Champions League Draw: 5 out of 8!

Earlier this week, I posted the eight match-ups that I would love to see and it looks like UEFA did their best to accommodate my wishes. Of the eight I wanted to see, I will have the opportunity to watch five of them, and they are all intriguing match-ups.

Among the premier games, Inter will play Manchester United, Real Madrid v. Liverpool, Chelsea v. Juventus and Arsenal will play Roma. Barcelona will take on Lyon, Sporting v. Bayern, Atletico v. Porto and finally Villareal v. Panathinaikos.

Lots of story lines and lots of what should be entertaining games. It was nice to see some new matchups (thankfully not another Barca/Chelsea) and the most interesting matchups seems to be Chelsea v Juventus.

Teams listed first in the image will play home the first game (25/25th of February) and away in the second leg (10/11th of March). Predictions will be posted soon.

The UEFA Cup Round of 32 draw was also today and turned out as follows:

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	Home leg	Away leg
Paris Saint-Germain	1	Wolfsburg	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Copenhagen	2	Manchester City	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
NEC	3	Hamburg	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Sampdoria	4	Metalist Kharkiv	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Braga	5	Standard Liège	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Aston Villa	6	CSKA Moscow	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Lech Poznań	7	Udinese	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Olympiacos	8	Saint-Étienne	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Fiorentina	9	Ajax	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Aalborg BK	10	Deportivo	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Werder Bremen	11	Milan	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Bordeaux	12	Galatasaray	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Dynamo Kyiv	13	Valencia	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Zenit St. Petersburg	14	Stuttgart	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Marseille	15	Twente	18/19 Feb	26 Feb
Shakhtar Donetsk	16	Tottenham Hotspur	18/19 Feb	26 Feb

UEFA Cup Teams Set For Tomorrow's Draw

Today marked the final day of the UEFA Cup group stage, and some big teams were knocked out of the competition.

Sampdoria got a goal in the 75th minute from Jonathan Botinelli that allowed them to beat Sevilla 1-0 and finish third in their group. Sevilla, winners in 2006 and 2007, finished fourth and will watch the rest of the tournament at home.

Olympiakos advanced with a 4-0 drubbing of Hertha BSC Berlin and a 1-0 loss by Benfica at the hands of Metalist, the Ukrainian side that finished first place in the group.

Yesterday AC Milan and Wolfsburg played to a 2-2 draw that saw Wolfsburg win the group and Milan finish second.

The 32 teams that still remain in the tournament will find out their next opponent in tomorrow's draw. The group winners will be drawn against the third place finishers, while the teams that finished second in the group will play against the third place finishers of the Champions League. Teams from the same country can not be drawn together.

Group Winners:
Manchester City (England), FC Metalist (Ukraine), Standard Leige (Belgium), Udinese (Italy), VfL Wolfsburg (Germany), Saint-Etienne (France) and CSKA Moscow (Russia)

Group Runners-up:
FC Twente (Holland), Galatasaray (Turkey), VfB Struggart (Germany), Tottenham (England), AC Milan (Italy), AFC Ajax (Holland), Valencia (Spain) and Deportivo La Coruna (Spain)

Group Third Place Teams:
Paris Saint-Germain FC (France), Olympiakos (Greece), Sampdoria (Italy), NEC Nijmegen (Holland), SC Braga (Portugal), Aston Villa (England), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Lech Poznan (Poland)

Champions League Third Place Teams:
Bordeaux (France), Weder Bremen (Germany), Shakhtar Donestk (Ukraine), Marseille (France), Aalborg (Denmark), Fiorentina (Italy), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia)

Manchester United Cruise, Make Finals in Goalfest

Manchester United cruised into the World Club Cup finals with a convincing 5-3 victory over Japanese side Gamba Osaka. The game was filled with goals and was a joy to behold as Gamba Osaka went out to attack Manchester United and never gave up despite being down 5-1. The final sixteen minutes saw a total of six goals.

Goals by Vidic in the 28th and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 46th minute gave Manchester United a 2-0 lead at the half. Gamba Osaka got one back when Masato Yamazaki made it 2-1 with a nice shot in the 74th.

However, Wayne Rooney came on substituting for Carlos Tevez and he made an immediate impact. Rooney scored in the 75th minute, followed by Darren Fletcher (78th) and then another Rooney goal in the 79th. In a mere four minutes any thought of an upset were put to rest.

Gamba Osaka kept at it though and were able to leave a great impression as a penalty kick by Yasuhito Endo (85th) and Hideo Hashimoto (91st) made the final scoreline somewhat respectable and saw the game end 5-3.

The result sets up the awaited final between Manchester United of England and Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito of Ecuador on Sunday. If the semifinal games were any indicator, then it looks like this will be a great match.

Quito cruise to finals; San Lorenzo take first win

Liga Deportivo Universitaria de Quito (LDUQ) continued its historic run today with a 2-0 victory over Pachuca FC in a game in which they barely broke a sweat. LDUQ, the first Ecuadorian team to win the Copa Libertadores, got an early lead in the fourth minute by Claudio Bieler and then doubled it in the 25th with a beautiful free kick from Luis Bolanos.

After that, they decided to sit back, as Pachuca desperately tried to make another comeback just like they did in the first game, when they beat Al Ahly (Egypt) 4-2 after being down 2-0. Pachuca did have some opportunities, but some sloppy finishing kept them from booking a ticket into the finals.

LDUQ will now await the winner of tomorrow's Manchester United/Gamba Osaka matchup. Quito will be hoping to make some more history Sunday.

The first game of the three way playoff between Boca Juniors, Tigre and San Lorenzo was played today. Tigre and San Lorenzo squared off and there was no doubt which team was the better side. San Lorenzo came out strong and in the 18th and 20th minute put the game out of reach with goals from Pablo Barrientos and Gonzalo Bergessio. San Lorenzo had various chances to extend their advantage, but they were unable to do so. It looked like it would prove costly when Tigre got a goal back on a header by Leandro Lázzaro. Tigre was not able to threaten though.

The game was coming to a close when a shocking incident doomed Tigre. Their goalkeeper, Daniel Islas (one of the best during the league play), allowed his temper to get the better of him. Barrientos collided with the goalkeeper due to his momentum. Islas did not have the ball, but both players were able to brace for the hit and niether went down. It seemed like a minor incident until Islas allowed his temper to get the better of him and shoved the San Lorenzo attacker in the face, leading to a straight red card.

San Lorenzo won 2-1 and if they beat Boca Juniors Saturday, they could win the league title. Tigre is now on the outside looking in as they need to beat Boca Juniors and hope that San Lorenzo lose. They will also be without their goalkeeper.

I Want To Throw A Shoe Too!

I was watching the news and it was impossible to miss the ever ending videos of an Iraqi reporter throwing a shoe at President George W. Bush at a press conference.

Well, this got me thinking of starting this section of the blog, titled:

Players I Want To Throw A Shoe At!

So, to open up the section, I must include the current soccer player that I despise the most. His shameless thuggery on the pitch, his mind games and dirty tactics sicken me. I still do not understand how such a dirty player can get away with so many brutal fouls. You would think that with such a reputation, that the referees would always be keeping an eye on him and that he would be prone to constant suspension. Sadly though, his worst fouls sometimes go unbooked.

This wannabe thug ruins the poetic, elegant and class that is soccer and it's a shame to think that players with so much class (Johan Cruijff, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio, Alfredo Di Stefano...etc etc) have never had the chance to win the World Cup, but a player such as Marco Materazzi has.

Own Goals: Part Two

The year was 1994, and Barbados and Grenada faced each other in the first round of the Shell Caribbean Cup. Grenada had beaten Puerto Rico 2-0, while Barbados had lost 1-0 to the same opponent. Hence, Barbados needed a two goal victory in order to advanced to the second group stage.

However, there was an unusual rule that was set in place for the tournament. In the event that a game went into sudden death extra time, the winning team would be awarded a two goal victory.

Barbados had a 2-0 lead, until in the 83rd minute Grenada scored a late goal that would have seen them make the final group stage. Sadly for them, the clever Barbadians had a trick up their sleeve. Seeing that they would be unable to score a goal against Grenada who had locked itself up in defense, Barbados did the next best thing. They intentionally scored an own goal to tie the game in an attempt to send the game into overtime during which, they could win be awarded a two goal advantage if they win.

The following five minutes gave the fans a sight that possibly will never be seen again. Grenada, seeing that they were unable to score on Barbados decided to score an own goal as well. Barbados was prepared though, and in those five minutes, they managed to successfully defend BOTH goals to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, Barbados manged to score the decisive goal that allowed them to win 3-2, get a +2 goal differential and advance to the group stage.

If anybody can find a video of the 5 minutes in which Barbados had to defend both sides, please post it because it would be incredible to watch.

And yes, this is a true story.

How Many Own Goals Can You Score?

In Saturday's 2-2 draw between Hull City and Liverpool FC, Jamie Carragher gave up an own goal that helped Hull continue their unexpected form this season. Carragher has played his entire career with Liverpool, dating back to 1996. During the time period, the defender has played 529 games and scored 4 goals for the club.

Sadly, the own goal in that game means that he continues to score in the wrong net. With the one against Hull City, he has now scored 7 own goals. One more and he doubles the amount of goals he's scored in the correct net.

In a 1999 league game against Manchester United, he made two own goals to help Manchester United win 3-2. Despite this, Jamie has still not managed to top Marco Materazzi's unbelievable goal:

Final in Argentina

The Argentine Apertura tournament has seen the season end, but there is still no winner. In what has been a heated race, Boca Juniors, Tigre and San Lorenzo will have to play a playoff in order to decide the league winner after all three teams finished tied with 39 points (19 games).

Boca Juniors came out firing on all cylinders, as they stormed to a 3-0 lead after a little less than 25 minutes of play. Juan Roman Riquelme scored a goal, sandwiched between two by Lucho Figueroa. Midfielders Jesus Datolo, Sebastian Battaglia and Fabian Vargas were playing incredible well and everything seemed to be going fine, even after a late Colon goal sent the teams into the locker room tied 3-1.

Elsewhere, San Lorenzo got to an early start capitalizing on a defensive error from Argentinos Juniors that saw Bergessio scored in the 8th minute. Tigre were having a tough time at home against Banfield, but hero Martin Morel scored his 13th goal of the tournament to give Tigre a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, San Lorenzo and Tigre were able to hold off their opponents and win 1-0. However, Boca Juniors had some problems as Colon made it 3-2 early in the second half. After many missed chances from both sides though, the game finished 3-2, meaning a mini tournament will be played between the three teams in neutral stadiums to decide who will take home the title.

The draw was done later and the following fixture has been set:

Wednesday Dec. 17th:
Tigre v. San Lorenzo

Saturday Dec. 20th
San Lorenzo v. Boca Juniors

Tuesday Dec. 23rd
Boca Juniors v. Tigre

Juventus beat Milan, Ibra leads Inter

It was a wild weekend in Serie A this week, with an incredible 41 goals scored by the time all ten games were completed. In the end, Inter found themselves still six points ahead of Juventus, but AC Milan are now nine out of the chase.

With a seemingly easy game against bottom dwellers Chievo Veron, Inter went 2-0 up with goals by Maxwell and Stankovic. However, Chievo fought back to tie the game at 2-2. However, Inter's star player showed up and gave them the three points. Ibrahimovic scored in the 79th and then in the 88th minute in a 4-2 victory.

AC Milan and Juventus meant in Torino for the most anticipated matchup of the 16th week, and it also had its share of goals. Del Piero got things started with a penalty kick, but Alessandro Pato tied it all up in the 31st. Juventus broke away though as they scored in the 34th (Chiellini) and in the 41st (Amauri) to send them up 3-1 into the locker room.
Milan were determined to get back though and Ambrosini found the back of the net in the 56th minute. The bad news continued for the Rossoneri though when Zambrotta saw his second yellow card in the 65th minute. With a man up Juventus sealed the deal with another Amauri goal in the 69th minute to make it 4-2.

In the other games, Udinese went 3-0 up on S.S. Lazio, but they were unable to hold on and Lazio scored three goals in 25 minutes to salvage a 3-3 draw. Goals were by Di Natale -2-, Quagliarella; Zarate, Diakhite and Christian Ledesma.

Roma, with Totti showing why he is so important for the squad, won 3-2 against Cagliari with a 90th minute goal from Vucinic. Totti and Simone Perrotta also scored, while Jeda and Conti scored for Cagliari. Alberto Gilardino and Adrian Mutu scored a goal each to lead Fiorentina to a 2-0 win over Catania.

The other results from today:

Palermo 2-0 Siena
P: Cassani, Simplicio

Genoa 1-1 Atalanta
G: Sculli; A: Floccari

Reggina 0-2 Sampdoria
S: Bellucci (pk), Paladino

See yesterday's results at the bottom of this blog entry.

Barca wins El Clasico!

Ex-Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster turned out to be right in his declaration. Although Los Galacticos were able to stave off various chances by Barcelona, in large part due to Iker Casillas, Barca ended up taking the Clasico in the Camp Nou and extending their league lead to nine points over their rivals.

Barcelona played some wonderful, flowing soccer, but Casillas kept them off the scoredboard with some incredible saves, including a save on Samuel Eto'o's penalty kick shot in the second half. However, Barcelona were able to finally break through in the 83rd minute on a corner kick. Carlos Puyol flicked the ball and it found Eto'o in front of Casillas for an easy tap in to give Barcelona the lead.

In the 91st minute, Lionel Messi scored yet again on a counter to finish of Real Madrid in a convincing 2-0 victory in which Barcelona had possession for more than 70% of the game. Real Madrid have managed to obtain only 3 out of the last 12 points in league play.

In the other La Liga game, Valencia defeated Espanyol 2-1.

In England, Aston Villa defeated Bolton 4-2 to see them move into fourth place as Arsenal could only manage a 1-1 draw against Middlesborough. Hull City went two up on Liverpool FC before Gerrard scored two goals to manage a draw in Anfield, while Manchester United and Tottenham played to a 0-0 draw in White Lane Park.

In Italy, Napoli defeated Lecce 3-0, while Bologna striker Marco Di Vaio scored a hat trick (leads Serie A with 12 goals) to lead his side to a 5-2 victory against Torino.

Possible Champions League Matchups

Champions League groups stage has ended, and unfortunately the minnows that started off strong (Anorthosis, Cluj etc) did not make it through. The Round of 16 draw will be done this coming Friday, December 19th, but it's never too early to make some predictions.

First place teams will be drawn to play a second place team, but they can not play against a team from their own country.

My Ideal Matchups (First place team listed first):

Panathinaikos (Greece) v. Sporting Lisbon (Portugal):

Two solid teams, plus I want to see the big boys go up against each other

FC Porto (Portugal) v. Villareal (Spain):
Two teams that may not have the star names that the bigger clubs have, but they can compete. Lucho Gonzalez is solid for Porto and Villareal continues to grow and stay among Spain and Europe's elite.

AS Roma (Italy) v. Arsenal (England): Arsenal is struggling but they still play some nice soccer (they just need to learn to finish) and AS Roma is coming up strong now that Francesco Totti has recovered from his injury.

Bayern Munech (Germany) v. Atletico Madrid (Spain):
Ribery v. Aguero. Two teams with great offensive power. Klose, Toni, Ribery with Maxi Rodriguez, Aguero, Forlan. Fireworks guaranteed.

Liverpool FC (England) v. Real Madrid (Spain):
The history is unbelievable. 14 Champions League Titles, 26 International Titles. Torres and Higuian are some of the best strikers in the world at the moment. Interesting to see if Casillas would get the better of his countryman Torres. And how Gerrard and Mascherano fair against Guti, Gago, Sneijder and Real Madrid's midfield.

Barcelona FC (Spain) v. Lyon (France):
Lyon is not what they used to be, but still have a nice attacking style of football, which would give us a nice back and forth affair...if Messi doesn't win the series in the first 45 minutes.

Manchester United (England) v. Inter Milan (Italy):
Mourinho v. Sir Alex. Ibrahimovic v. Rio Ferdinand. Great matchup if the good Inter Milan show up, but they have been a bit inconsistent and somehow managed only second place in what was supposed to be an easy group.

Juventus (Italy) v. Chelsea (England):
Chelsea looking to finally get that elusive Champions League title, while Alessandro Del Piero seems to have gone back in time as he is in incredible form with Juventus.

Sadly, that's only what I hope. We'll probably end up with some more Liverpool/Inter, Barca/Chelsea and Man Utd/Lisbon that we've seen already (though I wouldn't mind the first two matchups)

First Post: Golazo

New blog to discuss everything about soccer from all over the world.

Hope you will all enjoy