01.02.2012 - A cuento de la comentada y retwitteada transferencia de Maxi López al Milan, un recuento de 10 transferencias que, en su momento, dieron que hablar...
Representado por su hermano (el ex futbolista) Marcelo Escudero, Sergio Daniel llegó a vestir la camiseta del Corinthians y compartir vestuario con Ronaldo Nazario y Roberto Carlos (2008) por unos € 1.

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill is already feeling at home with his new teammates, describing the squad as an 'entertaining' group following the club's short training camp in Mallorca.

The Blues returned home earlier today and after spending most of the time in Mallorca training together in the warm weather, Cahill feels that the bonding within the squad got stronger by the day.

Buy Belgian. Ho.

We talked yesterday about the club allegedly reentering talks with Racing Genk over the transfer of the young Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne. Those talks (gasp) are actually true.

This according to a spokesman for Genk:

Dirk Degraen is in London and the expectation is that it (the transfer of De Bruyne) will be finished this week.

Not entirely sure about the source material, but Chelsea have allegedly re-engaged in talks with Racing Genk over the transfer of the 20-year-old that looks not a day over 12 Kevin De Bruyne.

Young Money

As you may recall, the club inquired about De Bruyne in the summer.

12.01.2012 - Saber retirarse a tiempo implica una gran sabiduría. Juan dijo: "conviene que yo decrezca para que él crezca". Jesús dijo: "conviene que yo me vaya". Así, la Ascensión de Jesús significa – según la Iglesia - tomar conciencia de que su tiempo ha terminado en pos del comienzo del tiempo de la Iglesia.

Grupo A PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Bayern Munich 13 5 4 1 0 11 4 7 Napoli 8 5 2 2 1 8 6 2 Manchester City 7 5 2 1 2 7 6 1 Villarreal 0 5 0 0 5 2 12 -10
Grupo B PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Inter Milan 10 5 3 1 1 7 5 2 Trabzonspor 6 5 1 3 1 3 5 -2 Lille 5 5 1 2 2 6 6 0 CSKA Moscow 5 5 1 2 2 7 7 0
Grupo C PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Benfica 9 5 2 3 0 7 4 3 Manchester United 9 5 2 3 0 10 6 4 FC Basel 8 5 2 2 1 9 9 0 Otelul Galati 0 5 0 0 5 3 10 -7
Grupo D PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Real Madrid 15 5 5 0 0 16 2 14 Ajax Amsterdam 8 5 2 2 1 6 3 3 Lyon 5 5 1 2 2 2 6 -4 Dinamo Zagreb 0 5 0 0 5 2 15 -13
Grupo E PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Bayer Leverkusen 9 5 3 0 2 7 7 0 Chelsea 8 5 2 2 1 10 4 6 Valencia 8 5 2 2 1 12 4 8 Racing Genk 2 5 0 2 3 1 15 -14
Grupo F PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Arsenal 11 5 3 2 0 6 3 3 Marseille 7 5 2 1 2 4 2 2 Olympiakos 6 5 2 0 3 5 5 0 Borussia Dortmund 4 5 1 1 3 4 9 -5
Grupo G PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Apoel Nicosia 9 5 2 3 0 6 4 2 Zenit St Petersburg 8 5 2 2 1 7 5 2 FC Porto 7 5 2 1 2 7 7 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 2 5 0 2 3 4 8 -4
Grupo H PT JJ JG JE JP GF GC DF Barcelona 13 5 4 1 0 16 4 12 AC Milan 8 5 2 2 1 9 6 3 Viktoria Plzen 4 5 1 1 3 2 9 -7 BATE Borisov 2 5 0 2 3 2 10 -8 Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Lionel Messi took another step towards becoming the most prolific goal-scorer in Barcelona's history as the 24-year-old striker scored his 200th, 201st and 202nd goal for the club.

Messi's clinical penalty kick was the opening goal in Barcelona's straight-forward 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plezen as the defending champions officially booked a place in the knockout rounds and take pole position in Group H.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Chelsea turned in an epic first-half performance as Andre Villas-Boas remains unbeaten in UEFA Champions League play with his new club.

Chelsea demolished tiny Racing Genk 5-0 at Stamford Bridge with four goals coming in the first half. More encouraging for the Blues is the regained form of Fernando Torres, who notched a double within the first 30 minutes.

Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to strike an injury-time winner that guided Arsenal to a famous 1-0 victory over Olympique Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

Earlier in the match, a blatant handball from Marseille's Souleymane Diawara went unnoticed as the Gunners were denied an easy penalty decision.

Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to strike an injury-time winner that guided Arsenal to a famous 1-0 victory over Olympique Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

Earlier in the match, a blatant handball from Marseille's Souleymane Diawara went unnoticed as the Gunners were denied an easy penalty decision.

Chelsea host Racing Genk in the first ever meeting between the clubs tonight at Stamford Bridge. A win, like a Fernando Torres start, is expected, but not a given.

Team news and the like from 2:30pm EDT.

Chelsea host Racing Genk in the first ever meeting between the clubs tonight at Stamford Bridge. A win, like a Fernando Torres start, is expected, but not a given.

Team news and the like from 2:30pm EDT.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has praised the manner in which Frank Lampard responded to a second straight starting XI selection by scoring a brilliant hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers.

The Blues cruised to an emphatic 5-1 win at the Reebok Stadium and although their collective team effort was certainly noteworthy, the headlines belonged to Lampard, who has now scored in both his last games as a starter.

Adidas have released a new competition that is offering winners a brilliant opportunity to win VIP tickets to matches in the UEFA Champions League this season.

Using a simple video editor, pre-loaded with 70 clips (all sources from YouTube users), each participant must answer one question: What would you do for Ultimate Access tickets to the UEFA Champions League?

Thiago Silva scored Milan's crucial equalizer in Barcelona on Tuesday

Concerns over FC Barcelona's defence continued after the first of this season's UEFA Champions League matches were played throughout Europe last night.

The defending Spanish and European champions had home advantage in their Group H encounter against AC Milan but were behind after just 25 seconds with Alexandre Pato scoring the fastest goal ever scored in the competition.

Chelsea's young striker, Romelu Lukaku have to hold down his dream in playing in the Champions League for the Blues at least for the group stage as the new signing was omitted by his club from the 22 players list for the competition.

Lukaku's omission comes what of a surprise considering his steep price tag, but apparently isn't avoidable as the UEFA rules simply didn't give an advantage for the Belgium international and it seems that Andre Villas-Boas opted to drop the 18-years-old.

Here are the groups for the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League. Matchday 1 begins on Tue Sep 13.
Group A
Bayern Munich
Villarreal
Manchester City
Napoli
Group B
Internazionale Milan
CSKA Moscow
Lille Metropole
Trabzonspor
Group C
Manchester United
Benfica
Basel
Otelul Galati
Group D
Real Madrid
Olympique Lyon
Amsterdam Ajax
Dinamo Zagreb
Group E
Chelsea
Valencia
Bayer Leverkusen
Racing Genk
Group F
Arsenal
Olympique Marseille
Olympiacos Piraeus
Borussia Dortmund
Group G
Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk
Zenit St Petersburg
APOEL
Group H
Barcelona
AC Milan
BATE Borisov
Viktoria Plzen
Matches & scores.

It took two second-half goals from Giuseppe Rossi, but Villarreal finally were able to get past Danish side Odense, and advance to the Champions League group stage.

Rossi who was linked with a move to Juventus this summer, got in front of his marker to open the scoring five minutes after halftime and then rifled in a brilliant volley in the 66th minute.

We haven't even hit September yet, but we're already getting mid-week soccer schedules loaded with incredible match-ups. Today is one of those special days.

FC Barcelona takes on Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup second leg today, with Barcelona having earned a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Madrid.

Today, The Champions League formally returns. It's the last step for a few European giants to reach the Group Stage of Europe's elite competition or be relegated into the Europa League.

Matches this afternoon include: Arsenal v. Udinese. BATE Borisov v. SK Sturm Graz.

We have it on good word that at least one English club has lodged a bid for Kevin De Bruyne. Who made the bid, however, is up for interpretation.

Chelsea? Say word.

Chelsea have been linked with the 20-year-old Racing Genk midfielder since, well, the summer close season began.

Belgian league champions Racing Genk celebrated a maiden Super Cup triumph last night when defeating Belgian Cup winners Standard Liege by a 1-0 scoreline. The champions had home advantage and made the best use of it despite going down to ten men in the 28th minute after forward Jelle Vossen was sent off.

Liverpool defender Chris Mavinga is understood to be joining French club Rennes and has a provisional date for a medical next week, according to Ouest France.
The 20-year-old Frenchman has been a player at Anfield for two years but has yet to force his way into the first-team reckoning at Anfield, and will undergo a medical with the Ligue 1 side on Tuesday.

Se acabó la Jupiler League y pese a que a priori el Anderlecht, campeón de la fase regular, último campeón de liga y gran favorito pese a la venta de Boussoufa, quedó desplazado a un lado por el Racing Genk y el Standard de Lieja quienes se enfrentarían en un partido final por el título. El empate valía para los de Genk, a los de Lieja solo les valía ganar y el partido quedó 1-1 con un nuevo campeón en Bélgica, el Racing Genk volvía a ganar la liga 9 años después.

Fair warning: this is a rather unsettling video which begs the question of "gruesome leg breaks or frightening head injuries?"

I suppose the answer can be neither.

The Belgian playoff between Standard and Racing Genk was supposed to culminate for a trophy; for Mehdi Carcela, it culminated with Chris Mavinga's boot in his head, a broken face and a thudding concussion.

Fair warning: this is a rather unsettling video which begs the question of "gruesome leg breaks or frightening head injuries?"

I suppose the answer can be neither.

The Belgian playoff between Standard and Racing Genk was supposed to culminate for a trophy; for Mehdi Carcela, it culminated with Chris Mavinga's boot in his head, a broken face and a thudding concussion.

News today that Newcastle are interested in young Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Thibaut Courtois 6'5″ goalkeeper turns 19 next week Goalkeeper coach Andy Woodman has already been watching the 18 year-old youngster, who plays for Racing Genk in Belgium, and Newcastle are always on the look out to bring young stars into Newcastle, who [.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The chase for hardware in Europe continues this weekend, and a handful of Americans are still in the mix.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht are three points behind first-place Racing Genk in the Belgian playoffs, but they can close the gap with a win against the league leaders on Saturday.

Anderlecht picked up their first points in the play-offs as they put a pair of goals past Racing Genk to re-gain the top spot in the Jupiler Pro League.

After losing their first two games in the play-offs, the defending champions will hope to get things back on track when they welcome first place Racing Genk to Brussels on Friday night.

A huge top of the table clash today as Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht host Racing Genk. The teams are tied on 60 points, with Genk narrowly holding a one-goal edge in goal differential. At the other end of the spectrum, Herculez Gomez and Jose Torres join Pachuca when they travel to take on Tecos in a meeting of two teams at the bottom of their respective groups.