Ramsey is off to Juventus in the summer but his double-act here with Mesut Özil reached heights all-too-rarely seenYou get what you pay for, as the old saying goes. And on this evidence, Aaron Ramsey is worth every penny of the reported £400,000 a week he will receive as a Juventus player over the next four years.More than a few eyebrows were raised in February when it was announced the Wales international would be moving to Serie A in the summer after running down his contract yet against one of Italy’s most respected sides, Ramsey delivered a performance which underlined just how good he can be. Since the deal was confirmed, he has been the driving force in the revival...
Even on a relatively poor night, the greatest club footballer of all time was impossible to tameIt is the sign of a truly great player: even when you beat him, stifle him, beat him back for an hour, he still somehow ends up winning the day. There was a degree of amusement before this Champions League quarter-final first leg at Chris Smalling’s suggestion he was looking forward to facing Lionel Messi; that the greatest club footballer in the history of the game should “bring it on”. Oh, Chris. Don’t. Please. No. Chris. Stop it.But really, what else was Smalling supposed to say? How is he supposed to approach this? Messi does not operate to the usual rules, he is not...
From the majesty of Atkinson’s cup specialists to the might of Cruyff’s dream team, six epic battles between these Euro giantsSir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson brought glory and trophies to Manchester United on an industrial scale, yet they never had an Old Trafford European night such as this. Ron Atkinson’s cup specialists overcame a 2-0 first-leg deficit to overwhelm a Barcelona side that included Diego Maradona and Bernd Schuster. United’s three goals, two from Bryan Robson and one from Frank Stapleton, were scored from a combined distance of around six yards, an apt reflection of a night on which they stormed the Barcelona goal like it was a medieval fortress. Barcelona, used to a slower pace domestically, simply...
It was billed as the title decider, but Atlético Madrid were no match for the league leaders in a race now all but endedIt was half past 10 on 6 April, still six weeks and seven matches from the end of the season, when Barcelona’s fans started to sing about being champions and no one thought it particularly presumptuous. A minute earlier, Luis Suárez had scored the first, skidded on his knees across the grass waving his shirt around his wrist and was engulfed by his teammates, just lying there when he was at last let loose, taking it all in, top held in his outstretched hand. Now, 90 seconds later, a sudden snap of Leo Messi’s ankle and they’d...
Juventus’s teenage forward continues to suggest he is less the new Mario Balotelli than a successor to Cristiano Ronaldo, and his Juve teammate seems to be an admirerLet’s talk about Moise Kean. Not about the cretins who racially abused him, nor teammates who should have supported him better. Let’s talk about a teenager who has scored in five consecutive matches for club and country. Let’s talk about a player who is averaging one goal for every 47 minutes he has spent on the pitch in Serie A this season.Kean was at it again on Saturday, stepping off the bench to hit the winner for Juventus at home against Milan. The Bianconeri stand on the brink of an eighth consecutive Scudetto,...