QUAO’s Monday Moanings: Kings of Europe, 1st round kings of Ghana

Citi Sports editor Nathan Quao returns with his blog and today, he looks at Real Madrid's capture of their 11th European Cup and the first round of Ghana's Premier League.

Madrid royalty in Milan
I do not think a lot of people will have qualms over Real Madrid's 11th European Cup trophy. They beat Atletico Madrid 5-3 on penalties on Saturday at the San Siro in Milan and they deserved to take home the “orejona”- the Spanish nickname for the Champions League trophy meaning the 'big eared trophy'.

While some people have described the final as boring, I found it particularly interesting especially from a tactical point of view.

I enjoyed the “oddity” of the methods of the two teams and I feel that it eventually went in Real Madrid's favour.

The strange occurrence I am talking about is how Atletico looked very uncomfortable in the first half. They had more of the ball (54 percent possession) but it seemed they did not know what to do with it.

©Getty Images Maybe this was because on the average, Atletico have about 40 or so percent of possession and they were very used to being the more reactive in encounters but this time, they had the ball with them.

They were pressed easily and their usual coordination deserted them meaning that Real Madrid always wanted to move the ball forward especially through Felipe Luis' side.

But Atletico were not totally out of the tie looking at the statistics.

Both teams had 5 attempts but Atletico had 3 on target with 2 on target for Real.

However, they needed to feel comfortable and that is where Diego Simeone gets a thumbs up from me.

He brought on Yannick Carrasco to allow them to play more vertically. The Belgian winger helped Atletico 'get rid' of the ball easier and he eventually got the equaliser.

©Getty Images However, all this does not overshadow the great work Real Madrid put out on Saturday.

Zidane might be relatively new to this job but he displayed a sense of maturity and experience in how he shaped his midfield.

He chose Casemiro, Kroos and Modric to man the central area of the pitch and that was a super trick because its simplicty i.e. outnumbering Gabi and Koke every now and then was very important in the first half.

Atletico were forced to draft Niguez and Fernandez into central midfield depending on the where the action was taking place. That left Madrid free to attack down the flanks because either one of Atletico's full backs was left exposed.

Again, Zidane and his coaching staff get plaudits because of the shootout.

It will be very unfair to them if people do not acknowledge that the five kicks taken by Lucas Vasquez, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo did not show some sort of preparation and research.

©AFP/Getty Images Five shots delivered towards the same end of a goal show that they had the lowdown on Jan Oblak's tendencies during penalties.

Of course, some luck helps but I believe you need to do your part and the people at Real Madrid came in ready for the trophy.

Wa All Stars are first round kings in Ghana

The first round of the Ghana Premier League ended on Sunday and to be sincere, it has been a very good round of football.

The teams have played well, the fans have gone to the grounds and the drive on social media has been wonderful.

But it lacked sponsorship and we have said a lot about that.

Wa All Stars topped the league with 28 points from their 15 matches played.

They fell 17 points short of a projected 45.
They got 5 wins and 2 draws at home while getting 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses on the road.

Getting 3 away wins is very good when you are looking at our context of home teams being so dominant on their patch and if All Stars will succeed at the end of the season, they will have get a few more away wins and keep their home victories on the high.

Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko overcame respective issues with their coaches and they put together a very good run in the first round.

For the Phobians, their strength and determination especially in playing away from home was notable.

They got victories in Obuasi against AshGold, in Berekum against Chelsea, in Tarkwa against Medeama were highlights of the first round and the obvious negative was the 1-0 loss to Asante Kotoko in Accra.

The Porcupine Warriors got their first round on track after Michael Osei took charge of the team. Aside from the win against Hearts, they got full points against Bechem, Techiman City and Dwarfs.

They look more assured now and they will eye more points in the second round.

They are tied on points with Hearts and Aduana Stars. Aduana are the first round's highest scorers with 18. 11 of those strikes have come from Yayaha Mohammed.

Aduana Stars forward Yahaya Mohammed
The former league champions also deserve praise because after four rounds, it looked their decision to splash money around and bring in Zakaria Mumuni, Noah Martey and Anokye Badu was not working.

However, they stabilised the ship and recruiting Aristica Chioba to coach them was a smart step in helping them find a good rhythm.

AshantiGold were simply poor in the fist round and they have to give it hundred percent in every match of the second round if they will have chance to defend their title.

Teams like Inter Allies, Bechem and Dwarfs need to show more hunger in the next 15 matches else they will book tickets to Division One.

The second round starts on June 26.
Notable mentions
The Golden State Warriors.
The defending NBA champions have managed to force Game 7 against the OKC Thunder after a great 4th quarter on Saturday at the Chesapeake Arena.

The final showdown is at the Oracle Arena and Steph Curry must be at his super-human to get the 'Dubs' back to the final.

I do not know why I like this team but they have made me a follower to the point of nerves when I am watching them play live.

That is sport for you.
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By: CitiSports