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Bayern Munich vs Chelsea

Well its here. The end of club season football is here this weekend and its the Champions League Final. Bayern Munich will host the champions league final and the guests are Chelsea to their Allianz Stadium this Saturday.

Both the sides will be looking to end their seasons with a high. Bayern Munich have been dominated for 2 years now by Borussia Dortmund who managed to get the Domestic double over them this season whereas Cheslea have had the worst time in the premier league finishing 6th and sacking their 13 million Manager mid way through the season. If some one had asked me at the start of the knockout fixtures who will the Champions League finalists , I might have said Bayern depending upon the luck of the draw and players form but no way I would have said Chelsea. Anyways both the sides have made it and they deserve to be in the finals no matter what people may think.

The recent memories of finals for both these clubs haven't been great , Bayern losing to Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan comprehensively and Chelsea losing to Manchester United on a penalty shoot out.

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ADIEU O’ GALLANT SPIRIT

“For a gallant spirit, there can never be defeat”. Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, says it all. A person filled to the brim with the jubilance of life, the will to live and conquer mountains at glance can never be bogged down by the agony of defeat, and sure, age might take its toll on the performance capabilities but never on the attitude.

Many rather, all of Bayern Munich fans must have thought of this on the 9th of February 2012 when it was announced that their favorite child, their savior, their cornerstone for measuring grit and determination, the mighty Croat, Ivica Olic, was set to join Wolfsburg on a two-year deal, leaving a very memorable and sentiment driven three years at Bayern.


Seldom does it happen that a man brought in on a free transfer and as a backup for a veteran like Miroslav Klose or a young and upcoming Mario Gomez, breaks all the expectation barriers and cements his place in the squad. The work ethics that he brought on in the squad were remarkable. He revolutionized the concept of playing off the ball. His sense of presence along with team bonding and most importantly understanding what his team mates, especially, the game creators like Franck Ribery or Bastian Schweinsteiger, had to do was plausible.

His goal in the 90th minute against Manchester United at the Allianz Arena, or in the 43rd minute against the same team at Old Trafford, which wove a remarkable comeback and a place in the hall of fame as one of the best matches ever, will be talked about for generations to come. Moreover, even after having seven goals in the competition, how he wasn’t even nominated for the ‘Best Striker’ in the competition for the 2009/10 season by UEFA would always be a matter of debate and disgrace to the tournament and its management.

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another”. This quotation by Walter Elliott was followed by him very dearly. He toiled hard for the ball, slogged even harder to score, but never gave up even when the things felt rough. Moreover, the fortitude that he showed time in and time out have worked as the perfect textbook chapters for the young minds about to be molded.

It was unfortunate for Olic that his performances started dipping and at the same time Gomez’s true potential came out, which meant that he had to accept a role of a bench dweller. Even so, the chance that he got to play, he gave it his best and people might state that he wasn’t the same Olic that they had seen a couple of years ago but no one could culminate that he wasn’t giving the same, it could be said that he was giving even more.

“Old must give way to the new”. It is very regrettable that in this process Bayern would be losing a player of his quality and stature.

Fly O’ mighty Ivica, fly like a free bird that you are, but in your journey don’t forget that there are millions of Bayern fans who consider you their idol and would think of you during bright as well as dark times!

- Prazts4uall

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Adeu, Pep Guardiola!

Pep Guardiola’s coaching career with FC Barcelona began in 2007, when he was announced as coach of the B team. He grabbed that team by the scruff of the neck, led it to a championship and promotion. When Joan Laporta subsequently announced, a year later, that he was to be coach of the first team, there was a lot of reaction, most of it bewildered.

He was to helm a club that had gone silverless for two seasons under its beloved coach Frank Rijkaard, and what the hell could some guy who was just running the B team do?

Only win every trophy that the club contested that season, 6 of them, the vaunted Treble (Copa del Reig, La Liga and Champions League) and an award from doctors, as jaws had to be re-set from hitting the floor.

That man, that great coach who is Blaugrana and cule to his core, announced today that he is leaving the club at which he started as a ballboy, for very simple reasons of fatigue and loss of the enthusiasm necessary to give as much as he does for the team that he loves.

We all knew that this day would come, because Guardiola himself warned us that it would. In thinking of Guardiola’s tenure, I recall the first time I had gelato at this little place just off La Rambla, called Patagonia. It was a double-dip of chocolate and vanilla. It was so good, I began taking smaller bites, to delay the onset of the bottom of that cup coming up. So it was with Guardiola, who told us all, time and again that he wasn’t a coach for the long-term.

From the onset, his contracts were structured as one-year deals, so that he could follow his famous “feeling.” He always said that only he would know when it was time to leave, but that when he chose to leave, it would be for the good of the club.

Now is that time.

We can leave whether he is correct about his decision for another post, another time. For now, this is the time, and the place, to say “Thank you” to the coach who has made our beloved club the stuff of legend, who fashioned the team that we so adore into something that generations will speak about with reverence. Because unlike great clubs that did everything except win silver, Guardiola’s Barca won silver, but it did more than that.

He came in and jettisoned Deco and the great Ronaldinho, and people questioned the moves, but he knew. He also wanted to sell Samuel Eto’o, who convinced him that he could be part of the program, so Eto’o stayed. Then he took players who were jaded, a damaged locker room, and in the span of a pre-season, fashioned that mess into a Blaugrana fist, one that pressed, passed, ran, defended by attacking and brought concepts of total football into bright, shining life. In 2009, facing a Manchester United side with suspensions and injured players, a United side that boasted the great Wrongaldo, Guardiola’s Barca grabbed an early smash-and-grab goal against the run of play, then proceeded to play the style that the world now knows as tika-taka, until the littlest giant, Lionel Messi, headed home for an insurmountable lead.

“Sure, that was this year, but let’s see next year.” The next year, he did it again, winning the Liga, and being stopped in Champions League only by a freakin’ volcano, in a hotly contested Champions League semi-final tie against Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho, one that cules will say was unjustly ajudicated in both legs, but still, there is only the result.

He began to integrate B team talents into the first team, with the likes of Pedro Rodriguez and Sergi Busquets, who many now consider one of the best DMs in the world. He brought up Thiago Alcantara, Isaac Cuenca and Cristian Tello, and has more talent waiting in the wings, talent all reared in a system that values more than physical ability — intelligence, calmness with the ball, vision and further, foresight. In a favorite quote, Guardiola said that “The key is that these are the best players in the world. Without this, there are no coaches who can perform miracles, less so, me.”

But in the argument that many have offered, that anybody could with with Lionel Messi, that isn’t entirely true. Rijkaard had a ton of world-class talent, but lost that buy-in that you need from players to make them believe. But more than money, players want victories. And after two trophyless seasons, Guardiola took over a team that wanted to win. His timing was, then as now, perfect.

Later, when Jose Mourinho vaulted from Inter Milan to the Evil Empire, and people said “Heh, now there’s a REAL coach in La Liga. It’s go time.” And Guardiola did it again, laying a legendary, now-iconic manita on Barca’s most hated rival, and winning the La Liga and Champions League titles, losing the Copa del Reig in a memorable, and memorably violent final match.

And then came this season, his fourth, a season studded with injuries both minor and catastrophic, medical issues that threatened Eric Abidal and his faithful assistant Tito Vilanova, conspiracy theories and pretty much everything that you could shake a stick at. This season was, for me, his best coaching job because he took a tired, damaged side and fashioned it into something remarkable: a club that, in spite of everything that was going on, was only a few goals away from doing it all again. Ultimately, the fatigue, the injuries were too much to overcome, but it was the spirit and fire instilled in this club by this man, that enabled the group of players we enjoy watching so much, to come so close to beating the odds.

Now, the day that Guardiola warned us would come, is here. His “feeling” tells him that it is time to step down as head coach of FC Barcelona, for a much-needed sabbatical from the game. The real reasons that he stepped down are his own, so I will not speculate on them. But what I will say as a cule and a proud, proud socio, is thank you, Pep Guardiola. Thank you for the wins, the joy, the tears of joy and sadness, the amazing way that you took a group of coddled millionaires and made them into a family. It was only a family that would go to war for each other like that, in the way that they picked each other up, a new person working magic when someone else couldn’t. Thank you for reminding us again how beautiful football can be, played by players whose genius was fully unleashed by a system that wasn’t created by you, but that you utilized, tinkered with and adapted to their individual skill sets.

Thank you for the way that you brought beauty to the game, as an aesthete but also a radical who messed with established notions, who ran press conferences like a boss, who put up with so much until finally it was enough and you lashed out at the coach who became your nemesis, putting the verbal smack down in a glorious (and almost certainly calculated) way that energized your charges — they responded by putting the smack down on the pitch.

As with the way that this season ended, cules can’t be sad about your decision, because you always have to respect the decisions of people who are in full control of their personal lives. And from each and every ending is a new beginning. But also, it’s the joy that you brought to us all with your band of swashbuckling midgets. So for all that, for every last bit of that ….

Moltes gracies, Pep Guardiola!.

- Written by Kxevin

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Four-year deal for Brazilian defender Dante

FC Bayern have signed 28-year-old Brazilian centre-back Dante from Borussia Mönchengladbach for the new season. The player, whose given name is Dante Bonfim Costa Santos and whose previous clubs include Lille in France and Standard Liege in Belgium, has signed a four-year contract with Munich until 30 June 2016.

“Bayern Munich is one of the three or four biggest clubs in the world. With Bayern I have the chance of playing at the very highest level and of winning trophies,” commented Dante, “I’m 28 now and want to take this step in my career.”

“We’re delighted Dante is coming to Bayern,“ said Bayern director of sport Christian Nerlinger, “he’s a very good and high-profile Bundesliga player, who will help us hit our targets over the next four years.“

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Calcio Legends

Michel Platini was born 21st June 1955 in the tiny commune of Jœuf in north-east France. With a population of less than 8,000 today, it is hard to believe this little village, just an hours drive from Luxembourg, is the birthplace of one of the finest players ever to play the beautiful game. The 56 year-old has often been a controversial figure since his appointment head of UEFA in 2007, but the politics of football are of no interest to me, I am here to talk about Platini the player.

Before his move to Italy, Le Roi had already achieved great success at in his home nation. Platini started out playing for local club AS Jœuf when he was just 11 years of age, six years later and he was picked up by AS Nancy. This club was not Platini’s first-choice though, two trials at his favoured club FC Metz never came to anything due to health issues and injury, and this twist of fate would prove to be a wonderful stroke of luck for Nancy.

Platini made his debut as an 18 year-old for Les Chardons in May 1973, the first game of a truly remarkable career. The following season Nancy were relegated, and with just two goals in 24 games, Platini didn’t enjoy the finest debut season. The 1974/1975 campaign was when it all kicked off for the young prodigy, Platini scored 17 goals as Nancy were crowned French Ligue 2 champions, he also scored a breathtaking 13 goals in six domestic cup games. The following campaign he scored 22 goals as Nancy finished 7th on their return to Ligue 1, as well as another six in the Coupe De France, not bad for a midfielder.

Platini won the French footballer of the year in 1976, the year in which he made his full debut for his country at the Summer Olympics in Montreal. The youngster scored three goals in three games before France were dumped out in a 4-0 loss to East Germany. Three more seasons at Nancy saw Platini score 65 goals, including the winner in the 1978 Coupe De France Final against OG Nice. The previous year saw Platini finish 3rd in the Ballon D’or behind England’s Kevin Keegan and the winner, Denmark’s Allan Simonsen.

A move to AS Saint-Étienne followed in 1979, after a disappointing World Cup for France in 1978 which saw Les Bleus eliminated in the first group stages. Platini spent three seasons with Saint-Étienne, surpassing the 25 goal mark in every one of these. He won the Ligue 1 Championship in 1981, and was runner-up in the Coupe De France in 81′ and 82′. Platini once again finished third in the Ballon d’Or award of 1980, losing out to German duo Bernd Schuster and winner Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

This was all just a prelude to the main event though, Platini led France to semi-finals of the 1982 World Cup before joining Turin giants Juventus, the place where he would earn his place as one of the true footballing greats. His first season with The Old Lady saw him win the Coppa Italia, finish European Cup runner-up, and pick up the Capocannoniere with 16 league goals. On top of this, he won his first Ballon d’or in 1983, easily beating Kenny Dalglish and Simonsen in the vote.

The 1983/1984 season was believe it or not, even more successful. Platini won his first Serie A title, the European Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. He won the Capocannoniere for a second consecutive year, this time with 20 goals. And as if this wasn’t enough, he was crowned Ballon d’Or again. Platini was the best player in the world by this time, and if anyone questioned this, his performance at the European Championships in 1984 silenced the doubters. Platini smashed a record nine goals in the competition, including the opening strike as his team beat Spain 2-0 in the final. This was the first time France had won the competition, and to make it all the more sweeter, he lifted the trophy in the Parc Des Prince in Paris.

Just when it looked as though it couldn’t get any better, Platini continued to set the world alight. The 1984/85 campaign saw the Frenchman win his first and only European Cup, a 1-0 win over Liverpool. The winning goal? A Michel Platini penalty. The Bianconeri won the Intercontinental cup that same year, beating Argentinos Juniors on penalties, needless to say Platini scored the winner. A third Capocannoniere came at the end of season, Platini topping the Serie A scoring charts with 18 goals that year. Oh, and he won the Ballon d’Or for the third year in a row, the only player in history to have done so.

The 1985/1986 campaign saw him pick up another domestic title, this came before he lead his country to a third-placed finish in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. This was France’s best ever finish at the time, and Platini was instrumental to this, despite playing most of the competition whilst being injured. Platini’s final season at Juventus was disappointing, with a return of just five goals, he decided to call time on an incredible career.

Two league titles, Coppa Italia winner, European Cup winner, three-times Ballon d’Or winner and three-times Capocannoniere winner whilst at Juventus, Michel Platini is a Serie A Legend and one of the best footballers of his generation.

Ryan Smith

Serie A Weekly

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