As FC Barcelona and Manchester United ready themselves for the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley on 28 May, we take a look at some of the games along the way.
First of all both Man United and Barcelona are fantastic teams, true champions with loads of stars playing for them – its going to be one incredible festival!

You've got to be someone pretty special to work in the highest echelons of professional football in Europe, a most arrogant and self-aggrandising industry, and still be singled out for narcissism. As any media across Europe, maybe even the world, will attest though, José Mourinho snugly fits that bill.

It might be summer but that doesn't mean that the ill feelings between Barcelona and Real Madrid have gone away.

The war of words between the two clubs intensified today when Barca president Sandro Rosell accused Madrid of anti-sporting behaviour and slammed Real coach Jose Mourinho.

I'm going to preface this photo with a couple points to avoid confusion and unneccsary accusations of me being a sore loser or whiner.

1. The Dynamo didn't do enough to win on Saturday. The Union had a game plan, found their goal and frustrated Houston's playmakers all night.

2. Dominic Oduro should have tied the match and had one of the worst shanks in the history of MLS.

By Chris Wright

Reports began flooding in at about Match of the Day time on Saturday evening that there had been an 'incident' at the end of 'The Biggest Club Game In The World™', with Liverpool's Luis Suarez accused of racially abusing Patrice Evra throughout the match.

*** Sepp Blatter hints that 2022 World Cup will be played during the summer. During a BBC radio interview, Blatter explained that the question of whether the 2022 World Cup would be held during the summer was "settled" and that the matches would occur at their normal time. Supporters who die of heat stroke can thank him later.

Manolo Preciado: The Most Interesting Man in the World

There was a time on Saturday night when Lionel Messi actually became frustrated with himself and his teammates. There was a time on Saturday night when Xavi Hernández could not find the killer pass through the hard-working, organized defense.

Photo by cdsessums

It is the tentative dawn of Spring that so often exposes the true resolve of a football team. It is the time when trophies are won and lost, January signings can be truly evaluated and squads are tested to their fullest. With the season taking its toll on players' fitness I wouldn't imagine that there is a manager in the Premier League right now who is able to pick his true first XI.

The FA has confirmed that Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish will not be charged for using unprofessional language towards Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The two bosses clashed when the Reds were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time, with the Frenchman believing that his players had been hard done by the decision, and TV cameras caught the Scot swearing at the Gunners manager.

I hate tryouts. I've always hated tryouts. Kids are stressed. Parents are stressed. Coaches are stressed. Some of it reasonable, some of it not. In some areas with large programs, it amazes me the intrigue and drama that goes on with the 'B' teams and the accusations (sometimes valid, sometimes not) of clubs considering things other than skill in their evaluations.

STARTERS
Bayern Munich made its first offseason signing in Manuel Neuer from Schalke. He is also the German national team keeper.
dN
Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch talking new stadium with Crew brass.
STORY OF THE DAY
Andrew Dampf of the AP reports on 16 arrests that were made yesterday in Italy for alleged match fixing, including an attempt to influence the outcome of Inter v Lecce on Mar 20.

By Cesar Diaz – NEW YORK, NY (Jun 3, 2011) US Soccer Players -- With the recent accusations of corruption within FIFA along with the internal power struggle in CONCACAF, it's easy to ignore that Gold Cup 2011 begins on Sunday, June 5th at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas. It's also easy to overlook the fact that 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of CONCACAF's existence.

(Note: Still no pictures. Sorry for not having updated in a while; final exams and continued tech glitches are a powerful combination)

You may be lost about what's going on with CONCACAF. In fact, I'd be surprised if you weren't. Apparently, while we were all worried about FIFA collapsing under a power struggle driven by corruption, CONCACAF began collapsing under a power struggle driven by corruption.

There's a new video that's beginning to circulate around the Internet. The music is uplifting, the evidence is scant but the message comes across loud and clear: FIFA is ruining the sanctity of the beautiful game. Whether it's through accusations of...
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Following on from yesterday's look at players moving clubs on a regular basis, it is interesting to look at a couple of those moves retrospectively and ask whether they were the right decision. Darren Bent left a Sunderland side in January, a Sunderland side who have been very busy adding quality to their squad this summer.

So dismayed by the announcement of Serie A's schedule and the injustices suffered by his beloved Napoli, their sultan, Aurelio De Laurentiis, a man who knows a dramatic exit, stormed out of the proceedings with some ludicrous accusations involving a teenager and a scooter. Words were uttered: "There are about five people in football I'd believe this last paragraph to be true about he's one of them.

Arsene Wenger confirms Samir Nasri is in Arsenal squad to play Liverpool and does not doubt Manchester City target's commitment

The French boss has praised the midfielder's attitude during pre-season amid transfer saga and says he will be happy to pick him, as he fends off accusations of breaking Uefa rules

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-08-19 13:51:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Why United should be very afraid of City in the Manchester derby

There are still, quite clearly, troubling issues at Manchester City that have arisen largely as a result of their accelerated rise up the league. A gang of superstars, many with egos even bigger than their pay packets, have been signed with the inevitable corollary of occasional discontent and lack of discipline.

Patrice Evra of Manchester United is not stepping back from the alleged racial slurs that he received from Uruguayan international Luis Suarez. Suarez has denied any such thing, and has even posted a comment on his Facebook: "I'm upset by the accusations of racism. I can only say that I have always respected and respect [.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has accused the Football Association of having a disruptive influence, due to its prolonged delay resolving Patrice Evra's racism claims.
A fortnight on from Luis Suárez's contentious bust-up with the Manchester United defender, the Liverpool striker, who was accused by Evra of sustained racial abuse, has still not been asked to provide his version of events.

Everyone seems to have have their own idea of where England National Teams go wrong. The are always new accusations and FA directives to try and address an issue where the country with arguably the best league, and on balance, as good a player as the best of them, where is it all going wrong? [...]

One of the problems we've faced with regards to the new White Hart Lane or Olympic Stadium argument is mixed messages from all parties. It's been hard to understand exactly what's going on from one day to the next. It's fair to say Spurs haven't been forthcoming with answers and it's hard to see how they can be without potentially putting one of their options in jeopardy which is something from a business perspective they're unlikely to do.

FA Cup third round replays and the built-up to the next round of English Premier League action was overshadowed this week by the shock transfer of Darren Bent, who – two days after handing in his transfer request at Sunderland – became the newest member of Aston Villa Football Club. The AVFC club record acquisition did not come without controversy, with accusations of tapping-up and an acrimonious response from Sunderland supporters clouding the days after the deal's completion.

We don't care if it is only the Carling Cup. We don't care that it is 'only' Ipswich.

It is a chance to play at Wembley and win ourselves a trophy, any trophy apart from the damn Emirates Cup! We haven't seen anything silver for five years and its time to put a stop to that before it reaches six.

Well, it's official, LFC have agreed upon a fee with Chelsea and Torres is now free to discuss personal terms and undertake the medical.

For all that it seems like only yesterday that Torres was Liverpool's savior, destined to go down as one of the all time greats, looking back it's been a rather sad, slow decline over these past eighteen or so months that has led to today.

Sod the useless Lee Mason, sod the Everton manager David Moyes who seemed intent on diverting attention away from his team's surrendering of a lead by throwing wild accusations around about Cesc Fabregas, sod the pathetic commentators who seem to have one rule for Arsenal players and another for the team that keep fouling them, sod the lot of them.

The FA revealed that referee Lee Mason made no mention of an approach by Fabregas in the tunnel during half-time. David Moyes said that Fabregas deserved a red card for what he said to the referee during half-time. But both Fabregas and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger denied the accusations. Wenger said he spoke to the referee but the Arsenal captain did not.

Cesc Fabregas is currently the victim of a media witch hunt, for accusations fired at him from yet another sore loser of a manager.. David Moyes and his average Everton outfit, were yet another victim of the Arsenal machine that is steam rolling its way through the EPL this season.. For all Moyes' crying and moaning about what he thought happened, Fabregas WAS NOT sent off.

Sometimes the internet is a terrible thing. Like when it creates a storm of hate around something from nothing.

It began with a match in which the referee made some horrendous calls. Then it boiled over when Moyes called out Fabregas after the eventual win against Everton. Moyes claims that Fabregas said "How much are Everton paying you?

Abou Diaby divides opinion amongst Arsenal fans.

His talent is clear, comparisons with Patrick Vieira are completely wrong but his fitness has let him down massively. This is partly due to being on the receiving end of countless bad challenges that have kept him out the game for a combined time of at least a couple of years.

Local reports are suggesting that Persib's Singapore pair, Baihakki Khaizan and Shahril Ishak, could be heading to Medan Chiefs in the rebel Liga Primer Indonesia.
The Chiefs are coached by Jorg Steinbrunner who is familiar to both players after his lengthy spell in Singapore as a player and coach.

Former Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are to be sued by the club's ex-chairman, Sir Martin Broughton, for defamation.
Hicks alleged Broughton was part of an 'epic swindle' when the latter oversaw the £300million sale of the club in 2010.
The American claims he lost £140m as a result of the sale against his wishes and was critical of Broughton in the process.

Arsene Wenger told Pep Guardiola to congratulate Massimo Busacca, but the Barcelona coach was more interested in congratulating his players. The Swiss referee might have been important during Barcelona's 3-1 victory against Arsenal in a Champions League match Tuesday at the Camp Nou. He might even have been decisive.

As I sit here drinking coffee made all the more delicious by my *boilk* mug, I am now utterly tired of the Interlull.

For all the fear and trepidation, the under performing, and the forthcoming and entirely inevitable collapse which sees us somehow finish 6th, I'd rather that than any more international football nonsense.

For months we anxiously waited for an excuse to post this throwback Paolo Maldini picture from 2004 (taken at Macy's in NYC's Herald Square). Unfortunately, though, the circumstances surrounding today's archives publishing are far from selfish.

Yesterday, the former AC Milan star was indicted on charges of corruption and illegally accessing information systems (aka 'spying').

A few weeks ago our schedule was bemoaned because we played weekend midweek weekend midweek. Now, I'm sure I'm not alone in bemoaning the fact that we have to wait until Sunday lunchtime before our next game, away at Blackpool.

In some ways it might be good, refocus, re-energise etc, but then we just had a two week Interlull to do that and it didn't exactly work out as well as we would like.

What with Ashley Cole's air rifle and Joey Barton's many moments of questionable conduct – the most recent being his claim to be England's best midfielder – this has been another season of woe for the reputation of Premier League footballers. But as the campaign edges to its close they can all breath a sign of relief, for it transpires that there is a player in Holland who tops the lot when it comes to accusations of bad behaviour.

Says it all really. Image: Getty Images/Daylife

For us, results posts act as a form of closure. An opportunity to review the games in the cold light of day and chew the fat on the issues raised. Unfortunately, with second legs due to be played next week, Barcelona considering action over Jose Mourinho's post-match comments and a rabid following of both clubs on our humble website, we have a feeling this one might attract a bit of 'attention' in the coming days.

This season has seen unprecedented league success for my club Cardiff City. The Bluebirds currently find themselves in fourth place of the Championship with a decent shot at promotion to the Premier League. However, rather than feeling excited at the prospect of potential promotion, this season has been one of the most frustrating and unenjoyable I can remember in my time as a Cardiff City supporter.

As French football struggles to come to terms with accusations of institutional racism, Game Intelligence looks back at a man who paved the way for Les Bleus multicultural tradition. Raoul Diagne had trailblazing in his blood. A Senegalese diplomat educated ... Continue reading →