The Champions League fixtures which were so exciting a fortnight ago were mostly dreary affairs this week, as each team played the same team as they had previously, except this time in the others’ house. We ended up with 3 draws and a couple of blowouts, assuring me that being without internet/cable access for the majority of the evening was not a total tragedy. I’ll write up most of them, except the really useless ones (I’m looking at you, APOEL v Porto). Here they are, in no particular order:

Look how happy he was to be back in Milan!

AC Milan 1-1 Real Madrid – Well, the fixture that was so explosive last week ended without the same sort of fireworks this time around. Instead of ludicrous goalkeeping errors and 40-yard screamers, tonight’s match was graced by a pair of (comparatively) cheaply-had goals and one goal which was bafflingly disallowed. Kaká’s build-up to Real Madrid’s 29th minute goal showed a flash of the genius he used to have at the San Siro (and has failed to produce thus far for Madrid), but Dida made the initial save and it was up to Karim Benzema to tap the rebound past the bumbling Brazilian. It didn’t take long what had been a rather flaccid Milan side up to that point to galvanize (and equalize), when Gianluca Zambrotta was struck by the elbow of a sliding Pepe in the area and awarded a penalty. On 35′, Ronaldinho gleefully buried from the spot. Alexandre Pato almost gave i Rossoneri the lead moments later, with his volley finding the back of the net, but the goal was ultimately disallowed because the youngster had committed a foul in scoring it (maybe the foul was scoring it?). In the end, it would finish all level at the San Siro, and all level in Group C; Milan and Madrid sit tied with 7 points just above Marseilles.

Marseille 6-1 FC Zurich – Normally I wouldn’t give half a shit about this game. Swiss teams, French teams, it’s all Greek to me. However, the epic nature of the scoreline forces me to give at least a bit of a shout-out to l’OM, for whom 6 different individuals made an appearance on the scoresheet (well, 5 Marseille players and 1 Zurich via OG). In fact, it was Silvan Aegerter’s own goal that opened the floodgates for the visitors on 3′ – Fabrice Abriel would make it 2-0 on 11′, but Alexandre Alphonse pulled one back for his side on the half-hour mark. After the half, Mamadou Niang, Hilton, Benoît Cheyrou and Brandao would all net for Les Phocéens, while the home side would be left less than satisfied with their solitary goal. Quite a blowout!

Gourcuff was the key to his side's victory in München.

Bordeaux 2-0 Bayern München – Les Girondins are progressing to the knock-out stages. As for Bayern, well, we’ll have to see. In the first 30 or so minutes of tonight’s match at the Allianz-Arena, it seemed like it would be the home side who would take the lead. Bastian Schweinsteiger proved a great danger as a dead ball specialist, causing the visiting defense all sorts of problems and coming close to causing a goal more than once. Bayern also might have gone ahead from the spot -players appealed for a penalty on a perceived Michael Ciani handball in the area, but the referee saw nothing; what die Roten wanted to be a spot kick would instead be a corner. Ultimately, it would be the French side who would get ahead on 37′ thanks to star man Yoann Gourcuff, who headed home after shaking off Mark van Bommel. After the break, Luca Toni had about 80,000 chances (duffed ‘em all) and Arjen Robben came on to greatly improve Bayern’s play, but the German side simply could not find the back of the net. Late in the game, Bayern fans began to depart from the stadium en masse, and those who did stay until the end were treated to the sight of Marouane Chamakh skipping past Hans-Jörg Butt to ease the ball into an empty net. Back-to-back losses to the French side for Bayern see them fall to 3rd in Group A – I knew this was the Year of the Underdog, but did it have to be the Year of the French by extension?

Juventus 1-0 Maccabi Haifa – Juventus continue to stay true to their recent Champions League mantra – do as little as you have to and scrape by. I’m sure Ciro Ferrara’s side is still reeling at the manner in which they let Sunday’s fixture against Napoli slip away, but they once again managed to beat the Israeli side (this time in Haifa) by a margin of 1-0. Mauro Camoranesi’s magic touch in first-half stoppage time was enough for i Bianconeri to slip past their hosts, who are now officially out of the competition with a grand total of 0 points. Juventus spent much of the second half patiently building up attacks and then listlessly watching them break down, as though they were simply happy to kill the time. And they were. Another half-assed performance, another victory for Juve. Go figure.

Agüero-Drogba strike force?

Chelsea 2-2 Atletico Madrid – Over the past two weeks, Chelsea’s goal differential was +19. That’s 19 for and 0 against, in all competitions. That included a 4-0 drubbing of Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge which prompted me to wonder how Abel Resino was hanging on to his job. Two weeks later, Resino is out of a job, and Chelsea have finally been scored upon. One could make a case to have this match renamed Sergio Agüero 2-2 Didier Drogba, as each prolific striker bagged a brace for his side to account for all 4 goals of the match (this time split evenly between the teams). Los Colchoneros took a second-half lead on 66′ when Agüero, just recently subbed onto the pitch, met the end of a cross with a sharp volley that left Petr Cech helpless on his line. Didier Drogba would take his time, but eventually single-handedly turned the match around for the Blues with a pair of goals on 82′ and 88′ – the latter being a supreme individual effort in which the Ivorian beat several defenders and buried his own rebound. However, Agüero was not about to be outdone, and on 90′ launched a strike from 30 yards which leveled the match for his side. New Atleti manager Quique Sánchez Flores will no doubt be disappointed that his team gave up the lead, but thrilled that they salvaged the draw – nevertheless Atletico are now officially out of the competition, while Chelsea are officially moving on.

Manchester Utd 3-3 CSKA Moskow – Sir Alex Ferguson’s men sealed their passage into the knock out rounds as Luis Antonio Valencia once more played the last-ditch heroics card. CSKA took the lead on 25′ through Alan Dzagoev, but Michael Owen equalized just 4 minutes later. Nevertheless, CSKA were undaunted, and within the next 20 minutes of play took a commanding 3-1 lead through Milos Krasic (31′) and Vasiliy Berezutskiy (47′). Darren Fletcher was booked on a strange call, after he looked to be set loose on goal and was then taken down in the box. Instead of a spot kick, the Scotsman received a yellow card. Paul Scholes and the aforementioned Valencia would bring it equal for United with Scholes’ goal on 82′ and Valencia’s in stoppage time. Moscow player Deyvidas Semberas was sent off after a bit of a spat late into injury time, but the Muscovites were nevertheless able to hold United to a 3-3 draw. Not a bad result from the Russian side, though it won’t help their Champions League aspirations this year.

VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 Besitkas – Luckily for Deutschland, one German squad was able to easily overcome their opposition this evening. Wolves took over Istanbul as Armin Veh’s side ran rampart at Inönü, with Zvjezdan Misimovic, Christian Gentner and Edin Dzeko finding the back of the net for their side. It seems that the key to obtaining an ‘always difficult’ away win in Turkey is to strike hard, and to strike often – take notes, Fergie.

Após garantir a permanência do técnico Abel Resino, a diretoria do Atlético de Madrid voltou atrás e optou pela sua demissão. Mas os jogadores não ficarão sem comando, pois o nome do substituto já foi confirmado, Quique Sanchez Flores.

Como havia informado ontem, o treinador não resistiria à goleada de 4 a 0 sofrida para o Chelsea pela Liga dos Campeões da Europa, que se somou ao péssimo início de Campeonato Espanhol. Porém, a tendência era de que o novo comandante fosse o dinamarquês Michael Laudrup.

Com a falta de acerto com o ex-jogador da seleção da Dinamarca, a diretoria colchonera assinou contrato com o espanhol Quique Sanchez Flores, que tem clubes como Getafe, Valência e Benfica em seu currículo. O técnico deverá ser apresentado no domingo.

What you missed while napping in the cockpit arguing about airline policies…

• Wednesday: Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t interested in Igor Akinfeev. Today: Sir Alex Ferguson thinks Akinfeev is impressive. Akinfeev should expect a hand written note any day now, right?
• Andriy Arshavin doesn’t find living in London as easy as living in, I don’t know…Barcelona. Just to pull a city out of a hat, of course.
• John Terry and Jermaine Pennant are the latest two to members on the “Wow, Liverpool blows this season” bandwagon.
• After losing 4-0 to Chelsea on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid have sacked manager Abel Resino.
• Michael Ballack thinks that England should get the World Cup in 2018.
• Carles Puyol has signed a contract extension that will keep him at Barcelona until he’s 35.
• Traditional African leaders plan to sacrifice live animals to bless the World Cup site next year.
• Germany and Argentina will play a friendly match on March 3rd in Munich.

Enrique Cerezo. Presidente Atlético de Madrid

Esta pregunta así tan clara y dura va dirigida al presidente del Atlético de Madrid, el Sr. Cerezo y viene a cuento porque hace algunas semanas, cuando ya se cuestionaba a Abel Resino, un peridodista le preguntó si le iban a destituir. La respuesta de Cerezo fue tan clara y contundente como el título del Post, ¿ha matado a alguien?.

Dicen que somos esclavos de nuestras palabras y me pregunto si los periodistas de Madrid y la afición atlética tendran el valor para demandarle por sus palabras y sus hechos.

Abel Resino ha sido destituido y en su puesto han nombrado a Quique Sánchez Flores ya que Michael Laudrp no aceptó la oferta que le hicieron, prefiere según dicen la oferta del Villarreal.

Lo que ya no tengo muy claro es si la afición atlética pitará a Quique ya que éste fue jugador del Real Madrid, como lo fue Reyes. A Reyes le pitan, ¿ lo harán con Quique?.

Este año hay tres entrenadores y medio en la picota. Uno acaba de caer, se trata de Abel; otro está a punto de caramelo, es el Txingurri Valverde, entrenador del Villarreal y otro que dicen que no se comerá los turrones es Pelegrini.

Lo de Valverde es una pena, lo de los otros es algo que se veía venir desde el mismo momento en que se anunció su fichaje. Abel saltó de un equipo de 2ª división, el Castellón, de los no demasiado buenos, a uno de primer órden en la 1ª división, fue un salto al vacío como el que protagonizó años atras Benito Floro cuando pasó del Albacete al Real Madrid.

A Pelegrini le ha pasado algo parecido. Decía, aún en el Villarreal, que le quedaba un año en el equipo y que luego tenía el proyecto de dirigir a la selección chilena , que era su aspiración y lo máximo a lo que aspiraba. ¿Qué mejor y más gratificante que que te premien eligiéndote para dirigir la selección nacional de tu pais? y más una con el prestigio de Chile. Pero apareció el lobo de la avaricia, se le presentó la oportunidad de dirigir al mejor equipo del mundo, al menos el que tiene el mejor historial y cedió a la tentación y la cagó.

Pero dije tres y medio, ¿ quién es el medio?, pues uno que no tiene nada que ver con Madrid ni con los madrileños; es el entrenador del Valencia. ¿ Qué quién es el Valencia?, pues es uno de los equipos más laureados de España, el de la tercera ciudad del país, es mi equipo.

Resulta que el Emeri ayer la volvió a cagar y van… Creo que si el equipo estuviera un poco más saneado, hace tiempo que le hubieran largado.

Pues eso.

El Gilfato se carga a Abel. Es evidente que los resultados no están siendo los deseados. Que quizá en un grupo hundido un cambio de entrenador sirva como revulsivo. Pero el caso es que, desde luego, nuestro portero legendario no es el culpable de toda esta chapuza. Pide un lateral derecho y venden a Heitinga. Plantilla mediocre y descompensada… a ver quien hace milagros con esto. La gestión es pésima, pero el Gilfato no va a autodestruirse.

No se sabe quien vendrá, aunque dice mucho de nuestro estado el hecho de que Laudrup no quiera ni acercarse. Lógico. El tema es que yo desde aquí le rindo mi tributo a una de nuestras leyendas. Porque una de las cosas que está haciendo el Gilfato de manera permanente es destruir todo el pasado del club, faltando al respeto a todos los que se lo han currado de colchoneros.

Honor a Abel y suerte en sus próximos retos

Após sofrer goleada por 4 a 0 para o Chelsea pela Liga dos Campeões da Europa, o Atlético de Madrid deverá realizar uma troca no comando da equipe, saindo Abel Resino para a chegada de Michael Laudrup.

Segundo o jornal espanhol Marca, o atual treinador não deverá durar no clube até o final do dia. A decisão seria tomada pelo péssimo início de temporada do clube madrilenho, já que ocupa apenas a 16ª colocação no Campeonato Espanhol, com apenas uma vitória.

Caso a demissão seja concluída, o substituto já tem nome, o dinamarquês Michael Laudrup, que recentemente dirigiu o Getafe e o Spartak de Moscou e no momento está desempregado.

After a horrific weekend it seems that the universe, or at least my universe, is back on track. Yesterday’s fixtures proved to be a series of pleasant surprises, as several of the Champions League’s underdogs secured impressive results – and today’s seem to be along the same lines. What a glorious year for the underdogs!

Pirlo's second-half screamer brought Milan right back into it.

AC Milan 3-2 Real Madrid – Let me get this out of the way: I have been predicting this for a very long time. Ever since Los Blancos kicked off the 2009/10 season, I have argued that they had yet to come up against any teams which were truly capable of testing their mettle, and that when faced with a real opponent, they would falter. They fell to Sevilla domestically in Week 6 of La Liga, and now they have fallen to AC Milan in European competition. Keeper errors were the fashion of the day, with both Dida and Iker Casillas giving up easy goals (to Raul and Alexandre Pato, respectively). Raul’s tap in would give his side the lead on 18′, an advantage which would see Los Galacticos comfortably into the half. However, Andrea Pirlo would send the message that Milan were not yet out of it with a spectacular strike that beat Casillas from range and levelled for i Rossoneri (63′). Alexandre Pato’s aforementioned goal would come just 2 minutes later as the latter half of the 1-2 punch that saw Milan take a 2-1 lead. Madrid weren’t out of it yet, and Royston Drenthe would equalize for his side (off of a short corner kick from Raul) with a low ball that somehow made it through the crowd in front of the Milan net. However, it would be Alexandre Pato who would have the final word (it would have been Thiago Silva, but his headed goal on 86′ was wrongfully disallowed), meeting a chip from Clarence Seedorf with a calm volley in the 88th minute. With today’s victory at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, AC Milan rest atop the Group C table and will be in high spirits when they entertain Los Blancos at the San Siro in two weeks time. Hate to say I told you so!

Chelsea 4-0 Atletico Madrid – After losing to Aston Villa in Premiership play this weekend, Chelsea needed a win badly. After the skid that has been Atleti’s season so far this year, Los Colchoneros needed it worse. Chelsea almost took an early lead on 12′, but hitman Salomon Kalou was ruled for offside. Ultimately, it took 41 minutes for the scoring to open up, but when it did it was the Spaniards who were on the business end; Kalou hammering a ball from Ashley Cole into the roof of the Atletico net. After the break Kalou was back for more, bagging a brace in the 52nd minute with a header that put Chelsea up 2-0. Frank Lampard would break a 10-match goalless drought on 69′ to put the match simply out of the other Madrid side’s reach. In fact, the only Atletico player who would make an impression upon the match would be Louis Amaranto Perea, whose own goal in stoppage time sealed an absolute rout for the London side. This match affirms Chelsea position atop Group D, and also begs the question: exactly how much longer can Abel Resino hang on to his job?

Dutra, the Butcher of Haifa.

Juventus 1-0 Maccabi Haifa - Juve finally, finally grab their first victory in Champions League play this year. Israeli side Maccabi Haifa provided more resistance than most would expect in tonight’s fixture in Torino, but it was i Bianconeri who would eventually come out on top. Big centre-back Giorgio Chiellini would nod in a goal for Juventus on 48′ and, alongside the usual spectacular work between the uprights from Gigi Buffon, it was enough to see the Italians to all three points. Juve controlled the pace for much of the game, though Haifa proved dangerous on multiple occasions and challenged Juventus’ back line. Not helping the Haifa cause was substitute Tiago Dutra, who promptly injured Felipe Melo, forcing the Brazilian out of the match with a horrific challenge that went unnoticed by referee Faustino Benquerenca. Soon after, Dutra’s luck ran out and the midfielder was shown straight red for a studs-up tackle on Chiellini which forced the big defender off the pitch for several minutes. As an aside, it was interesting to see the attacking potential of a Juve side which started Sebastian Giovinco, Diego and David Trezeguet up front – they were perhaps unlucky not to improve their advantage this evening and it will be an attack force to watch moving forward.

Once he figured out who he played for, Ciani scored a wicked backheel.

Bordeaux 2-1 Bayern Münich – A strange fixture in which Michael Ciani scored for both Bayern and Bordeaux, Hamit Altintop added his own own-goal to the tally, and Bordeaux should have easily been up 4-1 but for a man named Butt. A game that started off a French nightmare (with Ciani’s own goal on 5′) soon turned into a German one. Ciani more than made up for his earlier error with a brilliant back-heeled goal off a corner kick which drew the French side level on 28′. Bayern would sink further into despair just moments later, as youngster Thomas Müller received his second yellow for a brash tackle on Matthieu Chalmé and was shown his marching orders. For Die Roten, things would only go from bad to worse before the end of the half, as Hamit Altintop’s attempted clearance was interrupted by Marc Planus and the Turkish International would go on the scoresheet for an own goal. After the half, Bayern were unable to wrest control of the game from the French side, though perhaps their best chance fell to the much-maligned Luca Toni, who promptly hit the post. In the 66th minute, Bayern keeper Hans-Jörg Butt was caught out of his net and forced to down Marouane Chamakh – a spot kick was awarded and disaster seemed nigh for the Germans. However, Butt was able to keep out Yoann Gourcuff’s effort, and therefore atoned for his own mistake. Tonight was not to be Bayern’s night; as the game wound down Daniel van Buyten became the second Roten to see red for hauling down Chamakh (again? poor guy!) in the box. The ensuing spot kick was taken by substitute Jussiê, who became the second Bordeaux player to be foiled by Butt. All in all, tonight’s match was a disaster for the Bavarians, who now sit at 3rd in Group A – but when you think about it, it could have been a lot worse.

Manchester Utd 1-0 CSKA Moscow – The only thing surprising about United’s wholly unsurprising victory over CSKA Moscow is how long it took for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to get ahead. The Muscovites were able to hold off the Mancunians for 86 minutes, until Luis Antonio Valencia finally found the back of the net. A result that leaves me a little bitter, as I was surrounded by Red Devils’ fanboys as I ate my lunch today and dearly hoped that CSKA would be able to silence the prattling gobshites. Ah well though – the Mancs can’t lose them all!

These are th- Well, you get the point.

-¡Maldito Atleti! Ya no lo veo más-. Ese pensamiento le pasa por la cabeza a un seguidor colchonero varias veces por temporada. Parecía que el equipo empezaba a salir del bache del descenso y a asentarse en un puesto del que nunca debió salir. Pero para el Atleti, cuando mejor va todo, más grande es la caída. Con el pase a la liguilla de Champions eliminando al Panathinaikos, el club se ha visto sumergido en su particular septiembre negro. En este mes el Atlético no gano ningún encuentro, además de la venta de John Heitinga justo cuando no se debía, provocó que la masa colchonera se manifestará contra la directiva. Sinceramente para mi hay tres razones que expliquen este hecho: la ineptitud de García Pitarch, la mano negra de Miguel Ángel Gil y el constante pesimismo de la parroquia atlética.

El primero de ellos deriva en el nivel deportivo de la plantilla. El director deportivo Jesús García Pitarch no  ha sido capaz de reforzar la plantilla. Sus fichajes han sido Sergio Asenjo, Juanito y los uruguayos Cabrera y Gallegos. Estos dos últimos no están ni para jugar en el filial. Veremos si mejoran. Lástima que uno se entere de que fueron fichados porque son representados por un amigo personal del señor Pitarch. El coste de esta operación es de 1,5 millones de euros. Por otro lado, Juanito llegó gratis al ver finalizado su contrato con el descendido Betis. Gran fichaje de futuro un central de 33 años que tampoco mejora mucho lo que hay. Por último Sergio Asenjo me parece un gran acierto. Pero la intrahistoria de este traspaso viene de la salida de Leo Franco del equipo. El señor Pitarch fue muy criticado siempre por Leo, el jugador que más partidos había jugado de la plantilla rojiblanca con el Atlético. Por esto el señor Pitarch decidió no renovar el contrato de Leo y que este siriviera de maestro del portero-promesa rojiblanco, David De Gea. Leo no se merecía esa salida. El coste del traspaso de Asenjo fue de 6 millones más Diego Costa. Por lo menos arregló su desastre en la porteria. Lo único que ha hecho bien desde que llegó porque jamás vendió bien los productos atléticos y este verano no ha conseguido colocar los transferibles a nadie. Salvo uno, y mal. Heitinga fue vendido al Everton justo en el periodo de tiempo en el que en España ya no se podía fichar sustituto. ¿Rocambolesco todo? En el Atleti ya no sorprende desde hace años. ¿O acaso alguien no sabe de la necesidad de un mediocentro de creación desde hace más de cinco años? Pues ningún verano se intenta ese traspaso. Todo esto es porque el señor Pitarch no sabe hacer su trabajo. No ve fútbol y ficha lo que le dicen sus amigos representantes. Debe ser la primera salida si queremos seguir creciendo.

El segundo problema es Gil Marín. Es la mano que dirige al Atlético en la sombra. Es culpable de que Pitarch siga en el equipo puesto que no se atreve a despedirle. Maldito amiguismo. Otro asunto turbio es el económico. No pondré en tela de juicio como se hicieron con el club. Ya es suyo y no se lo van a quitar. Creo que es más importante apoyarles puesto que todos queremos algo. El señor Gil ganar dinero y nosotros que el Atleti crezca. Pero ahi radica el problema. El señor Pitarch puso como excusa para no fichar que no había dinero -otra prueba más de su ineptitud, pues Villarreal o Sevilla fichan barato y bien para vender caro-. El señor Cerezo le contestó y Gil no dijo nada. ¿No se entienden entre ellos?. Creo que el señor Gil debe dejar de llevarse tanto dinero y buscar formas de ganar más. Eso y traer a alguien que aproveche lo que hay para fichar. Porque si yo tuviera el dinero del Manchester City también sería buen director deportivo. ¿O no, Suso?

El último problema es el pesimismo reinante en el seno de la afición colchonera. “Somos el Pupas” o “Nos marcan en el último segundo” son frases típicas en el Vicente Calderón. Esta lacra nos va a perseguir durante siglos. Hay que ser positivos, confiar en que la suerte está de nuestra parte. Otro problema es el alarmismo constante. No puede ser que cuando un jugador falle una vez sea el peor y cuando acierte sea el mejor. Un poco de sentido común por favor. Tampoco hay que criticar al equipo tanto. Si perdemos, somos los peores del mundo y bajamos a Segunda. Si ganamos, nos llevamos todos los títulos. Ni tanto ni tan calvo. Ahi que tener un poco de sensatez y pensar y analizar bien las cosas. Por el bien del atleti debemos solucionar estos problemas y volveremos a ser grandes.

Abel Resino’s spell as Atletico Madrid coach could be nearing the end. The team are languishing without a win and in 18th place in the league, while their chances of qualifying from their Champions League group are already looking slim.

As a result, El Mundo Deportivo believe that if los Colchoneros lose to Real Zaragoza at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday night, Resino will receive his marching orders. Even a draw may be enough to force the movers and shakers at the club to take action.

The fact that the international break is approaching does not work in Resino’s favour, as a number of his players will be hoping to avoid injury and link up with their national teams for a vital set of World Cup qualifiers.

Should Atleti feel the need to sack Resino, they have reportedly drawn up a list of candidates to succeed him. Last season, the dismissal of Javier Aguirre was put off several times by a lack of interested coaches, but that is not the case this time.

Quique Sanchez Flores is believed to be the favoured candidate, although director Jesus Garcia Pitarch is reportedly not so keen on the former Benfica coach. Other replacements for the role include ex-Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster, Victor Fernandez and former Rojiblancos midfielder Diego Simeone.

Goal

En más ocasiones de las que parece el fútbol da enseñanzas que pueden valer para la vida cotidiana:

1.- Una serie de pequeñas malas decisiones pueden desembocar en una cagada enorme

2.- Una situación aparentemente controlada se nos puede ir de las manos en apenas diez minutos

3.- Todo puede cambiar en un minuto

Algo así fue el partido del Atleti de ayer. No digo que se hubiesen convertido en el Brasil de Sócrates y compañía, pero por lo menos hubo, de inicio, cierta actitud. Actitud ansiosa de quien lleva tiempo sin ganar y quiere ganar a toda costa, con los nervios típicos de esas situaciones, pero al fin y al cabo se notaban ciertas ganas de llevarse la victoria, lo cuál ya supone un avance. En ocasiones Perea se arrancaba por la banda y hacía algún regate, Cleber Santana tuvo un par de destellos técnicos… cosas así. Pero no valía otra cosa que ganar y no se ganó.

Todo el mal del equipo lo sitúo en diez minutos fatales. Lo que da muestra de lo difícil que debe ser ejercer como entrenador de un equipo. Primero, cuando vamos ganando 2-1, ¿no será lo suyo sacar a alguien para matar el partido? Si tienes al Kun Agüero en el banquillo, no hay más que hablar, vamos a sacar toda la dinamita, metemos el tercero y adiós. Pero no, saca a Simao. Después sacó a Agüero, pero retirando a Sinama, que aunque había hecho una cagada clamorosa que condujo al primer gol del Almería, lo cierto es que se estaba esforzando y dando sensación de peligro. Finalmente retira a Forlán y mete al canterano Koke. Esto da un mensaje totalmente equivocado: el partido ha terminado. En realidad quedaban diez minutos, pero ya se sentían ganadores. Nadie piensa en dejar la pistola cargada, no sea que estos nos maten y nos quedemos sin recursos, que esta gente es de la tierra del spaghetti western. Así las cosas, vino la debacle. Soy un gran defensor de Abel, le tengo en gran estima, ha dado muchísimo a este club, pero en los últimos partidos está dando muestras de inseguridad total. Lo que hace, no lo entiende ni el (¿hay que destituirle? Habría que darle al menos dos partidos de crédito, pero… ¿a quién traemos?)

No sólo eso. En los últimos diez minutos el Atleti entró en un limbo. No fue ni a defender ni a atacar, estaban de tripi, escuchando música oriental balanceando los brazos. Sólo eso explica las puñeteras ganas de Juanito y Pablo para hacer florituras con el balón en el área propia. Vamos a ponernos serios. Quedan diez minutos, hay dos soluciones: o bien vamos a matar el partido, ahora que estos están dejando espacios por primera vez en todo el encuentro (deja arriba a Forlán, Sinama y Kun) o bien vamos a defendernos, que estos quieren arrear (mete a Ujfalusi, cinco atrás, patadón y si eso que el Kun pille alguna y mate). Ni lo uno ni lo otro. Conclusión, seguimos en el pozo.

Una reflexión sobre las aficiones de los equipos. ¿Cuál es su influencia en el juego? Una reflexión concreta sobre la afición del Atleti: es inmerecida su calificación como “mejor afición del mundo”. Mi amigo Chicho, que se vino ayer a ver la tragedia, lo comentaba “esta afición no tiene mesura”. Pasó de una alegría infinita a una bronca tremenda y a pitar a todos los jugadores. Lo que hace esto es meter una presión innecesaria. Esta gente en seguida está silbando y lo que pienso es que al final, los once del Atleti, prefieren jugar fuera. Está claro que la afición no puede ganar el equipo, pero puede crear entusiasmo o nerviosismo y la del Atleti no hace más que lo segundo.

Atleti are fuming that international friendlies will impact on their Champions League preparation.

Atletico Madrid coach Abel Resino has lashed out at FIFA for the timing of international friendlies in the run up to the club’s Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos on Wednesday, August 19.

Resino must prepare for the first-leg clash without several key first-team players who are away on international duty this week.

“It’s alien to us – a calendar imposed by FIFA that clubs must respect but it’s awkward because as a team we cannot afford to take risks,” said Resino.

According to AS, the Rojiblanco coach said that it was “important” to be prepared for the Champions League. While he admitted that he was pleased with his team’s pre-season campaign, he acknowledged that there was work to be done.

“Every day we improve more and more, we need time to get the team in shape,” he said.

Goal