Champions League Final: 10 Things We'd Like to See, Barcelona V Man United
As Tony Britten's UEFA Champions League anthem rings out, what are 10 things you'd like to see in Barcelona v Manchester United?
For a Blaugranes supporter; one will be a Barcelona victory. For supporters of the Red Devils; one will be a Manchester United victory.
Since I bear no allegiance to Barcelona or Manchester United, here's 10 things I and perhaps most neutral footballing fans would like to see.
No Racism!
1 of 10UEFA launched an investigation against Sergio Busquets for allegedly racially abusing Marcelo, and then opted not take any action, citing a “lack of strong and convincing evidence”.
What more evidence did UEFA need? Real Madrid released a video which caught Busquets allegedly uttering “mono mono” towards Marcelo, which is Spanish for monkey.
Barcelona counterclaimed stating Busquets said “mucho morro”, which is Spanish for some nerve.
When you think about it, shouldn’t Marcelo have been saying mucho morro to Busquets for going to the ground as if someone had cleaned him up with a haymaker?
Furthermore, why did Busquets cover his mouth when he uttered whatever he said?
You cover your mouth, so people cannot read your lips. So Busquets covered his mouth because he did not want people reading his lips. Therefore he must have been saying something implicative.
In 2006, UEFA handed a five game ban to Nikola Mijailović for racially abusing Benni McCarthy in a UEFA Cup match between Wisla Krakow and Blackburn Rovers.
BBC Sport reported Mijailović stating, “Both of us were swearing but there was no racist abuse at all [...] But, after that, I couldn't believe he was acting like a sissy. He claimed I used some racist comments - nonsense [...] Investigation will show I'm innocent, everything can be seen on tape.”
I wonder what type of strong and convincing evidence UEFA had in banning Mijailović? I guess McCarthy was wearing a wiretap.
It’s easy for UEFA to wield the iron fist in a low profiled European game involving low profiled footballers, but when it comes to a high profiled European game involving high profiled footballers; UEFA do not act when action needs to be taken.
Hopefully there is no racism in the UEFA Champions League final.
Barcelona to Play Beautiful Football
2 of 10Barcelona’s exceptional triumvirate of Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi, are the reason why they often play eye candy football.
Barcelona’s eye candy football is not only entertaining and effective, but also contagious.
It has influenced the English Premier League, with managers like Ian Holloway, Owen Coyle, and Roberto Martínez implementing an attacking philosophy with Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic respectively.
Teams like Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Rubin Kazan have managed to impede Barcelona’s beautiful footballing style with anti-football.
I guess it’s a contemporary version of Helenio Herrera’s catenaccio, and whilst effective and efficient, it’s ugly to watch.
There was a collective sigh of relief when Rinus Michels’ Ajax pioneering total football defeated Herrera’s Inter Milan in the 1972 European Cup final.
There will be a similar sentiment if Manchester United adopt such agricultural and ugly methods, and lose to Barcelona.
So let’s hope Barcelona can play some beautiful football.
No Diving
3 of 10In 2009, UEFA suspended Eduardo for diving, but then rescinded their suspension.
One of football’s growing issues is diving, and UEFA’s noncommittal approach to stop it, has facilitated more in European competitions.
Barcelona is a team consistently infringing upon fair play through diving. They dive when they need to. Do they dive when they’re 5-0 ahead? No.
Do they dive when they’re under pressure? Yes.
Why? They dive to seek an advantageous decision which can turn the game in their favour.
Sergio Busquets deceived referee Frank De Bleeckere into sending off Thiago Motta in the 28th minute, with Barcelona needing two goals to progress.
Dani Alves conned referee Wolfgang Stark in sending Pepe off with his perfect dive. 15 minutes later, Lionel Messi scored the decisive opener.
This season, the likes of David Villa, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano and Pedro, have repeatedly disregarded fair play through diving. Why UEFA let this type of behaviour go on is beyond me.
That being said, Manchester United have their diving spokesperson in Nani.
Some of Nani’s dives in the English Premier League have been so outrageously blatant.
His diving is disgraceful and the FA should deal with him in the same way the Federcalcio have dealt with serial diver Miloš Krasić – suspend.
So in light of this, we’d like to see no diving in the Champions League final.
A Pierluigi Collina-Esq Performance from the Referee
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It’s an unenviable task being a referee. It's one against 22, whilst two of your comrades are stuck on the flanks watching helplessly as you attract abuse left, right and centre.
One can somewhat empathise with Tom Henning Øvrebø’s calamitous and infamous performance in Chelsea v Barcelona.
It was clear he lost control of the game, and started rushing his decisions, as he made mistake after mistake after mistake.
Not just benefiting Barcelona, but he sent poor Éric Abidal off as Nicolas Anelka tripped over himself.
Standing at 1.88m tall, Pierluigi Collina exudes confidence. His Kojak look gives footballers a look that he means business.
The referee in the UEFA Champions League final will need to take a no tolerance approach to diving and anti-football play.
Whether it’s Sergio Busquets diving to get a Manchester United player off, or Darren Fletcher unnecessarily following through on Lionel Messi; the referee needs to take action, rather than turn a blind eye.
So let’s hope the referee in the Champions League final can have a Collina-esq performance.
Lionel Messi to Break the UEFA Champions League Scoring Record
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Since the formation of the UEFA Champions League in 1992, the record for most goals in a Champions League campaign is 12 by Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the 2002-3 season for Manchester United.
Lionel Messi is currently on 11 goals, and needs two goals to earn the record for himself. It would be fitting for a player who has mesmerised the football world with his wizardry.
A Career Defining Performance from Wayne Rooney
6 of 10The series of events leading up to Wayne Rooney winning the UEFA Champions League for Manchester United would make quite a plotline for a film.
At the start of the season, Wayne Rooney plotted with agent Paul Stretford to hold the Glazers to ransom, by announcing he did not want to play for Manchester United.
Then a U-turn, Rooney pledged his everlasting loyalty to Manchester United by signing a new and financially improved five year deal.
Before proceeding to toil like Fernando Torres to the degree, that there were whispers that Stretford had conned the Glazers, like Lou Pearlman conned the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and O-Town.
Fast forward to the present, Rooney’s 14 goals and 13 assists in 34 games seems surplus to his 33 goals and six goals in 40 games last season; but statistics do not always reveal the full picture.
In the latter half of the season, Rooney has looked imperious dropping into the hole between forward and midfield, effortlessly dispatching 30-40m passes to a designated target, and at times exhibiting just how ludicrously talented he is – the Rivaldo like overhead kick against Manchester City comes to mind.
If Rooney can help Manchester United beat Barcelona through a career defining performance, then it would amend the fiasco he and Stretford perpetrated at the start of the season.
Sir Alex Ferguson to Not Blame the Referee
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Seemingly the number one excuse for managers after losing a game is to blame the referee. The Daily Mail reported ex-English manager Graham Taylor once saying to a linesman, “I was just saying to your colleague, the referee has got me the sack, thank him ever so much for that, won't you?”.
Sir Alex Ferguson not only blames referee, but the type of rhetoric he puts out against referees should not be tolerated.
In 2009, Emily Benammar at The Telegraph reported Ferguson accusing referee Alan Wiley of being unfit after Manchester United drew 2-2 with Sunderland, “The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. It is an indictment of our game. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.”
Yet ProZone statistics showed Wiley covered 11 039 metres, the average player covers 10 700 metres; thus easily debunking Ferguson’s unwarranted and defamatory accusation.
In 2011, Dominic Fifield at The Guardian reported Ferguson criticising referee Martin Atkinson after Manchester United lost 2-1 to Chelsea, “It was a major game for both clubs and you want a fair referee, you know [...] You want a strong referee, anyway, and we didn't get that.”
To imply referee Atkinson was biased is maligning his reputation. If anything, Atkinson would have grounds to sue Ferguson for defamation.
What Ferguson is trying to do is to pressure referees into consciously calling decisions in favour of Manchester United, and in return someone as influential as him will not slime their reputations.
It’s morally reprehensible, and UEFA need a no tolerance policy against managers or players denigrating referees.
Let’s hope Ferguson doesn’t follow in José Mourinho’s footsteps and go on a tirade against referees, if a decision goes against his side.
Lionel Messi to Score a FIFA 11 Like Goal
8 of 10When Diego Maradona scored the hand of God against England, the late Sir Bobby Robson gritted his teeth, thinking only a rascal would do what Maradona did.
Four minutes later, Maradona went on a 60 meter run, passing five English players, before scoring the goal of the century.
A decade later, whilst managing Barcelona, Robson watched on in disbelief as Ronaldo scored a similar goal against Compostela.
Messi would emulate Maradona’s goal against Getafe, but wouldn’t it be special if the footballing world witnessed Messi scoring a goal seemingly only achievable in FIFA 11 in the UEFA Champions League final?
Wayne Rooney to Score an Overhead Goal
9 of 10The overhead goal was apparently made famous by Brazilian Leônidas da Silva during the 1938 FIFA World Cup.
To deviate briefly, Brazilian manager Adhemar Pimenta was so confident that Brazil would beat Italy in the semi-finals that he rested Leônidas – the Italians won 2-1, and the Brazilians would be forced to wait until 1958, when a 17 year old called Pelé emerged.
Whether it’s Diego Maradona’s goal of the century against England, Marco Van Basten’s technically perfect volley from a seemingly impossible angle against the U.S.S.R, or Roberto Carlos’ physics defying free kick against France; spectacular goals live vividly in the memory of football fans.
So let’s hope Wayne Rooney can emulate the overhead goal he scored against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League final.
An Entertaining, Exciting and Dramatic Game
10 of 10No matter who wins, for football lovers who do not have an allegiance to Barcelona or Manchester United, let’s hope the 22 players on the pitch can help conjure up 90 minutes (or maybe more) of footballing entertainment, excitement and drama.
A game where we can still talk about years later, explaining to speechless friends who regrettably missed the game, how Lionel Messi magically weaved his way past the entire Manchester United in a manner reminiscent of Diego Maradona, or how Wayne Rooney scored that spectacular overhead goal as Víctor Valdés helplessly watched on.
Let’s hope this game will emulate the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, where Liverpool miraculously fought their way back from 3-0 down, and won 3-2 on penalties.
