Tuesday, May 23, 2006

UEFA Cup & Champions League Finals







Compare & contrast.

Two major events & the same result for both English teams.

Beforehand it was tricky to pick a definite winner of either game. In the end Middlesborough didn't perform & Seville won relatively easily.
Boro had a tremendous run that ran out of momentum at the last hurdle & though it could be a while before they get close again their supporters certainly seemed to enjoy the experience (despite some ticket issues)

Barcelona surely deserved their victory despite Arsenal holding on until the last quarter of the game.
For the Londoners it could be the first of more such finals (but surely Chelsea will be next ?)
This time they met a team that delivered when it mattered - from Ronaldinho & Eto-o to 2 or 3 sublime touches from the departing Henrik Larsson.
Maybe it would have been different without the (inevitable) sending off , maybe Henry, Fabregas & Co. could have conjured the win but probably Barca had the stars anyway who would perform on such an occasion.

From a heatwave in Eindhoven to the rain (and later winds) of Paris my 2500 miles of driving , 6 hotels, also involved a celebration in Sedan (promotion to French League 1), some end-of-season affairs (eg at Metz) & a curious Belgium game (vs Saudi Arabia) played before 3000 or so at Sittard in southern NL.

Oh & I did see Christ .... play (moderately) in midfield for Aalen in the German Regional League against Trier's Stuff (at 6 foot 7 or so there was a lot of him)

No comments: