'Aki'lles

A little over a month is all it takes for dreams of grandeur to turn to nightmares of misery. One month was all it took for the Arsenal dream of winning the Premier League and basking in the glory of Europe's ultimate crown - the Champions League title, to turn to nothingness. The defeat at Anfield tonight was the final nail in the coffin, ensuring that the Arsenal cupboard yet again remains devoid of any new trophies.

The 84th minute dream run by Walcott setting up for a clinical finish from Adebayor would have on any given day seen Arsenal through. But alas fate cannot be changed, for the events that unfolded in the next 6 minutes of the game, unbelievable to say the least, broke the spirit of many an Arsenal fan. 6 minutes, 2 goals from Liverpool, the game was dead and buried for Arsenal. The heroes who had conquered Milan are gone, the tournament moves on without them.

Were Arsenal the better team tonight? Debatable surely, in fact definitely not in my opinion. The Gunners looked jaded for most part of the game, especially after the first half equaliser from Liverpool. The defence was patchy to say the least. All said and done, the dream run and the equaliser catapulted Arsenal right back in, promising for a moment to erase their ignominious fate in the premier league. Alas, the moment was fleeting indeed. Yet another trophy less season, and that's the sad reality.

....turned out to be quite a big disappointment in the end. Last nights UEFA Champions league finals clash between AC Milan and Liverpool was probably one of the most boring Champions league finals I have ever seen.

I am not sure if "boring" is the right word to describe the insipid stuff thrashed out yesterday. "Boring" could probably be used to describe the Juventus Vs AC Milan final or the Bayern Munich Vs Valencia final, both of which went all the way to penalties, simply because no one was interested in risking an all out attack. But yesterdays stuff was something else, it was totally lifeless. Even if there are no goals in a match there is some event that stays in your mind, for instance a controversial offside decision, or a red card or a stunning save or a brilliant attempt on goal. But this match was as eventless as eventless can be. Heck, even a yellow card took a long time coming.

Among the two teams, Liverpool did appear a shade better. But yet again please take this statement with a pinch of salt. What I am trying to get at is that among the two teams, Liverpool atleast realized that they were playing a professional match at European level and not a warm up game with a second division team . Lousy crosses from Zenden, fancy passes by Pennant, misguided rockets from Riise, and the all too familiar diving theatrics of Ingazhi, simply culminated in making it a thoroughly forgettable final.