The new approach of Los Blancos

Real Madrid have started their new pre-season with their freshly instituted coach Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced the controversial José Mourinho, after having moved from Paris Saint-Germain to his new footballing preference. The first training sessions have been completed and many of the new summer signings, amongst them the fresh young talent Isco from FC Málaga, show some promising skills.

Also very interesting is the fact that former Real Madrid legend and World Player of the Year, Zinédine Zidane, has a new role at the club as assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti, after having fulfilled all the formal requirements for the position over the last couple of years, starting with involvement in the coaching of the Real Madrid Castilla, the youngster team of the club.

Due to this involvement, he already got to know some of the young players that have moved up to the first team in the meantime. Álvaro Morata and Jesé Rodriguez showed some very promising and impressive football. Morata, who played at the U21 Euro 2013 along with the newly signed Isco and Asier Illaramendi from Real Sociedad, had a tremendous tournament and helped Spain to claim yet another Euro title. Isco was signed for € 30 million, while Asier Illaramendi was worth € 38 million to Real Madrid president  Florentino Pérez, making him the most expensive Spanish signing in the club’s history.

Another notable figure in the U21 Euro squad of Spain is Daniel Carvajal, who was brought back to Real Madrid after having played for the German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a club infamously known for its record defeat by Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.

Many of Ancelotti’s former players describe him as a coach that puts an emphasis on the psychological relationship between him and the players. After the differences between former coach José Mourinho, who more or less split the team in half with some of the players, most notably Iker Casillas and Pepe, having rather strong differences in opinion compared to Mourinho, and the rest of the squad being faithful as a dog to the Portuguese superstar, who moved back to his old club Chelsea after the 2012/2013 season with Real Madrid had come to an end. In the end, one might come to the conclusion that Ancelotti has exactly the right kind of attitude and style of coaching that the players, especially the likes of Casillas and Pepe, need at this point in time in order to bring back harmony and team oriented thinking amongst the Real Madrid players.

The new 2013/2014 season all over Europe will be a very interesting one indeed – after all, the majority of the big clubs in Europe have replaced their head coaches and as always, new stars rise and old ones fall. In Barcelona for example, the interplay between Messi and the new Brazilian star Neymar will be very interesting for a lot of football fans. In Germany, former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola took over at FC Bayern München, the current triple title holders in Europe. He brought in the young Barcelona player Thiago Alcántara, who will compete with the numerous other midfield players at Bayern. This will create a similar situation like in Madrid, where a large number of players will compete for the scarce positions in midfield.

In England, David Moyes took over as head coach after the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement at the end of last season. However, a couple of issues remain with Manchester United, as Wayne Rooney allegedly wants to leave the club and potential transfers that were heated up by the media, like the one of Thiago Alcántara turned out fruitless. Rival club Manchester City also introduced a new coach, the Argentine Manuel Pellegrini, who has also coached Real Madrid in the past. And, as mentioned before, José Mourinho took back over at Chelsea.

Still, it will not be an easy first season for Ancelotti and Zidane, as the Real Madrid board and fans anxiously expect the tenth UEFA Champions League title, next to the league title of course. We wish him all the best and may the best team win 😉

The returning wrath against FC Barcelona while uncovering the largest betting scandal in football history…

Europol announced today that they uncovered a football fixing scandal run from Singapore, which involves about 680 suspicious matches all over the world. According to the European police, even matches in the UEFA Champions League, World Cup qualifying matches, as well as matches for the European championship are allegedly involved. It is a very sad day in the world of football.

Football, also known as soccer in some areas of the world, is the most popular sport on the planet. Billions of dollars are involved, not only when it comes to huge player salaries of superstars in the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

When I first heard of these news today, I immediately remembered the UEFA Champions League matches involving one team: FC Barcelona. Now, before you expect me to remain unbiased in this article, let me inform you that this will not be possible for me, not only because I am a fan of FC Barcelona’s largest rival – Real Madrid, but also because I cannot stand the fact that nothing happened in the last couple of years, even though not only Real Madrid fans were crying out for some form of justice when players of one team are treated unfairly in a match.

So, I will now let my anger out in the form of this article, looking at numerous matches involving one of the largest football clubs in the world – and also one of the most successful ones, well at least so we thougth…

Apart from the political issues involved when taking a look at the history of Spain, there have always been tensions between Catalans and the rest of Spain. Since I am not of Spanish descent, I never had any reason not to like FC Barcelona. Success is not a reason for me to hate a rival football club. But a couple of years ago, that changed whenever Real Madrid was treated unfairly by a referee, in my eyes at least, when playing FC Barcelona. Let’s take a look at the individual incidents involving very questionable referee decisions in the UEFA Champions League, as well as the Spanish La Liga and Copa Del Rey, when Barcelona were facing Real Madrid.

1. UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona – AC Milan (26.04.2006) semi-final
AC Milan lost the first leg at home to Barcelona by 0:1. The return leg in the Camp Nou took place on 26.04.2006. Interestingly, Andriy Shevchenko scored a goal that was disallowed by German referee Markus Merk because he supposedly saw a foul by Shevchenko on Barcelona defender Carles Puyol. The match ended 0:0 with Barcelona progressing to the final, where they beat FC Arsenal by 2:1. I have added the link to a video on YouTube, where you can judge yourself:

2. UEFA Champions League: FC Chelsea – FC Barcelona (06.05.2009) semi-final
The first leg in Barcelona ended 0:0. The return leg in London was to be a very difficult match for FC Barcelona and this can well be the match that was announced by EUROPOL today. The referee, Tom Henning Övrebö, denied the Chelsea team six potential penalties, of which not a single one was given! The match ended 1:1, with Barcelona progressing on away goals. Again, Barcelona won the Champions League that season by beating Manchester United in the final. Check out these six chances in the video below:

3. UEFA Champions League: FC København – FC Barcelona (02.11.2010) group stage matchday 4
This time it was “only” a group stage match, when at ten minutes into the match FC Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes storms out of his goal and does a Kung-Fu-like kick to stop FC København striker Dame N’Doye. This is one of the most dangerous and most brutal fouls I have ever seen in football and should easily have been fined with a red card for Victor Valdes. But referee Pavel Cristian Balaj did not even show him a yellow card. Barcelona ended up winning the group, FC København coming in second and receiving the disadvantage of having to face a group winner team in the round of 16. The video of the foul:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81170758/

4. Primera División: Real Madrid – FC Barcelona (16.04.2011) match day 32
In this clásico, striker Lionel Messi shot the ball into the Real Madrid crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu and did not receive the yellow card, as is custom when provoking the fans. Though this did not influence the outcome of the match, as this would have been Messi’s first booking in the match, it is a clear violation of FIFA regulations. Looks like he received some special treatment.

5. UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona – Inter Milan (28.04.2010) semi-final
Again, Barcelona in a Champions League return leg at the semi-final stage. Inter Milan player Thiago Motta, who played for Barcelona before he transferred to Inter, was shown a red card for a controversial tackle on Sergio Busquets, who built up a reputation for diving and acting. Barcelona lost the first leg 3:1 and had to win the return leg in order to progress to the final, but even though Inter were reduced to ten men with only 28 minutes played, Barcelona could not take advantage. Justice remained. Make up your own mind, whether it was a tackle worthy of a straight red card:

6. UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona – FC Arsenal (08.03.2011) round of 16
And once again the UEFA Champions League, this time Barcelona lost the first leg in London against Arsenal by 2:1. The return leg in the Camp Nou was won by Barcelona with 3:1. Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie received a second yellow card because he took a shot at goal after the referee Massimo Busacca blew his whistle due to offside. Imagine the noise that the crowd of over 90.000 people make in the Camp Nou and keep in mind that Van Persie kicked the ball about 1 second after the referee blew his whistle. Check out the incident and Van Persie’s view on the decision:

7. UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid – FC Barcelona (27.04.2011) semi-final
And yet another semi-final which Barcelona won under some very controversial circumstances. In the first leg of the semi-final Champions League clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid defender Pepe received a red card for a supposedly brutal tackle on Dani Alves. Admitting that it may have been dangerous play, it is quite clear that Pepe played the ball during the tackle and never touched Dani Alves. Again, the Barcelona player acted and made German referee Wolfgang Stark, who has been a controversy ever since, fell for the acting of Dani Alves. Now compare this tackle to the one from Victor Valdes and tell me that everything is correct…

8. UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona – Real Madrid (03.05.2011) semi-final
The return leg of this tie continued just as controversial as the first leg did, which Real Madrid lost 0:2. The fact that defender Pepe was sent off due to the controversial tackle on Alves, which is mentioned above, Real Madrid found themselves in a very difficult starting position in the return leg at the Camp Nou. But things started quite well – at least until referee Frank de Bleeckere, who was already mentioned earlier in this article, disallowed a goal by Gonzalo Higuaín, which should have counted, as Cristiano Ronaldo did not foul Mascherano in my opinion. I think most people would concur:

All in all, I really hope that Europol will uncover at least some of these incidents and show that FC Barcelona did not win all the trophies in a fair way. I also want to point out that I think Barcelona is a great team and plays very impressive football. This is what makes it even more sad in my opinion, because FC Barcelona does not need such controversial referee decisions – they are good enough as is. But nevertheless, such unfair referee decisions need to be punished and set right.
In my opinion, Barcelona should lose the titles they won due to unfair referee decisions, if Europol manages to proof that the concerned games have been manipulated due to betting scandals or whatever reason.

Football is a great sport and I think all of us fans want it to be clean and that the better team wins in the end – without unfair help from the referee. This NEEDS to STOP.

UEFA Champions League 2012/2013 preview

Nearly two weeks ago, this year’s UEFA Champions League groups have been drawn. After a surprising and very intense final between FC Bayern München and FC Chelsea, us football fans eagerly anticipate the return of Europe’s elite football tournament.
There are quite a few interesting groups again this season, most outstanding however is by far group D. D as in death you might even say, four national champions will fight for a spot to the next round in that group. Nevertheless, a few rather unknown teams have yet again made it to the group stage, including: BATE Baryssau, CRF Cluj, FC Nordsjaelland and the surprise champions of Ligue 1 – Montpellier HSC just to name a few…

Of course, chances are that one of Europe’s big names will win this year’s trophy. The last underdog to win the cup was José Mourinho with FC Porto back in the 2003/2004 season. But let’s take a closer look at the eight groups:

Group A:
FC Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Paris Saint-Germain
Dinamo Zagreb

-> Group A will be interesting, since PSG are considered one of the favorite new teams to climb the ladder of success in Europe, even though that is due to very large sums of transfer capital. FC Porto are also always a contender and favorite to reach the next round, therefore my guess is that these two clubs will progress to the round of sixteen.

Group B:
FC Arsenal
FC Schalke 04
Olympiacos Piraeus
Montpellier HSC

-> While group B definitely looks decided already, if it comes down to club names and reputation, we should not count French champions Montpellier HSC out just yet. It will be tough however for such an inexperienced team to contend with Europe’s top notch clubs…
My tip: FC Arsenal and FC Schalke 04 should make it to the round of 16.

Group C:
AC Milan
Zenit St. Petersburg
RSC Anderlecht
FC Málaga

-> First time group stage contenders FC Málaga are in a tough group with legendary AC Milan. It will be interesting to see how these “inferior” Spanish clubs will perform, in comparison to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. We should also have a lookout for Zenit St. Petersburg, as Russian clubs have always proven rather difficult to play against, especially within the borders of Earth’s largest country.
Still, I see Zenit and AC Milan progressing, with FC Málaga in a good situation to reach the UEFA Europa League.

Group D:
Real Madrid CF
Manchester City
Ajax Amsterdam
Borussia Dortmund

-> THIS is the toughest group this season. With four national champions in one tiny pond, this year’s Champions League football should prove to be a real feast. It is very difficult to guess the outcome here, but since I am a Madridista, I tend to think Real Madrid and most probably Manchester City will progress to the next round, with German champions Dortmund reaching the UEFA Europa League…

Group E:
FC Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk
Juventus Turin
FC Nordsjaelland

-> This group only has one outcome in my eyes: FC Chelsea and Juventus Turin reaching the next round, I do not expect any surprises here. However, we will have to see how debut group stage contenders FC Nordsjaelland will perform.

Group F:
FC Bayern München
OSC Lille
FC Valencia
BATE Borisov

-> Group F also contains some very interestig names, including last season’s runners up Bayern, who are in as favorites in this group. But not to forget, FC Valencia used to be a tough contender in this competition and could prove to return to their former reputation, as I expect these two to make it to the next round.

Group G:
FC Barcelona
Benfica Lisbon
Spartak Moscow
Celtic Glasgow

-> While Celtic Glasgow will most probably dominate the Scottish Premier League more than usual with Rangers being relegated due to financial problems, it might not be as easy in this competition. As FC Barcelona is expected to win this group, Benfica and Spartak Moscow are two very tough nuts to crack…

Group H:
Manchester United
FC Braga
CFR Cluj
Galatasaray Istanbul

-> And last but not least, group H should see Manchester United win this group with ease. Galatasaray is back in business and will most probably join ManU in the last sixteen. Let’s wait and see if Braga und Cluj are in for a surprise this season.

While I could be very wrong on some of the outcomes, one thing se for sure: this season will not disappoint and football fans around the world will get to enjoy more of Europe’s elite football competition. Group stages start on September 18th.

To boldly kick it where no one has kicked it before

So before I get into a fight with my pillow, let’s talk. Football. Quite a lot of matches in quite a short period of time – most of them interesting. Now for the reflection on these games, I might warn you: subjective views and emotions may be found in the following short match reviews.

So let’s go to Spain first, since it is my favorite football nation. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona keep fighting for the title, however Barça managed to narrow the gap to six points. This is due to a few bad matches on Madrid’s account, like the draw against Malaga on March 18th, when the Madridistas gave away their 1:0 lead in added time, as Santi Cazorla curled in a gorgeous free kick and rescued a point for his team. By the way, since Malaga became a big budget side, they are performing quite well in Spain, currently being placed 4th in the league. I’d say well done.

Real continued their bad spell with the game in Villareal on the 29th match day, which also ended with a one all draw. Fortunately, Real Madrid began winning again on the following match day, defeating Real Sociedad by 5:1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

Probably also worthy of mentioning is the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are now both on 35 goals in the league this season, CR7 having played a match more than his Argentinian counterpart. Nevertheless, these two are running a stalemate for the golden boot like nowhere else in Europe.

Oh and before I forget, the Bundesliga is still quite a bit suspenseful too. Defending champions Borussia Dortmund are still leading the table, but with six points only

Let’s get up to the British island. In the premier league, it’s still Manchester United leading the table with 3 points over rivals Manchester City. The team in third place are currently the Gunners, but they trail Man City with 12 points. Dear oh dear, it really looks like the trophy is going to stay in Manchester, we’ll just have to wait in order to find out in which part of town. It may all be decided on the 36th match day, when City host United at home. I am really looking forward to that game.

Interestingly, FC Chelsea seem to be in a bit of a crisis. After coach André Villas-Boas had been sacked, co-trainer Roberto Di Matteo was placed in charge of things at the Stamford Bridge. Still, Chelsea are currently placed fifth in the league and things are not looking to good, except for the away win in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg at Benfica, which the Londoners won by one goal to nil. But in my opinion Villas-Boas was just too young to coach a side with players like John Terry and Frank Lampard, who supposedly did not have their manager’s back. If I try to put myself into the shoes of Terry or Lampard, who are roughly the same age as Villas-Boas, I might also have difficulties taking the coach seriously, as you will always keep in mind that he does not have more football experience than yourself. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of a professional football player to keep it professional.

Now, let’s take a glance at the Serie A in Italy. AC Milan, who just managed to hold Barcelona to a 0:0 draw in the UEFA Champions League, are leading the table by 4 points over Juventus Turin. Juventus on the other hand are still undefeated this season in the league, with 15 wins and 14 draws. That is quite a performance. The last notable unbeaten season was completed by Wenger’s Arsenal a few years back, with the likes of Jens Lehmann, Sol Campbell, Thierry Henry etc.

Inter Milan on the other hand are having a horrible season. If you’re looking for them in the table, you’ll have to scroll down quite a bit until you spot them. Currently placed 8th, with 12 defeats already and a goal difference of 0, it’s no wonder Claudio Ranieri was sacked a couple of days ago.

Oh and before I forget, let’s have a look at the Bundesliga also. Borussia Dortmund played VfB Stuttgart yesterday in an incredible match. If you had the chance to see it, chances are you’ll agree with me on this one. In the end, a 4:4 draw did not help Dortmund much to keep their lead over Bayern München, as the gap has been narrowed to six points, and if Bayern win today, it will be down to three.

Now that the domestic leagues have been covered, let’s come to the interesting stuff. Europe. The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals were played this week, with Real Madrid having won in on the small island of Cyprus as they defeated APOEL Nikosia 3:0. However, APOEL did not make it easy for Real, as the Spaniards had to wait a resounding 75 minutes until Karim Benzema opened the scoring.

As mentioned before, Chelsea managed to win in Lisbon, as they defeated Benfica with 1:0. German giants Bayern München were hosted by Olympique Marseille, who are currently having a bad spell. Situated as 9th in the Ligue 1, they ended up losing 2:0 at their  Stade Vélodrome, which is partly under construction at this time for EURO 2016.

And of course, AC Milan held FC Barcelona to a 0:0 draw at the San Siro, or “Giuseppe-Meazza”, whatever you’d like to call it. Since all the odds-on favourites won, except for Milan and Barça, one could say their’s is the only second leg match worthy of watching. But then again, football is football and anything can happen in its universe…

Review: UEFA Champions League last sixteen

There was definitely plenty of interesting football to be seen this week, as half of the last sixteen have decided their fate in Europe’s top notch football competition. Plenty of goals have been scored, in some matches too many, in others too few.

On Tuesday evening, Arsenal took on AC Milan for the return leg in London. After the Gunners were humiliated in a 4:0 defeat in Milan a few weeks earlier, only a few were brave enough to bet on them progressing to the quarter finals. However, during the long wait for the Rossoneri to return the favour of sightseeing, Arsene’s Arsenal have played some very impressive football in-between.

On February 26th, the Gunners faced Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium. After being down 2:0 at home, Wenger’s boys, and men, turned the match around by 180° and ended up winning 5:2. Arsenal’s star striker this season, Robin Van Persie, was the man behind the team’s success, as he kept on fighting until the very last minute and also got rewarded with three goals in the last two matches in the English Premier League. Arsenal also impressed me with their win at Anfield Road, one of the toughest venues to win a match of football, no matter how bad Liverpool’s form may be at the moment.

So, some of the hope of the Arsenal fans was legitimate, as mission-nearly-impossible started off. The Gunners kicked off with a very high pace, one could immediately read their will to turn the aggregate score around. And the audience did not have to wait long, as defender Koscielny headed in the ball after a corner kick from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 6th minute, as he was completely   unmarked by the Italians.

One did not have to wait long for the next goal, as AC Milan’s defense was terrible that night. Plenty of mistakes in their back rows set up numerous chances for the Gunners during the match. Just like that, Rosicky took advantage of a bad pass within the sixteen-yard area and buried the ball with a flat and hard shot into the near post of Christian Abbiati. It was 2:0 already and not even half an hour played.

The game continued Arsenal’s way and the statistics showed at 30 minutes in. Five total attempts at goal for Arsenal, only two for Milan. And keep in mind two of five have already been converted into goals. So it was no surprise that Arsenal kept on pushing forward and also get rewarded for their work. In the 43rd minute Oxlade-Chamberlain got his side a penalty kick, as Milan’s defender Mesbah brought him down with a clumsy tackle. Who else but captain Van Persie stepped up and converted with an unstoppable shot into the top right corner of Abbiati’s goal.

It was now half-time and Arsenal were leading 3:0. Somehow, I was reminded of the epic final in Istanbul.

The second half continued with a high pace, however Milan’s defense was slightly more aware now. Nevertheless, Arsenal still had plenty of chances to increase their lead and by that get on terms on the aggregate scoreline. The best of these chances fell to Robin Van Persie in the 58th minute, as Milan’s defense messed up once again.

But it was not to be for Arsenal, as Milan prevailed. The most dangerous players on Milan’s side were Ibrahimovic and El Sharawy, who both had chances to decide the match at any point, as Arsenal would have needed to score six goals by then, if the Rossoneri had scored in London. The match ended 3:0, on aggregate 3:4 with AC Milan progressing to the quarter finals.

In the other match of Tuesday night, Benfica Lisbon defeated Zenit St. Petersburg with goals to nil. Maxi Pereira opened the scoring for the Portuguese just before half time, which already put Benfica into a progressing state, as the first leg ended 3:2 for St. Petersburg. Reason being that Benfica benefited from their two away goals. Nonetheless, the Portuguese kept on fighting until the very last minute in order to seal their win. Nelson Oliveira scored the second for Benfica in added time.

The two matches on Wednesday also had quite something to offer. FC Barcelona faced German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Camp Nou and Olympique Lyon headed to the island of Cyprus to face APOEL Nikosia.

Barcelona had a rather big advantage heading into the game at home, as they had already won in Germany with three goals to one. In the first leg, Leverkusen seemed to be more of fans of the Barça side themselves than actual opponents. And so it continued in Catalonia.

Sometimes people in Germany ask me, why I do not follow the Bundesliga or the German teams in general as much as I follow the English Premier League or the Spanish LFP. Well, to be honest, it is because of matches like these. Bayer Leverkusen played like little boys with too much respect and awe for the Spanish side. And the Barcelona players caught up on that psychological advantage.

Leverkusen held out for 25 minutes, but then the Lionel Messi show began, as he put his first into the net after a great pass from Xavi. Before that, Barcelona could have led by two or three goals already if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Leno. Barcelona continued to push forward and Messi dribbled his way past the defense in the 42nd minute to put the ball into the net for the second Barça goal. Leverkusen were very lucky that it was only 2:0 at half time.

But that did not stop Barcelona of course. Messi completed his hat trick at just 50 minutes played, as he lifted the ball over Leno for the second time. After a pass from Fabregas, Tello made it 4:0 in the 56th minute, only to take turns on goal scoring with Messi from now on. Hence, the little Argentine scored his fourth goal just two minutes later. Then again, Tello replaced him as the latest scorer in the Camp Nou in the 62nd minute to make it 6:0 for the Spaniards.

After that goal exchange between Messi and Tello, Leverkusen had a few minutes to breathe before the next one flew past Leno. Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal of the evening in the 85th minute to make it an astounding 7:0 for Barcelona. One might wonder, how on earth Bayer Leverkusen even managed to get this far in Europe’s top level competition.

It was quite surprising that the team from Germany managed to get one goal just before the end of the match, as Bellarabi scored a beautiful goal that curled past Víctor Valdés into the right hand corner of the goal. Still, it was the very definition of a consolation goal.

The second match of Wednesday night, APOEL Nikosia vs. Olympique Lyon also handed out a big surprise, as Lyon were defeated in a penalty shootout by 4:3. But I always welcome underdog sides that progress into the quarter finals, as APOEL did this time. It was also the first time a team from Cyprus managed to get to this stage of the competition.

Judgement Day in Madrid

As the Spanish football league is coming closer to its season end, every match for the two big league title contenders is of upmost importance. Today, both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona play in Madrid, both in away matches though.

Real head to the neighborhood of Vallecas to face Rayo Vallecano, currently placed ninth in the Liga BBVA. Due to Real Madrid’s away strength this season and their average 3,41 goals per game, very few people would bet against them tonight. The first leg was decided early on by Real Madrid with the match ending 6:2 on September 24, 2011.

The Catalans on the other hand face Atlético Madrid in the Estadio Vicente Calderón tonight. Barςa fear the side of coach Diego Simeone, as Atlético are always in for a surprise win. Still, Barcelona has not lost against Los Colchoneros in the Spanish league since February 2010. But since Barcelona swept FC Valencia away on the last match day with 5:1, only few sides in Spain remain, who are actually able to beat Pep Guardiola’s side. Real will surely hope their city neighbors can give them a hand, as José Mourinho’s club can extend their league to 13 points over rivals FC Barcelona.

And should Real Madrid win tonight as well as Atlético, FC Barcelona will most probably have lost the race for the league title already – with 24 matches played out of 38. But that is just my opinion. And I am not an optimist, but a REAList.

UEFA Champions League: Bayer 04 Leverkusen – FC Barcelona

The UEFA Champions League continues in 2012 with the first matches of the last sixteen knock-out round, starting on Valentine’s Day. Defending champions FC Barcelona headed to Leverkusen, a middle-sized city with about 160,000 inhabitants, most infamous for the international chemical company Bayer AG, who also owns the football club. The other match that night was Olympique Lyon from France versus APOEL Nikosia, the surprising underdog team from Cyprus.

The game started off rather slow-paced. Leverkusen tried to keep the ball for the first ten minutes, however Barcelona took over after that and kept nearly 80% of the ball for the rest of the entire first half. Unfortunately, not much happened during that time. Barcelona kept the ball, played their ball-possession football and tried to create chances, which they managed to do only a couple of times. Leverkusen’s defense was stable for most of the first half of the game. Still, one assumes this is not what the fans bought their precious tickets for.

Daniel Schwab received a yellow card for his first foul in the 8th minute, which was rather controversial. Usually, referees only show yellow cards early in the match when a brutal foul was committed. This was, however, not the case with Schwab’s foul. You do not have to be a Real Madrid supporter to find some decisions in football matches going Barcelona’s way a bit too often…

The first chance in the match was in the 13th minute, when Fabregas tried to supply Lionel Messi with a pass. However, Leverkusen’s defender Schwab had been alert and was able to intercept just in time and put the ball out of play for a corner kick.

In the following minutes, the audience might have got the impression that Leverkusen’s players lacked self-confidence and had a bit too much respect for their dominating opponents. Such an attitude definitely does not contribute to beating FC Barcelona.

Barcelona kept on passing the ball, but was not able to create any danger for Lerverkusen’s goalkeeper Leno. One had the impression that if this were indeed Lerverkusen’s tactics, they seemed to be working. However, four minutes from half-time, the Barcelona players were able to start a swift attack, as Messi played a very accurate pass to Alexis Sanchez, who put the ball past goalie Leno into the left hand corner of the net.

The second half started off with a good goal-scoring opportunity, but Leverkusen was unable to take advantage of one of the rare chances on their side. Still, they seemed to want their fans to know that they are not giving up that easily. The game continued with good play from Leverkusen, as lots of head-balls showed Leverkusen’s advantage in height and created a chance for Kadlec, who headed the ball into the net after a cross from Corluka. Bayer was on level terms with the defending champions!

But not for long, as Barcelona took advantage of a counter-attack, as a pass from Fabregas set up Alexis Sanchez once again, who tricked the keeper and got past him. A low shot just past the right hand post put Barca back in front.

Leverkusen had a great chance to equalize once again in the 57th minute, as Renato Augusto tried to get past Victor Valdes with a low shot, but the Barcelona keeper prevailed. A strong phase from Leverkusen followed, as Robin Dutt’s team tried everything to get back on level terms. In the 64th minute, a shot from Castro was just saved by Valdes and steered towards the right hand post. Luck was definitely not on Leverkusen’s side.

In the following minutes, Leverkusen gave the ball away too often, which enabled Barcelona to take over again and dominate the match. They also created another chance in the 72nd minute, as Messi got past Leverkusen’s defense and even keeper Bernd Leno, but was denied by the aluminum in form of the right hand post.

The last great chance for Leverkusen took place in the 79th minute, as substitute Stefan Kießling was able to get on the end of a cross and head the ball towards the goal – only to be denied by Victor Valdes.

Another controversial scene took place shortly after, as Sergio Busquets pushed Leverkusen’s Castro towards the stands and ended up hurting himself by falling. As this was clearly a foul from the Barcelona man, nobody understood the decision by Scottish referee Craig Thomson, who booked Castro for the alleged foul on Busquets. Again the mighty Barcelona side gets overshadowed by questionable referee decisions, as so often since Pep Guardiola took over as coach in 2008.

With a corner kick for Barcelona in the 84th minute, Alexis Sanchez is denied his hat trick only by keeper Bernd Leno, who performed very well. However, he was unable to do anything in the 88th minute, as Barcelona struck for the third time, when Messi played a great through ball to Dani Alves, who in turn passed back to the short Argentine who put the ball into the net with a half-volley. The game ended 1:3.

In the end, Bayer Leverkusen simply were outclassed today and did not do enough, to have a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals. Interestingly though, this was the first time Barcelona was able to win an away leg in the Champions League round of 16 under Pep Guardiola.