It is a discreditable way to win

The neutral s and especially the Real Madrid fans, would feel that Real Madrid were denied of an equal chance and lost to Barcelona in yesterdays Champions League Semi final first leg mainly due to the mistake of the Referee. The one brainless decision to straight away red card Pepe for a non malicious ordinary foul virtually sealed the match and in most probability the Semi final. The same thought was expressed by Jose Mourinho the Real Madrid Coach, who said "Obviously in the return leg it's a very difficult mission, It's not very difficult, it's impossible.”

The people who saw the match yesterday will know that even if Barcelona played the better football they never ever looked threatening as long as it was 11 on 11, and would have struggled to score even a single goal. It was interesting to note that the very famous Barcelona players were great play actors and tried to get extra punishment by holding their faces when they did not even get a touch any where near their face (Pedro and Puyol are best actors whose performance is still very vivid in my memory). So it was hardly surprising when the red card was finally shown, it was like the Barcelona players had just won the Oscars.

I have two questions to ask one is why do we have these referees for such an important game? And secondly, why does this always happen to opponents of Barcelona, especially in key matches?

Sure it can not be coincidence, and like Jose mourinho said this is not the way a great team like Barcelona should make it to the final, if they make the final and win it, it would be a shame. This match was rightly called the ‘Scandal of the Bernabeu’ and brings into memory Barcelona’s infamous win against Chelsea, who were denied multiple penalty claims, before losing in the semi final, which eventually Barcelona won.

It is a pity that such a great team like Barcelona, needs these favourable decisions to win the key matches especially in the Champions League.

The Inter wall tames the Barcelona floods

Last night Inter Milan lost to Barcelona 0-1 in the return leg, but successfully managed to move in to the Champions league final, thanks to their first leg win by 3 goals to one. This was an extraordinary match, not for the beauty of football on display but for the defensive tactics of Inter Milan. I have not seen another match which showcased such a spectacular and spirited defensive display.

Barcelona was the defending champions and currently the best team in the world according to many, having lost to Inter in the first leg, they were expected to be at their attacking best in their home ground. Yesterday’s did nothing to indicate they were the best in the world, with all their attacking might, spearheaded by Messi, they were unable to score more than a solitary goal. That goal too loses significance when you consider that it came very late after Inter having played with just ten men for nearly 60 minutes of the game, and that too which quite clearly was an offside. Inter was unlucky to have Motta dismissed before the 30 minutes mark which hardly looked like a serious foul.

It was wonderful to see spirited defensive display of all the 10 Inter Milan players against formidable opposition and they played like their life depended on it. It was very clear to see the influence of their coach, Jose Mourinho, as not even once in the match you felt that Inter looked like losing, apart for may be the last few minutes after the goal. The confidence of the Inter players was there for all to see.

I agree that their game may not be a treat to the eye, but what is the point of kicking the ball around to entertain the audience with out scoring goals. My question is if Barcelona is the best team in the world currently, what you would call a team which convincingly beat them with a goal aggregate of 3-2 in more than 3 hours of football, having played the last one hour with only 10 men.

I read a few articles in the morning and was really surprised to find them hesitating to applaud the great effort by Inter Milan, which prompted me to write this blog. Some coaches need a great team to win matches and some coaches make any good team perform great to win matches. Jose is one of the rare ones; no wonder than he is called the ‘Special One’.