Don’t you just hate those end of season matches where both teams having nothing to play for? It is even worse if your side are scrapping for their lives yet your relegation rivals have an easy game against a team whose season is over.

The end of Serie A this year was a classic example. Five teams were in danger of falling into the final relegation place on the last day and unfortunately for strugglers Chievo and Catania, they had to play each other.

Meanwhile Reggina, Parma and Siena had home games against Champions League-weary Milan, Empoli and Lazio who all had nothing to play for. Reggina, Parma and Siena all won and Chievo were condemned to Serie B after losing to Catania. Chievo have moaned that Carlo Ancelotti picked a second string side against Reggina while they were unhappy with Lazio’s casual defending for Siena’s 85th minute winner which kept them up.

But is there a way to avoid such occurrences? Some bright spark wrote to Gazzetta dello Sport this week with an idea to combat the problem: the points gained in the last five games of a season will count towards your total in the next season, meaning every team must try their hardest to win.

Although no one in official circles has mentioned such a scheme, I suspect there’d be plenty of supporters around the globe who would like to see it introduced. What do you think?

Mark Meadows is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Milan 

The most exciting title race Spain has had in over a decade is on hold yet again this week, and the big worry for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla is that injuries to players on international duty could affect their league hopes.

The Spanish season began last August but unbelievably there are still two rounds of games left to play. Just like England, Italy and France, Spain has a 20-strong first division, but unlike their European counterparts they appear unable to end the season before the start of the summer.

An interminable two-legged Cup competition, the refusal of the players union to allow matches to be staged during the Christmas holiday period and a reluctance to play midweek league fixtures combine to make the Spanish league the longest lasting title race on the continent.

Almost every season there is a calendar crisis. Last year the Spanish Football Federation had to ask FIFA special permission to extend the season because it had no time to fit in a rain-affected match between Sevilla and Barcelona. This year clubs are battling with South American national sides to try and delay departures for the Copa America which begins on June 26.

Now a thrilling title race has been on hold because the season has run into the international fixtures which were programmed to take place when domestic duty is over for players in other countries.

“It is like Placido Domingo going before the last act of Othello, like Fernando Alonso getting out of his car on the last lap or Rafael Nadal leaving court at match-point, columnist Roberto Palomar said in Marca on Monday.

Atletico Madrid have already suffered a blow to their hopes of earning a UEFA Cup place with the loss of Fernando Torres for at least a match after he was injured in a training session for Spain. Let’s hope he’s the last of the casualties.

Simon Baskett, Madrid

Amid the furore surrounding David Beckhams return to the England squad it passed almost unnoticed that Steve McClaren seems to have woken up to what everybody else has been saying for years — that Steven Gerrard is Englands key man.

Sven-Goran Eriksson spent a long time trying to use Gerrard, Beckham and Frank Lampard together in Englands midfield, with little success. Gerrard, an inspirational, surging central midfielder with the talent and attitude to lift team mates and overpower opponents, was shifted around and even forced to operate on the left.

Even when McClaren got rid of Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard too often tried to operate in the same space, which only resulted in blunting the impact of both.

Last week, however, talking about the recall of the former captain, McClaren said. Initially we had Steven Gerrard on the right but the way he has performed in the middle of the park, I see him being a focal figure there.”

Some British media observers responded to the news by condemning McClaren for returning to the midfield quartet Joe Cole is the fourth man - that failed so miserably in the 2006 World Cup.

However, it seems he could use Fridays Wembley friendly against Brazil and next weeks Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia to bite the bullet and really make a statement: putting Gerrard in control of central midfield and telling Lampard to keep his tracksuit on.

Mitch Phillips is Reuters UK head of sports reporting

A German season of refreshing unpredictability got the climax it deserved in Nuremberg’s 3-2 victory over VfB Stuttgart in the Cup final on Saturday. It was fitting that it came at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, a venue that was overdue a great game.

This was the first time I’d been to the Olympic Stadium since the World Cup final, a disappointingly tense game that was spoiled by the sending-off of Zidane for a “header” few in the crowd could see. The red card and Italy’s subsequent victory on penalties left a lot of people grumbling and was an unsatisfying conclusion to a great tournament.

The atmosphere could hardly have been more different in the same venue on Saturday when Nuremberg upset champions Stuttgart after extra-time in a rousing final. Even Stuttgart fans seemed to be smiling as they headed for the gates, grateful for a great show.

Cynics may argue Nuremberg were foolish for not sitting on their 2-1 second-half lead against a team reduced to 10 men, for not switching to destructive defensive tactics and killing the game off. They paid a price when Stuttgart got a late equaliser that sent the match into extra time.

Nuremberg had kept pushing forward as if they were behind — electrifying the 74,220 spectators in the stadium and 10 million viewers watching on TV, even though some journalists did complain as they were forced to throw away their prepared stories after Stuttgart scored.

Congratulations to Nuremberg — not necessarily for winning the German Cup but for giving everyone their money’s worth. It’s a shame that doesn’t happen more often in these showpiece finals.

Erik Kirschbaum is a Reuters correspondent based in Berlin

David Beckham can dream again of winning his 100th cap after Steve McClaren’s decision to bring him back into the England squad.

As Mitch Phillips writes, his return is a reward not just for improved form in his final season at Real Madrid but also for his impeccable reaction to being dropped when McClaren took over post-World Cup.

McClaren is expecting a mixed reaction and from what I’ve seen on blogs so far he’s about right. At the LA Galaxy blog at theoffside they are understandably pretty excited, while at Soccerblog.com they’re calling it a step backwards and saying David Bentley deserves a chance before the former England captain.

With England in trouble in their qualifying group E for Euro 2008, it’s certainly a pragmatic move from the under-fire McClaren, who may well have felt he had little choice but to recall a player who is not only in good form but fitter than most after missing a chunk of the season.

Kevin Fylan

Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello thinks it’s time for England to bring back David Beckham.

I can’t understand how a player who is playing so well can be left out of any national side, Fabio Capello told reporters after Real Madrid training on Friday. I told David the other day that I thought he has never been in such good form either mentally or physically and he agreed with me.

We’ll find out on Saturday what Steve McClaren thinks when he announces his squad for next Fridays friendly against Brazil and the Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia five days later.

Ive been watching Beckham at the Bernabeu ever since he moved to Spain in 2003 and he is probably in his best form since joining the nine-times European champions.

The former England captain doesnt deserve to take all the credit for Reals revival. His former Manchester United colleague Ruud van Nistelrooy, who took his tally for the season to 22 goals with a penalty in last weeks 3-2 win over Recreativo Huelva, has done more.

But with his trademark crosses and free kicks providing a series of assists for crucial goals, Beckham has played an important part in helping Real overhaul arch-rivals Barcelona at the top of the table.

With England limping along in fourth place in Group E, the question may be whether McClaren can afford not to pick the 32-year-old.

Simon Baskett is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Madrid

Watching Milan fans hanging from lamp posts and dodging firecrackers amid the thousands of red and black flags that lined the bus route through the city you could hardly doubt that Italy is in love with football again.

The pain of last season’s match-fixing scandal and the shock at the death of a policeman during riots at Catania in February had whittled away an attachment to soccer which few other nations can ever have matched.

Last July’s World Cup win was greeted by euphoria but mainly because Italians were so surprised that they had won. Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Champions League final was instead celebrated in a manner which suggested Italy believes it is rightfully back at the top.

The open top bus ride through Milan on Thursday took two hours longer than planned because of the throng of supporters while the mayoress said the city was the centre of world football again given Milan’s victory and Inter’s 15th scudetto.

Look beneath the surface and you could still say that England and Spain hold the trump cards. We had an all-Spanish UEFA Cup final and there were three English teams in the Champions League semi-finals after all. Milan also had to bring in a fading Ronaldo midway through the season while Inter are desperately trying to keep Luis Figo, who admits himself he is past his best.

But some big summer signings and a more competitive Serie A next season, with everyone starting on the same points and Juventus back in the picture, will further repair Italy’s passion for the game.

Marks Meadows is a Reuters sports correspondent in Milan

A night when nothing quite went right for Liverpool was summed up in the third minute of stoppage time, when Steven Gerrard controlled a Milan clearance, set himself up and let fly, only to see his shot charged down.

The tens of thousands of Liverpool fans, hands clasped, will have been hoping for the sort of logic defying last gasp of drama that Gerrard provided in the FA Cup final against West Ham at the end of last season. It didn’t come, but that was about right for a night when, for all the immense support they received from the crowd, Liverpool seemed to lack conviction.

From the awkwardly positioned press box here at the Olympic Stadium, level with the Liverpool goal in the first half, my main impression was of seeing Liverpool send over a series of wasted crossed. From Jermaine Pennant on the right they seemed to be regularly overhit, while Bolo Zenden’s efforts from the left were being blocked, and that was when he wasn’t giving the ball away.

But then, even if every cross had been perfectly executed would Liverpool have gone ahead? Peter Crouch, the club’s top scorer in Europe this season, was left on the bench for all but the last 12 minutes when he might have been expected to make the most of whatever the wide men could give him.

Milan got a touch of luck with the deflection on Inzaghi’s goal just before half-time. It meant Liverpool had no choice but to leave more gaps at the back, and gave Kaka the chance to set up predator Pippo to score a goal that reminded me of Raul’s clinching third in the 2000 final for Real Madrid against Valencia. From there, there was no way back, even if Kuyt’s header gave them a glimmer of hope.

The fans still greeted the final whistle with a chorus of You’ll never Walk Alone, and continued applauding, singing and cheering even as Paolo Maldini walked up the steps to accept the European Cup from Michel Platini. They could hardly have made more noise if they’d won.

Sorry to the Liverpool fans who’ve made so many comments over the last few days, and keep coming back, please. There’s always Moscow in 2008.

Kevin Fylan, Athens

With prices ranging from astronomical to downright ruinous, I haven’t been able to find anyone who’s actually bought a Champions League final ticket from a tout.

English fans I spoke to on the morning of the match said they’d been offered tickets for 5,000 euros apiece, while I saw one Italian supporter trying to sell his for 3,000 euros. That’s obviously well out of the range of most fans and many are planning to go down to the stadium and hope for prices to drop dramatically as kick-off time approaches. Let’s see if the law of supply and demand holds out.

“No one’s going to pay the sort of money being talked about,” said Carl Drinkwater from Clitheroe, Lancashire, who like many season-ticket holders booked flights in the full expectation of getting a ticket, only to be disappointed .”The sad thing is I’ve heard they were selling returned tickets back at Anfield to anyone who could prove they had a flight.”

Liverpool fans are nothing if not resourceful and there was one man on the street running off from Syntagma Square busking Folsom Prison Blues with a sign out asking for a ticket in his guitar case instead of money.

It’s meant I can’t get Johnny Cash out of my mind, with everyone signing “De de de de de de de de” to the tune of Ring of Fire at the slightest provocation. Does that mean the Man in Black (Herbert Fandel, in this case) is going to be decisive?

The rain was bucketing down in the early afternoon and I met a bunch of Liverpool and Milan fans sheltering from the weather in one city-centre cafe, happily firing off songs back and forth. “It’ll be 2-0 tonight, no problem,” one of the Milan fans told me. “Kaka and Seedorf.” His friend added: “But if we’re winning 3-0 at half-time, we’re all going to be nervous.”

More later when I get to the stadium but for now, I’ve been wondering what puns we can expect in the media reports from the final. Will it be a case of Liverpool’s Greek tragedy?  A ‘eureka’ moment from Kaka? One of the captains holding aloft the Grecian urn? And I’m sure we’ll read about one of the defences bearing gifts. Can you think of any more?

UPDATE: Was absolute chaos getting from the city centre to the stadium, with Liverpool fans jammed on to the trains. So where were all the Milan fans? At the stadium, it seems, with Milan fans for the moment making much more noise than the Reds.

As my colleague Karolos Grohmann reports, 65 people were arrested on the spot when their tickets turned out to be forgeries. There were quite a few fans trying more (ahem) direct ways in without tickets. One or two managed to jump the outside perimeter around three hours before kick-off just outside the station but they were quickly stopped.

I’ll be back with some thoughts after the game.

Kevin Fylan, Athens

Every Liverpool fan you talk to has the same question: “Got any tickets going? A spare accreditation? Go on, you’re a journalist. You must have.”

I flew out to Athens this morning from Berlin and the flight was packed with Liverpool fans, many coming to the final via extremely circuitous routes.

My favourite story came from John from South Wales, who left his wife on holiday in Palma de Mallorca to take an early morning flight to Berlin, and then on to Greece. He’ll rejoin his wife (assuming she’ll have him) the morning after the final. “It’ll be a good holiday as long as Liverpool win,” he said.

John was lucky enough to have a ticket, but his mates were travelling more in hope than expectation of seeing the game live. Richie Five Times (a London Scouse exile, soon to change his nickname to Richie Six Times, he hopes) had put together a trip from London to Berlin Schoenefeld, a mad dash across the city to Tegel and then on to the same Athens flight.

“It’s worked out no trouble. Fantastic,” said Richie, who was wearing a number 4 Shankly shirt with the former Liverpool manager’s famous quote about socialism. “If you haven’t got a ticket, you don’t have a map of the drainage system at the stadium, do you?” he added.

There were no AC Milan fans I could see on the flight, and precious few at the airport when I arrived. I met more and more Liverpool fans, all with the same question about tickets.

“We thought we’d get tickets, cos we’ve been season ticket holders for the last 10 years, so we were in a catch-22 situation about buying flights,” said Gareth Topping, a builder from Devon who had travelled with his brother, Graham, via London and a 4 a.m. flight from Munich. “There’s still hope, though.”

Now it’s off in to town to see what the atmosphere’s like. “If it’s half as good as Istanbul it’ll be special,” said Gareth.

The fans here at the airport are already humming “Ring of Fire”, the Johnny Cash song that became the unofficial theme song of Liverpool’s run to the final in 2005. Something tells me I’ll be hearing a lot more of that.

UPDATE: With 24 hours to go until kick-off, Liverpool fans seem intent on recreating a bit of Istanbul in Athens. Walking around the central Syntagma Square, the place is teeming with red shirts, just like in Taksim Square the night before the final in Istanbul two years ago.

Supporters are not out in quite such force, which is probably because so many have been forced to go a long way out of town to find hotel rooms.

There’s a lot of singing and plenty of beer being drunk, while flashing Liverpool badges and hats bought from street vendors seem to be the accessories to have. For now, Milan fans remain few on the ground. More later.

Kevin Fylan, Athens