UEFA Chapions League Double-Header Action

Today will certainly be a fabulous game for those of us who like to follow the Champions League. For the first time, Beckham will get a chance to face his former side in a game that will be high-paced and intense. AC Milan will take on Manchester United; don't expect there to be many goals, but certainly expect lots of emotion and some great skill. Who will win? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe AC Milan will get that composure that has been much needed on their part which will help them defend the attack of Rooney and perhaps help them get by. Or maybe, Manchester United will get off to an early lead and be able to hold AC Milan off. In all honesty, I really don't know about this game and that is more of a reason for it to be watched. It's going to be a thriller.

In the other Round of 16 Champions League game, Karim Benzema will get to face his former club when Real Madrid takes on Lyon. For that game, I can confidently say that Real Madrid will defeat Lyon. Madrid is clearly loaded with far better and more skilled players than Lyon. They have Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Kaká, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Raúl, and numerous other quality players. And as Kaká says, winning the Champions League is the highest achievement.

Cleat of the post: Puma King Exec i FG

And the new manager of Juventus is...?

Manager, Ciro Ferrara, of Juventus has officially been fired. His replacement? Former AC Milan and Inter Milan manager, Alberto Zaccheroni. But the big question in all of this is why? There were numerous reasons for this decision by the club. Earlier in the season Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League. Then, Ferrara was unable to get positive results in the Serie A. And now to make it worse, on Thursday night they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Inter Milan in a 2-1 loss. Clearly, the path had been etched in early on in the season and changes were very much in demand. The club took action and put in Zaccheroni. Unfortunately, over the past few years Zaccheroni's performance has been much less that par.

However, the bigger news in all this is that Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has been suggested to take over the job after this season comes to an end. Benitez was interviewed prior to his Liverpool game this week but declined to discuss matters about this because he didn't want to, I quote, "lose my focus." Personally, this is the same kind of "beating around the bush" that Cristiano Ronaldo had way back when he was first linked to having a move to Spanish side Real Madrid. Obviously, only time will tell.


Cleat of the post: Umbro SX Valor II

Beckham will return to AC Milan; EPL Review

After what seems like almost a year now, it has been confirmed that Beckham will in fact return to AC Milan this January where he will hope to once again make a positive difference in the Italian side. However, I once again return to my prior post regarding Beckham's initial move from the Galaxy to Milan last year. Here is the link to that:
http://soccerupdate.blogspot.com/2009/02/things-in-europe-and-especially-england.html

In the EPL, it seems that year after year it is the exact same teams who are in the exact same places and the exact same places in the season. Chelsea is in first with 27 points, Man U in second with 25 points, Arsenal in third with 22 points, and both Man City and Tottenham tied for fourth with 19 points each. I guess, this year, the only real difference is Man City. One thing that can certainly be said about City is that Robinho and Tevez are a duo that are making a big difference for that side and of course along with Adebayor and Wright-Phillips. But as all my avid readers know, I am a true Man U fan and they will always be first in my mind (corny, yes, but needed to be said and clarified).

AC Milan, let down

Last week, I was lucky enough to go watch AC Milan play Inter Milan at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. With all the hype, I expected to watch a very spectacular and interesting game. However, that was not the case. Both teams played most of their non-starters and only played the starters in the remaining 25 minutes or so of the game. Fortunately for Inter, Milito was able to score early on in the game by defeating new AC Milan player, Oguchi Onyewu 1-on-1. Later on in the match, he would score again to make it two games for him on the day. Inter certainly controlled most of the game with AC Milan producing minimal opportunities.

However, although they game may not have been the most fascinating and exciting to watch, it was good to see a few typical American things in what was supposed to be an Italian atmosphere. First, the whole crowd got the wave started. For all of us who watch European games, we know that the wave is never done during a soccer game. And second, the ref had to mess up giving a card to no one other than Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho was supposed to be given a yellow but by mistake the ref gave him a red, took it back, and then gave a yellow. Classic.

Inter Milan and AC Milan Training

Today, I was fortunate enough to be able to head over to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA to watch the two Italian powerhouses train before their game on Sunday, July, 26th. I will also be at the game and will have a write up of it tomorrow. For now though, I thought I would fall back on the good old cliche, a picture speaks a thousand words. Below you can see some pictures of the training session that I took. Enjoy!
Inter Milan






















AC Milan

AC Milan acquire Onyewu

Earlier today, AC Milan gained US defender Oguchi Onyewu from Standard Liege on a 3 year deal. Certainly, this move will be very beneficial for US Soccer to spread. Hopefully with more Americans moving overseas, more European players will come to play in the US to help raise our standard of play. Hopefully Onyewu will be just as successful as Dempsey has been at Fulham and he will make the US proud. Good luck Onyewu!

Things in Europe (and especially England) are changing. Good or Bad?

Let's just say that Man U is no longer at the top of the Premiership. With three key games played today, the top four in the premier league seems to constantly be shifting. Just keep on reading to learn more about what has been going on!

Today, Liverpool was able to just barely beat Portsmouth to go ahead of Man U in the league by one point. In a game that was 2-2 up until stoppage time was still yet to be decided. With only moments left, Rafael Benitez's side, Liverpool, was able to create a chance for striker, Fernando Torres, to score on Portsmouth. After only being on the pitch for 14 minutes, it really goes to show that a pair of fresh legs can really make a difference in the game. Personally, with nothing against Liverpool striker Babel, had Torres never come one then maybe the game would have ended in a tie and things would be entirely different. With that said, such can be seen of the Blues.

In Chelsea's second match against Hull this season, Chelsea really did not play well. With Hull truly playing with their hearts, the were able to hold Luis Scolari's side to a draw. There really is nothing more to be said; Hull played well, but were unable to score and Chelsea simply did neither of those. In fact, their fans let them know that as they booed their own side at the end of the game.

The third and final major match of today was between Aston Villa and the Blackburn Rovers. Some of you may be wondering why I acknowledge such a game. First off, Aston Villa is one of the more surprising sides this year. They have actually been very successful on the road his year with a second place record for away games; 9W - OD - 3L. Clearly, a very potent record. Furthermore, with their win over Blackburn, they were able to slip into 3rd overall in the league and push the Blues down to 4th. For Aston Villa, the goals during the game are accredited to Milner (27th minute) and Agbonlahor (90th minute).


For those who have been following Italian soccer, you are probably hearing about Beckham's hopes to stay at AC Milan. I felt as if this is good topic for me to post my personal opinion on such. Personally, I am totally against Beckham doing this. Yes, he may still be a very good player, but I thought he originally came to the USA to get away from European soccer since he was too old to keep up with it? What happened there? Secondly, when he signed with the LA Galaxy, he forced the club to make him captain and give up so much more just so that they could acquire him. Now he feels like he has the right to simply turn his back upon them.

This is what I hate about some professional athletes. For example, Plexico Burres and the shooting incident as well as Michael Phelp's and the pictures. Seriously, just because you are a superstar doesn't mean you can break the law and turn your back on people who have done so much for you.

Final scores from today:
Liverpool 3-2 Portsmouth
Aston Villa 2-0 Blackburn
Manchester City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Everton 3-0 Bolton
Sunderland 2-0 Stoke
Newcastle 3-2 WBA
Chelsea 0-0 Hull

Sunday Feb. 8th (Home vs. Away):
Tottenham vs. Arsenal 8:30 EST - Look to possibly see new signing, Andrei, on the field.

West Ham vs. Man U 11:00 EST - Hopefully Man U will regain their number 1 spot in the league by going two points ahead of Liverpool with a win against West Ham.

Manchester City

To much surprise, Manchester City is a rising club. With already signed international Brazilian Robinho, City is looking to further add to their team. With the transfer season beginning next month, the team looks to spend up to 70 million euros for big names. City's top two choices right now are AC Milan's Kaka and Barcelona's Messi. Also on the list are Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo (surprise?!).
At this rate, City is definitely a club that will be staying in the top flight of England's leagues and they are definitely a threat to other clubs for acquiring top level players. Good luck to City in heir venture for building an all around solid team.

This Weeks Highlights

As many of you know, this week was very important as many different competitions were happening around Europe. First off, Man U has finally pulled in within one point of Arsenal (after beating Fulham 3-0) in the premiership and look very capable of wining his year's premiership once again. Additionally, Man U was able to beat Lyon in the champions league which has progressed hem further into the competition. Their next game is this Saturday against Portsmouth for the FA Cup which also looks bright for Man U. As for Arsenal, this year has been an aberration. Things are not looking so swell for them. First, they tied Aston Villa 1-1 in the premiership and will definitely not win the Premiership. On the other hand, Arsenal beat AC Milan 2-0 in the champions league which originally seemed highly unlikely. Other news:

UEFA Champions League
Chelsea 3 - 0 Olympiacos
Fenerbache (win on pk's) 5-5 agg. Sevilla FC
Barcelona 1- 0 Celtic
Roma 2 - 1 Real Madrid
Schalke 04 (win on pk's) 1-1 agg. FC Porto

FA Cup Saturday Quarterfinals
Man U vs. Portsmouth
Barnsley vs. Chelsea

FA Cup Sunday Quarterfinals
Middlesbrough Vs. Cardiff
Bristol Rovers vs. West Brom

Interesting UEFA Results

After today's 4 games, there was only one game that turned out to be what was expected; Barcelona winning 3 to 2 over Celtic. On the other hand, Man U was only barely able to pull off a tie against Lyon (1-1) - many would expect Man U to win, but Tevez, as a sub, saved them with a late game goal to seal the time. Another game, included Arsenal pulling a tie off against AC Milan - many would expect Milan to win. the final game included FC Sevilla and Fenerbache. Unfortunately, Sevilla lost - once again, many would expect Sevilla to win, but another surprising result.
Hopefully in the second leg's of these matches things will turn out for the better especially for Man U. All the way with MAN U!!!

Macnhester United Lose UEFA semi, but win Premiership title

Although on Wednesday, Manchester United lost to Ac Milan in the second leg match (AC Milan wins with a 5-3 agg. score - AC Milan will go on to play Liverpool; a repeat match of the 2005 UEFA Cup) Man U was able to secure their title as this years Premiership winners. After winning their match against Man City, 1-0, yesterday and Chelsea tied Arsenal today, 1-1. Simply put, what an amazing champioship run for the Red Devils this season as they stopped Chelsea from winning another title. Congrats to the Squad and manager Alex Ferguson.

Interesting Fact -
Because Manchester United won the tile, Ryan Giggs is the only player to have won/lead the league in nine champioships. Well done Giggs. Also, as of Saturday, Ronaldo has accumulated 31 goals just in the premiership. Well Done!

Red Devils all the way - again!

Manchester United vs. AC Milan

The next UEFA matchup for Manchester United is against AC Milan; the Italian powerhouse. Wat will each team bring to the finals, we will have to wait to find out. Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of both teams:

Manchester United: Strengths
- Very strong attack from C. Ronaldo and W. Rooney
- Although Man U may not have the best individual talent in the midfield, they have one of the strongest mid fields in the Premiership
- They don't receive many bookings hence, playing clean games as well as showing great sportsmanship

Manchester United: Weaknesses
- Not a strong defense nor goalie; something the need to invest more money in
- Cristiano Ronaldo is this year's main player since he is basically the only player on the team who consistently plays well

AC Milan: Strengths
- Also a strong offense, but not as strong as Man U
- Top notch defense ranging from all over the world

AC Milan: Weaknesses
- Too many "superstars" in the midfield hence, they don't work too well together
- Have had more red cards than Man U (3 to 1) and

Ronaldo to join AC Milan

Ever since last touching the soccer ball during a regular season games with Real Madrid (under coach Fabio Capello) in early June, Ronaldo has been transfered to AC Milan for a $9.7 million contract where he will be able to redeem himself. Only, there's a problem; his teamate on the Brazil National team and now teamate on AC Milan - Kaka. During the 2006 World Cup, these two were not on the same page after game 1 against Croatia. Although Brazil won 1-0, Kaka (in particular) was not happy with Ronaldo's efforts during the game. He told reporters, "a little more movement on his part would have been ideal." (from espnsoccernet.com) We wil have to wait and see to find out whether Ronaldo's transfer is for the good or bad of the AC Milan club!

Ronaldo