CL Open Thread: Now with added Hulk!

WHEN ARSENE DISRESPECTS US WITH HIS TEAM SELECTION, IT MAKES ME SO MAD AAARGH

It's the final day of the final CL matchday for this year, with plenty of mathematical jostling to determine group winners and runners-up, which is longhand for "figuring out who has to play Barca in the Round of 16."

Good luck to whoever pulls that poisoned chalice.

Oh, and Norwich are playing Watford tonight as well. It's all happening!

Will those Canaries shape up and continue their impressive form of the last 5 days? Will Hulk go crazy when faced with so many children in the Arsenal starting XI? Will Alex Ferguson complain about something? Will we ever understand why the Man U game ended up on ESPN2 today? Will Celtic salvage some self-respect and dignity from their dreadful showing in the CL this season?

So many unanswered questions. Let's find some answers in the comments, shall we?

Come turn green and SMASH with us after the jump.


STARTING LINEUPS:
-----

FC Porto v. Arsenal
Porto: Helton, Fucile, Rolando, Alves, Emanuel, Gonzalez, Fernando, Meireles, Lopez, HULK, Rodriguez.
Subs: Nuno, Stepanov, Guarin, Mariano Gonzalez, Lino, Sektioui, Costa.

Arsenal: Almunia, Eboue, Gallas, Silvestre, Djourou, Ramsey, Diaby, Song, Denilson; Vela, Bendtner.
Subs: Fabianski, Wilshere, Gibbs, Hoyte, Merida, Randall, Simpson.
---

Manchester United v. AaB Aalborg
Man Utd: Kuszczak, Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, O'Shea, Nani, Gibson, Anderson, Giggs, Rooney, Tevez.
Subs: Foster, Park, Vidic, Scholes, Rafael Da Silva, Fletcher, Possebon.

AaB: Zaza, Bogelund, Olfers, Jakobsen, Pedersen, Curth, Enevoldsen, Augustinussen, Risgaard, Due, Saganowski.
Subs: Kenneth Nielsen, Nomvethe, Caca, Braemer, Sorensen, Kristensen, Ronnie Schwartz Nielsen.
---

Celtic v. Villareal
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson, Nakamura, Scott Brown, Hartley, McGeady, Maloney, Samaras.
Subs: Mark Brown, McDonald, Loovens, Mizuno, O'Dea, Caddis, McGowan.

Villarreal: Viera, Angel, Fuentes, Rodriguez, Bruno, Cani, Senna, Edmilson, Fernandez, Franco, Ibagaza.
Subs: Diego Lopez, Eguren, Pires, Santi Cazorla, Cygan, Nihat.
---

The draw for the next round is at noon on Friday, December 19. Remember: teams from the same country can't play each other. I eagerly await Spartak London getting the easiest draw possible. No really, I can't wait for that.

Read more on "CL Open Thread: Now with added Hulk!"...

The Good, The Bad, The WTF

As tough as it may be to believe now, just over 20 years ago, Olympique Lyonnais, otherwise known as Lyon, was floundering in Ligue 2. It took the efforts of two men to get them out of there and on their way to the seven consecutive Ligue 1 championships the team currently enjoys. The first of these men is Jean-Michel Aulas, who invested in the club and took over as president. Upon taking over in 1987, he stated his intention of reforming the club into a French power within 15 years.

The second man who had much to do with Lyon's ascent from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 is, I kid you not, Raymond Domenech. That's right, the man who manages by the stars and thought a post-match news conference after being eliminated from the Euros was the best time to propose, used to be a pretty fine coach. Under Domenech, Lyon won Ligue 2 at the first try. The team solidified their Ligue 1 place next season and, in 1992, finished fifth in league, guarenteeing a European berth.

The upshot is that in 2002, or 15 years after Aulas took control, Lyon won their first of seven straight Ligue 1 titles. Mission accomplished, I'd say. Go buy yourself a banner.

Okay, now that all of that has been explained, I guess I should tell you why I went through all of that. You see, these are the shirts the Lyon wore in their first seasons back in Ligue 1, and I think they are kind of swell.


The one thing I'm not so sure of is the dual chevrons on the front. I am a fan of Bordeaux's look, when it's simple. One solid colored field with a contrasting chevron in the center. This seems to be a ripoff of that look. Future incarnations of OL shirts would not have the chevron on there, and I can't find compelling evidence of it being a traditional look. Odd that the team would copy something so uniquely defined by one team in the same country.

As for that shirt sponsor, it would appear that is has something to do with the Departement that Lyon is the capital of. I'll let The NY Kid fill in the blanks on that one. One thing I can fill in the blanks on is that whenever I look at the pictures here, I instantly hear Bill & Ted with a French accent. "Le 69, dude! (insert guitar solo)"

All in all, I really do like these shirts. I'm not a big fan of the contrasting reflective material of the shirts. I'm not a damn crossing guard, why do flash photos of the shirt make me look like one? I would choose the red one over the home white, but that's just me. Consider this one of the rare Goods that we just don't see enough from this era.

Read more on "The Good, The Bad, The WTF"...

UF Quick Throw: Babel admits his loan looking

Ryan Babel confesses to looking for a loan move back to Holland. Really, who can blame him? He's pacy, dangerous and works hard on the pitch (alright, so his dribbling could use some work), but he's done nothing to deserve continually seeing only the last 20 minutes of games. Here's hoping Rafa has the good sense to play him more regularly.

[The Guardian]

Read more on "UF Quick Throw: Babel admits his loan looking"...

UF Quick Throw: Vassell assailed

Christmas parties in Manchester sure are dangerous. What's more disconcerting is why they picked Darius Vassell, something Mark Hughes hasn't done in weeks. [BBC News]

Read more on "UF Quick Throw: Vassell assailed"...

Better Late Than Never. (WITH AN UPDATE)

Ever wondered what a racist and homophobic individual looks like? You have? Well after the jump ye shall be enlightened. Cops have released images of the 16 morons who they wish to nab in connection with the abuse that Portsmouth defender and ex-Spurs man Sol Campbell received when the two sides met back on the 28th of September.


Here they are. What a bunch. A number of them look young and ignorant but there are a few who should know better! Yes you, Mr top right and you, Mr third row middle left. Hmm, how embarrassed will you be when the old bill march into your place of work and take you to the station.



The Police are taking the matter very seriously. They failed to arrest those responsible at the time of the game due the logistics of dealing with such a large crowd and have been comparing the images to database records of known hooligans. Now they have released the images of the men they believe to all be from London, so people who know them and dislike them can turn supergrass.

'We want to send a clear message that abuse of this kind will not be tolerated and that we are taking robust action. I'd urge anyone who recognises these people to contact us as soon as possible.' -Superintendent Neil Sherrington of the Hampshire fuzz.

I am surprised how good the images are, watch out footy fans, big brother is watching. I guess they will have to use game footage and lip reading experts in court to decide if this bunch are actually guilty. Police arrested two men in connection with the incident last Friday.

Campbell has been victim to abuse on previous occasions from Spurs fans who still hold a grudge over the defenders unique move to hated neighbors Arsenal back in 2001. This is not the only case of this nature to be investigated recently. Just last week, 2 men were arrested in Newcastle for racially abusing Egyptian striker Mido.

I am glad to say than UF's own Likely Lad is not in one of the pictures above.

-Bigus

[UPDATE: According to the Guardian news ticker, they've arrested one this morning in connection with the incidents. Let's hope the rest are captured so easily.]

Read more on "Better Late Than Never. (WITH AN UPDATE)"...

UF Quick Throw: Andrei For Real?

Andre Arshavin has said today, that he is likely joining Real Madrid in January.

"I can confirm that officials from Zenit have begun preliminary negotiations with Real Madrid about my transfer. At the moment there is nothing concrete on the table. " -Andre Arshavin.

Looks as if Juande is getting one over on his old team Spurs, who refused to meet Zenit St Petersburgs price tag for the speedy Russian back in the summer. I doubt this move has anything to do with Ramos though as he was only handed a deal to manage Madrid until the end of the season and they will be reluctant to hand him any money after the mess he made at Spurs. Ramos is on a short leash and will surely need to have Madrid in the top two at the end of the season to gain a contract extension. Real are currently nine points behind leaders Barcelona and sitting 5th in La Liga. Juande Ramos was appointed Real Madrid boss yesterday.

Read more on "UF Quick Throw: Andrei For Real?"...

Portland's MLS Expansion Bid - An UF Field Trip

Yesterday, Timbers supporters packed the City of Portland Council Chambers donning club colors and scarves as MLS and Merritt Paulson put on its dog and pony show for the City of Portland. It was the first meeting of the MLS Soccer/AAA Baseball Task Force, a group of private citizens who were selected to sift through Merritt Paulson's proposal to bring MLS to Portland and eventually provide a recommendation to the City Council before March 2009, the deadline MLS has set for the expansion bids.

The Merritt Paulson and MLS presentations were long on bromides and short on substance. The proposal, according to Paulson whose wife gave birth only the day before, will have a positive economic impact on Portland and enrich the community. He warned that public funding was necessary and this would be Portland's one chance at getting an MLS club. But, Paulson evaded a task force member's question on whether the Paulson family would individually guarantee the revenue that would be used to pay off bonds to finance the upgrades.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber put in his two cents saying MLS wants to come to Portland, although he probably tells this to all of the bidders. He praised Portland's passionate fanbase as evidenced by Timbers supporters grumbling at any suggestion that they would support and watch the Seattle MLS expansion club. Garber also noted that MLS did not consider the lack of local Fortune 500 companies to be a detriment to Portland given the "national" presence of MLS mentioning the Rio Tinto sponsorship in Salt Lake, although that was probably not the best choice considering Portland's political leanings the Rio Tinto's track record.

Garber again noted that PGE Park needed upgraded facilities and that only one of the MLS soccer specific stadiums was completely privately funded saying most were public/private ventures. The current proposal calls for only public money to upgrade the facilities of a publicly owned facility.

The one piece of new information came from Garber who indicated MLS is going to announce a "game" at a soccer specific stadium that will attract international attention to highlight the benefits of a soccer specific stadium. Garber gave no other details.

Mayor-elect and current council member Sam Adams appears supportive of the attempt to bring MLS to town, but cautioned that there is much work to be done in securing a development agreement and financing. Mayor-elect Adams acknowledged the current economic climate makes such a proposal difficult.

City Commissioner Randy Leonard also was supportive of the proposal so long as the proposed moving of the AAA baseball team is moved to the Lents neighborhood an area he has represented for many years.

The Task Force will meet bi-monthly until the March deadline, although it certainly won't have the attendance of this initial meeting. I will try to attend some of these meetings.

Read more on "Portland's MLS Expansion Bid - An UF Field Trip"...

Tuesday Backpasses: Tango, fat boy, tango

Arsenal are a better team when Eboue plays [The Spoiler]
Martin O'Neill is awesome [Kornheiser's Cartel]
There were other frozen pitches in Scotland this weekend. Two call offs force East of Scotland League team to consider forfeit [Scotsman]

Shalrie Joseph has his own website. He's getting into webcasting. Could be fun [Youtube]
Shalrie's buddy Michael Parkhurst goes to Denmark on a free [Boston.com]
That Generation Adidas squad lost to Reading's reserves [MLS Net]
Bremen loses two players to bans for fighting [101 Great Goals]

And, finally:
While in India, Maradona used Madonna's dance "guru" [Telegraph India]

Read more on "Tuesday Backpasses: Tango, fat boy, tango"...

CL Open Thread

Today is the first of two matchdays which are the last of the group stage. Most of us are hoping for a Bordeaux win coupled with Chelsea failing to secure all three points in Group A. Autoglass, of course, is not. If that scenario happens, Chelsea would drop to the UEFA Cup.

Group breakdowns, matches and selected lineups after the jump.

Group A
Chelsea-CFR Cluj (ESPN 2)
Roma-Bordeaux
As stated above, Chelsea need all three points at home to secure passage to the knockout round. Bordeaux will not get an easy game at Roma, however, as Roma could still drop to the UEFA Cup with a loss and Chelsea win or, depending in the result, draw.

Group B
Panathinaikos-Anorthosis
Werder Bremen-Inter Milan
The game to watch is the one between the Greeks and the Cypriots. Contrary to a belief held by some, this is not a tilt with political undertones, as Anorthosis reside in the Greek-backed half of Cyprus. Still, a spirited match will be expected between the two as a place in the knock outs is at stake. Panathinaikos need just a draw, while Anorthosis need the unlikely away win. In the other match, Inter are through, but still need points to secure first place. Werder could still make the UEFA Cup with a convincing win coupled with a Anorthosis loss.

Group C
Barcelona-Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Basle-Sporting Lisbon
Barcelona are through as group winners, while Shakhtar will go through with a win and Sporting loss. Don't count on it. Basle are playing out the string, already eliminated from moving on in Europe.

Group D
Olympique Marseille-Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven-Liverpool
Atletico and Liverpool are vying for first in the group, both on 11 points at this time. Atletico have a single goal advantage. L'OM and PSV are similarly on equal points at the bottom and cannot move on in the competition. L'OM have the decided advantage of a five better goal differential for a UEFA Cup slot, but need to equal PSV's result today to make sure of going through.

From wikipedia: Tiebreak rules in the group stage
1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
3. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
5. higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
6. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.
(I think I got it all correct)

Lineups from Sky Sports. Blame them for any mistakes.
Spartak London (4-5-1) Cech. Cole, Terry, Alex, Bosingwa. Kalou, Deco, Obi wan Mikel, Ballack, Cole. Anelka. Subs: Cudicini, Ivanovic, Drogba, Bridge, Ferreira, Belletti, Stoch.
CFR Cluj (4-5-1) You're not going to recognize anyone.

PSV (4-3-3) Isaksson. Culina, Marcellis, Brechet, Salcido. Mendez, Simons, Dzsudzsak. Bakkal, Lazovic, Amrabat. Subs: Cassio, Rodriguez, Koevermans, Pieters, Nijland, Manco, Wuytens.
'Pool (4-5-1) Cavalieri. Arbeloa, Carragher, Dossena, Agger. Babel, Mascherano, Lucas, Riera, N'Gog. Keane. Subs: Reina, Gerrard, Xabi, Banayoun, Spearing, Darby, Kelly.

Early prediction: PSV through to UEFA Cup. Enjoy!

Read more on "CL Open Thread"...

SPL Wrap

Welcome back to Scotland, where it's mighty cold out. How cold? So cold that the main story from this weekend isn't about Rangers scoring a touchdown on Hamilton, or Celtic thinking they were playing a Euro match. Instead the story is all about frozen pitches, and who screwed up more.

Motherwell and Kilmarnock both had matches called off on Saturday because part of their respective pitches were frozen. The SPL has launched an inquiry to find if either of these clubs is at fault. You see, SPL rules stipulate that clubs must have working undersoil heating to keep these kind of things from happening. Motherwell, at the very least, appear to be in the clear. Fir Park had their undersoil heat switched on overnight, and took the additional precaution of placing covers over the pitch as well. It wasn't good enough, though, as the referee decided that areas around one goal mouth were too hard to play.

Kilmarnock, on the other hand, did not turn the heating on at Rugby Park. Not willing to admit wrong-doing, they have affixed the blame to faulty long-term weather forecasts. Not that I am an expert, but I have watched the local news for decades now. If there is one thing I know, it's that the short-term forecasts are more accurate than the long-term ones. Perhaps Killie should put away the Scottish equivalent of the Farmer's Almanac and invest in a radio.

I will admit to a personal vendetta here against Kilmarnock. Now that Gretna has gone tits up, Kilmarnock-Aberdeen is the longest road trip in Scottish football. Killie and the SPL refused to run an Aberdeen request for an earlier pitch inspection, and, as a result, fans from Aberdeen had to already be on the road to make kick-off by the time the game was postponed. The team for Aberdeen was already in town, though, so at least there's that.

Rangers 7-1 Hamilton Academical
Hamilton went up early at Ibrox, then sat down, apparently. Hamilton came out in an unwise 4-3-3, determined to play their hosts with attacking football, instead of sitting back. The visitors went ahead through James McArthur in the 2nd minute after keeper Allan McGregor misplayed a cross. After that, it got ugly. The only thing that broke the monotony of Rangers' scoring was a red card for the Accies' Martin Canning in the 51st. Kris Boyd, who almost quit Rangers over the summer like he quit Scotland, had a hat-trick for the Blues.

Hibernian 2-0 Celtic
Hopefully, you have seen the video of Artur Boruc woefully misplaying a shot from the center circle. If you have not, it's here. That was the first of two goals for Hibs on Sunday, who put an end to Celtic's 12-game SPL win streak. John Rankin was the longshot hero for Hibs, while Colin Nish got in the way of Rankin's volley to claim the other. Methinks this will be the last time Wee Gordon Strachan decides to sit Samaras and Nakamura in the same game.

Inverness CT 1-3 Dundee United
SPL's northern-most club had no problem with a frozen pitch, though they may have wished that they did. The Tangerines were always on the attack, though it did not pay off until the second half. Jon Daly was the United man to break through, breaking the deadlock on 51 minutes. Craig Conway claimed the second and David Robertson got the third for the visitors with 19 minutes remaining. Caley pulled one back two minutes later, scored by Adam Rooney, but could not find thier way back into the match. United's win move them level on points with a Hearts squad who could not play their match against Motherwell. Dundee United do get sole claim of third place by goal differential.

Falkirk 1-2 St Mirren
St Mirren move off the bottom with the away win. Even with only four matches to cover, I can't bring myself to say anything nice about the lower-half clash.

The Table through 17 rounds (Team; Points; GD)
Celtic; 43; +23
Rangers; 39; +28
Dundee United; 29; +7
Hearts*; 29; 0
Hibernian; 23; -1
Aberdeen*; 21; -1
----------------
Kilmarnock*; 19. -8
Falkirk; 18; -4
Inverness CT; 17; -8
Motherwell*; 17; -8
St Mirren; 15; -10
----------------
Hamilton; 14; -18
teams with an asterisk have a game in hand

It should be noted that this is the de facto halfway point of the season before the SPL split. The split occurs after 33 games, when each team has played the others three times each. The top six teams then meet each other in a round robin to determine European slots, while the bottom six do the same to figure the lone relegation spot. Points are cumulative from throughout the season, and no club from the bottom six can move up into the top half, regardless of how many points they have.

It's a headache. Just let me think about it, okay?

Read more on "SPL Wrap"...