Barcelona’s hopes of winning back-to-back European trophies were crushed by Jose Mourinho and his Inter Milan side last night, and in doing so they have set up a final which few would have predicted at the start of the tournament. It is testament to the coaching abilities of Mourinho and Bayern Munich manager Louis Van Gaal that their sides will be facing off for Europe’s most coveted trophy in what should be an intriguing final.

It seemed to be widely accepted that Pep Guardiola’s Barca side would steamroller their way to a second successive title, and even beyond them there appeared to be more likely candidates to lift the trophy once the draw was made: Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea all supposedly had strong prospects.

However, suggestions of superiority in the Premier League and La Liga have been made to look daft by the astute tactics of Mourinho and Van Gaal, helped out most notably by a couple of players who were deemed surplus to requirements during last summer’s Bernabeu revolution: Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder.

And ironically, this is where they will meet on the final on May 22nd. Inter are being installed as the early favourites for the title, and rightfully so given their current form and the manner in which they have reached the final. However, like Mourinho, Van Gaal has won this competition before and knows what it takes to go all the way. And as the old adage goes: never write off the Germans.

Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan overcame the Champions League favourites last night, coming from behind to beat Barcelona 3-1.

They’ll take the two-goal advantage into the second leg at the Nou Camp knowing that scoring once would leave Lionel Messi’s side needing to score four times to guarantee progression.

Mourinho was seen by television cameras punching his own hand to illustrate the instructions he was giving to his players. Inter’s tactics of disrupting Barca’s flow, crowding them in midfield and giving them no time on the ball clearly worked, and he wasn’t shy of claiming the plaudits.

Mourinho said at the end, “It gives me great pride to say that we could go to Madrid to play the final or we will come home from Barcelona with our heads held high.”

“We’ve beaten the best team in the world and now Inter are a great Champions League team. If we don’t win it this year, we’ll win it next year or in two years time. We’ll be in semi-finals and finals – we’ve changed.”

Well done Jose, you really are special.

As we reach the climax to the 2009/2010 football season across Europe, it’s fascinating to see that a whole host of clubs are in contention for honours across the continent. In Europe’s top leagues in England, Spain, Germany and Italy, nothing is certain, especially at the top, where fans are primed to witness a set of thrilling finales to whet the appetite for this summer’s World Cup.

In England, there might not be something wholly original about witnessing Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal battling for the title. Owing to the inconsistency of the top-four, however, all three are still in with a realistic chance of winning the league.

Chelsea are front-runners, having now gone four points clear of Manchester United in second who themselves are two points ahead of Arsenal. United’s recent 2-0 defeat to the Blues and their subsequent 0-0 draw away against Blackburn Rovers seems to have put paid to their chances of winning an historic four titles in a row. Under the tutelage of Sir. Alex Ferguson though, it would be unwise to completely write off the Red Devils.

Should United pull off a remarkable end of season turnaround, they will secure their nineteenth English league title, eclipsing Liverpool’s eighteen and securing them bragging rights over their bitter rivals.

Manchester United manager Ferguson had already cranked up the pressure on Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelloti by stating before Tuesday night’s game, “To my eyes they have an easy game against Bolton on Tuesday. We would expect them to win that and it will put them four points clear.” Ferguson’s mind games obviously did not deter a professional Chelsea side who ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a Nicolas Anelka winner.

With Arsenal on the periphery, lagging six points behind the league leaders, it might be fair to deduce that their inexperienced squad will have to endure another trophy less season. United meanwhile, face a difficult trip to Eastlands on Saturday in the Manchester derby. Their opponents, Manchester City are four points clear of Tottenham Hotspur as they occupy the fourth Champions League place, challenging the traditional ‘Big Four’ in their bid to usurp troubled Liverpool.

Chelsea still have some tricky encounters to negotiate as they bid to secure the Double having advanced to the FA Cup Final with a win over Aston Villa last weekend. They have a London derby against Tottenham, challenging for fourth place and looking to get over their FA Cup semi-final heartbreak against Portsmouth. Also, the Blues have a difficult trip to Anfield to play Liverpool in arguably their biggest remaining test of their title credentials.

Barcelona’s 2-0 win at the Bernabeu in the latest ‘El Clasico’ match-up between themselves and Real Madrid put the Catalans three points clear of Real as they look to win successive titles under manager Pep Guardiola.

With seven games left, Barcelona have been hit by a leg injury to influential midfielder Andreas Iniesta which looks likely to keep him out for up to four weeks and the majority of the end of season run-in. Such is the form of the Catalans at the moment, even the absence of a player of Iniesta’s quality might have little detrimental effect.

On paper, Barcelona’s most challenging remaining fixture is the penultimate game of the season that sees them travel to fourth-placed Sevilla. In reality, the leaders are twenty-nine points above the Rojiblancos and such is the confidence flowing through the side, they’ll probably remain undaunted.

Real, on the other hand, look like an expensively assembled team struggling to match expectations. They still have to face third-placed Valencia and a Mallorca side who have had an impressive campaign as they fight for a European place. Manager Manuel Pellegrini, will be charged with removing himself, plus his team, from the slump that befell all of them as they were outclassed last weekend by their arch-enemies.

Champions League semi-finalists Bayern Munich may have recently beaten second-placed Schalke 2-1 away and drawn with third-placed Bayer Leverkusen, however they still only lead Germany’s Bundesliga by two points.
The Bavarian giants are on course for a monumental treble, with the league, cup and Champions League crown in their sights. The last time this feat looked achievable, Bayern only managed to secure the league title in the 1998/99 season. Famously, they lost out on all three with defeat to Werder Bremen in the DFB Pokal final and to Manchester United in an infamous Champions League final.

The remaining fixtures of the title challengers involve an interesting assortment of town-hopping as all three will face relegation threatened Hertha Berlin and both Bayern and Leverkusen will meet Borussia Monchengladbach, Hanover and Hertha in intermittent weeks.

Bayern star Arjen Robben has a warning to his team-mates and fans though, especially after his side could have already had the league wrapped up by now. Bayern have only won once in four league games, having thrown away another 1-0 lead, this time against challengers Leverkusen.

Robben fumed: “We are making the same mistakes again and again. We have seen it many times that were led 1-0 and then lost control of the match. That is not acceptable.”

In Italy, Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan were on course to win their fifth Scudetto in a row. Last weekend, however, top spot was snatched from them by a rampaging Roma side that beat struggling 2-1 Atalanta whilst Inter could only draw 2-2 with Fiorentina.

Roma now enjoy a one point lead over Inter who look increasingly weighed down by the expectation of their Champions League campaign, where they will meet Barcelona in the semi-finals. They enjoyed a nine-point lead at the top in February which has since dissipated.

Montenegro forward Mirko Vucinic and inspirational figurehead Francesco Totti have scored the goals that have largely contributed to the Romans’ late bid for success. Having had a mixed start to season, former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri has overseen a reversal in fortunes.

With five games remaining, it looks to be a straight challenge between the top-two after AC Milan dropped more points in their recent 2-2 draw with Catania. Despite fighting back from 2-0 down, Marco Borirello’s brace still means the Rossoneri are four points away from top and are now probably classed as outsiders.

Roma still have a tense Rome derby against Lazio to overcome with five games left of the season. It’s the first time they’ve enjoyed the summit of Serie A since 2007 and it’ll be interesting to see if they can last the pace. Inter may have too much experience, despite pressure on them to succeed in the Champions League to restore Italian pride in the competition and win their first European Cup in it’s modern guise.

It’s not just the predominant leagues in Europe where thrilling fights for the title are taking place. In France, Lyon’s dominance was broken by Bordeaux last year and an enthralling race is still very much far from complete. Marseille currently lead the way by two points from Auxerre however Lyon, Montpellier and Bordeaux still harbour title ambitions.

Plus, let’s not forget Steve McClaren’s FC Twente who have a good chance of winning the Dutch Eredivisie. They lead the way, four points ahead of Ajax although the Amsterdam side do have a game in hand and Twente have recently slipped up, losing 1-0 to AZ Alkmaar.

Whatever the respective outcomes this season, fans across Europe should be able to look forward to engrossing title battles that will last until the dying embers of the campaign. What’s more, they’ll get to witness their favourite stars strutting their stuff on the international stage at the World Cup. Roll on summer…

By William Geldart

Forget the new money of Manchester City or Chelsea. Never mind wealthy investors who inject millions in a bid to see their club become upwardly mobile. Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League tie between Bayern Munich and Manchester United was a reminder of ‘Old Europe’, a battle between two of football’s greatest empires. In Spain there is Real Madrid, a team that has an estimated 13.2m fans in Spain alone, a bastion of governmental centralism. Ruling over its own semi-autonomous territory is Barcelona, a powerful symbol and expression of Catalonia’s independence. Over in Italy, the ‘Old Lady of Turin’, Juventus, enjoy the support of 32% of football fans. In all of these cases, their popularity has been bolstered by success on many levels.

Similarly, Bayern and United occupy the throne in their respective countries. Their success hasn’t just been on the pitch. Commercially, these two behemoths were tapping into markets in the Far East and enjoying nationwide, rather than just provincial support, long before some of their competitors. Even Liverpool, one of England’s most successful clubs, both domestically and on the European stage, are playing catch-up with respect to their global operation.

Bayern’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United in their quarter-final first leg, was the archetypal empirical duel. The play flowed beautifully, with the advantage swinging in either direction. Darren Fletcher crossed swords with Mark van Bommel whilst Patrice Evra and Franck Ribéry made marauding runs into enemy territory. Wayne Rooney looked to have outdone his striking counterpart, Ivica Oli?, until the final moments of the game

Rooney had capitalised on defender Martin Demichellis’ slip to give United the upper hand in only the second minute. Much was made of Franck Ribéry’s rising star before kick-off and the restless Frenchman toiled with United all evening only to see his craft fail to find an end product. This was until thirteen minutes from time when Bayern conjured a deserved equaliser. Ribéry’s deflected free-kick wrong footed Edwin van der Sar and a great weight around the Allianz Arena was lifted. An absorbing encounter was settled in stoppage time by Croatian Ivica Oli?, whose shot arrowed past the United ‘keeper as the Germans drew first blood.

Bayern, four times winners of the competition, and United, three times victors themselves, will play the decisive second leg on the 7^th April at Old Trafford.  The predominant noise of Bayern’s vociferous ‘Südkurve’ will be replaced by the Mancunian twang of the Stretford End as these two tribes fight for supremacy. Both sets of fans are well-versed in what it takes to become a European champion. There is no manufactured faux rivalry between them. United have now only beaten Bayern once in eight attempts. Despite this, their sole triumph has a psychological gravitas as it came in the epic final of 1999.

In a week’s time, United look likely to be without the force of Wayne Rooney, who left the stadium on crutches following an injury to his right ankle. Bayern on the other hand, may be boosted by the return of flying Dutchman, Arjen Robben. Whoever is available, the second-leg will be another unmissable encounter. The magisterial ceremony perpetuated by the UEFA Champions League doesn’t need to engineer any sense of importance to the loyal subjects of these two empires of Old Europe.

William Geldart

OK, so AC Milan aren’t the side they have been in recent times and the likes of Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Seedorf and Beckham could be considered senior statesmen of the game. However, Manchester United still needed to get a result against them at Old Trafford this evening, and they ended up demolishing them. Is this a sign of things to come?

Things could have been somewhat different had Milan taken some of their earlier chances (step forward Ronaldinho and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar). However, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men punished the Azzurri’s profligacy in front of goal and went on to fill their boots, ruining David Beckham’s return to his old stomping in the process (although he still seemed to have a nice time).

Only half of the Champions League draw has been decided, but Ferguson must be starting to believe his side can avenge last season’s final defeat. Real Madrid are out, and of those who have gone through, Olympique Lyonnais remain pretenders in spite of their heroics at the Bernabeu, Bayern Munich scraped past Fiorentina, and United have already soundly beaten Arsenal twice this season.

The second half of the draw should hold no fear for United either. Unlike Barcelona last season, there is no stand out side. The Catalan side have hit a worrying dip in form at the crucial stage of the season, neither Chelsea nor Internazionale look set to dominate their tie, whilst it would be considered a major upset if Ferguson’s men lost to any of the other remaining teams in later rounds.

The main factor holding United back is likely to be their exertions in attempting to retain their Premier League crown. It should be a tight run in, and Ferguson can afford to take nothing for granted on the home front, as Saturday’s very narrow win over Wolverhampton Wanderers demonstrated. With that said, it doesn’t appear to have had too detrimental an effect so far.

Quite simply, in his current form Wayne Rooney is unplayable and he is being backed up by a cast of talented and well-disciplined individuals. It is at this time of the season that the best players step up and be counted, and United have them in abundance. They have been here many times before and know what is required.

Like United, Arsenal and Chelsea both also have a chance of winning the Premier League and Champions League titles before the domestic season is out. However, if you had to put your money on one of them doing it, it would surely be Ferguson’s side. Milan might have been a walkover, but don’t let that fool you: United are hitting top gear when it matters.

Arsenal head into this evening’s Champions League tie with Porto seeking to overturn a 2-1 deficit without talismanic captain Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard has been pivotal to everything good Arsene Wenger’s side has done this season and his presence will be sorely missed. Can Arsenal retain a cutting edge without him?

Wenger appears confident that his side can progress, and will have been buoyed by the goalscoring return of Andrei Arshavin on Saturday in the 3-1 victory over Burnely. However, Nicklas Bendtner’s failure to find the net will have been of some concern and Wenger knows his team can not afford to be goal shy, leaving him with some difficult selection decisions.

Wenger has talked up the possibility of Samir Nasri moving in from the flanks to partner Alex Song in a more central role. However, one goal from 17 appearances this season is hardly the kind of attacking form that will give the Arsenal faithful confidence. Yet with Abou Diaby only just returning from injury and Eduardo horribly short of form, much will be expected from the Frenchman.

Can Wenger also place some of his faith in Theo Walcott? Following a disappointing display for the national side, Walcott responded in the best way possible against Burnley. The impetus is now on the 21 year-old to continue demonstrating he is worthy of a place in Wenger’s starting XI and Fabio Capello’s England squad, something a strong European display would go a long way to prove.

At the other end of the pitch, Arsenal fans can draw confidence from the fact that Manuel Almunia will start in goal following Lukasz Fabianski’s error strewn performance in the first leg. Furthermore, Wenger’s men handed Porto a 4-0 drubbing in their last meeting at the Emirates Stadium back in September 2008.

Arsenal still have a realistic chance of a Premier League and Champions League double, and it would be a surprise to see their exit at the last sixteen stage. However, those players with attacking responsibilities will have to raise their game in the absence of Fabregas to ensure the North London side don’t trip up in a tie in which they are probably still favourites.

Arsene Wenger may have chosen to hold the referee culpable, but for anybody else watching Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Porto last night, it was pretty obvious that there was only one man Wenger’s finger of blame needed to be directed at: Lukasz Fabianski. The Polish goalkeeper had a night to forget and may find his Arsenal career curtailed very shortly. 

However, Fabianski is only part of the problem. Much like Manchester United struggled to fill the goalkeeping void after the departure of Peter Schmeichel, Arsenal have found it difficult to find a consistent No.1 following the retirement of David Seaman. The situation at United has stabilised since the arrival of Edwin Van Der Sar, but the same can not be said of Arsenal’s predicament.

In spite of being part of ‘The Invincibles’ side that won the Premier League undefeated in his first season, Jens Lehmann was never really convincing as the long term replacement for Seaman. The German’s form went from the sublime (breaking the clean sheet record for Arsenal in the Champions League in the 2005-2006 season) to the ridiculous (being sent off in the 18th minute of that season’s Champions League final).

His departure in 2008 paved the way for Manuel Almunia to claim the No. 1 jersey as his own. However, despite some patches of good form, the Spaniard has also proved to be disconcertingly inconsistent, losing his starting place for periods to Fabianski and Vito Mannone. The consensus seems to be that none of them are the answer.

However, it is fair to say that Almunia and Mannone have more of a future at the club than Fabianski. His blunders last night, added to those in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, would appear to suggest that he is not cut out for the big games (or not yet at least). Wenger is a tolerant manager, but Fabianski may have stretched his patience too far on this occasion.

What has become clear is the need for Wenger to spend some money this summer on an established goalkeeper to plug the gaping hole in his defence. His current options are workarounds which have come at little financial cost to him. However, if he is serious about Arsenal competing for the big prizes, this is an issue he needs to address quickly.

After what seems like an eternity, Champions League football returns this evening as the last-sixteen knock out phase begins. And if you’ve been missing the competition, the good news is that it will be on your screen for the next four weeks thanks to the restructured fixture format which sees four games each week.

This week sees the first leg of the ties played between AC Milan and Manchester United, Lyon and Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Fiorentina, and Porto and Arsenal. Some interesting match ups, but the attention in the English media this week has been focused almost exclusively on one man: David Beckham.

In case you’ve missed it, Beckham will line up (or more likely be on the substitutes bench) against his former club when Manchester United travel to the San Siro for their match against AC Milan. Despite four seasons at Real Madrid, it his through his loan club that he has the chance to take on his former team mates from a club he admits to having regrets at leaving.

His career since exiting Old Trafford has taken him to Milan via Madrid and Los Angeles, moves which probably have not transpired exactly as he would have liked. A La Liga title and the unprecedented growth of the Beckham brand is hardly a disaster though, and the former England captain can expect a warm welcome from the United faithful.

The game at the San Siro looks to be this week’s pick of the games, with United probably going into it slight favourites, although weakened through the absence of Anderson and, more importantly, Nemanja Vidic. Whilst their record against AC Milan in the Champions League is poor, Ferguson knows that this is not the same Milan side his team lost to in the 2007 semi-finals.

Having lost Kaka to Real Madrid in the summer, as well as manager Carlo Ancelotti to Chelsea, the Rossoneri have had to regroup under the guidance of Leonardo. After an indifferent start to the season, they began breathing down the neck of leaders Internazionale, but have since dropped away after losing 2-0 to Jose Mourinho’s men.

They are not short of attacking options however, and Beckham will be fighting with Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato (if fit), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Marco Borriello, for a starting place as one of three at the top of Milan’s 4-3-3 formation. The indications are he will have to make do with a place on the bench, although his impact as a substitute has been clearly highlighted during his recent England career.

So some exciting, and evenly matched, ties to look forward to as a month of Champions League football kicks off. How do you predict this week’s games finishing? Can you see one of the eight teams in action this week lifting the trophy come May? As ever, let us know your thoughts.

Richard Bourne

It is being reported today that the Premier League are giving serious consideration to the idea of a play-off for the Champions League spot traditionally awarded to the team finishing in fourth place. Is this a well founded idea or simply another revenue generating opportunity?

The prospect of a team finishing in 5th, 6th or 7th place qualifying for Europe’s premier competition will probably be welcomed by those that are continually knocking on the door of the league’s top four. Aston Villa, Manchester City, Tottenham and, to a lesser extent this season, Everton, could not be blamed for supporting this venture.

As most teams who have been involved in the Football League play-offs in recent times can testify, the system is a lottery which does not always result in the form team for the season triumphing. The chance to catch the fourth placed team on a bad day and beat them to a lucrative place in the Champions League is not one that most sides are likely to pass up.

It’s therefore hardly surprising then that Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have been less responsive to the suggestion (although Liverpool may become more supportive should their challenge for fourth spot fade away this season). And that is fair enough. On a virtually annual basis they cement their position as the country’s leading quartet and deserve the chance to be the country’s representatives in Europe.

Would it really be good enough for the Premier League to send its seventh best team to represent England against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan et al? Under the proposition, last season Fulham would have been in with a shout of making it to the tournament, as would Blackburn Rovers the season before.

There is also the prospect that the play-off system would make sides less ambitious in striving to break into the top four. If you are comfortably sitting in fifth or sixth position at the tail end of the season, what incentive is there to push on for fourth spot? Surely the more logical thing to do would be to take your foot off the gas and rest up players for the play-offs.

Whilst you are unlikely to hear many of the teams in contention complaining, it would also add to an already overcrowded fixture list. Players face the prospect of little rest time, especially when considering there is the need to qualify for the Champions League group stages at the start of the following season.

All things considered, the idea of a play-off system throws up some exciting possibilities, not least for those clubs regularly in the mix at the top half of the table. However, it throws up logistical problems and credibility issues which need to be carefully thought through before any commitments are made. Whilst the chance of added revenue for clubs is not to be sniffed at, it should not come at any cost.

We don’t usually chance our arm with predictions here at The Football Blog but, in search of something to write about other than beach balls, we thought we would give it a go this week with the Champions League in action. There are plenty of interesting games, not least for the English clubs contending with a number of injury problems. So here goes …

Group A
Bordeaux 2-2 Bayern Munich
Juventus 3-1 Maccabi Haifa

Group B
Wolfsburg 2-0Besiktas
CSKA Moscow 1-2 Man Utd

Group C
FC Zurich 1-1 Marseille
Real Madrid 3-2 AC Milan

Group D
Chelsea 2-1 Atletico Madrid
FC Porto 1-0 Apoel Nicosia

Group E
Debrecen 0-2 Fiorentina
Liverpool 1-1 Lyon

Group F
Barcelona 4-0 Rubin Kazan
Inter Milan 3-1 Dynamo Kiev

Group G
Rangers 1-0 Unirea Urziceni
VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Sevilla

Group H
AZ 1-3 Arsenal
Olympiakos 2-1 Standard Liege

What do you think? Does this look at all reasonable or are we miles off the mark? Worth an accumulator or is it a good job we haven’t shown ourselves up with our predictions before? As ever, let us know your thoughts.