LESSONS FROM THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI FINAL 1ST LEGS:
Lesson 1: THE ESSENTIAL ALWAYS MATTERS THAN THE PLEASANT.
Flamboyance pleases the fans but does it always get you the results? No but essential things will and Manchester United have showed this very well so far in Europe and in their semi final first leg against Schalke they underlined the assertion.Schalke may have been poor.United may have dominated but never at a point did the Red Devils take their foot off the gas until they got their two goals.They kept doing the simple things and those are the elements which gave them the push to win the game.
The performance was a sharp contrast to Man United's away games in Europe in the last 4 years or so where they've displayed a certain sense of disrespect for their opponents and sometimes,wrong team selection from Sir Alex Ferguson and ultimately,they've lost those games. Lille,AC Milan,Celtic and Benfica quickly come to mind.
However,now they've kept to simplicity and it has been genius.
Lesson 2:The Champions League punishes poor play.
So many teams have learnt this lesson the hard way in times past and last night,Schalke made themselves another example for pundits,journalists and fans to use in their deliveries.The Royal Blues fizzled out too quickly and they looked as though they forgot why they were there in the first place.They suddenly develped an aversion to pressing,marking even defending.Matip looked poor in central defence,Jurado and Baumjohann didn't work hard enough and Farfan was only interested when he had the ball.For a side coached by the ''Professor'',Ralf Ragnick,they played as if they had not read the lecture notes at all.
Lesson 3:Too much hype spoils the El Clasico
The trailers,the records,the players,the coaches,what he or the next man said.All these elements are beautifully woven as the backdrop to a football match.Yes,a football match even if it's between Barcelona and Real Madrid.Yes,they may have clout,history,tradition,rivalry, and even the Special One but it's still a football match but the Champions League version of this drama was anything but.Silly fouls,brilliant acting classes by certain players and the odd whistle and crad here and there all added to the borefest.Maybe if we treated the ''El Clasico'' like just any other game,we will all get our money's worth and the players will show us what they can really do.We deserve that and the Champions League demands it.It's as simple as that.
Lesson 3:Lionel Messi is class.
In a game where anti-football was winning all the awards,Lionel Andres Messi swooped in to take the most important award:our thoughts,comments and imaginations.His first goal was predatory;his second,masterful.The little Argentine scored his 52nd second goal of the season tonight and for me,it's not the goals which put him in a different world.It's his decision making.How he finds the pass,how he runs into space and how he picks the exact moment to strike should be studied by young players all over the world.The young man will retire with all the records at his feet and his name etched into football history and Barcelona's stories for generations.Yes,he hasn't won anything with Argentina yet but in the Champions League,he's done what mortals can only dream about.
Lesson 4:We all know who Neuer is now.
Many may have seen Neuer at the World Cup in South Africa and even in the Bundesliga but he chose the perfect time to squeeze his name on a coach's shopping list.Last night against Man United was the opportune moment and like Jack Sparrow,he recognised it.His umpteen saves kept Schalke in a tie they were never at and trust me,his value has just gone up by a few more millions.Maybe pounds,dollars or euros. However,his performance was just the one many saw but it wasn't as stupendous as what he gave in the 07/08 season at Sevilla when he saved Schalke in regulation time,extra time and in the penalty-shoot out.He even got a YouTube video for that.We may have forgotten that but yesterday,Manuel Neuer became everybody's dream goalkeeper.