The match that was prefaced by a week of scandal and karaoke bar fights is in the books and Liverpool came out on top in a surprising result, but first something I kind of glossed over in last night’s match preview.
This was an extremely big game, not only because it’s the UEFA Champions League tourney, and we’re in the round of 16, and yadda yadda yadda….these two teams are the last two winners of the tournament; Barca are the defending champions and Liverpool won the tournament the previous year. Winning the Champions League is a big deal, and for comparison’s sake let’s say that it’s akin to winning the Super Bowl….of European Football. So we have the past 2 winners playing each other, and yet every news broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel previewing this match either A) didn’t mention this item at all, or B) made a cursory comment about these clubs being the last 2 champs towards the tail-end of the segment. Ummmm isn’t that kind of a big deal, and wouldn’t Joe The Average Fan want to know about it?
Imagine if the past two super bowl champions were squaring off against each other in the wildcard round of the NFL playoffs; can you imagine the media frenzy?!? Bob Ley would be doing 36 different sob stories about how tough Ben Roethlisberger’s life has been since the Super Bowl win and what this game means to him. Chris Berman would have a mild seizure trying to say Peyton “can he be the man to Repeat” Manning during the pre-game show. Jeremy Schaap would finagle a way to irritate each of the opposing coaches and get punched by both. Days before the game Sean Salisbury would rant until he turned purple that Peyton is the greatest QB the world has ever seen and is the reason the Colts are back in the big game; after the game (in which Peyton gets hurt and backup Jim Sorgi throws for 4 TD’s) Salisbury will scream that Jim Sorgi is the reason for the Colts’ success and that Peyton Manning has been holding back their offense the past couple seasons. You see my point (that is if I have one..); the media would make a big deal out of this. Yet the incredibly talented hosts of Fox Soccer Channel’s “Soccer Review Show”, Tyler ‘the mustache’ Jones and Robert Padiddlystain, can’t even bring up the fact that the 2 past champions are going back at it in their broadcast? I find that amazing; I am amazed.
As for the match itself Barcelona is the defending champs and the club is led by Ronaldinho, arguably the world’s best player. Ronaldinho was held scoreless in this match though as Liverpool came in and beat the home team 2-1, despite a lot of off-field shenanigans this past week. Check out last night’s article if you haven’t yet for details. For a quick recap, Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy tried to hit teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club.
Barcelona scored in the 14th minute to take a 1-0 lead, but then Craig “125 yards and three assault charges to the pin” Bellamy scored the equalizer right before halftime. Can you guess what Bellamy's celebration dance was after the goal? He pretended to swing a golf club at the Barcelona fans. Wow. After halftime, the Barcelona manager yanked not one but TWO defenders out of his lineup in order to have 4 strikers on the field at once in order to get at least one goal and a tie with a Liverpool team that is renowned for their defensive play. Not the Barcelona manager’s only suspect decision; check out the hair.... http://www.fcbarcelona.com/eng/noticias/noticias/n07022006.shtml
The move to 4 strikers backfired when full-back (aka Defenseman) and karaoke enthusiast John Arne Riise was able to slip behind the Barcelona defense for the goal that clinched Liverpool’s upset win.
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