REAL
RUN RIOT IN MUNICH AND CHELSEA PREPARE TO WELCOME LOS COLCHONEROS IN WHAT IS
BILLED AS A NAIL BITING AFFAIR
Real Madrid laid down a marker last night at the Allianz
Arena with a near perfect display to dethrone last season’s champions, Bayern
Munich on their own turf. The nine time European champions have waited
impatiently for more than a decade to reach another final. Precisely twelve
years, four semi-finals (three in the last three campaigns), one quarter-final
and six round of 16 exits. History was rewritten in Germany in so many ways and
finally, los merengues will appear in what will be their 12th
European Cup/UCL final.
The game started with Bayern again dominating possession
but lacked the potency in attack yet again. Reminiscent of the first leg, it
was Real Madrid who took the lead against the run of play. Luka Modric’s corner
was thumped in by Sergio Ramos to extend the aggregate lead to two. Before the
Bavarians could regroup, the Spaniard was on hand again to score another headed
goal when he reacted quickest to a Pepe flick on from a Di Maria free kick. As
if Pep hadn’t seen enough, another quick break was fashioned and Gareth Bale
had the freedom of Bavaria before he slipped the ball across to Ronaldo to
score a record breaking 15th Champions League goal of a truly
magnificent season. His strike and Madrid’s 3rd was also the 50th
he has registered in the competition since his move from Old Trafford almost
five years ago. It was also his 65th, two behind Messi and six
behind record holder Raul. The second half was less drama filled. Pep tried all
he could to at least claw back some of the deficit. The introduction of Javi
Martinez, Mario Gotze and El Conquistador Pizarro did nothing to harm the La
Decima chasing Spanish team. Instead, it was Ronaldo who struck again. The
magical Portuguese, already the frontrunner for the 2014 Ballon D’or, was
felled just outside the 18 yard box and he immediately dusted himself up and
powered a low drive under the jumping wall past Manuel Neuer to make it a very
embarrassing night for Bayern but a hugely exemplary one for Real. That was his 16th
Champions League (66th in total) strike and 49th in all
competitions this season.
At the end of proceedings, the script was perfectly
written and ran its full circle. Real Madrid drank from the spring of vengeance
and got one over Bayern Munich for themselves and Spain. It was a fitting
revenge for what happened two years ago in front of hopeful fans at the
Bernabeu. Ronaldo and Ramos missed the spot kicks that eliminated los blancos
that night but were on hand to make amends this time in Germany. Ancelotti’s
men also helped Barcelona avenge the 7-0 annihilation suffered in the hands of
the Bavarians last season. Ronaldo, Ramos, Bale, Benzema, Di Maria,
MODRIC*****, Pepe, Alonso, Carvajal, Coentrao all played the match of their
lives and the diminutive Croatian midfield gem was fantastic yet again. San
Iker amazingly kept one of the easiest clean sheets of his career to date. The
Veteran goal tender would never have envisaged such a trouble free night when
he was preparing for the game.
Finally, Real Madrid are in another Champions final and
fittingly, it is in Lisbon where a certain Cristiano Ronaldo is revered and
greatly cherished. Later today, their opponents will be known. Will it be
another Portuguese (Mourinho) or city rivals, Atletico Madrid?
The 4-0 walloping of Bayern Munich was their worst ever
home defeat in any European competition and the first time they had conceded
four without reply at home in any competition since 1979 (against Armunia
Belefield). 35 years on, it was replicated but in a more painful way. No one
would have predicted such a result. Pep and co were left shell shocked and disheveled
at the final whistle and Da Kaiser will have a lot to say about the stoic and
insipid way die roten capitulated and surrendered the holy grail. The power,
pace and precision of the Spanish team was just too much for Bayern to bear.
Pep Guardiola will have a lot to worry about in preparation for next season’s
assault. His central defence is in utter shambles and the zonal marking system
employed last night was mocked by Real Madrid. The ‘marking in spaces’ idea has
to be dispensed with and their kind of game requires much better defenders than
Dante and Boateng. The Brazilian and German were looking sheepishly at Ramos
when he got on to the end of first, Modric’s corner, then, Pepe’s flick on.
Both of them were largely at fault for the first three goals, leaving spaces in
behind them and defended poorly all through the game. With Holger Badstuber
still recovering from injury and Dan Van Buyten almost retiring, one would feel
that the Bayern hierarchy will do something in the summer. Manuel Neuer had to
come out many times to help out his sleepy defenders in typical South American
style. Javi Martinez is versatile and can play at the back but he is no World
Class defender. Also, the tactics could have worked better if the likes of
Schweini and Kroos paid closer attention to Luka Modric and the former helping
out in defence. The Croatian was at the heart of everything good Real mustered
and his creative excellence was glaringly obvious. The foundation of last
season’s success was the effort put in by the Schweini-Martinez midfield
combination. The gigantic Spaniard operated as a third defender when his team
was under the cush. To be fair, with the kind of gifts Bayern offered, even Gil
Vicente would have scored a couple tonight and that is not undermining the hard
work and praise worthy shift Madrid put in. All the good work of this season
may end up with only one title won. All that is left of it is the DFB Pokal
final against Borussia Dortmund. That will be very tough. For almost every team in the world, confidence
will be at a ground low after what transpired last night. After going 3 goals
down (4-0 on agg), their attention shifted to picking fights and getting
involved in altercations. For a team filled with experienced players and
champions, their frustration was channeled in the wrong direction with Ribery
caught slapping Dani Carvajal. Bad losers the reigning European champions are.
Bayern have to pick themselves up. They will be back soon enough.
Ronaldo and company are marching on. One step away from
the treasured LA DECIMA. One big and very important step. One thing is certain-
Whoever comes through the other semi final will prove to be much more difficult
than the Bayern sham they faced last night. The only blight to a truly awesome
night was the caution Alonso picked up which rules him out of next month’s
final. The 2005 Champions League winner will be gutted that he cannot take part
in what could be the club’s greatest night in Europe. One of prices the team had to pay for a first
European Cup final since 2002.
Atletico Madrid come into this game fully confident that
they can reach their first Champions League final just two years after lifting
the Europa League. Diego Simeone and his warriors are on a roll. 180 minutes
away from winning their first League title in eighteen years, they find
themselves 90 minutes (120 max) away from an all Spanish final-the first since
Real got the better of Valencia 14 years ago. It would also be the 5th
Madrid derby of the season and Real lead on that count with 2 wins to Atleti’s
1. However, the possibility is still a long shot with Jose Mourinho waiting at
Stamford Bridge. The managerial genius is attempting to reach his 3rd
Career Champions League final. He has a perfect record in finals with Porto (‘04)
and Inter (‘10). He showed one of his students how to win on Sunday in one of
the most tactically brilliant displays of any team I have ever seen. Rodgers
first criticized the approach but later appreciated his master’s superior
tactical nous when he probably watched the match again and learnt a few things
afterwards. Prior to the Bayern bashing, Pep, Jose and Carlo all had
aspirations to match the great Bob Paisley’s record of 3 European cups.
Guardiola has to wait until at least another year. Ancelotti is one step away.
Mourinho is not far off too.
Before the semi final fixtures were set, I considered
Mourinho, Klopp, Conte, Ancelotti, Pep, Wenger and Diego Someone the ‘sacred
seven’. The seven best managers in the World in my humble opinion. Pep has been
disgraced, Ancelotti can become the best this year, Mou and Diego are dreaming
of another European Final.
Peter Cech and John Terry miraculously trained with the
rest of the squad yesterday just days after Mou ruled them out for the rest of
the season. Although, the ‘Only one’ has affirmed that Cech is not ready to feature
tomorrow, we might as well treat that assertion with a pinch of salt. John
Terry is fit. Eden Hazard is back after collecting his PFA YPOTY award on
Sunday night. Mourinho has a near full strength squad to pick from. He has to
deal with the absences of Lampard and Ramires who are suspended for tonight’s
match.
Diego Simeone can call upon all his regulars for tonight’s
bi game. He must be feeling sore that his captain and team lead, Gabi, is
suspended for the encounter. Nevertheless, there are other options to replace
the tough tackling midfielder. Raul Garcia scored the game clinching goal at the
Mestalla to keep the Rojiblancos at the top of the pile in Spain and he will
certainly start alongside Diego Costa and David Villa who the manager may start
from the off in place of Diego Ribas. Miranda and Godin will continue in
central defence. They let in only five goals in the entire competition-The best
defensive record by a mile.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
CHELSEA
Schwarzer, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpi, Mikel, Oscar,
Willian, Hazard, Schurrle, Eto’o
ATLETICO MADRID
Courtois, Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Felipe Luis, Tiago,
Suarez, Koke, Villa, Garcia, Costa
Samuel Eto’o will lead the line with support from Hazard
and Andre Schurrle. Former Atleti skipper, Fernando Torres will make do with a
place on the subs bench, while for the Colchoneros, Tiago will come in for
Gabi. Chelsea will be inconsolable if in the end, Thibaut Courtois is the
difference between both teams tonight. The Belgian shot stopper is fast
becoming the best keeper in the World and he has kept more clean sheets than
any other goal keeper across all competitions this term. He is a Chelsea player
on loan at the Calderon. A more than able replacement for Peter Cech if he is
patient enough to wait.
Diego Simeone must have seen the Liverpool-Chelsea game
on Sunday. How Mourinho tactically outwitted Rodgers despite using less than
half of his first team regulars. He has opined that he has no problems with Jose
or anyone for that matter ‘parking the bus’. He is no stranger to the ‘Catenaccio’ style and has employed it to good effect so
many times in his coaching career. Tonight, he has to call upon all his
experience as a manager. Facing Mourinho in an all-important match and coming
out victorious is a rarity. It is squeaky bum time.
@ohiskaka1990
