The Champions League Final

I realize it's a little late for fully blown commentary.  Overall, the game was a dud, and the better team won.  The soccer gods did justice to the soccer universe; Liverpool warranted a trophy after its amazing season in the English Premier League.  I mean, how many teams earn 97 points in a 38-game season and come in second place?  I wonder if any teams fared that well and finished second.  Spurs also had an excellent season, considering that they played most of their home games at a neutral site and had a smaller-than-optimal roster because of the funds they expended on their spectacular new stadium.  That lack of cash flow prevented them from making any moves in the off-season.  And as EPL fans learned within the past five years from a season in which City did the same thing -- stand pat -- and failed to repeat, standing pat and not tweaking your roster in a very competitive Premiership is a tough thing to do.

Both squads have excellent managers -- Juergen Klopp is en route to having a statue of him built outside Anfield and Mauricio Pochettino has done wonders in North London.  Liverpool has the world's best center back in Virgil van Dyk, an amazing attack, a top-five goalie and an underrated midfield, full of good leaders.  Spurs distinguished themselves through their gritty, hard-nosed play.  They too have stars -- among them, one of the world's best strikers in Harry Kane.  Yet, it was the decision to play Kane, or not to play Lucas Moura instead of one of Kane, Delle Alli or Son Heung-min that could haunt Spurs, Spurs' fans and Poch for a while.

All Moura did was singlehandedly will Spurs into the finals with a hat trick on the road in the Netherlands against an Ajax side that beat Spurs in North London 1-0 in the first match of the tie and then took a 2-0 lead.  That meant that Spurs needed to score 3 against Ajax on the road to propel themselves into Champions League final in Madrid on June 1.  And Moura scored all 3, including a goal on what had to be the final offensive opportunity in stoppage time.  How can you bench a player coming off a performance like that?  Moura was in top form, and he was a force to be reckoned with (and proved it again with the energy that he provided when he did come on in the final).  Poch deserves all the respect in the world, but he gambled starting both Kane (coming off an injury) and the bright young midfielder Harry Winks (also returning from an injury).  The gamble did not work; both were non-factors, Kane so much so that Spurs failed to take advantage of a 62-38% advantage in possession.

The future is very bright for both teams.  It seems as though Liverpool will be favored to win the Premiership next year, even with all of the might of Manchester City and City's having added Portuguese attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes.  Liverpool undoubtedly will tweak its roster too.   Spurs, meanwhile, have a big decision to make on Christian Eriksen, their outstanding attacking midfielder.  Losing Eriksen would be a big setback for a team that has worked so hard to outpace its North London rival Arsenal and qualify for Champions League football.  Spurs' back-line has showed some age, and goalie Hugo Lloris has not been the stone wall that he once was.  But make no mistake -- Poch's teams are disciplined, organized and play within themselves.  Come to think of it, losing Poch to a team like Juventus would be a big blow too.

The game underwhelmed, but in the end the better team won.  And while, yes, I am an Arsenal fan, I have great respect for Spurs and what they have achieved.  They just did not have enough for Liverpool.

Then again, most teams don't.