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May 20th, 2008Manchester United Vs Chelsea
May 20th, 2008Manchester United Vs Chelsea.
It will be a big night for English football fans when Manchester United and Chelsea will meet in UEFA Champions League Final on Wednesday 21st of May. Both teams looking for a big win in Europe infect it will be Chelsea’s first UEFA Champions League Final appearance. Manchester United will play their 3rd UEFA Champions League Final.
Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League title twice and last was in 1999. So they have 100 % record to win UEFA Champions League Final. Also they will go to Moscow with 13 successive home wins where they declared as a home team.
For Chelsea it will be big match for their club as they are debut in UEFA Champions League Final and looking for first title after losing English Premiership Title last week. They have some injury problems while Manchester United has fit players and biggest selection headache for Sir Alex.
Manchester United will be looking a revenge of 2-1 lost against Chelsea. Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has warned Chelsea that his team will not give any chance to win UCL title. On the paper both teams are strong and we can’t say anything about result but expect a good match from Moscow.
Also both teams have been warned that the pitch is dangerous and not a proper pitch for UEFA Champions League Final. Groundsmen are working on the pitch and improve it. UEFA have appointed Slovakian Lubos Michel as referee and he will take charge of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea.
Olympiakos Move Ahead To Second Round
December 12th, 2007After scoring two goals, midfielder Ieroklis Stoltidis steered Olympiakos to victory, sending them to the second round of the Champions League after thrashing Werder Bremen 3-0 Wednesday.
After two draws that lifted them to the knockout round of the tournament while the losers were done away with, this is the first victory at home for the Greek team this season in this European competition.
A witty pass from Democratic Republic of Congo striker Lomana Lua Lua put Stoltidis just outside the penalty area and his low left-footed blast. Stoltidis scored in the 12th minute and sent a volley from outside the area past Tim Wies, Bremen goalkeeper. Darko Kovacevic headed in Olympiakos’ second in the 70th, heading in a free kick from Stoltidis.
Before the two not-on-time goals by Olympiakos, Werder Bremen had two brilliant chances to put the score on deadlock, the first coming at the 48th minute when Naldo’s header was jerked away from the goal line by defender Costas Mendrinos who arrived during the first half as a substitute for the injured Christos.
Stoltidis made sure of the win four minutes later to assure his side second place in Group C following Real Madrid, who beat Lazio 3-1. Werder now has a place in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.
Stoltidis believes that the win was definitely deserved. He says they’ve been playing well throughout the tournament even without getting the results, and that they always believed in themselves which he thinks is the key for winning this time’s game.
Celtics and Milan Updates
December 6th, 2007The Celtics was able to once again be included in the Champions League as they did last year. However, Gordon Strachan, who was the team’s manager, was not that pleased with his team’s performance.
On its recent bout against AC Milan, the Celtics lost with an ending score of 1-0 therefore losing its spot. But as Shakhtar Donetsk has been beaten by Benfica with a score of 2-1, the Celtics were still able to qualify in the end.
Strachan was reported to have managed to joke around by saying that his game thoughts might not really be useful at the moment regarding the loss suffered by Donetsk. Yet he clearly was pleased with the fact that it was an easy way for them to enter into the Champions League.
He went on to state that although the team might want to go into a hotel and celebrate their entry, Strachan knows that there are far better things they needed to sort out. At the current season, the team had to endure 15 losses out of 16 with one draw.
Moreover, Strachan went on to say that he prefers to avoid other English clubs during the first round of the Champions league. Strachan by the way was the former midfielder for Manchester United.
Since he was already used to playing in England, Strachan wanted to a feel of other stadiums apart from England’s. He wanted to play against teams far from Europe for the added challenge and also to face a far more different crowd.
In addition, Carlo Ancelotti—Milan’s coach was more than pleased to have their win at home within Group D. It was actually their third time to get a good win. He also stated that it was important for the holders to be able to finish at the top spot.
But when it comes to San Siro, they have surely suffered some drawbacks although Ancelotti acknowledges the importance of being able to gain second leg at the San Siro match.
In Group D, the matches set for the last round have been moved into a much earlier schedule. This is because team Milan is now also traveling towards Japan to compete in the Club World Cup.
Ancelotti also says that he gives his team a nine day recovery period. Since their Brazilian striker, Ronaldo, has been out due to an injury, Ancelotti hopes that the player would be able to display his feat once more at the coming game although there aren’t confirmations made yet.
For both Celtics and Milan, there are still tough games which lay ahead of them. However, each team promises to perform at their very best and learn from the mistakes which have greatly caused them to be at the tipping side during the games. Both teams remain hopeful that the forthcoming games would motivate them to do better, as both aspire to finally get their hand on that much coveted Champions League trophy. Well, fans would also want that as well as they do.
Binya Not Happy with Treatment
November 21st, 2007Augustin Binya understands that what he did was wrong, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy with the treatment he’s received from fans as of late. The Benfica player took a bad angle and made a bad tackle on Celtic star Scott Brown in a play that could have easily led to serious injury.
Luckily for everyone involved, Brown was able to get away without any serious injury, but the play that happened during a Champions League game wasn’t pretty. UEFA took strong and evasive action in reprimanding Binya, as they instructed him to sit out six games.
Binya didn’t have any problem serving out that suspension, but he does have a problem with how he’s been treated since then. He feels that he’s not being allowed to play his game because of the event.
Though Binya knows that his tackle wasn’t the best move he’s ever made, he’s tired of being treated like a dirty criminal because of it. He indicated to local media that some people have been saying awful things to him, including an assertion that he’s as bad as a murderer.
Brown contended at the time that Binya had clearly aimed to hurt him, but the ex-Hibs youngster recovered from the incident quickly.
Brown hasn’t helped matters much, as his statements indicated that he felt Binya’s intention was to injure him. Still, Binya wanted to make it quite clear that he’s no animal and he doesn’t intend to stand pat while people run down his good name.
McManus Likely to Play
October 22nd, 2007Though it may have seemed a long shot just a few short days ago, it looks as if Celtic skipper Stephen McManus is all set to play in his side’s match against Benfica this week. Despite widespread speculation that’d be lost for the match, McManus was given clearance to travel with the team yesterday.
McManus was involved in a nasty play in the team’s match against Rangers on Saturday. Fans were left worried as the player had to be assisted off of the pitch by both a stretcher and an oxygen match. He went up for a 50/50 ball during the closing part of that match, and suffered what appeared to be a vicious head bump. After spending some time recovering in the hospital on Saturday, McManus was cleared by Celtic team doctors to travel. He will even be able to join the team for their flight from
According to a team released statement at the official website, “Doctors were happy with the results of the tests carried out on Stephen and his progress with be monitored by the Celtic medical team over the next few days.”
This is certainly good news for fans of the Celtic side, as they go into a game that most think that should win. Celtic are in second place and in good position to claim Group D as they’ve earned three points in the opening two matches. They’ll face a desperate Benfica side, which don’t have any points in group play thus far.
Chelsea Lose, but Advance Through Knockout Stage
October 18th, 2007Even though they couldn’t claim a positive result against Werder
For the entire night,
Drogba had to leave the match at the midpoint of the second half because of an apparent knee injury. Ballack, on the other hand, played hard through an ankle injury that slowed him during the match.
If
Liverpool, Benitez Eye Improvement for Red
October 16th, 2007It hasn’t exactly been a happy start thusfar for Liverpool, as the Reds have struggled to keep up in the extremely competitve UEFA Champion’s League and in the English Premiership. After showing early signs of life during the first part of the season, coach Rafael Benitez’s squad looks to have lost its way in recent weeks. Their poor play has led the Liverpool head man to voice his concerns through the media.
For Benitez and the rest of the Reds, the emphasis has been placed upon the long term as opposed to focusing on the short term. The coach knows that his squad’s hot start had many people believing that it could be their year. Now, it looks like a season that is quickly headed downt he drain.
Benitez knows that keeping an eye on the long term prize is more important than focusing on short term struggles. “I think we are in good position at the moment, but it is true that we need to improve,” Benitez told the media during an interview last week. In short, there is reason to believe that the Reds might have a plan in mind to improve over the course of the season.
Benitez has been somewhat challenged upon his platoon approach that has been employed over the last few seasons. While many pundits have estimated that the coach is misusing his players, the head Red has argued that he’s actually saving his best guys for a late season run. Their fresh legs should be an advantage in trying to track down Arsenal and the rest of the leaders over the next few weeks.
”I think we are in better condition that last year,” he said. “We have the legs to challenge from here on out.”
UEFA Ruling Hurts Celtic, AC Milan
October 15th, 2007When an unruly fan stormed the pitch during last week’s match between Celtic and AC Milan, no one could have ever estimated the costs to both sides that occurred because of the incident. Celtic pulled off the major upset, but that wasn’t the only loss that
After the Celts’ Scott McDonald notched the eventual game winning goal during the second half of the game, a supporter made his way onto the field and into the action. That fan made his way towards the Brazilan Dida and caused the goalkeeper’s response that would eventually lead to his suspension. Dida was brushed by the fan, but he faked a much more serious injury following the incident. This should have a significant impact on
The fine against Celtic came as a result of what the UEFA board deemed a “lack of organizational control”. Dida, on the other hand, was guilty of violating one of the game’s most basic premises. He violated the game’s “principles of loyalty, integrity, and sportsmanship”, which are protected vigorously under league rules.
At last word,
Celtic has taken action against the fan that caused the widespread ruckus. He has been convicted in court of disturbing the peace and will have to suffer under a lifetime ban from all future Celtic matches.
AC Milan Reportedly Shopping for a Goalkeeper
October 13th, 2007AC Milan’s situation at goalkeeper seems to be a volatile one. With their appeal to UEFA still pending, the club is looking to expand its options in the net. Dida is still the go-to guy for
As far as potential replacements go, it looks like
According to published reports, AC Milan made contact with former Real Madrid goalkeeping coach Franco Tancredi. The purpose of that contact was clear, as the club sought to uncover more information about their potential replacement goalkeeper.
There are a few other names being thrown into the ring, as well. CKSA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is only a young man at age 21, but he has drawn some serious looks from the
