CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!!!

The world of football was pretty silent this week as the champions league was about to take place in Europe.
Champions League, where the elite and the best clubs in Europe play against each other to see who is the Champion of Europe.
here are the fixtures :

Tuesday :
Athletico Madrid vs Porto F.C
Lyon vs F.C Barcelona
Arsenal vs Roma
Internazionale(Inter Milan) vs Manchester United

Wednesday:
Real Madrid vs Liverpool
Chelsea vs Juventus
Sporting Club vs Bayern Munich
Villareal vs Panathiniakos

Here is a link to read the minute to minute update on the games today.
I wont bother you with my commentary, just read the pundits commentary.
Update -----------------> ENJOY !!!!!!!!

A week were Records were broken and last derbys were played !!!!!

The International scene took over the midweek games as 3 big games went down. Italy vs Brazil, Spain vs England and France vs Argentina. Records were broken on the weekend, The Brazilian player year of the year was chosen, The biggest derby in Italy took place. Lots of Excitement, but hell loads of disappoint.

International Results

England hosted the derby of the world Italy vs Brazil, where italian fans could not have wept more. Brazil literally annihilated the World Champions 2-0. A game that was completely dominated by Brazil. Brazil proved it to Italy why they are 5 times world champions and Italy are only 4 times world champions. The game started at a tremendous pace, Brazil tore the Italian defense apart by their constant attack mindset. Manchester City midfielder Elano opened the scoring by a lovely passing play with fellow Manchester City team mate Robinho, who brillianty picked out Elano who slotted the ball past Goalkeeper of the Year Buffon. This was only 13 minutes into the game. Italy were missing key figures in attack which showed as they werent able to trouble the Brazilian defense at all. Robinho sent the brazilian fans crazy at the stadium when he showed some awesome peice of skills to score a solo goal to double Brazil's lead. Italy had a couple of chances but they could not get as close as Brazil. Italian coach Marcello Lippi may have won the world cup with italy in 2006, but as they say you can not use the same tacitcs over and over again. Brazil commanded and they conquered.
Spain hosted England in a International friendly where Spain proved to the world that why they are one of the best teams now. Winning the Euro 2008 has made Spain into a completely different team. Ex- England Captain David Bekhams entered the history books for England has he his not the most capped player for the national team. Unfortunately for him this record wont bring him good memories England were defeated by Spain 2-0. England started the game brightly, the match was well evened out, it wasnt like the Brazil Italy game in which one team dominated. England started the game better than Spain , but it was Spain who were decisive and they opened the scoring at the 36 minute mark. In - form striker David Villa was sent through with a wonderful pass from Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, and no one other than Villa could have slid a lovely ball past veteran goalkeeper David James. England kept pressing for the equalizer but it never happend as substitute Fernando Llorente doubled the scoring for Spain. Xavi hernandez who was the most influential player for Spain because of his passing game, sent in a lovely free kick into the penalty area only for Llorente to rise up the highest and headed it past substitute goal keeper Robert Green. It was for Spain to tame Fabio Capello(England Coach) Lions.
France hosted Argentina in another International Friendly. Argentinian legend Deigo Maradona's second game in charge for his native country, proved to be great as he continued his 100% win record. The result could have gone anyway, as France had a decent amount of chances, but it was the Argentinian team that showed the better quality up front and in defense. Goals from Jonas Gutierrez and Lionel Messi sealed the win for Argentina. The first goal by Jonas came from nowhere as Argentina caught France on the counter-attack and scored a goal on a general play. Lionel Messi's trickery with his feet kept on troubling the experienced French Defense. He was a menace to them. He scored the second goal by beautifully dribbling the ball past veteran defender William Gallas to volley the ball past goalkeeper Steve Mananda. Its 2 wins out of 2 for Deigo Maradona. Is this form going to continue for the Argentinian team ? They have underachieved for so many years, maybe now its their time.

Spanish La Liga

This weeks focus was on the Real Madrid game as the Real Madrid fans wanted Gonzalo Raul to score against Sporting Gijon, because if he did he would become the clubs all time top scorer, beating real madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano's record. And the player did not disappoint the fans as he scored a brace against Sporting. Influential defender for Spain and Real Madrid Sergio Ramos's beautiful cross and rauls first time volley opened the scoring for Real Madrid. Real Madrid went onto defeat Sporting 4-0 , goals by Raul (2), Huntelaar (1) who scored his first goal for the club and Marcelo who also scored the first goal for Madrid. The fans had nothing else to cheer for as Real Madrid closest the gap between arch rivals Barcelona who drew against Real Betis 2-2. Valencia failed to secure a win against Malaga as Raul Albiols late own goal downed Valencia. It wasn't a goal fest in spain but it was certainly a week to be remembered by the Real Madrid fan's as their home based striker broke all records. On top of that, legends like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Del Peiro also hailed the Spanish born Striker. Raul has definitly made a name for himself by becoming the top scorer for scoring 309 goals for real madrid in the past 14 years at the club.

Italian Calcio

One of the biggest Matches in the Italian League took place this week. The Milan derby. Internazionale vs AC Milan. The two Milan based teams faced each other in a epic 3 goal thriller. This was the last derby to be played by Milan legend Paolo Maldini. But it would be a derby he did not want to remember as Inter Milan defeated Milan 2-1. Out of favour striker Adriano was given a rare start for Inter Milan. And he did not fail to please as he scored the first goal for Inter Milan. Inter defender Maicon crossed in a lovely ball and Adriano apparently scored the goal using his head. Now this is what the whole Inter Milan team and the fans claim. But after watching video replays it has been proved that Adriano had actually scored the goal with his hand which is apparently illegal. He was very smart in tricking the refree at the sideline who did not seem to have noticed the handball and he allowed the goal. Dejan Stankovic doubled the lead for Inter with a wonderful first time volley he scored after it got deflected of a AC Milan player. Alexandro Pato pulled one back for Milan, but it wasn't enough to stop the Inter team. Juventus's hope to win the title were crushed by Sampodria as they held Juventus for a 1-1 boring draw. The biggest upset of the week was the loss of Roma to the hands of struggling team Atlanta F.C.

Watch the video and decide for yourself whether Inter deserved the first goal or not. Their maybe be controversies this week. But on the brighter side Rrecords were broken. International powerhouses played against each other for thrilling games. Football Fans cannot ask for more.

January Comes to an End, with a String of Suprises !!!!!!!!!

The Transfer Window came to a close, with a couple of sackings and a good amount of signings in the last couple of days of the month. The leagues continued as normal, with teams trying to utilize their new signings. The English teams dominated the market, as most signings were made there. International Friendlies are also arriving closer, the main focus on two games: 1st THE DERBY OF THE WORLD - Italy vs Brazil - 4 times world champions vs 5 times world champions respectively; 2nd Spain vs England - EURO 2008 champions vs the upcoming English Team under new coach known as the The Football Don - Fabio Capello.

Italy vs Brazil

Italy - 4 times world champions - Champions of the last world cup- team to play with the oldest players. Italy never shined on the international stage for the past twenty years till the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Italy was always known for its last minutes loses. They never seemed to achieve the success they deserved, till Marcelo Lippi entered the frame. Marcelo Lippi had earned recent success with the club team Juventus, winning the Italian Calcio twice in a row. He retired from his post in Juventus and opted to coach the national team. His first year in the team he led Italy to world cup glory and gave the Italians finally what they wanted. Marcello Lippi gave up his post after the world cup, as he wanted to take some time off. Coach Roberto Donadoni took his spot and he failed to achieve the success on the international stage as Marcello Lippi had done. Donadoni was fired from his post a year after he got it, and Marcello Lippi entered the frame again. Once again Italy are back to their old ways, winning matches and now their next challenge - Brazil.
Brazil - 5 times world champion - a team which has dominated the world stage since the first world cup - a team which has produced the finest players ever - a team which has never failed to disappoint. Brazil has always shined on the international stage, its local league may not be that famous, but it has sent enough players to the other leagues to make it a powerhouse on the world stage. Not known for its prosperity, but known for its talent, players like the legend Pele, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano Rivaldo etc. are now just impressing all the fans with there tricks. Brazil are now being coached under retired World Cup hero Coach Dunga. Coach Dunga last played in the 1998 world cup , where Brazil lost to France in the finals. Dunga Started coaching Brazil right after their 2002 World Cup triumph, when coach Luiz Felipe Scolari stepped down from his position to take over the Portuguese National Side.
Italy vs Brazil is going to played in the Wembly Stadium, London England. An experienced coach of Italy vs the in-experience of coach of Brazil. The Brazillian line-up for the game hasn't seem to change much , but their have been some surprising additions and exclusions to the Italian national team. Veteran and in form striker Alessandro Del Peiro has been excluded from the team and so is another in form striker Antonio Cassano has been excluded. Italian and AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini at the age of 40 - the oldest player to be playing the game - most probably will play against Brazil as a tribute game. Fans all over the world voted on www.goal.com/en just to convince Maldini to play one last game for Italy after he retired in 2003. Lets see how entertaining the Derby of the World turns out to be.

Spain vs England

Euro 2008 champions - Spain - a team that has never triumphed on the international stage till 2008. Spain has been team, which has tons of amounts of talents but when it came to a big competition, they would never produce the results. Spain's league has dominated the European stage but once again, Spain's national team never showed the same success. It was in 2008 when Coach Luiz Arogonez took over the team and entered Spain into the European stage with a team filled with a mixture of youth and experience. He gave young players a chance to inject their pace and agility and the older players to control the mind game and read the game for the younger players. This mixture seemed to have paid off as Spain were the only team to be undefeated in the whole competition. Since then Spain has pretty much beaten the likes of Italy, Argentina, Germany and now they face their next touch opponent England.
England - 1 time world cup winner in 1966 - a team with talent but no- coordination. England since its world cup triumph has had no good results. They have never reached the final stages of any major competition. England were knocked out of the 2002 and 2006 World cups in their quarter final matches against Brazil and Argentina respectively. They have changed many coaches but no success seems to be coming. After the firing of Coach Steve Mclaren, England decided to assign the head coach post to none other than the most successful Italian coach ever - The Don - Fabio Capello. Fabio Capello is the only coach that has won a trophy with every team he has ever coached. This achievement tempted the English board to sign the Italian born coach. They hope the tradition continues and hopefully they expect England to win at least one of the two upcoming major competitions. The upcoming game against Spain will be a test for the coach as England have not played any big games under him.
The Line ups were pretty much the same as what football pundits expected. The only major exclusion which have raised quite a few questions are the exclusion of top English striker Wayne Rooney. It has still not been confirmed whether Rooney is missing the game due to injure or coaching decisions. We just have to wait and see.

Transfer Window coming to a close, as the competition heatens up !!!!!!

Weekend games and mid-week games occupied the attention of all the football fans, as the Premiership hosted games during the week and the weekend as they were behind schedule to the other leagues around Europe. The Premiership hosted one of the biggest games of the season, LIVERPOOL VS CHELSEA this weekend. We will discuss this game later. There were quite a few upsets in the Spanish and Italian leagues. Quite a few red cards, which is not at all health for the game, entertaining, but not at all healthy.

Transfer News

The deal between Arsenal and Zenith St. Petersburgh is finally coming to a close, as newspapers are reporting that Arshavin as already boarded a private jet to London to join Arsenal. Arshavin who has caused a lot of havoc over his future is finally calming down and making Arsenal's manager Arsene Wengers life easy. The Russian born strikers deal was about to be called off as Arsenal was not meeting up with the personal wages of the player.
Ricardo Quaresma, one of the Portugal's upcoming talents had transfer to Italian giants Internazionale during the summer transfer window. He has been out of favour for the league leaders as coach Jose Mourinho hardly picked him for the starting eleven. English Giants, Chelsea F.C signed the player on loan yesterday, as he was not getting any playing time in Italy. Who knows if he turns out to be the same in Enfland as England's game is more paced than the Italian game.
Tottenham Hotspur from England have re-signed two of the players they sold in the summer transfer window; Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe. Robbie Keane, captain of the Ireland national team, was re- signed from Liverpool F.C as he had a fall out with Spanish coach Rafael Benetiz. Rafa Benitiz, preferred Spanish striker Fernando Torres and the Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard over the Irish player, making him very unstable at the club. His dream to play with his childhood hero Gerrard may have come to an end now , but who knows what the future holds for him. Jermain Defoe had signed for Portsmouth F.C last summer, as he wanted a change, but then again he was getting limited playing time in Portsmouth, and him signing for his old club did not seem to be a problem.

Results

The premiership hosted to sets of games this week, one during the week and then during the weekend. Top of the table , Manchester United, destroyed bottom of the table West Brom 5-0. Current World player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo, scored a brace, and Berbatov, Tevez and Vidic also got on the score sheet. Liverpool and Arsenal, contenders to the title drew the teams they played, Wigan Athletic and Everton respectively. The scores for both games was 1-1. Chelsea took the opportunity, of Liverpools draw and they beat their opponents Middlesborough. The games that took place on the weekend had a couple of big games as Liverpool took on Chelsea at home ground and the London Derby took place between Arsenal and West Ham. The game between Arsenal and West Ham was pretty boring as no goals were scored and it was a pretty dry game. Liverpool vs Chelsea, a big game, did not live up to its name as a big game, as there was no excitement till the last 10 minutes of the game. Liverpool eventually won the game by 2 goals which were scored at the 84th minute and the 94th minute. It wasn't a goal fest and the results weren't that great. The premiership has had better weekends than the last one.

The Spanish league hosted the Cup competition during the week and the normal league games on the weekend. The Cup games did not have anything special about them, so I'm not gonna waste time talking to you about them. The weekend hosted quiet a few interesting games, as there were a couple of upsets and couple of games that the teams that deserved to win did not win. Top of the Table F.C Barcelona played Racing Santander. A game which was quite intense. Racing opened the scoring by ex-valencia Striker Nikola Zigic, but super-sub Lionel Messi came off from the bench and scored a brace to had the victory to Barcelona. When he scored the 2nd goal he had did not know that he was part of Barcelona's history because he had scored Barcelona's 5000th goal. It was also a very aggressive game, as both of Barcelona's centrebacks were sent off in the game. Rafael Marquez and Gerard Pique. Relegation threatend hosted spanish giants Real Madrid. Madrid had to fight hard to win against Numancia as it wasn't the easiest game for them. They eventually won the game 2-0, goals by Madrid legend Gonzalo Raul and Arjen Robben. Influential Argentinian Midfielder, Fernando Gago was also sent off in the game for Madrid. Athletic Bilbao vs Malaga and Valencia vs Almeria were both intense games as they both were a 5-goal thriller. Atheltic bilbao and Valencia both won their hard faught games 3-2. The 2 biggest upsets of the weekend were Sevilla and Atheltico Madrid losing to their mid-table opponents Sporting De Gijon and Valladolid respecitvely. Another upset was Villareal, a team that came 2nd last season losing to Deportivo La Coruna 3-0. The Spanish league had tons of controversies and tons of twists and turns. Great for the neutrals but hard for the fans.

The Italian Calcio was not at its best this week, as three of the biggest teams in the league either drew or lost. Juventus lost to a out of form Udinese side where as Internazionale and Roma drew with bottom of the table sides, Torino and Reggina respectively. Milan were the only team out of the big four to win against Lazio 3-0. A victory inspired by England legend David Bekham who was a vital asisstor for 2 of the goals. A upcoming team Fiorentina F.C which vows to break into the big four won comfartable against a struggling side of Bologna. Each game in the league had an average of 2 goals scored making it very interesting for all the fans of the italian league.

The Ups and Downs,

Personally I think there were more than necessary red cards shown this week, a little more than usual. It is not good for the game, as it stops the flow constantly. It is known that, the red and yellow cards are not always the players fault, it also depend on what kind of referee is refereeing the game. Some referees are known for reaching into their pockets and showing cards every 5 minutes of the game where as some referees enjoy to see the flow in the game, and like calling the least amounts of fouls as possible. There weren't as many goals as expected as some of the biggest games of the season went down. The big games apparently ended up in a draw, where as the less watched games by the smaller teams seemed to be more exciting. Is the game changing? Who knows.
This is how bad football can get ------> F 'n' F