CHAPTER 73: Futbol Club Barcelona - 2006 European Champions

"......I'll remember this forever, it was a special season." - Mitch Mustain

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CHAPTER 72: 17/05/2006

"This is it. Ground zero. Would you like to say a few words to mark the occasion?"

- Tyler Durden (Fight Club)

This is it.

What we all been waitin’ for.
Especially for those concerned with either Futbol Club Barcelona or Arsenal Football Club.

The final is upon us.
The European Cup awaits its new victor, its rays shining brightly.
It’s awaiting its new abode of pride and passion, it’s awaiting its new bastion of glory, illustriousness and victory.

On this night, despair and anguish cross those defeated, where the emerging conquerors will be hailed as heroes for ever.
The glory awaiting on this night makes it pathway on those men yearning to clinch it, and it is as once in a lifetime, a possibility of almost never.

It’s a night when legends are born, and myths and suspect yet can only remain for long.
A night to behold for.
The night a million aspirations
and dreams are carried, and hoped upon,
on the shoulders of several men.
Several men who had been destined to be here on this night, men who will fight, fight for the rights of another million ambitions….
The ambitions that universally foremost cling to the fact,
…the fact that is….
being champions.
'Two nations’ will succumb to this.
The biggest event of the Beautiful Game before the drape of the World Cup arises.
The Final of the UEFA Champions League.
It happens on this night, and those nations will take heed.
In the City of Lights.
Paris.

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By the time I publish today’s post, it will be about a day left before the final of the Champions League begin on Wednesday night (European time).
Around two days……(and some hours,…some minutes.…some seconds…...some milliseconds…..….ARGHHHH! THIS ANXIETY IS KILLING ME! I CAN’T BLOODY WAIT!!) to go...so..

The final game of the competition, for those unfamiliar with football/soccer, will be contested between Barcelona, of Spain and Arsenal, of London and England. It’s another intriguing Spanish-Anglo affair resuming from the prior UEFA Cup final last week.

Both teams made their way to the final based on their own merits. And they disposed of great teams on route to the final. Arsenal defeated Real Madrid, Juventus and Villareal. BarcelonaChelsea, Benfica and Milan. Both being winners deservedly so and both being efficient. On Arsenal’s side, they had been impressed based on their defensive aspect. Barça on the other hand showed great attacking prowess throughout the competition. And both teams should great collective team effort.

This one here is promised to be an exciting and fantastic affair.
And here are along some reasons to justify that statement;

• It will be a game between two excellent teams of football, two respected clubs, both possessing excellent, talented football players, among the highest and best in the game itself, as well as having a touch of history and class between themselves throughout the years.

• Both teams hold distinctive records, statistics in the current edition of the tournament. Arsenal is the side who have conceded less amount of goals in the competition, where as Barcelona is the team who have scored the most amount of goals. Quite simply, in another sentence, it’s a battle between the best defense against the best offense. Besides, they have remained undefeated thus far in the competition prior to the final.

• Both Barcelona and Arsenal play attacking, free flowing football. This is one of the major factors that made people anticipate this match so match. A match especially delightful for the purists of football. Football in its pure form. A sense of ‘Joga Bonito’.

• It will be a battle between two teams who are consisted of many players, eager to prove themselves on the world. Those currently dominating on the top, the newer generation paving their way through football superstardom, and those several few who are in their swansong years, who would be leaving their respective clubs by the end of the match…..

• ………….and there are various other angles to look at the perspective of this match. I’m trying to be concise and simple as possible, but I have to mention this last fact that makes this match eagerly expected by many…..it’s because it will be a battle between two teams who, in their ranks has two of the best, if not the best footballers today.

Ronaldinho. Thierry Henry.

These two are currently and (without much argument) the two best players there is on this world right now. Ronaldinho’s the current FIFA World Footballer of the Year (twice in a row now), aside being the latest Ballon D’Or (and awarded other hosts of individual accolades). Thierry Henry also has numerous awards to himself. Whoever follows football, whether on a small or large basis, will surely know about these two.

The great thing about this final is that it’s gonna display the skill, talent and artistry of these two great ‘magicians’ of football. The best of Brazil against the best of France. And no doubt it’s between the best player from the Spanish la Liga against the best from the English Premier League.

What even adds up the spice is that it’s these two individuals are the virtuosos that carry their respective teams. The talismans that each club rely on for victory and glory. As both are forwards in the game of football, it’s usually through these two that goals are scored from either teams. The pace and skill that both Henry and Ronaldinho possess is more than aptly enough to make any defense line suffer. Not only do they score and create goals, they are among the best at set-pieces too! And considering that, they are the first choice free-kick takers are them for their respective sides! Both Barça and Arsenal defenders are going to have to be on their peak condition and full alert when they come up against the threat of either two.

It’s also going to be interesting to see Eboue lining up againts Ronaldinho, Cole against Messi or Giuly, Toure and Campbell to take on either one and also to counter up giants Eto’o. On the other side, you got the Barça defense, marshaled by captain Carles Puyol who’ll go up against Henry. Then you got the other defenders like Marquez, Van Bronckhorst, Oleguer and to some extent Edmilson who’ll be vying to break the Arsenal attack, especially through their wings like Hleb, Pires or Reyes as Arsenal’s been playing the 4-5-1 formation in the Champions League.

Both teams have shown great strength in defense. As mentioned before, Arsenal haven’t conceded a goal in their last 10 matches in the competition, and a big part of it is thanks to the resilience of Kolo Toure (who’d really stepped up for the Gunners this season) and of their keeper Jens Lehmann. Toure had scored the winning goal that made Arsenal progressed to the final, and Lehmann had made a last-minute penalty save against Riquelme (in the dying minutes) at El Madrigal.

On the other side, both Puyol and Marquez have been immense for Barcelona. I still get excited over the fact that both made it to the final, considering that they carried yellow cards in the previous game against Milan (and the danger of being excluded in the final). Puyol is vital with pace and tackling, combined to that of Marquez’s positioning and aerial presence in defense. These two are the rocks of this Barça team.

Puyol will have the duty to mark out Henry, with Rafa (below)

The other interesting aspect of this match is that it will display the play of the two young players that are currently headlining football worldwide: Fabregas and Messi.

The compelling thought is that both players were brought up under the Barcelona youth system, and these two had been friends from their time together. Although now Fabregas is with Arsenal, Wenger had guided him well into an impressive midfielder, stringing the passes for the Arsenal attack and heavily involved in building up play for the Gunners. Messi on the other hand is an attacking forward that complies well with the duo of Ronaldinho and Eto’o, as he has the pace, vision and control of the ball that makes him an indispensable asset for the Blaugranas. Both Messi and Fabregas are not even 20 yet! Yet the performances they had been giving to their teams this season especially have been very eye catching towards a lot of people.

While Fabregas is without doubt will be a starter on Wednesday, it’s still unsure if Messi can get fit in time for the match (or if he’s able to play the full 90 minutes), as he’s been out injured ever since the game against Chelsea back in March, although the Argentinean had reportedly began training with the Barça team.

The other tantalizing prospect is to see how it will turn out between Fabregas performing for Arsenal against his expected counterpart Andres Iniesta. Iniesta, playing in a similar position as Fabregas, has been earning rave reviews validated by his performances against AC Milan in the semi-finals. Both are presumed to be the ‘playmakers’ of each side when they clash against each other, and it’s up to them to vie for a gain in hand of controlling the important aspect in a game of football, dominating the midfield half. What is even more intriguing is that just like Fabregas, Iniesta himself is another product of the Barcelona football youth academy. So they themselves have a point to prove in the final.

Besides, Barcelona also got Xavi in the ranks. Xavi is one of the main midfielders in Barça, and is the first choice of Rijkaard. But he was out of football for a long time due to serious injury, and during his absence, Iniesta has taken his place and proved as an adequate replacement for the little man from Terressa. It was reported in SPORT that Iniesta would be given the nod to start in Paris.

On another note, the final will be the last match that two model professionals of the game would be able to take part in for their respective clubs. Dennis Bergkamp of Arsenal and Henrik Larsson of Barça.

Last slalom

Both being more than 30 years old already, this match could be the culmination that can highlight their long, illustrious career in football. Unfortunately, only one can be winner, and they will surely be thinking about that as it is their last chance to win the major trophy that they still have not won.

Apart from all this, it has to be said that this final will be full of ‘debutants’ of this kind of match. It’s the first time for like most of the players of both teams to be involved in the final of a Champions League, so that’s another fantastic prospect.

But the unique aspect is that Deco, Barça’s no 20, is the only one among the whole lot to have already won the Champions League. As we all know, Deco was the influential player of Mourinho’s Porto that won this competition back in 2004.
No doubt that Deco himself will be playing a key role for Barcelona as always, as it’s being often agreed that football pundits view Deco as the ‘engine’ of the Barcelona team. They would be relying on him as an aid in attack and also as an enforcer in midfield, always looking for the opportunity to break down the opposition’s attack.

On a different side of things, I’m sure that the venue of this match, Stade de France will be impressive on this night.

It’s one of the best stadiums in Europe, and being located in such city is only fitting enough for the glamour and prestige of the final. Let’s not forget that 50 years ago, the first Champions League final was itself held in this same city. I hope it will host to a wonderful spectacle of football, played between two teams striving on attacking football. I hope to see magic in Paris! (on Barça’s side that is! Haha)

The French capital awaits the two teams.....and the new champion...

The final aspect to look at here is that it will be (if not mistaken) the first time that Wenger and Rijkaard will go head to head. Wenger had been at Arsenal for almost a decade now, while Rijkaard’s the younger of the two, but had the exception of being a great player before. For Wenger, winning this will be the conquest of his ‘Holy Grail’, as he had vagrantly attempting in guiding Arsenal for European glory for long. For Rijkaard, it’s the opportunity to join the elite few who had won both competition as player and coach. Both coaches have a lot at stake, and pride. Considering that Wenger’s now building up a new Arsenal squad (and their new stadium awaits them), whereas Rijkaard’s on the threshold of creating a new legacy at Barça, looking for the creation of the successors of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’.

It’s hard to make a prediction, ‘Cause in football you can never make predictions. Anything can happen. In my opinion, for Barcelona to gain victory over Arsenal, they gotta stifled up the Arsenal midfield more than so, and block the supply line to Henry. I hope that Deco and Edmilson can come up big time on this, as they are vital if they want to counter up the threat posed by Fabregas, Hleb, Ljungberg, Pires and Reyes. And more so important is that the Barça’s attack trio can be faster than the backline of Cole, Campbell, Toure and Eboue.

Both teams will depend on these two for a touch of brilliance & magic, to obtain victory

But I see as this way. Arsenal are a ‘young’ team, on the rise. They have good young players in each position who are ready to conquer England and Europe in a few years time, with Wenger at the helm that can be assure red. Especially when you have guys like Fabregas, Van Persie, Reyes, Clichy, Adebayor, Toure, Eboue, Flamini, Senderos, …then waiting in line are Lupoli and Walcott.
Barcelona on the other hand, has been a ‘project’ that had been going on, developed over the past three seasons now. Laporta’s project, with Rijkaard as the man in charge and the best footballer on this planet as the catalyst of this venture (alongisde other well experienced players as Puyol, Xavi, Marquez, Deco, Eto’o, Edmilson, Giuly, Larsson, Van Bommel to name some), has now earned two back-to-back La Liga titles, and trophies it seems are the certain hope of optimism that still lingers on this Barcelona team.

And as already mentioned, Arsenal have the best defensive record whereas Barcelona have scored the most number of goals. So, I figure that either Arsenal are going to keep another clean sheet, or they gonna get thrashed.

But I’m only expecting (& hoping) the best from Barcelona.

It’s been a long time. And now the time is finally here. Just one more step….
Good luck for both teams, I wish that we’ll be treated to a fantastic game of football, spearheaded by both Ronaldinho and Henry.
And for the sake of Barcelonistas all over the world, let’s hope that the 2^nd trophy will be ours.

¡VAMOS Barça!

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Thanks to Master_Prime from Xtratime.org (Big thanks, mate)

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CHAPTER 67: ¡CHAMPIONS / CAMPIONS!

"We'll be leaders in three weeks." - Roberto Carlos

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

¡Campeónes, Campeónes, Oe Oe Oe!

CHAPTER 65: Xavi returns

“If he decided to come back, it wouldn't surprise me. I cannot say for sure, but (a comeback) would be something beautiful.” - Johan Bruyneel

Xavi has come back on the football field after a lengthy 4-5 months layout due to his crucial ligament injury suffered last December. Last night, he substituted with Deco with around 10 minutes left at the end of the game between Barcelona and Cadiz. A great reception from the crowd to Xavi.
He's back.

CHAPTER 63: ¡SI, SI, SI...... NOS VAMOS A PARIS!

"The world of tomorrow belongs to the person who has the vision today."

- Robert Schuller

Au final!

Futbol Club Barcelona has made it to the final of the Champions League! After a tense 0-0 draw, it was enough to edge past AC Milan and book that final ticket to the pinnacle of European football.
Just like last week, it was a great all around performance from the team. Perfect in defence, and Barça had some chances at goal, but Dida last night was just too good (saved good chances from Eto’o and a bullet diving header from Larsson late on the second half). Camp Nou itself was fantastic, fully packed just like on a great Europena night. Splendid atmosphere throughout (fans did their job).

It was heavily tensioned throughout the entire match, and I couldn’t sit still and keep calm, especially during the last 20 minutes or so. ‘cause with Milan, they can score at any moment.

And they did. A Shevchenko header. But it was ruled out oddly controversially from Markus Merk.
But Barça was the better team, more chances, and they break down Milan on a great number of occasions. Me, I single out Iniesta, Puyol, Marquez, and Edmilson as among those who performed superbly for Barça last night! Of course, everybody did great, the team effort was phenomenal. The best thing was both Puyol and Marquez came unschathed of suspension, so they would be ablt to contest in the final.

Now, Arsenal awaits Barcelona…..and I can’t wait. The segunda Copa Europa is getting closer and closer……..

¡Visca el Barça!

Sources: FCBarcelona.com, SPORT, El Mundo Deportivo, Yahoo, & various

CHAPTER 62: 90 More Minutes to Paris...........just 90 more minutes..........

“Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.” - Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

When you’re nervous, and anxiety sets in, I believe that the expression being used is “Butterflies in stomach”.
But now I think there’s a new expression for that. “I’m sh-tting bricks.” (Xtratime influnced)
With all sorts of bad premonitions that looks like Milan can nick it tonight, I’m really am uncomfortable. Can bloody sit still and feel relaxed. Arghhhh.

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CHAPTER 58: Emperor Giuly (San Siro outcome)

"In my room as a kid... I'd play a fighter and get knocked to the floor and come back to win." - Dustin Hoffman

What a match!

Last night, Milan and Barcelona really battled it out against each other in a very tense, cagey but splendid game of football.

The first half, Milan dominated more, but came the second half, and definitely after Barça scored that crucial away goal, it was all Barcelona.
A fine display from two of the best and well formed teams in European football.
At the end of the day, it was just a moment of magic, an exquisite pass from Ronaldinho (who honestly didn’t have an excellent match by his standards, busy battling with Gattuso and Stam), to an equally fantastic and decisive super shot from Giuly into Dida’s net! (Honestly, I thought that Giuly could not score at that moment, as he diagonally ran for the through pass by ‘dinho what with Nesta and Kaladze chasing him down. But BOOM he scored! Giuly has come up big with Messi’s absence, and the little French guy proved his worth big time!
Frankly speaking, last night’s match was one that could have gone either way, Milan could have won it, but of course Barça could have as well. It was that good from both sides who really battled it out against each other fiercely. In the end, Milan took their chances but couldn’t convert, whereas Barça made chances as well but just that one of them was successful.
Phenomenal stuff last night.

At this knockout stage of the Champions League, an away goal is always decisive. What more to claim a victory in San Siro! The bastion of Il Rossoneri has been broken by Barça in Europe this season! Great performance from the Barça team!
It was superb, and at the end of it, just great and superb feeling all around. Bravo Barça!
Now, still 90 more minutes to play left, and now anxiously waiting for the second leg next week………

CHAPTER 56: The Path to Paris ........Il Rossoneri awaits

"Who dares, wins." - SAS

It’s set.

This coming Tuesday (or the early morning of Wednesday in Asia), the titanic tussle between AC Milan and FC Barcelona will take place. It’s the semi-finals of the Champions League, and there’s nothing as bigger than that yet.

For Frank Rijkaard and his team, this will be the biggest test yet of the season. And for every Barcelonistas around the globe……..it will be another point in time where we all we’ll be cheering hard and hoping desperately as possible that los Blaugranas can make it…….yet at the same time the game is on we all be in a state of desperation, nervousness and uncontrollable tension. It’s the muthafu-kin’s semifinals man, the prize of being victorious here is that a date with the final of the competition itself, where the European Cup awaits:

It’s going to be an interesting and intriguing tie, foremost ‘cause both teams have locked horns before last season in the group stages, where both matches were some of the best last season (Milan winning it at San Siro 1-0, while Barça winning at Camp Nou 2-1). Top, top quality.

And more so interesting because this will be a match where Rijkaard will confront his former team once again, and he will duel out again against his former teammate at Milan, Carlo Ancelotti. Two ex-Milan players (ex Milan legends) spearheading their team into the final of the Champions League…….stuff that scripts of a blockbuster movie entrails all this extravaganza of football of the highest order.

For me, this clash of the big boys will be as hard but even harder than the one faced up against Mourinho’s Chelsea. This is (personally), Milan is a better team than Chelsea.

Theirs is one that consists of not only a great football team, but that also consists of great individuals in every department of their team. Milan has a great depth in their squad, and the experience that most of their players possess is what makes them more dangerous. It’s gonna be a great spectacle when you look at the battles that will occur on both the turf of San Siro (this Tuesday) and Camp Nou (next Wednesday).

The Giuseppe Meazza stadium, or more famously known around the world as San Siro, will be the fortress of AC Milan that Barcelona will have to visit first in this semifinal clash. And it’s a fortress as Milan has not yet been defeated at their home ground this season in Europe, and what more with the records and showing that they have shown at their home ground this season (example, the 4-1 beating of Bayern Munich in the second round and their last quarter-finals match against Lyon where they scored two late, late goals to clinch a place for the semifinals). It’s not going to be easy that’s for sure, and it’ll be as hard as hell to break down that Milan defense.

Milan got Dida guarding their goal. And he’s as big as Petr Chech. Ever since the last World Cup had been concluded, Dida has become Brazil’s first choice keeper and he’s shown to be a top class keeper, easily among the top 6 keepers in the world right now.

It’s gonna be tough for Eto’o, Ronaldinho, Giuly and co to score past him, what more with the back four of Milan guarding Dida in front of him.

It’s gonna be tough for Barça to slice trough the Milan defense, which is one of the best in the business. They got top class defenders, and well experienced defenders. Headed by their eternal captain Paolo Maldini (one of the best left-backs ever to feature in the game of football, no doubt), you got guys like Nesta, Stam, Cafu, Alsseandro Costacurta marshalling the Milan goal. Alongside them, there’s also Serginho and Khaka Kaladze to name a few. These guys‘re all the have been there, done that, and these guys have defended against some of the best attackers in the business for the past years in their illustrious careers. Champions in every right (what with the wealth of experience and expertise that they pose).

The only thing is that, these guys are older than most of the Barça players themselves, and all are getting older more so. For instance, Maldini is like 37, Stam and Cafu all above 30 already, Nesta’s near 30, and Costacurta is 40!

Milan's great (aging) wall of defence: (L-R) Maldini, Costacurta, Nesta, Stam, Cafu

I feel that even though they are tough in defense, if the Barça attack can be quick enough and faster than Milan on the break, Barça can cause trouble on their back line. Milan’s defense themselves have been broken big time before in Europe. One just have to look at the final last year (where after leading Liverpool 3-0 in the first half, only to concede three to Gerrard’s team in six minutes). Then there’s that amazing comeback from Deportivo la Coruna two seasons ago, where they reversed a 4-1 margin of Milan by making it 4-0 against the Rossoneri at La Riazor and thus dumping Milan out!!.

Then you got the midfield. As always in football, it’s in the midfield where a football game can be won or lost.

Milan’s got an excellent playmaker in Andrea Pirlo (‘Inter Milan reject’). This guy is the one who orchestrates the passes from the defense to the Milan forward. He’ll be coming up against Iniesta from Barcelona no doubt (who has come up and performed well in the recent matches), the battle of the pivots that will be making those crucial passes and dictations of the game.

One thing to mention about Pirlo (when comparing to Iniesta) is that unlike Iniesta, this guy is very good at set-pieces, especially freekicks. He scored a cracker against Schalke at the San Siro last year (in their group stage matches). The difference with Iniesta is that at Barcelona, the set-pieces are usually taken by Ronaldinho. If not Ronnie, then you got Deco….Van Bronckhorst…Marquez….Motta……so Iniesta’s not even on the list (so many kickers for Rijkaard to select from). But it will be interesting to see how these two perform for their respective teams in the two matches.

Besides Pirlo, there’s the ‘Rhino’, Ivan Genaro Gattuso. Gattuso is one of the best defensive midfielders in the business. He’ll be tackling like mad, and even though he’s not that tall, this guy’s very robust and tough, plus he got the looks of a dangerous man!

It’s gonna be another interesting spectacle to see him coming up and double teaming on Ronaldinho (that’s for sure, no doubt). Either Ronnie gonna make him look like a fool, or he’s gonna break the legs of the Brazilian.

And when you look at their attack, one that has Kaka and Shevchenko in it (amongst Inzaghi, Gilardino, Seedorf, etc.) ……..you’re looking at an attack that can score at any time, at any place, no matter what’s the circumstances are.

Kaka, when going up, is just as dangerous as Ronaldinho. This player can cause havoc against any defense in the world, he’s that good. Another Brazilian hotshot, he’s very crucial for Milan. He’s got pace, good shot, trickery and vision. It’s gonna be tough for whoever the defensive lynchpin that Rijkaard will choose to contain Kaka (most probably Edmilson). ‘Cause by at least shutting out Kaka in the game, Milan’s effectiveness of scoring would be less. But it will be difficult, and everytime Kaka would get the ball,….. it’s gonna be damn ANXIOUS when he be running with it!.

But this Milan side is not complete without their star man…….their distinctive number 7. Andrey Shevchenko. Who for me,… is the best striker in the world.

Shevchenko’s the ever present hitman of this Milan side. Shevchenko possesses everything a striker’s repertoire should have, good shots, precise and clinical finishing, he gets into position so he can receives the passes from his teammates well, he’s equally good with his feet as well as with his head, his got a hunger for winning everytime he plays, he’s fast, and…….he scores plenty of goals (no matter up against who). That’s why, I think, Shevchenko’s the best striker in the world at present.

Eto’o could learn a lot from the Ukrainian. Even though Eto’o has been impressive ever since he joined Barça, but he still miss some chances (easy chances sometimes). Some more, when it comes to finishing, he‘s not as clinical as Shevchenko is (or as Henry, or even as Ronaldo for that matter). Hopefully Eto’o will step up big time this time. He needs it. Though, the threat that Shevchenko gives is always a serious menace to come up against. Puyol and Marquez will have their task complicated and troublesome.

Milan's dangerman

Here’s hoping that Ronaldinho can turn on his magic in Italy, a big match from will will serve Barcelona big time for the second leg.

It’ll be a big battle at San Siro come this Wednesday, and add to that Barcelona will be without three key players; the suspended Deco and the injured Larsson and Messi. With this fact, perhaps Milan will have the slight advantage, more so they're playing at home first. But it's difficult to predict since this is a showpiece between two good teams. I'll say it'll be very tight, in both matches.

Barcelona's absentees: Deco, Larsson, & Messi

Xavi is still out (for both legs), but at least now’s he’s close to regaining full fitness and is on his way to full recovery.

Well, let’s hope we’ll be treated to a great game of football in the coming two weeks. There’s 180 minutes to play, 2 games to play, and everything to play for. Paris is waiting for the victor.