Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Mario Gotze has recently stated that his dream is to play for either of the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid or Barcelona. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder has been in scintillating form for Die Borussen over the last year, amassing 12 goals and 19 assists in 51 games. He was fairly influential in Dortmund's victorious Bundesliga campaign last season. Captain and pivotal figure Nuri Sahin left the German club this summer to join Real Madrid, leading many people to doubt Dortmund's ability to threaten for the league in Sahin's absence. But, the diminutive Gotze has only upped his game and been ever so influential in Dortmund's challenge this Hinrunde.
Whether young Mario wants to follow in Sahin's footsteps, or the thought of playing for one of the most successful clubs in the world is his main influence, Gotze's move to Spain seems fairly imminent. He surely won't make the move this January, but talks may start in June. Assuming Gotze does move this summer, here is a look at where he'd probably fit at the two clubs.
When the final whistle went off at the end of 90' at the Santiago Bernabeu the result 3-1 would have hard to sink in, if sometime had gone off to sleep at halftime. But this is Barcelona, the best team in the world at the moment and they would have left Mourinho gasping as to what is left for him to do to beat this Barcelona side something which he hasn't achieved in 4 league meetings, the first Real Madrid manager to achieve such a feat.
Since moving to a country with a different timezone my football viewing has been made more smoother with EPL at breakfast and LaLiga at lunch or tea time. And with ElClasico at a perfect time in the day I couldn't miss it for any reason. And while I was following it, the tension certainly was rising as each minute passed by even for the neutral in me. The Barca fans must have had a tough time in the first half and the Madrid fans in the 2nd. Add to that if I was told that 3-1 was a fair reflection of the game,I wouldn't have an option but agree as Real Madrid were made to pay for all the missed chances they ought to have finished.The reason why you can't get off your couch when your watching a football match right from the 1st second till the end of the game was once again displayed today by the universal declaration of beautiful and scintillating football.
Long have gone the days when an unfancied Valencia side devoid of any superstars could challenge and beat the mighty Real Madrid and Barcelona to win the La Liga. Infact it is nearing a decade since a side outside of the top two won the league. The huge gulf in quality between the top 2 and the rest has never been greater and the chances of any team challenging the might of the top 2 are remote and only a fool would even consider betting on a team to even finish within 10 points of Real and the majestic Catalans. So many factors could be attributed to the occurring demise of La Liga. The independent tv rights deal is one major reason why the wealth is so skewed in favour of the top clubs in Spain. The clubs for one have the complete independence to negotiate their own tv rights and thus Real Madrid with their Galacticos and the technically excellent nimble footed Catalans end up getting the most lucrative share of the pot with the lower clubs trying to scramble over the leftovers. And this pool of lower clubs has now even engulfed the 3rd and 4th best teams.
On one hand you see a Madrid pocketing a cool 130 odd+ million $ in tv rights alone and on the other hand you see Atletico pocketing 40mn$. And this directly increases the amount that the teams will be able to spend on player acquisitions and wages. No wonder Madrid and Barcelona have the luxury of smashing the transfer record at will. Barcelona were able to splash more than 50mn on only two players and this inspite of borrowing a loan in the region of 125mn pounds a year before just to pay the wages and operating costs!!!
So far so good, now bring into picture the so called revolutionary Financial Fair Play regulations of Michel Platini. A club would have live to within their earnings, Spend as much as you earn and what will it do these clubs where clearly the top teams are earning 100mn more than the rest. What message will it send out to a sheik in the middle east who wants to buy a club in Spain. Will he be able to buy his club a Champions league or even a Europa league for instance? I don't think so. Wonder how Malaga will cope once these regulations will be brought into play and how much will they be able to spend once the strings in the purse of the sheik get tightened by the FFP regulations. Will he still be motivated to hang around and watch in awe the tiki taka brilliance of the Catalans against the substandard teams of the league? Surely not.
These things have woken up the Presidents of the other league from their deep slumber and they are protesting, not everyone as of now but still are. Threats of playing a substandard side against the big 2 if they do not budge are also being branded about. These are early days after all. The big two on the other hand have their own stick to beat these lesser guys with. We are reason why people watch you, we are reason why you get the huge sums when you play against us, we are the reason why the La Liga is famous is what they are saying.
A talk of a European super league is also being mentioned and this although remains a pipe-dream that their fellow clubs from England, Germany and Italy would be less forthcoming on joining them into. The shadow of the Scottish league looms large in Spain and don’t be fooled by the recent draw that Barcelona suffered at the hands of Sociedad at the weekend. The top players in the league that play for the other teams have started departing abroad already. The benchmark is to make a move to the top two when you start reaching the top or else go abroad. Silva did so last year. Aguero, De Gea, Mata were not hesitant to follow suit either. Aguero confessed that the lure of winning trophies at Eastlands was too hard to resist. Mata was more forthcoming when he summed up the situation more perfectly by confessing that come January there would be nothing worth fighting for, The league would be out of grasp with no hope of catching up what so at all.
The balance between Spain and England could shift again with the marquee players starting to move abroad and the EPL clubs benefiting from it. Should the current trend continue we could see more top players moving to England, wonder what will it do to the competition and the quality of the opposition that Madrid and Barcelona will face week in week out in the La Liga. The chances of having another all English final again are distant but not an impossibility that people make it out to be because of the brilliance of Real and Barcelona. Remember it is the lesser sides that make them look even more majestic and beautiful then they really might be. Ask Milan or Inter or perhaps Chelsea even.
Barcelona are about to bring to an end the most painfully boring transfer sagas of the last decade by finally sealing the deal to take Francesc Fabregas Soler back to Catalunya. After years of courtship and tapping up claims, the saga is expected to come to an end this weekend when Barcelona are widely expected to complete the signing of the midfield schemer who they widely believe to step into the ageing Xavi’s shoes as his achilles get more and more suspect with each passing season. It is also being expected that Barcelona could very well gift a double to their fans by also presenting Alexis Sanchez, the next big thing in world football alongside Fabregas to the Camp Nou faithful.
It could be interesting as to what it will do to the dynamics of the team when Sanchez arrives, which is just a matter of when. It is clearly known that Barcelona are getting overly reliant on Messi with each passing season for goals as the statistics clearly suggest, but the argument is not as hollow as it sounds. Pedro and Villa were scoring for fun. Both had been scoring for fun until late winter and into early spring but injury struck Pedro and a long and arduous season got to Villa as his form simply vanished into thin air come February. But after that the goals just stopped flowing as both of them went on a barren run and had it not been for the brilliance of their No.10 Barcelona would not have been the team that would have been laughing and celebrating at Wembley last month.
The arrival of Sanchez could really galvanize Pedro and Villa into scoring more which could only be good for Barcelona. There are also rumblings that Barca could now make a move for Villareal’s Guiseppe Rossi after the signing of Cesc and Sanchez are completed. This could certainly spell the end of Barcelona career for at least one forward in the team, either of Pedro or Villa who could be sacrificed, with the higher likelihood that it could well be David Villa being shown the door. This is certainly a very big IF indeed pertaining to whether Guiseppe Rossi is indeed being signed or not. Therefore it is hardly surprising to read rumours of Villa being linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge or Eastlands.
The field that Barca need to strengthen is in the defence with the left full back position a priority, Jose Angel looks a bright prospect and could well be signed. The evolution of Mascherano into a centre half looked promising at the latter stages of the season and Eric Abidal is also now being regarded to play in the centre alongside Pique rather than on the left as Captain marvel Puyol’s injuries start to limit the no.of games he can play in a season.
It was such a disgusting and disgraceful sight to see a banana being hurled at Roberto Carlos when he was plying his trade in the Russian football league. This incident happened in a country that is going to host the football world cup in 7 years time. And to make matters worse the horrifying sight of a passenger plane crash in the same country would even make the hurling of bananas on players acceptable. Do we really need a World Cup in such a country? Would it really be worth the risk? Do FIFA really know what they are doing when they award the showpiece event to countries like Qatar and Russia? No wonder FIFA makes profit, after all the money comes from those billionaires who quite happily fill up the pockets of these corrupt and immoral officials who run this corrupt organization.
Hats off to the FIFA ranking ranking system when it shows an incoherent, underachieving and fearful team that has failed to make the top 4 of the last 5 World cups and the last three European championships as the Fourth best team in the world ahead of the mighty Brazilians. The next time if someone questions Capello regarding what he has done for the past three years while on gardening leave at the Wembley in England with the National Football team, you can very well expect an answer only if he knows more than four English alphabets though.
The final at Wembley is one which has a past courtesy the two teams. Both Barcelona and Manchester United played each other at this very stage 2 years back in Rome and at that time it was the Catalan Giants who shoved away Ferguson's men to win the title. This time around though Manchester United look prepared to take on Barcelona not wanting Barca to be their nemesis once again.
To be gifted is one thing and to actually use that gift is another thing and Barcelona surely are doing that having the most gifted players in the team. Barca under Pep are as strong as a team can be and are just one step away from being labelled as one of "The best teams ever". Their 'taka taka' football has mesmerized everyone even their enemies. They have been despised off the field but on the field you would be left in awe. Manchester United on the other hand have one of the most mediocre teams they could ever have. Having said this I would not take away any credit away from them, for the way they have stepped onto the field this season always brimming with confidence and always hungry for more success. A lot of this could be attributed to Sir Alex's 'winning mentality' which surely is gonna be ManU's 12th man against Barca. If they do manage to win the title it would be sweet revenge for their defeat in 2009 though they wouldn't want to admit it. Also it would enhance their reputation as being one of Europe's best teams a tag which they have always strived to maintain.
The verbal sparring between the respective camps of Manchester United and Barcelona has largely been complimentary but no less illuminating than the sniping that marred the latter's semi-final with Real Madrid. Some of my favorites are here..
Nemanja Vidic - "There should be some respect for us. Barcelona are favourites for this game. We are fine with that. They are a good team and play some good football. But we not a club that has won nothing over the years. We are Manchester United."
Pep Guardiola - " I admire them. Manchester United are a fantastic rival, but they have an advantage because two years ago we beat them. You can't be favourites against Manchester United anyway - they are a great team. They sold Cristaino (Ronaldo) and they are still winning."
Rio Ferdinand - "Revenge is not the right word, but I do have regrets about the 2009 final defeat to Barcelona. I was gutted, devastated by the end of that game. Nobody likes to lose a cup final but it was one of the worst feelings I have ever had in my career. We just didn't perform as we should have done last time. This time we have to give a better account of ourselves."
Pep Guardiola - " I hope that they (the players) feel it could be their last Champions League final. In 1992 we thought that we would never play a European Cup final again. I want my players to feel the same. We cannot waste this opputunity."
A comparison I would like to make is between AC Milan vs Liverpool and now Barcelona vs Man United.
2005 - Istanbul - Liverpool came back from 3 goals down to win on penalties.
2007 - Athens - AC Milan win the final 2-1 against Liverpool
2009 - Rome - Barcelona beat Man United 2-0
2011 - Wembley - ?
Is this a sign of a Manchester United victory or will Barcelona reclaim their crown they lost to Inter Milan last year. The whole world is waiting, the whole world is watching.
Real Madrid, the team which is one of the richest, successful and influential club both in Spain and all over the world seemed to be in disarray till the beginning of this season. Their last league title coming 3 years back, not reaching the Champions League quarters for over 7 years and not able able to win the Copa del Rey for a long time were enough reasons for the Real Madrid management to bring one of the most shrewd and magical coaches in the world to the Spanish capital and it was none other than Jose Mourinho. And the turnaround is the reason why the El Clásico is going to take place not once but four times in the next 18 days and it surely is gonna get as exciting as one can expect.
April 16th 2011 - Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona - La Liga 2nd Leg
April 20th 2011 - FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid - Copa del Rey Final
April 27th 2011 - Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona - UEFA Champions League 1st Leg
May 3rd 2011 - FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid - UEFA Champions League 2nd Leg
With the arrival of Mourinho the master tactician, Real Madrid have shown signs of the successful past even though they are some distance behind Barcelona in the league and were drubbed 5-0 when they travelled to the Nou Camp earlier in the season. However Los Galacticos might want want to return the favour when Barcelona travel to the Spanish capital tonight. Four games in 18 days between the same teams might sound boring, but not for this one. The rivalry built between both these teams over the years is still alive and in recent times Barcelona have overshadowed Madrid a great deal which is why Real Madrid would like to get even.
Barcelona seem to be unstoppable with the likes of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta in their ranks and Madrid would need their very own Christiano Ronaldo to step up to the plate. Madrid recent loan signee Adebayor will surely play an important part along with Frenchman Karim Benzema if Madrid are to fulfill their dreams. Their recent destruction of Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League will boost their confidence a great deal. Mourinho might use the first two games as practice to fuel Madrid 's ambition of winning the Champions League which has become their Holy Grail in recent times. Though he might not take the pitch his influence will be forever felt in all the four games as he walks down the sidelines writing a script to destroy the mighty Catalans.
Neither team is particularly keen on defending, which means we're likely to see a glut of goals. That's sweet music to every fan's ears. And as former Barcelona full-back Giovanni van Bronckhorst puts it
"The whole world stops to watch this match; that shows just how huge it is."
The more you would want to watch the 1st leg between Arsenal and Barcelona at the Emirates, the less appreciative you will be after watching the 2nd leg at Nou camp. Shambolic performance by Arsenal and one Swiss citizen on the pitch. No, this guy isn’t from Arsenal or Barcelona. This was the man officiating the game who hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons more than Barcelona who deserved it for all the right reasons. In the end there was only team which deserved to go through and rightly so Barcelona moved to the next stage in the competition.
After the 1st leg there were voices which described Arsenal’s performance as ‘something special’. The phrase ‘Arsenal coming of age...’ has been used umpteen times and for once Arsenal had a chance to live up to that but they failed miserably. And miserable is such a small word when you want to describe Arsenal’s performance. I am being very critical of Arsenal here and because I believed if the giants had to be slayed, it had to be done at this stage. As they move forward they are only gonna grow with confidence. And with Arsenal’s impeccable record in this season’s competition, 21 goals, better than any other team, Arsenal had to score.But no Arsenal player had a single shot – on, off target or blocked which was highly disappointing.
The question was did Arsene Wenger give up even before the game began? Or did he arrive with a defensive strategy? Or was it that Barcelona were simply too good for Arsenal? The 3rd reason is very much true and I don’t think anyone will disagree with that. If anyone does, my only suggestion would be to watch the game again if you haven’t already done so. Arsene Wenger isn’t someone who quits even before a game has been played, but the feeling is that he got his strategy wrong. Without a natural DM in Song it was a costly mistake to play defensive football against Barca but Barca are so good at keeping the ball that it would be very difficult to play football!!. No shots on goal was as disappointing as it can get but Arsenal have no one but themselves to blame. The below stats point out as to why Arsenal had a poor poor night.
Barcelona had the ball for 49’ 3” while Arsenal had control for 22’ 41” of the game.
Barcelona completed 724 passes versus Arsenal’s 199.
Arsenal completed 71% of their passes while Barcelona’s completion figure was 90%
Barcelona's midfield trio was Javier Macherano (95 passes, 86% success), Xavi (133 passes, 90% success) and Andres Iniesta (105 passes, 92% success)
Arsenal's midfield trio was Abou Diaby (24 passes, 88% success), Jack Wilshere (33 passes, 79%success) and Cesc Fabregas (30 passes, 70% success)
No Arsenal player had a single shot - on, off target or blocked. Seven Barca players had attempts on goal - including both full - back.
Barcelona recorded 21 shots - 12 were on target, five off target and the remainder were blocked.
In his 56 minutes on the pitch Robin van Persie had attempted eight passes.
The Dutchman had not touched the ball in the oppositon penalty area.
The only Arsenal player who logged an average position in the opposition half was substitute Andrey Arshavin.
Arsenal committed 19 fouls to Barcelona's 8. Five of those fouls were attributed to Jack Wilshere.
Manuel Almunia has conceded ten goals in the 271 minutes he has played against Barcelona in his career. That's a goal conceded every 27 minutes.
Van Persie's plea falling on deaf ears
UEFA champions league which is considered to be one of the world's biggest competitions, has been repeatedly setting low standards in refereeing and this game was no exception. Massimo Busacca, a Swiss referee is well known for handling the UEFA cup (now Europa League) in 2007 and the final of the Champions league in 2009. But after his bizarre peformance in this game how did he handle such big profile games remains a mystery. The sending off of Robin Persie for kicking the ball after the whistle was blown though is correct by the letter of law, was an aboslute ridiculous one. Not an ounce of common sense was displayed by the referee and the fact the time between the referee's whistle and the shot was one second rubs salt into the Arsenal wound. It was the key decision and the wrong one. No-one will ever know what the outcome would have benn but it certainly had an effect on the course of the game as it is hard enough to play Pep Guardiola's side with 11 men, let alone 10. He sent off the wrong man, while Laurent Koscienly was having a field when he should have been sent off not once but twice, once for a tackle on Pedro which resulted in a penalty and then for a tackle on Xavi. Also how could he have missed the tackle by Abou Diaby on Messi which was a clear penalty, raises doubts not only on the referee's calibre but also UEFA for letting these men handle such crucial games. Micheal Platini should have a dig at his own men before he even points fingers at players, managers and club officials.
Game over, Champions league dream washed away, where do Arsenal go from here? This loss is a boon to Arsenal as it lets them concentrate and keep them fresh for the remaining premier league games and the FAcup which might lead them to the elusive silverware. With Manchester United losing 2 games in a row, the league title is wide open and Arsenal will ot get a better oppurtunity than this. It's upto Arsene Wenger and his boys not to repeat the mistakes which has eluded them of a title for 6 years.
Till then the wait cotinues when everyone can say without doubt 'Arsenal have come of age.....'
P.S.: Special thanks to Justin and Jenson. This post is the result of the small but fruitful discussion we had on Fb. Hoping to have many more of them.. :)
