Rutashubanyuma
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Michezo magazetini leo...
Michezo magazetini leo...
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Rutashubanyuma
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Rutashubanyuma
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Rutashubanyuma
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Manchester City's Carlos Tevez to miss FA Cup semi
• Hamstring injury rules striker out of Manchester United game
• Argentinian faces up to four weeks out, says Roberto Mancini
• Hamstring injury rules striker out of Manchester United game
• Argentinian faces up to four weeks out, says Roberto Mancini
- Press Association
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 April 2011 10.51 BST <li class="history">Article history
Carlos Tevez walks off after sustaining a hamstring injury during Manchester City's match at Liverpool. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
Carlos Tevez will miss Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley due to a hamstring injury.
The Argentina international was hurt during City's defeat to Liverpool at Anfield and is expected to be out until next month.
City's manager, Roberto Mancini, said: "Tevez is not available for Saturday. I think he will recover in three or four weeks. It is a big problem but we can't take any risks. We have six games left and hopefully we can get Carlos back for the last two or three games."
It means Tevez would still be in with a chance of being fit for the final on 14 May if City make it through to face either Stoke or Bolton.
However, Mancini will be forced to rely on either or both of Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli to derail United's attempt to win the Treble.
"I still have to decide what to do. But both players know this is an important chance for them. Every player knows this is an important moment for the club. If we win we go to a final, so every player will give 100%."
There was some good news for City, though, as the full-back Micah Richards has returned to training and is expected to be fit after suffering a hamstring injury on England Under-21 duty at the end of March.
"Micah is available," said Mancini. "He trained two days ago and again yesterday. He will be OK."
Rutashubanyuma
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Manchester City v Manchester United, FA Cup semi-final, 5.15pm Saturday 16 April
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United would not tolerate City's sulks
• Ferdinand implies criticism of Manchester City's James Milner
• Team spirit an 'Old Trafford unwritten rule', says United man
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United would not tolerate City's sulks
• Ferdinand implies criticism of Manchester City's James Milner
• Team spirit an 'Old Trafford unwritten rule', says United man
- Daniel Taylor
- The Guardian, Thursday 14 April 2011 <li class="history">Article history Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, top, insists team spirit and harmony are strong at Old Trafford. Photograph: Jon Super/AP
Rio Ferdinand has offered an insight into the reasons for Manchester United's success by speaking of the togetherness he believes would prevent one of Sir Alex Ferguson's current players from emulating James Milner's reaction after being substituted in Manchester City's defeat at Liverpool on Monday.
"You don't see anyone come off the pitch shaking their head, being disgruntled, or sitting on the bench in a sulk at this club," Ferdinand said. "It won't happen here because everyone is delighted to play for this club and they want to be here. The moment you show a bit of dissent like that, the manager pulls rank, and rightly so."
The defender stopped short of naming Milner but the inference was clear at a time when Ferguson's players seem to be in a considerably stronger frame of mind than Roberto Mancini's going into Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
Joe Hart summed up the atmosphere at Eastlands in the wake of their 3-0 defeat at Anfield – "We're all fed up," the City goalkeeper said – and Milner's fit of pique when he was withdrawn did not feel completely incongruous given some of the dressing room problems that Mancini has encountered this season.
Milner is aggrieved that he has not been used in the attacking central midfield role in which he previously operated for Aston Villa, with Mancini generally preferring Yaya Touré. The England international made little secret of his displeasure, angrily shaking his head and throwing his armband to the floor, and behind the scenes at Old Trafford a comparison has been made with Michael Owen's very different reaction to being on the edges of the United team.
Owen has legitimate reasons to be frustrated himself, restricted to only one Premier League start in the season that his contract expires and not even on the bench for either leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Nonetheless, it was noted that the former England striker made a point of congratulating his team-mates on his Twitter page after the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo tested Ferdinand's theory during his years as United's star player, making a public show of his annoyance about being substituted in one match, but Ferdinand believes that was a one-off. "It just comes from a respect for the manager, the club itself and the people who were here before you," the defender said. "It's an unwritten rule at this club. You see it in the changing room before games. There are no cliques. People are wishing each other well before games, even if someone else is playing in your position. That's just the way we are."
Ferdinand was limping badly throughout long spells of the Chelsea game but has declared himself fit for the weekend. Ferguson, however, may still feel it is a suitable moment to bring in Chris Smalling to face a City side that will almost certainly be deprived of their leading scorer, Carlos Tevez.
Edin Dzeko is on standby because of the Argentinian's hamstring injury, but Ferdinand was careful not to say it worked to United's advantage. "You don't spent £27m on a player who is average. Dzeko is a good player, he's played Champions League football for a few years and he's won the league in Germany, so he's a good player. We won't be underestimating him."
The better news for City is that Micah Richards has returned to full training, having initially been ruled out of the semi-final because of his own hamstring tear. Tevez's absence is also balanced in part by Wayne Rooney's suspension, the striker consigned to the role of spectator because of his expletive-filled outburst into a pitch-side camera during the recent 4-2 win at West Ham United.
Rooney's anger about that ban now appears to have made way for a form of begrudging acceptance. "I didn't realise what I had done. It was just emotion – a release, if you like, from scoring the three goals that got us in the lead. But, of course, it was wrong of me and I accept my punishment. You just have to move on. Hopefully the boys can pull through for me on Saturday and get to that FA Cup final."
Rutashubanyuma
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Manchester City v Manchester United, FA Cup semi-final, 5.15pm Saturday 16 April
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United would not tolerate City's sulks
Ferdinand implies criticism of Manchester City's James Milner
Team spirit an 'Old Trafford unwritten rule', says United man
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United would not tolerate City's sulks
Ferdinand implies criticism of Manchester City's James Milner
Team spirit an 'Old Trafford unwritten rule', says United man
- Daniel Taylor
- The Guardian, Thursday 14 April 2011 <li class="history">Article history Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, top, insists team spirit and harmony are strong at Old Trafford. Photograph: Jon Super/AP
Rio Ferdinand has offered an insight into the reasons for Manchester United's success by speaking of the togetherness he believes would prevent one of Sir Alex Ferguson's current players from emulating James Milner's reaction after being substituted in Manchester City's defeat at Liverpool on Monday.
"You don't see anyone come off the pitch shaking their head, being disgruntled, or sitting on the bench in a sulk at this club," Ferdinand said. "It won't happen here because everyone is delighted to play for this club and they want to be here. The moment you show a bit of dissent like that, the manager pulls rank, and rightly so."
The defender stopped short of naming Milner but the inference was clear at a time when Ferguson's players seem to be in a considerably stronger frame of mind than Roberto Mancini's going into Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
Joe Hart summed up the atmosphere at Eastlands in the wake of their 3-0 defeat at Anfield "We're all fed up," the City goalkeeper said and Milner's fit of pique when he was withdrawn did not feel completely incongruous given some of the dressing room problems that Mancini has encountered this season.
Milner is aggrieved that he has not been used in the attacking central midfield role in which he previously operated for Aston Villa, with Mancini generally preferring Yaya Touré. The England international made little secret of his displeasure, angrily shaking his head and throwing his armband to the floor, and behind the scenes at Old Trafford a comparison has been made with Michael Owen's very different reaction to being on the edges of the United team.
Owen has legitimate reasons to be frustrated himself, restricted to only one Premier League start in the season that his contract expires and not even on the bench for either leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Nonetheless, it was noted that the former England striker made a point of congratulating his team-mates on his Twitter page after the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo tested Ferdinand's theory during his years as United's star player, making a public show of his annoyance about being substituted in one match, but Ferdinand believes that was a one-off. "It just comes from a respect for the manager, the club itself and the people who were here before you," the defender said. "It's an unwritten rule at this club. You see it in the changing room before games. There are no cliques. People are wishing each other well before games, even if someone else is playing in your position. That's just the way we are."
Ferdinand was limping badly throughout long spells of the Chelsea game but has declared himself fit for the weekend. Ferguson, however, may still feel it is a suitable moment to bring in Chris Smalling to face a City side that will almost certainly be deprived of their leading scorer, Carlos Tevez.
Edin Dzeko is on standby because of the Argentinian's hamstring injury, but Ferdinand was careful not to say it worked to United's advantage. "You don't spent £27m on a player who is average. Dzeko is a good player, he's played Champions League football for a few years and he's won the league in Germany, so he's a good player. We won't be underestimating him."
The better news for City is that Micah Richards has returned to full training, having initially been ruled out of the semi-final because of his own hamstring tear. Tevez's absence is also balanced in part by Wayne Rooney's suspension, the striker consigned to the role of spectator because of his expletive-filled outburst into a pitch-side camera during the recent 4-2 win at West Ham United.
Rooney's anger about that ban now appears to have made way for a form of begrudging acceptance. "I didn't realise what I had done. It was just emotion a release, if you like, from scoring the three goals that got us in the lead. But, of course, it was wrong of me and I accept my punishment. You just have to move on. Hopefully the boys can pull through for me on Saturday and get to that FA Cup final."
Rutashubanyuma
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Heurelho Gomes blunders as Tottenham lose to Real Madrid
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Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Real Madrid 1
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Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Real Madrid 1
- Ronaldo 50
- Kevin McCarra at White Hart Lane
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 April 2011 21.43 BST Heurelho Gomes cannot recover after allowing Cristiano Ronaldo's shot to slip out of his grasp and give Real Madrid the lead over Spurs. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty
Inevitable defeat in the Champions League quarter-final still made for a stirring occasion at times as Tottenham Hotspur reacted to the 4-0 drubbing by Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. Cristiano Ronaldo beat them here with a shot that was dealt with haplessly by the goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes. Otherwise, the White Hart Lane crowd was incited most by penalty claims uniformly ignored by the Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli.
Tottenham followers will have to content themselves with a touch of schadenfreude. José Mourinho, the Real manager, must have supposed that he would exercise unwavering control since he had the audacity to send out a starting line-up in which four individuals were a caution away from missing the first leg of the semi-final.
The Portuguese was mistaken in his assumption that his footballers would maintain flawless self-restraint. Ricardo Carvalho was rightly booked for a foul on Tom Huddlestone and will be an absentee from the opening game with Barcelona. Tottenham, all the same, could do no direct harm to these visitors, particularly since all appeals for penalties were rejected by the official.
He took no action in the opening minutes when Xabi Alonso did appear to foul Luka Modric. Harry Redknapp made little of the episode even if he joined the host of managers who wonder what the purpose of the extra officials behind each goal could possibly be. Even so, Tottenham will hardly cry to the heavens over a miscarriage of justice.
They have excelled in this campaign while also learning how far they are from the elite. There is no shock in that and it is greatly to the credit of Tottenham that they have lasted so long. They will smile eventually over the memories of the devastation wreaked by, in particular, Gareth Bale.
There was plenty of noise to convert this meeting with Real into a raucous leaving do as Tottenham departed the tournament. The excitement had been so great that it was impossible for the club to admit that loss in the first match had ended their run in the tournament. The public who had bought the tickets also sought a return of some sort on their earnest faith.
The intensity of the audience reaction waxed and waned, with excitement on one occasion falling away sharply when the onlookers realised again that nothing much was truly at stake, except the need to mark an adventure. As it happened, the visitors, too, wanted to treat the fixture seriously. Mourinho spurned all thought of compromise.
Instead he started with Carvalho and it is scant satisfaction that Rául Albiol, Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo exercised enough discipline to avoid a yellow card that would have seen them banned as well. Prior to the interval, Tottenham did put Real under stress now and again and this match carried particular significance for one player.
Aaron Lennon had withdrawn through illness from the first leg of the tie shortly before kick-off. There was interest here in whether he could supply some indication of the impression he might have made in Madrid. The winger's impact increased as his pace took effect, even if he wearied and was ultimately withdrawn.
Real were subdued initially, but Tottenham lacked the calm in those 45 minutes to concern them deeply. Roman Pavlyuchenko, for instance, had been wild when sending a shot high from a promising position after being set up by Lennon. While the centre-forward looked committed in that period, Tottenham might have been ruing the unavailability of Peter Crouch, banned after his red card in the first match.
The hosts soon had rather more than that to regret. Five minutes after the interval Ronaldo let fly from 30 yards and while there was pace and movement on the drive Gomes ought to have done far better than to palm that attempt behind his head before turning to see it drop over the line.
Real's lead had increased to 5-0 in the tie and the spirit of the home crowd waned to such an extent that the cheers of the visiting support were audible. There was relaxed amusement, too, from Tottenham fans when Ronaldo came to the touchline to have the laces on one boot retied by a member of the backroom staff. Nearby supporters jeered and took it in good part when the Portuguese responded with a rude gesture.
The contest still had moments of authenticity and Pavlyuchenko should have equalised in this game instead of sending a header from Rafael van der Vaart's cross on to the roof of the net in the 58th minute. Jermain Defoe was soon introduced for Lennon as Tottenham searched for sharper finishing.
The substitute called on Iker Casillas to carry out genuine work as the goalkeeper turned his drive behind and tested him again later, but Mourinho's withdrawal of Ronaldo had been a superfluous reminder that only the formalities of the fixture remained to be completed.
Rutashubanyuma
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Heurelho Gomes blunders as Tottenham lose to Real Madrid
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Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Real Madrid 1
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Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Real Madrid 1
- Ronaldo 50
- Kevin McCarra at White Hart Lane
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 April 2011 21.43 BST Heurelho Gomes cannot recover after allowing Cristiano Ronaldo's shot to slip out of his grasp and give Real Madrid the lead over Spurs. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty
Inevitable defeat in the Champions League quarter-final still made for a stirring occasion at times as Tottenham Hotspur reacted to the 4-0 drubbing by Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. Cristiano Ronaldo beat them here with a shot that was dealt with haplessly by the goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes. Otherwise, the White Hart Lane crowd was incited most by penalty claims uniformly ignored by the Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli.
Tottenham followers will have to content themselves with a touch of schadenfreude. José Mourinho, the Real manager, must have supposed that he would exercise unwavering control since he had the audacity to send out a starting line-up in which four individuals were a caution away from missing the first leg of the semi-final.
The Portuguese was mistaken in his assumption that his footballers would maintain flawless self-restraint. Ricardo Carvalho was rightly booked for a foul on Tom Huddlestone and will be an absentee from the opening game with Barcelona. Tottenham, all the same, could do no direct harm to these visitors, particularly since all appeals for penalties were rejected by the official.
He took no action in the opening minutes when Xabi Alonso did appear to foul Luka Modric. Harry Redknapp made little of the episode even if he joined the host of managers who wonder what the purpose of the extra officials behind each goal could possibly be. Even so, Tottenham will hardly cry to the heavens over a miscarriage of justice.
They have excelled in this campaign while also learning how far they are from the elite. There is no shock in that and it is greatly to the credit of Tottenham that they have lasted so long. They will smile eventually over the memories of the devastation wreaked by, in particular, Gareth Bale.
There was plenty of noise to convert this meeting with Real into a raucous leaving do as Tottenham departed the tournament. The excitement had been so great that it was impossible for the club to admit that loss in the first match had ended their run in the tournament. The public who had bought the tickets also sought a return of some sort on their earnest faith.
The intensity of the audience reaction waxed and waned, with excitement on one occasion falling away sharply when the onlookers realised again that nothing much was truly at stake, except the need to mark an adventure. As it happened, the visitors, too, wanted to treat the fixture seriously. Mourinho spurned all thought of compromise.
Instead he started with Carvalho and it is scant satisfaction that Rául Albiol, Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo exercised enough discipline to avoid a yellow card that would have seen them banned as well. Prior to the interval, Tottenham did put Real under stress now and again and this match carried particular significance for one player.
Aaron Lennon had withdrawn through illness from the first leg of the tie shortly before kick-off. There was interest here in whether he could supply some indication of the impression he might have made in Madrid. The winger's impact increased as his pace took effect, even if he wearied and was ultimately withdrawn.
Real were subdued initially, but Tottenham lacked the calm in those 45 minutes to concern them deeply. Roman Pavlyuchenko, for instance, had been wild when sending a shot high from a promising position after being set up by Lennon. While the centre-forward looked committed in that period, Tottenham might have been ruing the unavailability of Peter Crouch, banned after his red card in the first match.
The hosts soon had rather more than that to regret. Five minutes after the interval Ronaldo let fly from 30 yards and while there was pace and movement on the drive Gomes ought to have done far better than to palm that attempt behind his head before turning to see it drop over the line.
Real's lead had increased to 5-0 in the tie and the spirit of the home crowd waned to such an extent that the cheers of the visiting support were audible. There was relaxed amusement, too, from Tottenham fans when Ronaldo came to the touchline to have the laces on one boot retied by a member of the backroom staff. Nearby supporters jeered and took it in good part when the Portuguese responded with a rude gesture.
The contest still had moments of authenticity and Pavlyuchenko should have equalised in this game instead of sending a header from Rafael van der Vaart's cross on to the roof of the net in the 58th minute. Jermain Defoe was soon introduced for Lennon as Tottenham searched for sharper finishing.
The substitute called on Iker Casillas to carry out genuine work as the goalkeeper turned his drive behind and tested him again later, but Mourinho's withdrawal of Ronaldo had been a superfluous reminder that only the formalities of the fixture remained to be completed.
Rutashubanyuma
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Ronaldo urges Real to believe
RivalsDM
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Updated Apr 14, 2011 9:45 AM ET
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has urged his team-mates to believe they can overcome Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
Jose Mourinho's men set up a semi-final clash against their Primera Liga rivals with a 5-0 aggregate win over Tottenham in the last eight.
Madrid built on their 4-0 lead from the opening leg, with Ronaldo scoring the only goal at White Hart Lane on Wednesday to set up what is expected to be an enthralling battle with Barca.
But the Portuguese winger is under no illusions about the task ahead as his side aim to reach their first Champions League final in nine years.
"We are happy for qualifying for the next round," Ronaldo told Real's official website. "Tottenham Hotspur are a great team, but we did a great job in both games.
"We've taken an important step because we're now closer to the final.
"We will face the strongest opponent of all in the semi-finals, and we must be ready. Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world, but so are we.
"We have to believe it is possible for us to beat them. We are having a good run and feel confident.
"The team that makes the least mistakes will reach the final. I hope it's Real Madrid."
Barca and Madrid will have plenty of game time against each other ahead of the semi-finals as they meet this weekend in La Liga before clashing again in the Copa del Rey final next Wednesday.
Madrid have eight points to make up on Barca at the top of the league table, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas insists that must be their immediate priority.
"We must now focus on our league clash against them because it is the nearest of them all," he said.
"It will be completely different to our fixtures in the semi-finals.
"I am Real Madrid's captain, and I would be disrespecting Madridistas if I said Saturday's Clasico didn't matter.
"We want to defeat Barcelona on Saturday to earn more points because the league title is still attainable. It isn't all lost."
RivalsDM
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Updated Apr 14, 2011 9:45 AM ET
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has urged his team-mates to believe they can overcome Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
Jose Mourinho's men set up a semi-final clash against their Primera Liga rivals with a 5-0 aggregate win over Tottenham in the last eight.
Madrid built on their 4-0 lead from the opening leg, with Ronaldo scoring the only goal at White Hart Lane on Wednesday to set up what is expected to be an enthralling battle with Barca.
But the Portuguese winger is under no illusions about the task ahead as his side aim to reach their first Champions League final in nine years.
"We are happy for qualifying for the next round," Ronaldo told Real's official website. "Tottenham Hotspur are a great team, but we did a great job in both games.
"We've taken an important step because we're now closer to the final.
"We will face the strongest opponent of all in the semi-finals, and we must be ready. Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world, but so are we.
"We have to believe it is possible for us to beat them. We are having a good run and feel confident.
"The team that makes the least mistakes will reach the final. I hope it's Real Madrid."
Barca and Madrid will have plenty of game time against each other ahead of the semi-finals as they meet this weekend in La Liga before clashing again in the Copa del Rey final next Wednesday.
Madrid have eight points to make up on Barca at the top of the league table, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas insists that must be their immediate priority.
"We must now focus on our league clash against them because it is the nearest of them all," he said.
"It will be completely different to our fixtures in the semi-finals.
"I am Real Madrid's captain, and I would be disrespecting Madridistas if I said Saturday's Clasico didn't matter.
"We want to defeat Barcelona on Saturday to earn more points because the league title is still attainable. It isn't all lost."
Rutashubanyuma
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Four battles, one war: Winner takes all for Barcelona and Real Madrid
Europe and Spain's biggest rivals prepare for four instalments of El Clásico in only 18 days, culminating in the all-important Champions League semi-final
Real Madrid's head coach, José Mourinho, greets Xabi Alonso - as Alonso walked off the pitch at Spurs he said of their semi-final with Barcelona: 'Now it's a reality'. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images
White Hart Lane's final whistle became the clásico series' starting pistol, but both participants had already been up and running for some time. This was confirmation of what has long been coming: Barcelona versus Real Madrid. Over and over and over again. Losing track is understandable, so grab a pen and take it down: Madrid and Barcelona play each other on 16 April in the league, on 20 April in the Copa del Rey final, and on 27 April and 3 May in the Champions League semi-final.
El Clásico was already the planet's most mercilessly hyped game, the two biggest clubs with the biggest names. Now there are four of these games in 18 days with every competition at stake, each game bigger than the last, a crescendo rising to the perfect climax, the ultimate victory over the bitterest of rivals. A place in the European Cup final is the prize. Spain can barely contain itself. In fact, despite some half-hearted attempts to do so, Spain has not contained itself – and the series has not even stared yet.
From the day the Champions League quarter- and semi-final draw was made and the prospect of four matches in 14 days was avoided when they were kept apart in the quarters, everyone eyed these semis. Even the disappointment of missing a Madrid-Barça final was muted. This feels even greater somehow – as if right now Wembley is meaningless, a rubber stamping of a title that will actually be won in the next three weeks. Few expect Madrid or Barcelona to lose a final. Fewer still expected Spurs or Shakhtar to stand in the way.
Yet still players and coaches made a public show of "respect". It was too early to talk about the semi-final. Last night was a release. As Xabi Alonso left the pitch he echoed what everybody was thinking: "Now, it's a reality," he said.
This has been building for ages; the analysis and arguments, the predictions and second-guessing, the account-settling, the many questions, the intrigue and the wonder. The mutual stirring and mischief-making – some so ludicrous it is funny, some so pointed it is frightening – will crank up a notch, but it was already there. The false sensibility, the dubious moral superiority, the accusations and counter-accusations.
In Catalonia, they take every opportunity to decry Madrid, José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo particularly. Even good news is twisted: when Madrid's "subs" defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0, El Mundo Deportivo bizarrely called it "a slap in the face for Mourinho". The unashamedly pro-Real Madrid newspaper Marca criticised an advertising campaign in which Barcelona's players held up their palms – a reference to the 5-0 win in November. It was, they said "aggressive" and "provocative". Takes one to know one. When Pep Guardiola slipped up in a press conference, saying that by beating Shakhtar Barcelona would "be in the final", his tormentors at Marca flew into a fit. Arrogant! A lack of respect! He had overlooked Madrid.
No one cared that the same had been done to Shakhtar and Spurs. Barcelona versus Madrid was a certainty. Now, the prophecy has come true. The coaches cannot hide behind their next opponents: their next opponents are each other. And will be for two and a half weeks. Nothing like this has ever happened before: the nearest was four games in 21 days in 1916, with Santiago Bernabéu getting one of the goals – and, never mind the 95-year-gap, one Catalan newspaper really did note that Barcelona had been "robbed" back then.
This is bigger. Back then, there was no European Cup at stake. A legacy, an entire season – treble winners or empty-handed losers – did not rest on it. As one Catalan newspaper put it this morning, echoing Guardiola's promise upon becoming the Barça coach: "fasten your seatbelts". The Madrid-based AS ran on: "And now for Barça." Above the huge headline, a message of optimism "Cristiano Ronaldo: 'Barcelona are not from another world. He who laughs last laughs longest'."
The Catalan media pounced on Ronaldo's "arrogance" but he is right. These are not four games in three competitions from which both teams can emerge satisfied, spoils shared. It is a series, a saga of interconnected chapters building to a climax. By progressing from a league which has lost a little of its drama because it is Barça's to lose, to the big but undeniably secondary Copa del Rey, to the European Cup, the competition which eclipses all else, it grows with every step.
Individual games are nothing; this is bigger than that. Four battles, one war. Johan Cruyff claimed that Barcelona do not need to win all four games, they must only win two: the second and the fourth. In other words, they must win the series. Real Madrid feel exactly the same way.
Europe and Spain's biggest rivals prepare for four instalments of El Clásico in only 18 days, culminating in the all-important Champions League semi-final
White Hart Lane's final whistle became the clásico series' starting pistol, but both participants had already been up and running for some time. This was confirmation of what has long been coming: Barcelona versus Real Madrid. Over and over and over again. Losing track is understandable, so grab a pen and take it down: Madrid and Barcelona play each other on 16 April in the league, on 20 April in the Copa del Rey final, and on 27 April and 3 May in the Champions League semi-final.
El Clásico was already the planet's most mercilessly hyped game, the two biggest clubs with the biggest names. Now there are four of these games in 18 days with every competition at stake, each game bigger than the last, a crescendo rising to the perfect climax, the ultimate victory over the bitterest of rivals. A place in the European Cup final is the prize. Spain can barely contain itself. In fact, despite some half-hearted attempts to do so, Spain has not contained itself – and the series has not even stared yet.
From the day the Champions League quarter- and semi-final draw was made and the prospect of four matches in 14 days was avoided when they were kept apart in the quarters, everyone eyed these semis. Even the disappointment of missing a Madrid-Barça final was muted. This feels even greater somehow – as if right now Wembley is meaningless, a rubber stamping of a title that will actually be won in the next three weeks. Few expect Madrid or Barcelona to lose a final. Fewer still expected Spurs or Shakhtar to stand in the way.
Yet still players and coaches made a public show of "respect". It was too early to talk about the semi-final. Last night was a release. As Xabi Alonso left the pitch he echoed what everybody was thinking: "Now, it's a reality," he said.
This has been building for ages; the analysis and arguments, the predictions and second-guessing, the account-settling, the many questions, the intrigue and the wonder. The mutual stirring and mischief-making – some so ludicrous it is funny, some so pointed it is frightening – will crank up a notch, but it was already there. The false sensibility, the dubious moral superiority, the accusations and counter-accusations.
In Catalonia, they take every opportunity to decry Madrid, José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo particularly. Even good news is twisted: when Madrid's "subs" defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0, El Mundo Deportivo bizarrely called it "a slap in the face for Mourinho". The unashamedly pro-Real Madrid newspaper Marca criticised an advertising campaign in which Barcelona's players held up their palms – a reference to the 5-0 win in November. It was, they said "aggressive" and "provocative". Takes one to know one. When Pep Guardiola slipped up in a press conference, saying that by beating Shakhtar Barcelona would "be in the final", his tormentors at Marca flew into a fit. Arrogant! A lack of respect! He had overlooked Madrid.
No one cared that the same had been done to Shakhtar and Spurs. Barcelona versus Madrid was a certainty. Now, the prophecy has come true. The coaches cannot hide behind their next opponents: their next opponents are each other. And will be for two and a half weeks. Nothing like this has ever happened before: the nearest was four games in 21 days in 1916, with Santiago Bernabéu getting one of the goals – and, never mind the 95-year-gap, one Catalan newspaper really did note that Barcelona had been "robbed" back then.
This is bigger. Back then, there was no European Cup at stake. A legacy, an entire season – treble winners or empty-handed losers – did not rest on it. As one Catalan newspaper put it this morning, echoing Guardiola's promise upon becoming the Barça coach: "fasten your seatbelts". The Madrid-based AS ran on: "And now for Barça." Above the huge headline, a message of optimism "Cristiano Ronaldo: 'Barcelona are not from another world. He who laughs last laughs longest'."
The Catalan media pounced on Ronaldo's "arrogance" but he is right. These are not four games in three competitions from which both teams can emerge satisfied, spoils shared. It is a series, a saga of interconnected chapters building to a climax. By progressing from a league which has lost a little of its drama because it is Barça's to lose, to the big but undeniably secondary Copa del Rey, to the European Cup, the competition which eclipses all else, it grows with every step.
Individual games are nothing; this is bigger than that. Four battles, one war. Johan Cruyff claimed that Barcelona do not need to win all four games, they must only win two: the second and the fourth. In other words, they must win the series. Real Madrid feel exactly the same way.
Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 24, 2010
- 219,502
- 911,254
- Thread starter
- #16,231
Four battles, one war: Winner takes all for Barcelona and Real Madrid
Europe and Spain's biggest rivals prepare for four instalments of El Clásico in only 18 days, culminating in the all-important Champions League semi-final
Real Madrid's head coach, José Mourinho, greets Xabi Alonso - as Alonso walked off the pitch at Spurs he said of their semi-final with Barcelona: 'Now it's a reality'. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images
White Hart Lane's final whistle became the clásico series' starting pistol, but both participants had already been up and running for some time. This was confirmation of what has long been coming: Barcelona versus Real Madrid. Over and over and over again. Losing track is understandable, so grab a pen and take it down: Madrid and Barcelona play each other on 16 April in the league, on 20 April in the Copa del Rey final, and on 27 April and 3 May in the Champions League semi-final.
El Clásico was already the planet's most mercilessly hyped game, the two biggest clubs with the biggest names. Now there are four of these games in 18 days with every competition at stake, each game bigger than the last, a crescendo rising to the perfect climax, the ultimate victory over the bitterest of rivals. A place in the European Cup final is the prize. Spain can barely contain itself. In fact, despite some half-hearted attempts to do so, Spain has not contained itself and the series has not even stared yet.
From the day the Champions League quarter- and semi-final draw was made and the prospect of four matches in 14 days was avoided when they were kept apart in the quarters, everyone eyed these semis. Even the disappointment of missing a Madrid-Barça final was muted. This feels even greater somehow as if right now Wembley is meaningless, a rubber stamping of a title that will actually be won in the next three weeks. Few expect Madrid or Barcelona to lose a final. Fewer still expected Spurs or Shakhtar to stand in the way.
Yet still players and coaches made a public show of "respect". It was too early to talk about the semi-final. Last night was a release. As Xabi Alonso left the pitch he echoed what everybody was thinking: "Now, it's a reality," he said.
This has been building for ages; the analysis and arguments, the predictions and second-guessing, the account-settling, the many questions, the intrigue and the wonder. The mutual stirring and mischief-making some so ludicrous it is funny, some so pointed it is frightening will crank up a notch, but it was already there. The false sensibility, the dubious moral superiority, the accusations and counter-accusations.
In Catalonia, they take every opportunity to decry Madrid, José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo particularly. Even good news is twisted: when Madrid's "subs" defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0, El Mundo Deportivo bizarrely called it "a slap in the face for Mourinho". The unashamedly pro-Real Madrid newspaper Marca criticised an advertising campaign in which Barcelona's players held up their palms a reference to the 5-0 win in November. It was, they said "aggressive" and "provocative". Takes one to know one. When Pep Guardiola slipped up in a press conference, saying that by beating Shakhtar Barcelona would "be in the final", his tormentors at Marca flew into a fit. Arrogant! A lack of respect! He had overlooked Madrid.
No one cared that the same had been done to Shakhtar and Spurs. Barcelona versus Madrid was a certainty. Now, the prophecy has come true. The coaches cannot hide behind their next opponents: their next opponents are each other. And will be for two and a half weeks. Nothing like this has ever happened before: the nearest was four games in 21 days in 1916, with Santiago Bernabéu getting one of the goals and, never mind the 95-year-gap, one Catalan newspaper really did note that Barcelona had been "robbed" back then.
This is bigger. Back then, there was no European Cup at stake. A legacy, an entire season treble winners or empty-handed losers did not rest on it. As one Catalan newspaper put it this morning, echoing Guardiola's promise upon becoming the Barça coach: "fasten your seatbelts". The Madrid-based AS ran on: "And now for Barça." Above the huge headline, a message of optimism "Cristiano Ronaldo: 'Barcelona are not from another world. He who laughs last laughs longest'."
The Catalan media pounced on Ronaldo's "arrogance" but he is right. These are not four games in three competitions from which both teams can emerge satisfied, spoils shared. It is a series, a saga of interconnected chapters building to a climax. By progressing from a league which has lost a little of its drama because it is Barça's to lose, to the big but undeniably secondary Copa del Rey, to the European Cup, the competition which eclipses all else, it grows with every step.
Individual games are nothing; this is bigger than that. Four battles, one war. Johan Cruyff claimed that Barcelona do not need to win all four games, they must only win two: the second and the fourth. In other words, they must win the series. Real Madrid feel exactly the same way.
Europe and Spain's biggest rivals prepare for four instalments of El Clásico in only 18 days, culminating in the all-important Champions League semi-final
White Hart Lane's final whistle became the clásico series' starting pistol, but both participants had already been up and running for some time. This was confirmation of what has long been coming: Barcelona versus Real Madrid. Over and over and over again. Losing track is understandable, so grab a pen and take it down: Madrid and Barcelona play each other on 16 April in the league, on 20 April in the Copa del Rey final, and on 27 April and 3 May in the Champions League semi-final.
El Clásico was already the planet's most mercilessly hyped game, the two biggest clubs with the biggest names. Now there are four of these games in 18 days with every competition at stake, each game bigger than the last, a crescendo rising to the perfect climax, the ultimate victory over the bitterest of rivals. A place in the European Cup final is the prize. Spain can barely contain itself. In fact, despite some half-hearted attempts to do so, Spain has not contained itself and the series has not even stared yet.
From the day the Champions League quarter- and semi-final draw was made and the prospect of four matches in 14 days was avoided when they were kept apart in the quarters, everyone eyed these semis. Even the disappointment of missing a Madrid-Barça final was muted. This feels even greater somehow as if right now Wembley is meaningless, a rubber stamping of a title that will actually be won in the next three weeks. Few expect Madrid or Barcelona to lose a final. Fewer still expected Spurs or Shakhtar to stand in the way.
Yet still players and coaches made a public show of "respect". It was too early to talk about the semi-final. Last night was a release. As Xabi Alonso left the pitch he echoed what everybody was thinking: "Now, it's a reality," he said.
This has been building for ages; the analysis and arguments, the predictions and second-guessing, the account-settling, the many questions, the intrigue and the wonder. The mutual stirring and mischief-making some so ludicrous it is funny, some so pointed it is frightening will crank up a notch, but it was already there. The false sensibility, the dubious moral superiority, the accusations and counter-accusations.
In Catalonia, they take every opportunity to decry Madrid, José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo particularly. Even good news is twisted: when Madrid's "subs" defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0, El Mundo Deportivo bizarrely called it "a slap in the face for Mourinho". The unashamedly pro-Real Madrid newspaper Marca criticised an advertising campaign in which Barcelona's players held up their palms a reference to the 5-0 win in November. It was, they said "aggressive" and "provocative". Takes one to know one. When Pep Guardiola slipped up in a press conference, saying that by beating Shakhtar Barcelona would "be in the final", his tormentors at Marca flew into a fit. Arrogant! A lack of respect! He had overlooked Madrid.
No one cared that the same had been done to Shakhtar and Spurs. Barcelona versus Madrid was a certainty. Now, the prophecy has come true. The coaches cannot hide behind their next opponents: their next opponents are each other. And will be for two and a half weeks. Nothing like this has ever happened before: the nearest was four games in 21 days in 1916, with Santiago Bernabéu getting one of the goals and, never mind the 95-year-gap, one Catalan newspaper really did note that Barcelona had been "robbed" back then.
This is bigger. Back then, there was no European Cup at stake. A legacy, an entire season treble winners or empty-handed losers did not rest on it. As one Catalan newspaper put it this morning, echoing Guardiola's promise upon becoming the Barça coach: "fasten your seatbelts". The Madrid-based AS ran on: "And now for Barça." Above the huge headline, a message of optimism "Cristiano Ronaldo: 'Barcelona are not from another world. He who laughs last laughs longest'."
The Catalan media pounced on Ronaldo's "arrogance" but he is right. These are not four games in three competitions from which both teams can emerge satisfied, spoils shared. It is a series, a saga of interconnected chapters building to a climax. By progressing from a league which has lost a little of its drama because it is Barça's to lose, to the big but undeniably secondary Copa del Rey, to the European Cup, the competition which eclipses all else, it grows with every step.
Individual games are nothing; this is bigger than that. Four battles, one war. Johan Cruyff claimed that Barcelona do not need to win all four games, they must only win two: the second and the fourth. In other words, they must win the series. Real Madrid feel exactly the same way.
Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 24, 2010
- 219,502
- 911,254
- Thread starter
- #16,232
Resurgent Manchester United have the squad to win a range of prizes
Manchester United's Champions League victory over Chelsea confirmed they are glowing with authority as well as talent
Manchester United's Champions League victory over Chelsea confirmed they are glowing with authority as well as talent
-
- Kevin McCarra
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 April 2011 22.59 BST <li class="history">Article history
Goals by Javier Hernández, left, and Wayne Rooney have maintained Manchester United's treble hopes. Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images
A side that reach the heights have a clear view of all that lies so pleasingly before them. Manchester United's defeat of Chelsea in each leg of their Champions League quarter-final confirmed that this is a team glowing with authority as well as talent. The re-emergence is a small surprise since last season was marked by only the League Cup. The trophy was taken with victory over Aston Villa and the winner, in late February, was Wayne Rooney's 27th goal for the club in that campaign.
The forward may have rallied of late, but no one in the crowd counts on such abundance any longer and, more importantly, United themselves have not behaved as if they rely purely on him. Javier Hernández has adapted to English football at a startling rate. With Dimitar Berbatov also prolific when picked, there is a breadth to United's work that must make them suppose they can land a range of prizes.
Such expectations will be toned down by Sir Alex Ferguson exactly because they are feasible. A squad could find it all too easy to be mesmerised by its own hopes. The dangers ought to be recognised. Much as Chris Smalling has impressed in his first campaign with the club, it is still critical that the centre-backs Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic stay fit. By the same token, those of us who were originally disbelieving at the sight of Michael Carrick as the midfield kingpin now appreciate that the onus is on him to maintain such influence.
United are pondering a second treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup to complement the one secured a dozen years ago. There is also a counterbalancing attitude towards the longer term. Even as the side have begun to surge, comment has continued about the need for new and costly talent to arrive in the summer. It is a topic that reportedly made Rooney himself anxious when he sought investment in the squad as well as a large pay rise on his own behalf.
Ferguson's reconstruction has, all the same, been in progress for a while. No one calls this squad the best he has had but it is remarkably extensive. Nani has most likely been the club's best performer overall in this campaign, but he featured only as a substitute at Stamford Bridge, amid suggestions that the Champions League has been an area of underachievement for the winger.
The fact that Ferguson can afford to be so demanding underlines the scope he has to sideline those who awaken even small reservations in him. Everything could still go wrong, but the side have begun to show their insistent character. While away results have been moderate by United's standards, the recovery from 2-0 down to beat West Ham United at Upton Park underlined a rising desire in the team to impose their will even when events seem discouraging.
They are aided by the faltering of others. Ferguson can only be cheered when Arsène Wenger insists that Arsenal are confounding doubters merely by being in the top four. United are yet to go to the Emirates, but even a loss could be absorbed since these opponents still have the sort of flaw that can see them record a goalless draw on their own ground against Blackburn Rovers.
All in all, United have cause to be optimistic when perusing the fixture list. There are some obviously demanding games. Chelsea will crave to do some harm when they come back to Old Trafford in the Premier League. A match could go wrong anywhere, perhaps at Newcastle United on Tuesday, but the real doubt is whether anyone is equipped even to pretend that they are pursuing United in earnest.
It is more likely to be the knockout tournaments that make United heads ring. After a faintly dull campaign, Manchester City must at least ache to knock out Ferguson's men in the FA Cup semi-final, particularly since it is the one result that may vindicate Roberto Mancini's costly tenure at Eastlands. The Champions League presents a more overt menace. Schalke can scarcely be discounted after the trouncing of Internazionale at San Siro.
Bundesliga representatives have dismayed United before, with Bayern Munich doing so as recently as last season. This time around, though, the United players almost look as if they are getting fresher. Ferguson has begun to speak as if a range of injuries has been a boon since a few figures, including Antonio Valencia, act as if they are just coming out of pre-season.
Should Ferguson feel any disquiet about the stretch that lies ahead it must concern the Champions League. He will surely convince himself that the side merely slipped below the expected standard when beaten with no fuss at all by Barcelona in the 2009 final. An opportunity to rewrite that tale could be presented when the trophy is fought for at Wembley, depending on how Pep Guardiola's line-up fares against the Real Madrid of José Mourinho in the last four. That would remain the most exacting test for United, yet the realistic prospect of being part of such an occasion underlines the resurgence that is still growing in vigour.
Rutashubanyuma
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- Sep 24, 2010
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- #16,233
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Rutashubanyuma
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- Sep 24, 2010
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Arsenal's US sale puts all game's commanding heights in foreign hands
Non-UK owners will always be judged by the same yardstick: after the asset-grab what about the team?
Non-UK owners will always be judged by the same yardstick: after the asset-grab what about the team?
-
- Paul Hayward
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 April 2011 14.59 BST <li class="history">Article history
Stan Kroenke, left, and the chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, take their seats at the Emirates before a league game against Wigan. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
Manchester United are American, Chelsea are Russian-owned and Arsenal are in danger of ending up as a hostile marriage between the two. According to the BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, Alisher Usmanov is "hopping mad" and feels "stitched up" by Stan Kroenke's swoop to attain 63% of the club's shares, which is more than a storm in a gin and tonic.
Kroenke is obliged to make a cash offer for the remaining shares at £11,750 each, which values Arsenal at £731m. But Usmanov, who retains 27%, is an old friend of Nick Hornby and grew up adoring Charlie George and drank as a student in the Highbury Barn. Actually I just made that up, but he wants us to think he's a lifelong Gooner: "I'm not going to sell my stake. I love Arsenal. That's why I'm a shareholder."
For most of Arsenal's august history a boardroom dispute would stretch no further than a director bringing his labrador through the marble halls without first telling the concierge, or the Chablis not being properly chilled. But takeover fever and the influx of overseas speculators (let's not call them investors) have coaxed Arsenal from the Corinthian to the corporate era. Premier League football is more Gordon Gecko than art deco these days. Realistically, it was only a question of when Arsenal would abandon the diffuse ownership that rooted them in the game's Victorian origins.
Students of symbolism have been waiting for this takeover, and not just because the old Woolwich Arsenal are an outpost of gentility in a vulgar industry. The annexation of the Emirates was always likely to be the point of no return where more than half of the 20 Premier League clubs would be held by non-UK owners.
Some fans are incapable of discussing this fascinating phenomenon without imputing Little Englander tendencies to those who wonder whether turning community institutions into global portfolio items is healthy for this country's national game. Most would rather see their team owned by a shrewd US sports investor than a dodgy local mogul but there are all sorts of dangers in allowing a free-for-all.
The first is that the cost to the fan will rise to recover the purchase cost. Arsenal fans already pay through the nostrils to enter their luxurious arena. After six years without a trophy, many would like a return on their exorbitant outlay. One hopes Kroenke understands this frustration.
If he can afford to dole out £234m for the 16.1% share belonging to the late Danny Fiszman and the 15.9% of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith then Arsenal supporters will want to hear no more about restricted budgets and paying the bill for the new amphitheatre.
This is how foreign owners will always be judged: after the asset-grab, what about the team? An upside of US ownership is that its franchise-holders tend to realise that owning a big name is pointless if the 11 blokes in costumes stink the joint out. Thus Kenny Dalglish was allowed to reinvest the £50m from Fernando Torres in Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez (pure business gold, that looks now), and the Glazers have been careful to cultivate the impression that Sir Alex Ferguson can have whatever he needs in the transfer market.
By a cruel twist the bottom four teams in the Premier League are all British owned - Wigan, Wolves, West Ham and Blackpool - while the top four are in foreign hands: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Liverpool (US) and Spurs (Enic - largely offshore) are also global entities. This is a simplification only in the sense that foreign tycoons gravitate towards the biggest clubs, who generate the highest TV revenues. But with the Arsenal sale, the commanding heights of the game are all taken.
With Kroenke's boardroom surge, though, disunity stalks the smooth operation envied by visiting chairmen. Usmanov can still cause trouble. And to think, when Kroenke first emerged, the chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, was adamant Arsenal would not be entertaining "his sort". Financial reality - and the prospect of personal gain - gnawed away at this dubious idealism. David Dein – "Mr Arsenal" – sold out to Usmanov for £75m. To add to the symbolism Fiszman offloaded his stake to Kroenke almost as a final act before his death on Wednesday.
From the moment this news dropped, Arsenal ceased to be a special case. No longer can they claim to be a greenhouse for talent, owned by custodians, defending tradition against charlatans and gamblers. Many Arsenal fans have been proud of this defiance. It gave them a card to play against Roman Abramovich and Chelsea, a taunt to direct at United and the Glazers.
Soon they will be another huge sporting body owned by another clever rich guy who hates giving interviews. Their challenge, naturally, is to preserve the distinctive virtues that pre-date Kroenke's dash to board the English cash express. A strong identity usually endures
Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 24, 2010
- 219,502
- 911,254
- Thread starter
- #16,235
Arsenal's US sale puts all game's commanding heights in foreign hands
Non-UK owners will always be judged by the same yardstick: after the asset-grab what about the team?
Non-UK owners will always be judged by the same yardstick: after the asset-grab what about the team?
-
- Paul Hayward
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 April 2011 14.59 BST <li class="history">Article history
Stan Kroenke, left, and the chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, take their seats at the Emirates before a league game against Wigan. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
Manchester United are American, Chelsea are Russian-owned and Arsenal are in danger of ending up as a hostile marriage between the two. According to the BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, Alisher Usmanov is "hopping mad" and feels "stitched up" by Stan Kroenke's swoop to attain 63% of the club's shares, which is more than a storm in a gin and tonic.
Kroenke is obliged to make a cash offer for the remaining shares at £11,750 each, which values Arsenal at £731m. But Usmanov, who retains 27%, is an old friend of Nick Hornby and grew up adoring Charlie George and drank as a student in the Highbury Barn. Actually I just made that up, but he wants us to think he's a lifelong Gooner: "I'm not going to sell my stake. I love Arsenal. That's why I'm a shareholder."
For most of Arsenal's august history a boardroom dispute would stretch no further than a director bringing his labrador through the marble halls without first telling the concierge, or the Chablis not being properly chilled. But takeover fever and the influx of overseas speculators (let's not call them investors) have coaxed Arsenal from the Corinthian to the corporate era. Premier League football is more Gordon Gecko than art deco these days. Realistically, it was only a question of when Arsenal would abandon the diffuse ownership that rooted them in the game's Victorian origins.
Students of symbolism have been waiting for this takeover, and not just because the old Woolwich Arsenal are an outpost of gentility in a vulgar industry. The annexation of the Emirates was always likely to be the point of no return where more than half of the 20 Premier League clubs would be held by non-UK owners.
Some fans are incapable of discussing this fascinating phenomenon without imputing Little Englander tendencies to those who wonder whether turning community institutions into global portfolio items is healthy for this country's national game. Most would rather see their team owned by a shrewd US sports investor than a dodgy local mogul but there are all sorts of dangers in allowing a free-for-all.
The first is that the cost to the fan will rise to recover the purchase cost. Arsenal fans already pay through the nostrils to enter their luxurious arena. After six years without a trophy, many would like a return on their exorbitant outlay. One hopes Kroenke understands this frustration.
If he can afford to dole out £234m for the 16.1% share belonging to the late Danny Fiszman and the 15.9% of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith then Arsenal supporters will want to hear no more about restricted budgets and paying the bill for the new amphitheatre.
This is how foreign owners will always be judged: after the asset-grab, what about the team? An upside of US ownership is that its franchise-holders tend to realise that owning a big name is pointless if the 11 blokes in costumes stink the joint out. Thus Kenny Dalglish was allowed to reinvest the £50m from Fernando Torres in Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez (pure business gold, that looks now), and the Glazers have been careful to cultivate the impression that Sir Alex Ferguson can have whatever he needs in the transfer market.
By a cruel twist the bottom four teams in the Premier League are all British owned Wigan, Wolves, West Ham and Blackpool while the top four are in foreign hands: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Liverpool (US) and Spurs (Enic largely offshore) are also global entities. This is a simplification only in the sense that foreign tycoons gravitate towards the biggest clubs, who generate the highest TV revenues. But with the Arsenal sale, the commanding heights of the game are all taken.
With Kroenke's boardroom surge, though, disunity stalks the smooth operation envied by visiting chairmen. Usmanov can still cause trouble. And to think, when Kroenke first emerged, the chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, was adamant Arsenal would not be entertaining "his sort". Financial reality and the prospect of personal gain gnawed away at this dubious idealism. David Dein "Mr Arsenal" sold out to Usmanov for £75m. To add to the symbolism Fiszman offloaded his stake to Kroenke almost as a final act before his death on Wednesday.
From the moment this news dropped, Arsenal ceased to be a special case. No longer can they claim to be a greenhouse for talent, owned by custodians, defending tradition against charlatans and gamblers. Many Arsenal fans have been proud of this defiance. It gave them a card to play against Roman Abramovich and Chelsea, a taunt to direct at United and the Glazers.
Soon they will be another huge sporting body owned by another clever rich guy who hates giving interviews. Their challenge, naturally, is to preserve the distinctive virtues that pre-date Kroenke's dash to board the English cash express. A strong identity usually endures
Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
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Champions League quarter-final, second leg
José Mourinho's intensity steels Real Madrid for Barcelona battle
The manager has kept Real Madrid in contention for honours on three fronts, but tensions remain in an uneasy marriage
José Mourinho will need a different tactical template in Real Madrid's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images
Life has a habit of bending José Mourinho's way. Minutes before the end of this tie Gareth Bale followed a high ball towards the touchline and stumbled into the Real Madrid coach's embrace. No one is saying whether Mourinho asked for his mobile number then or when he sought him out later for the fondest of handshakes.
The tapping-up police, if such a force existed, would study recordings of this exchange. Mourinho is such a Machiavellian devil that we look for motives even in a routine act of sportsmanship. Surely it's too much to think he studied the Premier League table and noticed Bale might not be playing Champions League football next season unless he offers himself up for a move. "Did he, by Christ?" Harry Redknapp said when told Mourinho had waited to console his Welsh winger. "Maybe we should report him."
Plenty of more urgent business presents itself. Mourinho kept up a barrage of instruction until Madrid scored for the fifth time on aggregate, berating players for losing possession, jabbing his hands at spaces where he thought his midfielders ought to be and scribbling notes that he then filed in the pocket of his cashmere overcoat. Why the stress, with a 4-0 first-leg lead? Because Barcelona have been seen on the edge of town.
This weekend Barça motor to the Bernabéu for the first of four Catalan-Castillian barnburners inside 18 days. Even without such provocations Mourinho always turns snake-serious around this time. On these spring nights you see him demand intense dedication from his players: a mania to win. Under this psychological pressure his teams form an indivisible fighting force and take one hell of a lot of shifting.
This is the effect the Real coach was striving for as Cristiano Ronaldo started in a strong XI who must have had one eye on Barcelona's visit on Saturday and the Copa del Rey final in Valencia on Wednesday night. The composition of the Real bench alone said all royalist forces have been ordered to report for duty. Kaká, Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuaín and Angel Di María all peered out.
The Champions League urn is the one they really want: the prize Mourinho was hired to repatriate. Lately he has made a point of pledging himself to the Bernabéu for more than this one year. After the flirtations comes the fidelity. This most mischievous of jobseekers knows he pushed his application to return to England as far as it could go and needed to renew his vows in Madrid, if only to stop his players thinking he would be off in the summer and so reducing their commitment to him.
It was a dangerous game he played with those interviews saying England was a spiritual home to which he would return. Mourinho has never had a problem inspiring loyalty in his players, but the chemistry alters when a change seems imminent. So the time had come to get busy again and roll out his full repertoire of beseeching and reproachful gestures.
With their nine European titles since 1956 Real tend to believe that the big cup is only ever out on loan, like something from the Prado. But the last of them arrived in 2002: a time-chasm Mourinho was employed to bridge.
Neither side will have regarded it as an ideal match, because Mourinho demands autonomy and likes tactics while the Real board think of football as a spectacle that generates economic and political power if you dress it up well.
From this uneasy marriage Real are challenging on three fronts for the first time at this point of the season since 1999-2000; and though Barcelona continue to monopolise the style pages, the world's most expensive footballer wears a Real shirt and is holding his own against Lionel Messi.
With his soft goal 50 minutes into this second leg, Ronaldo moved to 73 goals in 80 appearances for Los Blancos and to 43 for club and country this season. This latest Ronaldo strike, which Heurelho Gomes spilled into his own net, was Real's 900th goal in European competition.
These are mighty numbers, but for Mourinho to become the first coach to win the European Cup with three different clubs he will need a new tactical template in the two Barcelona semi-finals and maximum input from more than just Ronaldo. He will need Mesut Ozil (still only 22) to be the equal of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta and Real to impose their own game rather than fire-fighting across the park.
Losing Ricardo Carvalho to suspension for the first leg after he picked up a caution here will not improve the chances of a shut-out, yet Real have had nine months now to absorb their manager's defensive wisdom. You can see this has been a hard year for Mourinho. He looks more middle-aged now, less springy and playful.
There is in him, though, a deeply tenacious streak, which he transmits to his players to make them think their fates are bound up with his. This is his message now, with Barcelona approaching in the night. It helps, though, if you can take off Ronaldo and send on Kaká, then add Benzema. The grandeur flows both ways.
José Mourinho's intensity steels Real Madrid for Barcelona battle
The manager has kept Real Madrid in contention for honours on three fronts, but tensions remain in an uneasy marriage
Life has a habit of bending José Mourinho's way. Minutes before the end of this tie Gareth Bale followed a high ball towards the touchline and stumbled into the Real Madrid coach's embrace. No one is saying whether Mourinho asked for his mobile number then or when he sought him out later for the fondest of handshakes.
The tapping-up police, if such a force existed, would study recordings of this exchange. Mourinho is such a Machiavellian devil that we look for motives even in a routine act of sportsmanship. Surely it's too much to think he studied the Premier League table and noticed Bale might not be playing Champions League football next season unless he offers himself up for a move. "Did he, by Christ?" Harry Redknapp said when told Mourinho had waited to console his Welsh winger. "Maybe we should report him."
Plenty of more urgent business presents itself. Mourinho kept up a barrage of instruction until Madrid scored for the fifth time on aggregate, berating players for losing possession, jabbing his hands at spaces where he thought his midfielders ought to be and scribbling notes that he then filed in the pocket of his cashmere overcoat. Why the stress, with a 4-0 first-leg lead? Because Barcelona have been seen on the edge of town.
This weekend Barça motor to the Bernabéu for the first of four Catalan-Castillian barnburners inside 18 days. Even without such provocations Mourinho always turns snake-serious around this time. On these spring nights you see him demand intense dedication from his players: a mania to win. Under this psychological pressure his teams form an indivisible fighting force and take one hell of a lot of shifting.
This is the effect the Real coach was striving for as Cristiano Ronaldo started in a strong XI who must have had one eye on Barcelona's visit on Saturday and the Copa del Rey final in Valencia on Wednesday night. The composition of the Real bench alone said all royalist forces have been ordered to report for duty. Kaká, Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuaín and Angel Di María all peered out.
The Champions League urn is the one they really want: the prize Mourinho was hired to repatriate. Lately he has made a point of pledging himself to the Bernabéu for more than this one year. After the flirtations comes the fidelity. This most mischievous of jobseekers knows he pushed his application to return to England as far as it could go and needed to renew his vows in Madrid, if only to stop his players thinking he would be off in the summer and so reducing their commitment to him.
It was a dangerous game he played with those interviews saying England was a spiritual home to which he would return. Mourinho has never had a problem inspiring loyalty in his players, but the chemistry alters when a change seems imminent. So the time had come to get busy again and roll out his full repertoire of beseeching and reproachful gestures.
With their nine European titles since 1956 Real tend to believe that the big cup is only ever out on loan, like something from the Prado. But the last of them arrived in 2002: a time-chasm Mourinho was employed to bridge.
Neither side will have regarded it as an ideal match, because Mourinho demands autonomy and likes tactics while the Real board think of football as a spectacle that generates economic and political power if you dress it up well.
From this uneasy marriage Real are challenging on three fronts for the first time at this point of the season since 1999-2000; and though Barcelona continue to monopolise the style pages, the world's most expensive footballer wears a Real shirt and is holding his own against Lionel Messi.
With his soft goal 50 minutes into this second leg, Ronaldo moved to 73 goals in 80 appearances for Los Blancos and to 43 for club and country this season. This latest Ronaldo strike, which Heurelho Gomes spilled into his own net, was Real's 900th goal in European competition.
These are mighty numbers, but for Mourinho to become the first coach to win the European Cup with three different clubs he will need a new tactical template in the two Barcelona semi-finals and maximum input from more than just Ronaldo. He will need Mesut Ozil (still only 22) to be the equal of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta and Real to impose their own game rather than fire-fighting across the park.
Losing Ricardo Carvalho to suspension for the first leg after he picked up a caution here will not improve the chances of a shut-out, yet Real have had nine months now to absorb their manager's defensive wisdom. You can see this has been a hard year for Mourinho. He looks more middle-aged now, less springy and playful.
There is in him, though, a deeply tenacious streak, which he transmits to his players to make them think their fates are bound up with his. This is his message now, with Barcelona approaching in the night. It helps, though, if you can take off Ronaldo and send on Kaká, then add Benzema. The grandeur flows both ways.
Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 24, 2010
- 219,502
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- #16,237
Rangnick accepts outsiders tag
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Updated Apr 14, 2011 5:37 AM ET
Schalke boss Ralf Rangnick has labelled his side "clear outsiders" for their Champions League semi-final against Manchester United.
Schalke followed up their stunning 5-2 win at Inter Milan last week with an impressive 2-1 win back in Germany on Wednesday to set up a last-four clash with Sir Alex Ferguson's men.
The Gelsenkirchen club, ninth in the Bundesliga, have saved their best performances for Europe this season, but Rangnick accepts they will have to up their level even further against United.
He said: "A semi-final in the Champions League is something extraordinary for all of us and against Manchester United we will start in a similar position to how we began against Inter; as clear outsiders.
"But again, anything can happen and if it all goes to plan we can reach the final.
"First we have to produce some good results in the Bundesliga to give us a boost: with every positive result our Champions League chances improve."
Rangnick was full of praise for his defence after they repelled a potent Inter attack needing goals to overturn the deficit from the San Siro.
Thiago Motta did score for the Nerazzurri but his goal was sandwiched by efforts from veteran Raul and Benedikt Howedes.
Rangnick added: "Last week we won the game in attack, playing brave offensive football and laying the foundation for this match. Today the team defended outstandingly.
Shakhtar 0-1 Barcelona | Recap
Tottenham 0-1 R. Madrid | Recap
CL Scores | Tables | Fixtures
"We allowed them maybe two chances from open play and if you look at Inter's attacking options, you know what my boys have done.
"The goal we conceded came from a set piece and if we had been a bit more clinical we could have won by an even bigger margin."
Inter boss Leonardo felt his side simply ran out of steam.
He said: "Since I arrived in December I've asked a lot of the players, ignoring injuries and fatigue.
"We worked hard and I want to underline that my players have given a lot over the past few months, in at times difficult situations. We arrived at the decisive stage of the season with a few problems and that's a pity.
"The key is to be in the right shape at the right time.
"At times we got caught up other people's expectations and did not perform at our best. We were punished for it in the first leg."
RivalsDM
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RSS 15
Updated Apr 14, 2011 5:37 AM ET
Schalke boss Ralf Rangnick has labelled his side "clear outsiders" for their Champions League semi-final against Manchester United.
Schalke followed up their stunning 5-2 win at Inter Milan last week with an impressive 2-1 win back in Germany on Wednesday to set up a last-four clash with Sir Alex Ferguson's men.
The Gelsenkirchen club, ninth in the Bundesliga, have saved their best performances for Europe this season, but Rangnick accepts they will have to up their level even further against United.
He said: "A semi-final in the Champions League is something extraordinary for all of us and against Manchester United we will start in a similar position to how we began against Inter; as clear outsiders.
"But again, anything can happen and if it all goes to plan we can reach the final.
"First we have to produce some good results in the Bundesliga to give us a boost: with every positive result our Champions League chances improve."
Rangnick was full of praise for his defence after they repelled a potent Inter attack needing goals to overturn the deficit from the San Siro.
Thiago Motta did score for the Nerazzurri but his goal was sandwiched by efforts from veteran Raul and Benedikt Howedes.
Rangnick added: "Last week we won the game in attack, playing brave offensive football and laying the foundation for this match. Today the team defended outstandingly.
Tue, Apr. 12
Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea | RecapShakhtar 0-1 Barcelona | Recap
Wed, Apr. 13
Schalke 2-1 Inter Milan | RecapTottenham 0-1 R. Madrid | Recap
CL Scores | Tables | Fixtures
"We allowed them maybe two chances from open play and if you look at Inter's attacking options, you know what my boys have done.
"The goal we conceded came from a set piece and if we had been a bit more clinical we could have won by an even bigger margin."
Inter boss Leonardo felt his side simply ran out of steam.
He said: "Since I arrived in December I've asked a lot of the players, ignoring injuries and fatigue.
"We worked hard and I want to underline that my players have given a lot over the past few months, in at times difficult situations. We arrived at the decisive stage of the season with a few problems and that's a pity.
"The key is to be in the right shape at the right time.
"At times we got caught up other people's expectations and did not perform at our best. We were punished for it in the first leg."
Rutashubanyuma
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Report Abuse Yankshire_Pud
- 4/14/2011 5:27:51 PM
Gotta love the Cinderella team but I will eat my own head if Shalke make it to the final...
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Report Abuse Steve_Mannschaft
- 4/14/2011 3:30:55 PM
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Report Abuse Stevo3
- 4/14/2011 1:25:12 PM
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Report Abuse Abragos
- 4/14/2011 12:37:05 PM
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Report Abuse Schalke_USA
- 4/14/2011 12:32:48 PM
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- 4/14/2011 12:31:06 PM
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Report Abuse Schalke_USA
- 4/14/2011 11:53:04 AM
As a sidenote, I'd love to see a Manchester United v Real Madrid final. That would have the potential of being magical. However, I think a Schalke v Real Madrid final would be much more intriguing in terms of storlines. After all, Schalke is a team made up of a plethora of ex-Real Madrid players such as Raul and Huntelaar and Metzelder and Jurado. It would be a true David v Goliath encounter! Half-jokingly at the beginning of the season I was calling Schalke "Real Madrid Germany."
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Report Abuse Schalke_USA
- 4/14/2011 11:48:11 AM
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- 4/14/2011 11:14:30 AM
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- 4/14/2011 11:03:38 AM
Rutashubanyuma
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Guardiola relishing Real tussles
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Updated Apr 13, 2011 7:07 AM ET
Pep Guardiola is relishing the prospect of four games against Real Madrid after guiding Barcelona into the Champions League semi-finals.
Lionel Messi's goal in Ukraine secured the Catalan club a 1-0 quarter-final second-leg win at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night and a comfortable 6-1 aggregate victory.
With Madrid holding a 4-0 advantage over Tottenham ahead of their second leg at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, the Primera Division arch rivals look set to go head to head over two legs in the last four of Europe's premier club competition.
They also meet in La Liga this weekend and in the Copa del Rey final at the Mestalla next Wednesday.
On the prospect of four imminent clasicos, Guardiola said on the club's website: "[It's] the chance to compete with the most powerful team.
"No matter how many times we play them, they are still the most powerful team in every sense - the strongest, the ones in the best form, the ones with an unstoppable squad. We shall accept the challenge and go for it."
He added: "It doesn't matter what condition we are in. What matters is mentality and desire.
"This is a gift that any sports person would be delighted to accept. In this situation, all we can do is thank the players, and treat what's happening as a gift."
Asked how his players would deal with the pressure, he replied: "In a very relaxed way, trying to do their job in the best possible way. We can't do any better than that.
"Now we have to compete with a very strong opponent.
"The interior peace that comes from knowing that we have taken this club so far in all three competitions is indescribable.
"Now we just have to enjoy it. It is a pleasure to be able to enjoy this opportunity."
Guardiola dedicated Tuesday night's triumph to striker Bojan Krkic, who looks set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury during Saturday's 3-1 home win over Almeria.
"I want to dedicate this win to Bojan," the 40-year-old said. "I hope it gives him the strength to recover as quickly as possible."
RivalsDM
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RSS Updated Apr 13, 2011 7:07 AM ET
Pep Guardiola is relishing the prospect of four games against Real Madrid after guiding Barcelona into the Champions League semi-finals.
Lionel Messi's goal in Ukraine secured the Catalan club a 1-0 quarter-final second-leg win at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night and a comfortable 6-1 aggregate victory.
With Madrid holding a 4-0 advantage over Tottenham ahead of their second leg at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, the Primera Division arch rivals look set to go head to head over two legs in the last four of Europe's premier club competition.
They also meet in La Liga this weekend and in the Copa del Rey final at the Mestalla next Wednesday.
On the prospect of four imminent clasicos, Guardiola said on the club's website: "[It's] the chance to compete with the most powerful team.
"No matter how many times we play them, they are still the most powerful team in every sense - the strongest, the ones in the best form, the ones with an unstoppable squad. We shall accept the challenge and go for it."
He added: "It doesn't matter what condition we are in. What matters is mentality and desire.
"This is a gift that any sports person would be delighted to accept. In this situation, all we can do is thank the players, and treat what's happening as a gift."
Asked how his players would deal with the pressure, he replied: "In a very relaxed way, trying to do their job in the best possible way. We can't do any better than that.
"Now we have to compete with a very strong opponent.
"The interior peace that comes from knowing that we have taken this club so far in all three competitions is indescribable.
"Now we just have to enjoy it. It is a pleasure to be able to enjoy this opportunity."
Guardiola dedicated Tuesday night's triumph to striker Bojan Krkic, who looks set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury during Saturday's 3-1 home win over Almeria.
"I want to dedicate this win to Bojan," the 40-year-old said. "I hope it gives him the strength to recover as quickly as possible."
Rutashubanyuma
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Foxsoccer Video
CL Studio Wrap: Good Fight Hot Spurs Posted: Apr 13, 2011
There was no miracle for Tottenham, but the team did have an excellent campaign....
CL Update: Schalke 2-1 Inter Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Schalke have just scored again to take the 2-1 advantage. Stay tuned.
CL Update: Schalke 1-1 Inter Milan Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Inter's Thiago has just scored the equalizer. Stay tuned.
CL Update: Schalke 1-0 Inter Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Raul has scored the first goal of the game to give Schalke a 1-0 lead into the h...
CL Update: Tottenham 0-1 Real Madrid Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Real Madrid giving them a 1-0 lead, stay tuned.
MORE FOXSOCCER VIDEO »
Champions League Headlines
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Report Abuse grad0n
- 4/14/2011 11:38:39 AM
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Report Abuse johnutd
- 4/14/2011 6:47:54 AM
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Report Abuse johnutd
- 4/14/2011 6:45:28 AM
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Report Abuse marcbarca
- 4/13/2011 9:22:51 PM
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Report Abuse grad0n
- 4/13/2011 6:40:45 PM
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Report Abuse ajax95
- 4/13/2011 5:41:22 PM
more fake soccer games coming up, when the A game is practice game, B game is warm up game, C game is " i do not want to take another shower on the day.
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Report Abuse deamaican
- 4/13/2011 4:44:40 PM
* 4/13/2011 10:29:21 AM
this madrid side is better than the one that saw the 5-0 thrashing....barca have their hands full.
My question is, where's the evidence that they are any better. Show facts...
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Report Abuse RealLakeHiawatha
- 4/13/2011 12:59:54 PM
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Report Abuse BarcaStyle
- 4/13/2011 12:19:57 PM
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Report Abuse BarcaStyle
- 4/13/2011 12:19:36 PM
.adSepDiv { margin-top: 15px; clear: both; } Foxsoccer Video
CL Studio Wrap: Good Fight Hot Spurs Posted: Apr 13, 2011
There was no miracle for Tottenham, but the team did have an excellent campaign....
CL Update: Schalke 2-1 Inter Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Schalke have just scored again to take the 2-1 advantage. Stay tuned.
CL Update: Schalke 1-1 Inter Milan Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Inter's Thiago has just scored the equalizer. Stay tuned.
CL Update: Schalke 1-0 Inter Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Raul has scored the first goal of the game to give Schalke a 1-0 lead into the h...
CL Update: Tottenham 0-1 Real Madrid Posted: Apr 13, 2011
Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Real Madrid giving them a 1-0 lead, stay tuned.
MORE FOXSOCCER VIDEO »
Champions League Headlines
- CL: Ronaldo urges Real to believe they come beat Barca
- Rangnick: Schalke underdogs in CL semi against Man Utd
- Redknapp keen for Tottenham to repeat CL adventure
- Video: Barton, Sullivan, Wynalda on CL results
- Schalke ousts Inter Milan, reaches CL semis | Video
- Real beats Spurs to set up semi vs. Barcelona | Video
- Barca's Pep relishing prospect of Real clashes in CL
- Ancelotti confesses to Torres error | Learning curve
- Three titans, one surprise in CL semifinals
- Ex-Italy coach Lippi admits Chelsea managerial appeal
- Status
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