preview -final Manchester United vs Barcelona

Barcelona took all the spoils last time the 2 sides met

Okay so the big moment has finally arrived. The battle of the giants! I really cannot stress enough what this means to both sides. For guardiola's men its another chance to display to their supremacy. To show the whole world(*honestly the UCL final seems to be more important than the w.c final*) why they are considered one of the greatest sides ever to have played the game!

For S.A.F's men, a chance to show that even when they may not have the star-studed sides of yesteryear, they can still compete with the very best and be consistent. Which we all know they have been especially at home in the league. 18 wins and 1 draw is quite the record, one which not even the all conquering catalan side can currently match.

But thats exactly the point here. United have been weak away from OT while barca haven't away from the camp nou. The location for the final, wembley provides an away stadium for both clubs so it should be very interesting to see how it pans out! People are arguing that wembley being in UK does act like more of a home to the red devils. One thing is for certain though, it is anticipated to be one of the greatest matches ever seen!

TEAM NEWS:
Okay so to team news now and the sides are very predictable. Barcelona are gonna line up something like this; valdes in goal, alves, puyol(*captain*) pique and abidal in defence. Busquets behind xavi and iniesta in midfield. Pedro, villa and messi up front!
United will be; van der sar in goal, rafael, ferdinand, vidic(*captain*) and evra in defence. Fletcher, giggs in midfield with park and valencia running down the flanks. Rooney playing 'in the hole' behind hernandez!

MIDFIELD BATTLE:
This match will pretty much be won and lost in midfield. From barca's pov, they need to have iniesta or xavi free to control the tempo of the game which they do so well. If both of these 2 isn't in space messi tends to drop very deep to recieve the ball as he did in the match against real. Pepe and alonso did to a very good job of holding down barca's two pivots in midfield and so messi was forced to drop deep to keep the play alive. If man united want to control this match they need to do exactly the same but with more fluidity. My guess is park will be used in more of a central role due to his never dying stamina and will most probably be right in between iniesta and xavi to pick up and loose balls or just stay with the runners. This may mean giggs will be given more of a free role to roam about the pitch.
The main concern for barca will be how to deal with united's no.10. Wayne rooney who has rediscovered his form and seems to now be flourishing in his new found role behind the central striker. If busquets is set to man-mark rooney then 1 of either giggs or park will always be free in midfield to recieve the ball when united are in possession and also, wayne rooney is also one of the most difficult players to man-mark so it will be interesting to see how that battles affect the game!

WING PLAY:
Both sides have very attack minded full backs. Alves' ability to get forward has been both praised and criticized. He provides a lot of assists from down the right and is very dangerous going forward but also leaves a huge gap in defense which can be exploited very efficiently be a counter attacking side like manchester untied. Although it is probable that just like the match against real, where alves was completely pinned back by the forward runs of di maria, he will be forced back once again by either rooney or park running down uniteds left hand side! Also expect abidal to have one of the toughest nights of his lives against valencia. The ecuadorian international has been in magnificent form since his return from injury and abidal certainly has a very tough task to contain him. One though he can accomplish when on his game. His recent return from a tumor removal operation will be a key factor in how well he plays though one can expect united to dominate that part of the pitch
Barcelona arent really fans of wing play, concentrating most of their attacks down the center. Both the wingers, messi and pedro love to come inside on their stronger feet and have a strike at goal. The main problem for united will be pedro runnnig at rafael. The full back's ability to loose his cool has been seen quite a few times and although he can be at times brilliant, like in last years match against bayern where he didn let ribery move even, he has a tendency for the odd mistimed tackle and going down to 10 men is really something you dont want against a club like barcelona!

WHAT WILL HAPPEN
If united can find a way to contain barca's midfield and hit them hard on the counter-attack, they will definitely be able to get a result out of this match. Hernandez and rooneys pace down the center will be a problem for barcelona who dont really have the fastest defenders around. If not then expect barcelona to take complete control of proceedings and inturn the final result. Whatever happens though, a great match can be expected with plenty on show from some of the worlds best players and the two best teams out there battling it out for european glory which now really does seem bigger than the world cup even!

review-manchester united vs marseille second leg

chichartio scoring his 1st of 2

Manchester united went through to the quarter finals following what was a highly entertaining match at old trafford. All the goals coming from the reds, one at the wrong end though, but it wasn to matter as the red devils fought hard to overcome the french champions and deserved the win!
Okay so team news then and it was good news mostly for sir alex as both carrick and their player of the season so far nani were back from injury. The latter had been ruled out for around 3-4 weeks following a reckless challenge from jamie carragher that gashed his leg but he made a miraculous recovery and got back in time for this 1. There were problems at the back though as both rio ferdinand and vidic were out! A 4-4-2 system was employed with van der sar in goal. John o shea, wes brown, smalling and evra(*captain*) in defence. Nani, carrick, scholes and giggs in midfield and rooney and hernandez up front.
Didier deschamp started the same side that did so well against rennes on friday and it was certainly a boost to have star striker gignac back. The frenchman missed the first leg through injury and they missed his presence up front in that match.The regular 4-3-3 system was employed with steve mandanda(*captain*) in goal. Rod fanni, diawara, heinze and taiwo in defence. Lucho gonzales, m'bia and cheyrou across the midfield and remy, gignac and ayew up front!
The hosts must've been instructed before the game to go all out against the french team and that is exactly what they did with a very good quick start to the game that led to the opening goal in the first 5 min.
Following a united corner, the ball was cleared out but straight to red shirts and it dropped to rooney, and the no.10 volleyed it out to giggs superbly who had space on the left. Rooney then made up a lot of ground to get on to the return pass from the welshman, took it past a defender with 1 touch and put it into the danger area between the goal keeper and the defenders which was basically the typical type of ball you want if your a striker and hernandez was happy to oblige to that and was there for the tap in! It was a brilliant start for the red devils and marseille i must say were for the first few min shocked at the speed at which united were playing!
They did however start to get back into the game and began to create chances. One of those falling to gignac who tried to put it over van der sar into the goal but his effort was well off and he shouldv just blasted his volley into the back of the net! Marseille then took control of the game and had more possession than united although that they were lacking quality in the box and did let a few very good chances go to waste! Cheyrou was having a very good game for the visitors and looked to be the main threat to united along with lucho and remy who surprisingly was getting the better of evra at times!
At the other end rooney was having a brilliant game and this is the 1st time ive seen him this involved in the play since back in april when he was tearing down defences! This time around it was a less of a goal threat from him but the quality of passing and movement in the center of the park was superb from the englishman!
One player who didn seem to be performing at all though was nani. The portugese was having a relatively quiet night and he looked to be very hesitant to take on taiwo due to the left back's pace and was opting to pass the ball more instead. This of couse took out one of united's major goal threats and it was a very disappointing night for the no.17 who was taken off in the second half
John o shea had his hamstring pulled in the 35th min following a good run from him down the right hand flank and young rafael was brought on to replace him.
SECOND HALF
The second half started along the same pattern at which the first had ended with a battle for possession going on though united did look to be better this time around.
Nani was taken off for valencia who was greeted by cheers from the united faithful.It was the first champions league match for Ecuadorian since that horrific injury to his ankle!
United had looked shaky at the back  for most of the match and the absence of vidic was highlited when a cross from taiwo came in and brown completely mis-timed his kick and it couldv really gone anywhere from hitting his leg but he was lucky. The ball took a slight deflection off of his shin and went behind for a corner.
Remy continued to trouble united down their left hand side and evra was having to stick very close to him to deal with the wingers pace. Regular crosses though were coming in from that side but again not enough quality in the box to seriously trouble van der sar!
United did have more problems at the back from there after rafael, who had come on to replace john o shea in the first half, also managed to pull his hamstring. Fabio was brought on to replace his twin brother and at that point the marseille players must have said to themselves, 'we need to go for this now more than ever'
However it was United who began to trouble marseille a bit more and giggs shifted to centre of the park combining with valencia to deadly effect in the 75th min
Giggs bursted down the right hand side but had to cut back and pass it to valencia. The latter then did well to find a bit of space for himself and layed of a beautiful through ball for giggs who squared it into the box with his right foot and hernandez finished it off into the bottom left corner. A good finish following what was a very good move down the right hand side for the red devils.
Wes brown put a header in into his own net following a velbuena corner which made the game very interesting for the last 10 minutes but united managed to hang on and although marseille dominated large periods of the match, it was that ruthlessness in front of goal that won united the match which they did deserve on the night!

review- tottenham vs milan second leg

sandro competing for the ball with pato

Spurs defended excellently in a game  in which they surprisingly failed to score but deserved to go through after a well fought battle!
The fact that they failed to score is such a surprise because before this fixture they had scored 3 goals in all of their previous home games in europe.Still it was a fairly interesting game with Milan having the better of the chances but failing to put away any of them due to some excellent defending from the english side which included a dramatic goal line clearance from william gallas!
There was only 1 change from the tottenham team that played in the first leg with modric coming back in for palacios. A 4-4-1-1 formation was employed with gomes in goal. Corluka, gallas, dawson(*captain*) and essou-ekotto in defence. The pacey lennon, sandro, modric and pienaar made up the midfield and rafa v.der.vaart played in the hole behind peter crouch. Gareth bale had recovered from his back injury in time for this fixture but could only find a place on the bench with redknapp taking no chances on his star player!
Allegri played a pretty attacking side employing his favored 4-1-2-1-2 with abbiati in goal. Abate, nesta, thiago silva and jankulosvki in defence. Seedorf(*captain*) played deep with boateng and flamini playing ahead of him and robinho played directly behind ibra and pato!
Milan dominated the game with 63% overall possession which, considering the match was at white heart lane and how excellent tottenham have been there this season, was probably the biggest shock of the match. It basically meant that spurs came here to defend and only rarely created a chance or two. V.der.vaart had a few cracks at goal from long range and came close with a well struck free kick but his effort was just over the bar. Abbiati did look to have it covered though if it had dipped at the last instant!
The absence of a holding mid in the shape of palacios in the spurs midfield meant they werent strong enough in that part of the pitch and were regularly being overcrowded. Boateng in particular was finding lots of space and regular passes were being fed to ibra and pato through him. Ibra came the close with a very well struck freekick that was heading for the top corner but gomes pulled off a good save to keep it out.
It was robinho who had the best chance of the first half to open the scoring when pato, after rounding an on-rushing gomes, squared the ball to him but he just mistimed his kick a little and it hit assou-ekotto. The ball rebounded off the left back and wouldv ended up in the back of the net if not for a goal-line clearance from william gallas!
Milan created a few more chances and bossed the midfield area but failed to score in what was an eventful first half
SECOND HALF
Tottenham played much deeper in the second half with at times all their players back defending! This of course meant that milan were having even more possession in midfield though it wasn leading to much. One bright point from tottenhams p.o.v was that aaron lennon was much better in the second 45 and constantly used his pace to good use against jankulovski!
They did of course have a big target man in the box in the form of peter crouch to aim the crosses towards but the former liverpool wasn good enough with most of his headers and at times got caught up in b/w putting in to the goal or squaring it to van der vaart.
A lift was given to the home supporters though when gareth bale came on in th 66th min for v.d.vaart who had had had a disappoint game. Bale however wasn used in the role many expected and slotted back in as an extra lb clearly signalling spurs' intent to just see the game out without conceding!
Pato and Robinho both came very close to scoring for the away side but in the end it just wasnt to be and the final whistle was accompanied by a frenzy of cheering from the spurs' fans! An amazing overall win over one the european giants and an amazing achievement to have gotten to the semis on the first time of asking!

review- barcelona vs arsenal second leg

So the wait was finally over! The match everyone had been waiting for, the second leg of the battle of the sides famed for their passing abilities.A highly interesting match followed that had a lot of contentious decisions from the match officials and certainly lived upto all expectations with the spanish giants walking away with all the spoils in a match, which they controlled right from the off and deserved to go through to the final 8!

okay so into the team news then and Pep Guardiola had to make do with a very makeshift central defence due to both puyol(*injury*) and pique(*suspended*) not being available for selection. Victor Valdes started out b/w the sticks with alves, busquets, abidal and adriano in defence. Mascherano took up the holding mids position with xavi(*captain*) and iniesta in front of him. Messi, Villa and Pedro made up the front 3. It was an almost regular starting XI for barcelona who just had the issues in defence to deal with before the match and i must say the back 4 did a very good job against arsenal's attack!

Arsene wenger had to do without the pacey Walcott and Alex song for this one and was very happy to atleast have captain Cesc fabregas and Van persie back into the squad. Both were a doubt before the match but managed to recover from their respective injuries and made it back into the squad just in time. Szczesny started out as goal keeper and Sagna, Koscielny, Djorou and Clichy were the defence. Diaby was charged with having to hold the mid together and Wilshire and Fabregas were in midfield....Rosicky, V.persie and Nasri were up front!.

The home side, as expected of them, started off very well with pedro going through on goal in the 3rd min and it took a very good challenge from koscielny to deny him an early goal. Barca kept possession very very well during the whole of the match but were wasteful in front of goal. The stats did however still show their dominance, maintaining around 70% of the possession throughout the entire game. The fullbacks were continuously looking forward and seemed to be more like genuine wingers rather than defenders. Adriano in particular was a constant threat to the arsenal defence and sagna just didn know how to deal with him at times!

Arsenal played a different game as to what they did in the first leg. 2 weeks ago at the emirates they chased down every barca pass like crazy and did not let the catalans get a proper grip on their passing game which we all know they execute so wonderfully. A high back line was also avoided due to the danger of over-the-top through passes and at times, due to barcas full-backs pressing so hard, nasri and rosicky were slotting back in defence creating a sort of back 6. 

messi celebrates scoring his penalty with his team mates

Barcelona were quite good at keeping the ball and pressed relentlessly whenever arsenal had the ball. In fact the londeners were not even being able to put together a move of around 5 passes! Everytime they got the ball, their was always pressure on the man in possession and no-one really looked calm enough to keep the moves going. The defending though i must say was pretty good from them for around the first 40 min and they managed to keep barca out of their penalty box by not allowing any space for passes into the box. This was forcing xavi and iniesta, the two pivots around which all their attacks rotate, to play more passes square rather than into the path of the strikers for a run on goal!.

Arsenal had another problem to deal with around the quarter hour mark when following a smashed freekick from alves, szcsesny collected the ball and rolled it out of play instantly signalling that something was troubling his finger. As the replay suggested, the ball had hit the polish keeper's finger head on and it bent back which is certainly very painful! Manuel almunia was brought on who last year was just a spectator as messi scored 4 past him and single-handedly won barca that fixture. Arsenal have revealed that szczesny dislocated his finger which means out for the rest of the season!

And it was that man messi again who turned out to be the tormentor of arsenal in the 47th min. Up till that point arsenal had defended very well and had kept out barcelonas attack but a mistake from the 1 person in that team you would never expect to make it, cesc fabregas, changed the whole scene of the game!

Arsenal managed to barely clear their lines following a barca attack and the ball dropped to fab who, on th outside of his own box, tried a back-heeled pass to wilshire! An amazing mistake from the spaniard and the ball dropped to iniesta who after going past 3 players, produced a SPECTACULAR chipped through ball for messi. The argentine took it in his stride with 1 touch, over the advancing almunia with the next touch and volleyed it in for a goal. Brilliant skill from the world's best player though fabregas has to take the blame for it!

SECOND HALF

The second 45 started pretty much the same with barca dominating! That however seemed to go against what took place in the 53rd min

Nasri did brilliantly down the left hand flank to get a corner. The frenchman took it himself and his delivery looked delicious and produced an unlikely goal! Sergio busquets headed the ball into his own net! They clearly missed the presence of the poyul and pique in the box and that corned showed exactly why!

At the other end messi produced a good through ball to put villa through on goal put the spaniard was wasteful and almunia came out and claimed the ball. It was certainly an off night for villa who just couldn get his finishing going!

Van persie was sent off on a second yellow in one of the most bizarre decisions you will ever get to see. He was flagged offside and ref blew the whistle but the dutchman had already thought about the shot and after taking it was sent off for lashing at the ball! A very very poor decision that you do not expect off of a champions league ref!..

Barca marched on from their on in and got their second goal following an absolutely exquisite passing move involving iniesta, villa and xavi with the latter finishing if off with a calm finish past almunia that looked to have taken a little touch off of sagna!

They got their third shortly after when koscielny tripped pedro in the box and the ref pointed to the penalty spot. Lionel messi stepped up to take it and calmly slotted it past almunia into the bottom right corner.

On the night barca definitely definitely deserved that win! The arsenal players just didn show up at all and were punished for playing so defensively. Their was not a single shot on goal from the londoners and that stat just basically sums up the whole game! 

review- inter milan vs bayern munich

gomes celebrates his winning goal with his bayern team-mates

this was one of the most anticipated games of the season as it brought together last years finalists once more for 180 min to fight it out once again but this time for less of a reward!....the last of the first round of last 16 matches didn disappoint and bayern managed to take vengance over their italian counterparts for last years loss!...
this time around last year the most major difference in the inter squad was of course the absence of the charismatic jose mourinho under whom they secured the treble....leonardo surprisingly has had a better start to life at inter than the portugese but inter are still yet to show the same potential in the champions league as they did last year and on a defensive note this years side cant even come close to previous years having conceded the most number of goals in the italian league(*top 4*)!....diego milito was injured for this 1 and a 4-3-2-1 system was played with julio cesar(*Captain*) between the sticks....maicon, lucio, ranocchia and chivu were in defence and motta, zanetti and cambiaso were played in midfield....wes sneijder and stankovic played "in the hole" behind eto....
van gaal started his regular 4-2-3-1 system with kraft in goal, lahm(*captain*), badstuber, tymoschuk and pranjic in defence...schweinsteiger and gustavo in midfield with robben right, ribery left and muller playing behind gomez...
what followed was surprisingly a very very open game considering the defensive(*atleast from inters p.o.v*) line ups!...and it was the italians who had the early chances with ranocchia getting a shot in on goal in the very first minute!...eto also got a good oppurtunity to open the scoring but he shot from a difficult angle and on his weaker foot so it wasn much of a problem for kraft!....at the other end ribery hit the crossbar from a header following a cross from arjen robben!...the dutchman has only recently come back from injury and has given bayern that electrifying pace and skill down the right hand side that they bad been missing while he had been out!...

bayern were the better side during the opening 45 min controlling most of the possession and the chances....theyr defence also kept it very tight...the italians most of the times played very narrow since inter have never really had much width to them and the attacks are channeled down the center....the center area was made very crowded and the main player of inter...th 1 who makes them tick, wes sneijder wasn given any room at all to create chances or get shots on goal!...the german teams full backs also got higher up the pitch when bayern were in possession of the ball due to lack of width from the italians and chivu in particular was having a rough night against the combination of lahm and robben
SECOND HALF
inter started the second half on a more positive note and got a bit better through out the second 45....bayern were still bossing them from the wide positions and at times it seemed no1 at all was tracking either lahm or pranjic!....the front 3 always stayed up the field and didn help out in defending....
robben came very close to breaking the deadlock on the 53rd when following some good work from schweinsteiger, the flying dutchman drifted past challenges and hit a good right footed shoot from the left side of the box but it hit the near post and went out for a goal kick!...the second half was certainly a whole lot more entertaining and many more chances were created...the majority by the men in red and white and actually there was a whole 10 min period from the 60th min onward when there was wave after wave of attacks coming in from the germans and they had 5 or 6 good chaces to score!....ranocchia got injured after that and was taken away on a stretcher to be replaced by houssine kharja....inter were better in the 10 min leading up to the goal and created a few good chances in quick succession
then came the defining moment of the match when following a good cross field ball from ribery, robben was allowed to come in on his left foot as he soo loves to do and took a shot at goal which bounced awkwardly in front of cesar who could only parry it into the path of the on rushing gomez...he tapped in from 3 yards out and clenched a very well deserved win for the german side who will be very very happy right now knowing they got theyr revenge from the side that beat them in the final last year and have 1 foot in the quarter final with that invaluable away goal advantage!....for inter a lesson learnt harshly and leonardo will definitely need to put a more positive and attacking side in the match at the allianz if he is to have any hope of recovering something from this fixture
(*btw guys i noticed the commenting on my blog had been limited to only those who had subscribed and i felt that a bit unfair so now any1 can comment anonymously on any of the posts!*)...

review- marseille vs manchester united

two very evenly matched teams battled it out in france for what was a highly disappointing game with both sides failing to score!....both had their chances but none were taken and this was the only goal-less match in all of the last 16 fixtures!....

the scenes at the stade velodrome before the match

didier deschamps had to do without top scorer gignac who is injured and played a 4-2-3-1 formation with mandanda(*captain*) in goal....new signing rod fanni, diawara, mbia and man united old boy gabi heinze in defence...cisse and kabore in midfield with loic remy, gonzales and ayew in front of them and brandao in the lone strikers role.....

sir alex couldn call up champions league veteran ryan giggs for this as he was out injured along with the likes of rio ferdinand and big match hero ji sung park!....a 4-1-2-3 system was employed with van der sar in goal...john o shea, vidic(*captain*), smalling and evra in defence...carrick in the holding mids role and gibson(*a surprise pick ahead of scholes*) and fletcher in midfield....rooney wide left....nani wide right and berbatov in the center of attack!....

the game was pretty open in the opening few stages of the game with chance being created by both sides....

the player of the first half was definitely nani...he constantly troubled heinze who didn have the legs to keep up with his electrifying pace and skill....at times lyon had to double up on him just to squeeze the ball out!...the only proper shot on goal from the english side was from a nani free-kick which hit the bar but the ball dropped to fletcher who despite the awkward bounce, still managed to get his effort on goal and force a save from mandanda from outside the box....nani also managed to get in a very delicious looking cross into the path of berba but it was just a foot too long and the striker couldn get the touch that wouldv sent it into the back of the net!...

ayew also looked very sharp and was constantly getting balls into the penalty box and beating john o shea with good skill on the ball!... marseille looked a bit shaky at first but later got into the game and starting dominating possession!...the half just went on after that and no real opportunities were created!...

SECOND HALF

the second period of normal time began pretty much the same as the first ended with both teams concentrating more on not conceding!.....marseille did however sort up pick up the tempo and looked to be more threatening with ayew coming close to opening the scoring!...paul scholes was brought on 18 minutes from time and he gave some much needed passing ability back to the squad which carrick especially had been lacking at times throughout the 90 min...

marsielle will be positive at having not conceded on the night but will be aware that the real challenge awaits them at old trafford!..sir alex will be hugely disappointed with having failed to score but a clean sheet is always welcome and the whole team will be looking forward to the return leg!

review- chelsea vs copenhagen

anelka was in form on th night

a game of less competitiveness ended in chelsea taking away all the points and the massive advantage of 2 away goals as nicholas anelka, who was 5 in 5 before this match, scored both the goals to take his tally upto 7 in europe and give his side a much needed confidence boost!...it was also fernando torres' debut in europe for his new side and much was expected of the spaniard and although he didn score, he was playing much better than he did against fulham in the barclays premier league!
stale solbakken surprisingly changed his formation from what had served them so nicely during the group stage matches which included a draw with spanish giants barcelona!....he played a 4-4-2 with wiland in goal, antonsson, jorgensen, wendt and pospech in defence...domingues de souza, kvist, gronkjaer and bolanos across the midfield and damme and santini in attack...martin vingaard who had basically been there hero during the group stages was left out on the bench...
ancelloti decided to drop drogba for this 1 keeping him on the bench as he continued to try different options to try and make 50 mil pound signing fernando torres fit into the squad!...chel also started a 4-4-2 where cech started in goal with bosingwa, ivanovic, terry and cole making up the defence...ramires, lampard, essien and malouda were the midfield and anelka and torres started upfront!.....
chelsea attacked right from the off and torres had a good oppurtunity in the 6th min when the ball dropped to him quite kindly in the kobenhaven box but the spaniard wasn expecting it and his first touch was a bit too heavy and wiland did well to come and collect the ball from his feet!....then in the 16th min a misplaced back pass from gronkjaer gave the ball straight to anelka who rounded 1 player and made no mistake with the finish!....this was the frenchman's 6th in as many games and he really has been chelseas shining light this season in the champions league!.....
chelsea continued to dominate from their on in and the similar formations meant that most of the football was being played on individual battles and there was never really gonna be any doubt on who has the better squad!....torres had a few chances but still couldn find his chance and anelka continued to be a nuisance for the danish teams defence
SECOND HALF
martin vingaard was brought on finally for santini and basically created copenhagens first real chance of the match with a low driven shot that was saved by petr cech!...
then came the second goal for anelka....essien managed to maintain some good possession in midfield and layed it forward to lampard who produced a beautiful lofted through ball for anelka who finished very calmly!....a few moments later some good footwork from torres put him through on goal but he still couldn get his first goal for the club in what have been so far less but disappointing appearances for the spaniard in the chelsea blue!....chelsea were very comfortable after that and their goal was not under any real threat at all!
carlo ancelloti will be very pleased with his sides result which was required more for a confidence boost than anything!....theyl go to stamford bridge knowing they have a very comfortable 2 away goals advantage and are expected to progress!

review- lyon vs real madrid

benzema scored against his former club

the clash of last year...repeated again at the same stage!.....lyon managed a win against the 9 time champions back then....this time however real had a newfound spirit under jose mourinho and a better squad and were looking all the more dangerous!....they needed a win to put them comfortable for the second leg which they now really need to progress from having not gotten past this stage for the past 6 years...but yet could only manage a draw in what was a fairly interesting encounter!
claude puel started his regular 4-2-3-1 line up with lloris in goal, reveillere,cris(*captain*), lovren and cissokho in defence..toulalan and gourcuff in midfield, bastos, kallstrom and delgado in front of them and gomis filling into the lone strikers role which the injured lisandro normally occupies!
this was to be the first time karim benzema would play at the stade de gerland after making his big money move to real, but he was on the bench with kaka while mourinho also started his favorite 4-2-3-1 formation with casillas(*captain*) starting in goal, ramos, pepe(*finally back from injury*), carvalho and arbeloa in defence...alonso and khedira in midfield with di maria, ozil and real's man in form cristiano ronaldo in front of them...adebayor was in attack!.....
the match began at a frantic pace and stayed that way for quite a while with no side gettin any clear possession on th ball!...madrid were dominating it though a lil bit although lyon probably had the better of the chances with bastos a continuous threat down the flanks!....gourcuff marshalled th midfield superbly and most of lyons early chances were created through him....one person who wasnt performing at all however....was reals no7!....those of you who watched the game will have noticed how easily the former manchester united star was giving away possession in tryin to be over smart on the ball with all his fancy tricks!...in fact his only real contribution to mardids cause was a free kick in the 20th min when ozil was brought down by gourcuff some 28 yards out and even that wasn struck well enough and lloris was able to parry it away!....at the other end gomis got a GLORIOUS chance to take lyon 1 up when the french side broke quickly following a madrid corner and the ball was played out wide to bastos who put a cross in that wasn caught properly by casillas....it fell straight to the feet of the striker but he his his effort well over the bar!...
SECOND HALF
real were better in the second half and so was ronaldo...who came VERY close to scoring in the opening stages of the second half with a freekick from the right side of the box which seemed a very tight angle but he somehow managed to get enough power and swerve to direct it past lloris but unfortunately also past the center of the goal and it hit the framework!...ramos then struck the post with a header from an ozil corner!.....real uped the tempo from there and were a constant threat to lyons defence which started looking a bit more shaky!....in the first half lyons 4 in midfield were constantly closing down reals mid and players like ozil weren being able to create anything at all!....during the second however half however reals player seemed to be much quicker and the passing was a lot better which was creating chances!....
benzema was brought on for adebayor and the former lyon man certainly got a welcome reception from his former fans!....however th cheers soon turned to an orchestra of boos when after jostling well for the ball with toulalan, he got possesion of the ball and layed it onto ozil...the german played it square to ronaldo who first touch through balled it to benzema and the no9 took a few touches inside the box to settle himself before slotting it past lloris who did get a touch on it but it wasn strong enough!...
th rest of the match just seemed to go on with patches of it gettin really boring at times!...real defended well for most of the match but then they were broken....a freekick came in from gourcuff which hit the wall and came in high towards the defence...cris...who had had a very very good match won th header and it dropped really kindly to gomis who calmly slotted it past casillas who was left shouting at his defenders!....have to say lyon did deserve that goal after the impressive game they had!
all in all a good game of football and a good performance from lyon who in my point of view managed to rescue the match because of 1 sole reason...ozil, th man through whom all of reals attacks are channeled was man marked very very well and wasn given any space to create!..this meant that the attacks were having to go through the wings which lyon dealt with very well...obviously a pre-planned strategy!...mourinho will be confident though that his side can go all the way in th second leg as real have been very impressive at home and mourinho extended his own personal record of home wins to 9 years now without a defeat!....a very remarkable achievement indeed!

review- arsenal vs barcelona

delight on the face of wenger after v. persie's equalizer

an amazing comeback from arsenal secured the win for them over the team many call one of the greatest ever in what was a very memorable night at the emirates!....
okay so lets just get straight into the team news....both managers played their regular starting XI although nasri was back for arsenal which gave them a boost and he played out on the left wing with v. persie and walcott alongside him in attack...fabregas(Captain) played in the playmaking position behind the striker and song and wilshere were charged with having to deal with barcas attacks through the center....eboue, koscielny, djourou and clichy were in defence with the youngster szczesny making his champions league debut in the goal...
guardiola went with the side that has produced sooo much amazing football this season minus puyol in defence...valdes in goal...alves, pique, abidal and maxwell in defence with busquets xavi(captain) and iniesta in midfield and messi, villa and pedro up front!....
well even more was said about this game than the previous 1 due to all the events that took place between the two clubs, the most prominent one being barca's continued desire to get cesc fabregas back to where he initially started his career after the player himself expressed his desire to move back!...that transfer saga lasted the whole of last summer until fabregas finally put an end to it by saying he'l be staying...it was also a big occasion due to the fact that messi had basically ripped apart arsenals defence in the second leg at camp nou and most people....a lot of arsenal fans themselves included weren expecting much from this fixture!....
however once we kickoffed at the emirates the scene was totally different and arsenal attacked right from the off signalling their intentions very clearly....barca are used to A LOT of possession in their matches and mustv been expecting a re-run of last years first leg in which they totally controlled the whole flow of the game and wouldv been 5-0 up in the first 10 min if not for some excellent goal keeping from manuel almunia...the case this time around however was different and for the first 25 min barca couldn put together a proper passing move!...this was due to the fact that this time....arsenal were playing a very high line and were pressing a lot....nasri and walcott were continuously dropping back meaning when barca had the ball, they retreated in 2 banks of 4 making it hard for the catalans to play their usual game....there was however once chance on th 15th min when messi springed clear of the defence and got on to a perfectly weighted through ball from david villa and was through on goal but couldn direct his chip over szczesny properly and the ball drifted just wide of the post....th goal keeper has to be given credit there as he stayed up for as long as he could and forced the shot from messi who every1 had expected to score and half the barca fans had even already started celebrating!.....
walcott's lightning quick pace caused barca a lot of problems at the other end and he was continuously getting the better of maxwell who lets be honest was never really a match in terms of quickness....regualar chances were created through him but the finishing wasnt good enough from v.persie and fabregas....
and they were made to pay for it in the 25th min when after some neat foot work from messi the ball was played through to david villa who looked to be off side at first but clichy played him on and was made to suffer for it after a clinical finish from the spanish no7....barca dominated possession and chances for the remainder of the half and couldv easily been more up as daniel alves was being left completely unmarked again and again on the right hand side it looked like he was a right winger instead of a right back(*well he always does look like that*)
SECOND HALF
the second half had a relatively quiet beginning to it and the pattern of play seemed to continue with barca still dominating possession...then came the change that in my p.o.v changed the game for both sides....well changes i should say....guardiola took off villa and brought on keita shifting iniesta into a more advanced role while wenger took off song who was having a tough time coping with the speed of the play and was sitting pretty on a final warning after a series of bad tackles and brought on arshavin putting nasri in the middle....the fact that barca had taken off their main striker and brought on a holding mid meant that they lost most of their attacking threat and were concentrating more on possession...arsenal had made a positive attacking change and got more involved in the game after that and created more chances...jack wilshire...who btw had an EXCELLENT game considering hes still just 19 was involved in most of the chances and handled the center midfield brilliantly!...
pedro did have a good chance to extend barcas lead after he got a long ball out from abidal but koscielny handled the situation very well and was able to snuff out the danger...
then came the moment arsenal fans had been waiting for for a long time...following a free kick in their own half, th ball was squared out to clichy from fabregas and the left back made a bustling run forward....exchanging passes with arshavin in the process before layin a good through ball to v.persie on the edge of th box...the dutchman didn look like he could score from that angle but somehow managed to smash it past valdes at the near post for a fantastic finish!....he is on hot form right now and it showed with the way he took that on!....
arsenal marched on from their on in and the second goal followed quickly....5 min after th first, th ball was played nicely in defence and kept away from barcas players before fabregas launched a through ball to the right wing where nasri was lurking....the frenchmen took it forward a bit then cut it inside and layed it off to arshavin who was comin in from the far side and a brilliant finish from the russian secured a deserved win for arsenal!....

arshavin celebrates in style after securing the win for his side

a very very exciting match ended on a high for the gunners who will be very optimistic going in to the second leg knowing they can get something from that fixture although they will be vary of barcas threat at home as even last year a 1 man show from messi tore them apart and knocked them out of the competition!...a very quiet night for the argentine this time around....and my applause to wilshires performance...who despite his young age looked to be one of the most mature and skilled players on the pitch!...

review- valencia vs schalke

this match was sort of in the shadows because of the blockbuster event going on in the san siro but in truth it was an equally entertaining match with quite a lot of chances created and 2 very good finishes...one of them coming from the LEGENDARY raul gonzales....who is the highest ever goal scorer in european competitions!...
valencia were without juan mata for this 1 and joaquin was left on the bench....they went with a 4-3-3 system where guaita started b/w the sticks and infront of him were miguel, navarro(captain), ricardo costa and mathieu in defence...with everbanega, topal and costa in midfield and dominguez, soldado and adruiz up front....this time around last year valencia wouldv called up on stars like world cup winners david villa and david silva but unfortunately due to financial reasons those two had to be sold....the side still however has been doing pretty good so far under unai emery..
schalke however were able to start their usual 4-4-2 line up with german no.1 manuel neuer(Captain) in goal....uchida, howedes, metzelder and schmitz in defence....farfan, kluge, matip and jurado in the mid while huntelaar and raul started up front...this game was being looked forward to as rauls return to spain for the first time since leaving real madrid last summer!...
th game started well and huntelaar had a glorious oppurtunity to put the german side in front in the 9th min of the game but completely mis-timed his volley from 6 yards out!...valencia continued to attack after that and took the advantage on th 17th min when mathieu made a brilliant run down the left hand side and crossed th ball in towards soldado who made no mistake with an awesome finish to put the ball beyond the german keeper in to the far corner!....terrific football from the spanish who till that point hadn really created any proper chance....
valencia kept it strong at the back for the rest of the half and the full backs kept getting forward which was creating a prob for the schalke defence!...they kept chugging away at the defence and there were quite a few scares for neuer with valencia unlucky not to have scored a few more!
SECOND HALF
the second half started without any changes to th sides and in pretty much the same manner as the first ended with valencia attacking!...however raul did get an opportunity to equalize when neuer sent a long goal-kick towards him which he controlled well but couldn get enough power on his right-footed strike to seriously trouble neuer!....the game just carried on chances were created by both sides until the 63rd min when adruiz broke free on the left hand side, put a cross in towards th raul who took a fine touch before terrificly slotting the ball into the far corner!....it was his 71st goal in european competitions!....quite a remarkable feat!...
all in all a memorable night for raul on his return to spain and schalke will be optimistic going into th second leg cox of that away goal they have!

review- AC milan vs tottenham

crouch's calm finish ensured the win for spurs

milan legends andrea pirlo and filipo inzaghi, who is also th second highest goal scorer in champions league history missed out for the italians. they were however still able to call upon a very experienced side with the likes of 4 times champions league winner clarence seedorf also featuring!....allegri went with his preferred 4-3-3 with abbiati in goal, abate, nesta, vepes and antonini in defence...gattuso(captain for the night), thiago silva and flamini in midfield and seedorf playing 'in the hole' behind robinho and the man currently in th form of his life, zlatan ibrahimovich....this system however did mean that all their attacks would be concentrated down the center and they didn have much width which in the end proved to be their downfall as well!

tottenham had a quite changed team from the last time they visited the san siro in what was a classic against inter milan...theyr star that night gareth bale missed out this match through a back injury and luka modric who had had a hernia operation 10 days ago was on the bench!...spurs went for a more wide 4-4-1-1 formation with gomes in goal...corluka, gallas, dawson(captain for the night), assou-ekotto in defence...palacios and champions league debutant sandro in the middle...with lennon and pienaar providing the pace down the flanks and van der vaart playin in his favorite position, behind peter crouch....

spurs started very well with an effort on goal in the first minute after a good passage of passes!....milans front 3 playing very narrow meant that essou-ekotto and corluka had full licence to get forward at will and especially th latter was quite a menace for milan to handle and regular crosses were coming in from spurs' right hand side towards the tall target man, peter crouch!..infact tottenham had most of the early chances of the game and milans first real attack came on 20 minutes when corluka lost out possesion to robinho on the left hand side and th brazillion played the ball through to ibrahimovich who did pretty well to get away from dawson and put a cross in but it was too close to gomes and he hooked it away with his hand...abbiati meanwhile was carried away on a stretcher wearing a neck brace after a nasty collision and i certainly hope it wasn too serious and he has been quite a rock at the back for them this season!...marco amelia was brought on to replace the big italian...

spurs meanwhile continued with their all-out-attack approach which harry redknapp had promised and they had a quite clear strategy throughout the game....get the ball to the flanks and then combine the full back with the winger to create a 2 v 1 situation in order to get crosses in....they continuously flooded the box and crouch was again and again getting th better of the centerbacks because of his height...but their attacking wasnt the only notable point of the game...they defended excellently and the strikers werent given any space at all....in the system allegri was playing, all the attacks were to go through seedorf....if you watched th match however you will have noticed that at times he was nowhere to be seen....palacios had an excellent game marking him and as a whole spurs defended very very well and gomes had very little to do during the first half

SECOND HALF CHANGES

allegri brought on pato in the place of seedorf in the hope to cause the spurs back 4 some problems who till that point had had a relatively easy match!...spurs continued with the same team and basically the same strategy....expose the flanks to the pace of lennon and pienaar...this very nearly led to a goal in the opening minutes of the second half as lennon bursted down the right hand side, put in a cross to v.d. vaart who instead of passing square to pienaar tried an audacious but quite brilliant chip over amelia that was JUST wide of the post...th whole of milans defense was caught off guard and if it had been a few inches to the left it wouldv definitely gone in for what wouldv been one of th goals of the champions league!...at the other end a few min later gomes pulled off one of the saves of season after following a corner situation gattuso pulled the ball back into the box and yepes got up above everybody to put in a towering header which the whole stadium mustv thought was certain to go in but gomes took full advantage of his height and somehow reacted quick enough and put in a strong hand to get the ball clear which was heading for the top corner!....

milan certainly picked up from there and started playing better but a disgraceful challenge from flamini ruined th mood at san siro!....lunged in two footed on corluka and it shouldv been a straight red card for the frenchman but he was very lucky to escape with just a yellow!...corluka had to be taken off with a strapped ankle cox of that and was replaced by woodgate!...during all this gattuso had also pushed joe jordan, the spurs assistant and tempers were flaring all around!...gattuso went crazy and started pushing any1 who he challenged with and really shouldv gone off for a push on crouch after an battle for a high ball....

then came the moment as following a couple of crosses into the spurs box, the londoners finally got possession of the ball through sandro who squared it to modric...he took a touch and played th ball through to lennon who had miles of space to run into!....the lightning bolt as i call him broke at full pace...brilliantly got past yepes leaving him for dead and then squared the ball to crouch who had a simple tap in!...it was counter attacking football at its very finest and well spurs did deserve that goal and the win...they'l go into the second leg knowing they have that priceless advantage of an away goal and with the believe that they can charge their way into the quarters now!....

it proved to be a very eventful game and lived up to all the hype...tottenham even without their starlet bale were the better side on th night and deserved th win!...

finally something happening!

makoun has made his move to aston villa

aahh rumors!...finally somethings starting to pop up in th world of transfers!....got quite a lot for you guys today so lets just get right into it!....starting with the stuff that has been confirmed of course...
Cameroon international Jean makoun has signed for aston villa !...most of you will remember that wunder goal he scored for lyon against real madrid last year that did effectively knock real from the competition!....if you haven seen it well here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYHJGdNyL_w ...absolute beauty of a strike from th 27 year old who has signed for villa on a three and a half year deal costing villa 6mil pound..makoun said about the move: "i am thrilled to be here at aston villa. i am really really happy and very proud to have joined a great club. villa have been after me for quite a while, so i am delighted its finally happened. i cant wait to get started now."..makoun will certainly add a new dimension to villas attack and the fans will be hoping he can find his feet quickly to help th club get out of the bottom half of the table and back into form!...
former man united striker ruud van nisterlooy has confirmed that his former club real madrid have made inquiries about him to bring him back as gonzalo higuain has been sidelined for 4 months recovering from an operation and real look for a striker to have as back up for karim benzema!....it well definitely be quite a move if it does actually go through and im sure the fans right now in madrid are going crazy thinking bout having him back!..
according to inter milan's technical director marcon branca, midfielder sulley muntari is looking to exit the club...the ghanian has made just 12 appearances this year with one start and is looking to move away in search of first team football...sunderland have been linked with him but muntari has stated that if he moves he will only go to london...meaning tottenham are on alert right now!...
roque santa cruz has joined his former club blackburn on loan till the end of th season...he was getting quite irritated of being consistently on the bench at man city and it didn look like he was going to experience first team football there any team soon with the array of stars manager roberto mancini has at his disposal and so the Paraguayan has re-joined th club he left when he joined man city...youngsters richie de laet and corry evans have been re-sent out on loan from manchester united to portsmouth and  hull city respectively...the latter who already have signed quite a few players on loan already including th likes of villa keeper brad guzan, arsenal reserve keeper vito mannone, james chester(*again from manchester united*) and aaron mclean from peterborough united...they have also signed matt fryatt from leicester united for 1.2 mil pounds!
okay so now for those delicious rumors!!....apparently negotiations have broken down b/w barca and sergio busquets over th latters contract...an agreement has not been reached over the wages the spanish international is asking for and manchester united have been alerted of this...besquets' current contract expires in 2013 and sir alex will definitely consider him as an option to replace th soon-to-retire paul scholes!
staying with the 3 time champions league champions now and united are being quite heavily linked with a move for portugese left back fabio coentrao!...benefica are believed to have already started looking for a replacement for the 22 year old who was a revelation for portugal in th 2010 world cup!..the rumor emerged after concerns appeared that patrice evra is considering to leave th club in th summer!...united will have to dish out 20mil pounds to sign coentrao if they do decide to go through with the deal!...
oh wait and this just in!....everton have accepted a bid from chelsea for playmaker steven pienaar!....tottenham had also bid for the south african but manager david moyes has confirmed the bid from chelsea has been accepted although pienaars personal terms are still to be accepted by th londoners!...david moyes after sundays merseyside derby said: "we have accepted an offer from chelsea. but steven has not agreed terms with them. we'v given his representatives a chance to talk to chelsea but they'v not got permission to talk to tottenham because they've not offered the same money"...what a move this will be if it does go through...pienaar in my view is one of th better play makers in the epl and would give a HUGE boost to carlo ancelloti's side in their quest to retain the title this year!...
meanwhile aston villa are looking to make a shock bid for german striker miroslav klose!!...real madrid are rumored to be interested in th bayern munich and now it appears villa are looking to challenge them for the striker!....klose has just 6 months left on his contract and so is available for a cut-price..klose has a very good reputation of finding the net especially in internationals with having scored 58 goals in 105 appearances for germany and villa manager gerrard houllier is looking to bolster his attacking options by signing the former werder bremen hitman!...a move to real is still more likely though for the 32 year old!..
and now for th goals of th week..
5.at no.5 we have what now seems like a rare goal from *once in hot form* liverpool striker fernando torres against blackpool!...rb kelly sets him through with a good pass on th right flank and just when it seems th spanish international is going to cut back and cross he blasts a shot across goal into th top right corner quite brilliantly...sorry i couldn find a highlight of just the goal so it can be seen here with the match highlites http://www.footytube.com/video/blackpool-v-liverpool-70073
4. at no4 we have a goal from former liverpool mid(*read major flop*) alberto aquilani who seems to re-found form at juventus...against bari here del piero floats in a free kick which was cleared but not hit hard enough and it fell straight to the feet of aquilani who blasted it in with a very good volley!...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0hinF1IFM
3.lionel messi now and that guy just cant seem to stop scoring goals or going crazy at defences...but heres its not 1 of his oh so very mesmerizing runs that tear defences apart...its a free-kick against deportivo la coruna which is struck perfectly from the little argentine and gives the keeper no chance of stopping it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PylWYAJQ0kE
2.the work horse of man city carlos tevez got on the score sheet twice against wolves and one of them was a BRILLIANT solo run...goes past 3 players(*one of them twice*) and weaves his way through the helpless wolves defence very very superbly and then coolly slots the ball through the keepers legs...from first touch to last this is perfection from the argentine! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V369xkv05Cc (*sorry for the bad quality*)
1. and now the goal keeping that run from tevez from getting top spot...this is from villareal mid cani against osasuna and well i honestly just cant really describe this goal your just gonna have to see it to believe it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeX5iDmJy8Y !!

transfer season not upto expectations!

king kenny is back!

okaaayyy soo where to start?....well quite some stuff(*apart from transfers..honestly isn this one of th most boring transfer seasons ever?=/*) has been goin on in th world of football...in england another exciting round of F.A cup action just passed along...with..as usual..a few surprises along th way as well!...big guns first then....soo th biggest fixture in english world football....and to many th biggest in th world...and in my view it holds just slightly less importance than the el classico but that in itself is a measure of it!....man united vs liverpool!...yes th great english derby as some call it...it was turning out to be a very dismal time going into the game cox of th clubs state but then th thing most(*read EVERY SINGLE 1*) of the liverpool fans was waiting for...new management...roy hodgson left th club with mutual consent(*i think thats just to save his respect a lil he was basically sacked*) and ol king kenny...kenny daglish, 19 years after having left th job was back at anfield and brought with him a new found spirit among th kop..th game though didn do any favors to that!...a very very controversial(*pretty clear it wasn*) penalty being given in th first minute....no doubts though bout th finish as ryan giggs, th maestro slotted it beautifully to make it 1-0...wich it would remain for th remainder of th game wich had many other talkin points as well including th sending off of stevie g but that was a pretty correct decision if you ask me!....united were th better side for th greater part of th game and in th end did deserve th win...th highlites can be seen here if your interested in em http://www.footytube.com/video/manchester-united-v-liverpool-69877...
apart from that there was a very interesting and edge-of-your-seat-stuff kind of game in italy.....AC milan vs udinese!....zlatan ibrahimovich saving Milan in th very depth of stoppage team to make th score 4-4!....th highlites can be viewed here although this does mostly contain only th goals! http://www.footytube.com/video/ac-milan-udinese-jan09-69790
okay so getting to some actual transfers(*rumors*) did actually take place...a lot of loan deals have taken plae although i doubt youd want me to bore you with names of people you probably dont even know!...most prominent would be that ben amos, the reserve keeper of man united has been sent out on loan to oldham.....david beckham meanwhile has arrived in London and underwent a medical today at spurs' chigwell training ground but tottenham are tryin to negotitate with L.A Galaxy over an insurance issue(*you just cant get becks and hope to not pay shit loadz in other stuff related to him now can you?*)....arsene wenger has FINALLY looked to the transfer market and has stated that he might just require a new cb(*wich was i think required anyway*) if sebastian squillacis hamstring problems continue to mess with his playing!...rene adler...keeper of bayer leverkusen has basically issued a "come and get me" call to man united by stating(*again*) that it is his life long dream to play for th club and when growing up peter schmeichel was his biggest idol!...th 25 year old has put his contract talks on hold and has told th board that he is not willing to discuss any any new contract right now and that every1 at th club knows of his high ambitions and man united being his dream club.....i personally dont think united will realy sign him having already ensured th capture of andre lindegaard in that position!....but hey who knows he may just be th new no1 in a couple of years!....thats all for now make sure to keep checking in to th blog for new updates and if you want to be notified of them instantly just become a follower!

its finally here=D

edin dzeko has finally completed his much publicised move

YES!...ITs FINALLY HERE...what wev been waiting for for a long time!....the transfer season!=D.....and it certainly didn disappoint with the rumor machine having been started up again and the names of the biggest being thrown everywhere!...okay so lets just start off with th club thats been going into overdrive when this time comes along since 2 years now...yep you guessed it man city...with what could already be th biggest transfer this season on the first they certainly dont look to be too concerned bout th recession....edin dzeko will reportedly fly to england on wednesday to complete his much talked bout move to man city for a reported €32mil!....this of course does mean there is no longer any place for people like santa cruz and adebayor(*more on him later*) in th starting XI...the former is looking most likely to be headed back to his old club blackburn...he is quite a star there and i think he can finally pick up his career again after failing to get any proper game time at eastlands!...
staying with the premier league now newcastle have confirmed th permanent transfer of hatem bin arfa from marseille...he had impressed before being taken out(*read almost murdered*) by a very gruesome tackle from nigel de jong....that guy certainly dosen have his head...or should i say feet in th right place!...and this is just in...David Beckham has been granted permission to join a club on loan!...tottenham had emerged as favorites to sign th former man united icon on loan from L.A galaxy but 'arry redknapp himself said he doubted th chances of it going through due to permission issues from th american club but they have now allowed becks to move on loan...this will now be th 3rd loan spell becks will be leaving on since join galaxy and hes hoping it can improve his chances for th england squad...now to what has been th main driving force in relation of transfer rumors for a long while now, real madrid...and surprisingly they will not be spending much this jan...in fact they might not be spending anything at all with mourinhos request for a new striker seeming to have been denied by the board...perez has told that current squad will have to do for now....adebayor was being heavily linked to madrid with dzeko confirmed to be heading to city but now he will have to be loaned to some other club...
massimiliano allegri has confirmed that brazilian legend ronaldinho will be leaving the club and heading back to the club where he started his club football, gremio...the former barca play maker stated that "If it were down to me i would already be wearing the Gremio shirt,even on less money."...onto spurs now who look to have earned themselves a lot of media interest cox of that becks issue...him arriving does of course mean no more room for players like david bentley who th club have confirmed will be heading out...he will be joined most prolly by niko kranjcar and robbie keane...birmingham city have confirmed they are in talks with spurs over a possible move for th latter with some 8 mil pounds having been reported to be availabe to manager to alex mcleish!...thats all of that for now here are th top 5 goals of the week:
5.nani with an absolute cracker of a left footed strike putting th ball in th corner of th net against stoke city!...nani bringing th ball himself from midfield and then finding hernandez open who does some absolutely brilliantly quick footwork to find him again at th edge of th area...and from there its just the portugese at his best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYfmq_JWTqQ
4.in the same match the first goal of it now...javier hernandez with a glorious flick to put th ball past begovic!...and again that man nani involved...berba found him on th right flank and he put in a good looking ball towards th centre but absolutely awesome finishing from the young mexican http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jFwCmwGu3A
3.liverpool now looking to find form again and get out of th recent slump theyr in...and for it to be one of th goals of th week you just had to know the 2 who would be involved in this...yup thats right steven gerrard and fernando torres...th former finding torres with a peach of a ball and then th controlled finish past th keeper on th volley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4UYkeDGdv0
2.andrei arshavin now with a very acrobatic finish...hes hit a few screamers in his time at arsenal most notably against united and liverpool but this was just brilliant from th russian...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDgPMZvYF3w
1.and now our goal of th week and what could indeeed turn out to be th goal of th season!...james morrison with a volley against man united that just screams perfection!...he just could not have hit this any better! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8shzB8WIeWA