What happened this weekend?

Well in Germany, Dortmund secured the top of the Bundesliga table as they confidently defeated Mainz 2-0 in Mainz. 3rd place meanwhile is held by Hoffenheim as they defeated the decently performing Hannover 96 by a margin of 4-0. Bayer Leverkusen likewise have 18 points as they edged out underperforming Schalke 1-0. Italy meanwhile also has a new leader, and they are making themselves comfortable! Lazio defeated Palermo 1-0 to further their 5 game winning streak and strengthen their position at the top of the table. Inter took 2nd place edging Genoa 1-0 while AC Milan lost to Juventus 2-1 in a very interesting game. AC Milan now hold 3rd position. Spain on the otherhand is quite less turbulent. Real Madrid still have a 1 point lead over Barcelona at the top of the legue table as they registered a 3-1 victory over Hercules. Barcelona on the otherhand obliterated Sevilla 5-0 in a brilliant performance that showcased the talents of Messi and Villa. Villarreal were in the opposite position as they couldn't decide anything in a 1-1 draw with Real Sporting de Gijón and lost the chance to retake Barcelona. The French meanwhile have a new Napoleon as the newly promoted minnows Stade Brestois 29 took the top spot ruining AS Saint-Etienne 2-0. Toulouse FC and Montpellier Hérault SC got 1-1 scorelines against RC Lens and PSG respectively. Across the Channel in England, Chelsea had to come from behind to defeat Blackburn 2-1 while Arsenal were in a similar position as they required a very late goal to seperate themselves from West Ham. Manchester United meanwhile competently saw off the challenge from Tottenham in a 2-0 victory. On the otherside of the table, Wolves beat Manchester City 2-1 in a nice upset. Just across the way in Ireland the Shamrock Rovers claimed their 1st league crown since 1994. Finally, in the Netherlands, the total domination of the league by PSV Eindhoven has been lessened to simply a domination as they lost their 1st game, 1-0 to FC Twente, following their destruction of Feyenoord in their last game.

Not to forget the Futsal Grand Prix and the words of AC Milan's leader.

Brazil won the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup against Spain. This year, Spain returned the favor however as they beat the South Americans in the sixth installment of the Grand Prix de Futsal which brings the 16 greatest Futsal nations on the Earth together in Brazil for 1 honor. This is the first episode of the tournament where the hosts have not won, also, the loss in the final was Brazil's first in almost 165 matches! The Spanish cut an impressive form though, winning each of their 6 matches while scoring 35 goals while Brazil won all but the most important match scoring 30 goals in the process. The third place team meanwhile was Paraguay as they sniffed Iran out 5-3 in their match. Italy and Russia meanwhile were left standing akwardly. The Russians were embarrassed as they went out in the Group Stage, the Italians however were kicked out by eventual runners-up Brazil in the Quarter-Finals. In Italy meanwhile, AC Milan's Massimiliano Allegri has high goals for the Milanese club as he will be aiming for a triplet of titles: the Scudetto, that is, the Italian league; the Coppa Italia, and the Champions League. Fans of the club certainly wouldn't be disappointed with those...

Final scores, some more news, and a correction.

3-0 sounds like a pretty good scoreline right? Well, in Portugal, Porto decided to make it 4-0 before Leiria brought back one off of a penalty. And then Porto scored a fifth for a final scoreline of 5-1. In Spain, another one-sided game as Real Sociedad made it to 3-0 too, and stayed there to win their game against Deportivo comfortably. In Italy on the otherhand, Napoli made it a close game at the end as they put a goal in near the 80th minute however couldn't continue on and so AC Milan won the game 2-1. I'd also like to highlight the CAF Champions League Final matches which will be coming up as Tunisian club Esperance Sportive de Tunis will attempt to upset the current holders TP Mazembe Englebert. The frst leg of two will happen this weekend and should be a good game. Also, in the U.S., as the Conferences are being decided, the Los Angeles Galaxy secured MLS Western Conference title with a 2-1 home win over FC Dallas. I'll point out that David Beckham actually made quite a nice contribution for his team as well. The Eastern Conference was won by the New York Red Bulls as they sustained a 1 point margin over their nearest competitor, the Columbus Crew. It looks like the Play-offs matches will consist of the Columbus Crew v.s. the Chicago Fire, Real Salt Lake v.s. FC Dallas, the New York Red Bulls v.s. the San Jose Earthquakes, and the L.A. Galaxy taking on the Seattle Sounders. Each of the pairs will play both home and away fixtures to determine who continues. Best of luck to each team. And, in closing I'd just like to correct from my previous post that AC Milan's win doesn't put them on the top of the group, but in 2nd behind Lazio who lead by 2 points. All teams have played 8 games. 

Monday 10/25/2010 happenings.

In Italy today, Napoli take on AC Milan, currently the Milanese lead the game 1-0 thanks to a Robinho goal alittle after the 20th minute. Ibrahimovic tacks on another goal just after the 70th to make it 2-0 for Milan. If Milan win this, they'll be at the top of the league with a 1 point spread, however, this is their 9th game while all their competition has played just 8 games. In Spain meanwhile, Real Sociedad lead Deportivo by a similar margin thanks to a Llorente goal in the 17th minute. In Portugal however is the most gripping scoreline as Porto continue to crush into Leiria 3-0 while the game is still in the first half. I'll catch the final scores of these matches later. For the ost part they've each been pretty good games.

Update for 10/24/2010

In Italy, Lazio won their game to remain and slightly strengthen their hold on the top of the league, AC and Inter Milan both sit in second with 14 points with a game in hand each. Meanwhile Real Madrid won their game yesterday with a free-firing Ronaldo to take the first position in La Liga, Barcelona are just a point behind them with 19 points. In England, their is also quite a bit of movement at the top of the table with Manchester City falling to 4th having lost 3-0 to Arsenal who took 2nd place while Manchester United took 3rd with a win against Stoke. And some good news for Liverpool as they defeated Blackburn 2-1 in their match today. Chelsea still hold top spot with 22 points while Arsenal, Manchester United, and Man. City all have 17 points. Across the Channel in France the early leaders Rennes lost their first match of the campaign, to Brest. With the loss Rennes' lead on the 2nd/3rd place teams fell to just a point. In the German Bundesliga meanwhile Mainz retook the ttop spot as Dortmund fell to 2nd. The two are seperated by 2 points and hold quite a nice advantage over the next best team, Hannover, who have 16 points. In Scotland though, Rangers beat Celtic 3-1 at Celtic Park to seize the top of the league while Celtic still hold 2nd place. The lose of the derby match doesn't bode well for Celtic's chances though. In Portugal meanwhile, Benfica have been bumped back to 4th as they haven't played 8 games yet. Porto also sit at only 7 games but their lead of the league isn't contested by the upstart A. Académica de Coimbra and SC Braga. Sporting Lisbon still aren't looking at all impressive, something the Benfica fans can be happy about. However, possibly the biggest result I can report comes from the Netherlands as PSV Eindhoven put 10 goals in against Feyenoord making this the worst defeat the club have suffered in history. The win wasn't only useful for bragging rights however, it puts PSV 2 points clear at the top of the league. Cheers!

Saturday 10/23/2010 action continued.

Matches in the English League ended with Chelsea winning 2-0 against Wolves, Birmingham finished 2 ahead of Blackpool, 2-0. Wigan meanwhile tied Bolton 1-1 as West Brom finished 2-1 over Fulham. Also, Sunderland beat Aston Villa 1-0 while Newcastle is playing West Ham as I write this, the score is 1-1. Above England, in Scotland, Motherwell finished 2-1 over Dundee United as Kilmarnock lost by the same margin to Inverness. Hearts finished 3-0 above St. Mirren while St. Johnstone edged Hamilton 2-1. On the otherhand, on continental Europe, Spanish giants Barcelona are leading Zaragoza 2-0 thanks to a Messi goal before half-time and another after it. Across the border in Portugal meanwhile, Academica lead Nacional 2-0 however Nacional draw one back to make it 2-1 as the final whistle blows. Pacos de Ferreira put a goal in late against Beir-mar. But how about some more results, now from Germany. Schalke only were able to recieve a 0-0 draw in Franfurt as they were hosted by Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite scoring first, Kaiserslautern couldn't come back as Freiburg scored 2 goals to win the game 2-1. Hannover finished Koln by the same margin however, Bremen finished the distruction of Monchengladbach 4-1! Lastly in Germany, Nurnberg held on for a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg. Not far away, in the Netherlands, Heracles are losing to De Graafschap by just a goal, however the away team scores a late goal to tie the game up. Also in Holland, NEC lead Groningen by the previous scoreline of 1-0, they then extend it to a 2 goal lead. Finally, in France, Brest lead Bordeaux 1-0 thus far while Nancy lead Lorient by the same margin. Caen are also 1-0ing their opposition, St-Etienne, as are Valenciennes against Monaco. Montpellier similarly lead Rennes by the 1-0 margin that seems popular in France today.

More selected teams.

In Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv is probably my favorite team. They are actually the only team to have never played in anything other than the top league. They are possibly the oldest team in the Israeli League and definately one of the most successful. In Australia meanwhile, Brisbane Roar are my favorite team. They were previously known as the Queensland Roar but nonethe less they have remained at the top of Australian soccer since 2005. They are very involved on and off the pitch. In Wales, my favorite club has to be The New Saints. They resided for quite a while as a kind of amateur team essentially, before gaining 3 promotions in rapid succession to join the Welsh League in 1993. They won the Welsh League 3 years straight between 2005 and 2007. In South Africa meanwhile, I prefer the historic club of the Orlando Pirates. They've placed reasonably well in recent timmes as well as winning quite a few titles historically. They are part of the Soweto derby between themselves and the Kaizer Cheifs. In Saudi Arabia Al Nasr is my selected team because they have quite a long and successful history. Their home is in the capital city of both Saudi Arabia and the province of Riyadh.