Sports : life magnified

Barcelona won the first leg 2-1 after dominating possession and could have scored more than they did. The header from Eto’o sealed it. So that should have been the end of it with all the focus on March 7.

Well this is Barcelona versus Chelsea. The clash which has developed into the biggest game in club football. Of course there was more.

Jose Mourinho, the loudmouth that he is, likes to speak. Mourinho said this on Messi:

How do you say cheating in Catalan? Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many great theatres and this boy has learned very well. He’s learned play-acting.

Of course he forgot, as Jonathan Stevenson from the BBC points out:

It is only 17 days since English football widely condemned Blues winger Arjen Robben for theatrically diving to get Liverpool keeper Jose Reina sent off in a key Premiership encounter. There is little doubt that Robben’s acting was greater than Messi’s, yet Mourinho accused Reds boss Rafael Benitez of sour grapes for bringing up the incident in his post-match analysis.

Step back in time at this juncture. Chelsea was down after the first leg similarly. In a few minutes of inspirational football in which they caught Barcelona napping. Chelsea capitalised and took the tie away from Barcelona. Did Barcelona fans cry over the fact that Barcelona dominated possession for much of the two matches last year and still lost?

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It is officially shaky now regarding the final of FA Cup final scheduled to be held at Wembley. The new stadium design has always looked brilliant and it is shaping up to be the same in reality as well. Football fans world over still hope for the date with Wembley on May 13th is kept.

The side was a shadow of its former self last season. They were displaced from the traditional big 4 of english football. This early season has been worst than ever in their history. So a boost was definitely needed. The signing of Michael Owen, a scoop considering Owen first wanted to go there on loan may be one of the crucial turning points in the history of Newcastle.

In Shearer and Owen they have former England pairing. Shearer is on the way to retirement but Owen is still very young and has a lot ahead of him. Will Owen decide to stay more than a year? Who knows. You can never say in football.

It was just West Brom but the display by Chelsea versus West Brom was impressive. Wright Philips was fast and persistent. Makelele and Lampard were strong. I thought Ession showed a bit of inexperience but did not lack in enthusiasm. Drogba is some one I am not hugely impressed by. Maybe try Crespo more for a while.

Barcelona start their Spanish league defense over the weekend and they have a stronger side.

Will we have another Chelsea versus Barca clash with a stronger team for both squads? The prospect with a hopeful Barca victory makes me smack my lips!

Between work 10 AM to 8 PM the sport action I have been able to catch up has been the excellent Ashes contest and the football.

The Ashes have truly surprised me. I did not give the English a chance to win even a test even though I was sure they would give a good fight. I have never seen a close Ashes contest and feel luck I am able to catch the best Ashes contest since 1989.

I managed to catch three Premiership games over the weekend. Liverpool and Gerrard could not score but I liked the well fought out match nevertless. Arsenal vs Newcastle was scratchy but the backup strength of Arsenal looks good. Chelsea vs Wigan was a classic and a heartbreak when Crespo scored.

Too bad the net connection in my room has been non existant for the past few days resulting in a dormancy in posts in the blog.

The Robinho deal with Real is looking on shaky grounds now. And now they have signed Baptista going one up on Arsenal.

So what does the future hold for one of the most talked about new Brazilian players? Brazil keeps producing amazing talent despite football being a world game and all the money and training being in Europe. At least the world should get a chance to know how good Robinho can be in Europe.

Meanwhile Real is still pretty sure Robinho will end up in Madrid. We have not heard the last of this.

Jose Mourinho, after saying Chelsea may stop needing players in his last year said a few days ago that he is recruiting players so that no one takes his place for granted in the side and not because he needs them. So why wont the players start taking their places for granted in 5 years time!?

Also, now there is a lot of bad blood between Arsenal and Chelsea after Mourinho called for Dein to quit. FA has criticsed Mourinho over the comments and Wenger on a different is ruing the purse Mourinho has at his disposal.

Mourinho is frank, Mourinho is blatant, Mourinho is abrasive, Mourinho is calculated and Mourinho will go to any means - psychological warfare/not follow transer rules to accomplish his task of winning. Most crucially he is opinionated and the manager of the team which won the English Premiership last season.

He was in news last year and he will be in the news much more than ever before this season.

After resisting to write on the subject, I cant stop now.

hahhahahahahahhahahaa

So Gerrard has done a U-turn and has decided to stay at Anfield.

One second.

hhahahahhahahahhahahaha

Okay I am done. About a week back papers and websites speculated Gerrard may leave Anfield. Then they speculated whether Gerrard wont leave Anfield. Then they speculated where Gerrard would go. Then they reported Liverpoll officials saying he wont leave Anfield. Then they reported Gerrard will leave, quoting him. Then they reported Benitez pleading Gerrard to stay through the media.

And now Gerrard, the off season newsprint favourite of the week says he wants to stay after all. The reason?

The 25-year-old told Liverpool he wanted to leave after contract negotiations broke down.

The press love Jose Mourinho. He always has some thing to say. And whatever he says, he says it without adjectives to reduce the effect of his remarks. He says them point blank. And the fact that Mourinho has had a superb record and is the manager of current English Premiership Champions Chelsea means that Mourinho will always have a lot of newsprint dedicated to him.

Yahoo Sports quotes Mourinho:

To be fair I think we are the best team in history, because we beat the record (number of points in a Premier League season).

Can Chelsea say they are the best side in the world even currently with Barcelona, making rapid sides last season(and now aquiring Van Bommel), Juventus and AC Milan playing wonderful football? After Chelsea win a few more titles we may think of going into the best in history debate. Thank got Roger Federer doesnt speak like Mourinho for that could lead to a scary scenario.

Mourinho doesnt stop obviously:

Chelsea in the future won’t need this kind of budget. I have a five-year contract and I’ll bet that in my last year we won’t buy a single player. Next season, we’ll buy maybe two or three; the season after, one or two; and the next season we’ll buy one and after that we won’t need any new players.

And what will after your contract runs out Mr. Mourinho or in the 6 th. 7th and 8th year even if you dont leave? Will the team not require shuffling considering players are merely mortals and even the best fade out some time and new players need to be aquired? Why should we care. We have the purse and the short 5 year term in mind. Lets keep shopping till then.