“I Think my Sat Nav is broken, I typed in Chelsea and it said just two minutes away from Rome.”
Just one of the ‘hilarious’ jokes that I’ve heard in the aftermath of two quite bizarre Champions League semi finals.
Here are my post game reflections on both matches:
Arsenal 1 – 3 Manchester United
As an Arsenal fan, I was absolutely gutted when Kierian Gibbs slipped and let Park in to score an easy goal. Ronaldo’s superb free kick was the nail in the coffin. After that I knew it was all over. So how am I feeling about it all? Well disappointed obviously, mainly because in both ties Arsenal never seemed to show up. In this game particulary they looked too predictible and were trying to do too many clever passes when perhaps a simple shot would of done.
The two mistakes have to be key to the loss though. Gibbs’s slip was unfortunante and a shame considering how well he performed at Old Trafford and Ronaldo’s free kick was very good but for me it was never a free kick. Ronaldo as par usual flopped over as soon as he was challenged and seem to win every decision. These two goals dealt a heavy psychological blow to an Arsenal team that looked good in the first 8 minutes.
So overall a real shame. Man United did play well, but then again, Arsenal never really showed up. I did feel a bit sorry for Fletcher and his unjust sending off, but then again, it was marvellous to see Fergie’s face when it happened.
Also, Ronaldo’s celebration of his free kick once again showed why he is deserving of the title ‘Cock of the Year’.
It will be interesting to see how the Arsenal players react in the last few games of the season and also who will stay and who will go during the summer.
Chelsea 1 -1 Barcelona
All I can say on this match is, I’m glad I’m not a Chelsea fan. Now, I wanted Barcelona to win this game, yet when I watched the highlights I was gutted for Chelsea. They deserved to win. End of.
Chelsea have every right to feel hard done by. In my opinion, they should of been awarded at least 3 penalties and to lose to only one shot on target in the 93rd minute is a really kick in the pants. Saying that, it was a lovely strike (as was Essien’s).
The penalty controversy in my opinion showed once again the need for video referreing. I can understand the argument against, but surely the game needs to be slowed down for key moments such as the penalty claims, as at the end of the day, it was these bad decisions that cost Chelsea a place in the Champions League final.
Saying that however, I did agree with Andy Townsend who concluded that Drogba was reaping what he had sown all season. Despite his clear physical strength, Drogba often goes down far too easily and makes a meal out of it when he’s down. It’s these actions that could of well discredited him in the eyes of the ref when he did go down.
As for the after game reactions, as a neutral, I just found them highly amusing. Ballack’s chasing of the ref and Drogba madman-esq rant at the camera were my two highlights. Was this reaction right? Probably not, but fair game to them. I doubt I could say that I would react differently.
So Barcelona are undeserveadly through and will face Man United, which for me is a shame cos it would of been great to see a replay of last years final, and I think Chelsea could of beat United where as Barcelona will probably lose.
However I may be wrong, and will be supporting Barcelona come final night.
So overall I felt let down by the two semi finals. First by Arsenal’s bad luck and poor performance and second by the bad referee decisions in Chelsea’s game.
James
Seven Sisters Road 
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