footballspectator

…or at least they should! Tonight’s 4-2 defeat to Valencia, for whom Fernando Morientes scored a hat-trick, was the upteenth time that the team had conceded crucial goals in the final 5 minutes of a European match.

In 2004, a last minute goal from Gerrard gave Liverpool a 3-1 win and qualification from the group stages which eventually lead to them lifting the trophy. Last September, Thrilos conceded a goal in the 88th minute away to Real Madrid, which resulted in a 2-1 loss. In October, Kafes looked to have given Olympiakos a point in the 84th minute, but Govou had other ideas, an 89th minute goal giving the French Champions a 2-1 win also. Then in November, a Helstad goal in the 88th minute gave Rosenborg a point in Trondheim, 1-1 the final score.
Then tonight, with 5 minutes left, the match was being drawn 2-2. Up comes Albiol and it’s 3-2. Just to make sure Morientes heads in another for good measure in the 89th minute……

Lack of concentration or poor fitness? It’s probably more to do with the fact in the Greek Super League, Olympiakos don’t have to concentrate for more than 60-70 minutes to win a  match, such is the lack of competition.

This evening I had the privilege/chance (depending on what you think of their style of play) to watch Chelsea play Werder Bremen at Stamford Bridge. I made my way across London during my lunch break to pick up the tickets. In the queue in front of me was a man, who politely asked the at the box office how much a ticket cost. The box office attendant told him the price and then asked where the man was from. “Germany” the man replied, to which the box office attendant said, “Sorry sir then I can’t sell you a ticket for security reasons“. The man clearly disappointed walked away.
Now to me this rule seems a joke. First, not all Germans support Werder Bremen, just like not all Englishmen support Chelsea. They might not mind sitting with Chelsea fans. They may actually be Chelsea fans who have come to support their fellow countryman, Michael Ballack, a Chelsea player. Second, if the man had said he was Swiss, Austrian, Dutch, or whatever else, he would have got his tickets. Why? because the man at the box office did not ask for proof - he just accepted whatever answer was given. He asked me my nationality and just bought my answer. So come on Chelsea, drop this stupid rule before your next home Champions League match and let people of all nationalities enjoy the spectacle. The irony is that there are “Kick racism out of football” ads displayed everywhere at Stamford Bridge…

Tonight’s Champions’ League final should have been a celebration of football. The first fifteen minutes promised a lot, with Henry wasting an easy chance to put Arsenal ahead. But then the 18th minute came the incident that marred the match: rather than playing advantage, Norwegian referee Terje Hauge sent off Lehmann and disallowed Barcelona’s goal that should have stood.

While people may argue that playing against 10 is an advantage, it’s only a potential advantage: football is decided on goals scored, and not on the number of players left on the pitch for each team at the end of the match. However more than the injustice, the excitement and anticipation that preceded the final drained out of the game right then. Arsenal, who had been superior until then, were forced to withdraw Robert Pires, playing his final game as a Gunner, to bring on Manuel Almunia. The game then descended into a predictable pattern of Barcelona enjoying the lion’s share of possession and Arsenal sitting back in defence.

Yet Hauge compounded his mistake a few minutes later. He missed Eboué’s blatant dive and instead gave a free kick against Puyol from which Henry crossed for Campbell to open the scoring. While justice was finally done with Barca’s two late goals, fans will no doubt be frustrated that Hauge’s incompetence destroyed what could have been a classic final between two teams loaded with attacking flair. Rather than replacing linesman Hermann Borgan who was photographed wearing a Barca shirt prior to the game, they would have been better off relieving Hauge of his duties.

Wednesday night’s UEFA Cup final saw Sevilla trounce this year’s comeback kings, Middlesbrough. Last year’s final saw two other unfancied teams, CSKA Moscow and Sporting Lisbon reach the final. While the success of newcomers is always welcome, the UEFA Cup has very much become a second rate competition; few would rate any of these teams among Europe’s elite. Indeed until recently many of the teams competing in the tournament could only dream of doing so.

The demise of the competition can be traced back to the disbanding of the Cup Winners’ Cup and the expansion of the Champions League. What was once a thrilling competition in the 80s has now lost its shine. Rudi Assauer, commercial manager of Schalke 04, refected this in April when he said that finishing third in the Bundesliga and qualifying for the Champions League was more important than winning the UEFA Cup (Schalke were still in it at that stage) as the CL is much more lucrative.

The introduction of group stages to the UEFA Cup has done little to help viewing figures. The problem still lies in the perceived quality of the teams taking part. So apart from scrapping the competition what other options are there to make the UEFA Cup more popular?
One option would be to reduce the number of teams taking part in the Champions League, so that say only first and second from the major leagues, and first placed teams from the so-called minor leagues could qualify. Teams from the major leagues finishing third and say third in the minor leagues would then qualify for the UEFA Cup.

This would help both competitions and narrow the popularity and financial gap between them. It would increase competition by reducing the number of uncompetitive matches which would drive audience appeal and therefore sponsorship appeal. As an extra carrot, the winner of the UEFA Cup could be guaranteed a place in the following year’s Champions League. This already happens in European basketball’s equivalent of the UEFA Cup, the ULEB Cup, where the winner gets direct entry into the following season’s Champions League equivalent, the Euroleague.