alright michel, we get the bloody picture

"(Barcelona) embody the ideals of Spanish football, which represents technique, an easy and open style of play. it seduces me."

i'm not quite sure how or when it became appropriate for the leader of a governing body to be so obviously biased against one of their members, but the above from michel platini isn't much of a surprise. i don't buy those nonsensical "uefa rigged barca's semi-final victory cos platini hates us" conspiracy theories, but let's face facts: the man clearly doesn't like english football and will ignore even the most basic of logic to ram that home at every opportunity. case in point, from the same interview: 

"Barcelona represents my philosophy, not just in their style of play, but how they form their footballers. I believe players should be protected until they are 18, more for moral reasons than economic ones."

of course, that doesn't include the exception to the rule, which platini fails to mention: there is nothing wrong with shipping a player and his whole family half way across the world at the age of 13.

obviously barcelona were just doing that out of a sense of humanitarian concern.