Very quick Sunday round-up before my ailing carcass is transported to the nearest Charnel house.
The Champions League final saw Barcelona run out 3-1 winners over Juventus. On the one hand that means Dani Alves and Luis Suarez are happy, but on the other it means Patrice Evra is sad. It was a very enjoyable game though, Barcelona’s early goal was brilliant while supposed Arsenal target Arturo Vidal, in a display as far from the commanding DM everyone seems to think, blunderbussed his way around the pitch doing his best to get sent off as quickly as possible.
It had a whiff of that Eboue against Sp*rs display when he talked himself into a second yellow because, you know, he was an eejit, but he settled down a bit in fairness. The Morata goal sparked a decent spell for the Italians but in the end the quality of Barcelona shone through. Suarez finally managed to stop pining for Merseyside and got himself going to put them 2-1 up, Neymar had a goal disallowed for heading the ball onto his hand, and in injury time they sealed the deal when the Brazilian fired under Buffon from close range.
That made Pirlo sad, and all the football hipsters cried a bit too. I do like Pirlo though, I have to say. Any man with a top speed of 3mph who can do what he does in the modern game is to be admired. Patrice Evra looked sad as he apparently became the first player ever to lose in four Champions League finals. Afterwards all the talk was of how this fantastic game had come at the right time after a horrendous week for football and the people who are in charge of it.
Then Michel Platini, a man who wanted a World Cup every two years and who was firmly behind the voting for Qatar 2022 yet still found time to criticise FIFA this week for that very thing, handed out the medals to the team that is sponsored by Qatar. They celebrated with that traditional Qatari song ‘Campeones, Campeones, Olé Olé Olé!’.
Redemption for football, hurrah!
From an Arsenal point of view it was interesting to see all the talk about how a clause in Thomas Vermaelen’s contract would see us receive anything from £3m – £500,000,000m and a clutch Fabergé Eggs – because they’d won the Champions League. It has been suggested, however, that the clause is dependent on him playing a certain number of games and given that the number of games he played this season for Barcelona was less than 1, then we might not be the beneficiaries of such a windfall.
It must be the done thing now that even non-playing squad members arrive in kit for the post-game photos. All the Arsenal players who weren’t in the 18 last weekend were in kit, and Vermaelen went up and got his medal in his shirt. I suppose it’s better than having to wear that denim outfit all the Barcelona staff seemed to be in though. What on earth was that about? I think there’s probably grounds to strip them of the trophy for such an abomination. But then that would make Patrice Evra happy so forget I said anything.
Not much happening from an Arsenal point of view. There’s an Ireland v England friendly today at Lansdowne Road which could feature Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs. I think Danny Welbeck has been withdrawn from the squad due to injury. Hopefully it’s a more relaxed affair than the last time the two sides met in Dublin.
Walcott, meanwhile, has touched on his contract situation, saying:
I’ll deal with the contract situation in summer, after the England games, because I don’t want it as a distraction. It is important to concentrate on the now. I’ll just leave my agent to sort out the details when the time comes. I’ve just reached 300 appearances for my club – not just any club but a top club like Arsenal – and that’s a great achievement. I am incredibly proud of that, but if I can find the consistency I believe my best years may still be ahead.
Que sera, sera, and all that.
Right, I’m going to take some chewable morphine and lie down again. Till tomorrow.
