Italians are amongst the friendliest, most hospitable and relaxed people on this Earth. They seldom fail to be anything other than accomodating and helpful, and indeed will go out of their way to make total strangers feel completely welcome.

For this reason, I am struggling to comprehend the reception European – and particularly English – clubs receive when they play AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

Over the last 3 – 5 years, hostilities towards away fans at the Olimpico have been escalating, which little or no deterrence from UEFA, FIFA or the Italian police.

Twice Manchester United fans have been subjected to beatings, waves of coin-throwing amongst myriad other things from the Ultras, the Roma hooligan group. Arsenal fans have also experienced almost identical treatment, all with little or no protection.

Earlier this month, Arsenal made the trip to the Olimpico stadium to face Roma in a Champions’ League tie, which was eventually won by the Gunners after a tense penalty shoot-out. This did not sit well with the Ultras.

According to the BBC, English fans were advised to avoid areas that the Ultras are particularly known to spend time in. This, however, did not prevent them from attacking a bus and stabbing an Arsenal fan, seemingly for no other reason than his footballing allegence and his nationality.

An Arsenal spokeswoman told the BBC: “A male Arsenal fan was believed to be stabbed outside the stadium.

“Roma fans threw stones at a bus, smashing windows, and an individual allegedly entered the bus and stabbed a fan.”

A British Embassy spokesman added: “This bus got a bit lost around the stadium and some Roma fans tried to get on the bus.

“One managed to get on to the bus and there was a fight.

“The driver managed to get away when the Roma fan was pushed out of the bus.”

He added: “We don’t know if [the injury] was a stabbing or glass from a smashed window.”

It is difficult to reconcile this with the experiences I have had of Italy, and it is disturbing that such a nation such as this, with such a rich footballing heritage is host to such violence and hate.

Italy has always had a tribal element to its football, stemming from its relatively recent unifaction. The result is that encounters in domestic Italian football are heated and have an element of regional nationalism.

This, at times become completely out of hand and it is not unheard of for games to take place behind closed doors. Indeed, this was the case when Sicilian sides Catania and Palermo played each other in a 2006 local derby. One policeman was killed in a post-match brawl between fans, and during the match, Catania fans in the upper tier of the stadium dropped a moped on the visiting Palermo fans in the seats below.

In light of all this and the repeated violence that has taken place in recent years, it is difficult to justify UEFA’s decision to hold the Champions’ League final in the Olimpico.

On Monday I read that West Ham and Sheffield United had come to an out-of-court agreement over the truly ridiculous Carlos Tevez debacle in a deal that could be worth up to £25 million to the Blades.

When I read that, a wave of relief passed through me as I realised that perhaps the most annoying, longest-running story of the last 18 months had come to an end.

At least, it would have. Now, though, Leeds chairman Ken Bates and Crystal Palace coach Neil Warnock have chosen to wade in and take what they can from the saga.

Bates’ argument for compensation for Leeds is that Matthew Kilgallon – sold by Leeds to the Blades – had a clause in his contract that meant Sheffield United would have to play Leeds £500k had they escaped relegation.

“We are currently taking advice on it and won’t be commenting further at this time,” Bates told the BBC.

“We sold a number of players to Sheffield United with contingencies. When they got relegated on the last day of the season we missed out on a substantial sum.

“That’s what we lost and if they are being compensated for their loss we believe we should be compensated for our loss.

“There are other clubs in the same boat who have similar claims. Ours is the biggest claim and it would be nice to collect that and strengthen our squad.”

This, of course, is ludicrous, and could potentially set off an endless chain of lawsuits, ruining the English game.

Of course it would be “nice” for Leeds to collect that sum, but their claim is tenuous at the very best.

Warnock, however, does have a far more rational claim to compensation, given the potential earnings he missed out on due to Tevez’s incredible form for West Ham at the tail-end of 2005/2006.

It is, however, difficult to see what is motivating Warnock beyond bitterness.

If we are to see an end to the chain of lawsuits that other clubs are planning, then either FIFA or the courts need to step in before the game degenerates into a farce.

Now, this was not because I enjoy seeing teams thrashed 4-1 in front of their own fans, or even because I do not like United. It was because it kept the title race open. Beating United as emphatically as Liverpool at Old Trafford is the kind of event that makes all British football fans – United fans excluded – forget their differences and rejoice in celebration. This was made all the more entertaining when Sir Alex chose to impress upon us his pearls of wisdom in the post-match interview.

“It’s a shame because the best team lost today,” mused Fergie. Only he will know how his supposedly superior team managed to capitulate in such a spectacular manner. When managers say these kind of things in the media, you do have to question whether they actually have enough synapses in their brian to properly consider what they are saying. Quite how a “the better team” can lose so comprehensively is difficult to fathom, but we can rest assured that Sir Alex knows what he is doing.

Had the expected happened, and United prevailed in a painfully predictable 1-0 win, with John O’Shea scoring the most embarrssing of tap-ins after a Pepe Reina fumble, then the door would have slammed well and truly shut on Liverpool’s and Chelsea’s hopes of toppling the champions. As it stands, there is still a tenuous hope that the race is not over.

As many point out, though; it probably is.

This, however, highlights the fundamental problem with the Premier League. Whilst it provides scintillating, free-flowing football, it is a league in which all but five of the competing teams set out at the start of the season with the objective of avoiding relegation to the Championship. The idea that the league title could potentially have been decided last weekend is both sad and ludicrous, and it is with that in mind, that I thank Manchester United for their colossally poor performance.

The FA Cup provided decidedly little in the way upsets, while the Champions’ League saw Liverpool – so indifferent domestically – absolutely annihilate Real Madrid.

As a Coventry City fan, I am naturally dissappointed that we failed to spring a surprise on Chelsea in Saturday’s quarter final encounter at the Ricoh Arena.

The stage was set, the stadium sold out (and could have been sold out two-and-a-half times over), both teams fielding the best available starting XI, but the giant-killing never happened. Instead, Chelsea, whilst never dominant, prevailed in a business-like fashion.

Coventry had their moments, and caused Chelsea problems. Notably, City forward, Leon Best – replete with his Zorro-esque mask to protect his shattered cheek bone – waltzed straight through Chelsea’s defence, skinning the ever-popular Ashley Cole, John Terry and Alex before skewing the ball high over the bar from ten yards out. Aron Gunnarsson, Jordan Henderson and Clinton Morrison were all guilty of spurning other opportunities.

Chelsea’s response was simply to bide their time and pick their moments. It was nothing spectacular, but it worked. Didier Drogba and Alex were the beneficiaries of Chelsea’s patience, and they adeptly finished the chances they were presented with.

However, what I saw last night in the Champions’ League clash between Liverpool and Real Madrid was much more befitting of an FA Cup tie. No-one expected Liverpool to play with such verve and vigour against a Real team, that, on paper, appeared formidable.

Real, though, did not even come close to the team that they are reputed to be. Instead, they were slow, indecisive, casual and passionless.

The result was that the Reds ran riot. Within the opening four minutes, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano had both cut Real’s back four to ribbons. Twelve minutes later, Real were 1-0 down after Dirk Kuyt and Torres took advantage of the League Two-style defending that Real were treating them to. The 4-0 result at the end of the game never looked in doubt afterwards..

It was something of a role-reversal between the two competitions, and for the many – myself included – who wanted to see Chelsea fall, it was a dissappointment, but it sure was an exciting one.

Of course, it patently is. It is fun, it is exciting and it is part of the very fabric of our national culture. More than that, it is one of the few things that unifies the whole world. Well, unless you are American, that is.

That, however is not the answer I furnish my super-special, non-football-following friends. The answer I give is the following: anything that can stop a war is a good thing. In fact, it is damn close to the best thing that can possibly exist.

Now, many of you reading this will immediately assume that I am talking about the famous kick-about that happened on that Christmas Day of 1916 in the First World War, and then point out that it did not stop the war, more provided a little respite.

You would be wrong. The war that I am referring to is, in fact, the civil war that occured in Cote D’Ivoire between 2001 and 2006. This was a war that was threatening to tear the country in two, and revolved mainly around ethnic tensions. It was football, and more specifically Chelsea’s talismanic forward, Didier Drogba, who resolved the matter, and effectively ended the war.

It is hard to fathom, and yet it is absolutely true. The war had been raging relentlessly until, seconds after securing his nation’s place in the World Cup finals in Germany, Drogba took a microphone, and fell to his knees on national television, pleading for the fighting to end.

He got his wish just a week later, with leaders of both governmental and rebel factions laying down their arms.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he explained: “It was just something I did instinctively.

“All the players hated what was happening to our country and reaching the World Cup was the perfect emotional wave on which to ride.

“Seeing both leaders side by side for the national anthems was very special,” Drogba said. “I felt then that that the Ivory Coast was born again.”

I, like most of the world’s population, was unaware of this until recently, and it truly highlights the power the sport holds. It is much more than just a game to these people. It is difficult to conceive of any other force known to mankind that could have such a profound effect so quickly. In fact, there is little doubt that anything else would have had such an effect. Diplomacy and militant action had already failed, and nothing else transcends such boundaries quite as comprehensively as football does.

“I don’t feel I need to say anything to anybody about who I am in Africa,” Drogba mused. “I know what I stand for and that is all that matters. The people who mean most to me know what I am really about,” he told the Telegraph.

Now try telling me that football is just a bunch of prima donas kicking a ball.

Click here to read Drogba’s interview with the Daily Telegraph.

On Saturday, England took on Spain at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in a game that promised much and delivered little.

However, in amongst the pedestrian  football and less-than-committed performances from the senior players on both sides, one remarkable thing did happen.

When David Beckham shook the disappointing Stewart Downing’s hand and took to to the field on 46 minutes, he marked yet another milestone in his illustrious career.

By simply taking to the field, he equalled Bobby Moore’s record of 108 senior appearances for England, the current record for any outfield player for England. The astonishing thing about Beckham’s achievement is that many are fundamentally questioning whether he is deserving of such an honour. How very British.

Alan Green, the BBC Radio 5Live commentator, is well known for his anti-Beckham stance; “I thought we had moved on from Beckham. I don’t think he’s ever been world-class.” 

After replacing the absolutely chronic Stewart Downing, Beckham  immediately set about injecting some life into a functional, yet blunt England side, painfully bereft of any creative force. There was a new inciciveness about England, and whilst it yielded no goals, it did yield chances, most notably West Ham’s Carlton Cole had a shot clearled off the goal-line by Carlos Marchena after Beckham had deftly split the Spanish defence after a weaving run.

Conversely, Frank Lampard - for all the guile and invention he provides Chelsea - was once again England’s equivalent of GCHQ. We all knew he was there, but he was utterly anonymous. 

Until Beckham’s introduction, England had offered little to set the pulses racing, and had mustered little more than the limpest of efforts from Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Spain were not much better, either, although in David Villa and Fernando Torres, there was always a constant goal threat.

There is a fallacy that many in the media love to produce when presented with the opportunity; that “continentals” are more “technically gifted” than their British counterparts. Quite what gives them this dellusion, I don’t know. Clearly these commentators are unfamiliar with Joe Cole, Ashley Young, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and, of course, Beckham.  

There was little evidence of that so-called superior ability at  the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday. Barcelona’s lauded playmaker, Andres Iniesta, proved to be football’s answer to the Rover Metro; the only car that is more aero-dynamic when going backwards than it is going forwards. 

Iniesta’s problem is that he completely right-footed, but is consistently utilised on the left-hand side by both club and country. The result is a left winger who will get into wonderful, goal-threatening positions only to utterly fail in troubling the opposing defence due to his inability to strike a ball with his weaker foot. It is a baffling state of affairs, and one that I personally cannot fathom.

Players of Ashley Young and Joe Cole’s ilk are England’s future, and unlike Iniesta, are able to utilise all their limbs in a useful fashion. Young, in particular, seems destined to take up Beckham’s mantle once he deigns necessary that he should pass the torch.

Young certainly has time on his side, in addition to the wonderful talent he clearly possesses, and he will certainly need it, because on the evidence of his performance on Saturday,  Beckham will no go quietly.

There is a reason AC Milan want to take Beckham out of the footballing purgatory that is the USA’s Major League Soccer, and it is this: Alan Green is wrong.