Quarterfinals

3/29/2006: Villareal-Inter Milan

Villareal got the upper hand by scoring an extremely early goal (Forlan pounced off a rebound inside of 5 minutes) thus getting the prized away goal right away. I thought Inter Milan actually had the better of this game but that away goal killed them.

More fascinating to me was to note the composition of both teams. The Spanish and Italian players were a minority on the pitch as the game resembled more a sort of bizarre South American darby than a match between Spanish and Italian clubs. It is fascinating to note how the Bosmann ruling has changed the face of European football. A glaring example of this was this match between Villareal and Inter Milan. In hindsight, Bosmann appears now to have been some kind of unintended force for globalization in soccer because since that ruling, European teams now hire players from all over the planet, and the elite teams feature local players who are in the minority.

4/5/2006; AC MILAN 3 – Olympique Lyonnaise 1

Reminiscent of their glorious victory with a last minute goal of the return leg against Ajax a few years back, AC Milan pulled off the miracle again by scoring 2 goals in the last two minutes of the game.

The main protagonist of both goals was Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko, who up to the time that he worked his magic, had largely disappeared from this match. Maybe his early ineffectiveness allowed the Olympique defense to take him for granted because he was left alone on a cross to the right side. Shevchenko quickly trapped the goal and fired a shot that hit both crossbars before being put away by either Kaka or Inzaghi

That goal seemed to take the air out of the French team simply because of how close to the end of the game it came. With victory in their grasp, the French team instead was now staring at extra time and potentially PK’s. But a costly mistake on a lazy backpass to the goalie was intercepted by none other than Schvezenko, who deftly dribbled the keeper and slotted it home. That goal assured Milan of passage to the next round without the need for additional play.

This was a big win for Milan’s confidence since it was they who choked away a 3-0 lead to Liverpool in last year’s Champion’s League final. The Rosinneri now take on Barcelona.


4/6/2006: Juventus – Arsenal

Arsenal won the first leg 2-0 at Highbury in convincing fashion with Fabregas and Thierre Henry scoring for the Gunners. Juventus was thus faced with a huge mountain to climb even if the return leg would be played in their home pitch.

An evenly played first half saw few opportunities for both teams although Trezeguet’s bicycle kick that went wide would have been a spectacular goal. On the other side, Toure’s run on the right wing ended when rather than crossing the ball into a herd of Arsenal players crowding into the box, he decided to try to walk the ball into the goal himself.

After the intermission, Henry with a piercing run on goal that required a spectacular save by Juventus keeper Buffon. Towards the end Alexander Hleb had a marvelous run and shot that went wide. Then Ljunberg also had two breakaway runs on which he almost scored. Sandwiched between these two, the opportunities for Juventus were scarce. Juventus tried to no avail to break down Arsenal’s exemplary shape. The Gunners, with a comfortable two goal advantage, were not about to risk anything and played it pretty safe in the middle portion of the game. By holding Juventus scoreless, Arsenal extended their streak of not allowing a goal to 8 Champions League games, a feat which is a story in and of itself.

I have gauded over Ronaldinho in a previous post, but I am equally impressed with Arsenal’s Thierre Henry, a player who possesses similar qualities to the Brazilian. While Henry is probably the faster player, I think Ronaldinho has better overall vision. Regardless, these two would be neck and neck in my race for best player in the world. In the end, I think Ronaldinho edges Henry by a nose.