Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
A Champions League final with no fear of failure… It could be a classic
Major finals featuring the best teams and the best players, the ones we talk up in advance as being for the connoisseur, often turn out to be the most disappointing, don't they? Maybe it's stage fright, too much respect for the opposition or the stakes being just too high, but great teams often seem to save their worst football for finals.
There are exceptions, of course. The 2005 Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool produced exquisite football in the first half from the Italians, and drama that will live long in the minds of anyone who watched it as Liverpool came back.
But when you look back on other Champions League and World Cup finals, how many can you remember for the quality of the football more than the result itself?
There was little on show in last year's game between Manchester United and Chelsea so why are so many people expecting this year's contest between United and Barcelona to be so different?
I think there is a reason, and I hope I'm proved right by the events on Wednesday in Rome.
A football match can be ruined by almost anything but the surest route to a damp squib is fear of failure.
Neither side on Wednesday has any need to fear the consequences of a defeat. They're both at the top of the tree domestically, and both have had recent experience of winning the Champions League. It goes without saying they'll be desperate to win, but no one's job will be on the line, no project will stand or fall by this one result. Both teams will expect to be back in another Champions League final soon enough.
Thanks for spotting that, Cash. I’ve changed it in the post above but with a note pointing down here. 2003 was a good year for Milan (though a pretty poor final as I recall…)