By Bobby McMahon, Contributor Last Sunday, I had pretty much decided to write a piece on the approaching UEFA Champions League semi-finals. I even had the first paragraph done – “Just twelve months ago the accepted wisdom was we were getting set for a Champions League el clasico final. It didn’t happen but the bookmakers believe it will happen this time. Are we getting ahead of ourselves again?” Then Luis Suarez decided that Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic looked a bit tasty and decided to nibble on his arm. Out went the Champions League and in came Suarez and his chomp. At this time last week bookmakers had Barcelona (2/1) as favorites to lift the UEFA Champions League and Real Madrid was second favorite at 2.4/1. You could get odds of 3/1 against new Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich going one step better than the runners-up spot they achieved last season and in 2010. Borussia Dortmund could be had at odds of 6.5/1. The point I thought worth making was not so much that the two Spanish clubs were somehow unworthy of their status as favorites but it had more to do with how easily the German sides’ hopes were being written off by so many. After all, Bayern Munich had beaten Real Madrid last season at semi-final stage on a penalty kicker decider. Further, Borussia Dortmund had already played Real Madrid twice this season in the initial group stage and had come within a minute or so of beating Real Madrid twice. The case against Barcelona moving on was a lot weaker with nothing but failure at this stage in 2012, 2010 and a struggle in 2009 to bolster thoughts of a surprise. There again it is one thing to counter caution but no one expected that Bayern and Dortmund would be taking 4-0 and 4-1 leads to Spain just a week later. One such result would have been a shock but two was unthinkable. Bayern’s performance was close to flawless. Barcelona never managed a shot on target while Bayern alternated between pressing Barcelona in possession and clogging the midfield and making it nigh impossible for Barcelona to establish any sort of passing rhythm. Bayern played to their strengths (size and mobility) which in turn exposed Barcelona’s weaknesses to a degree rarely seen. Any pleasure that Barcelona’s plight might have given Real Madrid supporters did not last long. Twenty-four later Real Madrid was on the receiving end of a battering from Borussia Dortmund. While Bayern’s win was a triumph of planning, tactics and execution Dortmund’s win had no such air. After conceding an undeserved equalizer right on half time Dortmund simply swarmed Real Madrid during the twenty-five minutes after half time. The drive, speed and hunger exhibited by Dortmund was something the Real Madrid defense could not cope with. Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals for Dortmund and in the process he added close to eight figures to any transfer fee should he move this summer. So a
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Luis Suarez is the English Premier League‘s top scorer this year—and, as of yesterday, it’s leading biter. The star striker’s future at Liverpool is looking shaky after a bizarre incident during yesterday’s match against Chelsea when he sank his teeth into the arm of defender Branislav Ivanovic, the Guardian…