The Inevitable

Didn't I ask you guys to pray for something ? Well, some of you didn't and look what has come about. You might say it provides them with an opportunity to avenge their last year's defeat but how sweet will the alleged revenge over a team who went through only because of an needless injury time OG be ?

Facing up against the team whom you have done a double over might have been more enticing. Hold on there a bit, didn't this team already do a double over the other team as well. Hmm, this team simply looks unstoppable. Anyway, the other team can be dealt with at the final but then losing to a better team in a final wouldn't be as humiliating to them as losing both home and away in a quarter final or even in a semi for that matter.

Now then, why am I even assuming that the other team will go to the final? It is true that the four teams in that part of the draw could so easily have been accommodated in the same group in the opening round but still, they have to get past them right. It is not as if they dealt their die-hard rivals a 4-1 drubbing at the away game. In fact, losing to one of these teams might be even more harder to digest.

Coming back to the match set up due to lack of co-operation from you people, it shouldn't be all that bad. Both teams look to have come alive in the recent past and the return of a certain Ghanaian might make the tie a bit more balanced than the BPL ties. The draw does make the path easy for the other team to reach consecutive finals but it also has chalked up a cracking lower half.

So whichever way you may look at it and whichever team you support, CL has once again shown why it just can't disappoint anyone.

p.s:- Teams' names are redundant for the fan

p.s2:- However I admit they would have helped

Champions League

The latest midweek midnight offerings of the champions league were all about mistakes and the biggest of them all was the presence of three premier league teams in the semi-finals. The premier league teams are surely the strongest in the world but considering the fact that their national team is the weakest, it is but a mistake that they be so dominating.

Premier League is supposedly the best league in the world and Manchester United is undeniably the best team in this league. So  what the heck was yesterday's match all about ?

Considering the form of Barcelona, Manchester United should have quite easily won the match or at the least , should have dominated the proceedings. But what conspired was that they were not only reduced to counter attacking but were also forced to suffice with a meagre 35% ball possession. Add to that Ronaldo's penalty miss and what we get is a clear picture of Chokers.

Stats have it that Man Utd have been to the semifinals 9 times (prior to this year)  but all that they have managed to do is to go down 7 of those times. So maybe yesterday's performance wasn't surprising after all.

Liverpool seem to be the only English team capable of rising to the occasion but they too have faltered (albeit temporarily) this time around. Riise surely rose to the occasion (but for the wrong team) and saw to it that the second leg wouldn't be a drab 0-0 draw, which would surely have been the case had Liverpool won 1-0.

Chelsea were once again lackluster all around except for maybe Michael Ballack who showed that he doesn't belong in that unimaginative team cumulated courtesy Russian currency. Chelsea surely don't deserve to win any silverware this season and i hope Liverpool and Man United do exactly that over the week.

Based on these two matches, Liverpool deserve to win the champios league.

Manchester United, on the other hand can end the season with just the premier league title.

Chelsea can happily get rid off Avram Grant citing a feasible reason.

Barcelona and Arsenal can continue playing their fancy football albeit unsuccessfully.

p.s:- IPL match between Mumbai and Chennai was much better than all this disappointing football.