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The sixteen teams in the Champions League are replete with world-class international players.
The aristocracy of world football will be on parade and it is no wonder that the forthcoming return ties are being looked on with such a great interest. From the financial aspect these fixtures are worth millions.
The main traditional winners of the Champions League are still there and confident of clinching further honours. Though Real Madrid have won the title nine times, AC Milan six, and Liverpool and Bayern Munich four times each they all still hungry for more successes, and possibly hope that their first leg victories will eventually be decisive, though their opponents also rate their chances.
It is an open secret that big spenders Chelsea (£92 million on foreign stars since Mourinho moved to Stamford Bridge, last summer) are very ambitious to register their first ever success in the top European competition at club level. Their opponents at Stamford Bridge are equally determined that Ronaldinho and Co. will continue the job they started at Nou Camp.
Apparently ‘assist-man or scorer’ Ronaldinho de Assis Moriera better known simply as Ronaldinho, like Milan’s Kaka, is very religious. The story goes that off the field he wears a cross as big as the one flashed by the Italian TV personality Simona Ventura, but more to match his trendy appearance than a demonstration of his faith!
The results of the Champions League second round return ties will bring about the usual spectacles, sober analysis, harsh comments about referees’ decisions or players’ gaffes and the usual ‘the-day-after’ debates.
The murky side of football will be conveniently forgotten and no one will mention the current enquiries about illegal betting involving many clubs and players from the top two divisions in Poland. Or the possibility of reopening of the ‘Juventus Doping Case’ which was partially concluded with the acquittal of the leading club administrator Antonio Giraudo and the 20-month jail sentence inflicted on the head of the medical staff Ricardo Agricola who has since appealed; or the fact that a number of French clubs including Monaco, Paris Saint Germain, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Lyon and Lens are being investigated about fraud in the Euro252 million contract with Canal+ or the German scandal involving the corrupt referee Robert Hoyzen as investigators are currently studying whether a strange bet with Oddset in June 2001 had any connexion with the Croatian syndicate based in Berlin when a punter won Euro6 million as he successfully picked four home wins with the identical 2-1 result from the Italian Serie A, plus a goalless result from the Spanish Liga as Real Saragozza faced Celta Vigo !
Negative stories
Those and other negative stories will not spoil the fun the Champions league provides.
As the attention is focussed on the forthcoming matches, three on Tuesday, four on Wednesday and yet another (Inter - Porto) a week later, the unsavoury remarks by Real Madrid’s Ronaldo and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be ignored.
On the eve and after the match with Juventus at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo alleged that the ‘Bianconeri’ are always assisted by referees. He has been told to keep his mouth shut when in Turin!
Big-mouth Mourinho accused Barca’s manager Frank Rijkaard of entering the referees’ dressing-room during half-time, and said that Andreas Frisk’s sending off Didier Drogba did not surprise him. He may be more careful what to say in future! Mourinho’s deceptive pre-match formations and his absence from the customary after match press conferences hardly enhanced his reputation, while his continuous arrogance and psychological warfare will soon become stale and treated with contempt.
Meanwhile Inter’s owner Massimo Moratti who has signed and transferred 105 players to the tune of 450million euros in ten years, just hopes that his team will progress further. Figures for season 2003-4, show that Inter had a deficit of Euro97.9 million as compared to Chelsea’s Abramovic whose losses were Euro94.7m!
For the records Chelsea are favourite to win the Premier League, which would be their first major honour in fifty years, while Inter’s last success in the Champions League dates to forty years ago.
The two clubs from Milan seem better placed than their counterparts from London. Many seem to agree with the comments made by Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger on certain limitations which are so evident in the Premier League sides as the Gunners are still looking for their first ever triumph in the Champions League.
Gaffes, facts and predictions
For the return ties the gaffes by a number of goalkeepers like the ones committed by Carrol (Man, U), Toldo (Inter), Jerzy Dudek (L’pool) will be shelved till after the aggregate score is known.
Only the fittest will play; Sol Campbell (Arsenal), Shevchenko (Milan), Nedved (Juventus) are certainly out, Drogba (Chelsea) is suspended, but Trezeguet (Juventus), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Gerrard (L’Pool) and Ballack (Bayern Munich) amongst others, will all play and may make a difference.
Certain considerations cannot be ignored in previewing the forthcoming fixtures.
One should not discard the possibility of extra time and penalties from one or two matches.
* Lyon are well poised to reach the last eight as they entertain Werden Bremen with a three-nil lead. The French club has won three home titles in a row and manager Paul Le Guen, 41, backed by a most enterprising president Jean-Michel Aulas, who spent Euro 90 million to build a club on the image and trademarks of Man Utd, has moulded an attractive side. The Brazilians Juninho Pernambucano and Nilmar, plus Nenarfe who is considered as Zidane’s heir, and Eissen of Ghana who are just brilliant.
*Inter with a record number of drawn encounters will for once be happy with a goalless draw; Porto will eliminate Inter with a one-nil win.
* The other six beaten sides hope for a clean sheet and to score at least one or two goals to entertain hopes of further progress
*Chelsea will eliminate Barcelona if they register a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
*Arsenal, Juventus, Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen, all at home need a 2-0 win to respectively knock-out Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PsV Einhoven and Liverpool.
*Manchester Utd playing at San Siro also need a 2-0 victory to get through. A goalless draw suffices for AC Milan.
*The matches present a number of personalities with their clear ambitions. Juventus only lost twice in seventeen home encounters with Real Madrid. Roy Keane will be playing his last card to achieve his ambition of ever lifting the covetous trophy as he faces Paolo Maldini, 37 in June, who featured in a Champions League winning side on four occasions. Maldini played 127 times for Italy and more than 560 times for his only club AC Milan.
* Behind the scenes there are the two Italians who are regarded as tops in physical preparation. Valter De Salvo who sees to Man Utd players’ fitness and Daniele Tognaccini the head of the famous MilanLab.
* Since UEFA agreed to the idea submitted by the French journalist Gabriel Hanot way back on December 15, 1954, 49 finals have been staged and twelve of the current sixteen chasing a place in the last eight, won 33 of them. Will they retain a sort of monopoly?
My favourites?
It is always difficult to predict football results but all punters believe that they will predict the right scores, much to their disappointment after the match. However serious critics put AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Lyon, Liverpool, Inter and PsV as poised to be among the last eight, while the matches involving the top two Spanish clubs may go either way with the home team slightly having an edge!
The bouncing ball does not always conform with the critics’ predictions!
Enjoy the spectacle.
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