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Friday, April 10, 2009
The Brazilian star has moved to quash speculation about his future and insisted he has no intention of leaving the Rossoneri.
when the Diavoli received a massive bid from Premier League big spenders Manchester City.The 26-year-old eventually turned down the move, but the Spanish media have claimed in recent weeks that things will be different when Real Madrid go knocking next summer.“I think that too many people have been speaking of late. Now it’s my turn,” Kaka said to La Gazzetta dello Sport.“I have not been contacted by Real Madrid. I believe I have already stressed that I wish to remain here. Milan for life? Yes - and that’s the fifth time I have said so.“This is getting quite tiresome, for the fans too. I feel I owe them and I have proved I want to stay. There was that moment of doubt with Manchester City but then I made up my mind. I repeat that I have not agreed terms with anyone.”Milan are expected to undergo a major face-lift in the summer after another dismal season and Kaka is confident that the good times will return for the Rossoneri.“We are as hungry as anyone,” he claimed. “When you are accustomed to winning and go through such difficult periods, you truly miss lifting trophies.“Some of our players are getting older; we should just freshen things up and bring the average age in the squad down.”
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Beckenbauer: Barcelona Gave Bayern Munich A Footballing Lesson
Bayern Munich suffered their second cataclysmic embarrassment in the space of five days when they followed up last Saturday’s 5-1 disgrace at VfL Wolfsburg with a 4-0 defeat at Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday night.
One of the club’s greats, Franz Beckenbauer, was horrified with his team’s performance against the Catalans, especially in the first 45 minutes when they conceded all four goals.
“What I saw in the first half was without a doubt the worst football Bayern have played in their entire history,” he said after the match.
“It was an exhibition. Almost a humiliation. Barcelona gave us a lesson in football.”
Die Roten chairman Karl-Heinze Rummenigge, meanwhile, refused to comment on the future of under-fire coach Jurgen Klinsmann but instead rallied his side to bounce back on the domestic front.
“We have no chance in the Champions League now, that is obvious,” he boomed.
“We must focus on the Bundesliga and make sure we qualify for the competition for next season. And we can start with our next match this Saturday against [Eintracht] Frankfurt.”
One of the club’s greats, Franz Beckenbauer, was horrified with his team’s performance against the Catalans, especially in the first 45 minutes when they conceded all four goals.
“What I saw in the first half was without a doubt the worst football Bayern have played in their entire history,” he said after the match.
“It was an exhibition. Almost a humiliation. Barcelona gave us a lesson in football.”
Die Roten chairman Karl-Heinze Rummenigge, meanwhile, refused to comment on the future of under-fire coach Jurgen Klinsmann but instead rallied his side to bounce back on the domestic front.
“We have no chance in the Champions League now, that is obvious,” he boomed.
“We must focus on the Bundesliga and make sure we qualify for the competition for next season. And we can start with our next match this Saturday against [Eintracht] Frankfurt.”
Unstoppable Messi Leads Barcelona’s Demolition Of Bayern Munich
First Half
Barcelona, as expected, took the game to their visitors right from the start and they needed just five minutes to carve the Bayern defence apart.
Dani Alves galloped upfield down the right and squared the ball to Xavi, who sprayed the ball forward on the edge of the box to Thierry Henry and the Frenchman comfortably rounded Hans-Jorg Butt but his tame sidefoot shot from a tight angle was cleared off the line by Martin Demichelis.
But on eight minutes, the hosts went ahead. Again from another free flowing move, Henry played in Iniesta, who teed up Eto’o but the Cameroonian rolled the ball to an unmarked Lionel Messi on the left channel and the in-form Argentine took one touch to guide the ball into the box and clinically swept it past Butt with his left foot.
Even before the Bavarians could regroup and catch their breath, Barca doubled their advantage four minutes later. And Messi returned the favour with an assist in an identical move to their first chance, except it was Eto’o who got to the end of the Argentine’s gorgeous through ball and the striker coolly nutmegged the on-rushing goalkeeper.
The Camp Nou went berserk again on 17 minutes, but it wasn’t for a goal. Messi effortlessly shimmied past Christian Lell inside the box but he appeared to have been tripped by the left-back, but referee Howard Webb whipped the yellow card out for ‘El Mesias’ instead for simulation.
Pep Guardiola went ballistic on the touchline and he was promptly banished from the dugout to the stands. And moments later, Bayern had their first real look-in at goal after 20 minutes when Franck Ribery floated in a free kick from the left and Victor Valdes came out to punch nervously, but his defenders were there to clear the threat.
Right to the other end, Henry was released clean through on goal by Iniesta but the Frenchman just dragged his shot wide off-balance and ended up colliding studs with Butt. The game went into a lull after that as the German giants started to ease their way into the contest and Barca were limited to long range attempts.
But completely against the run of play, the Catalan behemoths went three up in the 37th minute. It was simpler move this time as Henry darted past Massimo Oddo on the left before squaring it to Messi and ‘Little Lionel’, surrounded by three, beat Butt to the ball at the near post to stab it home for his eighth goal of the competition.
Straight from the restart, Die Roten produced their first shot on target when Bastian Schweinsteiger thumped in a fierce drive inside the area on the left channel but Valdes dived low to his right to make sure he wasn’t beaten at his near post.
Just as Bayern were starting to threaten, the Blaugrana made it 4-0 on 43 minutes. Messi played a one-two with Alves to open space for himself to cut into the middle but he was swamped by a crowd of Bayern defenders who bullied him off the ball, but it somehow squirmed to Henry and the ex-Arsenal forward coolly dispatched it past a static Butt.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Ribery had the best chance for the visitors when he was released through on goal but with only Valdes to beat, he pulled his shot wide across the goalmouth. But a minute into first-half injury time, Barca almost made it five when Alves drilled in a low cross but it bounced off Henry at the far post and dropped for an unaware Iniesta, who thumped in a hasty volley wide.
Second Half
Barcelona made no attempts to take their foot off the pedal. Although they were more subdued and patient in their attacks, they still managed to pin Bayern back for large periods.
The first real chance of the second period fell, predictably to Messi, who swivelled infield from the right and unleashed a low left-footed piledriver on the edge of the box only for Butt to slap it away. Eto’o then took a shot from distance just on the hour mark despite having acres of space to run at and he blazed his effort well over the bar.
Guardiola’s men did eventually start to gradually downshift their gears to conserve energy as the clock ticked down, but more worryingly for Jurgen Klinsmann, his troops failed to look any more dangerous.
They did create one opening, though, on 70 minutes when Ze Roberto was put through on goal by Ribery but as he pulled the trigger from six yards out, Carles Puyol lunged forward with a superb last-ditch tackle to block the shot.
That sprung Barca to life and they swiftly went into assault mode again. Iniesta glided down the left flank before scooping the ball over the Bayern backline for Eto’o but it was just a touch too heavy. Moments later, Iniesta waltz into the box and jinked in between two defenders but his dipping shot aiming for the top left corner just shaved the crossbar.
Messi almost nabbed his hat-trick a minute into injury time when Iniesta jogged past a throng of defenders to the byline before clipping a cross to the middle for the Argentine, but his half-hearted shot was blocked by his own team-mate, Seydou Keita. That, however, was barely enough to dishearten the jubilant Camp Nou.
The only blemish for the home side was defender Rafa Marquez’s yellow card in the final minutes as the booking will force him to sit out the return leg at the Allianz Arena next week. For the Bavarians, this is their heaviest defeat in the Champions League in their storied history.
TEAMS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes – Dani Alves, Marquez, Pique, Puyol – Xavi, Toure Yaya (Busquets, 80’), Iniesta – Messi, Eto’o (Bojan, 89’), Henry (Keita, 73’)
Unused subs: Gudjohnsen, Sylvinho, Martin Caceres, Pinto
Bayern Munich (4-3-3): Butt – Oddo, Breno, Demichelis, Lell – Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Ze Roberto (Sosa, 76’) – Altintop (Ottl, 46’), Toni, Ribery
Unused subs: Podolski, Badstuber, Lahm, Borowski, Rensing
BARCELONA 4-0 BAYERN MUNICH
1-0: Barcelona (Messi, 8’)
2-0: Barcelona (Eto’o, 12’)
3-0: Barcelona (Messi, 37’)
4-0 Barcelona (Henry, 43’)
YELLOW CARDS
Barcelona: Messi (17’), Marquez (90’)
Dani Alves galloped upfield down the right and squared the ball to Xavi, who sprayed the ball forward on the edge of the box to Thierry Henry and the Frenchman comfortably rounded Hans-Jorg Butt but his tame sidefoot shot from a tight angle was cleared off the line by Martin Demichelis.
But on eight minutes, the hosts went ahead. Again from another free flowing move, Henry played in Iniesta, who teed up Eto’o but the Cameroonian rolled the ball to an unmarked Lionel Messi on the left channel and the in-form Argentine took one touch to guide the ball into the box and clinically swept it past Butt with his left foot.
Even before the Bavarians could regroup and catch their breath, Barca doubled their advantage four minutes later. And Messi returned the favour with an assist in an identical move to their first chance, except it was Eto’o who got to the end of the Argentine’s gorgeous through ball and the striker coolly nutmegged the on-rushing goalkeeper.
The Camp Nou went berserk again on 17 minutes, but it wasn’t for a goal. Messi effortlessly shimmied past Christian Lell inside the box but he appeared to have been tripped by the left-back, but referee Howard Webb whipped the yellow card out for ‘El Mesias’ instead for simulation.
Pep Guardiola went ballistic on the touchline and he was promptly banished from the dugout to the stands. And moments later, Bayern had their first real look-in at goal after 20 minutes when Franck Ribery floated in a free kick from the left and Victor Valdes came out to punch nervously, but his defenders were there to clear the threat.
Right to the other end, Henry was released clean through on goal by Iniesta but the Frenchman just dragged his shot wide off-balance and ended up colliding studs with Butt. The game went into a lull after that as the German giants started to ease their way into the contest and Barca were limited to long range attempts.
But completely against the run of play, the Catalan behemoths went three up in the 37th minute. It was simpler move this time as Henry darted past Massimo Oddo on the left before squaring it to Messi and ‘Little Lionel’, surrounded by three, beat Butt to the ball at the near post to stab it home for his eighth goal of the competition.
Straight from the restart, Die Roten produced their first shot on target when Bastian Schweinsteiger thumped in a fierce drive inside the area on the left channel but Valdes dived low to his right to make sure he wasn’t beaten at his near post.
Just as Bayern were starting to threaten, the Blaugrana made it 4-0 on 43 minutes. Messi played a one-two with Alves to open space for himself to cut into the middle but he was swamped by a crowd of Bayern defenders who bullied him off the ball, but it somehow squirmed to Henry and the ex-Arsenal forward coolly dispatched it past a static Butt.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Ribery had the best chance for the visitors when he was released through on goal but with only Valdes to beat, he pulled his shot wide across the goalmouth. But a minute into first-half injury time, Barca almost made it five when Alves drilled in a low cross but it bounced off Henry at the far post and dropped for an unaware Iniesta, who thumped in a hasty volley wide.
Second Half
Barcelona made no attempts to take their foot off the pedal. Although they were more subdued and patient in their attacks, they still managed to pin Bayern back for large periods.
The first real chance of the second period fell, predictably to Messi, who swivelled infield from the right and unleashed a low left-footed piledriver on the edge of the box only for Butt to slap it away. Eto’o then took a shot from distance just on the hour mark despite having acres of space to run at and he blazed his effort well over the bar.
Guardiola’s men did eventually start to gradually downshift their gears to conserve energy as the clock ticked down, but more worryingly for Jurgen Klinsmann, his troops failed to look any more dangerous.
They did create one opening, though, on 70 minutes when Ze Roberto was put through on goal by Ribery but as he pulled the trigger from six yards out, Carles Puyol lunged forward with a superb last-ditch tackle to block the shot.
That sprung Barca to life and they swiftly went into assault mode again. Iniesta glided down the left flank before scooping the ball over the Bayern backline for Eto’o but it was just a touch too heavy. Moments later, Iniesta waltz into the box and jinked in between two defenders but his dipping shot aiming for the top left corner just shaved the crossbar.
Messi almost nabbed his hat-trick a minute into injury time when Iniesta jogged past a throng of defenders to the byline before clipping a cross to the middle for the Argentine, but his half-hearted shot was blocked by his own team-mate, Seydou Keita. That, however, was barely enough to dishearten the jubilant Camp Nou.
The only blemish for the home side was defender Rafa Marquez’s yellow card in the final minutes as the booking will force him to sit out the return leg at the Allianz Arena next week. For the Bavarians, this is their heaviest defeat in the Champions League in their storied history.
TEAMS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes – Dani Alves, Marquez, Pique, Puyol – Xavi, Toure Yaya (Busquets, 80’), Iniesta – Messi, Eto’o (Bojan, 89’), Henry (Keita, 73’)
Unused subs: Gudjohnsen, Sylvinho, Martin Caceres, Pinto
Bayern Munich (4-3-3): Butt – Oddo, Breno, Demichelis, Lell – Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Ze Roberto (Sosa, 76’) – Altintop (Ottl, 46’), Toni, Ribery
Unused subs: Podolski, Badstuber, Lahm, Borowski, Rensing
BARCELONA 4-0 BAYERN MUNICH
1-0: Barcelona (Messi, 8’)
2-0: Barcelona (Eto’o, 12’)
3-0: Barcelona (Messi, 37’)
4-0 Barcelona (Henry, 43’)
YELLOW CARDS
Barcelona: Messi (17’), Marquez (90’)
Chelsea In Dreamland After Victory Over Liverpool At Anfield
Chelsea turned in a performance of the highest quality at Anfield to take complete control of their Champions League tie with Liverpool.
Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea
Chelsea turned in a performance of the highest quality at Anfield to take complete control of their Champions League tie with Liverpool.
It had all started so well for the Reds when Fernando Torres swept them into a sixth minute lead, but the visitors soon got themselves together and squandered two great opportunities to level through Didier Drogba.
The tie was then turned on its head when Branislav Ivanovic scored two headers either side of half-time, before Drogba, not to be denied, added a third with Liverpool looking stunned.
Chelsea are now in complete control of the tie – Liverpool will have to score at least three times at Stamford Bridge in next week’s second leg if they are to stand any chance of reaching the last four.
Javier Mascherano was suspended for Liverpool; meaning Lucas Leiva came into the starting XI. Otherwise there was no major selection news for the Reds.
Chelsea, though, sprung a few surprises. Nicolas Anelka was left on the bench alongside the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and John Obi Mikel. Florent Malouda was given a start, while Ivanovic played at right-back.
Chelsea’s coach, Guus Hiddink, had said prior to the game that his side would attack from the off, but it was the home side who came racing out of the traps. In just the third minute, a powerful Dirk Kuyt effort deflected off Ivanovic and just over the crossbar after the Blues failed to clear a corner
That was the warning, because three minutes later Rafael Benitez’s side were in front. After the visitors made a hash of clearing a long ball from defence, Kuyt cleverly sent Alvaro Arbeloa free on the right. The full-back squared the ball to the onrushing Torres, who confidently swept his shot past Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech from 15 yards.
Incredibly, though, the Blues had a golden opportunity to level less than a minute later. Fabio Aurelio carelessly lost possession inside his own half to Salomon Kalou, who sent Drogba clean through on goal. However, the striker shot straight at Pepe Reina, wasting a glorious chance to equalise straight away.
The visitors next threatened in the 23rd minute when Kalou and Drogba worked passes on the flank to Malouda, who shot wide of the far post. At the other end, it was Frank Lampard’s turn to lose the ball in his own half - Torres pouncing before shooting just over from the edge of the penalty area.
On the half hour mark, Drogba had another clear opening on goal. He managed to lose Jamie Carragher and pick up Michael Ballack’s pass into the box, but could only blaze a left-footed effort over the bar from close-range, leaving Hiddink bewildered on the touchline.
But relief was only a few minutes away. As the half neared its conclusion, Lampard saw a long-range effort deflected wide. From the resulting corner, taken by Malouda, Chelsea had a deserved equaliser. The Frenchman floated in a delivery to the edge of the six-yard box and Ivanovic headed home after avoiding detection from Liverpool’s zonal marking system.
Moments later, the Reds almost got themselves back in front with Chelsea still stretched. Kuyt found his way past Terry before shooting straight at Cech from a difficult angle.
After the break, Drogba had his third gilt-edged opportunity of the match after Aurelio lost possession and Lampard sent him clear. The Ivorian fared better this time, riding the challenge of Martin Skrtel and slipping his shot past Reina, but Jamie Carragher crucially got back onto the goal-line to hook the ball to safety.
Gerrard and Torres then combined well at the other end - the Spaniard eventually shooting over after being put under pressure from the Blues’ defence as the game’s end-to-end nature continued.
On 62 minutes, in a near carbon copy of the first goal, Chelsea scored again through Ivanovic – the Serbian grabbing his second goal of the match. This time it was Lampard’s corner that found defender in space and he guided another header past the helpless Reina.
Just as you thought it couldn’t get any better for the visitors, they were in dreamland five minutes later. Ballack broke from midfield and fed Malouda down the left. The winger then sent in a glorious inviting cross to which Drogba, who had been enduring a difficult night, showed huge desire to beat Aurelio and Carragher to and power home from close-range.
Liverpool huffed and puffed in the final 20 minutes as they attempted to get back into the tie, but other than a Xabi Alonso shot from distance that was tipped over by Cech in the third minute of stoppage time, they struggled to threaten and looked out of ideas going forward.
It had all started so well for the Reds when Fernando Torres swept them into a sixth minute lead, but the visitors soon got themselves together and squandered two great opportunities to level through Didier Drogba.
The tie was then turned on its head when Branislav Ivanovic scored two headers either side of half-time, before Drogba, not to be denied, added a third with Liverpool looking stunned.
Chelsea are now in complete control of the tie – Liverpool will have to score at least three times at Stamford Bridge in next week’s second leg if they are to stand any chance of reaching the last four.
Javier Mascherano was suspended for Liverpool; meaning Lucas Leiva came into the starting XI. Otherwise there was no major selection news for the Reds.
Chelsea, though, sprung a few surprises. Nicolas Anelka was left on the bench alongside the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and John Obi Mikel. Florent Malouda was given a start, while Ivanovic played at right-back.
Chelsea’s coach, Guus Hiddink, had said prior to the game that his side would attack from the off, but it was the home side who came racing out of the traps. In just the third minute, a powerful Dirk Kuyt effort deflected off Ivanovic and just over the crossbar after the Blues failed to clear a corner
That was the warning, because three minutes later Rafael Benitez’s side were in front. After the visitors made a hash of clearing a long ball from defence, Kuyt cleverly sent Alvaro Arbeloa free on the right. The full-back squared the ball to the onrushing Torres, who confidently swept his shot past Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech from 15 yards.
Incredibly, though, the Blues had a golden opportunity to level less than a minute later. Fabio Aurelio carelessly lost possession inside his own half to Salomon Kalou, who sent Drogba clean through on goal. However, the striker shot straight at Pepe Reina, wasting a glorious chance to equalise straight away.
The visitors next threatened in the 23rd minute when Kalou and Drogba worked passes on the flank to Malouda, who shot wide of the far post. At the other end, it was Frank Lampard’s turn to lose the ball in his own half - Torres pouncing before shooting just over from the edge of the penalty area.
On the half hour mark, Drogba had another clear opening on goal. He managed to lose Jamie Carragher and pick up Michael Ballack’s pass into the box, but could only blaze a left-footed effort over the bar from close-range, leaving Hiddink bewildered on the touchline.
But relief was only a few minutes away. As the half neared its conclusion, Lampard saw a long-range effort deflected wide. From the resulting corner, taken by Malouda, Chelsea had a deserved equaliser. The Frenchman floated in a delivery to the edge of the six-yard box and Ivanovic headed home after avoiding detection from Liverpool’s zonal marking system.
Moments later, the Reds almost got themselves back in front with Chelsea still stretched. Kuyt found his way past Terry before shooting straight at Cech from a difficult angle.
After the break, Drogba had his third gilt-edged opportunity of the match after Aurelio lost possession and Lampard sent him clear. The Ivorian fared better this time, riding the challenge of Martin Skrtel and slipping his shot past Reina, but Jamie Carragher crucially got back onto the goal-line to hook the ball to safety.
Gerrard and Torres then combined well at the other end - the Spaniard eventually shooting over after being put under pressure from the Blues’ defence as the game’s end-to-end nature continued.
On 62 minutes, in a near carbon copy of the first goal, Chelsea scored again through Ivanovic – the Serbian grabbing his second goal of the match. This time it was Lampard’s corner that found defender in space and he guided another header past the helpless Reina.
Just as you thought it couldn’t get any better for the visitors, they were in dreamland five minutes later. Ballack broke from midfield and fed Malouda down the left. The winger then sent in a glorious inviting cross to which Drogba, who had been enduring a difficult night, showed huge desire to beat Aurelio and Carragher to and power home from close-range.
Liverpool huffed and puffed in the final 20 minutes as they attempted to get back into the tie, but other than a Xabi Alonso shot from distance that was tipped over by Cech in the third minute of stoppage time, they struggled to threaten and looked out of ideas going forward.
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