Archive: Champions League
Barca Deserved It
I just carved out a few minutes to log in and talk about the Champions League final ... very interesting game, I thought (for those of you who don't know, Barcelona rallied for a 2-1 win over Arsenal). Up until the last 15 minutes, I thought I was going to be writing about how Sol Campbell (not much fancied by many commenters here, if I remember right, and lucky to be on the England World Cup team) was the hero. But hey, that didn't quite work out. Echoing ESPN's Derek Rae, no matter of what you thought about Arsenal blowing it, it's hard to say the best team in Europe did not win today. That's a lot of talent in the red and blue stripes. And Ronaldinho did not have a great day. That red card early on was huge, obviously. At the time, who was happy with that call?...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 17, 2006; 06:05 PM ET | Comments (47) | TrackBack (0)
Lacking Goals
This from the Guardian's halftime assesment of the Barcelona-AC Milan Champions League semi: The match has been played at a good pace, with both teams remembering the objective of the game - to score goals. Yet there haven't been any, which means since the start of the quarter-finals there have now been 11-and-a-half matches played, and the net has been rippled on just 14 occasions. Is there a goal-scoring problem at professional football highest level? Will we see the same thing in Germany? If so, get ready for the soccer-haters to come out in force ......
By Jon DeNunzio | April 26, 2006; 03:44 PM ET | Comments (30) | TrackBack (0)
Holy Cow x 2
I just saw two things that made me say "Holy Cow!" 1) Jens Lehmann stopping Riquelme's PK to preserve Arsenal's win in the Champions League semis. Klinsmann had to like that. The Guardian's oft-praised live update desribed it as follows: 89 mins: Riquelme steps up ... and aims a powerful side-footer to the keeper's left ... but Lehmann spreads himself well and blocks it! The tiny contingent of Arsenal fans go wild as justice is seen to be done! Is that the first time English fans have cheered a penalty save by a German keeper? 2) Sepp Blatter speaks up on England's search for coach to take the reins after the World Cup (Tip of the Hat to RMT from Richmond): Fifa president Sepp Blatter expressed his surprise that the FA could be considering the appointment of another foreigner. "I am surprised that England are considering this again - it...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 25, 2006; 04:50 PM ET | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
I Stand Corrected
SPOILER ALERT! Do not click below for the rest of this post if you are trying to avoid news on Barcelona-AC Milan....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 18, 2006; 04:03 PM ET | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Kick-About
My news reader may be down, but I'm not ... - Der Kaiser gets fired up over criticism, real or imagined. Asked what criticism he was referring to, Beckenbauer added: 'It's the ticketing or whatever else.' Beckenbauer was then pulled away from journalists by a press spokesman. Speaking of tickets, The Guardian (or is it the Observer?) launched a ticketing campaign this weekend ... One issue, though, will overshadow the event all the way through: the allocation of tickets for the 64 games. The system devised by Fifa and the 2006 Organising Committee will force many ticketless deserving fans to pay touts' exorbitant prices. Fifa's policy benefits sponsors and the wealthy but short-changes those fans who are the game's lifeblood. Today Observer Sport starts a campaign for change by exposing the full extent of the ticketing scandal. Again I ask ... anyone have any good ticket stories? - France/Barcelona MF...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 18, 2006; 09:40 AM ET | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
How This Cup Relates to That Cup ...
Gabby Logan of the Times points out that if you're an England fan, you don't need to worry too much about your lads getting burnt out in the late stages of the Champions League, even with an English side playing in this week's semifinal first leg. Meantime, some other players are reaping benefits: [Arsenal's Spanish international Francesc] Fàbregas was hardly a household name this time last year and is only 18 now, but thanks to his mature and composed performances he's being tipped as "one to watch" in Germany, in the same breath as Lionel Messi, the Argentina and Barcelona forward. Even the older players have benefited, Jens Lehmann has beaten Oliver Kahn to the No 1 shirt in Germany's squad and you can't help but think his clean sheets in Europe have contributed heavily. Barcelona ... have their own crop of names with the potential to be the player...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 17, 2006; 08:15 AM ET | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Psychological Terror?
Looks like the guy who just shut out Juventus (0-0 final, 2-0 aggregate) may supplant Oliver Kahn in goal for Klinsman's boys. Best part: 'Not making a decision on the starting goalkeeper after the last friendly against the United States (on March 22) was irresponsible,' said Hoeness. 'It's psychological terror, absolute psycho terror.' Oh yeah -- Barcelona 2, Benfica 0. Champions League semis (April 18 and 26): - AC Milan-Barcelona (oooh) - Arsenal-Villarreal...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 5, 2006; 04:41 PM ET | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
ESPN2, today, 2:30 pm
Apologies to Barcelona and Benfica, but I'd have to say the Juventus-Arsenal Champions League quarterfinal is the game of the day today. Juve is in a big hole, having lost 2-0 at Highbury in the first of this two-legged quarter. And lots of players will miss this game. I love the Italian teams (see my last name), but they ain't known for offensive outburts, so I have a hard time imagining Juventus coming back. BTW, a year ago about this time, I was in Turin for the Juve-Liverpool game ... a 0-0 tie that allowed Liverpool to get to the semis. While we're talking Italy and Champions League, I could not help but notice that Filippo Inzaghi scored twice for AC Milan yesterday vs. Lyon. Last I read, "SuperPippo" seems to have very little shot at making the Italy team -- but he has been on fire for Milan since...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 5, 2006; 12:10 PM ET | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
