Rafael Benitez acknowledges that Liverpool's clash with Manchester City on Saturday is 'make or break' to their hopes of ensuring Champions League football next season.
The stakes are very high for boss Benitez, who has sent four players - Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera, Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio - to Belgrade this week for unorthodox placenta cell treatment on their injuries. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool have been given a boost ahead of their crucial Champions League tie with Debrecen by the news that captain Steven Gerrard should be back for the game.

The club currently sit in third place in Group E on four points and are five behind Fiorentina in second place with only two games remaining.

Click to continue reading...

After trying his best to engineer a move away from Anfield in the summer, rumours are flying again that Javier Mascherano is on the verge of leaving Liverpool. So where's the problem? Why can't Liverpool just let him leave? There seems to be this idea that Mascherano is somehow irreplaceable and integral to Liverpool's success, but in my view, Liverpool could cope perfectly well without him. Click to continue reading...

The boys discuss beating the Mancs in an attritional 1-0 win, Drogba's goal scoring return in the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid, and the controversial Stamford Bridge naming rights issue, plus "We're out to show the world the way to sing!", "Dear Mart" and "You're on CFFC".
‘Stamford Bridge' resembled a war zone on Sunday, as the Chels battled a particularly petulant Man Utd for a 1-0 win. Click to continue reading...

Rangers face a crunch Champions League night this week and one of their stars has stressed the importance of the tie.

The Scots are currently bottom of Group G with only one point and enter a tie away in Romania against Unirea Urziceni knowing that another defeat will put an end to their distant hopes of qualifying for the next round, or even booking a place in the Europa League.

Click to continue reading...

Sevilla vs Stuttgart

Group G leaders Sevilla can book their place in the knock out stages with a win over struggling Stuttgart as the Group's prize positions begin to take shape.

Sevilla's rampant form has seen them blitz their way to the top, with 9 points from a possible 9.

Click to continue reading...

Phew, writing something vaguely interesting (even for me) at this time of the night here� is hard enough. Where do I start? I know, I'll start� with a Lithuanian most of you have forgotten about.

I was watching (albeit very briefly) Inter at Livorno the other day. It finished 2-0 to Inter btw.

Click to continue reading...

Join celebrated football pundit, author, radio show host and DJ Andy Brassell every Monday on the Soccerlens Show.

This week's episode focuses on the Premier League relegation battle (it's already started), and the spotlight is on Portsmouth (who lost their first seven games, just beat Wigan 4-0 and are still bottom of the table) and Hull (who have been lurching from weakness to weakness, but still have faith in their unfortunately named manager).

Click to continue reading...

Dutchman looking for Bernabeu escape route.

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Chelsea have been offered Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart. The 26-year-old is out of favour at Real Madrid and eager to change clubs as he seeks playing time before the World Cup.

Click to continue reading...

Three points dropped.

Life is tough at the top. � Last year at this stage of the season, Tottenham were propping up the Premier League table. � Coming into this game they actually had a chance to go top with a big win, or at least draw level on points. � Instead, Stoke gave them a lesson in defensive tenacity and profligacy in should-win games.

Click to continue reading...

France doesn't have a lot of local rivalries like England for example, since Lyon-Saint Etienne and Lille-Lens do not really portray all the elements of the derby. However, this country has a derby between Olympique Marseille and Paris Saint Germain, a fierce rivalry that doesn't go such a long way.

Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid v AC Milan
Wednesday 21 October 2009, Santiago Bernabeu
UEFA Champions League
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK (20:45 CET)

Real Madrid host AC Milan in the Champions League as the two most successful teams in European cup football play their first of two group games.

Click to continue reading...

A bizarre night of Champions League football matches but a great win for the so-called 'minnows' of Group F. By the way, if I had just scored the winning goal against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, I'd be expecting a blow job from everyone on the team too... manager included! Match ... Click to continue reading...

A bizarre night of Champions League football matches but a great win for the so-called 'minnows' of Group F. By the way, if I had just scored the winning goal against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, I'd be expecting a blow job from everyone on the team too... manager included! Match ... Click to continue reading...

After trying his best to engineer a move away from Anfield in the summer, rumours are flying again that Javier Mascherano wants to leave Liverpool. So where's the problem? Why can't Liverpool just let him leave?! There seems to be this idea that Mascherano is somehow integral to Liverpool's success, but I disagree. Click to continue reading...

An argument for the negative version of bonus points: blunder points.

The Daily Express published some gossip today that may catch Fantasy Premier League managers' attention. David James (4.8M) has been linked with Manchester United.

It makes sense.

Click to continue reading...

Tevez was stunned by the stick he endured on his first outing in Manchester City's colours at his former club.
And Jamie Carragher is predicting a similar unfriendly response for Owen from Liverpool fans when the former Kop idol heads back to Anfield on October 25 in a United shirt.
Carragher said: "Our fans are usually brilliant with former players but he might get a cool reception. Click to continue reading...

There has been quite a lot of talk about goal celebrations over the last few weeks. This was largely due to Emmanuel Adebayor's ridiculous decision to sprint the length of the pitch and skid like a kid at a wedding when he scored against former employers Arsenal. The Togo striker was reprimanded by the FA after that ill-advised move, but since then Adebayor should have learnt a lesson in humility from his team-mates and a former City star.

Click to continue reading...

Prior to the match, everyone claimed they didn't know how Aston Villa fans would receive Gareth Barry upon his return to Villa Park as a member of Manchester City. The deluded Mark Hughes hoped they would express respect for his service to the club, while Martin O'Neill said he wasn't "God Almighty" and that it's not his place to tell people what to do.

Click to continue reading...

Jamie Carragher has told Michael Owen to expect a frosty reception when he returns to Anfield next month.
And the Liverpool defender admits he was taken aback by his former team-mate's move to Manchester United in the summer.
Owen made the shock switch to Old Trafford after declining the opportunity to renew his contract with relegated Newcastle United. Click to continue reading...

Here in the US, we've had a huge increase in easy-access to Champions League Football to start this season. The channel that first brought us the English Football we now enjoy, in the late 90s I believe, Fox Sports World/Fox Soccer Channel/FSC, has now taken over Champions League coverage from ESPN, who tended to have shockingly poor and limited coverage. Click to continue reading...

Another season of Champions League football has started with a bang even though we failed to see any major surprises. Barcelona showed they would again be the team to beat after outclassing Inter, whereas the debutants did fairly well even though Wolfsburg and APOEL were the only newcomers to win some points in the opening round and the Cypriots' goalless draw at Vicente Calderon is probably the biggest shock of the round.

Click to continue reading...

Champions League football returns to the Scottish league. Rangers take on VfB Stuttgart in the opening game of this years group stages. We present a quick preview. Click to continue reading...

Newcomers to Champions League football Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg wasted no time getting into the swing of things. Brazilian Grafite scored a hat-trick.

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Click to continue reading...

We're heading into a new season of European football, which for most people really only means Champions League football. The big question ahead of every Champions League season is of course not who wins it - Stuttgart won't, Wolfsburg won't and most probably Bayern won't either so why bother - but who earns how much.

Click to continue reading...

The excitement is in the air as Champions League football is just few days away. The most coveted title in club football is up for grabs and some seven or eight teams are hoping to steal the title from Barcelona. On the other hand, this is the first season when the new qualifying format was introduced and as a result, several teams from minor leagues have been given the chance to test their skills against the best teams in Europe.

Click to continue reading...

-
- For additional up-to-the-minute news about QPR, mixed in with "retro" lookbacks at QPR; along with some items of general football interest: Visit the combination blog and messageboard, QPR Report Messageboard. If you want to offer your own perspective: It's always welcome!
- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER! Click to continue reading...

Yes Fire fans, Mr. ESPN is leaving the Fire in the January transfer window. So for those of you who hate soap operas, I'm sorry. As the Chicago Fire World Turns will continue on and I'm sure that the drama will be top notch.

As my colleague Matthew, has punctually stated in his recent article "I Wish I Had A Crystal Ball," the Fire are on the verge of a possible exodus of players with the question marks and explanation points surrounding the exits and of Blanco, McBride, Rolfe, Pappa, Soumare, Prideaux, Segares, Conde and even Dennis Hamlett.

Click to continue reading...

Wenger plays hardball

Thomas Vermaelen may be Arsenal's sole purchase during the current transfer window as Saint Etienne's valuation of star midfielder Blaise Matuidi differs from Arsene Wenger's, and the Gunners' boss is not prepared to pay £8 million for the player he deems to be a new version of the talismanic Patrick Vieira.

Click to continue reading...

Javier Mascherano wanted to leave Anfield his summer and did his very best to make this happen. Despite Liverpool resurrecting his career, he wanted out. Now we discover that the club may reward him with a pay-rise?! Does this irritate anyone else or is it just me?
As a matter of fact, Mascherano wanted to leave Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid has continued their massive summer overhaul and some big names will feature in new colors for the upcoming season. No longer wearing the famous white shirt of Madrid will be Dutch national teammates Arjen Robben and Wesley .

A more surprising move was the sale of Álvaro Negredo for the second time.

Click to continue reading...

Having secured qualification for the group stage of Champions League, we can now, yes, focus on Manchester United although I would like to first archive these two-days of Champions League football by sharing with you my thoughts on the game and the draw.

The dive, the dive, the dive

I can't believe UEFA will investigate Eduardo's dive, seriously.

Click to continue reading...

If it's not Pete FitzSimons writing rubbish about Union and having a dig at football, (why do journos in this country feel the need) in the Sydney Morning Herald every week, we now have Phil Gould trying to tell us that Jarryd Haynes is the greatest footballer in any code in Australia.
Phil wrote this in his article on Rugby League in the Sun Herald today. Click to continue reading...

Roy's interviews made it sound like Damien Duff is all but ours.� � Some aren't sure about the signing, but I am quite optimistic.� � One reason is that Duff is perhaps at a similar point in his career to where Danny Murphy was when he joined us.� True, they are different types of players, but both are of a similar outright quality (at their peak both could play Champions League football and not look out of place).

Click to continue reading...

Red top thinks England star joined Reds Contrary to what you might read on Facebook, according to The Sun Gareth Barry doesn't love money. He loves Champions League football, making Spanish friends and stepping into Xabi Alonso's boots. Thanks to OTP reader Benny Smyth for spotting this.

Click to continue reading...