Left field

Chelsea vanquish Moscow ghosts

Some things are meant to be, others are not.

Frank Lampard said he never doubted Chelsea would win the penalty shootout against Bayern Munich in Saturday’s enthralling 2012 Champions League final, although they trailed in the spot kicks after Juan Mata’s early miss, while the hero of their astonishing victory Didier Drogba firmly believes it was Chelsea’s destiny to cover themselves in glory.

And rightly so one might add, having suffered an exact reverse four years ago on a rainy night in Moscow, which ended in agony for Chelsea after they were ahead in the penalty shootout against Manchester United only to see the elusive trophy snatched away by their Premier League rivals after John Terry’s barely believable miss.

Chelsea dominated long spells of the Moscow final which also ended in a strength-sapping 1-1 draw after extra time while they were on the back foot for most of their encounter with Bayern, who had the distinct advantage of playing in their own Allianz Arena.

Along with Terry, who watched the drama in Munich unfold from the sidelines as he was suspended, Drogba was the villain of Chelsea’s downfall in Moscow after being sent off in the dying minutes of extra time.

The robust Ivorian could not have vindicated himself more emphatically against Bayern, having headed in an 88th-minute equaliser before he coolly slotted the final penalty to send his team and an army of Chelsea fans into raptures. He conceded a penalty in extra time but Arjen Roben missed it.

Is it a simple case of Lady Luck smiling on Chelsea on Saturday after turning her back in 2008?

Barca end a terrible week on a high as Pep tutors Tito

By Phil O’Connor

Barcelona rounded off a rollercoaster week with a 7-0 drubbing of Rayo Vallecano – out of Europe and with the league already conceded by Pep Guardiola, the pressure lifted and Barcelona were able to enjoy themselves once again.

Inspirational Guardiola leaves powerful legacy

The inspiration for a team widely considered one of the best to grace the game, a thorn in the side of bitter rivals Real Madrid and a symbol of Catalan nationalism, Pep Guardiola has been all these things and more as a player and coach for Barcelona.

The spectacularly successful 41-year-old, who announced on Friday he was quitting at the end of the season, led Barca to a club-record 13 trophies in his four seasons in charge including two Champions League crowns and three straight La Liga titles.

He took over from Dutchman Frank Rijkaard in 2008 with the team in disarray after a second-straight trophyless campaign, ditching high-profile players including an underperforming Ronaldinho and making some astute signings that helped set Barca on their way to an unprecedented haul of silverware.

Imbued from an early age with Barca’s unique brand of football based on relentless possession and rapid passing, he has taken it to new heights and won plaudits from such heavyweights of the game as Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger.

However, his attritional battle with combative Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, who was an assistant coach at Barca when Guardiola was a player, appeared to take away some of the joy he felt for his work and may have contributed to his decision to quit and take a rest.

His sudden departure after months of speculation is a fresh blow for a club still reeling from Tuesday’s Champions League last-four elimination at the hands of Chelsea. They are also poised to lose their La Liga title to Real.

However, the board’s decision to promote his long-term assistant and close friend Tito Vilanova to replace him suggests his legacy will be in safe hands.

Barcelona and Real’s poetry lacked motion

By Phil O’Connor

On two nights when every football cliché went out the window, one remained true – in the end the only statistic that matters is the scoreline.

On Tuesday It didn’t matter that Barcelona owned the ball, or that they completed hundreds of passes over the two legs. When Chelsea got hold of it, they used it effectively – if we are to look at one stat other than the score, Chelsea’s four shots on goal and three goals in the tie tell their own story.

If defending champions Barcelona were undone by remarkably poor finishing in the first leg, the second was marred by a failure to penetrate the box.

Many on my Twitter feed compared it to an Olympic handball game, where the ball is passed around an arc in front of goal as an opening is sought for a shot.

Barca’s lack of cutting edge was primarily the result of their static attack; despite regularly having every player in Chelsea’s half, they offered few alternatives when the likes of Lionel Messi and Xavi were in possession – no runs were made, no-one showed for their normally devastating one-twos.

Playing three at the back also meant Pep Guardiola had no fullbacks to overlap.

Real Madrid v Bayern Munich – Champions League semi-final live blog

So Chelsea pulled off an amazing coup to dethrone Barcelona and reach the final. Real Madrid meet Bayern Munich on Wednesday for the right to meet Jose Mourinho’s former club on May 19.

Click on the link below and join all the fun. Leave as many comments as you like without registering

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Real_v_Bayern_-_Champions_League_semi-final

There may not be a Superclasico in Munich after all

A mouth-watering clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona in this season’s Champions League final in Munich appeared to be on the cards when the two Spanish giants were kept apart in the draw, but the prospect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi watching the showpiece on television instead of taking centre stage on May 19 now looks just as likely.

While Barcelona missed a hatful of chances in their 1-0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a pulsating first leg of their semi, Real were maybe fortunate to escape with only a 2-1 defeat at Bayern after they were undone by a stoppage-time winner from Mario Gomez.

Second-best for long spells with Ronaldo also subdued for much of the game, Real were lucky to be on level terms before Gomez struck to give Bayern a slender lead ahead of the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

One could argue the away goal still puts Real in the driving seat to reach the final, but the nine-time winners of Europe’s elite club competition face a stern test of their credentials against a fit, cultured and determined Bayern outfit who showed the ability to match them in every department.

Although Barcelona seemingly have more to do than Real after failing to score against Chelsea, the holders should in fact have a slightly easier task than their traditional rivals, whom they entertain in an eagerly awaited Spanish league clasico on Saturday.

The woodwork, a string of superb saves by Petr Cech and some poor finishing by Barcelona, along with the outstanding job  John Terry and Gary Cahill did to keep Messi at bay, secured a memorable night for Chelsea fans which they will cherish at least until the return leg.

It is hard to imagine that Chelsea could escape with another cagey and defensive performance as the length and width of the Nou Camp will give Barcelona’s quick and crafty outfit that much more room to operate and find gaps where last-gasp tackles denied them at Stamford Bridge.

Could Pardew take Champions League spot and England job from Redknapp?

By Phil O’Connor

Unheralded and unpopular when he took over at Newcastle United, Alan Pardew has led them into the upper reaches of the English Premier League, and within touching distance of a Champions League place.

The question is whether he can beat Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Redknapp to fourth spot and the last Premier League place in football’s top club competition – and make himself a contender for the England manager’s job at the same time.

Pardew replaced Chris Hughton at the helm of Newcastle in December 2010. It wasn’t an easy task; Hughton, popular with players and fans alike, had brought the Geordies back to the Premier League on a shoestring following the ignominy of relegation.

Selling striker Andy Carroll didn’t help his cause, but this season has seen Pardew’s side climb almost unnoticed and return to the heights they enjoyed under Bobby Robson.

Between his team and a place in the Champions League is a Tottenham side managed by Redknapp, who was installed as favourite to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager from almost the moment the Italian resigned.

Since then, Tottenham’s form has suffered and the clamour for Redknapp has receded somewhat, but there is still a strong preference for an English manager from fans and the FA alike.

APOEL Nicosia and Jovanovic could prompt further Cinderella stories

The Champions League is heading for another spectacular climax after the quarter-final clashes produced expected winners in holders Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, who must be relishing the prospect of taking centre stage in the final in their own stadium on May 19.

But rather than the usual suspects who predictably reach the latter stages of the money-spinning competition every season, it was the highly unheralded outfit of APOEL Nicosia that lit up the scene this time.

The Cypriots defied the odds to reach even the group stage of the competition and then stunned one rival after another, punching way above their weight until they finally succumbed to Real 8-2 on aggregate.

They bowed out with their heads high and their Serbian coach Ivan Jovanovic, who had emerged from complete obscurity very much like the Champions League surprise package personified by his team, was graceful after the incredible ride ended.

“We re very proud to have bid the Champions League farewell in a stadium like the Santiago Bernabeu and against a team like Real Madrid,” the 49-year old said after APOEL’s 5-2 defeat in the second leg where two goals in such a famous arena were also remarkable.

The soft-spoken Jovanovic became the first Serbian manager to reach the competition’s last eight, having never coached in his home country.

He played for unfancied Serbian side Rad Belgrade in the 1980s and drew hardly any attention at home even after he won his first Cypriot league title with APOEL in 2004.

English plight in Europe is no fluke

Anyone who might have assumed the deteriorating form of English clubs in Europe since Manchester United won the 2008 Champions League resulted from a convergence of misfortunate circumstances such as tough draws or mounting injuries to key players has been emphatically refuted.

Come Thursday, the Premier League might be left without a single club to represent it in either the Champions League or the less fancied Europa League, where Manchester rivals City and United were not just beaten but also played off the park last week by rivals many of their fans will have considered second-class opposition.

Especially unimpressive were Manchester United, who can consider themselves lucky to be taking only a 3-2 deficit to their return leg clash at Spanish side Athletic Bilbao, whose fans did all the singing at Old Trafford as the Basque outfit outplayed the English champions on their own turf like no other team in recent history.

“We were well beaten and they were the better team,” said United manager Alex Ferguson after their Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea produced a stellar performance to give his team a glimmer of hope they can overturn the tie in the cauldron of Bilbao’s San Mames stadium.

I can’t remember Ferguson heaping so much praise on any European opposition that visited Old Trafford in the last two decades, including the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich.

Like United, stuttering Chelsea and their caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo also face a daunting task of overturning a 3-1 first leg deficit in their Champions League last-16 clash with Napoli, who geared up for the trip to Stamford  Bridge with a 6-3 rout of Italian Serie A rivals Cagliari on Friday.

Premier League leaders Manchester City are in the best position of the three to progress as they have only a 1-0 deficit against Sporting Lisbon to overcome at their stadium. But an away goal for the visitors – who are fourth in the Portuguese first division with only a theoretical chance of winning the title - could mean more European disappointment for City, whose Champions League debut ended in a group stage exit at the hands of Bayern and Napoli.

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.