A night to remember..

Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1
It's the final scoreline on Emirates Stadium, February 16th 2011, when Arsenal meets Barcelona. Arsenal overcame a 0-1 deficit, to win 2-1. Barcelona themself didn't play poorly, they even played well, but Arsenal's outstanding play made them lost.

First half was Barcelona's, they controlled the game well, even Arsenal was dominant in the first 10 minutes. Barca kept the possesion well, distributed, and could score a goal, from David Villa, by Lionel Messi's assist. They almost scored the second, but Szczesny keep the scoreline 0-1.

Second half, and Arsenal played differently. They dominated the game, being sharper than the first 45 minutes. Wenger played Arshavin to replace Alex Song, which is a gamble. They played without any defensive midfield, but they needed to change situation, as they were behind. It was a very risky decision. Barca could've scored another goal, if they had succesfully exploited Arsenal's offensive formation.
After few chances, their work finally paid off, although more than 30 minutes is needed, when Gael Clichy chipped the ball through Barca's defence, and Van Persie smashed the ball into the net, when Victor Valdes slightly out of his position. 1-1. And sice that goal, momentum winds blows for Arsenal. 5 minutes later, Arsenal fast counter attack from Samir Nasri brilliantly finished by supersub Andrey Arshavin.

Barca was awaken from their sleep, and they tried to equalize, but 7 minutes plus 2 minutes of injury time was not enough to score a goal. So the final score, Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1

Arsenal showed that they CAN beat Barca without playing naive, defensive. They still play with their original style, and more importantly still winning. It is a match to remember, as both teams showed passing ability, techniques, and also beautiful football. And it's a night to remember for the Gooners, as they beat what everyone considers as the best football club in this universe! Next leg will be held on Camp Nou, and Arsenal holding a one goal lead, but there's still 90 minutes to play. Everything still could hapeen, so Arsenal shouldn't been complacent by this aggregate.

Just hope for another great game in the second leg..!

Unexpected

Football is full of surprise. And that's what just happened in Champions League.

In the beginning of the season, I'm sure few people predicted both Bayern and Inter to go to the Champions League final. Without disrespecting Bayern and Inter, I have to said they were struggling, even from the group stage. Even when the Quarter Final drawing has been made, many people and pundits said, the 2008/2009 final would be repeated once more: Barca vs Man. Utd in final.

Bayern almost eliminated in the Group A, but they showed great mentality, and beat Juventus 4-1 in away games on the last matchday, forcing Juventus to only get the ticket to the Europa League. On the Last-16, they need away goals rule and also an offside-goal to overcome Fiorentina. Robben's great goal seals the ticket despite losing 2-3 on Artemio Franchi. Because Bayern won 2-1 on Allianz Arena, and away goals rule made them go through.

On the quarterfinal, they faced on-form Manchester United. With Wayne Rooney was in an excellent form, Man. Utd was heavily favoured. But, Bayern, once again, succeeded to get to next round, with the same score, losing 2-3 on away games, after winning 2-1 on home. Again, it was Arjen Robben who scored another amazing goal to make Bayern reach the last Four

On semifinal, it wasn't really hard for Bayern to overcome Lyon. Lyon is a great team, but they mentally lose agains Bayern. Bayern reach the final again from the first time since 2001, with 4-0 aggregate. But this time, the hero isn't Arjen Robben, but hattrick-scorer Ivica Olic.

Inter doesn't have too different way, despite having a very good squad, they were put on the same group as Barcelona. And they sealed the last 16 ticket on the last matchday, defeating Rubin Kazan 2-0.

On the last 16, Inter faced Chelsea. Having an inconsistency in Serie A, Inter was slight underdog on that match. However, Jose Mourinho's genius tactical skill made Chelsea unable to win the game, even losing both home and away, 1-2 and 0-1.

Quarterfinal wasn't really hard for Inter. Being drawed against CSKA Moscow, Inter, once again winning the match home and away with the same score, 1-0.

The real test for Inter was the semifinal. Facing defending Champions Barcelona, they again become slight underdog. Inter and Barca had already met on the group stage and Inter never won on two occasion, only gets scoreless draw on home and losing 0-2 on away. But, Inter showed what 'catenaccio' is. Barca couldn't do much, and only get two goals from two match, losing 1-3 on Guiseppe Meazza, winning 1-0 in Camp Nou. And the defending Champions is dethroned.

I didn't say this is a bad Champions League Final. Champions League Final would be interseting, regradless of the playing team in the final.

Inter is a very strong team, they actually have great offensive power. Sneidjer, Stankovic, Eto'o, Milito, Pandev, Balotelli isn't just an ordinary player. The defense is even stronger, with Lucio and Walter Samuel in the heart of the defense, they hardly penetrable. Don't forget "The Special One", Jose Mourinho, as the manager . He is a genius in football.

Bayern is also a good team. Louis Van Gaal has united them into a good team. Without relying on one player. Second-leg semifinal showed they aren't depended on Ribery. Olic could be the trump card for the Bavarian.

Now, just hope Inter don't play defensively, and we could see a great entertainment on the Final of the Champions League. Just wait a month..

No english team in Champions League semifinal, english football declining moment??

The quarterfinal of Champions league is over, and everyone knows the result. Barcelona overcame arsenal 6-3 in two-legged entertaining matches. Lyon go to the semifinal, despite losing 1-0 to Bordeaux, and thanks to Hugo Lloris' saves, with 3-2 aggregate. Inter comfortably beat CSKA 2-0, with 1-0 win both home and away. and the last, Bayern Muenchen need away goals rule again - they need away goals rule to send Fiorentina out of the competition - go to next round, while having 4-4 aggregate, 2-1 in home, and losing 2-3 away.

For the first time since Champions League 2003-2004, English teams didn't feature in Champions League semifinal.

English clubs representative in the last seven season in Champions League semifinal
2003/2004: Chelsea
2004/2005: Liverpool, Chelsea
2005/2006: Arsenal
2006/2007: Chelsea, Man. Utd, Liverpool
2007/2008: Chelsea, Man. Utd, Liverpool
2008/2009: Arsenal, Chelsea, Man. Utd
2009/2010: -
It was even three seasons of semifinal domination in three season before this, although english teams only win the champions league on 2007/2008.

What actually happens to English teams today? Are they now isn't as strong as before?
There are two possible answer: money and unluckiness.

First probability, MONEY
Well, Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger said that tax is the main problem in england. What is the corelation between tax and football. Well, football players are paid by the club. And football players are obligated to pay the tax. As the tax is very high in England, they should pay more for the tax, and that means they get fewer money. For example, one player is paid 5 million euros a year, they might pay more than 2 million euros only for tax. In Spain, football players get a fairly low tax rate, about 15%.. And with the same example, 5-million-pounds-wages player only pay only about 750.000 euros. Money maybe the reason why some superstars chose to leave England, as we seen last summer, the departure of Xabi Alonso, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Arbeloa. Cristiano Ronaldo said that his reason moving to Real Madrid is for a new challenge, but we don't know if he has money as his reason too.

Still about money, English clubs also has a very big debt, more than 3,5 billion pounds. Having a bid debt, they are forced to sell players with high prices, and buy cheaper players. Man.United had sold Cristiano Ronaldo with more than 80 million pounds but only buy Antonio Valencia, Mame Briam Diouf, and Michael Owen. While Liverpool sell Xabi Alonso to get injury-prone Alberto Aquilani, plus selling Alvaro Arbeloa. While Arsenal sold Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, and buy Thomas Vermaelen. Chelsea had different story, since Roman Abramovic funds them, and buying Yuri Zhirkov.

Well, maybe English club need to make some great transfer to strengthen their squad. A star player, not only a youngster. Some english club has already linked with star player. Chelsea is after Wolfsburg striker, Edin Dzeko, and also Bayern winger, Franck Ribery. Man. Utd also linked with Franck Ribery, and also Real Madrid's striker, Karim Benzema. Arsenal is said to have signed Marouane Chamakh in free transfer. Wenger has expressed desire to buy some star players.

Second probability, Unluckiness
Or maybe, the second theory, they're just unlucky. Expect Liverpool, they get strong teams in the last 16 and quarterfinal. Chelsea had to face Jose Mourinho's Internazionale, while they dominating both first and second leg, but however they failed to go through. They also should've got penalty, but the referee didnt' gave it. Man.Utd were also unlucky when Rooney injured in the first leg, and he didn't play well in the second leg. And Arsenal is the most unluckiest team in the drawing this season. They have to face defending champions "Los Fantasticos" Barcelona. First Leg, Arsenal fought bravely and got 2-2 draw result in Emirates. But on the second leg they are beaten by Lionel Messi's magic, and lost 1-4 in Camp Nou.

Whatever the true reason is, it's a slap to England's team to prepare themselves for next season.

2-2 draw against Barcelona shows Arsenal isn't a Pushover.

Arsenal return from 0-2 behind to 2-2 draw isn't best result Arsenal can get, but however it shows Barca couldn't easily beat Arsenal. Even though Barca is playing in Emirates, Barca had more possesion and more chances. The first half ended with 0-0 result, as Almunia made some good saves. Arsenal suffers more in the first half as Arshavin had to be substituted by Emmanuel Eboue and William Gallas had to be taken off for Denilson.

Great game showed by both team, playing attacking football. Arsenal shows no fear facing Barcelona with attacking football. Rarely a team brave enough to face barca with open play, and ususally Barca's oppostion opts to play defensively and search a counter attack goal.

However, Arsenal didn't do a good defending, and conceded two preventable goal. It was still the first minutes of second half when Ibrahimovic scored a goal, and looks like Alexandr Song, who pushed back to center back position, was out of position, and allowed Ibrahimovic to score. And it's also a miscomunication between Song, Vermaelen, and also Clichy who made Ibrahimovic escaped from an offside trap.

After Arsenal introduced Theo Walcott, everything changed, Arsenal got more chances, and also left flank from Barca is always bombarded. It's just few minutes after Walcott came in, Arsenal finally managed to score a goal. It's the substitute Walcott who score a goal, after getting through pass from Nicklas Bendtner. In the remaining 20 minutes, Arsenal looks likely to equalize, but it didn't happen until Fabregas' penalty. It was Puyol who obstructing Fabregas. Puyol was given a red card because he is the last man, and Arsenal got penalty. Fabregas did his job scoring the penalty. Arsenal back leveled. And the score remained till the end of first half.

2-2 actually gives advantage to Barcelona, who gets two away goals, but Arsenal is a team who can score in both home and away goal. But, seeing the Barca's domination, Arsenal would have a very hard game in Camp Nou 2nd leg, and Arsenal would miss Captain Cesc Fabregas after picking up yellow card. However, Barca is also missing Captain Carles Puyol and his center back tandem, Gerard Pique.

If Arsenal could play like second half last 20 minutes, Arsenal could beat any teams in the world!

UEFA Champions League Draw

UCL has already reached Quarter Final, 8 teams has already qualified and the drawing has already out, and here's the drawing
Lyon v Bordeaux
Bayern Munich v Manchester United
Arsenal v Barcelona
Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow


PREDICTION
Lyon - Bordeaux 50-50
This France derby would be an even game, both teams showing their condusivity as a team. Lyon shows everyone that they're capable beating any team, after sending Madrid out of the competition, but Bordeaux is still unbeatable in the UCL. Maybe Lyon or Bordeaux need an extra time and maybe penalty shootout to go to semifinal.

Bayern Munich - Man. Utd 45-55
Man. Utd is favourite side in this match. With on-fire striker Wayne Rooney, Man. Utd is hard to defeat now, while Bayern has Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben as their ace cards. Bayern would give a hard game for Man. Utd, but they aren't likely to qualify. Man. Utd will go through

Arsenal - Barcelona 45 - 55
Arsenal will need more than a good performance to go to next round as defending-champions Barcelona will be their next opponent. This encounter is replay of UCL Final 2005/2006, when Barca win 2-1.
There would be tough battle in the midfield: Keita/Toure - Xavi - Iniesta vs Song - Cesc - Diaby. Barca has a truf card in Lionel Messi, and Arsenal has Andrey Arshavin. and Barcelona is more likely to go the next round but if Arsenal could play clinically like when beating Porto 5-0, maybe the defending Champions will get out from the competition.

Inter - CSKA 55 - 45
Inter is better in players' quality but CSKA isn't easy to face. CSKA has already kicked Sevilla out of competition, with winning 2-1 in Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Inter wouldn't worry if they could repeat their performance in Stamford Bridge. But Inter have tendency to play worser against underdog teams. Inter would expect much from Dutch trequartista, Wesley Sneidjer, while CSKA has Keisuke Honda, who scores the winning goal against Sevilla. Inter should've been to next round if they didn't disrespect CSKA.

UCL Prediction

There are 4 match of UEFA Champions League 2nd leg match that is held on 9th and 10th March 2010:
1. Arsenal - Porto (1st Leg 1-2)
Arsenal will have to face Porto without Cesc Fabregas. The Arsenal captain got hamstring injury against Burnley. Still, without Fabregas, Arsenal is favourite in this match. In the last match, Samir Nasri proved himself that he could be playmaker too. It's likely for Wenger to put Samir Nasri in line up. Arsenal is also missing William Gallas, and Sol Campbell would be put as Gallas' replacement. Porto isn't a n easy opponent for Wenger's boys but Arsenal will win this game without clean sheet 3-1 for Arsenal

2. Fiorentina - Bayern (1st Leg 1-2)
Fiorentina hasn't been in a good form, and they are only on 11th position, while Bayern hasn't been lost for 19 match and comfortably placed in 1st position in Bundesliga, but Bayern will miss Martin Demichelis because of injury. Fiorentina wants to revenge to Bayern after lost 1-2 in first leg. The referee controversially decided to allow Miroslav Klose's injury time goal to stand although it's clearly an offside goal. Fiorentina will dominate the game, but Bayern would be able to held Fiorentina. 2-2 draw

3. Man. Utd - Milan (1st Leg 3-2)
Man. Utd has a good modal facing the second leg with 3-2 lead. While 0-0 is enough for Man. Utd to go through next round, Milan need at least 2-0 or 4-3 victory to go through next round, so there wouldn't be any other choice than attacking from the first minute. Ronaldinho and Pato would be a very dangerous threat for MU. As the consequences of Milan's attacking strategy, there would be much room for MU to counter attack, especially from Antonio Valencia, or Nani. This match won't ended with a goaless score, but no one would win this match. 2-2

4. Madrid - Lyon (1st Leg 0-1)
Neo Galacticos Madrid would have to win with two goals in this match if they wanna go through next round. Lyon has proven theirself they aren't pushover, but this match is played in Bernabeu, where Madrid only lost once in this venue. With CR9, Kaka, and Higuain, Madrid wouldn't have any problem scoring a goal. Madrid only have problem on the backline. They still rarely got clean sheet result, and their full backs are too often supporting the attack, leaving a hole on the backline. Lyon would be quite defensive and only launch counter attack, but it would be dangerous if the fullbacks are too offensive. If Madrid shows strong mentality again like against Sevilla, Madrid would win this game. 4-1 for Madrid