Not this season, Part 2

Twice in two weekends is a bit hard to take, but that's the price you pay. The Champions League final went the same way as the title decider: can't fault the effort and commitment of the players; the team selection was pretty much what I would have chosen - the only player I wouldn't have started had a brilliant game (Konaté); the referee was excellent. We lost because of a single mistake and some excellent goalkeeping from Madrid's keeper. What do you expect when Général de Gaulle is in the nets? Tough to be us.

UEFA and Stade de France, however? I've heard from a couple of people at the game who were caught up in the complete fiasco at the gates. One of them - who is a club employee - was refused entry because of "a forged ticket". She got the ticket from the club secretary himself, in her hand, from the club's allocation. So something is obviously not right there. UEFA. I'm sure this will all come out in the news sooner rather than later, as the players families and girlfriends were generally refused admission too...  That is what leaves a sour taste in the mouth (as well as the result obviously, but that is just sport).

Anyway, Ottawacker Jr. had his first taste of defeat in a final; he coped pretty well. Mrs. Ottawacker even congratulated me on my behaviour. Two weeks on the wagon, and I didn't even have a comforting glass of wine in which I could drown my sorrows. Instead, we sat down and had dinner in front of the TV - watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in which Jones leads an archaeological dig at Goodison Park and almost gets eaten for his troubles.