End of a crazy, crazy week

Something’s not right in the world of football. This is the conclusion I have drawn watching the incidents of the last week.

The mid-week Champions League matches were the highlight of a world gone topsy-turvy. The two nights of Europe’s premier club competition were bizarre and unexpected.

The madness ruffled me a bit more than it normally should. For after six years in Mumbai, I’ve moved north and am experiencing winter, dry skin and chapped lips. When I moved about a week back, I thought I would be able to handle it since I belong to the hilly and cold town of Nainital. But bizarrely enough, I miss the sweat and grime of Mumbai.

Anyway, here’s what was bizarre in last week’s Champions League games: Bayern Munich lost to Bordeaux. Multi-million dollar team Real Madrid got beaten by AC Milan in the dying stages of the game at Santiago Bernabeu. And guess who the villain was? Iker Casillas, the best goalkeeper in the world!

Arsenal played a clumsy game at AZ Alkmaar and ended up with only one point after a 1-1 draw. Chelsea, once considered a boring 1-0 win team, looked the most attractive eleven of the night beating Atletico Madrid 4-0. Oh and lastly, the Liverpool supporters are getting fed up of Rafael Benitez after loses in their last four games in all competitions.

German giants Bayern Munich are third in Group A after their 1-2 loss to Bordeaux. “It’s a strange feeling. Against Juventus, we had a poor preparation but we played well (drawing 0-0). It’s the opposite here. We attacked the game and we scored, then there was this corner from heaven and they equalised,” their coach Louis van Gaal said.

The marquee game of this week’s European club competition was Real Madrid versus AC Milan. Despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence, Real went in as firm favourites but two costly errors by Casillas cost them dearly. Casillas doesn’t err. That he did proves the craziness in the air.

I haven’t been able to understand the way Arsenal have functioned over the last four-five years. They say they are all about attractive football. Good for them. But if after 90 minutes of poetry in action the scoreline reads 1-1 or 3-4 loss, what really is the point? Besides, I have seen Manchester City play more attractive football than Arsenal, so really, what’s the fuss about again?

Chelsea, for once, are having defensive problems, something unheard of during Jose Mourinho’s times. But if they beat Atletico 4-0, then there is little reason to complain about. Chelsea, it seems, are the Arsenal of old - playing beautifully and winning.

The shock story of the night was one more Liverpool loss, a 1-2 defeat at Anfield by Lyon. The last game the Reds won was on September 26, a 6-1 mauling of Hull City in the Premier League. Calls for Benitez’s head are getting louder and that for me is the most bizarre of all happenings. For the Liverpool fans are loyals and Rafa, I thought, was loved conditionally, courtesy the Champions League title in 2005.

But then again, it’s 2009. I am not in Mumbai and the world is getting wacky.