Primera Division strikes blocked by Madrid Court

The proposed strikes in Spain have been blocked by a Madrid court and this weekend’s fixtures will go ahead as normal. 14 of the league’s teams threatened a walk-out following a dispute over television rights. The clubs were upset over a rule that states one match per week must be shown on free-to-air television. They argue that the removal of this rule would allow teams to get more money through pay-TV rights.

The remaining six teams were opposed to the strike and started legal proceedings to challenge this action. The six “rebel” teams were Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Real Zaragoza, Espanyol and Villarreal. These teams described the proposed action as "a disproportionate, untimely measure that is contrary to the interests of the clubs, the competition and the fans and is, in addition, contrary to the law". The Madrid based court agreed.

Six Primera Division games are live on Sky Sports this weekend, including a massive match at El Madrigal as leaders Barcelona travel to third place Villarreal on Saturday night:

Saturday, 2 April 2011
Real Madrid v Sporting Gijon, 17:00 (Live on Sky Sports 4)
Getafe v Valencia, 19:00 (Live on Sky Sports 4)
Villarreal v Barcelona, 21:00 (Live on Sky Sports 4)

Sunday, 3 April 2011
Deportivo La Coruna v Mallorca, 16:00
Espanyol v Racing Santander, 16:00
Levante v Malaga, 16:00
Real Sociedad v Hercules, 16:00
Sevilla v Real Zaragoza, 18:00 (Live on Sky Sports 1)
Osasuna v Atletico Madrid, 20:00 (Live on Sky Sports 1)

Monday, 4 April 2011
Almeria v Athletic Bilbao, 20:00 (Live on Sky Sports Online)

Champions League Round of 16 - Brief Analysis Part 2

The second set of Champions League Round of 16 first legs took place this week. This week's entertainment level may have dropped, with only 5 goals being scored as opposed to 11 last week.

Below, I take a look at some points of interest with the aid of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app.

Impact Substitution
Jose Mourinho has shown this season that he doesn't necessarily trust Karim Benzema at the top end of his team. Emmanuel Adebayor has been brought in on loan from Manchester City, and on Tuesday night he started the match away at Lyon. To say that the ex-Arsenal striker was rather ineffective would be an understatement. Within 40 seconds of coming on as Adebayor's replacement, Karim Benzema grabbed the opening goal against his old side. A great goal after a mazy dribble across the opposition penalty area gave Madrid a crucial away goal to take back to the Bernabeu.

Firing Blanks
Marseille v Manchester United was not the most exciting game. Both sides seemed to be overly cautious, and although Marseille will consider a 0-0 draw a good result, they still have a difficult task of getting a score draw or better at Old Trafford. Manchester United were especially poor going forward, having only 2 shots on target in the match. Their 8 shots at goal was the lowest total of all the 16 teams that played over the last two weeks.

Torres bedding in
Chelsea got a comfortable 2-0 win at Copenhagen on Tuesday night, and look set to make the Quarter Finals with relative ease. They started the game with new signing Fernando Torres partnering Nicolas Anelka up front. The duo managed 13 shots between them and were far too much for Copenhagen to contain. Although Torres did not get a goal, his movement was excellent throughout the game and he got into numerous goalscoring positions. It shouldn't be long before the Spanish striker nets his first goal for his new club.

Bayern show their class
Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich recorded a fantastic 1-0 away win in their first leg with Internazionale on Wednesday. Inter did have chances of their own, with Samuel Eto'o coming close on a few occasions, but Bayern were bright and bold throughout, and got the winner in the 90th minute through Mario Gomez. Arjen Robben created the goal when he cut in from the right wing and had a shot which was parried by Julio Cesar. Robben tried this all evening, often picking the ball up in a very wide position. The Inter defenders doubled up on him well for most of the match in order to stop him cutting inside, but they ultimately failed.

Bastian Schweinsteiger also had an excellent game, controlling the midfield and dictating Bayern's play throughout. Schweinsteiger attempted and completed the most passes of any player on the pitch. As can be seen on the chalkboard below, the German midfielder concentrated the majority of his balls out wide, looking for the consistently dangerous Robben and Ribery.

Week Ahead: Big games at the top

After a midweek of European action, there are a host of top of the table clashes across Europe's top leagues this weekend.

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Saturday 26 February 2011
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund
Bundesliga: Kick-off - 17:30 GMT

Bayern come into this game in good form. Louis van Gaal's side have won 4 of their last 5 in the Bundesliga, and their win on Wednesday night at the San Siro will also be a confidence boost ahead of this game. Dortmund are still 13 points ahead of the German Champions in the league, and while the result of this game is unlikely to alter the destination of the title, it could go a long way to proving whether Bayern Munich are back to their best.

Odds - Bayern Munich (4/5) Draw (5/2) Dortmund (3/1)

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Sunday 27 February 2011
Lille v Lyon
Ligue 1: Kick-off - 20:00 GMT

After a good 1-1 draw at home with Real Madrid on Tuesday, Lyon will see this game as their chance to grab hold of Ligue 1. Lille are currently top of the table, but with only 1 win in 3 in the league they desperately need three points on Sunday night. Rudi Garcia's side were also knocked out of the Europa League this week, losing 5-3 on aggregate to PSV. Lyon's experience may prove key in this top of the table clash.

Odds - Lille (11/10) Draw (9/4) Olympique Lyonnais (13/5)

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Monday 28 February 2011
Milan v Napoli
Serie A: Kick-off - 19:45

This is a huge game in the race for the Serie A title. Napoli visit the San Siro just 3 points behind leaders AC Milan, and victory for Walter Mazzarri's side would throw everything up in the air. An away win could also bring Internazionale right back into the mix, who are currently only 5 points behind in third position. Milan won the reverse fixture in October, but Serie A top goalscorer Edinson Cavani will be hoping to help his team achieve an historic victory on Monday night.

Odds - Milan (4/5) Draw (5/2) Napoli (7/2)

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Tuesday 1 March 2011
Chelsea v Manchester United
Premier League: Kick-off - 19:45

Due to postponements earlier in the season, Chelsea and Manchester United have yet to face each other at all in the Premier League this season. Manchester United play Wigan, Chelsea and Liverpool all in a week, all away from home. United played out a disappointing and rather boring 0-0 draw away at Marseille on Tuesday night, and there is a chance that they will travel to Stamford Bridge with containment in mind. Away from home this season Man Utd have drawn 0-0 with both Manchester City and Spurs. Chelsea will be hoping that Fernando Torres can quickly rediscover his form, while Ferguson's side will be hoping to benefit from Chelsea's seemingly fragile confidence.

Odds - Chelsea (5/4) Draw (11/5) Manchester United (12/5)

Champions League Round of 16 - Brief Analysis

The Champions League Round of 16 began this week with four 1st leg matches. Three of the games ended with rather surprising results as Shakhtar and Tottenham both won away in Italy, and Arsenal beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Emirates.

Below, I take a look at some points of interest with the aid of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app.

England’s rising star
Jack Wilshere has been getting a lot of positive press recently, and in last night’s game he showed off his qualities superbly. Against Barcelona, keeping the ball while under pressure is vitally important, and Wilshere was magnificent in possession. He completed 90% of his passes in the match and showed a level of composure with the ball that is a rare sight among English midfielders. Of course, the master of passing Xavi Hernandez was pulling the most strings again last night, but Wilshere managed to show his class despite Arsenal only having 39% possession.

Mixed Gunners fire power
Before the game Barcelona may have concentrated their attention on Theo Walcott. The lightning fast winger who caused the Catalans a lot of trouble last season may have been picked out as the danger man, but it was in form striker Robin Van Persie who caused most upset.

The Dutchman was a constant thorn in the side of the Barca defence, having 7 shots and scoring the equalising goal.

Walcott on the other hand struggled to make any impact on the game, only completing 9 passes during the 76 minutes that he was on the pitch.

Spurs’ hard work pays off
Every Tottenham player put in a great performance on Tuesday night as Spurs beat AC Milan 1-0 in the San Siro. The win was fully deserved and came on the back of an excellent team performance. Spurs worked extremely hard to restrict Milan and stopped their midfield from creating. Wilson Palacios and Sandro were an instrumental part of Tottenham’s defensive solidity.

This hard work not only restricted Milan, but allowed Tottenham to begin attacks of their own. Away from home, Spurs managed to have twice the amount of shots on target that Milan did.

Harry Redknapp got his tactics spot on all night, and bringing on Luka Modric after 61 minutes was another clever thing to do. Milan were starting to attack with more purpose and the game was getting tougher for Spurs. The introduction of Luka Modric meant that Tottenham were better able to retain possession. Modric only gave the ball away once and was responsible for the pass which set Aaron Lennon away in the build up to the only goal of the game.

Roma wasteful
A demoralising 3-2 home defeat was not how Roma would have wanted to start the Champions League knockout stage. Shakhtar Donetsk look in complete control of the tie after a great result against a rather wasteful Roma side. Only 4 of the home side’s 22 shots hit the target.

Record Breaker Raul
A 1-1 draw at the Mestalla leaves this tie in the balance, but it was ex Real Madrid striker Raul who took the headlines. His equalising goal for Schalke in the 64th minute means that he breaks the record for the most goals in European competition history. Congratulations to Raul and his amazing 71 goal haul.

Real Madrid and Barcelona continue march towards final showdown

The Copa del Rey quarter finals came to a close Thursday night as Atletico Madrid exited the competition after a 1-0 defeat at home to their city rivals Real. Cristiano Ronaldo’s first half goal secured a 4-1 aggregate win for Real Madrid and set up a semi final clash with holders Sevilla. Gregorio Manzano’s team went through following a very impressive 3-0 win over Villarreal at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Tuesday night. Villarreal have been superb this season and after being 3-1 up after 55 minutes in the first leg, it looked like The Yellow Submarine would reach their first ever semi final. However, Sevilla scored five goals without reply to end up 6-3 winners on aggregate. In the second leg Sevilla showed up some disappointing defensive frailties of Villarreal, scoring from two corners in 3 minutes at the start of the second half. Sevilla are a very good cup side and should put up a fight against Jose Mourinho’s side in the semi finals.

The other semi final will be between table toppers Barcelona and Almeria, who are currently bottom of La Liga. Quite a mismatch on paper, and most probably in reality also. Barcelona have ended up on the easier side of the draw, and now face the team which they defeated 8-0 away from home back in November in the league. Almeria won both legs in their 4-2 aggregate win over Deportivo La Coruña and will be delighted to reach a semi final for the first time in their short history. Barcelona will be massive favourites in this tie, but Almeria will take heart after Real Betis managed to record a 3-1 win over the Spanish champions in the second leg of their quarter final. The tie may have been effectively over after Barcelona won the first leg 5-0 at the Camp Nou, but Betis’ win remains highly impressive and ended Barcelona’s record breaking 28-game unbeaten run.

Since the draw for the round of 16 and all subsequent rounds was made in November, all attention has been focused on the fact that Barcelona and Real Madrid were kept apart on separate sides of the draw. Barcelona and Real Madrid have not faced off in the final of this competition for 21 years, since Barcelona defeated their great rivals 2-0 in 1990. El Clásico has only occured twice more since then in the Cup, with a semi final in 92-93 and a last 16 match in 96-97. So surprisingly, in a country where two teams have dominated so much for so long, a Barcelona v Real Madrid final would actually be quite a rarity.

Future of the League Cup

The League Cup in England has been in decline for quite some years now. Many teams choose to field youth and reserve players, while others seem happy to exit at the earliest opportunity in order to concentrate on the league. Attendances have been down and fans interest in the competition is dwindling. This season, with the aim of ending Arsenal’s trophy dry spell, Arsene Wenger has decided that he fancies winning the League Cup. Simply by fielding a few more first team players, Arsenal have made the semi finals fairly comfortably, and are now clear favourites to lift the trophy. The ease in which they have done this puts into question the validity of the competition as a whole. The League Cup cannot continue as a play thing for the top teams.

Already today in the third round of the FA Cup, we have seen a superb cup tie between Arsenal and Leeds United which ended 1-1. The stadium was full and the excitement levels were top notch. The magic of the FA Cup is very much alive and maybe the League Cup is now surplus to requirements. We now have access to more football on television than ever before. With the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and other top class European football, the League Cup sadly fades into obscurity.

Maybe it is time to get rid of the competition entirely? This would ease fixture congestion and remove the problem completely. However, lower league teams would then have less to aim for in a season. Perhaps teams that play in Europe could be excluded, or maybe all the teams in the Premier League? I believe that something needs to happen to the League Cup, it lacks drama and excitement simply because it is not taken seriously any more by lots of teams. Left as it is, the League Cup will wither and die, maybe we should kill it off sooner than that.

Europa League Match Day 6 Preview

The Europa League Group Stages come to a close this week, and half of the 48 teams will move onto the knockout stages. These 24 teams will be joined by the 8 third placed Champions League teams in Friday’s draw.

Of the 12 Europa League groups, 6 are effectively over already. In groups A, E, F, H, I & L the top two teams have secured qualification regardless of this week’s results. Interestingly, the Italian teams have not been having a good time of things, with Juventus, Palermo and Sampdoria out of the competition, Napoli are the only Serie A team with a chance of going through.

In Group B Atletico Madrid are in a tough situation as they must achieve a better result than Aris Salonika. The Greek side are ahead of Atletico on head to head record after beating them both home and away. Lille are two points away from qualification in Group C and must beat Gent at home on Thursday in order to progress.

Only two points separate the top three teams in Group D, where Villarreal need a point away to Club Bruges to guarantee progression. In Group G, third placed Anderlecht are three points off second and need to win and hope that Zenit St Petersburg beat AEK Athens in Greece.

The most exciting match is potentially in Group J, where Sevilla host Borussia Dortmund at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. PSG have already qualified because of their head to head record against Dortmund, and the runaway leaders in the Bundesliga can only qualify by defeating Sevilla tonight. Finally in Group K, where Liverpool have already secured qualification, Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli currently lie third in the group, but will go through if they defeat Steaua Bucharest tonight at home.

Sadly, of the 32 places available in Friday’s knockout round draw, only 7 remain up for grabs. However, there are still some interesting ties going on and several big European teams may go crashing out over the next two days.

Europa League Tables in full

Champions League Match Day 6 - Brief Analysis

The Champions League Group stage is now over. 16 teams are through to the knockout stage, 8 will play in the next round of the Europa League and 8 are out altogether. The draw for the next round takes place in one week and is likely to throw up some very interesting ties.

Due to the fact that many teams had already sealed qualification, some of the games unfortunately lacked any real intensity or drive. However, there were some points of interest.

Quality over Quantity
Real Madrid brushed aside Auxerre 4-0 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday but somehow the French side managed to have more shots overall.

Benfica were in an even more wasteful and apparently desperate mood as they managed to lose 2-1 to Shalke despite having 16 more shots at goal than the German visitors.

Barcelona philosophy runs deep
Despite fielding a very young and inexperienced side, Barcelona showed Rubin Kazan that their passing philosophy is so ingrained that the youth can slot right in and be very effective too. Barcelona passed the Russian side to death, completing over 700 more passes in the match.

Valencia’s Possession
An impressive statistic in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Valencia was that the Spanish side had more possession at Old Trafford. Ever Banega in particular had an excellent night moving the ball around from the centre of the park, completing 25 more passes than anyone on the pitch.

Group Stage Statistics
At the end of the group stage we currently have the following statistics:

Top Goal Scorers
Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan) - 7
Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) - 6
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 6

Top Assists
Carlos Martins (Benfica) - 5
Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur) - 4

Most Successful Passes
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) - 516
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich) - 515
Xavi (Barcelona) - 458

Most Shots on Target
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 16
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 15

Most Shots off Target
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 24
Carlos Martins (Benfica) - 20

Most successful take-ons
Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) - 28
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 24

Most Crosses
Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) - 72
Samuel Inkoom (FC Basel) - 48

Diagrams courtesy of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app

Chelsea set for a tough December

The English Champions are not enjoying a good run of form in the Premier League at the moment and are now heading into a tough Christmas period. Chelsea have only won one of their last six games in the league, losing to Liverpool, Sunderland and Birmingham. Two 1-1 draws against Newcastle and Everton have not given Chelsea fans any reason to believe that their team is ready to bounce back either.

This lack of form has also come at a particularly bad time for Chelsea, and their next three games could have a significant impact on the outcome of the Premier League. On Sunday, Chelsea will travel to White Hart Lane where they haven’t won since 2005. Tottenham have an excellent home record against the top teams and Chelsea will be in for a tough examination. A week later Chelsea will host Manchester United who are buoyant after their seven goal rout against Blackburn Rovers. Dimitar Berbatov’s five goal glut and the return of Wayne Rooney have lifted spirits at Old Trafford recently, so expect a much more fluid United to arrive on Sunday 19th December. Chelsea’s gauntlet culminates at the Emirates against an Arsenal side which they have found rather easy to beat in recent seasons. However, this time could be very different, as Chelsea have looked unusually shaky at the back. Arsenal could learn from Liverpool and Sunderland’s approaches by shrugging off any intimidation and attacking from the start.

Carlo Ancelotti and his team are set for a season defining test this month, and three wins would give The Blues a massive psychological advantage going into the new year. At the end of the season, these three games could be seen as the turning point for Chelsea. If Chelsea fail the test, they will have a huge task on their hands to drag themselves back into contention. However, this season has already shown that no outstanding team looks ready to run away with things. The Premier League table may become even more congested at the top come 2011.


Tottenham v Chelsea - Sunday 12th December
Chelsea v Manchester United - Sunday 19th December
Arsenal v Chelsea - Monday 27th December

Barcelona and their irresistible trio

Barcelona stepped on to the Camp Nou pitch last night clearly determined to prove a point against their biggest rivals, and at the full time whistle the point was well and truly proved. Barcelona beat Jose Mourinho’s Madrid to a pulp, completely dominating throughout and winning 5-0. It was a complete masterclass in pressing and keeping possession that was way too much for Real to handle.

Real Madrid have spent heavily over the past couple of seasons with the aim of besting Barcelona in the league. They shelled out €70m and €95m on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively in 2009. Jose Mourinho has improved the squad even further with the signings of Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria and Sami Khedira. Before last night Real Madrid were a point ahead of their rivals, unbeaten in all competitions and had the best defensive record of all Europe’s top teams. However, Monday night’s game at the Camp Nou may have shown the world that there are some things that you cannot buy.

Last night the Barcelona team were superb all across the pitch, with David Villa proving that he is a perfect fit for this team as so many predicted before the season, but three certain individuals were simply unplayable. Andreas Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi gave Real Madrid’s superstars a lesson that they are unlikely to forget for a long time. Barcelona’s philosophy and style cannot be replicated with money alone, and the apparent telepathy that this trio possess can only be achieved with time and care.

With the home crowd’s chants of ‘Ole’ ringing in their ears, the Real Madrid midfield could barely maintain their balance as they watched Xavi, Iniesta and Messi run rings around them time and time again. One touch, two touch, twisting, turning and impossible to stop, this trio left the Madrid players dazed and confused, desperate to go home long before Jeffren grabbed the fifth goal. Messi and Iniesta jinked passed challenges all night, while Xavi gave his World Cup winning team-mate Xabi Alonso a masterclass in passing and keeping the ball.

Barcelona were wonderful with and without the ball, constantly pressing and forcing Real into making mistakes and giving the ball away. A pressing game however is only effective if you can retain the ball once it has been won back. This is of course no problem for Barca’s irresistible trio, they could have kept the ball all night if they so wished. Some may argue that Real Madrid were poor last night, but I would say that Barcelona were unplayable and Jose Mourinho’s team did well to only concede five.