Saturday Soccer Spotlight: Lucky #19

This was the weekend for Manchester United to set a record.  Needing just one point in their last 2 games, they set out to get that point today so that they can rest their first team in preparation for the Champions League Final.  When I saw the line-up I thought, "Poor Blackburn, they are going to get crushed.  This was an attacking minded line-up picked to win, not just get a point.  And Manchester was poised to take all 3 points and celebrate.  Someone forgot to tell Balckburn...

Brett Emerton of Blackburn looked to have spoiled the party in the 20th minute.  United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak (getting the start instead of 40-year-old Edwin van der Sar) was having a terrible game.  Botched clearances and miscommunications led to several nervy for United, and it culminated in Kuszczak failing to get a good hand on a chipped shot that eventually fell to a another Blackburn player who fed Emerton for a goal.  Only Arsenal manages to maintain 75% plus possession and give up a goal, and it looked like United, while they were threatening, didn't have the magic touch.

But anyone who has watched Manchester United this season knows not to panic when they get behind.  They play better from behind than any other team in the league.  That's not to say their weren't a lot of nervous faces in the Manchester section of the crowd, and more goalkeeper problems just added to the tension.  But United weren't going to be denied, and once again Javier Hernandez came up with the big play. 

Giggs slotted in a perfect pass to split the defenders just outside the 18-yard box, and despite its perfection it was a very difficult ball for the Mexican to control.  But he got the touch he needed to keep it slightly away from the goalie, and one more touch as the goalie slid in to take out his legs.  After some deliberation among the sideline judge and the referee, the penalty was given, and Rooney calmly walked to the penalty spot and hammered it home into the left corner.  And from that point on it became the most boring game I've seen in a long time.  Both teams were happy with their point as Blackburn look to have secured a spot above the relegation zone, and Manchester secured their 19th title. 

Let the parties begin!  Manchester United is once again champion of English Football.  The 4th time in the last 5 years, and the 19th overall to become the most successful team in the history of English Football.

--On a side note, I think the penalty was weak.  By the rulebook it is a penalty; however, I think way too many penalties like this are given in soccer.  Hernandez's last touch away from the goalie was going straight out of bounds, and he had no chance to get it under control and set up a goal or score himself even if the goalie hadn't hit him.  So by the rules it's a penalty because the goalie did make contact after the ball was gone, but I think that rule need to be reviewed.  Maybe an indirect kick from that spot would be better...?

Daily Highlight: Defending Champions Eliminated

Inter Milan were thoroughly outplayed in both legs of this quarterfinal matchup and Schalke are deserved winners.  After winning 6-3 on aggregate, they will face Manchester United in the semi finals.

Champions League Quarterfinals 2nd Leg

I must say that there are few things I enjoy more than watching Manchester United defeat Chelsea.  I love that despite their billionaire owner, Manchester United continues to show them that developing players is more effective than just buying the current top players.  There is more to a team than players.
Add all that to the fact that Manchester United knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League is is most likely assured of beating them in the Premier League, and it makes it all even better.

This match was poised to be a great one from the start.  Chelsea had to come out attacking because they were down a goal in the 2 game series, and they were away from home.  And Manchester is never going to sit back and strictly absorb pressure in their home stadium, the Theater of Dreams.  But I must say that the starting line-up was more of an attacking line-up than I expected.  The defense was exactly what I expected with O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, and Evra.  The midfield caught e a little by surprise with Park starting in place of Valencia.  But I really expected Rooney to be the lone striker, with Sir Alex adding an extra midfielder.  But as is usually the case, Ferguson picked the perfect line-up.  The two surprise inclusions (at least according to me) played big parts in the game.

The game began with Chelsea dominating possession and chances on goal.   For the first 10 or 15 minutes, Manchester was limited to one shot on goal from long distance, while Chelsea had several good chances.  Fortunately for Manchester several of those fell to the constantly misfiring Fernando Torres.  You'd think with the 50 million pounds he cost, and who knows how much he ears, he'd be able to buy a goal.  But that's not the case, and that's Chelsea's problem.  However, after that first period, Manchester began to regain their feet and maintain more possession.  And it looked like they went ahead midway through the half, but Hernandez was flagged for offside after Rooney sent him through on goal.

But as it turns out, Hernandez would make up for it, and get his goal right before half time.  It almost seems inevitable that the "Little Pea" (as his nickname translates) will score in any game that he plays in.  And they all seem to be important.  In the 43rd minute, Manchester won a free kick just outside the Chelsea box, and Chelsea wasn't able to get a good clearance.  The ball fell to Rooney, whose vision always amazes.  With no open lane on goal, the forward sent the ball across the field to Giggs.  O'Shea, so often overlooked when talking about important players, came up in support and received the ball from Giggs.  And as soon as Anelka overcommitted on the pass, he sent Giggs free into the box.  It was a great interchange between the two, and the pass that Giggs sent across the box was perfect.  Just out of reach of the goalie, and any defender, Hernandez snuck in at the back post and smashed it into the top of the net.  It's the type of goal that can destroy your spirits.  But Chelseas wasn't about to give up.

Shortly into the first half, Chelsea brought Drogba in for Torres.  And I still don't understand why they don't start him in games like this.  Since they signed Torres, Drogba has proven better time and again.  But even with Drogba, the game looked over when Ramirez got red carded in the 70th minute.  Not an extremely harsh tackle.  But he did come in from behind and take down Nani, and it certainly deserved a yellow card.  Too bad for him that he already had one.

But still, Drogba and Chelsea were not about to go away quietly.  Less than 10 minutes after the red card, Drogba beat an offside trap and slammed home a goal after going in on Van der Sar one on one.  The game at that point was poised for a crazy and nervy finish.  Enter Ji Sung Park.  Virtually directly from the kick off, Giggs found Park practically alone and in acres of space inside the Chelsea 18 yard box, and he cooly chested the ball down and found the side netting past Petr Cech.  Game over.

PS - Barcelona won 1-0 over Shakhtar Donetsk to advance as well.  Lionel Messi scored his 48th goal of the season, which is a new record, beating the Brazilian Ronaldo's record back in 196-97.

Saturday Soccer Spotlight: Champions League Quarterfinals Second Leg

The first leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals was full of surprises.  In a league where most teams try to feel each other out in the first game and take whatever they can get, this slate of games was full of attacking creativity, goals, and upsets.  In 3 of the 4 games there were 4 or more goals scored, and in each of those games, the winning team won by 3 or more goals.  The defending champion was beaten in it's home stadium by a resounding underdog, and a 9 year winless streak on a particular opponent's field was snapped.  Let's break down what we can expect next.

Manchester United v Chelsea

This was the only game that was not completely one-sided.  Manchester United got exactly what it wanted with an away goal, but getting a win at Stamford Bridge was quite unexpected.  It had been 9 years since they won there.  But now they head back to Old Trafford with a big time advantage.

Look for Manchester United to start it's most experienced defenders.  That will include Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, and possibly John O'shea at right back (Rafael may get the start instead).  At midfield, expect more experience.  Giggs and Carrick will definitely be in the starting line-up, and I expect Nani and Valencia to be the wide attacking threats.  And because Rooney will likely be the lone attacker, Fletcher may be added in the midfield to clog up the center of the field.

Manchester will never play a completely defensive game in it's home stadium, but that will at least be the emphasis in this game.  I predict that Chelsea will have the majority of possession, but they won't be able to make the breakthrough.  Manchester will advance from the quarterfinals.

Schalke 04 v Inter Milan

This was the big upset of the tournament.  Schalke won the first game at the San Siro in Italy 5-2.  5 away goals is unprecedented.  Especially when you consider that this Inter Milan team won the Champions League just last year, and Schalke is currently in 9th place in the German Bundesliga, a league not currently considered one of the top in Europe.

To advance to the semi-finals, Inter Milan would have to win by 3 goals just to get the tie on aggregate.  Not only that, they have to score at least 5 goals to match Schalke's output of away goals.  So, nothing less than a 5-1 win will get them through.  On any normal day Inter is the better team, but they aren't good enough to overturn that kind of deficit.  Schalke will advance.

The other two games were also completely one-sided, but that was mostly expected.  Barcelona is almost unanimously considered the best team in the world right now, so they handled Shakhtar Donetsk without any trouble.  It was another complete game and master class as everyone expects from them in every game.  The final score was 5-1, and Barcelona won't let up in the second leg.  Their goal is to scare any upcoming opponents.

Real Madrid also had a fairly easy outing against Tottenham Hotspur.  It was disappointing for the Spurs who have had such a great run up to this point in their first appearance in the Champions League.  But the run looks to be over after a 4-0 defeat to Real partially due to an early red card to Peter Crouch.  Real Madrid will dispose of Tottenham easily in the next game and set up an all Spanish semi final.  And that will be quite the affair considering the caliber of that rivalry.

So despite all of the crazy outcomes and scorelines in the first leg.  Don't expect any surprises in the second leg.  The only quarterfinal that is in any doubt is the Manchester/Chelsea matchup.  But Manchester United is way too experienced to give up a lead at home at this stage in the tournament.  Plus, anyone that has seen them play recently knows that they are finally playing at their best.

Daily Highlight: Man United v Chelsea Champions League

Ahhh, sweet revenge.  Manchester United  hadn't won at Stamford Bridge in 9 years.  And a couple of weeks ago they were denied a chance to end that streak after some questionable calls from the referee.  Not this time.  Manchester got a crucial away win at Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League Quarterfinal.

Daily Highlight: Inter Milan v Schalke Champions League Quarterfinals

It's time for another round of the Champions League.  And I love that I can catch the highlights on youtube, because all of the games are in the middle of my work day.  In this quarterfinal matchup, Schalke performed an incredible upset over Inter Milan, the reigning European Champions, in the San Siro (Inter's home stadium).  You almost never see this many goals in one game in the Champions League, and it leads to great highlights.  Check em out.

Champions League Quarter Final Draw

The draw has been made for the Champions League Quarter Finals.  We're down to the top 8 teams in Europe, so every matchup is going to be challenging, but as always, some teams receive more favorable draws than others.  These are the matchups:

Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea v Manchester United

Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk

Inter Milan v Schalke 04

My first impressions are that Inter Milan and Barcelona got the favorable draws this time around, but as the cliche says, you're going to have to beat the best eventually, so even if you get a favorable draw now, it's not going to stay easy.

The Manchester United v Chelsea games are definitely going to be interesting.  They have developed quite the rivalry over the last several years.  And after the game a few weeks ago when Chelsea won so controversially, Manchester will be itching to avenge that loss.  But Chelsea will have revenge on their minds as well after losing in a shootout in the Champions league final 3 years ago.

I'm also really looking forward to Tottenham v Real Madrid.  Tottenham is in the Champions League for the first time and they're having a great run.  They also have a former Real Madrid player Rafael Van der Vaart.  It's also always fun to watch Ronaldo play.  Whether you're a fan or not.