The Champions League Games of the Decade:
The Champions League is Europe’s premier competition and it produces tantalising match-ups every single year. The games means more as teams advance through each round as they fight to become the ‘Kings of Kings’. Being European Champion is an enormous honour, it is one of the few honours in football today that still means something. In the world of huge transfers, domestic dominance is ensured in at least three of Europe’s top leagues. Juventus, Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain are incumbent giants that cannot be easily fell. It is only outstanding teams such as Klopp’s Dortmund side at the turn of the decade and a precocious Monaco side managed by Leonardo Jardim who have successfully challenged the established order in these countries. The questions then turn to Europe, the only challenge left where every team is a killer, there are no easy games at the sharp end of the Champions League knock-out stages.
The drama created by these ties is immense due to the pressure which lies on each game, each game could mean a brilliant season or unfulfilled promise. Liverpool last season typified this ‘boom or bust’ cycle, a win would have been exceptional and made up for the loss of the Premier League, a loss would have been too painful to live through. The drama is accelerated by the clashes of style and personal rivalries that stem from the games. Atletico Madrid loathed Real Madrid and the Madrid rivalry made the ‘La Decima’ even better entertainment. The last point about Champions League nights is less to do with the games themselves but the sense of occasion that European nights generate. The evening games and the floodlit pitches are symbolic of the reality that there is nowhere to hide in straight knockout football. The atmosphere is more impressive and you can feel the intensity of a home crowd intimidating the opposition into surrender.
The list of games which I have thought of that best represent this decade of European football was initially supposed to be ten games. I would have loved to round this list down to a nice, easy number but it was impossible. There were arguments for every match that were undeniable and therefore the list stands at thirteen games of football.
13
Barcelona vs Manchester (2010/11 Final)
This game was incredibly special as it was arguably the last great Manchester United side and the perfect iteration of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. The game finished 3–1 but the spectacle of football was hugely impressive. Barcelona at the start of the decade changed the game with how they played football, every single pass had purpose and the team played an aggressive style. It would be easy to focus on Messi being the driving component of this Barcelona but for me it was the midfield three that was truly brilliant. I do not think in a months of Sundays that you could find three players who complemented each other so well.
Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta was a dominant trio who could do everything. Xavi would spray the ball around the pitch, playing seemingly impossible balls into spaces where the Barcelona forwards could strike with ease. Iniesta was a box to box midfielder but not in the traditional sense, he had real quality around the eighteen yard box and could morph into a Number 10 at times with his ability to pick the perfect pass when the spaces closed down. The last player of the trio is not as outwardly spectacular but his game is beautiful when you watch closely, Busquets’ timing of tackles and that sixth sense for breaking up play was instrumental in Barcelona starting waves of attacks quickly.
This was prime Barcelona where the ball moved fast and the creativity going forward is somewhat unrivalled, there has no team that has matched the number of maestros that Barcelona in 2010 did. The final in 2010/11 was the culmination of three years of maturing at the highest level of European football. The actual result (3–1) is pointless when the performance is considered, Barcelona made one of the great United teams assembled by Sir Alex Ferguson look like they were chasing shadows.
That particular United team was exceptional in every facet of team-building. It was a veteran team that was laden with experience, Ferguson carried over many players who had won in Moscow just three years prior. The team was full of capable winners who knew what was needed to beat one of football’s top attacking sides. Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney led the line for United but it was the defence which was truly brilliant. Sir Alex Ferguson has coached many top class defenders in his time but the centre back pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand may be the best partnership he has coached. Vidic was a natural destroyer, a talented player when it came to stopping the other team’s attacks. He was rarely beaten, the only player who had Vidic’s number was Fernando Torres in 2007–2009 when Torres’ pace and movement made him a headache for Nemanja to deal with. Rio Ferdinand was a cultured centre back with his ball distribution, Rio’s eye for a pass is somewhat underrated but Ferguson developed that aspect of his game early in Ferdinand’s United career. Ferdinand was encouraged to play without fear and try things by Ferguson and Roy Keane, Manchester United’s mercurial midfielder. By 2010/11 came around, this pairing has multiple years of experience and knew exactly what the other centre back was thinking.
This specific team was also the last great team of 2000s fighting their way to another European final. Make no mistake, Manchester United were a quality football team then but the team came from an era where Arab money did not totally distort the playing field. Ferguson has assembled the team painstakingly with academy players like Wes Brown and Rafael playing to their fullest ability, the future model of team-building was vastly different to the approach taken by Ferguson. Ferguson favoured continuous building over a cycle which created longevity to title endeavours, the rest of the footballing world headed to star-laden summers where a core of players could be expected to contend for three years at most.
On that particular European night, Barcelona were special as they moved the ball with aggression and attacked in constant motion. It was possession football in its purest iteration, each player touches the ball before moving quickly off-ball. The clearest moment from the game involved Lionel Messi as he started to establish his legacy. Before this season, Messi was a phenomenon whose place in football history was already established. The question on everybody’s lips was whether Messi could improve even further and become the best player in world football, the personal rivalry between him and Cristiano Ronaldo fuelled that growth innumerably.
In this game against Manchester United, it was a moment of individual brilliance which stood out. Messi had dropped into a number ten position between the lines of defence and midifeld. Messi dribbled quickly into space towards the defence before side-stepping a sliding challenge. On the edge of the eighteen yard box, Messi rifled in a shot which beat Edwin Van Der Sar. Messi beat the defence with a seemingly easy strike but the magic in the move was not the shot itself. It was the quick, electric footwork to get himself separate from Vidic and Ferdinand.
After the Final, neither team was the same. Barcelona continued to play Guardiola football but Pep could not deal with the pressure that Mourinho created domestically. Jose’s Madrid were physical, aggressive and spiky. Mourinho himself engaged in mental warfare which eventually wore Guardiola down and led to Pep taking a sabbatical. Barcelona had success after that but the level of play never got back to how it was in 2011. Manchester United underwent ground-shaking change with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and have not reached the heights that Fergie achieved. The only time were Manchester United looked close to the winning machine was under Mourinho but that was a contentious management spell where Jose irritated everybody.
12
La Decima
The 2014 Champions League should be regarded as one of the best games of the decade. The actual match itself was an intense, gritty contest that did not necessarily have the fluid attacking football that is expected from the pinnacle of European football. The stories behind this game elevate this tie into the elite tier of Champions League fixtures. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are bitter rivals and there was so much riding on this one game for both sides.
Real Madrid as a football had managed to break Barcelona’s domestic dominance but they did not achieve the European success which Real has always been associated with. Real Madrid is the true European giant, the team which won everything with Di Stefano and Puskas in the 1950s. In 2014, Real Madrid had assembled a deep team that was vastly experienced and cynical, it was highly experienced but had not won a Champions League since the start of the decade. Real Madrid aimed to do so behind one of the most prolific front-lines ever assembled in European football. In 2014, Madrid had prime Gareth Bale at their disposal, a pacy technical forward who was an exceptional dribbler and brought the ball into open space. Karim Benzema played a complementary role compared to his free-scoring youth for Lyon, he did the dirty work which often went unnoticed by many observers. The last player is one of the defining players of the decade.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a special talent and one of the few players this decade who has been able to hold a candle to Lionel Messi. There have been stretches during this period of time where Ronaldo was the best player in the world and this statement could be made without delusion. In 2014, Ronaldo was arguably the ultimate form of himself as a player who could play every position in the offence. Ronaldo’s speed and explosiveness were still available in abundance so he could take defenders on and continually stretch the defence, it was the style of football that he was known for at Manchester United. The other element of his game came during his time at Real Madrid and was a complete positional change. Ronaldo developed his game into being proficient at playing as a complete centre forward. Tactically, it meant that his movements changed from the wing to being more centrally located and the large amount of his activity came within the eighteen yard box. This positional move was brilliant as it took advantage of Ronaldo’s ability as a poacher while creating space for other attacking players out wide.
The other team in the 2014 Final was also from Madrid but constructed in a totally different manner. Atletico Madrid broke the Madrid-Barcelona hegemony that existed in Spain, this team was the first team outside of Real or Barcelona since Rafa Benitez in 2004 with Valencia. The common issue in Spanish football is that television rights are negotiated by individual clubs. This means that the traditional Big Two receive a huge amount of revenue while smaller teams like Atletico or Villareal live in fear of a big club using their financial muscle to buy their players. It is one of the reasons why the business model for many Spanish clubs is to develop players and sell them abroad to other European sides. Atletico were incredibly successful with this model as they sold both Fernando Torres and Sergio Aguero to generate money while remaining competitive. It is a hard balance to strike but one man deserves all of the credit.
Diego Simeone is different to many managers across Europe, he instructs his players to play with an intensity that is hard to match. Simeone is a fiercely-driven manager who builds close relationships with his squad and expects one hundred percent out of them. He expects his players to remain disciplined and suffocate other teams. Atleti in 2014 had done incredibly well in the league with this strategy, the team was so sorted defensively and stifled teams weekly. Simeone built a title-winning side relatively cheaply and the crown jewel in this Madrid team was Diego Costa, a naturalised Spanish forward.
Costa as a footballer is prickly and mischievous, he is more than willing to engage in the dark arts and make the opponent think with their heart instead of their head. One of the best examples of this was when Costa managed to get Gabriel Paulista sent off within the space of two minutes. Costa mastered the art of shit-housery and made the Arsenal defender commit one out of character stamp which led to the referee sending him off. This part of his personality speaks to his desire to win at all costs, Diego does not care if pundits appreciate his style, he cares solely about winning.
For Atletico Madrid, Costa was exceptional in leading the line. He was the leading scorer but it was his ability to do well with little which was impressive. Atleti did not play possession football where the ball is moved side to side, they looked to play directly and attack early in the possession. The issue for Atleti was that Costa was carrying an injured coming into the Final and it was unknown whether he could complete the game. Simeone took the risk of playing Costa as he was Atletico’s best goal-scorer even with the injuries.
Costa went down with injury early in the tie and it seemed like Atletico would struggle against a Madrid side who were so capable at scoring goals. The performance over the next ninety minutes was pure defensive intensity, the mind-set being that the goal will be defended to the death. Atleti stole a crucial Diego Godin goal out of a set-piece that Real did not clear properly. Atletico settled into a low block and prevented Real from finding any space. The frustration for Real Madrid was that the lines of defence being created by Atletico was too much for the players on the field, the team did not have the quality on the field to sneak the pass through the defensive unit. Carlo Ancelotti made a big call and brought on Marcelo who would provide width and attacking intent. Defensively Real Madrid would be weaker but the gamble was necessary if Real wanted to get back into the game.
The necessary goal did not come from one of the attackers thrown into the game by Ancelotti, it came from Sergio Ramos. Ramos was one of the best centre-backs in world football with his ability to martial a defence being crucial to making sure that Real Madrid were also tight defensively. He also has an uncanny knack at scoring important goals when it matters most, Ramos is the ultimate big game player. Real Madrid needed a goal against Atleti and Ramos delivered with a pin-point header from a Modric corner. Ramos sprinted away to the side of pitch as he enjoyed one of his most memorable clutch moments in his career.
Atleti were exhausted physically and mentally from the goal and it showed in extra time. The spaces opened up at the back and Real Madrid found their way time and time again. Angel Di Maria’s shot deflected into the path of Gareth Bale who coolly dispatched the ball into the goal. Bale scored the goal which finished off Atletico and announced himself to the world as one of the world’s elite forwards.
In retrospect, this game was a turning point in the fortunes of both Madrid teams. Real Madrid went on to make the Champions League Final their home as they won three consecutive finals from 2016 to 2018. It did not matter what Real’s domestic form was, the team would go to another gear in Europe that their opponents could not match. The 2014 Final was also the start of Atletico being a legitimate title contender in Spain and Europe. Atleti’s continued success is one of the longest stretches in the team’s history and has allowed the club to establish themselves as perennial European contenders.
11
Monaco vs Manchester City (2016/17)
Monaco in the 2016–17 season were a special side in terms of the young talent that resided at the Stade Louis. The list of players reads like a World Eleven of talent and could feasibly walk into top level European sides. This particular team had Kylian Mbappe up top with Bernardo Silva pulling the strings in midfield. Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe marauded from full-back. In terms of attacking talent, this team was a prodigious group which is represented by Monaco’s form that season. The club walked Ligue 1 as they comfortably beat the domestic favourites, PSG to the title. A game against Manchester City in the Last 16 was a test to see if Monaco was really that good or if the team simply benefitted from a shallow domestic league.
Manchester City was a tough task for a young team who did not have much European experience outside of Radamel Falcao and Joao Moutinho. In the prior season, Manchester City made it to the Semi Finals of the Champions League before being beaten by Real Madrid. Manuel Pellegrini did well in translating strong domestic form into knockout success and it was expected that Manchester City would kick on under one of the most successful managers of the decade, Pep Guardiola. Guardiola at City was long rumoured given the fact that Ferran Soriano and Txhiki Begistiran, two close friends of Guardiola, were appointed in senior roles at the club. The confirmation of Guardiola was expected to maximise a title-winning side into true dominance whether that be domestically or in European competition. Guardiola is one of few managers who has won a Champions League since the turn of the decade and the appointment made sense for Manchester City.
The first leg of the tie was hugely entertaining as the game finished 5–3 with Man City beating Monaco but damage was done. Monaco had three away goals to take home with them back to Monte Carlo which gave them a real chance at winning the tie. They had to score two goals and City would be defeated, it would be easy with City’s defence looking fragile. Stones and Kolarov could not deal with the pace and acceleration of Mbappe who could burst across the pitch in startlingly speed.
Pep’s team selection was interesting. The team was set up with goal scoring in mind as Guardiola deployed De Bruyne, David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Kun Aguero as an attacking unit. The talent going forward was deeply impressive but the team was left unbalanced. Fernandinho was left to play in midfield by himself for swathes of the game which allowed the midfield duo of Bakayoko and Fabinho to continually win the ball back and starts attacks. Guardiola’s ultra aggressive strategy left defensive holes in a game where control may have been more preferable. Yaya Toure who is a consummate midfield and is more than comfortable managing the game may have been useful in game where Manchester City needed solidity. Toure was left on the bench and Manchester City were punished for their defensive sloppiness in the first half.
Mbappe raced in between the centre backs just six minutes into the game and flashed a shot at Willy Caballero. It was a warning of Monaco’s attacking intent which was soon followed by a well-worked goal. Mbappe scored a tap-in off a pass cut back from the byline. The finish was simple and gave Monaco a reason to believe but Man City made two defensive errors in this attack. The fullback made no attempt to block the pass and John Stones was not tight enough to Mbappe. Monaco then attacked down the left hand side twenty minutes later and were rewarded with a goal. Fabinho drifted onto the penalty spot before drilling home a shot. The lanky, octopus-like Brazilian put Monaco in the driving seat for the rest of the tie. The French team would be going through as results stood and Pep’s men were left stunned as they faced an exit from the Champions League.
Manchester City scored a precious goal in the second half to take control of the tie again but it was pointless as City’s defensive lapses let Monaco back into the game. It is important to defend free headers from set pieces, leaving a player open will eventually punish you. Manchester City found that lesson out painfully as Bakayoko rose up and powered a header into the goal. The game finished with a ludicrous 6–6 scoreline but Monaco advanced on the away goals rule.
This game deserves to be considered in this list for its sheer entertainment value. The advancement to the quarter finals shifted throughout the game and each goal contributed to the pendulum-like game. At the time, Monaco vs Manchester City was one of those wild European ties that occasionally comes about when teams put everything into that one game. Liverpool vs Roma in 2018 is a similar sort of game where Roma’s spirited comeback almost dragged Eusebio Di Francesco’s side into the Champions League Final. The key difference in why this game matters so much is the contrasting fortunes of the teams after the night.
Monaco’s young talents moved onto different clubs and with this in mind, you can truly appreciate the brilliance of the squad assembled by Leonardo Jardim. Kylian Mbappe is arguably the best young forward in world football and is a World Cup Winner at the age of just 20. Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy are both domestic Treble winners with Manchester City. Fabinho joined Liverpool in 2018 and became one of the team’s most influential players as Liverpool won a Champions League for the first time in fourteen long, hard years. Monaco in 2017 is one of those rare young teams which over-achieve massively and never have a chance to run it back with the same squad. Both Bernardo and Mbappe left in the summer of 2017 which meant we could never see this team again, a shame when Monaco’s talent is considered.
Manchester City suffered one of the few black eyes that has been acquired during the Guardiola era. It was a wake-up call for Pep and clearly indicated that he needed wholesale defensive changes. In that summer, he spent serious money on defenders and Manchester City have never looked back. The team has broken so many domestic records that it is almost unreal, Man City’s dominance has only been paralleled by a small number of teams. However, despite all of the domestic success, European glory is the one thing which eludes City.
10
Bayern Munich vs Juventus (2015/16)
Bayern Munich and Juventus are two of the most experienced European campaigners over the last five years. Both teams are likely to make the semi finals and in the case of Juventus, make the Final twice. In 2016, both sides were matched against each other in the Round of 16 which made this particular tie appointment viewing. There was no way that Juventus playing against Bayern Munich could be ignored, it was the type of game which would captivate neutrals.
In 2016, Bayern Munich were a brilliant side that was dominant in Germany, the team simply did not get beaten. Munich was constructed in the vision of Pep Guardiola and Thomas Muller benefitted hugely from Guardiola football. Pep’s footballing style was designed to take advantage of brilliant passers of the ball but a side effect of this style was that swathes of open space existed for Muller to drop into. Thomas Muller’s position as a ‘Raumdeter’ is much debated and the actual responsibilities of the role are a little vague. The essence of the position is that Muller roams around the forward line looking for pockets of space to drop into where he can create offensively. The presence of powerful wingers and a deadly striker in Lewandowski often left Muller with the time and space to get attacking opportunities. His role was enhanced by Guardiola’s constant motion and focus on exploiting an opponent’s mistakes.
Juventus was the same sort of dominant side in 2015/16 but the team had suffered player losses. The combative Chilean midfielder, Arturo Vidal departed for Munich which meant that the team lost some of that completeness in midfield that Vidal provides. Arturo Vidal is one of those players who is capable of doing everything in midfield to a good standard, he can break up play and then play an outstanding outlet ball. Juventus brought in Sami Khedira as a replacement but Vidal’s impact on the midfield was never truly replaced, Juventus made the conscious decision for Paul Pogba to assume more responsibility within the team.
Paul Pogba had defensive solidity behind him in the form of Khedira which allowed him to play further forward. In Pogba’s early career at Juventus, it made sense to deploy him as a box to box midfielder as he had a complete skill-set which he could use to control the game. In his final seasons, he was used as a Number Ten more and played much further up the pitch. Pogba in an attacking midfield position was a tactical masterstroke by Max Allegri, it meant that Pogba’s passing range could be maximised.
The first leg of the tie was a 2–2 draw which meant that everything was still to play for as the stage changed to the Allianz Arena. The Allianz Arena is an impressive stadium with loud, passionate fans who back their team all the way. It is a tough place to go and get a result which was the task facing Juventus. Juventus named their best lineup and Allegri believed that the old Italian backline of Bonucci, Barzagli and Chiellini could contain Bayern Munich’s offensive talent. The experience of Juve’s defence is unparalleled as the Bianconeri had three talented defenders who had played alongside each other for multiple seasons. These men had the intelligence and knowledge to move as one brain in defensive situations.
Bayern Munich’s lineup was really strong but there was one question mark in the team. Xabi Alonso is a brilliant midfielder in his ability to pass the ball and control the tempo of the game, this is useful for a team like Bayern Munich who will have a lot of possession of the ball. However, Alonso is not the fastest midfielder and does not play quick, instinctive passes. Alonso is more methodical in his attacking play which works against teams who will sit deep and make life hard for Bayern Munich. A team like Juventus will press the ball and harry midfielders to force turnovers and errant passes.
The game started quickly with both sides having good chances early. Bayern Munich largely dominated the possession statistics but it was Juventus who struck first. Buffon played a long ball forward that Bayern failed to deal with effectively and Paul Pogba struck. Pogba drifted into a position outside of the eighteen yard box and stroked the ball home after it bobbled around the Munich defence. For the first half, Bayern Munich had arguably the better chances but Juventus made the most of their attacking opportunities. The second Juventus goal started from inside their own half as the Italian side turned defence into offence quickly. Alvaro Morata received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area before dribbling past every Bayern Munich defender before coolly dropping the ball off to Juan Cuadrado who produced a cultured finish. Juventus were 2–0 up and could have easily been 3–0 up if Morata and Lichtsteiner did not miss easy chances at the end of the first half.
Guardiola realised he had to make changes at half-time in order to win the game and advance to the quarter finals. Thomas Muller struggled to find space against Juventus who played with five at the back in defensive positioning. The three centre backs controlled the middle of the pitch while Evra and Lichtsteiner defended in the wide areas. Muller could not find those pockets of space in a crowded area and it is was important for him to perform well if Munich wanted any chance of winning the game. The change made by Guardiola was to bring on Kingsley Coman in favour of Xabi Alonso. Coman would bring line-breaking running and a willingness to take on defenders instead of the control that Alonso provides. Guardiola’s decision made sense as it meant that Juventus did not have the numbers advantage in defensive situations as the second half started. Coman’s pace meant that he could bypass Juventus’ fullbacks easily and get to the byline where he can put balls into the box.
Kingsley Coman changed the nature of the game as he strained defences and created space for the other attacking players to drop into. Suddenly, Bayern Munich had teeth on offence and Juventus looked more uncertain defensively. The defending became more desperate and it was harder to sit in a defensive shape as Munich now had the pace to disrupt that shape. Lewandowski struck to give Bayern hope before Thomas Muller scored a 91st minute equaliser that took the game to extra time. Muller’s ability to get important goals when it matters cannot be denied, it is one of the reasons why he is so highly regarded by many media members. In extra time, Bayern Munich took advantage of Juventus’ fatigue and scored two quick goals which killed the game off. Coman popped up with the fourth and final goal against his parent club.
It is ironic that Kingsley Coman made the difference as he was on loan at Bayern Munich from Juventus. Coman’s influence on the game knocked out his parent club, an undesirable result for the Juventus brass who badly wanted European success to reward their domestic dominance.
This game felt like a special game as it was the meeting of two giant clubs and because the game was so evenly matched. From whatever perspective you look at the tie, arguments could be made for Bayern Munich or Juventus winning. Juventus losing the game somewhat signalled the end of an era for this iteration of Juventus. The team lost Pogba in the coming years to Manchester United and the corp of soldiers eventually disbanded. Chiellini is the only one of the trio who has remained constant for Juventus as Barzagli retired and Bonucci went to AC Milan before eventually returning.
Bayern Munich did not go much further in the Champions League in Guardiola’s final year in Germany. Bayern made their fifth consecutive semi final before being beaten by Atletico on away goals. In the summer of 2016, Guardiola swapped Sophienstrasse for central Manchester as he started a period of dominance over the English Premier League. In the post Guardiola years, Bayern have struggled for identity and that same level of play. Ancelotti was successful but the players did not like his relaxed approach to training, it is widely reported that key figures like Neuer organised additional training sessions without Ancelotti knowing. Niko Kovac has been and gone without European success. Four years after Guardiola leaving, Munich have yet to find a manager who can elevate the team to another level.
9
Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich (2013/14)
From the start of the 2013/14 season, it felt like Germany’s ascendancy to the top of European competition was only going to continue. Bayern Munich had made three previous Finals in the space of four years with Munich winning one against another German team, Borussia Dortmund. The quality of players that Bayern was truly impressive and there was an expectation that the addition of Pep Guardiola would only raise the standard of the German game.
Guardiola came to Bayern off a four year run where he won everything with Barcelona and revolutionised the game of the football. It may not seem radical but the idea of all players being able to pass the ball and break down opponents at will was completely different to the common thinking of the time. Most teams prior to that period relied on the forward units to create goal-scoring chances whereas Guardiola did not see football in the same way. He was more than happy committing four or five players to attack which was different from the norm, it was also unusual for players to play out from the back. With a Champions League winning side and management who were committed to the Guardiola project, Bayern seemed primed for a period of dominance.
In that period of time, German football seemed to be a dominant because of Bayern Munich’s success but also because of Borussia Dortmund’s growth as a football. Jurgen Klopp had built a domestic rival to the Munich power and this particular team surprised many European teams with the pressing, aggressive style of play that Dortmund carried out for ninety minutes. In the previous season, Dortmund destroyed Real Madrid at the Westfalenstadion and there was a belief that this team could be a problem in European football going forward.
In that same period of time, Spanish football looked less dominant that it had in previous years. Guardiola had left Barcelona and the team did not look the same under Tata Martino. Barcelona had been knocked out by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and the team had lost the title on the final day due to a Diego Godin header. Real Madrid has also undergone serious change with Jose Mourinho leaving the club. Mourinho was a brilliant manager for Real Madrid who eventually broke Barcelona’s stranglehold on the league but he also created a lot of drama around the Bernabeu. Mourinho had public spats with Iker Casillas, Spanish media and the Madrid hierarchy. All of these feuds created a toxic storm around the club which could threaten the future of Real Madrid, this was something that Florentino Perez could not tolerate.
The decision taken to fire Mourinho was not taken lightly, Perez had plenty of respect for Mourinho because he is a winner. The replacement for Mourinho was another winner who coaches in a different mould. Carlo Ancelotti is one of the great managers across European football due to his level of success whether he has been. Ancelotti had won two Champions League medals as manager of AC Milan during the 2000s and has won a domestic league in every country where he has managed. His relaxed style works perfectly for a mature squad who are fed up with off-field drama. Ancelotti brought a sense of calm to Madrid during a period of time where the team could have went awry.
Perez also had a task to rebuild the side as Real Madrid were an old side and it was evident that many of their players did not seem to be able to play at the level required by Real Madrid. Real Madrid fans are demanding and expect excellence, the players transferred out were not able to satisfy the fans or manager. Ricardo Carvalho, Kaka and Michael Essien were all moved on because they were aging and unlikely to have an Indian summer. There were also a few players that the upper management of Real Madrid chose to let go because they made a good profit on these players. Mesut Ozil was sold to Arsenal for £42m, a profit of £30m.
The squad restructuring undertaken by Perez was designed to make the team younger and hungrier, Perez also had plans to sign another Galatico in the form of Gareth Bale. Gareth Bale had exploded at Tottenham and reached another level of excellence. Bale was comfortably one of the best players in the Premier League over his last two years at Spurs and had attracted attention from across Europe due to his pace, creativity and goal-scoring ability. That type of winger who can do everything is unbelievably rare and Florentino had the idea to use Bale on one wing with Ronaldo on the other with Benzema being a connector between both players.
The addition of Gareth Bale was not an easy task due to Daniel Levy being a tough negotiator. Levy is known for driving a hard bargain and he does not budge from his price no matter the nature of negotiation. Real Madrid had previously done business with Tottenham in regards to Luka Modric so that there was a relationship already established between the two clubs, Levy did not make life any easier for Real to get a deal done. Eventually, Perez met the asking price and Gareth Bale became the most expensive player purchased by Real Madrid .
Madrid were not a dominant side out of the box but the team grew into being great over the course of the season. The balance between Ronaldo and Bale was hard to establish early in the season but the partnership flourished as the season went on. Madrid had such an attacking force that it was able to switch between styles whether that be counter-attacking or possession-based football.
The game against Bayern Munich was hugely important for Real Madrid as it would have meant the first Champions League Final since the Zidane era. Ancelotti was astute in how he set the team up tactically, he was aware that Bayern Munich would hold the ball as all Guardiola teams do. Ancelotti made the decision to set Real up for the counter-attack and strike when Munich were disorganised defensively. The back four was hard to break down and did not use attacking full-backs, Coentrao and Carvajal are much happier sitting and defending instead of charging forward. The front three was Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo but it was where the midfield that was changed. In most games that season, Ancelotti chose to use Khedira at the base of the midfield. This was effective for Real but against Bayern Munich this would be a liability as Sami is not particularly fast and ponderous on the ball. Ancelotti used Modric, Alonso and Di Maria. He set the team up with deep lying play-makers and a tireless midfielder in the form of Di Maria who could carry the ball from his own box into dangerous positions. The team was primed for the counter-attack.
Real Madrid frustrated Munich as Bayern could not find the pass forward which could put pressure onto the defence. Madrid were using the tactics of Ancelotti’s former manager, Arrigo Sacchi. The team was compact in defensive positioning which encouraged Bayern Munich to play the ball sideways or backwards so that possession would not be lost by attempting long range passes. The tactic worked to good effect as it kept Bayern Munich out of the central areas where the team thrived due to the creativity of Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller. Robben and Ribery were defended diligently by Coentrao and Carvajal who were disciplined in showing the wingers way from cutting inside, the preferred movements of Robben and Ribery.
It seemed like the game would be a boring game as Real Madrid defended their 1–0 lead. Madrid put any thought of a boring game to bed when they struck first, scoring two goals within the space of four minutes. Sergio Ramos was the man for the moment again, the ultimate big game player got both goals for set pieces. Ramos stood up and powered the ball in on both occasions. The goals gave Real Madrid breathing space and led to Guardiola slumping in his seat. Bayern Munich would need four goals to overturn the deficit and win on aggregate, a near impossible task with how Madrid were playing on the night.
Madrid struck again fourteen minutes later with Cristiano Ronaldo being the goalscorer. In 2013–14, Ronaldo was arguably the best player in the world, he was scoring goals for fun and totalled a ludicrous fifty one goals. Ronaldo was also prolific in European competition and his proficiency in front of goal killed the game off against Bayern Munich before half-time occurred. The goal started from Madrid’s own half as Di Maria carried the ball forward before playing the ball into Benzema. Benzema, the connective tissue of Ronaldo and Bale, hooked the ball into the feet of a charging Gareth Bale. Bale steamed towards goal before squaring the ball to Ronaldo who tucked the ball away to make the game 3–0. It was a goal of brutal efficiency and simplicity made possible by Madrid’s talent. There was no elaborate build-up, the ball was played into the channel where Bale could create for himself or his team-mates. The game was over but Ronaldo produced one final piece of magic in the second half from a set piece. The referee blew the whistle and Bayern Munich’s wall jumped trying to block Ronaldo’s shot. Cristiano calmly rolled the ball under the wall and into the goal for a 4–0 demolition of the previous Champions League winners.
Madrid went on to win the Champions League before starting a period of European dominance. The team finally got their hands of the trophy which has been defined by Real Madrid’s European success. The honour held by Puskas and Di Stefano, Zidane and McManaman was finally held by Iker Casillas’ men. The drought was over and more success would follow under a club legend and former Champions League winner. It is poetic that Real’s European dominance was ushered in by Zinedine Zidane.
Bayern Munich’s bloody nose in Munich and subsequent elimination from the Champions League put an end to talk of German dominance in European football. Bayern Munich had not made the Champions League since 2013 and the Finals have largely been dominated by Spanish teams. It was only last year that it is the first time in six years that a team outside of Spain has won the competition. Over a six year period, Real Madrid won four Champions Leagues and Barcelona won one behind the contributions of Suarez, Messi and Neymar. The only club to break the Spanish dominance was Liverpool. The only two clubs outside of Spain to play in a Champions League final over the last six seasons are Juventus and Liverpool. It seems like the pundits were wrong in the prediction of the end of Spanish dominance.
8
Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid (2012/13)
Borussia Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp were a special football team and completely different to every other team out there. Klopp’s team pressed relentlessly and continuously out-worked the other team. The principles behind Borussia Dortmund were against the norm, most football did not believe that pressing football could be sustained for ninety minutes over a long, arduous season as it would wear players out. Klopp believed otherwise and embraced the press as a way of creating attacks.
The thinking behind Klopp’s reasoning is logical when it is broken down but at the time, pressing was seen as a way of defender rather than attacking the opponent. Klopp saw pressing as a way of creating turnovers from which Dortmund could play direct football that beats the defence before it can set up. I am totally aware that Klopp’s inspiration for these specific style of football came from Wolfgang Frank, his manager at Mainz but it does seem similar to the fast-break offence perfected in basketball. The core tenets of the philosophy are the same in both sports, offence is created faster than defence can respond.
The reason why Klopp played such an aggressive style of football in which the opposition was hounded and harassed is partly due to the squad at his disposal. At that point in time, he did not have many midfielders who could hold the ball and control the game. Ilkay Gundogan was really the only central midfielder who was capable of playing that role, Sven Bender was much comfortable as a pure defensive midfielder. As styles of football go, it worked incredibly well for Dortmund as they achieved domestic success and broke Bayern Munich’s dominance of German football. It was somewhat unexplainable that a club like Dortmund who had limited financial power was able to overthrow the imperious Munich club. When Klopp took over Dortmund, the team was in the bottom half of the Bundesliga. Dortmund had survived the threat of relegation in the previous season when Thomas Doll was manager. The club was now contending at the highest level, Real Madrid would be the ultimate test for Dortmund to see if they belonged on Europe’s greatest stage. Borussia had knocked out a talented Malaga side in the previous stage but that is a different game to one of Europe’s powerhouses.
Real Madrid as a club were going through the final year of Jose Mourinho’s tenure as Madrid manager. Mourinho’s success at the club was undeniable but he was starting to outstay his welcome. Mourinho creates a siege mentality which works well for a certain period of time as the players group together and play as a unit. Mourinho’s style works perfectly for an underdog, unfancied team which is just grateful for winning trophies. This style does not work at a club like Real Madrid where serial winners like Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas bristled at Mourinho’s management. Ramos and Casillas were the two figures who Mourinho feuded with most, both of them felt that they deserved the respect of their manager after retaining the European Championships with Spain. They did not believe that this manager who played dreary, defensive football deserved to criticise their heart.
The dressing room issues disrupted the team morale and created a civil war within the squad. The civil war was wide-ranging with there being multiple casualties on both sides of the tension. The sporting director, Jorge Valdano was ousted in 2011 by Mourinho. Mourinho himself suffered damage in regards to one of his players. Michael Essien is a Mourinho favourite and there is a lot of respect on the part of Essien for Mourinho. Mourinho has called Essien his ‘son’ on more than a few occasions. Essien came to Madrid off a long injury lay-off and the transfer to Real was likely done by Perez to appease Jose. During his time at Madrid, Essien celebrated his 30th birthday and invited the entire squad to enjoy this day. Only two players turned up and Mourinho took this as a personal insult, he felt that the players were disrespectful to their team-mate.
The broken dressing room was an issue for Mourinho, the other issue came from the style of football he played. Real Madrid are expected to play attacking football, they are not expected to play a defensive style which grinds out win after win. In Spain, the way that the game is played is almost more important than the result so naturally Jose rubbed people the wrong. The fans were sick of watching Real Madrid play like a small-minded club and the media were critical of Mourinho’s football. It meant that the relationship with the media was poisoned and Jose became paranoid about the criticism, he was sensitive to every jibe made about him.
Real had a successful season despite the infighting, all the infighting did was put a definite expiration on the Mourinho era. There would be no way that he could stay at a club where everybody hated him and the media were out to get him, he would take his surliness back to England at the end of the season. The tie against Borussia Dortmund was a chance to advance to the Champions League, a honour which Jose won with both Porto and Inter Milan. A Champions League win might have rescued a tumultuous season.
The Westfalenstadion is an intimidating place to come and play football. The ‘Yellow Wall’ is famous for their noise and the atmosphere that it creates around the game but I would argue that the atmosphere feeds into the team. The intensity of the fans is matched by the players which then fires the fans up even more. It is a tough place to come and get a result especially with Jurgen Klopp being the conductor of the orchestra on the sidelines. The wind was taken out of Dortmund on the day of the game.
Mario Gotze was long rumoured to be leaving the club in the summer in favour of greener pastures. Gotze was heavily linked with Bayern Munich, the one team which seemingly hoovers up all young German talent to build an extremely talented cheaply. The transfer to Bayern Munich was announced in the run up to the game and created an atmosphere about the Borussia Dortmund side. The tight-knit group that Klopp worked hard to establish suddenly felt a little fractured going into a game against a European giant.
The game started brightly and it was not even close. Borussia Dortmund intense pressing caught Real Madrid off guard and Real never seemed to become comfortable with the speed in which Dortmund moved. Dortmund harried and trapped Real Madrid constantly and got the ball out of Real mistakes consistently. As a team, Borussia looked up for the fight but the stand-out player for Dortmund on the night was Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski is a special striker who is criminally underrated by most football fans. They do not appreciate Lewandowski’s steady production and abilities, he just has an eye for goal that is undeniable. It is one of the best games that he has played as a footballer, there are very few games which are better than this performance. Lewandowski struck quickly and made Pepe look silly as Dortmund went 1–0 within the first ten minutes of the game. Borussia continued to pile forward and create chances as Real Madrid just looked second best throughout the game. Borussia were first to every ball and did not stop breaking up the play. Sven Bender was immense as he consistently won the ball back and started moving the ball forward to the attackers.
Despite all of Dortmund’s production, Real Madrid struck just before half-time and it felt like all of the momentum built up by Klopp’s men vanished within a moment. Dortmund entered the half down instead of feeling good about the half of football that they played. It was important for Dortmund to keep their heads up and come out of the gate attacking, being passive in a game against Real Madrid is a death blow. When a Jose Mourinho team smells blood, they will punish the weakening team. Again, Lewandowski answered the call as he scored three goals within the space of eleven minutes.
The three goals scored by Lewandowski was symptomatic of Robert’s abilities. He scores that first goal and seems to hit another gear where the confidence is flowing and every shot he takes goes in. This ability to score goals in bunches took away any threat of Dortmund losing the game. The barrage in the first twenty minutes of the half destroyed Real Madrid and gave Borussia Dortmund a 4–1 lead heading to the Bernabeu. The German club lost the game away from home but they made the Champions League Final for the first time in fifteen years.
This game feels significant in the wider context of the decade for many reasons. Real Madrid being knocked out of the Champions League effectively meant that Jose was guaranteed to be gone from the Spanish capital as he did not have any trophies to justify potentially staying at Real Madrid. On the Borussia side, this game is much more significant as it signified the peak of a team which would never recover. The departure of Gotze happened that summer with Robert Lewandowski following him to Bayern Munich the next summer. The Klopp-led team eventually fell apart due to transfers and the allure of bigger clubs, players wanted to play on a bigger stage than the second best club in Germany. Dortmund never reached the same heights again despite being an incubator for top-level footballers whether this be Marco Reus or Mats Hummels. Eventually, the management at the club realised that the team was going stale and Klopp decided to move on. Stylistically, Klopp proved that pressing football can work in top-level European competition and he carried this style over to his next club, Liverpool.
7
Manchester City vs Tottenham (2018/19)
The second leg of the tie between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur is the first game from last season to make the list and it definitely deserves its spot on this list. This match was so drama-filled and it had genuine quality as two of the best teams in England went back and forth over ninety minutes. There were points where it seemed like City would qualify before Spurs would score and flip the pendulum in the opposite direction. It was a classic in every sense of the word for this reason.
Manchester City over the last three years have been juggernauts who do not lose games, Pep Guardiola has built a strong side which has the mental fortitude to fight against any opponent on their day. Manchester City’s depth and versatility means that they can overwhelm teams and win games within the first twenty minutes. City have cultivated a fear factor that is quite special and only comparable to Ferguson’s United in the late 2000s where they were always hard to beat. However, Manchester City’s domestic dominance had not translated into European success.
City were brutally knocked out by Monaco in Guardiola’s first season before a squad overhaul designed to provide Manchester City with the best squad in the league as a complement to having a world class manager. Guardiola got his wishes and acquired a wealth of back line talent including Aymeric Laporte, a supremely talented French ball playing centre back. This level of talent and confidence was not enough to beat Liverpool in 2018 as the Reds ran amok and caught Manchester City with quick jabs at Anfield that effectively settled the game. Over those two legs, Manchester City lost 5–1 to the eventual finalists, Liverpool. Coming into the 2018–19 season, Guardiola’s men did not have an excuse in regards to the Champions League. The expectation placed by the pundits would be that Manchester City would make a deep Champions League run and would be strong favourites for winning the tournament.
Pep disputed these expectations and maintained that the league is more important than achieving European success. It is somewhat emblematic of Pep’s approach in recent years, he views league competition to be much harder and therefore concentrates his resources on ensuring a Premier League win. Last season, this was a prudent stance as Manchester City had Liverpool breathing down their necks until the last day of the season, they could not afford dropping any advantages by focusing on competitions which were not their bread and butter. More cynical people have claimed that this is a way to distract from Guardiola’s inability to win the Champions League without the greatest player ever, Lionel Messi. The evidence to support such claims are hard to judge as Guardiola has consistently made the quarter finals during his time at City and Munich, this would suggest that Guardiola is successful in Europe. However in both examples, he had a squad with enough quality to win a Champions League and expectations encompassed Europe instead of purely domestic achievement.
Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham Hotspur were a different sort of proposition. Tottenham’s core of players had been pain-stakingly assembled by Pochettino before playing together with each other for an extended period of time. Over the last five years, Spurs has been one of the best teams in the league in terms of consistency over this period of time. This team has finished in the Champions League qualifying positions consistently while mounting two separate title challenges. It just felt that this extremely talented Tottenham team kept on running into opposition who just had more talent than Tottenham. By 2019, the lustre of Pochettino’s project had started to fade with players refusing to sign contract extensions and reports of discontent being common place at the training ground.
Pochettino’s style of management requires full devotion from the players and an unwavering commitment to his style of management. This coaching style works for a period of time but over five years it is much harder to make sure that the key messages are heard by players. Players will have heard this message so many times that they eventually tune out the manager which can lead to a fall in standards. Pochettino’s style could have been sustained for longer if players were happy but there was frustration over the wage structure.
Key figures at the club such as Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose were disgruntled that they were not getting paid what they believed they were worth. Tottenham players saw the departure of Kyle Walker and a dramatic increase of his wages, it made a statement on the squad. These key players wanted a pay raise to match the salaries paid out to top-level European players. Daniel Levy, being a tough-minded owner, refused to increase wages hugely as it would have disrupted his rigid wage structure. The structure existed so that Spurs could recruit players smartly instead of spending a ton of money on aging players who would likely be out of their prime window shortly. This discontent caused issues for Spurs domestically but Spurs were charmed in European football.
Tottenham got through a difficult group on just eight points after being on one point after the first three matchdays. Tottenham then handled a difficult Dortmund side comfortably before moving onto Manchester City, one of the most difficult teams left in the competition. Tottenham delivered the goods in the first leg as they won 1–0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The second leg was infinitely harder as the tie moved to Manchester and the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City have always played better at home in Europe than playing away from home, the players seemed to feed off their home crowd and go to another level. This was especially true in the game against Liverpool in the prior season where Manchester City hounded the Reds for forty five minutes without let-up, the pressure applied never stopped and City pushed the game at all opportunities.
Before the game had even started, Tottenham had made a crucial tactical adjustment as a result of injury. Harry Kane was ruled out of the tie due to an ankle injury which meant that Spurs’ goal contributions had to come from everybody in the front-line instead of just one man. Pochettino’s adjustment was smart as he moved Son into the lone striker role with Alli and Moura playing in wide positions. This front three were liquid as they switched positions regularly and drove at the Man City defence with aggression. The creativity and chemistry displayed between the three players was astounding when it is considered that this was not Tottenham’s starting lineup. It could be even be argued that Tottenham were a better side without Kane as the team was unpredictable as the offence did not run through just one player.
The first twenty minutes were wild as five goals were scored by either side. It felt like park football and two teams of kids, it was the ‘you score one and we score one’ mentality. Both teams looked up for the fight and did not want to slow the pace of the game, each team attacked with intensity going forward. The upshot of the first twenty minutes is that Spurs’ advantage looked shaky as the game was tied at 3–3 and you knew that Manchester City would get more chances later in the game. There was not the same certainty for Tottenham who were being pressed relentlessly and went for long stretches without the football. Tottenham were still in the tie going into half time but it only felt like a matter of time. The metronomic Sergio Aguero eventually confirmed what many predicted in regards to the game.
Kevin de Bruyne broke the Spurs defence before Aguero coolly finished the attack. The score read 4–3 and the Manchester club would be going through to the Semi Finals for the first time since Manuel Pellegrini left the club. Aguero’s quality as a player stood out in that moment as it does three or four times in a season. He is not the flashiest player in the world but he is impossibly consistent in terms of scoring goals, there are very few strikers in the Premier League who have been as good as Sergio Aguero at scoring goals. The only two players who could match Aguero for goals over the last four years would be Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy, that is elite company when the prolific nature of both strikers is considered.
During the game, Pochettino had already taken a huge gamble by putting on Fernando Llorente. Llorente is a journeyman striker who has played at a lot of different European clubs but was valuable to Tottenham on that night in Manchester because of his size. Llorente’s 6ft 4 inch frame posed issues for Man City from set pieces as they could not height match on Llorente. The team’s two tall players were already defending Jan and Toby, Man City did not have another tall player who could make life difficult for Llorente at set pieces. Tottenham had a slim advantage and Pochettino’s men maximised that advantage. Spurs struck from a set piece as Llorente’s size came in handy as he bundled a goal into the net. It was a goal but then the long wait set in as VAR reviewed the goal.
The VAR system had identified a possible hand ball which could mean that the goal was disallowed, effectively crushing all of Tottenham’s hopes of victory. The check went on for an eternity before VAR declared that the goal stood and Spurs were back in control of tie albeit by the finest of margins. Tottenham were ahead of away goals and one Manchester City would mean that the game would be out of their grasp. The use of VAR had brought another layer of drama to a game which was already hugely exciting and VAR would play a huge part in the dying moments of the game.
The final ten minutes of the game were sublime and you could see the desire on every player’s face. Tottenham defended for their life and seemingly blocked every Manchester City attack as the Sky Blue men kept the waves of attack coming for Hugo Lloris’ goal. Both managers were animated on the touchline with their jackets off, it was almost as if Pochettino and Guardiola were playing the game themselves. The Tottenham defence eventually broke with a third goal going to Raheem Sterling. The goal completed a memorable hat-trick and a stunning comeback victory for Manchester City, the players wheeled away in wild celebration as they were one step closer to a European coronation. Until VAR reviewed the goal and the entire stadium waited with baited breath. VAR checked for a potential off-side in the run up to the goal and the potential Manchester City win was at stake.
At that moment, it felt like legacies were at stake. The Pochettino era was at risk at going trophyless despite being incredibly successful if the team was knocked out of the Champions League. It would effectively mean an ultimately pointless run for one of the game’s most heralded managers. This loss would have also meant that the ‘Spursy’ reputation was true, Tottenham would always find a way to achieve failure from the jaws of the victory. The team who came third in a two horse race looked to have failed again. On the City side, a loss in this game would have confirmed that Pep cannot win in European. It would have also confirmed that Manchester City cannot get the job done in Europe despite the vast amounts of investment, a deeply damaging public perception of the club, a perception similar to Paris St Germain.
Eventually, VAR ruled the goal out and Tottenham fans erupted into screams of joy. Their team had escaped Manchester with advancement to the Semi Finals. The game was lost 4–3 but the tie was won on away goals from the work done at home in North London. The belief was real as Spurs kept on finding ways to overcome the odds.
6
Roma vs Barcelona (2017/18)
Roma came into the game at the Stadio Olimpico being three goals down to one of the best teams over the last ten years. Barcelona are one of the few teams who have defined the decade, Messi’s team constructed with such attacking prowess and defensive solidity was expected to win the second leg easily and advance to the Semi Finals. Barcelona just won trophies without even thinking about it which was the scariest aspect of their team, Messi could destroy a defence with just the flick of his boot.
Over the season, there was a lot of noise around Ernesto Valverde as Barcelona manager. The appointment of Valverde was an interesting choice, he did not necessarily play the Cruyff way of football and was comfortable setting a team up in a pragmatic fashion. This style of football irritated fans who expected Barcelona to play beautiful football, it is what many fans remember about the golden years under Pep Guardiola. Those teams played with a sense of telepathy because the core players came up through La Masia and understood each other’s game completely. Valverde was in a tough spot where Barcelona were between eras, the La Masia generation was finally coming to a close and a new Barcelona era was starting. However, Valverde was starting the transition into the new era without the centrepiece that many of the Barcelona management had marked out to be the guy in two or three years time. Neymar Jr had left the club acrimoniously for Paris and Barcelona were left dumbstruck. Players are not poached from Barcelona, it is Barcelona who choose when players leave but this is what happened with PSG.
PSG’s owners have been desperate for European success since the Qatari owners took over. Money was no object for Paris St Germain as they cycled through expensive managers and even more expensive players to no avail, for some reason Paris could not get to the Final of the Champions League. In many ways, Neymar was seen as that player who could lead PSG to the promised land. He had previously won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015 and was one of the best players in the world. The recent injuries have somewhat clouded our perception of Neymar, we see him as an injury-prone star who can be great on his day. The facts regarding Neymar Jr are clear, he is still one of the few players in the world who can turn a game on its head on his own. Barcelona were left with a huge hole in their front three of players, the players who largely created all of the goal contributions for the team. Neymar was gone and Suarez was aging, Barcelona needed reinforcements fast.
Barca were flush with money and quickly identified a player who could replace Neymar. Ousmane Dembele had played brilliantly at Borussia Dortmund and looked primed to play at the top level despite being a teenager. The investment made sense from a construction perspective, Dembele could contribute instantly while being a future Barcelona cornerstone. Barcelona also needed to replace Andres Iniesta, who was leaving the club at the end of the season. The club had courted Philippe Coutinho for a number of years and they believed that Coutinho would be able to fit into Iniesta’s role while bringing versatility in offensive situations as Phil could drop into positions as a CAM. The price for both players totalled €300m in transfer fees with all of the additional clauses accounted for, a huge sum of money which placed unnecessary expectation on both players.
The transfers did not work out as Barcelona intended which left Ernesto Valverde with a conundrum, he had a world class side with very little pace or ability to break lines. The decision taken to run all of the offence through Messi and emphasise defensive solidity was important in terms of creating a tactic where Barcelona’s weaknesses would be minimised. Barcelona won the league comfortably but fans were not satisfied winning games 1–0 or 2–0, they expected more from a Barcelona team.
Roma’s season leading up to the game was much different. Eusebio Di Francesco played a totally different style of football to Luciano Spalletti. Spalletti played a traditional Italian style of football where good defending was prioritised whereas Francesco played differently. Roma were a side who pressed the ball and used high lines of engagement to effectively use the offside trap. Against Barcelona, this tactic made plenty of sense. Barcelona did not have players who could run into channels and break the offside trap so Roma were free to play further up the pitch away from their own goal. Di Francesco’s style turned Roma into being a successful unit and somewhat covered the retirement of Rome’s greatest son. Francesco Totti’s retirement ended an era at Roma where Il Gladiatore was King, Roma had succesfully navigated the murky waters to being a competitive team again.
Barcelona comfortably won the first leg at Camp Nou as Roma made mistakes that Barcelona quickly punished them for. In the first leg, Roma look unready for the step up in competition and they struggled to get a foothold in a game as Roma kept on making mistakes. Roma scored two own goals on the night which effectively killed their chances in the game. Roma stole a goal in the second half but winning the tie seemed improbable when the Italian team left Camp Nou 4–1 down.
The belief was still on there on the part of the Roma, the team had enough chances at Camp Nou to believe that Barcelona could be beaten if everything went in their favour. They would need another game where Barcelona did not play well offensively and they would need Barcelona to slip up defensively but it felt possible. As the players walked out into the arena that is the Stadio Olimpico, the Roman crowd believed as well. The stadium is not constructed with just football in mind, there is a running track separating the pitch and the stands which means that the acoustics are a little off. On that night, the Roma fans more than made up for their stadium as they cheered their team from the off.
Roma got an early break through via a long ball over the top into the channel for Edin Dzeko to run onto. Dzeko is hugely underrated as a top-level striker, many people seem to ignore him when talking about the best European forwards despite the fact that Edin has been incredibly consistent for Roma and Manchester City over the last ten years. Dzeko’s technical ability is impressive and coupled with his ability in the air, he becomes incredibly hard for defenders to deal with. Dzeko ran onto the ball and was one on one with the keeper, he opted for a simple lofted finish over Marc Andre Ter Stegen. Roma had got one goal back and had eight five minutes to score two more, plenty of time.
Roma’s high tempo did not allow Barcelona to settle and the Spanish club were largely confined to the middle of the pitch, they could not get past the lines of defence created by Roma. Roma had made Barcelona toothless while getting good goalscoring chances. Roma entered the half with belief that the impossible could be done especially with Barcelona looking so weak. The game was for the taking, the Romans just needed to answer the call. It was only natural that Daniele De Rossi stepped up when the pressure was most.
After the departure of Totti, the mantle of Rome’s favourite fell to De Rossi who had played for the club since childhood. De Rossi is a complete midfielder, the rare player who can play multiple roles within a team while still being brilliant. Roma earned a penalty and the Captain stepped up to take the set piece. A lot of pressure rested on this strike of the ball, one more goal and Roma would be back in the tie. De Rossi did not let the pressure affect him as he slotted the ball in the corner away from Ter Stegen. He ran away to the corner screaming with joy, the Captain had brought Roma into a tie when a comeback was improbable, almost impossible.
Barcelona buckled under the pressure, they struggled to create going forward and what chances they had, Barcelona could not finish. Roma were in the ascendancy and were buoyed by the passionate fans who lived every attack as if they were playing. The intensity of the game went up a gear and Barcelona felt like the hunted rather than the hunter. Roma got the break-through out of a corner and would punch their ticket to the Champions League Semi Finals, the first time in a long time for the Italian side. Manolas, the Greek God in Rome, slapped a header into the goal and Roma were in control of the tie. Manolas sprinted over the advertising boards before celebrating in front of fans, the emotion visible on his face. This moment was only made better by one of the best commentaries that I have ever heard football, Peter Drury captured the moment perfectly with his narration of the final goal.
Roma’s achievement against Barcelona was impressive, it is one of the few occasions where a team has overturned a three goal deficit from the first leg, the only other example I can think of will be detailed in the list later on. Roma’s success made Barcelona looked mortal for the first time in a long time and proved that a team who was well-organised and motivated could give one of the world’s best teams a bloody nose. It was unbelievable as a fan as Barcelona has always carried that fear factor, the belief that Messi and Co could tear a team apart at will.
5
La Remontada
The game between Barcelona and Paris St Germain is ingrained in this decade’s football mythology as it established so many factors which would continue on throughout the decade. PSG were bottlers in this game and would be bottlers going forward, Neymar was truly a brilliant footballer who could do whatever he wanted and Unai Emery’s reputation took a massive hit. The game itself is arguably the greatest comeback in Champions League history, there are few comebacks which could rival this specific game. The only two game which could come close in terms of difficulty would be the Spurs vs Ajax came where Tottenham scored three in the second half to advance to their first Champions League Final and Liverpool’s victory over AC Milan in 2005 from being 3–0 at the half.
Barcelona in this particular season were still a dominant force despite an ageing midfield. The brilliance of ‘MSN’ more than made up for Barcelona becoming a little thin in other areas of the squad. The other brilliance came from Luis Enrique who managed the club in a manner more pragmatic than his predecessors. The school of Cruyff believed that football is democratic, the ball moves to whoever is open on the night. Enrique looked at the game differently, he still believed in Cruyff’s ideals of passing the other team into surrender but he felt differently regarding star players. Enrique was one of the few managers in that period who had spent time out of the Barcelona set-up in terms of football management, Enrique’s CV was not that impressive. Enrique had managed Barcelona B before two middling stints at Celta and Roma before he returned to Barcelona. In many ways, he had a unique position at the club. He had played at the club during the tenure-ship of Louis Van Gaal during the 1990s but did not come up through La Masia as Guardiola and Tito Vilanova did. Enrique came from Real Madrid before establishing himself as a utility man at Barcelona. As a player and coach, he was Barcelona but he had different experiences and naturally different ideas.
Enrique realised that he had three world-class forwards in their prime, a feat that has been rarely done by other football clubs. The beauty of Barcelona’s forwards is that each player was different. Suarez was a hard-working forward with a lethal shot, Neymar was the trickster while Messi was so unselfish as he created chance after chance for his friends. That type of unselfishness is uncommon with forwards but Messi was more than comfortable to let his team-mates shine. It worked to perfection as Barcelona shredded team’s defences continually and looked like a serious threat in Europe.
Paris St Germain were a rising force in Europe at the time, the team had suffered a few setbacks in their quest for Champions League gold but there was a belief that PSG would eventually get the formula right and build a brilliant squad. The money behind PSG was a key factor in believing that the Paris club could be elevated to the level that Barcelona lives at. Before the start of the decade, Paris St Germain had slipped in terms of the team’s performance level. PSG were only just surviving in Ligue Un and the team needed new investors to drag the club back to the glory days where Paris St Germain had players like Ronaldinho turning Parc Des Princes into a Broadway show. The previous owners, Canal+, knew that the club needed investment to make PSG a dominant European force but not many people within football expected PSG to be a state-owned football club.
It was rumoured that the State of Qatar throughout its investment vehicle, Qatari Sports Investment, were looking to purchase a football club which could be used to promote Qatar. There was a commonly held belief that QSI were looking for the right kind of club to invest, a club where there was a large, active fanbase and a team which had lost some lustre to their reputation. Paris St Germain fit that mould and a deal was quickly struck for QSI to take a controlling stake in PSG. That change in ownership started domestic dominance and a desire to win in Europe, the ultimate achievement.
Paris St Germain had cycled through managers in the previous season with Ancelotti and Blanc taking charge of the club in the recent history of PSG. Eventually, Nasser Al-Khelaifi felt like he had found the right coach to take Paris St Germain, a coach who could be elite if provided the right circumstances. Unai Emery was a rising star in world football as he had won three straight Europa Leagues with Sevilla, an overachievement given the level of spending on the squad.
That decision proved correct in the first leg of the tie in Paris as PSG dominated Barcelona at home. Paris was so sorted defensively as they prevented Barcelona from getting goal-scoring opportunities while striking quickly on the break. Paris St Germain won 4–0 and it seemed like it was curtains for Barcelona, it is so difficult to come back from being 4–0 down in the Champions League. In a way, that first leg felt like a new contender had established themselves in the race for European glory. Paris St Germain did not get lucky, they dominated Barcelona and it felt like they would advance easily.
The second leg was at Camp Nou which presented a problem for Paris St Germain. Camp Nou is one of those few stadiums in world football where the wall of sound from the crowd is deafening and the intensity makes a real difference. At the start of the game, Paris St Germain did not look like the same side who demolished Barcelona. The team looked nervous at the start of the game and Barcelona’s hot start did not help those nerves. Suarez scored a quick goal at the start of the game and the crowd was into the game, the headed goal gave the team belief to push on. Barcelona were relentless as they pressed forward and exploited PSG’s weaknesses defensively. The back-line which looked solid at home was now looking shaky and prone to conceding goals.
Barcelona got another goal before the break which meant that the Blaugranas entered the half with a two goal deficit to make up. Barcelona still had to find those goals but PSG did not look confident on the night. Luis Enrique’s men were more than capable of getting the goals to tie the game up and they did so in the 50th minute. Thomas Meunier conceded a penalty for a foul on Neymar Jr, Messi would have the chance to give Barcelona more than just hope, a goal would give Barca a real chance to win the game. The gut punch came twelve minutes later as PSG scored the goal which would arguably secure a famous victory. Edinson Cavani smacked a home a goal which gave PSG the all-important away goal. The game looked out of hand, Barcelona now needed to score three goals in order to win the game. The task at hand was near impossible but the belief did not drop, Barcelona had already scored three goals in the game against a leaky PSG. Goals were there to be had, Barcelona just had to work hard.
There has been a lot of talk about Neymar over the past few years, there have been doubts if he is as good as many claim. In the closing minutes of that game, he was truly world-class as he single-handedly won the game for Barcelona. That statement is ridiculous when you think about the collective talent that Barca has, yet one man stepped up and decided the fate of the game. Neymar curled in a free kick in the 88th minute which meant Barcelona needed two, he converted a penalty in the 90th minute which meant Barcelona needed one goal to win the game. Barcelona were relentless in injury time and the attacking pressure rewarded Barca with a free kick. Neymar stepped up again to put Barcelona into the next stage of the Champions League. Over the space of seven minutes, Neymar answered the call on every occasion and delivered the goods, there are few players who you can say that about.
From this free-kick, Neymar did not have a great angle to shoot. It would mean that Neymar would have to drop the ball into the box for a Barcelona player to run onto. He chipped the ball into the penalty area, the ball floated before eventually dropping onto the boot of Sergi Roberto who stabbed the football home. The net bulged and Barcelona were in the quarter finals. Roberto, the La Masia product, had concluded the most amazing comeback. PSG’s players sank to the turf in despair as they realised that the game was done, the four goal lead was squandered and the dreams of European glory were over for the season. The crowd at Camp Nou went bezerk and quiet at the same time, fans were joyful with the improbable victory and some fans were in shock, it was impossible for Barca to win and yet the club was in the Quarter Finals.
This game deserves its spot on the list because it was hugely entertaining and arguably the essence of ‘MSN’. You put three world class forwards into the same front-line and it is amazing what these players can achieve. The football played is elevated beyond just a game, in this example Barcelona produced history that will be fondly remembered years later. It is one of those games, the games which fans will remember with such nostalgia down the line. After that season, Barcelona were never the same. Neymar forced his way out of the club to PSG in order to build his own legacy. Neymar was unhappy by the way that the papers reported the outstanding victory, the headlines were all about Messi despite the fact that Neymar scored two goals and had one assist in the victory. Barcelona lost the natural successor to Messi and stumbled in fake fantasy football where they purchased players without understanding their role within the team.
This game was the first time that Paris St Germain were tagged as bottlers, before that criticism was unfounded. Paris had been beaten in European competition by comparable teams but never in this fashion. In the years following the ‘Remontada’, Paris St Germain has seemingly found improbable ways to throw away Champions League runs. In 2018, Paris St Germain was beaten handily by a Real Madrid, the Champions and then last season PSG suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. One of the worst Manchester United strolled into Parc des Princes and beat a team laden with star power including Neymar, Mbappe, Di Maria and Gianluigi Buffon. Despite all of PSG’s riches, the club has not advanced past the Quarter Final stage in eight years.
4
Chelsea vs Bayern Munich (2012 Final)
In 2012, Chelsea were in disarray. Andre Villas Boas had been brought into the club to build a club around a new core of players. The old core of Cech, Drogba, Terry and Lampard was ageing and it was unknown how much each player had left in the tank. This particular group of Chelsea players had been fighting for trophies since 2005 and seven years later, it felt like the writing was on the wall. Villas Boas was a highly successful coach at Porto and had achieved the type of success which few coaches have done in Portugal. He had won the domestic league comfortably in only his first season in charge. Villas Boas complemented the success in the Primeira Liga by winning the Europa League, no small feat for a manager who was relatively inexperienced. Villas Boas managed a team that was laden with talent such as Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez impressively, he had made sure that these young players fulfilled their promise. This ability to work with young talent and win games easily was a huge draw for Roman Abramovich.
The other factor which AVB had in his favour was that he was a Mourinho acolyte. Villas Boas did not have a distinguished playing career and threw himself into coaching at the age of seventeen. Villas Boas found himself working under Jose Mourinho at the age of twenty one and he rose quickly through the ranks at Porto, Chelsea and Internazionale Milan. Although Villas Boas was made in the mould of Mourinho, the relationship between the two coaches was fractious due to Villas Boas’ ambitions to be a head coach at a football club. AVB was the type of coach that Abramovich likes, a manager who is ambitious and certain in their views. The appointment of Andre Villas Boas caused immediate controversy within the club as he created a civil war between the senior members of the side and the coaching staff.
The senior members of the team such as Ashley Cole, John Terry and Didier Drogba were unhappy with how Villas Boas was managing the squad.He effectively froze out the senior members of the squad and drastically reduced the amount of playing that they received. It was a cloud that settled over Cobham and Chelsea did not perform well. The results were slipping and it felt like the players were downing tools on the Villas Boas regime, it meant that Roman Abramovich took the decision to fire AVB in March of his first season. The firing of the coach was expected given AVB’s performance but it did not come at a good point of the season, Chelsea could not appoint an experienced coach in the interim as the club did with Guus Hiddink or Rafa Benitez. The coach of choice was Roberto Di Matteo, a manager whose previous experience was in the lower leagues of English football. Di Matteo’s remit was to rescue what he could from the season and make sure that Chelsea finished respectably in all competitions.
It seemed like Chelsea’s players realised that they did not have long left in the prime of their careers as Chelsea put together a magical run in the Champions League. Di Matteo’s men overturned a deficit to advance against Napoli and easily beat Benfica to set up a mouth-watering clash against Barcelona in the Semi Finals. The tie against Barcelona already had bad blood from previous Champions League campaigns, in 2009 Barcelona had beaten Chelsea on their path to a Champions League trophy in controversial fashion. Chelsea were denied at least two clear penalties in the game and there was a belief that UEFA had rigged the results so that Barcelona could advance in the tournament instead of Chelsea who had played a boring final in 2008. Chelsea edged out the first leg but the second leg did not go their way as Barcelona scored two quick goals before half-time to take control of the tie. Ramires got a crucial away goal and the tie was in Chelsea’s hands but Barcelona marauded forward with pressure.
In the closing minutes of the game, Di Matteo made the decision to take off Drogba and put on Fernando Torres, a player who massively under-whelmed in his time at Chelsea. Torres’ injuries robbed him of pace and acceleration, he was a shell of himself when Chelsea purchased him for £50m from Liverpool. However, it was Fernando Torres’ contribution was one of the which finished Barcelona off and meant Chelsea was going to the Final. As Barcelona committed men forward, there was huge gaps in the defence which meant that Torres was allowed to run onto out-balls unchallenged. Torres carried the ball forward from his own half and had a lengthy stare down with Victor Valdes as he decided where to place the ball. That image of Torres in the white and fluorescent green storming forward with the ball at his feet and Barcelona chasing him desperately is iconic. Torres went around Victor Valdes before calmly slotting the ball home, the Chelsea fans in the heavens of Camp Nou celebrated as their team made it back to the Champions Final after four years.
Bayern Munich had also suffered Champions League heart-break as they had lost to Inter Milan in the final two years ago. Inter Milan were an extremely talented, organised team. It is arguably one of the best teams that Jose Mourinho has managed in terms of every facet of the game, it was strong on all areas of the pitch and tactically versatile. Bayern Munich’s loss in 2010 was pretty painful as the team was comfortably beaten by Mourinho’s counter-attacking football. That loss drove Bayern Munich on in chasing European glory for the first time in the modern era. Munich had survived a scare against Real Madrid in the Semi Finals but they had a side that was more than capable of winning the whole tournament.
Bayern employed two lightning fast wingers in the form of Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery who were technically sublime. Ribery and Robben could both beat their own man at any given opportunity, it was truly frightening for a lot of European sides. Munich also had Thomas Muller, the raumdeter, who was one of the best creative players in Germany at the time. Muller was one of the first Germany players who came out of the Jurgen Klinsmann project in regards to the national side. Klinsmann sunny disposition and attacking style of football was at odds with the traditional, solid-footed German football. This style was abandoned in the early 2000s as it consistently produced boring football that was not totally successful. Germany’s runners-up medal in 2002 masked over a lot of the issues in regards to the football that Germany played.
Klinsmann gave his assent for attacking players to play with freedom and try different things with the ball. This was an important influence for Thomas Muller in his formative years at Bayern Munich B as it encouraged a mind-set where trying new stuff was discouraged, in fact Klinsmann’s style of management encouraged German footballers to be creative with the ball like their Dutch and Spanish counter-parts. Muller’s creativity was somewhat shaped by Klinsmann but it was Louis Van Gaal short tenure at Bayern Munich which established Muller at the heart of the club.
Van Gaal has come from the Ajax school of football where young talent is promoted and given chances to succeed. These principles have been prevalent throughout his career, a lot of people forget that Van Gaal gave Marcus Rashford his break at Manchester United along with other young players like Tyler Blackett. At Munich, he liked the look of Muller and promised him regular minutes with the senior side. Thomas Muller quickly embedded himself within the Bayern set-up and with his manager’s blessing flourished. Van Gaal’s awkward style of management caused friction within the club but it was nectar for young players who got a break at Bayern Munich.
The game was played at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich’s home and it did feel pre-ordained that the trophy would finally return to Munich after years of pain. Chelsea realised that they could not play open football against Bayern Munich, the defence would eventually be picked off so the team focused on picking their spots. When Bayern were caught out of position, Chelsea would strike before dropping back into their defensive shape from which attacks could be nullified. Chelsea had lost their best defender in the form of John Terry to suspension and therefore it was imperative that Chelsea remained disciplined, small errors would be punished against Munich.
The game went according to strategy, Bayern Munich controlled the ball but could not create any clearcut chances out of this possession. Chelsea were well-organised in their defensive shape with Petr Cech making crucial save after crucial save. This was arguably the best game that the Czech keeper has played, it felt like it would take something special to beat one of the league’s top keepers. Bayern got that special moment out of Thomas Muller, the man who scores goals on the big occasions. Muller knocked in a header with just seven minutes left in the game. Chelsea’s defence had broken in a rare mistake and Muller drifted onto Toni Kroos’ cross before nodding the ball in. Chelsea were dead and buried but the ultimate big game player stepped up.
Didier Drogba is not the most prolific striker that the Premier League has seen but he has a knack for scoring important goals and elevating his play on big occasions. He is the striker equivalent of Sergio Ramos in terms of finding another level in his game. Drogba did not let the tie go away especially in one of the last years of his prime. With just two minutes left in regular time, Drogba found himself free on a near post run. He powered the ball home and Chelsea were even in Munich, the game would be going to extra time where anything could happen.
Both sides played a cagey, tense period where it felt like both teams were waiting for the finality of penalties. Chelsea did not start well as Juan Mata missed his penatly. The blue side were lucky that Petr Cech was immense in stopping penalties to give Chelsea the advantage. Up stepped Didier Drogba to win the Champions League for Chelsea for the first time in the club’s history. Drogba slotted the ball in the left middfle as Neuer dived right. Chelsea were European champions for the first time ever.
For Chelsea, this was the last hurrah of a special era at the club. Drogba, Terry and Lampard tailed off performance wise and Chelsea went about building a new era of dominance around the talents of Eden Hazard, a signing from Lille OSC. It was also the pinnacle of Roberto Di Matteo’s career, he did nothing special after this achievement. He managed at West Brom, Aston Villa and Schalke before his career petered out in 2016.
This loss was the ideal motivation for Bayern Munich, the team had been beaten spectacularly and there was desire from Karl Heinz Rumenigge to put this episode behind them. Munich rebuilt in the summer and Jupp Heynckes’ men finally won the greatest honour in Europe. Bayern Munich defeated Borussia Dortmund in a Der Klassiker Final in 2013 and established themselves as true European heavyweights.
3.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Ajax (2018/19)
Tottenham’s second leg against Ajax was a world class game of football in every sense of the word as it had everything that makes football brilliant. The game had wonderful, instinctive team play from Ajax’s prodigies, an amazing comeback from Spurs and all of the drama that knockout football commands. There are very few games which meet the quality of this particular tie.
Spurs last season were not the same team as the Spurs over the last five years. The league form dried up massively and there were signs of disengagement among the players in regards to the club itself. Pochettino’s coaching style is almost authoritarian and the messages to be players can be grating after hearing the same points day in day out for years. The disengagement was evident in the senior members of the side, there was no joy in Spurs anymore, only a grimace of determination as they faced the pressure of a difficult season. A good analog for Spurs last season would be Dortmund in Jurgen Klopp’s final season, the players are tired of the methodology and need new stimulus to get the best out of him. Klopp realised around Christmas time for Dortmund and made the choice to move, Tottenham had chosen to back Mauricio to the hilt. Pochettino’s job security was a little uncertain but Daniel Levy backed the manager who had led Spurs expertly over his tenure at the club as long as the European form remained positive.
There were serious fractures within the Spurs’ organisation from top to bottom. At the upper management level, Pochettino had grown frustrated with Daniel Levy’s miserly spending. Levy did not invest in the club at the same level that other comparable Premier League clubs did and Pochettino felt somewhat handicapped especially when key players to the project like Moussa Dembele or Kyle Walker left without being adequately replaced. The other issue within the club was the rigid wage structure imposed by Daniel Levy and the shareholders. Levy has always made it a priority that Spurs are ran prudently in regards to the club’s finances, he does not pay over the odds for players and will negotiate hard in regards to contract renewals. This strategy angered senior members of the side like Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen who did not feel like their toil for Tottenham was being rewarded.
Tottenham’s season was not comparable to previous years where Tottenham were legitimate title contenders, the team was aiming for top four as a goal and a solid Champions League run. The Champions League was fraught with danger for Spurs last season, there were many times when their campaign looked finished. However, Spurs came battling back every single time before dragging themselves to the Semi Finals of the Champions League with the helping hand of fortune favouring the brave. Spurs got very lucky with a VAR decision in regards to Fernando Llorente which was the deciding factor in a close tie against Manchester City.
In a way, it felt like this was the final push for this iteration of Tottenham. The Eriksen/Alli/Kane core had been together for a long period of time and has missed out on so many chances to win silverware. A team who has contended together for such a long period of time under a demanding managers who ask players to commit every fibre of their being to the football club can only go for so long. This Tottenham had genuinely been a top level side during the four or five years which Mauricio Pochettino managed the football and had been impressive in the development of players. Lucas Moura came to Tottenham as an inconsistent forward with huge potential and became one of the most valuable super subs in the Premier League.
The semi final was finely poised but Spurs had to deal with a huge loss before the tie had even started. Harry Kane is the epicentre of Tottenham’s attacks as he is incredibly talented at finishing goal scoring opportunities and has developed into a nice hold-up man recently. Kane’s skills do not blow you away when you watch the England forward but it is his consistency and efficiency that puts him into the world’s best forward conversation. However, Tottenham with Harry Kane could become stale when Spurs had possession of the ball. The entire team was designed to get Harry Kane the ball at every opportunity which made Tottenham predictable in both league and European competition. The loss of Harry Kane made Tottenham a wounded but deadly animal.
Pochettino made a tactical change up top and did not play a traditional centre forward. Dele Alli moved up the pitch from playing as a centre midfield into a false nine role where his tireless effort and ball distribution would start to create chances for his team-mates. Lucas Moura came into the lineup in favour of Kane and was played in wide areas as Pochettino. The formation was clear, Pochettino would field a front three with players who could inter-change positions and cause defensive havoc. There would be no one primary creator, Tottenham would create chances by committee. Tottenham needed that uncertainty and unpredictability in their attack to break down the wonderkids of Ajax.
Ajax were special side in the Champions League and had become giant-killers over the last two rounds of the competition. They knocked out Real Madrid and Juventus, two of the most experienced campaigners in the Champions League while playing a sparkling brand of football. It was football but not quite as many have witnessed before, the ball moved fluidly between eleven players but one brain. The ability to find pockets of space and break defences with their passing was hugely impressive as it came against some of Europe’s best teams. That consistency of performance with a young team, the only senior players within the team were Dusan Tadic and Daley Blind.
Erik Ten Hag’s men were built off a young core of players that played beyond on their years. Matthis De Ligt was the club’s captain but the youthful core was spread through the rest of the team. Frenkie De Jong and Donny Van Der Beek commanded the midfield while Hakim Ziyech settled into the hard-working forward role. Through the middle, Ajax has serious pace and talent in the form of David Neres who could simply out-run his opponents.
Ajax’s ability buzz-sawed through Tottenham and the London side staggered. The first tie was a close 1–0 loss which gave Tottenham a lot of hope regarding the second leg but Ajax soon extinguished that hope. The Dutch side scored two goals in the first half and left Tottenham with a mountain to climb. There have been very few teams who have made a 3–0 comeback in European football and only one team has come from that deficit in just one half of football. Spurs needed a miracle performance and a tactical change to make the most improbable comeback possible.
Mauricio Pochettino looked at his team at half time and realised that there needed to be a change in the attacking patterns of the team. Tottenham did not have an easy outlet ball from the Ajax press as none of the players on the pitch in the first half could hold the ball up. In the normal starting lineup, Harry Kane would play that role but Pochettino did not have Spurs most prolific scorer at his disposal. Pochettino made a bold decision to sacrifice midfield control and throw on Fernando Llorente, a target man striker who had played sparingly. The decision to take off Wanyama made sense, Victor was struggling to deal with the frenetic pace of Ajax and he was a wasted resource at the time.
That tactical change was highly important for Spurs and took advantage of Ajax’s lack of height in defence. In the Eredivisie, technical ability is prioritised over size across all positions. A centre back must be able to pass out from the back and control the ball, that is the focus of the Dutch game rather than picking tall players who can win aerial duels. It made Llorente’s job as a target man easier as he fed the ball to the flying forwards.
While Pochettino had made the tactical switch which would give Tottenham a slender advantage, they still needed a player who could repeatedly score goals. They receive this production out of Lucas Moura, a player who has been questioned a fair few times. Moura is one of those players who are just brimming with talent, he has the full package of skills but there have been questions about his commitment to the game. At PSG, he went from being a promising youngster to an expendable player because his work-rate on the pitch was not quite good enough. Throughout the season, Pochettino used Moura as a supersub to make an impact in games. Against Ajax, he made an instant impact.
Tottenham came out of the half ferociously and Ajax struggled to deal with the intensity. Moura stole one goal back and Ajax were reeling. The previously confident looked uncertain as Spurs piled on the pressure. The calm, cool demeanour of Matthis de Ligt was frantic as Tottenham put Ajax under sustained pressure. The second goal came out of Moura’s instinctive play inside the eighteen yard box. Andre Onana, the Ajax keeper, spilled the ball into the feet of Lucas Moura. Moura dodged a tackle as he dribbled the ball away from the Ajax defence. Lucas took a quick glance over his shoulder before firing the ball goalwards, the shot snuck into the net past the outstretched arms of Onana.
The tie which had looked finished by the half was now alive and with Tottenham chasing a winner. The momentum of the game lurched back and forth as the game devolved into an exciting, end to end match. Ajax had a few chances and Hakim Ziyech even hit the post as they tried to put the game away. Hugo Lloris, the Tottenham captain, made crucial saves to keep Spurs in the fightt. The atmosphere inside the Johann Cruyff Arena seemed to turn, the Ajax faithful cursed every missed chance, the despair was palpable. It was much the same story for Spurs, you could hear the fans cursing when Jan Vertonghen had a header from point blank range saved from Onana, it did not seem like the Gods had Spurs winning.
The last moments of the game became frantic as Spurs heaved the ball forward for one last chance. Lloris kicked it long and the ball fell to Dele Alli’s feet. Alli calmly played the ball into space behind the final line of defence. Moura ran onto and lashed the ball home into the corner. Spurs’ players ran away and celebrated an improbable victory that would finally get Tottenham to the promised land that they have been working for so long.
This has to be one of the best Champions League games of the decade for the drama of the match. It had everything, two teams slugging it out to reach the zenith of Europe. It was a game which had real stakes behind it and those stakes produced one of the most entertaining games in living memory. It was a high quality match being paid at an incredible pace as each team committed to full throttle style of play. It was also an important game in terms of the history of football in this last decade, Spurs were a consistently very good team under Mauricio Pochettino who finally got their reward after something like five years of near misses. It was a fitting end to an era of Tottenham football where they were arguably better than Arsenal for the first time in a long time. This game also represented the peak of Ajax’s player development and is a what could have been. You have to wonder about De Ligt and De Jong choosing to return for one more season and going further into the competition. The entire team was a such a prodigious, young unit which caused serious problems for the entirety of European elite, they would have been significantly better after a year of growth under one of the most exciting coaches in Europe.
2.
Liverpool vs Barcelona (2018/19)
Out of every game on this list, the second leg of this match is my favourite. I have been a Liverpool fan since I was a kid and this had to be the most memorable moment I can remember in my time supporting Liverpool. Liverpool had come a three goal deficit to win the game which would get the team to their consecutive Champions League Final. The game which Liverpool won was against a true European giant, Barcelona were a team which had won everything.
Last season, Liverpool was a serious side for the first time in a long time. Although, Liverpool had made the Champions League Final the year before, the team was soundly beaten by Real Madrid. It was a humiliating loss where Loris Karius made two huge blunders that effectively settled the tie. That game in Kiev against Real Madrid felt like a big moment for more than the usual reasons. It would have finally established Liverpool at Europe’s top table again for the first time since Fenway Sports Group had purchased the club in 2011. A win against Real would have put to bed the accusation that Jurgen Klopp is a bridesmaid, the belief that Klopp is not a winner and does not deliver in the big moments. The loss was hugely painful as it did feel like the Liverpool rebuilding project deserved a trophy for the impressive run which the side had made. Klopp’s men had dispatched Manchester City, Porto and Roma with aplomb, playing a fast, frenetic style of football which seemed to overwhelm their opponents.
In a strange way, the loss in Kiev forged Liverpool into the side which they are today. The mental strength of the squad improved after facing a tough moment of soul-searching, the players finally understood what it took to win a trophy rather than just winning games. Klopp also changed tactically as a manager. A lot is made of the fact that Jurgen Klopp is a philosopher when it comes to football, he believes that the game should be played in a certain way and sets his teams up accordingly. However, Klopp is a pragmatist. He is willing to adjust his ideals to fit his current squad. The counter-attacking style which worked so well at Mainz and Dortmund had become less effective at Liverpool because teams had learned how to nullify this style. Teams would play against Liverpool and sit in a low block shape. The low block forced Liverpool to try and play through the shape, something that Liverpool were not proficient at especially without a traditional central attacking midfielder who can unlock defences.
Klopp’s master-stroke was fully leaning into the quality which the club has at full back. Trent Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson are two of the most creative fullbacks in the world. Each player has the ability to deliver killer balls for the forwards to latch onto. Klopp has wisely positioned these players in the type of territory that a winger generally occupies. It creates a midfield overload and forces the defending team to make tough decisions about who they should mark. For Liverpool, all of the ingredients to build a winner had finally materialised. The team was experienced, pragmatic and able to win games whatever way possible. It meant that Liverpool turned in one of the finest seasons in the Premier League in living memory, they were beaten by just one point by Pep’s goliath in Manchester.
The Champions League was a harder task compared to the previous season. The best team that Liverpool had played on the road to Kiev was Manchester City, Porto and Roma were swiftly dealt with. The road to Madrid was significantly harder as Liverpool played Bayern Munich in the Last 16, then Porto before finally matching up against a Barcelona which was determined to make up for the mistakes of the previous year.
‘La Remontada’ had tarnished the reputation of Barcelona in Europe and cast serious doubts about whether this particular group of players could win the Champions League again. Ernesto Valverde was in the firing line for his boring, non-creative teams and the failure in the Champions League only added fuel to the flames. It is fine for Barcelona to be defeated by another European heavyweight but a team like Roma who Barcelona were expected to defeat cannot be countenanced. There was a focus on Europe that was different to other seasons in the past, Barcelona had made the Champions League priority given the lack of competition in the domestic competitions.
In the previous rounds of the competition, Barcelona looked special as they blew past Lyon and Manchester United easily. Neither team was able to put up any resistance to Messi’s brilliance. Barcelona had one of the best weapons in the whole competition in the form of Lionel Messi, he is the type of player who can win games by himself. The tie was interesting from the start, the ever constant Barcelona against the upstarts from Liverpool who were on a mission to win the same trophy that Barcelona wanted, it was finely poised. The other interesting aspect of the tie was that Barcelona could have met Liverpool in the previous year providing that they managed to beat Roma.
The tie had also taken on the tone of a bit of grudge match given the issue of Philippe Coutinho. Philippe Coutinho was a central figure in Liverpool’s revival under Jurgen but he had always desired a move away from the club, a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid. For South American players, there is no greatest honour than playing for one of Spain’s giants. We have seen many Premier League players make this move, three Liverpool players have gone to Barcelona over the last twelve years. Javier Mascherano moved during the tumult of the Gillette/Hicks Era, Luis Suarez moved after spending one more magical season at Liverpool whereas Phil’s departure was a little more contentious.
Coutinho had seemed to fake a back injury before European ties so that he would not be cup-tied in Europe and he handed in a transfer request before the first day of the season. Philippe Coutinho had also signed a new five year deal and then tried to force his way out of the club in August. The decisions taken by Phil and his agent, Kia Joorbachian did not endear himself to club officials or the fans. Although Klopp had wanted to keep Coutinho at the club, he realised that Coutinho had no interest in staying and therefore made the decision to move the player on. Coutinho left in January and there was a widely held expectation that Liverpool would be significantly worse without their star player. That expectation did not come true and Liverpool grew out of Phil’s departure, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane grew in confidence as a result of being featured more heavily in the offensive flow of the team.
Coutinho did not catch on at Barcelona because of the glaring mistakes made by the club’s officials. There was a belief that Philippe Coutinho could play in a central midfield role, the role which was recently vacated by Andres Iniesta’ departure. They did not seem to realise that Coutinho did not have the motor to play that role for ninety minutes and that his best position is a central attacking role which Messi fills. The issues with fitting Coutinho into the team eventually led to Barcelona sticking Phil on the wing in a role where he under-performed hugely. That history only increased the feelings surrounding the tie.
The first leg did not go to plan for Liverpool, they wasted a lot of good chances while Barcelona were clinical. Messi was hugely impressive as he made three goals for Barcelona which effectively settled the tie. Liverpool were finished off at the Camp Nou and the return leg was expected to be a formality. The over-arching narrative from the game did not quite match the reality of the game. There were times where Barcelona looked very weak and a team which the Liverpool midfield could exploit.
A lot has been made about Liverpool’s midfield three over the last few years, there have been criticisms about the lack of creativity and distinctly unflashy style. However, this unfancied midfield was devastating in European competition due to its relentless nature. The three of Henderson, Wijnaldum and Fabinho are determined ball-winners and their energy does not allow another team to settle in. The mental aspect of the game is what controls games for Liverpool, the confidence of the midfielders to consistently win the ball back. There was a belief that Barcelona could be susceptible to the constant pressure by the midfielders and that Sergio Busquets could be over-run in his number six role.
Jurgen Klopp did not believe that the tie was over, he trusted his men to go and get a result. It might have seemed deluded to a neutral observer but given Liverpool’s strength and Klopp’s skill as a manager, it made sense. At Anfield, anything was possible on European nights. This was the turf where Liverpool famously came back against Dortmund in the Europa League in order to go to Klopp’s first final as manager.
The game came about and it felt like one of those special Anfield nights under the lights. The atmosphere and the fans did not betray any feeling that the tie was over, in fact the fans seemed defiant to the possibility that Liverpool could lose. That mythic belief in the players and the intensity of the fans unsettles opponents, they cannot hear their own thoughts when the Anfield faithful are roaring their team on. It is an emotional advantage like very few teams are able to tap in, Barcelona are probably one of few teams who have that edge.
Klopp made changes from his previous starting eleven, Trent Alexander Arnold came back into the side as Klopp needed attacking creativity rather than solidity. Joe Gomez is a fine defender but his natural inclination to defend stifled Liverpool’s creativity going forward in the first leg. Alexander Arnold’s speed and pass accuracy would stretch Barcelona’s defence and cause havoc. For Alexander Arnold, it was a huge occasion for the club which he has supported since childhood. Trent is often referred to the as ‘the scouser in the team’, he is one of the city’s own and is that connective tissue between the club and fans.
The other big changes for Klopp was that Milner, Origi and Shaqiri came into the side. Milner was favoured instead of Gini due to his experience and steady hand during pressure moments. It was a good decision by Klopp but it pissed off Wijnaldum, it motivated him when he came into the game later on. Origi and Shaqiri both came into the side due to Bobby Firmino and Mo Salah being injured. At the time, neither player was regarded as a long-term option for Liverpool. Origi and Shaqiri were fringe players who had made necessary contributions during an almighty title chase.
At the weigh-ins for combat sports, it is the first time that the two fighters will face each other. It is a moment where the fight can be won or lost, a lot of athletes have talked about knowing that their opponent is broken before the fight just based off their body language in this interaction. As Barcelona came out onto the pitch, the players looked afraid of the atmosphere as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ bounded around the ground. At that same moment, you could see that Liverpool players were brimming with confidence. They were not scared of the occasion, the players were ready to complete the job and book another trip to the Champions League Final.
The game started quickly and Liverpool were relentless, the players were like a swarm of bees as they harried the Barcelona players. Barcelona could not settle into the game, they were having to play passes under pressure as Liverpool constantly pressed forward. That pressure builds over a game, it might be a misplaced pass or possession lost in a bad area of the field but eventually it stacks up. For Barcelona, the pressure came early and it materialised in a mistake from Jordi Alba.
Alba failed to deal with a long pass effectively and Jordan Henderson pounced onto the ball. Henderson drove towards goal and his shot was saved by Ten Stegen, the rebound fell to Origi who slotted the ball away. Suddenly, there was life in the dream and the fans were raucous in their celebration. Andy Robertson, the Scottish full-back, played the role as the irritant as he rubbed Messi’s head and exchanged words with Luis Suarez. It was confidence, bordering on arrogance as Liverpool continued to outplay Barcelona. The first half was much of the same, Liverpool had control of the game and were pushing Barcelona really hard. Barcelona could not finish the chances which Messi created, these were good chances that would easily be put away on another day at another stadium.
Philippe Coutinho was most affected by the atmosphere, he attracted boos every single time that he touched the ball and seemed off the pace. Coutinho had melted in the pitch as he failed to impact the game. For the Liverpool fans, the game was a chance to let out frustrations held against their former star, a man who had left the club to win the Champions League.
The half ended with Liverpool losing another player, Andy Robertson departed the game with injury. James Milner went to full-back and Gini Wijnaldum slotted into the midfield three. There was a fear that Jordan Henderson would go off with injury but he chose to play through the pain. Henderson has long struggled with feet injuries and an old ankle injury had flared up during the first half. The Liverpool captain gritted his teeth and continued on in one of his finest displays in a red shirt.
When Jordan Henderson came to the club, he was a kid who was then subjected to pressure from the media, from the fans and from the Liverpool hierarchy. Henderson was young as a midfielder and his inexperience showed. It created a lot of vitriol from the fans, there were many who believed that Liverpool would be better without him. His energy was obviously impressive but he lacked the creativity to be a leader in midfield, the type of role which Steven Gerrard occupied. It is such a difficult act to follow given the place which Gerrard held in the Liverpool faithful’s hearts. He was the figurehead for so many years, a player who displayed undying loyalty to his team while being an excellent footballer. Fans expected Henderson to be that player instantly and when he was not Steven Gerrard, he was criticised venomously and loudly.
Jurgen Klopp coming to Liverpool was hugely important in Jordan’s development as a player. He finally had a manager who fully understood that Henderson’s role was as a versatile midfielder who could play every role in the midfield. During Klopp’s tenure, Henderson has played multiple roles and has been excellent in every single role. The acquisition of Fabinho was also important in terms of releasing Henderson into more of advanced role.
Henderson had played in the number six role for the majority of his time at Liverpool alongside Milner and Gini. It made sense for Liverpool to have three midfielders who were confident in controlling the ball as the team had Philippe Coutinho in front of them, a player who does not defend. Losing Coutinho and gaining Fabinho meant that Liverpool got a player who could naturally play the number six role. Henderson moved forward into a box to box role where he was linking play between the two lines. It finally brought his passing into play as he was now in a role which was less restrictive. This tactical change by Klopp brought out the best in Jordan as he quietly became one of Liverpool’s best player. The captain in name finally became a captain on the pitch.
The second half started much the same but the introduction of Wijnaldum had changed the game. His strength in holding the ball and making forward runs provided another player who could stretch Barcelona’s midfield three out into uncomfortable positions. Liverpool’s pressure finally paid off with another goal. Trent Alexander won the ball back in a promising position before whipping in a low ball. The ball took a deflection and fell to the feet of Wijnaldum who placed the ball into the goal. Anfield roared as Liverpool moved to being only one goal down, the dream was looking more like reality with each passing minute. The heads of Barcelona started to drop as the comeback was on and bad memories of Roma re-surfaced. It felt like Istanbul but fourteen years later and at home for all Liverpool fans to watch.
The oft-used Xherdan Shaqiri was a fringe player for Liverpool during that season. Xherdan was signed from Stoke after Stoke was relegated from the Premier League. There were a lot of questions about Shaqiri when he was at Stoke, he was supposedly bad in training and only put effort in games. It was visible during his last season at Stoke, he did not look fully committed to the cause when the club needed him most. The signing made financial sense for Liverpool but there were doubts about Jurgen Klopp being able to keep Shaqiri interested in training. Those doubts went away at the start of the season when Shaqiri was used as an impact substitute repeatedly. His impact was needed against Barcelona and he managed to deliver.
Shaq struggled through the first half with the pace of the game as he strated for the first time in a long time for Liverpool. In the second half, he looked more comfortable on the wing and started to find his rhythm. Two minutes after the second goal, Shaqiri found himself in a good position on the edge of the box. James Milner rolled the back to Xherdan who then dispatched the ball into the box. Gini Wijnaldum raced onto the ball and rose above the Barcelona defenders. Wijnaldum leapt at the right time and caught the ball sweetly with his header to make the tie 3–3, Liverpool were back in the fight. One goal would win the game and probably the tie, it was set up to be a hugely entertaining final half hour of football.
Barcelona had turtled, they had fallen back into their shell after the Liverpool barrage. The thoughts about Roma were now firmly in the minds of the players as Barcelona played nervously. Liverpool piled forward with the confidence flowing through the side. Eventually the final goal came out of a nothing moment, one of those moments where a goal did not seem possible. Trent had already made an impact in the game for the assist for the second goal and it was time for the teenager from West Derby to win the game for his boyhood club.
A kid who had grown up in the embers of Istanbul had the chance to put Liverpool in another Champions League Final, a chance to win the greatest honour for his first time. With eleven minutes left in the game, Barcelona had regained some stability even as Liverpool pressed forward. As the clock ticked, Trent Alexander Arnold won a corner by deflecting the ball out of bounds off Sergi Roberto. TAA started to walk away from the corner as Shaqiri trudged over to take the corner, at that moment Barcelona’s team had totally switched off. Nobody was thinking about the corner as the team arranged themselves in a defensive pattern. Trent spotted his opportunity and took it, he rolled the ball into the box for a waiting Origi. Divock was live to the opportunity and placed the ball into the goal. Liverpool were 4–3 up in the tie with ten minutes left on the clock, the impossible has happened and suddenly the Redmen were on the plane to Madrid. All of the players went wild with celebration whilst Luis Suarez stared off into the thousand yard distance. Mo Salah’s T-Shirt said to ‘Never Give Up’ but it was surreal that Liverpool had completed one of the greatest comebacks against the Champions of Spain.
As the full time whistle blew, Barcelona players drifted down the tunnel. Messi and Suarez did not stop to congratulate the Liverpool players, they left the field with only their sorrows for company. Jurgen Klopp ran onto the picth joyfully and bursting with energy, he had watched his team achieve destiny. The players whose mental resilience was key in winning games were gathered by Klopp at the Anfield Road End. The crowd started a powerful, stirring rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and the players followed suit. Dejan Lovren bellowed out the lyrics with no real sense of tune, Fabinho’s thick Brazilian coated every word but the meaning was the same, the love between the fans and club was mutual.
As a club, this was the moment which announced that Liverpool were a serious force. The team had gone through serious adversity against Barcelona and lived to tell the tale. The resilience and resolve that was evident all season was cemented within the side, everybody now believed that a Champions League win was possible. The attitude and ability carried forward to Madrid where Liverpool won their sixth European Cup. The club was finally back after years of pain, years of near-misses and mismanagement, years of bad signings like Christian Poulsen, Christian Benteke and Iago Aspas. As this is being written, Liverpool are currently on their way to winning a league title for the first time in thirty years. The club is World Champions and won the Supercup against Chelsea, it is a team that now has a taste for silverware. The win in Madrid was not just the trophy but it was proving all of the doubters. Jordan Henderson is one of the most criticised players in recent memory but the Champions League was a vindication for his career. He pulled off to the side of pitch and wept tears of joy with his father..
While Liverpool rose, Barcelona have started to fall. The decade of dominance has started to erode with age and internal struggles. Ernesto Valverde lost his job and the club is rebuilding for one last final push under Quique Setien, the former Real Betis coach. It is a pitiful end of the decade for the team which looked lightyears ahead of anybody during the days of Guardiola and Villanova.
Final:
Barcelona vs Inter Milan (2009/10)
There could only be one game that could hold the title as the best Champions League game of the last decade. Coincidentally, the match happened at the start of the decade and represents two of the most dominant managers of the early 2010s, a vintage rivalry which has carried across Europe. Guardiola vs Mourinho is storied for so many reasons and has been told in so many different guises but the purest form of the rivalry occurred when Pep Guardiola managed Barcelona and Jose Mourinho managed Inter Milan.
Each man was totally committed to their ideals as a football manager. Guardiola’s style of play prioritised passing the ball and players being able to switch seamlessly through the phases of play, he favoured dimunitive quick-thinking footballers who could use the ball with great skill. Mourinho’s core tenets were the opposite to the stylish Catalan, he believed that possession was folly, there would be more mistakes made with the ball than without. The necessary possession would be used to create chances and clinically finish opportunities, anymore was waste. Jose’s style of player was also different to Guardiola, he wanted players who excelled at their responsibility instead of having multi-positional footballers. Mourinho’s perfect player was talented, pragmatic and willing to do what is necessary.
The difference between two men does not stop there, their whole careers had taken divergent paths to management with only a few moments of intersection. Jose is a coaching lifer, he had made the decision as a teenager to focus his energy on coaching rather than being a football. He realised at a young age that he was not good enough as a player and therefore started work on coaching. He spent a few years in lower league Portuguese football before he eventually got a break, a translator role under Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon. Robson needed an English speaking coach who could relay his instructions to the players. Mourinho was ambitious and struck up a strong relationship with Robson, he became a key assistant to Bobby Robson as he followed the Englishman to Porto and then Barcelona.
Robson had achieved the move to Barcelona as a result of his strong results with Porto, he moved to a football side that was steeped in tradition and success. Johan Cruyff had built a juggernaut in La Liga through his use of young talent and distinctive style of play. Cruyff had built Barcelona off the principles which he had learned in Dutch football. Every player had to be able to control the ball and move through the ball through attacking progressions. It was devastating and Barcelona became truly dominant during the 1990s. One of the young players who was developed under Cruyff’s tutelage was Pep Guardiola, a deep lying play-maker who was excellent next to players like Michael Laudrup. By the time that Bobby Robson came to Barcelona, Guardiola was entrenched as a starter and an influential dressing room figure.
It is the first time which Mourinho and Guardiola came into contact with each other. Both men had a close relationship compared to the rest of coaching staff. Bobby Robson maintained distance from his players but Jose chose to build strong relationships with the team. It was almost an intellectual marriage between the two figures as they debated tactics and footballing philosophy for hours at a time. While Jose was warmly appreciated by the players, he unsettled the Barcelona hierarchy. The unknown Portuguese was known to add his own opinions about the team’s tactical set-up during press conferences that he attended. The hierarchy believed that Jose’s public prominence and closeness with Robson clouded the messages which were told to the media.
Robson left the club and Louis Van Gaal was his replacement, another former Ajax manager. Van Gaal had a different perspective to Cruyff, he was a studious planner who emphasised the importance of defensive organisation. It was the perfect coach for Mourinho to learn from and Jose absorbed all of the knowledge before he eventually went to coach in the Portuguese league. By the start of the 2000s, both men had moved onto new pastures. Mourinho was managing Uniao de Leiria, a small Portuguese side and Guardiola had moved to Italy to continue his playing career.
While Pep continued his career, Mourinho had started to build a reputation for himself across Europe as winner. He took an unfancied Porto to European glory and domestic dominance due to his careful preparation before games. Jose was an obsessive in planning for opponents, his obsession manifested in eerily accurate predictions which often came true. He had a reputation as one of Europe’s best managers and soon the perfect project came calling.
Chelsea under Roman Abramovich were a club determined to win everything in sight, money was no object for Abramovich who repeatedly spent huge sums of money on players. The success has eluded Abramovich at the start of the decade as Claudio Ranieri continued to fall short in the league and European competition. He made the decision to change his manager, he brought in Jose Mourinho with the mandate to win the league as he had done with Porto before.
Jose went on to win everything with Chelsea in his distinctive style. Mourinho’s Chelsea were rock solid defensively and controlled games with an ease which the Premier League had not seen before. The side ground out victories in every single game as it won two consecutive domestic titles. Mourinho won trophies but he played a style of football which could be considered boring. Chelsea did not score a lot of goals and were more than willing to sit on a lead during games. It eventually led to Mourinho’s departure as Abramovich wanted a manager who could play an attractive style of football to take over.
Mourinho has a type in terms of football clubs, he likes clubs that are not used to winning and put winning above all of other factors when it comes to judging the performance of a manager. He likes an underdog side because he can use all perceived slights as motivation for his players, it generally works well as a strategy. However, his departure from Chelsea was expected and indicated a few issues in Mourinho’s style. The siege mentality will eventually irritate players and wear off, it is hard to stay locked in for years at a time. Even so, Jose came onto the market as a highly sought after winner who could build a dominant side for a cycle.
The next intersection of Guardiola and Mourinho occurred in the middle of 2008. Frank Rijkaard had chosen to move from Barcelona and the club which had won the Champions League in 2006 had a huge decision to make, who would manage the side going forward? There were only two names being considered for the role, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. Mourinho was an outsider in every sense of the word, his coaching style and courting of controversy directly opposed the traditions outlined by Johan Cruyff. Guardiola was the internal candidate, he had managed Barcelona B in the Tercera Division the season before and knew the club in great deal. Pep was the man who understood the philosophy of the club and proposed his Barcelona vision, a team made from ‘La Masia’ graduates.
At that point in 2008, it was a big decision for the Barcelona hierarchy. Mourinho made so much sense in terms of bringing in a proven winner who could maximise the squad instantly. Mourinho’s arrogance would appeal to a player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic who needs a coach to challenge in order to perform at his best. Jose would require investment to build a squad which works for him but he would definitely win trophies. Guardiola made sense in terms of fitting right into the team’s DNA but he was unproven as a manager at the top level.
Eventually, Joan Laporta and Johan Cruyff came to a decision which came to define Mourinho’s relationship with Barcelona. They opted to go with the fresh-faced Guardiola. The reasoning was clear, Barcelona were committed to a style of play and wanted the correct man to deliver the promise of glory. Mourinho felt slighted by Barcelona, he could not understand why the club had picked a novice over him, it was another insult to his reputation. Mourinho’s relationship with the hierarchy was already shaky but this decision froze the relations between the two parties, Mourinho was determined to build a style of football which would break Barcelona.
The relationship between Mourinho and Barcelona made the tie interesting as did the clash of styles but the tie also had other interesting points to note. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most arrogant player to play football, his arrogance stems from this innate goal-scoring abilities that the Swede has worked hard at during his career. Zlatan moved to Barcelona from Inter Milan desperate for his first Champions League victory, he did not believe that Inter could win the competition under the leadership of Roberto Mancini. In that deal, Inter Milan got back Samuel Eto’o, a proven striker at the highest level.
In theory, Ibrahimovic made sense at Barcelona but the fit was difficult under Guardiola. Ibra clashed with Pep over his lifestyle and love of fast cars, on the pitch Ibrahimovic struggled to fit into the side easily. Guardiola prefers a system where the attackers are mobile and switch between positions. Ibra’s powerful build meant that the best position for him is as a traditional centre forward, he is not particularly mobile. Zlatan did not leave on the best of terms and there was a lot of animosity from the fans towards their former star striker.
At that moment in time, Barcelona seemed to be unstoppable. They had already won the Champions League and were easily better than most of the teams in the Spanish league. There was a belief that this dominant side could be not be beaten in European competition. Guardiola had stepped into the manager role comfortably and start winning trophy after trophy. The possession style which Guardiola had learned under Cruyff and then refined for his current team was unplayable at times, Barcelona were relentless in exploiting any little mistake made by an opposing team.
Jose’s Inter was also a special team but it was constructed in a totally different way. Inter were a tough defensive unit that was incredibly hard to score against. The team was resolute on the way to winning the Scudetto but the task was not done for Jose’s men, he would be judged on European success. The team fit his characteristics hand in glove, European honours were expected. When Mourinho’s men matched against Barcelona, it was a hugely anticipated game finally being played between two highly competitive men.
The first leg was to be played in the cauldron that is the San Siro. The San Siro is a stadium which has seen plenty of success for both Milan clubs and has played host to many European finals. The first leg was also not without controversy, the Icelandic ash cloud has meant that Barcelona travelled by bus to Milan instead of flying on the private plane. Barcelona attempted to have the game moved but UEFA stood firm, the game was to be played on the scheduled date which meant a lot of coach travel for Barcelona. It was fatiguing for the players and was a point of contention for Pep, he did not feel that UEFA had been fair to Barcelona.
Mourinho had realised that Inter Milan needed to be otherworldly to beat Barcelona and believed that the answer lay in his tactics. Inter Milan would sit deep in their shape and frustrate Barcelona before breaking quickly into transition opportunities. Mourinho designed a specific strategy for containing Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s best forward. He used four Inter to create a ‘gabbia’, the literal translation of this word would be ‘prison’. The thinking behind the tactical decision was that these four players would force Messi down blind allies and into poor passes. Wesley Sneijder, Inter’s maverick Number Ten was also crucial to the plan, he needed to be able to carry the ball forward into attacking positions before finding the right ball. Milan’s line of engagement would sit so deep that they needed a player capable of playing multiple positions dependent on the phase of the play.
Guardiola also had an interesting tactical decision to make regarding his mercurial striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic’s ability to hold the ball up and physically dominate a defence was valuable skill to have against a team like Inter Milan who stifle forward passing. Ibra represented a ‘Plan B’ option for Barcelona if the players could not find those killer passes which had made the team so deadly during the competition. It would mean that Barcelona was less fluid and they had a player who was relatively easy to defend, Ibra’s lack of movement outside of central areas could allow Inter Milan to focus on defending other areas of the field more closely.
Mourinho’s men came away with a 3–1 lead in the tie as they clinically dissected Barcelona. As Jose predicted, Barcelona’s attacking prowess was nullified by Inter’s defensive work. Mourinho’s men had less chances but they converted the few chances at a highly efficient rate. His team broke with such speed and power that it was difficult for Barcelona to stop the game by tactically fouling. The impressive performance gave Inter the edge but the Italian side still had to go to the Camp Nou, one of the most imposing grounds in European football. It is a ground where 100,000 fans will cheer and boo as if it is one orchestra, that noise and atmosphere can rattle a player and force bad decisions. The Milan victory was also a strong source of motivation for Barcelona as they chased a second Champions League in a row, they did not believe that Inter were on their level and felt that the Italian side had benefitted from factors out of their control.
The lead up to the second leg at the Camp Nou was highly anticipated and featured Jose Mourinho engaging in the mental warfare which he is famous for. Mourinho has often used the pre-match press conference as a pulpit where he can needle opposing teams and create anger within the side. Mourinho thrives off that confrontation and uses the opponent’s anger against them, no team can play controlled, quality football if they cannot think straight. Mourinho claimed that it was an ‘obsession to see the Catalan Flag fly over the Bernabeu’ for Barcelona players and fans. This little jibe forced Guardiola onto the back-foot and created a degree of anger within the side, Barcelona players did not enjoy being disrespected by a man who was derisorily known as ‘The Translator’. Pep tried to calm his side but it did not work, Barcelona were determined to embarrass Inter Milan whatever way possible.
The second leg started as the first leg ended, Barcelona were coming forward and putting Inter’s defence under huge strain. The Nerazzuri dug in and set up their lines, it would be defence vs attack. The Milan side tirelessly tackled, tracked and harried Barcelona players into mistakes. They would not allow the Catalans a path inside the eighteen yard box and would stop Barcelona dead in their tracks. The sending off of Thiago Motta committed Mourinho’s men even more to an ultra-defensive style in which they did not attempt to play out from the back. The main aim of the match was to clear the ball and ready themselves for the next onslaught, the next wave of Blaugrana who try and work the ball in promising positions.
It was eleven men working as one unit, a company of soldiers working in harmony to achieve the common goal, the chance to play in the Champions League Final. The performance was pure blood, sweat and effort as Inter willingly gave up the ball and put themselves through the ringer. At the head of the fortress was the team’s commander, Jose Mourinho whose tactical decisions had gave Inter Milan the advantage in the tie, all he asked of the players was to work hard.
Losing Thiago Motta had forced Mourinho into drawing back his forward line and creating another line of defence for Barcelona to bypass. Samuel Eto’o who did not have the trust of Pep at Barcelona the season before was flying around the pitch as he hassled his former team-mates into making uncharacteristic mistakes. The other party in that transfer was subbed off ignominiously after sixty three minutes as Pep rolled the dice on his philosophy. He brought on Bojan, a La Masia graduate, in order to provide more creativity and another player who understood the complexity of a Guardiola system. Barcelona pressed forward with the spirit of the crowd at their back as they desperately searched for those two magic goals which would send the club to another Champions League Final. Mourinho’s men matched every attack with a block as the Italians grinded their Spanish rivals into submission.
Barcelona eventually got a break through in the eighty fourth minutes, Gerard Pique turned in a goal which sparked a flurried comeback. However, Inter Milan were able to hold on and celebrated the finest 1–0 loss in Mourinho’s career. The team had advanced to the Final 3–2 on aggregate and the victory was so incredibly so sweet for everybody at the club, it was a chance to make history. Jose sprinted over to the away fans high in the Gods and celebrated within them, ‘The Translator’ was standing proudly on his former employer’s pitch with a memorable victory that proved that the juggernaut could be killed.
This is the most memorable game of the decade for the sheer stakes of the contest. It was Mourinho vs Guardiola at the highest level, for the highest stakes and with arguably their most complete teams. Pep has never had another team like Barcelona during that time period neither has Mourinho. This specific game is one of the ultimate expression of football and how the game can be perceived. Guardiola’s men desired to entertain while Mourinho’s men was purely about winning.
