A época começou muito mal para o Sporting, melhorou muito com uma série consecutiva de uma dezena de triunfos, e desde aí tem sido o descalabro total. No campeonato, caiu para a quarta posição. Está a 13 pontos do Benfica, a 8 do FC Porto, a cinco do Braga e tem apenas três de vantagem sobre o Marítimo.

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.

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.

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32 DRAW

Porto v Manchester City

Ajax v Manchester United

Lokomotiv Moscow v Athletic Bilbao

Salzburg v Metalist Kharkiv

Stoke City v Valencia

Rubin Kazan v Olympiacos

AZ Alkmaar v Anderlecht

Lazio v Atletico Madrid

Steaua Bucharest v Twente

Viktoria Plzen v Schalke

Wisla Krakow v Standard Liege

Braga v Besiktas

Udinese v PAOK

Trabzonspor v PSV Eindhoven

Hannover v Brugge

Legia Warsaw v Sporting

* First legs to be played February 16, second legs February 23

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW

FC Salzburg/Metalist v Rubin Kazan/Olympiacos

Legia/Sporting v Porto/Manchester City

Steaua/Twente v Viktoria Plzen/Schalke

Wisla/Standard Liege v Hannover/Brugge

Stoke/Valencia v Trabzonspor/PSV Eindhoven

Alkmaar/Anderlecht v Udinese/PAOK

Lazio/Atletico Madrid v Braga/Besiktas

Ajax/Manchester United v Lokomotiv Moscow/Athletic Bilbao

* First legs to be played March 8, second legs March 15.

Week 12 saw Braga lay a licking on visiting Pacos Ferreira with a 5-2 victory. The win vaulted Braga into a 4th place tie with Maritimo. On Saturday FC Porto moved three points clear of Benfica after their 2-1 victory over Beira Mar, quickly erasing their fall from the Champions League a few days earlier.

Things that girls know that boys have apparently failed to embrace #32: It is never acceptable to wipe one's nose on one's blouse. Not even when you've consumed a container ship's worth of champagne and couldn't locate your nose with a map. Image: MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images.

A title that truly embody's the spirit of this post.

Tweet my Goal! The best gags from Wednesday night's football

Crystal Palace stunned Manchester United with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night. Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace (AET): Match report Meanwhile Spurs lost 2-1 at home to Greek side PAOK Salonika to leave their hopes of making the second round of the Europa League very slim.

Week 11 kicked off after a long hiatus due to International play and the Taca de Portugal qualifying. Beira Mar defeated Academica 1-0 to move into sixth place in the league. Saturday was Derby day in the league as Nacional played Martimo to a 2-2 draw in Madeira, while Benfica hosted Sporting at the Luz.

O que têm em comum Jeffrén Suárez e Urretaviscaya? Aparentemente muito pouco para além de ambos falarem castelhano e de serem ambos extremos. Um foi contratado pelo Sporting ao Barcelona, o outro foi emprestado pelo Benfica ao Vitória de Guimarães. Contudo, ambos têm sido afetados pela "malapata" das lesões, parecendo ambos serem feitos de "papel" ou terem algum problema ósseo nunca antes visto.

Can Arshavin step up to fill vacant Arsenal boots? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Andrei Arshavin has looked a shell of the former player that he looked in his debut season for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal. Since the start of last season, however, his form has taken a downturn and rapidly.

Wait, we play tomorrow?!?!

Yes, people, apparently we still have a couple of more matches to play after decimating Ch3l5ea. Tomorrow sees us return to the Emirates after our triumphant Saturday win, to take on French side Olympique Marseille for the last time this season in a decisive Champions League clash for the right to top Group F.

Week 8 started off with Pacos Ferreira getting the best of Academica 2-0. Olhanense defeated Guimaraes 1-0 while Benfica earned the only road win of the week 1-0 over Beira Mar and moved into top spot in the Portuguese League. Sunday saw the home team dominance of this Week take off as Maritimo defeated Setubal 1-0 to move into third place in the league.

Week 7 started off in Setubal where the home side won 2-1 to keep visiting Rio Ave winless on the season. Benfica then took it to Pacos Ferreira hammering the visiters 4-1 on Saturday. Sunday started with a few stumbles from clubs at the top of the league as Maritimo drew on the road 2-2 with Feirense and Braga suffered their first loss of the season 1-0 to Uniao de Leiria.

Week 6 was kicked off with the Classico as Benfica travelled to Porto to take on FC Porto as last seasons number one and two met for the first time this season, in what was an entertaining contest Benfica came back from two times down to leave the Northern city with a 2-2 draw. Saturday, Braga pulled out a hard fought 2-0 victory over Nacional to move into a three way tie atop the

Several of the U.S. National Team players were in action for their clubs as the group phase of the Europa League kicked off Thursday. Here's a recap:
Jozy Altidore continued his blistering scoring pace for AZ Alkmaar, netting his sixth goal in eight matches in all competitions when he fired home the opening goal in the 4-1 win against Malmo.

Atletico Madrid v Celtic Highlights 2011 Europa League Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Atletico Madrid v Celtic Highlights 2011 Europa League Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Atletico Madrid v Celtic 2011 Score and result:- Atletico Madrid vs Celtic 2-0 ( Falcao, Diego) Vicente Calderon, Madrid- Europa League 2011 Group I- 15 September, 2011 Goals from Radamel Falcao and Diego help Atletico [.

De acordo com alguma imprensa brasileira, o desengonçado avançado colombiano poderá vir a reforçar o plantel do Santos, cuja maior estrela é Neymar. Com 26 anos, Renteria foi um dos destaques do Once Caldas, do seu país, na última Taça dos Libertadores da América e deve chegar por empréstimo Vila Belmiro.

Gralhas toda a gente dá, mas há gralhas e gralhas... Na sua edição de hoje, o "Jornal de Notícias" brinda-nos com algumas na sua secção de desporto. Na notícia que a imagem reproduz identifica o inglês Andy Carrol como se ainda fosse jogador do Newcastle... Até seria um erro compreensível se o avançado não se tivesse transferido a época passada para o Liverpool por uns "míseros" 40 milhões de euros.

Sporting KC have added to their depth ahead of a potential playoff run as they've signed long time trialist, Peterson Joseph. Joseph has been trialing with the team since earlier this summer, and even played for Sporting KC in the second half of the clubs friendly against Newcastle back in July. Joseph comes to KC after leaving Portuguese side, FC Braga.

Uefa have announced the groups for the next round of the Europa League which features two Portuguese clubs, last seasons finalists Braga and Sporting. Group ATottenham Rubin Kazan PAOK Shamrock Rovers Group B Copenhagen Standard Liege Hannover Vorskla Poltava Group C PSV Eindhoven Hapoel Tel-Aviv Rapid Bucuresti Legia Warsaw Group D SPORTING Lazio Zurich Vaslui Group E Dynamo Kiev

Group F: Arsenal – Marseille – Olympiacos – Borussia Dortmund.

That doesn't look like a group of death to me but there is enough in there keep things on edge. Perhaps part of the reason is also that Arsenal will have to go on a long, consistent run before most fans regain complete confidence.

Week 2 opened with last seasons defending Champions FC Porto continue their unbeaten run in the Portuguese League with a 3-1 drubbing of Gil Vicente. Benfica then earned their first victory of the season defeating newly promoted Feirense by the same 3-1 score. Sporting was not so lucky playing to their second consecutive draw to start the season against Beira Mar.

Portuguese clubs did not fair well this week in European competitions with none of the five clubs in action coming away with a victory. Benfica opened the week of drawing 2-2 with Dutch club Twente and will be looking to advance to the Champions League group stage at home this coming week. In Europe League action, Sporting, Braga and Nacional all played to scoreless draws against

When James Milner re-joined Villa from Newcastle our side was so conditioned to channel the ball down the left in search of Ashley Young that Milner struggled to get involved and spent far too much time as a spectator. That soon began to change, bit by bit, and it wasn't long before we were finally achieving the balance we'd missed for so long.

Braga did not win any trophy last season but they did get the better of any club in Portugal when it came to earnings in European competitions last season. Braga earned a total of $16,370,191 euros last season from participating in the Champions League and reaching the final of the Europa League.

Neither side were able to break the deadlock at Craven Cottage in a game that failed to ever spark into life. As the visiting manager, Alex McLeish will rightly be happier with his point, but will have Shay Given to thank for a number of important saves and might be concerned about the lack of any real threat at the opposite end today.

Celtic forward Gary Hooper has admitted that last year's shockingly early elimination from both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualification has left him seeking vengeance.

Hooper, who scored his first goal for the Hoops over the course of the 4-2 aggregate defeat to Portuguese outfit Braga in the club's first Champions League qualifier, went on to see his teammates lose out to Utrecht in a Europa League qualifier while sidelined with an injury.

Celtic forward Gary Hooper has admitted that last year's shocking early elimination from both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualification has left him seeking vengeance.

Hooper, who scored his first goal for the Hoops over the course of the 4-2 aggregate defeat to Portuguese outfit Braga in the club's first Champions League qualifier, went on to see his teammates lose out to Utrecht in a Europa League qualifier while sidelined with an injury.

Portuguese clubs have been handed their next round of games in Europe by the draw in Nyon today. Benfica will look to advance to the Group Stage of the Champions League as they take on Dutch side Twente, the games will be played Aug 16/11 and August 24/11. While in the Europa League, four Portuguese clubs look to make the Group Stage with Sporting facing Danish side Nordsjaelland.

Two second half goals gave Derby the win in a game missing a lot of our big names, including new boy Charles N'Zogbia, but provided a useful, if uninspiring, run out for a lot of young squad players.

This post is more a stake in the ground to record the result, I managed to pick up very little during what was very much a low key, perhaps even dull, affair.

It's official then, Charles N'Zogbia is a Villan. I'd assumed that it wouldn't be completed, or at least officially announced, until after the weekend since just about everyone is in Hong Kong at the moment, but I guess it really was just a formality in the end.

It looks like N'Zogbia is going to have the number 10 shirt, the same number he had at Wigan, left behind by John Carew.

Palermo vs Thun 2-2 Highlights Video Europa League 2011 Goals is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Palermo vs Thun 2-2 Highlights Video Europa League 2011 Goals is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Palermo vs Thun 2011 Europa League Final score and result:- Palermo vs Thun 2-2 ( Ilicic, Miccoli/ Luthi, Schneider) Europa League 2011 Qualifying Third Round First Leg- Palermo at home- 28th July, 2011 Fabrizio [.

Christian Poulsen still does not know if he has a future at Liverpool, according to his representative.
The Denmark international proved to be a major disappointment in his first season at Anfield, having been signed by former manager Roy Hodgson last summer.
Kenny Dalglish only used Poulsen on six occasions and the 31-year-old did not play again after the 1-0 defeat at Braga in the Europa League in early March.

The exhibition season is upon us once again as Portuguese clubs get set to start their friendlies after a summer break, upcoming games. July 6/11 FC Porto vs Tourizense July 6/11 Guimaraes vs Brasov (Rom) July 8/11 Seia vs P. Ferreira July 9/11 Beira Mar vs Brasov (Rom) July 9/11 Trofense vs Rio Ave July 9/11 Freamunde vs Braga July 9/11 Benfica vs Nice (Fra) July 9/11 Guimaraes vs Penafiel

Braga have signed Italian keeper Tommaso Berni to a two year. The 28 year old keeper has moved to the club on a free transfer from Lazio. Berni started his career with Inter before moving to English club Wimbledon but did not see any action until he joined Ternana Calcio in 2003. The keeper spent last season on loan with Salernitana.

In an off-season that has been highlighted about players leaving Atletico Madrid, it is a welcome change to write about a player who is joining the club.

Sílvio, who is a Portuguese international defender, was signed from Braga for a fee reported to be in the region of €8m and has signed a five-year deal at the Vicente Calderón.

Spanish Football Club ATLETICO DE MADRID has announced the signing of Portugues defender from SPORTING DE BRAGA, SILVIO Manuel Azevedo of 23 years of age. New Atletico de Madrid player Silvio The player signs for the next 5 seasons & will be officially presented tomorrow in Madrid. While with Atletico de Madrid & staying with transfers, Atletico de Madrid goalie DAVID DE GEA was in the city

This article was written by Pete South, follow him on Twitter @peterwsouth.
UPDATE: VILLAS-BOAS HAS SIGNED A THREE YEAR CONTRACT WITH CHELSEA
Andre Villas-Boas has resigned from his post as Porto manager amidst widespread speculation he will be installed as the next Chelsea boss, with a Portuguese news agency claiming the 33-year-old paid the €15 million release clause in his contract that allows him to leave the club himself.

Andre Villas-Boas to bring youthful exuberance and flair to Chelsea - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Andre Villas-Boas will become the seventh Chelsea manager in the same number of years as owner Roman Abramovich activated his staggeringly high release clause totalling £13.3 million from FC Porto.

FC Porto have denied that current boss Andre Villas-Boas is set to join Chelsea amidst mounting speculation that the highly-rated coach is to be unveiled as the new Blues boss.

According to reports, Chelsea are set to move for the current FC Porto boss with The Times in particular reporting that Jose Mourinho's former assistant is ready to leave the Portuguese champions and follow in the ‘Special One's' footsteps and sign for Chelsea.