Repeat of last season’s semi-final and the teams’ routes to the last four suggest Europe’s other big teams need to catch upI was looking forward to Bayern Munich against Manchester City. In April, when the best meet, you expect exciting matches. But I was disappointed. City managed the 3-0 advantage from the first leg. Bayern were not able to challenge their opponents.Now I’m looking forward to Real Madrid against City. It’s the semi-final from last year, and back then it was the highlight of the season, with a narrow winner at the last. Again, it’s the two strongest clubs in the Champions League, which says a lot about Europe’s football. The English and Spanish leagues are not producing a second...
Haaland’s direct play has edged the City manager away from pitfalls of purism – but will it be enough against Real Madrid? It is a little over nine years since Pep Guardiola first took on Carlo Ancelotti as a manager. Guardiola’s Bayern Munich had sealed the Bundesliga title almost a month earlier, often registering 1,000 passes in a game, and his football seemed unstoppable. For 18 minutes in the first leg at the Bernabéu, Bayern continued to seem imperious. Then Ancelotti’s Real Madrid countered and Fábio Coentrão squared for Karim Benzema to score. Bayern continued to dominate the ball; Madrid continued to look dangerous. It finished 1-0.In retrospect, before Guardiola and Ancelotti meet in another semi‑final at the Bernabéu on...
Real Madrid just had to be good enough against opponents resembling a sinking vessel peopled by castawaysWell, there goes the season. Perhaps summer budget too. Who knows maybe the entire Chelsea 3.0 Blue Sky Project Stage One?With 28 minutes to go in a Champions League second leg Chelsea always seemed to be losing, even when they were threatening vaguely to win it, the home bench took a deep breath, cleared its throat, and coughed up £260m of randomly assembled attacking talent. Continue reading...
A beautiful piece of skill from Karim Benzema would have unnerved the American who may now regret his trash-talkingIf there was a moment to make Todd Boehly think twice about making such a bold prediction ever again, it came when Karim Benzema took a pass with his back to goal just before half-time and used the outside of his right foot to produce a flick so deceptive it completely flummoxed N’Golo Kanté, the ground giving way as the ball span away from the Chelsea midfielder and Real Madrid set off on yet another counterattack.Welcome to the Bernabéu. And Todd, thanks for your take on where European football has been going wrong all these years. A word to the wise, though:...
Victory over Madrid in the clásico leaves Barça 12 points clear. It will have been a different kind of success this seasonFranck Kessié hasn’t always been in the right place at the right time but on Sunday night at 10.53pm he was exactly where he needed to be, and when. One morning, soon after arriving at Milan, the Ivorian pulled into Milanello and parked in the space reserved for the big boss. Stopped by security, told he couldn’t go there because that was the president’s spot, he replied: “I am the president.” It fit somehow and the title stuck. That day he became The President; now, five years on, he became President, King, Emperor, anything he likes. Above all, he...