A WILD NIGHT IN THE GROUP OF DEATH

SORTING OUT THE TIEBREAKING CHAOS IN GROUP F

Anyone who watched Tuesday's pulsating encounter between Dortmund and Napoli were treated to the best that Europe can offer. BVB's 3-1 win leaves them and the Italian side with nine points apiece while group leaders Arsenal top the table with 12 points.

What is interesting is the three-team scenario in which all teams could finish on 12, which would mark the first time a team with that many points wouldn't go through to the knockout rounds. That's why Dortmund was looking for a two-goal victory entering this contest since they know a win on Matchday 6 in Marseille guarantees themselves qualification.                                                                                                      

That's because the three-team scenario involves a mini-table among the tied teams. So a 1-0 Dortmund victory on Tuesday coupled with a 3-1 victory for Napoli on Matchday 6 over Arsenal would have meant elimination for last year's runner-up.                                                                                                      

However, once Dortmund went up 2-0 it wasn't a disaster to concede and only go on to win 2-1. Why? As boss Jurgen Klopp said, "It was obvious that the team lost their assurance when Napoli pulled it back to 2-1. They didn't realise that the goal actually had no effect on our situation. However, they started to attack again."                                                                                                                                          

Why did it have no effect on the situation?  Well had the match finished 2-1, Dortmund would have  finished the 4-team head-to-head with 5 goals scored and 5 conceded. That meant that a 2-0 Napoli win on Matchday 6 would have eliminated Arsenal of all teams since Napoli would have scored 5 and conceded 5 in the head-to-heads and Arsenal would be at 4 apiece. With goal difference equal, Arsenal would have been out on goals scored in those matches.                                                                        

Had Dortmund won 2-1 on Tuesday, even a 3-1 Napoli win would have eliminated Arsenal. In this scenario, Napoli would have scored 6 and conceded 6 in the head-to-head and Arsenal would be at 5 apiece, but Dortmund would pip Arsenal on the basis of away goals in these games (3 to 2).  Are you following all of that?                                                                                                                              
                       
If you are not, don't be alarmed. Klopp laid out the scenarios to his team Monday, but when Napoli made it 2-1, there was confusion by the players as to whether the result would have been good enough. The answer?  At 2-1, it probably was enough since only a two-goal win by Napoli on Matchday 6 by scores of 4-2 or higher could have knocked Dortmund out.                                                                                                          
This became a moot point for BVB once Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a third goal. But what that goal really did was make Napoli's hill that much steeper against Arsenal. As I outlined before, a 2-0 or 3-1 win would have been enough before for Napoli, but now they must beat the Gunners by three.
         
It's a bizarre situation and Arsenal must be grateful to Aubameyang for a goal that made their lives much easier.            

MLS: A 'great little league'

American soccer star Steve Cherundolo made some fans in this country upset when he called MLS a great 'little league' recently. The superstar is deciding in May whether to finish his illustrious career - one that is unsurpassed by just about every American ever to play the game- in MLS. It's definitely an interesting decision for a man dubbed the 'Mayor of Hannover' who has been with his German club his entire career and has seen it rise from the Zweite Liga into European competition.

It got this blog thinking about what is wrong with MLS and whether it could be fixed. So here are five suggestions to fix this 'little league.'

1. Stop trying to compete in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Look we get it the Champions League is the pinnacle of the sport, but that's in UEFA where the concept works. Trying to duplicate it in CONCACAF, which can't run anything properly to begin with, is a serious mistake. Making Kansas City travel to Honduras and LA Galaxy go to El Salvador during the MLS season is foolish. These games are atrocious and hurts the product of MLS, which hasn't developed enough to handle this. And MLS gets smashed apart by the Mexican teams when it counts anyway. Please make this competition stop.

2. Marketing stars doesn't work in this sport since we don't have many, if any.

So earlier this season, Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy were set to meet Clint Dempsey and the Seattle Sounders in a star-studded matchup. Only neither one showed up. Look I get that injuries happen but stop trying to market prima donna players like Donovan, who has been around forever. Soccer is a team sport, Jason Kreis is doing wonders with Real Salt Lake on an annual basis and all we hear about is Donovan and Dempsey - who by the way are both out of the playoffs.Make the team the star like in American football if only because we can stop pretending that MLS players are world superstars. They are not.

3. Fix your ridiculous playoff system.

I know that the system seems to change every year - who can forget the Western Conference champion New York Red Bulls or the Eastern Conference champion Colorado Rapids?  But can't you idiots in charge use the away goals like every other competition in the sport? The Red Bulls go up 2-0 in Houston and have to settle for a draw so normally they would have a big advantage but no, your stupid system means that a 1-1 result in the second leg sends the tie to extra time.  I have yet to see a credible answer as to why away goals is not in use and can only assume it is because Americans running the sport are complete idiots. And don't tell me the League Cup semis don't use away goals - never use England as a model for anything except losing in cricket!

4. Add transparency to league transactions.

One of the stupidest parts about the Dempsey-to-Seattle saga was how MLS apparently told Toronto it could not sign him because the league wanted Dempsey in an American market.  Are you kidding me? Does it really matter to an American soccer fan whether Dempsey is playing in Seattle or Toronto? How is that fair to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver then in the future since Canada stinks at football and will never produce a single player of note. I don't mind if the best players want to choose their destination, that's what happens in Europe all the time. But if MLS has a system in place for player acquisitions, the league should honor it.

5. Tell the Steve Cherundolos of the world no thanks if they want big bucks.

I love 'Dolo and he's truly a U.S. great but he isn't worth some kind of big-money deal at this point in his career. Truthfully, why he would even want to tarnish such a great footballing career with a token MLS appearance is beyond me. I would like to see less of guys my age coming over from Europe to make a few extra bucks and more of younger players - of any and all nationalities - getting a chance to play. Now that is happening in MLS to some degree but I think an emphasis needs to be put on developing talent rather than has-beens who won't be able to hack the demands of constant plane travel in MLS.

Do you have any suggestions to fix the top-flight football league in the United States? Post them below, I am sure this list is much too short.