Semi-Final for the Europa League: Episode I.

They were intense matches yesterday as both of the home sides ended up winning. In the all-Spanish tie, Atletico fought a battle of goals with visiting Valencia. While it was only 1-1 at the half, Falcao had given Atletico the lead in the 18th minute but was offered no support in extending the home side's lead. Jonas' 2nd minute of stoppage time goal for Valencia in the 1st half made it 1-1 to provide an air of enthusiasm and expectancy as the sides went into their respective dressing rooms. Returning to the field though, Miranda gave Atletico an early lead with his 49th minute strike. Adrian Lopez then made it 3-1 in the 54th to much acclaim from the home fans. Falcao proceeded to make it 4-1 in the 79th to further raise his tally in the competition. Ricardo Costa's 4th minute of stoppage time goal in the dying minutes of the 2nd half does give Valencia a bit firmer standing for the return leg however Atletico may certainly be considered in control of the tie. In the other match-up, Sporting of Portugal and Athletic Bilbao had quite the back-and-forth battle: while there were no goals in the 1st half, Athletic were able to grab the lead and proceed to lose it. Jon Aurtenetxe was the man to provide Athletic its lead before Emiliano Insua equalized for Sporting and Diego Capel gave the Portuguese side a lead to carry into the 2nd leg. Hope you enjoyed the matches and have a good weekend!

1st Semi-Finals legs!

Well in Germany, Bayern v.s. Real Madrid had a wonderful air of excitement surrounding the event from start to finish. Off to a break-neck pace from the very beginning, the game had the back-and-forth elements that we all love about soccer. Even though Franck Ribery gave the German hosts the lead in the 17th minute despite the fierce attacking attention of Real, the game maintained an active vibe throughout the first and second half. While Madrid could not equalize before the half, they nevertheless offered countless opportunities that made Bayern fans cringe every time the Spanish approached goal. An equalizer eventually came though, through Mesut Ozil (who had a fantastic night for the Madrid side) in the 53rd minute. With both sides level then, the game continued at a frantic pace as Bayern and Madrid both wanted an advantage to take into the second leg. It was only in the 90th minute that a breakthrough came: from Mario Gomez's head! And so Bayern carry a 2-1 lead to Madrid for the second leg that is sure to be a fantastic affair. In the other match-up, Chelsea took on Barcelona in London and were able to achieve a result they deserved: Didier Drogba made it 1-0 in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the 1st half. While that was the only goal of the match, Barcelona seemed to dominate with 19 chances to Chelsea's 4. Possession was also theirs with 72% to Chelsea's 28%. The Catalans will have to convert at home if they want to win and I think they will be able to do just that. Chelsea did defend very well in this leg though, so Barcelona must really bring their A-game. Cheers!

Happenings in Europe.

First off, I'd like to go out of my regular order and extend my thoughts and prayers to the friends, family, and team of Piermario Morosini after he suffered a heart attack and passed away earlier today in the middle of his team's (AS Livorno Calcio) Serie B match with Pescara Calcio. He was 25. As a symbol of respect for the former Under-21 Italian international midfielder, the Italian Football Federation postponed all league matches for this weekend. There were matches elsewhere in Europe though, as England saw Manchester City score 6 while conceding only one in their travel to Norwich. Carlos Tevez got things started in the 18th minute while Sergio Aguero added City's 2nd in the 27th minute. Norwich's Andrew Surman scored the first goal of the 2nd half, in the 51st minute, while Tevez struck again in the 73rd and 80th minutes to give himself a hat-trick. Sergio Aguero struck between those goals for a total of 5-1 with 10 minutes remaining. Adam Johnson made it 6 for the Manchester side as he struck in the 3rd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half. Sunderland and Wolves finished a goalless draw unenthusiastically while Swansea defeated visiting Blackburn 3-0. Last but not least, West Brom were able to edge QPR 1-0 thanks to Graham Dorrans' 22nd minute strike! Over in Germany, Bayern and Mainz somehow finished their match goalless while Hamburg were able to put one over Hannover in their 1-0 clash thanks to Heung-Min Son's 12th minute goal. Kaiserslautern continued their fall with a 0-2 loss to Nurnberg after Daniel Didavi and Tomas Pekhart sank the home side in the 43rd and 73rd minutes respectively. Leverkusen and Hertha Berlin ended their match 3-3 despite the fact that Andre Schurrle and Stefan Kiessling gave Bayer Leverkusen an early 2-0 lead. Hertha fought back though! Scoring in the 63rd minute through Pierre-Michel Lasogga, Berlin were able to maintain themselves despite going down a man in the 65th minute when Levan Kobiashvili was sent off. In fact, they scored 6 minutes later! Tunay Torun was the man who equalized and then upped the ante: after another 6 minutes he had given Hertha the lead! Were it not for the prodigious talent of Stefan Kiessling, who scored in the 84th minute to make it 3-3, Leverkusen would have lost quite remarkably. The same can not be said of Schalke in their 1-2 loss to Dortmund in the grudge match of the weekend. Jefferson Farfan gave Schalke the lead in the 9th minute only to see his side lose it in the 17th through Lukasz Piszczek and then the game in the 63rd as a result of Sebastian Kehl's goal. Wrapping up in Germany, Wolfsburg suffered a similar fate in their match against Augsburg. While Torsten Oehrl gave the visitors the lead in the 13th, Patrick Helmes made it all level in the 27th. With the match thus poised throughout the 1st half and half-time, the break only came in the 88th minute of the 2nd half when Sebastian Langkamp won it all for the visiting Augsburg side. Finally, in Spain Real Madrid defeated Sporting Gijon comfortably 3-1 while Levante are actually leading Barcelona as I post this following their 23rd minute penalty strike from the foot of Barkero. Have a good weekend!

Iberia dominates the Europa League.

Well it's into the Semi-Finals for the Europa League contestants remaining as Valencia defeated AZ Alkmaar 4-0 in Spain to finish an impressive comeback after going down 2-1 in the Netherlands. Adil Rami had a fantastic night as he struck not once but twice before the 20th minute of the match to give the Spanish side a 2-0 lead in the match. Jordi Alba added a third in the 56th minute before Pablo Hernandez made it 4-0 in the 80th minute. Despite the one-sided scoreline, AZ actually fared pretty well in match statistics, keeping pace though they were out-played at the final result. Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao remain in the competition after hard-fought 2-2 draw with German side Schalke 04 in Spain. Klaas Jan-Huntelaar gave the Germans an early lead just before the half hour mark before Ibai Gomez made it 1-1 with his 41st minute strike. Raul Gonzalez made it 1-2 in the 52nd though, only for the defense to allow Markel Susaeta to drive one home 3 minutes later. On now to Hannover's disaster of a match against Athletico Madrid who really had their way with their German hosts. Already down 1-2 going into the match, Hannover proceeded to waste the 1st half of the match and allow Adrian Lopez to give the Spanish side the lead in the 63rd minute. It took them a while but eventually the Germans returned fire, in the 81st minute through Mame Biouf. Falcao made it 1-2 again for Athletico and so ended the opportunities for German opposition in the Europa League. Last but not least, Metalist hosted Sporting Lisbon in Ukraine for what was a very close contest. Only 1-2 up going into the match, the Portuguese needed at least a goal and a strong defense. They were able to muster for exactly that. Ricky Van Wolfswinkel slotted home for Sporting in the 44th minute to give them a slender lead into half-time. Jonathan Cristaldo tied things up in the 57th minute though, but the match really hinged on the fact that Metalist's captain Cleiton Xavier was unlucky enough to miss his 64th minute penalty opportunity that would have given his side the lead and possibly the impetus to go on and win the tie. Instead, Xavier missed and Sporting go on to the Semi's. As for the match-ups there, Atletico Madrid will face Valencia while Sporting will play Athletic Bilbao. Forecast for those games? Valencia really should win the former while the latter is more up for grabs though I'll predict Sporting will have the spirit to make it through. Look for the games!

And the favorites continue on!

Well, it was never in any real doubt, but Chelsea and Real Madrid made it into the Semi-Final stage of the Champions League after straight-forward results for both sides. The Blues had to contend with a tenacious Benfica side who fought on despite being down a man after captain Maxi Pereira was sent off in the 40th minute. Frank Lampard gave Chelsea further advantage in the 21st minute after converting from the penalty spot. However, alarmingly for the English side, that was their only goal of the 1st half! Benfica's Javi Garcia brought the Portuguese side one back in the 85th minute though Raul Meireles sunk them completely with his 2nd minute of stoppage time goal in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, in Madrid, Spain the home side had their way with the visiting Cypriots of APOEL as the final scoreline illustrates: 5-2 for an aggregate score of 8-2! Cristiano Ronaldo got the ball rolling in the 26th minute with his first goal while Kaka made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. That was all for the 1st half while APOEL actually got things going again in the 2nd half with Gustavo Manduca Ronaldo bringing the underdogs one back. It wasn't to be though as Cristiano Ronaldo again leading the charge for Real - a 75th minute strike for the home side effectively finalized the result. Yes, Esteban Solari converted his penalty opportunity in the 82nd minute but Jose Callejon and Angel Di Maria scored on either side of this effort to make it 5-2 when the final whistle blew. All respect to the Portuguese and Cypriot sides, but they were very hard-pressed to challenge the likes of such titans as Chelsea and Real Madrid. Maybe next year!

I know I promised but...

Yes, I remember that I said I'd wrap up the domestic action on Monday but the news is always changing so here is what happened today! Barcelona and AC Milan played today as did Bayern and Marseille. In the first match-up, Barca were able to make it through to the next round despite the fact that their first leg ended 0-0 in Milan. That is thanks in large part to the fact that Lionel Messi converted two wonderful penalties as Andres Iniesta struck a goal in the 53rd minute to answer Antonio Nocerino's 32nd minute strike for AC. Messi's first penalty came in the 11th minute after Luca Antonini put in a harsh challenge in the penalty box. Messi's low strike named him the youngest player to score 50 goals in the Champions League as it sailed past Christian Abbiati's finger tips and into the net. The next flare up of action was when Robinho played the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede then rolled a perfect ball to Antonio Nocerino who charged forward and struck a beauty into the bottom left corner. Clarence Seedorf then allowed Messi another chance right in front of goal after a rough challenge: the Argentine virtuoso shot the ball one way and AC Milan's goalkeeper Abbiati went the other. That was all of the goals for the first half but not the game as Andres Iniesta then picked up Lionel Messi's deflected ball in the 53rd minute and finished smoothly from close range. Barcelona really controlled the game in the end with much of the possession and most of the attempts. Meanwhile, in Bayern's game against Marseille, Ivica Olic was the man of the match for the German side as he struck in the 13th minute from a Franck Ribery cross in front of goal. Olic's 2nd goal for Bayern came in the 37th minute as Olic got onto the end of a ball from David Alaba to make it 2-0 for the Bavarians, a great night for the fans, and 4-0 aggregate for the German giants. Hope you enjoyed the matches and look for the next set tomorrow! Chelsea v.s. Benfica; Real Madrid v.s. APOEL.

All that domestic action! 4/2/12

Well, I'd like to begin in Scotland where Celtic have scored a fatal victory over their rivals Rangers, coming back after early set-backs to win the league over their now money-starved rivals. The Bhoys now have 78 points after the weekend's action when they defeated St. Johnstone 2-0. Rangers are still in second though, with 60 points from 32 games which does allow them an opportunity at international glory next season. They also edged Motherwell 1-2 on Saturday to secure themselves against the 3rd position side who are now stalled at 54 points. Dundee United are level with St. Johnstone in the table with 49 points though their record is better meaning they get a foot up. And that is the top five in Scotland! Down to England now where there was quite a busy weekend with Manchester United taking the lead in the league despite their closest competition and rivals Manchester City playing a game more than they have. United thus have 73 points from 30 matches played to City's 71 from 31. With that in mind, the league title will be going to Manchester one way or another, it is just a matter of club rivalry now though. Arsenal and Tottenham are neck-and-neck in 3rd and 4th with the Gunners maintaining their lead solely on their record. Both sides have 58 points. Chelsea and Newcastle are also tied up in 5th and 6th  with the Blues holding out with a better goal difference. Both teams have 53 points. Across the Channel in Germany, Dortmund continue to hold the top position with 63 points from 28 games compared to 2nd place Bayern's 60. Schalke are positioned in 3rd with 54 points from the same number of games while Monchengladbach are just 3 behind them in 4th. Hannover's position in the top five is the only one in doubt as they hold 41 points, just one over the following: Stuttgart (6th), Leverkusen (7th), Bremen (8th), and Wolfsburg (9th). That's all the time I have now but I'll wrap this up later! Hope you had a good weekend!