THE FOOTBALL SCENE – The UEFA Champions League quarterfinal round was settled last week with all the results panning out as predicted. Barcelona ran out comfortable winners against a Donetsk side who never looked like replicating their performances from earlier in the season, and thus ended Shakhtar’s excellent run of home form in European competitions.
In London, Heurelho Gomes and Cristiano Ronaldo conspired together to create a goal that put the last nail in the coffin of what had been a rollercoaster ride of a Champions League campaign for Spurs. Still, the significance of that goal should not be overplayed; the tie had already been settled in Madrid the previous week, and for all of Spurs’ passing and movement on the night, they did not look like they would overcome the four goal deficit from the first leg.
Over in Germany, Schalke completed the task of ensuring that history is not written anew this season by Inter, when they meted out another defeat to last year’s champions, thereby preventing them from becoming the first team in a decade and a half to retain the Champions League crown. Chelsea flapped ineffectually at a Manchester United side that showed all the class, poise and sting characteristic of a championship winner.
Torres continues to be an expensive disappointment for the Londoners, and Drogba’s entry at half time was further proof to aid speculation that Torres was selected to start only in the hope that he could justify his price tag in this most important of outings for the Blues. As it was, this pale imitation of the winner for ‘best debut season’ in the Premier League when he signed for Liverpool, had another lacklustre spell on the pitch.
Drogba’s goal made the game interesting for all of one minute, before yet another Giggs assist led to a United victory. The Red Devils are on the road for a tremendous treble, and gave a good example of why miserliness in defence is more important than being outlandish going forward. United need not have any particular fear of what Schalke can deliver on the pitch as long as the English side maintain their discipline and formation. Schalke are not possessed of individual pace and their best bet is a combination of a clever run and a through pass to unlock defences.
In this regard, United’s back four have been well nigh impervious, and with the return of both Vidic and Ferdinand at the heart of their defence, there is seldom a panicked moment. That said, Schalke are certainly the surprise package of this season’s edition of the tournament, along with the now-defeated Shakhtar. The German side’s manager, who started 2011 by losing his job at Hoffenheim, can now look forward to pitting his wits against one of the masters of the trade, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Personally, it was great to see Raul scoring in both legs of the tie against Inter and stretching his lead as the all time leading goal scorer of the competition. The former Real Madrid and Spain mainstay showed ample guile and surety in both his strikes, and his link up play with the Schalke midfield and forward line evokes nostalgia for this writer, and the fact that he stepped into the stands to celebrate Schalke’s triumph with the fans is an example for all footballers and athletes in general.
From nostalgia to what is immediately in front of us; Real Madrid and Barcelona will face off four renditions of the ‘El Clasico’ matchup over a period of eighteen days, and this promises to be an excellent spell for football fans everywhere. Easily one of the most heated rivalries in club football, the four upcoming fixtures will see the two giants of the Spanish game fight it out for three trophies; the Spanish Primera Liga, the Spanish domestic cup and the UEFA Champions League.
That both teams are in the running for a treble is in itself exciting, but both sides must restrain themselves from thinking too far ahead, lest they suffer the same fate as Arsenal did this year when they crashed out of contention three competitions in the space of a week. However, the prospects for these four matches are simply too much to escape notice. All too regularly, the battle between Ronaldo and Messi has been highlighted alongside their respective team’s contest for silverware.
Both strikers look in great form, and one hopes for the sake of the competition that Ronaldo has shaken off the slight injuries that he suffered from some weeks ago. Messi is now leading the goal scoring charts in the Champions League and is tied domestically with the aforementioned Portugese. The Argentinean maestro has already set a new record for most goals by a Barcelona player in one season, with his current tally of 48, and that too with more than a month of football left in the season.
With his nine Champions League strikes, Messi is also odds on to beat Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record for most goals scored in a single Champions League campaign, which stands at 12. It is a fact that both individuals’ performance on any given night dictates their team’s performance overall, but one cannot help but think that Barcelona are in a more precarious position if Messi is shackled than Real are if Ronaldo is ineffective.
Sure, the latter has more of a tendency to carry the ball and take chances rather than pass it around and run past defenders, but then there is the example of Mourinho’s Inter completely silencing Messi when those two sides met last season, and Inter ran out winners as a result. Then again, there is for Madrid the haunting spectre of their 5-0 humiliation at the season’s first El Clasico at the Camp Nou in November last year.
Mourinho got his tactics dead wrong that day, and it is unlikely he will not have the measure of his opponents now. His team have also grown in stature since then, and by all accounts, the upcoming matches will be more closely contested. One key opportunity that Real must make the most of is that Barcelona are still waiting on the full return to fitness of Carles Puyol, in whose absence there is always a gap in assuredness among the Catalans’ back four.
At the time of writing this, Madrid and Barcelona have yet to face off at the Santiago Bernabeu for the League El Clasico, and time will tell if the result here set the pattern for the remaining three encounters.
