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14
They think its all over ...
After matchday three
provided plenty more late
drama, Paul Simpson argues
that the final 15 minutes of
UEFA Champions League
games are perhaps the most
important of all.
Football, as the cliche goes, is
a game of two halves. Yet in
the UEFA Champions League,
that is increasingly untrue. If
anything, European football
is a game of six 15-minute
intervals in which the last is
the most crucial.
Klaas-jan Huntelaar scored
first against Arsenal FC on
matchday three
Arsène Wenger once
purported the following:
“From a coaching perspective,
the key element of the UEFA
Champions League is the
last ten to 15 minutes.” On
matchday three, FC Schalke
04 proved him right – much
to his chagrin – by snatching
three points at the Arsenal
Stadium with goals from
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (76) and
Ibrahim Afellay (86).
That was not the only late
swing in the competition on
matchday three. In the last
15 minutes, FC Barcelona,
Olympiacos FC and FC
Porto all turned one point
into three with winning
goals, while Galatasaray AŞ
salvaged a draw at home
to CFR 1907 Cluj. So far this
season, 36 out of 136 UEFA
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Champions League goals
have been scored in the last
15 minutes or even in secondhalf
added time.
If UEFA Champions League
games lasted 75 minutes,
Barcelona and Porto would
have five points apiece
(instead of nine) and Real
Madrid CF would have three
(rather than six). Is this a
step change? Sceptics might
think not. After all, there has
been no shortage of decisive
goals in the last 15 minutes in
previous campaigns – Didier
Drogba’s equaliser in the
2011/12 final set Chelsea FC
on their way to victory.
jordi Alba breaks Celtic
hearts
Yet Wenger may have a point
when he suggests that teams
are increasingly keeping
their powder dry, knowing
the last 15 minutes could
prove vital. Take the final
quarter-hour – or 19 minutes
if you include stoppage
time – that broke Celtic FC
hearts at the Camp Nou. In
that period, the Blaugrana
forced three corners, missed
the target four times, were
denied by Emilio Izaguirre
and Victor Wanyama, made
two substitutions, had one
player (Adriano) booked and
scored the winner (Jordi Alba)
with virtually the last kick.
This kind of action is
increasingly the norm. It is
as if some invisible hand
is speeding up the action,
ratcheting up the pressure at
the very point when players
are physically and mentally
most vulnerable. Sides that
want to flourish in the UEFA
Champions League have
to compete in this late, late
show in which the winners so
often take it all.
Afellay y Huntelaar tumban
al Arsenal
Dos goles a falta de 15
minutos de los visitantes por
parte de la dupla holandesa
le dieron el liderato del Grupo
B a los ‘gunners’.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar e Ibrahim
Afellay marcaron en los
últimos 15 minutos para
convertir al FC Schalke 04 en
el primer equipo visitante
que vence en el estadio del
Arsenal, y superando así al
equipo inglés para ubicarse
en la cima del Grupo B.
Los locales habían vencido
en los dos primeros partidos
de esta competición y
estaban invictos en 16
encuentros Europeos en el
norte de Londres. De hecho,
la última vez que cayeron
en casa ante un equipo no
inglés fue en septiembre
del 2003. El Schalke, por su
parte, cuajó un gran partido
que a la postre le sirvió para
llevarse la victoria con un
gol de Huntelaar a falta de
14 minutos para el final. Diez
minutos más tarde, fue el
turno de Afellay para darle
a los alemanes su primera
victoria en Inglaterra en su
sexto intento.
La única vez que se habían
enfrentado fue en la
temporada 2001/02 en
la fase de grupos cuando
ambos equipos vencieron
en sus partidos en casa y
se mostraron radiantes. El
Arsenal fue el primero en
avisar tras un centro de Lukas
Podolski que fue rematado
por Gervinho, y aunque
los visitantes no perdían la
compostura, Santi Cazorla
también estuvo cerca de
anotar, pero su remate fue
enviado al córner.
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