UEFA Power Rankings 20 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Below are my weekly power rankings for the top (8) clubs teams in UEFA. These rankings are a combination of their play in domestic and UEFA competitions.

Real Madrid continue to be in the top spot while there's little change in the rest of the power rankings.

Arsenal fans? Allow us to distract you with a bulge/bottom/belly related three-fer!

Two football matches, four teams, 22 players, five goals on the night, fourteen across the fixtures.

Holy smokes! We can't believe we got that right on the first attempt!

Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan (3-4 agg)

Image: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images.

It's already thought that, while not yet terminal, the 3-2 defeat by Athletic Bilbao could be another harrowing moment in Sir Alex Ferguson's European career. Like the three seasons in which they were essentially knocked out on away goals before and after winning the Champions League in 1999, it's the concession of home goals which was their bane here.

AC Milan have been drawn against defending champions Barcelona in the quarter finals of the Champions League. The draw carried out in UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland however, failed to produce any other notable ties as all big clubs avoided each other.

Record holding Real Madrid seemed to get the easiest tie after drawing Cypriot side APOEL.

It was not the kind of result Chelsea wanted especially before a crucial Champions League quarter final fixture against Portuguese side Benfica this Tuesday. The barren draw with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge leaves the Blues 5 points behind 4th place Tottenham making it very hard for them to seal a Champions League spot for next season.

An encouraging update on Fabrice Muamba, previews of several matches, recap of the weekend in MLS, and a closer look at Liverpool lead today's top stories. Links for all stories below will open in a new window.

A Preview Of The Crucial Olympic Qualifying Match Between the USA and El Salvador (USSoccer.

TweetCanadian Rapper Drake was the star of the night when he took part in a kickabout with Chelsea players after the Blues' 2-1 Champions League quarter-final win over Benfica. Drake was in the stands to see Chelsea secure their passage into the Champions League semi-finals on an edgy night at Stamford Bridge.

Howard Webb on Newcastle v Man City.
Chris Foy on Man Utd v Swansea.
United have won the league.
We'd like to offer our congratulations to Sir Ferguson and Mike Riley on their stunning triumph.
A team unable to defeat FC Basel, Athletic Bilbao or Benfica in 6 games, beaten by Wigan, Crystal Palace and Blackburn, slaughtered by City and Newcastle is still good enough to win yet another tainted title triumph.

A list put together by BBC Sport on the top 50 players from around the world that could be on the move during the month ahead.

Benfica and FC Porto have done Portugal proud by ranking in the Top 10 of the club world rankings from IIHFS for 2011. Barcelona and Real Madrid were one/two as the two Spanish giants continue their battle on all fronts. Top 10 World Clubs: 1- Barcelona (Spain) 2- Real Madrid (Spain) 3- Velez Sarsfield (Argentina) 4- Manchester United (England) 5- Manchester City (England) 6- Santos (Brazil)

Benfica have come to terms with former Sporting striker Yannick Djalo on a 4 and a half year contract today. Djalo who has been a free agent since his transfer to Nice by Sporting was declared to be invalid due to the transfer window being closed has not seen any action since August 2011. The 25 year old Djalo appeared in 98 games for Sporting, finding the twine 23 times.

Neymar and Ganso model Brazil's new kit

Brazil have named a strong squad for their first fixture of the year. For the match versus Bosnia & Herzegovina in St Gallen Switzerland, as well as Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso, Mano Menezes has called up Flamengo's Ronaldinho and hands a debut to Santos' outstanding young keeper Rafael
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Júlio Cesar (Inter Milan), Diego Alves (Valencia), Rafael (Santos)
Wingbacks: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Danilo (Porto), Marcelo (Real Madrid),
Alex Sandro (Porto), Adriano Corrêa (Barcelona)
Central defenders: Dedé (Vasco), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), David Luiz (Chelsea),
Luisão (Benfica)
Midfielders: Ganso (Santos), Hernanes (Lazio), Lucas Moura (São Paulo), Elias (Sporting), Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk), Sandro Ranieri (Tottenham)
Forwards: Hulk (Porto), Jonas (Valencia), Leandro Damião (Internacional), Neymar (Santos), Ronaldinho Gaúcho (Flamengo)

I'm not going to lie to you. As much as I'd like to sit here and tell you about all of the great action that is taking place this weekend, I'm having a hard time coming up with enough to fill up this entry. There are a pair of great matches on Sunday, that are taking place at the same time, unfortunately, but other than that, the pickings are pretty slim.

Champions League football resumes this week with Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen facing huge uphill tasks while Benfica and Lyon will be looking to protect slender leads.

After allowing the international calendar to take centre stage for a week, the UEFA Champions League returns on Tuesday.

UEFA Champions League Quarterfinal Semifinal Draw Result 2011/2012 March 16 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

UEFA Champions League Quarterfinal Semifinal Draw Result 2011/2012 March 16 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter UEFA Champions League Quarterfinal/ Semifinal Draw 2011/2012 Where- Nyon, Switzerland- 10.

Only one name sprang to mind following Milan's Champions League draw with Barcelona last night : IBRAHIMOVIC! Hold your horses because the only thing Barcelona's bookstores should be releasing in two weeks is an extended Catalan edition of Ibra's epic autobiography.

Ashley Cole has never been the People's Favourite Footballer, but there's a fair chance he's working towards it. Cole arrived at the London Chest Hospital yesterday with QPR's Shaun Wright-Phillips to visit his friend, stricken Bolton player Fabrice Muamba.

I cannot believe all the fuss about what Frank Lampard said the other day and the fact that the press are really focusing on it ahead of our crunch game tonight in Lisbon. At the end of the day, Lampard has said just what we all have been thinking so what's wrong with that?. This is what Lampard said on Chelsea TV:

"The fixtures and where we are in the table doesn't lie - we're not as good as we used to be.

Basta chiacchiere, la parola passa al campo. Anzi ai due, il GSP Stadium di Nicosia e l'Estadio Da Luz di Lisbona che illumineranno i riflettori sulle squadre impegnate nei primi due match di andata dei Quarti di Finale della Champions League. Questa sera, infatti, alle 20 e 45, sono in programma le sfide tra ApoelContinua a leggere .

From 2-0 up and sleepwalking toward three points to 2-2 and then, amazingly, 4-2 this was not the way any of us expected this match to play out. And if you did, you're a weird soul. Nevertheless, it's a crucial win as we inch closer to the top four.

Relief.

I'm not sure that we've played a more bizarre game this season.

The rejuvenation of Chelsea and Torres under John Terry - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

When Roberto Di Matteo John Terry took over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were reportedly in disarray following the dismissal of Andre Villas-Boas. Castrol stats shows that the Italian Englishman has rejuvenated the Blues since his appointment.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer: Chelsea - Benfica at 2:30pm with Chelsea leading 1-0 and Real Madrid - APOEL at 5pm (2:30pm on Fox Soccer Plus and some Fox Sport regional networks) with Real leading 3-0. CONCACAF Champions League semifinal second-legs on Fox Soccer and TeleFutura: Satos Laguna - Toronto at 8pm with the series tied 1-1 and UNAM Pumas - Monterrrey at 10pm with Monterrey leading 3-0.

Benfica these cats have been hatin' all damn week. I believe it's time to shut down all the talk.

Team sheets
Chelsea
TBA

Benfica
TBA

Streaming:
My P2P
FirstRow Sports
Sport Lemon

Benfica these cats have been hatin' all damn week. I believe it's time to shut down all the talk.

Team sheets
Chelsea
TBA

Benfica
TBA

Streaming:
My P2P
FirstRow Sports
Sport Lemon

Barcelona beat Milan 3-1 in yet another controversial Camp Nou Champions League result, while Bayern finished off Olympique Marseille with another 2-0 victory, for an aggregate score of 4-0.

Wednesday, April 4 (both kickoffs at 2:45pmET):

Chelsea vs Benfica: The match to watch on Wednesday.

Video- Raul Meireles goal vs Benfica Chelsea Champions League April 2012 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Video- Raul Meireles goal vs Benfica Chelsea Champions League April 2012 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter This Raul Meireles goal vs Benfica ( VIDEO BELOW) sealed a 2-1 win for Chelsea in their Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Benfica.

Following their progress into the last 4 of the Champions League, a lot of criticism is emerging towards Chelsea's chances of making it all the way to the final. After their 8-2 aggregate win over APEOEL, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has already ruled out chances of his side meeting Chelsea in the final saying that his arch rivals Barcelona were the 'super favourites' to win the fixture.

Chelsea's win Wednesday night against Benfica in the UEFA Champions League was a victory for the club, Roberto Di Matteo, the Premier League and England. So much was riding on the line. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't impressive, but Chelsea ...
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Talk of a surprise loan move for Fabio Da Silva to Benfica emerged from the manager last week and after confirmation from his agent, the player himself has commented.

"I am excited about the opportunity to play for Benfica a very famous and big club," Fabio told A Bola. "I feel very honoured by Benfica's interest, but my transfer now depends on negotiations with Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho has signed a new contract with Real Madrid that will keep him at the Bernabeu until 2016.

A statement on the Madrid website read:

"Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho have reached an agreement to extend the coach's contract with the club until June 30, 2016.

The 2011 year in now behind us and as we now move forward in 2012, we take a look at ten things that should happen for all Portuguese fans this year. 1- Cristiano Ronaldo will win the La Liga Golden Boot 2- Portugal will reach the semi-finals of Euro 2012 3- Porto's Hulk & Benfica's Gaitan will be sold in the summer 4- Benfica will reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League 5- FC

On the 23rd of October 2011, an idea for an app came to mind...
... the number nineteen on a red background would slowly morph into 1-6 on a sky blue background.
Less than a fortnight later and Steve Bruce and Wes Brown were needed to ensure that Sir Ferguson's 25th anniversary was marketed correctly.

Week 14 has finally seen a team take sole spot atop Portugal for the first time since Week 4. Benfica now sits atop the Portuguese League after their commanding 4-0 win over U. Leiria as FC Porto was held to a scoreless draw versus Sporting. Benfica are two points clear of Porto as the season is one week away from the half point.

Week 15 saw Benfica maintain their two point lead over Porto as the season hit the midway point. Benfica earned a convincing 4-1 win over Setubal while Porto stayed pace with a 2-0 win over Rio Ave. In what amounted to the game of the week, Braga defeated Sporting 2-1 to move into sole spot of third place in the Portuguese league as Sporting drop to fourth.

Sneaky throw Benfica's Maxi Pereira was eager to launch an attack after winning a throw-in level with opponents Vitoria Setubal's six-yard box. His team-mate Axel Witsel wasn't in any such rush and was happy to take his time while tying his laces. Pereira didn't want to hang around and decided to throw the ball against [.

Benfica's Bruno Cesar and Jardel were involved in a car accident in Portugal around 9pm on the 20th, both players were unharmed and were passengers in a car driven by a friend. Jorge Jesus was glad that both players were not hurt and revealed that he has also been in a few accidents this season the latest being on Christmas Eve.

Former Sporting player Yannick Djalo is now linked with a move to Benfica and it is being reported that Benfica have offered the striker a contract until 2015. Djalo has not played a game since August do to circumstances involving his transfer from Sporting to Nice. Sampordia and Parma are also said to be interested.

Benfica have loaned out midfielder/right back Ruben Amorim to Braga for the next year and a half. Amorim who had a falling out with Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, recently signed a contract extension with the club until 2013 but the club felt it was in their best interest to loan Amorim to Braga never the less.

Benfica 21 year old striker Nelson Oliveira could be moved out on loan as the Eagles are said to be offering his services to French clubs Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne. The Portuguese U21 year old international is not currently getting much playing time at the Luz and with the signing of Djalo will have even less first team action.

The club's official betting partner, 188BET, is offering all Chelsea FC fans the chance to chat live with Ramires.
Chelsea FC's Brazilian international midfielder will be taking over 188BET's Twitter account to answer fans' questions during a special live interview on Thursday 2nd February 2012.