Other than both sets of supporters acting out in increasingly more dramatic shows of victory and defeat after the final whistle, the night’s best performances probably belong to Juan Mata and the progressively more “rugged” Fernando Torres. With Mata finally able to create from more entry passes received in the second half and Torres able to use physical play to prolong possession in the final third (and ultimately score), Torres and the Mata-dor managed to do just enough offensively to unlock Benfica’s defense.

Torres’ matchup with Luisao in particular, at the heart of Benfica’s backline, has to be encouraging for those hoping Fernando has made the needed adjustments to his “life in the slow lane” forward’s existence. Since he came to Chelsea, and more importantly since he sustained those career redefining injuries with Liverpool, we have only seen his more brutish target man persona come out in spurts, almost like he’s expecting that glide past defenders speed to return at any moment. Tonight, however, Fernando didn’t make that mistake. 

When Juan Mata played Torres that flick-on in the 61^st minute of the Europa final, El Nino had to make one of those instant fight or finesse decisions. Last year, when the pressure to score was so intense and his pricey contract was the only thing making headlines, I would have gone straight to Unibet to put money on Fernando turning this very kind of chance into a foot race, hastily reverting back to his old, shifty ways. Instead, the Spaniard used his frame and leverage to initially usher away centerback Ezequiel Garay to maintain control, then fend off defender Luisao immediately after to progress directly on goal. After imperiously sending those rangy defenders to boxed-out oblivion, it was easy for Torres to turn the lasting momentum of Mata’s quick through-ball into a favorable one-on-one with the opposing keeper.

From there, it was vintage Torres. A quick touch past the goalie and a calm finish above a sliding defender’s last-ditch attempt to block his shot. Nice to see a player that once made things look so easy, now at least make things look so simple. An extremely well-taken (and obviously really important) goal, especially for a Chelsea team that was really struggling to maintain possession in the offensive third for the first 45 minutes of this match.

To get an idea of just how badly the Blues were struggling to get a foothold in the center of the field, all you really have to do is look at the genesis of the Fernando Torres goal. It took a Petr Cech throw for a ball to finally reach Juan Mata in a dangerous area where he could initiate play for Torres… and when Mata did get that ball from Cech, he only had time to send a quick one-touch flick because Benfica’s tenacious lane closing was so persistent.

Frank Lampard, David Luiz and Ramires were rarely able to get the ball and turn up field with time for penetrative passing and perceptive playmaking, which forced the majority of Chelsea’s early chances to materialize from Ramires and Azpilicueta runs and counters down the right-side flank. Chelsea has way too much quality in the middle of the field to settle for such predictable lines of attack, and for Benfica to get their opponent to fall into that strategy for such a long stretch of the game… well, it gave them a great opportunity to win this final. Just one last-second Ivanovic header away from going to extra time.

For Chelsea, it’s another year, yet another trophy… but like most Blues campaigns in recent memory, it only leaves us wanting Mou.

It’s true. Sir Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of this season. In a move that has apparently been in the works for quite some time, it’s an event the club had to inform Wall Street about because the implications are so profound, rippling well beyond the boundaries of those immediately involved. I, for one, cannot remember a time when Sir Alex was not at the United Helm, but I’m sure his reign will live just as fondly in the memories of older United fans too.

With the great one leaving, there’s of course the massive question of who will (or who can) replace him. There have been several suggestions made about who will be the man for the job. Those names include Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Jupp Heynckes and David Moyes. All but one of them however, have a mark against their name. Mourinho is likely out of a job in Madrid this summer, but is slated to return to Chelsea. Klopp has just reached his first Champions League final with Dortmund and I would hazard a guess is not going anywhere soon. Heynckes is in a similar situation with Bayern, except he has chosen to step down after this season, making way for former United coaching target, Pep Guardiola.

This means Ferguson’s likely successor will be David Moyes (and in fact is according to most recent reports), a man who’s proven himself at Everton and was once considered for the assistant coaching position under Sir Alex. 

What I am curious to see is how the appointment of Moyes will impact the team. With the manager gone and Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes seeing out their final years, United will be in need of a leader. Rooney could very well be that man. It’s been said that he indicated his interest to leave the club even before Ferguson announced he was going to retire, and also suggested he wasn’t really happy sitting on the bench against Real Madrid in the Champion’s League quarter final, but where else would he go? PSG, the club that looked likely to make a move, has distanced themselves from the story. They are also in relative turmoil following Leonardo’s attack on a referee. I dare say they wouldn’t have space for him in the squad anyway, with Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi and Lucas already paid and present.

In contrast, with the changing of the guard at United, Wayne Rooney is probably needed more than ever. Both as a leader and as a creative attacking force. The stage is set for him to step up, in every capacity. I hope he can continue to serve up balls for United like he did for Van Persie on the Dutchman’s goal of the season contender, but Moyes will set the course. Perhaps the man who coached him as a boy will provide the perfect reason to stay.

• Sir Alex Ferguson: David Luiz like a ‘dying swan’ over red card - Sir Alex Ferguson accused David Luiz of being a “dying swan” to fool the referee Howard Webb into sending off Rafael da Silva near the end of Chelsea’s vital 1-0 win against Manchester United. Ferguson was also strongly critical of the visitors’ Brazilian for smiling on the ground while he apparently writhed in pain… (The Guardian)
  
• Wigan poised to produce another Great Escape from relegation - As nerves jangled from the north-east to East Anglia, Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez maintained an almost surreal air of calm amid the stresses of the struggle for Premier League survival. Martinez’s history at this stage of the season suggests it would be no surprise to see him arrive at his media briefing in a straitjacket, be hurled into a container of water and have himself free in seconds. It is an act he has seemingly spent years perfecting… (BBC Sport)
• Mata wants Blues to be more like Utd - The Spaniard’s shot, along with a deflection off Phil Jones’ knee, earned Rafael Benitez’s side at 1-0 win over the new champions at Old Trafford on Sunday.  But the midfielder believes United are still the role models for the Blues with their ability to churn out victories, whether or not they are in top form… (ESPN FC)
• Andre Villas-Boas interview about his ideology, ambition and evolution at Spurs - Tottenham currently sit fifth on the Premier League table, two points behind Arsenal with a game in hand. Andre Villas-Boas and his men will look to sub-plant their London rivals in the race for the Champions League spot.  This weekend, we saw Spurs take a slender 1-0 win over Southampton – thanks to a peacher of a goal by Gareth Bale. But all is not going Spurs’ way as they will visit anothing London rival and AVB’s former employers, Chelsea, this midweek… (SoccerLens)

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• Uncertain Times At Fulham Puts EPL Survival In Their Own Hands - As a Fulham supporter, I’ve experienced several up and down seasons, but the performance on Saturday against Reading at Craven Cottage was disgraceful. Fulham have reached forty points, and should be safe from relegation, but the door is still open, and the club unfortunately did not close it in their 4-2 loss to Reading. As the season has two more matches left for the Cottagers, how will Fulham end this campaign? The best word to describe the state of Fulham right now is uncertainty… (EPL Talk)
  
• The choke’s on … who? - So why have the soccer gods decreed that I must suffer? Why am I sadistically tormented in a way that should be solely reserved for people who kick puppies or bite Branislav Ivanovic? Well, it comes with being a Gooner… (Kicking and Screaming – ESPN)
• Will Chelsea legend Lampard replace Scholes at Manchester United? - Frank Lampard has become part of the furniture at Stamford Bridge, amassing over 400 appearances for Chelsea since joining from West Ham back in 2001. Despite being only one goal away from equaling Bobby Tamlin’s goalscoring record for the west London club, the England international’s future with the Blues looks uncertain… (SoccerLens)
• Juventus cap brilliant season, David Luiz’s ‘smile,’ bad blood between Bayern & Dortmund - Juventus clinched their second straight Serie A title Sunday. You knew it was coming and the Champions League elimination at the hands of Bayern took off some of the gloss in the eyes of some. But, really, it shouldn’t have… (Monday Musings – ESPN)
• Chelsea-Man Utd. a lesson in compare, contrast - When NBC’s “The Golden Girls” arrived on British television in the late 1980s, the sexagenarian sitcom instantly became a cultural phenomenon. Not just for its “only in America” qualities that tended to attach themselves to any U.S. export, be it the bouncing bounty of “Baywatch” or the mechanical miracles routinely engineered by Mr. T and the rest of the “The A-Team.”… (Tactics & Analysis – ESPN)
• Bundesliga creative midfielders top summer shopping lists - It is just a week since the European football world was handed its biggest transfer story of 2013 thus far. Mario Gotze, the young rising star of Borussia Dortmund’s much heralded side, was heading to league rivals Bayern Munich for a fee of €37 million. As domestic transfers go, it was about as big as it gets, delivering something of a statement of intent from the Munich camp… (The Scout’s Notebook – ESPN)
• Wojciech Szczesny: Arsenal goalkeeper taunts Spurs - Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny believes rivals Tottenham “do not have enough quality” in the race to qualify for the Champions League. Spurs and Chelsea are battling with the Gunners to finish in the top four of the Premier League and reach next season’s top European competition… (BBC Sport)
• The Alternative PFA Team of the Year - Bale? Van Persie? Nah. Ignore the big names, discard the usual suspects. Here are XI players who didn’t get the nod, but could and maybe should have done… (SB Nation)

Unlike last season, where the EPL title Gods waited until the absolute last day of competition to anoint a league champion, this year’s final verdict was prompt and predictable.

“That team up in Manchester”, the mighty football beings likely muttered. “No no no, not them. The ones in red. The ones that always win it. Have them wrap it up before the last month. Now then… dusting hands off in satisfaction… make us a celestial sandwich and queue up a video of progressively redder/poutier Harry Redknapp faces. We still need to finish our blooper reel for QPR’s going away party.”

In other words, relegation or trophy, the extremes of the English league already know their respective fates, leaving us with a less than climatic finish. In terms of the Arsene Wenger Trophy  though (aka a top four finish), there is still some drama to be had. 

Tottenham - With Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe back in action, Spurs have a real chance of actually putting themselves in position to take over a last-minute top four spot… but they’ll likely need to win out their remaining schedule. Still stuck in fifth place and woefully lagging behind Chelsea and Arsenal in terms of goal difference, Tottenham ultimately need to surpass one of their top-tier rivals (in points) outright.

So how will they fare? Spurs have the firepower to beat Southampton this week (especially at home), they have the quality to break down a historically stout home-side in Stoke City a couple weeks later (key will be their midfield’s ability to play physical while remaining skillful), and they should be able to withstand an unpredictable Di Canio Sunderland team at White Hart Lane a few weeks after that. The match at Stamford Bridge, just over a week away, remains the largest and most determanative obstacle… Having seen the way Bale has closed out games for Spurs throughout the year though, you have to favor his chances of providing some magic to help his club close out the season in similar fashion.

Remaining schedule: Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), Stoke City (A) Sunderland (H)

Arsenal - The Gunners face three of the bottom four sides in the EPL for their final round of games. Plus, they are already in position to finish fourth should the season end today. This puts them utterly in charge of their own destiny, and in good position to essentially fasten themselves to the helm and hold their current course. There is just one thing though…

Arsenal is… well, inconsistent. You never really know if they’ll hit on all cylinders and beat Tottenham 5-2, or sputter and end in a goal-less draw with Aston Villa. So although Newcastle and QPR are in dreadful ruts at the moment, both those teams have enough individual (and costly) talent to pull off a surprise result. Additionally, Wigan is always held in the “Roberto Martinez is an amazing manager, he just doesn’t have any financial backing” regard, so they could give Arsenal some trouble too… but I imagine playing Arsenal at Emirates will be too tall a task. In the end, Gunners should retain their Wenger Spoils.

Remaining Schedule: QPR (A), Wigan (H), Newcaslte (A)

Chelsea - Blues are currently third in the Prem, only topped by the dueling Manchesters. With a point on Arsenal, a full three points on Tottenham, and an additional game in hand on the Gunners, Chelsea seemingly hold the best chance (among clubs still in doubt) of finishing within the coveted top four.

Their remaining schedule is brutal however, and with the added stress of a second leg Europa game in the mix (another method of qualification), they have a relative Guantlet to run through before the season closes. FC Basel mid-week for Europa, Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend, Tottenham the week after, Aston Villa on the road following that one, and finally Everton (a dark horse to make the final top four in their own right) for their finale. That’s three top six EPL teams, an Aston Villa team that recently crushed Sunderland 6-1, and a Europa game that will test their depth. Chances are high they will skid somewhere, setting up a massive Tottenham encounter next week.

Remaining Schedule: Manchester United (A), Tottenham (H), Aston Villa (A), Everton (H)

• Tottenham’s Gareth Bale a worthy winner of double PFA award - At 23, Cardiff-born Bale has elevated himself to the ranks of the world’s elite group of players after another outstanding campaign that has made him one of the most coveted individuals in the game. It takes a special talent to win the vote of his fellow players ahead of Manchester United’s Robin van Persie – last year’s winner and the striker who has made the decisive contribution in taking the Premier League title to Old Trafford for the 20th time. Bale is that player… (BBC Sport)

• Sturridge and Coutinho show Liverpool can survive sans Suarez - How does a team respond to their best player being suspended for the rest of the season? Well, they go out and win 6-0 away from home, of course. Luis Suarez commenced his 10-match biting ban on Saturday afternoon as Liverpool destroyed Newcastle United in what was quite clearly their best performance of the campaign so far… (Football.co.uk)

• Robert Lewandowski unlikely to join Manchester United this summer - The agent of Robert Lewandowksi appears to have dashed Sir Alex Ferguson’s hopes of signing the Borussia Dortmund striker in the close season by stating he is interested in playing in the Premier League in the future but that is not “this summer”… (The Guardian)

• Why Writing Off Spanish Soccer Is Premature - Last Sunday, I had pretty much decided to write a piece on the approaching UEFA Champions League semi-finals. I even had the first paragraph done – “Just twelve months ago the accepted wisdom was we were getting set for a Champions League el clasico final. It didn’t happen but the bookmakers believe it will happen this time. Are we getting ahead of ourselves again?”… (Forbes)

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• Barton happy to cast 1st stone at Bosingwa for ‘laughing’ at relegation - My first reaction to Joey Barton’s twitter comments after QPR’s 0-0 draw at Reading Sunday, when he was quick to lambast Jose Bosingwa for being seen laughing when walking down the tunnel after relegation was confirmed, is: “Who are you to talk?”… (ESPN FC)

• Paolo Di Canio feared Sunderland sack - Di Canio, 44, had to fend off questions about whether he held fascist beliefs as the focus on his political views overshadowed his arrival in March. “He [chairman Ellis Short] might have thought, ‘Now I’ll sack him straight away’ because he was under pressure,” Di Canio told the Sunderland Echo… (BBC Sport)

• Will Gunners blow race for Champions League? - As the days of Premier League football continue to dwindle for another season, reality sinks in. There’s less to play for and more teams clearly eyeing pints on the beach. Some literally go through the motions — you only had to watch the abject performance by QPR and Reading on Sunday to see that. After a scoreless draw, both sides walked off the pitch relegated to the Championship in seemingly good spirits… (ESPN FC)

• QPR’s Premier League relegation: a fan’s postmortem - QPR couldn’t even manage a whimper, let alone a bang. Instead they were relegated from the Premier League to laughter – José Bosingwa’s as he sauntered down the tunnel after Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Reading. It’s been a wretched couple of seasons at Loftus Road, and I can’t recall a group of players – with a couple of exceptions – being held in such contempt by the fans… (The Guardian)

• Mancini musing over perfect No. 10 - In no country, arguably, is the No. 10 revered as much as in Italy and Roberto Mancini belonged to one of its greatest generations, an era of fantastic fantasists that took in Roberto Baggio, Gianfranco Zola and, later, Alessandro del Piero and Francesco Totti… (Tactics and Analysis – ESPN)

• Changing of the guard? - What a week this was. The unemployment figures went over the six million mark last Thursday, for the first time in Spain’s history. That represents 26% of the active population, and normally, football would offer itself up as the opium of the people – a role that the game successfully played during Franco’s 40-year regime. It seemed to help in keeping revolution at bay. Which is a roundabout way of saying that Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, born in Galicia but a Real Madrid supporter, must have been suffering a little last week when Spain’s two semi-finalists in the Champions League both failed miserably to deliver… (ESPN FC)

• Technique and possession not everything - The age of the diminutive attacking midfielder is over! All hail the bulky center forward!   OK, perhaps that’s something of an overreaction. Barcelona will be back, reinforced, reinvigorated and hopefully with a restored manager who only needs to worry about football. Real Madrid will spend, both on players and a new coach, in yet another bid to reclaim their place as kings of Europe… (The Boot Room – ESPN)

Most of what Carrick does won’t show up in the stat book, so Neville’s analysis (as is quickly becoming the norm) is both outstanding and thought provoking. Enjoy:

(via ProductionsWazza)

Before yesterday, the last time Borussia Dortmund was contending for the spoils of a Champions League semifinal, Bill Clinton was in the midst of a presidential scandal that would see him utter the now infamous words, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. It was also the year France would win the World Cup on their home soil, James Cameron’s Titanic would reach epic blockbuster numbers, and a promising internet research project would incorporate under the name Google (which to anyone who does anything online nowadays, effectively marks the founding of the internet as a whole. Just kidding… sort of).

Yeah, it was a while ago. 1998 to be exact, and back then Dortmund was the CL’s defending champion. The team that had somewhat improbably won the Champions League a year ago in ’97, and now hoped to somewhat less improbably do it again (against Real Madrid no less) a year later. I’m guessing very few Dortmund fans back then expected fifteen years to pass before another legitimate final berth opportunity presented itself. Yet, here we are. Fifteen years later… 

The good news, for Dortmund at least, is that they more than took care of business in this first semifinal leg, absolutely thrashing a visiting Real Madrid squad on the strength of four gloriously efficient Robert Lewandowski goals. The bad news is, to put it directly, is that winning this Champions League tournament means so much more than simple footballing glory and magnificence to Dortmund… it means taking a massive step back into financial relevance.

After Dortmund’s relative height in the late 1990′s, poor financial management in the early 2000′s saw the club’s trajectory turn swiftly downward. With an over-emphasized reliance on imported/pricey talent, the club played for the short term and quickly left themselves woefully under stocked for future campaigns. As wins turned to losses money stopped rolling in, and with the majority of funds spent on a few “vessels” of imported talent, there was very little invested in the youth system. That essentially made the 1997 and 1998 seasons a pinnacle in the franchise’s history, and afterwards left the club completely unable to reload, much less sustain, any kind of success it had previously encountered.

In the late 2000′s strategy changed, and with not so much of an added, but almost a sole focus on building from the youth system up, Borussia Dortmund assembled an affordable golden generation. Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa, and Mario Goetze (to name a few) have since emerged as legitimately world class players. With that kind of home-grown talent in the chamber, Dortmund took the Bundesliga title in 2010-11, and then repeated in 2011-12. Suddenly a budding dynasty.

Winning has it’s price however, and with the sweet victories came the bittersweet interest from Europe’s major clubs for the services of Dortmund’s stockpiles of talented youth. As a club without the financial sway to keep it’s creme de la creme, they were forced to sell. Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid (who is back with Dortmund actually, but a shell of the player he was), Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United, and now Mario Goetze already confirmed to go to Bayern Munich this summer. The re-purchase of former Dortmund youth prospect Marco Reus (just last year) does show Dortmund are heading in the right direction, but before those important purchases can outnumber the disheartening outgoing transfers, the club has to reach supreme financial security and sustainability in it’s continued youth-focused stratagem.

If Dortmund can hold off Real, and then find a way to defeat either one of the remaining juggernauts in the final, they will have achieved a very important coup of transfer market-less wealth. Money earned, without players lost. That’s why this tournament is so very important for Dortmund… it drastically determines the club’s immediate and long-term course.

Besides, who doesn’t want to see more of this at UCL games:

(Not entirely sure why the music is so inspirational/dramatic, but it’s a bonus. Cool stuff begins around the 1 min mark.)

• Luis Suárez bite does not affect his Liverpool future - The Anfield club has fined its leading goalscorer for the shocking incident and intends to work with Suárez, who earns £120,000 per week with add-ons, on the indiscipline that has brought further disgrace on the PFA Player of the Year nominee… (The Guardian)

• Villas-Boas’ second half formation switch changes the game - Manchester City dominated the first half, but some clever substitutions from Andre Villas-Boas meant Tottenham had a storming final 20 minutes… (Zonal Marking)

• Roberto Mancini: Manchester United deserve title - Defending champions City led 1-0 at White Hart Lane before conceding three quickfire second-half goals having missed several chances. “We had chances to score and not scoring cost us the game,” added the Italian. “Today was the mirror of our season.”… (BBC Sport)

• Spurs stage one of the season’s most impressive comebacks - For 75 minutes, Chelsea and Arsenal must have been loving what they saw. Manchester City was in cruise control, leading 1-0 over Tottenham while the sun-drenched pitch at White Hart Lane betrayed the sense of gloom among the home fans. With just one win in their past four league matches, Spurs looked to be reverting to type — a late-season collapse that would see them finish outside the Champions League places… (ESPN)

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• Arsene Wenger: Physicality is a strength of English football - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says the combative nature of the Premier League is one of its greatest strengths. Wenger has called for more protection for his players, although he does not want tough, fair tackling to be banned… (BBC Sport)

• Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson targets Chelsea’s points record - Manchester United can win the title on Monday night but Sir Alex Ferguson cares little about where and when, with the manager recalling how previous championships have been claimed when he was in the gym, watching snooker or playing golf… (The Guardian)

• David Moyes: Everton team ‘ageing’ and needs rebuilding - David Moyes says there is a big rebuilding job needed at Everton to add younger players to his “ageing team”. The Toffees are sixth in the Premier League, four points off the European places, ahead of Saturday’s visit of struggling Queens Park Rangers… (BBC Sport)

• Rooney, United could each benefit by parting ways - At the sight of the number ’10′ on the electronic board, the West Ham fans roared with delight.   Wayne Rooney, sweating and puffing after 70 minutes of jogging around and messing things up, stared at the board contemptuously and then trudged slowly off the pitch… (The Boot Room – ESPN)

• Interview: Jozy Altidore on transfer speculation, the USMNT and more - United States international and AZ Alkmaar striker Jozy Altidore is in the stretch of his best campaign as a professional. The former New York Red Bulls broke Clint Dempsey’s one-year old record for goals by an American in a season, and despite facing racist chants at a Dutch Cup game in Holland earlier this year, the environment clearly suits him… (ESPN)

• Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind - For Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna, this weekend could not have gone any better. Not only did they clinch a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory on Friday, but they did so against the team they will soon face in the CONCACAF Champions League final… (Soccer by Ives)