Defensively Preoccupied aka Next Week, Next Week

Football fans largely had their high of the EPL last night when Man City relegated season's rival Man United to runners up by eight goals difference on the same number of points.

And they did it in dramatic, come back from the dead, fashion too. Very Man United like (ahem!) if I may say so.

Anyway, the next big one is the Champions League final next weekend at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany featuring home team Bayern Munich and England’s Chelsea.

A non fan of neither, the match-up holds little interests to me, but I’m sure millions will be glued to the action come Sunday morning   (it’s being played Saturday night over in Germany after all).

Little interest that is until I read “Dortmund Shows Why It's a Champion” at New York Times Online on the Bundesliga champion, Borussia Dortmund's trashing of Bayern, 5-2, in the German Cup final the same Saturday night.

The writer, Rob Hughes, writes with not a hint of sarcasm of Bayern’s seeming inabilities to accept that they were basically outplayed by their rival, period.

He quotes, amongst others:

Bayern’s coach, Jupp Heynckes:  “Congratulations to BVB. Borussia deserved this victory. They ruthlessly exploited our weaknesses. We were very unfocused today in defense and handed out gifts. Borussia created one chance in the first half, but scored three goals. Our defensive display was catastrophic.”

Captain Philipp Lahm: “We were the better team over the 90 minutes. But we made disastrous defensive errors and kept handing it to our opponents. We can’t be making errors like that next week.” 

(And over at The Sun (ours, not the UK's) - Arjen Robben: "Losing 5-2 hurts alot and I can't explain that performance. We're frustrated now, but as of Monday our focus is on the Champions League final.")

(My emphasis, TQVM.) 

 Such a distinct, urm, lack of respect to Dortmund’s win over them, isn’t it?

Implying, of course, that Bayern only lost the match because it was too preoccupied with the BIG one next week.

Hughes went on to quip: “Next week, always next week” right after Lahm’s comments.

Since reading the article, I am now cheering Chelsea to best Bayern in the Champions League final.

Let’s see of Bayern can still be the better team over the 90 minutes and still lose out of what is touted as THE one coveted Cup in football.

Of course, Chelsea has the extra incentive in that the final is their ONLY chance of being in the Champions League next year after a tumultuous (footballing) year that saw them stuck in 6^th place below (gasp) Newcastle.

Their win would drop 4^th placed Spurs from the Champions League, though, and that is not something which would sit well with Spurs fan.

Now THEY will be clamouring for Lahm and Co to be, urm, not the best team over 90 minutes and win the Champions League at the expense of poor, poor Chelsea.

Don’t you just love football?

PS: Condolences to all my "You Never walk Alone"- fan friends? Next year, next year, perhaps?