The era of Spanish dominance is well and truly in the past after Bayern Munich brushed aside Barcelona 3-0 in the 2^nd leg of their semi-final to clinch the tie 7-0 on aggregate and setup the first all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on May 25^th at Wembley. Barcelona were always up against it after their 1^st leg mauling and with Lionel Messi being restricted to the bench through injury their chances reduced further.

Any hopes of Bayern being slack were washed away three minutes into the 2^nd half when Arjen Robben got the crucial away goal after cutting in from the right. Gerard Pique’s own goal on 72 minutes made it 2-0 to the Germans, who added a 3^rd four minutes later through Thomas Muller. The stage is set for the Germans to shine on the continent’s biggest stage and on a personal note, Bayern have a glorious chance to make up for the disappointments of 2010 and 2012.

South Africa finally got a win under their belt in their last Pool A match against Wales on Saturday afternoon (SA time) but their comfortable 31-0 victory came too late to save them from elimination from the Cup competition at the Hong Kong Sevens.

Instead, the Springbok Sevens will now play against Spain on Sunday morning (05h06, live on SuperSport 6) in one of four Bowl quarterfinal rugby clashes.

The European leg of the prolonged World Cup 2014 qualifiers was in action once again last night and England were the biggest winners as they thrashed San Marino 8-0. The other European giants to have an easy night in the office were Germany who cruised past Kazakhstan 3-0, Netherlands also beat Estonia by the same margin while France comfortably swatted aside Georgia 3-1. The surprise result of the round came in Gijon where Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Finland. Portugal and Israel played out an entertaining 3-3 draw in Group F while Wales got the better of Scotland 2-1 in the all-British battle.

England’s rampage against San Marino was welcome relief for Roy Hodgson after the usual pre-match tabloid headache. The Three Lions managed to get six different scorers on the sheet against the minnows, with Jermain Defoe grabbing a brace. England were five goals to the good by half-time, with Alessandro Della Valle getting the ball rolling with an early own goal. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Defoe, Ashley Young and Frank Lampard all found a way to goal by the break to leave the home side reeling.

Arsene Wenger’s plans of signing out of favour Barcelona striker David Villa in a cut-price deal at the end of the season have been dealt a heavy blow by the Catalan club’s offer of a contract renewal to the struggling Spain international.

The 31 year-old made the move to the Nou Camp from Valencia in a £35 million deal. But the Euro and World Cup winner has lost his place in the Barca first team after returning to action earlier this season after an 8 month gap due to a leg injury. However, the Spanish giants feel that Villa still has a vital role to play at the Spanish club and are planning to extend his contract, which expires in 2014, reported the Daily Mail.

North London club Arsenal are looking to sign Real Madrid fringe defender Raul Albiol as part of the solution to their defensive problems, according to CaughtOffside.com. Arsenal have paid a heavy price for individual errors from their defenders this season and as a result have dropped 7 points behind 4th place rivals Tottenham. It is being reported that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is looking to revamp his defense next season which could see many first team players face the axe.

Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen and German international Per Mertesacker have both had an inconsistent season and have made far too many mistakes that have led to crucial goals. Many believe that this pairing at the heart of the Gunners’ defence could be broken next season.

Barcelona and Chelsea have a vitriolic relationship that has been simmering ever since the pair began to meet regularly in the Champions League. That hasn’t stopped the Catalan giants from thinking about a sneaky bid for David Luiz though as the Brazilian is one among many defenders being hunted by the La Liga’s runaway leaders. Barcelona’s defensive frailties were on full show against AC Milan last week but whether David ‘Sideshow Bob’ Luiz is indeed the solution for that remains a mystery.

Luiz remains a cult-figure at Stamford Bridge despite being a frustratingly erratic defender. Rafa Benitez has tried to make the best of the situation by deploying the 25 year old in a dynamic midfield role, a ploy that has worked on some occasions.

Chelsea fought tooth-and-nail to sign him from Benfica in their ill-fated January spending spree in 2011, which also witnessed the arrival of a certain Fernando Torres. Neither big money signings have worked out as expected but the suits at Stamford Bridge aren’t about to throw the towel just yet, with both stars expected to stay at the club beyond the summer.

The midweek international friendlies provided the perfect opportunity for nations to gauge their preparations for next year's World Cup and judging by last night's performances, England and Germany could be the teams to beat in Brazil in 2014. England turned on the style in their 2-1 win over Brazil at Wembley to mark FA's 150-year celebrations as Ashley Cole became the 7th player to notch 100 caps for the Three Lions. However, it was Frank Lampard who stole the limelight with his winner after coming off the bench. Meanwhile, Germany broke their French hoodoo as they came from behind to beat France 2-1 to register their first win over the Les Blues since 1987. Mathieu Valbuena gave France the lead in the first half only for Thomas Mueller and Sami Khedira to start the New Year in style for Germany.

However, there was no happy ending for the Netherlands as the Dutch were forced to settle for a late draw against Italy after Marco Verratti scored an injury time equalizer to cancel out Jermain Lens' opener. Elsewhere, Barcelona-dominated Spain registered a comfortable 3-1 win over Uruguay with a goal from Cesc Fabregas and brace from Pedro. There was also victory for Argentina who killed off the game inside the opening 23 minutes with goals from Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain leading them to a 3-2 win over Sweden.