Through to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, for the first time ever. Thursday's 1-0 loss in St. Petersburg was a "happy" loss for Udinese, as Pasquale Marino's boys achieved a club milestone by beating current champions FC Zenit 2-1 on aggregate, and qualifying for the last 8 of Europe's "lesser" competition.

With a new job just around the corner, Zenit St Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat has now got no qualms about letting his feelings be known.
Having just completed the signing of Torino star Alessandro Rosina on Friday, everyone was happy it appears apart from coach Advocaat.
Advocaat was apparently fuming that he actually didn't sanction the move for the Italian and does not believe the Italian is a good addition to the squad.

" Mmmmmmm. Where is my Rolodex? "

With Franck Ribery out, Bayern has been struggling without his creativity. They lost to Bordeaux, 0-2 in the CL and are almost out of contention to make the round of sixteen.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern are in sixth place with 19 points after five wins, four draws, and two losses.

I had the opportunity to speak with Andy Brassell of the BBC's excellent World Football Phone-in on Up All Night. I want to emphasize that for those of us who follow the Bundesliga, this show, although based in England, can be a massive resource. Tim Vickery, with his knowledge of South American Players, and Andy with his knowledge of the continental players as well as the Bundesliga itself can aid us in getting to understand new players to the league.

Zenit St. Petersburg was the straw that broke the Camel's back. Rubin Kazan let the cat out the bag. In 2007, after years of domination by Moscow teams - Spartak, Lokomotiv and CSKA - Dick "the little General" Advocaat coached the Sine-Byelo-Goluboy (Blue-White-Sky-Blues) to its first ever Russian Premier league title, followed suit by winning the UEFA Cup and the rather innocuous UEFA Super Cup.