I am sorry; I won’t put myself through it. I won’t do a chronological game report on this Champion’s League game. You don’t want to read “Van Buyten passes it to Demichelis, to Schweinsteiger, back to Demichelis, back to Van Buyten….” for two whole pages and I don’t want to write it (again). After yesterday’s summit at the San Siro, the second semi-final turned out to be most soporiphic, with only few events worth mentioning.
Bayern’s Win
Lyon isn’t the most fun team to watch. Bayern either. Add to that the pressure of a UCL semi-final and an 18 hour bus ride for the visitors and you have a surprisingly uneventful game. Lyon played the counter attack, Bayern mishit their opportunities as if this were a typical Bundesliga game: Muller, Olic. Ribery, Gomez (most of all), half of the Bavarian team sent clear chances in the stands. Van Gaal’s team stuck the basics: if it doesn’t work on the right side, try the left, and vice versa (fascinating). Lyon forgets to accelerate after the Bavarians receive a red card (more on that later), no game plan whatsoever. Kallstrom fires a wonder shot to Butt who just as beautifully saves. Bis repetita: Pranjic sends a flying volley to Lloris who pulls out another great save. Lyon then get their very own red card (read below). Robben, seeing that no one else can really put one foot in front of the other, hits his utmost typical shot from 25 meters out after his utmost typical run. The ball floats, Lloris is wrong footed. 1-0, at the 70th minute. 1-0 at the 90th minute. That’s about it. For Bayern fans the game must have seen as a great collective performance, one that choked Lyon, one that reflected a real mastering of the subject. Truth is, Bayern were lucky to welcome Lyon, a team with non-negligible European experience, yet a team a class under them. On the Lyon side, the numerical advantage slipped away as the French team wasn’t able to ingnite their could-have-been-domination, at their own fault. Lisandro was left stranded, the midfield lacked persistence, the defence held together well. Bayern win the first leg, full of pragmatism. After opening their hearts up against Manchester, the Bavarians have come back to their (boring) ways where only the result counts (see: the eighth of final against Fiorentina).
Red Cards
At the 35th minute, Cris (the other Robocop) tackled in quite harshly on Ribery. No foul from the Brazilian, just an authoritative tackle to show who the boss is. Nothing special for high tension European game, yet Frank seemed on edge as he got himself up to take the corner kick. Two minutes Later, Ribery is the author of an awful and murderous tackle on Lisandro right under Rossetti’s eyes. The red card is evident (even Beckenbauer agreed), the shower is an hour earlier than everybody else’s. Frank was probably feeling the heat from the whole ongoing investigation in his involvement with an under-18 prostitute. The specialized German press has reacted harshly to Ribery’s story and this last event might seal the Frenchman’s stay in Germany. Should he have played? Is it his fault? Hadn’t he just been fouled a semi second before? The worst part is that Scarface, up to that point, had managed to canalize all this turmoil into a more than respectable performance, creating chances and devouring his beloved left flank.
The second red card was far less evident. After Puel’s mistake of not capitalizing on Ribery’s expulsion, Toulalan received a second yellow card for a ‘high-foot’ (as I call them) foul, most probably aggravated by Schweinsteiger’s gracious double axel jump while both players had touched the ball. We won’t hold it against Bastian, his duty was fulfilled. On the other hand, Toulalan’s missing of the next game (which would have occurred even with the first yellow card) is much more problematic for Claude Puel. His polyvalence between the defensive midfield and the central defence has revealed itself one of the only certainties in Lyon, where turnover is more than imposed by the coach. There isn’t much more to say (I told you), but to a whole nation, it must seem unfair that their most valiant soldier, along with Lisandro, was sent off.
The Robot Crowd
It is no secret anymore: German soccer attracts far greater crowds than any other European championships. Even the second division games can rely on packed stadiums each (yes each) weekend. The display at the beginning of the game where the whole stadium turned to Bayern’s colours served as an appropriate reminder. Yet, throughout the game, the whole ensemble seemed too orchestrated. They all whistled together, they all cheered together, they all clapped together at the same thing, they all sung perfectly in tune, they all followed the song after Robben’s goal, they all wore the same jersey, the same scarf, so on so forth. Everything seems timed to perfection, and although I understand that might be seen as a strength, as evidence of a great crowd, to me it all sounded almost unnatural. The crowd just became another one of Bayern’s players (again, maybe that is what they want to achieve): disciplined, meticulous, effective. Is that why Lyon wasn’t able to take advantage of Ribery’s sending off? The lack of spontaneity in the stands made the game seem planned out, which, to be sincere, took out even the joy of seeing a goal during the game. The German fans, maybe also just as their game, lack that bit of fantasy so crucial to making football the great reflection of human emotions and life. Then again, they did win, and that might be a joy in itself.
The Return Game
Things seemed somewhat compromised for Lyon as Bayern seem more than capable of scoring away goals, especially against a defence that will be decimated by absences. It is up to Lyon to step up to the task and force that bit of luck that has pushed them to succeed against clubs like Real Madrid and Liverpool this year. For the Germans, the machine seems well oiled and the road to the Bernabeu halfway paved.
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