First stop is our laid back, Mediterranean and sometimes ever so slightly racist friends Spain. What has been quite a captivating La Liga season ended as expected with Barcelona being crowned Champions for the second year in a row.
A comprehensive 4-0 win in front of a packed Camp Nou was enough to seal Pep Guardiola's second League title in two years. They may have failed to defend their Champions League and Copa Del Rey trophies but pipping a Real Madrid team, who spent ridiculous amounts of money to acquire the best players in the world to end Barcas dominace of the Spanish game, will be cause for great celebration in the Basque region. Highlights can be found HERE
Meanwhile, we stay in Spain as Sevilla qualified for the Champions with a stunning 3-2 victory away at Almeria. Sevilla needed a win and with the scores tied at 2-2, Alvaro Negredo decided that he would make their task even harder by getting himself sent off. The game looked to be ending in a draw until 19 year old Rodri scored a stunning winner in the 93rd minute. Highlights can be seen HERE
From Spain we head to England and take a look at the Football League Playoffs. In League One, Swindon saw off Charlton on penalties to book themselves a place in the League One playoff final. They await the winners of Millwall vs Huddersfield who play their second leg tonight, after a 0-0 draw at Huddersfield in the first leg. In the Championship, Ian Holloway has taken his Blackpool side to the Finals to face Cardiff city. The playoffs have created some great games and some big scorelines. Should be a cracker of a game this saturday.
The big boys, a given that is the last time Portsmouth will be described as such, battled it out at the FA Cup Final. Chelsea and Portsmouth. The Rich vs the Poor. The champions versus the relegated. It ended how many imagined, with John Terry lifting the cup. What no one saw though was a 0-0 halftime scoreline and then Portsmouth getting the opportunity to create the greatest sports story in the world.
A pompey penalty and suddenly Kevin Prince Boateng was 12 yards away from giving Pompey the biggest lifeline in their history. It is amazing what a penalty can do to a player. Once he hit it, it had no chance of going in. Cech had time to dive both ways and still save it. I felt sorry for Boateng at the end but that is the difference between top quality and the also rans. KPB misses from 12 yards out and within 157 seconds, Didier Drogba strikes one from 30 yards out. Two David Jame's wouldn't have got to it. It was inch perfect. Lampard also missed from the penalty spot in the final moments but that was due more to complacency than lack of skill. The fact that he was perfection personified throughout the game, i think we will let him off. Congratulations Chelsea. A just English Double.
From Wembley we head to the States and specifically the NBA. The Playoffs have come down to the Conference Finals with the Boston Celtics matching up against the Orlando Magic and the LA Lakers facing the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics and Magic got the Finals off and running with Game 1 in Orlando. Doc Rivers and the Celtics came away with a Game 1 win after Orlando played three dreadful quarters of basketball.
Dwight Howard, their main go to guy and one of the best players in the League couldnt get it going. Perkins and Wallace, most notably the latter, of the Celtics owned Howard by getting in his face and under his skin. The Celtics were physical and clinical. Only a late 4th quarter surge from the Magic gave them a chance but in the end, their effort in the first 3 quarters had left them too much of a mountain to climb. I am sure it will be a different story in game 2.Meanwhile the Lakers took a 1-0 series lead as they defeated the Suns in Los Angeles. And who came up big? Kobe Bryant. Who else? A 40 pioint game for Bryant proved that he still gets it done when needed. Old age? What old age? The critics will keep suggesting he is slowing down and that he cant bail a team out like he used to. I am still waiting to see that....
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