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Soccer Break Thursday – How to stop Barca?
Just another night of footballing action and another trophy for the all-conquering Barcelona, who on Wednesday clinched their third successive La Liga title despite a laboured 1-1 draw away to Levante.
Manchester United will be hoping a similarly weary Barcelona turn up at Wembley for the Champions League final on May 28, hopefully having themselves recently won their top domestic honour, the Premier League.
Now, onto Manchester City, who are in the news for two reasons on Thursday. One, they play Stoke City in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Click on this link for facts and figures about the game. Two, newspaper reports say they are lining up a move for Barca’s Xavi. But then again, it was Cesc Fabregas on Wednesday.
Realistically who do you think they might poach for the new season?
Sadly the news dominating the sport this week has been the FIFA corruption allegations, where president Sepp Blatter is promising a swift enquiry into the accusations. Brazil 2014 World Cup chief organiser Ricardo Teixeira is coming under fire in his home country but he is defiant and says former FA chief David Triesman should prepare for legal action.
This blog says Triesman’s accusations have further harmed English football’s reputation.
Another sour note for the game and another damaged reputation is in Scotland, where the attack on Celtic boss Neil Lennon on Wednesday was the latest blow to Scottish football.
Soccer Break – Friday edition
Lionel Messi one day, Cristiano Ronaldo the next. It does not get any better than seeing the world’s best players at the top of the their game after Ronaldo’s hat-trick inspired Real Madrid to a 7-0 hammering of Malaga.
There’s plenty to get your teeth into here, while other Real blogs are debating the future of midfielder Kaka. Could you see him in the Premier League?
Back to England, and not good news for Manchester City after Kolo Toure was suspended after testing positive for a specified sample. The former Arsenal man has been key in the heart of City’s defence this season and they will struggle to replace the Ivorian international if he does get a ban.
North of the border, and Celtic and Rangers passionate yet fiery relationship lives on.
Looking ahead to the weekend and there is so much at stake in all the top European leagues. Read our Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 previews to fill you in on what’s going on.
Enjoy the weekend of football action and see you again on Monday to discuss all things soccer.
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Marvellous Marseille fans keep singing through the pain
I had been told the Stade Velodrome had a great atmosphere and after the constant noise the Marseille fans made in Wednesday’s 0-0 Champions league draw with Manchester United, I have one question – what would it be like if the stands had roofs?
Despite the dire match, the supporters at either side of the ground never stopped chanting and banging drums for a second. If the Velodrome wasn’t open to the elements I can only imagine that the noise would be even louder and give the home side an even bigger advantage.
French soccer fans aren’t really reknowned for thier raucous support like English or German supporters but down in Provence they really do know how to party even if the football on show was sending many neutrals to sleep.
It’s amazing loyalty to keep singing in a game with only two half-decent chances on a chilly February evening.
A sing-off between Marseille, Liverpool, Dortmund and Celtic fans might be a decent idea for a reality television programme. The Kop at Anfield might make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck but I’d wager the Marseille lot might be a few decibels louder.
The French champions will certainly notice the difference at Old Trafford in three weeks if the prawn sandwich brigade are in town.
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Arsenal v Celtic in play-offs. Is this what Platini wanted?
The draw for the Champions League final qualifying round raises the question whether Michel Platini and UEFA have done the right thing by giving teams from Europe’s less heralded leagues a better chance of reaching the money-spinning group stage.
On one hand, restructuring the qualifying campaign has opened the group stage doors to Latvian champions Venstpils, Cypriots APOEL Nicosia, Hungarian title holders Debrecen and Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol.
On the other, it has pitted former European Cup winners Celtic against 2006 finalists Arsenal, with the loser confined to taking part in the Europa Liga, the continent’s second tier competition.
The new formula means the Champions League lucrative group stage will now have more champions from obscure countries on Europe’s soccer map at the expense of third and fourth-placed teams from the top leagues.
It gives unfancied teams a chance to boost their finances and close the gap on wealthier rivals, but it also runs the risk of depriving Europe’s premier club competition of some of its glamour.
Would you rather watch both Celtic and Arsenal in the Champions league proper or draw pleasure from seeing a pack of underdogs take centre stage instead?
And crucially, will the new qualifying format last long enough for the new arrivals to establish themselves as regular campaigners?
I’m so glad the underdogs are finally granted what is rightfully theirs! Debrecen,Apoel Nicosia etc. are CHAMPIONS, and that means they should campaign in the CHAMPIONS League, full stop… why should these sides be left behind? After all, the likes of Berbatov, Vidic, Yaya Toure etc. were refined by so called smaller clubs. So are we saying that some clubs are only good for producing players and that’s where their work ends? Well Done Mr. Platini, at least UEFA has a man favouring fairplay as president!
Nakamura’s Japan snub a no-brainer
Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura’s decision to snub a return to Yokohama and join Spain’s Espanyol left his boyhood club devastated.
Yokohama’s club president slapped himself with a 50 percent pay cut by way of apology to furious F-Marinos fans, but arguably the most surprising aspect of the protracted saga was Yokohama’s “shock” that Nakamura opted for Espanyol instead of them after leaving Celtic, where he won three Scottish Premier League titles.
The choice between playing against glamour sides Real Madrid and Barcelona or languishing in the backwaters of the struggling J-League was a no-brainer.
The 31-year-old had always wanted to play in La Liga, while Espanyol had been chasing the Japan playmaker for years.
I think that was the wrong attitude, he should not behaving like that, we all know J league is struggling hard, and i hope they will give us best results in future, if they keep struggling hard.
Old Firm big fish can’t swim outside small pond
You shouldn’t laugh, but it’s hard not to after the mighty Old Firm, soccer’s biggest domestic bullies, once again found they were not so tough when they are allowed into the big boys’ playground.
Celtic might stick it to Hamilton Academical and Falkirk on a regular basis but AaB Aalborg proved too good for them on Tuesday as a 2-1 win for the Danes ended the Glasgow club’s interest in the Champions League early – again.
Why do Scotland’s finest struggle to make any impact when a similar-sized club like Porto continually do well and Anorthosis Famagusta flourish this year?
The Aalborg defeat should not have come as a shock as Celtic have now managed one draw, and a remarkable 19 defeats from their last 20 Champions League away games.
Barry Robson’s opener last night was their first away goal in the competition for two years but it was almost fated that they should add the Aalborg Stadion to the long list of barren grounds with a Gary Caldwell own goal three minutes from time.
Tuesday’s result also ensured that, despite overcoming their travel travails to reach the knockout phase in the last two seasons, they would finish bottom of their group and not even have a crack at the UEFA Cup, where they reached the final in 2003.
Asked before Tuesday’s game whey Celtic had such a poor return from their Champions League away games, manager Gordon Strachan said: “The other teams have scored more goals than us and we haven’t scored enough. It’s quite simple really.”
Indeed I’m not, nor Danish or, surprisingly, Scottish. I also, as I remember, pass absolutely no comment on Celtic’s performance against Aalborg other than to say they lost via an own goal and therefore “proved too good for them”. A defeat is a defeat and 19 of them and a draw from 20 away games involves a little more than bad luck, I’d suggest. Thanks for posting.
It really is time to call in the cameras now
There has been a long-running debate about video technology in football and surely the time has now come to assist referees and linesmen with offside decisions.
This week’s Champions League matches featured several howlers. Both of Dimitar Berbatov’s goals for Manchester United against Celtic were shown to be offside by TV replays yet the Belgium linesman kept his flag down.
He then raised his flag for offside against Wayne Rooney when seconds later a replay revealed that Rooney was actually behind the last defender. (more…)
