Manchester United will hope to come up smelling of roses

Real Madrid - Manchester United: they don't come much bigger than this

Oh, how I love the smell of the city prior to hosting a Champions League clash of mammoth proportions.

OK so it is only the last 16 but I have not been this excited about a Champions League tie in years. Maybe not since the final in 2009. Sure, Manchester United made the final again in 2011 but noone truly believed they would prevail against Barcelona that night and those fears were realised as Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al pummelled the Red Devils.

Tonight, however, represents a possible step towards redemption and a tantalising prospect at a fourth European Cup. Of course, there would still be the Catalan obstacle but this United side are significantly better than the one well beaten two years ago at Wembley. In addition, the belief that a victory over Madrid would provide could help them go on to lift the cup with the big ears once more.

As for the game itself, a nil nil would represent a good result to take back to Manchester, despite all the fears that a lack of an away goal would provide. More often than not, the away team ends up going through after such a result, though the memories of Monaco '98 and Madrid in 2000, where United ended up with a goalless draw, still bring back a feeling of dread as United crashed out.

However, given the porous defences on show a nil nil draw is about as likely as an imminent end to the financial crisis here in Spain.

2-1 to Los Blancos is this observer's prediction, which would still give Sir Alex Ferguson something to cling onto ahead of the return at Old Trafford next month.

Ferguson's line up is even harder to predict than the score but here goes. De Gea, Rafael Rio Evans Evra, Jones Carrick Cleverley, Valencia Van Persie Rooney.

This is not the most attacking of line ups which is the norm for United in Europe against heavyweight opposition. This formation could even morph into a 4-4-2 with Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones moving out to the wide midfield slots. The clearest advantage to this line up would be, effectively, three players being available to help quell the threat of Cristiano Ronaldo (Jones and Cleverley abley abetted by Valencia). Furthermore, Rooney maybe designated with the job of pressurising Alonso, when in possession, in a way not too dissimilar to the job Mario Goetze unselfishly performed in Dortmund's impressive results against Real.

The trouble is, these tactics will neglect the threat offered by Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil and Angel di Maria. Furthermore, they will inevitably negate any attacking threat that United have of their own, though the possibility of pinching a goal always remain when matchwinners like Robin van Persie and Rooney himself remain on the pitch.

No doubt Jose Mourinho will have some tricks up his sleeve but it is the selction of his opposite number that is of greater intrigue.

Such negative tactics or not, nothing can quell the sense of anticipation I have in the pit of my stomach right now.

An open letter to Roy Keane

Dear Roy,

I'd like to take you to task on your recent criticism of the Irish national team in the Sun so here goes.

Perhaps the margin of defeat against Spain was lamentable, yet what cannot be denied is the lack of quality, which you highlight yourself at the beginning of your piece. I think this was more to blame than either effort or the coach which seems to be your main bone of contention.

When I look back on the Irish team of the late 80s, early 90s and perhaps even in 2002, there was a lot more quality on offer than I realised at the time. Bonner, Given, Irwin, Kelly, Staunton, Lawrenson, McGrath, you yourself Roy, Houghton, Aldridge, Robbie Keane, O'Leary, Kevin Sheedy (who I wasn't going to include then recalled that sweet left foot which was most evident against England at italia 90), Moran, Whelan, Beglin and many more. These players should be reaching the knockout stages of major tournaments. St Ledger, Long and Cox should not.

Secondly, your dig at Keith Andrews for saying that Ireland will play for pride in their last game is harsh. What is he supposed to say with a microphone shoved in his face following the thrashing by Spain (they're not the first or the last to receive such a beating from arguably the best international side of all time).

Nevertheless, you are always a great read/listen which cannot always be said of some of your peers. Chris Waddle, Alan Shearer, Mark Bright and Robbie Savage spring to mind. The latter who's opinion is solely based on his friendship, or lack of, with the individual he's analysing (ie Roberto Mancini, Mark Hughes).

This criticism could never be aimed in your direction so keep the forthright opinions coming. A football world without these comments would be a very dull one indeed.

Yours sincerely,

John Silk

To read Roy Keane's article in full go to http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/euro2012/4377157/Euro-2012-Roy-Keane-says-Republic-of-Ireland-should-dump-em-all.html

5. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

The media

Though there is no clear evidence to suggest the media embellishes Barca’s and Real’s superiority,  but they certainly do not do it any harm.

In recent times Madrid-based daily Marca have been known to delete players, or even adjust lines on the pitch, to illustrate refereeing bias towards arch-rivals Madrid.

Javier Tebas certainly feels as though the lesser lights get a raw deal from the media. He said: “The newspapers actually focus completely on Barcelona and Real and this is bad for the smaller teams as well. El Pais as well.”

The Guardian’s Spanish football writer Sid Lowe suggested a rational reason behind the media bias. He said: “One of the reasons the media are so biased in Spain is because it is an economic decision. It’s based on what they believe their market is.”

But it does give for uncomfortable reading at times as he confirms: “It’s very unpleasant to read sometimes but Marca and AS, who are very pro Real Madrid, are like this because they believe it helps their sales. They think it helps their sales because these two teams dominate so much and very few people want neutrality, even those who, in theory, are neutrals. For example, take a Real Zaragoza fan and, in theory, he’s not interested in partisan reporting on Madrid or Barcelona, but in practice, the chances are that when Madrid plays Barcelona he always wants the same team to win. It’s not that he likes the way one of them plays or a certain player. Therefore he’s a fan of sorts.”

3. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

Financial Matters
 

Spain has never had more people unemployed. Currently, that figure stands at five million.

Even Latin Americans who moved to the Iberian peninsular in search of work are seemingly desperate to return home, much like the Polish exodus from English shores in the last couple of years.

Government ministers insist it has reached a peak and that it won’t get any worse but the people of Spain are not convinced.

Football mirrors these troubles.

Spanish football writer Sid Lowe wrote on the website cbc.ca in 2010:

Luis Manuel Rubiales, the new president of the Spanish players union, the AFE, explained that 85 per cent of footballers in Spain's top three divisions either get paid late or not at all. Then there's the fact that the Spanish Football Federation, the RFEF, still owes the AFE €8 million.

According to Rubiales's predecessor, €100 million are still owed to footballers in unpaid wages.
The situation, Rubiales said, is the worst it has ever been.

Spanish football is in crisis according to José María Gay, Spain's leading expert on football finance and an adviser to Uefa: "La Liga is dying."

The Osasuna president, Patxi Izco, admits: "I fear a financial meltdown."

"Football," insists another director, "is seriously ill."

Real Madrid were saved from the threat of bankruptcy a few years ago only when the municipality of Madrid agreed to pay a large sum for the land on which their training ground sat.

The fact that the Spanish government and the country’s banks have helped Real is greeted with little more than a sigh from the other clubs in Spain. Can you really imagine the outcry in England if the government helped Manchester United stay on top or Barclays, at their customers’ expense, came in to rescue Liverpool from the oblivion of relegation? How would fans of Portsmouth, Leeds United and Southampton react to such news? These last three clubs have had to bite the bullet and accept their fate as they slid down the divisions due to the enforced sale of their best players, enabling them to stay in business. Manchester United would be expected to do the same. The Spanish government, seeing a similar fate bestowed on its most famous club, bought their training ground.

In England such actions are treated with a mixture of suspicion and bemusement. In Iberia, and perhaps throughout the Latin countries, it is treated as the norm.

Sid Lowe argues that it was in the country’s interests to help Real Madrid in their time of need, though he concedes it was not without some underhand tactics.

He said: "Institutional support in Spain is relatively normal but Real Madrid would argue the support is reciprocated as they do a lot of work for the community in terms of tourism and image. They would also argue that as the club represents the community they should get support."

And what about the deal whereby Madrid sold their training ground to the local government only to get it back again? "This is the big bone of contention. Real Madrid will say that the council got a good deal in terms of what they paid but it was Florentino Perez (the club President) who enabled the deal to happen. He, with the government, re-classified the land so that it was apt for construction.

"Perez is a construction magnate whose contacts are very strong in local government. This kind of tactic, though, is relatively normal. It has been used before and it will no doubt be used again."

Barcelona are not without their own problems on a financial front. Last summer they were late in paying the players’ wages and had to take out an emergency loan to help alleviate their difficulties in meeting their wage bill.

Sports lawyer Javier Tebas believed neither case was comparable to the troubles at the smaller clubs. "Barcelona and Real are a money making machine. They don’t have significant problems," he said. "Certain newspapers eight years ago said Real Madrid were going to go bankrupt and look at them now."

Well, with the government’s help and the aid of Madrid’s banks is it any wonder they survived?

"It was a help,” Tebas agreed, with a gesture suggesting inverted commas when he said ‘help’. "But with the help the competition can become distorted," he admitted

"The problem is not just that the big two have a greater budget than the rest," Tebas explains. "It is that all the other clubs have a lot of debt. There some smaller clubs where the interest repayments on their debts alone could pay for the salaries of Lionel Messis and Cristiano Ronaldo combined." In other words, €15 million in interest.