Real Madrid: Champions of Europe but the worst example to follow
In the countdown to the all-important Classico in the La Liga title race, news that Xavi Alonso is quitting as coach of Bayer Leverkusen will hang heavy in the air. A legend with Real Madrid and an exemplary figure in the world of football, he's now the strong favourite to return to the Spanish capital to succeed Italian Carlo Ancelotti.
A match that is all the more important for restoring Real's tarnished image as the biggest club in the world and a leading examples of all that's good in the sport.
Watched, scrutinised and commented on. Every weekend the championships are followed with singular fervour. Young people are passionate about it, longing for glory. Older players are attached to it, contemplating the past weeks with a sense of grandeur as the results unfold.
The media aspect means that those involved in the sport have a duty to set an example. A task that seems increasingly difficult to accomplish for many: violence against referees, calls for boycotts, repeated protests, accusations of corruption... The football we cherish so much sometimes seems to be affected by disturbing symptoms. During this season, Real Madrid, in particular, have illustrated its excesses time and again.
Known the world over for their successive Champions League triumphs, this season is tinged with a special atmosphere. It's been 21-years since Real failed to appear in the last four of the Champions League. However, history may well remember this year for the club attracting attention for some disturbing extra-sporting behaviour.
The arrival of Kylian Mbappé last summer and the great performances of Brazilian Vinicius Junior during the previous season boded well for a new year full of hope.
It all began last October with the annual celebration of the Ballon d'Or - the prize awarded by France Football to Europe's best player. The victory of Manchester City's Spanish international midfielder Rodri was met with disbelief and even disgust in Madrid. Such was the incomprehension and discontent that not a single member of the Madrid delegation turned up for the trophy presentation.
Voted men's club of the year, they were clearly enormously disturbed by the Spaniard's victory believing their Brazilian striker Vinicius should've won. But what message did it send to the world to boycott the proceedings? Sore losers? It's ok of course to be disturbed by defeat but to not recognise someone else success appears churlish to say the least.
Back in February, Real questioned the integrity of Spain's referee's association after losing 1-0 to Espanyol claiming that arbitration has "reached a level of manipulation and adulteration of the competition that can no longer be ignored."
Real fans too seem to believe that corruption is working against them. While a number of clasico matches have taken place, all won by Barcelona, the King's Cup final last month has left a particular bitter taste in the mouths of many.
Hostilities began in the run-up to the final when referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea could not hold back his tears as he spoke of the pressure he and his family had been subjected to. It came after Real Madrid's TV channel released a video questioning his integrity.
In response, the club put out a statement defending the 'free speech' of its channel saying "Real Madrid understands that football's values must prevail, despite the hostility and animosity that has today once again been shown against our club, by the referees appointed for the final."
The great spectacle of the match was rounded off by some surprising images. Several contentious decisions were made against Barcelona during the match.
And yet, during extra time, it was Madrid's players who went into a tailspin. The images speak for themselves: protests, violence, anger.
It was unanimously agreed that players of such a high calibre, despite the extreme emotions of a match, could not behave in such a way. Barça's victory resulted in an epic end to the match, with many players being sent off. The most notable of these was that of German defender Antonio Rudiger, who's received a six-match ban after throwing ice at the referee.
Apart from the purely sporting aspect, this repeated behaviour raises real ethical issues. How can one of the world's greatest teams afford to act in such a way in the eyes of the spectators? Football inspires and amazes when it shines. However, these recurrent excesses, illustrate serious shortcomings.
Increasingly, we are seeing violent behaviour towards referees and between players in amateur and children's leagues. Some soccer dads and mums repeat such animated angry antics on the touchlines or don't hold back against referees, feeling they're entitled to express their opinions. So, how can we be critical of them if the highest authorities are struggling to maintain a level playing field?
Real Madrid and its president, Florentino Perez, are playing a dangerous game of pressure. Too often distorted for the sake of economic interests, football tends towards the worst at the expense of the best. The question is not whether there will be further excesses, but when? Penalties will have to be tough and the higher authorities will have to abide by a common word of respect. Football belongs to the fans, and if respect is violated, it loses its essence: the game.
As a former player with Olympique Lyonnais and current player and coach with FC Villefranche Beaujolais, this behaviour has a direct impact on me. Throughout my training, the principles of respect, humility, commitment and excellence were at the heart of every session. I can't help but wonder, once you've reached the professional level, what's left?
Personally, I find it hard to accept that one of the world's greatest clubs is at the centre of this kind of controversy. I think it's everyone's duty to cultivate unwavering respect. Football is fuelled by people: coaches, players, managers, spectators. I'm convinced that a reciprocal sense of duty is needed to turn around a sport that is tending to become distorted.
Over the last two years, I've been writing an account of my sporting training at Olympique Lyonnais and my literary emancipation. Throughout the story, I try to decipher, with a human approach, an environment that tends towards individualism. I try, step by step, to remind people of the need for mutual consideration between those involved in football because the ripples of what we do, and how we act, spread far and beyond the pitches on which we play.
In The Final Destination universe, death likes to get creative — and anything, even a rubber fish, can become the potential catalyst for a torturous demise.
For those not in the know, the first film came out in 2000 and became an instant classic of millennium-era horror. The idea behind it is simple: A group of friends escape death after one has a premonition — but the reaper doesn't give up so easily, turning the world into a Kevin McAllister-style death trap to rectify its list.
Conceived by American screenwriter and director Jeffrey Reddick, it was originally written as a spec script for the X-Files, and inspired by a news story about a woman that skipped a flight after her mother had a premonition.
Most of the death scenes follow a Rube Goldberg recipe of (sinister) chain reactions that play with our expectations. Everything and everyone becomes a potential threat: leaking pipes, precariously placed electrical appliances, a man mowing the lawn. The ways to die are endless — and when executed right, remain core to the franchise's enduring appeal.
The sixth instalment, Final Destination: Bloodlines, is due to be released on the 14 May, and recently broke records as the second most viewed horror film trailer of all time. The plot follows the deathly premonitions of college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who discovers they are an inherited curse — the doomed cycle of which she must try to break once and for all.
In anticipation, we've ranked the top ten death scenes from the five films so far. There were a lot to choose from, and honourable mentions must go to the clothesline strangulation in Final Destination, the elevator decapitation in Final Destination 2, and the guts evacuation scene in The Final Destination (slim pickings from that one).
If the following scenes have taught us anything, it's that you really can't cheat death — but it sure is fun/disgusting watching people try.
The death scene that started it all — Alex Browning's (Devon Sawa) plane crash premonition. This sets in motion what makes the franchises' premise work so well: That gnawing sense of dread through lingering shots on specific details, like the plane doors being shut and unstable overhead lockers. It cunningly cultivates a sense of claustrophobia that signals sinister forces at play — but what lets this particular scene down is the actual deaths. There's a body flying from the aircraft, one bloody splatter, and a lot of fire, resulting in Alex's head sizzling to a crusty pulp (badly aged CGI will be a theme here!) It's a chaotic rush that doesn't meet the tension fostered — but still remains one of horror's most memorable openings.
After surviving a car accident, Kat (Keegan Connor Tracy) is trapped inside. As EMTs arrive, the scene lulls us into a false sense of relief, bouncing the focus between other characters. It also starts setting us up, unknowingly, for another character's death, confusing expectations. By the time the death finally happens — Jaws of Life causing airbag deployment causing head impalement by jagged pole — it catches you completely off guard with its abruptness. Side note: This movie really gave us so many complexes about being impaled in cars.
After the disappointment ofThe Final Destination, the 5th film surprised fans with its innovativeness. While a lot can be said for that twist ending (no 14-year-old spoilers here), the opening remains a highlight. You've got a suspension bridge crumbling quicker than a soggy cookie as characters are being impaled by sailboat masts, liquidised by molten tar, and sliced in half by a sheet of metal. It's a frenzy of gruesome freakiness — and even if the CGI is questionable, it's a lot of fun.
The universe can be so cruel. Even if Evan (David Paetkau) is the kind of guy that microwaves day-old noodles without first checking for magnets, he'd just won the lottery and bought a bunch of fancy new accessories. Life was looking up — but, like a twisted player of The Sims, death was looking down. After getting his hand stuck in the waste disposal plug and setting the apartment on fire, Evan last-minute escapes through a fire exit... Then slips on some spaghetti and ends up pierced through the eyeballs by a ladder. This set-up is great because it's so goofy; an onslaught of comedic near-misses that never lose sight of their punchline.
Gym bros will tell you lifting weights solves everything — but death would disagree. As Lewis (Texas Battle) aggressively pumps iron on a machine with swords hanging above it (where is health and safety in this place?) the scene also has us sweating over leaks and a wobbly CD player. When the swords inevitably fall, slicing the machine's mechanisms, Lewis remains miraculously unscathed. But as he shouts, 'Fuck death! That's all I do baby, I just win!' — we know what's coming. The beats here are perfect, and the final grisly head squash is hilariously satisfying.
The dentist is never fun, but Tim's (Jim Kirk) trip turns into an all-out nightmare as he almost chokes on a rubber fish while pigeons kamikaze into windows. What's great about this one is the set-up is slow and full of the usual unsubtle foreboding — but it also makes us think, for a minute, that death has once again been beaten. It's a momentary relief that's quickly shattered when a large pane of glass falls on Tim's head, flattening him into a bloody puddle. We'll just never understand why his urge to run into those pigeons was so strong.
If death is out to get you, the kitchen has got to be one of the worst places to be. Poor teacher Miss Lewton (Kristen Close) learns this the hard way, as her impending demise unravels through a series of cartoonish errors. A kettle sinisterly whistles, a mug cracks, vodka leaks onto a monitor that explodes — sending a shard of glass straight to Miss Lewton's neck. In a desperate scramble, she pulls a block of knives onto herself before a falling chair casts the final blow. further impaled by a falling chair as the rest of her house goes up in flames to the sound of John Denver. It encapsulates everything that's so fun about these movies — the characterisation of death as an evil little freak.
This one really raised the bar (pun intended) for Final Destination death scenes. As gymnast Candice (Ellen Wroe) prepares to practice her routines, a symphony of potential catastrophes join the warm up. Poles rattle and creak under pressure, screws shiver loose onto beams, overhead fans grumble, while liquid drips from a pipe onto exposed cable. Every moment is so textured with near-miss tension that when the sudden brutality of Candice's death hits — a spine-snapping crash landing — it feels all the more shocking.
If the risk of skin cancer wasn't enough to stop people using tanning beds, this scene sure should be! Ashley and Ashlyn (Chelan Simmons and Crystal Lowe) are your classic Paris Hilton-era hotties who get cooked alive after an incoming call on a Nokia triggers a coat stand to fall, trapping them both. From the kitschy character details to the swift shift into their slow-burning terror, this death scene remains a stand-out for its creativity. It also gifted us one of cinema's most poetic transitions: an overhead shot of two burning tanning beds replaced with the sombre stillness of two coffins. Haunting, genuinely.
It's a bit of a stretch, but you could say the log lady from Twin Peaks prophesied this one long before Kimberly (A. J. Cook): 'Shut your eyes and you'll burst into flames.' However, while Margaret's log did not judge — the one's in this scene are out to kill.
Some might argue that this is a cliche choice for number one, but the sheer impact it had on an entire generation cannot be denied. How many of us remain terrified of driving behind log trucks? It's not exactly a common occurrence, but still!
It's also genuinely the best opening disaster of all the films. The log impalement's quick escalation into a cataclysmic road traffic disaster is full of violent chaos and explosions straight out of a 90s action movie.
Whether it's the novelty of a new fear unlocked, or the more realistic nature of a road traffic accident, this scene scarred our collective consciousness. No offence, log truckers.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is scheduled for release on 14 and 16 May in most European territories.
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