How To explain the Champions League to an American non-soccer fan [Red Card]
Relegated to Backpasses: more Becks transfer "news" [Goal]
Soon, Miami will have no pro soccer franchises [The Offside Rules]
Since I read up on him last year, I've thought Roy Hodgson was undervalued by the English fans. Someone agrees with me [EPL Talk]
Police officer from Essex is arrested for his part in the UEFA Cup Final riot in Manchester [Southend Star]
Finally:
Little Fredua is totally going to start trying to crack the bench in Monaco now. Whew [Soccer by Ives]
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday Backpasses: No fighting here, okay?
The Good, The Bad, The WTF
The WPS(L) (i.e. the new American women's soccer league) introduced its Puma line of jerseys yesterday, and the internet is just abuzz about one thing--the damn shorts. Actually, I would call them skorts. Despite what Sepp Blatter may want, I'm going to go ahead and call this out as a marketing ploy to get people talking about WPS(L). Those stupid little flaps will not see the pitch, simply because they would impede play.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's take a look at what this column really cares about, and that's the shirts. There is one definite winner out there, some who came close, and then a host of also-rans.
Let's start with the loser of the day.
Poor Boston Breakers. Not only do you share the name and certain design elements of a USFL team, you also got stuck with the least imaginative look from Puma. It's Blue. It's White. It's symmetrical. Yay for symmetry, but otherwise--blah. Hope you stick around in Boston longer than your American Football counterparts.
The worst name in WPS(L) goes to FC Gold Pride. It probably wouldn't shock you if I told you that the team was located in California, would it? As you can probably guess, these shirts were made on a template. I'm not really big on shirts all looking the same, differentiated only by color, but that's pretty much what Puma does. This is slightly better, I guess, than the Breakers kit, but only just. While I guess that's supposed to be black and gold, I just see black and sand.
If you want to go for the prize of "least thought given to what we want to do," go give it to the Los Angeles Sol. Their badge mimics the old Galaxy one, and their colors do the same. I guess Anshutz Entertainment Group didn't want to mess with the winner it had on the MLS side of things.
Now things are starting to look up. For the next three teams, I feel there is a dead heat for second place.
I'm going to give the first of the seconds (I know, I know) to the Washington Freedom. Copious amounts of navy and red are perfect for the national capital's team. Plus that badge is well-done too. I definitely have a soft spot for the incorporation of the city's flag into the badge. Now if only they could steal the "Taxation without Representation" off of the license plates, they would be set.
Sky Blue FC do not operate anywhere where you expect these colors, but instead in New Jersey. While one would figure on the sky blue for the home kit, I really like the orange for an away shirt. That badge is nice as well, if a little abstract (what is that, a bird?).
Much like the above entry, I'm not sure if I equate Saint Louis with Emerald Green, but that doesn't make the shirt any less nice. I'm not sold on two parts of this team and its shirt--the nickname Athletica and the badge that looks like it belongs in lower-league England where the clubs just take the city crest. Still that green is rather swell, and, as you can see in the slideshow at the bottom, Hope Solo looks very nice in it.
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
THIS is how you do it. Chicago Red Stars (or should I say Rad Stars?) add a little flair to the shirt and it just pops. Plus, in so doing, they pull out the ü75 favorite--incorporating the city flag. As Precious Roy said in the emails earlier--this is what the Fire should be doing as well. And they could, but they wouldn't get the extra subliminal bump that the ladies get with the stars right across their breasts. I don't consider myself to be a mouthbreathing neanderthal, but that is marketing well-done. Now if we could only do something about those skorts.
The promised slideshow. Hope is toward the back
Find more photos like this on Women's Professional Soccer
CL Liveblog: cometh the Tinkerhour, cometh the Tinkerman
Allow me to set the mood for Precious Roy, who shall be doing us all a solid by covering the afternoon's "big" fixture on ESPN2, the one that inexplicably involves Spartak London.
As Autoglass intoned earlier, they're up against the good manager they had before Mourinho, so respect and adulation will be in full effect (until Juve score an away goal, that is).
Will an English side come off good against Serie A yet again?
Oh, and in that other fixture, the failed ex-Spurs manager welcomes the failing Liverpool manager (soon to be ex? Surely not) to the Bernabeu for what promises to be a gripping, thrilling 0-0 draw.
It's the Champions League, take 2. After yesterday, we'll take all the goals we can get.
Fixtures, lineups and Precious Roy's commentary (from kick-off through to the bitter end) after the jump.
LINEUPS FOR THOSE GAMES WE'RE INTERESTED IN
Real Madrid v. Liverpool
Real Madrid: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze, Robben, Gago, Lassana Diarra, Marcelo, Higuain, Raul.
Subs: Dudek, Saviola, Sneijder, Guti, Metzelder, Miguel Torres, Van der Vaart.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio, Benayoun, Alonso, Mascherano, Riera, Torres, Kuyt.
Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Hyypia, Gerrard, Babel, Lucas, Ngog.
---
Spartak London v. Juventus
Spartak (in a 4-1-2-3): Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole, Kalou, Ballack, Lampard, Mikel, Drogba, Anelka.
Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Mancienne, Ferreira, Malouda, Di Santo, Stoch.
Juventus (in a catenaccio-inducing 4-4-2): Buffon, Chiellini, Mellberg, Legrottaglie, Molinaro, Nedved, Camoranesi, Sissoko, Tiago, Del Piero, Amauri.
Subs: Manninger, Grygera, Marchionni, Poulsen, Marchisio, Iaquinta, Trezeguet.
And we're live... Okay, someone at ESPN got my note about the weenie techno music. It's gone. Instead our montage features someone who just discovered Trapcode's 'Shine' plug-in. Everything in moderation there, boys.
Oh, and can I add another ESPN-specific comment? Hey guys, go fuck yourselves. All Chelski, all United. It's what we can expect when the 4-letter gets the Prem rights. Not that this is a bad match, but I think the Liverpool v. Real match-up holds a little more intrigue for the impartial fan.
Oh fuck, the crawl is running something called a "Tiger Alert." Big fucking deal. It's golf. The ball isn't moving. Nobody is trying to prevent him from hitting it. If they break the full screen picture at any point to tell me about fucking Tiger Woods I am going to drive to Bristol and vandalize their bike rack.
Secret: I want Del Piero to get a brace. I love that guy. Donadoni lost his job because he didn't love that guy.
The Portabook is the new Sham Wow! Discuss.
NY Kid: You're French, I'm Italian. I think they fully explains our positions on the matter.
Our ref is a Portuguese insurance broker.
Jesus, Juve is as old as Chelsea, aren't they?
Kick
And we're off...
1st minute: Think the ball has hit the ground 3 times in the first 30 seconds.
2nd minute: The mids are jamming each other. Neither team has seen the other's attacking third.
3rd minute: Chelski finally get a deep throw in, but Bosingwa puts too much weight on it and Juve shields it out for a goal kick.
4th minute: Amauri with a nice turn to get some space, but Terry cuts him off and Chelsea come back the other way. Kalou with a shot that is handled by Buffon.
5th minute: Shit... I'm going to have to type Cameronesi a bunch today aren't I? I always fuck it up. I'm sure it's wrong there. He committed a foul anyway.
6th minute: How many times are they going to mention Terry's miss from last season? Juve moving deliberately.
7th minute: Chelsea waste a chance. Chiellini makes a mistake but the deep cross is cleared out, only to be picked up by Ballack who sends it high and wide and nowhere near a threat.
8th minute: Oooh... Bosingwa from the end line with a cross that finds Drogba on the head. Could have easily scored but it goes high and Juve dodge a bit of a buller. First real threat of the match.
10th minute: First bench shot of Guus. Spartak with the balance of possession here. But they are backing up.
11th minute: Long ball in by Terry and on contact Drogba goes down. No penalty. That could have gone either way. There was contact, but Drogba went down too easily.
12th minute: Free kick, Chelski. Lamps kicks it to the... Goal! 1-0 Chelsea.
Okay, the free kick went to the feet of Cameronesi, but Juve didn't clear. Kalou collected it from about 35 out and made a nice feed to Drogba slipping through the defense. Juve held up like he was offsides but nope. He slipped it past Buffon and we're 1-0.
14th minute: Sorry, right on the goal, blogger wants to be slow to load the updated page.
15th minute: Could be 2-0. Okay, Anelka gets in on the left. Mellberg blocks the low shot out ofr a corner. On the corner Drogba gets free and unmarked gets a good header on it that just goes wide of the post left. He could have just as easily buried that. Juve getting toyed with.
17th minute: Juve look like Inter did yesterday in the first have. At least they have the excuse of being on the road.
19th minute: Juve just look lost in the midfield. And their backline is going to get caught pushing high before too long. Showing the replay on the Drogba goal. It was close, but the ref let it go. Sissoko on the other end takes a shot but it never is near on goal sliding low and right and away from danger.
20th minute: Frank makes a shoe change on the fly.
21st minute: Juve almost string together 4 passes. Almost.
22nd minute: Cole with a ball to Ballack but they are on the wrong page and the ball rolls to Buffon. Tommy Smyth just asked "Where's Del Piero?" Oh, and Tiago with a pass to Del Piero almost on cue. It's a good shot that goes just wide of the far post low.
23rd minute: And Juve blows the chance to level on the resulting corner. The ball clears the mass of humanity in the box and falls to Chiellini on the groud at the back post. But he's off balance and can't get a foot it. No soup for him.
24th minute: Juve have shown up finally. Shot (can't see who) sent a rocket that was deflected out for a Juve corner. Terrible corner goes long to Nedved who should have been carded for an intentional hand ball. But no...
26th minute: Some nice work from Drogba in a 1-on-2. He holds it up waiting for Lampard, but Mellberg gets a nice header on it to clear the threat. Good stuff from both teams now as Juve go forward and Chelsea counter.
27th minute: Cech punches out a Juve corner. Ball comes back it. Kalou chases it to midfield but Juve kepp it. And Cole fouls Cameronesi. Juve in the game now.
28th minute: Nice turn by Del Piero to get space. But his shot is maybe one of the 12 worst ever taken in football. Don't think he even hit the corner flag on the far side.
30th minute: Every time Chelsea get a dead ball, Blogger doesn't want to respond to my mouse clicks. Anyway, Spartak wasted a free kick from about 35. It went into the wall.
My clock disappeared so I don't know what minute it is. Nice work ESPN.
32nd minute: Chiellini doing his best to keep the ball in his own end. Spartak with a corner of a deflected shot. Juve's marking and clearance off of corners is really, really bad. Tottenham-esque.
33rd minute: And off another corner there is danger for Juve. But Terry's header is weak and goes right to Buffon. Just an aside... Roman should get wages back from Drogba for the last 6 months of the season because the guy out there today proves that the guy out there before today wasn't giving shit for an effort.
35th minute: Nice touch by Amauri to feed Nedved and Nedved goes down on almost no contact to waste the threat. Ballack gives it back... but Cole steals it and there should have been a foul as he hacked Sissoko. Instead Chelski play it around the Juve box. A couple of nice passes until Juve can get it to play it out. Sissoko still down.
38th minute: Sissoko up and we play on...
39th minute: Chelski holding possession. Some really nice touch passing almost gives a streaking Drogba a shot. Instead the danger is turned away. Cole should get a yellow for hacking Del Piero but he doesn't. Cunt. Cole that is.
41st minute: Chelsea owning possession. Kalou takes the ball on the right and drives deep. He gets a low cross off but it's too deep and collected by Buffon.
42nd minute: Nedved with a weak shot after a bad clearance by Bosingwa. It rolls to Cech and we play on...
43rd minute: Bosingwa trips Nedved. That might have been a card. And now we've got a late but accurate whistle for a hand ball on Drogba. Juve with a free kick from about 22 out.
45th minute: Del Piero kicks it right into the two man wall. Derrick Rae jinxed him by calling Del Piero a 'free kick master' right when he took it. Dick.
1 minute of stoppage time.
+1 minute: Nedved wins a corner and takes it quickly. Cech comes out to make the save. And it's a decent one as there were unmarked Juve players waiting for it.
Half.
And it's another montage with too much of the Shine plug-in. Good to give your video 101 interns a run out. It's the Champions League, how about putting 1/100th the resources to it that you do to trailing A-Rod or Brady?
Unbelievably Juve actually have more possesion. Really?
The more I hear Tommy Smyth, the less I care for him. He was conviced that the goal was the work of Ballack. All he did was gather the deflection and feed it to the top of the box. It wasn't even a good pass. Kalou did all the work to make space and feed Drogba. I don't even have a European accent and I could see that.
Second Half
Kick
46th minute: Good start from Chelsea. Juve can't clear and from 30 out front Ballack fires one that goes wide right.
47th minute: Quickly back the other way and Del Piero's low shot is blocked out by Alex for a Juve corner. Cleared but not out. It comes back in and a header is sent out for another Juve corner.
48th minute: Cameronesi's corner is low and short and toe punched back toward midfield. Sissoko wins a footrace and Juve tunr it back upfield.
49th minute: Nedved with space outside the box takes a long shot with little on it that was never going to bother Cech. That was a bit of a waste. Pavel, don't be a hero.
50th minute: A great cross from Bosingwa finds a streaking Drogba who turns it toward goal with great power but it's wide right. Nice work between the two. Both the feed and the work by Drogba. Cameronesi is grabbing his hammy. Uh oh... Got a change coming for Juve if they can get someone up and ready.
52nd minute: Molinaro gets a yellow. Totally earned. Late and high and studs up he stepped on Mikel. Marchionni on for Cameronesi.
54th minute: Drop ball. Not sure why. Thought Alex fouled someone. Huh...
55th minute: Drogba in the box. Cheillini with the challenge. He barely gets near him and Down Goes Didier, Down Goes Didier... No call. And no call was the right call. Drogba pitches a fit.
56th minute: Juve a bit sloppy. But Chelsea can't take advantage. Cole takes down Del Piero. No call.
57th minute: Chelsea corner: Lampard. Juve can't clear it. After some slop it finds Lampard who kicks it to Buffon. Ballack cleats Nedved in the knee as things were headed the other way and he gets a yellow for that foul.
59th minute: Terry with a push. Nice job. Free kick to Juve from 45.
60th minute: And Cech makes a mess of it almost to the point of getting a penalty as he took out Amauri(I think). That was really bad by Cech. Tiago looks hurt no, so he's coming off after a collision with one of his own players. Despite looking less crisp, Juve not without chances.
62nd minute: Marchionni with a blast that goes past the far post by just a couple of feet. More pressure from Juve.
64th minute: Juve with more possession. But not pressing much with it. Long ball goes to Cech harmlessly and he collects it.
65th minute: For someone on a yellow, Ballack, that's a fucking stupid foul. You got zero ball and all ankle.
66th minute: All kinds of space for the kids in blue, but Kalou is offside.
67th minute: Chelsea is starting to look a step slower, but Juve doing nothing to take advantage. Kalou offsides again. Flag was slow to go up.
68th minute: Amauri's header falls to Nedved who takes another shitty shot. Marchionni gets it back in to the box twice. The second feed goes toward the top of the box but Del Piero can't get to it to keep the pressure on for Juve.
70th minute: Kalou with a cross into the box. Drogba was free but the ball went right to Buffon.
72nd minute: Sorry, after a crowd shot of Bob Geldof's doppelganger I made a joke that blogger didn't like so it fed me a few errors. We missed a Juve corner and Amauri just made a run in deep on the right. Alex cleared it for a corner.
Oh and Malouda came on for Kalou.
74th minute: Bosingwa with a low cross in punhced away. Mikel gets in on Amauri and it's a free kick to Juve.
75th minute: That last bit probably didn't make sense. Mikel fouled Amauri... Chelsea on a break. Anelka chips it from the center to Malouda. It goes off him and past the end line. Goal kick taken by Buffon.
77th minute: Ballack with a second bit of play that was kind of rought for someone on a yellow. Didn't even draw a look from the ref though. Alex fouls Amauri and the ball goes of Ballack who appears to be giving a bear hug to someone. Really, let me say this a 3rd time because he's not playing like someone on a yellow.
78th minute: Sissoko splits two Chelsea defenders, gets taken down and earns a free kick. Del Piero has been shite on the free kicks. Flag was up anyway.
80th minute: Cole with a great ball to Lampard. He picks out Anelka on the right who crosses it in. Bad job by Le Sulk. Drogba was open but the ball missed him by plenty.
Mancienne in for Chelsea. Ballack off. Good move by Guss. Ballack is tired and he's playing reckless on a yellow.
82nd minute: Yellow for Sissoki. Deserved. He chopped someone... could tell because I was checking out the comments where I got shredded for picking Sporting against Munich. Drogba again takes a dive. Chiellini got him shoulder to shoulder. Was probably a bit of a risk, but that wasn't a PK's worth.
84th minute: So, 180 minutes of liveblogging and I'm going to get 1 fucking goal for my efforts. Thanks Champions League. What the fuck...
Also, is someone else cleaning up behind me and editing? I keep getting duplicate edit errors.
86th minute: Trezeguet on. Sissoko off.
87th minute: Oooh... Anelka from way out almost beats Buffon to the far post. THat was a rocket from about 25-plus. Really, nice by Le Sulk. Then on the other side Trezeguet can't get a good foot on it from the edge of the box. Both teams with chances. Still 1-0.
88th minute: I'm going with Nedved and Amauri as the biggest disappoitments of the match. Nedved's work rate has been good, but his touches have been disastrous. Juve chasing the game. Drogba with a ball from Lamps and he gets in the box and he doesn't go down. That's a mild surprise.
90th minute: Marchisio with an easy yellow on an intentional hand ball to stop a Chelsea break as Juve are pushing people forward.
Three minutes of stoppage time.
90 +2: Chelsea playing possession. Nice work by Amauri to keep the ball for Juve. They earn a free kick.
Juve get two good balls in the air but can't get a head on the end of eithe one. Nervy moments for Chelsea, then they break and have the advantage... It's snuffed out. Second left.
Oh, and Nedved with a deflected ball that JUST misses the right post. Then the ref fucking blows the call and gives a goal kick to Chelski. How did they not see the deflection of Alex. Juve robbed of at least a corner. Almost disaster as it was as Nedved's shot went just wide.
Full time. Spartak London 1 - Juventus 0
Quick Throw: Nummer 69
Even though Dino Drpic wasn't allowed to pull on the number 69 for Karlsruher SC thanks to the prudish Bundesliga that doesn't mean the club won't try to make money from the stunt. The club is selling number 69 jerseys on its website.
Read more on "Quick Throw: Nummer 69"...Champions League Preview: Sporting v. Bayern
The first leg of the Champions League knockout round continues today at 2:45 (EST), with the remaining 8 clubs facing off. Sporting Lisbon finished second in their group, behind Barcelona and ahead of FC Basel and Shaktar Donetsk.
Bayern Munich finished first in their group, ahead of Lyon, Steaua Bucuresti, and Fiorentina.
Sporting coach Paulo Bento sees his side come into the knockout stage after having played second-fiddle both domestically and in European competition for the past few months.
The club was always projected for second in their group behind Barcelona in the Champions League and they are making their first ever appearance in the knockout stage, while at home in Portugal they trail perennial favorite Porto by 4 points for the title.
Bayern, in contrast, sit 4th in the Bundesliga amidst an up-and-down season, but have been consistent Champions League contenders in their history (aside from last year) winning 4 titles in the competition with the last coming in 2001.
Unfortunately for Sporting, they have failed to beat a Bundesliga side in their 14 previous attempts during UEFA competitions, and many feel that today's match represents another uphill battle despite being played at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon. Bento himself has downplayed expectations:"For a number of reasons, Bayern are clear favourites. They are a very well-organised team and well-balanced, so we have to be organised and, above all, enjoy the game."
Coming into this match, Sporting will have to deal with the loss of striker Postiga to injury, while Bayern will most likely may able to start Luca Toni as he returns from injury. The renewed pairing of Toni with Klose, who is tied for the CL leading scorer position with 5 goals, should give Bayern a reasonable edge in this match.
Expected Line-ups:
Sporting Lisbon: Tiago, Silva, Tonel, Polga, Grimi, Rochemback, Izmailov, Vukcevic, Moutinho, Liedson, Derlei
Bayern Munich: Rensing, Oddo, Lucio, van Buyten, Lahm, Altintop, van Bommel, Ze Roberto, Ribery, Klose, Toni
Prediction:
2-1 Bayern, with goals from Lahm, Klose, and Liedson.
1-0 Bayern in the 2nd leg, with a Ribery goal.
Liverpool vs. Real Madrid - Interview time!
There is so much riding on this match, and not just the hopes and dreams of our Scouser brethren.
Some folks are using this to show off whether they are healthy or not, while others will be using it to interview for a new job.
Meanwhile, Rafa is acting like he needs to dump his Starter Wife for next year's model. Poor Ramos. I hope the spiked vitamin water he's been feeding everyone at Bernabéu will sustain tonight's contract hubris.
One thing is certain: outside of all the coach talk, there will be a nice match tonight.
Real started off the season as a club in crisis mode, but Ramos' steady hand has turned them around, and now they've been beating down semi-tough La Liga talent to make it look more impressive than they may actually be. They are playing a lot crisper in their attack, and they are serious in their play. Expect from them some excellent passing in the midfield and some serious attacks. They'll be playing like they have nothing to lose.
Liverpool's been, well Liverpool-ian. Playing dominating football at times in the EPL, and mailing in the rest. Rafa's contract has kept the club in a media circus tent for the past month or so, and it's becoming a distraction. Stop being a weenie, and either sign it or not. The Over/Under on the announcers discussing Rafa's contract is currently sitting at 87.
Who to watch for:
For Real, it will be the striker of note - Raul, the Fresh Prince of Madrid. Keeping him marked and off the ball will be the key to Liverpool's defensive success. Skrtel will have his hands full with him.
For Liverpool, hope that Stevie G can feed Kuyt all day, as he will be the one who needs to have the big game. Torres will get his chances, but Dirk has the passion that makes the Scousers wet themselves (more than usual).
Probable Teams:
Real: 1-Iker Casillas; 4-Sergio Ramos, 3-Pepe, 5-Fabio Cannavaro, 16-Gabriel Heinze; 11-Arjen Robben, 8-Fernando Gago, 6-Lassana Diarra, 10-Wesley Sneijder; 7-Raul, 20-Gonzalo Higuain
Liverpool: 25-Pepe Reina; 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 23-Jamie Carragher, 37-Martin Skrtel, 2-Andrea Dossena; 20-Javier Mascherano, 14-Xabi Alonso, 11-Albert Riera; 8-Steven Gerrard, 18-Dirk Kuyt; 9-Fernando Torres
Prediction:
Madrid 1 - 1 Liverpool
Champions League Preview: Villareal v. Panathanaikos
One of the ugly duckling matchups in the Champions League, not many people are paying attention outside of Spain or Greece because of those bigger, fancier, more glamorous encounters between old foes, the kinds of games that wet the trousers of any tabloid journalist.
And yet, this might turn out to be one of the more entertaining pairings, simply because neither team has anything to lose.
You see, while the high-profile managers at Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester United, etc are worried about their title races, these two teams are unfettered of that concern. The Greek League was wrapped up weeks ago, and La Liga isn't about to be threatened by a force existing outside of Barca or the capital.
And such, when you're unburdened by other concerns, or the crushing pressure to deliver in the marquee game, these two can simply kick the shit out of one another for 180 minutes and see what happens.
Case in point: Atletico and Porto. There's precious little else to worry about away from the Champions League, and so, they give us a reasonable 2-2 draw and an overwhelming sense that they're not playing for the trite, tense 1-0 aggregate win. Not having a league trophy to dream about certainly helps. (When was the last time Portugal was competitive, anyway?)
Villareal are in decent form, holding down 4th place in La Liga, as far off the pace as anyone around them. They loaned off Jozy Altidore, and make do with the strike pairing of Nihat, the flair-less Turk, and Italian/US Giuseppe Rossi. They've been sleepwalking as of late, narrowly beating relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon and Numancia while drawing to two other minnows, Osasuna and Racing, and getting walloped by Deportivo. Hardly the stuff of legend, really. Their midfield is solid, if aging, with the spritely Santi Cazorla perking up the 30-somethings around him.
In the Greek league, Pana have won 7 of their last 10, but honestly, how good a barometer is that? Should we rank them highly in our Power Rankings? We all know the Greek league is Pana, Olympiakos, and then nothingness. There's the added frisson of interest thanks to the ex-Chelsea assistant Hank Ten Cate being at the helm, as well as the resurgence of Spanish defender Jose Sarriegi who has been essential to the Greeks' qualification for the knockout stages.
Recent form aside, these fixtures yield the kind of shocks and nightmares that keep massive clubs awake at night. To draw a team like Pana or Villa means you're fighting an enemy that's not afraid to die, and yet you still need to do the killing.
When they face each other? Shit, we might get one of those freakish 4-3 results that Bayern and Lyon provided in the final round of the group stage.
Prediction:
With precious little knowledge of either team, I'm picking the Greeks to get it done, as they're the darkest of the dark horses left in the competition.
2-1 Pana at home, 1-1 in Spain.
UF Quick Throw: Rafa Out at Anfield?
At least one bookie thinks so:
William Hill has suspended betting on Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez leaving the club before the weekend. A spokesman for the bookmakers said they were told by a source that the deadline for the Spaniard to sign his new contract had passed and that he would therefore be gone by the weekend.
"There were too many calls for it to be just a rumour," said the spokesman, but sources in Spain claimed that they did not believe the Liverpool manager would be leaving his position any time soon.
Oh wait, that's two bookies. SkyBet isn't taking any more action on it either.
Read more on "UF Quick Throw: Rafa Out at Anfield?"...
Champions League Preview: Chelsea v. Juventus
Chelsea supporters will show Claudio “The Tinkerman” Ranieri the utmost in respect today when Juventus visit Stamford Bridge for the first leg of an intriguing Champions League Round of 16 tilt.
I remember well my mixed feelings when he was sacked.
Most forget that Ranieri spent four years leading the Blues. Before Roman Abramovich bought the club, Claudio had taken Chelsea, always 6th it seemed, always losing the big matches to Arsenal and United, into Champions League contention.
It’s been said that the Russian chose Chelsea because of the Champions League spot that Ranieri secured the year before on the final weekend.
More on The Tinkerman and today’s match after the break.
For those who don't know, Ranieri bought Frank Lampard from West Ham.
Think about it for a second. He didn’t use Russian billions, yet secured perhaps the best English midfielder of his generation for a relative bargain of 11M quid.
Similarly, he brought in William Gallas. With Abramovich’s riches, he smartly signed Joe Cole, Claude Makelele, Peter Cech, Arjen Robben and Wayne Bridge. The man also made John Terry captain and as a result, perhaps, of England.
To put it another way, the Chelsea Revolution began under Claudio Ranieri.
Think of his work in the context of Manchester City’s bumblings. Bigus can blow me - Chelsea did it right and Claudio was the key. The Tinkerman made it to the Semis of this competition in 2004 before being sacked by Abramovich, and the sacking was proper.
Big clubs had fallen away, the trophy was there to be taken, and Ranieri bungled and lost to Monaco (yes, Monaco!) in that Semi. He proved that he couldn’t take Chelsea to the next level in a bizarre tactical display that is redolent of the work of a certain current Spanish gaffer up on Merseyside.
Mourinho and trophies galore soon followed. We won the Premiership twice! Chelsea won the Premiership twice, but I’ll never forget those heady days when the Gentleman Italian showed the world how to spend wisely and manage a dressing room made crazy by money and absurd talent.
Remember that in that magic year of 2004, Ranieri finished just second to that perfect Arsenal side. No shame in that. (By the by... I fucking hate Arsenal.)
Today, Ranieri brings Juventus (the man has landed well) into Stamford Bridge for a fixture with drama only reduced in the shadow of yesterday’s Mourinho-Ferguson tilt.
Chelsea enter today’s match having found some nice form under new manager Guus Hiddink. After conceding to Watford, they exploded for three goals to run away with it. This past weekend’s 1-nil scoreline at Villa Park understates the dominance that they displayed.
Meanwhile, Juventus sit second in Serie A, 9 points off of Mourinho’s Inter and 2 clear of Meelan, but they haven’t shown their best of late. The side that beat Real Madrid twice in the Champions League Group Stage has drawn twice and lost twice in eight Serie A matches in the New Year. They haven’t been held scoreless, but they’ve yet to score three.
Two clubs in mediocre form at best, but Chelsea have had a bit of a bump just recently, and I remember The Tinkerman’s tactics in that fateful Spring.
It still hurts...
Prediction:
I feel a big effort coming from my Blues. Many of these players still taste the bitterness of last Spring’s defeat in Moscow on penalties. I’ll boldly call it Chelsea 2, Juventus 0. Juventus take the Turin leg 2-1, but Chelsea still advance. Make it so, Guus...
Could This Be The End Of The Diego Maradona Experiment?
It would be a shame if the world lost Diego Maradona as the Argentina National Team manager without a classic meltdown or drug scandal. The Sun is reporting that El Pibe de Oro is facing a year in jail after a hit and run incident in his homeland. The Bane of England allegedly rammed a phone booth with his 4x4 injuring two while presumably trying to take out Clark Kent at 6 a.m.
Now, if I know anything about Argentina and its national hero and South American politics, Diego will not be facing too severe sanctions. This will still allow a Maradona meltdown when he will undoubtedly call up his grandson, Aguerodona, to the 2010 World Cup team.
Lord, please let it happen.
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