After a highly successful second week our Spot the Ball competition returns for more of your wild guesses.
Last week’s winner was…nobody, because none of you halfwits guessed square J3.
Pep Guardiola's Barcelona manage to trump Liverpool’s 5-0 trouncing with a 6-0 victory of their own, whilst Juande Ramos gets the right foot but perhaps the wrong man?
Real Madrid were hoping to pile the pressure on Barcelona with a home win against Almeria that would take them, temporarily at least, to within 3 points of the league leaders.
A top Klaas Jan Huntelaar helped them do just that with yet another brace. The Dutch striker, a January arrival at the Bernabeu, has really made the lead striker role his own with some superb form of late. In fact his 8 goals in the last 6 games have left many Madrileños wondering if perhaps Ramos got it wrong by sacrificing Huntelaar instead of Diarra in their recent ill fated Champions League campaign.
When can a chest be mistaken for a hand?
a) In the midst of a steamy Kama Sutra led romp?
or
b) In the 73rd minute of a cup final between Sporting and Benfica?
I’ll grant you that a) is an outside possibility, but the answer last night turned out to be b) as Sporting were not just robbed but completely humiliated by yet another atrocious decision by a Portuguese referee.
Football is often about momentum. In the wake of the Raf-Rant episode, the title race impetus seemed to be behind Man Utd. Sycophantic pundits (that Ferguson tea-bagger, ‘Mr. That night in Barcelona’ Clive Tyldesley being at the forefront) were unabashedly drooling over a sequence of Man Utd victories that saw them not concede for 13 games and attaching grating little monikers such as ‘the untouchables’ to the team.
However, it would appear that the proverbial worm has turned and Liverpool now have the momentum. After inflicting a heavy defeat upon United in their own ‘theatre of pomposity’ back yard, Benitez has signed a new contract, everyone’s talking about spending spree’s & new stadiums again, and you get the sense that there is a real ‘feel good’ atmosphere growing at Anfield.
The holding midfielder is the darling of the modern game - the thinking man’s player of choice. Those ‘in the know’ will tell you that their intelligence, work rate and ability to read the game underpin any great side.
They will have you believe that Liverpool’s rejuvenation is thanks to Javier Mascherano, Arsenal’s poor form this season can be traced back to the departure of Mattieu Flamini, and Chelsea’s two league titles were down to the Godfather of the little blighters, Claude Makelele.
Don’t believe the hype. The anchorman exists to ruffle some feathers and make a nuisance of themselves. They are the game’s least cultured player.