The Weekly Take, Issue 13: Two Matches from Immortality

After beating Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal, Real Madrid are almost certainly guaranteed of a spot in the final at Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex. Marcelo’s goal two minutes before halftime equalised after Joshua Kimmich had put the Bavarian club ahead, and after the break, Marco Asensio put Real 2-1 ahead, which is how it finished.

Should they advance to the final, Real will be the clear favourites to complete a Champions League “three-peat” by beating Liverpool, who themselves raced out to a 5-2 lead after one leg against Roma.

I cannot overstate just what a monumental achievement it would be if Real were to win their third consecutive Champions League title, and fourth in the last five years, this season.

Such an accomplishment, in my opinion, would make the current Real Madrid side the greatest club team in the history of football, for this level of excellence and dominance has not been seen since Real’s team of 1956-60, featuring legendary names such as Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano, and Francisco Gento.

However, although that team won five European titles in succession, if Real were to win it all this season, I would rank the current Real squad above the team of six decades ago, because the current group has done it in an era in which sustained success at this level is far more difficult.

Another Champions League title would also see them move ahead of other legendary teams, such as the 1970s Bayern and Ajax sides, the Liverpool team of 1977-85, the AC Milan teams of 1988-94 and 2003-07, the Real Madrid team of 1998-2003, and the Barcelona team of 2009-15.

Every single one of those teams won the European Cup or Champions League multiple times, and all were led by some of the greatest footballers of all time, much like the current Real squad.

However, once again, changes in format, as well as the sheer level of dominance shown by Real Madrid right now, mean that all these would pale in comparison to Real’s achievements over the last five years, should they win the title this season.

It wasn’t until the 1997-98 season that non-champions from stronger leagues were allowed to participate. Prior to this, only league champions were part of the tournament, and this led to teams from extremely weak leagues taking part, rather than the teams that were truly the best in Europe.

Furthermore, the Champions League did not expand to 32 teams until the 1999-2000 season. Thus, that is the first season that can truly be said to be the first of the modern Champions League era.

This, therefore, would put Real ahead of all the pre-2000 teams mentioned, because of the degree of difficulty involved.

When comparing Real’s achievements to those of their more recent counterparts, they still outshine the likes of the mid-2000s Milan side or the early 2010s Barça side.

The mid-2000s Milan team, though they won two Champions Leagues and reached the semi-finals every year but one over a five-year stretch, struggled domestically, surprisingly winning only one Serie A title despite boasting such legends as Andriy Shevchenko, Rivaldo, Alessandro Nesta, Kaká, and Andrea Pirlo.

Although the Barça team, featuring greats like Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol, and Xavi, did win the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Champions League in 2009 and 2015, they never won consecutive Champions League titles, let alone three in a row or four in five years.

At the moment, when it comes to ranking the greatest club teams ever, I have that Barça squad and Real’s current crop as being tied for the greatest of all time.

However, Real Madrid are now standing on the brink of footballing immortality.

By winning the Champions League this season, they will put clear daylight between themselves and that legendary Barcelona team, as well as every other great club team there has ever been.

Even those who do not support, or even hate Real Madrid, have to admit the following: we are witnessing one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports.

It is certainly possible that if Real Madrid win their third straight Champions League title this season, the feat will not be repeated for at least another 50 years.

The Weekly Take, Issue 12: Seven Years Too Late

Ordinarily, my column is about a particular match that occurred during the week and my thoughts on an aspect related to the match in question.

However, something happened in the world of football this week that was so unexpected, so mind-boggling, and so astonishing that, although it was not related to any match, I just had to write about it.

Of course, I am referring to the resignation of Arsenal head coach Arsène Wenger, who will step down at the end of the season, having been in charge of the Gunners for almost 22 years.

To put in perspective how long Wenger has been at the helm of Arsenal, consider the following:

When Arsène Wenger first took over at Arsenal:

The reigning FIFA World Player of the Year was George Weah.

The Czech Republic had just reached the final of the European Championship.

The Atlanta Olympics had been held just a few months prior.

The #1 song on Billboard was “Macarena”.

The highest-grossing movie of the week was “The First Wives Club”.

Montenegro and Timor Leste were not even independent nations yet.

In hindsight, although Wenger’s time at Arsenal has been eventful as well as fruitful, at least in its early days, it is clear that Wenger will leave his position at Arsenal about seven years late.

Over a seven-year span between 2006 and 2013, Arsenal were never in the top two in the Premier League and never reached the final of the FA Cup or Champions League.

In the early days of the Wenger era, Arsenal had been a club that attracted star players, such as Thierry Henry, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Marc Overmars, and Robin van Persie, among others.

However, at this stage, Arsenal are more known for losing star players, with names such as Cesc Fàbregas, Alexis Sànchez, Bacary Sagna, and van Persie having slipped through the club’s fingers since the turn of the decade.

This is unacceptable for a club that is not only among the world’s most famous, but is also a big-market team, as they play in London.

A sizeable amount of the blame for this has to be given to Wenger.

Time and again, especially since the mid-2000s, he has failed to bring in the appropriate players, either by refusing to adequately spend money or by spending the money on the wrong players.

He has also insisted on playing a certain way, and this rigid adherence to the “Arsenal way” has been to the detriment of the team.

Since 2005, Arsenal have only won three FA Cups, have only finished in the top two of the Premier League once, and have not even been close to winning the Champions League.

For a club of Arsenal’s stature, reputation, and resources, this is certainly underachievement.

Although Wenger led Arsenal to some extremely impressive seasons from the late 1990s until the mid-2000s, he has done almost nothing positive of note over the last decade.

So dire was the situation that the club endured a nine-year trophy drought from 2005 to 2014.

Here is a sampling of some of the clubs from one of the four major leagues that won at least one domestic league or cup title over this timespan.

Espanyol. Lazio. Nürnberg. Portsmouth. Stuttgart. Wigan. Wolfsburg.

The fact that clubs such as these won at least one domestic honour in a period in which Arsenal could not speaks volumes.

A while ago, I wrote about who I consider to be the greatest coaches in football.

My “Mount Rushmore” of football head coaches includes the following: José Mourinho, Rinus Michels, Helenio Herrera, and Carlo Ancelotti.

Arsène Wenger would not even crack my top 25.

Although he achieved much in his first eight years at Arsenal, those eight years gave him a free pass for all the mistakes he would go on to make.

The results, or rather the lack of them, speak for themselves.

As Arsène Wenger leaves Arsenal, fans of the North Londoners everywhere should rightly honour all that the long-serving Frenchman has done for the club.

However, they should also look to the future with optimism, because in many ways, Wenger has contributed to the destruction of the club that he once laboured to build into a powerhouse.

The Weekly Take, Issue 11: Crashing Back Down to Earth

After their earth-shattering comeback from three goals behind to beat Barcelona in the Champions League, many expected AS Roma to continue their run of form and carry that momentum through the Derby della Capitale against Lazio.

However, it was clear that the Giallorossi were unable to maintain the level of intensity and effort that brought them the victory against Barça as they laboured to a 0-0 draw against their city rivals.

For Roma fans, this would have been especially galling, because it’s one thing to show that sort of lack of urgency in any other match.

It’s quite another to do so in a derby against one’s rival team.

Furthermore, the dropped points see Lazio remain third, four points ahead of Roma. With the Serie A season ending soon, time is running out for Roma to gain ground on Lazio and qualify for next season’s Champions League.

This is also clear evidence as to why Roma have no chance to win the Champions League this season.

Of course, you could also point to the relative lack of star power in their squad, but let’s face it: if a team follows up an incredible victory like that against Barça with a lackadaisical, uninspiring performance in a derby, that speaks volumes about their ability to maintain focus in pursuit of the biggest prize in club football.

It should be noted that Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool – the three other teams that have advanced to the last four of the Champions League – all followed up their respective Champions League victories by winning their own league matches.

It may be true that physical and mental fatigue played a role in Roma’s diminished performance. This may be seen in Roma defender Kostas Manolas, who scored the winning goal that knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League, being substituted off near the end of the match due to injury, which may have been brought on by his efforts against the Catalan club.

But even so, derbies ought to be different. Derbies are often decided by which team just wants it more during the game, and Roma simply did not want it badly enough.

As was mentioned earlier, it is very possible that Roma could pair their season of overachievement in the Champions League with a league campaign that sees them missing out on next year’s edition.

This also brings me to my other point: Roma’s relative lack of star power, which is also a problem of their own doing.

In what will go down as a colossal blunder by the Roma front office, the Italian club sold Mohamed Salah to Liverpool in the off-season. Although not many eyebrows were raised by this transfer at the time, it could come back to haunt them in dramatic fashion, as Roma were drawn to play against Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals.

While Roma do have some solid players, such as Alisson, Radja Nainggolan, Kevin Strootman, Juan Jesus, Edin Džeko, and Stephan El Shaarawy, none of them are on the elite, game-changing level of the likes of Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Robert Lewandowski.

Roma will go into their semifinal against Liverpool as the clear underdogs, and for good reason – not only did they sell an emerging superstar to the team they are about to face, but they have also shown that they lack the sort of consistency that will lead them to a European title.

In fact, I will come right out and say it: Roma have no chance of victory over two legs in the semifinal.

This would also have been true if they had been drawn against Real or Bayern.

Among the four teams remaining in the competition, Roma have the least star power and are the least consistent. They also have relatively little big-match experience, unlike the battle-tested veterans in Madrid and Munich.

It is a shame that this season, in which Roma have surpassed many expectations, could end with them having absolutely nothing to show for their efforts – not even a place in next season’s Champions League.

Unfortunately, though, in spite of all they’ve done so far this season, Roma just do not seem to have what it takes to win it all.

The Weekly Take, Issue 10: An Ode to the Bicycle Kick

When the draw for the Champions League quarterfinals was made, all eyes naturally turned to the Real Madrid-Juventus match, as it was a rematch of last season’s final.

Although the match was expected to be close, such was not the case, as Real Madrid swept Juventus aside 3-0. The highlight of the match was a spectacular bicycle kick scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. Such was the skill level involved in scoring the goal that almost as soon as it was scored, the video of the goal went viral on the Internet.

There is just something about a perfectly-executed bicycle kick.

No other shot in football is able to capture the imagination of fans in quite the way that this electrifying, athletic manoeuvre is able to.

Because of the rarity of such a goal, as well as the sheer athleticism involved in scoring it, bicycle kicks have an almost-superhuman air about them.

They are the sort of goals that every aspiring footballer dreams of scoring someday.

Ronaldo’s goal against Juve joins the likes of several other iconic bicycle kicks.

Arguably the most spectacular goal ever scored via a bicycle kick was scored by Zlatan Ibrahimović in a 2012 international friendly that saw Sweden play against England.

After an errant header by England goalkeeper Joe Hart, Ibrahimović saw his opportunity and thrust himself skyward, then launched a ferocious overhead shot that flew 30 metres, eventually coming to rest in the England net.

As if that weren’t enough, it was Ibrahimović’s fourth goal of the match.

In terms of sheer importance, one bicycle kick that stands out is Rivaldo’s effort against Valencia in a 2001 La Liga match.

Before the goal was scored, the match was tied at 2-2. Barcelona had to win to finish fourth in the league, and thus qualify for the next season’s Champions League.

With time soon to run out, Frank de Boer lofted a perfect pass that barely cleared the Valencia defense. Rivaldo took the pass on his chest, then unleashed a stunning bicycle kick that flew into the bottom corner of the net.

Not only did the goal send Barcelona to the Champions League, it also denied Valencia a spot in the competition.

During the 1982 World Cup, Klaus Fischer executed the move to perfection on the biggest stage of all.

In the semifinal match against France, West Germany trailed 3-2 and were on the brink of elimination. Then, in the 108th minute, Pierre Littbarski’s cross was met by Horst Hrubesch, who headed the ball downwards towards Fischer. Fischer proceeded to launch a bicycle kick, which found the back of the net. The match would finish 3-3, and West Germany would win the ensuing penalty shootout and advance to the final.

Bicycle kicks are always spectacular, but, as with any other highlight-reel goal, they are even more special when they come against a bitter rival, such as the one scored by Dimitar Berbatov for Manchester United against Liverpool in 2010.

Nani launched a cross into a crowded penalty area, which Berbatov was the recipient of. Berbatov took the cross on his knee, pivoted, then, in spite of the tight defense around him, fired a bicycle kick that found its way into the goal via the underside of the crossbar.

The goal was the second of a match-winning hattrick, thus ensuring that there would forever be a place for the Bulgarian in United’s history books.

It is worth noting that in all the matches mentioned, including the Real-Juve match, the scorer of the bicycle kick’s team went on to win.

This should not come as a surprise, because, regardless of the situation at the time of the goal, when such a goal is scored, it gives the scorer’s team an incredible mental lift, while at the same time severely demoralising the opposing team.

There are many types of goals that can considered to be spectacular, from long-range thunderbolts, to goals scored by beating defender after defender, to well-struck free kicks, to perfectly-timed volleys.

However, none of these will ever amaze and delight fans in the same way a bicycle kick would, simply because it is arguably the one football move which the average fan could never even dream of pulling off.

The Weekly Take, Issue 9: From Future Dynasty to Rudderless Ship

Before I begin, let me just preface this article by saying that I am a die-hard Borussia Dortmund fan. I have supported the Schwarzgelbe for a little over seven years now and have seen highs such as Dortmund’s winning the Double and reaching the Champions League final, as well as lows such as star after star leaving Signal Iduna Park.

Usually, Der Klassiker is one of the most hotly-contested matches in world football, as the two German powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head. However, the recent edition of this clash turned out to be a one-sided affair, with the Bavarians going on a rampage and completely dominating Dortmund, winning 6-0. Adding insult to injury was the fact that former Dortmund superstar Robert Lewandowski scored a hattrick for Bayern.

So just how did they get here?

It is remarkable to think that just six years ago, Dortmund would probably have been favoured to win. At the time, not only were Dortmund on their way to a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double, but they were also stocked with young players who were playing well beyond their years, thus showing that Dortmund’s future was extremely bright. Players such as Marco Reus, Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa, Łukasz Piszczek, and Mario Götze appeared to be ready to form the nucleus of a team that would win multiple Bundesliga, and possibly even Champions League, titles.

But not only that – their unconventional, fearless play style put the rest of Europe on notice, as the team that had seemingly risen from out of nowhere began to dominate one of the toughest leagues in the world, despite not playing in a way which many pundits deemed to be sustainable or conducive to long-term success.

This culminated with a runner-up finish in the 2013 Champions League. Despite losing in the final to Bayern, it seemed as if Dortmund would be a perennial contender to win the Champions League for at least the next five years. Furthermore, by this time, experts had warmed to Jürgen Klopp and his tactics. The former Mainz head coach was now being hailed as a tactical genius by many of his former critics.

That’s when things began to fall apart. Götze and Lewandowski soon left, Jakub Błaszczykowski tore his ACL and was never the same again, the likes of Piszczek, Reus, and Roman Weidenfeller, among others, never reached the same heights again, and, most crucially of all: at the end of the 2014-15 season, Klopp left to become the head coach of Liverpool.

Klopp had always been Dortmund’s trump card. His coaching acumen was the driving force behind Dortmund’s rise to prominence in the early 2010s, as well as a shield from the risks Dortmund faced as a small-market team.

Not being based in a large or glamorous city, as well as not being as rich a club as most of their European rivals, Borussia Dortmund always had the deck stacked against them in this regard. A clear sign of the genius of Jürgen Klopp is the fact that, despite losing Kagawa to Manchester United in the 2012 off-season, he still led them to the final of the Champions League. Who knows – perhaps Dortmund with Kagawa win it all in 2013.

Ever since Klopp’s departure, Dortmund have been nowhere near the level they attained during their peak years under Klopp. Names such as Peter Stöger, Peter Bosz, and Thomas Tuchel have been in the Dortmund hot seat since then, and players such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have come and gone, but without a coach of Klopp’s calibre, Dortmund have become something of a rudderless ship.

When Dortmund won the DFB-Pokal last season, it was their first title in five years. Dortmund have never truly contended for the Champions League title since Klopp’s departure – a shocking turnaround, considering the fact that they once looked like a dynasty in the making.

Ever since the night of the Champions League final five years ago, the fortunes of the two teams involved have taken divergent paths. Until a major change happens at Dortmund, however, the extremely passionate Yellow Wall, as well as their fellow Dortmund fans the world over, are not likely to taste Bundesliga, let alone Champions League success, any time soon, for they now appear to be directionless.