Manchester United FC will look to deny David Beckham a happy homecoming when AC Milan come to town for the second leg of the clubs’ UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.
Beckham’s return to Old Trafford will dominate the build-up but United fans will be more concerned about their current favourites’ ability to rediscover their best home form and protect a 3-2 lead gained in the first leg in Milan.
Real Madrid CF will hope to move a step closer to their dream of reaching this year’s UEFA Champions League final at their Santiago Bernabu home when they welcome Olympique Lyonnais for the second leg of their last-16 tie.
Nine-times European champions Madrid have not reached the quarter-finals since 2004 but will hope to put that right by finally getting the better of opponents who avoided defeat on both of their previous two trips to the Spanish capital.
After a stunning victory at Juventus in their last European away game, FC Bayern Mnchen will hope to hit those heights again when they return to Italy to take on ACF Fiorentina with a quarter-final place at stake.
Facing a win-or-bust scenario, Bayern won 4-1 at Juventus in December to reach the last 16 but Louis van Gaal’s men may need to emulate that display to get the better of a Fiorentina side with a 100% home record in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
FC Porto’s last visit to the Arsenal Stadium was memorable for all the wrong reasons although the Portuguese champions travel to London knowing their hosts have overturned a first-leg away defeat only once before.
FC Porto will not want to dwell on their last trip to the Arsenal Stadium before the UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie return. They lost 4-0, continuing a run of disappointing results in England where they have failed to win in 13 visits.
on Sunday, March 7, 17:00 CET.
Everton and Hull City are against each other in this Premier League match. It’s a tough match between those two teams and even that Everton will be the favorite team still Hull City have many talented players in the team to play in the same level with them.
Everton will be without several important players tonight like Louis Saha, James Vaughan, Philippe Senderos while in doubt are three other players like Tim Cahill, Phil Jagielka and Leon Osman.
On the other side Hull City doesn’t have to much pressure to handle in this match since this team doesn’t have anything to lose today and will try everything that will be possible to take a positive result against Everton. Hull City will play in this difficult match without two players like Craig Fagan and Anthony Gardner as both those two players are out for this clash.
In this situation I believe in the power of Everton and I expect a tough match with a minimal win result 2-1 or maybe another goal may come in the late minutes from Everton strikers and i favorite two results for this clash 2-1 or 3-1.
After a week hiatus due the world cup qualifiers action, the Premier League comes back with this interesting match. Please come back around kick off time in order to have more information about this exciting game…
When the Football season is at the final stages all over Europe, here is a compilation of rumors of possible transactions, transfers, switches and fire sales on the wing:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello sport have reported a possible transfer of Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona. According to the report, Inter would get Samuel Eto’o and 65 million dollars for the Swedish striker. Inter has denied the information, and Newspaper Sport reports that Inter requires a 130 Million dollar fee to release the player. Chance of happening: 75%
Franck Ribery: Other media reports that French Wing Ribery already have a basic agreement with Barcelona, and will be part of the club for next season. Ribery has a contract with Bayern until 2011, but several clubs have been heavy interested on his services for months, although at this point Barcelona appears to be the top pretender. Chance of happening: 90% that he is moving to Barcelona, 10% to other club; do not expect Ribery defending the Munich colors again after this summer.
David Villa: Cash strapped Valencia is still struggling to balance its finances, and it appears that they dont have a choice but to move their biggest assets. David Villa has been linked with talks to Manchester City, Chelsea, Barcelona, Arsenal and others. It is not clear yet where the Spanish star will land. Chance of happening: to Barcelona: 60%, Man City: 20%, Chelsea : 10%, Other 10%
Kaka: The Brazilian stunned the world when he rejected a juicy offer from Manchester City last January, but this transfer rumor is far from over. According to Spanish “ABC”, Kaka would leave Milan and his “It is not just about the money” instance to play with Real Madrid next summer. It all depends on who is elected to be the new president of the white team. Chance of happening: 40%
CR7: Footballer of the year Cristiano Ronaldo is rumored to be part of the Real Madrid squad for next season. According to reports, the sides already agreed to terms, for an astonishing 130 million dollars. Manchester United denies all reports, but be sure that you will hear this again insistently over the summer. Chance of Happening: 50%
David Silva: This is the other Valencia player that has been targeted the most from teams all over Europe. Juventus wants him as a replacement of Pavel Nedved, who is retiring after this season. Manchester United has announced officially that wants to enter in the bidding. Barcelona would be an obvious destination for the Spanish player. The youngster is definitely moving, we need to see is where. Chance of happening: 100%
Other rumors to be confirmed: Thiago Motta from Genoa to Inter , Diego from Werder Bremen to Inter , Didier Drogba from Chelsea to Inter, Sergio Aguero from Atletico de Madrid to Inter or Manchester City, Karim Benzema from Lyon to Manchester United, Real Madrid, Steven Gerrard from Liverpool to Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal to Barcelona.
Rafa Benitez Squad dumped 4-0 Real Madrid at Anfield, with scores from Fernando Torres(16), Steven Gerard (28, 47) and Andrea Doossena, who sealed the brilliant presentation at 88. On the first leg, Liverpool won 1-0 in Madrid. The global score was an astonishing 5-0 favoring the British side.
In Turin, Juventus and Chelsea tied 2-2 in a great game. The Italians scored first with Vicenzo Iaquinta(19), but Michael Essien(46) tied for the blues. Del Piero coverted a penalty kick (74) giving Claudio Ranieri squad some hope, but Drogba(83) tied again and for good the match. The global score was 3-2, thanks to the victory 1-0 in Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks ago.
In Germany, Bayern Munich showed no mercy and crushed 7-1 an unknown Sporting. The Bavarian team got tallies from Lukas Podolski (8, 34), Anderson Polga (own goal, 39), Bastian Schweinsteiger (43), Mark van Bommel (74), Miroslav Klose (penalty kick, 82) and Muller (90). The Portuguese avoided the blank with a strong shot from Joao Moutinho(42). The global score was 12-1 for the Jurgen Klinsmann side, in one of the biggest defeats ever at such an advanced round of the tournament.
In Athens, Panathinaikos failed to advance after having a slight advantage from the first leg, losing 1-2 to Villareal. The “Yellow Submarine” scored first with Ariel Ibagaza(49), but the greeks tied with Mantzios(55). Fifteen minutes later, Llorente converted the final goal, giving the spanish team the edge of the series. The global score was 3-2 after the teams tied 1-1 the first leg.
50′ 0-1 De La Pea [R.C.D. Espanyol]
54′ 0-2 De La Pea [R.C.D. Espanyol]
62′ 1-2 Yaya Toure [FC Barcelona]
Barcelona could not overcame the solid defense and counter-attack game proposed by its home town rival Espanyol. Ivan de la Pena was the man of the match, netting both goals for the winner. Real Madrid took quick advantage of the situation and now is 7 points behind the leader, after destroying 6-1 Betis on Saturday.
6′ 1-0 Gonzalo Higuain [Real Madrid]
15′ 2-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar [Real Madrid]
24′ 3-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar [Real Madrid]
30′ 3-1 Ricardo Oliveira [Real Betis]
36′ 4-1 Raul [Real Madrid]
42′ 5-1 Raul [Real Madrid]
45′ 6-1 Sergio Ramos [Real Madrid]
La Liga is still for Barcelona to lose, but in just a week Real Madrid have erased 5 points from the gap. Things are heating again and looks like we are going down the wire to know who is going to win it all!
Manchester United displayed another strong performance today, after dumping Fulham 3-0 at home. Manchester United was already on top of the Premier League standings, but they had a game pending to be played. And today, it took them only 12 minutes to break the visitors lock and take a lead that never surrendered.
1-0 Paul Scholes (12)
2-0 Dimitar Berbatov (30)
3-0 Wayne Rooney (63)
The heat is now on second place Liverpool, that now is sitting 5 points behind the Red Machine. It is of course way early to dismiss the league and proceed to give the hardware to Manchester United, but the great form and efectiveness showed by the Manchester squad, have to leave them at least as the great favorites…
Alex Ferguson’s squad, playing as the visiting team, defeated Derby County by a 4-1 score. Later, the Liverpool team won 3-1 Aston Villa.
Everton and Manchester United joined Chelsea to be one of the last eight teams on the competition. The other games (except Arsenal – Cardiff, which will be played today) finished with ties and hence require an extra game.
Mikel Arteta was the man of the match for Everton, that is positioned as one of the favorites of the tournament. Jack Rodwell, Arteta and Tim Cahill scored for the Liverpool based team. James Milner got the goal for the “villians”.
Manchester United did not wanted to give away any advantage, and the Reds completely overmatched local Derby County. Nani, Gibson and Cristiano Ronaldo scored all on the first half, leaving Derby County on the mat with little chance for a come back.
On the second half, Ferguson decided to relieve some of the starters and just let the time pass. Six minutes before the final, Welbeck finished a great afternoon for Manchester United.
Chelsea is on Quarter Finals as well, after defeating Watford on Saturday. Blackburn-Coventry, Sheffield United-Hull, Swansea-Fulham and West Ham-Middlesbrough,will need to face each other again, in a last tie breaker game.
Inter took a giant step to the title after defeating AC Milan 2-1. At San Sirom Adriano (30) and Serbian Dejan Stankovic (43) scored for the winning side. Pato(71) scored for Milan on the second half. Inter looks solid, and has only suffered two defeats on the season so far.
The first score was somewhat controversial, as it appears that Adriano touched the ball with his hand when he took the header after the assist of fellow Brazilian Maicon.
Inter feat is magnified because earlier, Juventus barely tied 1-1 at home with Sampdoria, meaning that they failed to keep the Inter’s pace.
Sampdoria started the game aggresively, and Giampaolo Pazzini(10) gave the lead after the initial effort, letting the visitor to control the score and the game, thanks to their solid defensive proposal.
Juventus looked erratic and disoriented, and only at 62nd, Amauri scored the tie. Juventus only added 1 point to the general table, 9 points behind the leaders.
In other results, Atalanta 3 – Roma 0, Fiorentina 3 – Genoa 3, Catania 1 – Chievo Verona 1.
In a very entertaining game, Brazil defeated Italy in an international friendly match played in London.
The game proved to be very promising from the beginning, with Brazil showing a very fast passing game, but Italy had the first goal opportunity just 4 minutes into the first half, when Fabio Grosso crossed from the left wing to beat Julio Cesar, but the referee called offside and the goal did not counted.
The South American squad put together a beautiful play involving Robinho and Elano, who sharpshooted Gianluigi Buffon at the minute 14th for the first goal of the match.
Italy jumped over its rival to try to get a quick tie, but at 27th, Robinho picked up a loose ball and started a counter attack, finishing a perfect dribbling in the Italian goal area, and finished with his left foot to put 2-0 the score. Brazil was playing better, and the score reflected perfectly what was happening on the pitch.
At 65th, Luca Toni managed to pass 2 Brazilian defenders and sent the ball to the net, but the referee one more time invalidated the action (in the video you can see that Toni controlled the ball with his hands). The ‘tifosi’ were not happy with the call, and the game started to get a little aggressive from both sides.
At 82nd Toni was close to score for the azurri, but Julio Cesar saved Brazil one more time. Brazil played better and took advantage of its chances, Italy played good, but lacked that last punch to score…
Ryan Giggs scored an impressive goal with 62 minutes on the clock, and that was enough for the victory. Alex Ferguson squad stays 2 points ahead of liverpool, all this with a game less than its rivals.
Dutch goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar tallied 1.156 minutes without conceding a goal, a record for the history of british football, taking the milestone from Scotish Bobby Clark, who played for Aberdeen, on the 1970-71 season.
Tottenham and Arsenal tied 0-0 in London. The spurs proved unable to take any ground to avoid relegation, and the gunners kept their fifth place on the league, but far away from contention.
Liverpool fought a hard game and came from behind on the score twice to earn the win against a brave Portsmouth squad. David Nugent (62) and Hermann Hreidarsson (78) tallied for Portsmouth, but Fabio Aurelio (69) , Dirk Kuyt (85) and Fernando Torres (90+2) gave the Reds the lead and the victory.
In other results, Manchester City 1-Middlesbrough 0, Blackburn Rov. 0 – Aston Villa 2, Chelsea 0 – Hull City 0, Everton 3-Bolton Wand. 0, Sunderland 2 – Stoke City 0, WBA 2-Newcastle 3, Wigan Athletic – Fulham 0.
Danish player Poulsen converted after a Catania’s defender horrendous mistake almost at the end of the game, giving the victory to the visitor 1-2.
Vincenzo Iaquinta scored first(11) for Juventus on the first half. Takayuki Morimoto tied (52) for the Catania side. The star of the game, hands down, was goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, whom made several miracoulus saves, avoiding what easily could have been yet another defeat for Juventus. The Turin squad is now in second place with 46 points, after AC Milan could only draq 1-1 with Reggina.
Juventus (46) desplaz del segundo lugar al Milan (45), que igual 1-1 con la Reggina.
On Saturday, Inter got an easy 3-0 victory against Lecce, Ibrahimovi, Figo and Stankovic scored for the “Nerazurri” against a rival Lecce that was no match for the Serie A leaders.
Milan not only failed to get another win but also lost Kaka with an Injury. The brazilian star left the game 7 minutes before the final blow, and the medical report informs that he has issues on his right foot. The earliest estimated for a return is 2 weeks.
In other results, Roma 3-Genoa 0, Fiorentina 1-Lazio 0, Cagliari 0 – Atalanta 1, Sampdoria 2 – Siena 2; Torino 1 – Chievo Verona 1, Udinese 1 – Bologna 0.
| VS |
The big tournament is around the corner, and starting today we are going to start to review the upcoming games. The first leg of the knockout round will be played on the 24th and 25th of February 2009. Today, we are going to review the state of affairs of the clash between the current leaders of Serie A and the Premier League: Inter and Manchester United.
Inter, as we just mentioned, is leading the italian Serie A with a good 7 point lead cushion over city rivals AC Milan. Mourinho has placed already his trademark style on the “neriazurri” squad, with a vertical and top speed offensive play. Inter struggled a little bit at the first couple of weeks after the new year’s break, but this kind of club that blends so much talent and experience, is always dangerous and never should be taken for granted.
Manchester United is playing at a level out of this world, it is leading the Premier League and still have a game to spare. Manchester reached the Carling Cup final, it is still on the race for the FA Cup, and is pretty much threatening to win every single tournament on which is taking part. With world class stars CR7, Carlos Tevez and bulgarian sensation Dimitar Berbatov among others, the red club proves to be a very uphill challenge to any rival team.
This match is poised to be an all time classic in the Champions League. Remember, tickets are still available, so try to grab yours early!
Our prediction, well, I think that is probably not even be close. Manchester United will dominate the series. It has the best players, it is in top form and Inter has probably faced lesser rivals over the last month, and they got mixed results. Of course we are still almost 3 weeks away of the game day, and everything can happen between now and then. But unless some kind of big injury happens on the Manchester side, I think they are probably going to take both games.
Please stay tuned on eurochampsleague.com, we will have the live streaming, and all the details of this big game. And don’t forget that tickets are still available!
The big game is over and Liverpool fans have every right to celebrate thanks to a spectacular performance by Fernando Torres during the very last seven minutes before the referee’s final blow of the whistle.
Everyone was convinced that the two teams would conclude the game with a goalless draw. Apparently that was not sufficient for Torres who had a totally different opinion.
A truly amazing Torres scored not just once but twice during the very last minutes of the fixture, enabling his team to take the three “golden” points that it needed, so that it can successfully compete for the championship.
The sudden 2 to nothing score displaced Chelsea from the second, down to the third place, and with three points less than Liverpool. Liverpool now quite comfortably enjoys the second place with just two points less than Manchester United that still enjoys the top place with one game less.
Manchester United beat Everton with 1-0 score on Saturday night’s fixture, making another step towards the championship.
The game in Liverpool’s home stadium was exciting with both teams aiming at collecting the full points. Liverpool, however, playing in its own stadium and having the live support of the thousands of its fans, exhibited a more aggressive attitude – performance – that yielded to more dangerous shoots towards the opponent’s goal net.
Chelsea’s effective defense strategy, however, and despite having to face its opponent with just 10 players, after the questionable removal of midfielder Frank Lampard – who received a red card during the second half – did not allow Benitez’s squad to score any goals during most of the game.
Liverpool got very close to opening the score during the 10th minute of the fixture when Xabi Alonso with a distant but well executed strong shoot forced Petr Cech to act fast and with his left hand to send away the incoming ball into a corner, saving his net from a certain goal.
Liverpool had several more opportunities to open the score but the well positioned Chelsea players did not allow this to happen.
Liverpool eventually managed to score during the very last minutes of the fixture when Torres took advantage of two opportunities that were created and successfully send the ball straight into Cech’s goal net.
After the game Liverpool’s manager Rafa Benitez, clearly satisfied with his squad’s performance, said that his team was overall better throughout the entire game.
Similarly, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Chelsea’s manager, appeared to agree with Benitez’s statement. “Liverpool were better than us all game… we need to look again, to try again, we have many games but we are behind two clubs. It is more difficult than before but we have to fight to the end.” Scolari said.
Sunday’s fixture draw over 44,000 spectators into Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium.
Manchester United on the other hand kept its winning ways defeating Everton 1-0, and they still have a a make up game that could increase the gap. CR7 scored the lonely goal on a penalty kick on the Saturday game. Even though the score looks tight, Man U completed 12 games without concede an opposing goal, a record for the English League.
Chelsea is now on third place with the same points as Aston Villa, but with a better goal difference.
Both Aston Villa and Arsenal conceded disappointing 0-0 ties at home against West Ham and Wigan, respectively. In other results, Stoke 1 Manchester City 0, Bolton 3 Tottenham 2, Fulham 3 Portsmouth 1, Hull 2 West Brom 2, Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 0.
Barcelona 1 – Racing 1 (Messi)
Barcelona 2 – Racing 1 (Messi)
Barcelona turned around a very complicated game against Racing, which scored first on a penalty kick converted by Nicola Zigic. Barcelona coach Guardiola decided to use Messi, whom was on the bench most of the game, and he was the difference maker, getting the tie 10 minutes later. After this, Racing started to lose control of the game, and it was just a matter of time for the Argentinian to do his magic again, converting the second goal and sealing the victory for the locals.
Real Madrid got the best of Numancia with a 2-0 visitor victory. Raul and Robben scored for the Merengues, whom are trying to keep the pace, although the 12 points gap looks like the size of the moon with Barcelona at the top of its game.
Third place Sevilla failed on his visit to Sporting de Gijon with a 1-0 defeat. In other results, Valencia, 3 – Almeria 2, Deportivo de La Corua 3 – Villarreal 0, Valladolid 2 – Atletico de Madrid 1, Betis 2 – Getafe 2, Osasuna 1 – Mallorca 0, Recreativo de Huelva 1 – Espanyol 1.
Olympiakos is sitting a top of the Greek league after defeating yesterday AEK 1-0 thanks to Luciano Galletti’s early goal. Defending champions are now 11 and 12 points ahead of PAOK Thessaloniki and Panathinaikos respectively.
In other results, Panionios 3, Panthrakikos 0; Panserraikos 1, Thrasivoulos 0; PAOK 2, Ergotelis 0 and Xanthi 0, Asteras 0.
Inter 0 – Torino 1 (Bianchi)
Inter 1 – Torino 1 (Burdisso)
Inter just got a tie at home 1-1 against Torino, but still managed to get a six point cushion lead over AC Milan, now the second place holder.
Inter dominated most of the game actions, but Torino scored first when striker Rolando Bianchi put his side ahead after a precise assistence from Ignazio Abate. Inter defender Burdisso tied the game with a header on the second half. Inter had several chances to take the lead, but it failed.
Milan trashed 3-0 SS Lazio at Rome, that closes them to to lead. Pato(42), Massimo Ambrosini (46) and Kak (83) Scored for the “Rossoneri”.
David Beckham played the whole game and contriuted with 2 assists for the first 2 goals. Pato now owns 10 goals for the season, and so does Kak.
Juventus is now on third place with 43 points, after a surprising defeat 2-3 at home against Cagliari. Genoa still holds the fourth place after defeating Parma at home 1-0.
In other results, Atalanta 1, Catania 0; Chievo Verona 1, Sampdoria 1; and Siena 1, Lecce 2. The game Bologna-Fiorentina was postponed due weather conditions.
Both teams classified yesterday. Bilbao won 2-1 to Sporting de Gijon; even though Sporting scored at the very first minute of the game with Carmelo Gonzalez, Bilbao reverted the result after Igor Gabilondo and David Lopez scored for the visitors. Mallorca got a 0-0 tie against betis, and classified since they got a 1-0 win on the first leg game last week.
The Milan squad won thanks to scores from Stankovic and Ibrahimovic, reaching 49 points in what was a very favorable day for the “Nerazurri”, now that they have a 6 points lead after Juventus was humbled by Udinese 2-1 and AC Milan could only draw on his match, all this valid for round 21 of Serie A.
Meanwhile in San Siro, fans witnessed David Beckham’s second goal with Milan, after a potent free kick that gave a temporary 1-0 lead to the locals, but Argentinian Diego Milito tied with just 3 minutes remaining on the clock. Milito is now tied on the lead as the top scorer for Serie A with 14 goals.
Juventos failed to add any points on their visit to Udinese, whom comanded the score thanks to Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale. Juventus scored its only goal after Vincenzo Iaquinta converted a penalty kick.
Other results:
Atalanta 0 – Bologna 1
Cagliari 1 – Siena 0
Chievo Verona 1 – Lecce 1
Sampdoria 3 – Lazio 1
Torino 0 – Reggina 0
0-1 (Benayoun)
1-1 (Mido)
0-1 (Berbatov)
0-2 (Tevez)
0-3 (Vidic)
0-4(CR7)
0-5 (CR7)
The red team crushed its Birmingham based rival, and now commands the Premier League with a clear 2 points advantage over Liverpool, whom got just a pale 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic.
WHEN: January 28th, 2009
The competition is tough and the stakes are high for Liverpool who takes on the challenge at Wigan Athletics’s JJB Stadium this Wednesday afternoon.
Manchester United, currently enjoying the prestigious top place in the league, has the advantage of a game less than Rafa Benitez’s team. Liverpool must demonstrate to its fans that it can yield the necessary points that it essentially needs to position and perhaps maintain itself on the top position.
Of course, an eventual final finishing in any of the top four positions will be considered as a success for.Benitez’s team that faces fierce competition throughout the campaign. Any mistakes and potential loss of points on the part of Manchester United, in any of the coming games, will naturally have a positive effect on Benitez’s squad, as long as they maintain their positive attitude and focus.
It is essential, therefore, that all members of Benitez’s squad work closely together and exhibit an outstanding performance that will enable them to secure the three valuable points that will bring them closer to their goal.
Wigan Athletic, coming from two straight losses, has no other alternative than to fight for a positive result that will enable the Latics to secure a good place among the best eight of the league.
| VS |
This is indeed a feasible goal as long as Steve Bruces team maintains a positive attitude and focuses with the necessary attention and seriousness on each and every game, regardless of who the opponent is.
Let’s hope that the recent transfers of Wilson Palacios to Spurs and Emile Heskey to Aston Villa will not have a detrimental effect on Bruces team.
The game is expected to draw a high interest among the numerous fans of both teams.
On Sunday, 1st of March 2009, in which side are you going to be seated at Wembley Stadium, London? It is the Manchester United section or Tottenham Hotspurs? The semi-finals that took place on 5th of January, 2009 and 19th of January, 2009 made the way for the two teams to meet at Carling Cup finals.
Founded in 1961, Carling Cup, popularly known as League Cup or Football League Cup is going to be held for the 48th time on 1st of March 2009. From its inception in 1961, Carling Cup finals have been tensed and competitive on head to head. The largest crowd ever seen at a football match in the whole wide history of football has only been reported at the finals of Carling Cup where not even a speck of dust could have freely moved through air.
Since the expected situation is similar for the finals to be held on 1st of March, you better hurry to grab your tickets early. The ticket sales for the Carling Cup finals have already started and buying it online is the easiest way.
Itll be such a shame not to be able to reserve a ticket to support your favorite football club during its toughest and finest performance for the year. After all, the Manchester United is already making comments about the predicted outcome while, Tottenham Hotspurs are playing safe for the moment which shows that they have a secret plan in place.
So be there to catch the excitement and be in the spirits while the boys take on the grounds and make us proud! One word of caution though! Buying your ticket as early as possible is the best way to assure your seat at the finals. More closer you get to the finals, more pounds you will have to spend on the ticket. So be wise and grab your ticket today!
You can buy the Carling Cup finals tickets from our affiliates regardless of whether you are planning to be behind the goal or along side the Wembley Stadium. Simply buy the ticket with a click of a button and make sure your presence at this prestigious event is guaranteed all the way out!
Manchester United will field its best squad including Fifa’s Player of The year Cristiano Ronaldo, Carling Cup top scorer Carlos Tevez, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney among others. Tottenham have their own star power with striker Roman Pavlyuchenko (tied with Tevez as the top Carling Cup scorer) .
 
|
VS |  
|
Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, accused Real Madrid of trying to start a “destabilisation campaign” against them, after igniting the rumor that they will try to sign Argentinina great Lionel Messi, similar of what they did in the past with Luis Figo. Now, that Real Madrid is trying to sign away the stars from other clubs is nothing new, but it actually makes me wonder, is that really a long term winning strategy? I mean, for the “Merengues” money is not an issue, but the fact that they are always linked to rumors of the top players in action is almost ridiculous. Just to make my point, I’m linking here a few of the most recent stars pretended by the Madrid side:
Real Madrid Promises 100 Million Pounds for Cristiano Ronaldo
Carlos Tevez getting closer to Real Madrid
Kaka to Real Madrid rumors Continues in Spain
Real Madrid In Milan To Meet With Inters Crespo
Real Madrid tried to sign Aguero
Wigan quote Real Madrid 15million for Luis Antonio Valencia
BONUS TRACK: Not really a player, but Real Madrid also targeted Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
Now granted, this is not a practice that only Real Madrid does. Other big clubs are constantly in search of big names to improve themselves. What makes Real Madrid such an especial case is that they appear to target every single high profile player, available or not. Even if its half of the starting lineup of Manchester United…
Brazilian Adriano scored right before the end of the first half, and that was enough for Inter to defeat Sampdoria 1-0 and stay at top of the Italian League. In what was the last game of the 20th round, Mourinho’s squad did not had a good game playing at San Siro, and following a trend of the last 3 games (only 3 goals and a win to show). Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not play due a 1 game suspension.
David Beckham scored his first goal for Milan after a 4-1 victory against Bologna. Kaka scored twiced on his first game after the Manchester City transfer fiasco, and Seedorf sealed Bologna fate. AC Milan now is 3rd on the standings, and on a roll chasing leaders Inter and Juventus.
Juventus keeps pace with the leaders with a 1-0 victory against Fiorentina. Claudio Marchisio scored for the Turin side.
Forth place Genoa is starting to drag behind after getting a pale 1-1 draw against Catania. Roma Destroyed 3-0 Napoli as a visitor, and rival Lazio were lowed 4-1 at home by Cagliari.
ESPN.com ran an article about the most expensive transfers ever on football history. You can read the article here, but basically, this is the lineup they came with (sorted by transference fee):
1 Zindine Zidane – Real Madrid – 48.1m – 2001
2 Lus Figo – Real Madrid – 38.7m – 2000
3 Hernn Crespo – Lazio – 35.5m – 2000
4 Gianluigi Buffon – Juventus – 32.6m – 2001
5 Robinho – Manchester City – 32.5m – 2008
6 Christian Vieri – Internazionale – 32.0m – 1999
7 Pavel Nedved – Juventus – 30.6m – 2001
8 Rio Ferdinand – Man United – 29.1m – 2002
9 Gaizka Mendieta – Lazio – 29m – 2001
10 Lilian Thuram – Juventus – 22m – 2001
11 Daniel Alves – Barcelona – 23.5m – 2008
The main lesson we can learn from all this is that although clubs get headlines and star power when they spend this massive and borderline insane amounts of money, the benefits rarely match the costs. I understand that football clubs (and specially the richest ones) are not just only about fielding 11 world class players to try to win a kid’s game; at the end of the day, it is about business, about selling jerseys, securing endorsements, real estate deals and so on. But after checking the list and the competition results, one can easily argue that this kind of investments are not only extremely expensive, but also completely uncertain. Gaizka Mendieta is probably the biggest bust of the list and the best example of this: Lazio spend a gazillion euro to bring the midfielder to Italy, and he yielded no titles, got hurt and in general he is not particularly remembered for anything remarkable there.
Small market teams should keep this on mind when they want to make a huge deal when they want to show that they “care” about winning: it is not how much you spend but how smart you are when you are going to open the checkbook.
The Cinderella tale that Championship club Burnley FC was so close to complete collapsed on extra time, after Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe scored for the Spurs. When the regular 90 minutes were over, The Clarets ended with a 3-0 lead, thanks to scores from Robbie Blake (34), Chris McCann (73) and Jay Rodriguez (88). The brave demonstration put the global score 4-4, thus forcing the extra time. But Burnley collapsed just 2 minutes from progressing to the final (this is, because they had a visitors goal, which would have served as a tie breaker), when Pavlyuchenko netted for the Tottenham side.
Burnley FC complete exposed all Tottenham’s flaws, which were acknowledged by Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp.
From ESPN.com:
“It’s a hard job I have on here, believe you me,” said the former Portsmouth boss.
“I keep saying that we need stronger players in here because we’re not mentally or physically strong enough.”
Tottenham is fighting to avoid relegation, and it is still on the race for the FA Cup. What I find a little funny is that our ticket seller associated Worldticketshop.com was advertising already the Carling Cup final between Manchester United and Tottenham before the game against Burnley yesterday. And you could argue that it is hard to blame them, since the odds of surrendering the 1-4 lead were slim… and still it was oh so close…
By the way, now it is official, and tickets for the Carling Cup Final in Wembley this March 1st are available. Click here for more information
After the 4-2 victory against Derby County, Manchester United is headed to the Carling Cup Finals. Nani scored the first goal on a potent shot that goalkeeper Roy Carroll could not stop. John O’Shea and Argentinian Carlos Tevez scored as well, all before half time. Manchester United came to the game down on the global score 0-1, and all they needed was 20 minutes to revert their fortune.
On the second half, Derby fought back and shorted the distance after Giles Barnes converted a penalty kick; but CR7 sealed Derby County’s fate with another penalty kick after relieving Ryan Giggs.
The incumbent European Champion will face on the final the winner of the Burnley – Tottenham match (Global: 1-4).
The soap opera around the transfer of Brazilian star Kaka apparently is over. According to reports, Silvio Berlusconi (Milan’s president and owner) has said on the record that the transaction that would send the striker to Manchester City is not going to happen.
According to CNN.com Berlusconi declared:
“Kaka is staying at Milan.”He has turned down the money and he won’t ask for an increase. He prefers to stay at Milan.”
“Money is not everything to Kaka. He is staying with us, there are things which are more important than money: we are happy.
“We offered the player the chance to consider the offer and make himself a fortune, but he has higher values.
“It was down to me and also to him. When I heard he would prefer to stay, that he didn’t think he would be missing a great opportunity and he prefers the values of our flag, the values of closeness and friendship, the warmth and the affection that all the fans have shown him in these days, I said ‘hooray’ and we hugged. Kaka is staying at Milan.”
Manchester city offer was reported to be a 130 million fee to Milan, and Kaka would earn on top of that around 18 to 23 million per year, which is well over the 12 million that is said he is currently earning.
The ripple effect to Manchester City is just starting, now that the club has announced that Robinho is walking out the team, because he was disheartened when he knew that his fellow country man is not joining the squad.
The actual question at this point is, it is actually over? ESPN reports that Kaka has his eyes on Real Madrid, which frankly, would have way more sense; not that I would call Kaka a liar or greedy, but it is hard to believe that he left millions on the table just because his heart told him.
Caen 2 – Mnaco 2
Paris S.G. 2 – Sochaux 1
Lille 1 – Rennes 0
Grenoble 0 – Lyon 2
Lorient 1 – Valenciennes 1
Marsella 2 – Le Havre 0
Niza 2 – Auxerre 0
Saint-Etienne 1 – Le Mans 1
Toulouse 3 – Nancy 0
Nantes 1 – Burdeos 2
INTER FALLS 1-3
After completing the first half of the Serie A championship, Inter suffered its second defeat of the tournament, which is creating a lot of concern to Mourinho’s squad, adding yet another disappointing presentation to last week’s pale 1-1 draw against Cagliari.
Atalanta took the lead on the first half and never looked back, thanks to scores from Sergio Floccari(18) and Cristiano Doni(28,33), against a completely unknown Inter.
Inter’s goal was made by Zlatan Ibrahimovic almost at the end of the match.
OTHER RESULTS
Siena 1-0 Reggina
AC Milan 1-0 Fiorentina
Catania 1-2 Bolognia
Chievo 2-1 Napoli
Lecce 0-2 Genoa
Cagliari 2-0 Udinese
Torino 0-1 Roma
Lazio 1-1 Juventus
Sampdoria 0-2 Palermo
REAL MADRID DEFEATS 3-1 OSASUNA AND GETS BACK TO 2ND
The “merengues” under the supervision of thier new president, Vicente Boluda, made it to the half time down 1-0 in the score, after Osasuna’s iranian striker Javad Nekounam goal (20).
Nevertheless, Real Madrid made an spectacular comeback: Sergio Ramos scored on a long distance shot for the tie; Gozalo Higuan gave the lead converting after a precise serve from Arjen Robben, who scored the final goal almost at the end of the match.
Real Madrid got their forth win in a row, but conceded a home goal for the first time under the direction of new manager Juande Ramos.
Other results:
Barcelona 5-0 Deportivo
Sevilla 1-0 Numancia
Villarreal 2-0 Mallorca
Getafe 0-1 Racing
Recreativo 2-0 Sporting
Valladolid 1-3 Betis
Mlaga 4-0 Espanyol
Almera 1-1 Atltico
Athletic 3-2 Valencia
Tottenham 1-1 Portsmouth
West Ham 3-1 Fulham
Blackburn 3-0 Newcastle
Bolton 0-1 Man Utd
Chelsea 2-1 Stoke
Hull 1-3 Arsenal
Man City 1-0 Wigan
Sunderland 1-2 Aston Villa
West Brom 3-0 Middlesbrough
Highlights Video
18/01/2009
Match Prediction Average Quota
West Ham : Fulham 1 2.22
Tottenham : Portsmouth 1 1.65
Paris St Germain : Sochaux 1 1.53
Torino : Roma X2 1.21
Sampdoria : Palermo 1 1.95
Atalanta : Inter 2 1.75
Real Madrid : Osasuna 1 1.25
Villarreal : Real Mallorca 1 1.5
Combined odds: 43.38
GOOD LUCK!
17/01/2009 – WINNER!!!
Match Prediction Average Quota – Status
Chelsea : Stoke 1 1.2 Yes
Bolton : Manchester United 2 1.45 Yes
Manchester City : Wigan 1 1.96 Yes
Grenoble : Lyon 2 1.76 Yes
Marseille : Le Havre 1 1.3 Yes
Milan : Fiorentina 1 1.62 Yes
Sevilla : Numancia 1 1.36 Yes
Barcelona : Deportivo La Coruna 1 1.28 Yes
Combined odds: 22.00 Yes
GOOD LUCK!
Hoffenheim‘s hopes of Bundesliga title have been hit by the news that Vedad Ibisevic may miss the rest of the season through injury.
It is still yet to be completely confirmed that the Bosnian hitman ruptured a cruciate ligament during Wednesday’s ill-tempered test match against Hamburger, but coach Ralf Rangnick‘s latest comment does not appear to bode well for the player who went into the winter break as the league’s top scorer by some margin.
When asked for an update on Ibisevic by the Bundesliga’s official website, Rangnick said: “I can’t say anything detailed yet, but everything points to a cruciate ligament injury. It’s not definite yet, but it looks as if we will have to make do without Vedad for a little longer.
“A new signing would make sense now, of course. But first of all we have to wait for the final diagnosis. If Vedad should miss the complete remainder of the season, then there’s need for action“, he concluded.
Confirmation of a long-term injury to Ibisevic would be devastating news for Bundesliga leaders from Hoffenheim, as he ended 2008 on record-breaking pace with an astounding 18 goals in 17 games.
Football legend Diego Armando Maradona has praised Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho, calling him the best.
Maradona has told Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti that he made a wise choice in appointing Jose Mourinho as coach of the Nerazzurri. During a visit to their training ground in Milan, the Argentina coach revealed his admiration for Inter Milan and the way the club are run.
Ex Chelsea manager Mourinho took over at the club last summer from the triple Scudetto winner Roberto Mancini and he has done very well since his arrival, with Inter at the top of Serie A and through to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Moratti is a fine man and has led Inter to the top. Then this summer he hired Mourinho, the coach who without doubt I would have chosen if I had been chairman, Maradona told the Inter Channel
It was the best possible appointment and I told Moratti when I spoke to him. Jose has everything, he can speak to the players, the press, the locker room. For me, he is the best, he concluded.
All kick-off times CET
Saturday 17 January
Barcelona 20 : 00 Deportivo La Coruna
Sevilla 22 : 00 Numancia
Sunday 18 January
Villarreal 17 : 00 Mallorca
Real Madrid 17 : 00 Osasuna
Getafe 17 : 00 Racing Santander
Recreativo Huelva 17 : 00 Sporting Gijon
Real Valladolid 17 : 00 Real Betis
Mlaga 17 : 00 Espanyol
Athletic Bilbao 19 : 00 Valencia
Almera 21 : 00 Atletico Madrid
Stay online for live streaming links of the SPAIN Primera Division matches
All kick-off times CET
Saturday 17 January
Siena 18 : 00 Reggina
AC Milan 20 : 30 Fiorentina
Sunday 18 January
Atalanta Bergamo 15 : 00 Inter Milan
Cagliari 15 : 00 Udinese
Catania 15 : 00 Bologna
Chievo Verona 15 : 00 Napoli
Lecce 15 : 00 Genoa
Sampdoria 15 : 00 Palermo
Torino 15 : 00 AS Roma
Lazio Roma 20 : 30 Juventus
Stay online for live streaming links of the ITALY Serie A matches
All kick-off times CET
Saturday 17 January
Grenoble 19 : 00 Olympique Lyon
Lorient 19 : 00 Valenciennes
Olympique Marseille 19 : 00 Le Havre
Nice 19 : 00 Auxerre
Saint Etienne 19 : 00 Le Mans
Toulouse 19 : 00 Nancy
Nantes 21 : 00 Bordeaux
Sunday 18 January
Caen 17 : 00 Monaco
PSG 17 : 00 Sochaux
Lille 21 : 00 Stade Rennes
Stay online for live streaming links of the FRANCE Ligue 1 matches
Saturday 17th January 2009
Blackburn Rovers vs Newcastle United 16:00 Ewood Park
Bolton Wanderers vs Manchester United 16:00 Reebok Stadium
Chelsea vs Stoke City 16:00 Stamford Bridge
Manchester City vs Wigan Athletic 16:00 City of Mcr. Stadium
Sunderland vs Aston Villa 16:00 Stadium of Light
West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough 16:00 The Hawthorns
Hull City vs Arsenal 18:30 Kingston Comms Stadium
Sunday 18th January 2009
West Ham United vs Fulham 14:30 Boleyn Ground
Tottenham Hotspur vs Portsmouth 17:00 White Hart Lane
Monday 19th January 2009
Liverpool vs Everton 21:00 Anfield
Stay online for live streaming links of the ENGLAND Premier League matches
Guti is set to make his first appearance for Real Madrid in 2009 this weekend after recovering from injury.
After being sidelined for Real Madrids first two games of 2009, midfielder Guti has finally resumed normal training with the rest of the squad and has been given the green light to take to the field this Sunday against Osasuna.
The 32 years old suffered a thigh muscle injury on the eve of Los Blancos first game of the year against Villarreal two weeks ago and he was promptly replaced in the starting line-up by the recently arrived Lassana Diarr.
Marca reports that the vice-captain resumed full training with the squad. After sitting out the morning session as a precautionary measure, the midfielder jogged onto the turf in the evening program and exercised at the same rate as the rest of his team-mates without any problems.
Real have no other fresh injury concerns and coach Juande Ramos should once again have a full-strength squad to choose from for Sundays kick-off with Osasuna, at the Santiago Bernabu.
Former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld is convinced that the Bundesliga is just going from strength to strength.
Hitzfeld, who left Bayern to take over the Swiss national team last summer, spoke in glowing terms of the Germany Bundesliga: “Overall the Bundesliga just keeps developing. The stadiums are full, the population’s interest is high and the social value of football has increased. That’s motivation for the teams to hit the headlines, of course“. said Hitzfeld
When asked how he rates Bayern‘s first half of the season under his successor Jrgen Klinsmann, Hitzfeld, who celebrated his 60th birthday on Monday responded: “It’s not due to me to judge my successor, but Bayern had an impressive run of late and are back at their best. I expect them to win the Bundesliga again.”
Bayern have always a chance to win the DFB Cup. And they have been unstoppable in the Champions League so far. Bayern surely have the potential to win the Champions League, thinks Hitzfeld.
Finally, when predicting what 2009 holds in store Hitzfeld said: “I expect the Bundesliga to continue its boom. And for me as Switzerland coach it’s a decisive year. I hope that we qualify for the 2010 World Cup, and I expect us to.”
