With a manageable score line and a coach well-known for his cup success, even in hostile situations, even with a less than favorable away goal to live down, Real Madrid must have had some bit of esperanza or hope that for the first time in 5 years they would advance past this stage in the Champions League?

It didn't last long. They were destroyed, humiliated, embarrassed, or run off the park, use whatever cliché you want. Madrid were expecting another chess match like the one they got at the Santiago Bernabeu but got invited to their own smack-down. The reactionary British press might say that it just proves the overall strength of the Premiership over La liga. The Madrid press are in the middle of a downward spiral of "let see who we can blame for this debacle: (Mijatovich, Juande, players, signings, tactics, naiveté, but always the refs) and Liverpool are actually coming out of this match with the delusional idea that they're actually quite good.

The truth about what happened is, as usual, somewhere in that mix (except for the part about Liverpool being rubbish, that's all true and then some).

There were many mistakes made. First of all: Torres clipped Pepe on the kneecap just as the Real Madrid defender was clearing the ball which set-up the first goal. It was a foul that wasn't called which led to an easy goal putting Madrid down 2 goals on the road, and yes it was a foul, Torres even looked at the ref afterwards expecting the call that never came.

Secondly, and I don't want to make this all about the refs so I'll hold off on the most egregious call for later, Juande Ramos started a Real Madrid side that are not head-and-shoulders behind Liverpool, but were definitely missing key components to handle the Reds balls-to-the-wall approach: Up front, Raul doesn't have the pace or the physicality to handle the lone striker role, so Juande started Higuain next to him. Gonzalo is a good young player, but he's more of a young Raul, rather than the target man that either injured Ruud Van Nistelrooj or the cup tied Klaus Jan Huntelaar are. Like the corresponding fixture, Liverpool took Robben off his game and his compatriot Snejder, who almost had a wonder-goal from a free-kick, hasn't been the same player since he injured his knee at Ashburton Grove in a pre-season match. Yet, Real Madrid lost the match not because they couldn't score but because they didn't control the center circle. They do not have a monster in the midfield to contend with Mascherano (one Diarra is not as good as another) and Gago likely played his last overly lazy pass for Madrid. They needed a ball-winner and someone alongside who could hit pass the baoll quickly into space. Don't they wish they had Xavi Alonso instead?

Thirdly, well it's obvious isn't it. The penalty that really wasn't. A Liverpool supporter I was with admitted as much, he just couched in the "it's like that phantom penalty they always call at the Stretford End at Old Trafford against us!" Heinze gets called for a handball in the area on a ball that was clearly not. Down by three goals on aggregate before the gents were neatly tucked in their seats, Real Madrid never settled themselves on the road and never recovered like I predicted they would coming into the game.

Despite Casillas's rout saving heroics, Gerrard and the ex-Madrid product Arbeloa extended the scoring later on, so the 5-0 on aggregate scoreline doesn't surprise me, but it also paints a more than unfair picture. Real Madrid are not this bad (I cover them week in and week out) and it flatters a rather pedestrian Reds squad (check their draws against subpar opponents at Anfield) that came out strong at home. Congrats, but the score line flatters to deceive.

With a manageable scoreline and a coach well-known for his cup success, even in hostile situations, even with a less than favorable away goal to live down, Real Madrid must have had some bit of esperanza or hope that for the first time in 5 years they would advance past this stage in the Champions League?

It didn't last long. They were destroyed, humiliated, embarrassed, or run off the park, use whatever cliche you want. Madrid were expecting another chess match like the one they got at the Santiago Bernabeu but got invited to their own smack-down. The reactionary British press might say that it just proves the overall strength of the Premiership over La liga. The Madrid press are in the middle of a downward spiral of "let see who we can blame for this debacle: (Mijatovich, Juande, players, signings, tactics, naivete, but always the refs) and Liverpool are actually coming out of this match with the delusional idea that they're actually quite good.

The truth about what happened is, as usual, somewhere in that mix (except for the part about Liverpool being rubbush, that's all true and then some).

There were many mistakes made. First of all: Torres clipped Pepe on the kneecap just as the Real Madrid defender was clearing the ball which set-up the first goal. It was a foul that wasn't called which led to an easy goal putting Madrid down 2 goals on the road, and yes it was a foul, Torres even looked at the ref afterwards expecting the call that never came.

Secondly, and I don't want to make this all about the refs so I'll hold off on the most egregious call for later, Juande Ramos started a Real Madrid side that are not head-and-shoulders behind Liverpool, but were definitely missing key components to handle the Reds balls-to-the-wall approach: Up front, Raul doesn't have the pace or the physicality to handle the lone striker role, so Juande started Higuain next to him. Gonzalo is a good young player, but he's more of a young Raul, rather than the target man that either injured Ruud Van Nistelrooj or the cup tied Klaus Jan Huntelaar are. Like the corresponding fixture, Liverpool took Robben off his game and his compatriot Snejder, who almost had a wonder-goal from a free-kick, hasn't been the same player since he injured his knee at Ashburton Grove in a pre-season match. Yet, Real Madrid lost the match not because they couldn't score but because they didn't control the center circle. They do not have a monster in the midfield to contend with Mascherano (one Diarra is not as good as another) and Gago likely played his last overly lazy pass for Madrid. They needed a ball-winner and someone alongside who could hit pass the baoll quickly into space. Don't they wish they had Xavi Alonso instead?

Thirdly, well it's obvious isn't it. The penalty that really wasn't. A Liverpool supporter I was with admitted as much, he just couched in the "it's like that phantom penalty they always call at the Stretford End at Old Trafford against us!" Heinze gets called for a handball in the area on a ball that was clearly not. Down by three goals on aggregate before the gents were neatly tucked in their seats, Real Madrid never settled themselves on the road and never recovered like I predicted they would coming into the game.

Despite Casillas's rout saving heroics, Gerrard and the ex-Madrid product Arbeloa extended the scoring later on, so the 5-0 on aggregate scoreline doesn't surprise me, but it also paints a more than unfair picture. Real Madrid are not this bad (I cover them week in and week out) and it flatters a rather pedestrian Reds squad (check their draws against subpar opponents at Anfield) that came out strong at home. Congrats, but the scoreline flatters to deceive.

About a month ago, the newspapers both in Spain and in Europe were raving about FC Barcelona and the manner in which Pep Guardiola’s club had played up till that point. Despite a loss at Numancia, followed by a draw in the next game, the club went on an historic run taking all but two points from 16 straight matches, scoring 48 goals in the process and pointing the spotlight deservedly on their trident of attackers Messi, Henry and Eto'o. They were on pace to shatter the 107 goal record that Real Madrid set in 1989-90 and entered the break with 41 points opening a double digit lead on Sevilla and beating Real Madrid decisively in the clasico. Not many thought they could continue their form, but Real Madrid's Michel Salgado knew better. He saw the way the blaugrana celebrated their win at the Nou Camp. It was as if they had just won the league and obviously he was offended. "After this match last year I said we'd win the league, and I'll say it again this year", he added,"There is still a lot left to be played."

We all laughed of course, that's just Michel, but now no one is laughing, especially in Joan Laporta's office at the Camp Nou. Imagine him reading a copy of Marca that delineated exactly why his club's fortunes have fallen. In short, the voice-box of Real Madrid blamed a combination of self-inflicted pressure, poor goalkeeping and other defensive lapses or weaknesses, an accumulation of minutes leading to bad form from key figures at the club, a general over-confidence as an after effect of their early season form, and frankly the fact that despite a deceptive run of matches this is still fundamentally the same club that collapsed at the tail end of last season. I agree with some of it, but here's my list of what I think is wrong.

1)Defensive liability: I'm not one of these people who thinks that Victor Valdez is a poor keeper. He is often compared unfavourably with his great rival Iker Casillas, Spain's number 1 and arguably the best keeper in the world, and while he clearly isn't on par Valdez is a better than average shot-stopper who like many young keepers has trouble organizing his defenders and dealing with set pieces. Is he Gigi Buffon? No, but he's not Manuel Almunia; a Spanish keeper who does deserve criticism. His main deficiency is that has little in front of him. In the center he has Puyol and Marquez who are both on the wrong end of 30, and often injured joining the slightly younger Gaby Milito who is out for the year as well. Their cover in the last few matches has been provided by Caceres and Pique who are both barely into their 20's and of little help in a leadership role in the center either. As for the fullbacks, on one side Barca have had Eric Abidal, who is out with a leg injury, and have been forced to use either Puyol or Silvinho in the role, neither of which have the pace to play the wing anymore. On the other side is Alves who is, in my less than humble opinion, the best fullback in the world, brilliant on the attack like most Brazilian fullbacks are, but with the same general weakness that his compatriots have: he's not one to track back and help. That's not what fullbacks do in Brazil.
2)Undersized midfield: Iniesta, Xavi and Messi are brilliant players individually and also collectively, they disrupt play and they hold onto the ball well, but they have a weakness that both Espanyol and Lyon exploited, they're just little. They can be hacked and driven off the ball by larger, less skilled players. Guardiola has introduced Keita and Busquets to the mix to help out Toure Yaya as guardians to the lollipop league, but they have been less than stellar in the past month or so.
3)Everything counts: Guardiola is still very inexperienced as a manager and had yet to lead a club out of this sort of difficulty. This is not a deep squad compared to Manchester United, Inter Milan, or even Liverpool and they've played an unbelievable amount of fixtures to date. They're tired. Most of them even played the full allotment of games at Euro 2008, so they're even more tired than most. They were bound to have a dip in form.

Do I think they'll continue to struggle like this? No, they're a confident bunch and it'll be awhile before they have to face a true match against a tough squad in Europe (No, I don't think Lyon tomorrow will do). Hay Liga? Sure. Right now, and if Real Madrid recover from their humiliating loss to Liverpool today, they may have already set their sights on the rematch at the Bernabeu later on this season.

Champions League is here again ladies and gentlemen and, for La Liga mas especial del mundo, we've got 3 teams still in the heat of the action: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid. My initial reaction, a bit of optimism for Real Madrid against a slowly sinking Liverpool side, a bit of pessimism as the head-cases at Atleti are hard pressed as ever to find consistent form in La Liga, let alone in the pressure cooker of the Champions League and finally, as RCD Espanyol just pointed out last round in league play, Barca are very vulnerable in and around goal and will concede if a team manages to break through that wall of talented midfielders that they have.

Predictions? My first reaction was that over both legs, Real Madrid would open it up and attack Liverpool at the Bernabeu as the faithful madridistas would have it no other way, and I figured 3-1 for the team in white, and in the return leg at fortress Anfield, European nights and all that rubbish, Madrid would not be intimidated and would have gone through on a one all draw. Obviously that's all out with the loss at home from Benayoun's late goal for the 'Pool but it is still on if Madrid can nick an away goal early and draw Rafa out of his shell and that's exactly what I think will happen.

In the less glamorous matched: I thought that Atleti would suffer a bit when they finished their series at the Dragao next week as they were let down immensely by their very porous defense allowing a 2-2 draw at home at the Vicente Calderon. Despite the two goals, Kun Aguero was not scoring, and it seemed he was distracted with the birth of his Maradona baby, but this past weekend's Barcelona match changed that I believe. He's an emotional kid, fueled by confidence, and the club reflects that in the way they play. They'll have to attack early and hope that their defenders won't be caught by the Porto counter-attack, and while I don't usually believe that bombs-away teams like the colchoneros do well in these competitions I think they've drawn an inferior opponent quite frankly and they'll go through. For Villareal it's a different story. Conceding an away goal isn't usually a death knell if your club can break down an opponent like Villareal can, Guiseppe Rossi is the true heir to the proud lineage of the Azzurri #10 shirt that Antonio Cassano only wishes he were, but while they are also facing an experienced European side with a quality manager, Atletico Madrid only have to travel to Portugal while the Yellow Submarine have a fierce trip to Athens to look forward to, and much more experienced and deeper squads than Villareal have lost in the Eastern Mediterranean before. I'm not sure, but I expect Panathinaikos to advance.

Which leads me to the FC Barcelona match at Lyon. They have been on some rather indifferent form, coasting for much of the year in Spain, and a thin squad to begin with (as Guardiola doesn't like big squads or vary too much in his rotation) is even thinner with injuries and suspensions to key players like Puyol or Marquez. Losing to last place Espanyol in a derby match at home was an indication that they had their heads elsewhere (maybe in France, maybe on Madrid) but this past weekend's collapse against Atletico Madrid losing not one but two leads to an inferior rojiblanco squad that they had pummeled earlier in the year 6-1 was a sign that all is not well at the Nou Camp. I think that if this match were in any other place but at home, Barcelona might continue to struggle, but all they really need is a draw (as that crucial Thierry Henry away goal carries alot of cache) and they'll advance with ease. This is a clear indicator that not only is there definitely a league campaign still on for the blaugrana but no one is going to merely hand over the Cup with the big ears to them.

Champions League is here again ladies and gentlemen and, for La Liga mas especial del mundo, we've got 3 teams still in the heat of the action: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid. My initial reaction, a bit of optimism for Real Madrid against a slowly sinking Liverpool side, a bit of pessimism as the head-cases at Atleti are hard pressed as ever to find consistent form in La Liga, let alone in the pressure cooker of the Champions League and finally, as RCD Espanyol just pointed out last round in league play, Barca are very vulnerable in and around goal and will concede if a team manages to break through that wall of talented midfielders that they have.

Predictions? My first reaction was that over both legs, Real Madrid would open it up and attack Liverpool at the Bernabeu as the faithful madridistas would have it no other way, and I figured 3-1 for the team in white, and in the return leg at fortress Anfield, European nights and all that rubbish, Madrid would not be intimidated and would have gone through on a one all draw. Obviously that's all out with the loss at home from Benayoun's late goal for the 'Pool but it is still on if Madrid can nick an away goal early and draw Rafa out of his shell and that's exactly what I think will happen.

In the less glamorous matched: I thought that Atleti would suffer a bit when they finished their series at the Dragao next week as they were let down immensely by their very porous defense allowing a 2-2 draw at home at the Vicente Calderon. Despite the two goals, Kun Aguero was not scoring, and it seemed he was distracted with the birth of his Maradona baby, but this past weekend's Barcelona match changed that I believe. He's an emotional kid, fueled by confidence, and the club reflects that in the way they play. They'll have to attack early and hope that their defenders won't be caught by the Porto counter-attack, and while I don't usually believe that bombs-away teams like the colchoneros do well in these competitions I think they've drawn an inferior opponent quite frankly and they'll go through. For Villareal it's a different story. Conceding an away goal isn't usually a death knell if your club can break down an opponent like Villareal can, Guiseppe Rossi is the true heir to the proud lineage of the Azzurri #10 shirt that Antonio Cassano only wishes he were, but while they are also facing an experienced European side with a quality manager, Atletico Madrid only have to travel to Portugal while the Yellow Submarine have a fierce trip to Athens to look forward to, and much more experienced and deeper squads than Villareal have lost in the Eastern Mediterranean before. I'm not sure, but I expect Panathinaikos to advance.

Which leads me to the FC Barcelona match at Lyon. They have been on some rather indifferent form, coasting for much of the year in Spain, and a thin squad to begin with (as Guardiola doesn't like big squads or vary too much in his rotation) is even thinner with injuries and suspensions to key players like Puyol or Marquez. Losing to last place Espanyol in a derby match at home was an indication that they had their heads elsewhere (maybe in France, maybe on Madrid) but this past weekend's collapse against Atletico Madrid losing not one but two leads to an inferior rojiblanco squad that they had pummeled earlier in the year 6-1 was a sign that all is not well at the Nou Camp. I think that if this match were in any other place but at home, Barcelona might continue to struggle, but all they really need is a draw (as that crucial Thierry Henry away goal carries alot of cache) and they'll advance with ease. This is a clear indicator that not only is there definitely a league campaign still on for the blaugrana but no one is going to merely hand over the Cup with the big ears to them.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlXRe582fJs]

Sometimes in football, like in this match, the most incomprehensible things occur; the littlest player on the field (Ivan de la Pena) comes through with an unlikely header, unmarked and unchallenged, and then he adds to the tally with a monumental gift by Victor Valdez chipping it over the keeper after receving a wayward clearance from the same character. Bottom beats top, left is right, and suddenly we’re back into the mix, an escape from relegation a certainty?

Now, people on the other side of town (mostly cules) are going to downplay the loss, blame the ref or a subpar performance before a Champions League match midweek against Lyon looming. Xavi himself said that the ref took over the game, listened to the protestations of the Espanyol players, pulling out the red card, and awarded the “pessimism” of Espanyol to get in the way of the beautiful football that they were “dominating” with.

What a load of rubbish. They have no inherant right to beat all comers just because they can play neat pretty triangles on the pitch. Sometimes they need to fight. It was a chippy game from the get-go, a true derby match (emotional and heated) and Barca were giving just as much as they were getting. The cards were even throughout on the field (6 apiece) with one weird yellow going to the Barcelona bench for dissent. The red card didn’t look all that bad at first glance, but in slow motion you could see studs up in the lead foot for Keita and the trailing foot hitting the Espanyol player. There’ll be complaints, but it was a fair call, especially considering we lost a similar call in the corresponding fixture at the beginning of the year at the Montjuic; a game that threw us into a death spiral and humiliated us in front of the league. Karma. ‘Nuff Said.

I said we’d be lucky to get 3 points out of the matches against Sevilla, Barca, Real Madrid and Villareal, anything else in the next two is gravy I think.

Sometimes in football, like in this match, the most incomprehensible things occur; the littlest player on the field (Ivan de la Pena) comes through with an unlikely header, unmarked and unchallenged, and then he adds to the tally with a monumental gift by Victor Valdez chipping it over the keeper after receving a wayward clearance from the same character. Bottom beats top, left is right, and suddenly we’re back into the mix, an escape from relegation a certainty?

Now, people on the other side of town (mostly cules) are going to downplay the loss, blame the ref or a subpar performance before a Champions League match midweek against Lyon looming. Xavi himself said that the ref took over the game, listened to the protestations of the Espanyol players, pulling out the red card, and awarded the “pessimism” of Espanyol to get in the way of the beautiful football that they were “dominating” with.

What a load of rubbish. They have no inherant right to beat all comers just because they can play neat pretty triangles on the pitch. Sometimes they need to fight. It was a chippy game from the get-go, a true derby match (emotional and heated) and Barca were giving just as much as they were getting. The cards were even throughout on the field (6 apiece) with one weird yellow going to the Barcelona bench for dissent. The red card didn’t look all that bad at first glance, but in slow motion you could see studs up in the lead foot for Keita and the trailing foot hitting the Espanyol player. There’ll be complaints, but it was a fair call, especially considering we lost a similar call in the corresponding fixture at the beginning of the year at the Montjuic; a game that threw us into a death spiral and humiliated us in front of the league. Karma. ‘Nuff Said.

I said we’d be lucky to get 3 points out of the matches against Sevilla, Barca, Real Madrid and Villareal, anything else in the next two is gravy I think.

Lecce-Inter 0-3

Inter dominated Lecce at the Via Del Mare stadium in Lecce on Saturday evening.

In the 12th minute Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave Inter all they needed to win the game on a pretty goal by Ibra that beat Benussi to make it 1-0 Before the goal however, Inter had come close in the 9th minute, on a shot by Dejan Stankovic that went just over the crossbar. On the goal Ibrahimovic took a nice pass from Esteban Cambiasso which he put into the lower left corner of the net. in the 18th minute Julio Cesar made a nice save on Guigliermo Stendardo's header.

In the 37th minute Ibrahimovic is given a yellow for falling in the area without being touched.

In the second half, Inter closed the game on a goal by Luis Figo in the 71st minute and Another by Dejan Stankovic in the 82nd minute winning by 3-0  this result, combined with Milan's home tie with last-place Reggina 1-1 on a 34th minute goal by Davide Di Gennaro and a 66th Minute Penalty Kick by Kaka basically gives Inter the scudetto for 2008-09,. they now lead Milan by eight points and the only hope Milan has is to win next weeks derby, But they will have to win in front of Nerazzurri fans.

the Milan penalty was a legitimate call which Alexandre Pato caused and Ricky Kaka converted. Tomorrow's TV games are Roma-Genoa on Raitalia and FSC and the night game is Palermo-Napoli on Raitalia and FSC be watching I will.

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