UEFA Champions League: The Gap Is Not so Wide After All
The recently concluded Champions League quarter-finals was a mixture of goals aplenty, red cards and a clash of Spain’s finest in the semis. But despite all of this, one could not help but notice the gap between the tournament’s so called best eight, is a very large one.
After all, even an optimist would have known that after last week’s fixtures, we only had the Manchester United- Chelsea clash to predict as Schalke 04, Real Madrid and Barcelona were already warming up for the semis.
Sure, miracles do happen, but with a 1-5, 2-5, and 4-0 scoreline, even the mere cynics would not have expected Shaktar Donestsk, Inter Milan and Spurs to do a David and topple the mighty Goliaths.
So how did these games end up virtually decided after the first leg? Let’s break down each match and discover what happened.
Inter Milan vs. Schalke 04 (3-7)
1 of 5Inter Milan went into this match barely scraping through the previous tie, thanks to Goran Pandev’s late winner which sent them through against Bayern Munich.
The defending champions were nonetheless expected to cruise to the semi-finals, and Schalke 04 seemed easy pickings on paper based on their poor domestic form.
Anyone watching this game thought this tie was done & dusted 25 seconds in, after Dejan Stankovic scored the goal of the tournament, smashing home an inch perfect volley from the center circle. The visitors refused to buckle though, and within an hour they had scored five goals, thanks to some pathetic Inter defending who missed Lucio badly.
So, four goals were needed to go through entering the second leg.Raul who netted in the first game, scored his 71st Champions League goal to virtually seal this tie by the end of the first half.
Schalke went on to win comfortably and knock the fast dwindling European Champions out, with Leonardo possibly facing the sack come end of the season.
Barcelona vs. Shaktar Donetsk (6-1)
2 of 5
Everyone knew this game was a no brainer, and there was only going to be one winner. A Shaktar win would possibly indicate the end of the world, Barcelona were that invincable no one believed otherwise.
Shaktar were expected to give the Catalans a fight though, given they are current runaway Ukranian league leaders and boast a decent Champions League campaign so far. They started strongly, in fact if corn-rowed Luiz Adriano had taken his chances, Shaktar would be been two up in the first ten minutes.
But that’s the problem with teams that play Barcelona; chances for them are few and far between. If they are not taken, the Catalans will punish, with devastating effect. That is exactly what happened; Shaktar were torn to shreds and tossed around like ragged dolls before leaving the Nou Camp with a four goal deficit.
The second leg was only about the phenomenal Lionel Messi, who scored the winner and broke the record for most goals scored in a Spanish season. 48 and counting, he could yet reach unbelievable figures with 10 games left to play.
Real Madrid vs. Tottenham Hotspur (5-0)
3 of 5When Real drew Spurs for this quarter-final fixture, everyone was talking about a potential upset of the tournament’s underdogs/overachievers. They were referring Arry’s boys of course.
It was a possibility, given Spurs high flying exploits in the tournament and the previous demolition of both the Milanese clubs being highlighted time and again. Add to that, Mourinho finally surrendered his long lasting nine year unbeaten home league record the weekend prior to this match. So the question was, could we see Bale and company silence the Bernabeu and come back victorious?
15 minutes into the game, Peter Crouch plotted Spurs downfall with two ugly challenges similar to his facial features, and got sent off. Real Madrid and their line-up of Galaticos were left to pick off Spurs, former Arsenal boy Abedayor headed the decisive task of finishing the visitor’s off with a brace. Di Maria and Ronaldo added salt to Arry’s wounds with another two beauty strikes.
Spurs tried to salvage some pride and do the impossible in the second leg, but Gomes decided to put on another circus show and entertain the away fans with Ronaldo’s winner. Any hopes of a mighty comeback or a repeat of Bale’s hat-trick against Inter Milan were crushed instantly, Spurs played out the rest of the match for the sake of completing the minutes.
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Manchester United vs. Chelsea (3-1)
4 of 5
Chelsea sought to seek instant revenge for that fateful defeat in rain-soaked Moscow three years ago. John Terry was the villain then, and the Blues looked to make the whole United team scoundrels this time around.
Fernando Torres knew a debut goal would make him an instant hit and the sight of Nemanja Vidic, a defender he used to make a fool of during his Liverpool days, certainly excited the Spaniard. But Vidic turned the tables this time around, holding a rock solid defense alongside Rio Ferdinand to make the £50 million man bite the dust again.
Wayne Rooney showed Torres how it was done, a sweet winner to shut the critics up after his foul-mouthed rant against West Ham at the weekend. A week later, Chelsea were on a mission to go against Champions League history by becoming only the third team to overturn a first leg home deficit. Carlo Ancelotti, perhaps pressured by the clueless Roman Abrahomvich, chose to start with the 11-game-goalless Torres instead of Didier Drogba.
It backfired, as the immortal Ryan Giggs once again orchestrated both goals to send United through, leaving the wealthy Chelsea owner staring into the abyss of yet another frustrating European campaign.
Conclusion
5 of 5
The Champions League always delivers in terms on cliffhangers right until the final whistle, but this season we were severely deprived of that.
For neutrals like myself, I would have wanted an end-to-end battle right till the penalty shootout, maybe another Terry-like slip to add to the drama.
Oh well, at least we have the Classico to look forward to.
Let’s just hope the outcome is not the same the last time those two played each other.
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