“Sorry old boy, washing my hair that night”. Am I talking here about Fiorentina’s fans not being bothered to travel to Anfield for a meaningless game with Liverpool but saving their cash for a more cheerful Christmas? No, not really.

What a difference two months can make. When UEFA Champions League group stage caravan was ready to go, at the end of september, there were inevitable mass-media comments based on false assumptions that the “predictability of outcomes” and “the same sense of inertia enveloping the bloated early rounds” will generate a lack of interest and subsequently empty seats around the grounds, “as there is no obvious reason to desert the shampoo anywhere on the continent” in these autumn evenings apart from some big old clashes such as Juventus – Bayern, AC Milan – Real Madrid or Barcelona – Inter. I’ve cited from an oppinion going on the lines of Michel Platini’s alleged misjudgement to mix Europe’s finest, the cream of the elite, with some no-hopers.

Never mind the sarcasm which peppered the comment, “You can imagine the look on Jose Mourinho’s face when Inter were drawn in the same group as Rubin Kazan”, but some might argue that the chance itself for lesser clubs to face giants of the game is a step up on the ladder. The minnows can improve only by playing against the best in the trade.

And others might not be so imaginative yet they’ve noticed Pep Guardiola’s face when the current UEFA Champions League holders were defeated on Camp Nou by Gokdeniz Karadeniz 73rd minute strike. It was 2-1 for Rubin in Barcelona. Actually, not that much of a shock, after a 0-0 draw in Kazan, when the Russian champion was already sprinting towards back to back domestic titles.

It’s well documented the fact that Russian clubs take advantage on their day from the unusual spring-autumn format of the season. Only on this basis and the champions of the EURO 2008 semifinalist shouldn’t have been taken for granted. Not to mention their clubs resurgence in UEFA Cup, which was won by CSKA Moscow and Zenit Sankt Petersburg in 2005 and 2008 respectivelly. That’s a harvest double the amount of England’s, triumphant in UEFA Cup in the last 25 years only through Liverpool, in 2001, but this record can be adjusted in may, in Hamburg, with The Reds derailed from glamorous  UEFA Champions League to its poorer renamed cousin, UEFA Europa League. 

The shampoo will be deserted on wednesday the 9th of december in favour of a journey to San Siro for an exciting Inter – Rubin Kazan decider, with Jose Mourinho’s men and Karadeniz et co equal on points. What can you ask for more? Goliath hosting David and not the other way round, another inconvenience for Europe’s finest, through the eyes of western commentators, to have to pull their alike extraterestrial buses in some “Eastern European backwater”. Although there are human beings living and buying football tickets even there, apparently it seems a stage not glitzy enough for the uber-entities.

It was often the case – and a repeat scenario won’t be any surprise - that the bigger clubs prevailed despite a stuttering start or a poor form altogether in the group stage. The smart money will be on Jose Mourinho’s coat and hairstyle to be admired on the glamorous stage as well in spring but it has to be pointed out that no team is by any means qualified yet from this supposedly inbalanced group. And that says a lot about minnows’ progress. A 2-2 draw as Inter made in Milano against Dinamo Kiyv will do though for the Italian champions.   

 And who would have imagined that Fiorentina Firenze will go through the group stage for the first time in its history at the expense of a seasoned Liverpool side? Or who would have thought that unknown Unirea Urziceni will shatter Glasgow Rangers on Ibrox Park with a 4-1 which contributed to the elimination of Scotland’s champions before the last group games were played?

These are some questions to ponder about. The shampoo will be in use in Glasgow when Gers will travel to Seville for an academic outing against the top of the group Andalucians. Full credit to Dan Petrescu, once a versatile player not only for Chelsea, now a capable manager providing an answer in his own way to another ironic arrow targeting Michel Platini. The commentator was asking if the name of Urziceni is the acceptable contraction…

Well, it’s just a name and nothing else, no better or worse than Stuttgart. Urzica is a plant, a stinging nettle, and has therapeutic values. While Platini’s ideals, to evolve the game on the virtues of solidarity and universality, mentioned when he took helm of UEFA in january 2007, seem already to bear fruit. Or may be some observers discomfort is coming from the president’s suggestion that 4 representatives for England or Spain might be a bit too much and that indebted clubs might end one day thrown out of the competition.

Some might say that I’m very harsh and punitive on some wrong predictions. But I’ll argue that it’s not about some wild results that unexpectedly occured, say AC Milan – Zurich 0-1, Atletico Madrid – Apoel Nicosia 0-0, Bayern Munich – Bordeaux 0-2 or even Manchester United – CSKA Moscow 3-3, given that just an owngoal in the 93rd minute have undone the 2005 UEFA Cup winners at Old Trafford, where Besiktas has won as well, but it’s about the concept of rightly mixing in the group stage the mighty and powerful with some new faces.

Enough knock-out stages will then follow for the big clubs to grace the loftier stratospheres of the competition. But as New Zealand, Honduras or North Korea sneaked through in the group stages of 2010 World Cup final, so UEFA Champions League can do with a few underdogs. No harm but – as it was proved – some excitement.

And isn’t it ironic that it went full circle, if it is to quote again the commentary: “[...] another fixture to get hearts pumping; Unirea Urziceni, of Romania, versus, VFB Stuttgart”. You bet it is. Nothing else than a win will do for Die Schwaben to go through. And by the way, the club’s name is correctly spelled with f and not F. Verein fur Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e.V.

Some minnows proved that Platini’s competition format has its merits and it’s just fair to point out that a former European champion both at club and national level, with Juventus Torino and France, who won as well both domestic competitions in Italy and his native country, winning Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Supercup and Intercontinental Cup among other trophees, might be more of a visionary with the game’s best interests at heart than some pundits can imagine.

Will Jose Mourinho succeed against Rubin? Or will he find the going as tough as Rafael Benitez did with Liverpool?

While being here and casting an eye on the backwater of Eastern Europe, just one more point to make. It’s surprising to say and admit that for all their travel, some football writers must lack some geography knowledge.  Why I’m saying this? The same error is repeated for decades, mistakingly including footballing nations as say Czech Republic or Hungary, you name them, in… Eastern Europe.

Well, it’s a well known fact even at kindergarten in mainland Europe that the continent’s eastern border consists of Ural Mountains, at meridian 60 E, which splits the Russian Federation into two: the European Russia and the Asian Russia. Take any map and you’ll notice that European Russian Federation is extremely wide, occupying the whole eastern front of the continent. That’s Eastern Europe…

Which leaves the lot, Czech Republic et all, nowhere else but in Central Europe. The meridians are giving an even more accurate view of what’s what in terms of positioning on our continent’s map, be it a footballing one or not. The 60 degrees E meridian is roughly where Urals are stretching from north to south, while the 30 degrees E meridian cuts across eastern Finland, Belarus and Ukraine. Meridian O passes Greenwich.

So how comes that Slavia or Sparta Prague, bang on the western side of 15 degrees E meridian, so much closer to London than to Moscow, are… eastern European clubs? It defies everything: maps, geography, logic, truth…

To emphasise the aforementioned point about the imbalance of power in the elitist Champions League, the columnist choose poor Unirea Urziceni as a perfect “example”, comparing David with mighty Real Madrid. Well, geographically wise, the same error… Urziceni, the town surprisingly holding the current domestic national title in Romania, even being in eastern Romania, is actually bang in central Europe, whichever way you want to study the map of real Europe, known at kindergarten. Somewhere at mid distance between the western points of say Ireland and Portugal and the Urals.

Unirea Urziceni, this unknown quantity with an unpronouncable name, was deemed as an unworthy opponent for the big and powerful, with the stroke of a keyboard. It took decades for minor Romanian outfits to break the horrendous state controlled hijacking of national football, with Steaua and Dinamo the big bullies on the scene. CFR Cluj made history last year by winning the title, despite all the machinations of Steaua. Cluj-Napoca, a provincial city from Transylvania, have defied the structures of power.

Unirea Urziceni followed the trend and, from nowhere, finished on top, due to Dan Petrescu’s managerial knowhow. His skills honed in Poland, at Wisla Krakow, the former Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea London full back hit the jackpot by bringing the title in a place the size of Slough. Actually, I’m exaggerating, as Slough is quite big.

Instead of recognizing the amazing shift of power in Romanian football, where it seems that truth starts to prevail and Steaua and Dinamo find it harder and harder to control through corruption, sleaze and influence, some are questioning, placing in imaginary boxes and taking the mickey out of the newborn stars. And I say stars but they might be only comets, shining just for a while. It’s their moment, so why to pick them as “examples” in this infinite talk about the Champions League format moulded by Platini!? Because it’s convenient for some…

The simple truth is that Urziceni is not in eastern Europe, whateversome Western Europeans want to believe, and that Unirea did a wonderful job in following the footsteps of another minnow, CFR Cluj Napoca. A few more like them and we’ll escape the plague of associating Romanian football with the names of Steaua and Dinamo. 

I just assume that if Steaua would have won the title and represent Romania in Champions League, it wouldn’t have been picked as an “example” in the explanation about the imbalance of power in the group stages of the European elite.  Just because Steaua won the old European Cup in ‘86 with players cherrypicked from various minnows, some are assuming that it must be a powerful enough entity to be worthy of a home and away double with Real Madrid. Well, Olympique Lyonnais visited Bucharest recently and showed the real difference in power.

And if one day Steaua will pay even without interest the unpaid transfer sums for players… recruited in those days in the Army, then the mighty and powerful of the Iron Curtain block will be bankrupt and buried, while the “minnows” derided now will empower themselves at least for the merit of bringing talents to the footballing world.

And please don’t show to anybody at Steaua or Dinamo the UEFA Champions League group table with Urziceni in second place, with 8 points. Spare them of blushing for the 5 points gathered all together, with 3 goals scored and 12 conceded, in the eight games played in UEFA Europa League groups, scratching the bottom…

Jose Mourinho.

Milano “Inter” vyr. treneris Jose Mourinho liko gerokai nusivylęs savo ekipos žaidimu pralaimėtose (0:2) Čempionų lygos rungtynės Barselonoje.

“Nors šeimininkams negalėjo padėti Zlatanas Ibrahimovičius ir Lionelis Messi, tačiau jų žaidimui tai įtakos neturėjo. “Barcelona” žaidėjai mano auklėtinius žymiai lenkė individualiu meistriškumu”, – kalbėjo portugalas.

Milano komanda paskutiniame grupių etape namie privalės įveikti Kazanės “Rubin”, kad garantuotai patektų į sekantį etapą.

Pena, vergogna, orrore, ruina, morte, vilipendio, sacrilegio e offesa al culto dei defunti. Al confronto, la partita di Madrid con Simoni in panchina è stata una dimostrazione di forza, bellezza e personalità. Saponetta fa i miracoli solo a frittata fatta. Maicon non lo sopporto più. Lucio e Muntari hanno gareggiato a chi ha il Q.I. più basso: ma la macchina non ha registrato segni di vita cerebrale. Chivu non fa più nemmeno pena, solo tristezza : e Caressa si rammarica per la squalifica contro il Rubin, invece di sottolineare l’unica nota lieta della serata. Zanetti, il solito, stucchevole compitino. Cambiasso sta scivolando mestamente tra le riserve, e in Europa non ne ha mai azzeccata una : sul che mi attendo un illuminato parere dagli intellettuali che onorano questo blog con la loro frequentazione. In vita mia non ho mai visto uno giocare male come Motta ieri. Stankovic tenta il pallonetto a porta vuota : hanno ritrovato la palla a Plaza del Toro, ma non a Barcellona, a Madrid. Adesso ho capito perchè ci hanno dato Eto ‘o. Milito è più lento di Galante, ma non quello che giocava con noi, quello di adesso a 36 anni. Proporrò una legge di iniziativa popolare che prevede carcere obbligatorio sine die per chi fa giocare Muntari a Barcellona. L’unico a cui non va bloccato lo stipendio è Samuel. E quello è stato preso per vincere la Champions ! Gli diamo dieci mln e passa all’anno ! E adesso mi toccherà sorbirmi gli sbrodolamenti lessico-concettuali di Moratti, quando ci vorrebbe un bel provvedimento alla Gaucci : tutti in ritiro sine die a Chieti Scalo, pensione una stella, acqua fredda e unico bagno (sporco). Così quando uno dissente, come disse quello, ossia gli viene la dissenteria, vai con la caccia al pannolone ! Poi mi toccherà sorbirmi Mourinho che invoca lo stadio pieno contro il Rubin. Come no ! Deve essere pieno di cecchini pronti ad abbatterti quando ti leverai dalla panchina. Il problema è che non ti abbatteranno, perchè sono stati addestrati a sparare ad altezza d’uomo, come ebbe a dire l’immortale Tonino S. (v. post memorabilia, non ricordo il numero).
Giuro su quanto ho di più caro : il primo che trovo che mi parla di quinto scudetto consecutivo lo abbotto di calci nei coyotes. Lo faccio diventare la regina della movida transgender, altro che via Gradoli e via Due Ponti ! E nessuna spesa per il chirurgo estetico : i connotati glieli cambio io, gratis e in unica soluzione.

Click on the thumbnails to see full size (Bấm vào hình nhỏ để xem hình lớn):

1-Aproveitar o máximo as dificuldades dos adversários. 2-superar as suas próprias limitações na hora do aperto. Com isso e com qualquer outro benefício que se possa ter durante a jornada - até mesmo com a arbitragem, assunto da moda – qualquer equipe pode ser considerada concorrente ao título em torneio eliminatório. De um poderoso Manchester United a um inexpressivo Once Caldas, o mata-mata é democrático.

De uma forma bem superficial, as metas do início do texto são as selecionadoras da disputa do título. Hoje, no Camp Nou, o Internazionale encarou uma grande chance de se auto-afirmar. Falhou.

De acordo com a primeira meta, a Inter tinha uma tarde perfeita. Sem Messi e Ibrahimovic e entrando em maré baixa, nunca o Barcelona esteve tão mal. Com uma vitória, a Inter praticamente garantiria a primeira colocação e ainda colocaria um favorito ao título em situação incômoda. Curiosamente, ao invés de afundar, o time de José Mourinho acabou dando uma bela mão ao adversário.

O Barcelona entrou em campo com um esquema que não é habituado jogar. De início, era um 4-4-2. O grande problema é que José Mourinho não soube aproveitar a sua grande chance do ano. Encarou o Barcelona como se fosse completo e cometeu o seu maior erro: escalou Chivu na lateral-esquerda e Thiago Motta como volante também por aquele lado. Dois jogadores completamente defensivos pelo lado em que geralmente Messi joga. Só que Messi não entrou em campo e ninguém do Barcelona estava previsto para jogar por lá.

Como Chivu e Motta não subiam, não haviam motivos para que Daniel Alves esperasse a dupla. Se mandou para o ataque. Quando se deu por si era o atacante pelo lado, infernizando o lado esquerdo italiano como se fosse Messi.

Assim, o Barcelona voltou a jogar no seu 4-3-3 habitual. Henry e Pedro se revezavam entre ponta-esquerda e área, atrapalhando a zaga de Mourinho. Xavi e Iniesta, os dois em partida espetacular, desequilibraram todo o primeiro tempo com os seus toques curtos e invertidas de bola. Com esses espanhóis em grande dia, o Barcelona sempre consegue exibir o melhor futebol do mundo brincando. 

O primeiro tempo terminou em 2×0 para o Barcelona, mas bem que poderia ser mais. Massacre era uma palavra que casava bem com o jogo. O segundo tempo veio, o ritmo do Barça diminuiu e a postura do Internazionale continuou apática, sem a menor reação.

Só que não foi apenas o lado esquerdo que estragou a partida do time. A ausência de Sneijder entra no mérito da segunda meta do início do texto. Faltava criação no meio de campo e Stankovic não rende como meia avançado. Não há nenhum reserva na posição de Sneijder no elenco, o que ameniza a culpa de Mourinho.

O problema maior é o desenho do time. O meio de campo em linha ainda é o mesmo de Roberto Mancini (tecla que eu já estou cansado de repetir). Mourinho sempre jogou de forma diferente, não entendo a razão para continuar assim. No ataque, nem Eto’o nem Milito conseguem entrar em grande fase, já que disputam entre si cada bola que recebem. Quaresma merecia uma chance, apesar de ter desperdiçado todas as inúmeras que recebeu.

Eu realmente achava o Mourinho o maior treinador do mundo. Ele tinha um estilo de jogo inconfundível, uma estrela enorme em jogos decisivos, uma vibração contagiante. Pra mim, o maior salário do mundo entre técnicos não é nenhum absurdo, já que o campeão da Champions pelo Porto sempre deu resultados, além de fazer escola no meu jeito de ver futebol.

Só que o Mourinho de hoje, não é o mesmo José que eu admirava (ainda).

Por Rafael Araújo

It’s a fun-filled week after that excruciatingly long (in my mind) and pointless (ditto) International break. I won’t spoil too much (up here) because there are a few matches to take joy from today and I wouldn’t want to steal my own thunder by spilling the beans right away. So I’m just gonna take it slow and leave the best posts to la -

ACF Fiorentina 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais – Well, La Viola have sealed their Group of 16 qualification! Fiorentina will be joining their French compatriots (ha!), having defeated said Frenchmen by a single goal at the Stadio Artemio Franchi this evening. It would be Juan Manuel Vargas who provided the difference for the home side, with a spot kick on 27′ after AC Milan almost-signing Aly Cissokho downed Marco Marchionni in Les Gones’ area. However, I think the true credit for the victory belongs to Sebastien Frey, whose stellar display between the sticks saved Cesare Prandelli’s men’s collective behinds time and time again – their defense simply is not the same without Alessandro Gamberini marshalling the back line. Oh, one other minor detail regarding their match: it eliminated Liverpool  from the Champions League. Humble Fiorentina move on, while the Scousers are sent home to cry in their… scouse. Beating up on a French team and an English team with the same result? Two birds with one stone, I say. All that’s left to do is seal first place with a victory at Anfield – normally a tall order, but hell, I’m feeling good about it right now.

Your clock is ticking, Rafa!

Liverpool 1-0 Debrecen – Need I even bother? Does it matter? Liverpool have been knocked out of the Champions League as a result of La Viola’s win over Lyon (for those of you who may have skipped the above paragraph) David Ngog put the Reds ahead early in a game which they started confidently – the Frenchmen was first to the ball within the box on 4′ to poke home and give his side an early 1-0 lead. Rafa Benitez’s men put in a spirited performance in the first half, but by the second they were well away what the score was in Firenze and, with their destiny out of their hands, seemed content to simply boot the ball around. Now completely out of Champions League running despite tonight’s victory, the only heart that the Merseysiders can take is in the fact that they can get their revenge on Fiorentina by spoiling their 1st place hopes at Anfield in 2 weeks time. It seems strange after a victory, but Rafa Benitez unemployment watch, anyone?

Rubin Kazan 0-0 Dynamo Kiev – Rubin Kazan were crowned Russian champions earlier this week, but were unable to work any magic in snowy Tatarstan tonight to bolster their European hopes. Both the Russians and Ukrainians seemed aware of the importance of the match, which could have seen either rise to within grasping distance of Round of 16 qualification, and both sides started the match with tense and tentative play, unwilling to give ground but unwilling to push too far forward as well. The visitors actually dominated the play for much of the match, carrying possession and keeping the Rubinovye on their heels. However, it would be the Russians who came closest to scoring in the 90 minutes, with Oleksander Shovkovski being forced to swat away an acrobatic attempt from Alejandro Dominguez just before the halftime interval. In the end, neither side would get ahead, but both still have a chance of qualification thanks to the result that Barcelona and Inter achieved at the Camp Nou this evening.

Xavi will haunt Jose's nightmares for weeks.

Barcelona 2-0 Inter – Ah, the European Inter we know and hate – and the European Barcelona that we know and (some people) love. Italy’s most dominant team domestically once again failed to show up on the European stage, and were beaten black and blue (get it?) all over the match by a dominant Blaugrana side in Catalonia. It was all Barcelona from the very start, as the home side started early and didn’t really slow it down until the match was more than won. I Nerazzurri were reminded of their own glaring deficiencies as they found themselves unable to deal with Barca’s more technically proficient midfield (Xavi, anyone?) and perhaps the more forward-thinking tactics of Pep Guardiola. Barcelona struck twice early in the match, with Gerard Piqué side-footing in a corner on 10′ and Pedro volleying into the top corner after some beautiful team build-up on 27′. To illustrate the point of Catalan dominance, Inter didn’t even get their first shot off until 35′, and Victor Valdés wasn’t called into action until almost halftime to make a routine save on Diego Milito, who wasn’t looking very princely tonight. The scoreline could have been a lot higher if not for the world-class netminding of Julio Cesar, who proved a strong last line of defense against Barcelona’s constant onslaught. Though not exactly a blowout, Inter’s match has shown once again that Jose Mourinho’s men simply do not have the quality or the mentality to succeed in European football. Mourinho himself spoke of the large gap in quality after the match, citing individual talent as a key area in which La Beneamata simply could not compete. I tend to agree, and with creative genius Wesley Sneijder sidelined that gap becomes even more apparent, but I also think it comes down to tactics. Barcelona always play football on their own terms, with brilliant passing and constant movement, while Mourinho’s men play a more tentative game, content to simply grind out wins while expressing only momentary flashes of genius. Regardless of this result, it seems that both these sides will be advancing to the next round (unless Inter lose at home to Rubin Kazan in a fortnight), but to be swatted out of the Camp Nou so easily is surely a blow to i Nerazzurri and especially their loudmouthed tecnico.

Arsenal 2-0 Standard Liege – A run of the mill match for Arsenal – a Beer and Waffles speedbump, if you will. The Londoners cruised past their visitors at the Emirates Stadium on the strength of 2 first-half goals from Samir Nasri and Denilson on 35′ and 45′ respectively. Manuel Almunia was saved his blushes once by the grace of the woodwork, but other than that it was mostly smooth sailing for the Gunners, who have apparently bounced back nicely after a half-arsed defeat to Sunderland on the weekend. As predicted/warned waaay back when, Arsene Wenger’s men have topped Group H with ease.

Unirea Urziceni 1-0 Sevilla – This one’s just up here for its comic value. Sevilla have looked strong all season, both domestically and in European competition, but have fallen for the first time in these group stages after the Romanians were gifted a win through an Ivica Dragutinovic own-goal and the help of the woodwork. The match’s only goal came just before the interval, with the Serbian defender heading an incoming long ball directly into the back of his own net. Comic gold, that (when it’s not happening to you, anyways). Though the Andalusians continued to dominate much of the play throughout the second half, they were unable to overcome that deficit and ultimately fell to the home side in Bucharest. Dragutinovic’s own-goal may have helped the Romanian side to qualify, as they now sit second in the group behind Los Rojiblancos with 8 points. Interestingly, Urziceni have only score 6 goals in this competition, and 3 of those have been own-goals gifted to them by their opponents! If these guys make it through, they’ve definitely earned it.

These are th- Well, you get the point.

Cosi` Beppe Severgnini sul suo twitter, e io, da milanista, godo.

beppesevergnini: J.Cesar 5, Maicon 4, Samuel 4, Lucio 4, Chivu 4, Cambiasso 4 (Muntari 4), T. Motta 4, Stankovic 4 (Balotelli 4), Zanetti 4, Milito 4 Eto’o 4

Mourinho: Barcellona, prova di maturità. Per ora: bocciati. Primo ingresso in area: 30° PT, corner. Imbarazzante. Dov’è il membro interno?

Fuente: sport.es

¡Hola a todos!

El campeón de Europa puso las cosas en su sitio a cinco días del clásico con el Real Madrid. En un partido casi perfecto le endosó un 2-0 a un Inter de Milán que no hizo honor a su condición de líder del Calcio (¿O sí?). El Barça recuperó el liderato de su grupo de la Liga de Campeones sin Messi, sin Ibrahimovic, pero con siete canteranos de lujo. Josep Guardiola tumbó a José Mourinho con fútbol del bueno. El teatro quedó para el portugués…

GUARDIOLA Mientras crítica y aficionados le dábamos vueltas al momento de juego del equipo, Pep se mantuvo fiel a sí mismo hasta el final. Siempre valiente en los grandes partidos, Guardiola salió a por la victoria -el resultado que necesitaba- apostando por el once en el que creía. Esto es: Messi, Ibra y Bojan en el banquillo; Pedro en el extremo con Henry -al que ha defendido a capa y espada pese a que es un jeta- e Iniesta barriendo todo el frente de ataque formando la tripleta de ataque. Abidal en lugar de Maxwell pese a la lesión y la gripe A y haciendo un partidazo.

FUTBOL ASOCIACION ¡Cómo me gusta aplicar este concepto al juego del Barça! Ayer los blaugrana lo recuperaron como hacía tiempo que no se veía. Durante la primera mitad, amparados en su fútbol solidario de toque, pase y movimiento, le hicieron un rondo monumental al Inter. La base, siete chavales de La Masía para poner el sello de la casa. Los líderes, cómo no, un Xavi soberbio en la circulación de la bola y en los cambios de orientación del juego y su compinche Andrés Iniesta, prodigioso en las asistencias y los uno contra uno. Por cierto, bien secundados por un Busquets -cada vez más maduro- y un Keita todo terreno. Entre los cuatro partieron por la mitad al Inter de Milán.

¿QUÉ PASA, MOU? Ya sucedió en el duelo de la primera vuelta en el Giuseppe Meazza: Guardiola le dio un ‘baño’ táctico al ‘Special One’. Su defensa era incapaz de fijar a los puntas y de frenar a la segunda línea blaugrana. Su centro del campo, desaparecido en combate; y Eto’o y Milito, abandonados a sus suerte en el ataque. No remataron a puerta hasta el minuto 43 (Milito). Para el descanso, su balance ya era bochornoso: 1) Había encajado dos goles (soberbio Piqué en el 1-0. Por cierto, Motta sigue siendo Motta: se despista en los goles, pega sin sentido en el centro del campo. Y Pedro es grande, muy grande, y sigue marcando). 2) El Inter no había visto la bola (más del 60% de posesión para el Barça) ni la vería en el segundo tiempo.

FAENA DE ALIÑO La segunda parte del Barça fue igualmente perfecta, aunque administrando fuerzas, con el trabajo hecho y pensando ya en el clásico. Y eso que, si alguien pudo marcar, ése fue el conjunto blaugrana. El Inter se limitó a repartir palos (Zanetti a Busquets, Lucio a Pedro, Muntari a Henry, Chivu a Iniesta, Motta a Alves) pero no mostró nada de fútbol. El Camp Nou se dió el gusto de cantarle a ‘Mou’ aquello de: ‘Vete al teatro, Mourinho vete al teatro’. Lo de ‘Ese portugués…es’ iba dirigido a otro que le pone velas a Judas. El caso es que los ‘neroazzurri’ se limitaron a evitar el 3-0 para no verse obligados a ganar al Rubin en la sexta jornada.

RUBIN-DINAMO Porque para el Barça fue un día perfecto, incluido el 0-0 entre rusos y ucranianos. El Rubin pasó la resaca del título de Liga frente al Dinamo; pero además, volvió a demostrar que su estilo de juego es ideal para jugar contra equipos superiores a él, a los que cede la iniciativa y ‘mata’ al contragolpe, pero menos eficaz si se mide a sus ‘iguales’. El Barça no supo ganarle; pero ellos no supieron ganar al Dinamo. Ahora, se jugará los octavos con Mou en San Siro. Mal negocio… En cambio, al Barça incluso le vale perder por 2-0 para pasar a octavos. ¿Pero alguién piensa que perderá en Kiev?

EL CLÁSICO En fin, que este equipo -cuerpo técnico incluido- está muy por encima de su directiva, de su afición y de su entorno. Cuando al resto le flaquean las piernas, ellos dan un paso al frente -el 2-6 del Bernabéu, la final de Roma…-. Con Messi e Ibra en la recámara, dispone de cuatro días para preparar la visita del Real Madrid pormucho que vuelva Cristiano Ronaldo. Visto lo visto, y con el permiso de Manuel Pellegrini, yo mantendría todo el crédito a favor del ‘Pep Team’…

¡Hasta luego!

FICHA TÉCNICA:
Barça: Valdés; Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Abidal (Maxwell, min.88); Xavi, Busquets, Keita; Pedro (Bojan, min.84), Henry e Iniesta (Dos Santos 90+3).
Inter: Júlio César; Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu; Zanetti, Motta, Cambiasso (Muntari, min.46), Stankovic (Balotelli, min.70); D. Milito Quaresma, min. 81) y Eto’o.
Arbitro: Massimo Busacca (Suiza). Tarjetas a Motta (min.18), Puyol (min.37), Pedro (min.50), Chivu (min. 79).
Goles: 1-0, min. 10′ Piqué. 2-0, min. 26 Pedro.
Estadio: Camp Nou, casi 94.000 espectadores. Quinta jornada de la fase de grupo de la Liga de Campeones. Grupo F.

¿Ha comentado con Eto’o sus sensaciones ante el regreso al Camp Nou?
Sí, hemos hablado de ello y Samuel está muy motivado. Conoce bien la casa donde ha pasado tantos años y quiere demostrar que puede jugar en cualquier lugar. Además, lo tiene todo a su favor, porque creo que el recibimiento será fantástico. Si le puede afectar negativamente un extra de motivación no lo sé, eso depende mucho de cómo es cada uno.
Su vuelta en 2000 fue durísima.
Lo que pasó ese día sucedió por las circunstancias de mi profesión y porque la prensa catalana convirtió mi vuelta en un hecho único.
¿Estará mañana en Barcelona?
Sí, esa es mi intención.
¿Le inquieta cómo pueda recibirle la hinchada culé?
Estoy tranquilo y muy ilusionado, como siempre que voy a Barcelona.”

(Luis Figo, en Público, 23-11-2009)

¡Hola a todos!

En plena semana grande, el Barça jugará frente al Inter el primer partido decisivo de la temporada -con perdón de las dos Supercopas- antes de afrontar el clásico con el Real Madrid. Y si el partido no tenía ya bastante interés con los regresos al Camp Nou de Mourinho, Motta y Eto’o, resulta que ‘ese portugués’, ahora ‘embajador del Inter’, también acudirá a la cita.

GANAR, GANAR Y GANAR No perdamos el Norte. El primer objetivo del ‘Pep team’ es vencer al Inter. Nada de enfrentamientos personales, ‘vendettas’ ni historias raras. Es un partido de fútbol, frente a un equipazo, y al que el Barça llega con más problemas de los previstos. Las bajas por la gripe A, las lesiones que convierten en duda a Ibrahimovic y sobre todo a Messi… Llegó el momento de demostrar que los cimientos del pentacampeón son sólidos; ratificar que es la suma de talentos y su sacrificio en favor del ‘fútbol asociación’ la clave de sus éxitos. Y, también, de corroborar que mantienen intacta la actitud y el hambre de triunfos y títulos. Aquel ‘Ganar, ganar y ganar’ de Luis Aragonés, el rey de las perogrulladas castizas convertidas en axiomas futbolísticos (la versión holandesa, Cruyff; la balcánica, Boskov).

SAMU, MOU, THIAGO… Regresa Samuel Eto’o, un excelente delantero que le dió al Barça de la ‘Era Laporta’ ambición y gol para ganar títulos. Impresentable y lenguaraz fuera del campo, su comportamiento resultó intachable sobre el césped y eso es lo que el Estadi debe valorar cuando le vea vestido de ‘neroazzurro’. Quiero decir: antes de empezar el duelo, ovación de gala para el camerunés. Cuando el árbitro pite el inicio, mucho ojo porque es un ‘killer’ y, diga lo que diga, le tiene ganas a Pep, a Txiki, a Jan y al Sursum Corda si va vestido de blaugrana. Sobre Mourinho: es un entrenador que utiliza todos los resortes para administrar los partidos y de tonto no tiene un pelo. Estaría encantado si gana en Barcelona porque: 1) Es un golpe de prestigio vencer al vigente campeón en su casa. 2) Más aún si, para colmo, le elimina o le dejs con un pie fuera de la Champions. 3) Él es el ‘Special One’ y Pep Guardiola no le va a enseñar la fórmula de  la sopa de ajo: por el 0-0 de San Siro le dieron más palos que a una estera. 4) ¿Alguien se ha olvidado de las que montó en los Barça-Chelsea con Frank Rijkaard, ‘el Hombre Tranquilo’?. Sobre Motta: ¿Ya no se lesiona?

ESE PORTUGUÉS Y después está ese portugués. Fue un ‘futbolista diez’. Calidad, chispa, fuerza, carácter, carisma, entrega… Sólo tenía un problema: era un profesional en el peor sentido del término. Por un buen puñado de euros estaba dispuesto a dejar colgado a cualquiera y entregaba los mejores años de su vida al mejor postor. Llegó al Barça en 1995 tras el ‘pollo’ que montó con la duplicidad de contratos con Parma y Juventus. Supongo que la ‘Gent blaugrana’ debería haberlo calado entonces pero todos picaron como pardillos: el capitán del Barça, ‘el último mohicano’ firmó bajo mano por el General Custer (Florentino Pérez). Pensaba que aquel fulano perdería las elecciones y él se levantaría una pasta extra (3 millones de euros). Mientras tanto, se trabajaba una mejora de contrato con los candidatos del Barça negando como San Pedro y besando escudos y camisetas blaugrana como Judas (Iscariote). ‘Flo’ ganó las elecciones y él se tuvo que vestir de blanco, como hacen las novias vírgenes (y las que no).

IN ILLO TEMPORE… Nueve años después, se puede contar la película como se quiera. En el 2000, la afición blaugrana le tenía muchas ganas sin necesidad de campañas. Se sentía traicionada, su capitán le había puesto los cuernos con el Real Madrid. Y la ‘prensa catalana’ que dice él -SPORT, que digo yo- también le tenía ganas porque se había aprovechado de ella para consumar su traición. Su foto en la portada, a orillas del mar, jurando amor eterno a unos colores le dio el margen suficiente para hacer el ‘take the money & run’. Mientras, otro mentiroso de tomo y lomo, Joan Gaspart, pactaba con Florentino unas horas para ganar las elecciones. ¡Fijaos todo lo que provocó ese portugués por un puñado de dólares!

POR TANTO Si quiere estar en el Camp Nou para el Barça-Inter, que ningún culé malgaste su tiempo ni ensucie su boca o sus manos pronunciando su nombre o lanzándole una bola de papel. Nadie se merece que le toquen un pelo, y menos aún si estamos hablando de fútbol. Pero que no vaya de digno ni intente cambiar la historia; su caso no soporta la menor comparación con el de Eto’o. Samuel, con todos sus defectos, no abandonó el barco cuando se hundía. Y con el camerunés no había medias tintas, siempre se supo de qué palo iba.

Es más, si alguien ha hecho daño a alguien, ése ha sido él. ¿Verdad César?

¡Hasta luego!

Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

Mourinho é doidão, como ele próprio diz

“Se Balotelli torce pelo Milan, então Pato é interista…”. É óbvio que José Mourinho não ia ficar calado após a polêmica envolvendo o atacante Balotelli, que afirmou ser um torcedor rossonero.

Mas o técnico português não quis criar caso e disse não acreditar que o jogador tenha dito de forma séria. Mourinho comentou ainda sobre o seu futuro, dado pela mídia inglesa como o próximo técnico do Manchester United.

”Não fiz nenhuma declaração para o Times (jornal) sobre o meu futuro”. Pra fechar, o treinador disse ser um treinador doido, assim como seus torcedores: “Eu, por exemplo, tenho uma paixão louca por aquilo que faço e talvez a Inter tenha um treinador com as características do time e do interista”.

Mourinho é doidão. Tão doido que quase sempre perde a linha nas entrevistas e cria uma polêmica para não passar em branco. Mesmo sendo inconveniente em muitas ocasiões, continuo o tendo como o melhor técnico da atualidade.

Éder Fantoni

What you missed while blaming the jellyfish invasion on global warming…

• Your MLS semifinal results: LA Galaxy 2 – 0 Houston Dynamo (aet); Chicago Fire 0 – 0 (p) Real Salt Lake. Truth be told, both of these games were really entertaining to watch; if the MLS regular season played like the MLS postseason, we wouldn’t whine about how bad the league is.
• A Moroccan pitch invader outscored the entire Moroccan national team on Saturday.
• Rumors of Robin van Persie’s ended season have been highly exaggerated; the Dutchman will only miss four to six weeks with torn ankle ligaments.
• Obafemi Martins scored twice for Nigeria in their 3-2 win over Kenya; that win put them into the World Cup over Tunisia.
• Kaka thinks that Fabio Capello should definitely include David Beckham in his World Cup squad; he also doesn’t regret snubbing Manchester City last January.
• Lassana Diarra say that the Irish players were “looking for trouble” after their loss to France on Saturday (bonus: Patrice Evra asked John O’Shea to calm his players down).
• Carlo Cudicini’s Kellen Winslow impression will only continue for about 12 more weeks.
• Good news for Portsmouth: your transfer ban is set to be lifted, freeing you to spend your nonexistant oil money. Bad news for Portsmouth: Peter Storrie, the guy who would be buying players for you, is going to be in court on tax evasion charges related to the last time you bought players this January.
• Gary Neville thinks that an elite pool of pro-Manchester United top officials should be given all the biggest fixtures in the English game.
• Jose Mourinho may or may not be looking to come back to England.
• Ben Foster’s frustrated because he hasn’t gotten enough first-team football at Manchester United; United fans are frustrated because they think Foster’s gotten too much first-team football.

Anche se impegnati in Nazionale e lontani dal manto erboso di Appiano Gentile, il Mou non stacca la spina e non esita a dispensare di consigli, come farebbe una mamma chioccia, i suoi ragazzi.

Galera do blog, hoje é dia de Sessão Camisa 10, e o candidato do dia é Carlos Alberto, na minha opinião ele é daqueles jogadores que com um pouco de foco e um bom técnico ao seu lado, ele tem tudo para voar. Me lembro que a primeira vez que vi ele jogar mesmo foi em uma daquelas partidas de final de ano, era Amigos do Zico x Algum outro grupo de amigos, vi Carlos Alberto jogar com uma facilidade sem igual, jogador de rara habilidade, para ele o drible não é firula é um recurso, naquela época o menino já estava no Porto, onde foi treinado por Mourinho.

Mourinho até hoje vê em Carlos Alberto um dos melhores jogadores com quem ele já trabalhou. Gosto muito do futebol dele, fiquei triste quando meu tricolor não soube aproveitar a passagem do jogador. Espero que agora no Vasco ele mantenha a cabeça no lugar, foco total, pois para mim ele jogador de seleção. Veja abaixo do que ele é capaz:

Procurei vídeos mais recentes e não encontrei, se alguém souber me avise que posto. Valeu!!

Inter manager Jose Mourinho has applied for the possibly soon vacant post as manager of Manchester United. Again he chose not to send his application through the post but through the media.

“I want to build something. I want to work with a different perspective”, said Mourinho.

“I love Inter and would love to build for the future here. In fact, I am doing it now, because I am not a selfish coach and I’m thinking about the future in terms of youth development and the age structure of my first team — but Italy is not the country for this. England is the country. And my football is English football.”

“At Porto my objective was to win to earn the right to go abroad. At Chelsea my ambition was to create a bit of history. But I always knew Chelsea lacked the normal English culture of stability.”

So he wants to return to England to manage a top club with a culture of stability. As Arsene Wenger is likely to stay at Arsenal for many years this leaves only two realistic candidates; Liverpool and United. Both of which might, for different reasons, look for a new manager within a year or two.

“Pare de me atazanar, Mourinho”

No jogo do último domingo contra a Roma, José Mourinho disparou mais uma vez contra o atacante Mario Balotelli: “Esteve bem próximo da nota zero. Por ser um jovem, poderia ter feito muito mais”, declarou o treinador.

Não é a primeira vez que esse tipo de crítica acontece. O técnico português sempre acha um bode expiatório – e é sempre com Balotelli. O zagueiro Ivan Córdoba jogou um pano por cima ao afirmar que tais análises de Mourinho servem apenas para o crescimento do próprio atleta, é como um pai – um pai bem chato, né?

Mas eu pergunto: a perseguição a Balotelli é justa? O jovem ainda tem muito o que aprender quanto a ser um profissional. Faz o que quer e às vezes é pouco produtivo. Tanto se falou no talento dele há alguns anos e pouco evoluiu.

Vejo dessa forma: talento há, cabeça não. Mas muitos estão do lado do ragazzo e dizem que José Mourinho está exagerando ao persegui-lo. Sinceramente, também acho que de vez em quando o português fala de uma forma muito deliberada.

Balotelli não foi bem contra a Roma, mas daí colocar a culpa nele é um erro, porque toda a Inter esteve mal. Parece até que Mourinho está querendo esconder o baixo rendimento do seu time em apenas um jogador. Nessa batalha entre “pai e filho”, eu não vou meter a colher. E você, o que acha?

Éder Fantoni

Well, everyone knows that AS Roma’s captain and bandiera Francesco Totti has been out for the last little while – and should be out until the end of the month – as he recovers from medial miniscectomy arthroscopy on his troubled right knee. More recent news is that Capitan Futuro Daniele De Rossi also had to go under the knife yesterday morning.

Totti does some running at Trigoria with a trainer.

On Sunday, Jose Mourinho played his thug squad in midfield (Thiago Motta, Sulley Muntari, Patrick Vieira) to shut down AS Roma’s midfield. Vieira in particular did his manager one better, elbowing Danielì in the face and not only shutting him down but taking him out. Thus, DDR left the game after only half an hour and was rushed to Milan’s Niguarda Hospital. There it was discovered that the Frenchman’s elbow had shattered his cheekbone; De Rossi would undergo the first surgical procedure of his career the next morning at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

Daniele De Rossi nurses his shattered cheekbone after Vieira's dirty challenge.

Apparently, all went well and he should be back after the international break, but he’s irritated at being out of commission ’til then (word is that he wanted to play in the international friendlies with a protective mask on, but was told no by his doctors – atta boy). It shouldn’t take him too long, but get well Daniele! E Forza Roma!

F. C. Internazionale Milano

…is the headline one will be reading in any media that covers Italian football somewhere around April 2010.

No team has ever had such a great lead over the second-placed team as Inter’s after the first 11 rounds of the Serie A. Now, after 12 rounds, the seven points are down to five, but there is no way Inter is going to slip up enough for inconsistent Juventus, Sampdoria or Milan to catch up with them over the course of the season. In fact, despite Juventus and Sampdoria having so far been the teams to struggle for second place, the Football Mansion is so impressed by the form and quality Milan have showed since their loss to FC Zurich in the Champions League on 30 September, that we consider them to be favourites for the second spot in the Lega Calcio.

Inter’s success so far this season, and also the previous season, another title-winning year, is a reflection of what Jose Mourinho has brought to the club. Though the squad is stronger this year, there was plenty of talent available to Mr. Mourinho last year as well. Mourinho has made this count to the maximum. He has made Inter a well-organised team, creative in attack, and he has made talent flourish where he needs it. The Inter players now concentrate their talents on their tasks, and functions as a winning team should – in unity.

With a goalkeeper who has taken the step up to be claimed by some Italian football commentators as the best in the world, Julio Cesar, Inter have a solid starting point at the back. His job is made easier by the two rocks in centre defence, Walter Samuel and Lúcio. These two are assisted by a deep-lying central midfielder in Mourinho’s diamond four-man midfield. The person occupying that role can change during the course of a match, and varies between for instance Esteban Cambiasso, Thiago Motta and Patrick Vieira. This is an important position, as it keeps a balance to the liberal movement across the rest of the field by Mourinho’s team.

The side-backs are, similarly to the wide midfielders, perhaps more important offensively than defensively. Although holders of width and maintainers of balance in defence, the great importance of Javier Zanetti and Douglas Maicon becomes evident when Inter are in possession of the ball. These two either supply numbers in attack to take up opposition markers, or, more commonly, receive the ball in deep positions on the sides and move it forward, helping move the whole Inter team into the opposition’s last third. That way they function as a form of playmakers at side back. This is to take the potential of that position to its full extent. Zanetti, the team captain, masters this so well that he well exceeds the legendary Stuart Pearce from his Nottingham Forest and England heyday at it. This scenario, this season so well complemented by the incredible skill, creative ability and accomplished passing of Wesley Sneijder, allows Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o to focus fully on the task of scoring goals. Crucially, it is not only these two who do score goals, which is a cornerstone ability of any great team. Wesley Sneijder can score goals, as can almost any Inter player once the team manages to get the flow of movement into effect.

Unless Inter should suffer serious injuries to a number of key players, it looks solidly as though they will win the Serie A with a good margin this season. They can fall short during tight fixture schedules, as this weekend’s home draw against Roma proved, but have proved to have enough ‘Special’ ability to clinch a fifth consecutive title.

Vitória? A Lazio não sabe vencer em casa

A Lazio vive uma crise que aumenta a cada dia que passa. Pobre da torcida laziale. A última temporada terminou bem, com a conquista da Copa da Itália.

Esta começou melhor ainda, com o título da Supercopa da Itália e duas vitórias nas duas primeiras rodadas da Série A. Tudo não passou de uma ilusão. O time caiu repentinamente de rendimento e hoje está à beira da zona de rebaixamento.

Na Europa League, o time precisa de duas vitórias e torcer para que o Villarreal não vença seus dois jogos para se classificar. Já são 10 rodadas sem vencer na Série A. O pior início de campeonato desde 1988/89. O jornal Corriere dello Sport revela dados interessantes como os números da equipe no Estádio Olímpico.

Em 17 partidas na capital neste ano, a Lazio conquistou apenas 16 pontos dos 51 possíveis. Um péssimo aproveitamento de 31%. São 4 vitórias, 4 empates e 9 derrotas. O Olímpico, que podia ser um diferencial, tem virado um pesadelo.

A torcida protesta, mas parece que nada é capaz de animar este time dirigido pelo cada vez mais confuso Davide Ballardini. Enquanto isso, Pandev está de saída e Ledesma – um meio campista que teria vaga em grandes clubes da Itália – segue encostado.

Casa giallorossa
A fase da arquirrival Roma não é tão ruim assim, embora também não seja boa. Mas se o Olímpico é um temor para a Lazio, o Giuseppe Meazza é um paraíso para a Roma – isso quando a Inter a convida.

O time nerazzurro não vence a Roma em Milão desde 2005, quando o já aposentado Mihajlovic marcou dois gols e deu a vitória para os interistas. Depois foram duas vitórias para os giallorossi e mais três empates.

Além disso, a Roma é a única equipe que conseguiu sair do Giuseppe Meazza com pelo menos um pontinho nas duas ocasiões em que esteve por lá neste ano (3 a 3 no último campeonato e 1 a 1 ontem).

Special One
Pra terminar, aqui vão umas estatísticas interessantes de José Mourinho: o treinador português completou sua 50^a partida no Campeonato Italiano. Os números são absolutamente fantásticos. 34 vitórias, 11 empates e 5 derrotas.

Total de 113 pontos. A Juventus, por exemplo, somou 98 pontos neste período e o Milan, 96. Nessas 50 rodadas, a Inter esteve na liderança da Série A em 40. E ainda tem gente que fala que José Mourinho não entende nada de futebol e que a Inter não sabe jogar – mas sabe ganhar. Isso que importa.

Éder Fantoni

Vucinic illude la Roma nel posticipo che chiude la dodicesima giornata di Serie A: la Roma si porta in vantaggio nel primo tempo con il montenegrino, ma Eto’o pareggia i conti all’inizio del secondo tempo. L’Inter non va oltre l’1-1 contro la formazione allenata da Claudio Ranieri e si fa rosicchiare due punti dalla Juventus, seconda in classifica a -5 punti dai nerazzurri. Per i gol, clicca qui

Dopo le fatiche di Kiev, Mourinho decide di far riposare Cambiasso e Sneijder e rilancia a centrocampo l’ex rossoblù Thiago Motta. In attacco il tecnico portoghese di affida alla coppia Eto’o-Milito, mentre Balotelli si accomoda in panchina. La Roma parte subito forte e dopo soli due minuti Vucinic, a tu per tu con Julio Cesar, trova il dribbling ma si fa sorprendere da Lucio che gli soffia la palla. Al 13′, però, il montenegrino non spreca la seconda chance, ben più difficile. Su lancio lungo di Motta, appena dentro l’area riesce ad anticipare Lucio e a colpire di testa in torsione con una parabola velenosa che beffa il portiere interista.

Una vittoria ottenuta con sacrificio e sofferenza con la paura di subire la rimonta come contro il Napoli. Il Milan batte la Lazio all’Olimpico 2-1 dopo aver dominato per 60′ e messo al sicuro il risultato con Thiago Silva, in apertura, e con Pato sul finale di primo tempo. Nella ripresa, dopo aver sprecato qualche buona occasione, è stato un autogol di Silva, su tiro di Zarate, a riaprire la gara. Il forcing finale degli uomini di Ballardini non è valso, tuttavia, il pari. Nota stonata dell’incontro dell’Olimpico gli ululati dei tifosi della Lazio nei confronti di Seedorf. Il Milan sale a quota 22 e supera al terzo posto la Sampdoria.

I blucerchiati hanno rimediato un ko a Cagliari 2-0 in una gara condizionata dall’espulsione di Stankevicius nel primo tempo. Di Conti e Matri i gol. Vittoria in trasferta per la Fiorentina che, con Mutu assente dopo l’intervento al ginocchio, ha avuto la meglio di misura sull’Udinese (Vargas). Continua nella serie di risultati positivi il Parma che al Tardini rifila un netto 2-0 al Chievo: le firme sono di Zaccardo e Lanzafame.

Risale in graduatoria anche il Genoa che, a fatica, batte il Siena dopo un inizio a spron battuto. Sul risultato di 3-0 (doppietta di Crespo e Palladino), gli uomini di Gasperini hanno rischiato la rimonta bianconera. Paolucci e Maccarone hanno rimontato fino al 3-2, ma Floccari ha inchiodato il risultato sul 4-2 finale. Continua a stupire il Bari che grazie a un calcio di punizione di Allegretti vince 1-0 sul Livorno e viaggia in zona Europa League. Vittoria scaccia crisi anche per il Bologna che ha la meglio sul Palermo per 3-1.

La Juventus ha sconfitto l’Atalanta per 5-2 a Bergamo nell’anticipo serale della 12.a giornata del campionato di Serie A. I bianconeri si sono imposti grazie ad una doppietta di Mauro German Camoranesi, andato a segno al 36′ ed al 37′, ed ai gol realizzati nella ripresa da Felipe Melo al 55′, Diego all’85′ e David Trezeguet all’87′. Il francese eguaglia Omar Sivori con 167 reti in bianconero.

L’Atalanta, sempre costretta ad inseguire, è andata a segno al 51′ con Jaime Valdes per il momentaneo 1-2 e con Fabio Ceravolo al 71′ per il 2-3. Con il successo odierno la Juventus sale a quota 24 punti ed è seconda a quattro lunghezze dall’Inter, che domenica alle 20.45 ospiterà la Roma a Milano. L’Atalanta resta invece terzultima a quota 9 punti con Livorno e Bologna davanti a Catania (8) e Siena (6). La Sampdoria è terza in classifica a 21 punti con due lunghezze di margine sul Milan, quarto a quota 19.

La vittoria scaccia-crisi non è arrivata, ma il Catania ha comunque fermato il Napoli, probabilmente la squadra più in forma del campionato. Finisce 0-0 al ‘Massimino’ l’anticipo della 12esima giornata, un punto che non migliora granché la classifica dei rossazzurri, ma che forse permette ad Atzori di salvare la sua panchina. Un pari che non dispiace agli azzurri che, invece, portano a 5 la serie di risultati utili consecutivi (da quando c’è Mazzarri mai una sconfitta). Tante assenze nel Catania, Atzori schiera il 3-5-2 con Mascara e Morimoto in attacco, partenopei con il 3-4-2-1 con Lavezzi e Hamsik alle spalle di Quagliarella che vince il ballottaggio con Denis. Voglia di vincere più che paura di perdere per il Catania. L’approccio è quello giusto, gli etnei ci provano subito e, al 4′, Morimoto è già pericoloso con un diagonale destro in scivolata che si perde sul fondo.

La risposta del Napoli è affidata alla punizione di Cigarini, alta la sua punizione al 9′. All’11′ clamorosa palla-gol sprecata da Mascara che schiaccia di testa a due passi da De Sanctis, ma senza trovare la porta. Il Catania insiste e, al 42′, Morimoto, tutto solo, calcia incredibilmente sul portiere. Errore clamoroso e primo tempo che si chiude sullo 0-0. Nella ripresa subito due occasioni. La prima, al 3′, la spreca ancora Morimoto, un minuto dopo è Lavezzi a calciare su Andujar. Poi ancora Catania con due conclusioni di Llama che impegnano De Sanctis. L’ultimo tentativo è di Quagliarella, il risultato non cambia, finisce 0-0. Il Napoli si porta a quota 18 punti, Catania a 8.