on the cup already. Four games left and you are expecting Ferguson's side to drop 6 points from the possible 12 points. That's unrealistic even though everything happens in football, at least not this time. I know some of you will said that what if Arsenal beat ManU at Emirate Stadium and what if Chelsea beat ManU at Old Trafford. Okie, I am one of them who hopes this happens but I do not think it is possible. If ManU win against Arsenal next week and Chelsea drop points against Tottenham then the season is over. 

Quote of the Day:

Never underestimate the heart of a 50Mil Pound Striker.

El Clasico Part II - Copa Del Rey Final

Before the match started, all of us know that this will be one of the classic games to be remembered in the Spanish Cup history. This is the game between arguably two best footballer in the earth, Ronaldo and Messi. This is the game between arguably two best coach in the Spain La Liga, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

Ronaldo vs Messi

Mourinho vs Guardiola

After 120minutes, it was Real Madrid who walked away with the Spanish Cup as they won by 1-0 over their arch-rivals Barcelona. I sat in front of the television and fortunately, these two teams gave me a fantastic match. Jose Mourinho has been criticized by the media because of the 1-1 draw against Barce last weekend at Bernabeu. Mourinho, after the match last weekend to promise their fans, they will see an improvement by his team at the Copa Del Rey final. Once again, he delivered. There were a little changes by both sides. Madrid still using Pepe as the Defender in front of the back four; Ramos has been moved to the Central Defender, played alongside Carvalho; Ozil replaced Benzema to join Ronaldo and Di Maria at front. Guardiola decided to start his cup keeper Pinto; Mascherano has been moved to the Central Defender to play alongside Pique. 

For the first 45 minutes, it was Mourinho's side who controlled the tempo of the game. It was almost all Madrid at the first half. They were unfortunate not to score goal as Ronaldo missed the chance created by Ozil and Pepe's header hit the post just before the half time whistle. It seemed like Barce's players were still unable to find  the way to score against this Madrid defense. If there is anyone in this world to stop Barcelona's attacking football, that man will only be Jose Mourinho. 

When the second half started, Guardiola's side seemed like finally found their tempo. Xavi and Iniesta started to controlled the possession again. However, the three players up front, Villa, Messi and Pedro were still not get used to the physical contact by the Madrid's defensive line. Madrid's players were looking a little bit tired at the second half as they allowed Barcelona players to gain more possession and create more chances. The controversial arose when Pedro scored an offside goal. The replay showed that the linesman made the right call. At the end, it was 0-0 after 90 minutes. Extra time needed to separate these duo.

Finally, just before the first half of the extra time, it was Real Madrid to find the way break through Barce's defense. Di Maria combined well with Marcelo at the left lane and delivered the cross to the box for Ronaldo to score the winning header. After 120 minutes, it was Madrid who walked away from the stadium with the Copa Del Rey.

Newspaper in Spain, Marca

Celebration

Some of the pundits said that Mourinho's side did not deserve a point after the 1-1 draw with Barce last weekend. But this is football. The 1-1 draw gave his side the confidence that they believe they can actually stop Barcelona's offense. Last night's victory can be crucial, or even the turning point of the season. It depends on how Pep Guardiola's side reacts after this bitter defeat.

I have to praise Mourinho's approach of the game last night. I can see each time when Barcelona tried to bring the ball into the danger area of the Madrid's goal, they found themselves been surrounded or trapped. The M-V-P connection has been cut off. They found themselves isolated most of the time during the match. Madrid has successfully cut off the link between them. 

The pundits criticized Mourinho for not playing attacking football like Barcelona. I don't agree with what they said though. There is no team in this world will be able to win the game against Barcelona by playing attacking game with them. Just see how Arsenal got their ass kicked by Barce (No offend to Gunner's fans). What I trying to say is, if you cannot win your opponent by offense, then take them down by your defense. There is no point for you to play sexy football and lose matches/competition. 

The best player in the game last night? That's definitely not Ronaldo or Messi. In my opinion, the man of the match was either Iker Casillas or Sergio Ramos. I believe Ramos's quickness and decisiveness will make him one of the great Central Defender of the world. Yes, I mean Central Defender, not Right Back. For Casillas, what else can you say? He made important saves and kept the clean sheet. 

It is happy and great to be a football fans. As you know, Champions League is just around the corner. I just can't wait. 

Game Over Arsenal?

I watched the first half of the London Derby yesterday night. It has been an entertaining match so far, with the half time score 3-2. Guess what, it was Tottenham to come out with the smile on their faces after 90 minutes, by stealing a point from Arsenal, again. Final score? 3-3. I am wondering that whether Cesc Fabregas will still stay at the club after yet can possibly be another disappointing season at Arsenal. 

One of the biggest problems of Arsenal is their defensive line. When Manchester United won three league champions in a row between 2007 to 2009, their defense was almost unbeatable with Vidic and Ferdinand played as Central Defenders and of course their keeper, Van Der Sar. When Chelsea won back to back league title during season 2004-05, 05-06, they got John Terry + Gallas or Carvalho and also Petr Cech. Now, you understand what I am trying to tell. Sorry to Arsenal fans. Unless Wenger willing to open his cheque book to bring in a world class defender this summer (Neither Koscielny nor Djourou is good enough for Arsenal) to play along side Vermaelen, and maybe sign a better and experienced keeper (Shay Given?), or else there will be no chance for Arsenal to crown league champion, I mean no chance in hell. As a football fans, I would love to see Arsenal crowns Champion once again. However, we have to realize the truth that playing sexy football does not guarantee you a League Champion, not even a League Cup. 

I always remember what Arsene Wenger always said after his team dropped point, 'It's not over yet'. The fact is, Chelsea has climbed to the second place by goal difference after defeated Birmingham City 3-1 (Oops, Fernando's scoring drought goes on....). In my opinion, if Carlo Ancelotti lost his job this summer, there would be ridiculous for Wenger to keep his job as the manager of Arsenal Football Club. 

Lesson of the day:
Offense wins you fans, Defense wins you Champions.

[This Is It]

First of all, I have to say thank you for everyone who visits this blog. Actually, I was thinking of producing this blog by the start of the next season of Barclays Premier League. However, I just can't wait to share with all the football fans around the world. So, this is it, so sit back and enjoy. 

This is the blog for all the football fans around the world. I don't care whether you are from Spain, UK, Africa, Japan, China or even Mars, please respect each other. You are encourage to comment but do not swearing like Wayne Rooney. Ehm, I can't hand you a 3 days/matches ban for swearing though.

Quote of the day: 
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it - French writer, Voltaire