Europa and Champions league Finals

Europa League Final

Stockholm was the proud city selected to host a duel between two teams whose seasons could not have varied any further. Newcastle, while understandably disappointed not to win the league, came away from the season surprise contenders and won many plaudits for their impressive attacking displays. Portsmouth, on the other hand, could do nought but accept that they had massively underachieved to have only secured a lowly 7th position on the final day.

The match started brightly and at a great tempo for both teams, with Newcastle looking to utilise the pace and fluidity of their dangerous trident to whisk through Portsmouth who, in turn, were aiming to retrieve the ball as quickly as possible and punish Newcastle for having the audacity to throw numbers forward.

It was Newcastle, however, who struck the first blow, and early on in proceedings as well. Portsmouth’s 3 man defence, accompanied by wing backs, found it difficult early on to get a grasp on the free flowing form of Newcastle’s trident and supporting wing backs, and it was through fast movement and quick interplay that Luis Suarez managed to release Mane as he skirted around Javi Martinez and the occupied Varane. In his favoured position coming in off the right wing, he made no mistakes and drilled the ball low and hard at the near post.

This style of play seemed to encapsulate most of the game, with Newcastle attempting to Blitzkrieg through the opposition, and Portsmouth looking to get close and personal to prevent them from being able to play their game. More often than not, it was the Pompey midfield that won that all important duel to keep Newcastle from playing out from the back, and they soon equalised when Matuidi pounced on a sloppy pass to feed in De Bruyne who, in turn, span and chipped a ball over the head of Godin for Lewandowski to meet with the sweetest volley of his career. A truly magnificent goal.

For the rest of the first half, and much of the second half, the game ebbed and flowed, with both teams constantly probing and battling for possession of the ball. In many ways, it resembled the trench warfare of WW1, with each team gaining a few metres of territory only to be immediately pegged back by the other. Half chances were in abundance, but that final cutting edge seemed lost.

Late in the second half, substitutions began to come in from both sides and, while Newcastle opted to bring in Özil to provide the necessary creative spark, Portsmouth brought on the big Croat Mandzukic to provide more determination.

This time, it worked in the favour of the Southerners as the flowery Özil wilted under the lights and pressure of Matuidi and Gundogan, while the fire in Mandzukic caused numerous problems for the Newcastle defence.

It all came to a head very late in standard time when a clearance/speculative long ball from Javi Martinez was met by the chest of Mandzukic under pressure. Despite the poor control, he managed to keep hold of the ball and laid it off for newly introduced Raphael Guerreiro to run onto and, in a mirror image of the Mane goal, he finished with aplomb.


Portsmouth 2-1 Newcastle
Scorers: Lewandowski 23’ (De Bruyne), Guerreiro 90+3 (Mandzukic); Mane 13’ (Suarez)
Man of the Match: Matuidi - The French midfielder was superb in the middle of the park today, preventing Newcastle from playing out from the back and contributing heavily in attack.



Champions League Final

On a wet and miserable day in Wales, Chelsea and Leicester had to play out their titanic battle under artificial lights and air conditioning. Recently crowned champions Chelsea were aiming to reclaim their Champions league title after a year in Barcelona, just as they had done two years previously, while Champions League newsboys Leicester were looking to cap their meteoric rise with an historic victory.

The match itself would prove to be a tactical affair, with both teams filled to the brim with match winners and big game players, and both were wary about what the other could do. Chances came as, with two sides of such abundant talent, it was impossible to keep either attack at bay forever, but both teams played a very organised defensive structure to a tee, while looking to hit the other with their adventurous attacking styles.

The first half ended as a stalemate, though with plenty of gilt-edged chances on either side. The two sides shared two particularly amazing squandered chances, with Ronaldo unable to get enough of his foot on to a sweeping low cross by Douglas Costa, and Aguero being unable to get the ball from under his feet when one on one with the keeper, only for Leicester captain Ramos to come and take both ball and man in a crunching last gasp tackle.

The second half came and controversy along with it, as Leicester had a goal incorrectly ruled offside when Ronaldo exploited a breakdown in communications between Bonucci and Manolas to sprint through and lob De Gea. The assistant referee ruled that Ronaldo had begun the play offside behind Manolas as the long ball came through, when replays showed that he was actually level with his Italian counterpart.

As if to even the scores, though, the referee somehow managed to miss a blatant use of the hand by Umtiti to deflect a Bonucci header that seemed desperate for the net. A double whammy that had the Chelsea manager livid on the touchline.

Still, there was plenty more action to be had as substitutions and tired legs led to more mistakes and more openings. It was Chelsea who opened proceedings as Neymar, who had been tormenting Danilo down that right side endlessly, beat his man once again and lofted a ball in to the box that evaded the heads of every attacker and defender before dropping on to the boot of Sanchez at the back post.

If Chelsea fans thought this would be enough to dampen the Leicester spirits, they were mistaken as this seemed to galvanise them and they doubled their already breakneck tempo, hammering Chelsea’s defence from all angles and really testing their resolve.

It finally broke with not long left in the game, as Fabregas managed to create a yard of space, enough to curl an excellent through ball around Manolas and in to the path of Ronaldo who, in a foot race with Bonucci, was always going to get that ball, and in that position, the Portuguese megastar rarely misses.

The goal sent the Leicester fans in to raptures and, when the Chelsea fans responded to spur their team on, this reporter worried that the roof may actually come off this time.

With normal time not enough to separate the two teams, extra time was needed to try to crown a winner in what was a thrilling encounter from start to finish. In extra time, though, the toll of playing such quick, passing football, and the mental strain of a cup final took their toll on the players, and the game was a lot sloppier with tired legs sometimes unable to complete even the simplest of passes. It was a game that was going to require a truly special personality to prevent the lottery of penalties.

Step forward Sergio Ramos.

In the second half of the second half of extra time, Leicester won themselves a corner when Ricardo struggled under the pressure of the young Marcus Ashford. From the resulting outswinging corner from Fabregas, Ramos just about managed to beat Bonucci to the ball, and the resulting connection was as sweet as can be, rifling into the top corner of the goal, with nothing De Gea, who had been brilliant all game, could do about it.

This was not the last of the drama, as Chelsea through everything they could at Leicester, and both Sanchez and Neymar had stinging efforts narrowly tipped wide by Manuel Neuer, but the final whistle sounded before they could get the ball over the line. The game was a remarkably close one, with both teams putting in performances worthy of being crowned champions of Europe but, at the end of the day, there is simply no replacement for the amount of hear players like Sergio Ramos can give you.


Chelsea 1-2 Leicester AET
Scorers: Sanchez 72’ (Neymar); Ronaldo 83’ (Fabregas), Ramos 110’ (Fabregas)
Man of the Match: Ramos - When you need a big goal in a big game, the man you want on your team is Sergio Ramos, and the Spaniard encapsulated a true champion’s performance with the perfect headed goal.