Watching the game last night, I got a bit bored.
I normally love a tactical battle but I got restless during the second half of Milan v Barcelona.
Pep Guardiola, doing a George Graham in the San Siro, had decided not to lose.
He dropped Fabregas and played Iniesta and Keita on the left.
With Adriano out injured, he had no overlap, no width on that side. That overlap stretches opponents, creates gaps, has done for years, is a key element of their attacking style.
Therefore the game was narrow, with defences strictly sealed.
Big talents, Ibrahimovic and Messi, were working hard to invent a chance.
Robinho, typically, skied a sitter in 3 minutes. Not a finisher. Got two goals against Arsenal but not a finisher. Never has been, never will be.
Then Abbiati’s arms took out Alexis with the ball unreachable by either of them. No penalty was given.
Then Ibra missed a one-on-one from a beautiful Seedorf pass and a Xavi poke-shot was saved by Abbiati.
Coming up to 30 minutes, still 0-0, I was trying to figure it out. Were Milan thinking : Good, they haven\’t scored. Were Barcelona thinking :We haven\’t scored yet but we will.
I was thinking : We\’re waiting for Fabregas. This game needs the disguised lubrication of the brainy Cesc, needs the inimitable move-pass-move that’ll give Messi the yard, the angle, the opening he hasn\’t had so far.
Without that, it\’s a 15-round fight between two heavyweights who have fought before and respect each other and want to survive 15 three-minutes rounds one by one.
I enjoy a tactical game as long as I can concentrate hard. But I started to fade, to lose concentration. At half-time my brother reckoned that with more clinical finishing it could have been 2-2 or even 3-2 to Milan. I’d sort of given up on the game but he said it could finish 1-1 and he\’s not a bad judge. I said I wouldn\’t be surprised if there was no goal.
Every first leg at this stage is just a first leg, so it\’s really all about next week, not about tonight, in many cases.
Second half, the big talent was still being nullified.
It\’s always fun to watch Ibra when he\’s trying. But he was twice caught offside in five minutes and Pique and co know a lot about how he thinks, where he runs.
When Nesta, a grand old bandit, couldn’t reach the ball, he karate-blocked Messi.
After 63, I surprised Mrs Palmer.
“Do you want to watch Mad Men?â€
We’ve been waiting 17 months for the return of our favourite show.
“Don\’t you want to watch this?â€
“No, I can\’t see a goal.â€
We watched the first episode but I didn\’t like the direction of the first 30. Bits of it were awkward, too vulgar, like a spoof of Mad Men. I found that very unsettling but then began to warm to it again.
Then I switched back to ITV and the game had finished 0-0.
So I rewound to 63 and watched what I\’d missed.
Fabregas had not come on. I’d forgotten that the only CL game that Barcelona haven\’t won was a 3-2 defeat here in a Group Stage game in September. Abbiati made a good late save from Messi in the six-yard box.
Milan had been clever, tough and organised. A credit to coach Allegri, a guy who impresses me. But his boys had missed great chances.
Benfica 0 Chelsea 1?
Well, my Tuesday night game was also interrupted.
About 7.40pm we watched the Benfica eagle soar round the Stadium of Light with red and white streamers on his ankles.
If the eagle makes a good landing on his perch it\’s considered a good omen and Benfica will win the game. The huge beast floated down, decelerating rapidly, and grasped the red steel perch neatly in his huge talons. Then the eagle started gobbling red meat from his oblong plate.
I liked RDM’s team selection.
Thought it was quite radical but correct. So Torres was the right call, Mikel was right too, Kalou was restored, a tenacious worker.
Not much happened in the first half apart from a fierce shot that hit David Luiz on the chest and bounced away.
At half-time I did something I’ve never done while watching a Champions League game on TV.
I went out with a mate to a gig, and then to another gig five minutes away and the second gig finished at 11.15.
He got me home at 11.30 and I watched the end of a rather good BBC drama with Jan.
I told her about the gigs, then asked a question.
“Should I watch the second half or get you to tell me the score?”
“Up to you.â€
“Tell me the score.”
“One nil.â€
“To who?â€
She smiled.
“The eagle got it wrong.”
So Mrs Palmer went off to read in bed and I started watching the second half, not knowing when the goal would come.
It was still a very tight game. It had puzzled me from the start because Benfica were not really playing Portuguese possession football. Instead, they hit crosses into the box.
Mikel didn’t make mistakes and Torres was mobile and strong, often muscling his way past Jardel and Luisao.
But it was Ramires who created the breakthrough, beating two men to supply Torres on the right.
The striker will never be what he was, I’m sure of that.
But now Torres breezed past his marker and crossed low for Kalou to stab home from five yards.
75 minutes : Benfica 0 Chelsea 1.
In 93, Ashley Cole slashed at a cross deep inside the box and the ball flew past the post, to the relief of Petr Cech.
Chelsea played with a lot of desire and solidity.
Another last hurrah for the old guard?
Not really. Drogba, Essien and Ivanovic didn’t play at all and Lampard didn’t come on till late.
Drogba has four or three great games left in him. All of those games will be at Stamford Bridge.
Rob Hughes told me yesterday that ten of the Benfica side are South Americans.
Rob said that when the final whistle went, and the Chelsea bench was jumping around, RDM embraced Meireles, after having had to take him off because of intense abuse from the crowd. That showed Di Matteo’s man-management and his understanding of how top players feel.
So that’s how it went on Tuesday night.
Chelsea defended very well and had some luck and beat Benfica, who had scored in 65 previous home games in all competitions.
David Luiz played superbly, as he did against Man City and Napoli. I liked him from day one and, despite his impetuous errors, I still like Luiz. He’s one helluva footballer.
As I say, it’s all about next week.
QF second legs can be very exciting, so I won’t be going out to any gigs during those games.
Looks like Bayern Munich v Real Madrid in the semi-final. That’s big : two giants who have met a few times in the last 50 years.
I once saw them play in Munich in a semi.
Gerd Muller scored both goals and Amancio was sent off right at the end, I think by Welsh ref Clive Thomas. Amancio was a very fast and tricky right winger but was behaving like a baby and deserved to go.