Thursday, May 01, 2014

An all Spanish final on May 24th

  • For the first time ever, the Champions League final will be a derby match as Atletico Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge to face Real Madrid in Lisbon.
  • It is 40 years since Atletico were in a European Cup final so they will want to make the most of it. Last time they lost to Bayern Munich during the replay.
  • I take back what I said yesterday because only a foolish man would now bet on the outcome in Portugal. Real have five times the revenue of Atletico but Atletico are only two games away from winning La Liga.  

First honours last night went to Chelsea when former Atletico player Torres scored. Then Chelsea lost control and in the second half lost sprit. They started with the clear intention of stifling their opponents by putting six defenders on the pitch. The first goal by Atletico Madrid though meant they had to change tactics and that left them wide open.

In the last five years, Mourinho has reached the semi-final stage but only once has got a team to the final hence the Spanish press have now dubbed him “The Semi-FInal One”. Chelsea had been in the final three times in the last seven seasons but not this year. It is looking very much like Chelsea will be without any silverware this season.

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