^ Aw don't apologize, the finals do get in the way and I feel the same for not responding earlier (but yay, finals are over!! hopefully yours are too).
The clasico's are usually a bit more tightly contested than this one was but thrashings are fun to watch when it is your team doing the thrashing, you know?
I'm on Higuain withdrawal so I do think him not being there made a difference. Benzema doesn't share the kind of fluidity Higuain has mastered over time with Cris, Di Maria and Ozil but then again, Xabi and Khedira were almost invisible so I can't really say Higuain alone is the difference. I would have liked to see Pedro Leon up there, though. The second leg is likely to be more tightly contested especially since RM'll be getting Kaka and Gago back from injuries.
LOL. I did not know fangirls were getting all flustered over Spain being broken up over a little scruffle. That's a bit silly. I didn't see it before but checked it out after you mentioned it. :) The children part, like you said, was so sweet. I like how he is all worried about what the little kids think of him and heh, it's not fangirl behaviour because you're way more rational =)
IMO, Portugal circa 2004-06 were really amazing to watch. I know most Portugal fans don't like to talk about the 2004 Euro final but that team should not have lost. Greek tragedy indeed. I do agree that Nani has been consistently good(the mistake not withstanding). He was also fantatsic in the game against Denmark - I don't know if you watched it but his 2 goals and the assist to CRon were good. Oh, and I thought Coentrao was doing pretty good as well (not in the game vs. Spain, per say but overall, he's been solid for Portugal).
Yup, I did see that. The first leg was so exciting. Inter were 4-0 up and just when I was about to turn it off, the momentum shifted so dramatically because Bale ended up running circles around Maicon (he honestly didn't look like he knew what was going on) and it built up - 1, 2 and 3. I was waiting for the 4, too. If only more Fergie time was added. The PL is a lot more fun this year, I agree. Along with Spurs' performance, I think Liverpool losing games they shouldn't find so hard (Newcastle beating them was awesome) and although you probably don't agree with me here, Mancs dropping points towards the end (Everton, Fulham, West Brom, Villa) by playing to draws that were fairly exciting has shaken things up. Chelsea are a bit of a mess what with a great start then poor performances.
IMO, for La Liga, if you ignore the title-race contenders altogether, then La Liga becomes more of head-to-head competition. The two dominating teams tend to overshadow that there are other teams which are frankly just as good as one another. Valencia, Atheltic Bilbao, Espanyol, Villareal (on a side note, love Nilmar. More than Neymar, I honestly think Nilmar is who Brazil's NT should be after.), and even Osasuna put up a really good performance (their recent draw 3-3 draw against Valencia was awesome to watch).
Personally though, I prefer watching Bundesliga. There isn't a lot of drama (that's Serie A :P) but the football is interesting to watch. This season, like the French Ligue, everything has been flipped on its head with leaders lagging and laggers leading. Dortmund have been in phenomenal form but the real joy to watch (in my opinion at least) have been Mainz with the kiddies like Holtby, Szalai, Schuerrle. Their win against Wolfsburg where they came from 3-0 down in the first 30 minutes to beat them 4-3 was oh, beyond words. Bayern had a difficult start (love them but I do think they should stop being so reliant on Robben or Ribery) but that's alright because Mueller loves us and Lahm + Schweinsteiger are staying. How sweet was it when he said that he renewed his contract for the fans!! or that winning the CL with Bayern would be more rewarding that doing so with RM or Inter!! Gosh, I'm going to stop before you start thinking I'm one of the tumblr fangirls >.<
Seher Hone Ko Hai
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