I’ll start by blowing my own trumpet.
After their victory over Benfica I wrote: “Sporting…put on a performance that makes you think you should reassess their chances against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. However, two seconds of reasoned thinking tells you that they’re going to get panned.”
And they duly got their panning. A 5-0 one.
I try to not be a hypocrite, so even though I wouldn't want to question the wisdom of Martin O'Neill, I can't help but feel a tad disappointed by his decision to leave 8 first team regulars behind for our second leg match in Russia against CSKA Moscow. At the airport, the youthful squad containing the likes of Clark, Bannan, Lowry & Lichaj looked more like they were queuing up for their school dinner rather than depositing their luggage and the decision to rest so many key players is tantamount to conceding the tie & the UEFA cup.
In the past I have criticised the likes of Bolton & Portsmouth for not giving two hoots about continental competition. Both of those clubs strived so hard to qualify for Europe and may well never get there again, so for them to play weakened teams in September and October when the season was young and they'd been comfortably mid table just seemed like an awful waste.
Contrary to last week’s report, Ian Shine die not die after his fall from Lisbon’s Elevador de Santa Justa.
He was only heavily concussed after, somewhat ironically, landing on a bag of counterfeit football shirts. He is now recuperating in hospital, where he is being weaned back onto football by a team of leading physios and doctors.
He will be allowed to only watch one Liga Sagres game a week. This week’s game was the Lisbon derby, Sporting vs Benfica.
In the biggest Anglo-Italian tet-a-tet since North Africa in 1940, three sets of English and Italian sides are set to clash in the second round of the Champions League over the next two days. Given the weekend’s Serie A action, how can ‘Our Boys’ expect to fare against their Mediterranean brethren?
Bologna 1-2 Inter
A ‘typically Mourinho’ performance from what is now a ‘typically Mourinho’ side. Although the Portuguese coach has adopted a more attacking ethos to counter Italy’s defensively adept opponents, Sunday’s match saw a fairly average performance yield three points.
Last Saturday I managed to get myself up to the Emirates stadium for Arsenal's league match with Sunderland. Despite the recent lack of wins for the Gunners, there was an air of excitement and anticipation, nearly all of which was attributed to the eagerness of witnessing the debut of Andrei Arshavin, and some of which was fuelled by a few ales at Finsbury Park before the game.
After one of the most protracted transfer affairs ever seen, the wait to finally see Arshavin play for Arsenal has been one that required the patience of a saint. This was to be his first professional game of football since the Russian domestic league ended in November, and on that basis the fans needed to be realistic to avoid pinning all their hopes on him so soon after his £15million club record move.