once again the football god is having a laugh at my expense...

[txorakeriak]

I must admit I'm rather gutted about Real being out of the Champions League. They actually were my bet for the title, even though they have yet to grow together as a team, and I thought that the overtaking of Barça in the league would give them a boost in confidence in order to beat Lyon and advance to the next round. Instead, they didn't manage

Comments

[just_jenni]

You're very philosophical about it Bill, which is nice, or at least a change from the emotional responses I've been reading.

From what I could see, the Real Madrid players seemed more concerned with their individual egos than how they played together as a team. For instance, on a number of occasions I saw one player complaining to another when he didn't get the pass he wanted so HE could score. In stark contrast to that attitude was Lyon's. Every single player hummed together like bees in a hive, doing the grunt work to a man, nobody complaining to anybody else. When mistakes were made, shots went wide, etc., nobody blamed anybody else, but they just continued with their jobs until all the hard work paid off.

I don't think Madrid played terribly or anything, although none of the hotshots made too much of a difference. Sergio Ramos and the other defenders did a great job. But Lyon was just terrific. It was their day. May they go far.

My predictions? I don't really have any. Any of the remaining teams could win the thing. Barcelona could do it again, Arsenal could win as well, even though they are somewhat inconsistent. Maybe that's the key...if we look at who has been the most consistent team so far, maybe that one will be the eventual winner.