We All Live in a Leo Messi World

Four teams have booked their spot in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Below I break down of those four, who is the most appealing and least appealing to match up against.

Schalke 04
Assuming that FC Copenhagen does not get past Chelsea, I think Schalke are the side most clubs would hope to draw. They are struggling in the German Bundesliga, and have a manager in Felix Magath that is on the hot seat. While topping their group - that included Lyon - and having a mighty home crowd that would intimidate any visiting club I cannot see how they get past any club likely to progress.

I have always been a fan of Raul and think it is terrific that he has found form in Gelsenkirchen. And Jefferson Farfan is an exciting player. Both would need to have phenomenal performances over two legs and hope to find a goal because their defense is not going to shut out any of the remaining clubs.

Shakhtar Donetsk
There are dozens of world famous, very rich professional athletes hoping their company hands them an all expenses paid trip to the Ukrainian city of Donetsk - the deepest outpost in UEFA - to take on FC Shakhtar Donetsk. So they topped a group that included Arsenal and thrashed AS Roma in the Round of 16. Arsenal treat the Group Stages of the Champions League with the same level of urgency they show the early rounds of the Carling Cup. And Roma are in shambles - which is pretty much par for the course lately at the Italian club.

Shakhtar have a collection of exciting players - Douglas Costa, Luiz Adriano, Eduardo - and are steady at the back. Their only loss in the Group Stages a 5-1 defeat against Arsenal. Managed by Mircea Lucescu they have as quality of a leader as any team left in the competition. He did lead this relative unknown, yet very wealthy club to the then UEFA Cup title in 2009.

And yet, I don't see them worrying the giants of European football that could draw them in the quarters. Make no mistake, this is a club that will regularly be making knock-out stage appearances moving forward. My opinion is that a lack of experience in 2011 will keep them from moving on.

Tottenham Hotspur
I love that this English club knocked out the Italian giants AC Milan. And not just because I think Italian football is boring and a quick way to put me to sleep on a Sunday afternoon. I love that some new English blood is moving on, that their North London rival Arsenal will be watching on TV and because it means seeing Rafael van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and the maturing before our eyes Sandro play deeper into the greatest competition known to man. van der Vaart has been one of the best signings in the Premier League in the past 5 or 6 seasons. He has done wonders for the Spurs' attack and it is a shame he was wasted in Madrid when he could have been knocking them in for a club that knows how to use strikers of immense talent.


No club in Europe will want Spurs right now. The prospect of going to White Hart Lane and hearing how those supporters get behind the players on the pitch is why I love football. The rousing "COME ON YOU SPURS" that rang out all night against Milan had the hairs on my neck standing up. While they've not been anywhere near consistent at the back in domestic play, the club defended like true brave hearts in the home leg to shut out a Milan side that was deploying Ibrahimovic, Pato and Robinho in all out attack for 90+ minutes.

I have zero clue if this run can go on. But Spurs topped a group that included Inter Milan - reigning European champions - and are the prototype of the "can match up with anyone in the world on any given night" side. They may not even qualify for the competition next year so expect Spurs to go all out in the quarters. If they stay fit and get a good draw (meaning not Barcelona) this is a side that I would bet on booking a semi-final spot.

Barcelona

LOL - Best team I've ever seen in my life. Messi is God.

Negative-Land

If you have paid any attention to football over the past 5 years you saw this coming. Barcelona being the most attacking side the last half decade against Chelsea, arguably the most negative footballing club to have climbed the ranks to become a “big club”. You laughed at people predicting a blow-out and you contemplated what it will be like sitting through a choppy 90-minutes of scoreless football.

Chelsea’s two EPL titles trump Barca’s two La Liga titles on the basis that the EPL is the superior and more watched league. That being said, Barca has the European Championship that Chelsea so desperately crave. They have gone about collecting their trophy haul the latter half of the decade in very different ways.

Chelsea has bored their own fans, billionaire owner and neutrals to tears while filling their cabinet with silverware under Jose Mourinho. The only difference between Mourinho’s Chelsea and the Sam Allardyce managed Bolton sides were Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba (sorry Kevin Davies and Kevin Nolan). What I am saying is that Chelsea were and continue to be a highly unattractive side that wins.

When someone tries to tinker with that formula – Scolari – the squad falls down the table and people lose their jobs. Hiddink is very much an older version of Mourinho. I am certain he explained very plainly to Drogba that he will get 2-3 chances at the Nou Camp. That if he is to score it will be due his ability to finish one of those chances or create something out of nothing. Drogba failed to finish his one clear opportunity while Chelsea spent the rest of the 90 minutes ignoring him as they fouled Barca and clogged the mid-field.

VoF NOTE: Drogba is a monster. A physical freak and one of the best 3 strikers on the planet when hitting form and not pouting / injured. It is incredibly disheartening to watch a player of this magnitude wasted in that Chelsea lineup. Especially on a European night in the Nou Camp.

Barca meanwhile has given the world a true treat whenever they take the pitch for the last several years. Frank Rikjaard presented us a Ronaldinho in his prime, a young Leo Messi and the likes of Ludovic Giuli and Henrik Larrson. When Ronaldinho lost form, Larrson went back to Sweden, Guili returned to Paris and the club failed to continue dominance over Real Madrid they looked to Pep Guardiola.

And under the ex-Barca captain we’ve witnessed Messi emerge as the co-greatest player alive we all thought he could become. We’ve witnessed Xavi and Andres Inesta become mid-field sensations while Thierry Henry has shown that he can still call upon that legendary form he so regularly displayed with Arsenal. Tune into Gol TV and on any given weekend you can see Barca knock in 4-6 goals and string together passing sequences that make you scrap your jaw off the floor.

But Barca has not overwhelmed their fans with such a trophy haul that they can be described as the “Best Side La Liga Has Witnessed This Decade”. You cannot overlook Real Madrid’s back-to-back domestic titles Valencia’s streak that landed Rafa Benitez a gig at Anfield and Sevilla’s 2 UEFA Cups. Barca have attacked, attacked and attacked but Liverpool and Chelsea have also eliminated them in the Champions League in recent years.

So for all they hype, is being the best in La Liga really only roughly a UEFA Cup qualifying spot in the EPL table? Does negative football trump an actual attempt to construct The Beautiful Game over a 90-minute period?

The first leg of this year’s Champions League semi-final would indicate so. And when these two sides turn up for the second leg at Stamford Bridge Guus Hiddink will gladly take a 0-0 scoreline into a penalty shoot out.

Weekend Football Preview

Couple of things that I feel the need to point out: First, the Carling Cup is a more important trophy than the UEFA Cup. This only supports my post from yesterday that the UEFA Cup is a meaningless competition that would take years of white-boarding from the footballing world's finest think takes to reimagine in a meaningful way. Don't agree? Take a look at the lineup Harry Redknapp put out yesterday and tell me he was not terrified of suffering an injury going into Sunday's final against Man United.

I fully expect Man United to thump Spurs on Sunday. Sir Alex Ferguson is seeing his career coming to an end in the next 3-4 seasons. If he wins the league this year and the following year and collects another Champions League trophy during that time - all highly reasonable predictions - he could leave even sooner. So, he wants to collect as many trophies in the coming years and will put out a side well capable of beating a Spurs side that should at this point be more focused on remaining in the Premier League rather than winning the Carling Cup.

Second, Rick Parry is resigning his post at Liverpool Football Club. This is either because the club approached Parry and stated that they will fire him if it means keeping Rafa Benitez so he could save face and resign before it comes to that.

Or Parry actually loves the club so much that he was willing to give up this fight, reflect on his career and accept he has been an abject failure. Either way, I see this as the groundwork - in combination with the win at Madrid - to giving Benitez the control he wants over transfers and the youth system and a contract to keep him at the club for the next 10 seasons. To give Benitez that type of control is a bit dangerous. I don't think he has been correct on enough of his transfers to deserve that much control. But his record in Europe is undeniable. His trophy haul with Liverpool and Valencia this decade is top class.

To be fair, were Liverpool to award him the deal he wants, it could be said it is as forward looking and progressive a contract as President Barack Obama's recently announced budget. Not even joking.

Now, to the weekend's football which is not offering up mouth watering fixtures in England. On Saturday I could see myself tuning into the early match of Everton vs. West Brom. But more than likely I'll choose to only watch the second half. I'll of course tune into relegation battling Middlesbrough taking on Liverpool. Liverpool will know that over the next few days they will gain two games on Man United and can close the gap to a single point. The league leaders will have two games in hand, true, but psychologically they will know they must win those games.

I think the best match in England this weekend is Hull City against Blackburn. I don't believe Blackburn will go down. Not with Sam Allardyce in charge. And I don't believe Hull are as good as their early season form indicated. All three promoted sides will be relegated. I firmly believe that.

And interesting match in Germany this weekend: Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen. Both sides had great victories in Europe this week (Bayern Munich scoring 5 away goals against Sporting Lisbon & Bremen knocking out AC Milan in the UEFA Cup).

I don't think Bayern Munich can win the Bundesliga. A league that is the most exciting in Europe this season. When sixth place Wolfsburg are only seven points behind leader Hamburg you know we're set for an exciting finish.

I also find it amazing that the loan of Landon Donovan could lead to the end of Jurgen Klinsmann as manager at Bayern. Donovan hasn't a great deal of minutes but he's gotten enough where it should be proof enough that he just isn't a good enough player for Europe. He's the best player in CONCACAF region. Which means he is maybe good enough to get a game with a mid-table Dutch club or a club in Serie B.

Sunday features Inter Milan vs. Roma in Serie A. I think Roma believe they can get something out of this match. Both clubs had terrible mid-week Champions League performances. The difference being Roma get to play host to Arsenal in the return leg and Inter know they must score at Old Trafford. I don't think either will go through. But what I am saying is that Roma will feel better about the mid-week result and know they need these points more than Inter.

Finally, it will be extremely interesting to watch Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona on Sunday. The reason being Barca have slipped - just slightly - in the league and did not boss Lyon the way many expected in the Champions League. Atletico meanwhile played well enough for a draw against Porto. Lots of pressure on Barca to right the ship this week. Atletico have zero defense. This could get ugly if Barca are in the mood.