PFA Awards Night

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United deservedly scooped his second successive PFA Player of the Year award. Fransesc Fabregas of Arsenal was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Ronaldo is 23 while Fabregas is just 20…. there is still a lot of magic to be seen from this duo!

The team of the year was announced as well and there are not many surprises.

GK : David James (Portsmouth)
DF : Barcary Sagna (Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand (ManU), Nemanja Vidic (ManU), Gael Clichy (Arsenal)
MF : Cristiano Ronaldo (ManU), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
FW : Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

If this team were to ever step on the field together, God only save the opposition from humiliation!
The only note of surprise is the lack of any Chelsea player in the line-up but this could be due to injuries to their key players for certain long spells that kept them on the sidelines.

To read more about the Team of the Year, you can go to the following story by SkySports

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_3469616,00.html

The Challengers 2 – 1 The Champions

How close can championship races get? Year 1989, Arsenal scored the all-important second goal in the dying minutes to beat Liverpool 2-0 and snatch the title from Liverpool on 'goals scored'. Year 1999, Manchester United won the title from Arsenal by just a point by defeating Spurs 2-1 on the last day. Nine years later, and we could be witnessing another title race that will go down to the wire. It could have been less complex though had ManU managed to hang on at 1-1 against Chelsea in their weekend clash. But it was a controversial penalty awarded to Chelsea that was coolly slotted home by Ballack for his second of the game that ties the top two English clubs at 81 points apiece though keeps the Red Devils on top only because of their mammoth goal difference. Even though Ferguson is worried about the penalty decisions going against him, one wonders about the kind of team he had set up for the last two matches. The team at Nou Camp seemed willing to take a draw even before kickoff and the mentality of the team at Stamford Bridge was not much different. Ferguson will have to bring the hunger and desire back in his team which has been such an important catalyst for their success so far this season. Will he regret his team selections in these all-important matches? The answer isn’t faraway….

In another top of the table clash, it was Celtic who emulated Chelsea in Scotland by defeating Rangers 3-2 and put a 5 point lead at the top though Rangers have 3 games in hand. But with Rangers still battling for glory in three competitions, Celtic will be hoping for more slipups from their arch rivals who have obtained just 1 point from their last 3 games compared to Celtic’s 9 points. Will the dream of a quadruple end in shambles for Rangers? The answer isn’t faraway….

Inter Milan continue their impressive form at the top with a 2-1 win against Cagliari, their fourth successive victory, but cannot claim the title yet as Roma grabbed their 3 points with a 4-1 victory over Torino. Interestingly, Inter have the opportunity to clinch the title in style if they could carve out a victory in their next game against….AC Milan in the Milan derby! The bottom of the table has got tighter as Parma have now been pushed into the last 3. The bottom 7 clubs are separated by only 5 points with 3 games remaining. Woah, that’s close! Will Inter be crowned champions next week or will Milan play party-poopers? The answer isn’t faraway….

The tale in Spain was no different this weekend. Real Madrid are surging towards the finish line and there is no one to challenge them at the season’s end. While it was a 3-0 victory for the Champions with goals from Saviola, Robben and Higuain, and a 1-0 victory for Villareal to procrastinate Madrid’s celebrations, it was yet more misery endured by the Barcelona supporters. A 2-0 defeat inflicted by Deportivo leaves the Catalan giants with just 1 win out of their last 9 league games (L L D W L D D D L). Madrid would be crowned champions if they were to win at Osasuna next week and this would result in Barcelona having to give the guard of honor to the Champions when Madrid host Barca on the 7th. Nothing more humiliating for a Barcelona supporter! Things have turned towards the brighter side for Valencia who sacked Ronald Koeman after a string of poor results. A 3-0 win on the weekend under temporary coach Salvador Gonazlez puts them 4 points over the drop zone and lets the Valencia supporters breathe freely for the moment at least. Will Madrid clinch their 31st title at Osasuna next week? The answer isn’t faraway….

And finally, mid-week holds in store crucial semi-final matches in the Champions League and UEFA Cup. Which teams will take a step further towards the coveted European trophies? The answer isn’t faraway….

Too many draws in Europe

The focus shifted to the European arena during the week as the first leg of the semifinal clashes of both the European competitions were played out. Eight teams fought to cement their place in the finals and move a step closer to claiming the European titles. But after the first round the spectators are still clueless as all the four matches ending in draws.
In the Champions League the key moments to note are an own goal and a missed penalty. Liverpool playing hosts to Chelsea took the lead just before half time with Dirk Kuyt’s scrappy effort. And it seemed that with Liverpool’s rigid defence that would be the only goal of the game. It wasn’t! Liverpool who had knocked out Arsenal with 2 late goals, conceded one to Chelsea in the cruellest of fashions. With 94 minutes on the clock and the referee about to end the four minutes injury time play any minute, Kalou whipped in a low cross in the Liverpool box that Riise tried to clear with his head only to see it sneak past Reina for an own goal and a narrow advantage for Chelsea to carry home. Not surprisingly Benitez was left red-faced and questioning the four minutes added on by the referee.

While it was late drama at Anfield, the Nou Camp saw a sensational opening couple of minutes. Manchester United won a penalty early on and up stepped Ronaldo to add yet another feather to his overflowing cap. But shockingly Ronaldo saw his penalty hit the post and harmlessly roll out. Not many would have bet on such a thing happening! The game after that was not much different from a tactical chess match. With Barcelona enjoying as much as 70% possession, ManU’s tactics were clear that they were happy to just shut out Barca and try to snatch one on the break. That didn’t happen though, and the night ended goalless.

The UEFA Cup also had its moment of drama in the match between Bayern Munich and Zenit St. Petersburg. The absence of Luca Toni for the home team did not seem to affect their treble aspirations as they took the lead with Ribery’s penalty in the 19th minute. But the game turned in the Russians’ favour when Lucio ended up following Riise’s example and headed in his own net. The match ended 1-1 giving the Russians a slight edge. In the second semi-final, Rangers and Fiorentina were unable to break each other down ending the game goalless. Rangers, aspiring to lift four trophies at the end of the season, will now have to manage to find the back of the net in Italy next week.

PSV Eindhoven, the Champions of Netherlands!

Champions: PSV Eindhoven
2nd Place: Ajax
Relegated: Excelsior
Top Goal Scorers : Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax, 33 goals in 33 matches); Blaise N'Kufo (FC Twente, 21 goals in 30 matches)
Best Offensive Team: Ajax (94 goals in 34 matches)
Best Defensive Team: PSV Eindhoven (24 goals in 34 matches)

Blackburn do Chelsea a favor

It is never over until it is over! A line that has epitomized great sporting moments throughout history. And it will be restated many times over by the Chelsea fans this week before the big match-up at Stamford Bridge. The forthcoming ‘Clash of the Titans’ could have been more in favor of the Blues had Blackburn managed to hang onto their unexpected lead against Manchester United on the weekend. But Carlos Tevez salvaged a point with a late header that keeps them 3 points above Chelsea and more importantly would keep them on top even if they were to lose in London thanks to their massive goal difference. A mouth-watering clash surely awaits football fans next weekend!
The derby at Villa Park was a no-contest, on the other hand, as Aston Villa edged out their local rivals Birmingham City 5-1 to make a push for a fifth place finish but left Birmingham helplessly gasping for air as Bolton’s 1-0 victory puts Birmingham into the relegation zone with only three games remaining.

The 5-1 scoreline told of another tale in Spain as Bilbao thrashed Valencia at the Estadio San Mames leaving the 2004 UEFA Cup winners just 2 points above the relegation zone. Valencia who had finished fourth last season, are currently fifth from the bottom and it seems Ronald Koeman could be facing the axe soon despite winning the first trophy for the club in four years in the Coppa del Ray competition. For a club that boasts of players such as Villa, Morientes, Baraja, Joaquin, relegation could lead to a massive exodus from the club. Valencia are not the only star-studded club facing problems though. Barcelona, despite the return of Messi drew their third game in a row and are now pinning all their hopes on the Champions League semi-final clash against Manchester United. The Spanish title run is almost over with Real Madrid grabbing 3 points away at Racing Sanatander and 6 points from the remaining five games would see them comfortably lift their 31st Spanish title.

The 1-1 draw against relegation-battlers Livorno sees Roma not only lose steam in their bid to overthrow Inter Milan from the top but also lose their inspirational skipper Totti for the rest of the season and also the beginning of the next. Totti has ruptured his cruciate knee ligament that puts him out of action for four months. A big blow! Inter’s 1-0 victory puts them 6 points above Roma and in pole position to retain their title.

In Netherlands, the championship is definitely over and PSV Eindhoven have clinched their fourth consecutive title. Requiring only a point on the final day, PSV went a step further to win 1-0 against Vitesse with a goal from substitute Danko Lazovich. Ajax did their best winning 5-1 against Heracles but in the end it was not good enough. The final goal for Ajax was scored by defender Johnny Heitinger who will be departing to Atletico Madrid next season in a 10 million euros transfer. Ajax-veteran Edgar Davids announced that he is “98 percent certain” of retiring at the end of this season.
It required a dramatic 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory for Rangers to knock out St. Johnstone and reach the Scottish Cup finals thus keeping a dramatic quadruple still in sight. Having already won the CIS Insurance Cup, Rangers are favorites to win the Scottish championship and also face Fiorentina in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

And finally in a bizarre game in the Serie A, relegation-threatened Parma not only lost 2-1 to Napoli but also lost 3 of their players to red cards! And guess what… Napoli had a player sent off as well that resulted in the game ending with 18 players only!! The heat is on in Italy as the bottom four teams are within just a point of each other. On the positive side, Del Piero and Kaka each scored a hat-trick for their respective sides giving their fans something to oooh and aaah about…..

PSV celebrations kept on hold!

As the football seasons across Europe are reaching a climatic finale, the football schedules continue to cram up leaving little breathing space. And one slip up here or there could mean the end of an entire year’s efforts. That wasn’t the case with Ajax when they took on FC Groningen on Wednesday in their rescheduled match knowing fully well that any other result apart from a win would mean handing the title to league leaders PSV Eindhoven. A goal in each half eased them to a 2-1 victory that keeps celebrations at PSV on hold. The final set of matches will be placed on Sunday when PSV travel away to Vitesse needing just a draw to clinch their fourth consecutive title. Ajax will have to rely on their players to grind another victory and pray to the Gods that PSV fail in their venture, in which case Ajax could out jump PSV based on goal difference. Remember last year when Ajax lost the title to PSV by a goal difference of one!! A thrilling Sunday awaits….

A last-gasp 93rd minute winner by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink sees Celtic defeat big-time rivals 2-1 and curtail Rangers’ lead at the top to just a point, though they have two games in hand over Celtic. Rangers are still the favorites to grab the title back from Celtic but a match-up between these two giants of Scottish football on 27th could spice up proceedings.
3-1 was the scoreline at Munich as Bayern Munich comfortably continue their journey towards the German title. And guess who added another two goals to his tally…..that’s right, Luca Toni, once again! The Italian cannot stop scoring at the moment but not many are complaining. Another inspirational Italian keeps Roma’s dreams alive of lifting two trophies at the end of the campaign. Captain Francesco Totti fired in a 30-yard winner to edge out Catania in the first-leg of the semi-finals of Coppa Italia. Inter, on the other hand, where held to a disappointing goalless draw at home against Lazio.

Moving off the pitch… Marco Van Basten has offered Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp a role as trainee coach at Ajax. Van Basten, currently manager of Holland, will be in-charge of Ajax post-Euro 2008. Bergkamp had started his career from Ajax at a time when Van Basten was a legend at the Amsterdam Arena. Soon Dennis Bergkamp etched his name in the hearts of the Ajax supporters by scoring a century of goals during his time in Holland. If Bergkamp were to accept this role, we could soon be having a brilliant manager in the making! Will keep you all updated on this one….

A late addition but an important one... Valencia beat Getafe 3-1 in the finals of the Coppa del Ray to salvage some pride from a miserable season and also guarantee European football for the next season.

Red Devils Rejoice!!

2-1! The final score at Old Trafford! A result that leaves one team galloping towards the Premiership title but halts the dreams and ambitions of another. Arsenal managed to squander their lead for the 4th time in their last 6 matches ending yet another title charge. Two set-piece goals from the talismanic Ronaldo and Hargreaves edged out the opener from Adebayor exposing the fragilities in Arsenal’s defence. 8 points from the last 8 Premiership matches (D D D D L W D L) does not present a pretty picture for the Gunners and looks even woeful when compared to Manchester United’s 22 points in the same number of matches (W W W W W W D W) and Chelsea’s 20 points (W W W D W W W D). Even the most optimistic Arsenal supporter will now be looking forward to the next season for this 3-year trophy-less run to end.
The Premiership marathon is left with only two runners now. And Sir Alex Ferguson believes that wins in their next two matches will be enough to bring the Premiership title to Old Trafford for the 10th time. Avram Grant in his first season in the post-Mourinho era remains optimistic and stated after the 1-1 draw against Wigan that “We are still in it and we will keep on fighting.” The 26th of this month (Chelsea v/s ManU) might be the Judgment Day in this engrossing saga!

In Spain, Real Madrid continue to extend their lead at the top. A goal from Sneijder was enough for them to see off Murcia. Barcelona faltered yet again in a season that looked so bright at the beginning with the signing of Thierry Henry but has delivered nothing so far. A goal in the first minute by Eto’o was not enough as they were held to a 2-2 draw against Recreativo leaving them 9 points behind Madrid. With only one win in their last seven league matches the much awaited clash with Madrid on 7th May could be just a formality. Reports flying around on possible departures of Ronaldinho and Henry also do not help Barcelona in their preparation for the semi-final clash with Manchester United next week.

Italian Serie A sees the top contenders continuing the title chase with sound victories. Internazionale maintain their 4-point lead over Roma with a 2-0 victory over Fiorentina while Roma came from a goal down to beat Udinese 3-1. In Germany, Bayern Munich smashed five goals past Dortmund to add to a wonderful week which has already seen their entry to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup thanks to a dramatic comeback against Getafe. Luca Toni continues his impressive display adding another brace taking his tally to 28 goals from 34 appearances for the German club.
Elsewhere, Lyon were held to a draw and saw their lead cut to four points in their hunt for a 7th consecutive Ligue One title. PSV Eindhoven may be holding the trophy in their hand soon though. A point in their final game will be enough to clinch the title.

And on a final note… a weekend that saw most of the League front-runners make a stronger claim to the title, it was celebrations for the small football club of Swansea City. The Swans earned promotion from League One to the English Championship and will be entering the second tier of English football after a spell of 24 years. A truly magnificent performance and congratulations to the Swans faithful!