Brazil are the overwhelming favourites to win the World Cup on home soil.

No matter which way you look at it, Brazil are the overwhelming favourites to win the World Cup for a record sixth time.

They have the talented world class players, tactical quality & the added advantage of home soil in "South America" where no European team has ever succeeded.

As my regular World Cup posts kick in from this week, here I will make some personal observations (rather than tactical) about some of the favourites & dark horses & what can potentially make or break it for them:

Brazil can & will most probably win the World Cup. In the Confederation Cup final, they comfortably beat the defending World & European Champions, potentially their strongest opponent, 3-0.

However, the high expectations as well as home crowd pressures can play against them. The ghost of the defeat in the 1950 tournament in home soil & the widespread discontent with the costs associated with staging the games mean the slightest hick up can turn things against Brazil, both psychologically & in terms of home crowd support.
However, in my personal opinion, Brazil's biggest worry is in fact their coach Scolari. Unlike most fans, I am not a big fan of "Big Phil" & believe if Brazil get in trouble, he may not have the tactical ingenuity to save them. 

Spain, the defending Champions, also have the players, the tactical ability and a brilliant coach in Del Bosue. The fact that they will not meet Brazil unless both teams reach the final is another advantage for them. The only thing against Spain is that their style of play is no longer an unknown factor (as demonstrated by their loss to Brazil, and Barcelona's decline in the last two European season). Also, there are lingering doubts in the quality of Spain's defence & who Del Bosque decides to use as central defenders & full backs.

However, a Brazil vs Spain Final is a the most probable outcome.

Germany are in one of the two very tough groups in the tournament & must be very careful not to get embarrassed at this World Cup by any of their more than capable opponents in the group stage.

They do have an enviable World Cup record to defend after all! They have reached the last 8 in every one of the last 15 World Cups, whilst making it to semi finals in 12 occasions & the final 7 times. However, the psychological barriers are disturbing! Germany lost their semi final matches to the eventual winners Italy & Spain in the last two World Cups in 2006 & 20010 respectively. They also lost out to Spain in the final of Euro 2008 & Italy in the semi final of Euro 2012.
The advantage for Germany is that the core of the players in those tournaments are at their prime in the current side & their experience may take Germany all the way.

Like Spain & Brazil, Germany have both the player quality & tactical capability to win the tournament. However, not only absence due to injuries of the likes of Gomez & Gundegan (and even Scheweinsteiger & Khedira's lack of fitness) will potentially play havoc to Germany's tactical plans, but also, Germany will probably meet Brazil in the semi finals where their suspect central defence and lack of a world class quality left full back can catch up with them & be their undoing. However, if they get through the current psychological barrier of being tagged as losing semifinalists, this time Germany win through to the final, I strongly believe they will win the Cup.

Argentina can only seriously challenge if they have learned from the lessons of World Cup 2010, where despite being entertaining, they relied too heavily on an underwhelming Messi & had major defensive shortcomings which were exploited in the 4-0 thrashing by Germany in the quarter finals. They are tactically better post manic Maradona period & will go a long way if Messi can reproduce his Barcelona magic. However, they cannot succeed if they try to use Messi for Plan B if things go wrong.

Italy, in my opinion, will go far in this year's tournament. Italy were thrashed in the Euro 2012 Final by Spain following their surprise 2-1 semi final win vs Germany in Euro 2012. Following that loss, they have been continuously overlooked by the media as a major contender. Since then however, Prandelli has done a magnificent job of refining the team tactically. They have massive World Cup winning (2006) experience in defence supporting the evergreen Buffon in goal, whilst another evergreen master, Pirlo, is still at the top of his game & can dictate & turn most sticky situations t Italy's favour.This year however, Italy also have a very potent attacking line up in the unpredictable Balotelli but also the likes of hugely dangerous & talented Immobile, Cerci & Insigne. This is why they must be considered one of the favourites.

England & Holland on the other hand, in my opinions will potentially fail to get past the group stage.

Holland are a very inexperienced albeit talented side which as entertaining as they may be, simply do not have the player experience at this level & are in danger of losing their spot to an impressive & dangerous Chile who will undoubtedly cause a headache or two for Spain as well. Whilst Van Gaal is a master of getting the best out of young talent, the experienced players in his squad who are on top of their game are only a handful. With the news this week of Van der Vaart injury blow Holland's prospects have got even worse. Even if Holland make it out of the group stage, they will most probably face Brazil, and unlike 2010 when they beat Brazil, this Holland team is not experienced enough to cause a huge upset this time around against the tournament favourites.

England have also finally started to produce some real quality young talent again. The likes of Shaw, Barcley, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Sturridge have the potential to shine at the world stage this year & make an impact.
However, England are in a very tough group (group of death) & must overcome Italy & Uruguay to go further. The British media's unhealthy obsession with their domestic league (EPL) as usual does not help either as it makes the English myopic. At the same time, whilst Roy Hodgeson is an excellent manager & much more suited to the job than Capello ever was, his capacity to guide a team to the world summit must be questioned.
I don't believe England can finish first in their group. However, if they manage to finish second, they will meet a hugely talented Colombia side which will probably beat them in the next round.

France meanwhile, will get through their easy group as well as round of 16th before coming unstuck at the quarter finals when their tournament will end. All that the French public are hoping for is a united team of talented players to make up for the farcical embarrassment of World Cup 2010 group stage elimination.

As for the teams with lower profiles, Colombia, Uruguay & Chile are all capable of causing huge upsets this year. Not only all three teams are tactically superb, their players will find playing in South America easier than most of their European counterparts.

Chile have only built on Bielsa's great work & their unlucky elimination in the last World Cup & if anything are even more entertaining & dangerous this year. I predict they will go through at the expense of Holland this year....and then in the elimination rounds anything is possible.

Uruguay are not doubt sweating on the fitness of their star player Luis Suarez. They have the quality to pip both Italy & England to the post in the Group of Death & have the memories of their famous World Cup triumph of 1950 in Brazil to carry them psychologically.

Columbia, like Uruguay, are also praying to have their undisputed start Falcao fit just in time for the games (although after a lengthy absence due to injury). However, there are several other talented players in the side that can carry them in Falcao's absence. Whilst it appears they may have an easy group on paper, they are in fact in a tough group as matches vs Ivory Coast & Japan will be anything but easy. However, it is in the round of 16 that Columbia's world cup plans may unravel, when they will meet one of the trio of England/Italy/Uruguay from Group D

Amongst the remaining European teams, Belgium offer the best of the rest. They have a young talented side with several stars playing across Europe's top leagues & in Champions League. They are also in a reasonably easy group on paper. However, in the round of 16, they will potentially meet Germany & Portugal. This is where their palyers' lack of World Cup experience can potentially work against them. nevertheless, this Belgium side will be a force for the next few years.

And how about the so called minnows of the game? 

There is no doubt that Australia's Socceroos have been incredibly unlucky in drawing the 2010 World Cup finalists Spain & Holland, as well as one of the dark horses of the tournament Chile. Hopefully, the Socceroos will use Brazil to prepare for Asian Championships which are held in Australia in January 2015.

As for the rest, Japan & Ivory Coast have many talented players but are unfortunately drawn in the same group! Boznia-Hertegovina on the other hand, can potentially overcome Nigeria & Iran & make it to the knockout stage in their first ever World Cup as an independent state.

The most watched event in the history begins on June 13th. All matches are live & exclusive to SBS. No doubt we will witness the full spectrum of sporting drama, good, great, not so good & ugly.......from heartache to bad luck, to time wasting, poor refereeing decisions to player cheating. No matter what THE WORLD GAME will once again entertain, enrage & thrill the fans all over the world!

To paraphrase the words of the legendary Liverpool Manager Bill Shankly: ..."...to the fans......football is not about life & death! It's much more important than that!"

Bring it on!

UCL Final: Battle of cross city rivals after Ancelotti & Simeone outfox Guardiola & Mourinho

In my last post, when the UCL semi final draw was made (scroll down if you wish to read), I made the unusual step of calling the pairings the "battle of 4 of the best master tactician coaches" in Europe as three fast counter attacking teams & the possession tiki taka of Guardiola & Bayern contested the semi finals.

And that is exactly how the semi finals turned out! Both encounters were highly complex tactical battles. The only surprise in the results were how comprehensively Ancelotti outsmarted Guardiola & how Mourinho lost the tactical battle to Simoene.

Out of the four coaches, Pep Guardiola went to the semi finals with most questions. Could his tiki taka , the preferred 4-1-4-1 formation & its slower possession based build up tactics cope with Ronaldo, Bale & co's pace? Whilst Ancelotti caught Guaardiola on counter attacks in Madrid, it was initially from set pieces & then counter attacks that Madrid annihilated Bayern for their first ever win in Munich for their record 13th final. At the end, not only Ancelotti won the battle, but he also questioned whether Guardiola's tactics had been found out & the days of his dominance were over.

Mourinho on the other hand decided on an aggressively defensive approach in Madrid for the first leg. However, like Bayern, he did not get an away goal. Therefore, Atletico Madrid, themselves a counter attacking side, went to London with Simeone hoping to win the tactical battle with away goals.
Whilst they hit a wall of 11 defending Chelsea players in the first leg, they outsmarted Mourinho in London even though initially they fell behind 1-0. Mourinho lost the game tactically after he was forced to open up Chelsea following 1-1, and was outfoxed by Simeone & his impressive team.

In the process, Mourinho lost his 4th successive Champions League final battle whilst Real won their semi final after having lost in the semis in the last three years with Mourinho!. Bayern on the other hand, lost a semi final having won their last three previous ones since 2010. Atletico Madrid meanwhile won only their 2nd ever semi final, having reached their only other final 40 years ago in 1974 where they lost to Bayern.

And now, to the first ever "inter-City" final in the history of competition & second ever all Spanish Final (Real won the last won 3-0 vs Valencia in 2000).

The final will once again be a tactical battle, with two city rivals who know each other's weaknesses & strengths better than anyone else.

The result will be tight. If Atletico manage to neutralise the inform axis of Ronaldo-Bale-Dia Maria-Benzema, they have enough quality to beat Real with shear determination. I tip the dark horses of the tournament, Atletico Madrid to cause one of the biggest sensational upsets in the history of the UCL & go all the way.

So the recovery of Spanish football after last year's hiccup is complete, with Sevilla also contesting the Europa League final vs Benfica.

On a personal note, in a year when the universally admired Befica great Eusebio passed away, I would like to see Benfica win the Europa League final.
Benfical are arguably the unluckiest of Giants of European football. Since they won their 2 European Crowns with Eusebio in 1961 & 1962, they have lost all their consequent 5 European Cup & 2 UEFA/Europa League finals. This includes last year's Europa League final in the 93rd minute with a heartbreaking Chelsea goal)

Champions League semi final draw: 4 master tacticians & their expensively assembled soldiers at war!

 Once again, this year's Champions League semi final pairings are as unpredictable as ever!

Can the defending Champions Bayern Munich repeat their astonishing heroics of last year's semi final display vs Barcelona again?...........This time vs Ronaldo & Real Madrid?

Are Atletico Madrid as good or better than last year's underdogs Borussia Dortmund?....and can they beat the wily Jose Mourinho & his unpredictable Chelsea?

The answers are yes......and no!

The reason this year's semi finals are so hard to predict is not so much because of the key players but much more to do with arguably the four most admired master tacticians in the European football are leading the four semi finalists!

Guardiola, Mourinho & Ancelotti are all double Champions League winners & Simeone is arguably the most talented up & coming coach in Europe right now. 

All four coaches are capable of reading the game well, changing tactics & are proven winners & all 4 are capable of changing the course of any game.

Having said that, not all four teams have reached the semi finals with their reputations intact:

Real Madrid were totally outplayed by Dortmund in parts of the first leg in Madrid & for most of the second leg defeat in Dortmund & can consider themselves lucky to have reached yet another semi final. And to make matters worse Ronaldo's injury may rule him out of the 1st semi final leg in Madrid.

Chelsea had to come back from a 3-1 first leg deficit & were minutes away from being eliminated by a PSG side missing their injured talisman Ibrahimovic in London.

Bayern on the other hand, whilst in control for most of both legs with their possession football, fell behind in both legs to a Manchester United side badly struggling at home & missing the injured Robin Van Persie. Bayern only managed to display their true prowess in the final 35 minutes of the 2nd leg & only after they fell behind 0-1 & were in danger of being eliminated (albeit for only 30 seconds before they equalised)

Atletico Madrid meanwhile go to the semi finals with their reputation enhanced & fully deserving their dark horse tag & a repeat of their encounter vs Bayern in a repeat of the 1974 European Cup final would be a huge sentimental final 40 years on. They are a team of very talented individuals none of whom acts as a superstar. everyone works for the team under the leadership of Simeone. In many ways Atletico deserve to be in the final.

And as for the final predictions?........

Should Atletico Madrid overcome Chelsea & make it to the final, it will be a triumph of footballing prowess over money.

Bayern would on the other hand surely welcome the chance to seek revenge for the gut wrenching penalty shootout defeat of the 2012 final vs Chelsea & to win the CL by beating all 4 EPL teams in the competition in the process.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid must believe it is time their investment on the likes of Ronaldo & Bale finally delivers them their record 10th crown!
....and as for Mourinho & Chelsea.........well you can never discount Mourinho & his teams......never!

All 8 Group winners' qualification arguably makes this year's Champions League Quarter Finals the toughest ever!

The final eight fighting for the coveted Champions League this year are perhaps in for the toughest draw in the competition's history & therefore possibly the most exciting ever.

For the first time ever, all 8 Group winners won their round of 16 encounters & reached the quarter finals.

6 of the 8 quarter finalists are past winners & 6 are amongst the 8 richest clubs in the world (yes money talks & buys trophies more than ever before)

The apparent decline of Italy's Serie A continued with no Italian teams making it to the quarter finals, whilst the exaggerated hysterical claims of German domination once again proved unsubstantiated as Schalke & Leverkusen both succumbed to heavy aggregate defeats. Germany's Bayern & Dortmund however continue to be amongst the European elite.
English teams also continued to perform below their benchmark standards suggesting a more marked shift to mainland European powers. Only Chelsea show any sign of being capable of lifting the trophy. Manchester City, meanwhile, although unlucky with the draw, showed their naivety & lack of European experience but will continue their rise in the coming years. Very little can be said about the immediate prospects of Arsenal & manchester United in Europe!

Spanish teams on the other hand continued their overall dominance with all three teams getting through the round of 16 & the money power of the French Ligue 1's PSG will also continue its ascendency in the coming years.

In my post at the time of the round of 16 draw, I tipped Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Dortmund & the Champions Bayern to beat their opponents relatively comfortably (although in case of Barcelona, Manchester City offered less resistance than I predicted & Real Madrid were more rampant than expected).
I did however suggest that Manchester United, PSG & Chelsea could struggle if their opponents did well in their respective first leg home matches. As it turned out, PSG smashed Leverkusen in Germany & Galatasaray only managed a credible but insufficient 1-1 draw at home vs Chelsea.
Olympiakos on the other hand must surely think they missed a golden opportunity against an out of sorts Manchester united side. They went to Old Trafford for the 2nd leg with a 2-0 home leg win under their belt but capitulated 3-0 on a magical Old Trafford night to Manchester United.

And now the quarter final draw, which although very tough, has amazingly kept the so called 4 favourites apart!

Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid & Chelsea did not draw each other.

At least on paper however, Chelsea seem to have the toughest draw & may yet taste the bitter taste of their own "trophy buying money" when they meet PSG. vs the mighty money power of PSG. Mourinho however, has once again build a tight united which albeit defensive at times, can break quickly & punish opponents (as witnessed in the 6-0 demolition of Arsenal in Wenger's 1000th match in charge this weekend).

Like Manchester City & their deep pockets, PSG will need a few more years of European exposure before they can reach the final of this competition, just ask Roman Abramovich & his Chelsea! It took more than a billion pounds of his money, several coaches & multiple attempts before they finally achieved European success. I therefore believe Chelsea will get past PSG.

Out of the other 3 encounters, The holders Bayern vs Manchester United is the most eagerly anticipated. Manchester United will however struggle to get past this record breaking Bayern side in particular considering their hat-trick hero vs Olympiakos, Van Persie, is injured.
Bayern on the other hand, have looked slightly shaky at the back (and Dante will be suspended for the first leg in Manchester). Nevertheless, Bayern should prevail.

Last year's semi finalists Real Madrid & Dortmund will meet at the quarter finals this year. However, Real Madrid under Angelotti this year & with Ronaldo at his goalscoring best, are a far more attacking & accomplished side than last year under Mourinho. Ronaldo & Bale have formed a lethal partnership & the Real bench has more depth than last year. Dortmund on the other hand, have not recovered from Goetze's move to Bayern, have been decimated with injuries to several key players of last year's campaign and will miss Lewandowski in the first leg through suspension.

Real Madrid, are in fact the favourites to win the Champions League this year & will comfortably account for Dortmund this year.

All three domestic encounters between Barcelona & Atletico Madrid this year have so far been very tight affairs & ended up in draws. This will therefore be a hard one to predict. However, based on signs that Messi is once again injury free & returning to his goalscoring best, and also in the context of lack of "European Experience" argument (as applied to eg PSG & Manchester City), Barcelona will account for Atletico Madrid.

No matter which teams prevail, there is no doubt this is potentially the most eagerly anticipated, thrilling & exciting quarter final in Champions League's history.

RIP Eusébio 1942-2014 a legend, role model & one of the very best

Eusébio 1942-2014

Eusebio, nicknamed the black panther for his speed & technique, was one of the greatest football players of all time. He won all there was to win as a player bar the World Cup.

He won the European Cup with Benfica & scored more than 600 goals for them in official matches. He won the European Player of the Year award in 1965 & was the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup in England where he helped Portugal to their best ever 3rd in 1966 in England.

But most of all, what Eusebio should be most remembered for is a modest, down to earth & kind gentleman. In the sometime greedy money stained world of football, he was a King amongst many lesser skillful players, and a kind & gentle one at that.

RIP Eusebio, you legend & role model.

Champions League knockout stage draw

In my last post, I mentioned most group winners in this year's Champions League would want to avoid Arsenal.........and the defending Champions, Bayern Munchen ended up drawing Arsenal again, in a rematch of last year's round of 16 clash which Bayern won on away goals rule on the way to winning the final at Wembley.

But I should have also mentioned the fast improving and free scoring Manchester City too. In perhaps the most exciting clash of the round, City have drawn Barcelona.

Whilst I believe Bayern have enough to beat Arsenal again, I can not comfortably predict that in case of Barcelona.
It is quite clear that Barcelona are simply not the same team when the axis of Xavi-Messi-Bosquets-Iniesta is misfiring & on top of this their defence which was totally humbled 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern last year is still vulnerable, specially against the free scoring City side. Manchester City on the other hand will be vulnerable in goal and away from home and would be hoping Aguero will be back in full fitness by February.

Of the other pairings, Atletico Madrid are the dark horses of the tournament & should account for a sorry looking AC Milan who were lucky to account for Ajax , Real Madrid will be too strong for a injury hit & somewhat misfiring Schalke whilst last year's finalists Borussia Dortmund should have enough time to get their injury ravaged team back to shape to beat a disappointing Zenit.

....which brings us to the last three encounters........whilst at least on paper Chelsea, PSG & Manchester United are all favourites to go to the quarter finals, I believe their respective opponents ie Galatasaray, Leverkusen & Olympiakos can all cause huge upsets, but only if they manage to do well at home ie to win their home leg with a comfortable margin.

I say this because I don't think Chelsea & Manchester United are contenders this year & in case of PSG, I believe they, like their "Trophy buying" peers before them (ie Chelsea & Manchester City) need a few more years of CL experience before they can impress beyond the early stages of the knockout phase.

Regardless of all of that, there is one thing that is clear: the eventual outcome of this round of matches will no doubt produce mouth watering quarter final pairings.

CL battle of English vs German teams: all 8 qualified for the knockout stage but EPL teams won most of the battles

One of the most highly excitable results of this season's Champions League draw was the pairing of the 4 EPL qualifiers with the 4 Bundelisga qualifiers in the same groups:

Manchester United with Bayer Leverkusen
Chelsea (2012 winners over Bayern) with Schalke
Manchester City with the defending Champions Bayern and
Arsenal with Borussia Dortmund

Chelsea famously had beaten Bayern on penalties in the 2012 final in Bayern's home in Munich whilst Bayern & Dortmund had contested the 2013 final at Wembley the home of football & in the process raised the wasteful debate over whether Bundesliga was getting the better of the EPL & Spanish La Liga.

And this morning, all 8 teams qualified for the knockout stage albeit under vastly different circumstances:

• An erratic Manchester United side struggling in mid table in the EPL comprehensively accounted for Leverkusen 4-2 & 0-5
• Chelsea also totally outgunned an injury depleted Schalke 3-0 & 0-3 
• CL Champions Bayern played scintillating football & beat City 1-3 away & then wasted an early 2-0 lead at home to succumb to a fast improving City 2-3, and 
• Dortmund just got the better of Arsenal & edged them to top the group of death by winning 1-2 in London & losing 0-1 at home

All in all, EPL clubs won the battle. At the same time, La Liga giants Barcelona & Real Madrid were complimented by the true dark horses of this year's competition, the hugely impressive Atletico Madrid.

Overall, the lesson from the knockout stage is this: 

With the exception of Bayern Munich which are again one of the favourites, whilst other German teams (and the trophy buying power of PSG) are clearly on the ascendency in Europe& catching up fast, hyped up claims of demise of English & Spanish teams are premature & exaggerated & their dominance is far from over. Serie A on the other hand is clearly in trouble although Napoli were fully deserving of qualification & missed out. Milan were lucky to edge out a young & up & coming Ajax side whilst Juventus simply flopped.

Most impressive teams of the group stage: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid & Bayern Munchen

Most dissapointing: Porto, Benfica & Marseille

Flop of the season: Juventus

Unlucky teams: Napoli & Basel both of which beat their group winners & Ajax 

Dark horses: Atletico Madrid without any doubt

The draw for the round of 16 will be interesting with most group winners wanting to avoid Arsenal.

Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup draw, the winners & the losers

The FIFA World Cup draw for Brazil 2014 was conducted on Friday night & as usual, some groups ended up being more difficult than others. This year however, South America have 6 representatives (instead of 5) & Europe have 13 instead of the usual 14.

Also, Belgium, Colombia & Switzerland were seeded due to their superior FIFA rankings in Nov 2013 & as a result powerhouses of England, Italy, Holland, Portugal were demoted to the 2nd pot.

It is too early to try to predict which teams will be successful in the first round simply because teams' forms can dip or improve between now & June next year and key players may get injured & miss out.

However, whilst playing at the World Cup is difficult regardless of the draw, there are groups which are more difficult to prove than others: Here are my early tips until I decide on my final tips by around March 2014:

Group A Hosts Brazil are the clear favourites following their mesmerising triumph at Confederation Cup. On the other hand, Mexico have had a torrid time with 4 different coaches & only qualified through the play offs by beating New Zealand. Croatia are always difficult to beat & possess enough talent to overcome Cameroon & finish second.

Group B is the first group of death & sees the two finalists of WC 2010 ie Holland & Spain paired against each other. You can't help but to feel sorry for Chile for being paired with Spain for the second WC in a row, and for the Socceroos who will no doubt have a torrid time against all of their 3 vastly superior opponents. However, Chile are a brilliant team & with a bit of luck are capable of knocking out either of their two most illustrious opponents.

Group C see hosts Columbia as a well deserved seed. Columbia are once again spoilt with talent & should win the group. Greece are on the other hand becoming an experienced tournament nation & are slight favourites to outdo Japan & Ivory Coast.

Group D, at least on paper, is THE group of death. However, reputations aside, I believe Uruguay & Italy are clearly far stronger sides than an England side which is desperately short of creative talent in the midfield & lacks depth in many positions including in defence. Costa Rica can & probably will pinch crucial points too.

Group E sees Switzerland seeded & France as the main giant in the group. If Ribery & co play the way they played against Ukraine in the 2nd leg of the play offs, they will be the clear favourites to win the group. Switzerland coach has on the other hand built a team which is extremely difficult to beat although Switzerland have in the past got eliminated unbeaten!

Group F will see Argentina as comfortable winners. Bosnia, Nigeria & even Iran, are all capable of finishing second if they take their chances & other results go their way.

Group G is a tough group for Portugal & Germany & there are no easy matches in this group. Ghana only lost to Germany 1-0 in the group stage in WC 2010 & finished 2nd, and USA in fact topped their group in WC 2010. On top of that, USA is coached by the former Germany Captain & coach Jurgen Klinsman & the USA team consisted of several German born players who play their football in the German Bundesliga. However, at least on paper, a talented Germany side & Portugal by the irreplaceable Ronaldo are favourites to go through.

Group H see the seeded Belgium side oozing with young talent. Whilst I believe Capello's Russian side are overrated, in South Korea & Algeria, they have two of the weakest teams in the tournament & both Russia & Belgium will easily qualify for the knockout round.

European Football season 2013-14 promises to produce the most exciting season yet!

The new European football season is already well on the way & the draw for the 2013-14 Champions League has also taken place.

Unlike previous years, I am running late with my pre season predictions of the major league & will be combining all my predictions in this post.

Amongst the glamour clubs of the ivy leagues in Europe, there are as usual mouth watering & puzzling transfers which will be finalised by 1st September:

Amongst the winners so far in the transfer market are:

In Germany, the record breaking defending European & Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munchen have signed the hugely talented Mario Goetze & Thiago Alcantra & of course Pep Guardiola & should win the Bundesliga again, whilst Dortmund will once again challenge both in Germany & Europe. Bundesliga will however struggle to challenge EPL & La Liga for supremacy unless other German teams manage to do well in the Champions & Europa League too. Therefore much is expected of Leverkusen & Schalke this season.

In Spain, Barcelona have captured Neymar but it is yet to be seen how the new coach will deal with Neymar & Messi whilst Real Madrid have allowed Mourinho & Higuain & a few others to leave whilst the hugely talented Isco, Carvajel & Illaramendi & Ancelotti have arrived. La Liga is once again the domain of these two & I tip Barcelona to prevail. Atletico Madrid have lost Falcao to Monaco but in David Villa as his replacement to give the big two a run for their money & alleviate the predictability of the two horse race aspect of La Liga.

In France, PSG & Monaco have taken the French League to another dimension by capturing Cavani & Falcao respectively but PSG will win Ligue 1.

Whilst I also tip Tevez to do well at Juventus, Napoli are the dark horses in Serie A & also in Champions League. Despite losing Cavani to PSG, Rafa Benitez has signed a few tactically superior players for Napoli & they may even pip Juventus to the post in Italy.

In the Premier League, Manchester City have signed the highly sought after trio of Negrado, Navas & Jovetic & in Pellegrini they have a more tempered & skilful coach than Mancini. Tottenham on the otehr hand, are a winner for buying many valued stars such as Poulinho & Eriksen & will be a winner just for selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid at a price which is simply stupid!

I just watched Mourinho's Chelsea losing the European Super Cup to Bayern. Mourinho has already begun to transform Chelsea to a force to be reckoned with albeit with his usual defensive & dirty play. The new Manchester United coach David Moyes, & Arsen Wenger at Arsenal are on the other hand seemingly having trouble attracting top talent to their teams & will struggle to challenge.

My prediction for EPL: 1. Manchester City 2. Chelsea 3. Manchester United 4. Tottenham

How Andy Murray's win at Wimbledon highlights the disappointing international record of England's National Football Team!

When England beat Australia in 2003 to win the Rugby World Cup, astonishingly it was the first time an English side had won a team sport World Cup in any sport since England won the football World Cup in 1966!

Since 2003, English & British individual athletes & teams have got better & better, all but the team representing their national sport ie Football!

England also made it to the Rugby World Cup final in 2007, England's Cricket team have dominated Australia in the Ashes series in recent times, & of course in individual sports Bradley Wiggins won Tour de France & the British team performed magnificently in last year's London Olympics.

And now, Andy Murray won Wimbledon77 years since the last British winner Fred Perry (not to mention the triumphant Lions tour of Australia & the upcoming Ashes series for which England are the favourites to win again!)

And YES! YES! YES!I know Andy Murray is Scottish! But the English tend to mix English & British when it suits them! So, I am doing the same to suit myself to write my blog to criticise England's Football Team!!)

These wonderful achievements however in some way do magnify the disappointingly poor record of England's football team & its total lack of achievement since their solitary 1966 triumph!

Whilst English teams have performed very well in the UEFA Champions League, albeit with the support of the bottomless pockets of Russian & Arab billionaires, England themselves have failed to match the usual hype around them before very World Cup & European Championships. The huge sums of money in the EPL means young English players simply do not stand a chance of playing in the Premier League on a regular basis because EPL Clubs buy the cream of the best international talent.

Let's hope Andy Murray's win, in some way piles more pressure on England's FA in order to force a major overhaul of the current system of youth development in football in UK.

Bayern Munich's treble winning triumph in 2013 was a lesson in life

Bayern Munich finished second to Dortmund in their domestic league (Bundesliga) last year & also lost the German Cup final to their bitter rival. To top it all, they hosted the Champions League Final against Chelsea in their own stadium in Munich last May & unbelievably lost that final in a penalty shoot out too.

Bayern players after the penalty shootout loss to Chelsea in the Champions League Final last May

Out of the the above three competitions none hurt more than the Champions League final. Bayern dominated the match for 88 minutes & were winning 1-0 until Chelsea scored from their first corner in the 88th minute. Then Robben missed a penalty in the extra time which would have won Bayern the match 2-1...and finally, in the penalty shoot out Bayern led 3-1 & ended up losing the shoot out 3-4!

Jupp Heynckes, the Bayern coach, & the Bayern management, promised Bayern would be back stronger & more determined this season. Only a handful of people believed they could psychologically bring the players back. Bayern nevertheless set about buying new players in order to plug the gaps that had lost them Champions League finals in 2010 & 2010.

By the end of this season last week, Bayern had won the Bundesliga in record time, were crowned European Champions after accounting for Arsenal, Juventus & barcelona in the knockout phase & beating Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley, and became the first ever German side (and only the 7th ever) to win the treble crown by also winning the German Cup final last weekend.

Robben displaying shear relief after scoring the winner in the Champions League Final vs Dortmund

And Robben, who had missed a penalty vs Dortmund to hand them the Bundesliga title last year, and a penalty vs Chelsea in last year's Champions League Final, scored the winner in the 89th minute in a Man of the Match performance in this year's 2-1 final win vs Dortmund.

A lesson in life on how shear determination & hard work (and money to invest on new players!) can overcome the most difficult mental barriers, and how the agony of a major loss can turn into triumph in life.......................and a well deserved one at that!

Manchester United & the world of Football will miss Sir Alex Ferguson's larger than life personality, influence & ability

Love him or loath him, Sir Alex Ferguson is universally admired & respected. His retirement at the time of winning the English Premier League again is perhaps timely but will leave a huge vacuum for Manchester United, the English game, and in fact the world of football in general.

He is generally regarded as the most successful Club Coach in the modern era & deservedly so.

Not only he has won a ton of trophies in his long illustrious career, but also he survived in the one job for 26 years. His record in the brutal world of "quick trophy at any price" of European football is simply unrivalled.

Here's Sir Alex Ferguson's record:

* St Mirren

1 Scottish First Division (second tier) title 1976-77

- -

* Aberdeen:

3 Scottish Premier League titles: 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85

4 Scottish FA Cups: 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86

1 Scottish League Cup: 1985-86

1 European Cup Winners Cup: 1982-83

1 UEFA Super Cup: 1983

- -

* Manchester United

13 Premier League titles: 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13

5 FA Cups: 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04

4 League Cups: 1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10

10 Charity/Community Shields: 1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

2 Champions League: 1998-99, 2007-08

1 European Cup Winners Cup: 1990-91

1 UEFA Super Cup: 1991

1 Intercontinental Cup: 1999

1 FIFA Club World Cup: 2008

Bayern & Dortmund to contest the first ever all German Champions League Final at the home of football, Wembley

The German National Team has suffered badly in the hands of Spain (& Italy) in recent years!

Their starts & their up & coming crop of young talented internationals lost the 2006 World Cup semi final to Italy, the final of Euro 2008 to Spain, the semi final of WC 2010 to Spain, and the semi final of Euro 2012 to Italy!

Add to that Bayern's loss in the 2009 Champions League final of 2010 to Inter Milan & you get the picture!

But now, finally, Bayern & Dortmund have made amends for all that heartache with their respective gutsy, skilful & impressive displays throughout this year's Champions League.

Dortmund topped Real Madrid in the so called group of death, beating Real 2-1 in Germany &drawing 2-2 in Madrid when a last minute goal save the day for Mourinho & co. Then they (albeit) luckily but deservedly eliminated Malaga & hammered Real 4-1 in the first leg of the semi final.

Bayern on the other hand, have impressively accounted for Valencia, Juventus & Barcelona on their way to the final. No one can question the difficulty of their path in the knockout stages: Arsenal then Juventus then Barcelona.

And the German invasion of London is now complete: The first ever all German Champions League final, at Wembley, the home of football! (only Spanish & English teams have achieved that previously)

And whilst Dortmund & Bayern know each other only too well & the result will be hard to predict, this current Bayern side has been immensely impressive on all fronts this year & deserves to lift the trophy in their third final in the last four years, and particularly in light of the heartbreaking loss to Chelsea in last year's final in their home ground in Munich.

Bayern will take over the mantle of Barcelona as the greatest club team in the world & will rule European football for the next few years! As we, the Bayern supporters famously say:

Mia San Mia

The best four attacking sides in Europe make this one of the most exciting Champions League semi finals of all time!

Arguably, the four best teams in Europe this season have made it to the semi finals of the Champions League this year.

This means, we won't have to worry about the ultimately effective yet totally anti football tactics of De Matteo's Chelsea of last year!

The semi finalists in this year's Champions League are undoubtedly the most exciting attacking sides anywhere in Europe at the moment.

And the draw has ended up being the battle of Germany vs Spain. This is a battle that at club level the Germans have won in the recent past whilst at National level the Spaniards have been the victors.

Bayern & Dortmund have been victors vs Real Madrid in the last two years whilst Dortmund deservedly albeit luckily accounted for Malaga in the quarter finals & Bayern got the better of Valencia in the group stage in this year's competition.

Therefore, whist the media are salivating for the dream Barcelona vs Real Madrid final, they may once again be disappointed this year! Both contests are very close, and over the two leg, a combination of tactics, focus & luck will tell which two teams will prevail & reach the final at Wembley.

Whilst on paper Bayern seem to have ended up with the tougher draw, as a friend rightly pointed out to me, Barcelona are much less difficult to account for over two legs than in a one off final match. (a point that PSG nearly proved right  in the quarter finals this year & Chelsea accomplished last year).

Bayern have already been crowned Bundesliga Champions & can rest players & focus on Barcelona, although Barcelona themselves are almost guaranteed of winning the LaLiga. As a result the battle once again predictably comes down to how Bayern disrupt the mesmerising telepathic connection between the trio of Messi/Xavi/Iniesta. As seen in the quarter final second leg vs PSG, Messi only needs to be on the field to unsettle opponents!

On the other hand, Dortmund & Real Madrid know each other only too well having already played twice in the group stage (at the time many commentators predicted the winner this year would be one of those two).

On the subject of whether first match is played at home or away, I actually prefer the home game first because of the away goals rule & the fact that it makes the team less anxious in the second leg. So, advantage the Germans in that aspect.

This year's final pairing is anyone's guess. The only certainty is the finalists will be worthy of their success & one of the best 4 teams in Europe this year will win the Champions League this year.

More than ever before,  regardless of the heartache of last year's loss to Chelsea in Munich, my heart & mind are united in saying this is Bayern's time to shine & rule European football!
And the emphatic & free scoring ways they have accounted for themselves this year mean I may not be too far off the mark!

What if Barcelona didn't have Messi & Messi didn't have Xavi, Iniesta & co?

Before any criticism is directed at me for the title of this post, let me start by qualifying my personal opinion:
I am old enough to have seen many great players gracing the world game in almost 40 years as a serious football fanatic, and have watched most classic matches before my time in the 1950s & 60s to see the best of those era in action.

Based on that, I admire Messi as one of, if not the most skillful & graceful player of all time. At the same time, I rate the Barcelona team of the last decade (from Frank Rijkaard days as a coach to now) as one of the greatest teams of all time, both at club & national level.

Having stated the above, when Messi did not return after the half time due to an injury in the quarter final clash in the Champions League against PSG, it became more than ever clear to me that Messi & Barcelona must win titles without each other in order to be crowned as the greatest individual player & best team of all time respectively:

Here's the simple reason why:

Messi has won everything with the support of the incomparable Xavi & Iniesta, who have in turn led other hugely talented players in support of Messi. This was evident with the inch perfect pass of Daniel Alvez to Messi for his goal vs PSG. Therefore, Messi needs to prove his leadership qualities in a team which does not include Xavi & Iniesta in particular! ie he must lead Argentina to the World Cup triumph in order to displace Pele & Maradona from their nominal & arbitrary position as the greatest players of all time.

And the reverse simply applies to Barcelona! They are the most watched & copied team in the world & football fans across the world are lucky to be following football in the era of Barcelona, Messi & co. But Barcelona must win the Champions League & La Liga without Messi & his goal scoring feasts in order to become the undisputed best team of all time!

I repeat again,this post is not arguing the magnificent & graceful football of Barcelona & Messi! I am in awe like millions of other fans around the world! But the little niggling matter of "what if Barcelona didn't have Messi & Messi didn't have Xavi & Iniesta" continues to circle in my head every time I watch Barcelona & Messi, as I am sure it does in many other football fans' heads!

Champions League quarter Final Draw keeps most of the powerhouses apart

The quarter final pairings for this year's Champions League have been drawn, and the powerhouses Real Madrid & Barcelona avoided each other.

For the first time, UEFA has not paired the quarter finals, meaning that the semi final draw will be made after the quarter final matches are completed & decided.

I got 6 of the 8 results of the round of 16 right. Malaga, the undoubted surprise package of this year's competition stunned my tip Porto, whilst Galatasaray were a different proposition once they brought Drogba & Sneijder to their fold in the January transfer window. They beat Schalke to advance to the quarter finals.

In reality, whilst the Bayern Munich vs Juventus is the peak of the draw, the competition remains as open as it has ever been. In all fairness, the so called favourites all struggled in some way or another & were far from being fully convincing in getting to the quarter finals. In fact the so called underdogs got to the quarter finals more convincingly!

Yes! Barcelona, led by the irreplaceable trio of Messi-Xavi-Iniesta demolished AC Milan 4-0 in Camp Nou in the return leg & in the process announce themselves as the best & clear favourites. However, this was after they were outclassed 2-0 by Milan in the first leg.

Real Madrid only managed a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United & were by all accounts fortunate to take advantage of a questionable refereeing decision to red card Nani & in the process take the game out of the clutches of Manchester United, who were dominating Real up to that point.

Bayern Munich outclassed Arsenal 1-3 in London but then started to struggle for the past few weeks & finally had to endure some nervy minutes in the return leg before losing 0-2 & only qualifying on the away goal rule.

Juventus, whilst fully in control against Celtic in both legs were hardly troubled by the draw & will have their stern test vs Bayern if they are to prove themselves as serious contenders.

PSG,on the other hand, had difficulty in convincingly disposing of Valencia & will miss Ibrahimovic in the first leg vs Barcelona

In fact Dortmund are undoubtedly the dark horse of this year's competition. They remain unbeaten in their 8 matches so far, whilst Malaga, the romantics' favourites this year & Galatasaray have done extremely well to get this far.

Quarter finals are about experience, depth in squad and also to a lesser extend the advantage of playing the first game away from home (although I don't believe in that last point). So, at least on paper, the predictions are relatively easy:

Barcelona seem to be back at their sublime best after the 4-0 demolition of AC Milan & will most probably take advantage of Ibrahimovic's suspension in the first leg & PSG's relative inexperience at this level.

Real Madrid have the experience & resources to finish Galatasaray's gallant run whilst Dortmund should put an end to Malaga's beautiful game.

Bayern on the other hand, went to the second leg vs Arsenal on the back of a convincing 1-3 win in the first leg & a run of 23 unbeaten matches in all competitions & then wobbled into a 0-2 loss in Munich. Once again all questions of mental fragility which surfaced after their heartbreaking loss to Chelsea in last year's final started to circulate.

But for Bayern's hard core fans such as me, all evidence points to a relatively low level mid season form slump & Bayern should be able to account for a very impressive Juventus side.

Paraphrasing Bayern's President after the shock defeat to Arsenal; "On a good day we are good enough to beat any of the remaining teams in this year's competition....but if we play the way we played in the loss to Arsenal, we will lose no matter which one of the remaining teams we draw!!"

And Bayern have their work cut out! They need to be at their absolute best in both legs in order to account for Juventus, remembering that Italy & Italian teams are generally Germany's & Bayern's boggy teams.

One thing is nevertheless certain: Champions League quarter final & semi finals are undoubtedly the most exciting football encounters anywhere in the world.

Bayern state their clear intention to dominate European football with the appointment of Pep Guardiola

The English football press could hardly believe what they were seeing! How could Guardiola turn his back on the Arab or Russian money of Manchester City & Chelsea & accept a lower offer from those GERMANS?!?

Clearly they had forgotten how lucky Chelsea were to overcome Pep's beloved Barcelona in the semi final of the Champions League last year with their total "Anti Football" & how that same negative tactical approach made them the unlikely European Champions with the skin of their teeth in Munich in May. This was after all against a Bayern side which more than any other team in Europe had been compared to Pep's beloved Barcelona.

And the similarities are precisely why Pep Guardiola chose Bayern over their richer "trophy buying" rivals:

Club pedigree,  culture, sound youth system & policy, financial stability & championship winning experience & quality:

a) The tradition & support, both local & international: Barcelona, with their vast international appeal & fan base, clearly have Catalan roots engraved in the Club's culture. Bayern, with their proud Bavarian routes are the same.

b) Barcelona's youth academy has produced the likes of Xavi, Iniesta & the incomparable Messi. Bayern, whilst not as sophisticated, like other German clubs have invested heavily in youth development & produced the likes of Muller, Badstuber, Lahm, Schweinsteiger & others.

c) Bayern are arguably the most financially stable club in Europe that are also capable of matching the Arab & Russian mega money of trophy buying clubs (ie currently Man City, Chelsea & PSG) as well as the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid & Manchester United.

In fact, without exception, they have produced an annual profit every year in the last few years (ever since the year the construction of their new stadium started). This is compared to the official annual losses of in excess of 100m pounds by Chelsea & Man City in the last few years.

d) Bayern have been the Champions League finalists twice in the last 3 years & whilst they lost to Mourinho's superb Inter Milan side in 2010 fair & square, they literally handed the match to the undeserving Chelsea side last May in Munich.

Nevertheless, the major irreplaceable difference between Barcelona & just about all other football clubs in the world is the once in a life time axis of Messi Xavi & Iniesta which no other club can exactly emulate, with or without Guardiola.

Therefore, whilst Bayern have made their intention to rule European football very clear, it remains to be seen if this major appointment will do the trick for them.

Their only other foray when they employed Trapatoni did not bring them continental success in the 90s. Whilst the more recent appointment of Van Gaal took Bayern to the final in 2010. Van Gaal was also instrumental in streamlining Bayern's youth development policies by installing the likes of Muller, Badstuber & Contento to the first team.

All in all, after the huge heartache of Munich final loss against Chelsea last may, seeing Chelsea subsequently get eliminated in the group stage of Champions League this year AND miss out on Pep's services, make these very exciting times for diehard Bayern fans.

We've secured the services of Pep & now the rumour is the Brazilian "Messi" ie Neymar, who has been linked with all the usual trophy buying clubs of Europe (ie Chelsea, Man City & PSG) will be joining Pep at Bayern as he embarks on emulating his success at Barcelona.

And like all other life long diehard Bayern fans around the world, I couldn't be more hopeful & excited!

Champions League knockout stage gets more exciting every year!

The UEFA Champions League is officially the most watched & best supported annual sporting event in the world, easily beating the various American finals.

However, its knockout stages are starting to upstage even FIFA's much cherished World Cup as a spectacle. Not only almost all of the world's best players feature in the competition's knockout stages, it the matches have over the years produced lots of excitement, plenty of drama & most importantly a lot of goals.

The draw for the knockout stage of the 2012-13 competition has just been announced & this year promises to be as exciting as ever.

In my four years of writing a blog on the Champions League, my tipping success year stands as 8/8, 8/8, 7/8 & sadly last year 6/8 correct prediction on which 8 teams will make it to the quarter finals. I try to keep the analysis brief & non technical as usual. So here are my tips on this year's draw: (my tips in bold)

Manchester United vs Real Madrid is undoubtedly THE match of the round. Whilst Real are not as solid & well composed as last year & rumours of dressing room unrest continue to circulate them, and Manchester United are leading the EPL, I believe it is the leaky United defence which will let them down & Ronaldo, Ozil, Benzema & co will have plenty of opportunity to punish United. If Vidic can be fit enough to get back to his best form of a few years ago by February, and that is a big if, United may be able to just get through...however, that is a big if.

Barcelona, led by the unrivalled master trio of Messi Xavi & Inesta & capably supported by other world class players will reasonably comfortably roll over the recently improving Milan which nevertheless lack depth & are one of the weakest Milan sides of the last 20 years or so. Although those of us who remember the recent encounters between these two sides can expect plenty of excitement in the process.

Bayern Munich, twice finalist in the last three years of the competition, should get through the ever exciting to watch but inconsistent arsenal side which like Milan lacks depth on its bench & is at times confused about its tactics. Nevertheless, it will once again be an almighty battle of Germans vs the English.

Juventus are one of the dark horses of this year's competition & after 3 drab draws won their last 3 games with style & poise. Celtic on the other hand are the romantic story of this year's competition & their gutsy performance vs Barcelona will be forever a highlight of their recent history. But shear guts alone will not be enough for Neil Lennon & his side. Celtic will nevertheless leave the competition with their heads held high.

Borussia Dortmund possess enough talent & tactical ability to give Shakhtar a much better run for their money than Chelsea did. However, in my view, after Real Madrid, Shakhtar were the second most feared runners up. With their wily coach & the the likes of the impressive Brazilian goal machine Willian amongst their ranks, Shakhtar, on their day can beat any team in Europe. But over two legs Dortmund should prevail.

Paris St Germain the latest "trophy buying" team in Europe have been rather inconsistent in their domestic league, but led by the irreplaceable Ibrahimovic should see Valencia off relatively easily. Valencia showed plenty of poise against Bayern in the group stage but came short & the same will be the story vs PSG.

The last two match ups are in fact the hardest ones to predict. If Schalke can overcome their recent mid season slump (no wins in their last 6 Bundesliga matches as well as crashing out of the German Cup) & the new coach can stamp his style & authority quickly, then they have enough quality to beat Galatasaray, even if the Schalke home game will have 10s of thousands of Turkish German fans supporting Gala. If Schalke do not resolve their slump, Gala may have a chance to cause an upset.

And finally to two teams of vastly different history, Porto, twice winners & ever present in the competition but recently under achieving vs Malaga the first timers in the competition abandoned by their rich owners at the beginning of the seasons & seemingly hopelessly in trouble only a few months ago.......and yet both have performed with poise & played attractive football. This has all the hallmarks of a great Iberian contest & for the first time in my blogging life, I am simply unable to predict which team will prevail! It will depend on a mixture of tactics, luck & level of injuries by February.
No matter the outcome, the losing side will be missed as both teams brought a lot of attractive & entertaining football to the competition.

Once again, February & March promise to be an exciting start to the second half of the Champions League season.

Total contempt for Abramovich, but contempt for the way Chelsea won the Champions League is only slightly less!

No doubt! No argument! Abramovich has made a mockery of football by sacking his FA Cup & Champions League winning coach Roberto Di Matteo & installing Benitez as his 9th coach in 9 years of owning Chelsea FC. (and as widely reported, his 10th coach will be installed next season in his 10th year of ownership)

And yes! Di Matteo deserved better. After all he was & will always be the coach who brought the ultimate european glory to London for the very first time.

But, to be fair to Abramovich, he has spent a staggering one billion pounds in the last nine years in pursuit of winning the Champions League the "Barcelona" way, by playing beautiful football, not the anti football manner which Di Matteo's Chelsea won last year!

Di Matteo after all was almighty lucky to 'just" manage to get over the line by guiding Chelsea through with ugly "anti football" tactics to win the Champions League. The only match in the entire knockout stage that Chelsea played like "Barcelona" was their win vs Napoli at Stamford bridge.

The rest of Di Matteo's games in Europe were totally defensive boring games concurred on shear luck, total defensive play and players' courage rather than clever strategic tactics by Di Matteo.

After all, what are the chances of the trio of Messi, Robben & Schweinstiger missing three consecutive penalties vs Chelsea (or any other team for that matter)? surely the odds must be 1 in a billion!

And so, Abramovich's pursuit of THE coach that can finally deliver him glory AND buy Chelsea lasting credibility continues!

Whether he manage to convince Pep Guardiola to bring his Barcelona way next year is any one's guess, and whether he will give Guardiola or any other coach sufficient time to see out their plans for the team is even more in doubt.

Meanwhile Di Matteo can enjoy his payout & bask on the glory of the fact that record books do not show how major trophies were won!

Lessons from the fourth round of Champions League

The fourth round of the group stage of the 2012-13 Champions league season confirmed the following:

• Champions League is far more exciting and tactically more superior than international football scene
• Real Madrid & Barcelona are not as formidable as last year's season
• Bayern Munich, the unlucky losing finalists of last year's competition have a lot more depth this season & seem to have learnt from their defeats in finals of 2010 & 2012
• Champions Chelsea remain a threat whilst Manchester United will eventually pay for their leaky defence
• The impressive displays of Malaga, Porto, Celtic & Shaktar &  few other teams prove the real romance of the competition is still well & truly alive
• Juventus is on its way back as a European powerhouse whilst Dortmund & Schalke have also impressed
• The usual suspects nevertheless remain the favourites, ie Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern & Manchester United
• AC Milan & Manchester City have been the flops so far, but for different reasons: Milan due to lack of money & new players, City due to typical arrogance (or naivety) of English teams which assume doing well in EPL guarantees success in Europe (Just as England National team & they will tell you all about it!)

For the 2nd time in three years, the final will be held at Wembley once again. There's a long way to go to be able to predict the final, including the luck of the draw during the knockout phase.

nevertheless one thing is certain. We are once again in for many exciting encounters & fistfuls of goals in the coming months on the way to the final in May.

Chelsea & Manchester City lose in the latest round of UEFA Champions League

To the average football fan, there's nothing more enjoyable to witness "trophy Buying" teams fail in major competitions!

Of course this does not happen very often & in most instances money brings better quality players & wins trophies.

nevertheless, in defeats by the highly expensively put together trio of Real Madrid, Manchester City & Chelsea brought lots of smiles to fans around the world, especially in case of the English teams:

Manchester City, simply because they are attempting & o far failing miserably to buy trophies. And Chelsea because they did eventually buy themselves the CL trophy last year with their anti football brand of tactics, for introducing questionable billion dollar amounts into the game, AND for playing awful in their defeat vs a brilliant Shaktar Donetsk.

Amazingly, Chelsea at 2-0 down were so badly under siege by Shaktar that it almost felt as though Shaktar were behind 0-1 & time was running out!

So, for the sake of the beautiful game, let's hope both Chelsea & Manchester City get eliminated in the group stage this year & their expensively assembled squads cost them a fortune with little return!

But half way through the group stage, here are the main points:

This year, the first knockout phase is going to be one of the most difficult in the recent history of the tournament. The likes of Dortmund, Schalke, Malaga, Porto, PSG, Shaktar, Valencia, Bate & even Ajax are all playing very well & would be a real threat to any of the favourites in most bigger teams in the knock out stages.

Here are my thoughts half way through the group stage:

Barcelona & Real Madrid are once again the favourites
Bayern provide the stiffest threat to Real & Barcelona
Malaga, Schalke & Dortmund have been simply superb
Manchester United are having major defensive issues which if not addressed will see them eliminated in the knock out stages by any of the above teams
English teams are once again under performing although both Arsenal & Chelsea should qualify for the knock out stage
Italian Teams & Serie A are in a steep decline & even Juventus won't go to far this year
German & Spanish teams are so far the dominant forces of this year's CL

Nevertheless, as this most exciting competition proves year after year, these are early days, forms can fluctuate AND luck can play its part ! Just ask Chelsea how they won last year's CL!

Bitter? Me? No way! :)