The UEFA Europa League wrapped up its third set of group stage matches on Thursday, October 22, 2009. Overall, there were not too many upsets as many of the favorites in each group leading. Here's a recap, video highlights, and the latest group standings for the Europa League for the matches on Thursday.

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One of last season's semi-finalists, Hamburger SV, enter this year's competition in the third qualifying round against Randers FC of Denmark. Hamburg have added one of the most exciting young talents in Europe to their squad and will look to make it all the way to the Europa League finals which will be held at at Arena Hamburg on Wednesday 12 May 2010.

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Yesterday, I asked the question of implementing live video review in football. Today's question is: are our expectations too high for international football? I enjoyed your responses to yesterday's article. Please weigh in with your feelings on international football in the comment section below.

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Barca will field Mali's Seydou Keita, Cote D"Ivoire's Yaya Toure and Cameroun's Samuel Eto'o. If they win, they join a select group of African CL winners. Eto'o would become a double winner.

Bruce Grobbelaar and Craig Johnston (Liverpool FC) in 1984, Rabah Madjer (FC Porto) in 1987, Abédi Ayew (Olympique de Marseille) in 1993, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George (AFC Ajax) in 1995, Samuel Kuffour (FC Bayern München) in 2001,

Benni McCarthy (FC Porto) in 2004, Djimi Traore (Liverpool FC) in 2005 and Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona) in 2006.

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Premier League giants Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC begin their assault on the UEFA Champions League tonight, and both can expect serious tests as they target group-phase berths.
Arsenal travel to face FC Twente on Wednesday, before hosting the Eredivisie side a fortnight later, and manager Arsène Wenger knows his players will have to be focused if they are to emerge triumphant. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal take on AFC Ajax tonight, in the annual Amsterdam Tournament. The match is the first of two games Arsenal will play in the Friendly Competition, with the Gunners taking on Sevilla tomorrow. The decision to participate in the Amsterdam tournament proved to be a good one, as a game against the second-ranked team in [. Click to continue reading...

Eddy Hamel's life story is one of triumph that ultimately ended in tragedy. Born in New York in 1902, he moved to Holland at some point during his teenage years. Not much is known about him until he emerged as a left winger for Ajax in 1922. Amazingly enough though, he was the first player of Jewish descent to play for a club that was feverishly followed by the large, thriving Jewish community of Amsterdam. Click to continue reading...

Wow, what a match. I rarely give keepers Man of the Match awards, but in this case, Slavia Praha's Martin Vaniak deserves it, even edging out the brace from his teammate and captain Stanislav Vlček. Vaniak was simply unbeatable and made a stop on Huntelaar that can only be described as ridiculous.
In the 73rd minute, still at a 1-1 stalemate, Luis Suarez sent a cross to Huntelaar who headed with all his might towards the bottom right corner of the goal. Click to continue reading...

I was originally going to watch the Arsenal-Sparta Prague match, but then I started watching this one and before I could pry myself away, Praha went up 1-0 and I was stuck. In what could easily perceived as a David vs Goliath affair in the most ironic sense, since I have little doubt that the Czech side boasts more experience though Ajax has more pace and overall talent, so far it's looked like a relatively balanced match. Click to continue reading...