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Champions League Woe gives way to Europa Glee…

Published by Ian John on April 9, 2010

It was a mixed week for the EPL representatives in the European competitions this week…

Tuesday night saw us witness one of the most outstanding individual performances football has seen since the 1986 World Cup, when Lionel Messi put Arsenal out of the Champions League single handedly with a performance which can now only, surely, confirm his genius. I rarely use that word as too often it is bandied about by football commentators, but Tuesday night was something very special indeed. My initial delight at Arsenal grabbing the lead was eventually replaced with nothing but open mouthed admiration as the Argentinean star ripped Arsenal’s makeshift defence to shreds with four goals of stunning quality.

There are not enough superlatives to state just how good Messi is at the moment. Players like this only come along once every 20 or 30 years. It seems to be the duty of many football fans to bask in the past and suggest that Messi isn’t as good as say Maradona or Pele and that such comparisons are odious. I’m usually one of them to be honest, but after seeing his performances in recent games I don’t see how you cannot rank him alongside those greats. If he can inspire Argentina to win the World Cup this summer (and on this form, who would back against it?) then in my view Lionel Messi won’t just be one of the three best players ever, he will be THE best player ever.

After the Messi show cane a messy show. Primarily at Old Trafford where Manchester United, with a half fit Wayne Rooney restored into the attack (primarily so the Bayern Munich defenders could kick at his sore ankle), roared into a three goal lead in the first half and looked set for a place in the semi finals. In total control of the game, United then committed what amounts to Champions League suicide. Firstly Michael Carrick somehow contrived to let Ivica Olic in behind him to squeeze home a Bayern goal just before the interval, thus handing the visitors the initiative for the second half. Worse was to follow when just minutes inti the second period, Rafael, the talented but seemingly irretrievably naive right back, pulled back Frank Ribery to earn his deserved second booking of the night and force his team mates to play the second half with ten men against an improving and dominating Bayern. All looked fine until Arjen Robben reminded us of just how good a player he is with a stunning volley to put Bayern ahead on away goals and with United down to ten men, and despite creating some decent chances in the second period, the home side were unable to get the goal to take them through.

Cue much brow beating, second guessing on whether Rooney should have played and question marks again over United’s defence, but I tend to agree with Sir Alex Ferguson for once. I think over the two legs, United were rather unlucky in the main. A deflected free kick, two appalling defensive errors in each leg and a goal of sheer brilliance are what put them out, along with Rafael’s utter stupidity. The young Brazilian has talent, that is for sure, but defensively he is a liability at the moment. Bayern once again rode their luck and I think, on this evidence, may just be too strong for Lyon in the semi final, though I will be cheering on the French team.

Not that it matters as if Messi is fit for the final (because Barcelona WILL defeat Inter Milan), then he’ll win it.

So English eyes weren’t smiling come Wednesday as for the first time in many a year, the Champions League semi finals will take place without an English representative. So to make ourselves feel better we had Liverpool and Fulham to watch on Thursday night and didn’t they do us proud?

I don’t know how Fulham are doing it in European competition. To go to Wolfsburg and record a win is a sensational result and though I didn’t watch the game, by all accounts I have read, they deserved to win by a greater margin. SV Hamburg lie in wait for Roy Hodgson’s men in the Semi Final and I hope they can go all the way. As British team performances go this season and regardless of the race for the league title, this is for me the best performance by a British team anywhere this season and even as a Liverpool fan, I have to admit to a sneaky hope that I currently 51% of me wants Liverpool to win it and 49% of me Fulham.

Liverpool produced one of their best displays of the season to defeat Benfica at Anfield by 4-1. This is no mean feat, Benfica are a talented and dangerous side, so to beat them so comprehensively was very impressive. Fernando Torres will get many plaudits for his two outstanding goals, the first from a fantastic counter attack and the crucial second a beautiful clip over the keeper but for me the hero of the performance was the much maligned (often by me) Lucas Leiva who had an outstanding game in midfield and capped his display with an all too rare goal from one of his increasingly dangerous forays forward. What impressed me the most with Lucas was his endeavour. Not that he doesn’t try in other games, he most certainly does, but it always seems to be in a reactive way and too often behind the play. Last night he influenced the play with his performance which was a big difference. It was his tackle that set up the second Torres goal for example. A very good performance from Lucas indeed. Atletico Madrid lie in wait in a tie which Fernando Torres must either love the sound of, or dread!

Image Courtesy of ***Official Liverpool FC Photostream*** on Flickr.com

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