It´s Milan

AC Milan won the Champions League for the 7th time in their history by defeating Liverpool FC 2-1 in Athens, Greece on Wednesday night. For the Rossoneri it was sweet revenge for the painful loss they suffered in the final two years ago when the Reds cameback from a 3-0 deficit to defeat them on penalties in Istanbul. It was a tightly contested battle with Liverpool failing to capitalize on the best chances of the night. Pippo Inzaghi score both goals for Milan, one on a deflection off a free kick from Pirlo, the other off a beautiful pass from Kaka which allowed him to slip through the defense and nudge it under the charging goalie Reina.

Congrats to Eastern Influence who led the pool from wire to wire. There´s no denying the man knows his soccer.

Congrats also to Nutmeg who eaked out the 2nd place showing in the final round. The Italians have been very good to him this year.

I´ll be away from the computer for the next week or so travelling to Barcelona and the Camp Nou with Lizzie. Will sort out the details and post the final standings when we return to California in June.

Saludos!

Championship: AC Milan v. Liverpool FC

¡¡Amunt Valencia!!

¡Hola chicos y chicas! Here are a few pics from last Sunday´s match between Valencia CF and Real Zaragoza at the Mestalla. It was a festive night where 4th place Valencia beat 5th place Zaragoza 2-0 and virtually assured themselves a spot in next year´s Champions League with only 4 matches left to play. Pictured above are my new colleagues/amigos from France, Spain, and LA, CA. Nos hemos mucho divertido.

Round 3: Pool Standings

1. Eastern Influence 32

2. Team Auckland 28

3. Nutmeg 24

4. KC Barstow 20
FC EffSee
Real Marin

5. Team Lee 18

6. Team Carpenter 16

7. AC Emilia 14

8. Perfect Pitch 8

Unlike Round 2 no pool team managed to sweep in Round 3. To the surprise of many, Manchester United and Chelsea, the top two teams in the English Premiership and upcoming finalists in England´s FA Cup, were eliminated by AC Milan and Liverpool respectively. With correct picks worth 6 points there was a slight change in the pool leadership as Team Auckland nutmegs Nutmeg (who scored zero this round) to grab hold of the second place spot. Along with Man U and Chelsea´s exits went the last of the potential 5 points from the orignal bonus pick to win it all, ie. no one picked Milan or Liverpool. Thus everyone is on equal footing to score a total of 8 points from the championship game on Wednesday, May 23rd. Be on the lookout to post your pick for the last game. Check your local listing for the game broadcast (prob. one of the ESPN´s for those in the US). For those of us who are mathematically eliminated from first or second place this pick is simply one for pride.

Round 3: Leg 2, Day 1 & 2

Hola from Valencia, Spain. I´ve just arrived a day and a half ago for a spur of the moment work gig for the next five weeks. Apologies for not posting match summaries for these last two games but I was in transit and settling in... though I did catch last night´s match at an outdoor cafe near my flat. Wow. Chelsea and ManU are out. Liverpool and Milan advance. Who´da guessed it. No one from the pool, that´s for sure. I´ll try to calculate point totals later this week. For the record:

Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (agg: 1-1, Liverpool won it on penalties)... once again Anfield proves to be inpenetrable.

Milan 3-0 Manchester United (agg: 5-3, Milan advances)... United´s defensive injuries finally caught up with them.

So it´s a matchup of perennial European power houses with 5 time champs Liverpool facing 6 time champs AC Milan in the final, Tuesday the 23rd of May. Be on the lookout to post your pick.