The opening day of Euro 2012 full of drama, excitement & goals...and thankfully no racism!

As expected, Poland put up a great show to open Euro 2012, both in the Opening Ceremony & the opening match of the tournament against Greece.

For the information of the more casual football fans, after the Football World Cup & the Olympics, European Championships reportedly attract the third highest overall sports viewing audience around the world. (although the Indian Cricket League IPL is also very popular these days)

Group A, dubbed the real Group of Death, not for its tough competition but for lack of excitement compared, produced two drama filled matches in the opening day:

Poland controlled Greece in the first half & a Greek defender was harshly sent off. Then in the second half, Greece demonstrated their resilience & if it was not for a penalty miss they could have won the game.
In the other match, as expected Russia crushed a young & transitional Czech Republic side 4-1. The scoreline could have been much worse if not for Russia's wastefulness.

The two matches only confirm my belief further that Russia & Poland are favourites to go through to the quarter finals from Group A

And most importantly there were no sign of the ugly "Football Racism" around. Let's hope that trend continues.

Tomorrow morning the opening matches in arguably the toughest Group in the tournament will be played. Three of the four teams in the group are former winners & Portugal were finalists in 2004.

The problem with this group is that each team needs to get a draw or a win from every match as there are no so called easy matches in this group.

Holland in my view are favourites to top the group & should win their opening match against Denmark reasonably comfortably. With impressive goal scorers such as Huntelaar, Van Persie, Robben & Snjeider at their disposal, Holland are a better team than they were in the World Cup in 2010 when they narrowly lost to Spain.

Germany on the other hand have surprisingly misfired in the last few weeks having conceded 5 goals to Switzerland albeit fielding a much weakened side. Then there is also the daily question in the media & press conferences about whether their 8 Bayern stars have psychologically recovered from their heartbreaking loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final.(all of whom could potentially start against Portugal)

Having said that, I have followed Germany through every single World Cup & European Championship since 1974. They are the tournament team! Die Mannschaft get better & do not hit form too early (Italy are another great example of this, whilst some of the best Brazilian teams of all time were the opposite)

I believe whilst Germany continue to have difficulty with their two central defence positions, they now, for the first time since 1996 possess enough quality players to be considered potential winners. They also have for the first time since they won the 1990 World Cup have enough talent on the bench to change tactics & salvage matches if they fall behind & in players such as Neuer, Lahm, Ozil, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Goetze, Klose, Podolski & co Germany are once again belong to the cream of world football but need to crown the potential by winning the tournament. (they have reached the semi finals of the last two world Cups & were the finalist in Euro 2008 losing to Spain)

Portugal on the other hand will have to rely too heavily on Ronaldo especially if as reported Nani does not start against Germany. Ronaldo, like Messi is yet to reproduce his club form on the world stage. Their achilles tendon which Germany will target will be Fabio Coentrao who had an awful time playing against Bayern this year for his Club side Real Madrid.

On Monday, the defending Champions & favourites Spain will open their account vs Ireland in a tough Group C contest. I believe Chelsea's tactics vs Barcelona & Bayern Munchen in the Champions League have exposed Spain's weaknesses. With Torres's form still in question & David Villa's long term injury, Spain's attack may be too blunt to deal with a defensive Irish approach. And absence of the ever reliable Carlos Puyol adds to Spain's defensive worries.
Nevertheless, Spain should ultimately account for the Irish & also top the group.

I rate this Italian side as lowly as many including myself rated the woeful French side in the World Cup 2010. To top it all, Italian football is once again (surprise surprise) in the midst of yet another match fixing scandal. Croatia on the other hand, are & have always been a football production line! Whilst they are also going through a mini transitional period, their coach in my view is still one of the most tactically gifted coaches in Europe. Despite the huge loss of Olic to injury last week, I predict Crotia will beat Italy & will go through to the QF alongside Spain.

On Tuesday, the ever disappointing England open their account in Group D. France have now remained unbeaten in 18 matches under the likable former Captain Blanc & should be considered one of the dark horses of the tournament.

This is perhaps the hardest group to predict. I still believe Frank Lampard is the heart & soul of the England team. In his absence, and with Rooney being suspended for the first two group matches, alongside the foolish decision by Hodgson not to recall Rio Ferdinand after Gary Cahill was forced to pull out, England have problems in both defence & attack & the Swede attack led by an in form Zaltan Ibrahimovic can potentially signal the end of England's campaign after the first round.

I predict France & Sweden (or Ukraine with home support) to go through to the quarter finals.

I will be posting regular blogs during the tournament.

Spain are favourites to retain their crown at Euro 2012

Euro 2012 is only a week away. Considering the economic & political upheaval in Europe, this tournament & the London 2012 Olympics are necessary distractions for those millions of people affected by the financial crisis in Europe.

Most teams are fine tuning their tactics in friendlies at the moment in anticipation of the opening match On Saturday 9th June.

It is generally acknowledged that the European Championships are the most competitive & difficult football tournament in the World. In fact outside Brazil & Argentina, the tournament usually features the best footballing nations in the world. For example, six of the seven teams reaching the final four of the last two World Cups feature in Euro 2012 (the 7th being Uruguay with Germany featuring in both semi finals). sadly however, the next European Championships in France in 2016 will be extended to 24 teams. This is a purely commercial decision & will undoubtedly reduce the quality of the event as a whole.


In my view, and most other commentators & fans, Spain, the defending European & World Cup winners are again the clear favourites this year. With the exception of the absence of the injured David Villa & the influential Barcelona Captain Puyol, Spain have a near full strength team based on the stars of Barcelona & Real Madrid & supplemented by the talents from Atletico Madrid, Valencia & Athletic Bilbao. If Fernando Torres continues to improve his form as he has during May, Spain may very well will the title again. However, if Torres misfires as he has for most of the past two years, then, in the absence of the free scoring David Villa, Spain will struggle.

After Spain, the young, attacking & skillful Germany & the ever scoring Holland are the other favourites with the 19 game undefeated France as an outside chance. Two major issues for favourites Germany are:
a) Poor recent form of their only two out & out strikers Gomez & Klose
b) Whether the shattering psychological impact of Bayern's loss to Chelsea has a lasting effect in the minds of the 8 Bayern players in the squad, considering that as many as all 8 are potential starters in any of the three group stage matches.

I believe England, without the injured Lampard & the suspended Rooney (for the first two group matches) & their newly assigned coach will once again disappoint whilst Italy are still in transition & the latest corruption allegations will not help them. Both Italy & England will have problems scoring goals

And the likes of Portugal, Croatia, Russia will be the usual difficult opponents for the so called favourites whilst out of the two co-hosts Poland have more potential to reach the quarter or semi finals.

My predictions for the quarter finals, not in any particular order:

Group A: Russia & Poland
Group B: Germany & Holland
Group C: Spain & Croatia
Group D: France & Sweden (or Ukraine with home support)

Chelsea may be lucky to be Champions but their determination & discipline were unquestinable.

As a die hard FC Bayern Munchen fan, I travelled & watched the final at Allianz Arena in Munich. Witnessing the defeat in person has made it more difficult to digest as Bayern were simply in control of the match all the way to the penalty shootouts when all of a sudden they missed their 4th & 5th penalties & lost!

I must of course congratulate Chelsea for the courageous way they defended their way & rode their luck to the full unbelievable extend of it in both the semi finals & the final. First they eliminated Barcelona, arguably the best team in the world, and then they beat Bayern in Munich. In all three games Chelsea defended with 11 players. However, they also took their chances whilst both Barcelona & Bayern were profligate & wasted numerous opportunities including the decisive penalty misses by Messi for Barcelona & Robben for Bayern.

By the time Chelsea equalised in the 88th minute of the final, the possession statistics were Bayern 65% Chelsea 35% & the corner counts were Bayern 20 Chelsea 0!!

And then Arjen Robben missed his penalty in the extra time & the rest is history. Bayern now have the unwanted record of having lost 5 European Cup/Champions League finals (equal with Juventus & Benfica) & they have lost 5 of their last final appearances in the competition.

Whether the current crop of players can manage to reach the final again is questionable considering the huge negative psychological impact of having lost the 2010 & 2012 finals.

Chelsea & Bayern elimination of the favourites to reach the Champions League final was not a total surprise as most commentators claim!

All those "me too" football commentators across the world who profess to be admirers of Spanish football, Barcelona & Real Madrid must still be under sedative!

As this wonderfully witty picture shows, who would have thought Chelsea would end up meeting Bayern in the final in May.....at the expense of the magnificent yet vulnerable Barcelona, and impressive yet overrated Real Madrid?

I can tell you, being involved with Bayern's die hard fans online, ever since the draw was made Bayern always knew they were in with a chance to become the first ever team in Champions League history (not European Cup history) to host the final in their own stadium.

Most of the almost nauseatingly Spanish football following commentators around the world, including our own respectable SBS commentators in Australia, either fail to realise or neglect to inform their viewers of the impressive record Bayern have against Real Madrid. 

Although records mean little, I would like to point out that Bayern also beat Real in the semi finals of their last successful Champions League campaign in 2001. Bayern won 0-1 at Bernabau in Madrid & 2-1 in the reverse fixture in Munich, and went all the way to lifting the trophy. The last meeting between the two giants was in the 2007 Champions League season. Bayern again won 2-1 at home, lost 2-3 in Madrid & eliminated Real on away goals rule.

And if you want to know much about Bayern's footballing pedigree, it suffices to say this will be their 9th final (equal second all time record with AC Milan, Real have appeared in 13 finals). They are one of the only three teams who have won the European Cup in 3 successive years or more (Real won it in its first 5 years from inception, Bayern & Ajax won 3 years in a row each in the 70s)

So, to the well informed football fans, the Bayern vs Real match was very much an encounter of equal heavy weights. But this year, I have no doubt Mourinho is to blame for Real's failure! Yes the master tactician made it easier for Bayern to succeed! Of course he ended up, as predicted, blaming player fatigue for the loss (Real played Barcelona in the "Clasico" on the weekend in between the two matches vs Bayern)

Mourinho made some questionable substitutions in Munich in order to defend the lucky 1-1 result. This allowed Bayern to control possession & take the upper hand & eventually & deservedly score in the last minute (and hence go to Madrid with a 2-1 advantage). Then in Madrid, Mourinho & his tired players decided to protect a 2-0 lead after a mere 14 minutes for the remaining 106 minutes, against a Bayern team which has scored more than 100 goals in all competitions this year! 

Amazingly, even though this time around Bayern were 2-0 down after a merely 14 minutes, most of their loyal followers did not feel nervous as we were certain Bayern would score. What in fact surprised many was the fact that the game went to extra time & penalties.

As for Chelsea, whilst I fully command their defensive discipline & acknowledge their tactics, I believe they are in the final because Barcelona failed to take advantage of the many opportunities they had to score in both legs, including of course Messi's missed penalty at Camp Nuo. And Chelsea, with its veterans on display again, is the kind of team capable of making a team like Barcelona pay a heavy price for those multiple missed opportunities, and they did exactly that!

The problem with Barcelona is that they are so universally admired that their system & tactics have been analysed a million times & most coaches realise that a counter attacking defensive formation is the best way to block Barcelona & potentially beat them, which is what Chelsea did so successfully albeit not in an entertaining fashion!

It must also be mentioned that Di Matteo, who should be commanded for turning Chelsea's fortunes around is such a short space of time, had very obviously taken a leaf out of Jose Mourinho's boring yet effective tactics whilst coaching Inter Milan vs Barcelona in the semi finals of the 2010 Champions League. Inter defended relentlessly in camp Nuo & lost 0-1 & won 3-2 on aggregate on the way to winning the CL that year.

Both Chelsea & Bayern have lost 4 first team players each for the final due to suspension. This will cause huge team selection headaches for their respective coaches. Despite Chelsea's recent resurgence & Bayern's home advantage, this is a final which again hard to predict and based on the surprise semi final outcomes is a 50-50 match..........unless you take into account the home support advantage which Bayern will be enjoying in their magnificent Allianz Arena.

This will make Bayern slight favourites going into the final, but Chelsea have proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with & anything is possible.

My prediction: Bayern to win by 1 goal either 1-0 or 2-1

Ps I forgot to mention I will be travelling to Munich to witness this magnificent event in person, as I did in the previous two occasions Bayern have made it to the final: Milan in 2001 (victorious) & Madrid in 2010 (unsuccessful)

Champions League semi finals: Barcelona vs Chelsea, Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich

The semi final draw can't get anymore mouthwatering than this!

The current powerhouse ivy leagues of Europe are once again present! Barcelona & Real from Spain, Chelsea from England & Bayern from Germany! Italy have once again missed out although AC Milan's protests regarding two soft penalties for Barcelona have some merit. (Milan lost 3-1 in Barcelona with Messi scoring 2 goals from the penalty spot, in both cases the referee could have decided either way)

Mourinho & his Real Madrid team have overall been the best team this season. They have dominated LaLiga in Spain & are almost certain of finally winning the title back from Pep Guiardiola & his magnificent Barcelona side led by irreplaceable trio of Messi, Xavi & Inesta.

Barcelona are on the other hand the best club team in the world & (to Mourinho's extreme annoyance) the one everyone once to copy and catch.

Chelsea have found their old self under the caretaker Di Matteo, and Bayern, back in top form continue to be compared with Barcelona, and dream on appearing in the final on May 19th in their own Allianz Arena in Munich.

And most commentators have already penned a Barcelona vs Real Madrid final!

But, those of us who have followed Mourinho's dirty tactics against Barcelona, from his days in Chelsea, to his semi final win in 2010 with Inter Milan & to his less than successful Clasico & Cup encounters in Spain since he took over at Real Madrid should wish otherwise. (he uses dirty boring defensive tactics)

Chelsea & Bayern may not be favourites but they are not overwhelming underdogs either. Chelsea have defied all predictions since their heroic victory against Napoli at Stamford Bridge & beat a very good Benfica team home & away. On top of the newly founded fighting spirit, they seem to also have Torres finally finding his goal scoring touch. On the other hand, Barcelona have shown some defensive frailties of the late & are a team that can let goals in if their style is meddled with & disrupted. (best example was how Mourinho's Inter Milan side got passed them in the semi finals of the 2010 Championship)

Bayern have also got a team which after a wobbly start post Christmas, has found form again & is aiming for a triple again. With Robben & Ribbery in top form, Gomez scoring regularly & Schweinstager finally injury free, Bayern are capable of causing Real Madrid major grief, as long as they manage to neutralise the expected Ronaldo/Ozil/Kaka midfield assault on Bayern's central defence (their Achilles tendon). The key to potential success for Bayern is to make sure Real leave the first leg in Munich without any away goals! (easier said than done!)

All in all, no matter which two teams get to Munich, we are in for 5 nail bitingly thrilling matches to come & the final will be a thriller as long as it is not Barcelona vs Real Madrid.

My tip for the final: Barcelona vs Bayern Munich........Gooooooooo Bayern...all the way!

Champions League 2012 quarter finals review

The first leg of the Champions League quarter finals will get on the way next week. This year I only managed to correctly predict 6 of the 8 quarter finalists (my record for the past 4 years since I started blogging stands as 8, 8 , 7 & now only 6!)

The fairytale team of the competition, Apoel Nicosia surprised everyone, including me by scraping past Lyon on penalties after each team won their home leg 1-0.

Whilst that was a unexpected, I was disappointed my tip Napoli did not manage to protect their 3-1 home leg win at Stamford Bridge & secummed to a gallant & rejuvenated Chelsea side 4-1 in London. I thought Napoli were one of the brightest new comers to the CL in a long time & am sorry they did not progress further. Nevertheless, they left with their reputation enhanced whilst Chelsea saved themselves and English football blushes by making sure the EPL at least has one participant in the QF stage.

I tipped Barcelona at the beginning of the season to become the first ever team to defend their Champions League title. However, I am now leaning towards a possible Real Madrid vs Barcelona final & an ultimate win by the much disliked Mourinho.

Here are my quarter final tips: (my tips in bold)

Bayern vs Marseille: Bayern got their mojo back with the magnificent 7-0 thrashing of the up to now impressive FC Basel. With both Ribery & Robben in top form, Gomez scoring & hopefully Schweinsteiger back to full fitness, Bayern can beat any team on their day. This is even though their central defence remains suspect & would most probably concede against the likes of Madrid & Barcelona.

Marseille on the other hand, were very lucky to eliminate an otherwise woeful Inter Milan with a last minute strike at San Siro. Not only they have had a torrid time in the French league, they will also be missing their charismatic goal keeper for the first leg. Bayern will go through with relative ease.

Real Madrid vs Apoel: Unfortunately, all fairy tales come to an end, and this is where the story finishes for Apoel. Not only Real are now the clear favourites for the title, Apoel have only scored 7 goals in 8 matches in the competition & that statistic by itself would indicate further progress is unlikely for them. (Although Spain won the 2010 WC with only a slightly better goal average!)

Benfica vs Chelsea: EPL fans would disagree but this Chelsea side, whilst undergoing a mini resurrection after the sacking of AVB (coach), is simply not capable of carrying the English flag any further in this year's competition. Benfica on the other hand have a solid team with plenty of reliable & technically gifted players & are my surprise tip for the semi finals.

Barcelona vs AC Milan: Barcelona fans should stop pondering why their luck drew them against a tricky Milan side whilst Real drew Apoel! With Messi surpassing the all time scoring records at Barcelona, everything is possible. The two sides met in the group stage, drew 2-2 in Barcelona & Milan lost 2-3 in San Siro.

In order for Barca to go all the way & defend their title, they need to learn to stop conceding goals! Mourinho is brilliant as that, as boring as his tactics are compared to the excitement of Guardiola's strategies!

All up, my heart wants my beloved Bayern to be crowned champions of Europe in their home ground in Munich in May, my head tells me a Real vs Barcelona final is the most likely outcome, and sadly Mourinho will get his hand on the trophy by breaking all coaching records.

Euro 2012 Finals promise plenty of drama & thrills!

The draw for the next European Championships which will be held in mid 2012 in Poland & Ukraine was made in late 2011. The competition remains very popular & is widely acknowledged as the third most watched event in the world (after FIFA World Cup & the Olympics). As a result it will be expanded to 24 teams from 2016. In my view this is a silly money grabbing idea even though UEFA currently has 53 members!

Due to the fact that both co hosts were seeded, the group stage draw produced very uneven groupings with two groups being as groups of death. Poland & Ukraine would have both been in pot 3 (or even 4) normally, but due to hosting rights were elevated to the seeded pot 1 condemning many more competitive teams to pots 2 & 3 as a result!

Here are my predictions for the tournament: Spain & Germany are clear favourites to win the tournament, and they were the finalists in the 2008 competition. Holland & England are also strong & Italy may also pose a threat.

Spain will face Italy in the group stage & in Ireland & Croatia have very difficult opponents. I do believe both Croatia & Ireland are capable of surprising Italy into second place. In case of Ireland their wily Italian coach Trapattoni, knows all about Italian football & how to beat them!

Germany are once again drawn in arguably the toughest group in the tournament & in drawing Holland, Denmark & Portugal will have a tough task to qualify. But if Germany manage to continue to perform at the level they have been performing since the 2010 World Cup, they have the potential to win both Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014. On the other hand, I believe Holland will be too strong for Portugal & Denmark to qualify ahead of them.

Neither England nor France impress me! I find England's coach Capello pompous & out of touch & hope Sweden or Ukraine can at least knock one of these two teams out! England will be in trouble if they do not get a central defence pairing right, with injuries & aging legs of the likes of King, Terry & Ferdinand making them questionable defensively, AND will not be able to use Wayne Rooney for the first two matches in the tournament due to suspension, which was reduced from 3 to 2. On the other hand, France continue to show any sign of life & remain uninspiring.

In the easiest group of the tournament Poland & Russia are favourites to qualify for the knockout quarter final round but I can not see either team go beyond that!

I will be writing regular blogs during the tournament & will continue my predictions as the competition progresses! So please visit my page regularly!

Champions League knockout stage once again brings us the world's most exciting football event

Let me start by reminding anyone who bothers to read my blog that my prediction record for the past two years of the first knockout stage has been very good (ie it is worth you while to read & follow my blog!). In 2010 I predicted 8/8 winners right & last year I got 7/8 right, the only exception being my beloved Bayern Munchen, who sadly gave away an overall 3-1 lead to with 25 minutes to go & got knocked out 3-3 on away goals rule!

This season, I did predict Manchester United would fail both in EPL & in Champions League (in my annual review last August I tipped what I call the "cosmetically assembled trophy buying" Man City to win EPL!!).

This year, once again Barcelona & Real Madrid, with their star studded teams have been the stand outs, with the usual suspects (minus Manchester United & the "cosmetically assembled" Manchester City) are trying to lay a claim to the throne. My team, Bayern Munchen, having comfortably won the so called group of death on day 5, are one of the outside favourites, and have the added incentive of the final being held in Munich in May 2012.

The following are my tips (in bold), I intend to get at least 7/8 right again this year!

Barcelona vs Leverkusen

Even without David Villa who's lost form & broken his leg, the magnificent Guardiola troops under the leadership of Messi, Xavi, Inesta, Puyel & co, and with their new potential superstars Fabergas & Sanchez, are one of the best teams of all time & deserve & will probably be there in the final in Munich in May!

AC Milan vs Arsenal

I acknowledge Wenger & Arsenal, with their relatively meagre resources have once again overachieved in CL in Europe this year. However, the current Milan side, alongside Bayern, are outside favourites to claim the title this year & are a far more cohesive & dangerous team than the Milan side of the last few years. They will be too good for this brave if naive Arsenal side.

Benfica vs Zenit

This is the perfect opportunity for Benfica to come out of the ever dominant shadows of their domestic rivals Porto, by beating a somewhat out of sorts & injury hit Zenit teams, which if manages to perform like previous years, can overcome Benfica.

Real Madrid vs CSKA Moscow

In his second year in charge, the much admired as well as disliked Mourinho has made the team a much more cohesive side & a killing machine in the group stage of the CL, although beating Barcelona in the La Liga has continued to desert Mourinho (Real lost 3-1 to Barcelona in the latest Clasico). None the less, based on the group stage performances, Real are the in form team & must be regarded as the favourites to win the competition at this stage.

Napoli vs Chelsea

Here's my first & only diversion from reputation this year. For those of us who watched Napoli in Serie A last year, and in the group of death at CL this year, this is a fairly easy prediction to make, especially considering the current inconsistent Chelsea team. I watched Napoli vs Bayern, Man City & Villarreal in the group stage, and was impressed with their compact & skillful displays in every match! In their young Uruguayan striker Cavane, they have a potential superstar in the making.

In my view, with a bit of luck, Napoli are the real dark horses of this year's competition & could be in the semi finals

Bayern vs Basel

In knocking out Manchester United, basel & their young players, with their never say die attitude (Like Napoli above) made this year's CL a real pleasure to watch. However, Bayern have a very experienced & skillful squad at this level, have played Basel several times, and even though Basel's coach is a former Bayern coach, possess enough quality to finish basel's impressive run.

Marseille vs Inter Milan

I was very impressed with the way Marseille disposed of Borussia Dortmund in the group stage. At the same time, I thought Inter Milan were awful & the least deserving qualifier amongst all the teams which qualified for the knockout stage. I comfortably tip Marseille to finish off Inter's miserable season by knocking them out

Lyon vs Apoel

Apoel have been the surprise of the season & a breath of fresh air in a season when the money of Manchester City failed to take them to the second round. However, Lyon possess what the likes of Apoel & Man City do not; vast experience at the knockout level of the CL, and even though Lyon got to this stage with a last day 7-1 win which made some question the authenticity of their qualification (a lesser result would have seen them fail to qualify), they have the quality to finish off Apoel's impressive run.

The only prediction which will be 100% right, will be this: as per previous years, the knock out stages of the CL will once again provide plenty of excitement & nail biting drama & further enhance the competition's reputation as the most exciting football event in the world....and let's hope I continue to correctly tip the winners!

Football is ultimately better off if the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea & Real Madrid do not succeed in "Buying Trophies" at any cost!!

The Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan (not in the photo above) has invested nearly £800m in the club in the past three years.

Manchester City have announced the biggest loss in English football history, £197m for the most recent financial year. The loss on that huge scale, bankrolled by the club's oil-rich owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan during the third year since he bought City in 2008, eclipses the previous biggest loss ever made, £141m by Chelsea in 2005, the second year of their ownership by the oil oligarch Roman Abramovich.

City's loss was made principally by buying players to make Roberto Mancini's squad strong enough to top the Premier League, and paying wages of £174m, £21m higher than the club's entire turnover plus an extraordinary series of player purchases totalling £156.5m.

The same applies to the giants Real Madrid & Chelsea as well as Wanna bees such as Paris St Germain in France, Shaktar in Ukraine & elsewhere.The UEFA financial fair play which will be coming to affect in the next year or so is supposed to force clubs to run an overall surplus in three year terms. But there's already rumours that clubs will try to cover their operating losses by inflating various income sources such as naming rights to stadiums etc in their books.

According to Guardian Newspaper Sheik Mansour made it clear when he took over that he would spend the fortunes necessary to make City successful, and since June 2010 he has personally poured a further £291m into the club. Added to the £500m Mansour invested up to May 31 2010, he has now spent an unprecedented £800m on the football club, to bankroll the expenditure on transfer fees and wages the club would otherwise not have been able to afford.

No matter what, the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea & Real Madrid are simply "trophy buying" operations & are contributing to the ever acceleration deterioration of the "beautiful game"!

The new European football season promises to be one of the most exciting ever!

The new European season has just kicked off & it is already reasonable to predict this is going to be one of the most exciting seasons ever. This specially applies to the EPL & La Liga (English & Spanish Leagues) where most of the best players in the world play these days. But the German Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, and the French Premira are also going to be very competitive & exciting too.

In Spain, as usual, this will again be a two horse race between arguably the best two teams in Europe, ie Barcelona & Real Madrid (This simply sounds too boring to the German, French & Dutch fans who are used to far closer & more competitive title races in their respective leagues. Barcelona have a huge task to match their massive success of the last few years.

I am a huge Barcelona fan, their youth academy & Messi, Xavi, Inesta & co. The addition of Fabergas & Sanchez has made them a more compact unit. Hopefully will once again neutralise the arrogant & much disliked Mourinho & Real's "Buy trophies at any cost" strategy. Nevertheless, Mourinho, in his second season in charge, will produce a Real Madrid team capable of winning both the La Liga as well as Champions League, as he did in his previous positions with Porto, Chelsea (although lost the CL final) & of course Inter Milan. The race will be for Barcelona to fend off Real Madrid to the post & any slip up could be hugely costly to either side.

My Tip to win: Barcelona

In Germany Bayern should once again dominate now that their leaky central defence has been reinforced, as long as Ribery & Robben manage to stay fit. However, Borussia Dortmund will also be a genuine contender. Bayern will be aiming to win the Champions League final which will be staged at their Alianz stadium in Munich in May 2012. Barcelona & Real Madrid will be planning otherwise of course.

My tip to win: Bayern

In Italy AC Milan & their ageing stars are the favourites this year. In in my opinion Inter will struggle specially now that samuel E'tto has left them to become the world's highest paid football player. I am impressed with some shrewd signings by the Roman clubs Lazio & AC Roma, which should make both clubs genuine title contenders this year whilst Juventus will not win the Serie A this year, despite their renewal strategy & some great new signings including A Pirlo.

My tip to win: AC Milan

In England although it is early season, Arsenal's amazing 8-2 defeat at the hands of a young Manchester United side & Manchester City's 5-1 hammering of Spurs in London coupled with Dalglish's resurrected Liverpool means the Top 4's make up is already a forgone conclusion. It is the order of the Top 4 at the end of the season which is going to make the EPL yet again very exciting this year.

Top 4 will be Manchester United, manchester City, Liverpool & Chelsea

& Yes, the decline of Arsenal will continue & this year they will finally kiss the Top 4 good bye. But they will also say good bye to Wenger too as they miss out on the lucrative CL next year as a result.

My tip to win: Manchester City

Champions League: Barcelona & Real Madrid are once again the clear front runners to win the CL this year, with the usual suspects, ie AC Milan, Manchester United, Bayern Munchen amongst the second rank favourites. The dark horses this year are Manchester City, Porto & Borussia Dortmund

The flops will be Chelsea & Inter Milan whilst Manchester United's team is simply too young to advance to the final again.

In the draw for the group stage, barcelona & Ac Milan draw each other whilst Bayern Munchen & Manchester City find themselves in arguably the toughest group with Napoli & Villareal. I suspect the winner of this group will go a long away in the CL this year

Champions League Final 2011

My post only needs ONE sentence:

Barcelona! They are one of the best teams of all time & deserve to win everything!

Manchester United have simply been LUCKY in the two times they won the CL under Sir Alex Ferguson, and unlucky the third time:

....don't even remind me of 1999 when they beat my beloved Bayern Munich with two last gasp added time goal....and then there was their penalty shoot out final win against Chelsea when John Terry slipped & missed his penalty which would have crowned Chelsea the champions..........and then Manchester United were unlucky in their most recent final in 2009....simply because they came up short against a brilliant Barcelona side that totally outplayed them & won 2-0 comfortably.

This Barcelona side with Messi, Xavi, Inesta, Villa, Alves & co is even more entertaining & beautiful to watch than the 2009 side. However, one should never ever underestimate the wily Alex Ferguson & the LUCK that follows him & Manchester United!

Having said that, BARCELONA will be crowned Champions!

Champions League semi finals: Will Mourinho finally win against Barcelona? Will Schalke surprise Manchester United too?

The quarter finals are over & as it has become a tradition, all encounters produced exciting & high scoring encounters. Whilst in most pundits' view, Barcelona with Messi & co were once again in another class, the humiliation handed down to Inter Milan by Germany's Schalke led by the Champions League legend Raul & possibly currently the best keeper in the world Neuer was undoubtedly the one of the greatest shocks in the CL history. Inter Milan have been a pale shade of the team that won in Madrid in May 2010 & were very lucky to get to the QF anyway. Nevertheless, no one could have ever predicted an aggregate 7-3 double loss elimination by erratic yet potent Schalke, whose players seem to be once again enjoying their football after the sacking of much criticised Magath.

I predicted 3 out of 4 overall results right. I still believe this Manchester United side is not as good as the teams that reached the final in the last few years & expected Chelsea to beat them.

As for the semi final pairings, both are very hard to predict! In case of Real & Barcelona, this is due to multiple matches the clubs will have to play each other in the coming weeks. Barcelona under the magnificent coaching of Guardiola & the irresistible magical displays of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa & co have beaten Real Madrid 5 times so far including a 5-0 in La Liga earlier this year. Real & Barcelona will however meet twice in CL semi finals as well as in La Liga & the Spanish Cup in the coming weeks. It will be a chess game between two master tacticians & interesting to watch. Both Mourinho & Guardiola would rather win the CL semi final matches & lose the other two.

with regards to the other semi final pairing of Manchester United vs Schalke, as I said in my last post about Schalke, they may be underdogs but on their day have the players & the finesse to beat anyone, and with their coaching issues resolved, they may even dispose of Manchester United, although United are a much more formidable opponent than Inter Milan ever was.

So, here's my prediction for the final: Barcelona vs Schalke

(although my head tells me Manchester United will be there in the final!)

A review of Champions League quarter final pairings

Last year I managed to predict ALL 8 quarter finalists in the Champions League correctly. This year I only managed 7 out of 8. The one fallen victim were my beloved but out of sorts Bayern Munich, who were comfortably leading Inter Milan 3-1 on aggregate with 30 minutes to go in Munich but (yet again this year) made too many mistakes & got eliminated 3-3 on away goals rule by an 88th minute goal! Better luck, and form next year! So, to my quarter final predictions (got 3 out of 4 right last year): Teams in Bold to advance:

• Real Madrid vs Tottenham: Spurs have surpassed all expectation, entertained & thrilled on their way to this stage & have introduced Gareth Bale as a real superstar in the process. But Mourinho & his Galacticos are simply too good to be overplayed by the wily Redknapp & co, especially since Bale is not fully fit.


• Chelsea vs Manchester United: I have been very unimpressed with Manchester United this year & they proved they are not formidable with a lacklustre win against Marsielle. Even though Chelsea's form has been patchy, they are capable of beating Manchester United comfortably.


• Barcelona vs Shaktar: Anyone who does not acknowledge this Messi led Barcelona as one of the greatest club sides of all time & the best to watch & enjoy, either does not understand football or is in denial. For the good of the game, Barcelona should, will & deserve to win the Champions League. Whilst Barcelona's record in eastern Europe in recent years has been patchy, they will win the tie in Camp Neu.


• Inter Milan vs Schalke: I must disclose I do not like Inter Milan! I had picked Schalke as one of the dark horses of elimination rounds. But with coach Magadth sacked & Schalke languishing in the bottom half of Bundesliga, & with Inter regaining confidence with Leonardo as coach having beaten Bayern Munich, Inter should comfortably dispose of Schalke on paper. However, on their day Schalke are capable of beating any team & in Neuer in goal & Raul in attack they have two world class players capable of winning matches. So, on this one I will remain undecided!

FIFA Executive & Sepp Blatter must become transparent or risk destroying the international game!

Let's not beat around the bush!

It has been well known for more than 25 years (& sadly tolerated) that many (but certainly not all) of the FIFA Executive Committee members who amongst other matters, decide the allocation of the hosting rights for the FIFA World Cup (including 2018 & 2022) are corrupt!
From the notorious Jack Warner (on the right above next to FIFA President Sepp Blatter) to the three African & South American Executive members exposed by the credible BBC Panorama investigative program in the photo below, and probably some of the others who have escaped being exposed.

FIFA executives Ricardo Teixeira (l), Issa Hayatou and Nicolas Leoz (r) have been exposed & accused of receiving around $US100 million in bribes!

But what is even more tragic is the fact that Sepp Blatter & the rest of the Executive Committee members such as the much respected former players such as Franz Beckenbauer & UEFA President Michel Platini continue to remain opaquely quiet about the now well known corrupt aspects of FIFA operations.

As if the wining & dining & jet setting life styles of FIFA Executive Committee members is not a clear proof of why the "FIFA Brotherhood" sticks together, nobody even knows how much these people including Sepp Blatter get paid for being FIFA Executives! Except that high 6-7 figure sums are most probably correct!

All that is known is that FIFA earned broadcasting and commercial revenues of around $3.4 billion in its four year financial cycle leading up to the tournament in South Africa. FIFA's profits are scheduled to be announced in March when its annual financial report is published.

These greedy characters ed by Blatter have got so comfortable in their cushy corrupt roles that the good of the game does not even make it to their Executive Committee discussions!

Therefore, we have a money tainted & ultimately corrupt situation where for example:

• Video refereeing & most other forms of technology are dismissed out of hand (Is it for the fear of being filmed whilst receiving bribes one should ask!!!)


• As a result of lack of technological assistance, a "preferred" team like France is allowed to shamefully cheat its way to qualification for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of a weaker footballing nation (Ireland)


• Highly overpaid players are allowed to continue to taint the "beautiful game" with their shameful Hollywood style cheating

But worst of all, the money has resulted in allocation of 2022 World Cup hosting rights to the sparsely populated but rich nation of Qatar where the average summer temperature is 50C & alcohol consumption outdoors & in almost all non luxury public places is banned

FIFA & Blatter claim they are taking the game to places away from the European & South American power base of football & as a result most allegations of corruption, incompetence, cronyism (as portrayed in this humble blog post) etc are simply sore grapes.

But whilst sitting in their 5 star air conditioned hotels sipping vintage champagne, FIFA Executive forget the "Beautiful Game" belongs to the working classes & the poor disadvantaged around the world! Just imagine the following situations:

No reconditioning in 50C heat outdoors in Qatar (most fans traditionally spill into the streets outside pubs singing & drinking before matches start)

In Qatar where no alcoholic drinks are allowed in most public places, fans are expected to cool down in 50C heat on soft drinks (of course not if you are a FIFA Executive in your pleasantly air conditioned 5 star hotel lobby bar where you can freely sip on your fine champagne!)

And even forget about the European style chanting/singing or the African dancing or South American samba! music is not favoured in Qatar (again unless you are listening to the pleasant "Lift Music" at your 5 star lobby bar!)

Meanwhile Club sides who pay the extortionist wages of the stars are forced to send their season tired players to the 50C heat of Qatar & cheerfully have the exhausted dehydrated players back for the start of the winter season in most countries! The past few world cups have witnessed tired & injured players arriving from their heavy sseason long

So, Blatter & co expect the fans & clubs alike not to question anything about transparency of the billion dollar a year FIFA operations, blindly trust FIFA, melt under the 50C heat of Qatar sun whilst drinking water & just wave at the FIFA Executive private jets & limousines carrying FIFA executives inside who are laughing all the way to the bank whilst sipping champagne!

Enough is enough! Thanks but no thanks Blatter & FIFA! Something has to be done & more transparency & better corporate governance must be introduced to the FIFA operations.

And as for Sepp Blatter, it's worthwhile to remember that fish rots from its head! Removing the rotting head early may save the rest of the fish from going fully off!Removing the head early can prevent the rest of the fish going bad!

Champions League knockout draw produces a repeat of last year's final!

The draw for the first knockout phase of the 2010-2011 Champions League (CL) has once again produced some mouth watering encounters between teams with with recent past history.

The most amusing match is between the current champions Inter Milan & the team they beat in the final in May, Bayern Munich. On the other hand, Barcelona will meet Arsenal, the team they demolished last year & beat in the final a few years ago. And Real Madrid will have to get past Olympique Lyonnais, the team they were expected to beat but in fact lost to in last year's quarter finals. The following are my predictions for the quarter finals (teams in bold to win)

• Barcelona vs Arsenal: Whilst there is no doubt Arsenal are a much better team this year, so are Guardiola, Messi & this year's Barcelona team. This makes this encounter of two teams with attacking styles the most mouth watering encounter of the round.

However, Barcelona showcased their prowess in the 5-0 demolition of Mourinho's Real Madrid team in the "La Liga Clasico" two weeks ago. In fact this Barcelona team is probably one of the greatest European teams of all time. The only problem in the make of the team last year was Ibramovic. He has now moved back to Italy where Milan's style is more suitable to him & in his place, arguably the best goalscoring forward in the world, David Villa has completed the magical puzzle that is the wonderful Barcelona.

Barcelona are the overwhelming favourites to win back the Champions League.

Bayern Munchen vs Inter Milan: Last year's Champion League finalists, Bayern & Inter have both been struggling this season in their respective domestic leagues.

Inter are not the same compact counterattacking unit they were under Mourinho last year, and Benitez is not the CL winning coach he was a few years ago either & has simply lost his touch. On the other hand, Bayern have been stuttering without the influential injured Robben & with a very long injury list from 11 tired players returning from the semi final & final of the World Cup.

However, whilst Benitez seems to be incapable of filling Mourinho's big shoes, Van Gaal can look forward to revenging the May final's defeat with an injury free squad which will include Robben, Klose, Ivic & Badstuber. In fact Bayern can once again be one of the dark horses of the tournament as long as they can solve their problematic central defensive issues.

• Real Madrid vs Olympique Lyonnais: Lyon, the perennial CL quarter finalists surprised everyone by defeating Real Madrid in the quarter finals last year & reaching their first ever semi final. But the galacticos of Real Madrid, under the polarising yet brilliant Mourinho are a different proposition this year & should easily dispatch of Lyon. (although I must admit predicted the same last year too!)
• Tottenham vs AC Milan: This is the best AC Milan team since they won the CL by beating Liverpool a few years ago. Ronaldinho seems to have rediscovered his passion for the game & Ibrahimovic has settled in well. However, Spurs have won many hearts with their gallant display in both legs against Inter Milan & could be one of the surprise packs of this year.
• Manchester United vs Olympique Marseille: I think this is one of the weakest & worst Manchester United teams under the long reign of Sir Alex Ferguson. However, they are too strong for a gallant Marseille side & should go through.
• Chelsea vs Copenhagen: Chelsea were the runaway leaders of the EPL & all of a sudden they lost the influential John Terry & more importantly the irreplaceable Frank Lampard to injury, and as a result have lost their way. Copenhagen on the other hand have been one of the surprises of the season & the first Danish team to make it to the knock out stage of the CL. However, with Lampard back, I expect Chelsea to once again mount a serious challenge in both EPL & CL.
• Shaktar Donetsk vs Roma: Shaktar are simply too strong for Roma. On the other hand, except for a come from behind 3-2 win against Bayern Munich, Roma have been unispiring.
• Schalke vs Valencia: Schalke have had a shocking run in the Bundesliga but possess enough quality & in Raul one of the all time greats of the CL, to progress past Valencia.

Champions League football first knockout stage is always full of goals & surprises as well as plenty of great football & bag full of goals. This year's is no exception & we can expect many predictions turn out to be wrong! Let's wait & see!

Football magicians Guardiola, Messi & co taught "Showmen" Mourinho, Ronaldo & co a footballing lesson with their 5-0 win in the latest clasico.

If there was any doubt or debate about the following, all questions were answered after the latest 5-0 "Clasico" thrashing of Real Madrid on Monday night in Camp Nou by Barcelona

• The current Barcelona Team remains a much more cohesive unit that the expensively put together Real Madrid so called galacticos! There are several reasons why Barcelona are a better team:

a) Barca players led by Puyal at the back, & Xavi, Inesta, Messi & David Villa with the able assistance of the likes of Alvez & Bosquet know each others' game blindfolded. The Real Madrid team is on the other hand yet again an expensive selection of what money can buy & it may yet take even Mourinho more than one season to mould the team to his style.

b) Barcelona's all attacking style led by the trio of Messi, Inesta & Xavi, arguably the best three players in the world, & this year spearheaded in the attack by David Villa, arguably the best striker in the world, makes them irresistible as well as admirable. Pep Guardiola therefore is the best club coach in the world at the moment.

• Pep Guardiola is a footballing master tactician & magician whilst the ever polarising & arrogant Jose Mourinho is a showman who tries to stifle his opponents with his tactical mastery.

The fact that Mourinho failed to admit absolute humiliation after the 5-0 defeat in his first ever "Clasico" as a coach demonstrated his narcissism. Mourinho went to the Monday night game attempting to stifle Barcelona the same way he did with the much more defensively disciplined Inter Milan side in the semi final of the Champions League last year. But the current Real Madrid side does not possess the defensive qualities of Inter Milan, and Messi, Inesta, Xavi & co this time around kept 67% of the possession AND had the magical David Villa in attack, greatly assisted by Pedro. Last year they had Ibrahimovic who was totally unsuited to Barcelona's style of play.

• Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Messi was mesmerising & taunted & destroyed Real Madrid midfield & defence all the way throughout the match whilst Ronaldo stood as a lonely frustrated figure.

Messi is one of the top 5-10 greaest footballers of all time & has the potential to be another Maradona. His passing, goal scoring, dribling, ball distribution as well as individual technical ability & playmaking skills are simply superb.

Ronaldo on the other hand is tactically superb too. However, as evident in their latest encounter, he is not as good a playmaker & his ball distribution compared to Messi is poor. This is partly due to the fact that "ball hogging" remain Ronaldo's biggest weakness.

The latest Clasico once again provesd the Spanish la Liga is the best football league in the world & the English Premier League has a long way to go to match the skills & tactical ability of the Spanish League, and even the excitement of watching the likes of Ronaldo & Messi battling it out.

European season update: Mourinho is working his magic at Real Madrid whilst Barcelona continue to shine

On the eve of the "Classico" in La Liga in Spain between Guardiola & Messi & co(Barcelona) & Mourinho & Ronaldo & co (Real Madrid), the two teams:

a) are the most attractive to watch in Europe
b) have many of the best players currently playing in Europe
c) have arguably the most effective two coaches in Europe &
d) are most likely to win the 2011 Champions League

Whilst the likes of Inter Milan (current Italian & European champions), Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich & Arsenal are stuttering in one or more fronts, both Real Madrid & Barcelona are smashing their way through both the Spanish Premira & Champions League.

The much polarising Mourinho has taken his mojo with him from Inter Milan to Real Madrid & after a slow start to the season, Ronaldo & co have now become a free scoring team. Mourinho however is also enjoying the convenience of coaching this latest "Galacticos" ensemble in its second year. He has however lost none of his unprofessional arrogance as was evident in the Champions League match against Ajax last week when two Real players got themselves sent off, according to many as a result of a tactical decision by Mourinho.

Barcelona on the other hand still continue to set the benchmark standards of beautiful, attractive & attacking football & in my view will be able to yet again impose themselves on Real Madrid & win the classico on Monday morning. They are also my tip to lift the Champions League this year.

Elsewhere meanwhile, in Italy, whilst AC Milan & its aging stars are playing a more cohesive football than they have done in the past few seasons, the European Champions Inter Milan are drifting away under the now fading leadership qualities of Rafa Benitez. Rafa's career is beginning to resemble that of Goran Erikson. Erikson was a cutting edge coach in Italy's Serie A when he was lured in a big money signing to manage England. He never reached or recovered his magical Italy days & subsequently faded to obscurity. Rafa did very well in Spain & luckily managed to lift the coveted Champions League at Liverpool. But his methods are becoming less & less effective & his player transfer policy & managements leave a lot to be desired.

In England, I believe all big three, ie Manchester United, Chelsea & Arsenal will stutter from time to time & won't be able to match Barcelona or Real Madrid. Manchester City meanwhile, with all their money have been ordinary & the wonderfully exciting Tottenham team deserves to progress in Europe & win a place in the Top 4 again to do even better next year.

Amongst the rest of the big clubs, the Champion League finalists Bayern Munich are still suffering from Robben's absence & the hangover of having provided 11 players in the semi finals of the World Cup, resulting in tiredness & injuries.

However, Bundesliga is retaining its comfortable position as the League with the highest average attendance per game in the world & as the most competitive in Europe. Whilst the Spanish La Liga is in my view the most attractive football league to watch, & the English Premier League is fast & exciting, these leagues are realistically can only be won by a handful of teams, Barcelona & Real in Spain, & Manchester United & Chelsea (and Arsenal?) in England.

Bundeslia on the other hand is yet again an open ended competition this year with a multiple of teams seriously challenging, something that is unheard of in other major European Leagues

Nevertheless, the 2010-2011 European season so far seems to belong to Mourinho & his Real team, and Guardiola & his Barcelona stars. As fans & spectators, we are lucky as both play attractive attacking football.

The new European Football Season promises another exciting year ahead

It's only a few weeks since Spain won the World Cup in South Africa. Nevertheless, the Domestic Leagues in Europe are in full swings again. The qualifying matches for Euro 2012 have already started & the first matches of Champions & Europa Leagues have also been completed. Another exciting season is well on the way.

In the European scene the main question yet again is whether the free spending Real Madrid & their brilliant new coach, the annoying & arrogant yet masterful Jose Mourinho can put an end to the domination of Pepe Guardiola & his brilliant ensemble of superstars of Barcelona.

Mourinho is undoubtedly a masterful operator & as was evident in teh Champions League match vs Ajax has already done well by bringing his old general Carvallio as well as the young German World Cup stars Ozil & Khedria to Real Madrid.

On the other hand, Guardiola has cunningly replaced the ineffective Henry & Ibrahimovic with the best striker in the world David Villa. With the likes of Villa, Messi, Puyol, Alvez, Piquet, Iniesta & Xavi (in my view, overall the best player in the world by a mile) Barcelona rightly deserve to be considered the best & should overcome Real's threat once again this year.

Champions League:
Favourites: Barcelona
main Challengers: Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Real Madrid & Bayern Munich

Here are my prediction for the other 3 major leagues in Europe:

In England, Chelsea have formed a great team capable of winning the EPL & even the Champions League this year.
Manchester United are suffering from lack of funds to nuy> new players &; with Rooney out of form & in strife in his personal life, will find winning major trophies difficult once again.
Arsenla will be brilliat at times but not good enough to go all the way.
Manchester City's big spending is still hap hazard & will not dent the Chelsea/Man Utd grip.
Spurs will find the challenge of European football too demanding on their squad & will not cope in all fronts.
Liverppol will be in a transition phase for the next few years & unable to mount a serious challenge whilst under current ownership.

My prediction: 1. Chelsea 2. Man Utd 3. Arsenal 4. Manchester City
Relegation candidates: Wigan, Wolves, Blackpool & Bolton

In Italy, the European Champions Inter Milan will not find life under the former Liverpool Manager, the now hapless Rafa Benitez as easy as they did with Mourinho. However, with Juventus still in the doldrums & the rest such as Roma & AC MIlan inconsistent, Inter should once again win Serie A this year, as they have done so in the past few years. Nevertheless, the defence of their European crown will be unsuccessful. Their main threat will be their somewhat rejuvuniated city rivals AC Milan.

In Germany even with the long term injury absence of Robben & with their rivals attracting some of the Europe's superstars to the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich with their Barcelona like style of play will win the league & challenge for European honours again.

All in all, another exciting European season is under way & it should be full of thrills & unpredictable results.