UEFA Champions League Update - 3/31

Here is a look at the first leg of the quarterfinal round of the UEFA Champions League, including some major injuries which will shape the EPL season, UEFA Champions League and the upcoming World Cup. 

Inter Milan (ITA) vs. CSKA Moscow (RUS)
 - Result: 1-0 (Inter)
 - Thoughts: Inter out shot CSKA 25 to 10, but could not find the net until the 65th minute. Inter appeared to have the better quality, but between CSKA's defensive stance and Inter wasting good chances the game and leg remain tight. They now travel to the Russian capital where CSKA are quite capable of knocking off Inter and sending Mourinho packing for the EPL sooner than expected.


Arsenal (ENG) vs. Barcelona (SPA)
 - Result: 2-2
 - Thoughts: Clash of the Titans. The Gunners went up against the reigning European and World champions knowing this was most likely the toughest round of the competition for them, even if they advance. After falling behind early on two goals by Ibrahimovic, Arsenal responded with a goal by Walcott. Then the captain and hero of Arsenal, who made his return despite injury, Cesc Fabregas, connected on an 85th minute penalty to tie the match and save the clubs European title hopes. However, Arsenal was destroyed with injuries as Fabregas, Arshavin, and Gallas all left the match. While the Gunners pulled out the heroics to level, with the injuries and now faced with a road match at Camp Nou the advantage is clearly with the champions. 


Bayern Munich (GER) vs. Manchester United (ENG)
 - Result: 2-1 (Bayern Munich)
 - Thoughts: 2 minutes in and the game looked just as predicted. Rooney and company dominating and continuing to improve their performance. But then Bayern responded with two goals in the final 15 minutes, including one in stoppage time. However, the headline from the match is that Wayne Rooney left with an injured ankle and is expected to be out for at least a month. With a second leg match against Bayern, an EPL game versus Chelsea on Saturday and the World Cup in less than 3 months this is a tremendous blow for English and ManU fans. I think Manchester has the skill to overcome the deficit at home, but will they have the heart after losing Rooney and potentially the EPL lead to rivals Chelsea. 


Lyon (FRA) vs. Bordeaux (FRA)
 - Result: 3-1 (Lyon)
 - Thoughts: The French battle proved to be an entertaining match and on the back of Lopez' two goals Lyon take a solid lead heading into the second leg. Bordeuax were without Pjanic, but will need him, the home crowd and some luck so overtake the goal differential. 

Soccer News & Features - 3/30

Here are a few of the latest headlines around the soccer world today:

European Soccer:
 - Former Arsenal and Germany goal keeper, Jens Lehmann announced his retirement today at the end of the Bundesliga season.
 - UEFA announced today that Chelsea striker, Didier Drogba, has been given a two match ban for European club matches following his ejection against Inter Milan earlier this month. Additionally, his probation period has been extended to July 2013.
 - Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho, stated today that he is 'unhappy in Italian football' which only fuels the speculation that he is looking to move back to England. Win or lose the Serie A title or the UEFA Champions League many expect him to make the jump to the EPL - perhaps ManCity or Liverpool.

MLS:
 - Toronto has been selected as the site for the 2010 MLS Cup on November 21st. The BMO stadium is currently undergoing changes to increase capacity to 21,800.
 - Seattle Sounder striker, Freddie Ljungberg could miss the upcoming match against New York this weekend due to injuries sustained against Philadelphia last Thursday.

NASL:
 - NASL News.com is reporting that all of the matches for the upcoming season for the new USSF 2nd Division league will be available online. Last year the USL had a 'USLLive.com' website which broadcasted every game for free, the reports speculates the setup will be similar this year. The article also includes details about the upcoming official NASL website and the game ball for the 2010 season.

Check back tomorrow night for a look at the first leg results of UEFA Champions League quarter-final round.

Soccer Table Update as of 3/29

The MLS has returned for its 15th season, Chelsea rolls twice in one week with a combined score of 12-1 and in Italy AS Roma looks to take the throne from Inter Milan. Lets take a look at this past week's action and current table standings.

EPL:
 - Past week's results - Mid-week action saw Everton top ManCity two to nill and Chelsea trash Portsmouth 5-0. On Saturday Chelsea and Manchester United rolled over their opponents with a combined score of 11 to 1, while fellow title chaser Arsenal could only manage a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City. In the battle to escape the relegation zone Hull City pulled off a surprising 2-0 victory over Fulham and Wolverhampton secured a draw against Everton after beating West Ham 3-1 during the week. Sunday saw Liverpool top Sunderland 3-0, only to have Manchester City respond with a 3-0 victory themselves against Wigan.
 - Current EPL Table - Manchester United (72) and Chelsea (71) took a step ahead of Arsenal (68) this weekend with only six fixtures remaining. The mega-clash on Saturday between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford will play a major role in this year's championship. Liverpool (54) jumped Aston Villa (51) for the final Europa League spot, but still trail Tottenham (58) and ManCity (56). Hull City's latest victory pulls them ever so close to safety at 27 points they are tied with West Ham who is in 17th place, but Hull has a game in hand over the Hammers.

Serie A:
 - Past week's results - The big headliner of the weekend saw title chaser AS Roma upset reigning champion Inter Milan 2-1. The results meant that Inter only took 5 points from 5 matches during March. AC Milan failed to capitalize on Inter's slip and after an early lead they could draw against Lazio 1-1. Palermo, Juventus, and Napoli all notched victories in the push European competition.
 - Current Serie A Table - Roma's (62) three points pushed them to within one of leaders Inter (63). Despite the draw AC Milan still remain in the hunt at 60 points. The next tier is headed up by Palermo (51) and three clubs tied at 48 - Napoli, Juventus and Sampdoria. The future looks bleak for relegation zone clubs Atalanta, Siena, and Livorno with seven rounds to go the teams are four to seven points out of safety.


MLS: 
 - Past week's results - The season kicked off in the most exciting stadium in the US, as sophomore club Seattle dominated expansion squad Philadelphia 2-0. On Friday, Colorado topped Chivas 1-0, who looks soft at the start of the season and heading into the Super Clasico. Saturday was the full slate of MLS action while saw the unveiling of the impressive new NY Red Bull Stadium. The crowd and club did not disappoint with a 1-0 win against Chicago. In the night match-up Landon Donovan returned from his stint with Everton to lead the LA Galaxy to a 1-0 result over New England. Elsewhere, the defending champions Real Salt Lake  won 3-0 against relegation bound (if the MLS had one) San Jose.
 - Current MLS Table - Only one week in but the West is a four way tie behind Real Salt Lake, Seattle, LA, and Colorado. The Eastern Conference is a three way tie at the top between Kansas City, Columbus, and New York. The biggest surprises this week to be pointless are Chicago and Chivas and both take on winning teams this upcoming week.

World Soccer Magazine - April 2010 Issue

The April issue of World Soccer was released this week. This month has a part 3 of the magazine's World Cup Preview Guide. Here is a preview of what this month's issue features:

• Cover Story: Europe's Most Wanted Players - a look at the upcoming summer transfer window, the players who might be on the move and the clubs where the might end up. 
• World Cup Countdown: Profiles of Carlo Costly (Honduras), Harry Kewell (Australia), and Michael Bradley (USA).
• Opinion Pieces: Paul Gardner takes a look at Aaron Ramsey's horrific injury the other week, while David Conn writes about UEFA's push to erase club deft, including the Premiere League's estimated total of 3.5 billion pounds of debt. 
• 2010 World Cup Guide: Part 3 includes detailed analysis of Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia. 
• Inside Football: A look at the European market recession and its effect on South American soccer. 
• League Previews: For the USA, Japan, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Norway, and Ireland. 
• Dispatch Updates from Brazil, Africa, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, and more.
• Talent Scout: Profiles for several up and coming players from Germany, and Argentina.
• 50 Year Celebration: In honor of World Soccer magazine's 50th year they take a look at the 50 most scandalous and tragic events that changed the sport. 
• Interviews with Egypt's controversial striker Amr Zaki.
• Travel spotlight city - Sofia, Bulgaria. 
• World Service: Full recap of the African Cup of Nations, and previews of the upcoming Libertadores Cup and Asia Champions League. 

Soccer TV Schedule for the week of 3/27

Note: All games times are in Eastern Standard (ET).

Saturday (27th):
 - EPL: Chelsea vs. Aston Villa - 9:55am - ESPN Classic
 - EPL: Tottenham vs. Portsmouth - 11am - FSC
 - EPL: Bolton vs. Manchester United - 1:30pm - FSC
 - Serie A: Palermo vs. Bologna - 3:30pm - FSC
 - MLS: Chicago Fire vs. New York Red Bulls - 5:55pm - ESPN2HD
 - MLS: Real Salt Lake vs. San Jose Earthquakes - 9pm - FSC
 - MLS: LA Galaxy vs. New England Revolution - 11pm - FSC

Sunday (28th):
 - Serie A: Juventus vs. Atalanta - 9am - FSC
 - EPL: Liverpool vs. Sunderland - 11am - FSC
 - Serie A: AC Milan vs. Lazio - 2:30pm - FSC
 - International Friendly: USA vs. Mexico - 5pm - FSC

Monday (29th):
 - EPL: Manchester City vs. Wigan - 1:55pm - ESPN2HD

Tuesday (30th):
 - UEFA CL: Lyon (FRA) vs. Bordeaux (FRA) - 2:30pm - FSC
 - UEFA CL: Bayern Munich (GER) vs. Manchester United (ENG) - 5pm - FSC

Wednesday (31st):

 - UEFA CL: Arsenal (ENG) vs. Barcelona (SPA) - 2:30pm - FSC

 - UEFA CL: Inter Milan (ITA) vs. CSKA Moscow (RUS) - 5pm - FSC

 - CONCACAF CL: Pumas (MEX) vs. Cruz Azul (MEX) - 10pm - FSC

Thursday (1st):
 - MLS: Houston Dynamo vs. Real Salt Lake - 8pm - ESPN2HD

Note: How many readers out there have Fox Soccer Plus available in their area yet? I'm trying to decide whether or not I should add that channel to this post.

MLS 2010 Season Predictions & Overview

The 15th season of the MLS kicks off tonight in Seattle, WA as the Seattle Sounders host the new expansion club - the Philadelphia Union. The season begins after a very tense off-season with negotiations around the collective bargaining agreement and player transfers/injuries. Here is a quick look at some new changes for the 2010 season:

• The Philadelphia Union joins the MLS as the 16th club as a member of the Eastern Conference. 
• The New York Red Bulls will open their new 25,000 seat, soccer-specific stadium. 
• There are six new coaches: Philadelphia (Nowak), New York (Backe), Toronto (Preki), D.C. (Onalfo), Chivas (Vasquez), and Chicago (Cobos).
• Each team will play all other 15 clubs home and away during the 2010 season.
• The MLS will take a two week break starting June 10th for the 2010 World Cup.

 Here are my predicted finishes for the Eastern & Western Conferences:

East:

1. Chicago Fire*
2. Columbus Crew*
3. D.C. United*
4. New England Revolution*
5. Toronto FC
6. New York Red Bulls
7. Kansas City Wizards
8. Philadelphia Union

West:

1. Seattle Sounders*
2. Real Salt Lake*
3. LA Galaxy*
4. Colorado*
5. Chivas USA
6. Houston Dynamo
7. San Jose Earthquakes
8. Dallas FC

*Team makes playoffs.

For even more MLS 2010 kick-off news, check out Sports Illustrated's top 10 storylines to watch this season.

What are your thoughts on the regular season finishing order for 2010?

Website Review: Soccer24.com

In my free time (the limited amount of it) I like to check out the web for interesting or new soccer and technology websites. Luckily for me I came across Soccer24.com, a great site that I think all of you would like and wanted to bring it to your attention. Soccer24 features the following items:

• Live soccer scores from every major league around the world. Top European leagues like the EPL and Serie A all the way down to small divisions in from Africa, Asia and South America. 
• A look at upcoming matches or past results based on sorted by league and date. 
• Odds comparison data and soccer statistics for betting information and data analysis of your favorite league and/or club.
• A list of games streaming live video at the current time which are free to watch on various websites across the web. 

So when you get some time check out the site and if its what you've been looking for add it to your bookmarks. I've also added the link to Soccer24.com to the upper right hand corner of the blog for future reference. 

Soccer News & Features - 3/23

Finally, getting to the blog late tonight due to some travel, but here are a few quick news stories and features you might want to check out:

• Sports Illustrated has a full breakdown on the MLS Western Conference for the 2010 season - including the major changes for each club, the main players and the outlook for the upcoming year. The writer also predicts the final standings at the end of the season for the West. 
• Similarly, Stevie Davis chronicles the MLS Eastern Conference with a full preview. 
• Liverpool has accepted a $9 million offer to send winer Albert Riera to CSKA Moscow. While the Spanish international had recently been out of favor at Liverpool, he is still a quality player to lose for a team struggling to qualify for the Europa League next season. 
• The MLS and player's association signed a new collective bargaining agreement this past weekend to avoid a pending strike. Here is a quick look at the changes to players salaries and contract statuses - the minimum salary for a senior player is now $40,000 and the annual team budget has been raised from $2.3 million to $2.55 million.  

Soccer Table Update as of 3/22

Here is a look at this past weekend's results in England and Italy, as well as the current table standings. Starting next week I will be adding the MLS action and table standings, as the season kicks off this Thursday night with Seattle taking on Philadelphia on ESPN2 at 9:30pm (ET).

EPL:
 - Past week's results - The mid-week match-up saw Aston Villa win 2-1 over Wigan, the difference being an own goal by Wigan. On Saturday Arsenal's 2-0 victory against West Ham pushed the Gunners to first place in the EPL. Relegation bound Portsmouth secured their second victory in four games against Hull City. The big match-up of the weekend pitted Manchester United against Liverpool. Both Rooney and Torres showed up for the headline game with early goals, but as the season's results would have predicted the Red Devils won 2-1. Chelsea drew with Blackburn 1-1 and is continuing to let their early title lead slip away.
 - Current EPL Table - Man United stays atop the table with 69 points and Arsenal (67) jumped Chelsea (65) for the second position. However, the Blues still have one game in hand over their title rivals. The fourth spot remains Tottenham's at 55 points after their 2-1 win against Stoke over the weekend. Everton jumped to eighth with 45 points and is now only six points outside of a Europa League spot. The relegation zone stayed the same - Portsmouth / Hull City / Burnley - however, Wolverhampton (28) and West Ham (27) are still at risk.

Serie A:
 - Past week's results - While they may have dominated Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, Inter Milan have won only one game in the past seven domestic ties, after a 1-1 draw against Palermo. After three draws AS Roma returned to their winning streak with a 4-2 result over Udinese. On Sunday, AC Milan failed to capitalize on Inter's slide and could only earn 1 point against Napoli. The Europa League position battle intensified as Sampdoria defeated Juventus 1-0.
 - Current Serie A Table - After the 29th round of the 09/10 Serie A season the title remains between three clubs - Inter (60), AC Milan (59), and AS Roma (56). Roma gained on the top two and AC Milan missed a golden opportunity to jump their city rivals. Sampdoria's (47) victory against Juventus (45) pushed the Old Lady down into the 7th spot.  The struggling Juventus is apparently trying aggressively to bring in Liverpool manager Rafa Benetiz for next season. Relegation clubs Siena (25) and Atalanta (25) both won over the weekend and jumped Livorno (24). However, all three clubs are still four points back of 17th place Lazio.

FA Cup Update:
 - Tottenham will take on Fulham on Wednesday at White Hart Lane to decide the fourth and final position in the FA Cup Semi-Finals. The winner of the match will go on face Portsmouth, while the other semi-final sees Chelsea face Aston Villa. The semi-final matches are scheduled to take place on April 10th and 11th.

UEFA Champions League Quarterfinal Draw

The 2009/2010 UEFA Champions League is down to the final eight clubs after the second leg of the Round 16 was held this past week. The advancing teams were placed into the quaterfinal draw and produced the following match-ups:

Draw 1:
Lyon (FRA) vs. Bordeaux (FRA)
Thoughts: The first draw guarantees France a team in the semi-finals for the first time since 2003-2004 when Monaco lost in the final to Porto. Lyon will be the favorites going into the first leg following their two-leg victory over Real Madrid, while Bordeaux advanced by playing Olypmiacos.  

Draw 2:
Manchester United (ENG) vs. Bayern Munich (GER)
Thoughts: While not an easy opponent, Manchester United must be please to be going up against Bayern Munich instead of some of the other top European clubs remaining. The draw also guarantees that the Red Devils will not have to play Barcelona, Inter Milan or Arsenal until the final.

Draw 3:
Barcelona (SPA) vs. Arsenal (ENG)
Thoughts: The hightlight of the quarterfinal round. Arsene Wenger can not be pleased with this draw, espcially after Barcelona dismantled Stuttgart 4-0 in the second leg of the last round. The winner of this match will most likely have to face off against Inter Milan making their road to the final in Madrid even harder.

Draw 4:
Inter Milan (ITA) vs. CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Thoughts: Following the knock-out of Chelsea by Inter, Jose Mourinho's side will be the clear favorites to dominate CSKA Moscow. However, just like in the Round of 16 the Russian club will have nothing to lose and having already advanced farther than ever before

The winners of Draw 1 & Draw 2 will face each other in the semi-finals, pitting the winners of Draw 3 & 4 against one another. 

The first leg matches will take place over March 30th and 31st and the second leg will be held on April 6th and 7th.

What are your thoughts on the quarter-final draws? Predictions?