Champions League Leading Up to Thanksgiving! (11/25/2013)

After all of the exciting international action, we return to the club level with the latest round of the Champions League taking place tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th. The match-ups are thrilling as always and have the potential of deciding who we'll see in the knock-out rounds. Russia's Zenit St. Petersburg greet Atletico Madrid of Spain in a match-up between Group G's top two. Having said that, the 7 point gap between Madrid who are up top and Zenit who presently hold 2nd contributes to the must-win nature of the match: Portugal's Porto will be hosting Austria Wein in a game that should go the way of the Portuguese. If that is the case and the Spaniards claim victory in Russia, the table would have Madrid untouchable with 15 points and Porto in 2nd with 7. Austria Wein are playing for pride at this point with just a point to their name as a loss for Zenit would drop them to 3rd with just 5 points and a game to play.
Over in Group E, Switzerland's Basel host England's giants Chelsea. Despite the imperfect nature of Chelsea's qualification campaign up to this point, they sit top of the group with 3 points over 2nd place Schalke. Basel, in 3rd, have 5 while 4th position Steaua Bucuresti have 2. The home field advantage should help the Swiss side, though I cannot see them overpowering the Blues. Over in Romania, Steaua will hope for a better performance against Germany's Schalke at home though the latter side are arguably the favorites.
Group H's bottom of the table Celtic will hope to put on a show in Glasgow when they face Italy's AC Milan. Though typically better at home, I can't help but feel the Scots will fall to the power of the Italians. Nevertheless, the hope of qualification may spur Celtic to victory - 3 points and a Barcelona victory against Ajax would position Celtic in 2nd a point above Milan. I doubt it'll happen but I'll be cheering for them! Group leaders Barcelona sit tidy with 10 points and should play well in Holland when they face-off against 3rd position Ajax who have 4.
Rounding up the action tomorrow, Group F has co-leaders Arsenal taking on bottom-of-the-table Marseille at home in England. With 0 points up to this point, I think the French side would be incredibly lucky to get through the 90 minutes with a draw. The other side with 9 points, Napoli, travel to Germany as they face 3rd place Dortmund who have 6. Victory for the Germans would move them up to at least 2nd thanks to a superior goal difference than their Italian counterparts. With that in mind, the performance over the weekend by the Gelsenkirchen side was not confidence-inspiring: losing 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich! I would not say that Napoli are quite at Bayern's level, and their recent performances have been less than ideal. Based on the team-sheets, the continued losses of Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer, and Neven Subotic will hurt the Germans - particularly defensively. At the same time, Marek Hamsik's injury on the Napoli side decreases their goal-scoring options. In the end, the Italians arguably have a greater depth in terms of goal-scoring, but the match will be decided by the defenses. Enjoy the games and look for more tomorrow!

Champions League November 6th 2013

More thrilling action today as Porto will be hoping for more success than their Portuguese counterparts Benfica had yesterday. They face off against Zenit St. Petersburg who have proven staunch opponents in the past several meetings between the two sides. I would tip the Russians to seize victory based on their record thus far in the competition as they stand a point above the Portuguese side. Atletico Madrid's match against Austria Wein should be a far more straightforward affair with at least 1 goal separating the two sides. The injuries on both sides might make for a tentative match-up though the hopeful return of Leo Baptistao should prove positive for the Spaniards as he has found goal once in 5 games for the Madrid side. The likes of Diego Costa, Arda Turan, and Gabi should be enough to swing the game in Atletico's favor. Barcelona-Milan will likely be a critical affair with 3 points for the Spaniards arguably sufficient to get them through to the next round. 3 for Milan would put them at the top of the group. I would suggest a draw or a Milan victory given the injury problems Barca have gone through with Isaac Cuenca, Ibrahim Afellay, and Jordi Alba side-lined and Adriano and Gerard Pique operating at less than 100% efficiency. Nevertheless, the likes of Messi and Neymar alone should give Milan a run for their money. A strong defense will be critical for the Italians. Dortmund v.s. Arsenal is a crucial showdown in Group F with the two and Napoli tied at 6 points each. If Marseille have any hope of putting in a good showing this year internationally, they will have to really impress in Italy as they travel to fight Napoli. Their odds are not good, shall we say. Returning to the bout in Germany, Arsenal will be hard pressed after losing in England to the Germans. Injuries on both sides will force both coaches to reconsider their tactics with the likes of Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Jack Wilshere missing for Arsenal alone. Sebastian Kehl, Lukasz Piszczek, Ilkay Gundogan, Mats Hummels, and Marcel Schmelzer are all at various fitness levels for Dortmund. My prediction is that Dortmund will either claim victory or settle for a draw. The arguable minnows of Group E, Basel's match against Steaua Bucuresti should see at least a goal as the return of Valentin Stocker bodes well for the Swiss side. The fact that 3 points would put Basel into contention for a qualification spot should motivate them to success at home. As for the other Group E match-up, Chelsea will be expecting victory at home despite the loss of Fernando Torres and Ryan Bertrand. Their German opponents Schalke will be missing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Jefferson Farfan; although whispers of Adam Szalai, Roman Neustadter, and Kyriakos Papadopolous putting in a shift will excite Gelsenkirchen fans. At the end of the day, Chelsea should win the match by a goal. Celtic's road game against Ajax is relatively difficult to call with both sides missing players such as creative talent Bojan Krkic and defensive stalwarts Adam Matthews and Steven Mouyokolo. I think the home field advantage might tip the affair in the Dutch side's favor as the Scots are notoriously poor performers abroad. Enjoy the games!

Exhilarating domestic action!

Well, if you thought the European championships are the only interesting thing still happening in soccer, you'd be completely wrong! Yesterday we had the likes of Barcelona edging Levante 1-0, Real Madrid managing Real Betis 3-1, and Valencia obliterating Malaga by a 5-1 scoreline. Elsewhere, Fulham had a fierce match against visiting Arsenal which ended with the Gunners eking through by a 0-1 score. Over in Germany, Leverkusen absolutely destroyed Hoffenheim with 5 goals to the good as Bayern humiliated their hosts Hannover by a 1-6 scoring deficit. As Dortmund beat Mainz 2-0, Schalke were upset by their hosts Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0. Last but not least, Porto defeated Moreirense 0-3 away from home to stay within a point of 1st place Benfica. As for the action of today, Espanyol were able to score 2 against Getafe in Spain while the real thrillers came in England. After all, with the line-ups of Tottenham v.s. Manchester City and Liverpool v.s. Chelsea - today was always going to be exciting. While the greater result has turned out to be Spur's 3-1 victory over visiting City; Liverpool have an exciting game on their hands as they stand at a 1-2 deficit to the Blues. Over in Germany, Stuttgart were able to get a goal over visiting Freiburg in a 2-1 victory as Fiorentina scored 4 to Torino's 3 to earn three points in Italy. Over in Naples, Napoli got the three points from Cagliari in a 3-2 thriller as Sochaux and Bordeaux finished 2-2. As fun as these games have been though, make sure to keep an eye on these games too: Benfica v.s. Sporting - the Lisbon grudge-match - PSG v.s. Nice, Juventus against Milan which poses two of the arguably most quality Italian sides against one another today, and Sevilla take on Atletico. Hope you keep enjoying the games!