There is naturally talk of Newcastle maybe qualifying for the European Champions League this season, and that's because we are just one point away from joining Chelsea in 4th place. Jonas Gutierrez challenges Alan Hutton on Sunday But in reality we would still be in fifth place because our goal difference of +5 is inferior to the other top side like Chelsea +15, Arsenal +12 and Liverpool only +7, clubs who will also [.

There is naturally talk of Newcastle maybe qualifying for the European Champions League this season, and that's because we are just one point away from joining Chelsea in 4th place. Jonas Gutierrez challenges Alan Hutton on Sunday But in reality we would still be in fifth place because our goal difference of +5 is inferior to the other top side like Chelsea +15, Arsenal +12 and Liverpool only +7, clubs who will also [.

The transfer window might be over but that is not stopping a number of clubs from actively pursuing summer targets. After an amazing 7-1 victory over Blackburn on Saturday, Arsenal manager has immediately turned his attention back to weightier issues stating that his interest for Lille player Eden Hazard has not waned.

by Adam Bate

What a return it has been for Kenny Dalglish. Only Cardiff City now stand in the way of Liverpool lifting the Carling Cup at Wembley later this month and thus securing the club's first trophy in six years. King Kenny has brought the buzz back to the city. And thankfully, whatever the dramas off the field, everyone at Anfield appears to be pulling in the same direction once again.

You're looking at Munich's Olympiastadion, which will be the host to the Women's European Champions League Finale on May 17! The Olympiastadion was built for 1972 Olympics and it also hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final. You may not recognize it because none of the games from the 2006 World Cup tournament were played there.

Liverpool and Queens Park Rangers have been alerted to the availability of former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, with Barcelona ready to make the out-of-favour Belarusian a free agent, after talks over cancelling his contract.
The move comes two weeks after Hleb returned to Barcelona following a failed loan spell with Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg, who had asked to terminate his season-long agreement six months early, after the 30-year-old struggled with form and fitness, making just four appearances this term.

What a time to be a Tottenham Hotspur fan! Sitting third in the English Premier League and very close to being able to topple the current league leaders should they win this weekend at the Ethiad Stadium in Manchester, the chances are that some of the more hardened and cynical Spurs fans may well be thinking that something dodgy is going on!

Barcelona recorded a fine 4-1 win over Malaga to keep the pressure on leaders Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. A fine Lionel Messi hat-trick and a goal by Alexis Sanchez sealed the 4-1 win at the Estadio La Rosaleda as the Spanish and European champions moved up to 44 points after 19 [...] Related posts:

1. Barcelona 4-2 Real Betis: La Liga Video Highlights
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3. Sevilla 2-6 Real Madrid: La Liga Video Highlights

Goals by Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal gave Barcelona a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey quarter-final clash. The Spanish and European champions came from a goal down to win seal a fine 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu leaving Pep Guardiola's men in prime position to [..

The Sport of HANDBALL does not get the space that it deserves here, I am aware of this but as a "one man blogging band" I have to go with the more popular of Sports, being that Football (Soccer), its simple demand. Said this I take the opportunity to give coverage tonight when something big happens & in this case a victory by SPAIN in the opener of the European Handball Championships.

Barcelona survived a scare to beat Real Betis 4-2 at the Camp Nou and keep in touch with leaders Real Madrid with goals by Alexis Sanchez and a brace by Lionel Messi proving decisive. The Spanish and European champions got off to a rip-roaring start and were 2-0 up by the 15th minute through Xavi [..

It's a question that can make some people uncomfortable but I think it deserves some consideration.

Many seem to agree that last season crashing out of all three Cups in a short span of time flung the squad into a confidence depriving free fall that the manager could not curtail. It had a massive impact on the players' psyche, Arsenal's league position at the end of the season, and quite possibly played a part in some of the summer's transfers.

Liverpool is preparing a £24 million bid for Aston Villa striker Darren Bent as they seek to put an end to their low-scoring ways.
The Reds have found the net just 24 times in their 19 Premier League matches this season. Leaders Manchester City has scored more in nine away fixtures.
Bent as the ideal solution to the problem and is set to test Villa's resolve with a bid.

The next two games for Newcastle are against two of England's most famous clubs Liverpool and Manchester United. Alan Pardew let's hope he's smiling like this after the game tonight! Those two clubs have between them won the European Cup or European Champions League a total of eight times, with Liverpool wining five of them and more than any other English cClub.

AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani claims his side are nearer to closing the gap on European champions Barcelona than Real Madrid.

Milan have already played Barca twice this season in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League with the Rossoneri earning a notable draw at the Nou Camp in September before losing 3-2 at the Giuseppe Meazza last month.

The current FIFA World & European Champions, SPAIN , has for a consecutive fourth year finished Nº1 Rank Football National Team in the FIFA RANKING. The World Football Authority released its Final 2011 list today with Spain on top with 1,564 pts. Spanish Football Team Below is the final FIFA Ranking for 2011: 1.

Yesterday's 4-0 thrashing of Santos was a result not many people were expecting, especially after their amazing semi final victory over Kashiwa Reysol. Many including myself were expecting Santos to put up a stiff fight if not go all the way.

However, once again Lionel Messi was the hero for the Catalans as he scored a brace to see the European champions add yet another trophy to their cabinet.

Aston Villa v Liverpool – as it happened

Liverpool scored from two early corners and strolled to victory against a poor, pretty much attack-free Aston Villa side Preamble: Aston Villa must carry particularly good memories for Liverpool fans. I'm not even a Liverpool fan, but I can remember half a dozen stonking moments between these two clubs.

Aston Villa v Liverpool minute-by-minute report

• Refresh this page for all the latest action • Ping your emails to simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk • Follow today's other live scores • Follow Simon on Twitter Preamble: Aston Villa must carry particularly good memories for Liverpool fans.

It may not have been the most difficult challenge that FC Barcelona would have to face in their quest to become FIFA Club World Cup winners. That, however, did not dampen the celebrations as the Spanish and European champions strolled their way past a poor Santos FC team courtesy of a 4-0 victory.

As Arsenal prepare to take on Man City in a thrilling encounter at the Etihad Stadium, rumours doing the rounds suggest that the club could re-sign legendary striker Thierry Henry on loan in January.

However, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has remain silent on the issue drawing more speculation that Henry could indeed be on his way back to the Emirates.

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.

European champions FC Barcelona will meet Copa Libertadoes winners Santos FC in Sunday's final of the FIFA World Club Cup after powering past Qatar's Al-Sadd 4-0 on Thursday in the semi final round of the competition. Adriano put Barca up 2-0 by halftime while Seydou Keita and Maxwell completed the rout in the 64th and [.

It is a tournament that receives much criticism given its awkward timing and relative unimportance, but I guess the World Club Championship has lost a whole heap more supporters following Barcelona's game with Al-Sadd.
Not that is was anything to do with Barca's Qatari opponents, who worked diligently to try and contain the European Champions.

Santos overcame J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol at Toyota Stadium in the first semi-final of the 2011 Club World Cup.
19-year-old superstar-in-waiting Neymar opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a superb looping left foot shot. The genuinely two-footed player was sensational in the opening half, linking well with his team-mates and showing some amazing dribbling skills.

Neymar showed why Europe's best all want to sign him as he inspired Santos to a 3-1 victory over Japan's Kashiwa Reysol in a Club World Cup semi-final in Toyota.

The Libertadores Cup holders are expected to face European champions Barcelona in this weekend's final, barring the unthinkable in Barca's semi-final against Qatar's Al Sadd on Thursday.

Learning from other sports is often a good exercise. I recently discussed how football could use a golf type handicap system to make the UEFA's Financial Fair Play easier to apply for some of Europe's most debt driven clubs. Football could also learn from tennis. I had already referred to this sport when debating on the current World Cup 1st round group stage which is contrary to the spirit of any cup type competition.

The opening acts at the FIFA Club World Cup were pretty entertaining. Now Lionel Messi and Neymar are ready for center stage and perhaps a final duel that would pit South America's preeminent attacking talents against each other.

The first few games at the tournament have provided some great theater, with host Kashiwa Reysol stealing the show with two victories, including a penalty-kick triumph over CONCACAF champion Monterrey.

Jose Mourinho believes the outcome of Saturday's Clasico could have been different had Real Madrid not wasted some glorious opportunities.

Karim Benzema fired them in front after Victor Valdes scuffed a clearance and the Barca defence were unable to clear their lines. Real had chances to double their lead during an end-to-end opening half-an-hour, with Cristiano Ronaldo uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal.

Write off Barcelona at your peril: The European champions show their worth at the Santiago Bernabeu - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Saturday's El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid lived up to all expectations; there was passion, spell-bounding skill and goals the only thing missing was the heavily anticipated Madrid victory.

Kashiwa Reysol and Al Sadd have booked their semi-final places in the FIFA Club World Cup following hard fought victories over Monterrey CF and Esperance Tunis respectively.

Kashiwa, representing the host nation Japan as the 2011 J-League champions, needed a penalty shoot-out to get past North and Central American champions Monterrey after the two teams had played out a 1-1 draw.

The two Manchester clubs have been sensationally dumped out of the UEFA Champions League following the final round of matches this evening.

Three-time European champions Manchester United are out of this year's tournament having suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Swiss champions FC Basle 1893. United only needed a point to progress but found themselves two goals down with ten minutes of the match remaining, with Basle's Marco Streller and Alexander Frei getting the goals, before Phil Jones pulled one back to make it an anxious finish for the Swiss side.

By JOEY SAMUEL

In previous years, many viewed the FIFA Club World Cup as a minor tournament that was inevitably going to be won by the European or South American teams. This time around, that could still happen, but the 2011 edition is shaping up to be the most competitive yet.

by Adam Bate

Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't look like an underdog. He doesn't feel like one and he most certainly doesn't act like one. But this weekend he is the player more than any other who will be tasked with the role of challenging Barcelona's footballing oligarchy.
And yet, don't expect people to thank him for it.

Euro 2012: Sven Goran Eriksson backs England to win

Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson believes England can be crowned European champions next summer. Fabio Capello's men face France, Sweden and Ukraine.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-04 12:30:50 from: The Mail

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

The Euro 2012 Group draw ceremony has been celebrated in Kiev & has given us the match ups of the 16 European Nations that will by playing it out next June 2012 (Poland-Ukraine) to proclaim themselves 2012 European Champions. Euro 2012 This blog concernes itself with SPANISH FOOTBALL & thus informs that the reigning EURO & WORLD CHAMPS - SPAIN - are in Group C & have Italy, Ireland & Croatia

Ireland face a tough group after being drawn against world and European Champions Spain, Italy and Croatia in Kiev on Friday evening.
Giovanni Trapattoni's side, who will play all of their Group C games in Poland, kick off their finals campaign against Croatia in Gdansk on 10 June.
Ireland will remain in the port city for the clash against tournament favourites Spain on 14 June, before travelling to Poznan for the side's final group game against Italy on 18 June.

The 2011 FIFA/Fifpro World XI list has been revealed with six British players, including Gareth Bale amongst the 55 chosen names in the list. The list is chosen from some 50,000 professional football players across the globe who have voted for the best player in every position. Spanish and European champions Barcelona have 11 players [.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, the man who guided Bayern Munich to the domestic treble as recently as 2008, believes that the German giants are only a shadow of themselves without key playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger, thus boosting Manchester City's hopes of Champions League progress.

In order to qualify for the Round of 16, the Citizens must get a result from Bayern's visit to the Eastlands next week while also hoping that Napoli fall to Villarreal.

FC Barcelona won their final La Liga match on Tuesday night before flying out to Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez (2), David Villa and Lionel Messi gave the Spanish and European champions a comfortable 4-0 victory at home to Rayo Vallecano. The win meant that Barcelona reduced the gap between themselves and league leaders Real Madrid to three points but the capital side do have the advantage of a game in hand.