Mkhitaryan snub highlights Liverpool's tough road ahead

Star quality. Remember the name.

Kevin Hatchard, who works with me at Sportsmedia believes Liverpool will need to work extra hard to attract big-names who can now choose to join Champions League clubs instead.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has spoken in reverential tones about the way Borussia Dortmund have transformed themselves from a club on the brink of financial collapse to one that came within a whisker of winning European football’s greatest prize.

It is therefore ironic that Dortmund have gazumped Liverpool for their primary transfer target. Armenian playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan has completed a switch from Shakhtar Donetsk to the Ruhr-based club for 25 million euros, and Rodgers must now look elsewhere in his efforts to add more firepower to Liverpool’s ranks.

Although the Mkhitaryan deal was extremely complicated (he was owned by three parties – Shakhtar and his previous teams Metalurg and Pyunik Eriwan), Liverpool’s failure to land the player perhaps demonstrates the difficulties that Rodgers now faces. Mkhitaryan actively pushed for a move to Dortmund, but he did not even meet with Liverpool’s representatives. In terms of development, the Germans are some way ahead of the Merseysiders in their recovery – Dortmund have won the Bundesliga title in two of the last three seasons and were Champions League runners-up, while Liverpool have no European football to look forward to this term, and haven’t managed a top-two finish since 2009.

Rodgers may find himself thrown about pursuing star names

For what it’s worth, I think Rodgers is doing an excellent job. He has given Liverpool a clear tactical direction, and he is fitting players to that system, rather than trying to clumsily adapt his footballing philosophy to the players he already has. He has managed to convince promising young talents like Phillippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge that Liverpool are a good bet long-term, even though the move to Anfield will cost them Champions League exposure in the short term. 

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that although both players have impressed since joining the Reds in January, neither had fulfilled their potential until that point, and as such were not highly sought after by Europe’s big hitters. This is the furrow that Rodgers and his much-vaunted transfer committee must now plough – players who have the technique and temperament that Rodgers demands, but aren’t dazzled by the bright lights and fiscal incentives of the Champions League.

Liverpool aren’t signing players who are at the peak of their powers. Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto and Simon Mignolet are all excellent young players with room to grow, while Kolo Toure is on the downward curve but has huge experience. These are all fine signings, but Liverpool fans will have to be patient. 

The Premier League title is simply out of reach, with Chelsea and the Manchester clubs all bristling with proven talent. That doesn’t mean Liverpool supporters should despair, it just means they will have to accept that a tilt at Champions League qualification is the primary target for this campaign. Just as Dortmund did, Liverpool will have to make gradual improvements year on year under the guidance of a charismatic coach.

Rodgers is right – Dortmund have shown what can be achieved. It just might take a little while longer than some Liverpool fans are prepared to wait.

New Wembley builds a new legend

Keep your eye on the prize!

Believe me, they give off some heat!

It was a momentous week even for Wembley standards. The Venue of Legends staged the world's two biggest club games in three days, then an international.

Nothing, not even the World Cup beats the Champions League Final for quality and now probably, glory as the pride of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund squared up.

A winner now, contrast to a year ago

Dortmund togetherness in defeat

The other big game, measured by sheer prize money was Crystal Palace against Watford for the keys to the Premier League and a £145m boost to the balance sheet.

The Champions League Final gets bigger every year. The switch from midweek to Saturday night takes it into the cultural mainstream. From Saint and Greavsie to Ant and Dec, if you like.

The moment the new champions were crowned

The opening ceremony starring a fully-fledged medieval battle between the red forces of Munich and yellow of Dortmund complete with bow and arrows, was kicked off with West End star, the War Horse.

Honestly, ITV missed a huge trick not broadcasting it in their Saturday night output.

Live flares from Bayern fall on fans below

Instead, they stuck with the foursome of drony Philistines pontificating on the irrelevant "could happen" points. While Adrian Chiles and Roy Keane swapped soundings, the choreography outside was literally marvellous. 

And the game didn't disappoint either. Bayern took their chances where Dortmund didn't and the master unlocker, Arjen Robben set one up and scored the other in the 2-1 win.

So often, this was a textbook demonstration of how to attack against how to defend.

Medieval warfare: the opening ceremony

But in Bayern's win, we're witnessing a change of guard at the top of European football. To win it a year after the disappointment of losing to Chelsea in their own stadium is a mark of a mighty setup. Follow that Pep Guardiola! 

War Horse from the West End 

Palace's win over Watford was more cagey. No one was going to be responsble for triggering tears in the boardroom. As it was, the headlines made were more romantic than the match.

39-year-old Kevin Phillips came off the bench to score the most valuable of his 280 career goals against the club where he made his name in his last game before retirement.

Wilfried Zaha was so often the difference for Palace, with his clever touches on the floor and even brainier short-passing. But Manchester United will observe he needs to build on his game, just as Cristiano Ronaldo needed to in his first days at Old Trafford. 

The semi-final vanquished were Real & Barca

England v Republic of Ireland rounded off the crowded fixture list as the FA's 150th anniversary game commemorated darker days between the two countries. It was the first fixture between the two since that ill-fated night in Dublin where crowd trouble brought the game to a premature end.

Frank Lampard's goal-trail continued. His 29th international strike puts him just one behind Alan Shearer in the all-time scoring parade. Who says the Chelsea midfielder can't go on and score half a dozen more for his country? 

New Wembley is building its legend slowly but surely. It's just seven years old, but the atmosphere, particularly in the two club games was noisy, excitable and befitting the occasions. 

For a modern building, it has a soul.