Monthly Archives: October 2012

Lionel Messi, Here & Gone

“In the imagination of guidebook writers, who see places as they should be but rarely as they are, there is a passionate love affair between the city of Rosario and its famous progeny, global soccer star Leo Messi. I know this because it said so, right there on page 179 of the ‘Lonely Planet,’ which I thumbed through during the three hours of countryside between Buenos Aires and Messi’s hometown. An Irish ex-pat named Paul, my translator and friend, drove. He’d agreed to help me act on my obsession with Messi, who is one of the world’s most famous athletes, and most unknowable, the combination of which sucked me in. I’d been reading everything I could find, watching internet videos of him scoring one ridiculous goal after another for Barcelona. Other players seem to chase the ball, while Messi moves in concert with it, full speed to full stop.” ESPN

We’re Entering A Golden Age of Long Form Soccer Writing

“The human condition is marred by a short attention span and thus a lack of historical context. Not recognizing this flaw is what leads each generation to automatically believe that now is the best time to be alive, and place zero value in those who have preceded it. Similarly, not having a full appreciation of the drawbacks and benefits of a certain time in our past can also breed a shallow nostalgia that cloaks fear of change in a more tolerable desire for the “good old days”. Such a cultural battle between futurists and nostalgists has been playing out in the global soccer community since the game’s earliest days, and has only been accelerated during the globalization of the sport over the last several decades. Thus, it is with great caution that I state we are embarking on what may come to be viewed as a golden age for long form soccer writing.” Forbes

We’re turning into the Premier Liga! Redknapp and Keown analyse the season so far

“As the Premier League pauses for a second international break, Sportsmail columnists Jamie Redknapp and Martin Keown take a moment to catch their breath and assess the season so far. One modern trend both have noticed is an influx of smaller, skilful players and a focus on passing that is taking the English game closer and closer to the style of the Spanish La Liga.” Daily Mail

The State of Analytics: Too many soccer analytics posts lack Statistical Power

“I mentioned at the start of these columns I know next to nothing about even basic statistical science, but it appears if I or indeed any of us are going to help in moving forward on developing useful metrics in gaining a better understanding of best practices in football, that might have to change. The reason is that one of the major misunderstandings among amateur soccer analytics writers is the importance of Statistical Power, generally determined by an accurate and useful sample size. The name of the game is eliminating the possibility of Type I and II errors, which involve ruling out a null hypothesis (no statistical correlation between factor X and result Y).” The Score (Video)

Paris Is Rising: Among Les Thugs

“Yesterday when I, along with about 100 other Paris Saint-Germain fans, landed in Marseille, the welcome wagon arrived in the form of police officers dressed in riot gear ready to escort us to PSG’s clash with Marseille at the Stade Velodrome. Tensions between the teams run high, and when I asked the man next to me why he hates Marseille so much he said, ‘I don’t know. I have it in my blood.’ There were close to 100 members of the Gendarmerie with assault rifles bracketing us on both sides as we walked to the bus. There were three paddy wagons, at least eight officers on motorcycles, and a helicopter hovering above. Streets were blocked off throughout the city to make for a swift transport to the stadium.” Grantland

The Secrets Behind The Success Of Dutch Football

“The Netherlands are not only known for their tulips, clogs, windmills and marijuana. When you think of Holland and football, you think of Total Football, Johan Cruijff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and, more recently, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Robin van Persie. The country is known for producing talented and skilful football players that are among world’s best. One of the core reasons Holland produces so many talents is the excellent organisation of youth football from which other countries can learn a lot.” Sabotage Times

San Marino’s Davide Gualtieri recalls the pain his goal caused England

“The equation was simple. If England beat San Marino by seven and Holland failed to win in Poland they qualified for the 1994 World Cup, second in their group behind Norway. At kick-off on 17 November 1993, it seemed difficult but not impossible; 8.33 seconds later, the dream was over as San Marino took the lead. It was not mathematically impossible for England to qualify from there but psychologically, morally, it became so.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Searching For the Young Soul Rebels: The Real Madrid Blueprint 1965

“It has been said by the critics that one man cannot make a team, yet when Argentina-born Alfredo Di Stéfano flew the Atlantic to join Real Madrid in 1953, it marked the beginning of an era in which the blond centre-forward led the club to real greatness. Champions eight times in eleven seasons, Real became the most famed and most feared club side of all time, and at the height of their power between 1956 and 1960, set up what will probably remain an all-time record by taking the European Cup five times in a row.” In Bed With Maradona

Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid: two goals each for Ronaldo and Messi

“Both sides appeared content with a point from an entertaining match. Tito Vilanova surprisingly named Adriano at centre-back rather than Alex Song, in the absence of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol. Andres Iniesta returned to the side in place of Alexis Sanchez. Jose Mourinho went for a familiar side – with no Luka Modric or Michael Essien, it was essentially the Real of last season, with Mesut Ozil as the number ten. It was the usual pattern – Barca dominating possession, Real a threat from quicker attacks and set-pieces.” Zonal Marking

Messi, Ronaldo duel to stalemate in clásico as Barça’s perfect start ends
“Thoughts from the Real Madrid- FC Barcelona match. Pressure, pressure, pressure: That Madrid lay in wait for Barcelona was not hugely surprising, even if they have pressured higher against them in recent clásicos, forcing mistakes from Valdés, Mascherano and Piqué. That Barcelona did not press was more unexpected, though. Madrid were largely allowed to bring the ball out from the back. Only Pedro really chased to close down Madrid’s defenders. Notably, it is not just Madrid, either: this season Barcelona have tended to play a little deeper and press less. Is one of the signatures of Pep Guardiola’s side being abandoned?” SI

Team Ronaldo Or Team Messi? Watch Yesterday’s Goals And Judge For Yourself
“Messi Or Ronaldo? Who do you think is the greatest player of all time? In last night’s El Clasico the two superstars took turns at winning our affections. Ronaldo’s typical storming run into the box followed by a powerful finish opened the scoring for Madrid. Messi then bagged two for Barcelona, the first an opportunistic finish that countless less agile players with inferior anticipation would have made a hash of, the second could not have been more different; a beautifully curled free-kick that Iker Casillas would not have got close to had he been a foot taller. Ronaldo then equalised almost immediately with a clinical finish on the break that he made look very easy indeed.” Sabotage Times (Video)

Another classy clasico
“It was quite a weekend, and how nice for all the games to be played by the end of Sunday night – just like the old days. It almost felt like a broadcast in black and white. Celta v Sevilla was played on the Friday night, which was slightly odd (maybe that’s what affected Sevilla, who lost), but there were several significant games that all coincided on the seventh week of the Spanish league programme. Now there’s a rest for the international fixtures, and in any case it’s a four-day week in Spain, with a national holiday on Friday.” ESPN

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo swat politics aside in breathless clásico
“The homage to Catalonia turned into a homage to Cristiano Messi and Lionel Ronaldo. They say that sport and politics should not mix but sport and politics do mix, especially when it comes to Real Madrid versus Barcelona. The myths matter, even when they are myths, and symbolism seeps through the sport. There may be no more political match on the planet and this Sunday was billed as the most political match of them all, certainly since 1975. Madrid-Barcelona, Gerard Piqué admitted this week, has come to be seen as Spain-Catalonia, even if it shouldn’t. And this time more than ever. In the end, though, it was another match that captured the imagination: Messi versus Ronaldo.” Guardian

Ronaldo, Messi net 2 as Madrid draws 2-2 at Barca
“Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dueled to an entertaining stalemate on Sunday, with both superstars scoring twice as Barcelona drew 2-2 with Real Madrid to keep an eight-point lead over its archrival intact. The result ended Barcelona’s perfect start to the league campaign as it dropped points for the first time in seven games, but provided yet another memorable chapter in the rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo, two of the biggest names in the sport.” SI

Newcastle 0-3 Manchester United: Ferguson’s diamond forces Newcastle to change shape

“Manchester United won the game primarily because of a dominant opening 15 minutes. Alan Pardew selected a 4-4-2 from the start. James Perch was at centre-back, Davide Santon on the right, and Shane Ferguson at left-back. Sir Alex Ferguson continued with the diamond he played against Cluj in midweek. Danny Welbeck replaced Javier Hernandez, while Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick came in for Anderson and Darren Fletcher. There were three phases here. First, Manchester United’s diamond dominated Newcastle’s 4-4-2. Second, Pardew switched to a 4-5-1 to compete in the centre of midfield. Third, Ferguson switched to a 4-5-1 to give protection to his full-backs.” Zonal Marking

Liverpool: What Does The Future Hold For Steven Gerrard?

“Having secured their first league win away at Norwich last weekend following a tough set of fixtures to start the season, Liverpool faced the prospect of four consecutive home games and the chance to build up some real momentum after a series of impressive performances and encouraging results; things didn’t work out as planned, though. Having somehow contrived to lose at home to Udinese in the Europa League on Thursday despite comprehensively outplaying them, the Reds laboured to a 0-0 draw against an unambitious Stoke side, who seemed more concerned about kicking the opposition from pillar to post than attempting to try and win the game.” Sabotage Times

Dynamos lose their lustre in post Cold War era

“It was supposed to be the ultimate football franchise: Eleven man armies that would prove communist superiority in the world’s most popular sport. But more than two decades after the USSR and the Eastern Block fell apart, the Dynamo movement is fading. This is the story of a football machine that rarely worked and, after ninety years of troubled existence, is still in search of its true identity.” World Soccer

Team of the Week – Match Day 7

“Another weekend of firsts in the Bundesliga. Surprise package Eintracht Frankfurt lost their first league match of the season to a Borussia Mönchengladbach side who won their first match in seven competitive games. Last year’s promoted side Augsburg meanwhile won their first match of the campaign and early strugglers Hamburg continue their upward run with back to back clean sheets for the first time since last year. This year’s promoted Fortuna Düsseldorf also lost their first match of the season in Mainz while Bayern München equalled a Bundesliga record of seven wins from their first seven matches. Here are the standout performers of matchday 7…” Bundesliga Fanatic

BATE Borisov’s road to financial success

“It’s not every week that Belarus sits as the hottest topic of conversation when it comes to European football. The former Soviet nation has struggled in its sporting development since the collapse of the communist state – despite Belarus maintaining its political ideals – and has rarely figured highly on the international stage. Neither a World Cup nor European Championship has bore witness to Belarusian talent and it seems somewhat fanciful to think that a transformation will occur during the qualification for Brazil in 2014 – which two defeats in the opening couple of fixtures attests to. However, the recent exploits of Viktor Goncharenko’s BATE Borisov side in the opening exchanges of the Champions’ League group stages points to a somewhat brighter future on the horizon.” Slavic Football Union

Toure de force, Arsenal back five

“Roberto Mancini is a man of many formations, sometimes within the space of the same game and many of them revolving around Yaya Toure. But as Manchester City kept a belated first clean sheet of the season, their manager went back to basics. As is often the case in his tactics, Toure was crucial. In both personnel and shape, City provided reminders of the 2010-11 season when Mancini was often accused of being overly defensive. This was the 4-2-3-1 approach they adopted then, but less frequently last year because of Mancini’s preference for two out-and-out forwards in attack.” ESPN

Manchester City 3:0 Sunderland
“Sunderland’s trip to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon was not very rewarding. Aleksandar Kolarov contributed a goal and an assist as Manchester City dominated the match, earning a 3-0 victory over the visiting Black Cats. The hosts made a host of changes to their lineup from their midweek draw to Borussia Dortmund. The team assumed a 4-2-3-1 shape, but with two forwards in the team. Carlos Tevez played at the front, but Mario Balotelli came in to play as an attacker cutting in from the left. Gareth Barry came back into the side playing in his familiar role as a ball winner in front of the defense.” EPL Talk

Stubborn Stoke stifle Liverpool

“Liverpool endured a frustrating afternoon at Anfield as Stoke’s renowned battlers fought their way to a goalless draw. A stalwart defensive display made it five draws in seven matches by Tony Pulis’ men, while a point will be scant consolation for Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. It could have been worse for Liverpool, who twice almost pushed the self-destruct button, but ultimately this will be viewed as another disappointment in a stop-start season.” ESPN

Early, historic returns show Spurs, Dempsey could be set for success

“It took Clint Dempsey just five games to stitch his name in to the tapestry that tells the story of Tottenham Hotspur. His first goal for the club, Tottenham’s third on Saturday and what was in the end the difference between them and Manchester United, broke a hoodoo that had lasted almost a quarter of a century. Spurs fans arrived in Manchester hoping to see something different but dreading another defeat after 23 years without a win at Old Trafford. Dempsey’s calmly side-footed effort for a 3-1 lead was greeted with delirium; even after Shinji Kagawa’s almost immediate reply put the score at 3-2 with more than half an hour to play, the traveling supporters gave in to the opiate effects of belief.” SI

How to Survive the Apocalypse

“The ships came out of the sky without warning and devastated most of our cities. Washington, D.C., is a crater; Moscow is lit with green flames. In London, packs of slavering, glistening aliens roam the streets outside the rubble of Parliament, harvesting survivors for the minerals in their bones. The future is canceled. To all appearances, humanity is doomed.” Grantland – Brian Phillips

Benfica 0-2 Barcelona: Sanchez and Fabregas exploit the space between Pereira and Jardel

“Barcelona constantly attacked into an inside-left position in their comfortable victory over Benfica. Jorge Jesus chose 4-1-4-1ish system with Nemanja Matic sitting deep in midfield and Bruno Rodrigo having most license to get forward. Oscar Cardozo wasn’t fit, so Lima started alone upfront. Tito Vilanova brought back Carles Puyol into defence, while Cesc Fabregas played in Andres Iniesta’s left-centre midfield position. That turned out to be a crucial part of Barca’s gameplan – Fabregas stormed forward to turn Barcelona’s front three into a front four and overwhelmed the Benfica defence.” Zonal Marking

Tito Vilanova sticks to just tweaking Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona plan
“From the first day, the message was clear: keep calm and carry on. On 27 April, Pep Guardiola, appeared in the press room at the Camp Nou to announce that he was leaving at the end of the season. Sat among the journalists were a handful of Barcelona players but Lionel Messi was not one of them. He later said that he just couldn’t be there: the emotion was too great. Barcelona’s most successful coach was leaving, the man who symbolised the club better than anyone else, ever.” Guardian

Porto 1-0 PSG: Porto dominate with more width

“PSG remained narrow while Porto played with plenty of width – and the home side’s two wingers were the key attacking players. Vitor Pereira chose his expected line-up in the usual 4-3-3 system. Carlo Ancelotti left out Javier Pastore, preferring Jeremy Menez and Nene. At the back he brought in Mamadou Sakho. Porto played superior football throughout the match, and although PSG had a few chances on the break, Pereira’s side were fully deserving of the three points.” Zonal Marking

Carlo Ancelotti should sharpen his tactics
“For a double European Cup winner, a title winner in two major leagues, and one of the most celebrated coaches of his era, it’s surprisingly difficult to work out whether Carlo Ancelotti has any tactical nous. Wednesday night was a great example. Ancelotti’s Paris Saint-Germain club traveled to Porto and produced a poor performance completely lacking in creativity, width or ambition. PSG lost 1-0 after a late James Rodriguez goal, but the score line could have been 3-0 or 4-0 and not flattered the Portuguese champions, who had 20 shots to PSG’s eight, six on target to PSG’s two. It was a 1-0 thrashing.” ESPN – Michael Cox

Motherland Calls – the World Cup in Russia

“The announcement of Russia’s host cities for the 2018 World Cup was hardly the big football story of the weekend. It all seems like a long way off right now – we’ve got Brazil to get through first. But, most football fans probably have an idea of what a World Cup in Brazil will look like, less so one in Russia, whose bid was tainted by the genuinely farcical scenario that will see Qatar hosting the second biggest sporting event in the world. In the desert. That, and the overwhelming stench of corruption that clings to FIFA’s bid process, but we all know about that. I’d rather focus on the allure of Russia’s World Cup.” Regista

Liverpool: Glen Johnson Proves Again That He Can’t Defend For Toffee

“The last two home games for Liverpool have seen superb performances undermined by a mix of gross incompetence from referees coupled with individual defensive errors which have ruthlessly been capitalised on by proven goalscorers, and the Reds have somehow come away from both games as the losing team, despite having dominated the majority of the play. This is nothing new for the Anfield faithful, who saw the same thing happen time and time again last season, but despite it feeling like the same old cycle, with each game that passes this team looks more and more comfortable in Brendan Rodgers’ system.” Sabotage Times

Learning from MLS: an American Soccer Weekend

“On Saturday, I was fortunate enough to take in my first Major League Soccer encounter as Portland Timbers took on DC United – the first game I have seen outside the UK since my attendance at the 1993 Champions League Final in Munich. The Oregonians are very much darlings of the footballing blogosphere, having become the subject of a wonderful podcast, Mao’s Football Show, been the subject of a cracking piece from its deviser Michael Orr in Issue Zero of the Blizzard and been subject to much praise for its fan culture in a series of posts at the excellent Pitch Invasion blog – indeed, a clutch of these appeared in Tom Dunmore’s book which we reviewed in January. But what can British football – and in particular the Football League – learn from Major League soccer? On this evidence – a lot.” thetwounfortunates

BBC Italia 90 Titles

“Deep breath…. No, it’s no good. You were going to get a snappy intro here but I was in a pool of tears and snot after about three seconds…… At the time, Italia 90 was lambasted as a poor tournament, yet hundreds, possibly thousands of us can recall every kick. Anyway, the BBC got the title sequence bang on the money. Here’s the opening and closing credits………sniff……” In Bed With Maradona

Arsenal – The Song Remains The Same

“It has been a mixed start to the season for Arsenal, as promising away performances at champions Manchester City and a rejuvenated Liverpool have been balanced against a disappointing home defeat to Chelsea. However, there is an air of quiet optimism among the fans that Arsène Wenger’s new-look side will be able to mount a challenge once the new players have fully gelled. It certainly feels better than last year when the Gunners were on the wrong end of an 8-2 thrashing by Manchester United. In fact, Arsenal recovered well after that disastrous start to finish in a creditable third position, securing qualification for the Champions League for a hugely impressive 15 seasons in a row.” Swiss Rambler

Big-spending Zenit face Milan under strain of divisions and defeats

“It’s not difficult to pinpoint where it started to go wrong for Zenit. Last season they won the league by 13 points, lifting the title for the second time in succession. Although they were beaten in the Super Cup by Rubin, they began this season with four straight wins, despite a fixture list that looked testing: there was a 3-1 triumph at CSKA and then a 5-0 demolition of Spartak. At that stage, it looked as though Zenit might cruise to a hat-trick of Russian titles.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

HH2: The Other Herrera

“An autocratic manager of South American descent, a success in Spain but enjoying his peak years at the sharp end of catenaccio-fuelled 1960s Serie A. Articles about the well documented life and times of Signor Herrera are not exactly thin on the ground, but this time Helenio takes only an unfamiliar supporting role. This is actually the story of one of his main managerial contemporaries, the unrelated Paraguayan Heriberto Herrera, or HH2 as he was to be christened by the Italian press. He was a manager who is barely known today despite a career that reads like a diluted and histrionic free version of Helenio’s. He may not have amassed the prodigious trophy haul nor the media adulation of HH, but he did joust gamely with ‘il mago’ and bloody his nose on several occasions.” In Bed With Maradona

Time to stop complaining about time?

“Sir Alex Ferguson was exceptionally grumpy on Saturday night. His Manchester United side was trying to mount a furious comeback against Tottenham and ran out of time: The referee gave four minutes of injury time, added a handful of seconds and that was that. ‘The biggest insult is the wasted time,’ Sir Alex fumed. ‘It’s an insult to the game. It’s denying you the proper chance to win a football match.'” ESPN

Carles Puyol injury mars Barcelona’s Champions League win over Benfica

“Lionel Messi set up goals for Alexis Sánchez and Cesc Fábregas in Barcelona’s 2-0 Champions League Group G victory over Benfica on Tuesday but their victory was overshadowed by a serious-looking arm injury sustained by their captain, Carles Puyol. The Catalans had Sergio Busquets dismissed two minutes from time but will be more concerned about Puyol, who landed awkwardly after leaping for a ball and was carried off on a stretcher in obvious pain on 78 minutes. The Spain international was playing his first match since recovering from a knee problem. The club said later he had dislocated his elbow.” Guardian

Inconsistent Arsenal still lacks ‘moral courage’ despite changes

“Some things never change. All season the question has been whether Arsenal had, at last, found the defensive resolve to make it a genuine threat for honors. A 2-1 loss to Chelsea on Saturday provided the answer; the same old flaws, the same old weaknesses persist. It can seem, at the highest level, as though soccer is primarily about control of midfield: dominate there, and the chances will come. But that is assuming all else is equal, and for Arsenal it rarely is.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Barcelona: Our Defence Is A Shambles That Will Be Destroyed By Madrid

August 1936 – the Spanish Civil War has begun
“Sevilla FC 2:0 FC Barcelona – Up until the 72nd minute when Cesc Fabregas leveled the game with his second goal of the night, Culés worldwide had to reconcile with the idea of being dealt the first defeat in this ongoing 2012/2013 La Liga campaign. It’s not so much the idea of losing that is pestering, it happens to be best of sides. There’s no shame in losing to Sevilla FC at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. It’s about the manner in which an almost full-strength Barcelona side engaged with the match. FC Barcelona’s defense was quite simply horrible, whereas midfield and attack only fared marginally better. In the build-up to Sevilla’s first goal of the night Dani Alves decided to play spectator while Victor Valdes followed suit.” Sabotage Times

Sevilla FC 2, FC Barcelona 3, Or, Cesc Steals The Spotlight
“Just got off the phone to my insurance agent, who was telling me that being a Barça fan might from now on be considered as a pre-existing condition. I really couldn’t find anything to say to that, not when I still have palpitations from last night… Visits to the Sánchez Pizjuan are always difficult. Even if Sevilla’s anthem doesn’t impress you (and it should!), the constant noise and pressure of the crowd are like a twelfth player on the home side, and a particularly persistent and annoying one at that. For this match, Tito chose the following starting XI: VV, Alves, Song, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Cesc, Pedro, Alexis and Messi.” The Offside (Video)

Manchester United 2-3 Tottenham: Spurs attack directly then defend deep

“An excellent first half performance put Tottenham in control, and they hung on with a fine defensive performance in the second half. Sir Alex Ferguson brought Paul Scholes back into the starting line-up and used Ryan Giggs on the left. Wayne Rooney was on the bench. Andre Villas-Boas chose Clint Dempsey ahead of Gylfi Sigurdsson, and played Jan Vertonghen at left-back with Steven Caulker coming into the centre of the pitch. Brad Fridel continued in goal. The halves were completely different – Tottenham were excellent going forward before half-time, before gradually sitting deeper and deeper in the second half.” Zonal Marking

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: both sides vulnerable down their left

“Chelsea stay at the top of the table after scoring two goals from free-kicks. Arsene Wenger went with the pace of Gervinho rather than the physicality of Olivier Giroud upfront, and continued with Aaron Ramsey on the right – although he had to shuffle into the middle after Abou Diaby’s injury. Roberto Di Matteo left out Frank Lampard and continued with the front four that failed to click against Stoke last weekend, with three versatile playmakers behind Fernando Torres. This wasn’t an inspiring game – none of the playmakers were on top form, and neither side played good football.” Zonal Marking

Can Colombian football launder its past?

“Veteran Colombian midfielder Gerardo Bedoya came up with something special for his record-breaking 41st sending off. Playing for Santa Fe in the big Bogota derby against Millonarios, first, in full view of the referee, he flattened Jhonny Ramirez with an elbow. The red card had been already brandished, but Bedoya was not finished. Before taking his leave, to his own subsequent mortification, he stuck a boot into the face of his prone opponent.” BBC – Tim Vickery

Lambert’s way to make diamond sparkle

“Diamonds are not forever, but they occur frequently in Paul Lambert’s management. The Scot is one of the most tactically flexible coaches around and played 4-2-3-1 in the Capital One Cup win at Manchester City, but he often reverts to the system he used for most of Norwich’s promotion season and at times last year: 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond.” ESPN

Matchday Two key for Manchester City to stay afloat in deep group

“No team is going to win the Champions League on Matchday Two, but it could go some way to losing it. At this stage last season, Manchester City was beaten 2-0 at Bayern Munich, a defeat that was overshadowed by the Carlos Tevez row, and the Argentine’s subsequent six months out of action.” SI