So, another Europe fortnight over. Next up are semi-finals in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, with two countries dominating the proceedings.
Manchester United’s historical annihilation of AS Roma paired them with Milan, who managed to beat Bayern Munich in Germany, and Chelsea’s Spain victory over Valencia will be rewarded with a semi-final against Liverpool. At least one English team in the finals, then, and my money is on two. In fact, we have been presented with a situation which could quite conceivably see Manchester United and Chelsea battling for the FA-cup and the Champions League as well as the Premiership title. Greek authorities are already in panic about the prospects of an all-English final, especially one between Liverpool and Manchester United which could see crowd trouble erupting as early as the flights from the north-west of England. But despite Liverpool’s form and ability I just do not see Chelsea losing at the moment – and in a different style the same goes for Man U. The only game between them so far this season was a 1-1 draw; what will happen in the subsequent game(s) is anybody’s guess. I’m not even going to venture one. For that reason, and that reason only, I am reluctantly interested; essentially, however, it would be an awful bore to think that this is indeed as good as it gets and these two teams are to dominate everything.
Of course, Blackburn could win the FA-cup and Milan the Champions League. It’s not even strictly speaking a mathematical impossibility that Liverpool could win the Premier League. It’s just highly unlikely on more levels than seem pertinent to dwell on. Needless to say, a Champions League final between Liverpool and Milan, which, unlike Liverpool winning the League, is far from impossible, has been quite entertaining before…
In the UEFA cup, Sevilla knocked out Tottenham, as we all know, and now take on fellow La Liga team Osasuna in the semi, while Espanyol, who beat Benfica, are to play Werder Bremen, the only non-Spanish side left in the competition. Osasuna ended up beating Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 on aggregate, Espanyol overcame Benfica 3-2 and Bremen ended up overwhelming AZ Alkmaar 4-1, after their first meeting had ended in a 0-0 draw. My money, had I been of a betting persuasion, is on a final between Bremen and Sevilla – and do forgive me for preferring Bremen at this stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment