May is the dawning of the much-heralded ‘business end to the season’, the fitting climax to the sweat, tears and bloodshed which have been sacrificed to guarantee a euphoric finale. It is the curtain-fall that differentiates the genuine victors from the once-threatening aspirants and creates an opportunity to watch mesmerising history unfold in front of our very own eyes.
While championship skirmishes throughout Europe may predictably appear to be heading in one foreseeable direction, for those still fortunate to be flexing their muscle in the domestic cup competitions it is an open invitation to terminate years of trophy famine and garner the profits of European football. The pressures highlighted above will soon be understood by the lucky coaches, who will no doubt feel the full-throttle exertion of them, as we look ahead to the national cup finals of many countries.
The German Cup semi-final between Hamburg and Werder Bremen had been branded as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming UEFA Cup dual, but there was no suggestion as to who would finish on top. After Per Mertesacker of Bremen and Ivan Olic in the corresponding jersey brought the fixture to a dead heat, standing at 1-1, Tim Wiese produced “one of the best nights of my career” to defy Martin Jol’s men by pulling off a set of valiant saves in the unnerving penalty shoot-out. Hamburg’s Jerome Boateng and Ivan Olic were the guilty wrongdoers as Bremen snatched bragging rights at the first hurdle. Bayer Leverkusen, who will provide the opposition in the final, were also forced into extra time but were able to strike three past Mainz to claim a 4-1 victory and secure their berth.
Inter Milan faced an instantaneous struggle in their mission of eradicating Sampdoria’s 3-0 first-leg advantage, but nevertheless sought to carry out the improbable. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s gorgeously-struck volley in the 27th minute instigated a momentary comeback but, despite tapping the bar twice and failing to capitalise on several clear-cut chances, Sampdoria were inevitably left to celebrate their final appearance against Lazio and chase down a fifth Italian Cup triumph.
Past Dutch Cup finals haven’t been benign to the spirits of SC Heerenveen, with elimination to Roda JC in 1997 and Ajax in 1993 serving up despairing reminiscences of how the long-awaited occasions fell deflated, failing to equal the enthusiasm and divine passion of the crowd, but twelve years after suffering their second plateful of sting, history can be rephrased if, at the third attempt, they can outclass FC Twente. January-arrival Viktor Elm and Danijel Pranjic sent Heerenveen past FC Volenham en-route to the final but Steve McClaren will be unyielding in his pursuit of obtaining silverware to cap an impressive first season at FC Twente – whose seat at the centrepiece event came courtesy of NAC.
Alarm bells were ringing at FC Porto when the current Portuguese Liga leaders threw away a 1-0 gain to fall at Estrela Amadora but a comfortable first-leg cushion protected their position in the finals of the domestic cup where they will be favourites to vanquish challenging Pacos de Ferreira. Pacos narrowly prevailed over Nacional with an aggregate scoreline of 5-4, a second penalty conversion from Pedrinha winning the match in extra-time.
Istanbul acquaitances will be renewed as Besiktas face Fenerbahce in the Turkish Cup final, KRC Genk surpassed Lierse SK with considerable ease to setup a Belgium Cup final versus KV Mechelen, while Kris Boyd scored his 100th career goal for Glasgow Rangers to help create a last-hurdle tie over relegation-ridden Falkirk in Scotland.
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