Spending hundreds of millions of euros on players provides no guaranty for success. Champions League glory continues to elude Florentino Perez’s Real Madrid and Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea, correctly so. Their elimination courtesy of Olimpique Lyon and Internazionale Milano demonstrated that…
Category: Europe
Two Emerging Stars
Marouane Chamakh and Romelu Lukako are not yet familiar names, but both are on the direct trajectory to Premiership star status. While Marouane is ten years older than Romelu, they are enjoying tremendous seasons and seem poised for big club…
Sensational Snejder, Chelsea out
Chelsea followed Real Madrid out of the Champions League competition, following a gripping match at Stamford Bridge that was decided by two dominant factors: the exceptional form of Wesley Snejder and the aggressive, physical play of Inter’s back duo, Lucio…
Aguante Madrid – Roundabout
Real Madrid supporters are electrified as their club finds itself at the top of La Liga, now edging Barcelona on goal difference, after a spectacular injury time victory at the Bernabeu against Sevilla. Milan’s visit to Roma ended just the…
On Tap
With many players returning to their clubs following the midweek international action, there are a couple of big matches in Serie A this week-end, both on Saturday. Roma will host Milan at the Olimpico in a match with big implications…
Roundabout
Well well … Man City’s victory in London was a match with multiple connotations that certainly stirred the Premiership pot, tightening things at the top. Manchester United celebrated its first trophy of 2010, the Carling Cup, with a 2-1 win…
Champions League Notes-Round of 16
The first leg of the high level clashes in the Champions League is in the books. It was an exciting round that provided some great matches and even a few sub-plots, of course. Inter – Chelsea lived up to expectations,…
Guus Kebab
Turkey pulled off a great move this past week by securing the services of Dutchman Guus Hiddink through the Euro 2012 qualifiers. If everything goes well, Hiddink will guide Turkey through the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After reported links…
On Tap
A couple of good match-ups this week-end in Spain and Italy, with Barcelona traveling to Madrid to meet Atletico and Inter going south to take on fourth place Napoli. In Argentina, San Lorenzo’s early form struggle will be tested once…
Euro 2012 Draw
This past Sunday fifty-one countries participated in the draw to determine the qualifying groups for Euro 2012, a competition held every four years and hosted this time around by Poland and Ukraine jointly. The groups will be contested according to…
English Crunch
The Premiership season is on the cusp of splitting into three competitions with two teams – Chelsea and Man United – racing head-to-head for the title, five teams – Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Manchester City and increasingly Arsenal – battling…
Looking at the January Transfers
Except for Real Madrid and Manchester City, apparently, times are hard all over the world. After months of speculation about big name movements, the January transfer window came and went without any earth-shattering deals. In a clear indication about the…
European Roundabout
Manchester United took a big step forward in its pursuit of the Premiership title, applying the pressure on Chelsea and knocking down Arsenal’s momentum just as the two London sides prepare for another high level clash at the week-end. In…
Roundabout
Cold weather affected Europe strongly in the first two weeks of 2010, impinging fixtures from Germany to Spain, but the action is back with the resurgent Atletico Madrid, Milan and Manchester City enjoying positive campaigns in the New Year. While…
Roundabout
Banfield Campeon Torneo Apertura 2009 For the first time in its history, Club Atletico Banfield from southern Buenos Aires is champion of Argentina. Banfield agonized until the end as it went down 2-0 at Boca Juniors on the final match…