2013/2014 European Football Thread

Mourinho is such a sore loser.

Bayern Munich 2-2 Chelsea (5-4 on pens): Lukaku's dismal penalty sends Super Cup to Germany after late equaliser

Jose Mourinho suffered shoot-out heartbreak against Pep *Guardiola last night – and then launched an angry attack full of sour grapes.

Bayern Munich gained some sort of revenge for last year’s Champions League final defeat to Chelsea by lifting the Super Cup after a dramatic contest settled by substitute Romelu Lukaku’s weak penalty miss in the shoot-out.

Chelsea, who finished with 10 men after Ramires was sent off, twice went ahead through Fernando Torres and Eden Hazard yet were denied more European glory by Javi *Martinez’s equaliser to take the final to penalties with the last kick of the game.

But Mourinho’s hatred, rivalry and contempt – call it what you like – against his big managerial rival Guardiola was there for all to see.

Blues boss Mourinho said: “The best team lost. The *opponents scored two, we scored two. But they scored one more penalty. The best team played with 10 men for a long, long period in the game.

“We played against the *champions of Europe and my players were the best team – we only have reasons to be proud to believe in the future. But I prefer just to say the best team lost and stay with it.”

Mourinho was also unhappy with Ramires’ 86th minute sending-off for a second yellow card, and added: “If you are in love with football, you don’t kill a final with a second yellow card like this.”

Mourinho’s rant came across as bitter and took the shine off a classic as Guardiola reigned supreme over his great rival.

What also shone through was a Chelsea defiance and *determination first instilled by Mourinho, maintained when they won European trophies and reinvigorated by the Special One’s second coming.

Sadly for Chelsea, even *Mourinho’s magic was not enough last night.

Straight from the first whistle, Bayern’s extra quality and Guardiola’s style pushed Chelsea back as the Germans dominated and yet the* *underdogs refused to buckle and were equally dangerous on the break.

In fact, it took the Blues just nine minutes to punish Bayern after Franck Ribery’s shot just missed the target.

Chelsea led a stunning counter attack with Hazard supplying Andre Schurrle and the German’s right-wing cross was perfect for Torres.

Torres swept home a brilliant right-foot shot from just inside the box to give Manuel Neuer no chance.

Guardiola roared his team forward and sure enough, three minutes after the restart Ribery lashed home a shot which Petr Cech should have done better with.

But trouble flared in the 86th minute when Ramires, already booked for tripping Ribery, got a second yellow and his marching orders for diving into a tackle on Mario Gotze.

We should have known this would be the making of Chelsea and in the third minute of extra time David Luiz’s pass found Hazard who deceived Neuer with a powerful shot.

Cech did his level best to defy Bayern with stunning saves from Ribery, Mario Mandzukic and then Martinez. But, heartbreakingly, into injury time in extra time, Bayern levelled through Martinez to send the game into *penalties.

The penalty takers all held their nerve but Lukaku, with the 10th and final penalty, hit a weak spot-kick and Neuer dived low to his left to make up for that Champions League heartbreak in Munich.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/bayern-munich-2-2-chelsea-match-2240029

 

Incredible sulk as the Special One loses out to familiar foe

Bayern Munich 2 Chelsea 2 (aet; 1-1 after 90min. Bayern Munich won 5-4 on penalties)
At the end, after Bayern Munich scored a dramatic late equaliser and prevailed in a penalty shoot-out, José Mourinho strode straight down the tunnel. There was no handshake with Pep Guardiola and no involvement in the post-match presentation, which was a pity because this was an uplifting occasion in which enmity and bitterness seemed out of place.
While the rest of us were reflecting on an enthralling spectacle, which made for the most enjoyable European Super Cup in years, the Chelsea manager was back in sulky conspiracy-theorist mode, complaining about an uncontroversial red card for Ramires late in normal time and about the minutes that the match officials added at the end of extra time, culminating in the goal by Javier Martínez that forced the penalty shoot-out.
So much for the “Happy One”. So much for the mellow, calm demeanour that he was claiming he had brought back to Chelsea. There have been times in the past where he has had genuine grievances — even if he has overstated them — but not here, in the Eden Stadium last night, and not with regard to the sending-off of Ramires for a second bookable offence as he lunged at Mario Götze, the Bayern substitute, in the 84th minute.
“People who live in football, who earn their living in football, always feel there’s a very important rule: the passion for football,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference. “If you are in love with football, you don’t kill a final with a second yellow card like this. You don’t kill the final. If you ask me in pure terms, rule by rule, yes it was a second yellow card. But [the officials] don’t [treat] every action in that way.”
So he admitted that, by the laws of the game, the red card was correct. The notion that Jonas Eriksson, the Swedish referee, had a duty to keep 22 players on the pitch, because it was a final, is absurd. “But it’s nothing new for me,” Mourinho continued. “I played two or three times with ten men against [Guardiola’s] Barcelona. I came back to Chelsea and played a Super Cup final against [Guardiola’s] Bayern with ten men. Go to analyse the actions and make your conclusions. I’m unlucky. Just that.”
Chelsea were unlucky to lose last night, having led through well-taken goals from Fernando Torres and Eden Hazard and having competed valiantly, with David Luiz and Frank Lampard performing resiliently, after the Ramires red card. But it was only unlucky in the same way that Bayern would have felt hard done by had they lost in the shoot-out.
These are early days for Guardiola’s Bayern, as they adjust to subtle changes in technical and tactical emphasis, and they did not look last night like the well-oiled machine that swept all before it in Germany and Europe last season.
Chelsea, counter-attacking at pace, took the lead through Torres’s eighth-minute goal. From start to finish, it was a lovely goal, with Torres setting the ball rolling with a clever flick to Hazard from Branislav Ivanovic’s throw-in deep in Chelsea territory. Hazard darted away from Rafinha and Jérôme Boateng on a diagonal before seeking out André Schürrle, whose first-time cross was met near the penalty spot with a clinical right-foot finish from Torres, sweeping the ball inside Manuel Neuer’s near post.
Bayern controlled possession for long periods of the first half, but Chelsea attacked with pace when the opportunity arose, particularly in switching from the centre to the right, where Schürrle had the beating of David Alaba.
Gary Cahill and Luiz were defending well, but Chelsea were grateful at times for some poor finishing from the opposition. Franck Ribéry was twice wasteful in the first half when found in a promising position by a team-mate. On another occasion, with a shot carefully placed towards the far post, he was denied by Petr Cech.
Ribéry would have his revenge. Three minutes into the second half, receiving the ball from Toni Kroos near the corner of the Chelsea penalty area, he scooted infield and struck a fearsome right-foot shot that caught Cech by surprise and flew inside the near post. The Chelsea goalkeeper will wince when he watches it again, but he ended the evening in credit after a series of fine saves.
After Neuer denied Oscar and Luiz, Ramires was sent off with six minutes of normal time remaining.
Chelsea, to Mourinho’s satisfaction, adjusted well to their numerical disadvantage. Early in extra time, Hazard restored their lead, dribbling past Philipp Lahm and Boateng and beating Neuer with a powerful shot, and for a time it seemed that Mourinho was on the verge of a victory that he would have treasured.
Chelsea, with John Terry on as a substitute, held on with a 5-4-0 formation as the end of 120 minutes loomed, but then Martínez converted a loose ball, leading to a penalty shoot-out in which Alaba, Luiz, Kroos, Oscar, Lahm, Lampard, Ribéry, Ashley Cole and Xerdan Shaqiri all scored before Neuer saved from Romelu Lukaku’s kick.
It was the type of denouement that is usually followed by a mutual show of respect and appreciation between the coaches — as indeed it did between the two sets of players — but, when Mourinho is up against Guardiola, there is no prospect of that. Mourinho said “the best team lost”. Guardiola said “the best team won”. Normal service resumed, then.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): M Neuer — Rafinha (sub: J Martínez, 56min), J Boateng, Dante, D Alaba — P Lahm, T Kroos — A Robben (sub: X Shaqiri, 95), T Müller (sub: M Götze, 71), F Ribéry — M Mandzukic. Substitutes not used: T Starke, D van Buyten, D Contento, C Pizarro. Booked: Ribéry, Boateng.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, G Cahill, D Luiz, A Cole — Ramires, F Lampard — A Schürrle (sub: J O Mikel, 87), Oscar, E Hazard (sub: J Terry, 113) — F Torres (sub: R Lukaku, 98). Substitutes not used: M Schwarzer, C Azpilicueta, M Essien, J Mata. Booked: Cahill, Luiz, Ramires, Torres, Lukaku, Ivanovic, Cole. Sent off: Ramires.
Referee: J Eriksson (Sweden).

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/europe/article3857075.ece

I think Mourinho is bad for football. He is a bad person and doesn't understand the spirit of the sport. In fact, I think he is mentally ill.

 

No handshake, nothing. What a disgrace this guy is.

 

"Painful to watch"? Really?

I understand Mandzu isn't too happy with Pep (Mandzu is pretty much the only one, really), but "painful to watch"?

 

You can't expect Bayern to always beat other top teams 7-0, 3-0, 4-0. I think Chelsea's team was probably put together with more money than Bayern's team. This was like, what, the 4th or 5th offical match under Guardiola, plus, an absolute key player in Schweinsteiger was injured (Thiago and Badstuber as well).

Bayern has been about possession ever since the van Gaal days anyway. It's not like this is a huge revolution.

And Bayern clearly has the players with the skills to play this: Schweinsteiger, Götze, Ribery, Thiago, Kroos, they can all play that.

I think they need to mainly figure out how to switch to defense when they lose the ball. Teams are getting more chances against Bayern now than last season. In my opinion, this is mainly for two reasons: 1) When Schweinsteiger doesn't play, the system with two offensive and one defensive midfielder doesn't work too well against good teams. Schweinsteiger is the one that orchestrates the team. He is smart enough to stay back when it's needed. Kroos just runs around a bit aimlessly, is not as strong man-to-man and not as safe with the ball - same with Thiago. When they lose the ball, fast strikers can really put pressure on Bayern's defense. 2) Dante has been a bit of a loose cannon ever since the end of last season. Great guy, but he needs to get his focus back.

But I think this will be fixed. I think we should always play with Schweinsteiger AND Martinez against the really strong teams, even if this means sacrificing one offensive player. Schweinsteiger is clever enough to know when they basically have to play with two defensive players in the central midfield triangle and when he can become an "8", helping more in the offense.

So I'd play like this:



Alternatively, Müller instead of Robben and Mandzukic up front.

What's going on at Barca?

I heard Iniesta is unhappy because he was left on the bench several times.

Maybe we should get him to join Bayern .

 

The thing is, I wouldn't even know whom to take out for Iniesta . Love him as a player, but who knows how he would work outside of Barcelona. I think we will never find out .