Liverpool face off against Manchester City on Wednesday evening in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final. Liverpool lead the affair 1-0 but with at least 90 minutes still to play the tie is obviously very delicately poised. The second leg will take place at Anfield and with the home crowd roaring them on Liverpool will consider themselves favourite and the more likely of the two teams to succeed.

On the eve of one of the more important matches of the season for Real Madrid, manager Jose Mourinho is making headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

According to reports out of Spain, Mourinho is letting it be known that he wants out of Madrid at the end of this season, which would be two years into his four-year contract with the club.

Real Madrid hard-nut Pepe was caught stamping on the hand of Lionel Messi during Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey Quarter-Final 1st leg. The notoriously tough-tackling Brazilian, who has a disciplinary rap sheet longer than Mike Tyson, took advantage of a foul on the current World Player of The Year [.

Together at the summit of the Premier League table, the thought of the last 32 of Europa League, rather than the glamorous knockout stages of the Champions League, provides the stark contrast by which Manchester City and Manchester United must define their seasons.

After winning the FA Cup last season, and qualifying for the Champions League, sky looked to be the limit for Roberto Mancini's side.

Going into the Champions League group stages, there were likely a great deal of football bets placed on Premier League powerhouses Manchester United and Manchester City reaching the round of 16. But after flubbing a group that appeared to be a relative stroll, United are now looking ahead to the Europa League, and their archrivals are doing the same.

Written By James Prentice
Follow Me|@MrPrent

Fan's of Arsenal and Chelsea will be hoping for a Michael Cainesque Italian Job if they are to enter the heady heights of a Champions League quarter-final.

Arsenal, who topped their group, were drawn against 7-time European Champions AC Milan, in a repeat fixture to that of the 2008 CL round of 16, where, after a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg, Arsenal travelled to the San Siro to silence the home crowd with a little help from a 30-yard effort from Cesc Fabregas.

Following today's draws in the European club competitions one can't help but feel that there could've been some tastier matches upon the horizon going into the knockout rounds of each competition. Nonetheless the teams that do remain in each tournament will have their eyes firmly focused on the big prize.

Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan have both enjoyed individual club success this season, which in turn has led to their teams turning in strong results both domestically and in Europe. All of that will come to a head in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32, when their two teams will square off.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 15, 2011) US Soccer Players -- It's easy enough to add to the pile of criticisms directed at Europe's other club competition. It's too large, the schedule is a gauntlet for teams, there's the late inclusion of ousted Champions League clubs, and there's an overall question of importance.

AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf believes that outcasted Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez is a money grabbing mercenary who Milan do not need! Tevez has been frozen out of the picture at Manchester City after his refusal to come on during Manchester City's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stages with [.

Manchester United will be out for revenge when they take on cross-city rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the FA Cup third round next month.

It will be the first time the two sides have met since FA Cup holders Manchester City stunned Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford in the league in October.

Rewind just 9 days and Chelsea were on the brink of heading out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stages and being out of the running for qualification for next seasons UEFA Champions League as a consequence of being miles away from the top four positions in the English Premier League.

FC Barcelona will compete in this year's FIFA Club World Cup following a sensational UEFA Champions League triumph in 2011. The Catalans must first face AFC Asian Champions League winners Al Sadd before they can start dreaming of the possibility of winning the world crown for the second time in three years.

The two teams of Manchester unceremoniously crashed out of the Champions League on Thursday and luckily for you Matt Pottinger has written a few brilliant words about it. Empires don't collapse overnight, they crumble over time. The Manchester clubs limping out of the Champions League group stages marks a footnote in footballing history.

Sergio Roberto celebrates goal against BATE (Photo: REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino)

Barcelona's youngsters turned in a dominant performance, routing Belarus champions Bate Borisov 4-0 in the final round of Champions League group play.

With first place in Group H already wrapped up and el clasico just days away, Guardiola chose to rest the majority of his senior team, letting a largely Barca B squad take the field for a taste of European football.

Premier League Preview: Arsenal and Chelsea fight to catch up with Tottenham and Manchester City - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

With 15 points separating the top five teams in the English Premier League, the race for a top four place is well and truly on. If you bet on football, you'll know that Manchester City are still favourites for the league title but with a tough set of fixtures ahead of them, things can change very quickly.

So Friday rolls round again in a flash, apparently seven days after it last did. That doesn't feel quite possible.

Olympiacos on Tuesday started badly and never really picked up, but if you haven't yet filed that one away under ‘nothing to dwell too much on' then I shall politely recommend that you do.

Liverpool have been persistently linked with Belgian winger Eden Hazard this season, and after Lille's elimination from the Champions league this week, it's conceivable that Kenny Dalglish may have a better chance of signing the player in January. Speaking on French TV after the game, Hazard was clearly disappointed after Lille's failure to progress from the Champions League group stages:"It's a

szólj hozzá: Dinamo Zagreb 1-7 Lyon

This year's Champions League group stage already turning conventional wisdom on its head produced an almost too perfect score for Lyon 7-1 against Dinamo Zagreb. The result propelled Lyon into the knock out stage over Ajax who were favoured to proceed with Real Madrid at the top of the group.

By Chris Wright

As you're well aware by now, Man City played some lovely football, scored a couple of beautul goals and filed a decent victory over an already-through-and-therefore-decidedly-under-strength Bayern Munich side in their final Champions League group game to take their final points tally to 10, which would've been enough to squeak through were it not for Napoli's 2-0 win over Villarreal in Spain with the upshot of it all being that the Italian's went through with Bayern and City will be playing Europa League football next year.

Manchester United crashed out of the UEFA Champions League group stage for only the third time in the past seventeen seasons with a 2-1 away loss at FC Basel on Wednesday. Needing a draw to advance to the Round of 16, United opened the match on the attack but were soon down 1-0 after Marco [...]

After the dust settled from Wednesday's shocking UEFA Champions League group results, the final 16 teams have emerged to make it to the knockout stage.

The draw is set for Dec. 16, and teams from the same group or same league cannot meet in the first knockout round. The teams in each pot are:

GROUP WINNERS - Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Benfica, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL Nicosia, Barcelona

RUNNERS-UP - Napoli, CSKA Moscow, FC Basel, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit-St.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Manchester United and Manchester City might be competing atop the Premier League standings, but neither of them will be taking part in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Instead, it's off to the Europa League.

Manchester United became the first finalist to be knocked out in the group stage the following year after being shocked by FC Basel in Switzerland, 2-1, and relegated to the second tier competition with a third-place group finish.

2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stage third-placed teams Group Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts A Manchester City 6 3 1 2 9 6 +3 10 C Manchester United 6 2 3 1 11 8 +3 9 F Olympiacos 6 3 0 3 8 6 +2 9 E Valencia 6 2 2 2 12 7 +5 8 G Porto 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8 D Ajax 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8 B Trabzonspor 6 1 4 1 3 5 −2 7 H Viktoria Plzeň 6 1 2 3 4 11 −7 5

Six years ago to the day since Manchester United last failed to get out of their Champions League group, the club suffered a frustrating defeat at the hands of FC Basel to finish 3rd in the group tonight. A draw would have been enough to see United through but despite dominating the game, they couldn't score more than one, after going 2-0 down.

It's the final day of the UEFA Champions League group stage, meaning that there is high potential for drama across Europe.

Much of the focus will be centered on St. Jakob Park in Switzerland, where FC Basel will try to do the unthinkable and prevent Manchester United from making it to the knockout round.

Goals by Sergi Roberto, Montoya and a double by Pedro saw a youthful Barcelona side crush BATE Borisov 4-0 at the Camp Nou as Saturday's 'El Clasico' against Real Madrid looms. The 4-0 rout also brought up some interesting statistics which were published on the official Barcelona website. • Pedro's double takes his all-time goal [.

Marseille secured their passage into the Champions League last 16 after a 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund with Mathieu Valbuena grabbing an amazing injury-time winner This is what the UEFA Champions League is all about! Knock-out football, pressure, drama and great goals to boot. Trailing 2-1 with 10 minutes on the clock (at one point [.

The Philadelphia Union added a young, promising attacking piece on Wednesday by acquiring 21-year-old Costa Rican forward Josue Martinez from CD Saprissa.

Martinez brings a strong pedigree and attacking flair to the Union, where he joins a strikeforce that boasts other up-and-comers Danny Mwanga and Jack McInerney in addition to stalwart Sebastien Le Toux.

Nou kids on the block could help Barcelona rule Europe for years

Guardiola rests TEN stars, picks a team with an average age of 21 and still wins final Champions League group game 4-0

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-07 17:16:54 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Olympiakos 3 (Djebbour 16, Fuster 36, Modesto 89) Arsenal 1 (Benayoun 57)
(Champions League Group Stage)

It seems the knives are out again. Described as Euro flops in some quarters, and a laughing stock in others, it seems many of the press are finally able to pull the trigger on the negative stories they've been unable to run over the past month, thanks to our improved form.

Chelsea winger Juan Mata is convinced that his side can ride the momentum of two huge wins to become the first team that beats Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Mata and his teammates won their Champions League group against all odds with a resounding 3-0 win over Valencia last night at Stamford Bridge, which is also the venue where they will host City on Monday.

Dinamo Zagreb vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Matchday 6, UEFA Champions League Group Stages 2011/12.

The equation is simple really. Make mincemeat out of Dinamo Zagreb in Zagreb, and bribe Madrid to make fruit punch out of Ajax in Amsterdam. Seven strikers, one defender (Lovren, of course) and three goalkeepers ought to be enough, one would think?

Dinamo Zagreb vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Matchday 6, UEFA Champions League Group Stages 2011/12.

The equation is simple really. Make mincemeat out of Dinamo Zagreb in Zagreb, and bribe Madrid to make fruit punch out of Ajax in Amsterdam. Seven strikers, one defender (Lovren, of course) and three goalkeepers ought to be enough, one would think?

By Chris Wright

Arsenal (or 'Arsenal B' to completely truthful) ended their Champions League group stage campaign with a bit of a whimper, going down 3-1 to Olympiakos in Greece. Rafik Djebbour, David Fuster and Francois Modesto all did the business for Olympiakos while Yossi Benayoun scored Arsenal's consolation on a night which was perfectly encapsulated by Vito Mannone's bollock-drop par excellence.

MONACO AUGUST 26: Adidas balls on show alongside the three main European club trophies, the Champions League, Europa League and Super Cup during the UEFA Champions League Group Stage draw at the Grimaldi Forum on August 26, 2010 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Continúa la acción del torneo más importante de clubes del mundo: La UEFA Champions League 2011/12 que reúne a las mejores escuadras del continente europeo, he aqui los resultados:

Martes 6 de diciembre Grupo E

Stamford Bridge Londres

Chelsea (ING) 3 0 Valencia (ESP)

Goles: 1-0, 3′ Didier Drogba (C); 2-0, 21′ Ramires (C); 3-0, 75′ Didier Drogba (C).

Editor's note: Heard about this happening but didn't catch it. In any case, some fun speculation as to what Kasey Keller's appearance on Fox Soccer Channel could mean for his future with the Sounders. - Jeremiah

My wife and I almost missed it as we sat down to watch a DVR of Chelsea hosting Valencia in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage in what was an elimination game.

Arsenal's last Champions League group stage match ended in defeat, as a tough Olympiakos team beat an inexperienced Gunners side 3-1 in Greece.

In a match where poor defending dominated, Arsenal went behind from a 16th minute strike from Rafik Djebbour, who rounded Lukasz Fabianski before slotting home to give the Greek side the lead.

Arsenal's last Champions League group stage match ended in defeat, as a tough Olympiakos team beat an inexperienced Gunners side 3-1 in Greece.

In a match where poor defending dominated, Arsenal went behind from a 16th minute strike from Rafik Djebbour, who rounded Lukasz Fabianski before slotting home to give the Greek side the lead.

Arsenal's final Champions League group game ended in defeat after Greek giants Olympiacos...
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