Sports Ladder (4th - 10th August)

UP - Rory McIlroy - Not a bad week for the young Northern Irishman as he effectively creates an own era for himself. The returning world number one has always had the talent to be the best golfer in the world but has never strung together a run long enough to claim this title. However, after his third consecutive tournament victory, two of these being majors, McIlroy has set himself aside from the rest of the golfing world and become the very best. We are now well and truly in the McIlroy era.

UP - Arsenal - 'Specialists in failure?' Jose Mourinho will be eating his words this week as Arsenal brushed Manchester City aside to win their second trophy in less than three months. It was a commanding display against the League Champions from a side who have been the laughing stock of the top end of the Premier League for so long.. As cliched as it sounds, that FA Cup victory really may open the floodgates for Arsenal and I see them as genuine title champions this year, not just contenders. Wenger certainly knows what he is doing.


UP - England Cricket - We won again! Two weeks in a row! Actual legitimate victories! This time by a whole innings! Insane! No more words are even needed!

UP - Venus Williams - This week must have felt so very pleasing for the eldest Williams sister. For years she has disappeared, cowering in the shadow of her dominant younger sister. Serena has been the number one ranked player ranked female for well over a year now whilst Venus has toiled with injuries and dropped well down in the rankings. However, this week Venus claimed her first triumph over her sister since 2009 and made the final of the Rogers Cup in the process. Unfortunately she lost but we'll ignore that part.

UP - Howard Webb - Referees get a lot of bad press. Most weeks on Match of the Day they are hounded by Linekar and the gang as well as most of the neutrals for poor errors all over the park. This week though, Manchester United, the Premier League mourned the loss of one of its greatest assets in Howard Webb. The veteran became the first of Louis Van Gaal's summer clear out  referee retired from his 25-year career to spend more time with his family. All jokes aside, Webb will be sorely missed.

DOWN - Mark Robins - Football sackings have become a bit of a joke in recent years. Managers fired before Christmas, given no time at all to implement their ideas and no time to at least try and implement some sort of recovery. Mark Robins decided that getting fired ten games into a season was too mainstream though, opting for the more ridiculous choice of leaving after ONE game of the new season. Huddersfield were spanked 4-0 by a rampant Bournemouth side which left Robins out of a job. My head was buried so deep in my hands at this ridiculous news.

DOWN - Andy Murray - After failing to retain his Wimbledon title it looks like Murray doesn't fancy retaining his Sports Personality of the Year award either. Another quarter-final exit in this weeks Toronto Masters sees the Brit make absolutely no ground on his rivals and continue to languish in a mediocre ninth in the world rankings. Despite the appointment of Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, little has changed for the Brit and it looks to be his worst year for a very long time on the court.

DOWN - Legia Warsaw - Picture the scene. 6-1 up on aggregate in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Absolutely cruising. No way for the opposition to come back. So naturally the thing to do is bring on a player who is potentially ineligible to play with just three minutes to go. Another head-in-hands football moment as Warsaw saw themselves thrown out of the Champions League for this rookie mistake. Never underestimate the importance of paperwork.

DOWN - Bernie Ecclestone - The big, or should I say, little man at the head of Formula One made a bit of a tit of himself this week when he decided that the best way to sort out a bribery trial would simply be to buy his way out with an effectively legal form of bribery. Ecclestone was on trial for bribing a company he favoured to buy a stake in F1 and got out of the trial by paying a 100 million Euro buy-out. If that doesn't scream 'guilty' then I really don't know what does.

DOWN - Tiger Woods - Topping this weeks Sports Ladder was Rory McIlroy and his new era so it seemed only fitting to put his predecessor rock bottom after another week to forget. On a generous Valhalla course, Woods looked barely a shadow of his best, finishing on Friday after failing to make the cut by six shots. Plagued with injuries and still not looking focused after his off-the-course personal problems, the era of the legendary Tiger Woods is well and truly over.

Real in Control of Semi-Final Tie

Real Madrid hold a slender one goal advantage heading into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final clash with Bayern Munich as a nineteenth minute goal by Karim Benzema proved to be the only thing separating the European giants.

Despite dominating possession for most of the game, Bayern came away from the Bernabeu empty-handed as a solid Madrid defence kept them at bay. The German team failed to properly test Iker Casillas in the Real Madrid goal, save for a Mario Gotze chance in the second half.

At the other end of the pitch Real Madrid may come away disappointed to have just got the one goal after a number of free-flowing counter-attacks were not converted. While Karim Benzema tucked away a neat move, Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Mario also both had decent first half chances to extend the lead which they blazed over the bar.

Bayern quickly settled into a passing rhythm whilst Real struggled to maintain posession in front of their home crowd. Bayern nearly capitalized on this sluggish start when Arjen Robben's deflected shot flew narrowly past the post.

But it was the Spanish side who hit first with vitually their first attack of the game. A classic counter attacking move saw Ronaldo set Coentrao free down the left, his low cross tucked into an empty net by Karim Benzema.

The goal kick-started Real, who nearly had a second moments later when Ronaldo sent his towering header straight down the keepers throat. Di Maria then had a lengthy shot comfortably saved by Manuel Neuer as they hit Bayern with another fast-paced counter-attack.

For all their early possession Bayern failed to create any real chances in the opening half an hour and were fortunate to find themselves just one goal down as Cristiano Ronaldo sent a seemingly simple chance uncharacteristically over the bar.

That wasted opportunity was looking like it could be costly as Bayern ramped up the pressure, the German outfit creating a number of half chances, most of which were flowing through the hugely influential Robben.

Once again though it was Real causing the serious problems as Angel Di Maria found himself with acres of space on the right hand side. However, like Ronaldo, he was unable to capitalise firing his shot high into the stands as his team mates looked on in despair.

Despite leading at the break, Real would have received an inevitable ear-full from Ancelotti as they struggled to maintain possession or convert their chances. And for a brief moment it looked as though they may get a second, Ronaldo testing Neuer with a low shot, palmed away by the German international.

The second half quickly settled into a similar rhythm to the first, Bayern flirting with the Spanish box but unable to create anything dangerous with Real quite happy to soak up the Bayern possession and hit with pace on the counter.

Ancelotti had quite evidently pushed his team higher up the pitch in the second half and this nearly became their undoing, Robben driving through the centre of the park but his shot found the grateful arms of Casillas.

On the touchline Guardiola was the first to crack, replacing the ragged-looking Rafinha with Javi Martinez in an attempt to keep Madrid's advantage to just one. Regardless it was still the Spanish side testing the opposition keeper, Ronaldo capitalising on a quick free kick to call Neuer into action again.

Guardiola acted again, this time bringing on the young German international Mario Gotze as Real Madrid were forced into the substitution of Pepe as the centre-back tweaked his hamstring in an awkward fall. Both managers were keen to mix things up in the final fifteen minutes, as Ronaldo departed for Gareth Bale on his return from injury as well as Thomas Mueller entering the fray for Bastien Schweinsteiger.

As the game drew towards it's conclusion Bayern continued to dominate possession, Mueller flashing a drive round the post. But the big chance came in the eighty-third minute. A mix-up on the right hand side allowed the ball to fall to an unmarked Gotze in the box. The German fired a snapshot but Casillas was equal to it, producing a splendid save to maintain his clean sheet.

There was almost controversy in stoppage time as it seemed as though referee Howard Webb had failed to award Bayern a penalty, but the Englishman made the correct decision as Xabi Alonso nicked the ball ahead of a furious Mueller.

The two sides will meet again next Tuesday for the decisive leg at the Allianz Arena.