Revenues from UEFA competitions

Let us finalise this series by condensing the revenues the top teams' earning from the UEFA competitions. 

For starters, the 2015/16 season the UEFA Champions League and Europa League’s media rights generated EUR 1.6 billion and EUR 312 million, respectively.

The largest share of funds available to participants is distributed on the basis of sporting performance,  and more than 40% of funds is still allocated according to the value of UEFA’s broadcasting agreements within clubs’ domestic market (“market pool”).

Therefore, due to lucrative deals with BT (United Kingdom) and Mediaset (Italy), the distribution system is currently most beneficial for Premier League and Serie A clubs.

Sharing Italy’s large Champions League’s market pool revenues with a limited number of other Italian clubs, Juventus FC are an example of a team that has benefited from the current distribution to secure a place among Europe’s top 10 by EV. 

In the last two seasons the Bianconeri have received EUR 165 million from UEFA, EUR 111 million alone from the Italian market pool.

Manchester United FC have maintained their position as the most valuable club despite missing European football in 2014/15 and only qualifying for the UEFA Europa League at the end of the 2015/16 season, thus receiving lower income from international competitions.

In the last two seasons Spanish clubs have been the top earners in terms of revenues from UEFA competitions. This result has been mainly driven by performance bonuses resulting from international on-pitch dominance rather than being due to the market share allocated to Spanish clubs.

With the aim of rewarding greater sporting performance, from the 2018/19 season UEFA will introduce a new four pillar financial distribution system, including a fixed starting fee, bonuses according to the clubs' performance and individual coefficient and a reduction of the market pool’s weight.

However, the recently approved reform of the UEFA Champions League will also guarantee each of the four top-ranked national associations four spots in the group stage. While limiting the extent to which some clubs benefit from the market pool, this new format highlights once again the impact a club’s underlying market can have on operating revenues and, ultimately, on its EV.

The European Elite 32 (2017) Sales

There was overall growth in football revenues despite volatile economic conditions and challenging international affairs. evidenced by a reported total of approximately EUR 29.9 billion, a 14% increase from the previous season.

Only three clubs saw their EV decrease year on year, namely AFC Ajax (-8%), SS Lazio (-2%) and Olympique de Marseille (-1%).

Eight countries are represented among the top 32 clubs, with England (Leicester City FC), Spain (Athletic Club Bilbao) and Turkey (Beşiktaş JK) having gained one new team each, Italy (ACF Fiorentina), Portugal (FC Porto) and France (AS Monaco FC) each dropped one.

The English Premier League once again made a strong showing in the report, accounting for approximately 40% of the aggregate value, and likely to increase due to a new broadcasting deal started in the 2016/17 season.

With the most significant increase year-on-year is Turkey; thanks to increased revenues and significant improvements in terms of cost control and profitability by both Galatasaray SK and Fenerbahçe SK, plus the addition of the 2015/16 national champions Beşiktaş JK, the three Turkish giants achieve a 97% increase in EV.

Portugal is the only country that saw an aggregate value decrease  (-28%), due to FC Porto dropping out of the top 32. Manchester United FC, despite experiencing a 20% decrease in their share price and failing to qualify for the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League, enjoyed an EV increase of 7%, topping this year’s table.

Real Madrid beat Juventus 4-1 to win UEFA Champions League 2016/17

Real Madrid of Spain retained the UEFA Champions League title, beating Italian giants, Juventus 4-1. This was their record 12th title.

Cristiano Ronaldo's influence was obvious in the first ten minutes of the match when he completed a sleek and swift move that saw the ball move from the back to the left and across to the right and then back to the centre.

Juventus got their goal a few minutes later with a classy Mandzukic goal. The goal was preventable at three different points before the ball hit the net. t each contact point, Real Madrid players put in a token challenge and even the goalkeeper, Navas could have moved a little faster or took an extra step before attempting to diving for the looping strike.

The Galaticos enjoyed over 60% of possession overall and more goal attempts and corners, although it must be mentioned that the Italians took control of the first few minutes of the match with threatening patterns of play.

That control came from constructive midfield influence and width provided by Dani Alves. That dominance became flaccid as Real began to wrestle the match and showed serious intent by dominating all departments.

The team structure and solid defending (Ramos), interceptions and winning ball in mid - Kroos as well as wing play by Marcelo ensured that Navas was never troubled most of the time.

Real retained it in class, with extreme mobility and passing in midfield by Modric, with obvious the Gigi Buffon disappointment.

The Juve achilles proved to be their usually potent weapon; Dani Alves overlapping, but he left a gap behind for countryman, Marcelo, to capitalise.

Alex Sandro useful in stopping Real attacks and driving Italians forward. Cuadrado came in as a substitute and got two quick yellow cards and left the pitch - Ramos made a meal out of the second offence.

As mentioned earlier, the first goal was pure class and there was nothing Juve could have done about it, but Casmero's goal was preventable. The ball deflected in as Khedira turned his back to the kicker instead of facing the ball head on and deal with danger. Buffon could have moved a little faster.

The ball was lost by Alves around the centre line and remained on the ground as play went on.

The second Ronaldo goal, Real's third, was preventable as the easy loss of ball with not much contest further up left Modric with a cross that looked more of the a cut back. Ronaldo's touch past Buffon was a chicky act of class.

The 4th goal resulting from Ronaldo freekick which was poorly defended as the ball deflected off the wall to the left and the defence reaction was mediocre as Marcelo retrieved the ball, beat his marker, outpaced him into the box and squared a hard and low ball into traffic across the goal.

A simple tap in by substitute by Asensio concluded the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff in style. Ronaldo, Ramos, Marcelo and Isco instrumental to the result.

Higuin (Juventus) and Benzema (Real Madrid) were too quiet and hardly visible.

After the match today, is it fair to say Ronaldo scores when he wants? He was quiet by his very high standards, even though his contribution was regarded a man of the match performance.

The 2017 Football Clubs' Evaluation

Is your favourite football club worth its salt? Let us roll.

The international auditing company, KPMG, recently released their second edition of the “Football Clubs’ Valuation: The European Elite 2017. In a publication  by Andrea Sartori, Partner KPMG Global Head of Sport, it looked at the Enterprise Value (EV) of the 32 most prominent European football clubs as at 1 January 2017.

Real Madrid CF and Manchester United shared top spot last year. However, Man U stand clearly at the top of the 2017 ranking, enjoying a 7% EV increase compared to Real's 2% growth - more than EUR 100 million.

This represents a record EUR 3 billion threshold despite missing UEFA Champions League qualification at the end of the 2015/16 campaign, The Red Devils continued to achieve consistent off-the-pitch performance.

The top four clubs surpassed the EUR 2 billion landmark. FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich are third and fourth, the later's 14% increase narrowing the gap with the Catalans.

The supplied data confirmed that top 10 clubs comprised more than two-thirds of the overall EV. Manchester City FC overtook Arsenal FC in 5th position.

The best part is that Tottenham Hotspur FC ousted Paris Saint German FC from the 10th position, thus increasing the number of English teams in this top ranking to six, together with two Spanish, one German and one Italian.

This has been attributed to the strength of the English Premier League, combined with their good operating and financial results.

Spurs are displaying a significant upward trend, especially in terms of profitability and squad value, as demonstrated by a higher EV growth (26%), and their future looks very bright as they plan to move to a new multipurpose stadium, and as they have recently secured UEFA Champions League qualification for the second year in a row.

Only Juventus FC remained the Italian club in the Top 10, with a 24% EV growth. In terms of growth per se, Olympique Lyonnais score the best result (+71%), followed suit by Galatasaray SK (+68%) and Sevilla FC (+44%).

Leicester City FC, in probably the greatest sporting fairy-tale of all time, when lifting the English Premier League crown in 2015/16, earned a remarkable 16th position in the report, whose analysis does not consider the business and sporting results achieved by each club in the 2016/17 football season.

"The proprietary algorithm developed by KPMG and applied for the purposes of this report is consistent with the one applied last year. It is based on the Revenue Multiple approach, where each club’s revenues are multiplied by a specific multiple which takes five metrics into account—each one with a specific weight—expressing differences between clubs, the markets and the economies in which they operate", says the report.

Amounts of broadcasting revenues and their distribution method play a crucial role in the income generation potential of football clubs, with a significant impact on European clubs’ EV.

Few difficult challenges factored in the making of the report included the differences in accounting practices across countries, differences in reporting currencies, fluctuation of exchange rates and differences in financial year-ends.

Jose Mourinho: How savvy can a coach be?

Jose Mourinho is wrongly labelled a 'bus parker'. That label cannot be more wrong. The man is a winner. He is a tactician. He plans well and executes his plans to the dot. Show me a better manager.

Upon arrival, many wondered if he had a point to prove. In what I thought was a direct jab at Arsene Wenger, he pointed out that he had won few championships not so long ago, while other managers last tasted glory 20 years ago.

His appetite to excel looked like spiraling off the rails with a perpetual 6th position on the English League table and sadly, the man conceded defeated. At that moment, Wenger, whose Arsenal seemed in control of a 3rd or 4th position, may have felt a little relieved.

In conceding the league, Mourinho did not lose focus of glory. He wanted to compete at the world's greatest football club competition. He announced that he wanted to play in the UEFA Champions League by winning the Europa League Cup. It sounded far-fetched and almost suicidal.

This Manchester United team was some job and a half. The departure of Sir Alex Ferguson would always cripple Manchester United in whatever size, shape or form. David Moyes paid for the sins of a system collapse, and was deemed a failure by a few people expecting miracles. He exited Old Trafford scared and fell into a deeper end at Sunderland, sinking that ship into the Championship.

Then came Louis van Gaal. The Dutch master failed to turn the matters around and jumped ship. The squads that the two managers left behind lacked character and class.

Fast forward, enter the Special One, the Only One. JM is known to favour experience. He was expected to bring in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Yaya Toure, among other veterans who seemed out of favour at their clubs. Zlatan came from Paris Saint German while Toure stayed put. To make a statement of intent sound, he paid a reord fee for Paul Pogba.

Was it a wise idea and profitable investment? Judge ye, but when Mourinho speaks, take heed. The world has not seen a better coach - not yet.

#prayformanchester

UEFA Champions League draw twinned the football styles

What if I put it to you, that Arsenal's Arsene Wenger will not resign any time soon unless he wins the FA Cup. Can we accept it as a fact that if, and only if that happens, he will resign immediately as he will not entertain an embarrassing exit from the club that he took to dizzy heights and was credited with revolutionising the English game after his arrival in London almost two decades ago. Her Majesty, the Queen of England has done enough to hold her horses in knighting a man who once deserved the accolade, but has been questioned by many after his extended success-drought spell. Statistically, Wenger's numbers surpass those of Sir Alex Ferguson, but SAF won what mattered the most in over 30 matches.

This is just to warm our appetite for the Gunners' lucky break if reaching yet another FA Cup final, a fluke if you ask me. Let us stop analysing the UEFA Champions League. First and foremost, Manchester United's elimination ends their season early. The Red Devils had just hit a purple patch in all competitions but that loss kills any fight in them. There is no incentive to go on as they will officially miss Europe's top competition, the biggest club competition in the world for the first time in decades. Anyway, that is an Old Trafford problem.

It is common knowledge that Barcelona hordes the ball, but of late, the wheels are coming off their wagon. They are third in the league after their elimination from the Champions League by Athletico Madrid. I wish to combine Athletico's win with the victory Chelsea enjoyed. This is due to the interesting fact of their similar styles. They rely on a grafting work ethic that proves toil never fails. More so, whenever possible their go direct and quickly. This has been the rise of German teams. Theirs can not be deemed route one football, but they duel and combat at every situation and grind the results. There is little nice about their display but then, if it pays, why not.

Many have taken Jose Mourinho's cry that he has no strikers. That is very untrue as he has, but his plans exclude them. In Samuel Eto'o, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres, he has men who come on the field and perform their duties and leave, mercenary style. They are at his disposal and they never fail, but The Special One does not want things that way. The indulgence of having the versatile Hazard and Oscar and the hard work of Willian makes Jose think that he can play and win matches with the three. The rest of his line-up become accessories to complement the trio. The interesting thing about him is that he is never afraid to cut and chop at anytime and for whatever reason. He may decide to stick with his plans no matter how fruitless. He has guts to stop a working scenario and try something new. Like him or not, he does not care about criticism. He is a risk taker, and usually a good one.

The Barcelona football has always delivered a cut high in terms of class. Somehow, when I told you that Barca are finished, I got ridicule. Their fall did not start yesterday. Their football is getting more square and sterile. They used to have penetrative pace longitudinally at their peak, but they are getting flatter and flatter. Their most influential players in Xavi and Iniesta have more passes to the side and back than forward. They now play the football that Arsenal played when the Gunners thought they played lie Barcelona. Despite the cutting edge of Messi and Neymar, the offensive dimension is stunted by the extra passes and more importantly, lack of space for the two to use. Both players thrive on running towards defenders with the ball at high pace. They dribble and leave defenders for dead like tornadoes. One can argue the quality of the coach. That type of football needs excessive concentration. That is why Bayern Munich can pull it off for now, because they are German.

For Munich, it is obvious that their players enjoy a small variation to what they did before Pep Guardiola arrived. He introduced a little more patience with the ball, but they were always a team that kept the ball well and took shots a pass or two earlier with each attack. This tactics works well if the attacking confidence is high and gets complimented by the calm finishing. As soon as goals dry, as in the Barca case, this can be fatal. The Spanish giants now need serious attention, an overhaul. Their attack is getting blunt, frustrated and unproductive.

In my assessment of Athletico and Chelsea, I mentioned some directness of their football. Real Madrid are extremely direct but their game is complimented by pace. As soon as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale get on their bikes, no scooter can catch them. Their downfall is their careless defending. The chief culprit is Ramos. Pepe complements his antics well too. With a little cool heads at the back, they would play a sustainable type of game with ease. Real Madrid depend on sound absorbance of pressure and as their opponents push forward, they leave reasonable space between their last defenders and the goalkeeper. It is that space that the scampering Bale and Ronaldo will attack with the ball to great effect. This becomes the exact difference between Real and Barca. Real attacks the space by utilising it with excellent running with the ball technique while Barca. depend on running at the defenders with the ball in tight spaces.

The Bayern Munich way would be classified as the Barca way with a tint of the Madrid football. Given that the Germans were drawn against Real Madrid, it makes it an interesting pairing that will give the Spanish some advantage somehow. With Bayern though, their attack is not as narrow as that of Barcelona. Ribery and Robben stretch the game wide and they come at high pace, Ribery going wide and sometimes to the by-line for the cross while the Dutchman will drift in from the right, drop a shoulder and curl the ball around the goalkeeper inside the far post. Still, they take an extra pass before an attempt at goal. There is likely to be more aggressive attack with entertaining outcome here that in the other semi-final where grit will outwit grit.

The best part of the draw is that we will be exposed to extreme types of football in the final. That is the solid game of either Chelsea or Athletico and the direct and clinical Real or Bayern approach. Either style has its own pros and cons but the interesting thing will be how useful the coaches use the tools at their disposal.

Was UEFA semi-final Draw fixed?

Let's rely on my not-so-genius memory, as many will attest. I have not much time to research but save for the cases you know, my memory has not betrayed me fatally but do not make life-decisions made here.

Bayern Munich played Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League around 20 years ago, give or take 2 years. The draw pitting Barcelona and Bayern in a semi-final whose first leg is to be played at the Allianz Arena is not suggesting that it is deja vu.

Last year's runners-up Bayern will have to navigate past Barca, an easier feat now than it can ever be as it has been proved that the Spanish are breakable, especially without Lionel Messi. Messi may be fully fit by then, changing the dynamics.

In that very bad twist of fortune, Real Madrid also travel to Germany to face Dortmund before the return legs in Spain. The prospects of either an all-Spanish or all-German final at Wembley Stadium on May 25 will be the talking point for many pundits.

In my every day song, the chorus is that Barca are fading and by the end of the semi-final, I may have to reconsider and conclude that they are faded. They were bullied by AC Milan, only going past just. They beat Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, again, just, on away goals.

Bayern are newly-crowned Bundesliga champions and appear the most solid team so far. Despite all this, I do not fancy them, but I am not sure how long the brittleness of the Catalans will last.

On the other hand, Madrid, who eliminated Galatasaray this week, are playing their best football under Jose Mourinho, or for the first time since the dominance of La Liga by Barcelona. It will be the two sides’ fourth pairing overall in the Champions League.

Dortmund have a young and energetic squad compared to the Spaniards, but their gods had to more than smile at them to see off a determined Malaga who felt robbed. One could be tempted Real will revenge for the Spanish.

The truth is that The Only One is caught in two minds. Rumours of him going back to England and his personal ambitions to be The Only Special One make this one interesting. It's not rocket science that Jose will head elsewhere if he wins the Champions League, and his team has the capacity to do it. Sentimentally and tactically, they are favourites at this point.

Realistically though, a minimum of 180 minutes of the 2012/13 Champions League football must elapse with two victories for them. This means beating a dynamic and versatile Borussia and then seeing off cultured Barca or Bayern. It would be nice to have the Spaniard against the Germans in England but time will tell.

Talking of England, I wondered if failure to have representation at this point meant the Barclays English Premier League has lost some shine. This is prompted by the lost of Newcastle and Tottenham Spurs in the Europa League last night.

It could be small technical faults and Chelsea may win the second tier Cup anyways. If these events are a measure to go by, it places Spain and Germany as the kings of league football. As relative as that may be, there may be some truth depending on how much football you talk about.

England has the money to attract the best players. I am not sure the same can be said by the coaches/managers. That translates to excellent technical levels that are void of tactical football in the league. My personal opinion is that the world outside England strikes a good balance of cash, talent and tactics. Anyway, that's a topic for another day.

For now, we await the first legs to be played on April 23 and 24, with the second legs to take place on April 30 and May 1. At least you have the liberty to forget reason and think by heart and you dream your team will kick bottom. For us, we start scrutinising details that range from possible line-ups to personalities that make the squad.

The margins of error in the execution of each pass or ball reception, as well as the speed of decisions and time spent on the ball will influence and be influenced by what happens away from the ball. The possible politics surrounding the refereeing is inevitable but one hopes that the true champions will win it by themselves and for themselves.

There has been enough cry about UEFA deciding the fate of the title by the 'disenfranchised' side like Malaga, and while I disagree with their racism issue against them, it is high time cases that saw Didier Drogba sanctioned a few years back, become extinct. I think this is a quality semi-final line-up and while it could have been fixed, I do not think so.

Semi-final draw
Bayern Munich v Barcelona
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid

Real outclass Barca again as Ba sets bar

Rafa Benitez endured a rough week after his tough talk about the realities at Stanford Bridge given the rant of Chelsea fan. Short of showing them a middle finger, he stressed how ridiculously ungrateful the fans were, and that they should spend energy spurring the team forward rather than pulling them down.

While his hostile stay in London may be a fruitful one, it may be one to forget - a sour-sweet experience. No human being deserves such treatment and the team performance vindicated him with a Demba Ba strike bringing smile to his face on a day protests about his presence as Chelsea manager were supposed to be fever-high.

Harry Redknapp also had to deal with malicious reports questioning his management skills after he took the team to Dubai where they were reportedly too drunk to train the next morning after an all-night out. To prove a point, his Queens Park Rangers ran away with maximum points at Southampton with a 2-1 win, their third of the season. Redknapp was a happy man who hoped the win would work well for the confidence of the team as they fight for their top-flight life.

Shingi Kagawa's hatrick is talk of the town as Manchester United managed a 4-0 ahead of the UEFA Champions League tie with Real Madrid. It was the first Asian to score a hatrick in the Barclays Premier League. As a milestone, Ba had his - the first Africa to score 15 goals or more in successive seasons, somehow something the great Didier Drogba did not achieve.

Talking of Real Madrid, they rubber-stamped their superiority over Barcelona this season by yet another victory, a 2-1 La Liga win after their Copa Dela Rey a few days back. It may be that Madrid's dominance over bitter arch-rivals who proved to be bad losers has been made permanent. One thing for sure, it will be for Jose Mourinho to savour to seasons to come. As less significant as it was for Real since they can not expect to win the league, rubbing it in was all it was, salt, chillies and all. Winning the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League may atone for what had been turning out to be a dismal season for Mourinho.

The two giants, United and Real, will battle it out after their contrasting successful respective league confidence booster encounters, in which key players were rested.

Chelsea - The darkest hour is before dawn

The fundis have bombarded the cyber space with their educated opinions about how the European champions vanquished their foes on the way to an incredulous and obviously palatable throne.

Chelsea have since been basking in that glory and courting scrutiny on their next moves concerning one Didier Drogba, a man mountain who will never be replaced, should his imminent departure materialise, as well as the much anticipated replacement of Andreas Villas-Boas.

Stand-in manager in Roberto Di Matteo seemed to seal his fate with the FA Cup accolade just collected before the big one, the UEFA Cup. Having amassed that much weaponry to win his case, ascension to the hottest seat in football is still to be ascertained.

Instead of looking at how the Blues conquered Bavaria, given the history and stereo-type of German football mentality of Bayern Munich, all there is to savour are the lessons that can be gleaned from, not only that duel and the run to the Allianz Arena, but also from the surprise prowess Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League.

Football is played by toddlers by heart who genuinely see themselves as Ronaldos, Messis, Rooneys and Drogbas. That wishful thinking last as long as dew and they begin to act their age, their self. They will play and play-act that way. They believe they are just as lethal or better.

The professionals play at a way different level, the tactical and technical game. More tactic than technique increasingly influences the pattern and outcome of matches. As much as planning and management are crucial, the pivot hinges on the brilliance on a key individual massively gifted.

Chelsea had been very average throughout the past few years. There was never a question of their talent. Actually, there was; as to whether there was any team with as much individual technical ability.

With all the playing with the heart when they were psychologically superior to their peers, (their salaries played a huge part) they could only be rivalled by Manchester City, who, at one point, seemed too over-rated.

It may not be as obvious that Chelsea did not win because they are more talented than their semi-final victims, Barcelona or slaughtered Bayern Munich.

This distinguishing point was the championship mentality and a good footballing side. For many years, the world witnessed how much the beautiful football of the Catalans won matches and trophies. It was a new age of the game, after years of the dull finals always experienced the world over.

That phase came after the Brazilians and the Dutch introduced 'the beautiful game' and 'total football'. It was well while it lasted. The Germans introduced the dull straight forward game that the Italians solidified by the basketball defending tactics of Arrigo Sacchi.

Football was never the same until Barca successfully brought back the tiki-taka, historically known in South Africa as 'shoe-shine' piano, though in Africa it was more individual than a collective effort.

The Blues made a bold statement to our astonishment of what we all knew already. It does not matter how you play. No one remember those who came second.

The Londoners were neither too technical or tactical. They played not with their feet nor their hearts, but with their heads. That is the difference between a champion and a runner-up. It was not a game any more.

Now, the European champions did not require good fortune as many may want to to believe that they made their own luck with their hard work, confidence in their abilities and team spirit. All this, they had over the duration of the English Premier League.

All they did was dish out free lessons of how much one's life can change overnight regardless of their background. Where one is, where they were before, counts for nothing in dealing with life battles. Anyone person, have a Didier Drogba in themselves and getting him on there when you need him is key.

Whether you keep him after that success is another story. It may not be a guarantee that you contract your Di Matteo, but if you want to champion your own life and cause, impossible is nothing.

As much as this is about Chelsea, Manchester City proved the point that in life one can never give up. It is hardest just a moment from glory. They say it is darkest before dawn.

As a team,they were down and out, without any hope for silverware and qualification of Europe. They looked desperate and downtrodden, proof that you can be head and not the tail. 

I told you Chelsea will win it

Chelsea Football Club of the Barclays Premier League of England made a historic capture of the UEFA Champions League title with a chess end game of the highest order. It was not magic that they did so and we told you they were going to do it. (Get yourself a copy of The Anatomy of Football)

The Londoners stunned a confident and wasteful Bayern Munich to win a maiden European championship at the Allianz Arena in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw of full-time and a stalemated extra-time. 

It was the man Drogba who had equalised for Chelsea in the 88th minute who became the man of the show, as he tucked in the winning kick to send the English wild.

Thomas Mueller's 83rd minute header past Petr Cech had 'Champions' written all over it until the African from Ivory Coast sang.

The Cup with the Big Ears was last in the Bayern cabinet, who had it four times in their history, in 2001. They had the luxury of having Arjen Robben miss a spot-kick given away by Didier Drogba, as Cech heroically saved it during open play.

It was a sweet victory for Chelsea, who lost to Manchester United in the 2008 final on penalties, and were also undone in 2009's semi-final against Barcelona. Those dark moments were forgotten as the fans cried tears of joy.

Far from being value for money for many, the unpredictability of events made up for wow-factor. The hosts dominated the whole 90 minutes and were quite flat in extra time. The visitors' ultimate plan was not to lose it at any point of the match, which they executed very well.

Manager Rorbeto Di Matteo ensured they defended well against fierce attacks and potential heartbreaking wing-play from the Germans. It was a psychological game which built confidence on each player with each passing moment. 

Chelsea were always going to be a better team as the match wore on, not much as to the manager's prudence, but based on the work ethic of men at work digging for gold.

Without a few of their influential players, it sounded like a suicide mission to enter Germany with a 'rooky' stand-in manager of little experience in Europe.

Tucked away nicely were spot-kicks by David Luiz, captain of the day, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and of course, D Drog. 

Olic had replaced the regulation time scorer and his penalty-kick one-handedly stopped by Cech. It turned out that the usually dependable Bastien Schweinsteiger had no nerves to face the masked Cech as his spot-kick crashed the post. 

Drogba closed the meeting in the only way he knows how. The result became a bitter-sweet victory for Roman Abramovich who began to ponder as to how not to give a full contract to the 'out of contract' 33 year-old Drogba and care-taker manager Di Matteo.

It is a preferred headache than to play second fiddle to every one in everything to the billionaire who pumped in cool cash to his vetaran footballers.

Champions League final - Is this the day Chelsea have been waiting for?

The power of Bayern Munich lies on their hurricane attacking force of the bulldozing Gomez and ingenious of Frank Ribery and Arjen Robin. That they are German is a bonus.

The strong and rigid mentality and world renowned defensive discipline is another factor, but this one is a misplaced match given that only the philosophy will be whole German an the team is universally versatile.

Their ace in the sleeve is the home ground and their secret weapon will be the crowd. That is as far as their advantage goes, not withstanding that they are the second most attacking team in their league after the champions, Borussia Dortmund.

In their quest to conquer Europe tonight, an average English side that underperformed in the league and have no substantial leader in both senses of the word, they face a tricky assignment.

Chelsea are without John Terry, their influential skipper, and they are guided by stand-in manager in Roberto Di Matteo. They have a few issues about injuries and suspensions that rendered Ramirez 'unplayable' after his telling semi-final performance at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.

Now, what is the Londoners' hope? Chelsea, as we have mentioned before, were the kings of English football in terms of talent and money for a long time in the advent preceding the arrival of the petro-dollar bankrolled Manchester City.

These players were spoilt and called the shorts and threw tantrums at will. This was made conducive by the choice of managers that Roman Abramovic hired.

At this stage of the campaign, the players understand that they are at the twilight of their careers without much to show for it. They do not own the 'town' anymore as their salaries have just been turned into peanuts by new Barclays Premier League champions, Manchester City.

The players have no one to attend to their tantrums or to change their nappies. Basically, the gloves are out and for the first time in three seasons or so, Chelsea seem to have decided to play football.

Among the other reasons, the biggest is that in their playing for their footballing lives now, they have only each other to rely on. They toyed around and the show audience have shifted focus to the Etihad Stadium and they need something special to catch the attention once more.

That something, is the UEFA Champions League Cup.

10-men-Chelsea embarass Barcelona 3-2

Chelsea beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Champions League after a 2-2 draw on the night. The decorated one touch shoe-shine piano known as the tiki-taka football counted for naught when the moment to separate boys from men arrived at the Camp Nou. Chelsea entered the treacherous jungle of Barcelona under the circumstances only likened to the lion's den.

The early quick exchanges from the hosts threatened to render the match a suicidal undertaking by the Londoners as Lionel Messi ran through earlier on. The initial runs into the box promised an avalanche of goals for a potential landslide victory.

Until the moment of Barca's Busquests' goal in the 35th minute, the evidence of Chelsea being at the wrong place was everywhere for all to see. The Cesc Fabregas low cross from the left caught Ashley Cole on the wrong side of action.

The moment of craziness from John Terry dumped the English Premier League giants into the 'new buffalo mother's pen as the match took a twist for the worst for the visitors. Terry was red-card for an off-the ball incident for pushing his knee at the back of of Alexis.

The patient build-ups of the Catalans proved too powerful for Chelsea as they saw Messi flying in with an enterprising one-two with Iniesta who blasted in a goal in the 43rd minutes with a low shot past Petr Cech. The flowing exchanges continued with Barca threatening to run away with the match.

In a very rare swift counter attacking movement, Frank Lampard put a though ball that Ramirez ran onto and chipped in a wonder goal in the 45th+1 minute of the match.

The Blues defended with their lives as Barca pushed harder to restore order. A very controversial soft penalty was awarded when Didier Drogba caught Cesc inside the box. The non malicious challenge proved to be innocent as the resultant spot kick was missed by the usually magical Messi, who crushed the cross-bar.

Drogba had his chances including the rounding off of the defence and that long range speculative attempt. The Ivory Coast striker put up a man-of-the-match performance with his close ball control under tight situations and fighting a lone battle upfront.

The excellent Cech saves also proved to be the difference between Barcelona and the final as he used his legs and body to thwart the marauding Barcelona attacks. The desperate Spanish giants started to push further in characteristically Arsenal fashion.

Barca were pushing forward too hard too often too long, without re-organising by restarting the formula. They camped outside the Chelsea box and kept the visitors happy clonking the ball out with every opportunity as the coiled into a 1-6-2-1 formation.

All the Blues could do was to allow Barca to shuttle across the 18-yard-box exerting sterile pressure, as  Messi lost his running momentum as a result. In few moments that Chelsea pushed forward, there was a realistic chance of the fading La Liga giants grabbing a goal as they shunned to shoot from long range.

In that arrangement, Messi should have been sweeper, collecting the ball from deep areas and came running at the defenders, but Pep Guardiola failed to tactically re-arrange the situation to suit the developments.

As it was becoming less apparent that Chelsea would hold on until the final whistle, the football of passing the ball around with less penetrative force looked certain to win the day for Barcelona as they threw everything into attack.

The 50-million-pound Fernando Torres pounced onto a very long clearance in the 90+2 minute, rounded off Valdes and slotted the ball into the empty net to usher the death knell for the best team in the world.

For Chelsea, it was revenge for the drama of the 'disgraceful' encounter of a few years back, and without a regular experienced manager in Roberto Di Mateo and captain Terry, playing with 10 men and their conventional central defenders out and even two goals down, the English team looked dead and buried.

The referees did not seem to be helping their cause and playing at the Camp Nou in-front of that hostile crowd was intimidatory. Chelsea played with their heads, hearts and bodies, committing fully into tackles and fighting for each other.

It must be said that they rode their luck well given that their two of the three shots on target were goals, compared to the twenty two of Barcelona.

Will they face Real Madrid of the 17th of May 2012?

Barca reach CL semis

Barcelona dispatched AC Milan in the quarter-final match of the Champions League in predictable fashion, 3-1, one Lionel Messi netting  twice.

After the 0-0 San Siro surprise draw, the rest of the technicalities needed to be fulfilled as the Catalans have proved time and again to  the the best European team, despite losing grip in La Liga, where Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid are turning the tables on them.

Messi's 50th goal in the tournament made him the youngest player to get to that mark and he equalled the 14 goals per season record.

As Barca await possibly Chelsea, they will end the season warm, and probably lose their coach or key players. The necessary rebirth may rekindle the dwindling ambers as they get even cooler.

One can trust and hope they remain hot but when the drum is about to crack, it is so loud.

AC Milan assassinate Arsenal 4-0

Failure to place basic football components together in the correct order proved a fatal demise of Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League against AC Milan at the San Siro.

The alarmingly slow transition in converting from defence to attack just stuck with the Gunners as their seemingly super glued stunts gifted Milan with generous scoring opportunities.

On numerous occasions, the man on the ball took far too long to release the next player when it attack, allowing the Italians ample time to regroup and shape up.

The average decision-making became increasingly erratic and very much delayed in all departments, especially in midfield. The poor defending principles were obviously encouraging AC Milan and retreating to wrong areas did not help Arsenal's cause.

Too much spaces in defensive situations and poor take-off by the flat-footed Arsenal defenders resulted in the porous and stagnant shapes between the central defenders and the wing defenders as seen in the goals scored and missed clear-cut chances by Milan.

Playing too square and ignoring the blind side, the Londoners were found wanting for pace and ball watching. They seemed content dangerously zonal marking in the defending third.

The defense to attack conversion naturally failed to fatten the supply line in either channel and the numbers thinned in the attacking third.

Lack of crosses in attack saw the Gunners rarely threatening the relaxed Milan defence. There was never a squeeze or telling pressure to cause anxious moments for the hosts.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho had a field day running rings around Bacary Sagna, Karen Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen. Nocerino spent a good night supplying Kevin Prince Boateng with first class passes.

The goals came from Boateng (15 minutes), Robinho (38 and 49 minutes) while the 80th minute penalty by Ibrahimovic sealed the Gunners agony.

Thierry Henry bid farewell as he returns to the New York Red Bulls.

What football is the world watching?

Being bemused that United are out of the Champions League shows you are not watching football that is being played by the reigning Barclays Premier League champions, or the Barclays Premier League for that matter. The cyber space is literally littered with surprise comments and stories concerning the exit of faded Manchester United and moneyed Manchester City from the UEFA Champions League. United fans are basically shuttered while their foes are in jubilation.

Taking the current season by storm, City gave people the impression to be the real deal, which they might be soon, but for now, we have seen the separation of boys from men. Football is not played by hearts and emotions. Man U have not played football in ages and I have said it a million and one times, attracting the wrath of their faithfuls. Those receptive to facts and truth will attest to these claims.

There is two types of playing badly and winning. Sir Alex Ferguson has given us both in his colourful stay at Old Trafford. Only that now United have made it a tradition week in and week out to dish out the stale stuff and the bullied teams have just showed up and donated points. This charity only lasted in the Premiership. There are no favours in Europe.

To draw the contrast, on a regular basis, Manchester United have been well below par and that is being polite, because frankly, they have been boring. There is not much to say if the team is winning. However, there is Tottenham Hotspur, who will be out of sorts and pull off a stunt or two to win the match. The difference is the genuine failure to impress because their opposition come better prepared. Other teams make it a priority to stop Spurs from playing. United play badly no matter what.

Arsenal, who qualified well in advance, had the same problem of playing badly because al else went out to make their match unplayable. In those days, they also lost matches playing well sometimes. As for now, as a very mediocre team, writing about the Gunners is a strength supping exercise. You need a very good heart to finish their story.

Arsene Wenger has done well to win it with a match to spare and he had actually predicted the hard times at Manchester in qualifying. The superstitious will feel jinxed but then, who wanted to see the boring UEFA Champions League matches in the knock out stages! Well, as for Chelsea, it was a job well done, but frankly, the jubilation is only limited to qualifying. There is no rightful fan who will be banking on their passage after their inconsistency that is rumoured to emanate from dressing room issues.

Many believe that coach AVB is being undermined by seniors at Stanford Bridge because of his youthfulness. I do not buy that. Either it is his football or the general sabotage from his backroom staff. His troubles are a shade worse than Roberto Mancini of Manchester City. While the Citizens are sitting pretty on the EPL log, I am not convinced all is at peace. Carlos Tevez is finally going to Italy and he will surely fire parting shots soon.

Leading the EPL standings is a good feat and we will be asking questions when push comes to shove. The staying power will be vital and given the false impression that both Manchesters will perform better in the league as they devote their time and undivided attention to the domestic game, that may actually be their undoing. Chelsea have the experience to take the advantage of the dropped heads at both camps. It was going to be Arsenal and Liverpool's time to rise and shine, but they are far off the pace.

As much as I like the Spurs play, for them to have a say will need great character and an extra ordinary 4 months to win the Championship. If their game is anything to go by, this could be their time. I will not count them in but it is not impossible, but this is not about the England, but Europe.

This whole picture tells a story. The runaway leaders of the league and the reigning champions are out of Europe; the most feared teams with huge budgets. Is the league now so small? Maybe not, given that the nobodies of the league as in Chelsea and Arsenal are in with a shout.

Frankly, both will surprise me by passing through the next round. It will take a miracle. I think either England is finished or the rest of Europe is coming up. Generally, the English game has been a faded history affair since the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The national team has been near, yet so far in both the World Cup and the European Championship. 

I would hate to gon political, but unavoidably, there may be a man grinning ear to ear at this strange state of affair. Recently, there has been racial stories rocking the English game and then FIFA President , Sepp Blatter of Switzerland. United lost­ to a Swiss side, Basel, in Switzerland, the land of Blatter.

The English FA has been accused to be soft and moving slowly in dealing with the John Terry and Luis Suarez racial issues while calling for the FIFA boss, Blatter, to resign. It sounded hypocritical but could his toasting at the trivial victory of the loss of the English team be justified? I guess he can say he is having the last laugh. Many believe he hates England and he is football enemy number one.

Thinking for a moment that United and City will have the advantage in the domestic game, or that they had diminished interest in the competition is notorious. They wanted it so bad and now that they are out, they are doomed, United more than City. Even the Europa League they will participate in will take a toll on them. They may want to use the league as a punch back for their fringe players.

The concept may work or kill the rhythm of the team. The merits of the state of affairs will be seem in not so distant future. At the end of the day, fans and foes of United seem to be feeling hurt and celebrating respectively. SAF was quoted as saying, "Of course we are disappointed. There is no other way you can feel. We had so much possession and opportunities in the last third but the finishing part of our game, you have to say, has let us down. We were careless. We let ourselves down badly." 

With all due respect, this is a very dishonest statement. The respected mentor should have known ages ago, before last season, that his non-deserved wins will catch up with him. If I saw it, come on, SAF should have known better, and not just yesterday or last year. The writing has been on the whole in flashing LED coloured flashing lights.

What is boring about this is the general observation of United’s mediocrity only now by so many. I don’t know what football the world is watching.

EXTRA-TIME with VMN; The Dream Final

Manchester United and Barcelona return to the site where they first won the world's most prestigious club trophy as Nike sponsored teams continue to dominate the richest competition in club football.
Whilst many say United must forget about what happened in Rome against Barca two years ago, I think they need to rewind the tape, take a close look at it and make sure that lightning doesn't strike twice on the same spot. Failing to plan is planning to fail but many won’t blame Ferguson for negligence and poor planning if lightning does strike twice because the current Barcelona side is near perfect.

I disagree with those who say United are a better team without CR7. They lacked a genuine challenge on the title race and had a relatively easy ride to Wembley. His departure might have paved a way for a better atmosphere in the dressing room buoyed the mood of the team.

 As generals wouldn't go to battle without a plan, Pep and Fergie are not expected to temper with their winning teams, they might stick to the 'don't fix what’s not broken' saying. Defensively, van der Sar gives Devils the edge but the battle will be decided on the middle of the park. In as much as United has to attack Barca, they need to keep the game closed, they must make sure they have enough men behind the behind the ball the moment they lose possession.

The 1st thing United has to do to keep the game under control is avoid Barca from taking the lead. The moment they do so, the Xavi driven team will do what they do best; parade their 'pass them to death football.' For his breath-taking 50 yard passes from the 'Pirlo role', Scholes might be United's impact player on a game like this. Anywhere, Carrick and Giggs' passing is excellent enough to utilise their best weapon; speed and urgency upfront. They might benefit in playing balls behind the Barca defence, turn the defenders towards their goal by sending in quick tricky crosses between Valdes and his defenders. Valencia has to attack Puyol and Park keep Alves pinned at the back. United has to score 1st, Barca will throw more men upfront then United will have make the full use of their speed and the width of the ground.

 I have observed something in such games, teams dominating play against Barca in the 1st 10 min which leads to Barca committing fouls which goes unpunished. Trouble starts when Barca gets into 1st gear, gets kicked and the opponents gets punished.

Barca is a special team that needs special treatment. The Blaugrana juggernaut will squeeze life out of United if they don't strengthen their midfield that must protect their defence. They have mastered the art of keeping possession as never seen before. Their movement on and off the ball in the final 3rd is 2nd to none. The perfect scenario for this game is Barca failing to take an early lead because on that they will put United on their conveyer belt and they won't get off it.

Edwin van der Sar must make sure his last game ends in style unlike another Hans Vonk who saw his blunder losing Ajax Cape Town the title on his last day. Pep knows that a team of United's pedigree can't be taken lightly especially in a game of this magnitude. Fergie is wise and old enough to have learned from the Catalans' masterpiece in Rome. Giggs is experienced and strong enough to remain focussed amid Liberal Democrat MP's Twitter allegations of that he tried to prevent the publication of an affair he had with a former reality TV star but that remains a story for another day.

Real take Spurs to the cleaners

Italy President, Silvio Barlusconi is facing one of numerous sex offences his presidency had been marred with. I am not familiar as to who is the accuser here, but I am certain the lesson to learn from all prostitute engagers is to ask first, ‘How old are you?’ And do not take the prostitute’s answer at face value. Go through the handbags and all until you have all facts verified. It may be worthwhile to have a receipt for all the transactions made and the actual acts paid for. With money and power of a Berlusconi, I don’t think anyone can see a President having sex, especially with a Moroccan 17-year old. I am not judging.

In what is called a white-wash, as expected in the UEFA quarter-final, Real Madrid of Spain made light work of Tottenham Hotspur of England in the first leg at the Bernebeu. With Spurs potential attacking prowess clearly known, any hopes of a comeback against Jose Mourinho’s Madrid can’t be imagined even by the most insane of us.

Mourinho will know that playing a team without any pressure of winning in front of their home crowd is not an easy task, just as Harry Redknapp is a realist enough to tell you that scoring 5 or at least 4 against 9 time European champions is like walking on water. Naturally, all attention will shift to other English clubs expected to play better, owing to their experience at this level.

Manchester United and Chelsea are likely to pull off good results, or at least respectable scores that can be reversed in the reverse fixtures. Spurs can take solace in that Inter Milan got a hiding, being hit for 5. Some will argue that Inter are not the powerhouses they used to be, given that Spurs actually hammered the Italians.

The moment has come, but not Spurs.

It has been a while since we started beating the drums for Tottenham Hotspur. When they face Real Madrid in the 2010/11 UEFA Quarter-final at the Santiago Bernebeu, it will be the time for them to strum their own instrument. If the tune is good, we will dance. As for now, we just pay the piper.

Spurs have been a force in English football for just 2 years now, and their prowess has been limited to sporadic domestic shows and stunning revelations in Europe. For all their antics, it all boils to this week's challenge. The moment has come, but not Spurs.

Spurs have beaten Inter and AC Milan to reach this point, but all that is almost forgotten. They may beat Madrid and even dispatch Manchester and/or Barcelona along the way.  Even then, unless they lift the Cup, no one will remember them.

It has always been inability to balance domestic league, Cup and International form, that has been their achilles. While there are these big names ahead standing between them and glory, we all know that betting against them is a risky affair. Nonetheless, while the road may end here and now, Harry Redknapp has bigger fish to fry. Gary Bale, Rafael van der Vaart, Steve Pienaar, Aaron Lennon and the rest of the gang, want to play at the same level next season. They are however not seen to be working towards that.

The Barclays Premier League is experiencing confusion that may work in their favour. No one has seen such regular inconsistance in football. The league is so unpredictable, that Man United always win even when they are not playing. As for the rest, I guess they play, but never win. That's a topic for another day, but as it stands, Spurs are risking being a distant memory in the near future if they they lose it now and fail to secure the spot for next season. They can actually do both under the circumstances.

They all cheated their wives

If one has a team-mate and are very loose friends, and the friend has a girlfriend who bears him a child, then the child's mother is no longer together with the friend and the two friends play for separate teams although one captains the national team, what business of coach, media and supporters is it, that the skipper be stripped of his authority in the game for the relationship with the ex of his ex-teammate?

As fate would have it, the skipper by default, has his armband back and then there is a hull scum cacophony and pandemonium hullaballoo about nothing. Don't we have no fly zones or earthquakes to talk about. There is also a global sporting event in India to take our attention. The cricket ICC World Cup and the upcoming UEFA Champions League is far better news.

We are generally a gossiping generation and achieve far less despite all access to information provided for by the modern day technology. John Terry knew Wayne Bridge and his girlfriend. Bridge could not commit to this woman for whatever reason. The woman or Terry loved Terry or the woman. Terry should be crucified for cheating on his wife though, not for Wayne Bridge's left-overs.

But I will tell you why. Though a few may have wanted his armband and have not gone out with their former team-mates ex's, the same cannot be said about on cheating on their wives among the lot. It is a case of throwing the first stone. If anyone does not want John Terry to go out with their ex's, they should marry them themselves. That will run dry Terry's options. Until then, Terry, the armband is yours and ex's are available, but shame on you for cheating on your wife.

UEFA Champions League; Beggars are not choosers.

Tottenham Hotspur would have cared less who they drew in the quarter final of the UEFA Champions League. The only problem is that I rate Spurs team with my heart and love Jose Mourinho with all my mind. Nine-time European champions Real Madrid coach will be lying if he said he has minimum respect for Spurs, but in all fairness, the Londoners, with all due respect to the team and my English favourite manager, Harry Redknapp,  cannot compete at that level. They however have an insignificant advantage of playing the 2^nd leg at White Hart Lane.
For Barcelona, drawing Shakhtar Donetsk and avoiding Manchester United, Chelsea (who meet each other) and Madrid, is a true blessing. Defending champions Inter Milan, face Bundesliga club Schalke 04. The winner of Chelsea v United will play Inter or Schalke.

Madrid have an impressive record of the Cup, a total of over 150 matches in 15 appearances while Spurs are debutants. That is why, by any measure, they would have chosen a preferred opposition. Spurs midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart who used to play for Madrid will relish the chance to show his former pay masters a thing or two.

The Man U – Chelsea match will always be tagged as a rematch or revenge-cum grudge match following a bitter 2008 Chelsea loss to United in Moscow. I think that counts for nothing and it is The Blues’s realistic chance to get something away from United. Time will tell.