There’s only one more month left in 2011, and it looks like the year will go out with a real bang from a football standpoint.

December features several must-see matches, with a few that will have title implications on top of deciding bragging rights between fierce rivals.

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La Liga: Real Madrid v Barcelona

Few matches on the calendar from here to May will match the anticipation and importance of the two Clasicos.

The importance of the first showdown, which kicks off at 9:00 pm BST on the 10th, may have been amped up even further with Barcelona’s weekend defeat at Getafe, which, combined with Real’s 4-1 win over city rivals Atletico Madrid, sees Real Madrid with a six-point lead at the top through 13 rounds.

Due to their participation in the Club World Cup, Barcelona have two league matches before their visit to the Bernabeu, while Real have one, with their game in hand being on the 17th, a home tie against Espanyol. Provided results go as expected in those matches, a win over Barca could position Real to have a nine-point lead when La Liga play resumes in January.

And though there will be more than 20 rounds left in the season, it’s very difficult to see Barca being able to overcome such a deficit.

On the other hand, if Barca are able to continue their recent dominance of Real, they will at worst be three points back if the other results go as expected, and that’s a far less daunting deficit.

At this point, however, you’d have to favor Real to triumph if there’s a winner in next month’s clash. Not only are the Galacticos in blistering form at the moment, Barcelona have struggled away from home this season, with two wins in six away league matches to date.

Saturday, 10th December 8:30pm on Sky Sports 4 and Sky Sports HD4.

English Premier League: Chelsea v Manchester City

All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge for a massive Monday night match-up, and a lot will be at stake when these two sides face off on 12/12, with the action getting underway at 8:00 pm BST.

Chelsea are currently 10 points behind Manchester City in the English Premier League table, but a win could kick-start a push to get back in the thick of the title mix. A draw, while it would not help their own cause, could help Manchester United, who are currently five back, and in-form Tottenham, who are seven back with a game in hand.

Meanwhile, a win for City would beef up their title credentials, even if the three points doesn’t see them put more distance between themselves and their closest challengers.

Monday, 12th December 7:00pm on Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD1 and Sky 3D.

English Premier League: Manchester City v Arsenal

This match will be one to watch no matter what happens in the above match, but if Chelsea down the league leaders at home, City’s visit from Arsenal the following Sunday will be made all the more important.

Arsenal missed a chance to make up some ground on City and United this past weekend, as they surprisingly drew at home against Fulham. However, the Gunners had won five Premier League matches in a row prior to that stumble, including a 5-3 win at Chelsea in October, so their chances of getting a result at City can’t dismissed.

If City lose at Chelsea, or even draw, more dropped points against Arsenal could see things tighten quite a bit at the top. However, if City win at Chelsea, following it up with a home win over the Gunners could cement their status as title favorites, especially since they will have United, Spurs, Chelsea, and Liverpool all at home in the second half of the season.

Sunday, 18th December 4:00pm on Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD1 and Sky 3D.

English Premier League: Tottenham v Chelsea

In a rare Thursday night tie, the Premier League’s pre-Christmas slate will wrap up on the 22nd when London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea square off at White Hart Lane.

This is a vital match for both sides, as they are both trying to stay in the title conversation heading into the new year. Many still may not be taking Spurs too seriously, but continuing their current hot streak to and through this match could start convincing some of the skeptics that they are more contender than pretender.

For Chelsea, wins over City and Spurs could not only help them as far as the title race is concerned, but it will also take some pressure off of manager Andre Villas-Boas, who’s been under some heat in the first few months of his tenure at the club. At the same time, defeats in both of those matches will only turn up the pressure on AVB and leave Chelsea needing to make a big run in the second half of the season to come close to reaching Roman Abramovich’s minimum expectations.

Thursday, 22nd December 7:30pm on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1.

Scottish Premier League: Celtic v Rangers

As is the case every season, Rangers and Celtic are battling it out for the Scottish Premier League title, and the latest Old Firm derby could see momentum move definitively towards either side heading into the new year.

Only a little over a week ago, Rangers, the three-time defending champions, had a 12-point lead over Celtic. But with Rangers drawing at home against St. Johnstone and losing at Kilmarnock and Celtic scoring wins three wins in that span, at Inverness Caley Thistle and at home against Dunfermline and St. Mirren, the lead has been cut to four in a flash.

Both sides have four matches, two home and two away, before they meet on the 28th, and if the deficit remains the same going into the derby, Celtic could close the gap to one with a win, which could be quite a blow to Rangers’ confidence after having a sizable lead only a short time ago. But if Rangers can win at Hampden, it’d help restore some of the lead that they gave up, and it’d also be huge for their confidence going forward.

Wednesday, 28th December 7:00pm on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It seems that in almost every aspect of the game, two clubs dominate the footballing world. They are Spanish super heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona. Any team boasting multiple stars is said to echo Real’s Galactico era, while teams – from League Two to the K-League – are said to be a mini-Barcelona. Even the duopoly of Spain’s La Liga is now also increasingly becoming the template in other major European football leagues.

The two clubs are, in a very true and clichéd sense, storied, expecting every year to be contenders for UEFA Champions’ League title. Both teams appear stronger than last year. Only an idiot or a savant would predict against either side’s success and going by online bookmakers, these two will be contesting the Champions League final this year.

2011 Summer Transfers

Real Madrid have spent rather inconspicuously over the summer when compared to their past two sprees. The major buys were Turkey’s Nuri Sahin, of Borussia Dortmund; and Portugal whizz-kid Fabio Coentrao to reinforce the left side. Other purchases have been smaller (eg. Hamit Altintop) and aimed at providing depth at positions 15-25, rather than at supplying instant first-teamers. It seems José Mourinho is content with a power lineup; even Madridista rumour-mongers have been quiet. Impressive names (Canales, Adebayor, Garay, Dudek, Gago) were shunted through the Bernabéu’s exits, but only Adebayor and perhaps Garay had any hope of seeing significant minutes.

Barcelona have further strengthened their attacking prospects by signing Europe’s favourite Chilean, Alexis Sánchez. They also ended to the longest saga of unrequited love since Shakespeare and purchased Cesc Fabregas. These creative midfield and forward types arrive at the expense of youngsters Oriol Romeu, Jeffren, Keirrison and Bojan; while defenders Henrique and Gaby Milito have returned to South America. It’s unlikley that any of these players were to feature prominently – Keirrison and Romeu, especially – but Bojan provided a certain thickness to the squad. The defensive reserves have implied (rather than obvious) quality, meaning Barca’s backline looks oddly thinner on paper than on the field.

Squad structure

Barcelona’s squad has undergone their first summer without significant addition-by-subtraction since Pep Guardiola took over in 2008. In his first offseason in charge, he farewelled Deco and Ronaldinho, before the year after trading Samuel Eto’o and cash for Zlatan Ibrahimovic in hopes of giving Barca’s attack a different look. Ibrahimovic lasted only one year, replaced by David Villa. Their back four – which at times featured Javier Mascherano, looks especially susceptible to infirmity given their relative ages and lack of proven backups. Carles Puyol – half teddy-bear, half grizzly-bear – leads the defence alongside the best young Centre-back in the world, Gerard Piqué. In midfield, the Catalans are well-stocked; the forward corps will upon the incredible Lionel Messi, Villa and Sanchez to score goals.

Real’s defence highlights their effective central defenders, Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe. Carvalho, at 33, remains the commander of Los Merengues‘ defence and allows his counterpart to occasionally rampage further upfield. Carvalho’s ageing must be of concern to Mourinho, even given his recent retirement from international duty; should he be injured, replacements Raul Albiol and Raphael Varane (or Alvaro Arbeloa when Ramos shifts into the middle) will have more athleticism but less positional ability. Mourinho has often opted for 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations; this enables him to focus play through whirlwind talents Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Özil, who can then score or create for the likes of Gonzalo Higuain or Karim Benzema.

Champions’ League Group Stages

Both clubs perhaps breathed a little easier after the Champions’ League group stage draw. Real were dealt a trip to former bogey-team Olympique Lyonnais alongside a signficantly weakened Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb. All three clubs are adept, but imagining them defeating los blancos is an act of admirable and misguided fantasy. The travel involved in such a group is also quite reasonable.

Barcelona are faced with a lengthy away trip to BATE Borisov, as well as a matchup with Czech outfit FC Viktoria Plzen, whose stadium fits only 8,500 fans. A match against AC Milan without Guardiola’s arch-nemesis Zlatan Ibrahimovic looms as their first game; the return leg at Giuseppe Meazza on November 23 is their trickiest tie of the group stage.

How can these two clubs not succeed?

The questions for Real Madrid don’t concern their outfield, but goalkeeper and manager. Jose Mourinho has the chance to win the Champions’ League with a fourth club and appears driven almost to megalomania by the desire to defeat Barcelona. Should his personality become too much of a distraction, he could attract the attention of UEFA or even President Florentino Perez and find his club suddenly in the hands of a different, less able manager – temporarily or permanently.

Spain captain Iker Casillas has been his country’s best goalkeeper for almost the entire millennium. Defensive blunders for club and country have increased in recent seasons, indicating perhaps his powers as a goalkeeper could be on the wane. He’s still of the utmost quality, but one mishap in the second phase could be destructive.

It’s amazing that there are three linked questions for the popularly-acknowledged “Best Team in Europe’s history”; all concern Barcelona’s durability. Considering Abidal’s health and Puyol’s age, is their defence deep enough to stand up to another punishing campaign? Secondly, can they overcome the Curse of the Repeat and claim an unprecedented* second straight win? Thirdly, will Guardiola, who has made noises about the high levels of stress he is under, be the first one to burn out?

Barcelona and Madrid – alongside United and City, if you turn your head to the side and squint really hard – have the best teams in Europe, yet both appear to have their weaknesses in defence. Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on your perception – both midfields are so strong that even weakened defences are likely to get absolutely the best protection. Both will make the semi-finals; this year’s Champions’ League victor is likely to again come from Spain.

* No team has repeated as winners of the Champions’ League since its inception in 1992-93; several teams won its predecessor, the European Cup, twice – or more – in a row.

Also See: Champions League Preview: Manchester Plots European Domination

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

In an innovative documentary, Castrol pushed Cristiano Ronaldo to the limit in a series of tests designed to measure Ronaldo’s footballing skills, strength, agility and mental toughness.

It is arguably the most rigourous scientific examination of a football player ever taken as Ronaldo (a Castrol global ambassador) is literally tested to the limit – our inside sources told us of how, after several hours of grueling tests, Ronaldo was almost ready to collapse from fatigue but still managed to put in 110% in every single test he was presented with.

The documentary aims to give football fans an exclusive insight into what makes him one of the best footballers of his generation. Highlights include:

• Will his famous trademark free kick have the strength and power to stand up in an explosive encounter against walls of glass?
• How will he fare head to head against an elite sprinter in a unique battle of speed and agility?
• Can his mental strength and intuition help him through the pitch-black cross ball challenge?
• Will his skill, reaction speed, endurance and strength help him outwit trained marksman to survive the ultimate test – ‘Snipers Alley’?

Using ultra slow motion and high impact CGI, and including a series of interviews with football experts including Fabio Capello and Arsène Wenger, the film-documentary aims to give viewers unrivalled access (and insight) to Ronaldo.

Soccerlens Feedback

It’s a fascinating idea – when I first heard about the film, the football geek in me immediately wanted to pore over the data collected from the tests and see how Ronaldo had done in various tests. Recently here at Soccerlens we’ve been comparing football with other sports and looking at how little statistical analysis is done of a player’s performance on a game by game basis. Also, given how the game as evolved in the last two decades on a physical level, it’s important to be able to measure the physical attributes that give the top players like Ronaldo an edge over their opponents.

The global premiere of the film took place last Wednesday in Madrid before it was aired on Sky (and other TV channels around the world) on Thursday. Here are some clips (including a behind the scenes video) as well as photos from the documentary itself:

Trailer:

Behind The Scenes:

Premier Highlights:

Photos:

Image 1 of 7

Also See: Stat Attack: The Relentless Cristiano Ronaldo

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Just how ‘good’ is Cristiano Ronaldo? Earlier we shared news on the ‘Cristiano Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit‘ documentary which subjects CR to a series of innovate tests to measure his performances. But that’s still lab testing, off the pitch, not a true measure of a footballer’s abilities.

To measure how good Ronaldo is as a footballer, we turn to Castrol Edge to provide us with some eye-opening and jaw-dropping stats.

More than 2,500 players took part in the top five European leagues last season (Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Liga and Ligue 1) and Cristiano Ronaldo was the only one who registered more goals than appearances.

Cristiano Ronaldo attempted in total 250 shots last season in the Spanish Liga, including 102 shots on target, 88 off target and 60 blocked by opposition defenders.

All stats provided by Castrol Edge. For more information, visit CastrolFootball.com.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Any statistical analysis of a sporting event can go down one of two main routes. Firstly, they could be raw data, usually expressed as totals or percentages. In football, examples include the number of total corners a team concedes (or forces), the number of minutes a player is on the park for over the course of a season or even how many points a team accumulates. The second format usually depends on rate – goals per possession, corners per dribble, dribbles per game or even passing completion percentage.

Both have their uses, but as football (and other sports) become more and more subject to the moneyball theory and so-called “advanced metrics”, rate has taken precedence over simple raw data. For instance in football, teams play at different tempos – one team may slowly build from the back while other teams favour quick incisive bursts. A team with a “lump it up” and lose possession philosophy is likely to create less chances by dint of not having the ball as often. It’s fortunate we have two very visible clubs with vastly different methods of operating to easily point to: Barcelona dominate possession no matter who they play, while almost any team coached by Sam Allardyce feels more content without the ball than with it.

A Scoring Stats is defined as any goal or assist a player is credited with, therefore a player’s total thereof is the number of goals and assists he accumulates over a season. So far we’ve examined trends throughout Europe, which players were individual total leaders and finally how much the dependence on a particular player varied across the four professional divisions in one country. Now it is time to evaluate which players provided the greatest lift, per game, to their individual teams.

Unfortunately, access to minutes-played data was very difficult to come by, so this is evaluated according to the number of games in which a player participated. In this analysis, only Team Leaders are evaluated (players who led their club in total Scoring Stats) – a follow-up analysis will include all of Europe.

Europe’s Top Team leaders by match

Complete table can be found at Balanced Sports Scoring Stats page.

Once again, this only goes to highlight how far clear of the pack Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo remain as footballers. While the average Team Leader contributes about what teams look for from an effective, workmanlike striker (the adage goes “a goal every second game” and remember there are probably some relatively below-average Strikers leading their teams here), they nearly triple that average. After them, the next best – the perpetually injured Van Persie – only managed to average one goal or assist per match.

These totals, however, could be swayed for total numbers. Both Real and Barca scored a boatload of goals during season 2010-11. To evaluate the top fifteen clubs by goals-per-game across Europe is telling:

This table – comprised nearly completely of the usual suspects – leads us to suggest that while Messi and Ronaldo’s influence is remarkbable, it is in part due to the increased number of goals their clubs score. This of course gives rise to the perpetual (and now, frankly, boring) Messi versus Ronaldo debate and prompts us to pose the “chicken or the egg” question once more – do they top the individual list because of their team rate, or do their teams top the goals-per-game table because of their phenomenal skill? Unfortunately the answer isn’t easily forthcoming but suffice to suggest that both generate remarkable amounts of opportunities for their teams, and benefit from their teammates doing the same.

Finally, a note about VfB Stuttgart. The Reds finished a disappointing twelfth in the Bundesliga this year, yet pounded in 1.76 goals per game without having a player in the top 45 team leaders by rate. Their most productive forward by totals as Martin Harnik with 15 total scoring stats, who contributed to a quarter of their scores (averaging less than one scoring stat every two matches).

Stats for all players, teams and leagues can be found at Balanced Sports’ Scoring Stats page.

Matthew Wood regularly contributes to Soccerlens.  Shoot across to Balanced Sports for more of his commentary and analysis.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @balanced_sports

Follow the latest news and updates on El Clasico.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

When we first examined the most important marksmen in the Big Four leagues, we looked at which players in Europe were the most crucial to their teams. This was done according to Scoring Stats, a measure of a player’s combined Goals and Assists, measured as a percentage of their team’s total league goals for the season. Then, Serie A stars Marco Di Vaio and Edinson Cavani topped the European Scoring Stats tables, each contributing to over 63% of their club’s goals.

Clubs in Italy and Germany – as well as the big two Spanish teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona – were much more likely to focus their offense around one player, as of the top twenty players by Percentage contribution to their team’s goals, eight came from Italy and seven from Germany. In early April in Serie A, an average of 38.5% of all a team’s goals came from that one focal player; in the Bundesliga it dropped to 36.77%. The English Premier League was by far least reliant on star men, their average contribution by a team leader (32.4%) propped up by Carlos Tevez’s remarkable 50% contribution to Manchester City’s cause.

Obviously this measure is highly swung in favour of forwards. Although some midfielders – such as Hoffenheim’s Gylfi Sigurdsson – or defenders like Leighton Baines led their club, often that was the result of their free-kick taking duties (Baines recording sixteen total Scoring Stats, eleven of which were assists, either from crosses or set pieces).

English Premier League: A balanced attack triumphs

At the end of the Season, numbers didn’t change much:

Where Avg % is the average contribution to a team’s total goals by the player with the most total goals + assists. Please note the Bundesliga is an eighteen team league (34 games), not a twenty-team league.

While most clubs decreased their reliance on their star men – in general – over the last six weeks of the season, only La Liga increased. This is in part due to the number of injuries suffered – these figures are always likely to be high at the start of a season and lower towards the end as more players get on the scoresheet and others either fall out rotations or receive injuries. England’s total decreased as Carlos Tevez who, with only six weeks remaining in the season, had scored or delivered the assist for half of the Citizens’ goals. His importance to league numbers is exemplified with the English percentage dropping by half a percent – because he missed just a month.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo: A cut above

Once again, European football was dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. While Ronaldo managed to better his opponent’s total, having fifty Scoring Stats in the league to Messi’s forty-nine, his breakdown was typical of a centre-forward rather than the all-purpose forward into which he has morphed. He registered a 4:1 goals-to-assists ratio, while creative maestro Messi averaged slightly under three assists for every five goals. That he contributed 51.6% of Barca’s stats is remarkable and due to their scoring 95 goals for the BBVA season; Ronaldo’s Madrid scored 105 goals, meaning his percentage is slightly decreased (49.0%).

To remove those two (and replace them with “average” replacements) is telling:

This can only be considered while keeping several factors in mind. Firstly, should Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi be injured, while the best players in the world, they would undoubtedly be replaced by someone above replacement level. (As a matter of interest “replacement level” is approximately twelve goals and four assists. The player with Scoring Stats most closely resembling those numbers is in-demand Espanyol striker Pablo Osvaldo). That is, this probably incorrectly assumes that Messi and Ronaldo are solely responsible for those goals, which may be true in part but definitely not 100% true. Secondly, it emphasises simply how great Cristiano Ronaldo was during the run-in as he chased Hugo Sanchez’s Los Merengues scoring record.

You can, however, see how much Barcelona and Real Madrid inflate Spanish averages. Should they (heaven forbid) undergo financial meltdown, the tenor of the entire Spanish League will be changed forever.

In Part Two, we’ll examine which players are the most crucial to their individual teams.

For full details, visit Balanced Sports’ Scoring Stats page. There, you’ll find totals for each team in Europe as well as for all four English divisions.

For more analysis and opinion shoot across to Balanced Sports. You can also follow Matthew Wood on Twitter @balancedsports

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It was speculated the Cristiano Ronaldo is seeing the American socialite and model Kim Kardashian when he was seen on a three day trip on a yacht with the Russian model Irina Shayk.

Soon afterwards, the Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. issue exploded but Irina has been seen with CR time and time again even afterwards.

Irina has been on the Sports Illustrated magazine three times in a row since 2009. The magazine proudly features her on the cover in the 2009, 2010 and the 2011 (alongside Brooklyn Decker) issues.

Here are few of the best photos of Irina, followed by links to her photo galleries and videos on SL Babes:

Image 1 of 6

Irina Shayk – CR’s Russian WAG
Irina Shayk’s 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photoshoot

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Selecting the best team of a decade can be a flawed approach – you miss the players who straddled the previous and current decades, you forget players who were great in the first half of the decade and you give undue importance to players of the latter half of the current decade.

Still, if you can expect anyone to make ‘reasonable’ picks, it would be Premier League managers (like Avram Grant), right? Right…

Maybe the next survey should mandate that the managers have actually MANAGED in the Premier League for the last decade before asking them about the best players? Or are managers as bad with their memories as football fans (utterly hopeless)?

Anyway, here’s Barclay’s Premier League team of the decade (as part of a survey conducted of the 2010/2011 top flight managers) and the notable omissions.

MANAGERS’ TEAM OF DECADE

GK: Edwin van der Sar
RB: Gary Neville
CB: Nemanja Vidic
CB: John Terry
LB: Ashley Cole
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo
CM: Steven Gerrard
CM: Paul Scholes
LM: Ryan Giggs
S: Didier Drogba
S: Alan Shearer

Survey Details

• Van der Sar was a firm favourite in goal, with 53% of respondents choosing him ahead of Chelsea’s Petr Cech (33%).
• Ashley Cole convincingly secured the left-back spot, with 73% of the vote, ahead of Patrice Evra (27%). Neville took the right-back position with 60%.
• John Terry received 40% of votes at centre-back, with Vidic joining him (27%). Rio Ferdinand was edged out after receiving 20%.
• Giggs was an emphatic winner in the vote for the left side of midfield, with 87%. His former team-mate Ronaldo (67%) easily beat another Manchester United legend, David Beckham (27%), to the right-flank position. Beckham did not play for long in the Premier League at the start of the decade, having joined Real Madrid in 2003.
• Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (33%) is the only non-United player in midfield, partnering Scholes (23%) in the centre, meaning there was no place for Roy Keane (17%), Cesc Fabregas (10%) or Frank Lampard (10%).
• In attack, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba (23%) and former Newcastle star Alan Shearer (23%) were the joint favourites of the managers, seeing off competition from Thierry Henry (17%), Wayne Rooney (20%) and Dennis Bergkamp (10%).
• Sir Alex Ferguson’s 2007/8 Manchester United side were chosen as the outstanding team of the decade, ahead of Arsenal’s 2003/4 ‘Invincibles’ and Jose Mourinho’s 2005/6 title winners.
• The 2007/8 season, which saw United pip Chelsea to the title by two points, and Roy Hodgson’s Fulham perform a miraculous escape from relegation, was rated as the most exciting campaign of the decade.

Notable Omissions

• Not much to say about the goalkeeping position, although one wonders how many votes Brad Friedel garnered.
• Jamie Carragher will not be pleased at missing out on the center-back berths.
• Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy were both better performers than Drogba and Shearer, their goal-scoring records speak for themselves.
• Are we picking central midfielders on talent or impact on their team’s fortunes? Vieira, Fabregas, Lampard (especially Lampard) and Tim Cahill all very important for their teams. Best players? Scholes and Gerrard might edge it, although Fabregas is up there with them (Keane’s best years probably came in the previous decade). Scholesy’s impact on the team this decade is debatable beyond the first few seasons.

Overall, it’s a fair team (Lampard over Scholes *maybe*) apart from the striking positions, where Henry and Nistelrooy are shoe-ins ahead of Drogba and Rooney.

Who would make it in your Premier League Team of the Decade?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

2008/2009 was all-in-all Barcelona’s season. Pep Guardiola led his childhood club to glory like no other manager had done before him.

United on the other hand, weren’t too bad the whole season. They were back again in the UEFA Champions League final to defend the title that they had won last year against Chelsea.

08/09 Champions League for Manchester United

In 2008/09, Manchester United were in a rather easy group with Villarreal, Aalborg and Celtic. Four draws and two wins saw them top the group and move on to the first knockout stage.

They had Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the Round of 16. Julio Cesar saved the day at San Siro but United was too much to handle at the Old Trafford. United went through 2-0 on aggregate.

Porto caused some concerns for Alex Ferguson when they managed a 2-2 draw in Old Trafford in the quarterfinals. But a 1-0 away win guaranteed a place in the semifinal.

Arsenal was the semifinal opponents and United supporters were sure that United have the Gunners in their pocket for this one. United lived up to expectations and a 4-1 aggregate win awarded them a place in the final against the mighty Barcelona.

2008/2009 Champions League Semifinal: Manchester United vs Arsenal

08/09 Champions League for Barcelona

Barca, however, had a relatively easier start to the Champions League. Sporting, Shakhtar Donetsk and Basel didn’t cause them much trouble in group stages and a 6-3 aggregate win over Lyon in the Round of 16 meant it was all a walk in the park.

The quarterfinal opponents were Jurgen Klinsmann’s Bayern Munich. 4-0 at Nou Camp meant Guardiola’s men could just defend in the away leg. Aggregate score was 5-1.

The semifinal against Chelsea saw a lot of drama as Champions League was closing in on another all-English final. Actually a replay of last year’s final to be exact.

But Andres Iniesta’s late goal in the second leg meant Barca goes through to the final on away goals with the scores tied 1-1 over two legs.

2008/2009 Champions League Semifinal: Chelsea vs Barcelona

The Final

The final saw the beautiful Barca undone the moment of magic from Paul Scholes a year ago in 90 minutes.

Except the first few minutes of attack from the Red Devils, it was mostly one way traffic – the other way.

After a slow start, Barcelona had taken control of possession and Samuel Eto’o struck on the ten minute mark with a close-range near-post shot going just past Edwin van der Sar.

Then as the legs got tired, Barcelona’s young ace Lionel Messi rose between two of the best defenders, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic to meet a cross and seal the game 2-0.

Whistle was blown and the Barcelona was crowned the 2009 UEFA Champions League champion.

2009 Champions League Final: Barcelona vs Manchester United

Teams in 08/09

Back in 08/09, Barcelona had a make-shift defense with Dani Alves and Eric Abidal missing. Yaya Toure was moved back to fill out the central defensive duties as Carles Puyol covered for Alves. Youngster Sergio Busquets was given the opportunity to perform at such a huge stage, so early in his career.

Xavi and Iniesta completed the midfield with Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry as wide forwards and Eto’o up ahead.

Manchester United, to start off with, still had Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. CR started and Tevez was brought on in the 46th minute for Anderson (because unlike in the FIFA game, Anderson can’t take on the prowess of Xavi and Iniesta).

Also van der Sar, Ryan Giggs and Scholes were young-er. Dimitar Berbatov was considered a very expensive goal-scorer. His going rate at that time was something like five or six million a goal.

Teams in 10/11

Since the match hasn’t been played yet, I will not be able to glorify Barcelona even more in a handful of paragraphs. So lets jump to the current squads:

Barcelona squad:
As we have noticed during the El Clasicos that Barcelona lack the depth in their squad. Throwing lots of high-importance fixtures their way seems to be the only way to beat them; as Real Madrid conducted the experiment.

In the final on 28th May, however, we expect that Barcelona will not have that problem.

Samuel Eto’o, Theirry Henry and Yaya Toure might be missing but Gerard Pique will be playing (hopefully) and up front, we have witnessed Pedro to have taken the step up. Also, the addition of David Villa to the ranks will somewhat fill the space Eto’o left behind.

Busquets will be available as well and now he has picked up a couple of years of experience and taken some acting classes.

Manchester United squad:
Squad depth is certainly not the issue with United.

Ronaldo and Tevez might not be here but they have been replaced with Berbatov and Javier Hernandez. Also, Wayne Rooney is coming back to form.

Nani and Antonio Valencia have both done a fine job on the wings. Two players who didn’t take the part in the 2009 final. Nani was on the bench and was left on the bench.

This year Ferguson has a fantastic team. A team full of talent and flair. But the actual question is, will Ferguson’s tactics this time be good enough to overcome Barcelona’s?

United fans will say yes and come up with a hundred theories, Barca/United haters will say yes/no and add a hate-comment to it and Barca fans will say no and come up with a hundred theories.

One thing that should be learned from the 08/09 final is that if you’re going to attack Barca early then you better as hell score. If they get the ball off you, you’ll be running around like a dog all day.

What else has changed?

In 08/09, Guardiola was new and no one had quite figured it out how to play against Barcelona. It has been three years since and we have seen Barcelona get defeated at the hands of a very few.

But one thing is for sure. Teams are building confidence in what little hope they see of beating Barcelona. They have realized that no matter how well rehearsed and efficient Barcelona are, they can be beaten.

Their terrific form over three seasons is also getting on other people’s nerves topped up with the on-field theatrics of Busquets and Pedro – mainly Busquets.

Alex Ferguson is one of the most experienced and seasoned tactician and with rumors circulating of his retirement, he will definitely want to give fans the Champions League glory to top off the 19th title and rub it in Liverpool’s face a bit more.

And Guardiola knows that very well.

Road to London

Barcelona had Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos in Group D, where they eased through to the Round of 16. The much debatable match against Arsenal ended in a close 4-3 aggregate to Barca’s favor.

The quarterfinal was a rather easy draw, Shakhtar Donetsk were no match for the Catalan giants as they won the two-legged tie 6-1.

The semifinal was a part of the four El Clasicos to be played in 18 days. With Madrid drawing the first and winning the second, it seemed like Mourinho has finally overthrown Barca.

Barcelona won 2-0 at Santiago Bernabeu and drew 1-1 at home. Theatrics from both side saw people flame the two teams and mainly Barcelona between the two legs. I know that doesn’t sound right, but that is what happened.

The away leg surely made the critics silent as Barcelona players stayed on their feet (or tried to) and Madrid players repeatedly got away without getting a second booking.

On the flip side, Manchester United had a relatively tougher group. In Group C, they were joined by Valencia, Rangers and Bursaspor. But it was like a piece of cake.

In the Round of 16, Marseille fell to United 2-1 on aggregate. United won both legs of the quarterfinal against Chelsea and won the tie 3-1.

The semifinal was won before the first whistle blew. Even though Schalke had overcome defending champions Inter Milan but so did Tottenham.

United made the win official right in the first leg away from home by winning 2-0 at Veltins Arena. The two-legged match ended 6-1.

Semifinal decides the winner?

Let me take you back to 2008 UEFA Champions League final. Manchester United vs Chelsea. I won’t talk about the 2007 final because justice was done that day to AC Milan.

United faced Barcelona in the semifinal and won with just one goal scored by Scholes from long range. Chelsea faced Liverpool in the semifinal and they managed to overcome the Reds 4-3 in extra time. United won.

In 2009, Barcelona faced Chelsea in a crunching 1-1 draw over two legs and away goals rule deciding the winner. United scored three away goals against Arsenal in their semi. Barca won.

In 2010, even though Bayern Munich had won the Round of 16 (against Fiorentina) and the quarterfinal (against United) on away goals but both the time they managed three away goals. In the semifinal, Bayern won 4-0 over two legs against Lyon. Inter Milan on the other hand had to stop Barcelona from scoring two goals at the Nou Camp. Inter won.

Non-football reference: India beat fierce arch rival Pakistan in the 2011 Cricket World Cup semifinal and went on to win the cup. Like you care, right?

The 2011 CL Final

Barcelona have played against Real Madrid in the semifinal and came away as 3-1 winners after being considered slight underdogs in a long, long time. United has had an easy road to the final comparatively. You can argue but you know Schalke starts with a Madrid-reject (so did Inter though).

Prediction: Odds point towards Barcelona taking the trophy again but all I know is that it will be a tightly contested match with Barcelona somehow winning the night.

Lets just say that it will be kind of like Spain vs England.

Disclaimer: Forgive me, I am a Barcelona fan.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The debate about who is the world’s greatest player has revolved for nearly five years now around two names: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who now leads the line at Real Madrid after emerging as a tricksy winger at Manchester United. Only two other names are mentioned: Messi’s Barca teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Opinion is divided on the subject, often down party/club lines. But our recent spate of Clasicos may have provided us with an ultimate answer.

While overshadowed by Jose Mourinho’s manic rants, Pepe’s debatable red card and Messi’s magical goals, Cristiano Ronaldo toiled like a workman in his role as Real’s forward fulcrum. He was effective in the second match – scoring the deciding header from Angel Di Maria’s cross – but as the third match devolved into a shouting match and the fourth saw Real’s Champions’ League hopes fade as Javier Mascherano theatrically won a free kick outside his area, Ronaldo’s penchant for forward play was thrown into sharp relief.

Cristiano Ronaldo, deservedly, is the focus of most of Real’s attacking verve as he’s their best player. According to ESPN Soccernet he’s scored a remarkable 42 goals on the season, created a further twelve – scoring or creating 43.2% of all his club’s goals this term. Since he arrived at Carrington in 2003, he and his game have evolved a remarkable amount. He started at United as a wide forward with exceedingly tricky feet and a thunderous shot.

Now, Cristiano Ronaldo has evolved into the all-purpose forward: he’s tall enough and good enough in the air to act as a target man, has the same remarkable footskills as when he arrived, and his neck musculature must be seen (and gawked at) to be believed. He delivers “bullet headers” like almost no-one else. Physically, there may not ever have been a more perfect footballing specimen.

These qualities allowed him to become the centrepiece of a United squad which bullied the Premiership for three years before departing for pastures blanco. Now on the other side of the fence he has dominated La Liga, much like Messi has from Catalonia. But, since his evolution into such a dominating forward force, in the most important games he has yet to take the game consistently by the throat. His recent big match performances have been consistently solid and workmanlike, rather than those blistering games which Messi has so recently delivered.

It is obviously extraordinarily harsh and incorrect to suggest that United’s, and now Real’s failures lie at the feet of the Varnished One. When competing against Barcelona, very few clubs are able to cope and eleven players maketh a team, not one. He hasn’t been positioned as well as Messi – having players nearly, but not quite the same calibre as an Iniesta or Xavi. Tactically also, los Merengues have been set up to counterstrike, as is coach Jose Mourinho’s wont – a position which rankles football’s most expensive player.

But given his dominance both United and Real have been built around him, rather than his slotting in to upgrade a position. This isn’t meant to be criticism – if anything, it’s a compliment as very few athletes are able to walk into such a large club and have their skills demand the club be shaped around them. While both he and Messi are essentially now forwards without strict positional definition, you Messi would fit into any team in the world without that squad having to remodel around him. With Ronaldo, that’s not the case.

One example of this reshuffling – an on-the-fly job, even -which easily springs to mind was during his last match in a Red Devil shirt: the 2009 Champions’ League final which saw Wayne Rooney shunted out to the left so Ronaldo could weave his magic down the centre. Where each had come to United to play one position, Cristiano Ronaldo’s skills grew so much that on the biggest stage, his game forced Sir Alex Ferguson into making a tactical decision (again, an understandable one given Ronaldo’s scoring prowess) where he and Rooney switched roles.

Perhaps he finds chances to impose himself on the biggest matches limited because as he’s grown into such a fantastic player, his role has become less defined. Over their recent Clasico binge Mourinho favoured a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation with Ronaldo alternatively being charged with creating, or finishing – but never starting in the same “position”. He is the utility forward, told to “make stuff happen”. While Gonzalo Higuain and now Karim Benzema have been effective playing alongside Ronaldo, it appears as if his presence so dominates the front half that other forwards are either overshadowed or are forced to get out of his way.

In simple terms, it seems as if other players share the game with Messi. With Ronaldo’s combination of physical and mental gifts, it seems it’s his game and he lets you join in. Sometimes. This is ultimately frustrating for such a player – Michael Jordan went through the same process in Chicago – but rewarding. For the moment, Lionel Messi’s ability to blend with all types and impose his will without dominating others makes him an irresistible choice as “World’s Best”. It may be a matter only of circumstance that denies Ronaldo his claim at that title. Or it could be that his game evolved so much he won’t approach that level until used in a definite position which matches his unmatched skill-set.

For more analysis and opinion, shoot across to Balanced Sports.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News