Champions League and Europa League Update 2/21/13

Well, it has been a very interesting past couple of days now. While the big stories of the Champions League have been hitting early and often, Galatasaray's 1-1 match against visiting Schalke was an incredibly exciting match-up between two sides who really hungered for the result. Great by anyone's standards, Burak Yilmaz struck a beauty of a goal in the 12th minute of the game following a precision pass from Selcuk Inan. Yilmaz's job wasn't easy as he went over his marker's head with a flick before latching on to a sweet strike into the German side's net leaving Timo Hildebrand with nothing to do but pick the ball out of the back of the net. On the other side of the field, a combination play from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar opens up a great deal of space for Jefferson Farfan who sprints past the Galatasary defense before knocking it to Jermain Jones who graciously did the honors. While the 2nd half was far less enthralling, Schalke's ability to take 52% of ball possession away from home may be seen as a good sign for a team that have had domestic strife lately. On the other hand, Galatasary's number of opportunities leave a great deal of expectation for the 2nd leg where we will doubtless observe another hard-fought struggle. I would like to turn now to Milan v.s. Barcelona which saw a rather back-handed game unfold. While it is true that the Spaniards dominated possession from start to finish, the Italian hosts were actually the only ones who ever really looked like scoring. With 65% of possession, Barcelona played around with the ball a great deal however they could develop absolutely 0 penetration when it came to striking in on AC Milan's goal. On the other hand, the hosts struck twice in the 2nd half with just 35% of possession through-out the game! While they might very well have made it at least 1-0 before the break, Milan's first goal came from the foot of Kevin-Prince Boateng in the 57th minute who was in the right place at the right time after Riccardo Montolivo's rocket of a shot was deflected off to Boateng. Turning abruptly for the shot, the ball sailed neatly into the corner of the net. Of course, there was also Sulley Muntari's 81st minute effort which found net after a nice passing exchange from M'Baye Niang and Stephen El Shaarawy got the ball to Muntari who volleyed convincingly. 2-0 to Milan.
Turning to the Europa League now, Napoli have been cast aside by an outstanding Viktoria Plzen side who acted convincingly in Italy in a 3-0 victory before going 2-0 up at home to make it 5-0 on aggregate. Meanwhile, Fenerbahce edged out BATE 1-0 at home in Turkey to earn their advancement in the competition. As for the match-up between Leverkusen and Benfica, the German side could never really get their act together as they lost 1-0 at home through an Oscar Cardozo goal in the 61st minute while the 2nd leg found Benfica in the lead 1-0 again following a breath-taking goal from Ola John in the 60th minute. Andre Schurrle tied the leg up 1-1 in the 75th minute though Bayer's defense failed them as Nemanja Matic slotted home just 2 minutes later. Bordeaux were tested more strenuously against Dynamo Kyiv as the Russians managed a tie in the first leg though losing out in the 2nd with a 41st minute goal from Cheick Diabate. The aggregate was 2-1 for the French team. Elsewhere, Germany's Hannover were pushed out of contention following a lively 2nd leg against Russian side Anji which saw the visitors score in the 9th minute of added time to the chagrin of the home fans. Other results include: Newcastle's edging of Metalist, Stuttgart cutting Genk down, Lazio carrying the Italian flag onwards after defeating Monchengladbach, Tottenham bidding Lyon adieu, Inter Milan pillaging Cluj, Levante bearing the Spanish representation following the beating of Olympiacos, and Rubin upsetting Atletico Madrid's title hopes. Basel edged Dnipro as Liverpool saved their honor but lost their place in the game against Zenit St. Petersburg. Of course, arguably most surprising was the fact that Ajax lost out to Steaua Bucuresti following each team winning one leg 2-0. The home side ended up winning 4-2 on penalties. Last but not least, Chelsea edged Sparta Praha! Hope you enjoyed the football!

Conclusion of today's Champions League matches! 2/19/13

What a thrilling pair of games we had on our hands today as Bayern went on to trounce Arsenal 3-1 after striking twice in the opening 21 minutes. While the rest of the 1st half remained in this state, Lukas Podoloski's 55th minute strike for the Gunners brought the score-line to 2-1 early on in the 2nd half. Unfortunately for the English hosts, Mario Mandzukic gave Bayern the 3-1 lead that they held to the end when he scored in the 77th minute. In Portugal on the other hand, Porto's match with Malaga illustrated the arguable disparity of experience between the two sides as the hosts dominated both possession and opportunities while Joao Moutinho's 56th minute gem of a goal secured the Portuguese side's lead into the second leg with a final score of 1-0. Nevertheless, Malaga's superb defending leaves everything to play for back in Spain so make sure to catch that game as well as the action tomorrow! Speaking of which, Galatasary could very well give a struggling Schalke side a run for their money in Turkey. Meanwhile, AC Milan v.s. Barcelona really is too close to call - a favorable crowd may do wonders for the Italians though the star-studded line-up is befitting a Champions League Final! Enjoy!

Latest from the Champions League!

As I post this, Porto and Malaga face-off in the northern city of Portugal while Arsenal play host to German-side Bayern. As of the 21st minute of each game, Porto and Malaga stand level 0-0 though Bayern have taken a 0-2 lead over Arsenal. The first goal in the game came from Toni Kroos who connected with a Thomas Muller cross in the 7th minute and struck it sweetly. By the 21st minute, Muller had his own chance which he took with utmost care after Daniel Van Buyten's header was saved by Wojciech Szczesny. Reacting swiftly, the Bayern man tapped in the loose ball to give the Germans a very strong lead early on. I'll cover the conclusion of the match next time! Cheers.

World Rankings and the Champions League!

Hello all, the latest world soccer (football) rankings are out and the most active have undoubtedly benefited! The competitors of the African Cup of Nations (ACN) have largely improved their positions in the international hierarchy while World Cup qualification has been good for everyone except the United States! Winners of the ACN, Nigeria, moved to 30th in the world after their victory over Burkina Faso in the Final of the tournament. Having said that, the team from Burkina Faso secured 55th position which - while not surpassing their highest achievement of 37th in 2010 - is a tremendous position for the side. Perhaps on the less deserved side, hosts South Africa did still move up in the rankings, going to 60th. Additionally, the Ivory Coast took 12th position: their peak since the awards were given beginning in 1993. As for those who advanced due to their World Cup qualifying and other exploits, England moved into the top 5 (4th to be precise) after a stunning victory over the juggernaut that is Brazil (who remain in 18th position). While Jamaica advanced to 56th overall after drawing with heavily favored Mexico, the U.S. fell to 32nd as Costa Rica and Honduras approached the top 50. Two teams that consolidated their positions in that mile-high club include Panama (in 42nd) and Venezuela (in 45th)! Further up, Italy and Colombia fell to 5th and 6th respectively as Portugal and Croatia moved up to 6th and 9th. Last but not least, there was no change in the top 3 as Spain and Germany occupy 1st and 2nd convincingly while Argentina holds 3rd a little less securely.
Moving on to the latest Champions League action now, Celtic were ceremonially slaughtered by Juventus at home by a 0-3 margin beginning with when Alessandro Matri slotted home in the 3rd minute. While Celtic brought pressure to bear in an effort to equalize for the rest of the 1st half and much of the 2nd, the Italian giants went on to strike twice more - through Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic - in the 77th and 83rd minutes respectively. Meanwhile, in Spain the hosts Valencia only saw a bit of goodness in a match largely dominated by the French visitors PSG. Echoing France's recent military successes, the Parisian side struck early and often through Ezequeil Lavezzi and Javier Pastore in the 10th and 43rd minutes. Nevertheless, PSG's dominance tapered off by the end which allowed Adil Rami to give Valencia a chance in the second leg with only a one goal deficit. As for the game between Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund, the Ukrainian hosts illustrated once more the difficulty of away sides to attain victory in Eastern Europe. Taking the lead around the halfway point of the first half, Donetsk wasn't good on through the intermission: Robert Lewandowski equalized Darijo Srna's 31st minute goal with one of his own 10 minutes later. On to the second half where Douglas Costa performed admirably to make a 68th minute goal though the Donetsk defenders could not stop Dortmund's equalizer. Coming up from the back, Mats Hummels saved the German side's skin with an 87th minute header that ended the game at 2-2. Of course, one of the largest match-ups of the day - between Real Madrid and Manchester United - also ended even despite a spirited performance by the visitors. Danny Welbeck's 20th minute strike could have set a remarkable tone for the game though Cristiano Ronaldo equalized just 10 minutes later. Of interest for the next leg: Madrid dominated the efforts tally while United had a monopoly over the disciplinary account! Don't forget the upcoming fixtures between Galatasaray and Schalke; Porto v.s. Malaga; Arsenal against Bayern; and obviously Milan and Barca!

The World of Football

While much has taken place since my last post, I would like to summarize some of the biggest stories before moving on to the African Cup of Nations. First of all, the road to the World Cup in Brazil! While the qualifying round is still in its infancy, we have had some great games as Group A is led by the likes of Belgium and Croatia with 10 points each. Serbia and Macedonia are the next on the list tied with 4 each in third and fourth respectively. As for Group B, Italy has gotten off to a flying start with 10 to their name as Bulgaria occupy second with 6 followed tightly by the Czech Republic who have 5 points. Meanwhile, in Group C, Germany lead with 10 points while Sweden have 7 and Ireland have collected 6. The Netherlands are actually one of the few teams who remain in perfect winning condition with 12 from 4 games played in Group D. Hungary and Romania are not too far off though! They each have 9 to the good. Group E is currently led by the team from Switzerland while Norway occupy second three points behind with 7. Albania and Iceland are right on their heels though - tallying 6 points each. Group F has another perfect leader with Russia going 12 for 12 as Israel and Portugal trail evenly with 7 points each. As for Group G, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece are keeping pace with one another in drastically different manners. The former have lit up the goals sheet with 15 for and only 2 against while Greece have struck 5 allowing only one. Slovakia occupy a healthy third place position with 7 points in hand. As for Group H, Montenegro are the leaders from out of nowhere with 10 while England must content themselves with 8 points in second. Poland are insecurely in third with 5 to the good as Moldova and Ukraine are in striking distance. Last but certainly not least, Group I is controlled by who we all imagined: Spain and France tied at the top with 7 points each (from 3 games). Georgia hold third with 4 from 4 games while Belarus have moved up to fourth position as Finland are two games behind the third and fourth place teams! If the Finns expect anything from this tournament, they are going to have to convert at the very least four points from the upcoming two games though six would obviously be preferable.

While the match-fixing scandal is sure to draw a great deal of attention and speculation, I would much prefer to put it aside in favor of the latest from the domestic leagues. I'll begin with Spain where Barcelona have set themselves up quite nicely with 59 points from 22 games. Atletico Madrid are the surprise team in second with 50 as their rivals Real Madrid occupy third with 43. Fourth place Malaga are admittedly a long way off with with 36 though Real Betis Balompie are looking good in fifth with 35. To Germany now where Bayern are truly back on dominant form with 51 to their name as Borussia Dortmund struggle on in second with 39. Bayer Leverkusen are in third with 37 though fourth place Eintracht Frankfurt could well put a stop to that with 36 already. Mainz take fifth with 30 though they are not safe there despite Schalke seeming out of it with 29 in sixth position. Up in England, Manchester United are well ahead of rivals City as they stand with 62 and 53 points in first and second respectively. Meanwhile, Chelsea hold third by the skin of their fingers with 46 as Tottenham challenge with 45 in fourth. Everton hold fifth loosely with 42. South to Italy now where Juventus continue to call the tune with 52 points in first. Napoli are not giving up the ghost though - tallying 49 in second though Lazio appear a bit away in third with 43. AC and Inter Milan display this even more so as they sit in fourth and fifth respectively with 40 each. For the French league, PSG lead as would be expected though not by nearly as much as may be expected with the money they were throwing around: 48 points for them as Lyon have 45 in second and Marseille have 42. Bordeaux and Nice are tied fourth and fifth with 38 each. Portugal's league is arguably one of the closest in Europe as Porto and Benfica duke it out at the top of the table with 45 points each. Pacos de Ferreira and Braga hold third and fourth with 31 and 30 respectively as Rio Ave take fifth with 25. While it is true that PSV lead the domestic league in the Netherlands with 46 points, Ajax and Twente are close behind them with 43 and 42 respectively; at the same time, CSKA Moskva fight for their lead in the Russian campaign with Anji Makhachkala giving them their biggest challenge with 41 points to CSKA's 43. Zenit St. Petersburg are in third with 38. Olympiacos are simply dominating the Greek league with 51 points compared to second place Asteras Tripolis' 38. Last but not least, Celtic are dominating the Scottish premier league with 52 points as Inverness and Motherwell are offering the largest resistance with 37 points each.

At long last, the African Cup of Nations! While the tournament in South Africa has been great, I'd like to give a brief overview before wrapping up the blog. So, let us start at the beginning with the group stage! While South Africa and Cape Verde escaped unconvincing winners in Group A with 5 points each, Ghana were more secure in earning advancement with 7 from Group B. The battle for second place was far more involved as Mali were given a run for their money by the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nevertheless, the Malians eventually earned a vital point over their closest competition and progressed to the next round with 4 to Congo's 3. Group C was another close affair though Burkina Faso and Nigeria eventually went on to progress though again in an unemphatic manner. Finally, Group D was led by Ivory Coast with 7 as Togo and Tunisia finished up level with four each! Of course, by goal difference the team from Togo ended up winning through. Into the Quarter-Finals now where hosts South Africa met Mali tying through regulation and extra time 1-1 before the South Africans lost heavily to the visitors 1-3 in penalties. On the other hand, Ghana's match with Cape Verde was a straightforward result with the Ghanians winning 2-0 in the 90 minutes. Ivory Coast was edged by Nigeria 1-2 while Burkina Faso pulled the wool over Togo's eyes in a 1-0 win after an extensive match that went into extra time. Into the Semi-Finals, Mali were crushed by Nigeria in a 1-4 meeting between the two sides. It was heart-breaking stuff really as the Malians had shown great courage in getting this far in the tournament however it must be admitted that the best side won! As for Burkina Faso's edging of Ghana, there was probably no more a controversial match with the team from Burkina Faso being denied a number of dead-ball opportunities as well as a goal while they also received a sending off. Putting all of this aside, the Ghanians were unable to outpace their opponents, scoring first though never again. The sending off of Jonathan Pitroipa does not bode well for the Burkina Faso team's performance in the Final however I would not count them out having reached this stage! An important side note: this is the farthest the team from Burkina Faso have went in an African Cup of Nations with the previous record being when they hosted the competition 15 years ago in 1998. Good luck to both Nigeria and Burkina Faso as well as Mali and Ghana in the third place match! I would lean towards the Nigerians and the Ghanians winning though I would love it if the Malians surprised all of us watching! As for Burkina Faso, while their performance has been exemplary, I think Nigeria are too big for the giant-slayers to take-down this time around. But be prepared for the unexpected!

The glory of the Champion's League!

Thinking about what to look forward to? Well, for football fans worth their salt, the upcoming Round of 16 matches certainly top the lists as the reasons to be excited include Galatasaray v.s. Schalke on the 20th of February 2013. On the same day, Italian giants AC Milan see Barcelona which is probably one of the fixtures of the round! Luckily for us, that is the longest we'll have to wait as the preceding day will provide us with the feast of Portuguese side Porto and Spanish giant-slayers Malaga facing-off at the same time as Arsenal welcome German team Bayern Munich in another clash of titans. Of course, the true soccer fan will realize that there are matches coming before even the 19th as Celtic and Juventus duke it out on the 12th at the same time as Valencia and French side PSG go at it. It's really up to you which of these matches you catch as the former will hold the promise of Scottish underdogs punching above their weight while the latter will showcase the firepower of a promising French team going against a Spanish side scoring the 5th most thus far. Finally, on the 13th, Shakhtar Donetsk greet Dortmund in what might be the most unpredictable fixtures of the round though it may be overshadowed by the giant bout between Real Madrid and Manchester United. The only thing that I can promise you is that these games will be well worth the wait! Happy January!

FIFA Club World Cup in Japan!

So, in the lead up to the tournament itself, Sanfrecce Hiroshima edged Auckland City 1-0 thanks to a goal from Toshihiro Aoyama in the 66th minute. Getting into the Quarter-Final stage of the Club World Cup, Ulsan Hynudai were hammered by CF Monterrey 1-3 with the Mexican side taking an early lead in the 9th minute through Jesus Corona. While the game was positioned 0-1 at the half, Cesar Delgado struck twice more before the Koreans could make one of their own. Lee Keunho was the man who scored for the Korean side in the 88th minute to make it 1-3 at the end. Unfortunately for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, they were then defeated by Al-Ahly SC 1-2 after a 1-1 tie at the half. Elsayed Hamdi struck in the 15th minute for the Egyptian side before Hisato Sato equalized for the Japanese side. Mohamed Aboutrika, that legend of the game both in Egypt specifically but Africa in general, slotted home in the 57th minute of the second half to bring victory to Al-Ahly. Look forward to the 5th Place match between Ulsan Hyundai and Sanfrecce Hiroshima coming tomorrow (the 12th). Also tomorrow, Al-Ahly SC and Corinthians face-off in what is sure to be a great game. Last but not least, as far as the set games are concerned, CF Monterrey and Chelsea FC look forward to their bout on the 13th. Make sure to watch!