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Post Mortem: Champions League Semi-Final
By Toyin | May 10, 2009
At the risk of been seeing as gloating, I was absolutely correct on my takes for the UEFA Champions League finals. So, Manchester United is locking horns against Barcelona in the finals of the most prestigious football club competition in the world. Who could have written such a great script as this?
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The last time these two sides met, the Red Devils were one better than the Catalans and that was at the Semi-Finals stage of same competition last season. A largely defensive Manchester United managed to shut out a very creative but divided Barca side in the first leg in Spain and they fell to a Paul Scholes screamer in the return tie to ensure a passage to the finals for SAF’s side.
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The reality of revenge for the Catalans is so close by that their faithful won’t have to wait for too long to know whether this is their time to win their third trophy in this competition.
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Before then, the two sides have to make sure they win their respective leagues. For both sides, they are sure bets to make it and that must be music to the ears of the multitudes of their fans.
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I will (by God’s grace) post my preview of the finals a week to the date and as usual make my prediction on which team I feel would carry the day. Before then, I intend to do a review or what I’ve titled post mortem above of the last round as see what happened to the victors and the vanquished.
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Arsenal VS Manchester United
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When this pairing was made for the Semi-Finals, I knew that Arsenal cannot really go through. Not because they won’t try but due to the fact that the playing resources available to them are just not comparable to what’s available at Old Trafford. And at this stage of the competition, teams will have to go for broke to get through and I couldn’t just see enough in the Gunners to make them favourites to get to the finals at the expense of one of the most expensively assembled sides in European club history.
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The types of players Wenger consistently sign for defensive positions have at best been poor. They don’t command the type of respect or confidence need for this level of competition. Save for the inspirational Ivorian, Kolo Toure and Sol Campbell, Wenger’s purchases for these positions have been rather myopic and timid at best. Imagine the likes of Pascal Cygan, Phillipe Senderos, Johan Djourou, Oleg Luczny, Igor Stepanovic and Silvestre-all poor and average players.
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I have done extensive write ups on Arsenal on this blog and I won’t go into repetitive mode again. However, the bane of the club under Wenger is overdependence on youth and lack of experience in the side. The result is that the club has not won any trophy for the past four years. They definitely won’t win anything until next season and by that time it would be five years counting since they last took any silverware.
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Manchester United on the other hand over the same period has won everything possible in European football except the English FA cup that’s eluded for quite some time now. They have won the league twice (they are on course to make it three times in a row), are European champions, world champions and carling cup champions. Their trophy deck must be creaking by now!
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Such is the array of talents at display at Old Trafford that beating Manchester United is a major headline! During the course of the current season, they put up a rear guard performance that broke records; they didn’t concede any goal in 14 league matches. Why not? They have in defense players like VDS, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Evan and Oshea; one of the finest collections out there.
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What about the attack? World’s best footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, is the pick of the pack. His side kicks include Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tervez. Not a mean threat to any team!
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At the end of the day, over the two legs, Manchester United won comprehensively and in the process exposed Arsene’s side as lacking in grit, balls and guts; major requirements for this type of challenge. When the final whistle was blown, the last chance for the Gunners to win any trophy was totally annihilated by the Red Devils!
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Patrice Evra, a very accomplished left back summed up Arsenal’s humiliation in this quote: “We are 11 men, they are 11 children, this is the difference. We are much more mature and have more confidence.”   What a very apt capture of the situation and performances of Arsenal currently! Are they going to correct this imbalance and lack of competitiveness in the side? Arsene knows!
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Chelsea VS Barcelona
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The story of Beauty and the Beast! Two different football traditions and types of players and the menu served up will linger in our mouths for many months to come.
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The first leg was a show of possession with no result on the side of Barcelona and keeping it save and tight on the side of Chelsea. Even at that, Drogba could have snatched a win for the Blues had he taken the chance gifted him on a platter of gold when Rafael Marquez miscued a back pass to his goalkeeper. All in all, the first leg at the Nou Camp was a very lopsided affair with Barcelona doing most of the play while Chelsea were contented with defending and counter attacking when the opportunity arise.
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The second leg in London was another kettle of fish entirely. A quick burst out of the blocks and a deflection presented Essien an opportunity to go for it and boy did he do that! A left footed volley from the Ghanaian sailed into the right hand of Valdes brushing the post in the process. Â Even though it could be termed as a fluke goal, it was a wonder to behold and it gave Chelsea the believe that they can defeat their foe and go on to the finals.
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Had Didier Drogba taken his chances, the game would have long been buried but his profligacy in front of goal kept Barca in it and eventually they made Chelsea pay by grabbing a most unlikely equalizer with few seconds remaining in the tie. While a lot’s been said about the referee and his questionable calls during the match, I think that the crust of the blames should fall on Drogba and Anelka who ‘refused’ to score when presented with clear chances.
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Drogba especially took his diving to a ridiculous extent when he chested a ball and fell as if he was shot rolling on the floor in the process trying to con the referee. On another occasion, he waited held on for too long until Yaya Toure took the ball cleanly away from him. What did he do? He fell down and kept on with his theatrics waiting for the referee to call for penalty!
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The manner of the defeat to Barcelona is quite painful as Chelsea actually played in a more purposeful manner than the Catalans. While they held majority of the possession, they had nothing to show for it having only two attempts at goal and with Valdes kept very busy throughout and the only notable job Cech had to do was to pick the ball out of his goal after Andres Iniesta changed the colour of the contest.
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Unlike Arsenal, Chelsea went down with a lot of fight and many will argue that they deserved to be in the final rather than Barcelona. Over the two legs, Chelsea had clearer scoring chances than the Spanish side and were much more dangerous in the third. Barca had more possession (is there any team that can beat them in this department?), but they could not breach Chelsea’s defense until the thunderbolt from Iniesta.
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What got them through? They believed to the end that they could do it even with a man down and they managed to do it; but they just it and now are in the finals leaving the Blues to lick their wounds and ponder over what might have been!
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Topics: Biz Football, Crazy Fans, Hot Stars, Cold Sands, Success Pills, The Champion, The Gaffer, Who Will Win |
May 10th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
That ref really messed us up but there’s always another time!
May 11th, 2009 at 10:26 am
It will take me some time to forgive two people for their unpardonable errors - Drogba and the Referee.
Drogba - because he cost us the match! How could he miss such glaring chances and oppurtunities. The game should have been won long before the equalizer.
Referee - that guy should be banned for 7 years for such disgraceful officiating. Even my late grandma with her eye defect sould have spoted that handball. Come on!
May 12th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I can understand your feelings Yomi but the referee also made wrong calls against Barcelona but that’s football for you. Till another season……………
May 26th, 2009 at 4:27 am
there is nothing wrong in what the refree officiated,during barcelona and chelsea,people dont realize that, there is different in Ball to Hand and Hand to Ball
June 6th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Football is football no matter what. Even the ref is human and can make up his mind not to overlook or overlook a decision. Drogba should be blamed