Dortmund destroy Spaniards

It looks as though we could have an all German Champions League Final! Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 4-0 on Tuesday night and Borussia Dortmund followed suit as they beat Real Madrid 4-1! Lewandowski was the main man in an inspiring Dortmund performance. Lewandowski scored all 4 of Dortmund’s goals earning him the man of the match award.

It was Robert Lewandowski that opened the scoring as he volleyed in a cross from Mario Gotze. Ronaldo then equalized just before half time with a simple tap in. Within 5 minutes of the second half Borussia Dortmund were back in the driving seat as Lewandowski collected a Marco Reus shot and poked the ball past Diego Lopez. Lewandowski completed his hat-trick 5 minutes later as he hammered home a strike from 12yds to put Dortmund 3-1 up. It was Lewandowski who completed the scoring and got his fourth goal of the game as he dispatched a penalty won by Reus who was bundled down in the box. Ronaldo almost pulled a goal back for Madrid in the closing stages but was unable to beat Roman Weidenfeller for a second time.

It looks as though we could have an all German final as Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 4-0 on Tuesday night, however you can never write off the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid. There was a lot of talk after the game about the future of Robert Lewandowski who’s contract expires next summer. He produced a strikers masterclass against Madrid, he has attracted a lot of interest from some top clubs this season. It has been reported that the likes of Bayern Munich, who have recently signed Mario Gotze from Dortmund, and Manchester United are interested in securing the services of the in form Polish forward.

The fact that both La Liga teams have been beaten, convincingly, by German opposition in the first legs of the Champions League semi-final shows that the Bundesliga is not a league that should be overlooked. The Bundesliga is sometimes regarded as a league that is not as strong as the Premier League or La Liga, however in recent times this seems to be changing. A lot of Bundesliga clubs have great youth set ups. I have personally played against a few German youth teams including Hamburg and Frankfurt. I also played against a Borussia Dortmund youth team in 2009 (Under 12’s) and I can safely say that they were the best youth team I have ever played against. I also noticed that the German youth teams are more for playing football the right way, rather than just going for the win.

Bayern Munich cruise to victory against Barcelona!

Bayern Munich cemented their status as one of Europe’s powerhouses last night. They obliterated Barcelona in a ruthless 4-0 win in the Champions League semi final. The newly crowned Champions of Germany played superb counter-attacking football, which Barcelona could simply not handle. The Bavarians played with pace, power and intensity, but most important of all they played with quality.

It was Thomas Müller that gave the Germans an early lead, his downward header proved to strong for Valdes to stop. Munich then added a second just before half time to show their superiority as Gomez volleyed home from close range after Müller headed the ball across goal. Chances were few and far between for Barcelona, they only managed 4 shots in the Allianz Arena with only 2 ending up on target. Bayern Munich continued to dominant in the second half as Arjen Robben tormented a vulnerable Barcelona defence. It was Robben that scored Munich’s third goal, as he slide the ball past Valdes after a mazy run. Müller then added insult to injury in the closing stages of the game, as he scored to make it 4-0 and surely put the tie out of Barcelona’s reach.

This was one of Barcelona’s poorest performances of the season. Messi looked unfit and struggled to make any sort of impact in the game. Although there is still another leg to go, Munich look they have won the tie and should progress to the final of the Champions League. However there is still a slim chance for Barcelona, they have to beat Bayern Munich 5-0 at the Camp Nou to progress, however this doesn’t seem likely.

This was Barcelona’s worst defeat in Europe since they were beaten 4-0 by Dynamo Kiev in 1997. It should also be noted that no team has lost the first leg of a European Cup tie by four or more goals and progressed to the next round. It looks as though Munich will be in the final against ether Borussia Dortmund or Real Madrid who play in their first leg tonight!

Arsenal v Everton Match Review

Arsenal’s four game winning run ended with a goalless draw at home to Everton. The match started with a minutes silence to respect the victims of Hillsborough and the Boston bombings. You could tell that the match meant a lot to both sides as it was a very feisty encounter. In total Arsenal committed eleven fouls and Everton committed twelve. There we also five yellow cards given by the referee, two to Arsenal and three to Everton. Everton were very fortunate to keep eleven men on the field, as Darren Gibson who was already on a yellow card performed a rugby-like tackle on Walcott which warranted a yellow card.

Arsenal once again came out of the traps very slowly at the Emirates. Everton enjoyed a good spell in the first in first ten minutes with Pienaar going through on goal, only to put the ball over. Arsenal started to find their way in the game and created some fantastic chances. Olivier Giroud wasted what was Arsenal’s best chance of the game as Ramsey fired in a low ball but Giroud could only fire wide with the goal gaping. As the whistle went for half-time and the players were walking towards the tunnel, Everton’s Kevin Mirallas squirted water at Wilshere, this ended up in Wilshere chasing Mirallas down the tunnel only to be held back by a group of players.

The second half began and Arsenal were on top. They created a number of chances in the second half, however Frenchman Giroud was very wasteful in front of goal. The best chance of the second half fell to Giroud, as a low ball was fizzed in past Howard with Coleman sliding in to prevent Giroud from sliding the ball in the net. Arsenal continued to peg Everton back for most of the second half but couldn’t find that killer goal, failing to make their 56% possession count. The match ended 0-0, this was probably a fair reflection of the game as Everton defended superbly and Arsenal were poor in front of goal.

This is what Arsene Wenger had to say after a tough match for the gunners, “We should have won the game, but it still keeps us in a strong position in the race for the top four. I felt that in the first half the referee didn’t deal at all well with the intimidating physical challenges, but that we responded well to the physicality. You have to respect the effort Everton put in. They decided to make it very physical for us to disturb our game…”. Arsenal are still in a good position to finish in the top four, they are two points above Spurs, who have a game in hand and will play Manchester City this weekend. Arsenal’s next game is away to Fulham on Saturday where they must pick up a vital three points in the race for Champions League football.

Arsenal v Norwich Match Review

Arsenal desperately needed the three points against Norwich to really push on into the Champions League places. Going into the game Arsenal were fifth, two points behind bitter rivals Spurs but crucially had a game in had. Knowing that if they won the game they would go above Spurs and Chelsea into fourth added more pressure on!

There isn’t too much to say about the first half. Norwich defended well and Arsenal missed a few golden opportunities. Norwich decided to sit back and make it hard for Arsenal to break them down. Arsenal did get through a few times, most notably Gervinho’s chance where his touch took him past the goalkeeper but also too wide to finish it off. Norwich had very few attempts in the first half.

The second half started much the same as the first had ended. However it was Norwich that opened the scoring after more squandered chances from Arsenal. Norwich took the lead just before the hour through Michael Turner. A well wiped in ball from Snodgrass and some poor defending gave Turner an easy opportunity to nod the ball past Fabianski. The half went on with Arsenal pilling on the pressure. Eventually Arsenal’s efforts were rewarded with a penalty. Giroud was pulled down in the area by Kamara, however it was the linesman that spotted the incident even though the referee was closer. Arteta dispatched the penalty with five minutes remaining! Arsenal continued to heap the pressure on Norwich and eventually found a way through in the 88th minute. A slick one-two from Chamberlain and Podolski saw Chamberlain get to the byline and pull the ball across goal for Giroud to bundle home. The Emirates erupted with allegation, the fans knew just how important that goal was. However it wasn’t over yet, Howson raced through for Norwich forcing a decent save from Fabianski. Arsenal then went up the other end and Podolski buried the ball home from outside the box after a brilliant turn to make it 3-1 to the Gunners!

This was a huge win for Arsenal which sees them overtake Spurs in the race for Champions League football. This is what Arsene Wenger had to say after the game, “I thought we wouldn’t give in, and fight until the end. We have great attitude, spirit and desire and it got us there. We deserved to win but we were against a strong side and needed something special. We have shown that we are ready for a fight. We want consistency and that demands huge focus because you can see how quickly you’re punished. We’re not far away but we just have to keep winning.”

Borussia Dortmund leave it late

Borussia Dortmund v Malaga

After the first leg that was played in Spain, Dortmund must have been wondering how they were not already winning the tie. The first leg ended in a 0-0 draw, as Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero put in an inspired performance to keep the Germans out.

The Westfalenstadion, home of Borussia Dortmund, was buzzing with anticipation and excitement before the second leg kicked off as everything was still to play for. The Dortmund fans support was once again incredible as it so often is. However the crowd was silenced as Malaga took the lead in the 25th minute through a superb goal from Joaquin. Dortmund pulled a goal back before half time as Lewandowski struck in the 40th minute. As the half time whistle sounded Dortmund knew they still had a lot of work to do because if the score stayed at 1-1 they would be out on away goals.

Late on in second half Eliseu struck for Malaga in the 82nd minute after a through ball from Julio Baptista, although the goal did have a hint of offside about it. This looked to be the winner for Malaga. However the fourth official put up the board which indicated 4 minutes of extra time, a renewed hope for Dortmund. It was just 45 seconds in to injury time when Dortmund equalised through Marco Reus. However Dortmund knew 2-2 would not be enough because of the away goals rule and had to push for a winner in the remaining minutes. It was in the 92nd minute when Felipe Santana scored for Dortmund to send the fans into a frenzy. This was the goal that sent Dortmund through to the semi-final of the Champions League after a 3-2 win on aggregate and on the night!

Dortmund remain the only team to have an unbeaten record in this years Champions League and await the draw for the semi-final!