Champions League drama in Europe and South America, two Ronaldos, trouble at Manchester City, as well as racism in Europe all feature on this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly. To get more information about the stories click on the links below to watch the video or read the article.
Good
A good week for Chelsea as they defeat Manchester United in the Premier League to keep the title race alive and then four days later they beat their Champions League nemesis Liverpool to qualify for the final in Moscow where they will face Manchester United after their 1-0 victory over Barcelona. Though outshone by Barca’s Lionel Messi in that game, Ronaldo was voted the player of the year by his fellow professionals in the Premier League for the second year running. He modestly claimed that ‘he deserved it’.
It was also good for Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Real Madrid who all won to move ever closer to winning the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga respectively. Good too for Celtic as they defeated their local rivals Rangers 3-2 to move five points clear in Scotland, while in another derby match, David Beckham’s LA Galaxy scored 5 to thrash local rivals Chivas USA in the MLS
Bad
The former Thai prime minister and Manchester City chairman, Thaksin Shinawatra, decides he will not be renewing the contract of manager Sven Goran Eriksson which has upset many fans of the sky blues. With the chairman’s name also appearing on a Thai national flag at the stadium last week he has also managed to upset many people in his home country. More than usual that is.
Another manager under pressure is the Barcelona boss, Frank Rijkaard after being dumped out of the Champions league at the semi-final stage. They are also 11 points behind leaders Real and if results go against them this week may have to ‘present’ the league trophy to their arch-rivals at next week’s match. Ouch! Though at least Rijkaard and his team have not been attacked with pepper spray, at least not yet. This attack happened in a Paulista game between local rivals São Paulo and Palmeiras with the São Paulo players running for cover from the gas that had been let off in their dressing room!
Staying in Brazil, it has been a bad week for Ronaldo as he has been accused of threatening three transvestite prostitutes who he met at a club though he suggests it is bribery. Troubling times for the Brazilian great.
Ugly
Racism rears its ugly head again with three separate stories from Europe demonstrating that despite increased awareness the problem still exists. First up is the story of a player from Alabacete in Spain, Ritchie Kitoko, who went to the police after being continually abused by an opposing team player during the game. In addition, the so-called ‘Battle of the Bridge’ between Chelsea’s ground staff and Manchester United’s reserves, may have been sparked by racist comments from the ground staff. Finally, French club PSG have been kicked out of the League Cup after their fans unfurled racist banners at their game against Lens. Pretty ugly indeed.
