Mourinho, Ronaldo, join Barca Conspiracy Bandwagon

So, Jose Mourinho's caused a bit of controversy (surprise!). After his Real side lost to Barca in the Champions' League semi-final, the Portuguese manager vented his frustration in the post-match interview. But, he did bring up a good point, saying "Congratulations to Barcelona. But I just do not understand why Barcelona always receive the help of the referee ... I am not too sad, I have a great family. But I don't understand why Barcelona have this power. It happened two years ago to Chelsea (2009 semis), almost to my Inter last year, and also to Arsenal this year." I fully agree. I'm not saying that the refs are biased towards the Catalans, but c'mon, 3 teams that could have potentially knocked "The Best Team in the World" out, and they all get a man sent off in the second leg? 

Added to that, every single time this has happened, one of the opposing players or managers have complained. They definitely had the right to do so, but that's not what UEFA thinks. Didier Drogba was fined for venting his frustration at the referee after their controversial loss to Barca. They got a man sent off and two clear penalties denied! He didn't have the right to do so? And after Arsenal's loss, Samir Nasri and Arsene Wenger both got one match bans for complaining to the referee. Plain stupid. How come whenever every single Barca player swarms the ref after a tackle, none of them get yellows? How come 2 Barcelona players didn't get sent off for grabbing the necks of Nasri and Van Persie right in front of the official? Bah. Maybe I'm just complaining. I am actually, but if Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo agree, it can't be that ridiculous, can it?

Oh, and they should stop diving. Especially Dani Alves. He got stretchered off, and then got off and was perfectly fine. What a p*ssy.

Champions League Semi-Finals: Meh.

I hate Dani Alves.

Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona (Agg. 0-2): Kinda one-sided. It's pretty predictable that Barca's going through to the final, even Mourinho admitted it. So, i'll do a quick sum up. It was 0-0 at halftime, and then Pepe got a soft red card (Surprising isn't it? A team getting a soft red against Barca. Where have we seen this before?). So, still 0-0. Both teams are playacting and being little babies, then Messi puts it in after a nice cross from Afellay in the 76th. Then, he completely puts Real's chances of going through, scoring a wonderful solo goal, going past four of Real's defenders.

Schalke 04 0-2 Manchester United (Agg. 0-2): So, like Barca, Manchester won comfortably away at Schalke. But, they were kept at bay by Neuer, who had a fantastic game, and missed 11 chances to go ahead. Finally, in the 67th, Ryan Giggs put the Red Devils ahead after putting Rooney's pass into the back of the net calmly. Then, Rooney bagged a similar goal, and put one foot in the final for Manchester. So, it looks like a Barcelona v. Manchester United final. But then again, Schalke did beat Inter 5-2 at the San Siro. Maybe there will be another surprise win?

My Player of the Week: Cristiano Ronaldo

Aaaaaaand, my second installment of My Player of the Week! Yes, my heading at the top of the page does say that I cover English football, but I will cover El Clasicos in Spain, especially with 2 more coming up. In the most recent meeting, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 1-0 in the Copa Del Rey final. And, because of my dislike for Barcelona, I chose the man who scored the winning goal, Crisitano Ronaldo. I don't really like him, because he's a whiny little baby, but hey, he beat Barcelona.

Looking Forward to the Weekend, Weekend

This weekend, there will be a few matches in both La Liga and the Premier League that are sure to entertain. Now, I don't normally cover La Liga, but El Clasico is certainly a great occasion to do so. Let's preview some of these matches, shall we?

Real Madrid v. Barcelona (La Liga): The clash of the Spanish titans. Last time Los Galacticos met the Blaugrana at the Camp Nou, Barcelona completed dominated Jose Mourinho's side with their tiki-taka style of play. However, with this match being at the Bernabeu, things could be a little different. With Barca being 8 points ahead of Real, this could be a pivotal match in the title-race. A win for Barcelona, and they have basically won the league. Unless of course, they have a terrible slump in form. But c'mon, it's Barca. But, a win for Real, and they're only 5 points behind. If that happens, all it takes is a Barca draw or two for Real to be firmly back in it. This will be the first of four matches that these two will play in a matter of 18 days, with the other matches being the Copa Del Rey final and the Champions' League semi-finals. My prediction? A 3-3 draw. I don't think Barca will be able to overcome the atmosphere of the Bernabeu. Heck, they let Arsenal come back at the Emirates. And yes, I did just take that as an opportunity to brag. This game will kick-off at 3 p.m. Central US time on Saturday.

Manchester City v. Manchester United (FA Cup Semi-Final): Anyone remember the gem of a goal above? Of course you do. It's most likely going to be the Premier League goal of the year. And, it was also the winner for the Red Devils the last time they met the Citizens. Did I also mention that Rooney isn't going to be playing. That's right, his ban will keep him out of this match. But, it isn't all bad news for United. City's main man, captain, and goalscorer Carlos Tevez will be out with a hamstring injury. That leaves either Mario Balotelli to start or Edin Dzeko. Balotelli's a little baby and Dzeko's still adjusting to the British style of play. So it looks like a tough choice for Mancini. I just hope that Roberto Mancini doesn't put a defensive-minded squad onto the field, which would ruin what I'm anticipating to be a fantastic match. Hopefully, Mancini will play around with his squad and play both of his center forwards. They'll be looking for a positive result, following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of the rejuvenated Liverpool, who will be facing Arsenal on Sunday. I honestly can't make a prediction for this one. After all, anything can happen in cup matches. This match will kick-off at 11:15 Central US time.

Arsenal v. Liverpool (Premier League): Finally, the third, and final of this weekend's "Clashes of the Giants". With both teams slightly ravaged with injuries, this could be closer than most expect it to be. The players out for Arsenal: defenders Bacary Sagna, Johann Djourou (most likely). But, with Emanuel Eboue having a fantastic match against Blackpool, his presence will be welcomed. What I'm fearing is a Squillaci-Koscielny backline for Arsenal. "Squicielny" as they're affectionately known by the Gooner faithful aren't exactly the best back line in the League. In fact, together, they're pretty terrible. This could be a huge disadvantage for Arsenal, with Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll firing on all cylinders for the Reds. It's kind of a scary situation. But, Liverpool's midfield, atleast in my opinion, pales in comparison to Arsenal's. With Steven Gerrard being out, Lucas, Jay Spearing, and Raul Meireles pitted against the likes of Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, and Jack Wilshere. However, under "King" Kenny Dalglish, the Reds have beaten both Manchester sides by the score of 3-0. But then again, those were home games. Arsenal have looked a bit weak at home lately, but this will be an amazingly crucial game for the Gunners. If they win, they're back in the title race, being only 3 points behind Manchester United. I predict a 3-1 win for Arsenal. I think that the squad will realize that this is the pivotal point of the season, and they'll play their hearts out.

Champions League Quarterfinals: Second Legs

Well, like I said last week, most of the matches were decided in the first leg. So, because of that, I'll only provide a truly detailed report of the Manchester United v. Chelsea match. Stupid one-sided matches.

Schalke 04 2-1 Inter Milan (Agg. 7-3): Raul scored his 71st Champions' League goal just before half-time. Soon after, Inter's Thiago Motta equalized in the 49th. Benedikt Howedes put the tie out of Inter's hands in the 81st.

Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 (Agg. 0-5): In this second leg, Jose Mourinho played basically his strongerst side possible. It payed off, thanks to a howler from Gomes, Tottenham's keeper. After Cristiano Ronaldo took a fairly weak shot from 30 yards out, Gomes failed to catch it and it went into the back of the net.

Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Barcelona (Agg. 1-6): After Barca destroyed the Ukrainians at the Nou Camp, they had an easy time going through to the next round. In the 43rd, Leo Messi put it past Pyatov after passing through the Donetsk defense.

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea (Agg. 3-1): FINALLY. The only match where the winner of the tie wasn't already decided. With the Champions' League being the only trophy that Chelsea even had a realistic chance at winning, they needed to turn around the scoreline. But, for some reason, Carlo Ancelotti stupidly played an out-of-form Fernando Torres instead of Didier Drogba. Tisk-tisk. With the match being scoreless until the 43rd, Javier Hernandez finally put the Reds up doing what he does best, poaching. Ryan Giggs delivered a low-cross across the box, to find Hernandez, who had the simple task of tapping it into the back of the net. Despite being down 2-0 on aggregate now, Chelsea kept on persevering to get back into the draw. During half-time, Ancelotti finally brought on Drogba, who nearly scored soon after half-time, but his shot went past the post. Then, in the 70th minute, Ramires certainly didn't do the Blues any favors when he got sent off with a second yellow for a foul on Luis Nani. However, the goal-hungry Drogba didn't let up, and scored in the 77th to give Chelsea hope of advancing. Sadly for them, Ryan Giggs got his second assist of the match with a fantastic pass to Ji-Sung Park, who scored to put the Blues out of the Champions' League.

Champions League Quarterfinals: First Legs

Well, this is rather disappointing. Only 1 of these matches will be truly contested in the second leg, that being the Manchester United vs. Chelsea clash. All of the other ties will have teams try to overcome near-impossible deficits, but who knows? Crazy things happen.

Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United (Agg. 0-1): Despite Chelsea coming back into form recently, their efforts weren't enough and gave the Red Devils their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2002. In the 24th, after an amazing piece of play from 37 year old Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney put away the simple tap in from 6 yards out. Chelsea kept putting the pressure on United, with Patrice Evra having to clear a Frank Lampard effort off of the line to hold Man U's lead. Then, in the dying minutes of the game, Evra clearly fouled a charging Ramires in the penalty area, but a spot-kick wasn't given. In a desperate attempt to draw, Fernando Torres later dove in the box, but was only awarded a yellow card.

Barcelona 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (Agg. 5-1): Well, here's the first of the hugely one-sided matches. Just 2 minutes into the match, Andres Iniesta put in the first for the Catalans, with a low shot from an interception off of a loose ball. Despite dominating later on, Barca let the Ukranians have a few chances which definitely put a scare in the Spanish giants. Then in the 34th, the goalscorer slotted a perfect pass to Dani Alves, who only had to put the ball into an empty net. Gerard Pique made it 3-0 for Barca after taking a shot from a corner first time, and the ball was helped in with a deflection off of Rakitskiy. The Ukrainian defender redeemed himself in the 59th, heading Srna's free-kick past Victor Valdes to get a consolation goal. But, Seydou Keita then powered a shot into the back of Shakhtar's net after Leo Messi worked hard to get past his man and then pass it to the waiting Keita. Finally, Barcelona killed the match off with a Xavi goal in the 86th minute, basically ending Shakhtar's chances of advancing.

Real Madrid 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Agg. 4-0):  After promising to score against the Spurs for the Arsenal fans, Emmanuel Adebayor did indeed do so. Twice, actually. Early in the 4th, Adebayor, who was marked by the puny Jenas, put a header past Luka Modric on the post to give Real the lead. Stupidly, after already being on a yellow, Peter Crouch earned his second and was sent off in only the 15th minute of the match. Despite being denied a penalty, Real put a second one into the back of the net in the 57th minute, with Adebayor once again scoring from a stunning header. Then, in the 72nd, Angel Di Maria scored one of the Champions' League goals of the season, with a curler from the right into the top left corner of the goal. Hoping for the goal to kill off the tie in the 87th, Cristiano Ronaldo took a hopeful shot, which somehow found the net thanks to a dumb mistake from Gomes, the Spurs keeper.

Inter Milan 2-5 Schalke 04 (Agg. 2-5): Looking to bounce back from their 3-0 loss in the Milan derby, Inter desperately wanted a win. But a comeback of this magnitude by the Germans was not expected by anyone. Inter was up 1-0 in the 1st minute thanks to a wonderful volley from Dejan Stankovic. 16 minutes later, Schalke leveled from a corner kick, with Joel Matip putting the ball in the back of the net. Diego Milito restored the lead of the Italians, when he finished off with smooth strike from Cambiasso's header. 5 minutes from half-time, the pesky Germans equalized, with Edu scoring after his first shot was saved by Julio Cesar. Then, it was time for Inter to hit the self destruct button. In the 53rd, former Real Madrid man Raul put his 70th Champions' League goal into the back of the net, after Farfan had worked hard to get the ball to him. 4 minutes later, Andrea Ranocchia scored an own goal in an attempt Jurado's cross. 15 minutes from full time, Edu put the final nail in Inter Milan's coffin, with an absolutely fantastic strike from outside the box, leaving Julio Cesar stranded.