Champions league semi-finals have been absolutely nail biting entertainment. Although neither of the results were expected by the fans of any of the four teams and yet, that does not stop the endless celebration for the first leg victories for the German teams. Each game shall be dissected and we can see exactly how Spanish football reign of terror in the Champions league has come to an alarming halt.
On Tuesday night Barcelona had a rather interesting fixture against Bundasliga Champions Bayern Munchen. Bayern came out strong and willing to fight for it tooth and nail whilst Barca, had looked way too comfortable in the start to even establish their dominance as the defending champions. By eliminating Messi the Super hero or maybe he eliminated himself, by agreeing to play at only 25% health and fitness. With the water logged field. Yes I know we all saw that and it was a brilliant tactic for the home team. They prevented (limited) their main passage of play, which would be the mid-field duo of Xavi and Iniesta. They way these two geniuses control the middle of the park is really nothing short of amazing, but on a water logged field it’s a lot harder to pull off the magic touches that make Barcelona the team we fear and respect.
However with that being said, their defensive abilities were severely exposed for being extremely poor. Jordi Alba, Pique (would somebody please explain why he cut his hair, he looks like an idiot), Dani Alves (decided that being blonde and dark skinned is probably not the right way to go) and he whose name shall not be mentioned (because I forgot it) showed a dismal defensive performance and Bayern capitalized.
The most entertaining semi-final was Dortmund and Madrid. Dortmund was holding football lessons and Madrid were on the receiving end. Man for man and on paper Real Madrid should have at least won be 2-0, but form dictates result and Dortmund are in formidable form. Without going into too much detail Madrid were embarrassed and left limbless as Dortmund tore them apart.
The score at the moment is 8-1 to the Germans. La liga has a lot of work to do and it they think that they can go into the return legs with no game plan then without mincing my words, they will receive another hiding. Given Barcelona resilient form at Camp Nou, if any Spanish team is to progress it will be them.
The power has shifted and football has never looked so good.