Lesson 1:Discretion is a better part of valour
Last year, Inter Milan showed all of us how to play against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Park the bus or aeroplane or anything that will stop their passes from finding their targets and create goals. It took a lot of physical and mental toughness but eventually,Mourinho's men pulled it off albeit with a goal in their net. So what was Shakhtar Donestsk thinking when they decided to open up and atack Barcelona at the Camp Nou tonight? Being brave is not running gung ho at your opponent but it's rather being sensible in your approach and knowing how to get a lot of things done right and Shakhtar did get a lot of things wrong. Their defending showed a lot of carelesness and it makes me wonder the kind of defending being done in Ukraine if Shakhtar are the top side there.Maybe a harsh and baseless judgement but what more can I say when all of Barcelona's goals were scored from schoolboy defending?Maybe an indication of why Chygrynskiy never cut it in Spain.
Mr.Lucescu,your ''brave'' plan didn't come off.Even the great Mourinho was blitzed at the Camp Nou in the "El Clasico".
Lesson 2:Chelsea are lacking something
In March,Chelsea produced a sparkling second half performance against Manchester United to win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the EPL. 3 or so weeks after that,the two teams meet again at the same venue and just like in the first meeting,Wayne Rooney put United in the lead but Chelsea didn't blaze the second half like they did in the first game. United still looked ok after the break and even though,Rafael went off with an injury and Valencia was thrown into an unfamiliar right back role,Chelsea never really looked like grabbing an equaliser.What was different tonight? David Luiz? The Drogba-Torres combination? Zhirkov's appearance on the starting eleven in place of Malouda? Whatever it is,the Blues looked blue tonight and for a large part of the current season. One cannot out a finger what the problems are but one can clearly see that the X-factor is no more there and that's a fact.
Lesson 3:Football brings Karma to life
After the EPL meeting between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge,elements like Martin Atkinson,unseen fouls,a bad penalty call,The FA and Respect for referees and these were things coming from the red corner of Manchester United. However,tonight,it's the blue corner of Chelsea that are voicing their share of complaints. Ramires and Torres' penalty claims will be the talk of days and referee Alberto Mallenco will be cursed by Blues' fans for not giving them.
For United fans,they'll look on and split their sides with the reminder that Martin Atkinson played a worse refereeing role at the same venue.
Lesson 4: Love him or hate hate him,Wayne Rooney's football is talking for him
This season has been bad for Wayne Rooney.From the dizzying heights of 34 goals last season, the Croxteth-born striker has fallen down to the ground with a thud.However,instead of staying there,he decided to ease himself back into the pages of newspapers and the minds of fans with some hardworking footballing displays over the past 4 or so months. From his headed goal at West Brom to tonight's finish at Stamford Bridge, Rooney has played some great football in between.His 2 goals against Aston Villa showed that his scoring touch had never left him. He controlled United's display against Arsenal in the FA Cup at Old Trafford by coming into midfield and supplying delighful passes upfront.One of which set up Hernandez's header which Almunia parried for Fabio to stab home. Another assist came in the game against Marseille and this time, for Hernandez and this style of play highlighted a great trait of reinvention on a player's part Last weekend's brilliant hat-trick at Upton Park is probably the last step in Rooney's redemption journey but he also reminded us that he's still the same old Rooney by swearing into the tv camera after thus third goal.Maybe he was too pumped up and it all came out.However,aside this insignificant distraction,Rooney has made a huge point for himself.He may be brash,raw or even bad-tempered but he is a great footballer.
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