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