For his part, Sosa greeted the news humbly. “I cannot complain. My fellow players have always treated me fairly. I just did not use my chances,” he told the club website.

Sosa came to Munich in 2007 for a fee of 6 mil. Euros. He managed just 2 goals and 1 assist in 35 Bundesliga matches over the last 2 1/4 seasons, and undoubtedly the critics will point to him as just another example of Bayern’s poor personnel decisions over the last few years.

But his place in Bayern lore will always be secure, because of one magical moment in Madrid. It was Sosa who delivered the cross to Luca Toni, who headed in Bayern’s third goal in the dying seconds of extra time to earn a 3-3 draw and passage through on the away goals rule, completing the most improbable and emotional of comebacks against Getafe in the UEFA Cup in 2008. Long live the one shining moment of Jose Ernesto Sosa.

This is going to be a tough game for Bayern. Everyone is sure they will win, but Zenit aren’t going to give up easily. They are going to try harder than over to knock the favorites out and if Bayern don’t step up their game, they’re going to be able to do it.

The game has kicked off and one minute in Klose had a great chance but it was cleared away by Zenit’s defence. Zenit scored the first goal almost right away. Ribery created a gap in the wall and the ball sailed into the net. On playback, Kahn could’ve done a better job, but Pogrebnyak was able to get it to the back of the net for Zenit to score.

Zenit are keeping both Ribery and Toni tied up so we need to find a way for other players to capitalize on that and we’re just not doing it. Bayern are going through periods of aggressiveness followed by lulls of what appears to be sleepiness. I’m not sure what is going on with their game play today, but I’m pretty sure if they don’t step it up, Zenit will be the team to go through.

Wow… after little effort from Bayern to try and clear the ball after a long period of Zenit controlling he ball, Zyrianov makes a break and goes one on one against Kahn and scores on him. It’s half time now and Zenit are up 2-0. Bayern need two goals to go through on aggregate.

The second half kicks off with a couple changes for Bayern. Lell comes on for Jansen and Podolski for Roberto. A different role for Lukas, but he tends to like to dribble so maybe a good spot for him. Good effort by Poldi and Toni almost right away, but Malafeev was able to stop it. And there it is, another goal for Zenit with all of Bayern just kind of standing around. I don’t know where our defense went with this game. I am not a fan of Christian Lell.

First yellow card of the match was given to Luca Toni and rightfully so. The frustration is catching up with Bayern, but I can tell you this much, playing like we’ve played today, Bayern don’t deserve to advance. As heartbreaking as that is, but it’s the truth. Zenit just played a better game. Well now it’s sealed for sure.. Zenit just scored again with another goal from Pogrebnyak. They’ve pretty much seemed to have given up and are just there on the pitch. Maybe this will put the ego in check and make them start playing quality football again.

Lucio was fouled by Pogrebnyak and he was given a yellow, but I am not sure that it warranted a yellow card. I think that means he’ll miss out on the final for Zenit. One has to wonder if we’d had a healthy Kahn or Rensing in goal if things would’ve turned out differently. It’s all a guessing game, but what can you do? Bayern are going home and Zenit advance to the finals. Heartbreak aside, there’s always next year right? *wry smile*

Below is a break down of goals and yellow cards as they were awarded.
// (4′) Pogrebnyak, (39′) Zyrianov, (54′) Fayzulin, (73′) Pogrebnyak.
// (66′) Toni, (76′) Pogrebnyak, (81′) Lell

We all know where I stand on my love for this team, my love for certain players and my discontent with other players. I would just like to start out by saying that my Lucio Love (read with a very sarcastic tone) is in full swing today. The more I watch him play (read as screw-up) the more I am convinced that we should pay Barca to take him away from us. As hard as I have tried, I seriously can’t find his worth to this team. I would’ve switched him out that instant if it weren’t for the fact that our reserves were on low due to Kahn being unexpectedly injured. For the love of all things Football and Bayern someone PLEASE take him off our hands. Put Daniel van Buyten on the pitch NOW. He’s hungry, he’s motivated and he’s proven himself in the last few games; going so far as to score a goal…and not an own goal I might add. He needs to be rewarded for his efforts and Lucio needs to be reminded that it’s not okay to be a f*** up. Yes, I’m annoyed.

I didn’t know a thing about Zenit before this match, but I am impressed. They played with heart, hunger and a desire to bring Bayern down. Granted, Bayern maintained most possession, but that doesn’t mean they lacked effort. They certainly put forth a lot of effort and had some pretty good chances, even when they got passed Rensing they were thwarted by our defense or by Roberto. I cringed every single time Mark got tackled. I was waiting for him to go face first and injure his nose further than it already is. Especially since he opted to play without a face guard. No yellows for our side. That’s a first isn’t it? I mean, not even Mark got a yellow today. Zenit racked up four.

I was a little unsure of the trade of Schweini for Lell. Schweini put forth a good effort today and I just couldn’t see where they swap was necessary or why it needed to be done. Kahn picked up an injury though he wasn’t traded right away. He tried to stick it out, but you could see he wasn’t comfortable so eventually Rensing came in for him.

If we are going to win this we are going to have to work much harder in the second leg away to Zenit. Fortunately we will have Luca Toni back for that match as he was missed today. I’m starting to think we should change the name from FC Hollywood to FC Toniwood… or FC Lucawood… something in his honor.

Random notes: Lukas Podolski cut his hair and I don’t like it. Ze Roberto’s hair is growing out and I hope we’ll see the old style back soon.

Below is a break down of yellow cards and goals as they were awarded.
// (18′) Ribery, (60′) F.d.S. Lucio (own goal)
// (17′) F. Ricksen, (28′) V. Fayzulin, (75′) R. Sirl, (79′) A. Arshavin

Ribery accidently gave a bloody nose today. I’m still unclear what happened because as many times as I’ve seen the replay, I haven’ seen where he really touched the other player aside from his shirt. Ribery had a great corner delivery at 31 minutes and Demichelis should’ve been able to capitalize on it, but he couldn’t put it home. Approximately two minutes later, Lell had a completely open net and failed to put that one home. I won’t discuss how much I dislike him anyways.

I realize that I’m a bit bias on the subject but if you watch this game, you will see just how valuable van Bommel is to Bayern. Around the 40 minute mark, Ribery gets the ball taken away from him, but Mark does a brilliant job breaking up the play and taking possession back to Bayern.

Just before half time Contra scored a goal to put Getafe ahead. Two minutes of time was added on and we went to the break with Getafe one up on Bayern. The first half possession was all about Bayern. They controlled the ball 65% of the time compared to Getafe’s 34%. Bayern won in shots as well with 7 to 4. Bayern carried 217 accurate passes and 47 bad passes.

The first half was somewhat bad for Bayern. They were just kind of there. I wasn’t at all impressed with their form or the way they were playing. The defending was lax. They weren’t all that aggressive. I do have to say, I much prefer to watch my games on Gol. The announcers are far better.

The start of the second half brought on the first change. Ottmar Hitzfeld removed Lell and started Jansen in his place. Miro has been hanging out with his buddy Toni a little too much because he got called for offside quite a few times today. I thought that only Toni had mastered that art, but evidently Miro felt left out. At around 49 minutes we had another goal that was taken away. Again. So now that’s two that were taken away in this match. Mark has put some really good shots through today, but it doesn’t seem to matter what any of them do. Either the shot doesn’t find the net or when it does the goal is disallowed. Bad luck Bayern.

At 62 minutes Demichelis made a beautiful cross and Miro missed the shot. He was quite angry at himself as well. 63 minutes saw another switch for Bayern and Schweinsteiger came off for Sosa. There was a heart stopping moment for all Bayern fans when Getafe had a one on one opportunity against Kahn and it was sure to be the 2-0 for Getafe, but fortunately for all of us Bayern fans, the Getafe player lost his footing and slipped so Kahn was able to get the ball and get it out. At 69 minutes Sosa had a good shot, but it just hit the post and went out.

74 minutes saw the switch of Ze Roberto for Lukas Podolski. Good defending by Jansen in this section of the game. Lukas sort of jumped on someone’s shoulder… not intentionally I don’t think, but the boy got some air. Good attempt by Podolski at 79 minutes. It warranted them a corner. And after that, Bayern pretty much fell apart. Our redeeming factor was once again the amazing Franck Ribery who scored the equalizer at 89 minutes.

Two fifteen minute periods were added on. Right away, Getafe came out and scored. And this is part of the reason why I just can’t see Lucio’s worth to this team. I know there are fans out there, and believe me I wish I could see it, but I just can’t. Toni got a yellow card and will miss the next match.

The announcers were so awesome. Between calling Lahm – Lamb, Klose – Clothes and the best yet, Micho as Mitcho… they were so amusing. I still terribly missed the Gol announcers. They are so much more fired up and make the game much more interesting. Podolski got a yellow and I’m not entirely sure what for… Jansen made the foul, but Podolski got the yellow.

Suddenly the match got very intense and a lot of great game playing happened. Luca Toni came out and saved our asses by getting a hattrick, which should’ve been 5 goals really but his initial two were disallowed. What an intense ending to a match. I was on the edge of my seat near the end. Crazy. Kahn coming out of his net to participate was something that I’ve never seen before, but that was great. And also after Toni scored the tying goal, the emotional shot of a crying Kahn was just overwhelming. Demichelis giving a little chat to Pato was great. A happy, winning Bayern is a loving Bayern. Bayern win on aggregate and therefore advance. All in all, it was the Luca Toni show for Bayern.

And lastly, I want to know what product Luca Toni uses for his hair. It’s freakin’ gorgeous.

Below is a break down of yellow cards as they were awarded and goals.
// (44′) Contra, (89′) Ribery, (91′) Casquero, (93′) Braulio, (115′) Toni, (120′) Pato
// (21′) C. Lell, (36′) P. Lahm, (104′) L. Toni, (117′) L. Podolski

02. Podolski is still frustrated by his position at Bayern, but after his last performance, he needs to grab some more bench time. Again, consistency is everything and he is not. At least Klose creates opportunity for the team as a whole on a consistent basis. I often feel like watching Podolski play is much like rolling the dice. You’re always eager to see how it lands, but never know if you’re going to be happy or frustrated.

03. The rumor mill is going strong. This time it has Milan eying the duo of Schweinsteiger and Lell. Evidently they are prepared to offer Lell a good bit of money, but he says its not about the money made rather it’s about the quality of sport so we’ll just have to wait and see what comes of this and all the other transfer rumors gearing up. Aside from Milan, it is also rumored that Arsenal would like to get their hands on Schweinsteiger.

04. And back in the rumor mill is one Willy Sagnol. It appears that Aston Villa is interested in him. Again, we’ll see what happens. Willy has been sort of transparent lately so we’ll see what happens.

05. Remember I told you all that Kahn was pretty ticked off that Klinsmann showed up at the last UEFA match. Since then, Ottmar has come out and said that Klinsmann asked if it would be a problem for him to attend, Ottmar said no way and gave him his blessing to be there. Sometimes, Kahn needs to just be quiet. ;P

06. It appears that I am not the only one on the Mark fan wagon that thinks the ref gave him an unfair yellow/red. Oliver Kahn and Ottmar Hitzfeld have come forward to say that they don’t think anyone else would’ve been given the yellow/red. That his first yellow was a foul, the second one was not. Ottmar went so far as to criticize the ref as well. “I watched the game between Chelsea and Manchester City last night. If Mr. Weiner had been the referee, there would have been 35 yellow cards shown” Hoeness quipped. Kahn is on board too. “He has been branded. Everybody thinks now, ‘Foul, ah, Mark van Bommel, we have to react twice as much. I don’t think he would have got a red card internationally. In the Bundesliga, the referees whistle a little too often.” And Mark, well you know Mark…. “Of course I have a bad reputation, I play to the limits in the game.”

07. Speaking of Ottmar, he has now stepped forward to set a record with 192 matches as head coach. Ottmar has taken Bayern to a nine point lead atop the standings in the Bundesliga. The win against Bochum put him ahead of former coach Udo Lattek. Ottmar will reach 199 before the season is out which will be the new benchmark.

08. Keep an eye out… Pimp My Player coming ala Bayern style.

2007/08 UEFA Cup Quarter-Finals will be played on April 3rd and April 10th:

Leverkusen vs. Zenit
Rangers vs. Sporting
Bayern vs. Getafe
Fiorentina vs. PSV

2007/08 UEFA Cup Semi-Finals will be played on April 24th and May 1st

Bayern/Getafe vs. Leverkusen/Zenit
Rangers/Sporting vs. Fiorentina/PSV

Something happened during the second half and Anderlecht came out strong and hungry. They were not about to go down without a fight, and fight did they. Franck Ribery couldn’t even capitalize. Anderlecht also had to change their keeper as Zitka picked up an injury in the first half so Schollen came on and had a strong second half. Bayern took a loss, but will be seen through on a 6-2 aggregate. And while he didn’t have a spectacular game, I give it up to Lukas Podolski who played through a fever and an ear infection.

Below is a break down of yellow cards as they were awarded and goals.
// (9′) Lucio, (20′) Serhat, (35′) Iakovenko
// (7′) Juhász, (42′) Iakovenko, (52′) Deschacht, (90′) Boussoufa

I am really not a fan of Lucio, but yesterday I almost could’ve been. This game though, was custom made me for me. All of my favorites scored. I knew while watching the game late last night that it was only a matter of time before both Lukas and Mark scored for as hard as the two of them were trying to get that ball into the net. van Buyten made a beautiful header to get himself a goal. Lukas scored two. Mark scored one. It was a great game.

During the session, some of the things that the commentators said that were most impressive to me was that when van Bommel scored, they said ‘that goal was the least impressive thing that he’s accomplished out there tonight and that’s saying a lot’. I have to agree. He was, as usual, a great midfield general. They also talked about how many people felt that it was time for him to retire when he was with Barca even though he was still young, but Bayern picked him up and managed to steal an asset for their team. Again, I have to agree. He has some good years of football left in him. The thing with Mark van Bommel is this; you hate him when you play against, but when he’s playing for your team, you can’t help but love him.

The other topic of discussion was the Toni/Klose/Podolski angle. In which it was agreed upon that between the three, Lukas probably has the most talent. The question they posed, and an interesting one at that, is does Bayern have the patience to let him hone it to an art form like Klose has? We’ll have to wait and see.

Things I was glad to see during this match: Lukas’ return to form. Lukas scoring. Mark scoring. Daniel scoring. Marcell Jansen with his new haircut. The team meshing well and trying to play some serious football.

Things I was disappointed in: Willy Sagnol’s hair. Scratch that, Willy Sagnol. Period.

Breakdown of goals and yellows:
: Lucio (12′), van Buyten (36′), Podolski (71′), Podolski (77′), Lovell (83′), van Bommel (85′)
: Maybury (11′), Walker (27′), Aluko (35′), Nicholson (42′), Mackie (56′), Kroos (64′)

As much as I am a fan of Bayern, I think it is time for them to take a loss. They’ve gotten far too comfortable and far too relaxed. They haven’t been playing good football for some time now. They lay back and miss chances that they should never miss. Offside!Toni got a yellow. So did Mark. I am a fan of van Bommel. And I miss his aggressive style of play now that he’s been put into a new role for the team, but yesterday saw some of the old style of van Bommel play. He is my favorite Dutch player.

At the half the score was still 0-0 after a goal at the 22 minute mark by Braga was revoked because of a foul on Lucio. Three minutes after the second half started, Bayern took the lead with a goal by Miroslav Klose. Linz scored Braga’s equalising goal at the 67 minute mark. And Willy Sagnol made an appearance, albeit brief.

Snapshots of the day:

Bayern Munich
Bolton Wanderers
FC Braga
Red Star Belgrade
Aris Thessaloniki