Photo by Neil Tingle/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Despite Aston Villa's best efforts, it appears Robbie Keane will head back to the Los Angeles Galaxy later this month -- just as scheduled.

The Villans had hoped to tack another week onto Keane's loan after the Ireland international bagged three goals in his first four EPL appearances for the mid-table club.

After I wrote a while ago that Manchester City were the clear favourites for the Premier League title this year, my opinion seems to have changed over the past few weeks. Their recent form has seen them playing decent enough but Manchester United have gone that extra mile. Manchester City has lost on far too many occasions this season.

After I wrote a while ago that Manchester City were the clear favourites for the Premier League title this year, my opinion seems to have changed over the past few weeks. Their recent form has seen them playing decent enough but Manchester United have gone that extra mile. Manchester City has lost on far too many occasions this season.

By Zara B. and A. Cortez

Alex Ferguson

This past 6th of November marked Sir Alex Ferguson's 25th anniversary since taking charge of Manchester United. While many managers are fads at other clubs (Chelsea, Real Madrid), Manchester United have been fortunate enough to have a single manager lead the club to 12 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and two Champions League trophies.

The Premier League title race, we have been told repeatedly over the last couple of weeks or so, is back on. Since getting knocked out of the Champions League by FC Basel, Manchester United have started to rediscover some of their familiar imperiousness, with sixteen goals in their last four Premier League matches including five in two successive matches while Manchester City have, with a defeat at Chelsea and a lacklustre draw at West Bromwich Albion, shown signs of chink in their previously impenetrable-looking armour.

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.

With AC Milan in the runner-up pot, the odds of a high-profile matchup in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League were quite high. As it turns out, the draw did not disappoint.

Arsenal got paired with Milan during Friday's Champions League draw, setting the stage for an intriguing battle in the tournament's Round of 16.

Bayern Munich gets FC Basel in the Champions league knockout stage. This should be interesting...

El sorteo para los octavos de final de la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA 2011-12 se celebrará el 16 de diciembre de 2011 a las 12:00 h (CET) en Nyon, sujeto a las condiciones que impedirán enfrentarse a equipos del mismo país ni del mismo grupo de la fase anterior de la competición entre ellos.

Liverpool are ready to make an offer for FC Basel star Xherdan Shaqiri after...

Liverpool are ready to make an offer for FC Basel star Xherdan Shaqiri after watching the winger put in a man of the match display against Manchester United.
The Reds have been linked with the midfielder for some time after first becoming aware of the players talent when he scored a blistering goal against England in a qualifier earlier this year.

The last round of matches of the group stages of the 2011-12 Champions League had a couple of surprises.Firstly, Manchester United was elminated for the first time in the group stages of the tournament since the 2005-06 season. More surprising than this fact is nevertheless that it happened against the underestimated FC Basel in the last match of the tournament, where the English side needed only

Manchester United's week has gone from bad to worse.

After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the group stage, United got word Friday that centerback Nemanja Vidic will miss the remainder of the season after suffering ligament damage in his right knee.

Vidic suffered the injury at the end of the first half of United's UCL finale against FC Basel Wednesday while battling Marco Streller for the ball.

Ahead of kick-off on Wednesday I was nervous but I was still entirely confident we would progress to the Champions League Round of 16. I would have preferred not to endure a nervy draw and fancied us to get a win, but it was neither here nor there. Whilst there was some talk of the game falling on the 6th anniversary of the last time we had failed to get out of the group, it didn't feel within the realms of reality that history could repeat itself.

Nemanja Vidic left the stadium on crutches last night following our 2-1 defeat at the hands of FC Basel and his agent, Silvano Martina, has today confirmed the severity of the injury.

"It seems inappropriate to talk about that, because unfortunately he has suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament.

Roy Keane, in his new role as ITV pundit, spoke of how the Manchester United players were letting Sir Alex Ferguson down at half time in last's night 2-1 defeat against FC Basel.

At full time, Keane claimed that our young players hadn't done well enough. He also made reference to Phil Jones' comments ahead of kick-off and questioned how relaxed he felt now.

To be honest, Flashscore is an important website for the football obsessive that also likes more than a little flutter. Providing live scores, scorers and statistics from games across the globe, it becomes the one-stop shop for midweek betting nerves. We were, however, slightly intrigued to discover that the creators of the site are Manchester [.

With the completion of the last of Group matches yesterday, we now clearly know the clubs which will go to the next stage of 2011-2012 Champions League Tournament. Bayern Munich, Napoli, Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Benfica, FC Basel, Real Madrid, Lyon, Chelsea bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Marseille, Apoel Nicosia, Zenit St Petersburg, Barcelona and AC Milan are the ones qualified for the knock out stage of 2011-12 Champions League.

szólj hozzá: CL: Basel - ManUtd 2-1 071211

Marco Streller and Alexander Frei combine to put the hurt on Man Utd. To add to the gloom, Utd lose Nemanja Vidic with suspected knee ligament damage which could keep him out for a while. Sir Alex did not get his 100th Champions League win and now takes Utd to the Europa Cup.

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 [...]

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 [...]

Marco Streller and Alexander Frei combine to put the hurt on Man Utd. To add to the gloom, Utd lose Nemanja Vidic with suspected knee ligament damage which could keep him out for a while. Sir Alex did not get his 100th Champions League win and now takes Utd to the Europa Cup. It's akin to Greg Louganis doing a belly flop and coming up purple in embarrassment.

Frei and Streller put the hammer to Man U and the Red Devils are knocked out of the CL in the quarters. Ouch. Guess the RAF time just didn't go United's way tonight. Hope you didn't bet on them to win it all. At least Man U can now focus on winning the League. What? They're in a close 2nd with Spurs catching up?

A 2-1 defeat to FC Basel saw Manchester United eliminated from the UEFA Champions League meaning that Fergie's men will be playing in the Europa League from now on. The chickens have surely come home to roost. Sir Alex Ferguson's men were left wanting on a bitterly disappointing night in Basel as last season's runners-up [.

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.

FC Basel dumped Manchester United out of this years Champions League as they deservedly beat last years Finalists 2-1 at home tonight.

Next time, rake the cleats, Rooney my boy.

And as Matchday 6 of the Champions League separated the wheat from the chaff, the next eight into the Europa League knockouts are:

Valencia
Olympiakos
Porto
Victoria
Plzen
Manchester United
Manchester City
Lyon FC Basel
Trabzonspor

Manchester United failed to beat Basel, so MUFC goes to Europa while the Swiss progress to the knockouts.

Many thought that one Manchester side would see its Champions League dream come to an end tonight but in the end, it ended up being the fate of both.

City and United, the two Mancunian giants battling at the Premier League summit, will now battle together in the Europa League after failing to get the desired results tonight.

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.

FC Basel vs United "LIVE BLOG: FC Basel vs United" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

After seeing Chelsea avoid embarrassment with a convincing UEFA Champions League victory on Tuesday, Manchester United will hope to follow in its fellow English club's footsteps when it takes on FC Basel in Switzerland (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel).

Both teams trail Benfica in Group C, and while either team could win the group with a result and a Benfica loss to underdog Otelul Galati, the reality of the situation is that the game is a de facto second-place match.

Do or die time for Manchester teams in the Champions League - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Of the four English representatives in this season's UEFA Champions League, Arsenal and Chelsea are assured of a passage through to the knockout stages; both Manchester clubs must perform in their last group game to stand a chance of progression.

Do or die time for Manchester teams in the Champions League - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Of the four English representatives in this season's UEFA Champions League, Arsenal and Chelsea are assured of a passage through to the knockout stages; both Manchester clubs must perform in their last group game to stand a chance of progression.

After beating Aston Villa away last weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson is confident Man United players will have no problem to win their final decider game against FC Basel in Switzerland next Wednesday and...
Continue to the full story

After beating Aston Villa away last weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson is confident Man United players will have no problem to win their final decider game against FC Basel in Switzerland next Wednesday and...
Continue to the full story

Malaga ready to snap up Swiss starlet in stunning £25m deal

Man United and the rest of Europe's elite clubs set to miss out on FC Basel star Xherdan Shaqiri

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-01 12:30:37 from: Talksport

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

Martes 22 de Noviembre de 2011

3 Bayern Munich vs Villarreal 3
Grupo A 2 Napoli vs Manchester City 2
Grupo A 0 CSKA Moscow vs Lille 2
Grupo B 1 Trabzonspor vs Inter Milan 1
Grupo B 2 Manchester United vs Benfica 2
Grupo C 2 Otelul Galati vs FC Basel 3
Grupo C 0 Lyon vs Ajax Amsterdam 0
Grupo D 6 Real Madrid vs Dinamo Zagreb 2
Grupo D
Miércoles 23 de Noviembre de 2011


2 Bayer Leverkusen vs Chelsea 1
Grupo E 7 Valencia vs Genk 0
Grupo E 2 Arsenal vs B Dortmund 1
Grupo F 0 Marseille vs Olympiakos 1
Grupo F 0 Zenit vs Apoel Nicosia 0
Grupo G 0 Shakhtar vs FC Porto 2
Grupo G 0 BATE Borisov vs Viktoria Plzen 1
Grupo H 2 AC Milan vs Barcelona 2
Grupo H Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw by Benfica at Old Trafford leaving last season's runners-up battling with FC Basel in a Matchday 6 qualification decider. A Phil Jones own goal within the opening 2 minutes got the hosts off to the worst possible start, but they were soon level when Dimitar Berbatov struck [.