Marouane Chamakh Rated in: 36 game(s) vs Liverpool: 6 vs Blackpool: 7.5 vs Blackburn: 7 vs Bolton: 7 vs S.C. Braga: 8 vs Sunderland: 7 vs Tottenham: 6.5 vs West Brom: 5 vs Partizan: 7 vs Chelsea: 5.5 vs Birmingham: 6.5 vs Shakhtar: 7.5 vs Manchester City: 7 vs West ...

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.

Laurent Koscielny Rated in: 43 game(s) vs Liverpool: 7 vs Blackburn: 5.5 vs Bolton: 6.5 vs S.C. Braga: 7.5 vs Sunderland: 8.5 vs Tottenham: 9 vs West Brom: 4.5 vs Chelsea: 6 vs Newcastle: 8.5 vs West Ham: 8 vs Newcastle: 5 vs Tottenham: 6 vs Aston Villa: 7.5 vs ...

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.

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.

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.

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

Portuguese clubs get set to play in the Europa League Round of 32 matches tomorrow as FC Porto, Benfica, Sporting and Braga will all be in action. Benfica is the lone Portuguese club playing their first leg at home of the four as they host Stuttgart from Germany.FC Porto will make the short trip to Spain to face Sevilla, while Sporting heads to Scotland to take on defending Scottish

Although it isn't the best competition to take part in, the UEFA Europa League offers Liverpool a great chance for silverware and a platform on which to build for next season.
Despite last night's draw against Sparta Prague, the Reds still have a good opportunity to progress all the way to the final should they take this competition seriously.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva insists it is unfair to heap unrealistic expectations on club record signing Andy Carroll.
The £35million January arrival from Newcastle has made just two substitute appearances, totalling 49 minutes, in the last week having finally recovered from a thigh injury which has sidelined him since December 28.

PSV vs Benfica 2011 14th April, 2011- 14/4/11- Europa League quarterfinal second leg Final score:- PSV 2-2 Benfica ( B. Dzsudzsak, Lens/ Luisao, Cardozo pen) ( Benfica win 6-3 on aggregate) SL Benfica set up a semifinal meeting with fellow Portuguese side Braga after drawing 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven away from home.

Here we go again with Serie A Weekly giving you a list of five stories to read this lunchtime that we have seen from around the web and enjoyed ourselves. Many of these will be about Italian football of course but there is always room for something different and those will be here too. Take a look at our recommendations, pass them on and be sure to leave a comment on these great articles.

FC Porto vs Braga 2011 Europa League 2011 Final- 18 May, 2011- 18/5/11- Aviva Stadium, Dublin Final score:- Porto vs Braga 1-0 ( Falcao) Radamel Falcao scores the only goal of the game as Porto beat Sporting Braga to win the 2010/11 Europa League crown. Falcao's winner was his seventeenth Europa League goal of the [.

FC Porto wrote another chapter in their majestic season by becoming Europa League champions. Porto beat Sporting Braga 1-0 in the Europa League final at the AVIVA Stadium (referred to as the "Dublin Arena" for this final). Porto had previously claimed domestic league honours, their 25th league title, as well as winning the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (also known as the Portuguese SuperCup).

Jack Wilshere Rated in: 46 game(s) vs Liverpool: 6 vs Blackpool: 6.5 vs Bolton: 6.5 vs S.C. Braga: 8 vs Sunderland: 6 vs Tottenham: 8.5 vs West Brom: 6 vs Partizan: 7 vs Chelsea: 7.5 vs Birmingham: 7.5 vs Shakhtar: 8 vs Newcastle: 6.5 vs Wolves: 6 vs Everton: 4.5 vs ...

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.

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

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.

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 [.

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.

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.

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.

Braga opened up the second half of the Portuguese League with a convincing 3-0 victory over lowly Portimonense as last seasons runner-up looks to regain their form, the victory moved Braga into fifth place in the league.Braga was held by Portimonense to a scoreless first half before Helder Barbosa finally opened up the scoring six minutes into the second half as his low shot evaded the

Three points, clean sheet, hat-trick, comfortable wins. As Maria von Trapp would say, "these are a few of my favorite things."

That was as dominant a performance as I can remember from Arsenal this season (I know we didn't hit the margin of victory we did against Shakhtar, Braga, or Blackpool) we were just completely in control and comfortable from the 1st minute to the 90th, and never looked like we were taking anything less than 3 points.

Three points, clean sheet, hat-trick, comfortable wins. As Maria von Trapp would say, "these are a few of my favorite things."

That was as dominant a performance as I can remember from Arsenal this season (I know we didn't hit the margin of victory we did against Shakhtar, Braga, or Blackpool) — we were just completely in control and comfortable from the 1st minute to the 90th, and never looked like we were taking anything less than 3 points.

The Winter transfer window has officially closed and we now take a look on a team by team basis of what was completed in Portugal. All figures are in British PoundsFC PortoINKelvin (Parana Club) $1,760,000Juan Iturbe (Quilmes) $1,320,000OUTBruno Moraes (Gloria Bistrita) Free TransferDiego Valeri (Atletico Lanus) Free TransferBenficaINLionel Carole (Nantes) $660,000Jardel (Olhanense)

By Geoff Reid

Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk from the Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Not one of the most glamorous ties on paper for various reasons, it should be an interesting one nonetheless. The hosts are coming off two defeats in a row, and their first home defeat since April 2010 with a 2-0 loss to Napoli.

1pm ET, live in the US on GolTV
Round of 32:
Liverpool: 1-0 Sparta (h); 0-0 Sparta (a)
Braga: 2-0 Lech Poznan (h); 0-1 Lech Poznan (a)
Group Stage Results:
Liverpool: 0-0 Utrecht (h); 1-1 Steaua (a); 3-1 Napoli (a); 0-0 Napoli (a); 0-0 Utrecht (a); 4-1 Steaua (h)
Braga: 0-2 Shakhtar (a); 2-0 Arsenal (h); 1-0 Partizan (a); 2-0 Partizan (h); 0-2 Shakhtar (h); 0-6 Arsenal (a) [Champions League]
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 3-1 United (h); 1-3 West Ham (a); 1-0 Sparta (h)
Braga: 2-1 Benfica (h); 0-0 Naval (a); 2-0 Lech Poznan (h)
Goalscorers (Europe):
Liverpool: Ngog 5; Gerrard 4; Kuyt 2; Cole, Jovanovic, Lucas 1
Braga: Lima 5; Alan 2; Echiejlie, Paulo Cesar 1
Referee: Serge Gumienny (BEL)
Guess at a lineup:
Reina
Carragher Kyrgiakos Skrtel Johnson
Lucas Poulsen
Maxi Meireles Cole
Kuyt
We knew that Shelvey, Kelly, Aurelio, and Agger would definitely be out.

GolTV brings us two Europa League games: Braga - Liverpool at 1pm and Ajax - Sparta Moscow at 3pm ET.

Kenny Dalglish has admitted that Steven Gerrard could be forced to undergo surgery in order to cure his groin problem, with reports suggesting the Liverpool captain could miss much of what remains of the season.
Gerrard did not travel with Liverpool for their Europa League tie against Braga on Thursday evening as he continues to struggle with the injury, which has afflicted him for a month but did not prevent him from playing in the 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday.

What we learned by watching Liverpool fail to extend their 14-match unbeaten run in Europe is that Kenny Dalglish still has a long way to go in rebuilding this squad. Liverpool have played so much better under Dalglish that our expectations are such that losing to a ragtag side like Portugal's Braga does not seem conceivable.

Carroll impressed the fans... It was another drab performance in the Europa League for Liverpool and as much as we all try to, it was hard to find a positive from such a game. The main excitement was the chance to see Andy Carroll again and thankfully the Geordie did get some game time. Braga who have done well against Arsenal at their home ground of The Quarry before were well up for the task

Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool had a short felt of joy as just days after beating Manchester United in the league, the Reds were humbled by Braga in the Europa League and definitely have to turn the tie around at Anfield in order to progress.

Despite losing the first leg, this result somehow pleased Dalglish , who felt that his team were actually lucky to get away from the match only with a 1-0 defeat considering their poor performance especially in the first half.

Liverpool failed in their attempts to equal a club record 14-match unbeaten run in Europe with a 1-0 defeat against Braga in their last-16, first-leg Europa League tie in Portugal.
The location of the AXA Stadium is no stranger to displays of hard labour, having been carved into the face of the former Monte Castro quarry.

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On this week's main report we take a look at the beginning of the season and see how our predictions at that time have panned out.

All 3, yes that's right all 3 of our Portuguese teams in the Europa league have won their first legs! I wasn't surprised, but I bet the world was. Okay, maybe I was a little surprised by Braga, but I couldn't be happier for them. In [read more]

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On this week's main report we take a look at the beginning of the season and see how our predictions at that time have panned out.

Liverpool medical chief Dr Peter Brukner insists surgery was the only solution to Steven Gerrard's troublesome groin injury.
The Reds skipper went under the knife on Thursday and will be sidelined for up to four weeks.
Brukner and his team had tried to nurse Gerrard back to fitness after he suffered the problem in the win over Chelsea on February 6.

Liverpool's Pepe Reina has shrugged off claims that he is the club's best-ever goalkeeper.
It has been suggested that Reina, 28, is better than club legends such as Ray Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar and Tommy Lawrence.
Reina has picked up four out of the last five golden gloves - the award given for the most Premier League clean sheets every season - and also set a club record when he recorded 100 clean sheets in just 198 appearances.