Wednesday, 8th May
It's the morning after the night before and I'm still buzzing!
The amazing performance by Liverpool against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final still has me excited - and I'm a lifelong Leeds United fan. To overturn the three goal deficit from the first leg was highly improbable, especially given Mo Salah & Roberto Firmino were both unfit to play.
Maybe, I shouldn't have been surprised as Barcelona are quite suspect defensively and Liverpool did waste some excellent opportunities in the Nou Camp. In hindsight, the turning point of the tie probably came in the 1st leg when Messi set up Dembele with a glorious chance to put Barca 4-0 ahead as the game was in stoppage time. He missed it - and Messi knew that it might come back to haunt them.
Still, it was an awesome task that faced Liverpool, as they knew that if they conceded just one more goal they would have to score five . Huge credit must go to Jurgen Klopp for preparing and motivating his team to outplay Barcelona for most of the 90 minutes. There were a couple of hairy moments in the first half but overall they contained the threat of Messi, while Suarez & Coutinho failed to make any impact on their return to Anfield.
It's hard to single out any Liverpool player as it was such a great team performance, but I suppose special mention should go to Trent Alexander-Arnold for his intelligence in setting up the winning goal. His quick thinking to spot a weakness in the Barca defence and the accuracy of his pass to Origi won the game for Liverpool.
The spine tingling celebration after the game was what reminds me of why I love football so much.
How fitting it will be if Liverpool can go on and win the Champions League - they certainly deserve some silverware for the fantastic football they have served up this season.
Wednesday 8 May 2019
Thursday 30 March 2017
At times like these
Greetings from Dublin, Ireland!
For some time I've been thinking of writing a regular blog to reflect on my life and times here in Ireland as we race along through the 21st century - so here goes!
My keen interests are sporting - especially football (or soccer as it's called in some parts)
Politics - both local and International
Aviation - anything man-made that flies!
And there's plenty of other issues that will no doubt lead me to waffle on .........
It looks like I've picked a good time to start as we are going through such turbulent times and in future blogs I hope to share my views on some of the following issues:-
The National Bus drivers strike - and the complete lack of a national strategy for transport
The ongoing Garda (police) scandal here in Ireland
The recent death of Martin McGuinness and the consequences for the Peace Process in N.Ireland
Brexit - the UK's crazy decision to leave the EU.
Terrorism - hit the streets of London last week - why?
President Trump - love him or hate him - he's hard to ignore.
President Putin - not much to like here - and we do ignore him at our peril.
However, today my thoughts go to the family of the five people who died yesterday when their helicopter crashed in the Welsh Mountains while en route to Weston Airport, Dublin.
Sadly, the news of this disaster comes on the same day that Captain Mark Duffy of the Irish Coast Guard is laid to rest following the recent crash of Rescue 116 in Co.Mayo with the loss of all four crew members.
Hopefully, in future I'll be able to write about better days.
Slán,
Gerry
For some time I've been thinking of writing a regular blog to reflect on my life and times here in Ireland as we race along through the 21st century - so here goes!
My keen interests are sporting - especially football (or soccer as it's called in some parts)
Politics - both local and International
Aviation - anything man-made that flies!
And there's plenty of other issues that will no doubt lead me to waffle on .........
It looks like I've picked a good time to start as we are going through such turbulent times and in future blogs I hope to share my views on some of the following issues:-
The National Bus drivers strike - and the complete lack of a national strategy for transport
The ongoing Garda (police) scandal here in Ireland
The recent death of Martin McGuinness and the consequences for the Peace Process in N.Ireland
Brexit - the UK's crazy decision to leave the EU.
Terrorism - hit the streets of London last week - why?
President Trump - love him or hate him - he's hard to ignore.
President Putin - not much to like here - and we do ignore him at our peril.
However, today my thoughts go to the family of the five people who died yesterday when their helicopter crashed in the Welsh Mountains while en route to Weston Airport, Dublin.
Sadly, the news of this disaster comes on the same day that Captain Mark Duffy of the Irish Coast Guard is laid to rest following the recent crash of Rescue 116 in Co.Mayo with the loss of all four crew members.
Hopefully, in future I'll be able to write about better days.
Slán,
Gerry
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