Over in Europe, we're in the round of 16 for the UEFA Champions' League -- the main soccer competition in the world. All four of England's teams -- Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Spurs -- made it to the round of 16. But in that round, Arsenal was forced to play a two-leg match with Barcelona.
There is some history here. When Barca won the Champions' League in 2006, the team they beat in the final was Arsenal. And the main reason they won was because, after only 18 minutes, the Arsenal goalkeeper was thrown out of the game, forcing the Gunners to play the rest of the match with only 10 guys. In 2010, Barca played Arsenal in the quarter-finals. The first match (at Arsenal) ended 2-2; in the second match (at Barcelona), Barca won 4-1 to take the match by an aggregate score of 6-3.
So I didn't think there was much point in keeping track of another Arsenal/Barca matchup. And I was right. Here's what happened. Arsenal won the first leg (at Arsenal) 2-1, giving them a one-goal lead heading to Barcelona. Just before halftime, Barca scored to make it 2-2, giving them the lead on away goals. But then Arsenal scored in the 53d minute, giving them a 3-2 lead on aggregate. And then here is what happened:
55th minute: Arsenal is called offside. An Arsenal player, who claims he didn't here the whistle, goes ahead and takes a shot, which is immediately collected by the goalkeeper.
56th minute: The Arsenal player who took a shot is thrown out of the game for time-wasting, a decision that even the Euro-lover blogging the game for the Guardian described as "one of the stupidest refereeing decisions I've ever seen."
69th minute: Barca scores on Arsenal's ten men to knot the score at 3-3 on aggregate.
71st minute: Barca is awarded a penalty
72d minute: Barca scores the penalty to lead 4-3 on aggregate.
And that's how it ended. So long, thanks for playing.
I've been watching European soccer since 1995, and I have to say that this sort of thing -- which happens all the time -- has really drained my interest in the sport. I find myself avoiding any competition that involves the rest of Europe, because I simply do not believe that the games are played fairly.
I could see that. I see the mess going on with cycling and so much of it is created because every country thinks every other country should have to follow the rules to the letter of the law, except for them.
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