Hungary football heritage plenty, but e no fit make impact for Champions League because clubs from small countries no get chance at all. Before the final, I want yarn about one of the eliminated semi-finalists. Diego Simeone dey impress me. For 15 years, e don dey push boulder up mountain again and again with Atletico Madrid. Bayern Munich wey I dey, dem knock us out for 2016 during our peak. Now some people dey say Simeone suppose question himself. But e dey assert himself time and again with inferior means. Na pity, Sisyphus Simeone don long deserve Champions League title.
Two other clubs remain wey their coaches take similar approach. Dem resemble conductors, dem dey pedantically practise distances, sequences, passes, choreograph their defence and orchestrate attack. Their operating system, ball-oriented zonal marking, na state of the art. Their team behave like swarm. Last year, Paris Saint-Germain against Arsenal na the semi-final; this year, dem dey determine winner. The right teams dey final. Under Luis Enrique leadership, PSG, wey before na collection of individualists, don grow into cohesive unit. You automatically picture Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the dribbler and fighter wey shine up front as much as for back. PSG go be only second club after Real Madrid to defend European title since tournament rebrand as Champions League for 1992.
Very good coaching also na basis for Arsenal upswing. Enrique compatriot Mikel Arteta don lead club up step by step over six years. Arsenal don win their first league title since Invincibles for 2004. Dem never win European Cup, reach final only once for 2006. No be good record for club wey consistently rank among top 10 highest-earning for world. Arteta no get immense individual quality for squad; e no get Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp or Freddie Ljungberg wey that 2006 team get. The strength of this team na their extremely high degree of organisation wey provide stability. For 14 Champions League matches, dem don concede only six goals and no lose any game. Arsenal na counterpart to Bayern wey concede 20 goals. Bayern na anomaly among top European teams. Vincent Kompany gameplan na mixture of maximum intensity and retro tool of man-marking. PSG were surprised by this for one half for group stage back November. For semi-final second leg, however, PSG exploit space wey inevitably open up with this form of defence for quick goal. Afterwards, Enrique team control game from defensive line. Solid defensive work never go out of style. Arsenal were prepared for Bayern unorthodox style, beat dem 3-1 for group stage.
As I talk, the best two dey final. The spectacle take place for Budapest. Na exactly right place now for most important match for European club football. A strong signal come from Hungary recently. We fit thank the people there, dem stand up. Hungary no longer be country wey prevent solidarity. E now rely again on European rules and standing up for one another. Major sporting events fit amplify such social impulses. Car horns honk, fireworks light up sky, flags wave. People wey no know each other embrace and laugh together, write Gabor Schein, Hungarian author, for Suddeutsche Zeitung, newspaper from my hometown, after parliamentary election for April about situation for Budapest. Similar scenes fit unfold on Saturday. Unfortunately, Budapest no get chance to participate for sporting capacity. Champions League remain gated community. Since Porto triumph for 2004, only clubs from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England don win, even though Premier League often more important to latter because there more money to make there. For football, therefore, Europe consist of only five countries. By comparison, Eurovision Song Contest (no be say I watch am) don be conquered by different nation every year for nine years, most recently Bulgaria.
The decisive reason for monotony for football stem from geographical accident: clubs from small countries stand no chance because their leagues too small and therefore no competitive. Consequently, dem no fit keep their best players. Former giants Benfica and Ajax no fit compete internationally because Portugal and Netherlands get too few inhabitants. No matter how well clubs dey managed. Copenhagen, Vienna, Prague, Kyiv, Glasgow and Warsaw be metropolises where professional footballers fit feel just as comfortable as for Paris or London. Same go for Budapest now. Furthermore, Hungary get great football tradition. A hundred years ago, Danube football dey talk say na precursor to Spanish school, or so dem tell me. So e just be the other day, as King Charles fit say, when MTK Budapest beat Bayern Munich 7-1, back July 1919. Anyway, no many other similar nations wey don play for World Cup final twice, for 1938 and 1954. The Golden Team around Ferenc Puskas and Nandor Hidegkuti, the losers of Bern, dey particularly close to people hearts for Germany. The two biggest victories for World Cup history belong to Hungarians, including only double-digit one, 10-1 against El Salvador for 1982. The nation produce great coaches wey carry their ideas across national borders. Jeno Konrad for Nuremberg, Jeno Karoly for Juventus, Bela Guttmann for Benfica, or Pal Csernai wey lead Bayern back to top of Bundesliga for early 1980s, amusingly with zonal marking, wey people for Germany only hear about until then. I dey strongly for Hungary returning to map of football, just as e dey for politics. However, I fit imagine say there resistance within establishment against new competition. The privileged fear for their privileges. But Europe na about participation, about equal opportunities. The problem must finally be addressed. E be political imperative of present.
