Scott Murray's Blog, page 181
June 12, 2015
The Joy of Six: golf holes of hell
Impossible greens, fearsome bunkers and water hazards that can kill all hope in seconds – half-a-dozen holes that make pros look like bungling hackers
Oakmont has a fearsome reputation as one of the most difficult golf courses in the world. The last time the US Open was held on the notoriously tough Pennsylvania track, in 2007, five over par won it for Ángel Cabrera. The one before that, in 1994, was another grind. Ernie Els was one of only three players to end the week having broken par – just the one under par, mind. He triumphed in the play-off thanks to a round of three over, and then par on the second sudden-death hole. You really do have to earn it at Oakmont.
Related: The Joy of Six: great golf holes | Scott Murray
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June 6, 2015
2015 Champions League final: Juventus 1-3 Barcelona - as it happened
10.05pm BST
And here come the new European champions. Taking over from Real Madrid ... Barcelona! Luis Enrique - what a first season he’s had as manager! - is the subject of a bear hug from Platini. Once all the players have taken their place on the podium, old big ears is handed over to Xavi, whose last act of a long, storied Barcelona career is to lift the European Cup! Down comes the ticker tape, and it’s party time in Berlin for Barca. Let’s leave them to it as they bounce around the Olympiastadion pitch, taking a look at their new exalted place on the roll of honour:
10: Real Madrid
7: AC Milan
5: Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Barcelona
4: Ajax
Related: Juventus 1-3 Barcelona | Champions League final match report
9.56pm BST
Barcelona form a guard of honour for the officials, as they go and collect their Uefa trinkets. But of course it’s really for Juventus, who are warmly applauded by the victors as they collect their runners-up medals. Pirlo seems a little happier now, and receives a warm hug and kiss from Uefa bigwig Michel Platini. Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba get one too.
9.50pm BST
That really was an astonishing game of football. The most entertaining Champions League final for years. End-to-end excitement pretty much from the get-go. Barcelona deserved to win - they were the dominant team for the most part - but Juve gave them a good working over for a sizeable chunk of that second half, a period during which the result really was in doubt. It took a huge effort from Juventus to stay with a simply brilliant Barcelona team, and for that they should be applauded. Many wouldn’t have been able to hang on. But eventually Barca’s class told. Barcelona have their fifth European Cup, joining Liverpool and Bayern Munich at that mark on the roll of honour. Poor old Juve now hold the record for final defeats, this being their sixth. But everyone should go away feeling proud. Only one team will be lifting the trophy, of course, so it might take a while for that last point to kick in with Juve.
9.45pm BST
Neymar’s goal is the last kick of the final! Barcelona are the winners of the 2015 Champions League! And become the first-ever side to win a second Treble! Neymar and Messi bounce around in glee. Poor old Andrea Pirlo is in tears. What a final that’s been. Both teams were brilliant. It’s just that one team was more brilliant than the other.
9.44pm BST
Bonucci looks to hoick forward on the halfway line. Dani Alves handles it past him. Free kick. A chance for Juve to load the box, and throw a Hail Mary pass forward. But Barca clear, and break forward. Pedro slips the ball to the left for Neymar, who smashes home from the edge of the area to seal it!
9.41pm BST
90 min +6: Suarez is finally replaced by Pedro.
9.41pm BST
90 min +5: Suarez, who looks to have won the Champions League for Barcelona, limps off. He does this from the far corner, miles from the bench, and isn’t above milking this for the full worth.
9.40pm BST
90 min +4: Messi busies himself down the left and wins a corner. Barca don’t do much with it, but that’s not really the point. The clock continues to tick round.
9.39pm BST
90 min +3: Llorente looks to turn on the edge of the Barca box. He’s about to shoot, or lay off to Pogba, but is blocked out of it by a stunning Mascherano challenge. Barca clear.
9.38pm BST
90 min +2: Marchisio hoicks long. Llorente wins the header and feeds Tevez, who cuts in from the left and looks to curl one into the top right. But there’s not enough on the ball, and ter Stegen gathers with ease.
9.37pm BST
90 min +1: Rakitic is replaced by Mathieu. Some professional clock management going down here.
9.37pm BST
90 min: There will be five added minutes. Five tense, wonderful added minutes. Suarez nearly sends Messi scampering clear down the middle. But Barzagli gets in the way.
9.35pm BST
89 min: Marchisio, 25 yards out, threads a low shot through a thicket of legs towards the bottom right. ter Stegen does marvellously well to tip the ball round for a corner, and the set piece is easily dealt with by Barca. That was so nearly the goal that’d take us to extra time! Marchisio has been magnificent.
9.34pm BST
88 min: Evra goes down in a tangle with Jordi Alba, and is replaced by Coman.
9.34pm BST
87 min: Suarez falls backwards, his right leg planted in the turf. Ooyah, oof, that’s really put pressure on his knee. He’s in real pain, but eventually gets up. The break jiggers Barca’s concentration, though, Llorente nearly breaking clear into the area down the left, his eventual cross not quite finding Pereyra. ter Stegen smothers in a panic.
9.31pm BST
85 min: Llorente comes on for Morata.
9.31pm BST
84 min: Dani Alves zips down the right and hooks a cross into the centre. Suarez takes the ball down, swivels, and screws a weak shot wide right from 12 yards. Here’s Adam Wilson: “Well I am grateful I’m a Forest fan (64 min) and especially that we won (Twice! As many times as Juventus!) when colour TV had been invented or it’d seem like even longer ago.”
9.28pm BST
82 min: Messi earns a free kick down the right. He takes a while to get to his feet, though he’s only running down the clock, which is not Juve’s friend. Xavi’s set piece is cleared, but Rakitic plays it back into the Juve box, a delightful pitching wedge down the inside-right channel. It drops over Pique’s shoulder. The big defender waits for it to land, then belts a rising shot over the bar from a tight-ish angle. A real chance to put this final to bed, though. How Barca will wish that had dropped to Messi, Suarez or Neymar.
9.25pm BST
80 min: Juve make their first change, Pereyra coming on for Vidal. “To Matt Dony’s silver lining list might I add Liverpool’s fantastic new kit deal?” quips Peter Oh.
9.25pm BST
79 min: ter Stegen isn’t the most secure keeper. Rakitic concedes a needless corner down the left. The ball’s hit long, Pogba rising at the far post after a ter Stegen flap. The keeper’s fortunate that Pogba heads over from close range. What a chance!
9.24pm BST
78 min: Iniesta is replaced by Xavi, making his final appearance in a Barcelona shirt. “Hold on. Liverpool didn’t sell Aspas, only sent him out on loan?” wonders Ann Sharpe. “He’s still on the books? Let’s get him back so we have a decent corner taker next season.” Satire, ladies and gentlemen.
9.22pm BST
77 min: Now Barca are tearing upfield, five on two. Jordi Alba slips as he enters the area down the left, and the danger’s gone, though a free kick’s soon earned, five yards outside the box, just to the left of goal. Another very dangerous position. But Messi’s delivery is uncharacteristically useless, miles wide left and high.
9.21pm BST
74 min: And now a corner for Juve down the left. ter Stegen punches it straight at Morata, the ball nearly ballooning back into the empty net!
9.20pm BST
73 min: Messi goes on an intense dribble down the right, glides inside, but can’t quite get his shot away. This is relentless!
9.19pm BST
72 min: For a second it looks like Barcelona are 3-1 up, as Neymar heads a left-wing Jordi Alba cross into the right-hand side of the net. But he’s headed the ball down onto his own right elbow and into the goal, and the referee rules it out. The deflection off his elbow is the one that beats Buffon, and despite Neymar’s prayers - he’s pleading with the referee, a long celebration having been curtailed - the decision goes against Barca.
9.16pm BST
70 min: This is a great final. Straight from the kick off, Suarez is booked for an over-eager challenge on Bonucci. Y”eah, but we’ve still got Iago Aspas,” writes Liverpool fan Matt Dony, making the best of it.
9.15pm BST
What a big decision the non-penalty call looks now! Messi runs with great determination down the inside-left channel. From the edge of the box, he unleashes a low rasper towards the bottom right. Buffon gets down to save brilliantly, but the ball only breaks into the middle for Suarez, who batters a sidefoot into the unguarded net!
9.13pm BST
67 min: Pogba powers down the left and slides the ball wide to Evra, who stands one up to the far post, where Tevez can’t quite rise high enough to head goalwards. Then in the next phase Vidal swings a ball in from the right, and Pogba looks to swivel on the penalty spot to shoot. Dani Alves sticks his hand on Pogba’s shoulder, and drags the man down. Admittedly he doesn’t need much persuasion, but that’s a fair penalty shout, that.
9.11pm BST
64 min: This is a marvellous match. Pogba glides in from the left and whistles a low, hard shot straight at ter Stegen from the edge of the box. “At least Po’ Shaun Wilkinson (46 min) can be thankful he’s not a Nottingham Forest fan,” replies Simon McMahon. “Two time European champions.”
9.10pm BST
63 min: Morata in space down the right. He cuts back for Marchisio, who pivots a pass from right to left through the Barca D for Tevez. He shoots wildly over the bar. Then Barca go up the other end, Iniesta very nearly opening Juve up down the middle with a dummy and a delicate rolled pass into the area for Suarez. Buffon is out quickly to smother.
9.07pm BST
61 min: Iniesta caresses a diagonal looper from left to right, and nearly finds Messi, breaking into the area from the flank. Just a bit too much juice on the ball. Good luck in calling this result!
9.06pm BST
60 min: Pogba is sent skittering into acres down the left by Pirlo, a lovely quarterback’s pass. Evra scampers along to join the attack, but the passes aren’t quite crisp enough. Barca were light at the back there, though. All of the certainties of the opening 50-odd minutes no longer apply. What a final we have on our hands here!
9.05pm BST
58 min: A free kick for Juve down the right. Pirlo wands it into the area, where Morata heads over from 12 yards, looking for the top-right corner. There’s a cracking atmosphere in the Olympiastadion, and Barcelona don’t look their confident selves all of a sudden.
9.04pm BST
57 min: What is it with Juventus, Champions League finals, and backheels? First Alessandro Del Piero in the ‘97 final, and now Marchisio! That really was something special. Barca’s passes aren’t sticking all of a sudden. What a sudden jolt to the atmosphere! Juve have been all over the place for the most part, and now look!
9.02pm BST
Marchisio flicks a stunning back-heel down the inside-right channel to release Lichtsteiner into the box. He slips inside for Tevez, who swivels on the penalty spot and belts low and hard to the bottom-right corner. ter Stegen gets down well to parry brilliantly, but the ball only breaks into the middle for Morata, who can’t miss! A simply stunning goal, a moment of genius from Marchisio, and we’re all level!
8.58pm BST
53 min: Buffon holds the ball to his chest for a while, just to calm things down. A wise old head.
8.57pm BST
51 min: Messi cuts in from the right. He one-twos with Neymar, then Suarez, across the front of the area, some rat-a-tat brilliance, before looking for the top left from the left of the D. It’s not far away. What a goal that would have been. Juve are hanging on again.
8.56pm BST
49 min: ... Barca nearly score! The set piece is easily cleared, and suddenly Barca are five on three! Rakitic makes good down the inside-left channel, and flicks it to his left for Suarez, who pearls one towards the bottom left. It’s turned around the corner by Buffon. The corner doesn’t really work for Barca, though the ball’s recycled down the right, where a slightly frustrated Suarez looks for the top right from distance. He does find the top right, but only of the stand behind the goal. Rakitic should probably have played that ball to the right, for Neymar on the inside, and none of these Suarezian mishaps would have happened.
8.53pm BST
48 min: Pique bundles Tevez over, gifting Juve a free kick, 40 yards out down the inside-right channel. A chance for Pirlo to deliver something dangerous. He curls one towards the head of Pogba, on the edge of the six-yard box, but Pique heads behind for a corner. From which ...
8.52pm BST
46 min: Messi embarks on a very busy ramble down the right, and cuts into the area. He lays off to Suarez, who can’t quite control and falls over. For a second there, Juve were in danger of being prised apart. “I am watching this final, and I call can think is: I remember Newcastle beating both of these teams in the Champions League,” writes Shaun Wilkinson. “Then I think of Mike Ashley and John Carver, and want to cry.” Don’t do this to yourself, Shaun. Just imagine what poor old Simon McMahon (6 min) is going through.
8.50pm BST
Barcelona take the escalator down to the pitch. Juventus must feel like they’re taking the lift to the scaffold. No changes. Barca get the ball rolling again.
8.37pm BST
Half-time advertisement reel:
8.35pm BST
Messi nearly tears Juve apart with a dribble down the right, but he runs the ball out of play before he can cut back for Suraez. And that’s that for the first half. The way it panned out, Juve can consider themselves very fortunate to be just the one goal down, and still with 11 men on the field. And you know that hoary cliché about a game of two halves? Well, that. Hey, you never know. It promises to be a fascinating second period. No flipping!
8.34pm BST
44 min: Lucky Gigi Buffon! He attempts to play the ball out from the back, but only finds Neymar with a terrible pass to the left flank. Neymar chips into the middle, and with the keeper backtracking and out of position, if he’d found Suarez, it’d be 2-0. But the chip’s too high, and the ball skates off Suarez’s head. Juve go up the other end, and Marchisio sends a long-distance rasper into the hands of ter Stegen.
8.31pm BST
41 min: Pogba is booked for a clumsy clatter into the back of Messi in the midfield. Totally pointless. “You get the feeling Juve love complaining more than they hate injustice,” suggests Jeremy Dresner. It’s part of their unique charm.
8.29pm BST
40 min: Suarez fancies a goal. He cuts in from the right, and sends a low fizzer wide of the bottom-left corner, but only by a lick of paint on the post. So close. Then he bustles in from the left, and hammers a rising shot straight at Buffon. The keeper can only parry it over the bar, though. The corner comes to nothing. But that was very close. Twice.
8.28pm BST
39 min: Iniesta nearly dances clear into the Juve area with some twinkling toes down the left channel. He’s blocked, but Pirlo nearly out-Pirlos himself on the edge of his own area. Messi thinks about shooting, but is bundled out of it by Barzagli.
8.27pm BST
8.26pm BST
36 min: Pogba goes over on the edge of the area as he tries to turn past Jordi Alba. Juve claim a penalty. For a start, the pair came together just outside the box; also there doesn’t appear to have been much in the way of contact, if any. Juve are livid, though, and surround the referee. That looked worse than it was in real time; who’d be a ref, huh?
8.24pm BST
35 min: ... bugger all. Pirlo sends the ball deep to Marchisio, who lumps an idiotic ball into the arms of ter Stegen from distance. Juve had loaded the box there, but no delivery was forthcoming.
8.23pm BST
34 min: Pirlo rakes a pass from the centre circle to Morata along the left. He shuttles the ball down the flank towards Evra, but the left-back’s cross isn’t up to much. Barca only half clear, though, and the becalmed Vidal earns a corner down the left with some persistent play. And from the free kick ...
8.21pm BST
32 min: Barca just hogging the ball right now, taking their time. Suddenly they burst forward, Neymar sliding a pass left to Jordi Alba, whose low cross is hacked clear by Barzagli with Suarez lurking.
8.19pm BST
29 min: Corner for Barca down the right. Messi and Neymar take it short. It’s an over-elaborate nonsense. Pirlo, who has been quiet so far, sticks an impatient boot in to break it up. Juve have calmed it down a little here, though Barca are still enjoying territorial supremacy.
8.17pm BST
8.16pm BST
27 min: Now it’s Juve’s turn to fanny around at the back. Their loose play allows Neymar to shape to shoot from the left-hand corner of the box, but though he’s got space and time, he can only waft a lame effort straight at Buffon.
8.15pm BST
25 min: Barca do like to faff around, though. From the resulting goal kick, possession’s lost in a fug of needless passing, and Morata, on the edge of the D, nearly curls a shot into the bottom left. Then, in the very next phase of play, Jordi Alba is nudged off the ball by Morata, allowing Marchisio to send a stunning screamer inches over the bar from 20 yards. Barca get a free kick for the challenge on Jordi Alba, which is generous in the extreme. Juve not far from an equaliser there.
8.13pm BST
23 min: Tevez dribbles at speed down the left. He floats a cross into the middle, and though it’s nowhere near Morata, it very nearly diddles ter Stegen and floats into the top right. Think Paul Konchesky in the 2006 FA Cup final. Nearly; it goes out for a goal kick on the right. Konchesky > Tevez. QED.
8.11pm BST
22 min: Alves nutmegs Vidal down the right wing. For his trouble, he’s hauled back and clipped round the lug. The facilities at the Olympiastadion must be rather fancy, because Vidal really fancies that early bath. Once again, the referee is very lenient.
8.08pm BST
20 min: Here, this is better from Juve. Pogba makes good down the inside-left channel and curls a low ball into the box, aimed for Tevez. Mascherano is forced to slide in and concede a corner. The resulting set piece is cleared by Pique. The last four or five minutes should give Juve a little succour.
8.07pm BST
18 min: A bit of possession for Juve in the middle of the park. It’s the quietest this stadium has been since the pre-match caterwauling. Morata, Juve’s one bright spark so far, probes down the left but can’t get anywhere.
8.06pm BST
15 min: From the resulting free kick, Rakitic wins a corner down the left. Then the ball’s worked to Jordi Alba, who shoots from the edge of the area. He’s not too far away. This is a stunning display by Barcelona, and a very uneasy one by Juventus. They need something to happen quickly.
8.04pm BST
14 min: Vidal really needs to watch himself. He slides in on Neymar down the left. There’s not much content, though Barca want a second yellow shown to the hot-headed midfielder. A small shoving match. The referee calms it all down, and does nothing, though he makes sure the player can see the flash of red in his wallet, the dread card sticking out for all to see.
8.03pm BST
13 min: Juve are hanging on here a bit. No, a lot. First Suarez twists and turns down the inside-left channel, and nearly dinks the ball past Barzagli. But a fine tackle saves the day. Then Messi, down the right, nearly finds Neymar six yards out with a delicious diagonal ball. And finally Suarez scampers down the right and pulls a ball back from the byline for Alves, who sends a screamer towards the top right from the edge of the box. It’s in all the way, and Buffon’s diving in the wrong direction, but the 37-year-old adjusts mid-flight, sticks out a strong arm, and makes a majestic save. He’s kept his team in this final.
8.00pm BST
12 min: Incidentally, just before the Morata/Vidal move on 8 mins, Neymar found himself in a little space down the left, and clipped a cross into the box which hit Lichtsteiner’s hand. The full back’s arm was hanging limply by his side, so the penalty that was claimed for wasn’t awarded. But you’ve seen them given.
7.59pm BST
11 min: Vidal hasn’t calmed down. He slides in manically on Busquets, who goes down very easily, having only just been clipped. But the intent was there, and Vidal has been asking for the booking he receives.
7.58pm BST
9 min: Neymar is in the mood. He takes up possession 25 yards from goal, advances to the right-hand corner of the Juve D, and with little backlift sends a riser inches wide of the top-right corner. That was a forensic strike. Buffon might have got that had it been on target, but you would never say it with too much certainty.
7.57pm BST
8 min: That was a very strange start. Juve came out full of positivity, and Barca were a little ragged. And then look. But Juve come back well here. Morata bombs down the right, and just before he’s level with the box, checks and sends Jordi Alba sliding off. With space, he finds Vidal racing down the inside-right channel. Vidal looks for the top-left corner with a diagonal shot, but it’s miles too high.
7.55pm BST
6 min: Juve look shaken, as you’d expect after such an early blow. Vidal goes sliding in behind Iniesta, and is fairly lucky not to go in the book. The referee tells him to calm down, and in fairness the player appears more rattled than raging. “I shudder to think what one of the greatest attacking teams ever assembled would do to this Barcelona side.” Simon McMahon there, bringing up Dundee United’s 100% winning record over four matches against Barcelona. Because, let’s face it, if your team had a 100% winning record against Barca, you’d do it too.
7.53pm BST
So much for that fast Juve start! Jordi Alba is sent skittering down the left. He slips it inside for Neymar, in a little space on the left-hand corner of the Juve box. Neymar flicks further inside for Iniesta, who slides the ball across to Rakitic, on the penalty spot. Juve have been pulled to pieces, and Rakitic sidefoots into the net! What a lovely goal!
7.51pm BST
2 min: Or is it a nervous start by Barca? Another loose pass, from the goal kick, and Mascherano is forced to chase after the ball near his own right-hand corner flag. He can’t stop it going out. The long corner finds Evra in a little bit of space, but he can’t connect with his head. Barca eventually clear. Juve have made an early statement here; they really don’t fancy being the sacrificial lambs.
7.50pm BST
Juve kick off. They lump it forward, and lose it quickly enough. Evra slides in on Rakitic, conceding the first foul of the game. But Barca faff around at the restart, and a loose ball allows Tevez a snapshot from 25 yards. It’s miles over the bar, but this is a decent start by Juve.
7.48pm BST
Coins have been tossed, managers have ostentatiously hugged, hands are being shaken. We’ll be off in a minute! “Say what you want about the tenets of North Korean socialism, but they’d have put on a better pageant than this boring nonsense,” opines Kári Tulinius. I assume Kári means the dirge at the Olympiastadion. Perhaps it’s a reference to this report. It could be either, couldn’t it.
7.46pm BST
7.45pm BST
The teams are out! Someone’s caterwauling over Bastardised Zadok. This isn’t an enjoyable moment. Juve are in their famous black-and-white stripes, Barca their red and blue. It’s Notts County versus Basel - and it’s live.
7.43pm BST
No player appears more relaxed than Juve right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner. The Juve players are trotting down the stairs towards the pitch - but he’s taking the escalator! He leans against the moving handrail, a picture of nonchalance and contentment, like a man leaving M&S having just managed to get his money back on a pair of slippers despite losing the receipt. “I’d like to offer a sharp rebuttal to the Very Right Reverend (7.15pm) about that Ajax photo,” splutters Matt Drake. “Where are the badges? The stars? And those shirts: they appear to NOT be made of ground-up plastic bottles and do NOT seem to have the latest in moisture wicking technology. How on earth could they possibly play under those conditions? On the other hand, they did have some pretty sweet hair.”
7.32pm BST
Champions League anthem, pre-bastardisation:
7.15pm BST
A lovely interview earlier on Sky Sports with Gianluca Vialli, by the way. He admitted that, while he obviously wants Juventus to win tonight, a little bit of him will be annoyed that he’d no longer be the last Juve captain to lift the European Cup. All said with a smile, and he went on to explain that, as the 1983 trophy was lifted by Gaetano Scirea, and tonight’s would be raised by Gigi Buffon, it’d be “like your picture hanging between a Picasso and a Van Gogh”. Broad brush strokes, of course, but there’s the beauty of Italy, and Italians, right there. Or you don’t hear those sort of analogies so often from our lads, let’s put it that way.
Also in a lyrical mood is the Very Reverend Kevin Porter. “What a glorious photo of Ajax (6.40pm). Not a sponsors’ logo in sight. An unadorned, untarnished classic strip. Not even the background of some soulless bowl of stadium dominated by corporate boxes, advertisements and tacky lettering on the seats. The pure simplicity and dignity of arms folded, a plain white football, a training ground setting and the European Cup. A real football club winning a trophy, not a corporate brand exploiting the marketing opportunities. Bliss. This is, my friend, what football was, even at this level, before exploitative television and global marketing took over.” Preach on, brother!
7.00pm BST
The starting line-ups are pretty much as expected. No Giorgio Chiellini for Juve; Andrea Barzagli turns out in his stead. No matter: our man Paolo Bandini thinks this is to the Old Lady’s advantage. As for Barca, there are no surprises. Some players making their swansongs tonight: Andrea Pirlo and Xavi definitely, Dani Alves possibly. It’s going to be emotional. But then finals always are. Even the 2003 one, which would have brought a tear to a glass eye.
6.47pm BST
Juventus: Buffon, Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Barzagli, Evra, Marchisio, Pirlo, Pogba, Vidal, Tevez, Morata.
Subs: Storari, Ogbonna, Coman, Llorente, Padoin, Sturaro, Pereyra.
Barcelona: ter Stegen, Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Suarez.
Subs: Bravo, Xavi, Pedro, Rafinha, Bartra, Adriano, Mathieu.
6.40pm BST
Whoever wins tonight will join a very select list of champions. Both teams have already won their domestic league and cup Double, so the 2015 Champions League winners will complete a famous Treble. Only seven teams have managed to pull off this stunt before: Celtic in 1967, Ajax in 1972, PSV Eindhoven in 1988, Manchester United in 1999, Barcelona in 2009, Internazionale in 2010, and Bayern Munich in 2013.
6.32pm BST
These two teams haven’t met that often in European competition. They did so for the first time at the quarter-final stage of the 1986 European Cup, in a match-up viewed by most at the time as the de facto final. Juve - the reigning champions - held Terry Venables’ side for 82 minutes in front of 120,000 fans at Camp Nou in the first leg, before Julio Alberto scored from 25 yards with a low shot.
In the second leg at the Stadio Communale - attendance a mere 70,000 - Steve Archibald opened the scoring from a tight angle midway through the first half. Michael Laudrup slipped Michel Platini free for Juve’s equaliser just before the break. But that was that. Barca eventually made it to the final in Seville, and that indignity against Steaua Bucharest.
6.10pm BST
While Juve have been waiting patiently, Barcelona have established themselves as the dominant Champions League club during the last decade. Their ten-year record is second to none: winners, round of 16, semis, winners, semis, winners, semis, semis, quarters, and now the final again. All of their semi-final losses were against the eventual champions, and the two earlier defeats came at the hands of teams who made the final. Every time Barca have made the final themselves, they’ve won it. It’s an astonishing run of form.
And yet it’s slightly incongruous with the rest of their European Cup and Champions League history. Barcelona made their first final in 1961, having of course become the first club to knock Real Madrid out of the competition, but they lost to Benfica. They didn’t get there again until 1986, and to the amusement of most neutrals missed all of their penalties in a shootout with Steaua Bucharest. They eventually won the thing in 1992, Ronald Koeman breaking their duck with a blistering free kick against Sampdoria at Wembley. But the subsequent defeat by Milan in 1994 smacked of a club which still suffered from an inferiority complex when competing at the very top level, a strange mental block considering their size and status.
5.50pm BST
This is Juve’s first final since 2003. Nothing need be said about that match, which was goalless and lost on penalties to Milan. It wasn’t any good, the intelligentsia are trying too hard, and lying to you. It’s been a long, long wait for Juve since then, and an eventful one, during which they were demoted to Serie B for their part in the Calciopoli scandal. But they’ve made it back. Phew. We were worried there for a while.
Their imperial phase as the leading club in Europe seems even further away: lifting the Champions League in 1996, losing finals they were favourites to win against Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Real Madrid in 1998, capitulating in the semis against Roy Keane in 1999, thus bringing to an end a period of continental domination which should have garnered more trophies than it did.
5.30pm BST
Messi, Neymar, Suárez: the greatest attacking package in the history of the European Cup and Champions League? Maybe Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Francisco Gento and Luis del Sol would have something to say about that. You might get an argument from Gerd Müller and Uli Hoeness, too. And perhaps also from Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, Sandro Mazzola and Jair, Eusébio and José Torres, George Best and Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Terry McDermott, Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo and Raúl,
Milan Baroš and Harry Kewell
, Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ángel di Maria …
But the point stands, these three lads are pretty damn good. Just the 106 goals between them this season so far. Mercy! Juventus are up against it this evening in Berlin.
Continue reading...June 5, 2015
Breaking the Law: why Fifa should relax its eligibility rules | Scott Murray
The latest in our series suggesting revolutionary ways to improve sport focuses on allowing players qualifying for more than one country to switch allegiances after they’ve declared. And then back again, if they so wish
A lot of pressure is on Jack Grealish right now. The Solihull-born Aston Villa midfielder has represented Republic of Ireland at various levels in youth football, the granny rule in full effect, but having yet to turn out for the full team in a big match, is still free to declare for England. And so he’s opted to have a wee think about it. Good luck with that, then, young man. For you’ll be getting it in the neck from someone, somewhere, whatever you decide. What a business is football.
It’s often argued that Fifa needs to tighten up its eligibility rules, so that after a player has represented a country once, at any age group or level, whether in a friendly or competitive fixture, their decision remains binding for ever. To be fair, that would probably clear up most of the grey areas, and lay waste to a large number of unnecessary arguments.
Related: Would Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish pass the Roy Keane Ireland test? | Daniel Taylor
Related: Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj opts to represent Belgium
Related: Players who have been capped by more than one country
Continue reading...June 4, 2015
The Fiver | The biggest star of the circus
THE COST OF RICO
Imagine if Wayne Coyne had been kept in a small cage for over 20 years and force-fed industrial quantities of corn in order to produce a rich, creamy, delicious, indie-tinged pâté. Well, there’s Chuck Blazer for you! And like the Flaming Lips frontman, the Concacaf and Fifa bigwig Blazer is good at singing. Specifically in his case like a canary, in front of the judge.
DON’T EVEN THINK OF RAINING THE TENNIS OFF IN PARIS TOMORROW. NOT AFTER THIS LAST WEEK
Continue reading...Football transfer rumours: Raheem Sterling to Manchester United?
It’s a beautiful morning, another bright sunshiny day of infinite possibility stretching out in front of us. So the interminable Raheem Sterling rumours are back with us, then. He’s off to Manchester United. First the news about Brendan Rodgers staying, now this, it’s been quite the week for Liverpool fans. Selling their best player to Real Madrid suddenly looks quite appealing.
Manchester United have however lost patience with Radamel Falcao, who isn’t worth bothering with now fellow Jorge Mendes client David de Gea is off to Real Madrid, taking his 20 points a season with him. Falcao will go to Chelsea, while Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur will arrive at Old Trafford. Not sure where all this shuffling and shoogling for position leaves poor Spurs, but this paragraph’s got to end sometime.
Continue reading...June 3, 2015
A brief history of the Champions League – and why it's so hard to win two in a row
After the World Cup final, it’s the biggest match in soccer. As Barcelona take on Juventus in Berlin, Scott Murray takes a look back on the competition’s 60 years
With the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance (NOTE: actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant) we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for newer football fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the game’s history and storylines, hopefully in a way that doesn’t patronise you to within an inch of your life. A warning: If you’re the kind of person that finds The Blizzard too populist this may not be the series for you.
It’s quite possible that a footballing genius from Argentina will dominate the Champions League final this weekend. ‘Twas ever thus. The current generation will tell you that Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is the greatest player in the history of Europe’s No 1 club competition, and perhaps the greatest player of all time. They may have a point. Then again, quite a few older folk will tell you how Alfredo Di Stefano would have had something to say about that.
Related: The miracle of Istanbul
Continue reading...May 30, 2015
The 2015 FA Cup final: Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa, as it happened
Arsenal swatted Aston Villa aside to become the most successful club in FA Cup history.
7.40pm BST
Finally, here come Arsenal, the 2015 FA Cup champions! They climb the famous Wembley steps, faces beaming, and Aston Villa fan Prince William - slightly grim-faced, it has to be said - hands the trophy to Per Mertesacker and Alexis Sanchez. Up goes the cup, and down comes the ticker tape! Arsenal’s win means Southampton are in Europe, with Liverpool going straight into the Europa League group stage. But never mind all that; this is about Arsenal, and especially Arsene Wenger, their manager becoming a bona fide FA Cup legend today. As if he wasn’t one already, but a joint-record sixth win really hammers home the point, no? Over to Daniel Taylor, then, for the big match’s big report ...
7.34pm BST
An understandably upset young Villa fan is letting it all out, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. But then he spots himself on the big screen at Wembley, and allows himself a shy, but very brave, smile. A little something to take away from his very disappointing day. Hey, maybe there’s something in training the camera on the fans after all. Villa trudge up to claim their runners-up medals. A line of depressed faces, their manager’s the most miserable of all, his heart beating away on that sleeve. It won’t feel like it now, but Sherwood’s done a fine job so far at Villa, getting the team to the final, obviously, but keeping the team in the Premier League too. Next season should be interesting at Villa Park, and it’s been a while since anyone’s said that.
7.29pm BST
Wenger speaks! “We have shown today that we are a real team. I’d like to congratulate everyone, my players, my staff, the supporters. The confidence is good and the spirit in the team is high. I am proud that our club is doing well, and if I can personally do well, that’s even better!” A cheeky smile. How long does he plan to continue in the job? “My hunger is great, I want to do well. I will sit down with my directors and see how much they trust.”
7.26pm BST
Tim Sherwood wanders onto the pitch, hands in pockets, a picture of misery and despair. His opposing number Arsene Wenger is walking on air, and who can blame him? This is a remarkable achievement by Wenger, who has turned Arsenal into the kings of the FA Cup. Villa’s players stand, hands on hips, thoroughly defeated. They never really got a foothold in this final, and were well beaten by a very good team. A four-goal thrashing doesn’t flatter Arsenal at all.
7.22pm BST
Arsenal are the 2015 FA Cup winners! They’ve retained their trophy, and with their 12th win, become the most successful FA Cup club of all time! Arsene Wenger meanwhile registers his sixth win, a stunning personal record he shares with George Ramsay of ... Aston Villa. This is a historic day all right!
7.21pm BST
The final humiliation. Oxlade-Chamberlain finds a bit of space down the right, fires a low ball towards the near post, and Giroud flicks into the bottom right. Shades of offside, but what does it matter?
7.20pm BST
90 min +2: Grealish, who hasn’t stopped, pitching-wedges a diagonal ball from the left into the Arsenal box, but Benteke can’t get on the end of it.
7.19pm BST
90 min +1: Sanchez dribbles into a little space down the left, but his cross into the Arsenal box is aimless. There’s nobody in there anyway. Benteke has been very disappointing, though I guess he’s not had much to feed on.
7.18pm BST
90 min: There will be three minutes of added time. A mere 180 seconds, and it’ll seem like 180 years to poor Villa.
7.17pm BST
89 min: Sanchez is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain, a move which allows Arsenal’s fans to give their star man the reception he deserves. They don’t disappoint.
7.16pm BST
87 min: Grealish, in a fit of frustration, attempts a snapshot from 25 yards. Justice would have seen that fly into the top corner, but it’s easily blocked. It’s not been Villa’s day. They’ve been outplayed comprehensively, though they’ll point to those two late non-decisions.
7.15pm BST
85 min: Grealish robs Bellerin down the left, tight on the byline. And then he’s sent crashing to the floor! A penalty? Nope, they’re not getting that one, either. That’s not a good decision either. Bellerin had his arm on his shoulder. It wasn’t the hardest of tugs, but that shouldn’t make any difference. On the touchline, Tim Sherwood’s eyebrows nearly snap clean off his face, so fierce is his frown.
7.11pm BST
84 min: The free-kick-cum-corner comes to naught.
7.11pm BST
83 min: Giroud twists and turns by the right-hand corner flag, and is sent crashing to the floor by Vlaar. That was more clumsy than anything else. But a free kick that’s effectively a corner.
7.09pm BST
82 min: Agbonlahor is booked for continuing to debate that decision in the trenchant fashion.
7.09pm BST
80 min: Agbonlahor turns on the jets and heads towards the Arsenal box down the left. He’s about to take a step into the area when he’s upended by a sliding Coquelin. He claims a penalty, though it should be a free kick just outside the area. He gets neither decision, though. He looks aggrieved, and you can’t blame him.
7.07pm BST
79 min: Sanchez slips a perfectly weighted pass down the left, but Monreal can’t control in the area and Villa hoick clear. “For the second time they’ve cut away to show a young Villa fan looking depressed,” reports Dave Hill. “Every year, there are scenes of kids in tears as their team is relegated. I’m wondering if there is a fine line of bringing your impressionable child to a sporting event where their team may be thumped. On one hand, if they win, it will be one of the greatest things in their lives. On the other, the soul crushing that can occur, may cause an unexpected rise in top-four team duvet sales.” I’m not a fan of the TV cameras homing in on misery in the stands at all, really, whatever the age of the supporter. People pay good money to go to the game, they shouldn’t be humiliated on the international stage as a symbol of failure just because their team is doing badly and they’ve got a face on. Leave people to grieve in peace!
7.04pm BST
77 min: That’s Walcott’s last contribution to the match. He’s replaced by Giroud, while Ozil is swapped for Wilshere.
7.04pm BST
76 min: Ramsey, in space down the right, curls a long ball towards Walcott, racing down the left channel. He looks to curl one into the top right from distance, but his effort is all wrong. It flies high and wide right.
7.02pm BST
74 min: We have two teams here, and both know what time it is. A sense that everyone’s just running down the clock.
6.59pm BST
72 min: Sanchez (A) tackles a dithering Sanchez (C) in the centre circle. That was harrying of Suarezian proportions! And Arsenal are 3-0 up and cruising. Hey, maybe that’s why Arsenal are 3-0 up and cruising.
6.58pm BST
71 min: Carlos Sanchez comes on for Westwood.
6.57pm BST
70 min: Walcott very nearly springs clear down the right, but he’s offside. Villa look spent, and miserable to a man. 1957 was a long time ago.
6.56pm BST
68 min: Richardson, injured it would appear, is replaced by Bacuna. Hutton moves over to left back. “How long until Hutton is sent off for a two-footed tackle?” wonders Gordon Inglis, working off Ruth Purdue’s blueprint.
6.55pm BST
67 min: Delph slides a clever pass down the inside-right channel, but Cleverley can’t control as he bursts into the area, and Bellerin mops up. Down the other end, Sanchez twists and turns down the left, but can’t release Ozil.
6.53pm BST
65 min: A free kick for Villa down the right. Delph lumps it into the area, but Szczesny claims with a yawn. They need something now, if not sooner, but let’s be realistic, this has gone.
6.52pm BST
64 min: On the touchline, Tim Sherwood responded to his team’s non-existent defending by flinging his arms into the air in impotent frustration. He’s now pinching the bridge of his nose, presumably to keep himself calm. If nothing else, the man’s box office.
6.50pm BST
This was as simple as it comes. Corner for Arsenal down the right. Cazorla curls it into the box. Mertesacker rises, and carefully plants a header into the top-left corner, via a brush off his left shoulder. Benteke was marking him there, but gave up. Awful defending. Mertesacker had all the time in the world.
6.48pm BST
61 min: Ozil rakes a lovely pass down the middle to release Walcott. Or not quite. A combination of Okore and Given, on the edge of his box, stop the lightning-quick Walcott wriggle free. He can’t get a shot on goal. So close to the third goal that’d put this game to bed.
6.47pm BST
59 min: Villa can’t string two passes together right now. Arsenal are very comfortable. Here’s Matt Dony on Alexis Sanchez: “A tenacious, skilful, hard-working South American with a foot like a traction engine and a knack for rising to the occasion, who was available last summer. That all sounds familiar. And Rodgers bought Balotelli.”
6.45pm BST
57 min: Villa are all over the shop right now. Bellerin makes good down the right and slips the ball inside for Cazorla, who twinkles his toes to make a little space by the right of the D, before hammering a shot towards the bottom right. Given parries clear. This could get ugly for Villa if they don’t clear their heads soon.
6.43pm BST
56 min: Sanchez has the ball in the net again, but it’s correctly ruled out for offside. Ramsey had whipped a cross in from the right. Walcott had mistimed his move in the centre, and though his intervention saw the ball break right past a flapping Given to Sanchez, who headed into the empty net, it’s not counting.
6.42pm BST
55 min: Sanchez is the second Chilean to score in an FA Cup final. George Robledo of Newcastle United was the first, notching the winner in 1952 against ... Arsenal.
6.41pm BST
53 min: Before the free kick, N’Zogbia is replaced by Agbonlahor. Too late? Cazorla’s set piece is cleared easily enough, but Arsenal come straight back at Villa, Sanchez breaking into the area down the left. He’s got options inside, but delays the cross, and a corner will have to do. The set piece comes to nothing. Villa are seriously rocking here.
6.39pm BST
52 min: Arsenal have their tails up now all right. Sanchez cuts in from the left wing, and is clipped over by Westwood, who is booked for his trouble. This will be a free kick in a dangerous position.
6.38pm BST
Villa had looked dangerous for a split second there, but now they’re really up against it. Sanchez, 30 yards out down the inside-left channel, drops a shoulder to move inside, then unleashes a crazy, swerving, rising shot that deceives Given and whips into the roof of the net! What a strike! One of the stunning FA Cup final goals! Given may get pelters for that, but they’d be undeserved, for that ball was moving all over the place, off to the left before swerving violently to the left.
6.37pm BST
48 min: Grealish has a probe down the left, but he’s quickly closed down. No matter, Villa come again down the right through Hutton, whose long, looping cross confuses Bellerin to the extent that Grealish has the ball at his feet, tight on the byline to the left of goal. Bellerin recovers his poise, though, and crowds Grealish out.
6.34pm BST
47 min: Arsenal are almost immediately on the front foot again. Ozil makes space down the left. He feeds Cazorla, who thinks about shooting from the edge of the box, but slips it to his left for Ramsey instead. Ramsey twists, turns and then shoots, but his shot isn’t up to much, and bounces harmlessly into the arms of Given.
6.33pm BST
No changes. “After watching a half of those really ugly Arsenal kits, I was thinking since the FA cup currently exists as an exercise in nostalgia, why not have the teams play in old retro kits from bygone eras?” wonders Dave Hill. “Major League Baseball does it all the time and in some cases, does it really well. Football, like baseball lends itself to doing so as the only changes in kits are esthetic, not functional like hockey, cricket and American Football. It might be fun to see Villa in a 1887 kit versus Arsenal in a 1930s one go at it. Make Tim and Arsene wear waistcoats from those era as well, which would ensure against any gilet use.”
6.23pm BST
Half-time advertisement, in a 1957 style:
6.18pm BST
This scoreline is the very least Arsenal deserve. They’ve been utterly dominant. Villa have been on the ropes pretty much from the get-go. Better have another read of those motivational messages from the fans. Because if the second half pans out like the first, this is all over. Still, there’s only the one goal in it, and there have been plenty of dramatic turnarounds in the FA Cup final. Can Villa produce another? We’ll find out soon enough. No flipping!
6.16pm BST
45 min +1: There’ll be two added minutes of this half. A corner for Arsenal down the right. Ozil floats one into the centre, and Villa clear without too much fuss. But they really need to hear this half-time whistle.
6.15pm BST
44 min: Arsenal’s set piece isn’t up to much. Villa are happy just to clear their lines right now. They came from behind here against Liverpool in the semi, of course, but Arsenal are a different proposition. They’ll have to do better than this, though. They’ll need to hold on for the half-time whistle, and regroup.
6.13pm BST
43 min: Walcott, in hot form right now, one-twos with Ramsey down the right and shapes to shoot from a tight angle. Richardson slides in to concede a corner.
6.11pm BST
It’s not as if this hadn’t been coming. Monreal is sent into space down the left. He lifts a cross into the middle. Sanchez rises above Villa’s unconvincing centre halves, heading back across for Walcott, who enters the area from the left and meets Sanchez’s header with a blistering volley into the net!
6.10pm BST
6.09pm BST
38 min: Delph is booked for repeated fouling. He’s the heart of Villa’s engine room, and now he’ll need to be very careful indeed. As does Alan Hutton, of course, but what’s the point asking him to watch his step? You might as well shout into a hole in the ground.
6.07pm BST
36 min: But then again, you never know. Richardson curls a cross into the area from the left. Benteke, on the right-hand edge of the D, flicks delicately down the channel and nearly finds Grealish, breaking into the box. Just before that, Given came out of his area to head a long Cazorla lump away from the danger zone. And just after it, Cazorla clatters into Westwood and winds himself. But he’ll be OK to continue.
6.05pm BST
34 min: Ruth Purdue (4 mins) wasn’t too far off. Hutton is quite correctly booked for an awfully late lunge on Sanchez down the left. What hoodlummery! The free kick’s lumped into the Villa box. Corner. From which there’s a small melee in the Villa box, Given not totally in control of the situation or his limbs. Eventually the ball’s wheeched away from danger. But this surely can’t continue for Villa, who are really on the ropes here.
6.02pm BST
32 min: A bit of space for Delph down the left. He swings a high ball into the Arsenal area. Benteke winds his neck back. Szczesny comes out to punch, and manages it just about, but doesn’t connect particularly well under pressure from the striker. Fortunately for Arsenal, the ball doesn’t go anywhere near a claret shirt.
6.01pm BST
30 min: Bellerin is sent scampering into space down the right by Ramsey. His cross is poor - he should be causing a lot of trouble - but Grealish fails to clear with purpose. Ramsey is preparing to break into the box down the same flank when the whistle goes; he’s handled. Lucky Villa.
6.00pm BST
29 min: Delph drags Sanchez back by the shoulder, the two competing in the centre circle. He should be booked for that, really, but the Villa captain gets away with it.
5.59pm BST
28 min: Coquelin plays a cute reverse ball down the right-hand channel, allowing Ramsey to burst into the box. He’s got Vlaar on his shoulder, and though he gets a shot away, it’s deflected off the defender and wafts softly into the arms of Given. This is surely just a matter for time for Arsenal.
5.57pm BST
26 min: More rococo passing moves by Arsenal. Villa are being pulled this way and that by Cazorla, Ozil and Sanchez. Ozil flicks a lazy pass - lazy in the good way - down the right to release Walcott into the area. Walcott’s a shade offside.
5.55pm BST
24 min: Arsenal pass it around quite a lot. Suddenly Cazorla releases Ozil down the left. The ball’s fired low into the middle, where Walcott must score from six yards out! He sidefoots purposefully towards goal, but Richardson slides in desperately, and blocks magnificently! That’s an astonishing challenge, really. Just superlative last-ditch defending.
5.53pm BST
22 min: Ozil snaffles a loose ball in the centre circle, Grealish and Cleverley faffing about. He flicks it forward for Walcott, and very nearly releases the player into acres of space. But Vlaar is across to cover quickly. Villa are living on the edge here.
5.51pm BST
20 min: Arsenal should be ahead. Ozil, down the left channel, chips a ball into the middle. It should be cleared by Vlaar, on the edge of the area, but the defender’s header is hopeless. The ball breaks to Ramsey, who is clear, albeit in a small space, just inside the box! He leans back and wafts a dismal shot over the bar. Villa were in St Mary’s Mode there. Theirs is not a dependable defence.
5.49pm BST
19 min: A bit of space for Cleverley down the right. He slips a pass to N’Zogbia, who cuts inside and takes a shot. It’s charged down, the ball ballooning to Benteke on the edge of the D. A chance to take that down, turn, and get a shot away, and he nearly completes that difficult combination, but his control lets him down just before he can cock his leg to shoot.
5.48pm BST
17 min: Bellerin makes good down the right, seeing off Richardson with a deft turn, and fires a low ball to the near post. Ramsey, last year’s hero, slides in but can only guide the ball into the side netting. Between those two very good Arsenal chances, Villa won a free kick down their left, but Grealish’s high hoick into the area was claimed with ease by Szczesny. Arsenal are well on top here, much as everyone expected.
5.46pm BST
15 min: From the free kick, Cazorla finds Sanchez with a pitching wedge down the left. Sanchez turns on the edge of the area and chips into the middle, finding the head of Koscielny, who powers an effort towards the top left. Given looked to be heading the wrong way, but adjusted majestically to batter it out. What a save!
5.44pm BST
14 min: The first yellow card of the game goes to
Alan Hutton
Tom Cleverley. He can have no complaints, cynically clicking the heels of Monreal as the Arsenal man burst into space down the left channel.
5.43pm BST
13 min: Richardson makes good down the Villa left, and swings a high ball towards Benteke at the far post. Szczesny comes off his line to punch clear with purpose. Round one of what could be a very important duel to the Arsenal keeper. A decent move by Villa, though, and their first serious attack.
5.42pm BST
12 min: Ozil clips what might be the worst free kick in the history of association football into the box. Vlaar heads clear with a yawn. Arsenal had packed the box then, but Ozil couldn’t get past the first man. That’s awful.
5.41pm BST
11 min: Ozil bursts into a bit of space down the inside-left flank. Cazorla, up for this, takes control and wins a corner off Delph. The set piece is cleared by Villa, but Cazorla is soon twisting down the left wing again. He turns Benteke in a tight spot near the byline, to the left of the Villa box. Foul. It should be a booking, but referee Jon Moss is in a lenient mood. This is a free kick in a very dangerous position, though.
5.39pm BST
8 min: Sanchez busies himself down the left. He draws a couple of claret shirts and slides the ball forward for Cazorla, who bursts into the box and fires low and hard into the centre. Hutton slides in and concedes a corner. And then there’s another corner, which sees Koscielny rise on the six-yard line, level with the left-hand post. His header is weak, flying miles wide right, and should have been a lot better. But Sanchez is looking very lively down that flank.
5.36pm BST
6 min: It really is a magnificent atmosphere at Wembley. And folk try to tell us that the FA Cup is dying, an irrelevant nonsense in the modern world. Aye, right you are. Westwood betters Ramsey when contesting a high ball in the middle. Delph takes up possession and slides a lovely pass down the inside-right channel to release Benteke, though the big man’s an inch or two offside. That was close, though. Arsenal looked a bit ragged there.
5.34pm BST
4 min: Lovely feet from Delph, who creates a bit of space down the Villa right. The ball’s flung into the area, and Szczesny claims easily enough with Benteke in the vague surrounds. A decent response by Villa to Arsenal’s electric start. They can’t allow the favourites to dominate early on. Well, at all, really, but you know what I mean. “Hutton to get booked first?” wonders Ruth Purdue. It’s almost a licence to print money, isn’t it.
5.32pm BST
2 min: Arsenal quickly grab possession, and Walcott embarks on a skitter down the left. Okore puts a stop to his gallop. But Arsenal are on the front foot quickly, Sanchez upended along the same flank by Westwood. Arsenal pack the box, but the free kick floated into the area is useless, and easily cleared by Villa. Cazorla returns it long, and Ozil wins a header to find Walcott on the edge of the area, but Walcott’s offside. A bright start by Arsenal, this.
5.30pm BST
A blistering atmosphere at Wembley, on a lovely north London day. Villa get in a pre-match huddle. Their manager Tim Sherwood sits stony faced but fidgety on the famous bench, a few nerves betraying him. Coins are tossed, pennants are exchanged, and hands are shaken by the captains Per Mertesacker and Fabian Delph. And we’re off! Villa get the ball rolling, Grealish to Cleverley, and Wembley is rocking!
5.26pm BST
The teams are out! The players are lined up on the red carpet, and shaking hands with the guest of honour, the thoroughly biased Prince William. “The BBC coverage brought a tear to the eye with testimony about Alexis Sánchez’s early life from folk back in Tocopilla,” writes Charles Antaki. “Immediately dried by shot of sumptuous royal palace, and interview with Prince whichever-one-it-is.” They should have got that other well-heeled Villa fan, David Cameron, on as well. You’d have soon started with the waterworks again, either through laughter or despair. Then there’s a quick belt of a song hoping William’s granny will be saved, a sentiment we can all get on board with. And that’s all the pre-match formalities over with! We’ll be off in a minute! This is on!!!
5.20pm BST
Time for the traditional FA Cup final hymn:
5.10pm BST
In the interests of balance, here’s a picture of Aston Villa’s kit and caboodle. Their dressing room has been covered in motivational messages from supporters. No doubt this will be used as a stick to beat Tim Sherwood with, whatever the result, but to hell with the banal David Brent comparisons. That’s a nice touch, isn’t it? Spreading the love.
4.55pm BST
A happy 21st birthday to Inverness Caledonian Thistle! They’ve just won the Scottish Cup in the day’s other big match. The cup’s going to the Highlands for the first time!
4.45pm BST
Theo Walcott is the beneficiary of the big decision Arsene Wenger had to make. He gets the nod ahead of Olivier Giroud, that hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the season no doubt doing the trick.
As for Aston Villa, Shay Given has won his race for fitness, and plays in an FA Cup final 17 years after starring for Newcastle United against ... Arsenal. Meanwhile Alan Hutton returns in place of Leandro Bacuna at right back, while Tim Sherwood selects Charles N’Zogbia ahead of Gabby Agbonlahor. Not so long to go now!
4.30pm BST
Arsenal: Szczesny, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott.
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud.
Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Vlaar, Okore, Richardson, Westwood, Delph, Cleverley, Grealish, N’Zogbia, Benteke.
Subs: Guzan, Bacuna, Sinclair, Agbonlahor, Cole, Sanchez, Baker.
4.20pm BST
Having banged on for several paragraphs about stuff that happened in the 19th century, it’d be remiss of me not to mention recent head-to-heads. They’re almost certainly nearly as relevant, aren’t they. Well, it’s not good news for Villa, who lost 8-0 on aggregate over the two Premier League meetings this season, 3-0 at Villa Park, 5-0 at the Emirates. Arsenal also won the previous meeting between the teams, 2-1 at Villa Park in January 2014. But there is a little hope for Villa in the one before that, a 3-1 win at Arsenal on the opening day of last season, Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor running riot. All of this, of course, was before the advent of Tim Sherwood, so we have to assume the cosmic slate’s been wiped clean.
4.05pm BST
Still plenty of time to kill before the match, the FA having shifted the traditional 3pm afternoon kick-off back to the early evening. Fools. At least there’s no sponsorship this season. Enjoy that state of affairs while it lasts. You’ve got another 90, maybe 120 minutes of action. Bah. Anyway, my fellow ageing traditionalists: there’s an upside to all this hanging about, and it’s this: Memory Lane: FA Cup finals, a picture gallery of finals from days gone by, featuring the trophy stuffed in the luggage rack of a train, Matt Busby with a fag on, and an appearance from pint-sized pop star Tommy Steele (internet kids, ask your grandparents, who can in turn ask theirs).
3.50pm BST
Arsenal have been officially designated as the home team today, though that means very little if we’re being honest. They lost the toss for choice of kit, and will wear their time-honoured yellow-and-blue number, though in fairness that did them no harm at all in 1971 and 1979. They also wore gold, which is yellow isn’t it, in 1950. They did however lose wearing yellow in 1978 against Ipswich Town and 1980 against West Ham United. Tell the truth, they probably don’t care very much.
3.35pm BST
Arsenal’s FA Cup final history is a more modern affair. They only made it to the final for the first time in 1927, by which point Villa had eight appearances to their name, and those six aforementioned wins. Cardiff City striker Hughie Ferguson, and goalkeeper Dan Lewis’s slippery new shirt, did for Arsenal that day, but they’ve since more than made up for lost time. This will be their 19th appearance in a final, a new record which puts them one ahead of Manchester United. And they’ve enjoyed the big occasion more often than not.
3.15pm BST
Villa, then, are a proper old-school FA Cup side. Crazy to think that they’d already chalked up six victories before Arsenal had even got to a final. Their first win came in 1887, and what a victory it was, 2-0 over West Bromwich Albion. Their outside left, Denny Hodgetts, was a big lad for a winger, while his top lip creaked under the weight of an ostentatiously waxed moustache. He was also highly skilful, adept at sending the ball spinning this way and that, utilising knowledge of physics picked up playing competitive billiards. He scored the opening goal in the 1887 final, smacking a shot past a static Baggies keeper Bob Roberts, who had assumed Hodgetts was offside, and therefore didn’t bother trying to make a save. Oop!
3.00pm BST
It’s the FA Cup final!!! And it’s still the biggest game in the English calendar. Don’t listen to the naysayers, they’re not worthy of your time. Anyway, it’s the 134th staging, and whatever happens, it’s guaranteed to have major historical significance.
If Arsenal win today, they become the most successful FA Cup club of all time. They’d have 12 victories to their name, one more than Manchester United. They’d also become just the fourth club in history to have retained the FA Cup on more than one occasion: only Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur have pulled off that particular trick to date. And their manager Arsene Wenger would personally register a sixth triumph, a record that’d nudge him ahead of Blackburn’s Thomas Mitchell and Sir Alex Ferguson, and into a share of first place with … ah, but let’s just leave that hanging for a few seconds.
Continue reading...Arsenal v Aston Villa: FA Cup final – live!
And feel free to send an email to scott.murray@theguardian.com
5.59pm BST
28 min: Coquelin plays a cute reverse ball down the right-hand channel, allowing Ramsey to burst into the box. He’s got Vlaar on his shoulder, and though he gets a shot away, it’s deflected off the defender and wafts softly into the arms of Given. This is surely just a matter for time for Arsenal.
5.57pm BST
26 min: More rococo passing moves by Arsenal. Villa are being pulled this way and that by Cazorla, Ozil and Sanchez. Ozil flicks a lazy pass - lazy in the good way - down the right to release Walcott into the area. Walcott’s a shade offside.
5.55pm BST
24 min: Arsenal pass it around quite a lot. Suddenly Cazorla releases Ozil down the left. The ball’s fired low into the middle, where Walcott must score from six yards out! He sidefoots purposefully towards goal, but Richardson slides in desperately, and blocks magnificently! That’s an astonishing challenge, really. Just superlative last-ditch defending.
5.53pm BST
22 min: Ozil snaffles a loose ball in the centre circle, Grealish and Cleverley faffing about. He flicks it forward for Walcott, and very nearly releases the player into acres of space. But Vlaar is across to cover quickly. Villa are living on the edge here.
5.51pm BST
20 min: Arsenal should be ahead. Ozil, down the left channel, chips a ball into the middle. It should be cleared by Vlaar, on the edge of the area, but the defender’s header is hopeless. The ball breaks to Ramsey, who is clear, albeit in a small space, just inside the box! He leans back and wafts a dismal shot over the bar. Villa were in St Mary’s Mode there. Theirs is not a dependable defence.
5.49pm BST
19 min: A bit of space for Cleverley down the right. He slips a pass to N’Zogbia, who cuts inside and takes a shot. It’s charged down, the ball ballooning to Benteke on the edge of the D. A chance to take that down, turn, and get a shot away, and he nearly completes that difficult combination, but his control lets him down just before he can cock his leg to shoot.
5.48pm BST
17 min: Bellerin makes good down the right, seeing off Richardson with a deft turn, and fires a low ball to the near post. Ramsey, last year’s hero, slides in but can only guide the ball into the side netting. Between those two very good Arsenal chances, Villa won a free kick down their left, but Grealish’s high hoick into the area was claimed with ease by Szczesny. Arsenal are well on top here, much as everyone expected.
5.46pm BST
15 min: From the free kick, Cazorla finds Sanchez with a pitching wedge down the left. Sanchez turns on the edge of the area and chips into the middle, finding the head of Koscielny, who powers an effort towards the top left. Given looked to be heading the wrong way, but adjusted majestically to batter it out. What a save!
5.44pm BST
14 min: The first yellow card of the game goes to
Alan Hutton
Tom Cleverley. He can have no complaints, cynically clicking the heels of Monreal as the Arsenal man burst into space down the left channel.
5.43pm BST
13 min: Richardson makes good down the Villa left, and swings a high ball towards Benteke at the far post. Szczesny comes off his line to punch clear with purpose. Round one of what could be a very important duel to the Arsenal keeper. A decent move by Villa, though, and their first serious attack.
5.42pm BST
12 min: Ozil clips what might be the worst free kick in the history of association football into the box. Vlaar heads clear with a yawn. Arsenal had packed the box then, but Ozil couldn’t get past the first man. That’s awful.
5.41pm BST
11 min: Ozil bursts into a bit of space down the inside-left flank. Cazorla, up for this, takes control and wins a corner off Delph. The set piece is cleared by Villa, but Cazorla is soon twisting down the left wing again. He turns Benteke in a tight spot near the byline, to the left of the Villa box. Foul. It should be a booking, but referee Jon Moss is in a lenient mood. This is a free kick in a very dangerous position, though.
5.39pm BST
8 min: Sanchez busies himself down the left. He draws a couple of claret shirts and slides the ball forward for Cazorla, who bursts into the box and fires low and hard into the centre. Hutton slides in and concedes a corner. And then there’s another corner, which sees Koscielny rise on the six-yard line, level with the left-hand post. His header is weak, flying miles wide right, and should have been a lot better. But Sanchez is looking very lively down that flank.
5.36pm BST
6 min: It really is a magnificent atmosphere at Wembley. And folk try to tell us that the FA Cup is dying, an irrelevant nonsense in the modern world. Aye, right you are. Westwood betters Ramsey when contesting a high ball in the middle. Delph takes up possession and slides a lovely pass down the inside-right channel to release Benteke, though the big man’s an inch or two offside. That was close, though. Arsenal looked a bit ragged there.
5.34pm BST
4 min: Lovely feet from Delph, who creates a bit of space down the Villa right. The ball’s flung into the area, and Szczesny claims easily enough with Benteke in the vague surrounds. A decent response by Villa to Arsenal’s electric start. They can’t allow the favourites to dominate early on. Well, at all, really, but you know what I mean. “Hutton to get booked first?” wonders Ruth Purdue. It’s almost a licence to print money, isn’t it.
5.32pm BST
2 min: Arsenal quickly grab possession, and Walcott embarks on a skitter down the left. Okore puts a stop to his gallop. But Arsenal are on the front foot quickly, Sanchez upended along the same flank by Westwood. Arsenal pack the box, but the free kick floated into the area is useless, and easily cleared by Villa. Cazorla returns it long, and Ozil wins a header to find Walcott on the edge of the area, but Walcott’s offside. A bright start by Arsenal, this.
5.30pm BST
A blistering atmosphere at Wembley, on a lovely north London day. Villa get in a pre-match huddle. Their manager Tim Sherwood sits stony faced but fidgety on the famous bench, a few nerves betraying him. Coins are tossed, pennants are exchanged, and hands are shaken by the captains Per Mertesacker and Fabian Delph. And we’re off! Villa get the ball rolling, Grealish to Cleverley, and Wembley is rocking!
5.26pm BST
The teams are out! The players are lined up on the red carpet, and shaking hands with the guest of honour, the thoroughly biased Prince William. “The BBC coverage brought a tear to the eye with testimony about Alexis Sánchez’s early life from folk back in Tocopilla,” writes Charles Antaki. “Immediately dried by shot of sumptuous royal palace, and interview with Prince whichever-one-it-is.” They should have got that other well-heeled Villa fan, David Cameron, on as well. You’d have soon started with the waterworks again, either through laughter or despair. Then there’s a quick belt of a song hoping William’s granny will be saved, a sentiment we can all get on board with. And that’s all the pre-match formalities over with! We’ll be off in a minute! This is on!!!
5.20pm BST
Time for the traditional FA Cup final hymn:
5.10pm BST
In the interests of balance, here’s a picture of Aston Villa’s kit and caboodle. Their dressing room has been covered in motivational messages from supporters. No doubt this will be used as a stick to beat Tim Sherwood with, whatever the result, but to hell with the banal David Brent comparisons. That’s a nice touch, isn’t it? Spreading the love.
4.55pm BST
A happy 21st birthday to Inverness Caledonian Thistle! They’ve just won the Scottish Cup in the day’s other big match. The cup’s going to the Highlands for the first time!
4.45pm BST
Theo Walcott is the beneficiary of the big decision Arsene Wenger had to make. He gets the nod ahead of Olivier Giroud, that hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the season no doubt doing the trick.
As for Aston Villa, Shay Given has won his race for fitness, and plays in an FA Cup final 17 years after starring for Newcastle United against ... Arsenal. Meanwhile Alan Hutton returns in place of Leandro Bacuna at right back, while Tim Sherwood selects Charles N’Zogbia ahead of Gabby Agbonlahor. Not so long to go now!
4.30pm BST
Arsenal: Szczesny, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott.
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud.
Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Vlaar, Okore, Richardson, Westwood, Delph, Cleverley, Grealish, N’Zogbia, Benteke.
Subs: Guzan, Bacuna, Sinclair, Agbonlahor, Cole, Sanchez, Baker.
4.20pm BST
Having banged on for several paragraphs about stuff that happened in the 19th century, it’d be remiss of me not to mention recent head-to-heads. They’re almost certainly nearly as relevant, aren’t they. Well, it’s not good news for Villa, who lost 8-0 on aggregate over the two Premier League meetings this season, 3-0 at Villa Park, 5-0 at the Emirates. Arsenal also won the previous meeting between the teams, 2-1 at Villa Park in January 2014. But there is a little hope for Villa in the one before that, a 3-1 win at Arsenal on the opening day of last season, Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor running riot. All of this, of course, was before the advent of Tim Sherwood, so we have to assume the cosmic slate’s been wiped clean.
4.05pm BST
Still plenty of time to kill before the match, the FA having shifted the traditional 3pm afternoon kick-off back to the early evening. Fools. At least there’s no sponsorship this season. Enjoy that state of affairs while it lasts. You’ve got another 90, maybe 120 minutes of action. Bah. Anyway, my fellow ageing traditionalists: there’s an upside to all this hanging about, and it’s this: Memory Lane: FA Cup finals, a picture gallery of finals from days gone by, featuring the trophy stuffed in the luggage rack of a train, Matt Busby with a fag on, and an appearance from pint-sized pop star Tommy Steele (internet kids, ask your grandparents, who can in turn ask theirs).
3.50pm BST
Arsenal have been officially designated as the home team today, though that means very little if we’re being honest. They lost the toss for choice of kit, and will wear their time-honoured yellow-and-blue number, though in fairness that did them no harm at all in 1971 and 1979. They also wore gold, which is yellow isn’t it, in 1950. They did however lose wearing yellow in 1978 against Ipswich Town and 1980 against West Ham United. Tell the truth, they probably don’t care very much.
3.35pm BST
Arsenal’s FA Cup final history is a more modern affair. They only made it to the final for the first time in 1927, by which point Villa had eight appearances to their name, and those six aforementioned wins. Cardiff City striker Hughie Ferguson, and goalkeeper Dan Lewis’s slippery new shirt, did for Arsenal that day, but they’ve since more than made up for lost time. This will be their 19th appearance in a final, a new record which puts them one ahead of Manchester United. And they’ve enjoyed the big occasion more often than not.
3.15pm BST
Villa, then, are a proper old-school FA Cup side. Crazy to think that they’d already chalked up six victories before Arsenal had even got to a final. Their first win came in 1887, and what a victory it was, 2-0 over West Bromwich Albion. Their outside left, Denny Hodgetts, was a big lad for a winger, while his top lip creaked under the weight of an ostentatiously waxed moustache. He was also highly skilful, adept at sending the ball spinning this way and that, utilising knowledge of physics picked up playing competitive billiards. He scored the opening goal in the 1887 final, smacking a shot past a static Baggies keeper Bob Roberts, who had assumed Hodgetts was offside, and therefore didn’t bother trying to make a save. Oop!
3.00pm BST
It’s the FA Cup final!!! And it’s still the biggest game in the English calendar. Don’t listen to the naysayers, they’re not worthy of your time. Anyway, it’s the 134th staging, and whatever happens, it’s guaranteed to have major historical significance.
If Arsenal win today, they become the most successful FA Cup club of all time. They’d have 12 victories to their name, one more than Manchester United. They’d also become just the fourth club in history to have retained the FA Cup on more than one occasion: only Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur have pulled off that particular trick to date. And their manager Arsene Wenger would personally register a sixth triumph, a record that’d nudge him ahead of Blackburn’s Thomas Mitchell and Sir Alex Ferguson, and into a share of first place with … ah, but let’s just leave that hanging for a few seconds.
Continue reading...May 29, 2015
The Fiver | Biological similarities with the cockroach
THE LATEST NEWS FROM OUR SCOTTISH AND SWISS BUREAUX
A major story is unfolding in the world of football right now. The Pope’s O’Rangers, the famous old club banished to the fourth tier of the Scottish league system in 2012 for financial eejitry, had widely been expected to complete their return journey to the top in the minimum time possible: three seasons, three promotions. However they suddenly appear in danger of falling at the final hurdle. Last night, Motherwell rocked up at Ibrox and scored three times in the first leg of the Premiership play-off. They could have had six. Kris Boyd couldn’t have looked any more upset if you served him a plate of vegetables. And so another humiliation for the Glasgow giants is very much on the cards. What a huge story!
‘I HAD A VISION I COULD TURN YOU RIGHT. A STUPID MISSION AND A LETHAL FIGHT’
Continue reading...A brief history of ... the rise and fall of the FA Cup, England's Super Bowl
The curious fan’s guide to the match that stops a nation. Or the match that used to, at least
With the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance (NOTE: actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant) we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for newer football fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the game’s history and storylines, hopefully in a way that doesn’t patronise you to within an inch of your life. A warning: If you’re the kind of person that finds The Blizzard too populist this may not be the series for you.
The FA Cup final is the nearest thing English sport has to the Super Bowl, and Aston Villa and Arsenal will run out for this year’s edition on Saturday. A famous annual jamboree, the showpiece of the nation’s favourite pastime, the culmination of a long season, a quasi-religious affair, a pseudo public holiday for all the family to enjoy. Soccer’s big day out.
Continue reading...Scott Murray's Blog
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