I’m on my way to Athens tomorrow for the Champions League final and I’ll be blogging throughout the 48-hour trip. For those of you who can’t be there I’ll try and give a feel of what it’s like at the stadium and around town, as thousands of fans converge on the city. If it’s anything like Istanbul two years ago it should be pretty spectacular.

Soccerlens predicts a “hard, grinding” match, much like the the FA Cup final by the sound of it, while Alberto Sithole at Sportingo seems convinced that Milan will win. What do you think we’re in for?

I’m hoping for another classic. I’ve been lucky enough to cover two of the most exciting European Cup finals in history for Reuters (Man Utd 2 Bayern Munich 1 in Barcelona in 1999 and Liverpool’s win over Milan in 2005). Having said that, I’ve also been there for one of the worst (Milan’s penalties victory over Juventus after a goalless draw in Manchester in 2003).

I’ll be with you as of mid-afternoon on Tuesday in Athens, provided my last-minute bucketshop plane ticket turns out to be valid. We’ll see…

Kevin Fylan, Berlin

What is it about sports reporting and the urge to call title races so early? It happened again in Germany this season, as VfB Stuttgart were crowned champions at the weekend, two months after the media said they were definitively out of the running.

“Stuttgart drop out of championship race,” was the headline in Kicker — in mid-March! — after Stuttgart lost 1-0 to Schalke 04. But after eight successive victories at the end of the season, Stuttgart were left having the last laugh.

It baffles me why anyone writing about the Bundesliga would want to declare the race over so early — for declaring winners prematurely makes the final stretch seem dull, which it most often isn’t. History has repeatedly shown that races tighten and the leader in February is not necessarily the winner in May.

You’d think they would learn from their mistakes. But I can remember so many past seasons in which clubs like Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen and others were crowned champions a long way before the finish line. Ignominious predictions, all of them.

We’ve seen it happen in Spain this season, too. Months ago Real Madrid were absolutely discarded as title challengers, yet here they are with three matches to go at the top of the table.

Just count the number of times you hear the phrase “title decider” about a much-hyped match when there are still weeks or even months to go before the season’s end. They almost never decide anything.

Erik Kirschbaum is a Reuters correspondent based in Berlin

Poor Kakha Kaladze and Massimo Ambrosini must feel like the kids who were picked last in the school playground.

Journalists and camera crews were swarming around Kaka and Paolo Maldini at the AC Milan media day ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League final with Liverpool.

Georgian defender Kaladze and midfielder Ambrosini were sat twiddling their thumbs for most of the event at Milan’s plush training ground as desperate hacks tried various tricks to try to snare an exclusive with one of the more famous players.

One crew hid round a corner hoping to trap a top name without other journalists and Milan press officers finding out, while one Italian correspondent voiced his annoyance at the press briefings being translated into English.

But the media would do well to notice that when it comes to Champions League finals, the best players are not always the match-winners.

Little-known Brazilian Juliano Belletti grabbed the winner for Barcelona against Arsenal last season when Thierry Henry fluffed a superb chance and proved that great players can still freeze on the big occasion.

Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was the unlikely hero for Liverpool against Milan in 2005 while Andriy Shevchenko missed the crucial penalty.

Kaladze to score the winning goal in Athens, anyone?
 
Mark Meadows is a Reuters sports correspondent in Milan

If there is one thing Spaniards are good at it is putting on a show and they did just that in this weeks UEFA Cup final at Glasgow. Seemingly oblivious to the leaden skies, the incessant drizzle and cold wind, Sevilla and Espanyol lit up Glasgow with a match of drama and real quality at Hampden.

Barcelona and Real Madrid may have failed to shine in the Champions League this season, but these two outfits certainly lived up to expectation on a stage where Spanish sides have claimed some of their most memorable triumphs.

Wednesdays match had everything any fan could wish to see at a final: attack-minded football, a brave fightback, extra-time and a heart-stopping finale with a penalty shoot-out. In the end, the hero was Andres Palop. Remember him?

To cap it all the two sets of fans behaved impeccably. Their vociferous and colourful support of their teams created a fantastic atmosphere at Hampden. There was plenty of rivalry, but it was always good natured.

For a country that craves international recognition, European competition remains the true measure of success for Spanish sides and it says a lot for the strength in depth of the Primera Liga that they have won the UEFA Cup three times in the last four seasons.

Spanish sports correspondent Simon Baskett was in Glasgow for the UEFA Cup final

When Harry Kewell limped off to ear-splitting whistles from Liverpool fans 23 minutes into the Champions League final against AC Milan two years ago, few of us present could have believed he would get a second chance in a European Cup final.

Yet two years on, and at the end of a season ruined by injury, it seems the erratic Australian might have timed his recovery just in time for a shot at redemption.

Many people who were critical of Kewell’s selection in Istanbul — and that was just about everyone, it seemed — will have been surprised at comments this week from Rafa Benitez that Kewell is on the verge of a place in the team for the final in Athens against the same opponents.

As Tom Harness notes at Sportingo, you can see why the manager is tempted, though. Liverpool have had a problem on the left side all season, with Mark Gonzalez yet to show his best in the English game. Kewell at his best (and he was pretty good against Charlton, by all accounts) could cause the Milan defence a few problems.

But what do the fans think? Would picking Kewell make sense, despite his lack of
competitive action? Or does it sound more like a piece of superstition, picking the same player because, you know, it did turn out alright in the end two years ago? We can all be obsessive about following the same pre-match ritual after all.

It just leaves one question. Is there still time to re-sign Didi Hamann and bring him into the team? Just for the second half of course…

Kevin Fylan, Berlin

There is a tapas bar and a red and yellow flag on the corner of practically every street in the centre of Glasgow so youd think Spanish fans converging on the city for the UEFA Cup final between Espanyol and Sevilla would feel at home. But the trip to the second city of the Empire has been a bit of a culture shock for the thousands of supporters who have flown in from the south of Europe.

First, there’s the weather. Tuesday was a crisp, clear and sunny spring day, but Sevilla fans in particular were caught off guard with the drop in temperatures at night. As the wind whipped up the Clyde, I heard one group of shivering, teeth-chattering Andalucians comment, It’s May and Im freezing to death. Whatever happened to global warming?

A group of blue-and-white kilted Espanyol fans were in for another surprise as they trouped into George Square in search of something to eat.

Their eyes rounded on the tiled tapas bar in the corner, windows draped in Spanish flags and castanets. It was 10:30 at night, a perfectly reasonable time to start the evenings entertainment back in Barcelona, but they were to be disappointed as they entered this little slice of Andalucia. Im sorry lads the kitchens closed, said the waiter as he upended the chairs on tables near the door. Try the Chinese round the corner. They eventually decided on a liquid supper.

Breakfast at my hotel was another reminder of the differing culinary and cultural traditions. A family group from Sevilla, wearing their On tour to Glasgow T-shirts, waded manfully through lukewarm baked beans, fried bread, potatoes, bacon and eggs but were pounced upon when one of them dared to try and light up a cigarette.

Smokings banned in Scotland, the waitress explained. Its bad for your health. Suitably chastened, he put the packet away, though he might have been wondering why they hadnt banned the breakfast for the same reason.

Glasgow must be delighted that two Spanish sides have reached the final. The Espanyol and Sevilla fans may disappoint local bars with the quantity of alcohol they consume, but their behaviour has so far been impeccable. There is no history of morbo (or needle) between these two teams and it should be the game itself that makes the headlines.

Spanish sports correspondent Simon Baskett is in Glasgow for the UEFA Cup final

“You cant win a game without getting off the bus,” is an oft-used Spanish football cliché, but UEFA Cup finalists Espanyol reckon they did just that last time they reached a cup final.

Written off as having no hope against a Zaragoza side who had beaten both Real Madrid and Barcelona on the way to last years Kings Cup final, the periquitos (parakeets) scored within two minutes of the kickoff and went on to claim a sparkling 4-1 victory at the Bernabeu.

The game was won on the bus, said then coach Miguel Angel Lotina. We saw our fans lining the streets all the way and the players got to their feet and started joining in their songs and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic.

“You can talk as much as you like about tactics and coaching certificates but the reality of football comes down to things like that. That sort of spirit is what wins Cup finals.”

Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta and Uruguayan striker Walter Pandiani led the pre-match singing last April and the two players are back with the team this year to try and ensure Espanyol repeat the trick in Wednesdays game against holders Sevilla.

If they do manage to cause another upset, club director Sebastian Javier has promised he will buy every player a new Mini. Arriving on the bus and driving home a Mini will be the aim of every Espanyol player at Hampden.

Spanish sports correspondent Simon Baskett is in Glasgow for the UEFA Cup final

Even in a topsy-turvy Bundesliga season like this one, with Bayern Munich missing out on a Champions League place and Borussia Moenchengladbach finishing bottom, it’s funny how some things never change.

No matter how certain it seems Schalke will finally land a Bundesliga title, the Royal Blues from Gelsenkirchen, quite possibly Germany’s most popular club, will always, always find a way of falling just short.

It happened in 2001 when for a few glorious minutes they were celebrating a title they thought was in the bag, only for Bayern to snatch it with a 94th minute goal in Hamburg. They were disappointed again two years ago, when they beat Bayern in what was supposed to be the title decider only for the Bavarians to reel them back in.

Two months ago, after a 1-0 win over Stuttgart, Schalke were six points clear and striding towards a first championship since 1958, five years before Germany’s professional league came into being.

At the weekend they were dreaming of taking the title with a week to spare and at the home of their Ruhr Valley rivals Borussia Dortmund. That dream turned into a nightmare as they went down 2-0 and Stuttgart racked up a seventh straight win to climb two points above them with one to play.

Stuttgart need only win at home to Energie Cottbus, a team with nothing left to play for, to land their first title in 15 years.

“The decisive round, and as expected, Schalke choked…” was the way Abseits summed it up, while Bild am Sonntag wondered, “Will Schalke never again be the champions?”

Schalke themselves have been left to hope for some sort of cosmic compensation for what happened six years ago. ”In 2001 Schalke lost the title in the last second,” captain Marcelo Bordon told Bild. “Maybe it’s time for us to win it in the last second.”

Perhaps they really do have reason to hope for one last twist of fate. It has been that sort of season. Tune in next week, anyway.

Kevin Fylan, Berlin

With Chelsea’s season stuttering to a close after penalty-shootout failure in the Champions League and the loss of their Premier League title to Manchester United, football commentators have gone strangely soft on Jose Mourinho.

By all accounts Mourinho’s job has been on the line since he fell out with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in January. The pair reached a truce last month when Chelsea were still in the running for a quartet of trophies but now the expensively assembled London side are reduced to the possibility of a couple of domestic cups — they face Manchester United in the FA Cup final on May 19 — his position is again in question.

Newspapers and broadcasters, for whom the garrulous Mourinho has been a boon for the last three seasons, appear to have woken up to the danger of his departure.

From damning his arrogance and querulousness and criticising his team for boring football, back pages have started praising the gallant losers for their never-say-die attitude and Mourinho for the way he has fostered team spirit.

The prospect of the loss of all those column inches of colourful, provocative, teasing quotes and in their place the bland “game of two halves” assertions of other managers, was probably to much to bear. (Soccerlens have a whole page devoted to his best quotes.)

Love him or loathe him, admire or despise him, since he arrived in England the Special One has never been the Boring One.

Clare Lovell is a Reuters sports reporter based in London

European clubs are at it again. Mexico have agreed to let captain Rafael Marquez skip the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States so that he can play for Barcelona in the King’s Cup final, assuming they qualify.

Meanwhile, Villarreal are urging their Chilean midfielder Matias Fernandez to sit out the Copa America in Venezuela and there are rumours in Brazil that Barcelona want Ronaldinho to do the same.

You can bet more players will be pressured into giving these tournaments a miss over the course of the next few weeks.
 
The strange thing in the Marquez case is that the Spanish federation is at fault for the clash of dates rather than CONCACAF. A look at FIFA’s co-ordinated calender makes it quite clear: June 6-24 Gold Cup and June 26-July 15 Copa America. The Spanish federation has encroached into the CONCACAF dates by staging the final rounds of La Liga on June 10 and 17 followed by the King’s Cup final on June 23.

Yet it is Mexico, not Barcelona, who are paying the price.
 
It does make you wonder about the future of international football. The European clubs complain until they are blue in the face about the African Nations Cup being staged in January. But when continental tournaments (apart from the European championship, of course) are played in June or July, they insist their players should take a rest - even though they are happy to drag them halfway across the world shortly afterwards for lucrative pre-season friendlies.
 
Should Latin America and Africa just resign themselves to a role as breeding grounds for the world’s top talent. Are they really asking too much if, occasionally, they want to see their own players performing competitively in their own back yards?

Brian Homewood is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Rio de Janeiro

Update: As Brian predicted, Kaka has started the ball rolling by asking to be excused the competition. A columnist in the Folha de Sao Paulo wrote: “It’s a relief for the other players who don’t want to go. Now they can argue they have the same right. Ronaldinho is one of them.” Let’s see what happens.

Kevin Fylan, Berlin