Sunday, May 26, 2013

Arjen Robben won the UEFA Champions League glory for Bayern Munich, done the redemption of last year’s final.





                  Now it’s Arjen Robben in headline once again, scored the dramatic last gasp winner only 90 seconds to remain, crowned Bayern Munich this time in a well contested match where Bayern edge past Borussia Dortmund by 2-1 margin in the final of UEFA Champions League at the Wembley stadium lastnight.
                     Mario Mandzukic put Bayern ahead in the 60th minute of the game, Ilkay Gundogan levelled the issue for Dortmund, Robben scored the decider for Bayern in the 89th minute, done the redemption of last year final’s horrific penalty miss.
                    This is Bayern’s fifth Champions League triumph in their tenth final appearance while its Dortmund’s first Champions League final defeat in their second appearance.
                       Typical Dortmund, they've started with a lot of high pressure. And typical Bayern, they're totally calm about it. Bayern did this when Barcelona tried its own brand of pressing and really offered a clinic in how to counter it: physical, possession soccer with an eye toward the quick counter through the likes of Schweinsteiger through the middle and Robben/Ribery on the flanks.
                      Dortmund dominated the most of the first half stage, they remained superior in ball possession.
                       Reus with a chance! He makes it to the edge of the penalty area and tests Neuer with a shot from 18 yards out. But Neuer punches safely away. No danger from the ensuing corner,  Dortmund looked  likelier to score here.
                     Bayern got their first positive chance in the 31st minute when Robben got a loose ball inside the box, take a
sharp turn & took a shot, found the face of the Dortmund custodian Weidenfeller only.
                    Manuel Neur denied Lewandowski in the 39th minute by doing an excellent exhibition of goal-keeping.
                     First half ended in a goalless stalemate.
                     Though Bayern Bayern had a distinct advantage the second half start hadn't been quite as frantic as the conclusion of the first.
                      In the meantime the Bavarians got their first goal in the 60th minute, that was a fruit of Ribery, Robben combination, played one two between them before releasing the ball to Mario Mandzukic who just slotted the ball inside the empty net put his side 1-0 ahead.
                       Bayern surrendered their lead while Gundogan levelled for the Dortmund from the spot just 8 minutes later following a clumsy foul made by Dante to defend Marco Ruis, Dante raised his foot into the body of the Reus, Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli spotted exactly, blew whistle & pointed towards the spot.
                      Bayern looking for an instant response occupied a corner in the other hand the rejuvenated Dortmund fans thought they had another one coming just now as their side broke forward with incredible speed and seemingly no defenders to stop them. They didn't quite have enough men in support of Reus and so the shot from the edge of the area in the 71st minute wasn't the best chance. It sailed over.
                     Meanwhile Thomas Muller for Bayern almost got rid of Weidenfeller in the 72nd minute, seemed to put his side in
front. But sliding Subotic chased it down and, right before the ball crossed the line, averted the danger.
                    It’s raining attacks on the Dortmund box.
                    Alebao tested the Dortmund keeper from a long ranger in the 75th minute.
                    Schweinsteiger’s powerful long ranger fisted away by Dortmund custodian once again in the 87th minute, danger averted in the exchange of a corner.
                      Ribery trapped a long ranger ball in front of the Dortmund’s six yard box coming from the behind, delivered a pin-point pass to Arjen Robben who brilliantly freed himself before, slot the ball inside the net only 90 seconds to remain in
the schedule time.
                     Robben has not only written his name in fairytale of Bayern Munich as well as he succeeded to wipe out his own misery of  last year final’s penalty miss in extra time due to which Bayern succumbed to Chelsea.
                  I originally thought Bayern was going to overpower Dortmund lastnight, but that really hadn't been the case. Dortmund's been physical enough at the back and has made this into a quick-passing contest rather than the kind of midfield slugging match that Bayern thrives in.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Bayern Munich, going to face Borussia Dortmund in the final of UEFA Champions League tonight, going to be an all German final, first time in the history of Champions league.



           Englishmen are going to eyewitness an all German encounter when two German sides are going to battle out at for the Champions league silverware at Wembley tonight while Bayern Munich is going to take another German side in the final of UEFA Champions League, it is the first time of Champions league history when two German sides clashed off in the final of the tournament.
                  This will be Bayern’s 10th appearance in the European final & third appearance in last four years after the 2-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in Madrid, then the acute disappointment of losing last year’s final against Chelsea by penalty shootout in their own den at Allianz Arena in Munich.
                 Meanwhile Bayern Leverkusen had won the trophy once before in their only appearance in the final on 1997 when the beat the Italian giant Juventus by 3-1 margin.
                  The Bavarians won their domestic Bundesliga title this year by getting past all opponents with a formidable 25 point margin. They claimed few more records as well, including most points(91), most wins(29 out of 34 games), biggest goal difference(80+) alongwith fewest goals conceded(18).
                Eventually this is also going to be the farewell match of current Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes  who would be replaced by ex Barcelona boss Pepp Guardiolla after the German Cup final against VFB Stuggart would be played on 1st June so before ending his stint with Bayern he would like to make his side victorious.
                   The Bavarians known as European powerhouse, will start as a favourite, heavily depend on Mario Manduzkic, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller & Bastin Schweinsteiger.
                     Bayern Munich's only absences are the two long-term injury concerns that they've had for a while. Toni Kroos had some faint hopes of returning for this game, but will not make the squad. He still has faint hopes of cracking the bench for the DFB-Pokal final next week. Holger Badstuber will be sidelined until December with a knee ligament injury.
                      In the other hand Borusiia Dortmund will start here as an underdog despite of hammering heavyweight Bayern by 5-2 margin in last year’s German Cup final.
                     Yet, no-one will discount Dortmund, who emerged from the group of death featuring Real Madrid, Ajax and Manchester City, and play the charismatic football that has become the trademark of their coach Jurgen Klopp.
                   ‘Energy, speed, aggressiveness, hard-but-fair duels, a lot of goal-scoring chances, hitting the posts and bar and a lot of corners, that’s what I call attractive,’ said Klopp.
                     He will heavily bank on their prolific scorer Robert Lewandowski who has singlehandedly hammered Real Madrid by scoring 4 out of 4 goals in the first leg of the semifinal. The Polishman scored total 35 goals for Borussia this season alongwith an incredible record of scoring 12 consecutive Bundesliga games.
                     They will miss the service of gamemaker Mario
Gotze in the midfield due to his thigh muscle injury who is all set to join rival Bayern next month for 37 million Euros, newly recruit Nurin Sahi is likely to take his place.
Probable Line Ups:
Borussia Dortmund: Roman Weidenfeller; Marcel Schmelzer, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Lukasz Piszczek, Kevin Grosskreutz, Sven Bender, Ilkay Gundogan; Marco Reus, Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski
Bayern Munich : Manuel Neuer; David Alaba, Dante, Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm, Javi Martinez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben; Mario Mandzukic.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli(Italy).

Friday, May 24, 2013

East Bengal won their 34th CFL title, hammering Mohun Bagan by 3-2 margin bid a grand a farewell to Morgan.



           
           East Bengal defend their CFL title 3 years in a row, hammering arch-rival Mohun Bagan by 3-2 margin as well as they bid a grand farewell to their affectionate coach Trevor James Morgan who has cut his 3 years stint just after this match. This is East Bengal’s 34th Kolkata league title.
                  Chiddi scored a brace for the Red & Golds in the 23rd & 72nd minute of the game while Penn Orji scored another in the 29th minute. Odafa made it 2-1 for Mohun Bagan by a world class swerving free-kick taken from 22 yards outside the box in the 39th minute of the game & Tolgay scored the rest in the dying moment of the game, made it 3-2 which didn’t have any such impact on the game. The misery of Green & Maroon brigade could have been much more worse if East Bengal could not have been denied by the post twice & if Penn didn’t make the mess from the handshaking distance of the goal as well.
                   Undoubtedly the entire match was dominated by Morgan’s men, they were well committed & determined to bid their respected sir a memorable farewell with this grand derby victory which urge made them deserving from all aspect of the game.
                       In the other hand Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencharifa  made few noteable mistakes during choosing his first eleven, he made a major mistake by putting injured Eche in the central defence whom he had to replace in the 20th minute of the game. Apart from that Karim Bencharifa didn’t have any such strategy to defend this East Bengal side, he started with 3 players in upfront instead of composing the defence & midfield which exactly cut the co-ordination between defence halfline & the forwards.
                       An odd 50,000 vociferous crowd of East Bengal gallery cheered with the name of “Moorgaaan” “Moorgaaan” during the latter stage of second half which made the situation emotional for him, whatever the professional Englishman
deported the ground just after the match. In a press meet later he told that “I will follow East Bengal’s performances just after West Ham” he added the memories of East Bengal he will always keep in his heart.
               This is Morgan’s 8th trophy in his three years tenure, apart from the I-League only he has guided his side towards all major triumphs of the country.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Atletico Madrid won the King’s cup, beating city rival Real Madrid by 2-1 margin.



              The reliable safehands of Atletico custodian Thibault Courtois won the Copa del Ray final for Atletico Madrid coming from the behind, beating city rival Real Madrid by 2-1 margin in an ill-tempered match where we have seen 3 sent off decisions alongwith Real boss Jose Mourinho & key player Cristano Ronaldo as well as 14 yellow cards at Santiago Bernabeu on Friday.
              After a gap of 14 years & 25 matches Atletico Madrid became successful to beat Real Madrid.
               Ronaldo put the Los Blancos ahead in the 13th minute of the game when he headed a ball inside the net following a corner by Luka Modrich but Diego Costa delivered the equalizer for Atletico in the 35th minute, capitalizing on a brilliant ball played in by Radamel Falcao to beat Diego Lopez just inside the right post.
               Five players of both sides were booked by the Spanish referee Carlos Clos Gomez within the half hour mark however the first half ended in 1 all stalemate.
               Real Madrid became the superior side throughout the second half, have created a lots of opportunities but the hands of Thibault Courtois denied them repeatedly.
              Jose Mourinho was sent off in the 76th minute for protesting a decision. Neither side managed to score the decider within scheduled 90 minutes which guided the match into the extended extra time.
               In the 95th minute, Costa would get behind the Real defense but shoot the ball directly at Diego Lopez, squandering a wonderful chance to put Atletico ahead.
               Four minutes later, though, Atletico defender Miranda would head home a cross from Koke, putting Los Rojiblancos ahead 2-1 in extra time.
                In the 109th minute, it looked as if Real would level the match, but Thibaut Courtois made a brilliant save once again on Mesut Ozil's shot attempt from inside the box, denying the home team a sure goal.
                But there were more eventful & ugly sequences
towards the end, as Ronaldo was sent off in the 114th minute for lashing out at Gabi, sparking a bench-clearing clash between
both sets of players and staff, before the latter also saw red for a second yellow card in the dying seconds. Even unsportsmanlike the balls were thrown from the Real bench inside the pitch to interrupt the play in the dying moments.

              With this victory Atletico created an incredible record of winning all 4 encounters in the final against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu.