The inspirational leader converted into a
midfield role to take care of Atletico and has stepped up once again in
Europe when his team really needed him
By Paul Macdonald
Real Madrid qualified for their fifth Champions League semi-final in succession after a gruelling, steadfast performance against an Atletico Madrid team that refused to die.
It's widely accepted that the result offered a stay of execution for Carlo Ancelotti, but for all the talk of the role of the coach it was Sergio Ramos who stepped up to drag this side through to the last four, whether they liked it or not.
There should be no remaining doubt - Ramos is not only a fantastic defender, but also a superb footballer and a leader of men. At the age of 29 he has achieved everything in football twice over and were it not for Spain's underperformance at the World Cup in Brazil he would have been in consideration for the Ballon d'Or.
On Wednesday, against an Atleti team characteristically confident and abrasive in equal measure, he slotted into central midfield and gave as good as he got. He made more passes than anyone, was fouled more than anyone and consequently dished out more fouls than anyone. He was a force of nature and that's exactly what Madrid required to break their barren run of seven games without a win against a side that felt they had the measure of them.
Too often the negatives are highlighted with Ramos; his dubious disciplinary record and his penchant for play-acting (as witnessed in the Arda Turan dismissal) are flaws, no question. But every Madridista inside the Santiago Bernabeu and beyond was with him in every surge, slide and shout as he took the game to Atleti and stood up to their aggression head on.
Chicharito forced the ball over the line and Cristiano Ronaldo laid it on a plate for him. But the platform for victory came from Ramos, just as it had in the semis and final last season. He is Madrid's true talisman in this competition and he will excrete every ounce of sweat to take La Decima a single digit further.
Real Madrid qualified for their fifth Champions League semi-final in succession after a gruelling, steadfast performance against an Atletico Madrid team that refused to die.
It's widely accepted that the result offered a stay of execution for Carlo Ancelotti, but for all the talk of the role of the coach it was Sergio Ramos who stepped up to drag this side through to the last four, whether they liked it or not.
There should be no remaining doubt - Ramos is not only a fantastic defender, but also a superb footballer and a leader of men. At the age of 29 he has achieved everything in football twice over and were it not for Spain's underperformance at the World Cup in Brazil he would have been in consideration for the Ballon d'Or.
On Wednesday, against an Atleti team characteristically confident and abrasive in equal measure, he slotted into central midfield and gave as good as he got. He made more passes than anyone, was fouled more than anyone and consequently dished out more fouls than anyone. He was a force of nature and that's exactly what Madrid required to break their barren run of seven games without a win against a side that felt they had the measure of them.
Too often the negatives are highlighted with Ramos; his dubious disciplinary record and his penchant for play-acting (as witnessed in the Arda Turan dismissal) are flaws, no question. But every Madridista inside the Santiago Bernabeu and beyond was with him in every surge, slide and shout as he took the game to Atleti and stood up to their aggression head on.
Chicharito forced the ball over the line and Cristiano Ronaldo laid it on a plate for him. But the platform for victory came from Ramos, just as it had in the semis and final last season. He is Madrid's true talisman in this competition and he will excrete every ounce of sweat to take La Decima a single digit further.
| Pep Guardiola is controlling - so what? |
It seems as if there is a significant majority waiting for the moment when they can throw stones at the man who has been ordained as modern football's pre-eminent thinker. Pep Guardiola has many converts in his congregation but the riposte from those desperate to watch him fail has led to, as he openly admits, 'his most difficult spell' since arriving at Bayern in 2013.
While curious chatter played out behind the scenes after club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller Wohlfahrt's very public walkout, his injury-ravaged team got to business and destroyed Porto in a devastating opening salvo, ultimately winning 6-1 on the night. Suddenly, from a position of crisis, Bayern are safely into the last four and can clinch the Bundesliga title this weekend.
Still, respected figures at Bayern seem a little unsure of attaching themselves to Pep. Club legend Stefan Effenberg stated this week that giving the former Barca boss 'too much power' would be 'dangerous for the future of Bayern.'
It's important, then, to ask why they acquired him in the first place. Guardiola revolutionised Barca, removing troublesome elements such as Ronaldinho and Deco, while building a team around his La Masia graduates and detailing a very specific style of play.
He has done precisely the same at Bayern, with the difference being that while Barca required total re-assessment after the non-compliant end to Frank Rijkaard's reign, Bayern had just clinched the treble. But of course Guardiola was going to demand things his way; every great manager is very specific in the detail, from Sir Alex Ferguson ensuring Old Trafford was an uncomfortable experience for journalists, to Jose Mourinho's obsessive-compulsive dossiers on opposition teams, players and managers.
Pep craves ultimate control and his record suggests that everyone else should shut up and let him get on with it. Six seasons in management, six Champions League semi-finals. The aberration against Madrid last season weighs heavily on his mind. He will not forget it and will not allow it to happen again. Quite simply Pep is the man best equipped to return the title to Bavaria for the sixth time. If he is difficult, if he is imposing, as long as he is successful, what does it matter?
| PSG may be forced to sack a treble-winner in Blanc |
Two years on from their last meeting at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, Barcelona got the better of Paris-Saint Germain once again. But the manner of the exits suggest that the French side aren't closing the gap on the elite - on the contrary, it's widening.
In 2013 PSG showed fight, desire and, above all, quality to bounce back from Xavi's late penalty in the first leg and equalise through Blaise Matuidi in injury time. In the second leg, with Lionel Messi carrying a knock, few impartial observers could dispute that PSG were the better side and were only undone by the away goals rule.
They matched Barcelona in every area of the pitch and that's in stark contrast to the imparity of their ignominious exit on Tuesday. Barca could afford the luxury of Messi underperforming across the tie and allow Luis Suarez and Neymar to take centre stage. The latter struck three times while Suarez's two goals in the first clash simply solidified the gulf in class.
The PSG hierarchy, like so many major clubs, define the success of their team and coach by their Champions League performances and in that respect many believe Laurent Blanc will be clearing out his desk in the summer. The fact he could potentially do so as a treble winner is a stark indication of the significance placed in certain territories on domestic achievement.
The Coupe de la Ligue has been claimed, while they are in pole position in Ligue 1 and have the Coupe de France final versus Auxerre in May. But Blanc's ability and tactical acumen isn't judged where trophies are a given and, similar to Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City, a glass ceiling has been reached in Europe.
Every team can set themselves a target of 'Champions League glory or bust', but all it means is that more owners are disappointed and more coaches are judged purely on a knockout competition. Is Blanc the man to take PSG forward? Probably not, but that decision will have been based on the outcome of this tie - and that has to be more than a little unfair.
| Conte will be envious of Juve's luck of the draw |
It's refreshing to see Juventus, and Italian football, represented this deep into the Champions League for the first time since Inter in 2010. But there's no doubt that Antonio Conte will analyse his former team's route to this stage and wonder if the luck of the draw might have denied him a more memorable legacy in Turin.
Eyebrows were raised when Massimiliano Allegri was the man chosen to replace Conte, who had made Juve virtually unbeatable domestically. Allegri, meanwhile, had been relieved of his duties at Milan a few months earlier and enthusiasm was moderate that this would prove to be a step forward for a team in need of invigoration.
But where Conte failed, Allegri has succeeded and his team joins Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in Friday's draw - a position where some may argue that Juve truly belong. Yet Conte must wonder.
Perennially criticised as being too good for Serie A but not astute enough for Europe, Conte must be cursing Gianni Infantino's bowls and balls as he looks on from his post as Italy coach. He took a team that finished 24 points behind Milan in 2010-11 and overhauled them. He had two attempts at the Champions League - one resulted in an exit to the eventual winners, Bayern, while the other was in farcical circumstances against Galatasaray in the group stages.
There's no doubt that the draw has fallen for Allegri and his team; an attractive section that proved easily negotiable, a tie against a Borussia Dortmund side on the verge of implosion and a Monaco outfit incredibly fortunate to even be among such company.
It's true that the matches still need to be won and, thanks to Carlos Tevez in particular, Allegri has piloted Juve through treacherous moments. Still, it's the team that Antonio built - he would be forgiven for considering what might have been.
| The era of the 'Big Three' shows no sign of ending |
Italian football had its day in the sun in the mid-1990s, while Spain dominated as the millennium came and went, then it was the turn of English sides to take control of the competition from 2005 until 2009. Since then an altogether stronger faction has created a hegemony in the Champions League, one that, judging on this week's results, will be monumentally difficult to interrupt.
You need to go back to the 2008-09 campaign to find only one of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals line-up. In 09-10, 10-11 and 13-14 two of the four slots were taken by a combination of these three giants, while in 11-12, 12-13 and 14-15 all three successfully negotiated a path to the tournament's final four.
While the Champions League is still regarded as a tough competition to win by virtue of no side ever retaining the title since its rebranding in 1992, now, perhaps more than ever, the shortlist of probable winners is, well, shorter. The three wealthiest teams from Deloitte's Money League (Manchester United of course did not feature this year) have been represented in the final in each of the last six years, winning four times. We are guaranteed another, perhaps two, in this year's final.
The 'Big Three' are in danger of stretching inexorably clear of the rest and transforming what was once an intriguing, unpredictable tournament into a procession to this stage each and every season. This year only Bayern even flirted with the prospect of an early exit and Porto bore the brunt of their emphatic response.
And perhaps the most worrying aspect is that it will take self-destruction behind the scenes of these three behemoths to alter what now seems like the status quo. They are capable of it - no question - but would it be more than just a bump in the road on the way back to the top? Will Real Madrid ever again crash out at the Round of 16 stage in six consecutive seasons as they did from 2004 until 2010? It appears wholly unlikely. Uefa want their biggest and best to compete at the business end of the competition - but a little excitement along the way would be nice, too.
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