Down to Ten Men

The MLS (Major League Soccer) is a funny old thing. It’s a bit like a Club 18:30 holiday – you don’t know how long it’s been around, just that it’s abroad and only old people seem to want to go there.

I do actually know how long it’s been around – since 1996. It didn’t make itself known to the wider world until 2007 though, when a certain English export emigrated to LA.

Bayern Munich 2 – 1 Manchester United

Could man-of-the-moment Wayne Rooney have been any more involved tonight?

An early side-footed volley from Nani’s corner gave his team, and this season is it his team, the lead, and must have had Louis Van Gaal fearing the worst.

Bayern rallied though and in the second half Ribery‘s free-kick hit Rooney and wrong-footed Van der Sar, pulling the Germans level, before lax defending allowed Ivan Olic to steal in to give the 1999 finalists a win to take with them to Old Trafford next Wednesday.

After the final whistle blew at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday evening you would have been forgiven for thinking Roma had just wrapped up their fourth Serie A win.

The celebrations were in fact il Giallorossi’s reaction to beating title rivals Inter Milan 2-1 thanks to goals from Daniele De Rossi and on-loan Luca Toni, putting them a point behind the reigning champions who sit atop the league with 63 points.

Roma's inspired loan signing Luca Toni

It’s not hard to imagine Wayne Rooney sat on his luxurious leather couch this morning, fingers aggressively pressed into the buttons on his Sky remote, eyes glaring with a cocktail of rage and bewilderment at the latest sports update on Spanish football.

“It is a weird one because for the first time in my life I will be hoping Spurs lose. I want to play at Wembley.”

So said Portsmouth loanee Jamie O’Hara today about his permanent club, and the team he has supported since a boy, Tottenham Hotspur.

This may be an opinion piece, but these are facts: Lionel Messi is the best player in the world. I know this because he has the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or trophies resting on his mantelpiece. Rooney and Ronaldo are world class. Messi is out-of-this-world class.

At 22 years old he’s already scored 114 goals in 199 games for Barcelona. At the weekend he scored his second hat-trick in as many matches in La Liga, taking his recent tally to eight goals in three games in all competitions.