The
major matches of the week:
The European football season has entered its final
phase, where each and every match is decisive for the teams participating in
domestic leagues and cup tournaments, as well as Champions League. This is why
each week starts to bring big clashes.
The previous weekend started with an Italian
supermatch between two Milan sides. Massimilano Allegri’s team was just back
from the sensational Champions League victory over Barcelona. Inter had also
been successful in the European arena, beating the Romanian champions and
Champions League group stage participant Cluj in the Europa League. The forms
in Serie A were, however, different, as Milan was climbing up to the Champions
League zone, with Inter getting thrown out of there. The biggest intrigue of
the match was
Mario Balotelli’s appearance against his former team. Milan’s new
star had at least three great chances to punish Inter’s reckless fans, but he
was unlucky. By the 70th minute the mood of Balotelli was spoiled,
and a disaster was approaching as time was passing by, but nothing
extraordinary happened: Balotelli managed to control himself before the final
whistle was blown. The match itself started cautiously. Inter seemed to be
tired and after some 20 minutes it got clear, that Milan was able dominate the
game. In the second part of the first half there was only one team on the
pitch. The formal visitors managed to organize numerous dangerous attacks, but
only one reached its target. El Shaarawy was there to finish the beatiful
attack created together with Muntari and Boateng. The two Ghanaians had a great
match, the first one controlling the midfield, and the second one being a vital
part of Milan’s attacks. Only after the break Inter managed to get back into
the game, calming Milan down and scoring the equalizer. The substitute Scelotto
became a savior for Andrea Stramaccioni’s team. 
The French gold medal candidates PSG finally
introduced David Beckham in the important league match against Olympique
Marseille. Only three days later the same teams met in the national cup
competition, where the same score of 2-0 was repeated, but this time both of
the goals were scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who, despite being in a fantastic
form, will not be able to help his team in the next two Champions League
matches, followed by the two match ban for the red card against Valencia.
Two of other midweek cup clashes had even bigger names
as participants. Spanish King’s Cup semifinal second leg invited Barcelona and
Real. The visitors were in the role of underdogs, which justified their passive
start, which saw them winning the tie though. For the first time since Jose Mourinho’s
arrival Real simply outplayed Barcelona, scoring in quick counterattacks
meanwhile not letting the home side organize any threat in attack. Mourinho had
analyzed the match against Milan, so the anti-Barcelona tactics were pretty
much the same with the Italian team, just Real had got better performers. And here
the logical score, which could be even more humiliating for the Nou Camp side, if
not Jordi Alba’s goal in the dying minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two, while Messi couldn't score one.
Barcelona crisis reflected in these two heavy defeats
has got three main reasons and all of them are well known. The first one is the
absence of a “plan B”. Teams have learnt how to play against Barcelona: a great
example of this theory is Mourinho’s Real, which gradually got better and
better in El Classicos. The tiki-taka is not given up at any point, no matter
what the score is. The second problem is the aging of this legendary team’s
main heroes. The bright example is Puyol’s weakness in the episode, where Di
Maria created the second goal for Real. Xavi has started to make mistakes, too.
A new generation is not warming up yet. And finally, the third major problem
is, certainly, the problem of the coach. Many claimed that Barcelona was not a
team of a coach. Remove Guardiola, the team would still play the same football.
Now Guardiola is removed, and so is Vilanova. Do Barcelona’s defeats have
anything to do with Jordi Roura’s lack of authority? They do!
Bayern and Borussia had to fight for a semifinal place
in the German cup. Arjen Robben, not regularly playing for Bayern nowadays, got
the chance and showed his value. He not only scored the only goal of the match,
but also was the most enthusiastic profile in the Munich team, which is
starting to look like Europe’s strongest winning machine. Bayern is having a historical
season. After three silver medals last season the team is on the course to
improve the worth of these medals, thus saying a decent goodbye to its great
manager Jupp Heynckes. Borussia, concentrating on Champions League this season,
is not a competitor for Bayern any more.
Highlights
of the week:
- Galatasaray had a great
comeback against Orduspor last weekend, where the score was 0-2 after first the
half and 4-2 after full time, with Wesley Sneijder’s first goal for the Turkish
side changing the game,
- after winning 5-0 over Dundee
FC, Celtic’s away defeat against second place candidates Motherwell was the
main story in the Scottish league.
The
upcoming weekend:
There is another fantastic weekend expected. A London derby
between Tottenham and Arsenal is going to take place in England. Probably the
last El Classico of the season will overshadow two big matches in Spain: the
Valencia derby and Malaga versus Atletico would be central matches in other
circumstances. Portugal will see the crisis-hit Sporting host champions Porto. Milan
and Lazio will have an important Serie A match. But the weekend will start in
Naples, where the only two Scudetto competitors Napoli and Juventus will have a
mutual clash on Friday. This will make a unique situation, where the Italian
league top 4 teams will meet each other in one matchday.
The weekend will welcome Ukrainian teams back to their
main business: the league will restart after a three-month break.
| Club | Last Matches | Next match | Position in the domestic league |
| Arsenal (England) | 23.02 Aston Villa (H) 2-1 | 03.03 Tottenham (A) | 5 |
| Man. Utd. (England) | 23.02 QPR (A) 2-0 | 02.03 Norwich (H) | 1 |
| FC Barcelona (Spain) | 23.02 Sevilla (H) 2-1 26.02 Real M. (Cup) 1-3 | 02.03 Real M. (A) | 1 |
| Real Madrid (Spain) | 23.02 Deportivo (A) 2-1 26.02 Barcelona (A) 3-1 | 02.03 Barcelona (H) | 3 |
| Valencia (Spain) | 23.02 Zaragoza (A) 2-2 | 02.03 Levante (H) | 5 |
| Malaga (Spain) | 24.02 Real Betis (A) 0-3 | 03.03 Atletico (H) | 4 |
| Bayern (Germany) | 23.02 Werder Br. (H) 6-1 27.02 Borussia D.(Cup)1-0 | 03.03 Hoffenheim (A) | 1 |
| Borussia D. (Germany) | 24.02 Borussia M. (A) 1-1 27.02 Bayern (Cup) 0-1 | 02.03 Hannover (H) | 2 |
| Schalke 04 (Germany) | 23.02 Fortuna (H) 2-1 | 02.03 Wolfsburg (A) | 9 |
| Porto (Portugal) | 23.02 Rio Ave (H) 2-1 | 02.03 Sporting L. (A) | 1 |
| Galatasaray (Turkey) | 25.02 Orduspor (H) 4-2 | 02.03 Eskisehirspor (A) | 1 |
| Juventus (Italy) | 24.02 Siena (H) 3-0 | 01.03 Napoli (A) | 1 |
| Milan (Italy) | 24.02 Inter (A) 1-1 | 02.03 Lazio (H) | 4 |
| PSG (France) | 24.02 Marseille (H) 2-0 27.02 Marseille (Cup) 2-0 | 02.03 St. Reims (A) | 1 |
| Shakhtar D. (Ukraine) | 13.02 Borussia D. (H) 2-2 | 01.03 Volyn (H) | 1 |
| Celtic (Scotland) | 24.02 Dundee FC (H) 5-0 27.02 Motherwell (A) 1-2 | 02.03 St. Mirren (Cup) | 1 |
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