Follow the money & Cheap penalties

First, I'm reminded that football is the beautiful game. The Champions League Semi-Finals have been top-grade entertainment.

Why were 4 of the last 8, 3 of the last 4, and the last 2 teams in the competition from England? Cash. Lots of cash. English soccer is the common man's crack cocaine. Try it a couple of times, and your hooked. A global audience of junkies has pumped money into the English Premier League, and now players like Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, and Michael Essien play there.

Put players of this quality into your top teams, combined with homegrown players like Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes, and you've got a winning formula.

Liverpool lost out to Chelsea on a cheap penalty, but that's how they advanced from the quarter-finals against Arsenal. When a player is in nothing like a scoring opportunity, and is fouled, he and his side are incredibly fortunate. For me, it's an oddity in the rules.