Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Sweden hope Ibrahimovic can sparkle now Milan are out
Phil O’Connor
There was one soccer coach just as happy as Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola on Tuesday when his side knocked AC Milan out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.
That man is Sweden coach Erik Hamren.
With Euro 2012 approaching fast, Hamren will be quietly pleased that top striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic won’t be involved in the final in Munich on May 19 and can instead avoid injury and stay fresh.
Zlatan may not be as pleased. Having won a slew of titles with Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and Milan, “that damn Champions League” (as he once referred to it) remains beyond his grasp.
In a recent interview with a UEFA magazine he changed his tune somewhat, saying he is happy with his career regardless of whether or not he wins Europe’s premier club competition.
This sent me flicking through my notebooks and I came across an entry from a Sweden press conference in 2009, just after he had secured yet another Serie A title with Inter. Ibra finished the season as Italy’s capocannoniere (top scorer) on 25 goals – typically, the goal that put him on top was an outrageous backheel on the last day of the season against Atalanta.
Ibrahimovic answers critics but questions remain about Milan
It’s taken a long time, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic has finally delivered a performance worthy of his talent against an English team in the Champions League.
Long scoffed at by British fans and journalists for his pale imitation of a top-class striker in Europe’s top competition, Zlatan delivered something of a virtuoso performance as Milan thrashed Arsenal 4-0 at the San Siro, rendering the last 16 return leg in London next month all but meaningless.
His passing – particularly in the first half when his pinpoint cross picked out Robinho for the Rossoneri‘s second goal – was sublime and in the second half he got the goal he richly deserved, firing home Milan’s fourth from the penalty spot after he was dragged down by Johan Djourou.
But questions still remain about the Swede and his team mates. As excellent as he was on it, Ibra’s movement off the ball was sometimes slow and laboured, while every time a pass went astray he gestured his discontent to his colleagues.
Indeed, his whole team seemed affected by selfishness; Robinho never bothered to thank Zlatan for the great assist and several Milan players took wild shots when Ibra was better-placed to finish.
Once ranked as Europe’s best for their clinical, technical displays in Europe, Italian sides have stood in the shadow of Spanish “tiki-taka” for the past few years.
Barca tired? Not on this evidence
Men tuning in for lots of action in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg ties would have rued the decision to stay in front of the TV on Valentines’ Night when Barcelona v Bayer Leverkusen and Olympique Lyon against APOEL Nicosia reached the 40-minute mark.
Both were 0-0. APOEL had not registered a shot on goal. Barcelona had dominated their German opposition with 78 per cent of possession, yet no opening score.
There have been reports of a tired Barcelona recently, justifiably. The La Liga and Champions League holders have slipped to 10 points behind arch rivals Real Madrid, who are about the strongest outfit left in Europe’s premier competition on current form.
Perhaps this woke Barcelona up as Alexis Sanchez netted a 41st-minute opener. Coach Pep Guardiola said afterwards: “I think for the spectators the second half was more fun to watch than the first.”
Barcelona scored two more goals, Lionel Messi came alive, and the Catalans conceded just one in a hugely improved second-half display, that led Leverkusen defender Vedran Corluka to say the tie was over. Few would argue with him.
More in the balance is Lyon’s tie with unheralded APOEL, who will head back to Cyprus with just a one-goal deficit. Can the Nicosia side make more history and reach the quarters?
In action on Wednesday will be Arsenal’s record goalscorer Thierry Henry when the London-club travel to the San Siro for their AC Milan clash, while Zenit St Petersburg host Benfica. Valentine’s Day will be over so let’s hope for romance on the pitch in the first halves.
Va-va-voom. Vintage Henry scores on Arsenal return.
The clock said 68 minutes, and no one at the Emirates Stadium in north London was looking at the action on the pitch as the fourth official held aloft his lit-up board to signal the re-introduction of Thierry Henry to English football.
Ten minutes later and he’d scored the game’s eventual winner. Comebacks don’t get this good this often.
14 to replace 15 shone the bright numbers before the goal, but alas Henry’s former number has since been taken by young English talent Theo Walcott, who idolises the French great.
Now, for six weeks and six weeks only after which he will return to the United States with the New York Red Bulls, Henry can be seen wearing an Arsenal shirt with the number 12, the same as his France days during which he won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship.
The only numbers Arsenal fans will care about are 228, 229 and who knows, possible even into the 230s.
With a trademark movement of his right boot, Henry had added to his record Arsenal tally of 226 having watched his new teammates spurn chance after chance against Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup.
Arsenal fans out there, does this worry you? Would you like to see Arsene Wenger bring in another striker in the January transfer window given the lack of goals?
I am not an Arsenal supporter but my young son is so I find myself obligated to take an interest.
There is something special about Henry and about his relationship with the club, which I liken to the bond between Eric Cantona and Manchester United.
I dare say when his playing days are finally over he won’t be short of a job offer at the Emirates somewhere.
Mark
printer ink
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Inter v Bayern means repeat of 2010 Champions League final
Holders Inter Milan will face Bayern Munich, the team they beat to clinch the trophy last season, in the Champions League last 16 with a repeat of the 2006 final also due after Barcelona were drawn to meet Arsenal.
Bayern might actually be favourites given Inter's struggles so far this term while Barca and Lionel Messi destroyed Arsenal in the quarter-finals second leg last season despite the two sides' similar style of play.
Those two are definitely the standout ties with Manchester United probably chuffed to have got Marseille while Real Madrid will again clash with bogey side Olympique Lyon in what will be an interesting game for Karim Benzema.
Stuttering Chelsea will be glad to have drawn knockout round debutants Copenhagen and having given Inter a mighty fright in the group stage, Tottenham Hotspur and Gareth Bale have the chance to do the same to AC Milan after being paired together.
Here's the draw in full, maybe not as many tasty ties as there could have been but we'll still all be very excited come February I'm sure.
Group stage runners-up first and will play first legs at home.
AS Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Where does benchwarmer Ronaldinho go from here?
AC Milan are flying high at the top of Serie A but Ronaldinho is stuck to the bench with Massimiliano Allegri-branded glue.
The struggling Brazilian has started once in the last nine games and that was in the lacklustre 2-0 home defeat by Ajax Amsterdam, Milan's only loss during the spell.
Most soccer fans outside Italy have probably never heard of Milan boss Allegri, plucked out of relative obscurity at Cagliari, but he has certainly made a name for himself in Serie A by deciding his side would be better off without carrying a player who may be Silvio Berlusconi's favourite but whose powers have long since faded.
It is now a case Ronaldinhoinhoinho such is the forward's diminutive status in Milan's grand plan.
Along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Allegri has re-energised the Rossoneri and after going six points clear they now look big favourites for a first scudetto since 2004 - thus ending Inter Milan's five-year reign,
New signings Kevin Prince Boateng, Robinho and Ibra scored in that order for the second straight league game in Sunday's 3-0 win at Bologna, leading newspapers to parody Ronaldinho with a new dream-laden moniker - Boatinhovic.
The trio, the January return to fitness of Alexandre Pato and Allegri's call for a new signing in the transfer window to replace the injured Filippo Inzaghi mean Ronaldinho's future at the San Siro looks bleak.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Champions League podcast – 4
Kevin Fylan is joined by Owen Wyatt, Mark Meadows, Jon Bramley and Martyn Herman for a look at the week's Champions League matches. Will Real Madrid be too much for AC Milan? Our panel seems to think so.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Champions League podcast, episode 3
This week the podcast panel discuss the clash of European aristocracy at the Bernabeu, where nine-times winners Real Madrid host seven-tiems champions AC Milan, plus the Wayne Rooney saga and the plight of Liverpool.
Kevin Fylan is joined by Owen Wyatt, Mark Meadows, Jon Bramley and Toby Davis
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Champions League podcast – 2
Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Karim Benzema and Juan Mata are among the strikers up for discussion in the latest edition of our Reuters Sports Champions League podcast. Kevin Fylan is joined by Ed Osmond, Owen Wyatt, Paul Radford and Mark Meadows.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Beckham poised to miss World Cup – your views
David Beckham's dreams of playing in a fourth World Cup look to be in tatters after the England midfielder ruptured his Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday.
Club doctors have said he is all but ruled out of June's tournament in South Africa and will fly to Finland for an operation on Monday.
The 34-year-old, England's most capped outfield player, went back on loan to Milan from Los Angeles Galaxy chiefly to safeguard his World Cup place.
Even though he has only been a substitute of late, Fabio Capello will miss his experienced head. How badly would his absence affect England?
Admittedly Capello is spoilt for choice on the right wing with Walcott, Wright-Phillips, Milner and Lennon ( if fit) also in recent squads. Might the loss of Beckham actually make it easier for Capello to find the right balance in the 23?
Second-placed Milan are just a point behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan with 10 games left. Beckham has not been in great form but with Alessandro Nesta also set to miss the rest of the season, the Rossoneri are suddenly short of bodies and experience.
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