Real Madrid were coasting to a sensational victory that would match arch rivals Barcelona’s 7 match winning streak in the tournament until Pontus Wembloom’s 93rd minute strike changed their fortunes. The draw means that both teams head into the second leg with an equal chance of moving onto the quarters although Madrid have a slight away goal advantage.
Of course, no one expects Madrid to lose at home, however, should that happen, the ‘special one’ could set himself up for a spectacular return to Chelsea especially considering the crisis at the club.
Truth be said, it will be hard to see how AVB keeps his job after this season. Unlike fellow country man Mourinho, Villas-Boas’s track record is nothing to write home about, but then again for a 34 year old, AVB has not faired to bad off. I think his only mistake was jumping onto Chelsea too early in his career.
“Their goal was frustrating, but we earned a good result I’d be happy to have in every knock-out tie in which we play the return leg at home. Mourinho said after the match.
“Every game here has been the same for me. I won 1-0 with Chelsea and Inter Milan, but it was very hard in both encounters. It’s always complicated over here. It seemed we would win 1-0 today, but they eventually drew a difficult fixture.
Mourinho also stated in a prior interview that he was more interested in winning the league than the Champions League.
“For me, the league, in its conception, is so important because the best team always wins it. In the Champions League, the team that wins is not always the best.When you win the league, it’s very good for a coach’s self-esteem, because he knows he has done well throughout the year.”
I have to agree with Mourinho on that. Luck does play a part in European success as was the case for Liverpool in 2005 and Manchester United in 2008. However, when it comes to the league, you always have to be your best.
That said, Madrid are on course to win their 32 La Liga title and first in 4 years if they manage to hold onto their 10 point lead with just a little over 10 games left to play. It looks almost certain that they would, however, nothing is given, especially with Messi firing on all four cylinders.
Photo Credit © prismatico