….And then there were 8…...

The exciting final stages of the world's most followed Club competition, the UEFA Champions League are once again here. Next week the first legs of the quarter finals will be played out.

7 out of the 8 teams have been to the final before with 24 wins between them. Amazingly 6 are giants of the game & have been in finals of both the old European Cup & the new Champions League.

Monaco & Atletico have been losing finalists (Atletico 3 times with twice in the past three seasons in the hands of their cross town rivals Real Madrid)

And as for Leicester City, they epitomise the romance in the game as they aim for a semi final spot in their first ever UCL adventure.

Amazingly though, all four quarter finals are harder to predict than it appears at first.

Real have been less than exciting & Barcelona are only here following arguably the greatest ever 2nd leg escape in the history of the game when they scored the 3 goals they needed to win 6-1 in the last 7 minutes of the match+time added on, beating PSG 6-1 in the process & 6-5 on aggregate.

Juventus on the other hand, are even harder to beat now than they have been in the past few seasons & they are still creative without Pogba.

Bayern on the other hand may not be playing the free flowing Guardiola style football of the past few years but unlike their previous 3 semi final disasters under Guardiola, this year they are much more wary of their Spanish opposition(s)…..although it must be said pundits as well as both Real & Bayern were looking for the encounter as a final!

Monaco & Dortmund on the other hand are very similar, with Monaco having shown more consistency during the season & Dortmund suffering with key injuries.

And then there are the two counter attacking success stories of recent years: Atletico, following a mid season stutter are back to their best & the same can be said about Leicester….following a disastrous title defence they are now back to their winning ways using the trusted tactical approach of last season.

And now for my tips:

Juventus are much more wily & experienced than the hapless PSG over the two legs & are capable of exposing the obvious defensive & midfields frailties of Barcelona over the two legs than the naive PSG were.

Bayern, utilising Ancelotti's knowledge of Real Madrid can & will scrape through over two legs as longs as NEUER is fit for both matches & Muller continues his improved form.

Dortmund can account for Monaco as long as the long injury list can be dealt with in time for next week….otherwise Monaco are in with a chance over two legs.

Atletico, as I mentioned have got past their mid season form slump & are back on their winning ways & will end Leicester City's gallant run…..and with that once again highlight the poor return of mega TV money at EPL….in particular if Manchester United fail to win the Europa League.

Will the Super rich clubs of Europe start to feel the pressure from China?

A glance at my prediction from the group stage: I got all right, only that end position of Leicester & Bayern were the other way around…….

This is because smaller clubs continue to find the gap with the rich clubs (European giants plus most of EPL Clubs enjoying mega broadcast handouts)

Group A: PSG & Arsenal…..PSG have gone strangely cold but will top the group

Group B: Napoli & Benfica

Group C: Barcelona & Man City 

Group D: Bayern & Atletico

Group E: Monaco & Leverkusen (This is one of the only unpredictable groups as Spurs will be a force too)

Group F: Dortmund & Real Madrid…in that order! I believe Dortmund will top this group

Group G: Porto & Leicester This is a remarkably weak group due to Leicester being seeded but that can make it unpredictable & exciting

Group H: Juventus & Sevilla

And as for who will reach the quarter finals:

Bayern will beat Arsenal, albeit in a much tighter encounter than the easy 5-1 hammering last year

Real should get the better of the unpredictably inconsistent Napoli, although on their day, Napoli are more than capable of beating Real

Dortmund will be too fast for Benfica, although consistency has been a major problem for both sides this season

I tip Monaco to embarrass an out of sorts Manchester City

Barcelona, Atletico & Sevilla will have relatively easy routes to quarter finals. It is surprising how badly the departure of Ibrahimovic & Blanc affected PSG.

As for the Chinese mega money threatening the financial muscle of europe's super rich, I am not too worried. At thee end of the day fans are attracted to European giants for their tradition, name AND superstar players & not just players.

For example, an unknown Chinese team with two-three highly paid former European stars has no hope against the likes of Manchester United.

Champions League more than ever before the playground of the super rich

This year's group stage draw for the 2016-17 Champions League was dealt with little enthusiasm. Even I am writing this blog following Match Day 1.

The draw suggests a predictable pattern of most elite clubs plus 1-2 surprise packs making the round of 16. To that extent, Champions League is now flirting with losing its appeal as and becoming a total domain of the super rich.

As far as the predictions for who will top the groups:

Group A: PSG & Arsenal…..PSG have gone strangely cold but will top the group

Group B: Napoli & Benfica

Group C: Barcelona & Man City 

Group D: Bayern & Atletico

Group E: Monaco & Leverkusen (This is one of the only unpredictable groups as Spurs will be a force too)

Group F: Dortmund & Real Madrid…in that order! I believe Dortmund will top this group

Group G: Porto & Leicester This is a remarkably weak group due to Leicester being seeded but that can make it unpredictable & exciting

Group H: Juventus & Sevilla

A you can see, the group stage with 1-2 exceptions (Groups E & G) is becoming predictable & boring. (I am getting tired of getting 15-16 predictions right season after season as a result!)

UEFA & the big clubs must address this issue. The news that the big 4 leagues (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga & Serie A) will all have a permanent guaranteed 4 teams as of 2018 is hardly going to help the predictability which is fast setting in.

Nevertheless, meanwhile, let's we can look forward to a few sumptuous battles in the next few months:

Barcelona vs Pep & Man City

Bayern vs Atletico revenge match up from last season

Dortmund & Real Madrid resuming their exciting rivalry

Unspectacular end to a dour uninspiring Euro 2016 as Portugal are crowned European Champions

In short: Thank God the dour uninspiring Euro 2016 is over!

Or as the BBC chief football writer aptly put it: "Portugal were the winners best suited to Euro 2016 - unspectacular, not easy on the eye, but got the job done"

The fact is, a 24 team tournament that "rewarded 4 out of the best 3rd placed teams" (which included Portugal with 3 draws) was bound to produce many "park the bus for a draw" results & it duly did! 

However, the dourness continued into most of the knockout stage matches & went all the day to the final, with very few matches in the entire tournament producing shear exciting moments.

The odd few that were great matches, e.g. Italy vs Germany & France vs Germany, were highly tactical matches more reserved for admiration of football purists than most fans.

On the positive side Iceland & Wales over achieved & produced reasonably attractive football, and many fans were vibrant & inspiring (e.g. Iceland, Irish, Welsh German & French, but not so were Russian & English fans)

It was also inspiring to see France & her people & visiting fans take on the beautiful streets of host cities & reclaim their beautiful country from the horrors of terrorism.

On the "as expected" side, a much media hyped England side once again arrived short of tactical maturity & exited in embarrassment in early stages. (somethings never change!)

And so, Ronaldo can now claim a major international trophy with Portugal to compliment the long list of his trophy cabinet in England & Spain…….and that is something that Ronaldo & his fans can brag about when they compare him to Lionel Messi, who for the third consecutive major final with Argentina failed to break the curse & win anything.

But the most critical issue from Euro 2016 must surely be the fact that many players simply looked tired after a long European season & the fact that thanks to the success of the likes of Leicester City & Atletico Madrid, the dour defensive counter attacking "anti football" tactics are back in full fashion amongst many coaches!

All we can do now is to hope the new European season can put uninspiring Euro 2016 behind it, players can be energised & coaches can bring exciting attacking football back to life once again!

England humuilated (again) as Italy end Spain's era of dominance at Euro 2016

ONLY the English media & those fans fooled by the hype of EPL were surprised by the result……most fans across Europe were simply bemused with slight contempt for a hapless England side.

To keep things in perspective however it must be noted that England have only featured in a single major final in their entire footballing history!….and that was at home in 1966 in the controversial final vs West Germany.

However, what is really hurting England now is the unnecessary marketing hype that is created every year by the media about the EPL! 

In tournament after tournament the same sad sorry story is played out: 

English media creates a huge hype based on "players from the best league in the world!" (nonsense!)………the team disappoints….the media explodes in shock & horror…….and then the next EPL season starts & all failures are forgotten on the collective selfpraising hype that is the EPL marketing machine……and the players fall for it again!

Whilst the EPL marketing machine generates unrivalled megamoney, it has several negative impacts on the game in England:

- Most obviously, young English talented players do not get a chance to break into regular first team football & their technical development is lacking in depth compared to many of their European counterparts
- This vicious cycle means EPL clubs resort to buying foreign players to fill the lack of depth in technical quality of English players
- Therefore, most critical positions in most EPL teams are filled by foreign players
- Relative success of players in EPL is hyped up by the media to the point that even the players are fooled about all the hype.

In fact, whilst most regular followers of major mainland European leagues, in particular Spanish  German, Italian leagues (& to a lesser extent French, Portuguese & Dutch leagues) admit EPL is more exciting to watch, they also clearly identify that European leagues are tactically & technically superior to the EPL.

Sad week for England, as the old Empire exited Europe twice in the space of a few days……..

Ironically, prior to Euro 2016 most English speaking commentators dismissed Italy as a slow sluggish side in transition devoid of playmakers & goalscorer……and that is exactly how England could be described vs Iceland!

Meanwhile Italy are now the clear favourites having eliminated Spain convincingly & in doing so ending Spain's era of dominance in the world of football……although Spain will be back as a force in World Cup 2018……..sadly the same cannot be said about the out of depth English side.

The quarter final pairing of Italy vs get many is worthy of a final and I predict the winner will go on to be crowned the European Champions.

The year of the triumphant return of the old fashioned 4 - 4 - 2

2016 is the year of the return of the classic 4-4-2 formation & its triumph over the more tactically complex formations such as 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1.

Leicester City & Atletico Madrid, under the leadership of their respective managers, the affable Claudio Ranieri & the fiery Diego Simeone have overcome their more fanciful & much richer rivals by playing old fashioned counter attacking football.

Leicester City's capture of EPL may be regarded as a once in a generation 5000-1 miracle.

Leicester's win is being compared to Brian Clough's 1979-1980 miraculous League & double European Cup win with Nottingham Forest. at the same time however, commentators fail to mention or remember that Clough's triumph possibly had a huge influence in Aston Villa's similar double by 1982. So, this may not be the end of an era of rebellion of classic football tactics vs the modern complex new age methods!

Ranieri & Leicester have achieved their magnificent success by designing & implementing the basic tactics of football very effectively:
- a solid confident goal keeper supported by solid central defenders & full backs who keep the game narrow & do not get pulled to the wings leaving their centre backs exposed.
- In front of the back four, a defensive midfield pairing with good ball distribution ability supported by two more half backs in front of them & then have two fast counter attacking forwards to score most of the goals!

Simeone & Atletico Madrid, can take the lion share of credit as pioneers of the return of 4-4-2. Atletico are of course a much more present day European powerhouse than Leicester City but they have missed out on winning the Spanish La Liga this year.

Nevertheless, although much more regularly criticised for "parking the bus" & playing a boring counter attacking style, Simeone & his team have outclassed the two main favourites for the European crown this year, Barcelona & Bayern & have reached their 2nd Champions League final in three years.This is despite the fact that they have averaged around 30% possession in almost all their crucial domestic & European matches this year!

So, the challenge for the likes of Pep Guardiolla & Luis Enrique is now how to use their possession fancy tiki taka to neutralise the defensive counter attacking minded 4-4-2 of Simeone, Ranieri & all those other coaches who are now closely watching & hoping to emulate them. 

It will not be an easy task! Just ask Barcelona, Bayern, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United…..and the list goes on & on this year as 4-4-2 basks in the glory of a come back!

….And then there were four…….

….But not the final four most of us had predicted!

Yes Real Madrid rallied to beat an " in awe" Wolfsburg who failed to get the crucial away goal rule…….

And yes, despite stuttering at home Bayern showed their class in Lisbon to neutralise the gallant Benfica

But Manchester City buoyed by the return of De Bruyne stunned PSG to reach their first ever European Cup/UCL semi final
………and after having scored & still lost in multiple encounters with Barcelona this season, including in the ill tempered first leg at Nou Camp, Atletico Madrid stunned Barcelona with a a mere 30% possession & eliminated the faltering defending Champions.

In my view, Atletico Madrid must now be considered the favourites! They have proven over & over again in recent years that Simone has made them one of the best & hardest to beat teams in Europe.

They may be combative, rough & at times ill disciplined, and yes it is at times justified to criticise them as hard to watch & accuse them of parking the bus & defend nonstop.

But it is the quality of Atletico's players and the huge unifying influence of Diego Simeone which makes them irresistible & now the favourites.

In Oblak, Atletico probably have the most underrated & yet most consistant goalkeeper in Europe. 

Their defence is marshalled by the incomparable Godin ably supported by the likes of Juan Fran & Filipe Luis

…….their holding midfield is as good as any Europe led by Gabi, and then upfront with the once again in form Griezmann (& Torres) supported by the likes of Koke, they can always be guaranteed to score goals.

I am nevertheless a hardcore life long Bayern fan & can't see Guardiolla losing in the semi finals of the Champions League to a third Spanish Club in 3 years.

Real Madrid on the other hand have many problems, and if they simply rely on Ronaldo & their home support, this once again flowing Manchester City side can & will surprise them the same way they dispersed of the favourites PSG. Nevertheless,

Real will have a huge advantage in appearing in their record equalling 6th consecutive semi final of UCL playing a team which is appearing in their first ever semi final (albeit led by the UCL winning Yaya Toure). This by itself will make Real favourites to go through to the final.

My Tip: Bayern vs Real Madrid….with Bayern to be crowned European Champions as Guardiolla departs.

RIP Johan Cruyff, arguably the most influential figure in the history of football

25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016

Johan Cruyff (1947 - 2016) influenced the beautiful game like no other person. His legacy stands above all other greats of the world of football.

He changed the game as an icon, as a player, as a master tactician, as a manager and continued to influence the game as a statesman. 

His style of play was similar to the great Messi, but in an era when defenders used to break players' legs & get away with it.

Unlike the likes of Platini & Beckonbauer, he refused to get involved in FIFA politics & risk tarnishing his name.

Unlike Messi & Ronaldo, the lack of a World Cup in his resume was accompanied by leading a team that mesmerised the fans & revolutionised the game in the 1974 World Cup 
(unlike e.g. Ronaldo & Portugal the losing finalists in 2004 Euros or Messi & Argentina the losing finalists in WC 2014, both of which were at best above average). 

He therefore may not have won the World Cup, but he won the world over.

As an icon, he was the first player to wear a tailor made double stripe Adidas shirt during WC 1974 (vs the famous Adidas triple stripes). 

He was the first player in the world to transfer for $2m (Ajax to Barcelona).
He was the first player who wore a no outside 1-11 (famous 14) in the World Cup.

He named his third child "Jordi" after the patron saint of Catalonia, This was seen as a provocative gesture towards the then Spanish dictator General Franco, who had made all symbols of Catalan nationalism illegal.

His famous quotes make him football's true philosopher: Here are some of his best known quotes:

On himself:

• "In a way I'm probably immortal"
• "If I wanted you to understand it all, I would have explained it better"
• "Actually I never make a mistake, because it takes a huge effort for me to make a mistake."
• "I don't believe in God. In Spain all 22 players cross themselves, if it works the game is always going to be a tie."

On football and his philosophy

• "Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is."
• "Italians can't win the game against you, but you can lose the game against the Italians."
• "Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring."
• "It's better to go down with your own vision than with someone else's."
• "In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender."
• "There is only one ball, so you need to have it."

Champions League quarter Final Draw easier on paper!

This year's Champions League draw has drawn "European Royalty" vs rugged, persistent underdogs. As such, on paper predicting the semi finalist may seem straight forward.

I happen to predict all 8 quarter finalists correctly in my round of 16 post, including Benfica even though I was hoping to see the Dutch side PSV in the quarter finals.

Real Madrid have improved since Zidane replaced Benitez. However, undoubtedly their progress in the Champions League has very much been helped with good fortune in the draw.
Having qualified with a mere 5 points, Roma nevertheless gave Real a run in Madrid & Wolfsburg may & can do the same. However, Real will prevail & reach yet another semi final.

PSG will account for an out of sorts Manchester City even more comfortably than they beat Chelsea & will reach their first ever Champions League semi final. City have been out of sorts ever since it was announced Pep Guardiola will be their manager next season. They are only here because their round of 16 draw was easier than previous years.

Bayern, having survived the scare at Munich vs Juventus should be able to beat the brave Benfica.  Against Juventus, the absence of Boeteng, Badstuber & Martinez was exploited & that is what Benfica will be hoping to emulate. Nevertheless I still believe the only team capable of beating Bayern are Barcelona.

Barcelona can take comfort in the unstoppable MSN goalscoring trio & the fact that Atletico Madrid have found it difficult to beat Barcelona in La Liga in recent years. Nevertheless, Atletico are extremely difficult to score against, and in 2014 Champions League they eliminated Barcelona.

All in all, if any team is capable of causing an upset vs the unstoppable force that is barcelona, it is the gritty Simone men from Madrid. 

Can any team in Europe stop Barcelona's MSN aka the Good, the Bad & the Ugly?

 Barcelona's MSN are a force never seen in European or indeed world football before.

Messi, Suarez & Neymar, or MSN as they are better referred to, not only seem to have telephonic understanding of each other's movements, but they are also totally non selfish when going for goal & the ball is almost always invariably passed to the player in the most opportune goal scoring position. To make it even harder, the trio enjoy the support of the magnificent trio of Iniesta, Bouquets & Rakitic, to the point that the retirement of the incomparable Xavi seems to have had little impact on the team's cohesion.

No wonder other teams across Europe consider the trio the Good (Messi), the Bad (Neymar) and the Ugly (Suarez, and in this case the physical resemblance also applies!)

FIFA reform needs much more than a simple swap from Sepp Blatter to Gianni Infantino

FIFA has finally got a new President! And not a day too soon as the reign of the master manipulator/storyteller Sepp Blatter finally came to an end as he starts serving his 6 year ban. (Surprisingly, and not hard to believe no jail term or criminal indictment have been forthcoming by Swiss authorities!)

Gianni Infantino was today elected the new FIFA president. 

This followed 18 tumultuous months of jaw dropping revelations of chronic corruption, money laundering, cronyism, outright financial theft by FIFA Executives & vote buying scandals surrounding 2018 & 2022 World Cups in Russia & Qatar (with thanks to many investigative Journalists around the world such as Andrew Jennings)

A corrupt/money laundering scheme that was created by Joao Havelange at the dawn of media/sponsorship money in early 80s (with Sepp Blatter as his dutiful Secretory General of FIFA), was masterfully turned into a very sophisticated bribery/theft/money laundering scheme in exchange for votes under the watchful eyes & (so called) leadership of Sepp Blatter! 

5 star hotels/restaurants/1st class flights/expensive gifts/rubbing shoulders with world leaders & of course prostitutes were also thrown in for good measure in order to keep the chaps (aka FIFA Executives with voting power!) happy, engaged & loyal!

As it is usually the case, finally Blatter succumbed to his own arrogance, grandiose delusion, vanity & complacency by granting 2018 & 2022 World Cups both at once. 

Blatter was at best forced to do this in order to cover himself & his cronies rampant money laundering & theft from FIFA  (from indicted Chuck Blazer to disgraced & exposed Ricardo Teixeira & Jack Warner to name the most well known amongst many executive thieves at FIFA), and at worst was a full accomplice as greed simply got the better of him & his thieving colleagues.

Whilst Infantino has a clear history & does not carry a "heavy FIFA baggage" of his colleagues at FIFA, he still represents "the establishment" at FIFA headquarters & must deliver on the promise of transparency & good governance in his first or resign.

If Gianni Infantino is serious about reforming FIFA:
1) He must open FIFA accounts to investigators for as far back as possible
2) He must fully overhaul FIFA's Corporate Governance
3) FIFA must allow Governments concerned with financial management of their Football
4) FIFA must fully disclose financial terms & details of grant of rights to MEDIA companies.

According to the fully proven investigations by journalists such as Andrew Jennings & others, this appears to have been the biggest source of bribery to FIFA Executives in order to obtain media & broadcast rights to Football Tournaments.
5) FIFA must, within reasonable terms, allow Governments to scrutinise money trails to their Football Federations.

Again, according to the fully proven investigations by journalists such as Andrew Jennings & others, disgraced FIFA Executives, including those mentioned earlier in this post, on a regular basis received FIFA grants to their respective Confederations/Country Federations only to channel the money to their own private business empires instead! In return, they guaranteed voting blocks to re elect Sepp Blatter!

 Sept Blatter's Standard BLOCKING tactic was to suspend any country with the smallest hint of financial enquiry to how money was being handled! Now we all know why Blatter used to use this dirty tactic….to cover theft/corruption/money laundering by FIFA Executives from their respective Parliaments & Governments!

Gianni Infantino owes this to the billions of fans of the beautiful game across the world to clean up FIFA from its money laundering organisation with its mafiose executives, to the gatekeeper which used to have the motto "for the Good of the Game"

If Gianni Infantino does not deal with the rampant corruption, non existent corporate governance & & cronyism in FIFA in a transparent & effective manner, UEFA should pull out of FIFA membership & boycott all FIFA events including the World Cup. This will simply dry up the easy sponsorship money that has brought so much corruption & greed with it & ruined FIFA.

…just remember Infantino…….For the Good of the Game Infantino….for the Good of the Game!….Please!

Big spending Clubs in search of instant gratification are looking more & more silly!

Real Madrid & Chelsea, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars on players, continue to search for instant gratification.

Their respective President/owner & their boards may be rich & powerful, but in footballing terms they are idiots, and the laughing stock of the football world.

Love or hate them, Managers like Mourinho, Benitez (and Ancelotti, who Real Madrid must be regretting to let go) are brilliant in what they do. They are better than the egotistic superstars the have to deal with.

Letting them go in such embarrassing fashion simply makes Real Madrid & Chelsea look silly.

From the "Special One" to the "Sacked One", the life of Jose Mourinho

The money infested world of European football is more ruthless than ever before.

And reputations don't count for anything anymore. Like politics, all that matters is "Now".

No long term planning is considered necessary if the result are not produced instantaneously!

And your friends & admirers of yesterday, can be your enemies today and contribute to your downfall tomorrow!

And it all has to do with the corrupting power of money & how players, players agents, club bosses & coaches tend to try to divide & rule rather than unite & win!

Just ask the Special One, Jose Mourinho! He lost the trust & respect of his once admiring players, and with that went their commitment to him to perform……..and the once Special One became the Sacked One!

However, in case of Mourinho, he is attracting little sympathy in personal terms due to his combative style of continuing to blame his players, the referees, medical staff & just about everyone else except himself! He even went as far as suggesting his players had "betrayed" him & maybe they were a bunch of "ordinary" players "he" had mad to perform so well last year, who were incapable of reproducing the same level of performance this year!

From next year, the mere presence in the English Premier League is worth a minimum of 100 million pounds to each club (in broadcast rights money). No club or their owners can afford to be relegated, and Chelsea are only one point above that zone right now.

Having said that, Chelsea should have stuck by a manager with a proven track record & allowed him to stir them back to stability.

Nevertheless, Mourinho has fallen on his own arrogant sword & got a taste of his own medicine!

Sir Bobby Charlton nails what everyone thinks of Mourinho: "…he's a really good coach…but that's as far as I'd go1….he pontificates too much for my liking!…."

Champions League round of 16 draw

The round of 16 draw for the knockout stage of the Champions League was made last Monday.

As usual the luck of the draw produced some sumptuous heavyweight encounters whilst allowing some minnows to progress further to the quarter finals.

My prediction for the group stage this year was better than average: I predicted 12 teams right & four wrong, the four I got wrong who did not make it to the round of 16 were: Man Utd, Porto, Leverkusen & Valencia.

Predicting the results of round of 16 is always harder because there's so much that can happen from mid Dec to mid February, both in terms of team form (e.g. Chelsea with a new coach) & players recovering from injury (e.g. in case of Bayern & Arsenal both of whom have several injured players who should be ok by Feb).

On paper however, some teams are clear favourites regardless of their opponents:

Barcelona vs Arsenal will be the most exciting tie of the round as both teams play attractive attacking football. But even with a fully fit team, Arsenal neither have the quality nor the mental strength to match Barcelona

Real Madrid may be have been inconsistent since the appointment of Rafa Benitez, but Roma are even more unpredictable & only made it with a mere 6 points.

Bayern in my view are clear favourites to beat Juventus unless by February the "on again off again" data of Pep Guardiola's tenure totally unsettle the players.

PSG will account for Chelsea as long as they take their current form into the new year. This is even if Mourinho's temporary replacement pulls the team together & the topic of his replacement does not drag the team down any further.

Manchester City have finally been given the chance to get to quarter finals & as long as they show consistency they should be able to account for Dynamo Kiev.

Wolfsburg will account for a brave Gent side & should consider themselves very lucky with the draw.

Atletico Madrid's experience should account for the bravery of the surprise package PSV, although I personally would like to see a Dutch team back in the quarter final stage & hope PSV win.

Meanwhile whilst Zenit were one of the earliest qualifiers & dominated their group, I believe Benfica can & should do better & I hope to see Benfica progress through

Groups of death largely fail to materialise in this seasons Champions League group stage

When UEFA finally came to their senses earlier this year & agreed to place the top 8 Euro leagues' champions in pool A in this years' group stage draw, the prospects of the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United & City, Arsenal & the likes in Pool B & C meant several potential groups of death were likely.

Last night's draw however, rather surprisingly failed to produce any of the complex permutations & with the possible exception of Group D most "big names" should reasonably comfortably survive the group stage into the round of 16.

Last year I tipped 14 of the 16 group stage teams correctly to the round of 16. So here we go for this years':

In Group A, Real Madrid & PSG have too much fire power & class & will go through. Shakhtar lost heavily to Bayern in last year's round of 16. This year Shakhtar has lost Adriano to Milan & Douglas Costa to Bayern & is still homeless due to civil strife in Donetsk. Malmo meanwhile relish the prospects of playing against their homegrown start Ibrahimovic. I do however believe PSG will make life hard for Real Madrid in the battle to top the group.

UCL welcomed back Manchester United after a year of absence by handing Van Gaal's team possibly the easiest draw in Group B. Man Utd should comfortably top the group & Wolfsburg should scrape into 2nd place following selling their Bundesliga player of the season De Bruyne to Manchester City.

Atletico Madrid will comfortably top Group C whilst Benfica & Galatasaray will depend of their home form to finish second & Benfica will come on top. Astana will meanwhile enjoy a chance of a lifetime & have nothing to lose.

Group D is the only potential Group of Death & once again the money rich luck poor Manchester City must be cursing their luck. Last year's finalists Juventus & Europa Cup winners Sevilla will be lurking to spoil the party for Manchester City. To make the matters worse, the 2nd & third placed Bundesliga sides ended up in Pool D & in drawing Moenchengladbach as the fourth team, there is very little space for error in this group. Manchester City have been full of errors in the past few UCL appearances but if they capture De Bruyne, they will be full of confidence.

This is a group which is difficult to predict. Nevertheless, Juventus & Manchester City start as favourites, in particular because the other two teams have no recent UCL experience.

Group E will see Barcelona comfortably qualify whilst Leverkusen will probably beat Roma to the 2nd place, but only just, and again home form will play a crucial role.

Bayern & Arsenal will go through in Group F. Wenger & his team have all the motivation to try to topple Bayern & finish first & gain revenge for elimination at the hands of the Bavarians in 2 of the last 3 seasons. However, they will be facing a determined Bayern side as anything short of a UCL Final appearance will deem Pep Guardiola's 3 years at Bayern a relative failure.

Mourinho's current team Chelsea & his former team Porto will finish 1st & 2nd in Group G.

Group H is probably the most difficult to predict due to relative recent lack of UCL pedigree amongst the 4 sides. Valencia & Zenit start as slight favourites whilst Lyon have not been a force in the French League since the rise of PSG & return of Monaco, Marseille & the likes.

All in all, the most exciting & most watched annual football competition in the world once again promises an exciting season ahead.

Let's hope beINSports, the new broadcast channel in Australia do a good job & don't let the fans down, in particular in light of two major changes compared to previous years:
a) ESPN had 2 channels & therefore showed 2 live matches concurrently on Fox payTV
b) SBS had the right to show one of the ESPN live matches on free to air on both match days on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

beINSports on the other hand:
a) are yet to announce if they will introduce a second channel or just show one live match on TV & simply show the other matches on their mobile app only
b) More crucially, SBS have lost the rights to Thursday morning matches & will only be showing one live match on Wednesday (with highlights on Thursday nights at 11.30pm on SBS2)

At least on the surface, the above is hardly an ideal situation for the fans.

The end of an era as Bayern legend Bastian Schweinsteiger leaves for Manchester United

Bayern fans salute a true Club & Country legend: Bastian Schweinsteiger

Only true hardcore fans of football can understand the heartache Bayern fans feel right now....the end of an era.....local hero, born & bred in Munich, a Bayern academy player since the age of 12, record 8 times Bundesliga winner, multiple German Cup medals, European UEFA Champions League winner, European Super Cup & World Club Champion......all achieved with Bayern in a stellar career.....

......and not to mention the small matter of his blood stained heroics for Germany in the final at Brazil FIFA World Cup.......the match that subsequently kept him out of action for many months at the beginning of last season due to injury ....and possibly played a huge part in his departure as he struggled to maintain his place in pep Guardiola's starting 11.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is Bayern Munich & Bayern Munich is Bastian Schweinsteiger! Mia San Mia runs in Schweinsteiger's blood & his departure whilst still the German National Team Captain is a momentous event in the history of the Club.

However, whilst many fans, in their moment of anguish are blaming Pep Guardiola for this, Scweinsteiger had always talked up his desire to play at another major European League before his time was up. The truth is, a combination of injuries & loss of speed always meant Schweinsteiger was going to struggle for his place in the starting line up next season.

nevertheless, I believe most Bayern fans would have liked to see him retire from football as a Bayern player rather than moving to Manchester United

Besides his blood stained face at World Cup final in 2014, there are two other moments in Scweinie's time in Bayern which will forever be indelibly stamped in the fans' minds........his anguish at hitting the post in the penalty shootout loss to Chelsea in the 2012 UCL final in Munich, and his subsequent come back to win the trophy at last in 2013 at Wembley.

As Bayern fans we salute a true Club & Country Legend & wish him all teh best in his new venture: Bastian Schweinsteiger

Is the Sepp Blatter soap opera of delusional narcissism set to continue?

Sepp Blatter has been named many things by fans, media & football officials around the world alike.

Had medical experts been called upon to try to label him, severe delusional narcissistic disorder would  have been the most likely expert terminology or diagnosis!

This would have much more likely been the diagnosis since the news in recent days that "Blatter believes he has not resigned & is considering nominating for re-election!!"

However, knowing Blatter the way he has stayed at the helm by throwing money at & tolerating full blown corruption in poorer FIFA member countries in exchange for votes, his apparent sudden change of tune, whilst not surprising at all, must only mean one & one thing only:

When Sepp Blatter reluctantly announced his resignation a mere five days after getting reelected by his cronies, he must have been advised that the FBI & Swiss investigations were likely to incriminate him in corruption allegations & as such his position was untenable.

But lets not beat around the bush: Blatter is a slippery fox & the fact that he is attempting yet another one of his political flip flops & suggesting a come back, albeit much more mundanely this time, must mean only one thing & one thing only:

The psychopathic narcissist must have been advised that the likelihood of any corruption charges against him personally are minimal. 

It is crystal clear that Blatter believes he has nothing to answer for. In all probability Blatter himself has never received any corrupt payments. Therefore he believes 17 years of tolerating official corruption under his watch was ok & in fact necessary to advance the greater good of the game. He believes he has enhanced the worldwide reach of football despite all the various allegations of corruption.

Meanwhile even the Catholic Church officials must be watching the slippery master with envy!

UCL Semi Finals: Battle of European Titans

The Champions League semi finals are a battle of true European heavyweights. Besides the notable absence of any EPL Clubs, all of which failed to even reach the quarter finals, the final 4 are true European Titans.

Between them, the final four have won no fewer than 21 European Cup/UCL titles & have been involved in an amazing 37 finals! Barcelona, Real Madrid & Bayern have been ever present semi finalists in the last few years & Juventus, following a few rough years is back amongst the European elite.

Predicting the results of the two semi finals this year is harder than ever before, despite the fact that Barcelona & Real Madrid will start their respective ties as slight favourites.
There are however some distinct factual observations that can be made about the final four:

Barcelona are undoubtedly currently the most in form team in Europe,
Real have wobbled vs Schalke & Atletico Madrid,
Bayern have deep injury worries to key players, and
Juventus's defence looks rock solid & very hard to breach

Here's the team's overall results so far in this year's competition

1. Barcelona 9W 0D 1L, goals 23-7, 27 points
2. Real Madrid 8W 1D 1L, goals 22-6, 25 points
3. Bayern, 7W 1D 2L, goals 30-8, 22 points
4. Juventus, 6W 2D 2L, goals 13-5, 20 points

Based on how Real Madrid accounted for Atletico Madrid, Real will most probably get the better of Juventus over two legs, and with a more comfortable margin than a mere 1-0

The Barcelona vs Bayern is much harder to predict & very much depends on how fit key Bayern players will be in time for the two encounters. Without Ribery & Robben on the wings & Alaba & Benatia in defense Bayern simply do not have the quality to counter Suarez, Messi, Neymar & co. A fully fit Bayern side on the other hand is more than even chance.

My prediction (assuming Bayern players are fit in time) is Bayern vs Real Madrid

Intrigue in UCL Quarter finals

The quarter finals of this season's UCL will get on the way next week....and the intrigue this year is, whilst Barcelona, Real, Bayern & Juventus are odds on favourites on paper, PSG, Atletico, Porto & Monaco are all capable of causing upsets on their day.

The much hyped, money rich EPL has not managed a SINGLE team in either UCL or Europa League quarter finals this year.
It is quiet clear that the mega TV money which continues to make the EPL the richest football league in the world, is also contributing to the mediocrity of the EPL teams in European competitions. Whilst many of the world's best talents are attracted to the money lure & glamour of the EPL, the clubs are also paying inflated prices for over hyped but otherwise average players who clearly are not tactically as proficient as many cheaper but more astute players playing for mainland European clubs. Porto, Monaco, Atletico Madrid & even to a lesser extent PSG & Juventus all demonstrate my point.

Now back to the draw:

PSG's disposal of Mourinho & his over hyped Chelsea side in the round of 16th was a master class in tactical football & a lesson for Mourinho's usual "park the bus" tactics. PSG also beat Barcelona at home in Paris in the Group stage.
Barcelona on the other hand have finally got Messi fully fit, Suarez settled into their system & Iniesta back to his near best whilst their at times suspect defence has also been repaired. PSG can only get the better of Barca if their players are fully fit & they manage to perform 2 more perfect performances as they did vs Chelsea. Barcelona are however currently the clear favourites to win the UCL this year.

If there's a coach and a team that can get the better of Real Madrid, it is their city rivals Atletico Madrid. Atletico were very unlucky not to win last year's final 1-0 in normal time & they will be motivated to take advantage of a misfiring Real side.

Normally, Guardiola & Bayern Munchen would be clear favourites vs the entertaining & skillful Porto. However, Bayern are currently in an injury crisis & will travel to Porto next week without key players such as Robben, Schweinsteiger, Alaba, Benatia & (possibly) Ribery & Badstuber, plus the long term injured Martinez.

Bayern are simply not the free flowing goal machine their fans have got used to without the services of Robben & Ribery on the flanks (They have now scored 1 goals in their last 3 matches with those two injured). But there should be no excuses for Guardiola & Bayern with their talented squad.

Juventus have finally returned to their rightful position amongst the European elite this season & a gallant Monaco side who disposed of Arsenal are probably the least likely team amongst the 8 to make it to the semi finals.

I got 7 out of 8 quarter finals right with PSG's elimination of Chelsea the only exception. The semi finals will be contested by Barcelona, Bayern, Atletico Madrid & Juventus.

How Ben Williams single handedly took revenge on Iran for the heartache of 1997 & his calamitous decision robbed fans of a potential Iran vs Australia dream final in the AFC Cup

The history of the rivalry between Iran & Australia in football is exciting & dramatic to say the least

In 1972 during their ultimately successful qualification quest for 1974 World Cup, the Socceroos beat Iran 3-0 in Sydney before narrowly escaping after going down 2-0 in the return leg in Tehran.

During the 1978 world Cup qualifiers, Iran took revenge & qualified for the World Cup & in the process beat Australia 1-0 in both qualifying games.

And then of course there was the historic night of Nov 29th 1997 at the MCG , and the unbelievable elimination of the gallant but perhaps naive Socceroos sides at the hand of a highly talented but unpredictable Iran which ultimately qualified Iran for France 1998 at the expense of Australia.

Since then and following Australia's admission to the AFC, both passionate Socceroos & Team Meli fans have been hoping for a rematch between the two teams at World Cup qualifiers or Asian Cup.

This year, both Iran & Australia were amongst favourites to win the AFC 2015...and when Australia lost to S Korea, a potential Australia vs Iran excited fans.

But tonight, Aussie referee BEN WILLIAMS put an end to that dream by almost single handedly ending Iran's participation in the tournament prematurely. Williams made a calamitous red card error which reduced Iran to 10 men in the QF match between Iran & Iraq midway through the fist half.

Iran, which were comfortably dominant & leading 1-0 at that stage, fought with 10 men for nearly 90 minutes & fell behind 2-1 & 3-2 in extra time & came back to end the match 3-3 before finally losing 6-7 in the penalty shoot out to a resolute Iraq side which rode their luck at the back of Ben Williams' error.

FoxtSports commentators Mark Bosnic, John Aliosi & Mark Rudden were stunned at Ben Williams' error & unanimous in criticism of his amateurish error.

So THANK YOU BEN WILLIAMS! but Socceroos fans never wanted you to take the matters into your own hands & take revenge for the 1997 heartache in such unsavoury & embarrassing manner! Surely the cream of football refereeing in Australia is of a much higher calibre than what you displayed tonight!

And as for the passionate Iranian Team Meli fans, they hope your latest serious error of judgement on the field will see the end of your career as a FIFA international referee. It may be harsh but you deserve no less a punishment considering your error earlier in the tournament in the S Arabia vs Kazakistan match & many questionable decisions in the A League.

Complex tactical approach means the usual suspects logically remain the favourites to win the Champions League

European season has reached its half way point, and the EPL has once again entertained fans worldwide during the festive season whilst all other major European leagues take their winter/Christmas break.

Much has been written & said about the  nonsensical levels of transfer money that continues to infest the beautiful game & widens the game between "the Have & Have Not" Clubs in Europe.

However, most commentators seem to ignore the fact that it is not just the crazy levels of money to buy the very best that is shaping the game in Europe & who wins the top price ie the Champions League. 

The modern tactical approach to the game by master tacticians such as Angelotti, Mourinho, Guardiola, Simone & a few other coaches has become so complex & difficult to implement that only the most skilful top players are capable of meeting the challenge of applying the modern tactics. 

This means that realistically, only Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Barcelona (in that order) have the quality players who are capable of winning the Champions League. The likes of Atletico Madrid, PSG, Dortmund, Juventus, Porto & Arsenal can & may in fact surprise the favourites but one of the favourites will win the Champions League this year.

Here's my tip for this year's round of 16 (I got 8/8 right last season)

Chelsea will overcome PSG as long as Mourinho does not allow the New Year's Day 5-3 loss to Spurs to affect the team's confidence.
Barcelona will once again beat the unlucky Manchester City. Whilst man City can curse their luck in drawing Bayern in the group stage AND Barcelona in the round of 16 for the 2nd successive season, they have had many narrow wins this season & against Messi & Co they will not be able to get away with luck!
Atletco Madrid will be too strong for as usual unpredictable Bayer Leverkusen whilst Real Madrid, Bayern & Arsenal will also dispose of their opponents.

I have never been too impressed with Juventus despite their comprehensive Serie A wins in the last few years. However, with Dortmund fighting a surprising relegation battle in the Bundesliga, Juventus will have a huge chance to beat Dortmund as I expect Klopp & Dortmund to concentrate on Bundesliga in February.

......Which brings us to Porto vs Basel...........Porto have been very entertaining to watch whilst Basel have once again overachieved by eliminating Liverpool (and in doing so pull the curtain down on Steven Gerard's European club career).......I would like to see Basel to progress but Porto are too fast & silky & should win over two legs.

And as for this season's dark horses, the unpredictability of Manchester City & their talisman Aguaro (when fit) qualifies the EPL Champions for the tag!

Spanish La Liga vs German Bundesliga vs English Premier League in Champions League's new season

We are now at the half way point of the Group stage of the 2014-15 Champions League. There's no doubt four teams have stated their claims more than the other 28 so far:

Real Madrid & Barcelona from the Spanish La Liga
Bayern Munich from the German Bundesliga &
Chelsea from the English Premier League

Interestingly enough, these four teams are also the 4 winners of the last 4 seasons of the Champions League.

But as the only 3 leagues which enjoy up to 4 teams in the Champions League, let's see how the three respective leagues have performed at this half way point:

La Liga, represented by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid & Athletic Bilbao:

7 wins 1 draw 4 losses 26 goals scored 13 goals conceded: 22 points

EPL represented by Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool & Arsenal:

5 wins 3 draw 4 losses 19 goals scored 14 goals conceded: 18 points

Bundesliga, represented by Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke & Leverkusen:

9 wins 2 draw 1 loss 28 goals scored 8 goals conceded: 29 points

It is interesting to note that Bundesliga teams, on the back of Germany's World Cup win, have had their best start to the European season in many years so far, notching 6 wins on Match Day 3 in Champions & Europa League.

The EPL teams on the other hand have had their worst start in recent memory, and the over all record would look much worse if it wasn't for both Arsenal & Liverpool winning in added time.

It will be interesting to see how this table will shape up at the end of the Group stage and by the end of the season.

Nevertheless, it is fast becoming clear that the top 4 winners of the last 4 seasons are creating a gap between themselves & the rest which include the likes of PSG, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Juventus & Arsenal

European Football Season kicks off following a magnificent World Cup in Brazil

All major European Leagues will kick off this weekend & the draw for the Group stage of the Champions League (and Europa League) has also taken place.

The usual suspects will challenge for the major titles again although many World Cup starts will not be fully fit till mid September Champions League Group stage match day 1.

Once again, the EPL will receive most of the attention in the English speaking media. Manchester City & Chelsea are clear title favourites whilst Liverpool, Arsenal & spurs will be hoping for CL places. Louis Van Gaal will find the task of returning Manchester United back to the top more difficult than anticipated.

IN Spain, both Real Madrid & Barcelona have strengthened their already impressive squads & will once again battle with Atletico Madrid for the Top 3 honours. Although at least on paper, Real Madrid, with the addition of Tony Kroos & James Rodriquiz, and potentially Falcao, must be favourites to win both the La Liga & Champions League.

In Germany, Bayern & Dortmund will once again be title challengers, whilst in Italy Juventus will be chased by Roma, Napoli with Lazio, Inter, Milan & Fiorentina fighting for minor places & possibly a Champions League position.

The Champions League draw has been mostly kind to the top teams. Group E, with Bayern & Manchester City & Roma & the Russian Champions CSKA Moscow can be considered the so called Group of death.