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.

The Los Angeles Galaxy's search for Juninho's replacement has ended with Juninho himself.

The Sao Paulo central midfielder is on his way back to Los Angeles for another loan spell with the Galaxy. Multiple reports out of Brazil say that Sao Paulo manager Emerson Leao had no plans to use the 23-year-old Juninho, who signed a new three-year deal with Sao Paulo during the MLS offseason.

Fox Soccer Plus has Sheffield Wednesday - Blackpool in an FA Cup Fourth Round replay. Copa Libertadores on Fox Deportes: Defensor Sporting - Velez Sarsfield at 5pm and Fluminense - Arsenal at 7pm. For those of you who don't regularly follow the Libertadores, we're starting the Second Stage. That means eight groups of four teams each with 16 advancing to the knockout stage.

We've got to post a quick recap of what we watched this past weekend but first, very briefly, here are two games today that you could tune in for, in case you're looking for something to watch this afternoon/evening (depending on your timezone):

African Cup of Nations, Côte d'Ivoire vs Angola (1pmET, Al-Jazeera Sports / Eurosport International): The group stage of AfCON2012 wraps up over the next couple days.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- It's easy enough to pick on Major League Soccer and the CONCACAF Champions League. Not only are their flaws obvious, in most cases they can't fall back on obvious success. Not so for Europe, where the UEFA Champions League can overlook its faults while generating massive amounts of money for all involved, especially for those teams advancing to the knockout stage.

The recent changes to the Major League Soccer schedule and competition format are hardly the only ones impacting professional soccer teams in North America.

Coinciding with the MLS SuperDraft, U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF announced major changes to the CONCACAF Champions League and U.

Sacha Kljestan helped Anderlecht finish a perfect Europa League group stage while a win over Maribor wasn't enough to push Jonathan Spector and Birmingham through to the knockout stage

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Evian TG FC,

Matchday 18, Ligue 1

Finally a Champions League Knockout stages draw that spelt relief for Lyon. In their 9th consecutive appearance in the Round-of-16, they meet APOEL FC; the Cypriot side that managed to finish ahead of Zenit St.

Porto vs Man City, Ajax vs Man Utd and Stoke vs Valencia in Europa League Round of 32 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Porto vs Man City, Ajax vs Man Utd and Stoke vs Valencia in Europa League Round of 32 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter The three English teams remaining in the UEFA Europa League have been handed interesting draws for their Round of 32 clashes.

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

The draw for the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League is complete. The Chels popped out of that giant serving bowl very early on.

Who'd we get, then? Fucking Napoli.

Dangerous

I think we all agreed prior to the draw that all of our potential opponents in the first knockout stage of this competition represented tricky ties to navigate.

Arsenal vs AC Milan & Chelsea vs Napoli in Champions League Round of 16 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Arsenal vs AC Milan & Chelsea vs Napoli in Champions League Round of 16 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Arsenal and Chelsea were both awarded tough draws in the Champions League Round of 16 Draw conducted on December 16, 2011.

Europa League Round of 32 Draw Knockout Stage Result 2011-2012 December 16 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Europa League Round of 32 Draw Knockout Stage Result 2011-2012 December 16 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter The Europa League Round of 32 Draw, which has suddenly been made that little more glamorous by the entry of Manchester United and Manchester City into the competition, will take place [.

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Draw Knockout Stage Result 2011-2012 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Draw Knockout Stage Result 2011-2012 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Draw ( 2012 Knockout Stage Draw) will be conducted at Nyon, Switzerland today ( December 16, 2011) at 12.

The UEFA Europa League group stage will wrap up today, and several Americans are hoping their respective team is still standing after the dust has settled.

Jozy Altidore is one of those players, as he and AZ Alkmaar need a win over already-qualified FC Metalist Kharkiv in Group G in order to secure qualification.

Sacha Kljestan's run of form is turning out to be anything but temporary.

Kljestan continued his strong season for Anderlecht, scoring a goal in the club's 5-3 triumph over Lokomotiv Moscow in their UEFA Europa League battle. His curling effort to the far corner dug Anderlecht out of an early 1-0 deficit and helped the Belgian side win its group, which should make for a more favorable result during Friday's knockout round draw.

The next two days are rather crucial for a number of Americans abroad, as their quests to reach the UEFA Europa League knockout stage come down to the final game of group play.

Clint Dempsey and Fulham control their own destiny and can advance as the second-place team from Group K with a win over Odense BK on Wednesday (3 p.

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.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 8, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Before those rooting for a better story get too excited, let's consider for a moment what the absence of Manchester United in the knockout stage of the Champions League really means. For American fans, it's easy enough. This is a heavily supported team with worldwide appeal failing to advance in the playoffs.

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.

The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday that they have acquired 21-year-old Costa Rican international striker Josue Martinez from Club Deportivo Saprissa.

According to the announcement, "The forward will be available upon receipt of his P-1Visa and International Transfer Certificate. Per MLS and Club policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

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.

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.

Instead of focusing on his players excellent performance against Valencia last night, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas ensured the focus was on his war of words with the media.

The Blues managed to defeat their Spanish opponents 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, meaning that not only did they qualify for the next round of the Champions League, but they also topped their group.

It's a big day for Andre Villas-Boas' current team and his former one as well.

Chelsea's Portuguese manager is already on the hot seat just months into his first season at the helm, and the questions about his future will only get louder if the Blues can't knock off Valencia in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League group stage finale (Fox Soccer Channel, 2:45 p.

Steve Cherundolo got the start for Hannover 96, losing 2-0 to Standard Liege in Belgium. Both Group B teams advanced to the knockout stage of the competition. Standard Liege got their first goal in the 25th minute, doubling the lead in the 56th. Cherundolo picked up an 11th minute yellow card. Jozy Altidore went the distance for AZ in a scoreless draw with Malmo in Group G.

A revenge goal, beautiful build-ups and top individual play. It's safe to say that Wednesday's UEFA Champions League's marquee matchup lived up to its billing.

Barcelona captured Group G and forced Milan into the runner-up pot for the knockout stage draw after an entertaining, 3-2 victory at the San Siro.

With much of the drama removed from Wednesday's UEFA Champions League matchup between Barcelona and AC Milan (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel), the focus can turn to one of the more glaring subplots of the group stage.

Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will go up against his former team for the first time since leaving two summers ago.

Tonight Arsenal face a giant of a test when German club Borusssia Dortmund visit them at the Emirates in a winner takes all Group F Champions League clash. Any slip up tonight from either Arsenal, Marseille or Dortmund could effectively end their hopes of moving on to the knockout stage.

Arsenal lead Group F on 8 points and Wenger will be hoping that his star striker Robin Van Persie will carry on from Saturday and ensure the Gunners qualify with a game to spare.

The penultimate matchday of the UEFA Champions League group stage kicks off with a number of teams poised to clinch berths in the knockout stage, cement their place atop the group table or at the very least stay in contention for a third-place finish and a drop down to the Europa League knockout stage.

Manchester United and Manchester City both look like solid bets to reach the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League, and both can take major steps to securing their spots among the final 16 teams with victories on Tuesday.

United hosts Benfica (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel) in a meeting between two teams tied for first atop Group C.

It's quite simple for both Napoli and Manchester City today, if either side loses the match,they can say goodbye to their chances of moving onto the knock out stages.

City are probably the best team in Europe at the moment if you consider their current form, however, their hosts Napoli are no pushovers either.

Europe's premier footballing competition the Champions League resumes today with fixtures that could mark the end of the journey for 16 teams. All teams will be left with one group match after this round of fixtures however, many will not want to take any chances on their qualification to the next round.

After refusing to sign a new contract with Arsenal and casting doubt about his future with the club, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reiterated his commitment to the club saying that he will only think about stepping down when he felt like it.

Arsenal were 2-1 winners over Norwich yesterday with their captain Robin Van Persie scoring both goals to ensure the Gunners kept pressure on the exclusive top 4 club.

On Tuesday, CONCACAF announced the matchdays for the knockout stage of the Champions League. Games will start on March 6th, 2012. All Times U.S. Eastern (local times in parentheses) First Leg Tuesday, March 6, 2012 Morelia (MEX) vs. Monterrey (MEX), 10 p.m. (9 p.m.) Wednesday, March 7, 2012 Toronto FC (CAN) vs.

Liverpool has qualified for the NextGen Series knockout stage following Sporting Lisbon's win in Molde on Saturday night.
The Portuguese outfit claimed a thrilling 4-3 success in Norway to ensure they will finish as Group 2 winners having amassed an impressve 13 points so far.
The result also means Liverpool's seven point haul is enough to clinch the runners-up spot, with (Wolfsburg 6 points) and Molde (four points) having completed all of their matches.

Reds make NextGen progress

Liverpool have qualified for the NextGen Series knockout stage following Sporting Lisbon's win in Molde on Saturday night.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-11-13 10:13:12 from: Liverpool FC

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

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Nov 10, 2011) US Soccer Players -- In this edition, Tony asks the obvious question about the Red Bulls, looks at the MLS Cup coaching match-up, and has a bracket prediction for the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. What international calendar for 2011 were the Red Bulls looking at?

Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com

The odds were that two MLS teams would go up against each other in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, and that scenario unfolded during Tuesday's quarterfinal draw in New York.

The Los Angeles Galaxy drew Toronto FC for the first round of the knockout stage, which commences in March.

"I think I am not in the best condition to analyse it. At this moment, my feeling is stronger than my reason."
Those were the words of Jorge Fossati, the coach of newly-crowned Asian Champions Al Sadd, deep in the bowels of Jeonju World Cup Stadium on Saturday evening. The Uruguayan had just watched a fantastic final in which his team overcame favourites and host Jeonbuk Motors thanks to a penalty shootout.