Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
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.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Soccer Break Thursday – Champions League recap
Where to start after four brilliant Champions League quarter-finals, even if the intrigue for next week's second legs has all but gone from three of the ties with Barcelona leading Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1, Real Madrid 4-0 up against Tottenham Hotspur and Schalke 04 in total charge against holders Inter Milan after the 5-2 triumph at the San Siro.
However, the appetite has most certainly been whet for the very probable 'Clasico' semi-final between Real and Barcelona, a meeting of the world's two best players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. April 26 or 27 and May 3 or 4. Do not miss these dates. Not that Spain's two leading clubs are thinking that far ahead.
There is of course more top European action on Thursday in the Europa League, which has a distinctly Portuguese feel this year. Not that Spain's Villarreal agree mind you.
In 2003, who can forget the young Jose Mourinho leading Porto to UEFA Cup glory and the way he would rise to the top of the managerial tree in years to come. This time round there could be a similar story. Porto's current coach is Andre Villas-Boas, who used to work under his compatriot. Could he be the new Mourinho? Watch this space...
Attention now turns back to domestic leagues so read our Premier League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 previews to bring you up to speed with what lies in store in the coming days.
A club usually associated with the English title race is Liverpool, who despite their mediocre season continue to hit the headlines. Plus basketball star LeBron James has invested in the Anfield club.
Here's more on Wayne Rooney, the goalscorer in Manchester United's Champions League 1-0 win over Chelsea in London on Wednesday, after it was announced he will miss the FA Cup semi-final against city rivals...Manchester City.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Relief in Barcelona as Guardiola extends contract
During Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp last Saturday, which set a Spanish record of 16 straight La Liga victories, there was one thrilling passage of play which perfectly illustrated the work ethic Pep Guardiola has instilled among his squad of wonderfully gifted players.
The ball was played into space for Atletico forward Sergio Aguero. Lionel Messi suddenly appeared, sprinting back into defence. The World Player of the Year ran shoulder to shoulder with his Argentina team mate, stole the ball, beat Felipe Luis with an audacious piece of skill and started yet another assault on the visitors’ goal.
Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores said after the match it was that commitment to the team that showed why Messi is the world’s best player and why Barca have been destroying decades-old records over the past two and a half seasons.
The 23-year-old Messi was an Alfredo Di Stefano for the 21st century, added Sanchez Flores, like Di Stefano a former Real Madrid player.
Messi’s brilliant rearguard action also partly explains why under Guardiola, who extended his contract with the La Liga champions until the end of next season on Tuesday, Barca have won eight of the 10 trophies they have contested since he succeeded Frank Rijkaard at the end of the 2007-08 season.
The softly-spoken and respectful former Barca and Spain midfielder has lived and breathed the Catalan club since he joined their youth school in 1984 at the age of 13.
His success as a coach has brought praise from all sides for his refusal to compromise on Barca’s deeply-rooted style of entertaining, attacking football.
i guess it’s hard for him as he has started his coaching career at the very very top so he looks ahead and thinks what do i do next and that i think unsettles him and makes him think she could leave barca and then return later in life. He probably wouldnt be compfotable being spain boss as a catalan…
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Messi’s FIFA Ballon d’Or award is still a victory for team football
It's strange that when 2009 winner Lionel Messi was awarded the combined FIFA Ballon d'Or award on Monday there was shock in the Zurich auditorium and around the globe.
He is clearly the best player in the world but most fans and pundits had expected one of Barcelona team mates and Spain World Cup winners Andres Iniesta or Xavi to take the prize.
Some might argue that talent has unfairly outstripped team play yet again in the big award but of all the truly great players to have graced the game, Messi is one of a handful who shine because of their understanding with team mates not just their outrageous skill.
Unlike rugby where the kicker can make a huge amout of difference or NFL where the quarterback is all powerful, soccer really is a team game and that is why skilful workhorses Xavi or Iniesta were widely expected to win.
But the fact three Barca players were the only men on the shortlist is a wonderful achievement for the Catalan club and is yet more proof that the beautiful game is about 11 men combined to create one beating heart, with Messi's brilliance providing the killer touch.
Without Xavi or Iniesta, Messi would not have become arguably the game's greatest ever player and the modest Argentine will be the first to thank his friends. His win also breaks the mould of the great and good just voting for whoever triumphed in the big on-field prizes during the year.
This was taken as a snub in Spain, where they could not believe that Messi beat Xavi and Iniesta to the prize. My own feeling was that Xavi had a pretty good argument, not just for his form this year but as the outstanding midfielder for the last three or four.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Ballon d’Or shortlist should give Premier League pause for thought
England performed well below expectation at the World Cup in South Africa and judging by the FIFA Ballon d'Or list announced on Tuesday the stock of the Premier League is not at its highest either.
Just three players from the league that likes to call itself the best in the world are on the list and it would be a huge surprise if any of them made it into the top three:
Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Brazil, Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Inter Milan), Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal), Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana, Stade Rennes, then Sunderland), Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), Julio Cesar (Brazil, Inter Milan), Miroslav Klose (Germany, Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich), Douglas Maicon (Brazil, Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), Thomas Mueller (Germany, Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Germany, Werder Bremen, then Real Madrid), Carles Puyol (Spain, Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands, Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, Bayern Munich), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands, Inter Milan), David Villa (Spain, Valencia, then Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Spain, Real Madrid), Xavi Hernandez (Spain, Barcelona)
Have a glance through the full list (in all its glory above) and you'll see just Didier Drogba, Cesc Fabregas and Asamoah Gyan representing England's Premier League, and the latter has barely figured for his new club Sunderland.
I doubt anyone in English football will be too worried by this, with the money from TV rights still rolling in, but perhaps they should be.
In terms of star quality La Liga makes the Premier League look strictly second division. Serie A, derided over the past few seasons, now boasts the European Cup holders and a resurgent AC Milan and even the Bundesliga has a healthier than usual representation thanks to the exploits of Champions League finalists Bayern Munich and Joachim Loew's fearless Nationalmannschaft.
It was different, perhaps, when Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and the like were being described as among the world's finest but performances at the World Cup that were indifferent to poor have made those assessments look like so much hype.
As Xavi won player of Euro 2008, Forlan won player of World Cup, Messi and Ronaldo have already won it, I would give it to Iniesta as he deserves some recognition (with Sneijder second).
Still strange Diego Milito, officially UEFA’s player of the last Champions League, isnt even on the shortlist. Ok he only started once for Argentina in South Africa but Inter team mates Julio Cesar and Maicon made little more impression in the WC.
Messi, Maradona and Batista
With Sergio Batista at the Argentina helm, Lionel Messi has the chance to develop into the truly great footballer his talent has promised since last year’s exploits with Barcelona.
It could be that when the Argentine Football Association make their choice of coach for the 2014 Brazil World Cup cycle, they opt for a different candidate from Batista – Alex Sabella of Estudiantes for instance.
But what matters for Messi is that with Batista he really feels he is playing as well as he does with Barcelona – a bone of contention among Argentines throughout last year’s World Cup qualifiers and into the finals in South Africa where with each passing match the tactics of Diego Maradona isolated him more and more.
By the time Argentina crumbled against Germany in their quarter-final, Messi was back in his team’s own half looking for the ball, Javier Mascherano was floundering on his own in a midfield packed with Germans and Juan Sebastian Veron was wasted warming the bench.
Batista has only presided over two friendlies, with a third in Japan coming up on Friday, but he has fielded a midfield that protects and also feeds Messi for the brilliant kind of opening goal in the 4-1 win over Spain in Buenos Aires last month.
Messi has regularly said he feels comfortable with Batista, a combination that helped Argentina win the Olympic gold medal in 2008. He has not criticised Maradona, he even went as far as to say a few days ago he would be happy with either coach.
Batista, though, seeks and gives Argentina a balance lacking under Maradona, who in the eye of many Argentines is now seen as a destabilising influence on the team.
Messi couldnt do anything during the world cup …. he’s only good with Barcelona FC where the players are used to team work, unlike the Argentine squad where every player thinks he’s a Maradona of his own.
did u even hear what Maradona said when the team got eliminated? here’s a briefing about it. i saw it here on http://www.sawfer.com
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Champions League quarter-finals: Messi v Arsenal
We're following the Champions League quarter-final second legs live. Join us to see if Barcelona can see off Arsenal to make the last four.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
The all-star XI in World Cup trouble
Some of football's biggest names, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, are in danger of missing out on next year's World Cup, as countries such as Argentina, Portugal and France struggle in qualification.
Most, if not quite all of them, may make it in the end, of course, but for a bit of pre-weekend qualifier fun, here's my stab at a world XI wtill fretting over their places at South Africa 2010.
Think I've got it about right? Missed anyone out? Let me know in the comments.
Petr Cech (Czech Republic): The Chelsea keeper is arguably the best in the business, but the Czech Republic are currently fourth in group three and could be eliminated on Saturday if results go against them.
Patrice Evra (France): The left back could pick up his fourth consecutive Premier League crown with Manchester United this season, but he could miss out on the World Cup with France currently second in their group behind Serbia and hoping for a play-off place at a realistic best.
Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium): The former Ajax defender has enjoyed a superb opening to the season since completing a move to Arsenal, but he will not get the chance to showcase his talents in South Africa after Belgium were eliminated from their qualifying group.
Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Ukraine): Barcelona paid €25 million for the former Shakhtar Donetsk defender, but Ukraine will need to overhaul Croatia in Group Six for the centre back to stand a chance of playing in the World Cup.
France will make it, Portugal have a good chance (as long as Sweden don’t win in Copenhagen) but Argentina look on very shaky ground. I’d be very sorry to see Messi, Aimar, Higuain and co miss the World Cup but guess we’d all survive.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
I won’t forgot my first ‘Clasico’ for a while
Pep Guardiola’s superb Barca side four clear at the top with five games left to play. Champions Real in second on a run of 17 wins and a draw in 18 matches since a 2-0 loss at the Nou Camp in December and refusing to capitulate. The nation’s arch soccer rivals locking horns. Spain versus Catalunya.The stage was set for my first “Clasico” at the Bernabeu.I had read about the great matches of the past and seen the headlines: “The match of the century!”, “The greatest show on earth!”.It was time to experience it for myself.I hopped off the bus near the stadium and fought my way through the throng of Real faithful, already in good voice and enjoying the evening sunshine more than an hour-and-a-half before kickoff.A policeman waved me through the barriers holding back the crowds and I collected my accreditation and took the lift up to the press tribune on the fifth floor.It was oddly quiet inside the mammoth arena, a few photographers and officials milling about by the pitch, and the muted sound of the boisterous supporters outside punctuated by the occasional firecracker and police siren.Fabio Cannavaro, Arjen Robben and a few other Real players strolled out on to the pitch for a few minutes and Royston Drenthe posed for some photographs as I leafed through the media notes.Biggest home defeat for Real in “El Clasico” 5-0 way back in February 1974, four days before I was born. Probably won’t be needing that particular stat.When the spectators were finally allowed in, the atmosphere quickly warmed up and any attempt at singing by the small knot of Barca fans high to my right was met with a chorus of whistles and hoots.The volume of noise was rising all the time and reached a crescendo as the two teams marched on to the pitch and the spectators held up pieces of card that turned the stands white. Game on.“You don’t want to do that,” I thought as Sergio Ramos gave the ball away to Lionel Messi in a dangerous position in the first minute, perhaps a sign of things to come.The Real faithful went nuts when Gonzalo Higuain grabbed the lead but it wasn’t long before Barca asserted themselves and Real’s chances of defending their league title were fast receding.As the goals rolled in, a colleague in the press box, a lifelong Real fan, was growing increasingly despondent and the invective issuing from the mouth of the Spanish journalist behind us, mostly directed at the referee, was increasingly extreme.When Messi scored to make it 5-2 with around 15 minutes left, waves of shell-shocked Real fans started heading for the exits.The referee did not prolong the agony, ending the match on 90 minutes, and I quickly filed my first take and a rapid update before dashing down to the press conferences with a beaming Guardiola and a glum Juande Ramos.Eight goals scored by some of the most exciting players around, tons of chances, plenty of controversy, passionate fans in a stunning soccer arena and a famous result in one of the most intensely contested fixtures in world sport.The kind of match you don’t forget in a hurry.PHOTO: Barcelona's Lionel Messi (L) celebrates his goal against Real Madrid during their match at the Bernabeu, May 2, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina
