Things are heating up as matters progress towards the business end in the UEFA Champions League, Rugby World Cup and Major League Baseball. William Web Ellis Trophy and the World Series Trophy are the Holy Grails of Rugby and Baseball respectively. They are the ultimate conquests – the biggest stages for the Who’s Who of the sports to rubberstamp their name.
While the FIFA World Cup has been football’s most glorified silverware in the past, whispers pertaining to the Champions’ League supplanting the World Cup as the most eminent football accolade have gained currency, and are being echoed all over the globe. When one considers the quality on show in the Champions’ League and how the global stars – mercenaries or not – seem to up the ante for their clubs – with players they play with week-in week-out – one comprehends the rationale behind the claim.
UCL Match-Day 2: Perfection in Marseille, Munich & Madrid
The Group Stages of the Champions League are habitually the practice playground for the biggest names of Europe. However this year we have witnessed a mixed bag from the top teams. The two Manchester Clubs, German Champions Borussia Dortmund, French Champions Lille, Dutch Champions Ajax do not have a single win between them and only Marseille, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have two wins out of two.
Group A has Munich on top, after they humbled an out of sorts Manchester City side 2-0. Mancini’s selection and strategy was mind-bogglingly naïve, and he managed to find a smokescreen to cover his own shortcomings in the shape of the Tevez episode. City have a single point from the first couple of games and lie third, behind an extremely impressive Napoli side (on 4 points), who gave City a rough time on their own turf. Napoli overran Villarreal 2-0 on Tuesday, who are no mugs themselves. City have their work cut out if they are to qualify from what is rightly being dubbed as the “Group of Death.”
Group B has Turkish side Trabzonspor startlingly on top, with 4 points, thanks to their historic triumph at San Siro in the opening round. Trabzonspor drew 1-1 withLille on Tuesday, as the two sides cancelled each other out in all departments. Inter lie second following their hard-fought 3-2 victory over CSKA Moscow, which gave newly appointed boss Claudio Ranieri a winning start, and he would be looking to maintain the momentum in the Serie A.
Group C has an inspiring Basel side on top, led by the attacking talents of the two Freis. Basel outmanoeuvred United at Old Trafford, making their defensive flaws all the more conspicuous. The match ended 3-3 but not after Basel had sufficiently scared the English Champions. Benfica edged out Galati 2-0 to match Basel’s tally of 4 points and lie second. Like their neighbors United have it all to do, albeit in a much easier pool on paper.
Group D is already shaping up according to the script with Real Madrid on 6 points, followed by Lyon on 4 – both of them had convincing wins over Ajax and Zagreb respectively. Ajax would need a favourable result against Lyon, if they are to avoid the top two from running away.
Had it not been for Villas-Boas reverting to a conservative approach late in the Mastalla, Chelsea’s grip over Group E would have been firm. Soldado equalized late on to keep Chelsea, Leverkusen (who beat Genk 2-0) and Valencia all vying for the top 2 spots. Arsenal, especially their young boy Alex Ox, looked impressive in their 2-1 win over Olympiakos, leaving the Gunners on second with 4 points in Group F. However it’s Marseille who have stolen the show and put Dortmund to the sword for their second UCL win on the trot. The German Champions need a strong riposte at home, or else they might have to make do with a Europa Cup spot.
The 1-1 draw at Donetsk, between APOEL and Shakhtar left the hosts bottom of Group G and their opponents surprisingly at the summit. Zenit thumped Porto 3-1 owing to Shirokov’s well-taken brace leaving the Russians second, with Porto third on goal difference.
Following Milan’s comfortable 2-0 win over Plzen and Barca’s 5-0 eradication of Borisov, Group H is turning out to be a straightforward affair as expected, with the Milan-Barcelona matchup in San Siro deciding who tops the group.
RWC 2011: Moving into
the quarters
This weekend has the final round of pool fixtures, before the quarter finals kick off next Sunday, and the permutations are enthralling. As I write this piece, South Africa have already beaten Samoa 13-5 to clinch top spot in Pool D, with Wales expected to join them after their match against Fiji. France-Tonga, England-Scotland and Australia-Russia all would have been played by the time the column gets published and all three of the matchups have gigantic consequences resting on the outcome.
As of Friday, England top Pool B with 14 points, followed by Argentina and Scotland both on 10 points. Although England need only a losing bonus point to go through, Martin Johnson knows only too well how costly resting on their laurels can be. England and Scotland being traditional rivals, routinely indulge is feisty encounters – however this time around the rivalry would have a keen interest on the South American front with Argentina’s fixture against Georgia scheduled for today.
France Canada and Tonga are all vying to join the All Blacks in the quarters from Pool A. However, realistically France’s win over Tonga – as expected – should see them through as runners-up. Along with Pool B, it’s Pool C that is generating fervour. If the Wallabies take care of the Russians as expected, today’s Ireland-Italy clash would be a gargantuan affair. Ireland and Italy on 13 and 10 points respectively, and the winner would join Australia in the last-eight. But, the added spice is that an Irish Triumph would see them top and an Italian Victory – depending on the bonus point and other scenarios – could see Wallabies topping the pool. However one fancies Ireland to do the business on Sunday. If things pan out as expected, the likely quarter-final lineups should be – as forecasted last week – (I) Ireland vs. Wales, (II) England vs. France, (III) South Africa vs. Australia and (IV) New Zealand vs. Argentina. The winners of the first two quarters and the last two quarters would meet in the semis before the final on the 23rd. Four potential humdingers in the quarters, and while New Zealand find themselves in the tougher half – they’re still the columns pick to win the whole thing.
MLB Post-Season: No
cakewalks in either division
The much awaited post-season kicks off this weekend, with the four best-of-five division series being contested over the coming week deciding the two teams from each division vying to compete in the American League and National League championships – before the grand finale of the World Series in the tail-end of October.
The first American League matchup has New York Yankees facing Detriot Tigers. The Tigers lead the Season Series 4-3, however they have to deal with a big hitting Yankees, who were second in the most runs scored table with 867 runs. Yankees were led by Granderson – former Detroit outfielder – with 41 homers and well supported by Cano (.882 OPS) and Teixeira (.835 OPS). Tigers’ strength lies in their starting rotation with Justin Verlander (25-4, 2.40 ERA) leading the way. However Yankees have CC Sabathia themselves and a stronger bullpen and should benefit from the home advantage to overcome the Tigers in five.
On paper Tampa Bay Rays should edge out Texas Rangers. Rangers have the deeper hitting reservoir and scored 150 more runs than Rays, with 5 players scoring 25 homers or more. Nonetheless Rays’ starting rotation – with a collective 3.58 ERA and Hellickson and Shields having sub-3.00 ERAs – beats Rangers’ who rely too heavily on C.J Wilson, and they have a stronger bullpen as well. However what gives Rangers the edge is that having lost out at the final hurdle in last year’s World Series, their yearning for success should outdo Rays – in another five-game thriller. Although Arizona lead the runs stat (731 to 721), Milwaukee dominate all other offensive stats. Brewers have the more competent bullpen and a stronger bench. Diamondbacks do have a stout starting rotation, with Keneddy (21-4, 2.88 ERA) well-supported by Hudson, Saunders and Collmenter. Nevertheless their overreliance on Hill, Overbay and Roberts for runs will hinder them. Brewers to pip Diamondbacks in five closely fought encounters. Neither St. Louis, nor Philadelphia have a world-beating offense, but Cardinals do have a slight edge. Au contraire, with a quartet of Lee, Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt Phillies have starters who had the league-best ERA. Cardinals are dependent on Carpenter and Garcia, and don’t have enough depth in their bullpen. Phillies have the superior bench and bullpen and should come out victorious in four.
