Europa League Semi-Finals 4/24/2014

Exciting matches today as Benfica took on Juventus while in Spanish domestic opponents Sevilla and Valencia faced-off for the right to play in the Final on the 14th of May. In the first pairing, the action was intense, though tentative. Ezequiel Garay gave the Portuguese the lead in the 3rd minute after heading home. Slowly but surely, the Italians responded, commanding the match with little to show for it until Carlos Tevez found the net in the 73rd minute of the second half. The home fans never wavered, and they were rewarded for their faith as Benfica went on to strike a 2-1 advantage into the second leg as the 31 year old Lima scored. Between the two sides, I think that Juve will win at home in the return fixture. If Arturo Vidal can return to form following an absence due to knee injury, that will make the Italians' job that much easier. Prolonged losses on the Benfica bench may also negatively impact the Portuguese side's chances at winning through: Eduardo Salvio and Nicolas Gaitan alone would bring firepower and flair to the side that is desperately needed. Continuing to miss Silvio in defense and Ljubomir Fejsa in the midfield is also unfortunate, though the Eagles showed that they could perform with the players they have available. Either way, it is going to be a great game.

Turning now to the Sevilla-Valencia fixture, I would just like to point out that the visitors arguably dominated the match, particularly the first thirty minutes and the last fifteen. Nevertheless, Sevilla showed their salt. Through the amazing Ivan Rakitic, Stephane Mbia and Carlos Bacca were able to slot home in the 33rd and 36th minutes respectively, putting the game to bed despite Valencia's best efforts. Looking forward to the next fixture, the loss of Coke will be a hit to Sevilla, in addition to the continued injuries of Sebastian Cristoforo and Denis Cheryshev. On the other bench, Valencia will be hoping that Diego Alves recovers in time for the second leg if they are going to have any hope of progressing to the next round. Vicente Guaita has performed well enough, but with Victor Ruiz, Ricardo Costa, and possibly Philippe Senderos out, Valencia will need an experienced set of hands at the back. Enjoy the games next week!

Champions League Semi-Final 4/23/2014 Part II

And I'm back! The match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich was a lopsided affair with an awkward conclusion. Prior to the play where Karim Benzema slotted home in the 19th minute, and in the subsequent game, Bayern were the team in ascent. They dominated possession - with 64% of the ball - and had almost double the number of chances as their Spanish counterparts. On the bright side for the Germans, they will be playing at home and should have an almost complete roster so long as goalkeeper Neuer is able to maintain his fitness levels. Alcantara and Shaqiri will likely remain out for the second leg, but Bayern definitely have the quality to drown Madrid in goals - so long as they can actually put a few in the back of the net! On the Madrid side, Alvaro Arbeloa will likely remain absent for the second leg. If Sami Khedira, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale can maintain their health, Madrid may actually look better than they did in their home fixture! As far as my predictions go, after the respective first legs, I still think that Atletico Madrid may have too much under the hood for Chelsea to handle. The English side will obviously have a boost being at home, but I could imagine things going south for the hosts if Atletico get the first goal. On the other hand, Real Madrid are sitting in a more comfortable position against Bayern Munich, there is no doubt about it. However, the Germans remain an incredibly talented side, and with 11 chances on target in Madrid, I would expect them to make at least one at home.

Champions League Semi-Final 4/23/2014

Alright then! What a pair of games we had this week as Atletico Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw at home in Spain against English giants Chelsea and Real Madrid took an early 1-0 lead against a dominant Bayern Munich side in Madrid. In the first match-up, Atletico had a majority of the opportunities though they were unable to get through the Chelsea defense. Having said that, all is not lost for the Spaniards. While it will certainly be no easy task, Chelsea remained goalless in the first leg as well. Adding to the woes of the English side, goalkeeper Peter Cech and John Terry may miss the second leg while Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel received bookings that disqualify them from competing in the next match. The dubious status of Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto'o does not help matters. I will admit that I would love to see Atletico in the Final. If Thibaut Courtois and company can keep things together, the Spaniards will have at least one representative in the Champions League Final. More later, gotta run!

Champions League and Europa League Update! 4/11/2014

One step closer to the Final now, with both the Champions League and the Europa League entering their Semi-Final stages. In the former, Atletico Madrid will face Chelsea while Real Madrid take on holders Bayern Munich for the right to compete in the showpiece event in Lisbon. In the face-off between England's remaining representative Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, the sheer depth of the Madrid bench may out-perform the London side. If the Blues can get the likes of Samuel Eto'o, Andre Schurrle, and Marco Van Ginkel back into the side, they will arguably look much the better team. Atletico meanwhile will be set on getting Diego Costa and Arda Turan back into their side ahead of their first leg encounter in Madrid. Much will depend on Atletico's home performance as Chelsea have consistently under-performed away from home. As far as the defenses are concerned, Chelsea's Peter Cech obviously has the most experience at this level of competition between the two - though I would conjecture that Thibaut Courtois may have the better put together defensive front. If Diego Costa isn't at 100% fitness, I would predict Chelsea getting through by the skin of their teeth. Turning now to the Real Madrid-Bayern Munich match-up, it is curious that the Germans have no back-ups for Manuel Neuer since Tom Starke and Lukas Raeder are both out through injury. All the same, the Germans would be my pick to go through if Cristiano Ronaldo is less than 100% fit and the likes of Sami Khedira, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Marcelo are out. Bayern will doubtless continue to miss the talents of Thiago Alcantara and Xherdan Shaqiri though I think Mario Mandzukic, Arjen Robben, and Thomas Muller alone could get the Germans past the Spaniards. Gareth Bale will remain a menacing option for Real; and Karim Benzema, Angel Di Maria, or Isco may have a burst of form. Having said that, the defensive stalwarts for Bayern such as Philipp Lahm, Rafinha, Jerome Boateng, and Dante should keep the heat off of Neuer. I'm actually not sure which way the opener in Madrid will go. Bayern have traveled well in the tournament thus far, though Real have been in terrifying home form so they may well earn themselves a hard-fought lead. That'll just mean the second leg will leave everything to play for!

As for the Europa League, we have a mix of Iberian and Southern European contestants this year with Benfica paired with Juventus and Sevilla poised to take on domestic opponents Valencia. I'll start with the all-Spanish bout with Sevilla the team that I am not-so-secretly rooting for. For one thing, they have the depth of bench to let them compete at this level despite injuries to (arguably nonessential) midfielders Denis Cheryshev and Sebastian Cristoforo. Otherwise, Javier Varas has been as fit as a fiddle with Beto a more than adequate stand-in if circumstances require. As for scoring talent, Kevin Gameiro is an obvious target man for the Valencia defense though Carlos Bacca and Vitolo have proved deadly. Unless Sevilla cement at least a two goal lead (for best results, without allowing any away goals) when they greet Valencia in the series opener, I think Valencia's Paco Alcacer and Fede Cartabia may be enough to push them through. Now for bad news on Valencia: Diego Alves, their top keeper, will likely be out due to injury for at least the first game in Sevilla. Vicente Guaita has been a decent stand-in, I do not expect he will have as easy a time as he did against Basel in the second leg. Rather, Sevilla should be disciplined and I wouldn't be surprised to see a scoreline similar to the one we saw in Basel: 3-0 for Sevilla? Let's see if it happens! Between Juve and Benfica, I have mixed emotions. These are two teams that I have greatly enjoyed watching. Defensively, the two sides have opposite problems. Whereas the Portuguese may be missing their goalkeeper Artur for the first leg, the Italians are without three - yes three! - significant defending talents: Andrea Barzagli, Federico Peluso, and Angelo Ogbonna. Having said that, Bonucci, Caceres, and Chiellini are in as is Gianluigi Buffon. Rubin Amorim is also doubtful for Benfica, though Rodrigo and Lima are the great attacking prongs of the Portuguese side. Oscar Cardozo is always a danger man, while Eduardo Salvio, Lazar Markovic, and Nicolas Gaitan may hit a run of form to propel their team into the Final. As well as being fabulous defenders, Luisao and Ezequiel Garay may surprise by adding to their respective goal tallies as well. Over on the Italian side, the incentive to perform is certainly evident as Juve would be playing at home in Turin if they get through the Portuguese. Pablo Osvaldo will probably be shut down by Benfica, though with names such as Sebastian Giovinco, Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, and even Paul Pogba on the roster, the Old Ladies can never be written off. With both sides having a phenomenal record thus far in the Europa League, it is honestly a crap-shoot. I might favor Juve to make some magic, but don't expect Benfica to take anything lying down. Jan Oblak has performed admirably in the Eagles' goal, and if he is called to represent the club again, I would expect a performance similar to Benfica's matches against Tottenham Hotspur. Enjoy the games!

Women's World Cup U-17 Finale! 4/5/2014.

The honors went to Japan in their bout with Spain. A master-class performance, the Asians dominated the opportunities tally though Spain had the most of possession with 53%. However, it was the Japanese who found goal, striking in the 5th and 78th minutes through Meika Nishida and Fuka Kono respectively. The Japanese ladies played in the same way they had throughout the tournament, a fair game with limited call for cards and a style of play that was comparable to senior side performances. The Spanish for their part brought their flair and creativity, though it was for naught as Japan's goalkeeper Mamiko Matsumoto and her defenders kept the Spaniards at bay. As for the match for third place, it was as explosive as one might have imagined. Italy and Venezuela threw the shackles of performance behind them, both sides went for glory in a game that was as tense as it was a goals-fest. While the Italians' first goal was unanswered for the longest time, the Latin Americans eventually made a game of things. Valentina Bergamaschi opened the account in the 16th minute with Venezuela's Tahicelis Marcano equalizing in the second minute of stoppage time of the first half. Manuela Giugliano struck in the 55th and 61st minutes, on either side of Gabriela Garcia's 60th minute goal. With the match posed 2-3, Venezuela's Gabriela Garcia struck a second in the 68th minute to tie things up as the last twenty minutes counted down. Flaminia Simonetti put the Europeans back in front with a strike in the 79th minute leaving Sandra Luzardo to draw the Latin Americans level in the fifth minute of stoppage time of the second half. Tied up as the two sides were, there was no way that they would be separated besides on penalties with the Italians' keeper Francesca Durante finally showing the form that she had displayed in the earlier part of the competition. With their goalkeeper on point, the Italians proceeded to win the penalty shoot-out 0-2. Congratulations to all the teams that participated and thank you to Costa Rica for a phenomenal U-17 World Cup!

Champions League Update: 4/3/2014

After the first round of games, you could be forgiven for being underwhelmed by the teams left at this stage. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid finished level 1-1 as did Manchester United and Bayern Munich. However, they were well-played matches all around with serious implications for the respective second legs. In the first match-up, despite having more than four times as many opportunities as their opponents from Madrid, Barca only scored through Neymar in the 71st minute - trailing for a good fifteen minutes after Diego struck Atletico ahead early on in the first half. Despite the number of yellow cards, Atletico may well feel optimistic about welcoming the Catalan side on April 9th as their home performance against AC Milan in the last round demonstrated: a 4-1 victory over anyone at this level of competition should raise some eyebrows. At the same time, Barcelona have traveled decently in the competition, winning 0-2 away at Manchester City. In the other pairing, United will be happy about salvaging a draw though they really should have scored at least a second. Bayern meanwhile were not on their game at Old Trafford, but still managed to draw even through Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 67th minute after Nemanja Vidic gave the English a lead in the 58th minute. The loss of Schweinsteiger will be hard felt in the German camp after he was sent off, but they are the kind of quality side that can persevere through such obstacles.

Yesterday we saw another kind of game. Paris Saint-Germain trounced Chelsea, though PSG may rue conceding the 27th penalty which Eden Hazard converted. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's injury may prove problematic, however Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore should prove enough to counter anything the Blues throw at the French side. David Luiz's own goal in the 61st minute surely helped the French side, suffering from a lack of confidence as Chelsea's counter-attacking style proved deadly. Hopefully Salvatore Sirigu can continue his good form in goal and his defense stays strong against a talented Chelsea side. In Spain, Real Madrid were dominant to no one's surprise as Borussia Dortmund were without significant players and clearly unable to cope. Gareth Bale got the ball rolling for the Spaniards, striking in the 3rd minute to shatter the Germans' concentration. Midfielder Isco performed admirably, tacking on a second goal in the 27th minute to put Madrid in a great mood going into the break. If Dortmund had perhaps focused more on goal scoring and less on card collection, they may have performed better with 42 % of possession and a decent 14 attempts against Iker Casillas. Cristiano Ronaldo struck in the 57th minute to make it 3-0 and essentially hammer in the final nail of the Dortmund coffin. I don't expect the Spanish to surrender their lead, even if Dortmund get all of their players at 100% fitness. Have a great weekend and expect a Europa League update in the near future!

And we're off to the Final! U-17 Women's World Cup: 4/1/2014.

Dominating performances in both fixtures of the Semi Final stage down in Costa Rica as Japan hammered Venezuela 4-1 with the Asian ladies making it 0-2 by the half. Fuka Nagano and Nana Ichise were the strikers on form early on, scoring in the 13th and 33rd minutes respectively. The South Americans, making it to this stage for the first time in their country's history, were simply outdone as the Japanese controlled possession with 59% of the ball and double the strikes as their opponents. Going into the second half, Rikako Kobayashi won through the defense in the 52nd minute, striking past the demoralized Franyely Rodriguez in the Venezuelan goal. Making it 0-3, Hina Sugita followed up by converting her penalty in the 63rd minute of the game. By way of consolation, Venezuela were able to make it 1-4 in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the second half through Deyna Castellanos. The Latina Americans should be proud of what they accomplished in Costa Rica in this tournament, making it to the Semi Finals was much more than they would have ever believed possible. Japan were justifiable winners, and they will face Spain in the Final of the World Cup while Italy take on Venezuela for third.

In that other Semi Final fixture, the Italians were able to hold the Spaniards into the second half following a tense first half. While the Italians actually had ever so slender leads as far as shot opportunities and shots on target were concerned, the Spanish held a sliver more possession than their opponents: 51% to 49%. The Italian defense let their side down though, fouling twice in the goal box to provide Spain the two chances they needed to claim victory. The first came in the 48th minute off the foot of Sandra Hernandez while, with nine minutes to play, Nahikari Garcia made it 0-2 in the 81st minute. Francesca Durante was, as always, in terrific form, and the third place match should be just as brilliant as the Final.

Speaking of the final two matches of the U-17 tournament, Japan-Spain in the showpiece game will be an enthralling one. I would love to see the Asian's claim victory, as they should outscore the Spanish if it comes down to it. If the Spaniards begin getting flustered, I wouldn't be surprised if they begin breaking down - both in terms of discipline and defensively - while Japan have a solid head on their shoulders and a good set of feet at the ends of their legs. A great deal will depend on whether or not Spain goalkeeper Elena De Toro can hold up to the firepower of Japan (particularly Hina Sugita and Yui Hasegawa). At the same time, Spain's Nahikari Garcia is the main threat though Pilar Garrote has scored three times in this tournament, though she isn't the most consistent. If Mamiko Matsumoto can keep her amazing form in the Japanese goal, and players such as Shiho Matsubara and Nana Ichise perform at the level they have been, the Europeans may see all their hard work thus far go up in smoke. Between Venezuela and Italy, I would pick the South Americans to win. Essentially replaying their final group stage match-up, I don't think much has changed between then - when the Venezuelans edged their opponents 1-0 - and now. I just hope both sides have spirit remaining to make it as interesting a game as it could be. The Italian defense will give the Latin Americans a headache, but Deyna Castellanos and Gabriela Garcia should be able to get through at least once. It would be great to see Yuleisi Rivero get some pitch time, but I think she'll only come on if the Venezuelans cement a fantastic lead. Expect a post about the Champions League later this week as well!