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from Left field:
And Porto will play…..Europa League draw provides some stardust
There was the usual hushed silence and then sudden intake of breath heard in Nyon on Friday, though not for the Champions League Round of 16 draw but the first two ties of the Europa League Round of 32.
Holders Porto will play mega-rich Manchester City, they were the first two names out of the little plastic balls when UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino was finally able to open the second after Davor Suker had tried and failed, and Ajax Amsterdam will take on Manchester United.
So what about the Champions League draw? Well, here it is in full:
Olympique Lyon v APOEL Nicosia
Napoli v Chelsea
AC Milan v Arsenal
Basel v Bayern Munich
Time for UEFA to revert to goal difference in Champions League
My head is hurting after all the mathematics that has been needed to work out qualification chances in the Champions League.
It is all because UEFA believes head-to-heads rather than goal difference in all group games should be the first deciding factor.
Many don’t see the logic of this. Using goal difference as the first determining factor, like many domestic leagues, encourages attacking play for a start which is surely a laudable aim. Head-to-heads don’t especially.
The reason head-to-heads is preferred seems to be because one team could have scored many more goals against the group whipping boys than their rivals and this is deemed an unfair advantage. Why?
If Team A batter Team C 7-0 and Team B only beats Team C 1-0, why should Team A be penalised if their head-to-head with Team B is worse. The head-to-head could be 0-0 and 1-1 and Team A would go out on one away goal.
It would be so much more accessible and understandable for the average fan if it was just goal difference (and then goals scored and then perhaps a playoff on a neutral ground) rather than the sometimes mindboggling head-to-heads which can get very tricky when three teams are involved.
Most of the media organisations in Europe got it wrong when trying to work out what Chelsea needed to do in the final round of matches because the rules were so complex. That can’t be right.
Head to head in CL is a positive thing, as it encourages every game to be taken serioulsy where all clubs field their best team in all games, thereby providing a consistent high standard of football
Spreading out internationals makes sense
UEFA’s plan to spread out fixtures during international weeks makes perfect sense and should bring an end to those strange weekends during the season with no top class soccer, when I find myself watching rubbish old B-movies and darts.
The idea would see a national team play on Thursday for example and then Sunday, or Friday and Tuesday like now or Saturday and Tuesday.
The “week of football” as UEFA dubs it will also mean the big soccer fans can watch lots of live international football day after day rather than trying to catch the highlights of 20 games all played one one evening.
Clubs can’t moan either as they will still be getting their players back on a Wednesday before a club match as currently happens after the reasonably recent change to play second matches of international double headers on Tuesday.
The only downside to the plan I can see is that national coaches will get less preparation time following weekend club matches if their first game is on a Thursday.
UEFA also wants to harmonise kick off times for qualifiers which makes a lot of sense too.
Everyone knows that Champions League games in the club sphere start at 1845 GMT but looking at Friday’s Euro 2012 games, they start at 1600, 1700, 1715, 1800, 1900, 1915, 1930, 1945, 2000, 2030 and yes the obligatory Portugal at 2100 (when do they ever get to sleep?)
I feel that this change in spreading out internationals is a great compromise. There is such a big issue between club and national team play, so if you can find a balance between the two, you would be a hero!
The club teams feel that they have the rights to the player considering that the pay them, so I feel that the national team coaches should respect this change.
Soccer Break Friday
The first day of the fourth month means April fools day, so we would really love to hear from you if there are any dubious stories doing the rounds.
Here are some. Frank Lampard’s ‘goal that never was’ at the World Cup is to be finally given. Ronaldo will start playing for Spain. And here is a list of five other classics from the past.
How about Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho for Manchester United? Or do you agree that West Ham United would have been in the hunt for Europe bar refereeing decisions?
Back to this weekend, and the title races in Spain and Italy are really hotting up as our previews will tell you. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund are still well clear but need to steady the ship.
Breaking news on Friday was the joint announcement by FIFA and UEFA that Bosnia were being suspended from international competition. Stay tuned for more including a chat with the Bosnia coach.
Finally the latest on Chad Ochocinco as the debate rages on…can athletes successfully transfer their skills in one sport to another?
Kevin Fylan adds: All betting fans, please also check out the latest edition of our sports spreads show on Insider: Click here for our lightning look at the Premier League programme and the cricket World Cup final.
Soccer Break Tuesday
Football’s governing bodies are dominating the news on Tuesday as the FIFA presidency candidates hit the campaign trail and the UEFA presidency will be retained by an unopposed Michel Platini.
The sport is more global than ever, highlighted in December when Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup ahead of the United States, Japan, Australia and South Korea despite the fact a Middle Eastern country has never before hosted a major global sporting event.
For Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam is challenging Swiss Sepp Blatter as the head of football’s world governing body later this year. Who would you like in charge? Reports of a divide, or potential one, have been ruled out by the Qatari.
Michel Platini has more football in him having been the architect of France’s 1984 European championships win, but is his re-election as UEFA president necessarily the best thing? Would you prefer someone who hasn’t played the game to come in with an outside view?
Sticking with the global theme, we’ve already been discussing the new season of the American league MLS. Do you agree with this blog that the MLS is a little misunderstood? Or do you believe it truly is a ‘major league’?
Another league which provokes debate is the Scottish Premier League, dominated by Celtic and Rangers. Is this a good or a bad thing? Scotland’s captain thinks the league is a bore.
One of the world’s best leagues in La Liga often ends up in a two horse race, Barcelona and Real Madrid battling for the title. Do you prefer more open leagues such as Ligue 1?
Should Real be punished if red cards are deemed deliberate?
It’s one of the most farcical scenes I’ve ever seen in soccer. Real Madrid duo Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos taking ages to take kicks in the 4-0 win at Ajax and getting second yellow cards for timewasting and hence being sent off.
Deliberate? They face automatic one-match suspensions in the final group game against Auxerre, which is a dead match for Real with the Spanish club already assured of first place in Group G and qualification for the last 16.
However, the red cards mean they will have a clean slate when the round of 16 begins, assuming UEFA hand them only the mandatory one-match ban.
Players have got yellow cards on purpose for similar reasons in the past. Real are not commenting but if these two players did it deliberately, they could be in trouble. Was coach Jose Mourinho aware?
If it was done on purpose, surely it is not in the spirit of the game and some would say disrespectful to a famous name like Ajax and a competition Real are meant to hold dear given they are nine-times champions.
On the other hand, at least they did not go round kicking and possibly injuring someone in order to get a second yellow, even if that might have been less obvious.
So what can UEFA do if it rules the second yellows were deliberate? Finding proof is tricky.
Yes Mourinho should be suspended for min. of 5 games and each of the players for 4 games. What they did was uncalled for for UEFA should use Real as an example
Euro 2012 qualifiers – live
We’re following all tonight’s Euro 2012 qualifiers live. Join us here for updates, comments and pix … and details of all the goals as they go in.
Europeans baffled by fuss over Terry’s private life
Michel Platini’s Gallic shrug said it all. “I’m not bothered. What do you want me to say?” he said.
The UEFA President and former France captain had just been asked for the third time in a few minutes on England coach Fabio Capello’s decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy because of something which happened off the field.
Platini was speaking in Warsaw at a news conference and was supposed to be talking about the qualifying draw for Euro 2012, an event which involved all 53 of UEFA’s associations.
Instead, he found himself fielding questions on the internal problems of one single member.
“We have 52 other associations in UEFA. Everybody has their own way of doing things…Poland, Ukraine, Austria, Norway, Malta, Cyprus. The problem of the English is not the problem of Italy, of France.
“You have some funny problems in England, but fortunately you have an Italian to sort them out.”
Very true Brian, particularly about captaincy only being such a big deal in England. In Italy, the skipper was generally just the oldest regular starter in the team. If he was missing it went to the next oldest. So when Maldini retired the armband went to Cannavaro – there was no discussion or debate.
It only seems to be England that considers the position to be on a par with government or the royal family.
And yet, despite having this bizarre obsession (one which I suspect has its roots in the education system with prefects etc) the English allow an Italian to run their team and to appoint as captain a player who served an eight month ban for breaking dope test rules.
Strange.
UEFA to call time on loss-making clubs
Half Europe’s leading professional clubs are losing money, according to UEFA, and the forthcoming Financial Fair Play initiative will be a concerted attempt to tackle the problem.
The new financial framework will mean that from the 2013-14 season, clubs must break even or face the threat of exclusion from European club competition.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino outlined the situation in a telephone interview with Mike Collett, our chief soccer correspondent, and myself. Here is what he said:
REUTERS: Can you explain what Finanical Fair Play is exactly?
UEFA: Essentially it is not a difficult thing. The main reason for financial fair play is that it is a tool to help improve the long-term stability and the financial health of European club football. It should help the clubs live within the revenues that they generate and one important element of this is that this whole concept was agreed last August in Monaco by all the stakeholders: the clubs, the leagues, the players unions and the national associations, they are all behind this concept.
This was approved by the Executive Committee and now we are in the middle of elaborating the rules. By ‘we’ its not just UEFA, but also external experts, members of the Club Financial Control Panel, in a broad consultation process.
REUTERS: The owners of the clubs are also in favour of this? Michel Platini has said that the owners of the big clubs have approached him.
clubs that want to avoid this will no doubt find a financial loop hole in order to offset percentage variance against revenue (profit) and spending. I don’t see that it will control the huge amounts spent on transfer fees and wages for the likes of Man city for example which in turn will only go to perpetuate Uefa’s initial concerns.Where there is money to be made there are answers to questions…
Three reasons for UEFA to be cheerful with the new Champions League format
APOEL Nicosia, Olympiakos and FC Zurich’s performances in the Champions League this year may have done enough to strengthen the case for more group stage places to be kept open for teams from smaller soccer countries.
Earlier this year, UEFA decided to split the qualifying contest into two halves — one for teams who are champions in their countries, the other for non-champions.
The logic was that winners of the smaller leagues such as Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Moldova, to name but a few, would not have their path to the group stage blocked by the likes of non-champion teams such as Arsenal, Fiorentina and Atletico Madrid.
FC Zurich, Olympiakos, Debrecen, Maccabi Haifa and APOEL Nicosia benefited as they took the five places kept open for champions of lesser-ranked countries.
Despite UEFA’s laudable intentions, there were of rumblings of discontent among some of the bigger clubs. Many felt these teams would be unable to hold their own with the likes of Real Madrid and AC Milan.
In the event, the smaller clubs were far from disgraced. Admittedly, there were two disasters, Debrecen and Maccabi Haifa, who crashed out without notching a point and, in the latter case, even scoring a goal.
