Germany Ascendant; Bayern and Dortmund Romp

What an incredible two days of the Champions League! Both German sides have stunned their Spanish opposition with huge home results. I argue that playing the home game last is far more favorable against hearty opposition but Bayern and Dortmund proved that playing the home game first can be just as favorable.

Bayern Munich travel to Barcelona with a 4-0 scoreline and the knowledge that they completely dominated their opposition. Messi, the wizard of inspiration against PSG, was out of spells and tricks against Bayern. He painted a figure of an injured player that didn't have answers to Barcelona's questions. Bayern Munich capitalized on the weaknesses of Barcelona; they retained the ball well and dispossessed Barcelona in midfield while pressuring their weak defense with great attacking movement and utilizing their chances at set-plays. Barcelona defends well because they don't have to against the majority of their opposition, but once they are put on the back foot their defensive weaknesses are glaring. The scoreline is a bit harsh due to two glaring facts: Gomez was offside for the 2nd and Jordi Alba was fouled right before Robben scored the 3rd. However, Bayern dominated the game and were the only team to truly threaten the opposition's goal. Barcelona again are left asking questions due to a tactical flaw; possession does not win games, goals do. They continue to lack any form of a Plan B when it comes to scoring goals and Bayern Munich exposed this with aplomb.

Robert Lewandowski, you just raised your price tag to over 40m pounds easily. Borussia Dortmund, the Cinderella team of the tournament this year, pulled off another huge result for Germany. Dortmund bossed much of the first half but let in an equalizer before halftime to put this tie into question. I do not know what Jurgen Klopp said to his boys but they dominated the second half and came away with a 4-1 win in Dortmund and in front of the Yellow Wall numbering at approximately 25,000 fans. This game came on the tail-end of heart-breaking news for Dortmund fans; Mario Gotze's buy-out clause was paid by Bayern Munich and he would play for them next season. This could have demoralized the team to the point of tragic results but Jurgen Klopp rallied his troops to put on an awe-inspiring display in Dortmund. Mario Gotze and Marco Reus played brilliantly in Dortmund's attacking band with Gotze leading passes in the attacking third and Reus with successful take-ons.

Jurgen Klopp brilliantly had his men press at midfield to dispossess Madrid quickly and completely disrupt any rhythm in their attacking transitions. Madrid were largely unable to attack or counterattack at pace. Once in possession, Dortmund's approach in the final third utilized the space on the wings and attacked Madrid's fullbacks; Madrid tried to attack through a highly congested midfield zone as evidenced below.

Honorable Mention must go to both of the German sides' double pivot midfielders. Javi Martinez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sven Bender, and Ilkay Gundogan shielded their defenses superbly and transitioned play quickly and efficiently. They really are the engine rooms for their respective teams.

Barcelona And A Team From Madrid Lead La Liga...

After eight games in La Liga, Barcelona are only equaled on points by a team from Madrid...and it is Atletico and not Real. Atletico have pulled off an amazing start to the season. The Spanish First Division is always a two horse race. I, for one, will not argue against the intensity of El Clasico; however, no one can argue against the significance of a story behind a third team having a real chance to win the league.

The reason the Barclay's Premier League has been able to sustain such an high amount of talent is due to the distribution of TV revenue. Yes, cash rules everything around us. This directly affects the success of very many teams; however, in Spain, the structure for revenue distribution is heavily slanted towards just Barcelona and Real Madrid. If the historical top two teams receive the majority of TV revenue then how can new contenders raise substantial amounts of revenue besides heavy private loans?

Atletico Madrid are performing on par with Barcelona with only a fraction of their revenue stream. Falcao is proving to be one of the greatest strikers in the world and still isn't on par with the likes of Rooney, Van Persie, Messi, or Ronaldo when it is brought up.

La Liga needs a third and fourth team to challenge for the title to make their league that much more competitive and interesting to watch rather than just when Barca and Real are playing. I will be following Atletico's form and I hope they are able to keep up their scintillating run of results.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have heavy injuries in their defense and Atletico Madrid have every opportunity to get points off them. La Liga, fingers crossed, may actually be more compelling than Barca v. Real Madrid.

Randomness That Doesn't Involve The Decision

The biggest sporting event of 2010 will take place today, when Spain and Netherlands will faceoff in the World Cup Final. The Dutch have quietly been the best team in the tournament, while the Spanish have hung around and reached the final. David Villa is the man I've found as the MVP of this tourney and the reason Spain is playing today. Prediction: Netherlands win 2-1 with Robin Van Persie scoring the winning goal.

The scariest story I've ever read, the Daily News reporting that Isiah Thomas could come back to the Knicks. If this was to happen, Isiah officially becomes the Freddy Kruger of sports. He killed the Knicks before, the lost draft pick this year was the sequel and a return would be in my mind, Nightmare on 33rd St III. News like this make me want to drink a Molotov cocktail.

Even worse, what does this mean for Rangers. Does Glen Sather ever leave? Did I just answer my own question?

The Ilya Kovalchuk saga continues in hiatus as almost no news has occurred since the Kings pulled out a second time. We're still waiting to see if he goes to the Devils, Kings, Russia or if there's another team out there (Rangers?) willing to make the move for the great scorer who doesn't play defense. Actually, he sounds like a fit for the Knicks. The Devils, according to Larry Brooks, have offered him 17 years/$100 million. That would be ridiculous and would in a way combine the bad contracts of Alexei Yashin and Rick DiPietro that the Islanders signed them to.

Two weeks until Mad Men is back on.

It's time to change the Home Run Derby. No longer do the top HR hitters participate and waters down the event. Everyone is scared of having a second half like Josh Hamilton had in 2008 which he didn't snap out of until this season. Robinson Cano was supposed to take part, but the Yankees told him not to do it and was replaced with Nick Swisher (so it's okay for Swish to do this?). He's the idea, make it either 6 or 8 contestants and the top two or three get to swing in the final and we go back to 5 outs in the final round. I don't know why they changed the final round to the full 10 outs, 5 was better and more dramatic. It's not that serious where a better HR hitter is really screwed out of victory.

Finally, it's a very sad day as longtime Yankees PA and NY Giants PA Bob Sheppard died at age 99. Let's find a place for him in heaven alongside John Facenda, Marty Glickman and Foster Hewitt, the voices of the NFL, NBA and NHL. Watch this tribute for the great man, the Voice of Yankee Stadium.