European Club Football 2010/2011 season

Wednesday, 13 April 2011 Uefa Champions League
Schalke 04 2-1 Inter Milan (agg 7-3)
Tottenham 0-1 Real Madrid (agg 0-5)

All went very much as expected last night.
Schalke won a rather low key game at home against a Milan side who have not looked at all comfortable through this competition. Raul is having a second career in Germany & he was very much the man of the match. Milan huffed & puffed but never looked remotely likely of turning the first leg result around.

Schalke will be a stern test for United in the semi-finals, but certainly are beatable - they are currently only 9th. in the German League. Very much a 50-50 contest with a spark of genius probably enough to put either side through..

Spurs, similarly, never made the upset look likely. Madrid were just too knowledgeable & in control all night - as any side 4 goals up in a game should be. The 1 nil loss will undoubtedly be put down as a goalkeeping error but, in truth, Madrid only did enough to progress..

So the 'Spanish' semi-final will be be between probably the two best teams in Europe. Barca undoubtedly have the edge because of domestic results. However Mourinho has a wonderful record in this contest & will believe that he will be back at Wembley for the final. Both teams have winners in just about every position on the pitch...

Tonight the Europa ties are finished off...

Thursday, 14 April 2011 Uefa Europa League
Spartak Moscow v FC Porto, (agg 1-5), QF, L2, 18:00
Braga v Dynamo Kiev, (agg 1-1), QF, L2, 20:05
FC Twente v Villarreal, (agg 1-5), QF, L2, 20:05
PSV Eindhoven v Benfica, (agg 1-4), QF, L2, 20:05

As with the Cup games, 3 matches really finished after the first leg. I will be surprised if any of those 3 sides throw the game away in the second half. I expected Kiev to progress quite comfortably against Braga but it is all to play for now. Home advantage & with an away goal will make it a very tight & interesting game...

Well you always were one to push the boundaries Zid...

p.s. I did say....

Also, as with the Cup where two Spanish sides look odds on to be completing in a semi-final, here it is two Portuguese clubs that look certainties.

on April 8, 2011, 7:52 am

Thursday, 14 April 2011 Uefa Europa League
Braga 0-0 Dynamo Kiev (agg 1-1) (Braga win on away goals rule)
FC Twente 1-3 Villarreal (agg 2-8)
PSV Eindhoven 2-2 Benfica (agg 3-6)
Spartak Moscow 2-5 FC Porto (agg 3-10

Well 1 shock (I think) the rest really just going with the flow...
The shock - Kiev are out to Braga. Well they are 3rd. in the Portuguese League, but that is rather like being 3rd. in the Scottish Premiership. They are also a massive 31 points behind leaders Porto & 12 points behind second placed Benfica. A great result to keep the away side out for the 90 minutes, I have not read any reports yet but it must have been a pretty tense night!!

The 2 Portuguese sides above Braga in the league both rather cruised through. Benefica made match of the evening with a two all away draw but all the work of progressing had been done the week before. Porto carried on their great form with a demolition of Spartak. OK I guess the Russians didn't hold out any more hope than me that they could turn the tie around. However they have been (up unto the first Porto match) dominant in their European games this year. To lose after conceding 5 goals in both legs is a real footballing lesson.

So only Spaniards Villarreal can stop an all Portuguese final. I fancy that they have enough about them to do that as well.
Villarreal against Porto would be my tip for the final, but I am not brave enough to predict the winners out of those two. They are close enough matched to make it an interesting game & Porto have certainly shown in the quarter finals that they are not a team that looks to nick a goal & sit on the lead..

The Europa Cup has been a real boost to Portuguese football this season, ironically at a time when the national team has taken rather a dip in form...

Tuesday, 26 April 2011 Uefa Champions League
Schalke 04 v Man Utd, SFL1, L1, 19:45

As expected being down to the last 4, a tough game for United.
Schalke are not exactly setting the German league on fire this season (they are 10th. of 18 teams in the Bundesliga) but they have been on fire in Europe. They have beaten every side that they have played at home this year. In addition they have Raul up front who has always been a man for the big occasion.
Worse, for United, they have never managed to beat a German side over two legs in this competition.
I expect United to lose the first leg but, hopefully, not by much.
I will not be surprised if the Old Trafford leg will be a tight affair also with United needing to score to win it. Sadly they have not exactly looked like taking their chances in front of goal this year. A cameo performance from Rooney could win either leg but those performances have been few & far between this season from him..

Laan Yaa Mo wrote:Look for the 2-game sweep by Man United. You read it here first!

It looks like you should take football predictions up professionally Laan Yaa Mo. Although I suspect that this one comes more from the heart than the head, it could be spot on.

Schalke 04 0 - 2 Man Utd

Still only half time, but I great first leg for United.
The score did not flatter them at all. Except for some brilliant goalkeeping by the German side they could have been humiliated by the score here.
This was probably Uniteds' best performance of the season. They played completely as a team & battered Schalke from the kick off, while restricted the home side to a few long range attempts. Will they regret not putting this tie completely out of sight?? Maybe but Manuel Neuer in goal had an inspired night as well & saved the home side time after time. Eventually a cute pass by Rooney left Giggs with only the goalkeeper to beat & he finally managed it. This gave him the distinction of becoming the oldest ever Champion League scorer at 37 years and 148 days old. Within a couple of minutes United had doubled their lead as Hernandez give Rooney a sight of goal & he dispatched it with ease.

I do not know what Schalke will make of this & how they can find a way back into the game. If the same team turns up at Old Trafford they will be steamrollered out of this competition. If then can go to Old Trafford & snatch an early goal then anything is possible. In order for them to do that there will have to be a huge turnaround in the attitude of both sides though. On last nights' showing Schalke looked completely unlikely to score while United looked like 5 or 6 was a possibility.

Tonight the two giants of Spain clash.
The season has so far undoubtedly belonged to Barcelona. The last match between them was all about Madrid winning though. Interesting clash. Free flowing football & an open game will favour Barca. The Special one is usually far to astute to let any other side play to its' advantage against his side. It looks like he has even managed to pick up a few tips about winding the opposition up from Sir A.

Pep Guardiola riled by Jose Mourinho jibes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13197088.stm

Zidane wrote:By the way,if United are still searching for a replacement for Van der Sar they could do a lot worse than sign up the German International,Neur from Schalke,who was the only German who emerged with any credit last night.

He had already said that he is leaving at the end of the season when his contract will have expired. That alone would make him an attractive proposition for many clubs.
He is certainly a shot stopper from last nights' performance - although it looks like he gets plenty of practice during a game without bothering to turn up in the week...
United have certainly been linked to worse goalkeepers.

I don't know if they just froze last night, or were just completely taken aback by United's desire to come forward. They seemed to have no idea how to react - I think that they might be a bit better prepared for Old Trafford though...

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 Uefa Champions League
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona

Well the score was the same as the other semi-final, but that was about the only similarity.
This was a close fought affair with much emphasis on the 'fought' word. Spirited is one thing & I think everyone wants to see their side trying to win, this was, in the BBCs' words

bad-tempered

.
Some of that was a spill over from the Spanish Cup Final in which Madrid rather out muscled Barcelona from it. A bit more of the same here & Barcelona not willing to be physically pushed out of a game twice.
It was all ticking along pretty evenly until Madrid had reserve keeper Jose Pinto red carded - what is the point in sending a substitute off? there are still 11 players on the pitch. Finally the referee took action on the field of play as Pepe was dismissed on the hour. The sending off ended up being a 'double' as Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands for sarcasm as well...
Messi then went on to show why he is probably the finest player in the world at the moment with two goals.
The first was a real 'right place, right time' couple of yarder that could have come out of the Gary Winston Lineker book of football finishes.
The second was individual brilliance & skill that would have made it into the Diego Armando Maradona best 10 goals.
The only other contender for World player of the year, Ronaldo, had a dismal time. Forced to play the lone striker he saw nothing of the ball & so had no influence on the game at all.

The return leg now presents a serious problem for Madrid & its manager. They need to come up with a new battle plan on how to defeat the best side in Europe.
They tried matching them skill for skill & conceded 6 goals in the league.
They succeed in being physically stronger in the Cup & prevailed.
They tried that again last night & now have a mountain to climb.

Tonight the Europa Cup semis take place - or the Portuguese Cup as it is being renamed...

Thursday, 28 April 2011 Uefa Europa League
Benfica v Braga, SF, L1, 20:05
FC Porto v Villarreal, SF, L1, 20:05

Villarreal will try & ensure that someone outside Portugal is interested in the result in a very interesting clash with Porto.