Rafa begins his quest for the elusive Miami title !

Hey everyone,

Rafael Nadal opened his challenge to win the Miami Masters 1000 tournament for the first time with a win over compatriot Nicolas Almagro in straight sets. This is one Masters title missing from his trophy cabinet and he surely wants to have his trademark bite of it soon. Rafa looked sharp in testing conditions, with strong gusty winds blowing throughout the game. I'm glad Rafa showed no signs of being tentative as a result of his freak incident during practice a couple of days ago. He was very committed to his usual aggressive style and played quite a few Nadal-esque points in this match. Below is one such point from the game. Enjoy it... Rrrrrafa style! Vamos!

             


Thanks for reading & cheers! See you soon!  - yps05

Torres' 1st La Liga goal since return to Atleti !

Hey everyone,

                       

Fernando Torres scored his 1st goal in La Liga for Atletico Madrid, since his return to his boyhood club in January. It was his birthday yesterday (20th March) and it was a delight watching him score again. The player, fondly known as 'El Nino' in Spain, was on the score sheet almost immediately after the start of the game. Torres vindicated his inclusion in the starting line up when he scored from a well taken header, off Koke's cross. It was a thumping header that was expertly guided from among quite a few players around him. Torres has always been really good especially with his headers and with this one too, he gave the keeper little chance to stop it. Atletico looked sharp for the rest of the game and were barely tested. Another goal right before the end of 1st half score by Tiago all but wrapped off the game. They played with great control in the 2nd half too to seal all 3 points and stay in the hunt for the top spot in La Liga.

Here's the video of El Nino's goal. Kindly click "Watch on Youtube" since it has copyrighted content.

Thanks for reading & cheers! See you again!    - yps05 

Rafa's Indian Wells title defense ends.. but the future looks bright !

Hey everyone,

After a promising start at the IW 1000 Masters Tennis tournament, Rafael Nadal has lost to Milos Raonic in a grueling match in the heat of California. And with it melted my hopes of a Rafa vs Roger showdown. Rafa started the match in a very lively fashion and it looked like he'd run away with this match in no time. Every stroke of his had sting in it and Raonic had no answers. He broke Raonic's serve that wasn't broken throughout the tournament till today's match in the 3rd game of the match. Rafa then held off a stiff challenge to win the 1st set 6-4. 

It all seemed to be working just as well for Rafa in the 2nd set too, but he couldn't find the break of serve despite holding break points on quite  few occasions. To his credit, Raonic brought his A-game and dictated points with his serve in those situations. With neither player willing to surrender on their service games, the 2nd set went to a tie break which was a tight and tense affair throughout. Both players had their chances to take the tie-break. Rafa had his share of match points. But it was Raonic who kept fighting and closed out the set by winning the tie-break 12-10. The third set was the same as the 2nd one with both players trading blows. Sadly, Rafa surrendered his serve in the penultimate game of the 3rd set and there wasn't much chance of winning it back then. Raonic sealed the set and the game with a service hold. 

Ironically, Rafa was better than Raonic in the stats over all of the 3 sets, except for the Ace count. But he ended up losing the contest. This was Rafa's 1st major challenge after the Australian Open to gauge himself and I'm very glad that he did give a good account of himself. Rafa did show glimpses of the Rafa I have seen for years.  He did fight for every point. He seemed focused. But it was the inconsistency in his execution that let him down today. He played brilliantly to win a point, but then followed it up with an uncharacteristic error each time to allow his opponent back into the game. He just couldn't sustain his usual level of pressure on his opponent for long periods and that has cost him. But this was just his 1st challenge. Rafa now moves to Miami for the next 1000 Masters tournament, hopefully with lessons learnt and a stronger desire to get closer to his "phenomiNADAL" levels. vamos Rafa..vamos!

Thanks for reading & cheers! See you soon. 

-yps05

Visca Barca.. QF.. here we come !

Hey everyone,

What a thrilling game of Champion's League Soccer we've had at Comp Nou! A lot more thrilling than the final scoreline of 1-0 suggested. Barca must be really disappointed that the scoreline didn't show all that they deserved from this game and so am I. (since my prediction proved awfully wrong ;) ) The reason? Barca and Messi were thwarted time and again by Man City's goalkeeper Joe Hart who simply was having an incredible game. He deserved the Man of the Match award despite being on the losing side and that says it all about his unbelievable performance today. Nevertheless, it's Barca who were the dominant side and won both the legs of this match up to qualify for the Quaterfinals of this season's CL.

Credit should be given where it's due. Joe Hart and Leo Messi are the stand out players of the game. Messi did make his mark on this game. He was absolutely everywhere making his mazy runs and pulling the strings for Barca. He played in Ivan Rakitic with a glorious, inch-perfect pass that the latter finished with great composure. Messi's did everything in the game, the dribbles, an assist, the nutmegs, key passes; the only thing he couldn't do for the day was to be on the score sheet. And full credit to Joe Hart for the 10 saves that he made in that game that saved City from humiliation to say the least. 

While Man City were all over the park, Barca played well as a unit. Barca's defence was solid and so was their keeper, except for one moment of madness where he raced outside his box and left his goal at the mercy of Sergio Aguero. Ter Stegen, Barce's keeper, did atone for that mistake when he saved a penalty to deny Man City any kind of a look into this tie. The midfield worked with precision and supported the Barca's front-line really well. And, among the Barca front-line, Messi played his part and Suarez kept coming close all night. But Neymar is the one who needs to find his scoring boots soon. He had missed too many one-on-one chances against Hart which a player of his quality should score with his eyes closed and seemed off-color in his last few games as well. Barca really need their deadly trio to start firing together again to win silverware come the end of this season.  

But for now, it's a wait for the Champion's League QF draw to take place which will decide whom Barca is going to play in the next stage of this competition.

Thanks for reading & cheers! Do come back again! - yps05

UCL Preview - FC Barcelona vs Manchester City

Hey everyone,

It's all set for another thrilling encounter between FCB and MANC at Camp Nou tomorrow! (tonight if you are in India) The 1st leg of this Round of 16 tie, played at the Etihad Stadium, was nothing short of spectacular with both sides taking turns to dominate the game during each half. The result was a fair 2-1 in favor of FCB , who played at a different level altogether during the 1st half of that game to lead 2-0 at the end of it. But after the break, Man City gave a good account of themselves when it looked like FCB would kill off the tie in the 1st leg itself. Man City played well and deserved the one goal they scored, but they were let off by a late penalty miss by Lionel Messi that might well have put this tie to bed even before the 2nd leg. 

But as things stand, Barca have the advantage of 2 precious away goals they had scored which are priceless when it comes to contests like these. Man City cannot be taken lightly though for they did qualify to this round when all odds were against them in the group stages. And I can tell you that Leo Messi will be more than just eager to make amends for his missed penalty at the Etihad. So, this contest promises to thrill! Visca Barca!!

My prediction for the 2nd leg: FCB [3 - 1] MANC

Thanks for reading & cheers! Do come back again! - yps05

This is surely Messi-class !!

Hey everyone,

This is a video showing a dribble performed by Leo Messi in the game against Eibar the past weekend. It's nothing short of incredible, as you will soon acknowledge after watching this video. Sad that this move didn't end up in the back of the net that it so much deserved. So, here it is. Absolute genius from the magical Messi!

Thanks for watching. See you again.  - yps05

A good weekend. Well, almost!

Hey everyone,


It's the perfect 6 for Team India! :

As it turned out, the weekend was indeed a roller coaster ride. Team India were tested while chasing a decent total. But after a hint of a batting collapse, the middle order steadied the ship. And boy! Didn't they do a great job. The chase looked up in the air at one point to me. But Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni scripted a solid fightback and eventually sealed the win; and in doing so preserved our clean record in the group stage in the ongoing WC. It may not have come against a tough bowling attack, but the manner in which that was constructed without any real panic at any stage from the two batsmen was really admirable. I was mighty pleased with our spirit and the effort which is really crucial going ahead into the knock out stages, where the opposition this time, Bangladesh, cannot be taken lightly. And we do have an account to settle with them, after all. And that means #WeWontGiveItBack !

Barca come through their test and Xavi's 750:

Coming to the La Liga fixture between FC Barcelona and Eibar, the result was just what the Doctor ordered. Barca beat Eibar 2-0, with both the goals coming from Leo Messi. It maintained Barca's lead in the championship and gave Barca a chance to build on it in less than a week's time from now. The highlight of the game was indeed Xavi Hernandez's coming on to play in the 2nd half of the match to mark his 750th game in the Barca shirt. Leo Messi immediately handed him the Captain's armband and Xavi's presence really killed off the game for Barca. Xavi was very composed on the ball despite the added attention he was receiving on this day and controlled the game brilliantly from the middle of the pitch besides making a couple of interceptions to hand Barca the possession of the ball. I'd have preferred to see him get an assist or even score a goal himself (he had a shot on target blocked by the Eibar defence late in the game),  but this was the typical Xavi performance with authority and control. I do want Xavi to keep playing for Barca since I cannot imagine seeing him in any other jersey. And Xavi is completely Barca from head to toe. Long live Xavi.

Kimi ran out of luckat Melbourne GP :

And the five red lights did go out at the Albert Park circuit, Melbourne on Sunday to mark the beginning of the brand new 2015 Formula 1 season. Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen proved that their form in the pre-season testing wasn't just smoke by qualifying well for the race. But in the race, Kimi, after a really good start, was squeezed for space and his Ferrari was hit a couple of times by other drivers which damaged the car. Nevertheless Kimi, despite losing places on the track and a botched pit stop after his first stint, fought for the podium with a string of Fastest Laps  in the  middle stint and got within 3 Seconds of the 4th placed car. But all his efforts were wasted after more problems during his 2nd pit stop and he was forced to retire from the race. In the end Sebastian Vettel finished on the podium for Ferrari in his debut GP with team to bring some cheer.  Ferrari only got half of what they deserved from the Grand Prix because of Kimi's unfortunate and forced retirement from the race. Hopefully such issues don't happen and Kimi get's to show his full potential in his SF15-T over the rest of the season.

Thanks for reading & cheers! Do come back again! - yps05