Two weeks ago, 8:45pm, Saturday May 24th looked like centuries away. It was actually a matter of weeks but later, with the ticking of the clock, was re-shaped into a matter of days and finally it’s now a matter of hours away. A day and hour every enthusiastic football fan will be so happy to see. UEFA Champions league is what it is called, and just as the name implies, a group of champions in the excellent and professional part of the world of football will emerge tonight to reign in Europe and the world until they are subdued about this time next year. It has not been easy coming all the way to this prestigious stage of the competition. From a journey of 32 teams which was sized down to 16 teams and later to 8 teams, 4 teams, 2 teams and tonight the last man standing is going to emerge among the last two teams. A snappy glance at the journey so far will remind us of how hard it has been from the beginning of the season. Some were dropped at the group stage, while others made it to the knock out stage but had their dreams terminated by bigger and more experienced legs. Yet others managed to make it to the quarter finals and were ‘day-dreaming’ to win the league in order to gain an automatic qualification ticket for next season UCL since it was already apparent that they were not going to play in the UCL next season due to their inability to make it to the top four in their local or domestic league. Some got to the semi-finals but were outclassed and shown the road to the exit gate by the bigger and better boys right in front of their fans at their home in the bridge in London. Another desperate fans of some small boys in London who surprisingly and suddenly found their voices last week Saturday, after clinching the F.A, were reported to have, since long, confessed that the F.A was were the elastic limit of their worth stretched to. There is therefore, little or no surprise that some of them celebrated that F.A trophy in such a way that you will think they won UCL or world cup. Therefore, having jumped all the hurdles and got to this length deserves a very big thump up. Last season, two clubs from the same local league met in the final and the senior among them won the league. Now this season, not only two teams from the same local league but as close as it appears, they are the first ever meeting between two city rivals in the UCL final. Hence, if history could be favorable, generous and friendly enough to repeat itself and be used as a yard stick and basic parameter for the basis of prediction, then one could easily be tempted, and will be forgiven for saying ‘There is no need to waste the 90 minutes tonight since we have already known who the winners are, judging from the profile of the two Madrid based clubs’. Atletico Madrid have a chance in todays Champions League final not only to claim their debut UCL crown but to also deny their loathed and vastly wealthier neighbors-Real Madrid, a record-extending tenth time winning or ‘la decima’. Atletico have already outperformed this season in securing a remarkable La Liga triumph, shattering the usual domestic dominance of Real and Barcelona and becoming the first team other than the big two to win the Spanish title since Valencia in 2004. They are the deserved current league champions and deserve credit for reaching the Champions League final. But that does not mean they are automatically going to be the champions of Europe tonight. Real Madrid might have won the competition a record amount of nine times but they have not been crowned champions since 2002, something they are desperate to change tonight. Its going to be a very hard-fought final. We should be expecting a very physical match which will be won by whoever commits the fewest mistakes. Real, the worlds richest club by income who have splashed more than €600m on players over the past five years, are appearing in their 13th final, but the first since their last success in 2002. After Reals La Liga campaign faltered in the final weeks of the campaign, failure in Lisbon would be a massive blow to the Galacticos’ prestige and pride. Atletico and Real have met only once before in continental competition, in the European Cup semi-finals in 1958-59. Real beat them and went through to what was their fourth consecutive final after winning a replay in Zaragoza when Ferenc Puskas scored the winner in a 2-1 success. The city neighbours have met four times this season. In La Liga, Atletico won 1-0 at Reals Santiago Bernabeu stadium and they drew 2-2 at the Calderon in the return leg, while in the two-legged Kings Cup semi-finals Atletico were on the receiving end of a 5-0 aggregate drubbing. Those encounters are unlikely to have much impact on the Champions League final tonight, with Atletico, unbeaten in Europe this season and on a high velocity after wrapping up the La Liga title on Saturday and Real under enormous pressure to avoid what would be a humiliating reverse, it is only a matter of ninety minutes before we would know who laughs last and best. The two teams from the Spanish capital have decamped to Lisbon for the UEFA Champions League final. Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorer in this seasons competition with a record 16 goals, believes the expectation weighing on him and his team mates can be used to their advantage and the fact that the current world footballer of the year or Balloon d’Or as it is currently called, will be playing right at home in Portugal will be tantamount to the weight or blow of a sledge hammer for the simeone boys to contend with and on the other side, an added advantage to us-the Galacticos. Atletico, meanwhile, are sweating on the fitness of top scorer Diego Costa, who has eight Champions League goals this season. The Brazil-born forward, a Spain international, has been suffering with a series of muscle problems and limped out of Saturdays title decider at Barcelona along with Turkey playmaker Arda Turan. I am very sure that Diego Simeone has waited to see how Diego Costa and Arda Turan injury situation evolves by the end of the week. Then he will seek alternatives if they do not recover. If Costa and Arda are sidelined, forward Adrian, who scored the opening goal at Chelsea in the semi-final second leg and attacking midfielder Raul Garcia are likely to come in as the best alternative for simeone. Ancelotti also has injury concerns, with forward Karim Benzema and centre back Pepe in a race to get fit. Right now they cannot play but there are few more hours until the kick off and Madrid will make a decision right at the end. Ancelotti, bidding to become only the second man after Liverpools Bob Paisley to win the European title three times as a coach will employ his highest level of technical capability to come out with a squad that will check mate the excesses of the Atletico boys. Thus, in my estimation, Raphael Varane would replace Pepe if necessary. Alvaro Morata could come in as a straight swap for Benzema at the centre forward. Reals chances were dealt a blow in the semi-final against holders, Bayern Munich when midfielder, Xabi Alonso earned a booking that means he is suspended for the final. They are likely to miss the control he gives the team and likely replacement Asier Illarramendi, who has failed to impress us since joining Madrid from Real Sociedad. Atletico have held one celebration at the Neptune fountain in central Madrid this season, partying with their delirious fans after winning La Liga for the first time in 18 years, and will be hoping to return with the European Cup. Should they fall short of that, Real Madrid and their fans will flock to the nearby fountain having finally claimed the elusive tenth time title, after more than a decade of disappointments. Though a ready-to-die-for-Madrid fan, however, looking objectively at the strengths and head to head records of the two teams in which Real and Atletico met in a total of 26 times and Real won 19 times, lost 2 times and drew 5 times while Atletico won 2 times, lost 19 times and drew 5 times. It is therefore, clear that Madrid is a long way far from being a match for the Atletico boys, but since football is a game of chance, we the Madrid fans would not be deceived by that, especially given the fact that records are like a thermometer or pendulum that swing to and fro. We would not also be cajoled and be carried away by the fact that we have lifted that trophy for good solid nine times and were also three times runners-up. Five times consecutively in a row and then the remaining four times at different intervals of the history of the competition. This has, no doubt, made Real the highest winner of the UCL and by extention, the best in the world, since the UCL is second to none in the world of soccer. This record is a time-immemorially and irrefutably established fact and is completely with no regard to the outcome of tonight’s encounter. I am not trying to be proud, belittle or intimidate you here but if you misconstrue me as been or doing just that, please excuse me, this is because pride is natural to an unprecedented and monumental achievement. So excuse me once more please. Finally, as we get our eyes glued to the screen tonight, one thing is certain-a winner must emerge, and whoever wins tonight will be considered the best football club in Europe and by extension, the world. Thank you.
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 10:41:28 +0000
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