I don’t think anyone could have expected Liverpool to be so poor.  They never got off the bus, as one cliché goes; and Spurs took full advantage by playing fast, fluid football, the best I’ve seen them play since last season’s Champions League matches against Inter Milan.

Liverpool finished the match with nine players after two yellow cards were shown to Charlie Adam and Lucas respectively.  But the way they were playing, Liverpool wouldn’t have won if they had finished with their whole squad on the pitch!

In between the first and last matches of the day, Manchester City threw away a two goal lead at Fulham, and even more surprising was Sunderland thrashing Stoke 4-0 at the Stadium Of Light.

So confident were the bookmakers Paddy Power of a Manchester United victory, they were offering money back on all losing bets, if Chelsea won.

So many times matches like this one are hyped to ridiculous levels and fall short on entertainment value but this was a corker.  Chelsea performed well with an attacking formation.  Andre Villas-Boas continued with the young strike force of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge.

The weakest link was Frank Lampard who looked off the pace and lacking confidence. Lampard was substituted at half term as Man Utd were amazing leading 3-0 even though the end-to-end game was anything but one sided, with Chelsea having their fare share of possession and more shots on goal.

Minutes into the second half and Fernando Torres was put through one on one against former Athletico Madrid team-mate David de Gea.

Torres showed his growing confidence with a deft chip.  He was put through again and once more showed great skill to beat de Gea, only to shoot wide in front of an open goal.  It was this which courted the headlines, rather than Torres playing well and Wayne Rooney missing a penalty as he slid and landed on his bottom, reminiscent of John Terry’s penalty miss in the Champions League Final against Manchester United in Moscow.

As for Arsenal, they through away a lead to lose 4-3 to Blackburn Rovers.  Pressure continues to grow on Arsene Wenger as the main question appears to be not whether he should keep his position but who Arsenal could possibly replace him with.

Manchester Utd were awesome and deserved the win though Andre Villas-Boas tactic to attack United rather than sit back almost paid off.

They are now two points clear at the top of the Premier League and the only team in the division with maximum points.  In past seasons they have been slow out of the blocks and finish strongly.  This season it could be all over by Christmas!

So it’s a good time to give you a heads up about a new website that is about to launch which will bring you a scores and results service covering all of the major British and European leagues and tournaments, including the Premier League, English Football League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and the Champions League.

As well as following favourite domestic clubs in the Premier League and Championship, I also follow the trials and tribulations of my non-league hometown team, formerly Gravesend & Northfleet now known as Ebbsfleet, as well as favourite European teams of which I have personal favourites in each of the top European leagues.

These passive allegiances stem from my childhood when the only European football to be shown on British television was on Wednesday nights on the sadly missed Sportsnight programme.  My memories are full of exciting  European football matches when I was allowed to stay up way past my bedtime to watch great teams with world class players and cool looking football kits to match.

Johan Cruyff and Ajax, Franz Beckenbauer and Bayern Munich and wonderful sounding teams like Dukla Prague, Panathinaikos and Borussia Monchengladbach!

I recall Leeds United losing 1-0 in a ill-tempered game to AC Milan in the 1973 Cup Winners Cup final just four days after losing 1-0 to Sunderland in the FA Cup final; Nottm Forest beating the Swedish part-timeers Malmo in 1979 with a Trevor Francis header and retaining the European Cup by beating Hamburg in 1980; and West Ham losing to Anderlecht of Belgium in the 1976 Cup Winners Cup.

I remember the glory days of Saint Etienne in the French League and how Real Madrid played in a similar all-white kit to Leeds United (only to recently read that Don Revie changed the home kit to mimic the Spanish giants on becoming manager of Leeds United in 1961!).

I also have a passive favouritism for teams with cool kits, choosing Celtic over Rangers not for any political or religious reasons but because I thought green and whites hoops looked cooler than a regular blue shirt.  I also preferred the black & blue stripes of Inter Milan to the red & black stripes of AC Milan.
So even before European football was made available on satellite tv, my interest in football spread further than the English leagues.  The English Premier League is often cited by critics and players alike to currently be the best league in the world.  But I still lookout for scores and results from the Spanish La Liga and Italy’s Serie A.

The Football Scores website will be a great source for all this information and will also include international tournaments, such as the European Championships, international friendly matches, international qualifiers and the World Cup. The website is called FootballScores.com and it launches this month.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Schalke 04 all but booked their places after first leg goal fests against Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham and Inter Milan respectively but Chelsea only trailed Manchester United by one goal when they visited Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Chelsea were abysmal, and the 1-0 result on the night leaves plenty of questions but as yet, no answers.  Carlo Ancelotti surprised everyone, possibly including his players, by playing a 4-3-2-1 formation, once referred to as ‘the Christmas Tree formation’ by then England manager Terry Venables.  Frank Lampard played a more advanced role tucked in alongside Nicolas Anelka behind the lone striker, Fernando Torres while Didier Drogba started the match on the subs bench!

Not surprisingly Frank Lampard had a poor game and no effect on the match whatsoever. Drogba replaced Torres at half-time but the whole team were poor.  If only they hadn’t of sacked Ray Wilkins earlier in the season Ancelotti could have brought him on to replace any one of the midfield players.

Whether or not Ancelotti is being told to play Torres, I don’t expect he will be making the decision next season.  Rumours suggest Carlo Ancelotti is going to Roma in the summer and once again Roman Abramovich and Chelsea will no doubt be looking for a high profile manager to supply a quick fix rather than a long term strategy.

Spurs on the other hand put on a great performance that left their supporters cheering them on until the final whistle even when Heurelho Gomes fumbled a Christiano Ronaldo shot for Real Madrid to win 1-0 on the night and 5-0 over two legs. Tottenham now need to secure fourth place in the Premier League to qualify for next season’s Champions League, if they are going to continue their progress under Harry Redknapp.

Manchester United have come unstuck in Champions League semi-finals against German opposition in the past including Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, so will be weary of Schalke 04.  But the other semi-final is a mouth-watering prospect as Real Madrid play Barcelona.

Pepe Guardiola still has Barcelona playing at the peak of their game and for that reason they have remained favourites to win the Champions League all season.  However, if there’s one manager that can work out how to stop and beat Barcelona, it’s Jose Mourinho.  He managed to stifle Barca last season with an Inter Milan side that I believe were inferior to Real Madrid. And just to rub salt in Chelsea’s wounds, who would bet against Jose Mourinho being the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs?

I am going to stick my neck out and say I think Real Madrid will beat Manchester United in the Champions League Final at Wembley on 28th May.

On Tuesday Tottenham Hotspur suffered from a sore throat, a psychotic striker and a 4-0 thrashing by Real Madrid in the Bernabeu Stadium; while the current European Champions, Inter Milan suffered a shocking 5-2 stuffing by Schalke 04 who are currently mid-table in the German Bundesliga.  Both Spurs and Inter Milan had a man sent-off.

Barcelona look set to meet Real Madrid in the semi-finals after a comfortable 5-1 win in the Nou Camp against Ukranian champions Shakhtar Donetsk.  While the all-English tie at Stamford Bridge last night was always destined to be a tight game, but it was far from cagey.

Chelsea had three spells in the game where they looked threatening, the start and end of the first half and the final few minutes, where they should have been awarded a penalty for a challenge on Ramires by Patrice Evra who, as the last defender, should have received the red card.  The penalty wasn’t given which evens up the poor decision that went in Chelsea’s favour in last month’s Premier League match.

Despite constant booing and a couple of late challenges, Wayne Rooney was on his best behaviour and scored the winning goal after a great cutback from Man Utd legend Ryan Giggs.

The second leg ties will be played next Tuesday (Man United v Chelsea & Shakhtar Donetsk v Barcelona) and Wednesday (Spurs v Real Madrid & Schalke 04 v Inter Milan).

Though Chelsea beat Manchester United in the Premier League 2-1  last season, I would be very surprised if they join Real Madrid, Barcelona & Schalke 04 in the Champions League semi-finals.

Tomorrow night Tottenham Hotspur face their toughest challenge so far in the Champions League when they play Real Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium.  Harry Redknapp is right when he says Spurs have a great squad, and on their day are capable of beating anyone.  They have already proved me wrong by beating both Inter Milan & AC Milan but this is a different challenge.  It’s not so much the quality of the Real Madrid players, the stadium or the expecting fans in Spain, but the manager.

Jose Mourinho masterminded last seasons’ winners Inter Milan to a surprise victory against Barcelona on route to the final after previously dumping Chelsea out of the competition.  On paper, Inter Milan was underdogs for both matches but Mourinho is one of the best football tacticians and known for his dossiers on opposing teams.

Mourinho will be fully aware of Gareth Bale but unlike Rafa Benitez, I am confident he will cancel out his pace and skill.

I expect Real Madrid to win by one or two goals tomorrow night and will be surprised if Tottenham score.  The return leg at White Hart Lane will decide whether Spurs go through to the semi-finals to meet Barcelona or Shakhtar Donetsk.

The other two English clubs left in the completion go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as Chelsea take on Manchester United, only weeks after they beat Man Utd with the help of a dubious penalty.

The most any neutral can hope for in the two legs between the 2008 Champions League finalists when Chelsea lost on penalties, is that the games are as exciting as their recent Premier League fixture and they don’t simply cancel each other out.

Chelsea’s best chance of going through to the semi-finals to face Inter Milan or Schalke 04 is to take a lead to the second-leg at Old Trafford next Tuesday.  I believe their best chance is to start with Nicolas Anelka & Didier Drogba, but what a time it would be for Fernando Torres to score his first goal for Chelsea!

In the other two quarter-finals I am confident Barcelona & Inter Milan will win this week and go through to the semi-finals next week, though it might be a squeeze for Inter Milan.

Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Inter Milan v Schalke 04
Real Madrid v Tottenham

Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk
Chelsea v Man Utd

The second-leg games will be played next week on Tuesday 12th & Wednesday 13th April.

Even though Arsenal took a 2-1 lead to the Nou Camp on Tuesday, they knew Barcelona would be difficult to contain for 90+ minutes. But if they could score the pressure would be on Barca to score twice. It was a difficult task without the absurd sending off of Robin Van Persie for taking a shot on goal after the referee had blown his whistle for a marginal offside decision. Whether Van Persie did or didn’t hear the whistle above the noise of the capacity crowd, I don’t believe the referee could have been sure.

Van Persie was sent off in the 56th minute, just after Arsenal had drawn level on the night through a Busquets own goal. At this point, though Barcelona was dominating the possession and the game itself, it was Arsenal who was going through to the quarter-finals. With wave after wave of amazing attacking football, I believed Barcelona were going to win the game even before Van Persie’s dismissal. But the decision was ridiculous and only put added pressure on the ten men of Arsenal who played as courageously as they had two weeks previous at The Emirates. I don’t think many neutrals would disagree that over the course of the two legs, Barcelona were the better team. Furthermore, on these two performances alone, the Spanish champions look unstoppable and could give any team, club or country a run for their money.

While Arsenal are out, Tottenham Hotspur continue to enjoy their Champions League run which has seen them top their group, beat the reigning European Champions Inter Milan and yesterday go through to the quarter-finals after playing out a 0-0 draw against AC Milan. This was a great disciplined performance from a team that are known for their attacking play and defensive weaknesses. To go through by not conceding a goal over two legs certainly surprised me. Harry Redknapp said it was a “fantastic achievement” and would rather not draw Barcelona in the next round but would be happy to play anyone else.

The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals will take place on Friday 18th March. Beforehand Chelsea look favourites to go through against FC Copenhagen next Wednesday at Stamford Bridge following a 2-0 win in Denmark; and Manchester United should beat Marseille at Old Trafford on Tuesday after a 0-0 draw in France. The other two games see Bayern Munich play Inter Milan with a one goal advantage from the first leg and Lyon travel to Real Madrid following a 1-1 draw.

The quarter-finals will be a straight draw, meaning that for the first time in the Champions League this season any English teams left in the competition could face each other. But after being knocked out of last season’s Champions League by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, if Chelsea & Real Madrid go through, what’s the chances of Mourinho coming back once again to haunt Roman Abramovich?

Let’s hope Chelsea & Manchester United can join Spurs in the draw and avoid each other in the quarter-finals.

Chelsea are going to struggle in the Premiership without John Terry and Alex for the next couple of months but they will both be fit when the Champions League knockout stages begin in March and with two games to go Chelsea have already booked their place in the second round.  And with Frank Lampard returning from injury too, I still believe Chelsea have the best chance of lifting the Champions League trophy in May, of all four English clubs.

So with two games to go in the first round of this season’s Champions League, which two teams from each group look likely to go through to the knockout stages next year?

FC Twente have two games left against Inter Milan (away) and at home to Spurs.  To finish ahead of either Inter or Tottenham they are going to have to win one of those games and hope that Tottenham & Inter drop points in their other games; possible, but unlikely.

Three teams can still progress from Group B.  Lyon currently lead the group with nine points followed by Schalke 04 on seven and Benfica with six. Lyon and Benfica should both pick up three points when they play Hapoel Te-Aviv, while Schalke 04 have the most difficult games as they face both Lyon & Benfica.

Manchester United are unbeaten this season in both domestic and European competition and lead Group C with ten points.  Rangers will need to beat Man Utd at Ibrox on Wednesday if they are going to have any chance securing second place ahead of Valencia.

In Group D Barcelona & FC Copenhagen are both in a very strong position and do not play each other in their two remaining fixtures.

Bayern Munich are one of only two teams to have won all four games and so have already qualified for the next round.  Roma look the most likely to join them ahead of CFR 1907 Cluj-Nopoca (great name) and Basle.

Chelsea are the other team with four wins out of four but it’s not clear whether Spartak Moscow or Marseille will finish second. I’m erring towards Spartak Moscow as they play Marseille at home tomorrow night, and then should easily beat MSK Zilinia in the last round of games on Wednesday 8th December, while Marseille entertain Chelsea in their last fixture.

It is not clear who will join Real Madrid in the next round from Group G.  AC Milan are currently one point ahead of Ajax and the final game on Wednesday 8th December between the two former Champions League winners will decide.  AC Milan will have home advantage, and if they beat Auxerre tomorrow, a draw will be enough against Ajax.  Ajax host Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid tomorrow evening in Amsterdam where they will be trying to keep the pressure on AC Milan with a win.

Finally, in Group H Shakhtar Donetsk look favourites to join Arsenal in the next round following their surprise 2-1 win at The Emirates where former Arsenal striker Eduardo scored the winning goal.  Both Arsenal & Shakhtar Donetsk could qualify if they win their games tomorrow evening.  Arsenal are away to Braga and Shakhtar Donetsk are away to pointless Partizan Belgrade.

Qualifying from the group stage if teams are level on points will be determined by the results of games between the teams in the tie (if tied, by goal difference and then by away goals counting double).

My Champions League tips for which two teams are going to go through from each group are as follows:

Group A: Inter Milan & Tottenham
Group B: Lyon & Benfica
Group C: Manchester United & Valencia
Group D:  Barcelona & FC Copenhagen
Group E: Bayern Munich & Roma
Group F: Chelsea & Spartak Moscow
Group G: Real Madrid & AC Milan
Group H: Arsenal & Shakhtar Donetsk

The final Champions League first round fixtures will take place on Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th November and Tuesday 7th & Wednesday 8th December.

I say ‘quite rightly’ fuming because Harry’s view that the goal was farcical is absolutely true, but that is not to say it was an illegitimate goal, far from it, and Harry should really be fuming with his goalkeeper for ignoring the first rule of football, the lesson that is learned at the schoolboy stage – play to the whistle!

If Gomez had not moved the ball ten yards from where the ‘hand ball offence’ had taken place in the first place the whole episode may have easily been avoided. But the lesson is never take anything for granted no matter how obvious the offence is.

Rafael Benitez is in the news for turning all philosophical with his comments aimed at new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson who has criticised Benitez over the quality of players that he bought to the club during his spell at Anfield.

Benitez quite rightly points out that Hodgson should concentrate on managing Liverpool rather than criticising his transfer record as boss and goes on to say;

“I think that Mr Hodgson, he doesn’t understand. Every single press conference is even worse than the last one. He’s talking about things that he doesn’t know. And some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar.

“Maybe he hasn’t been in Liverpool too long. We gave the fans their pride again. We fought for the fans, we fought for the club and we fought for our players. So maybe he cannot understand this.

“With £10m net spending, I left that squad with £300m value, 13 internationals. So, instead of talking about flips and flops, he has to concentrate on his job, try to do his best and not talk about the level of his players or the new players. Concentrate, try to do your best because it will be the best for the club and it will be the best for the fans.”

Well it made me smile.

Meanwhile the two said managers are preparing for tonight’s Champions League match at White Hart Lane, can it possibly match the excitement of the previous match two weeks ago in Milan?

Spurs hero on that occasion was Gareth Bale, scoring a hat trick of goals  with two coming in the dying minutes of the game to almost salvage something after trailing 4-0 at half time.

Inter Milan paid the price for losing focus and going through the motions in the second half of that game, against a Tottenham team that had been reduced to ten men after only 11 minutes.

Gareth Bale has grown in stature this season having suffered injury problems since his arrival from Southampton in 2007. In full flow Bale appears unstoppable and his hat trick inthe San Siro will have raised his profile considerably around Europe.

He is very much a man in form and his goal scoring record in the competition is second only to Inter Milan’s Samuel Eto’o this season. having seen what the Welshman is capable of, Spurs will no doubt pile on the pressure from the left flank by feeding Bale the ball at every opportunity and allowing the former Southampton man to wreak more havoc in the Nerazzurri backline.

The dealiest player in front of goal in the Champions League this season is in fact Samuel Eto’o who has scored with each of his six shots on target thus far, averaging a goal every 45 minutes, outshining the likes of Fabregas and Messi in front of goal.

Furthermore, a brace of assists in the home win against Tottenham last time out means the Cameroonian forward has scored or assisted Inter’s last nine goals in the competition and is giving the Serie A side a strong platform to become the first team to retain the European Cup since city rivals AC Milan did so in 1990.

Personally I can’t see anything but another shed load of goals tonight, this time it would be good to see Spurs coming out on top.

castrol performance research

Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o has rediscovered his goal scoring form under new manager Rafael Benitez, playing at the heart of the attack the player has already scored eight goals this season.

After playing in a wider and deeper position last season with José Mourinho, the Cameroonian frontman is back to his natural role under new manager, Rafa Benitez, and the results have seen him scoring an average of one goal every 87 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 243 minutes in 2009-10.

Samuel Eto’o under Mourinho and Benitez

Castrol Perfromance data shows that Eto’o did not have a single touch of the ball inside the opponents penalty box in the last game he played under Mourinho, the Champions League final, where he was employed mostly on the right flank.

In contrast, in the recent game against Palermo under Benitez when Eto’o palyed as a central striker he scored two goals, both from inside the box, where he was a constant threat.

Werder Bremen would do well to look at their second half performance against Spurs for inspiration in tonight’s game, Thomas Schaaf’s side were caught cold by Spurs, finding themselves two-nil down after 20 minutes in their opening game of the Champions League.

However, Hugo Almeida pulled a goal back just before half-time and soon after the restart, Marko Marin notched an equaliser and Bremen were a team transformed.

In the second-half, Bremen made 15 more shots than during the opening 45 minutes. They went from being dominated in possession to dictating the play while also winning the physical battle and keeping the Spurs threat away: they failed to concede a shot on target after half-time. Inter Milan will have to be wary of Bremen’s second-half rollercoaster: seven of their last nine goals in the Champions League have come after the break.

Werder Bremen – 1^st & 2^nd half vs Spurs

The second part should be easier to predict as Rafa has already been linked with a move to Inter Milan as replacement for Jose Mourinho, and while I imagine that is the most likely destination I also wonder how much Benitez will rue missing out on a return to Spain with Real Madrid, now that he is a free agent.

As for his replacement, Kenny Dalglish does not appear to be in the frame at all, but favourites in the press are Martin O’Neil, Roy Hodgson and Guus Hiddink, despite the latter signing a contract to coach the Turkish national side.

Former Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has been mentioned as a candidate in the past and would, I expect relish the opportunity of joining Liverpool, if only to settle old scores with rivals City.

In his favour there would be no compensation to pay out for his services, he is honest and hard working and expects the same from his players. He has also handled business in the transfer market pretty well prior to joining City, where the wheeling and dealing was taken on by the board.

He will feel he has something to prove after the way he was treated by City and his incredible record with Blackburn Rovers on a tight budget proved that he can get the best out of his players as a team.

And right now team spirit at Liverpool appears to be at an all time low, ensuring that the time was right to dispense with Benitez and inject some new blood into the managers hot seat.

I am sure Liverpool could do a lot worse than offering the vacancy to Mark Hughes, but let us know who you would like to see take over at the club.