If Bayern’s passage into the Champions League final had the look and feel of a formality in Lyon, Inter battled, scraped, cheated, resisted and frustrated a superior opponent to capitalize on the first leg advantage and survived to reach the…
Month: April 2010
Inter Back on Top, Chelsea Back on Track
No surprises in England and Spain, where Chelsea – Man United, Barcelona – Real Madrid, respectively, kept their title ambitions on pace. In Italy, another story, as Roma’s Scudetto dreams may have slipped away courtesy of a second half Pazzini…
Advantage Fulham and Atletico
English teams completed long, grueling journeys to arrive at their Europa League semifinal matches and it showed. Liverpool hardly created scoring chances in Madrid and will have to fight hard to overturn Atletico’s narrow advantage. Fulham fared better, managing to…
Champions League Notes – Semis
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan took important steps toward reaching the final of the competition, as Lyon missed an opportunity and the defending champion Barcelona was overpowered out of the beautiful game. Internazionale Milano – Barcelona 3-1 Mourinho’s tactic for…
Roundabout
The action kicked off in Milano on Friday as Inter took over the Serie A lead with a feel-good victory over Juventus, but had less than 48 hours to savor the top spot as Roma came from behind to defeat…
El Maestro de Catalonya
Barcelona went into Madrid last Saturday with aplomb and completed the most critical week of its season triumphantly, making history in the process – Barca had never won consecutive matches at the Bernabeu. While most of the pre-game conversation revolved…
Great Choice for River
In a season where four of the “Big Five” clubs of Buenos Aires have changed coaches and endured terrible campaigns, River Plate took a huge step forward toward ending a long run of misery and mediocrity by persuading Argentine coach…
Beware of the Locusts
If Arsenal’s imminent ownership change does not seem to carry drastic immediate implications, Liverpool’s ownership situation is becoming increasingly alarming. It has now emerged that Goldman Sachs – yes, the same Goldman Sachs, the great vampire squid wrapped around the…
La Liga Classico on Tap
The match marked on every calendar long ago takes place today at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital. It should be a game of the highest quality with so many fantastic players in the mix. The world’s two…
Que Te Pasa, Fernando?
Liverpool will take on Atletico Madrid in the marquee semifinal of the Europa League, a match-up with several implications including Fernando Torres’ return to the Calderon to take on the club he grew up with. The winner of this home…
Champions League Notes – Last 4 Set
The semifinals of the Champions League competition are set and include Bayern Munich, a surprise contender that received a tremendous boost from the return of Arjen Robben and eliminated Manchester United to join last year’s champion Barcelona, Internazionale Milano and…
New York Soccer Has Arrived, For Real
For the first time in recent memory, I watched a New York Red Bulls soccer match on TV from start to finish – willingly – and enjoyed it. Saturday night’s entertaining match at Qwest Field between the Seattle Sounders and…
World Roundabout
The Premiership title is now Chelsea’s to lose following its controversial win in Manchester on Saturday, but Arsenal’s dramatic win means will be a close race to the finish – the closest three team race in recent Premiership history. A…
Word on the Europa League
First leg of the quarterfinal round of Champions League’s poor cousin, the less prestigious UEFA Cup – now called Europa League – featured four good matches this week, as the competition reaches its crescent. All tightly contested encounters and all…
Champions League Notes – Quarters
The first leg of the quarterfinal round delivered three entertaining matches and an exceptional one in North London that featured just about every form of soccer drama: a brilliant technical display, breathtaking pace, bravery, momentum shifts and an ending that…