At about 10:35 pm on
Wednesday the 13th day of
April , 2016 the die was cast on the losers and winners of the contest. The
four semi finalists left in the competition emerged in very contrasting
circumstances. While the Blaugrana
that was brimming with smiles at the sound of the final whistle just over a
week earlier thanks to a Luis Suarez double which saw off a spirited fight back
from Fernando Torres’ early strike to win at the magnificent Camp Nou. The win
was significant in many ways for Barca having lost a athrilling El classico to bitter rivals, Real
Madrid.
The win over Atleti
was therefore a much needed one to banish thoughts of the appalling
capitulation of the defending champions to a 10 man Real Madrid team that was
seemingly playing for pride.
If Barca thought they
were going to re-enact the win over Atletico at the Camp Nou a week ago, they
were in for a rude shock. They went behind within the half hour mark through an
Antoine Griezmann strike. They had every right to optimism having fallen behind
in similar fashion one week earlier. The fans of the Rojis bloncos were in full voice at the sight of Antoine Griezman
wheeling away in celebration of his first goal. It was clear upon the restart
that something wasn’t quite clicking in the Barca set up. The fluid passing and
diagonal movement of the triumvirate of Messi, Neymar , Suarez was non-existent.
The trio was anonymous for spells in that game. The rambunctious, almost
arrogant and insatiable passing fluidity that characterize the Barca attacking
set up was in complete tatters. The likes of the energetic Koke and Gabi made
sure the likes of Iniesta and Rakitic were quiet and that was how the MSN got
starved of supply from the middle. At the Barca defensive third, Pique was
struggling with the pace of Griezman. You just wonder what might have been for
Barca if Torres had not got himself sent off in a silly manner in the first
leg. They were abject in defence, languid in midfield and atrocious in attack.
The Barca attacking threats were almost non-existent until sometime in the 70th
minute when they started getting in the groove and showed some urgency at which
point Atletico changed their tactics and resorted to counter attacks knowing
full well that no one wins a game of possession in football against Barca.
Barca’s surge forward proved costly in the long run as the clock wore on. With
a little less than five minutes left to play, a quick fire counter attack
initiated from the left channel by Atletico quickly resulted in a scramble in
the Barca goal area which saw a most unlikely culprit in Andres Iniesta intentionally handle the ball in the box.
A
literal interpretation of the rule would mean both a penalty and a sending off
for obstructing an obvious goal--scoring opportunity. The referee however, used
his discretion to award a penalty and no more. Griezman and co didn’t care. The
French man stepped up and tucked the penalty away to bag his second of the
night to send the Madrid crown into frenzy. It was the perfect moment to exact
a long overdue revenge. Atletico showed guts and Spartan discipline. Diego
Pablo Simeone is en route to taking his team to another UEFA champions league
final. His boisterous and restless patrol down the touch line shouting himself
hoarse in a bid to communicate his tactical instructions to his wards. They
showed big cojournes. Having lost
three times already to their bitter rivals, the win was an exhilarating way to
get one over the champions. They are just three points adrift of the leaders
now and who knows? Barca’s implosion might just continue and hand them the
title they won two seasons ago on a platter.
For Barca, three back
to back defeats for the first time in a long while is hardly the form of
champions. The frustration was palpable on the facial expressions of both the
players, fans and coaches. The over dependence on the MSN is about to back
fire. Messi looks tired and out of sorts, Neymar looked lack luster while
Suarez was listless in a very underwhelming contest and cemented it with a clash
with Fellow Uruguyan, Diego Godin. The defensive job done on the trio by Atletico
players was a master stroke coupled with the nullification of the creative
threats of Andres Iniesta who was only conspicuous twice in that game when he
handled the ball and when he went to remonstrate to the referee for a denied
penalty decision. Atletico has been pitched against Bayern in the Semi Finals
and the stats suggest that this would be another tasty encounter. Should they
re-enact their spirited display against Bayern, the Bavarians’ quest to add
another European championship to their rich closet of silverware could be
destroyed in a similarly rambunctious fashion.
Real
Madrid v Wolfsburg
The contest in Germany
over a week ago at the Volkswagen Arena where they surprisingly capitulated to
their hosts had left tongues-wagging. Not only did they leave Germany with
their tails behind their back, they were deservedly trounced by their
unheralded opponents. Karim Benzema was fluffing his lines, Ronaldo was sulking
all through after his initial effort was chalked off for offside, Pepe and Ramos
were a disaster in the defence and on not less than two occasions, gifted
Worlfsburg an opportunity to increase their tally. Speculations about Zidane’s
future had gone into over drive with many believing he would be fired at the
end of the season if Real are knocked out of the UCL in the last eight.All that
was forgotten however at the return leg
when it all but took Ronaldo twenty two minutes to cancel the advantage
and capped it up with a stunning free-kick for the 3rd & winning
goal.
The Les Merengues were back in
business and all of a sudden, the capital club has discovered a silver lining
in their underwhelming season. The surprising ouster of both PSG and Barca has
given a shot of Adrenalin to the team with a genuine belief of finishing the
season on a high. With just four points adrift of Barca in the league and
Bayern facing a daunting task against Atletico, the dream of a domestic and
continental double is heating up. Should Barca’s stuttering domestic form
continue and Bayern get dumped out of the UCL , Zinedine Zidane’s men would
surely fancy their chances.
PSG
V CITY
This match was the
trickiest tie of the round with PSG tipped as overwhelming favourites. An
embarrassing penalty miss by none other than Zlatan and tons of other missed
opportunities ensured City left Parc De
Princes in the driving seat. Winning the Ligue 1 more with more than ten
games to spare was the perfect dress rehearsal for a team no longer bugged by
domestic commitments. Having dumped out Chelsea in the penultimate round, PSG
were angling for another English scalp to take and they got City. City are
however, not so successful on the domestic front. Having relinquished the
league title fight to Leicester and Spurs, they have found themselves enmeshed
in a top four dog fight with mancunian rivals, United and West ham.
It was therefore right
to give the tie to the French champions. With a shaky defensive pair of
Otamendi and Mangala, Zlatan and Co must have fancied their chances. It was however, the bookies’ favourites that
bit the dust with imperious individual displays from the likes of Kevin De
Bruyne. It was City who got their first Semi Final berth in the UCL at the
expense of their opponents who are still in search of theirs. Much as anyone
may think that this was a one-off, PSG’s defeat highlights the quality of the
Ligue 1.
The emergence of the
four semi finalists and their pairings indirectly beams the search light on
their respective leagues with the La liga leading the way. The Man City v Real
Madrid game is a 50-50 game given their very similar domestic circumstances.
Atletico would still have to handle the domestic distraction of the la liga
with Barca losing ground. Unlike Bayern who have all but wrapped up the
domestic title. All four coaches have a point to prove. For Pep, persistent
questions over his managerial pedigree given his un-equalled success at Barca
with established stars remain. Having inherited a treble winning squad from
ex-Bayern Boss, Jupp Heynckes and failed in his first two seasons to win even a
domestic double has done very little to his impressive CV. Back to back semi
finals qualification in the UCL has been seen as an under-achievement for the
highly demanding Bavarian crowd.
Having agreed a summer
switch to City, Pep would see this as his last chance at managerial redemption and
would want to bow out on a high. For Diego Simeone, handling an average but
extremely spirited side challenging on all fronts would attract the admiration
of many. Losing the champions league final in 2014 to Cross city rivals, Real
would always evoke feelings of un-completed business. He would jump at the
chance to correct the implosion that made his team concede four goals in the
dying minutes of the encounter after leading for a long time in the game. He
would certainly fancy his team’s chances if he does beat Pep’s Bayern having
beaten Real twice already this season.
For Manuel Pellegrini, the announcement
of Pep as his successor in the City dug-out back in January some how unsettled
his team but having won the Capital One Cup already and overseen a Semi final
qualification for city for the first time in their history, Pellegrini should
feel encouraged and see the Semis as an audition for his next job. Hushed
rumours have mentioned the likes of Milan, Valencia, Real Madrid & even PSG
as possible destinations. Just like Pep, he would want to leave the stage with
his head held high. Adding the holy grail of the champion’s league to his
collection of domestic trophies for City would mark a stupendous achievement
for him. Pellegrini has won everything in England and adding the UCL to it
would leave his employers scratching their head thinking of what might have
been.
For Zizou, the turn-around against VFL Wolfsburg would mark a veritable watershed
in his managerial career. With no previous managerial experience other than the
Madrid Castella, the die is cast for
a frenetic managerial audition for the insatiable Fiorentino Perez. If Zizou
wins the UCL at first time of asking, he would be in the driving seat for a
permanent coaching role at the Bernabeu.
All in all, the two sets of games in the semis present an enthralling set of
match ups.
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