Barcelona vs Bayern Munich Report

MESSI MAGIC – Barca Storm Past Bayern With A 3-0 Win At The Nou Camp 

Two of Europe’s biggest giants clashed in the first leg of the Champions League semi finals as Barcelona hosted Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp. It was more than just a game though as Pep Guardiola returned to the Nou Camp in the opposition dug-out for the first time since leaving Barcelona. He won 14 trophies in his four year spell as Barcelona manager, including a treble in his first season, something that the current Barcelona manager Luis Enrique looks to emulate in his first season. Guardiola’s return to the Nou Camp wasn’t a happy one though as Barcelona stormed past Bayern with a 3-0 win. The goals came late in the game with some Messi magic as the Argentine put 2 past Manuel Neuer in 4 minutes and Neymar topped it off with a third in added time.

Guardiola’s side came to the Nou Camp with two huge misses in the squad as both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery were both out due to injury, but Polish striker Robert Lewandowksi was back for them playing with a broken jaw and nose. Barcelona had a fully fit squad which seen the unbelievable striking trio of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez all started up top.

Within the opening minutes of the game, you could tell it was going to be a good one, with Bayern’s man marking style left gaps for Barcelona to open up. Luis Suarez was denied early by a great save from Manuel Neuer. Bayern had a fantastic change themselves but Robert Lewandowski failed to connect cleanly with his left footed effort and the shot went wide. Surprisingly the first half came to a 0-0 end. Despite being goalless the game was a great one but you can never doubt the attacking brilliance of Lionel Messi, who broke the deadlock in the 77th minute. Messi hit a low left footed strike into the right bottom corner beating Neuer at his near post. If that wasn’t good enough for him, this certainly was as his astonishing piece of skill left Jerome Boateng falling over his feet and onto the floor as Messi calmly chipped the ball with his right foot over the giant frame of the German goalkeeper in the 80th minute. Bayern dropped their guard in the last 10 minutes and continued to push forward in search for an away goal and that ultimately punished them as a Barca counter attack led to Neymar being clean through on goal as he slotted his right footed effort between the legs of Neuer to make in 3-0 in stoppage time.

Luis Enrique outshines his former team mate Pep Guardiola at the Nou Camp. Lionel Messi’s two goals now puts him back to being the all time leading goal scorer in the Champions League history with 77 goals. One goal in front of rival Cristano Ronaldo who found the net in Madrid’s 2-1 defeat in Torino against Juventus. Barcelona are now clear favourites to make the final in Berlin as Bayern will struggle again to stop the Barca trio in Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez even at the Allianz.

Chelsea vs Manchester United Report

Mourinho Masterclass

The two inform teams in the premier league met for a big clash thriller which seen 1^st vs 3^rd, Mourinho vs Van Gaal, of course, it’s Chelsea vs Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United were unbeaten in 6 games and came to the Bridge high in confidence after their derby day victory at Old Trafford over rivals City in a 4-2 winner, but, that came to a crashing end with a Mourinho Masterclass with Chelsea grinding out a 1-0 winner to see them stay top of the league and 10 points clear. Manchester United dominated in possession and played some really nice football but that unfortunately played into Mourinho’s plan as he set his Chelsea team out to sit back and allow United to dominate so he could hit them on the counter and that of course came through their first shot on target as star man Eden Hazard beat David De Gea to give Chelsea the 1-0 victory.

With Manchester United missing key players like Carrick, Jones, Blind and Rojo it seen Van Gaal reshuffle his inform united team. The reshuffle seen Luke Shaw and Paddy McNair come into the defence, while Wayne Rooney was dropped into the midfield which gave Falcao a rare start upfront. Chelsea were without their top scorer Diego Costa and substitute striker Loic Remy for this game, so that gave an opportunity for Didier Drogba to start upfront. Mourinho’s tactics were seen early with the announcement of his team as he brought young and talented defender Kurt Zouma into the midfield, a role he has played comfortably under Mourinho before.

United started brightly and really should have been up within the first 10 minutes as Wayne Rooney got onto Luke Shaw’s cross but placed his shot just inches wide. The shot was so close that it had Manchester United fans and even David De Gea celebrating until they realised the shot had gone wide a few seconds later. United continued to dominate and looked the better side but Chelsea once again proved why they have been leading the race for the title after another rock solid defensive performance from them. Chelsea’s resilience paid-off when they countered and scored with their first shot on target. Chelsea broke after Terry out-muscled Falcao near the half way line and Oscar’s clever backheel played in Hazard whose shot beat David De Gea in the 38^th minute.

Early in the 2^nd half Chelsea had a few chances to double their lead but they couldn’t. United showed their class as they continued to take the game to Chelsea but couldn’t find the back of the net. Van Gaal continued to push his team with him bringing on the attacking options of Angel Di Maria and Adnan Januzaj but Chelsea stayed strong and United couldn’t break them down. Falcao who is still trying to find form for United had a great chance 12 minutes from time to level it but his strike hit the outside of the post. Ander Herrera was seemed to have been brought down in the box by Gary Cahill in stoppage time but referee Mike Dean denied the appeal and gave Herrera a yellow card for diving. When the final whistle blew, there was a sigh of relief from the Chelsea fans and players who seem to now truly believe they will be the Premier League champions. The player’s reactions and celebrations helps back up this statement although manager Jose Mourinho still remains persistent that it’s not over yet because they need 8 points to be crowned champions.

Mourinho got his tactics spot on and proved why Chelsea are sitting at the top of the table. His decision to bring Kurt Zouma into the midfield worked as he dominated Fellaini and kept him relatively quiet during the game. Manchester United had 70% possession throughout the game but that didn’t faze the Chelsea manager who stated that this is the way his team set out to win the game with a solid defensive performance and to catch united on the counter and to make their chances count. Of course it’s a lot easier said than done, but this performance really proved why Chelsea deserve to be champions.

Manchester United vs Tottenham Report

Rooney Delivers Knockout Blow With a 3-0 United Win. 

After last Monday’s loss at home to Arsenal in the FA Cup, Louis Van Gaal’s men was under a lot of pressure to deliver a winning performance against Spurs with their sights fully set on a top four finish now. And that they did after a stunning performance against Spurs at home, in a 3-0 thriller, which seen United play the best football they’ve played all season. United’s play was fast, controlled and precise which gave them a 3-0 lead coming into half time with goals from Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and captain Wayne Rooney. United controlled the game throughout with many of their players putting in a show stealing performance. United’s defense was solid and they needed to be against an inform Harry Kane who struggled to get past the back line. Spurs only shot on target of the game came in the 89th minute when Harry Kane’s effort was saved by David De Gea.

United’s line up seen Wayne Rooney pushed back up top in his favored position, with Michael Carrick getting his first start since returning from injury. Van Gaal’s line up also seen Juan Mata getting his first start in the team since the middle of January playing out on the right.

It didn’t take long for United to open the scoring as Marouane Fellaini slotted his left footed effort past Hugo Lloris in the 9th minute. Micheal Carrick’s influence in games had been heavily missed while he was out injured but he returned with a bang after his calm and precise pass set up Marouane Fellaini to score the first goal. Carrick was once again involved in the 2nd goal after his great header found the back of the net to double United’s lead. Marouane Fellaini was influential in this goal as well with his aerial threat being proved to have been too much for Spurs to handle as it lead to Carrick’s header in the 19th minute. Before the game Manchester United’s Captain Wayne Rooney caused quite a stir in the social media world after a video was posted online of himself and Sunderland’s Phil Bardsley sparring in Wayne’s kitchen which lead to Wayne being knocked clean out by the Sunderland defender. But that didnt affect the Manchester United striker as he slotted home United’s third goal in the 34th minute. A mistake from Spurs midfielder Nabil Bentaleb gifted a pass to Wayne Rooney as he ran forward with the ball taking on defender Eric Dier before calmly slotting home United’s third. The United striker showed his funny side through a self-mocking celebration as he threw fake punches in the air before pretending to take one himself and then dramatically collapsing to the floor, relating to the video posted online before the game.

Marouane Fellaini received a standing ovation at Old Trafford when he was substituted off and was given Man of the Match in what might have been his best performance in a Manchester United shirt since arriving last season under David Moyes. United’s fantastic performance lead them to taking all 3 points at home and are now placed 4th just one point behind Arsenal and two points behind arch rivals and champions Manchester City. United’s stunning performance has came at a great time heading into next Sunday’s clash at Anfield with rivals Liverpool as it has given a great boost to the team. This was a game Manchester United supporters had been waiting to see as their team played with real attacking intent throughout the entire game.  Sad news for Tottenham fans though as the lost has seen their team drop to 7th place and six points off a top 4 finish and a champions league qualification battle seems to be under way for them once again.

Godzilla (2014)

I was very excited when Warner Bros announced that they were recreating a Godzilla movie to add to the franchise, but how poor it was. The trailers really hyped this movie and my expectations for this classic film was very high. Godzilla is known in the past movies and adaptations to be this massive monster that destroys cities and then the army are called in to finally over-come the monster and kill him, but, this film takes a different look at the monster. Instead Warner Bros makes what was a simple monster vs. world story line and makes it far more complex then it needs to be and leaves so many questions unanswered. Looking back at the story line, Warner Bros presents Godzilla as a god, like an actual savoir. He defends us, (whether he means to or not) against the two new monsters brought into this film and at the end it’s like the film asks us whether Godzilla is a hero or villain.

Personally for me I just feel that this film has too much going on for its own good. I mean there’s a story about a family, 3 monsters and nuclear weapons. It has a very complex story as well which is hard to get your head around. For me, I came here to see a basic Godzilla movie with new state of the art graphics to make this the best Godzilla movie out there but this is far from the case. The story line was hard enough by its self. Godzilla was around hundreds of years ago and they tried to destroy him (which at the time they thought they did), but guess what they didn’t. Fast forward a few hundred years and then the Japanese and US government are trying to cover up these secrets after finding these cocoons in different locations. They hatch. Male and female monsters looking to find each other and reproduce, creating more monsters but suddenly who is awaken from his slumber? The predator, Godzilla. Now at this point you start to think s**t, 3 monsters, surely they are going to work together to destroy the earth, but no. Godzilla starts attacking both of the other monsters. While all this is going on there’s a story about a boy who’s mum dies due to one of these monsters trying to hatch, fast forward 15 years and he’s now a US Navy Ordnance disposal officer who finally returns home to his family and then has to leave again, to help his dad uncover the truth about the monsters which ultimately leads to his dad dying. While all this is going on, he’s in the middle of this war with the 3 monsters as well as then trying to get back to his family. In the end can you guess what happens? Godzilla destroys the two other monsters and then just retreats and returns to the depths of the sea and this is where the film really p****d me off. So we just let this huge monster return to the sea for how ever long it wants to stay there for until it returns one day and causes the same amount of havoc, are you kidding me?

As well as the problems I’ve stated above, I also feel that the film struggles to find any real identity. Is it a horror movie? A disaster movie? A thriller? A hero film? An action film? Well the truth is, it’s a mixture of all of the above as well as more. I feel the film would have been much better just going down a one genre route and really creating a massive monster movie. Instead, they try and create their own tone and like I mentioned before there is just too much going on.

Personally, I really feel Warner Bros missed a great opportunity with this movie and should have sticked with the classic story line. We had not seen a blockbuster Godzilla movie in some time now and it was a perfect time to launch the movie. Good things from the movie though I have to say were the graphics. The graphics were up to top quality and really created a real feel to the film. For the first time ever in a Godzilla movie, he looked real. Like if you were to imagine Godzilla in your head, that’s what he would look like, but, we only see him for about 25 minutes throughout the whole film if that. It’s a shame I can’t say the same for the other two monsters though, who frankly just look like someone had created them on a computer. They just looked like robots. If you have ever seen the movie ‘CloverField’, the two monsters in Godzilla look like total rip offs of the monster in CloverField.

Should you watch this film? My opinion is no. I feel the film lacks many things like a dramatic moment and also a big open fight scene between the monsters. Throughout the film we see snippets of them fighting and we get about a 1 minute battle scene towards the end but that just isn’t enough for a monster movie. I also feel the film drags on a lot so for all these reasons; I’d give the film a 2 out of 5 stars.

About Me

18 year old student who lives in Manchester. Study on a Sports Journalist course at the University of Central Lancashire. Aspiring sports journalist. Follow football and world wrestling entertainment. Manchester United supporter. Social Media user on Twitter and Instagram mainly. Started this website to share my blogs and opinions on different things such as football, WWE and movies.

My Football blog page will consist of blogs and articles written by myself on current games and footballing news. Will mainly cover Premier League football and Manchester United, but might branch out from time to time to cover Champions League, the Championship and the Liga BBVA. Will also include my personal Man of the Match in every game I cover.

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