LONDON, Stamford Bridge – SK. After he scored a screamer against Tottenham on Sunday, The Drog turned it on against Barcelona. Drogba scrambled the only attempt on target from Chelsea past Valdez. It was enough to secure a memorable victory against Barcelona and see the Blues take a slender advantage into the return leg.
Football can be a bizarre and extra-ordinairy game. Barcelona had 72 % of possession, 24 attempts on target, hit the woodwork twice and utterly and totally dominated the entire 90 minutes. Chelsea were on the ropes with the ball permanentely in their half. Drogba rolled around on the ground as if addicted to feel the grass on his shirt. As to Chelsea’s individual performances, apart from Ashley Cole and Garry Cahill, it was a night to forget, yet only one statistic mattered: one attempt on target from Chelsea, one goal.
For all his diving, Drogba did neatly finish an excellent Chelsea counter-attack: Frank Lampard dispossessed Lionel Messi in the center of the park at the stroke of half-time and picked out Ramires, who latched onto Lampard’s exquisite, diametrical pass. The Brazilian found Drogba in the box with a low left-footed cross. The Drog pounced and sent Stamford Bridge into absolute pandemonium.
And so Fabregas pre-match words turned reality: it was an encounter between Beauty and the Beast. Chelsea had reverted to their old direct pre-AVB-era style, throwing the ball long in search of a lone target man. The Drog was the embodiment of the Chelsea Beast: very physical, shrewd and seizing the moment when needed to. The 34-year old Ivorian dug in with a spirited and steadfast showing, often surrounded by three or four Barcelona players. Chelsea managed to set free the Drog once and it proved to be sufficient.
Up till Drogba’s goal, Chelsea had soaked up tons of Catalonian pressure. After nine minutes Alex Sanchez got in behind Ivanovic and Cahill, who both got off to a wobbly start, but his lob over Cech’s grasp hit the bar. It was a warning sign for Chelsea and Barca kept coming. Iniesta’s shot was saved by Cech before Cesc Fabregas miscued the rebound from a goal scoring position. The former Arsenal star was not clinical enough when Messi played him in a few minutes later: his chip past the Chelsea goalkeeper being cleared off the line by Ashley Cole. It was all about Chelsea scrambling to the break on level terms. Until, out of nowhere, the Drog unleashed his devils and stunned FC Barcelona. Guardiola’s XI looked utterly flabbergasted.
The pattern of the game didn’t change after the interval with Barcelona enjoying all the possession and Chelsea digging in. Cech was heroic in goal throughout. Busy as ever, he flew to his left to save Adriano’s 20 meter curler. Fabregas picked out Sanchez, who slotted the chance wide under pressure from the relentless Cole. FC Barcelona pilled on the pressure and came closest to equalizing in the dying minutes of the game. With four minutes left Puyol’s header was brilliantly saved by Petr Cech. Pedro saw his shot cannon off the post and Busquets ballooned the rebound high over the bar. The final whistle from German referee Felix Brych, cool, calm and collected and throughout the game, brought salvation to Chelsea.
Di Matteo stood on the sideline with a small grin, the Chelsea fans celebrated and applauded the epic efforts from their players, but the mood was rather muted from both manager and supporters in recognition of the mammoth task that awaits Chelsea next Tuesday in Catalonia. More heroics will be required from the Blues then, when Barcelona will try and exploit the width offered by the Nou Camp pitch. A repeat of tonight’s performance with grit and defiance, unwilling to yield, and nothing could be beyond this Chelsea team. The Nou Camp may as well change into the Blue Camp. But for now though, the night belongs to the Drog: Europe salutes him!
Clash of the giants: Chelsea v Barcelona
Wednesday April 18 2012 has been bookmarked in many Blues fans’ diaries for a while: Chelsea FC host FC Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The questions on everyone’ lips is: can Chelsea beat the defending Champions? The London outfit will need to be armed with a more potent weapon than grievance if they are to beat a vastly superior Barcelona.
And so Di Matteo and Pep Guardiola meet again: at the turn of the century Di Matteo and Guardiola represented both clubs as players as Barcelona and Chelsea were paired together in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Ten goals were dished up between them in two spectacular games with the Catalans, coached by Louis Van Gaal, progressing 6-4 on aggregrate.
The recent history between the clubs is rich, but turbulent. Chelsea can’t forget the injustice of May 2009 when Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo rejected a series of penalty claims. Michael Essien’s goal had taken Chelsea to the edge of the Champions League final to be played in Rome, until Iniesta scored a spetacular goal with seconds left to seal Chelsea’s fate. Barcelona progressed on the away-goals-rule and Guus Hiddink and his team felt hard done by. Stamford Bridge still feels hurt: revenge is on the mind of every Chelsea faithful.
But grievance alone will not be enough to contain and tackle Barcelona. The Catalonian giants have won the Champions League twice since 2009 and have the best player on the planet in their ranks. The legion of admirers for Guardiola and his tiki-taka-team is ever growing. Barcelona’s free-flowing, and at times mind-blowing, play saw them cruise past AC Milan in the quarter-finals. Messi and co simply deliver mesmerizing football.
That must be worrying for Di Matteo, but the caretaker coach of Chelsea has proved his mettle with eight wins out of nine in the Premier League and Sunday’s rampant victory over London rivals Tottenham in the FA Cup. Appointed as interim head coach on March 4 Di Matteo has been prepared to take though decisions: he dropped Lampard in the first leg of the quarter-finals against Benfica, which paid off handsomely with 1-0 win. The media credited Di Matteo with having produced a masterclass of team selection. Remember how Villas-Boas was massacred in the press for leaving Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard on the bench when Napoli defeated Chelsea 3-1 in the second round of the Champions League.
Another masterclass in team selection is required from Di Matteo when his team take the field on Wednesday. It will be intriguing to see how the Italian sets up his XI. Di Matteo relishes the chance to play Barcelona and is genuinely excited at the prospect. Moreover, he said: “ Barcelona do have weaknesses, you just need to exploit them.” He didn’t elaborate on what those weaknesses precisely are, but Barcelona’s vulnerabilities are not difficult to pinpoint: Gerard Pique at centre-back has looked a bit peaky this season. Pressure on the inconsistent Piqué may lead to openings for Chelsea. Left-back is another troublesome position for Barcelona: with Eric Abidal having had a liver transplant last week, Adriano, the versatile Brazilian, can fill in. Alternatively, Carlos Puyol can move across from centre-back, which would leave Javier Mascherano exposed in the air. The fragile Barcelona backline might be good prey for Fernando Torres, accustomed with getting behind Barcelona’s high defensive line from his time at Atletico Madrid.
Or will Di Matteo go for the brawn of Didier Drogba? Whatever way the interim coach will deploy his men on Wednesday – the inclusion or exclusion of Frank Lampard being another absorbing subplot – it will be key to produce a disciplined effort and not focus solely on Lionel Messi. Di Matteo recognizes this: “It is not about containing one player. Barcelona have a lot of players that can hurt us. We have to operate as a team to prevent danger.”
The 42 year-old Swiss born Italian admits to having watched Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona at the Emirates 14 months ago in the round of 16. Wenger’s team soaked up huge amounts of Catalonian pressure before scoring late break-away goals, with André Arshavin sending the Arsenal crowd into pandemonium. It is a fine recipe for success against Guardiola and his artists and Di Matteo will thus be tempted to use the pace of Ramires, Meireles and Kalou. It will without doubt be a difficult balancing act for Di Matteo.
Chelsea, a club in decline since that infamous game against Barcelona in 2009, will consider this test as a significant marker of its progress. Victory on Wednesday, but crucially over two legs, would be a testimony of Di Matteo as a dynamic coach, pointing a derailed squad in the right direction. It may encourage Abramovich to rethink his strategy to hire short-term mercenaries, who have to bring Champions League glory but ultimately fail to deliver. What is more, the decisions of referee Ovrebo and Iniesta’s goal will at last have been avenged.
verse electronica
uw wekelijkse portie vrije tunes met heel wat electronica, eurodisco, dubstep en aanverwante: [nws217] netwaves 6.25: fresh electronics
info & playlist: http://www.archive.org/details/nws217
download compilatie: http://www.archive.org/download/nws217/nws217_vbr_mp3.zip
podcast (dutch): http://www.archive.org/download/nws217/nws217.mp3
all podcasts in iTunes
De lekkerste radio in de Wereld – Spoetnik
Het is crisis. Slecht nieuws en miserie alom. Maar wat blijkt nu? Dit brengt ons allemaal terug tot de keuken van toen, die van onze grootmoeder. VUB – Onderzoekster Anneke Geyzen nam de recepten van vroeger en nu onder de loep. Ze kwam tot de constatatie dat de EURO crisis ons terug naar gastronomische roots brengt. Spoetnik zocht haar op en vroeg haar om meer uitleg…Luister hier.
De Indis
che Oceaan, gekend voor haar witte stranden, kokosnoten en verlaten eilandjes, zit in moeilijke wateren. De regio wordt geteisterd door piraterij. Afrikakenner en avonturier Luc verteld ons over hoe piraterij het leven van de mensen daar beïnvloedt. Luister hier.
Texaan en wereldburger Don Emery Smith zong speciaal voor Spoetnik een liefdesliedje. Valentijn behoort alweer tot het verleden, maar bij spoetnik luidt het altijd “All you needs is love”. Don haalde zijn gitaar uit in de bossen van Lynden. In een bos vlakbij de grens met Canada. Luister hier.
Vrijkaarten Michael Gira en Mark Stewart
Volgende week zijn met Michael Gira en Mark Stewart twee heren met een onmetelijke invloed op rockmuziek in het land. Deze week al maak je tijdens Sterrenplaten kans op vrijkaarten voor beide concerten.
Michael Gira verlegde met Swans vanaf begin jaren 80 de grenzen van no wave en noise en was hij een inspiratiebron voor onder meer Neurosis, Godspeed You! Black Emperor en Sunn O))). In 1997 ontbond hij het New Yorkse collectief om ruimte te maken voor het Young God label en zijn nieuwe groep, Angels Of Light, dat al snel aanhang kende bij de toen bloeiende new weird folk scene.
In 2010 echter reanimeerde Gira Swans met succes: 'My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky' werd een van de albums van het jaar en momenteel is het reikhalzend uitkijken naar de nieuweling 'The Seer'. Op woensdag 11 april staat Gira helemaal alleen op het podium in de Kreun te Kortrijk. Minder hard maar even intensief. Met de vrije kaartjes raak je overigens ook binnen op het Kreun-concert van Scott Kelly (Neurosis, Shrinebuilder) twee weken later.
Mark Stewart is de grondlegger van The Pop Group, de Britse post punkband die eind jaren zeventig vanaf het debuut 'Y' punk, dub, freejazz en surrealisme wist te versmelten alsof ze nooit afzonderlijk hadden bestaan. Dat er tot op vandaag continue onrust in de geest van Stewart heerst zal je kunnen beleven tijdens de voorstelling van 's mans nieuwe album 'The Politics of Envy' op zaterdag 14 april in de Vooruit (Gent). Om het 30 jarig bestaan van Democrazy te vieren mag Sterrenplaten ook hiervoor ticketjes weggeven. En minstens even belangrijk: Ons eigenste Mosquito verzorgt het voorprogramma (!).
Pingwing special!
Vrijdag 6 april: Pingwing!
De vorige editie met I-F was TOP! Om zo'n headliner te evenaren, is als organisator niet evident. Maar met de keuze van Bottin zal dat geen enkel probleem zijn op Pingwing IV Maccaroni Radio.
Bottin is dezer dagen omnipresent: hij wordt wereldwijd gevraagd voor zijn (italo/nu) discosets, brengt platen op labels als Italians Do It Better en Eskimo, en -wiezoektdievindt- zijn edits zijn top notch!
De line-up wordt vervolledigd door Spacid, Lorin, Ferre en Steven.
Woensdag 4 april geven we tickets weg in Mind Warp en het spreekt voor zicht dat heel de uitzending in het teken van Pingwing zal staan: verwacht je aan italo disco, edits & tracks van Bottin, Disco Devil / Rubber Room (ah ja, want dat is die Ferre van op de line-up 😉 ) …
Zeker luisteren, want we geven ook enkele ticketjes weg.
EXTRA EXTRA!
we geven niet alleen tickets weg, maar ook vinylexemplaartjes van:
Bottin – Discocracy
Bottin – Discocracy Revisited
Bottin & Rodion – Galli / Piazza Venezia
thanks Eskimo 🙂
21u00, tune in!
Woensdag 4 april trekken we na de uitzending naar de AperO waar Kong & Gratts onze gasten zijn.
Rsvp:
http://www.facebook.com/events/261847173908291/
Luister hier naar de houseselectie van Kong & Gratts voor 22tracks!
Just Kids – Patti Smith
De 'Godmother of Punk' Patti Smith kondigde gisteren een nieuw album aan en releaste een single. Maar, mensen die Just Kids lazen, weten dat ze begon als dichter en tekenaar. Ze schreef het boek na een belofte aan haar eerste levenspartner Robert Mapplethorpe, die dan ook de hoofdrol in het boek speelt. Dit vraagt om een uitzending met wat harder gitaarwerk me dunkt! Nu woensdag dus, om 19u.
Het artwork deze week is van Max De Moor! Een jongeman met een passie voor pen en papier – net als Patti zelf. Meer van hem vind je op zijn deviantart.
De Geluidsarchitect: nieuwe uitzending online!
Beluister hier de laatste uitzending (27 maart 2012)
Flying Horseman – Back where I Started (Twist)
Glorie – Looking through the Mirror (Glorie)
Manngold – IND
The Samuel Jackson Five – Race to the Self-Destruct Button (The Samuel Jackon Five)
Sweek – Things Are Bigger then They Appear (The Shooting Star’s Sigh)
Kasan – The Battling Eels of Antibes (Drown)
Peter Kernel – The Peaceful (White Death Black Heart)
White Hills – Pads of Light (Frying on This Rock)
Helmet – In the Meantime (Meantime)
Unsane – No Chance (Wreck)
Karl Hector – Soul Sauvage D’Afrique
Het collectief dat onderandere POETS OF RYTHM, WHITEFIELD BROTHERS & KARL HECTOR & THE MALCOUNS
omvat bracht deze week een album uit waarop ze een serie zeldzame funk, jazz, soul & world-psych singles bundelden.
Deze ORIGINAL RAW SOUL III, uit op NOW AGAIN RECORDS, vieren we met een exclusieve afrofunk mix van de grote
KARL HECTOR himself!
En als je dacht dat zijn THE JAZZ MODAL DU MONDE mix van vorig jaar de beste PARIS DJS PODCAST was
(het was één van de 5 meest gedownloade PARIS DJ mixes van 2011), ben je vanavond het slachtoffer van nog
zo'n legendarisch uur muziek!
Geniet samen met ons van KARL HECTOR's SOUL SOUVAGE D'AFRIQUE mix!