Champions' League final, II

I left a lot unsaid in my first look back at the UCL final. Having described it as 'the best sport I have ever seen', I failed to say why. I'm quite sure it was the best football I have ever seen, but that's not the same thing.



The quality itself is important, but insufficient. What made it such good sport?



The answer probably lies in the drama. The nature of the game as the Champions' League final made it more dramatic than it would otherwise have been. There were lots of chances etc at the Luzhniki, but there have been more dramatic matches this season. It is as the European final that everything means more, the stakes are higher, everything is a little bit more intense.



The number of pendulum swings, of turning points both taken and missed (Lampard's shot that hit the bar was a turning point, he simply failed to turn) was tortuous. The missed chances, for United in the first half, for Chelsea in the second, and then scattered through extra time.



And the penalty shoot out. Simon Barnes wrote a piece about what the penalty misses tell us about the missers, which is worth reading. I agree that the fact that Ronaldo, the best player in the world, the man whose final this could have been (in the 'Gerrard Final' sense), but wasn't, missed, means something. I think its something to do with failing to reach the summit? Or to do with being so great, that he gets consumed by narcissism and makes a mistake? But that can't be right: Ronaldo has always done silly penalty run ups. In that sense, it was an accident waiting to happen.



John Terry is different. Whilst Ronaldo has a timeless talent, Terry is very much about being in the right place at the right time. He dominates contexts. When you need him most, he's there to clear Giggs' shot off the line. Which is what makes his penalty miss so fascinating. Looking back on it, it was too obvious. For John Terry, 'Mr Chelsea', the man of steel, to score the winning penalty in the Champions' League final, was too good a story. It was too much of a front page photo, too Roy of the Rovers, too much of an image the Sky Sports montageurs would imprint on the collective football consciousness for years to come.

I hope I've got a bit closer to justifying previous claims.