Some good news for Madrid fans as arch rivals Barcelona slumped to a 3-2 loss Osasuna yesterday forcing Barca coach Pep Guardiola to admit that his side is now at the mercy of Madrid and only a slip up from the capital club would give his team a lifeline.

Madrid could go 10 points clear at the top of the table should they win at home to Levante today an opportunity i am sure Mourinho would not want to miss.

Players disrespecting referees is a big problem in many European leagues. Not so much in the Bundesliga, though. Image: THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP/Getty Images.

While everyone in England was caught up in the now traditional FA Cup bicker-fest, the rest of the European Leagues had a peculiar stillness about them this weekend.

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.

Yes, you can count on me

Yesterday's round of matches was good wasn't it. Yes, not entirely. Paul Scholes scored in his "comeback" but we all know what happened in the first game of his comeback and how he contributed to City scoring their goal. So no, he doesn't quite do a "Henry". An Emmanuel Frimpong led Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed point at Tottenham and it's dropped points for them (Spers, not Wolves).

So the Premier League season is finally here, it's Tottenham Hotspur's opening game versus Everton..........

That's how the preview for this one should have started, but the unfortunate and unseemly rioting of early August put paid to Spurs opening fixture. Now this is the game in hand it's vital that Spurs get maximum points if they want to be taken seriously as title challengers.

Theo Knows

A bit of a break before the Monday FA Cup third round tie against Leeds United. After a hectic last one week of football, it's a welcomed breather for the team. 7 out of 12 points from our last 4 games is not ideal but it isn't bad either. Could've been more had the team not collapse in the last part of the Fulham game.

Football on New Years Eve!? Do the FA not give any thought to the bloggers having to write match reports?

Anyhow, QPR were the latest visitors to the Emirates during this crazy Christmas period. With Liverpool already picking up 3 points a day earlier against Newcastle, and with United, Chelsea and Spurs all expected to win against relegation fodder (see what I done!

The draw that Chelsea achieved against Fulham on Monday, puts their chance in challenging for title becomes difficult again and this situation is also being admitted by the club's manager, Andre Villas-Boas.

The Portuguese tactician doesn't want to say that everything is already over, since the competition is still long, but the ex-Porto coach admitted that it's much more wiser for his team to focus on their results first before looking at the top teams ahead of them.

Boss Kenny Dalglish rues missed Liverpool chances

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish says he can't fault his side's effort levels or energy but admits they need to take more of their chances in order to get maximum points in games.

View the full story here: BBC

A news article on 2011-12-26 18:13:18 from: BBC

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Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel keen to take maximum points from ‘difficult' Wigan

The Merseyside team have not won at the DW Stadium since 2007 and the Slovakian is hoping the club's travelling support will help them to victory on Wednesday

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-21 17:48:00 from: Goal

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Jose Reina admits a productive Christmas can help to shape a season, and he believes Liverpool can catapult themselves into the New Year.
A top-four finish is the target for those in the Anfield camp, with the Reds having slipped out of that elite group in recent years.
Kenny Dalglish has them well placed to push on towards that goal, with three points currently separating them from the UEFA Champions League spots.

Stewart Downing has brushed off being booed upon his return to Aston Villa and believes Liverpool's 2-0 win justified his decision to move clubs in the summer.
The England winger quit Villa for a £20million switch to Anfield after handing in a transfer request following two seasons in the Midlands.

Sitting five points off the coveted Champions League places, Liverpool will look to gain maximum points in their upcoming fixtures. If they can stay close to fourth over the coming weeks, with the January transfer window looming and Dalglish being clear they have the option to buy or not and Steven Gerrard's return imminent; there will surely be the belief and potential within the club to be genuine contenders for fourth, right to the final whistle of the season.

Liverpool stopper Pepe Reina knows that the coming months are set to be pivotal to the club's push for a top four place this season.
The Reds are desperate for a return to the Champions League after missing out on Europe altogether last term, and have showed signs that they are one of the teams to beat after beating Chelsea and drawing with Manchester City in back-to-back league matches.

Chelsea square off with Liverpool for the second time in ten days, at The Bridge no less. Can the result be better than the first go around? I don't see why not- with both sides expected to send out younger squads for the rubber match, everything is up in the air. More, after the jump:

All to play for

While we may have exorcised the demons of lore this weekend, we're still not out of the woods.

After beating Milan 3-2 at the San Siro on Wednesday, i certainly was not expecting Defending European and Spanish League champions Barcelona to lose to Getafe.

If anything, i expected them to reduce the points margin on leaders Real Madrid who were themselves facing a tough opponent in Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool: Johnson's late strike sinks Blues

In a game where ex-Reds Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles were tipped to cause their former club problems, it was ex-Chelsea defender Glenn Johnson who proved to be the match-winner as his late goal gave Liverpool maximum points.

After their Manchester derby defeat put them five points behind archrivals City in the Premier League table, Manchester United responded with back-to-back league wins over Everton and Sunderland and four consecutive wins in all competitions prior to the current international break.

United must keep that positive momentum going coming out of the international break.

Scree-grab from the livestreamingWhen asked after the loss to the Jordanians earlier in their first meeting of the qualifiers if we still stand a chance of making to the next round, assistant coach V Sundramoorthy said there's still "mathematical" chance of doing so if we could take "maximum points out of the remaining matches".

Daniel Agger: 'Sometimes Liverpool are like headless chickens'

• Defender says team were angry after Swansea draw • 'It is far from good enough – we have to move up a level' The Liverpool defender Daniel Agger says his side must raise their game if they are to avoid yet another season without Champions League football.

It was a week of records for 2 of the best players in the world. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi achieved significant personal milestones in their careers as they scored their 100th and 200th goals in midweek Champions League action.

I have to admit, although i am not Cristiano Ronaldo fan, his accomplishment in two seasons with Madrid is simply amazing.

It was a week of records for 2 of the best players in the world. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi achieved significant personal milestones in their careers as they scored their 100th and 200th goals in midweek Champions League action.

I have to admit, although i am not Cristiano Ronaldo fan, his accomplishment in two seasons with Madrid is simply amazing.

Newcastle have the chance to stay high up in the league this season, and it's important to pick up maximum points from the lesser sides of the league. Roberto Martinez on the sidelines yesterday thinks! Newcastle have a tough string of games coming up with the next six opponents being Stoke, Everton, the two Manchester clubs (United then City), Chelsea and [.

Sporting KC close out the regular season tomorrow night in DC when they take on DC United at RFK Stadium. It's a huge game for Sporting KC as a win can see the Wizards clinch first place in the Eastern Conference. DC saw their playoff hopes ended on Wednesday when they drew 1-1 with Portland thanks to a goal from Dwayne De Rosario.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes the club are in a good position to challenge to regain Champions League status.
A summer of significant recruitment has added strength and depth to a squad which was lacking in a number of areas over the last couple of seasons.
Kenny Dalglish's side may have lost twice already this campaign - at Stoke and Tottenham - but a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United at the weekend has given Gerrard, who made his first start in seven months at Anfield on Saturday, renewed confidence about the future.

The preview chat returns! I wasn't able to get to it for the Vancouver Whitecaps game, unfortunately, due to the travel chaos and havoc surrounding international travel (can we just annex Canada already? I kid!). In any case, this week I was lucky enough to be able to sit down with Zach Woosley of SB Natin's Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory to discuss the game and the team.

No KC didn't win their friendly with Chivas de Guadalajara last night, the two ended up drawing 2-2, but the bigger thing to take from the game last night was that no one picked up an injury and most of the projected starters that played last night didn't play more than 45 minutes. Last night also turned into a better night in league play yesterday for KC, as two teams chasing KC in the playoff race dropped points.

I have no doubt that if Venezuela had played the same 11 against Ecuador as they did against Argentina, they would have maximum points in the South American World Cup qualification. Now, instead, they have lost 3 points...Argentina started well, patiently in what in the first half seemed a more tactical game, where the Venezuelans were figuring out how to play the Argentinean side.

The playoffs are so close, and yet so far away for the Portland Timbers. With the players healthy and coming off a big win away against the Vancouver Whitecaps the Timbers are in a good position to make the playoffs. In this bye week for the Timbers with only a few games going on we can take a look at the way the playoff run-up is taking shape.

While the U.S. is building towards their entrance into World Cup qualifying in third round, action continues in the second round with a host of qualifiers during this international window. Keep a close eye on Groups E and F, which will send their group winners to face the United States and Jamaica in the next phase.

At this point in the season, pride is the only thing remaining for the New England Revolution to fight for. Sitting last in the Eastern Conference with just five games remaining, the Revolution turn their attention to the Chicago Fire against whom they will do battle Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL.

The 2011-2012 Champions League Group Stage is underway, with Matchday 1 halfway done. Eight matches in the books yesterday, eight more matches coming up later today.

See below for yesterday's results the most surprising that Barcelona and Milan drew in the Camp Nou; below that are today's fixtures with our preview notes (including a preview of Benfica-ManU sent in Jon Novy):

Tues 13 September 2011 Results

Group E: Chelsea 2 0 Leverkusen; Genk 0 0 Valencia

Group F: Olympiacos 0 1 Marseille; Dortmund 1 1 Arsenal

Group G: Porto 2 1 Shakhtar Donetsk; APOEL 2 1 Zenit

Group H: Barcelona 2 2 Milan; Plzeň 1 1 BATE

Wed 14 September 2011 Fixtures & Notes

Group A: This is the proverbial Group of Death.

Betis and Valencia joined Real Madrid with maximum points from their two games after 1-0 wins against Mallorca and Atletico Madrid, whilst Sporting's defeat in Pamplona means they are the only team still without a point.

There weren't too many goals this weekend in La Liga, with just 22 in the nine games played, Roberto Soldado got his fourth of the season and leads the league's goalscorers alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, whilst Betis are still concede this campaign.

The Houston Dynamo's playoff hopes took a severe hit, but were not completely killed, Saturday night in Kansas City where Teal Bunbury's brace helped give Sporting Kansas City a 3-0 victory and first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bunbury's first goal came in the 9th minute and, although it would prove to be unnecessary for the win, Bunbury picked up his second goal in the 73rd minute.

The Houston Dynamo's playoff hopes took a severe hit, but were not completely killed, Saturday night in Kansas City where Teal Bunbury's brace helped give Sporting Kansas City a 3-0 victory and first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bunbury's first goal came in the 9th minute and, although it would prove to be unnecessary for the win, Bunbury picked up his second goal in the 73rd minute.

Molyneux. Saturday September 10th 2011. 3pm Kick-off.

With the international break out of the way Spurs head to Wolves and the start of the season couldn't be more contrasting for the two clubs. Wolves have started undefeated with two wins and a draw, whilst Spurs have been comprehensively beaten by the two Manchester juggernauts.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

In this week's review section, success in Europe for the big teams as they march towards the European finals in Poland and the Ukraine in 2012, while Wales let England off the hook.

The man they called the "White Pele" never failed to reiterate his opinion on having game to be played on artificial surface after made known to the media a day earlier.
"To me personally, I think good football should be played on natural grass and artificial surface shall be used by small children in training instead.

Denz of RSL SoapBox, SB Nation's Real Salt Lake blog, and I exchanged three questions a piece ahead of tonight's Union-RSL match at Rio Tinto. Read my responses to Denz's questions by clicking on the linked text here.

tBG: What has sent RSL into such a freefall (though that may be hyperbole)?

Capello demands maximum points against Bulgaria and Wales

England boss doesn't want to travel to Montenegro needing a win

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-08-29 13:22:42 from: The Mirror

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