Porto finally wrapped up their fourth consecutive league title last Sunday with a 1-0 win over Nacional.
Sporting meanwhile scored in the 90th minute against Vitoria Setúbal to seal second place and Champions League qualification.
Who’d want to be a referee? It’s like being a policeman, only worse. You spend your time telling people what to do, yet no one respects or likes you. It’s conferred authority on the scale of the school prefect or shop-steward. The actions of a former victim clutching at the straws of power.
Last week the world bore witness to a bout of utterly feckless decision making by a certain Norwegian official. But, alas, Tom Henning Obrevo, fear not; you are in esteemed company within our own fair shores. Let us take a look at the Premier League’s worst referees.
Another round of fixtures took place this midweek as the duel at the Bundesliga summit failed to become any clearer in its outcome. There remain two fixtures left to play and yet amazingly there are still five teams that could technically win the title, four of which cannot be separated by more than two points at this late stage of the season.
Bayern Munich continued to defy their recently departed manager Jurgen Klinsmann, by comfortably winning their third game in a row since his sacking at the end of April. This time around they eventually overwhelmed Bayer Lerverkusen 3-0 at home. Luca Toni scored his thirteenth league goal of the season soon after half-time, Frank Ribery then skilfully flicked the ball over Leverkusen's goalkeeper on the hour mark. Twenty minutes lingered when Lukas Podolski wrapped things up, with what is only his sixth Bundesliga strike thus far this term.
It’s two years since Chelsea last won a trophy - that’s how long it has taken the club to get over the loss of Jose Mourinho. Now, with Guus Hiddink’s aversion to the daily grind of club management, they will soon be mourning the loss of another great manager. The question of just who will fill the big Dutchman's boots this summer still remains unanswered.
The main problem for the Blues is a dearth of genuine candidates for the job. With a number of ageing players, the next manager will have to reconstruct the squad considerably over the next two to three years. Coupled with this, he will need to make serious moves towards producing the kind of attacking football Roman Abramovic has long sought.
It’s been a pretty bad week for quite a lot of characters in the world of football. Let’s laugh at their misfortune. If the Karma police come knocking, we can explain to them that the objects of our amusement earn about 100 grand a week and are therefore fair game for our collective ridicule.
Darren Fletcher will miss out on another Champions League final after getting unjustly red carded against Arsenal. He looked like the little fat boy who’s had his lunch money stolen on burger cake day, his quivering lip and misty eyes belying the stream of tears that reportedly flowed in the dressing room. You note that Fergy isn’t protesting too hard, because like last year, he probably wasn’t planning on picking him anyway, so the suspension is a convenient way of not having to inform him he’s dropped. Now all Sir needs is some kind of injury to Park Ji-Pea Roller and he’s laughing.