Real Madrid
Champions League Matchday 1
ROAD TO ROME – CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHDAY 1
GROUP A
All roads lead to Rome so the old saying goes but for AS Roma the pressure of being the club whose ground will host the 2009 final proved too much to bear in their encounter with CFR Cluj-Napoca of Romania. Christian Panucci gave the Italians the lead on seventeen minutes before their world turned upside down, the Romanians reversing the deficit to win 2 - 1. Culio scored once in thirty-two appearances in 2007-08; in Rome, he doubled that tally in twenty-two minutes, the first on twenty-seven, and the second two minutes into the second half.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea ended the French resistance of Girodins Bordeaux, steamrolling through their defences at will. Frank Lampard opened the scoring after fourteen minutes, Joe Cole doubling that lead on half-an-hour. The comfortable 4 – 0 victory was sealed in the last eight minutes with goals from Malouda and Anelka.
GROUP B
Goals were in short supply in this group as Werder Bremen failed to break the stubborn defences of Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta, the match ended goalless. Jose Mourinho took his Internazionale side to Greece to play Panathinaikos. No requirement to beware the Greeks bearing gifts as the Italian champions ran out comfortable 2 – 0 winners, Mancini and Adriano the scorers.
GROUP C
Barcelona may be stumbling in La Liga but they were positively purring in the Camp Nou, cruising to a 3 – 1 victory Sporting Lisbon. Marquez broke the deadlock midway through the first half, Samuel Eto’o increasing the lead on the hour, converting a penalty. Despite Tonel pulling a goal back on seventy-three, the win was in little doubt, a fact sealed with Xavi scoring three minutes from time.
Samba rhythms dominated the Swiss nightline as Shaktar Dontesk danced through their encounter with FC Basle. The boys from Brazil, Fernandinho and Jadson scored twice in the first half to give the Ukrainians a 2 – 1 win, Abraham scoring for the hosts with seconds remaining.
GROUP D
Atletico Madrid made their debut in the Champions League and had a night to remember in Eindhoven, blowing PSV aside in a 3 – 0 victory. Kun Aguero scored twice in thirty-six minutes before Maniche added the third on fifty-four, the Dutch helpless in their response.
In the south of France, Marseille might have fancied their chances against Liverpool, especially when Cana gave them a twenty-third minute lead. It was not to last as they succumbed to Steven Gerrard’s ninety-eighth and ninth goals for the Merseysiders, the equaliser a stunning shot from twenty-five yards three minutes after the French had scored. The winner coming from the penalty-spot six minutes later. Robbie Keane might not be finding the back of the in Premier League so it was entirely consistent that he did not trouble the French either.
GROUP E
Pointless playing the games really as none of Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic or AaB Aalborg could hit a barn door, let alone find the back of the net. Indeed had they not kicked off at Celtic Park, Beauchamp of Aalborg would not have been sent off in the seventy-ninth minute.
GROUP F
A tight group on paper proved to be just that in reality with Steaua Bucharest succumbing to a fourteenth minute strike by van Buyten to give Bayern Munchen the points in the Romanian capital. In Lyon, the hosts gifted Fiorentina a two goal advantage with Albert Gilardino scoring in the eleventh and forty-second minutes. The French side fought back with two goals in twelve second-half minutes through Piquionne on seventy-three and Benzema on eighty-five, which probably makes his value €80.1m.
GROUP H
BATE Borisov may have thought that they had drawn the short straw with a visit to the Bernabeu but despite leaving the Spanish capital with ‘nil points’, better teams than they have been handed heavier defeats than the 2 – 0 scoreline inflicted upon them by Real Madrid. Pin-up of La Liga, Sergio Ramos, opened the scoring on eleven minutes but one of the less beautiful people gracing the top flight of any league, Ruud van Nistelrooy, made the Madrileños wait until the fifty-seventh minute for the second.
Juventus returned from the exile caused by the, ahem, dubious business practices that engulfed the club three seasons ago to beat UEFA Cup holders, Zenit St Petersburg by a single Del Piero goal fourteen minutes from time.
SLAVE? BLATTER INSULTS HISTORY WITH ILL-CHOSEN WORDS
During his time in office, Sepp Blatter has been no stranger to controvesy. Famously derided as having 101 bad ideas every day, FIFA’s President has suggested that women footballers ’should wear tighter shorts’ to make the game more popular with men, capping that sexism by insulting millions of people throughout history whose dignity and humanity have been stripped bare.
Comparing Cristiano Ronaldo, a multi-millionaire whose every whim is pandered to, with those who have suffered unimaginable depravation through slavery is simply unforgivable and must surely be the final nail in his Presidential coffin. It is simply untenable that Blatter remain in office; unbelievable that those nations whose ancestors have been ripped asunder through the greed of others have not yet called for his resignation.
Quite how Blatter came to his conclusions in a television interview beggars belief. Ronaldo freely renegotiated his Manchester United contract last season, enjoying vast sums of money on a weekly basis as reward for his talent; hardly the basis of any slavery where abject poverty was rampant. All Blatter has done is convince a spoilt manchild that his toys have been taken away because his employers will not tear up his contract of employment. Ronaldo could of course force the issue and submit a written transfer request. He will not for in doing so he will deprive himself of millions of pounds in loyalty bonuses. Should United decide to sell him, they will be forced to pay this money, hardly slavery Herr Blatter.
The hypocrisy of Blatter has been laid bare for all to see. If Blatter were truly convinced of the inquitous nature of the transfer market, he would have pioneered changes long before now. Instead, he has ensured the inherent greed within the system is in plain view; clubs extorting huge sums of money for players, even of mediocre talent, buying clubs exerting pressure to ensure the talent floats to those at the top. Outside of sport, which other industries impose a fee for employing personnel currently working for a rival?
Blatter’s motivation of this outburst is hard to fathom. He knew the furore which would erupt over his words, indeed one questions whether that was his intention. Is he meddling to try to bring the Ronaldo transfer to a head? FIFA had already declared that Real Madrid were not ‘tapping’ the player up despite their ready quotes for any media outlet that asked. Blatter has also ensured that a legal challenge to the FIFA statutes governing transfers and contracts will be forthcoming in the next year or two, with him being called as a star witness. The apocalyptic scenario of clubs going their own way may well have been hastened if anarchy reigns over the transfer market. More likely though, this was purely about revenge. Under the auspices of UEFA, the European Club Association rejected his quota proposals, preferring the current ‘homegrown’ rules, approved by the European Union. Blatter could not get his own way on that and took the chance to launch an incendiary device into football. Whether it ends his career at the top prematurely will soon be seen.
OH DEAR CALDERON NO RON-RON
Ramon Calderon, erstwhile President of Real Madrid, has conceded that his pursuit of Crisitiano Ronaldo is likely to be in vain this summer. According to reports from Marca, Calderon admitted this weekend that the ‘most likely scenario’ is that the Portuguese winger will be staying at Old Trafford for one more season at least.
The main stumbling block all summer has been the reluctance of Manchester United to enter into negotiations with the Spaniards, despite the best efforts of the Madrilenos to engineer a move through the media and with their own outbursts. The only reason United would now sell appears to be if the player himself requests a move, something that would be unlikely to happen as he will forfeit all of the bonuses due under his contract, signed only last summer.
For Calderon, it is a path well-trodden. During summer 2007, he publicly pursued Cesc Fabregas only to be rebuffed by the player and Arsenal. The use of ‘tame’ media outlets is a well-practised methodolgy for unsettling players and will no doubt continue despite its lack of success in these two high-profile transfers.
Had Real approached the United board quietly, they may have met with more success. Now, with egg on his face once more and empty promises in his hand, Calderon has to look elsewhere for new players.
LA LIGA MAY BE BLACKED OUT BY PLAYERS STRIKE
In marked contrast to the sums of money being spent by the big two of the Primera Division, is the case last year of UD Levante, the bottom team, relegated and essentially bankrupt. They did not pay the players regularly or at all, for large parts of the season and look certain to slide through the Segundo Division into the third level of Spanish football unless changes take place at the club very quickly. The lessons of their demise are not being learned though and is the root of a clash between the league and players union.
AS reports that the union want the league to change the insolvency rules to ensure that players salaries are paid before anyone else in these situations. They are right to be nervous; Spanish top flight clubs have a recent history of financial mismanagement with even the champions, Real Madrid, teetering on the edge of this abyss at the start of the century, saved only by the sale of land for dubious values.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement before the start of the season, the union has the mandate to call for strike action with echoes of the PFA dispute over Broadcasting revenues in England. Then the players voted overwhelmingly to strike if the argument was not resolved which led to the clubs backing down from reducing the moneys paid to the PFA. The Spanish dispute is more crucial than even that; this is the players wages and not all earn the multi-million euro salaries of the elite, a higher proportion need to pay their bills every month.
With the inflated transfer fees paid for players in the Champions League sides, it is hard to see any justification on moral grounds that the clubs have to not accede to the request of the players union. In football though, morals and commonsense are two qualities in short supply.
RONALDO SAGA KEEPS UP ITS HEAD OF STEAM
Rivalling the tedium produced by Emmanuel Adebayor’s protracted entanglement with Barcelona is Real Madrid’s pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo. This week has seen more conjecture on his future, produced by the fact that he has not returned to Manchester for pre-season training. That he was not supposed to, his summer prolonged due to Euro2008 is a minor inconvenience.
With surgery on his foot - an injury that has moved from his toe to his ankle in the space of a week - scheduled to take place, the rumour mill will continue apace. Marca has fuelled the fire further by reporting that Real will this week table a formal bid of €87.5m, some €12.5m short of the target that United are believed by the English media to desire.
Marca is one of two notionally independent media outlets used by Real to unsettle players with constant speculation. The ideal scenario for the Spanish champions is that Ronaldo submits a written transfer request, a course of action that is unlikely to be followed as it would negate and signing-on fees owed from his contract renegotiation last season with United.
It means that Real will be forced to pay through the nose for the player, perhaps double his true value, in much the same way that Barcelona are being held hostage by Arsenal for Adebayor. The Catalans are perhaps in more urgent need of buying Adebayor with President Joan Laporta needing 65% of the vote to go in his favour in this weekend’s ‘Motion of No Confidence’ to survive; A big-money signing might well swing some more votes in his favour.
In both cases, the close of transfer window on August 31st is the only way speculation will end if neither has signed for either of the Primera Division clubs by then. Even so, the respite for the supporters of Arsenal and Manchester United will be brief; it is four short months until the window re-opens in January 2009.
FERGIE’S PORTUGUESE PROBLEMS MOUNT
The Portuguese Football Federation has identified Carlos Queiroz as the most likely successor to Luis Felipe Scolari following his decision to join Chelsea. The Manchester United Assistant Manager had been believed to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s chosen successor when he eventually retires.
If the reports are correct, it puts Ferguson in an invidious position. On the one hand, he wants Queiroz to remain at Old Trafford, not least because of the almost paternal relationship he enjoys with Cristiano Ronaldo, who needs to be managed carefully due to his choreographed desire to move to Real Madrid. Countering that is the recognition that for Queiroz, such an opportunity would almost certainly be the peak of his career. It is likely that Ferguson would try to dissuade his assistant taking the appointment but he can give no assurances that the United Board would appoint Queiroz as manager when the time comes.
Ferguson needs a strong number two by his side. He has tried to combine both roles previously which was an unmitigated failure. His most successful seasons have been with a knowledgeable coach by his side and with the role of the manager becoming ever more voluminous in its duties, to do both roles may hasten his retirement.
Were Queiroz to be appointed, it would help to wipe the memories of his last venture away from Old Trafford, a trophyless spell at the Bernabeu.
Villa To Stay At Valencia For Now
David Villa has dashed the dreams of supporters of Europe’s biggest clubs by stating his desire to remain at the Mestalla for the coming season. Having finished Euro2008 as top scorer, Villa has been heavily linked with a move away with the Premier League, Barcelona or Real Madrid favoured destinations in those reports.
However, in response to chants from supporters yesterday, Villa spoke at Valencia City Hall where the Spanish squad were celebrating their triumph, the striker said,
I am very grateful and I am very happy here. I hope to stay here. The president should be thanked for wanting to keep the best players and to make a great team
Had Villa left, it would have created a huge problem for Los Ches, still reeling from an indifferent 2007-08 campaign that saw them only pull clear of the relegation spots in the final weeks of the season. Villa maintained his excellent scoring record, a key reason for their survival.
Despite his proclamations, there is still no certainty that he will line-up at Valencia next season. The money that the club could raise from his sale would enable the squad to be strenghtened. That according to President, Agustin Morera, is not the key matter, keeping Villa is,
We had offers last year, we have had more this year and we continue to receive them. Our plan is to keep him and we will try and do this
For how much longer though remains to be seen. Having had his appetite for glory whetted with the national team, his desire for success at club level may yet overrride any sense of loyalty.
PLATINI WANTS CLUB DEBT OUTLAWED
Michel Platini has set himself on course to become football’s Robin Hood, robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Days after his plan to adjust the Champions League revenue share to clubs, he is now seriously tackling the issue of the debt levels that plague the larger clubs across the continent.
Regular financial reviews from Deloitte & Touche and their ilk show that the challengers for the premier trophy in European club football are heavily in debt. The problem for Platini is how to deal with such an issue. The framework for any changes already exists with the UEFA Club Licencing process; the Frenchman wants to take it further and curb the excesses of the former G14.
The European Club Association (ECA) was formed as an umbrella organisation within UEFA’s ranks to compensate for the disbandment of the G14; Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has been appointed President, subject to confirmation at the ECA’s meeting in ten days time. An illustrious playing career was followed by a successful spell in the commercial confines of Bayern Munchen, giving the German some kudos within both circles, indicating that the thought processes of the Governing Body and the clubs are in tandem in some respects at least.
Problematically, that harmonious state is set to diverge once the details are scrutinised. Rummeneige believes that the financial stabilitly of the games top clubs is crucial to football’s long-term survival; the clubs have yet to show, en masse, the same sensibilities. Rummenigge and Platini want to curb the excesses shown in expenditure, particularly wages. The financial rewards for players have long been a root cause for the financial turmoil which exists at club level. Proposals that require this spend to be curbed, pegging the salaries to 55% of turnover has been mooted, representing an immediately large obstacle which Platini and Rummeneige will struggle to overcome.
In setting financial restrictions, the duo have to come forward with achievable solutions otherwise they risk alienating the supporters. The simplest option for the clubs to bring revenues and wages into line is to increase matchday ticket prices sharply. For some clubs, the practicalities of doing so are relatively straightforward, limited capacities at the stadia means that waiting lists for tickets become shorter as less affluent supporters drop out. However, there is a downside to this in that those supporters become lost to the game. Broadcasters have reached saturation point in some countries and the matches which have the ratings that advertisers care about are increasingly becoming more polarised toward the top clubs domestically. And what of their offspring? If parents are out of the habit of attending, the example which they set to the next generation is lost and so forth.
Collective Bargaining has long been the preferred method for Broadcast Rights but an era of stringent financial guardianship is likely to see an end to that. The bigger clubs recognise that they would be significantly better rewarded through individual negotiations but the wealth gap which already exists would only become wider under those circumstances. UEFA would need to put in place some financial support for the losers in this situation, something that they have been strongly opposed to doing in the past.
Another crucial area to be addressed is the level of borrowing in evidence at clubs. The English Premier League is regularly held as an example where the excesses of this are most evident. That might be the case now but it was not so long ago that Real Madrid were winning the Champions League, saved from insolvency by the fortuitous sale of land to the city council. The current trend is different, foreign investors funding the purchase of clubs via borrowing which is loaded onto the clubs Balance Sheet or to parent companies, the repayments for which are removed from the club via Management Fees.
An inherently risky strategy, there is nothing wrong with this methodology provided it is managed prudently. However, too many clubs are barely profitable without such charges leading to an accumulation of future financial issues, clubs excessively dependent on future revenues to survive.
Separating the issue of third party borrowing from loans by owners is a thornier issue. Roman Abramovich has funded Chelsea via such loans yet can UEFA treat them as equals to the debts incurred at Manchester United and Liverpool for example, arising from the purchase of the clubs? What of the mortgage that Arsenal have on The Emirates Stadium? Is that of equal standing to any of the three previous examples. Wherever the line is drawn, the losers will bemoan their misfortune. It will take all of Platini and Rummenigge’s political acumen to find a solution that is beneficial to the game as a whole.
Barcelona Chastised By Cesc
Players are not normally openly critical of clubs in general terms. Any bitterness is reserved for how badly they have felt treated or about the deterioration of relationships with managers; never though about how they conduct their business.
Never Say Never is the new maxim as Cesc Fabregas took time out from Spain’s Euro2008 campaign to slap his former employers and long-time suitors, CF Barcelona, about how they conduct their business.
Speaking with Catalunya Radio, the Arsenal midfielder said
A club like Barcelona must respect a little more the intimacy of a club that never makes ‘noise’ and that tries to do things well like Arsenal. In the last few weeks it’s come out that Barcelona want at least 7 players from Arsenal and this is not necessary. These things cast doubts on our players and upsets them. Arsenal do things in a different way. Always in secret. This is much more normal.
The relationship between the Spanish clubs and the media is more developed than in England and it is this aspect that causes dissension in the ranks of supporters. Both Real and Barcelona have radio and newspaper outlets that are supportive of their objectives, more than willing to be the font of speculation in order to achieve them. In England, clubs rarely use the media in the same way, the domestication of those outlets never likely to happen either with journalists happy to bite the hands that feed at the first opportunity.
At Arsenal, it is rare for speculation to be officially commented on. In Wenger’s time and before then, the club would never speculate openly regarding potential targets, leaks coming from Agents and Selling clubs. It leads to a mass of unfounded rumour and places stress on those who want action and demand that the club sign everyone that they are linked to.
In openly criticising the Catalan’s, questions about his commitment to Arsenal are answered. It is clear that he is unhappy with the ongoing dramas surrounding Alexandr Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor. Of those two, he has been more supportive of the latter albeit stopping short of telling him to stay. Adebayor is the more likely departure to the Camp Nou with a fee of €30m quoted by Marca yesterday. For Cesc, the team ethic is clearly important which marks him out as a potential Arsenal captain of the future.
SPURS JOIN THE QUEUE TO BUY A VILLA IN THE SUN
Tottenham’s offer of £20m for David Villa seems more tongue-in-cheek than based in any serious reality. The player is being heavily linked with all of Europe’s major clubs and now some minor ones too and the Spanish club admit that offers have been received for the player but they have not given up on him staying.
The player has often been quoted as wanting to move to Real Madrid or Barcelona but has also drawn attention from at least two of the Premier League’s top two. A move to the Catalan giants seems to be the more stretched imagination of journalists with Joan Laporta closing the net on Emmanuel Adebayor although the chances of that succeeding are diminishing by the day. It seems that they have realised that Arsenal will not be negotiating a fee below €30m (£24m), a valuation that the azulgrana had previously baulked at paying.
Villa meanwhile has been subject to more interest that the media is aware of. Juan Sanchez, Les Ches technical secretary, spoke with Spanish daily AS,
A number of teams have come in with offers, more than are being spoken about, but both (coach Unai) Emery and I think that he’s going to stay
Were El Guaje to leave the Mestalla, it would be a big hole for them to fill. Scoring twenty one goals in thirty-five appearances in all competitions is a record comparable to any of Europe’s leading strikers. Considered in the context of Valencia’s dismal season in 2007-08, it becomes all the more remarkable.
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