[ATTACH=full]1983[/ATTACH] Somewhere on the Internet, some nerd has painstakingly gathered together stats and either proved or disproved the notion of a “European hangover.” I have neither the time nor the inclination to go seeking out such information so I will just go ahead and declare the whole concept to be a myth. This week Barcelona had to cope with “games coming thick and fast” and struggled after the intensity of their win over Manchester City during the week. Tata Martino was slaughtered for rotating his squad too much, and leaving Xavi on the bench for the whole game. And yet there was universal praise for how Guardiola managed his Bayern squad after their midweek exertions. It seems you can construct an argument around any result, relying solely on Jamie Carragher-esque clichés.
Germany
When Barcelona were at their peak a couple of seasons ago we were implored to enjoy it, for it would be a long time before we saw a team as good again. Bayern still have some work to do to cement their current greatness in history, but right now they are playing at a level far above anyone else in Europe. Their unassailable Bundesliga lead owes a little to the stumbling incompetence of Leverkusen and Dortmund behind them, but it’s worth repeating some statistics on just how dominant FC Bayern are. They are 19 points clear at the top of the tableSIZE=3[/SIZE], have still only conceded 9 goals, have won every home match and still haven’t dropped points since the 3rd of October. In all competitions their February record victories read 5-0, 0-2, 0-5, 4-0, 0-2 and 0-4. That’s 22 goals conceded without reply. Their goal difference since that dead rubber defeat to Manchester City in December is now F 37 A 2.
Hannover were the hosts of the Bayern juggernaut this weekend, and in a familiar pattern the underdogs actually played quite well in a relatively even encounter before the first goal. Then the visitors poured forward relentlessly, making light of the absence of a few big names, and won by 4 that could have been many more. The champions and champions-elect found they could afford to rest Neuer, Dante, Kroos and Robben along with the injured duo Ribery and Shaqiri. That meant a return to the starting XI for Bastian Schweinsteiger who impressed and played a part in the first two goals - the second was more impressive with a floated through ball for Thiago to rifle home. Muller got himself a couple of goals from instinctive finishes and Mandzukic rounded off the scoring with a header late on. Guardiola’s chief problem seems to be how to squeeze so many top quality midfielders into the side. As good as Lahm and Javi Martinez have been in midfield roles, deploying them at the back allows Thiago, Kroos and Schweinsteiger to play in the same team. Yesterday Lahm played (well) in midfield and Javi Martinez played (excellently) at the back.
Behind Bayern the chasing pack performed miserably. Schalke (perhaps nervous of their Champions League tie this week) had a chance to go second on Friday night but could only manage a goalless draw at home to mediocre Mainz. Second placed Leverkusen (nursing a hangover after a nightmare in Europe during the week) travelled to Wolfsburg on Saturday and were comfortably outplayed in a 3-1 defeat. They are really struggling for form and look ready to fall out of the Champions League places once a couple of other teams can muster putting a few results together.
Dortmund (also contending with pre Champions League nerves) would have been the big beneficiaries of those results, were it not for their own horror show at relegation-threatened Hamburg. Mirko Slomka, the underwhelming choice[SIZE=3]B[/B][/SIZE] to succeed Bert van Marwijk, masterminded a 3-0 win over a lethargic Dortmund side who look ill-prepared for a trip to Zenit for their Champions League encounter tomorrow. Lassoga continues to be the dangerman in the new regime, he scored one and made one for HSV. Given the paucity of striking options available to Germany, you might think he’d be in with a shout of a spot in their World Cup squad but that doesn’t seem to be even rumoured. The victory was sealed late on by an extraordinary goal from Hakan Calhanoglu who fired home a ridiculous free kick from 40 yards in injury time.
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([SIZE=2]1) Bayern’s lead is greater than the combined leads of Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus and whoever is leading the EPL.
(2) Underwhelming, in this instance, means I haven’t heard of him.[/SIZE]
Spain
The La Liga 3-way tie for the lead was blown apart this week by unexpected defeats for last week’s CL competitors, leaving a grateful Real Madrid 3 points clear at the top of the table.
Real were first up with a Saturday afternoon home game against mid-table mediocrity in the form of Elche. Madrid were without Modric and Ronaldo, both suspended. They dominated from the start and Illarramendi gave them the lead with the help of a deflection shortly before the interval. A spectacular drive from Bale and a late goal from substitute Isco rounded off the scoring, putting Real to the top of the table and the pressure on Barcelona and Atletico.
Barcelona travelled to San Sebastian to take on Real Sociedad on Saturday evening and were surprisingly comfortably beaten by the Basque side. Fabregas, Xavi, Dani Alves, Alexis Sanchez and Mascherano were all rotated out of the side that won in Manchester and they paid the price with a disjointed and blunt performance. An early header from Elustondo was deflected home by Alex Song who looked badly off the pace all game, as he has throughout his Barcelona careerSIZE=3[/SIZE]. That was soon cancelled out by a cool finish by Messi from the edge of the area but the expected Barcelona resurgence didn’t really materialise. Sociedad started much better after the break and the outstanding Griezmann restored their lead, diverting home a cross from Vela. He then teed up Zurutuza to extend the advantage to 3-1 by the hour and Barcelona never really looked like closing that gap. Carlos Vela came closest to adding to the scoreline with a low shot glancing off the post late on.
Atletico Madrid, another team in action overseas during the week, may have been giddily watching Barcelona struggle on Saturday night but they had their own hostile Basque atmosphere to contend with the following evening and they coped even worse. Osasuna started brilliantly and took the lead after only 6 minutes thanks to a well worked corner routine with everyone rushing to the front post and leaving an ocean of space for Alvaro Cejudo to stroll in and volley home. The home side continued to press with a furious tempo and the pressure got too much for Juanfran who took a sloppy touch at right back and allowed Armenteros the room to hit a thunderbolt from 25 yards which gave Courtois no chance. Roberto Torres put the result beyond doubt before half-time with a header which I missed as I was making a cup of tea to have with a Howell’s Jammy Joey. I’m guessing the second half passed without major incident based on the scoreline.
SIZE=2 Somewhere on the internet, some nerd has gathered together stats and has surely proved that Barcelona’s win percentage with Song in the team is way lower than their regular win rate. He consistently looks out of his depth in this company and in the system Barcelona operate.[/SIZE]
France
There was actually mild excitement in the league nobody cares about this week. Monaco hosted Reims on Friday night and the depressingly small crowd were treated to a ding-dong battle stolen at the death by Monaco thanks to a late Lavyin Kurzawa goal. The goal itself wasn’t overly memorable (I vaguely recall the ball hitting the post in the build-up) but the celebrations looked remarkably emotional given the low crowd numbers and the fact I’ve already written off Monaco’s chances of actually going on to win the league.
PSG took on Toulouse on Sunday and ran out 2-4 winners, thanks to a hat trick from Ibrahimovic. The striker has now scored 37 goals in 36 games this season, and looks unstoppable at the moment, even with a European hangover. His tally here comprised an early penalty, then a headed from a Cabaye free kick before poking home a rebound late on after his indulgent panenka penalty had been saved. The Parisians remain 5 points clear at the top of the table and won’t be caught.
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Turkey
There’s probably an Istanbul derby every weekend in the Super Lig but it was one of the big ones this week as Galatasaray hosted Besiktas. The Black Eagles (that’s Besiktas apparently) were the better team for the first half with Gokhan Tore (ex Chelsea and Hamburg and on loan from Rubin Kazan) terrorising the home side with his pace. But the aggressive, intimidating atmosphere off the pitch was not replicated by the players who went out of their way to show their good sportsmanship. FirstSIZE=3[/SIZE] Semih Kaya conceded a corner kick which the referee missed. The Galatasaray defender approached the referee, explained it should have been a corner and the decision was corrected. Then Dany Nounkeu (on loan from Galatasary to Besiktas) repaid the favour to his parent club by tripping Veysel Sari in the box, gifting his employers a penalty which Selcuk Inan dispatched to secure a narrow 1-0 win for Galatasaray.
That lifted the current champions above Besiktas and into second place behind leaders Fenerbahce, who are banned from suffering any European hangovers and lead by 4 points after grabbing a late equaliser in their game this evening.
SIZE=2 I have no basis for stating that this act of sportsmanship came before the penalty kick decision but I have placed them in this order in the interests of narrative flow.[/SIZE]
