What an absolutely fabulous performance by Middlesborough. And it’s not very often you get to say that, is it?

Their comeback against Basle on Thursday must surely go down as one of the all-time great European results as they overturned a three-goal deficit to go through to the UEFA Cup semi-finals.

Mclaren’s side already faced an uphill battle when they started the game with a 2-0 deficit from the away leg. And that situation wasn’t made any better when they went behind midway through the first half.

But in a rare display of all-out attacking football combined with passion, commitment and belief, Boro went on to score four and knock out the Swiss side with the winner coming in the 90th minute.

When you consider it was only a couple of months ago that Mclaren looked like he was on his way out of the club after an appalling run of results, this triumph is even more remarkable.

And it may just add a little weight to those arguing that the Boro boss should be made the next England manager.

I’m still not entirely convinced he is the right man for that job but, if he can get that sort of performance out of his players on a more regular basis, then maybe he actually does have the right credentials to take over from the soon-to-be gone Sven.

He certainly proved on Thursday that he is miles ahead in the passion department…

Storm in a teacup

On Tuesday Lilian Thuram promised Arsenal they would face a “hurricane” in Wednesday’s second leg quarter final. Sadly for Juventus it was much more like a storm in a teacup.

Although I think it would be fair to say Juventus had the clear majority of possession in the match, Jens Lehman only had three or four saves to make in the entire game which hardly qualifies as the promised siege.

Ultimately, over the two legs, the better team won and I don’t think even the most diehard Juve supporter would be able to deny that. Arsenal had more cohesion, more purpose and considerably more energy.

Now only Villarreal stand between Arsene Wenger’s boys and what would be, considering their poor domestic form, an unlikely appearance in the Champions League final.

If Arsenal do eventually win Europe’s top prize it will be the second season in a row where a team which is not doing spectacularly well domestically has gone on to win the Champions League.

Maybe a pattern is emerging, a pattern which suggests even the biggest teams don’t have enough depth to compete at the very highest level on two separate fronts.

Then again Barcelona are still favourites for the trophy and they already pretty much have La Liga sown up as well. So maybe not.

But either way Wenger won’t care. His team rebuilding is going according to plan and may even be ahead of schedule. Kids who looked out of their depth a couple of months ago are now putting in top class performances week after week and the future is looking bright.

All they need now is Henry to realise this and put pen to paper and it will have been a successful season after all, trophy or no trophy.

Congratulations, Celtic

Congratulations to Celtic on securing the Scottish title with six games left to play.

Their 1-0 win over Hearts on Wednesday was enough to make it mathematically impossible for the Edinburgh club to catch them and celebrations rightly ensued.

It seems a long time ago now that Gordon Strachan was being slammed by the press and fans alike when his first competitive match ended in a 5-0 humiliation to Art Media in the Champions League qualifiers.

The title success means Gordon has claimed two pieces of silverware in his first season which is just about par for the course when it comes to being manager of one of the big two north of the border.

And while it is obviously not a bad start, if Gordon really wants to go down in history he will have to maintain this level of success for many years to come and, preferably, add to it a little European glory as well.

Being successful in Scotland as manager of Rangers or Celtic is considerably easier than in most other leagues. But as a direct consequence of that, becoming a legend is that much harder.

Harry Redknapp

At first glance it looked like a pretty sparse week for quotes. Nothing particularly mouth watering.

But then, thank goodness, out pops Harry Redknapp to save the day. Speaking after his team won their third game in a row at Fulham, he explained how he rewarded his players for their 3-1 success.

“We went to watch a show – Billy Joel. Half the foreign lads weren’t sure who Billy Joel was but I enjoyed it anyway. For the Charlton game I will really punish them – I’ll take them to see Mama Mia,” he said.

Not entirely sure that’s the best incentive ever, Harry mate.

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