Champions League Semi Finals: Grand Slam Final Four

Posted on April 23, 2013 by James Dutton

As the Champions League returns, James Dutton draws parallels between the semi finalists, and the big four in tennis…

It’s the Champions League semi final draw that UEFA wanted. It’s the Champions League semi final draw that every neutral wanted.

Put aside your skepticism towards a draw that has, for the second season running, facilitated the potential for an El Clasico final for a moment.

These are the four best teams in Europe. Not once in the past decade has that been arguable; this year it is incontestable. Continue reading →

Heavyweights bring Vintage back to Champions League

Posted on April 2, 2013 by James Dutton

No contenders please, we’re English. James Dutton looks at a Champions League quarter-final lineup harking back to its halcyon days…

The bell tolls. Last orders gents.

There has been something of an overreaction to the lack of English teams remaining in this season’s Champions League. Of course this is the first time since 1995-6 that there has been no English representation at this stage. Blackburn Rovers were the sole flag bearer then and endured a miserable experience. Until Manchester City’s woeful performance this season, it was the worst English campaign in Champions League history.

Though it is significant that this is the first time since the expansion of 1999-2000 that any number of English entrants have failed to progress beyond the Last 16, that ship sailed long ago for the other top European leagues. La Liga in 2005, Serie A in 2001, 2002 and 2009 and the Bundesliga in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Many have been ready and willing to proclaim the respective deaths of Italian and German football since the turn of the millennium but neither prediction has come to pass. Boom and bust is part and parcel of the sport. Continue reading →

Is this the Year of Bayern Munich?

Posted on April 2, 2013 by David Dodds

The False Nine‘s David Dodds previews the Champions League clash between Bayern Munich and Juventus, with a focus on the formidable German side…

It’s the 87^th minute, and you’re level with the only team who have beaten you in the league this season. The 1-1 scoreline doesn’t look like it’s going to budge. Then, a stroke of genius. Not a sudden moment of inspiration by a striker, not a visionary defence-splitting pass by a playmaker, and not an unexpected and overdue header from a goal-shy tall and gritty centre back. In fact, if we’re to believe Bastian Schweinsteiger, then the genius was cultivated off the field. Continue reading →

Do away with Away Goals?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Simon Smith

Simon Smith bemoans the away goal, whose place in European football is fast becoming redundant…

We had some controversial European ties in the last round of games, and the Nani sending off aside it was the away goals rule that took the brunt of complains. With Champions League quarter finals just around the corner it’s time to answer the question of whether the same will happen again. Should we all just accept the rule as how even ties are decided or is this the time to question it? It’s certainly been a while since I came across a defender of the rule… The usual complaints surround its unfairness: that it unjustly punishes the home team in the second leg of a tie, or kills a match because a fluke keeper error can have the significance of conceding “effectively two goals”. Is that really such a disaster? Continue reading →

Is the Premier League really in decline?

Posted on March 11, 2013 by David Wild

David Wild takes issue with the idea that the Premier League is in decline…

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated – Mark Twain

The First knockout rounds of the Champions League draw to a close this week. It is widely expected that for the first time since 1995-96 there will be no English team in these quarter finals. Combine this with what some domestic observers see as a steady decline in league quality over the past three years and we perhaps should begin to fear for the health and future of the English Premier League.

This season in particular is one where performers like Brad Guzan are praised for their top tier class, despite conceding 49 goals in 26 league games. The decline of the Premier League can perhaps most strikingly be found in the defensive statistics. Continue reading →

Can Arsenal Outgun Bayern?

Posted on February 19, 2013 by The False Nine

David Dodds and Simon Smith preview the eye-catching clash between North London and Bavaria…

An interesting tie between two of Europe’s biggest clubs has gone a little unnoticed. Both in the shadow of the massive clash between Manchester United and Real Madrid and because of the perception of the Bavarians as hot favourites for the quarter finals, Arsenal versus Bayern Munich has slipped through the cracks of our attention somewhat. Nonetheless it promises to be an intriguing matchup. Both are attacking minded teams with undoubted talent in the forward line and the ability to exploit each other’s defensive flaws. Continue reading →

Underbelly of World Talent Takes Centre-Stage

Posted on February 11, 2013 by James Dutton

As the Champions League returns for the knockout stage, James Dutton looks at some of the names ready to light up the competition…

It is an old adage in the football world that has been popularized over time; if you lay any claim to be amongst the best in world football, either at present or through the ages, then you have to prove it on the greatest stage of all – the World Cup.

Continue reading →

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