Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery is going to miss the Champions League final. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected his appeal against a 2-match ban following a red card in the Lyon semi-final.
UEFA had already dismissed an appeal, but CAS has ruled out any possibility of a Saturday showing against Inter.
Bayern had appealed to UEFA with the hope that UEFA would cut the ban to just the one game, which would have allowed Ribery to play in the final as he had already missed the second leg of the semi-final against Lyon.
Once again bureaucracy wins the day and sensibility loses out
Inter Milan today tied up the Scudetto for the 5th successive year in a row by defeating Siena 1 nil. Jose Mourinhos men finished the season 2 points above 2nd placed Roma who also won today with a 2 nil victory away to Chievo.
The Milan side now head to Madrid and the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in chase of the Champions league winners title as they face off against German champions Bayern Munich.
Bayern themselves clinched the Bundesliga with a final day 3-1 away win to Hertha on the 8th May and yesterday completed a domestic double by hammering the cup holders Werder Bremen 4-0 in the German cup final.
Uncharacteristically, the champions league final is being held on a Saturday evening but this enables both sides a full week to prepare for what looks like being a fantastic prospect for watching football supporters all over Europe and the World.
The 8 day festival of football has already started in Madrid which started with the delivery of the Champions league trophy on Friday. The festival includes all manner of activities from exhibition matches which involves top former international talent from all over Europe to audio visionary spectacles from Champions league sponsers. It truly encompasses all age groups and encourages people to interact withy the Champions league experience.
It promises to be a magnificent spectacle and with players such as Arjen Robben, Franck Ribéry, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Claudio Pizarro, Mark van Bommel for Bayern & Lucio Marco Materazzi, Eto’o, Diego Milito & Wesley Sneijder for Inter, it really is lining up as a night of fireworks and superb footballing skills. Plenty of goals would be great as well.
Final – 22/05/2010 – 20:45CET ( 20:45 ) – Santiago Bernabéu – Madrid
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It was a hard-fought Champions League semi-final. Barcelona had opportunities to win, but couldn’t penetrate Mourinho’s defensive line for a second goal. We didn’t really see anything special from Barça until Pique scored brilliantly in the final 10 minutes of play. From there, you felt as if Xavi, Pique and Bojan would combine for something miraculous. It didn’t happen.
And now, Inter head to their first European final since 1972. They have a shot at winning their first European trophy since 1965.
Is Super Mario being neglected at Inter or has he brought the negativity upon himself? As you can imagine, it’s a combination of both. The real question is, would the 19 year old be better off elsewhere? He claims allegiance to A.C. Milan (funny, but not a terrible idea) and clubs all over the world would sign him in a heartbeat.
Messi became the first player in UEFA history to score 4 times in a single game as Barça knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League.
Arsenal actually played well, considering they had to play without Arshavin, Fabregas, Song, van Persie, and Gallas. A void was painfully evident as soon as Messi began scoring goals. That said, it was a deserved win for the Blaugrana, who have officially redefined the concept of ‘play beautiful’ in the new millenium.
The Arsenal rumor mill was operating at full capacity today.
First off, Jay-Z may buy a stake in the Gunners. Whether a move like this would benefit Jay (or the sport itself ) in any way is a complete mystery, but it’s worth a shot.
And then we had Andrey Arshavin going public about the squad’s lack of star power. In an interview with The Sun, Arshavin said -
“Without the variety of players we have less diversity in attack. That allows our opponents to read our combinations more easily. Finally, it results in less ball possession for us and our defense comes under more pressure.”
Arshavin is one of the most effective attacking midfielders on earth. Like Fabregas, he is the Arsenal philosophy personified. Will management hear his plea? Will fresh money from Jay-Z be the answer to Wenger’s talent problem? Lastly, IS there a shortage of talent at Arsenal?
Now it get’s interesting. Here are the Quarter-final matchups:
- Arsenal vs Barcelona – These teams met in the UCL final back in 2006. It’ll be the first time that Frabregas, a former Barça youth star, will make a visiting appearance at the Nou Camp. This is the battle that I’ve been waiting for; two very self-aware squads with brilliant leadership. It’ll be like a game of chess.
- Manchester United vs Bayern Munich. This should go United’s way, but it’s impossible to tell. Both are in tip-top form.
- Inter Milan vs CSKA Moskva. Smart money is on Inter.
- Lyon vs Bordeaux. A tough call. Lyon are in 5th behind 1st place Bordeaux in the Ligue 1, but they only trail by 2 points. Bordeaux may have a slight edge, but either side could make it to the final.
Disappointment. Disappointment not only for Chelsea’s players, not only for Chelsea’s fans, but also, disappointment for me. The best Champions League matchup in the current round ended up being one huge disappointment. Unless, of course, you are an Inter Milan fan.
The Italian leaders did what Italians do best; defend and counter. And they did it magnificently. As difficult as it is for me to give credit to him, I shall give credit where it is due. Mourinho did a wonderful job in preparing his titans for this titanic clash. Some questionable first half refereeing decisions proved to be the only truly serious chances from the home side who were simply unable to crack the rock hard defense of Inter.
Samuel Eto’o finished clinically with what should have been at least his second goal of the night but Inter’s true heart and soul came from probably the only single Inter player who I respect: Wesley Sneijder. He was simply everywhere. Defending, attacking, passing, dribbling, but most importantly directing. Everything went through him and nearly every touch he took went the right way. The Dutch international who started his career at Ajax before having a short and unsuccessful run at Real Madrid, once again proved what an asset he is to Jose’s otherwise bleak side. Yes, I’ll say it again, bleak.
For me this is disappointing because I feel like the best side lost. Argue what you will, Chelsea in my opinion are the third best team in the world, trailing only Manchester United and Pep’s Barça, but from now on in the Champions, I guess I’ll just have to do without them.
Arsenal pulled off one of the most decisive Champions League wins in history against Porto on Tuesday. Bendnter bagged his first hat trick, Eboue scored off of a beautiful Arshavin assist, and Nasri scored THE goal of his career.
Will the Gunner’s be able to out-finess more physical teams like Chelsea and Inter?
We expected Manchester United to win today, but 4-0 was an upset by anyone’s standards. Rooney, Fletcher, and Park made the score sheet, thanks to brilliant supporting play from every square inch of the field.
Rooney (now with 30 goals in all competition this season) was being compared to United great Dennis Law today. The truth is that he was simply being his own legendary self.
photo credit: AFP
