Reuters Soccer Blog

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 – Clasico fever rises

Only one day to go now until Real Madrid face Barcelona in La Liga for the first of four ‘clasicos’ between Saturday and May 3. Excited? You will be now…

Barcelona destroyed their fierce domestic rivals 5-0 in November, and although the gap at the top of La Liga remains difficult for Real to peg back, they looked a very difficult team to beat against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League quarter-finals.

So, Real to narrow the gap, Barcelona to cut through Jose Mourinho’s men, or an edgy draw?

A former Real player David Beckham knows all about the drama of Barcelona meetings, and the England man is in the news in the MLS. Here’s a wrap of other games. Oh and here’s another Beckham story, it appears Fulham aren’t the only ones making statues of famous people.

On Thursday it was Portugal’s night in the Europa League, where three team progressed to the semi-finals. Villarreal took the fourth spot for a truly Iberian domination of Europe’s second tier competition.

This weekend in England there’s the FA Cup semi-finals and Manchester City’s time is surely now. Lose to Man Utd and manager Roberto Mancini could face a nervous wait to see whether he retains his job for next season. Triumph and they will face either Stoke City or Bolton Wanderers in the final, which you would have to fancy them to win.

One fan hoping for a Bolton victory has flown in from Australia, read more here.

Soccer Break Monday – Champions League last eight week special

With all the hype surrounding this week’s Champions League quarter-finals, the events of the weekend seem like a distant memory. Here’s a recap of a fascinating set of results around Europe the past few days.

Before we move on, your thoughts please. Does Wayne Rooney deserve to be punished for his outburst on camera against West Ham? And Fulham fans, did you take a picture with Michael Jackson on Sunday?

So we start with Real Madrid against Tottenham Hotspur at the Bernabeu on Tuesday. Predictions? Spurs have looked far better in Europe than in the Premier League this season, and their 0-0 against Wigan on Saturday could be a good omen.

That said, Jose Mourinho’s astonishing nine-year unbeaten home record as coach ended on the same day. Will Real’s backlash hit the Londoners?

Also in action on Tuesday are holders Inter Milan against Schalke 04. Worried for the Germans after Inter’s crushing 3-0 defeat by city rivals AC Milan on Saturday got them angry?

Wednesday, and it’s Chelsea against Manchester United. Ok, so there won’t be penalties like in Moscow so John Terry won’t be stepping anywhere near the spot.

Favourites Barcelona will play another high-speed, easy on the eye, slick passing team in Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk in what should be a cracking tie. We are all very excited.

Soccer Break Thursday

Gareth Bale. The dashing Welsh winger primed to scare the living daylights out of England on Saturday. Injured. Did anyone else hear that collective sigh of relief from England fans today?

But what about Tottenham Hotspur fans. Are you worried your star man’s recent struggles with injury could hamper your club’s Champions League quarter-final chances against Real Madrid?

There are of course plenty of qualifiers this weekend so read our preview for all the latest.

Anna on the Italian Soccer Serie A has picked what she reckons might be Italy’s team to play Slovenia in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier having spied on Cesare Prandelli’s training sessions. Read more here.

Our man Simon Evans in Miami has written a blog on a player familiar with Spurs, Real, and Euro qualifiers. Read on for the latest on David Beckham’s US adventure.

We’ve a bit of a US theme going today in fact. NFL player Chad Ochocinco (see last Thursday’s Soccer Break) has started his soccer experiment. Can he be successful?

Over in San Francisco, spare a thought for a referee on the receiving end of a player’s anger.

Should Europa League winners qualify for the Champions League?

Rules and competition formats which apply to other sports can rarely be implemented in soccer but UEFA may want to have a look at the benefits of a European club basketball formula if it is to further improve the Europa League.

The winners of Eurocup, the continent’s second-tier club basketball competition, win a berth in the Euroleague — the equivalent of football’s Champions League — and the move has had only a positive effect in attendances and the overall quality of teams.

My colleague Brian Homewood has duly noted that the Europa League has produced plenty of drama and full grounds across Europe in its first season after replacing the old UEFA Cup.

But would Liverpool have fielded their best XI in the knockout stages if they hadn’t lost a realistic chance of finishing in the Premier League top four well before the closing stages of the season?

And could Fulham, for all their exploits on the road to the Europa League final, ever hope to play in the money-spinning Champions League given the current balance of power in English club football?

Giving the Europa League winners a Champions League berth would force the top teams in Europe’s lesser club competition to take it seriously from start to finish while it would also present unheralded clubs with a chance of moving up the ladder.

Does Hodgson deserve a crack at top job?

I was chatting to a bunch of Fulham fans after last night’s Europa League final defeat and the question they all asked was, “What did Roy Hodgson say about his future?”

You can tell why they would be anxious. The man who saved them from relegation after coming in midway through the 2007-08 season, guided them to seventh at the end of the next campaign and then on into their first major European final will not be short of job offers, you wouldn’t think.

But could he be a candidate for the top job in the country? It depends, obviously, on what Fabio Capello does after the current World Cup but certainly the fans I spoke to seem to think he might be in line for promotion.

Is that a case of fearing the worst or a real option?

It would be a big step up but the obvious similarities with Steve McClaren ignore the long international experience on Hodgson’s CV.

Watching Fulham last night I got the feeling that Hodgson was squeezing the best out of his players by getting them doing the simple things consistently right.

Could he step up and get an exceptional group of players playing beyond themselves for England?

Europa League final — live

We’ll be providing updates direct from the Hamburg Arena, where Atletico Madrid look to land the first leg of a possible Cup double in the final of the Europa League against Fulham.

The English side have upset the odds all season, knocking out the likes of Juventus and Hamburg on their way to the final. Join us for all the details from a couple of hours before kick-off.

First Europa League final has a familiar feel

The first Europa League season, following its rebranding from UEFA Cup, draws to a close with a final line-up no-one would have expected here in Hamburg, but still, there is a familiar feel heading into this match.

Fulham’s roller coaster ride is reminiscent of the journey made by Spain’s Alaves, when they made it all the way to the final in 2000-01.

The final that year was in Dortmund, a three-hour drive down the A1 from Hamburg, and ultimately the underdogs came up short, losing in sudden-death extra-time to Liverpool.

You could make a case for Atletico Madrid being the rough equivalent of that Liverpool team nine years ago. Liverpool’s European glories looked a little faded back then: they had never so much as qualified for the Champions League at that stage and were being thoroughly overshadowed by Manchester United.

Atletico don’t quite have the same European pedigree but they have always regarded themselves as big stage players, having won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1962 and lost three other European finals.

These days they remain in the shadow of their richer neighbours, having won their last piece of silverware when they completed a league and cup double in 1996. This could be the first part of another double, with a Copa del Rey final to come, and they are determined to enjoy their return to the spotlight. As Liverpool discovered in the semi-finals, they are a streetwise team, with skillful players who have been around a long time and know a thing or two about killing off a game when they hold a lead.

As for Fulham,  who knows how they will deal with the pressure of their first major European final? They have upset expectations so often that they will feel anything is possible. When Alaves played Liverpool in that 2001 final the Spaniards looked like being overwhelmed but they recovered from a 2-0 deficit early in the game to give the English side a real fright.

Europa League semi-finals — live

The Champions League has brought little joy to English clubs this season but the Europa League has been a different story, with Liverpool and Fulham both in with a chance of making the final.

Join us for live chat and on-the-spot details from our reporters as Liverpool take on Atletico Madrid and Fulham face Hamburg in the semi-final second legs.

Panel predictions: how low can you go?

The best and brightest here at Reuters Soccer Blog continue to show they’d struggle to tip their own hats in a stiff breeze, let alone a correct score in the Premier League.

Our leader, Paul Radford, managed an unhappy three points this week … and look, who’s that chap who has sneaked through to replace him at the top? That was not the most impressive display of the week, however … for that look at one Julien Pretot, our new signing from the Paris bureau who leapt in with a 14 in his first week!

I expect to see him racing down the entire length of the Channel Tunnel, sliding to his knees and celebrating in front of Reuters Soccer Blog in Canary Wharf.

Remember, you get one point for predicting the right result, and make that five if you hit the nail exactly on the head. This week, I’m giving an extra point to Mike Collett for cheekily predicting Adebayor to score against Arsenal, even if he was a way off on the score. No other points for style as yet, but I expect there’ll be some pleas coming in.

Here are the latest standings:

Reuters Soccer Blog: Kevin Fylan 35, Paul Radford 34, Patrick Johnston 34, Simon Evans 32, Miles Evans 30, Mitch Phillips 24, Mike Collett 18, Neil Maidment 14, Julien Pretot 14, Asia Sports Desk 10,  Mark Meadows 8

The Rest of the World: Insert your score in the comments, please. We’ll believe you. Thousands wouldn’t.