Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are not the world’s favourite footballers.

Ajax have such a memorable past, as a football institution as well as serial winners, that it is easy to forget they have had their ups and downs.

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Johan Cruyff’s debut at Barcelona, last week Real Madrid celebrated Francisco Gento’s 80th birthday.

Barcelona take on Milan at a damp San Siro for the fourth time in two years this evening.

There are certain sayings that should be banned from the language.

“Of course Trapattoni would never be sacked. He’s a furbo,” said the butcher in my village yesterday.

The Champions League final traditionally ends the football season across Europe, but it doesn’t feel that way this year.

Losing at home to a team battling relegation is not the ideal preparation for a Champions League final, but it’s been that sort of a season for Borussia Dortmund.

Alex Ferguson’s retirement has provoked an extraordinary response right across Europe, a wave of emotion almost comparable to the day Seve Ballesteros died, exactly two years earlier.

Michel Platini should have been beaming last week.