In my last post, when the UCL semi final draw was made (scroll down if you wish to read), I made the unusual step of calling the pairings the "battle of 4 of the best master tactician coaches" in Europe as three fast counter attacking teams & the possession tiki taka of Guardiola & Bayern contested the semi finals.
And that is exactly how the semi finals turned out! Both encounters were highly complex tactical battles. The only surprise in the results were how comprehensively Ancelotti outsmarted Guardiola & how Mourinho lost the tactical battle to Simoene.
Out of the four coaches, Pep Guardiola went to the semi finals with most questions. Could his tiki taka , the preferred 4-1-4-1 formation & its slower possession based build up tactics cope with Ronaldo, Bale & co's pace? Whilst Ancelotti caught Guaardiola on counter attacks in Madrid, it was initially from set pieces & then counter attacks that Madrid annihilated Bayern for their first ever win in Munich for their record 13th final. At the end, not only Ancelotti won the battle, but he also questioned whether Guardiola's tactics had been found out & the days of his dominance were over.
Mourinho on the other hand decided on an aggressively defensive approach in Madrid for the first leg. However, like Bayern, he did not get an away goal. Therefore, Atletico Madrid, themselves a counter attacking side, went to London with Simeone hoping to win the tactical battle with away goals.
Whilst they hit a wall of 11 defending Chelsea players in the first leg, they outsmarted Mourinho in London even though initially they fell behind 1-0. Mourinho lost the game tactically after he was forced to open up Chelsea following 1-1, and was outfoxed by Simeone & his impressive team.
In the process, Mourinho lost his 4th successive Champions League final battle whilst Real won their semi final after having lost in the semis in the last three years with Mourinho!. Bayern on the other hand, lost a semi final having won their last three previous ones since 2010. Atletico Madrid meanwhile won only their 2nd ever semi final, having reached their only other final 40 years ago in 1974 where they lost to Bayern.
And now, to the first ever "inter-City" final in the history of competition & second ever all Spanish Final (Real won the last won 3-0 vs Valencia in 2000).
The final will once again be a tactical battle, with two city rivals who know each other's weaknesses & strengths better than anyone else.
The result will be tight. If Atletico manage to neutralise the inform axis of Ronaldo-Bale-Dia Maria-Benzema, they have enough quality to beat Real with shear determination. I tip the dark horses of the tournament, Atletico Madrid to cause one of the biggest sensational upsets in the history of the UCL & go all the way.
So the recovery of Spanish football after last year's hiccup is complete, with Sevilla also contesting the Europa League final vs Benfica.
On a personal note, in a year when the universally admired Befica great Eusebio passed away, I would like to see Benfica win the Europa League final.
Benfical are arguably the unluckiest of Giants of European football. Since they won their 2 European Crowns with Eusebio in 1961 & 1962, they have lost all their consequent 5 European Cup & 2 UEFA/Europa League finals. This includes last year's Europa League final in the 93rd minute with a heartbreaking Chelsea goal)
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