The Europa League has no trouble making itself known, with some fantastic results and upsets, it really seems to be heating up in the race for the cup.
Hamburger get past Anderlecht with a fantastic aggregate scoreline of 6-5 in favour to the Germans.
Wolfsburg are able to go through against Rubin Kazan, a 2-1 win at home in extra time helped clinch the next round. Click to continue reading...

Bayern Munich has their eye on Barcelona's Bojan Krkic. The Bundesliga team is keen to swap him with Franck Ribery. Let's see if Barca agrees. Additionally, Ajax, Marseille, Lyon and even Manchester United are interested in BojanAccording to reports, Chelsea is extremely interested in Landon Donovan who is currently at Everton on loan. Click to continue reading...

Marseille's Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze will be out for around three weeks after injuring himself in his country's friendly with Germany, his club announced on Thursday. An X-ray revealed "a small crack at the top of the right fibula", according to a Marseille statement. Heinze sustained the injury in a tackle by . Click to continue reading...

Many some of you can probably wear this t-shirt with pride. Homegrown scoring chart toppers. (The Best Eleven) Paolo Rossi and the fight back in 1982. (Football Italiano) Billboards are the new Sharpie-d piece of a cardboard. (EPL Talk) Popping your collar has never been so patriotic. (Football Fashion) The real reason Dunga won't call up Ronaldinho. Click to continue reading...

Jogaram no dia 03/03/2010, na cidade de Volos, no Volos Stadium, amistosamente, as seleções da Grécia (10º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção de Senegal (94º no ranking da FIFA).
Esse foi o primeiro jogo entre as 2 seleções na história.
O árbitro desse jogo, foi: Damir Skomina-SLO
O primeiro assistente, foi: Roberrt Zinstain-SLO
O segundo assistente, foi: Mateis Zounits-SLO
Aos 26 minutos do segundo tempo, Mamadou Niang, jogador do Marseille-FRA, fez o primeiro gol da seleção de Senegal. Click to continue reading...

Whilst we were busy regretting the holiday pounds and making resolutions to knock them off we knew full well we weren't going to keep, the financial people of the world were abuzz with their abacuses trying to determine the final outcome of 2009. For football, it's all about the bottom-line: revenue. Click to continue reading...

Wrap
Third Round Draw:
Hamburg v Anderlecht FK Rubin Kazan v Vfl Wolfsburg Atletico Madrid v Sporting Lisbon Benfica v Marseille Panathinaikos v Standard Liege Lillie v Liverpool Juventus v Fulham Valencia v Werder Bremen Click to continue reading...

Even though the World Cup still seems far away, the draw to qualify for Euro 2012 has already taken place. Sorry for the delay in reporting and general neglect on this blog recently. I've been incredibly busy at work and I contribute to two other Offside blogs (Marseille and Ligue 1 - check them out!

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Even though the World Cup still seems far away, the draw to qualify for Euro 2012 has already taken place. Sorry for the delay in reporting and general neglect on this blog recently. I've been incredibly busy at work and I contribute to two other Offside blogs (Marseille and Ligue 1 - check them out!

Click to continue reading...

Liverpool FC manager Rafa Benitez reckons the quality of the Europa League has been underestimated this season.
Liverpool FC dropped into UEFA's second-tier competition from the Champions League, along with the likes of Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Marseille, Wolfsburg and Thursday night's opponents Unirea Urziceni. Click to continue reading...

Veteran Swiss midfielder Fabio Celestini will leave Getafe this summer after agreeing a deal with second division side Lausanne. Celestini, 34, started his career at Lausanne and spent five seasons with the Swiss club before moving to Troyes in 2000. After two years with Troyes, he transferred to Mediterranean outfit Marseille in 2002. Click to continue reading...

This week's Video of The Week continues the World Cup theme of the last few weeks, with all the goals from the 1998 World Cup, which was, of course, held in France. The optimism that may have existed after England's decent performance at the 1996 European Championships evaporated over the weeks of the tournament.

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EPL on Setanta: Birmingham City - Wolverhampton at 8:30am. On FSC: Chelsea - Arsenal at 11am. Serie A on FSC: Bologna - Milan at 9am and Fiorentina - Roma at 2:15pm. Ligue 1 on Setanta: Toulouse - Lyon at 11am and Marseille - Valenciennes at 3pm. La Liga on ESPN Deportes: Deportivo - Malaga at 11am. On GolTV: Real Zaragoza - Sevilla at 1pm and Racing Santander - Atletico Madrid at 3pm. Click to continue reading...

06/02/2010Boulogne - Montpellier ore 19.00Grenoble - Auxerre ore 19.00Lens - Le Mans ore 19.00Nice - Lille ore 19.00PSG - Lorient ore 19.00Sochaux - Nancy ore 19.00Rennes - Bordeaux ore 21.0007/02/2010Saint-Etienne - Monaco ore 17.00Toulouse - Lione ore 17.00Olympique Marseille - Valenciennes ore 21. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool rejected an attempt by Paris St Germain to sign Dutch forward Ryan Babel, according to French publication L'Equipe.
The 23 year-old has been heavily linked with a move away from Anfield, but is now set to stay at Liverpool for the immediate future with the transfer window having closed. Click to continue reading...

Guingamp will face either Colmar or Boulogne sur Mer in the last 16 of the Coupe de France after they came through a tricky away tie against Mulhouse.
Colmar defeated Lille to set up a match against Boulogne that will take place on Wednesday 27th January.

The complete draw is as follows:

• Colmar (CFA) or Boulogne sur Mer (L1) Guingamp (L2)
• Lens (L1) or Marseille (L1) Toulouse (L1) or Brest (L2)
• Auxerre (L1) or Sedan (L2) Nancy (L1) or Plabennec (National)
• Quevilly (CFA) Rennes (L1)
• Vesoul (CFA) Paris-SG (L1)
• Villefranche (CFA) or Saint-Etienne (L1) Vannes (L2) or Grenoble (L1)
• Beauvais (National) Sochaux (L1) or Le Mans (L1)
• Bordeaux (L1) Monaco (L1) or Lyon (L1)

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I've made a decision. From now on, I'm not going to refer to Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille as 'The Big Three'. It just ain't right anymore. Oh sure, Bordeaux are still looking every inch the champions they were at the end of last season, but as for the other two... forget it.
Lyon and Marseille, much like every other team in Ligue 1 (apart from Laurent Blanc's commanding band of cavaliers) can't helping dropping points every other game. Click to continue reading...

Week 21, L1 Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Stade Yves Allainmat/ Stade du Moustoir, Lorient
1:00EST, 12:00CST(19:00CET, 18:00GMT)

Wednesday, Lyon head up to dreary Brittany to take on the always-a-potential-thorn-in-the-side squad of Lorient. This will be the first of two meetings this month, as the two teams will face off again on the 26th Jan for the quarter finals of the CdL.

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Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Predictions

This week's predictions sees the continuation of the Africa Cup of Nations group stage, while there are also big games from Spain and France and of course Damon's Liverpool against Damian's Tottenham.

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Juventus are ready to scupper Real Madrid's plans for Franck Ribery by making a summer swoop for him, according to reports in Italy.

The Galacticos have been tipped to land the Frenchman as president Florentino Perez provides another golden goose in the transfer market.

But that move doesn't appear straightforward, as Leggo.

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Well we all know how the competition started but the tournament kicked off in earnest on Sunday evening with the host nation Angola entertaining Mali. Hopes were high after all the political wrangling that engulfed the weekend, football could return to the forefront. What no-one expected was a series of breathless games and major shocks that have turned the Cup Of Nations on its head.

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According to John Cross at MirrorFootball, Marseille winger Hatem Ben Arfa will not be leaving the club despite rumored interest from Blackburn, Everton, and Manchester United. Ben Arfa said,

"I am flattered by the interest but I am staying at Marseille and hope that my career will move forward here.

Click to continue reading...

AFCON tournament favourites Ivory Coast were held to a barren draw last night in Cabinda by a Burkina Faso side that were determined to make the most out of their opening Group B encounter. Burkina Faso, the underdogs in this match, were lucky not to concede a goal as Ivory Coast had more than a handful of chances to score.

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According to the Daily Mail, Stoke City are prepared to offer £1million for Zamalek striker Amr Zaki. Zaki confirmed Stoke's interest saying,

"Stoke are interested in signing me."

It is also reported that Marseille have made an enquiry for Bolton striker Johan Elmander.

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Don't look so sad, Ray! I bet you won't miss us just as much as we won't miss you!

Today, FFF President Escalettes announced that we will know the next French coach before the 2010 World Cup we may even know as early as May.

We have already discussed how much the FFF want Bordeaux's Blanc.

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photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

Lyon's Manager Claude Puel has ruled out making any moves during the January transfer period and I'm here to ask "Why?"

I understand that the economy all over the world sucks right now and that there are teams that can't even make payroll, but I don't think Lyon is one of them and you would think that they would want to build on their past successes.

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Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Aquilani
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres
Goals:
Torres 90+3'
Now that's a fucking turning point. I could not love Fernando Torres any more. And Pepe Reina comes close.
Yes, yes. One-man team. Never looked like getting the goal in a combative, back-and-forth snowy contest with both teams on short rest. Click to continue reading...

2009 is nearly done, so we're looking back over our shoulders to bid the year a fond farewell before we say hallo to 2010. Recently I asked the many and talented bloggers of The Offside and World Cup Blog to share their favourite footballing moment from the last twelve months, and we're sharing those memories [. Click to continue reading...

Hapoel Beer-Sheva's defense cannot be real. <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kYZ7i1WcW2M &hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0×5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320″ height="265″> The South American team of the decade. Click to continue reading...

Now this is one of those footballing moments you just wish were more commonplace but are clearly an oasis of rarity in a sea of poor sportsmanship. Auxerre striker Valter Birsa was felled by Marseille man Bakari Kone, an offence the referee decided was worthy of a red card only to be told by the victim of the accidental challenge that he had indeed got the decision wrong.

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Perhaps filled with the mythical goodwill towards men of the holiday season, Auxerre's Valter Birsa demonstrated an admirable bit of fair play in his side's final match before the Christmas break last week after Marseille's Bakari Kone was shown a red card for elbowing him in the face. Birsa pleaded with the ref to change his decision, arguing that the contact was accidental, even though it left him writhing on the ground.

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Lyon? No. Marseille? Bordeaux? Yes!
Bordeaux is nine points clear of second-place Lille in France's Ligue 1 table.
25-year-old Marouane Chamakh and 23-year-old Yoann Gourcuff lead les Girondins attack.
Chamakh has made over 50 appearances for his native Morocco and he was a key contributor on last year's Bordeaux club that captured the 2008-09 league title. Click to continue reading...

Week 19- Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
12:00 P.M. EST(19:00 CET, 18:00GMT)

Captain Claude continues to steer the ship towards the proverbial iceberg, as our streak of disgustingly mediocre play continues to drift along. Suprisingly enough, the stars have been in somewhat of a favorable alignment, and we haven't fallen completely into the abyss as of yet.

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Ligue 1 on Setanta: Lyon - Montpelier at 1pm, Toulouse - Bordeaux at 3pm, and Marseille - Auxerre at 5pm. All Times Eastern Click to continue reading...

The French Ligue 1 has several matches on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 including Marseille v AJ Auxerre. The match will be covered live on our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the link below.

Marseille v AJ Auxerre 18:00 GMT

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Though Boulogne's Adefemi Olubayo was already shown a yellow card in the second half of his side's 2-0 loss to Marseille two weeks ago, he was still shown a straight red for this attempt to slide right through Hatem Ben Arfa's ankles like they were bowling pins. To his credit though, after starting to trot off the pitch following the red card, Olubayo turns around and gives Ben Arfa a handshake and a hug for almost removing his feet from his body.

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Real Madrid have never beaten Lyon and Manuel Pellegrini admits it will be at the back of his mind after they were drawn together in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round; a tie that means a reunion for the French club with Karim Benzema.

Madrid have failed to progress past this stage of competition for five consecutive seasons and they face a Lyon team that they have struggled with in recent years.

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The French Ligue 1 has several matches on Saturday, December 19, 2009 including St Etienne v Marseille on Saturday, December 19, 2009. Live coverage of the match will be provided on our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the link below.

St Etienne v Marseille

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Liverpool face the prospect of potentially tough opponents in their first experience of the Europa League after UEFA confirmed they will not be seeded for Friday's knockout stage draw.
Poor goal difference in the Champions League groups means Rafael Benitez's side miss out on being among the 16 top seeds for the new-look competition, which replaced the UEFA Cup. Click to continue reading...

Lyon's 1-0 defeat to Bordeaux last Sunday was already their 4th of the league season. To comparison, the 7-times French champions lost 7 all season last year. Whilst there's still plenty to go until the end of season 2009/2010, the title is slipping further and further away from Claude Puel and his team.

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