Yet in most leagues there is a theme of good vs bad about the end of the season battles to be won and lost. In England, Manchester United have all but won their battle with Manchester City for the title. This is a tussle between a side who have made their own money, and one who simply spend someone else’s. City are a disaster for football and their failure to win the title is only a good thing. United on the other hand, are showing why class, as well as skill, cannot be bought.
Lower down in the league and another team who have spent millions in the hope it will bring success, Chelsea, are struggling to finish even fifth right now. Roman Abramovich will be particularly worried about his team if they fail to make the top four, as looks likely, and whilst Arsenal are favourites for third, if they and either Tottenham or Newcastle beat Chelsea to the Champions League, that would undoubtedly be another victory for football itself. For skill, for sanity, and for the good of the game.
Across the continent, and in Spain the title race is taking intriguing turns, with Real Madrid one point clear of Barcelona, albeit with a game in hand against Madrid rivals Atletico to come tonight. With the derby and other tricky games at Athletic Bilbao to come, Real could yet rue lost points if they are also beaten in the Clasico later this month against Barcelona. Again, this is a good v bad battle of sorts. Barcelona, the people’s team, playing some of the best football ever seen, against Jose Mourinho’s expensively assembled team. The gentleman of Pep Guardiola against the self-important, narcissistic and ultimately overrated Mourinho.
In France the same battle wages between expensively built Paris St Germain, and a team with barely any money at all, Montpellier, for the title. Montpellier’s owner Louis Nicollin has previously said that he would ‘stick a sausage up my backside’ if he were the owner of PSG, or Lille, Marseille or Lyon, and failed to beat his team to the league title.
In Germany the battle is less pronounced, but Bayern Munich are hated across most of the country – though they are well run and financially stable, and opposed to spending recklessly. But they are battling with Borussia Dortmund for the title. Dortmund would be the first team since, err, themselves, to prevent Bayern from winning the title for two years in a row since the 1990s if they clinch the crown.
And then there is the Champions League and a re run of the Barcelona Real clash awaiting in Munich. If they come through their semi-finals as expected, these two will battle it out as they did over two legs in the Champions League last season. It would be one of the most eagerly awaited spectacles in sport, and an intriguing advertisement for the game. Nothing would sum up the ‘good vs evil’ theme more, than the sight of Barcelona’s purists, half their team brought through from childhood at the club, against the hugely expensive Real side, and their overbearing coach Mourinho.
