Barcelona win the Champions League

So I was half right. I did manage to predict 2 goals from Barcelona. It’s just that Man Utd let me down and didn’t score the 3 they were meant to.

First of all, hats off to Barca. They were majestic. Although, Pep Guardiola has surely been playing Football Manager. He employs the exact same formation that I have used to guide Newcastle Utd to multiple League and European titles. The whole tactic revolves around your midfield 3 (in this case, Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets) controlling 80/90% of the possession combining with 2 attacking midfielders/wingers (Messi and Henry) and a strong forward (Eto’o). So, congratulations to the Football Manager community. This victory is yours.

It was however, one of the poorest United performances I have seen for a while. And I must start my analysis with questioning Sir Alex’s team selection. He must have had an idea that Barca would have fielded this tactic, as they have done in almost all of the games this season, so one thing you will want to avoid, is being out numbered in midfield. Yet that is exactly what happened. Giggs and Anderson were often far too far away from Carrick, leaving him isolated, and as a result, he ended up giving the ball away almost as soon as he got it. Surely Scholes would have been a better bet.

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Champions League Trophy

So we come to it at last, the Great Game of Our Time.

Or something like that. The Champions League final marks the finale and the pinnacle of European (and World) Football. And what a game it’s shaping up to be this year!

Whilst I felt sympathy for Chelsea when they were knocked out by Barcelona a couple of weeks ago, I’ve always felt that this fixture would offer the better proposition for the neutral fan.

Sadly time dictates that I can’t offer a full preview of the game (you can get one here) as my dinner is imminent, but suffice to say I can’t wait to see it, even though it requires me to be up at 4am!

My prediction: Man Utd. 3-2 in an enthralling game.

Didier Drogba rages at the referee.

It’s been a night of high emotions at Stamford Bridge, where Bracelona scraped through to the Champions League Final on away goals.

I really feel for the Chelsea players and fans, because it is such a frustrating way to go out of the competition. Despite dominating the tie they failed to kill the game off, and Barcelona scored with their only shot on goal (albeit a pretty spectacular one).

Rather then the two exceptional goals that were scored, what will be remembered from this game, are the ugly scenes that followed the final whistle, with Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack leading the Chelsea players in a verbal attack on referee Tom Ovrebo. Whilst such behavior is unprofessional and will warrant deserved punishment from UEFA, you can’t help but feel for them.

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