FOOTY FAIR

The UEFA Champions League is Back

2016-08-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

Get ready to take a frosty tall can of Heineken from the fridge, throw some pretzels in a dish, crank up the surround sound, quickly explain to your bored significant other how Ludogorets qualified for Europe and then settle down onto your well worn couch.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, the UEFA Champions League is back.

All eyes were on Monaco on Thursday for the draw and after a lot of backslapping, weak as cat piss jokes, glamorous people looking glamorous and balls coming out of pots, here is how the draw worked out:

Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, FC Basel, Ludogorets.

Group B: Benfica, Napoli, Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas.

Group C: Barcelona, Manchester City, Borussia Monchengladbach, Celtic.

Group D: Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Rostov.

Group E: CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham, Monaco.

Group F: Real Madrid, Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon, Legia Warsaw.

Group G: Leicester City, Porto, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb.

Group H: Juventus, Sevilla, Lyon, Dinamo Zagreb.

At a glance it looks like the four English clubs did fairly well on Thursday with Arsenal and PSG, baring a shock, getting out of Group A. fairy tale domestic champions Leicester are in a pretty even Group G with Porto, Brugge and Dinamo Zagreb, but will fancy their chances after avoiding any of the big dogs.

Manchester City will have their hands full with Barcelona, and will likely have wanted to avoid a "Battle of Britain" with Celtic, but they should emerge from Group C.

Tottenham, in the meantime will be fairly happy with how their Group E has shaped up.

Elsewhere, Group H containing Juventus, Sevilla, Lyon, and Dinamo Zagreb looks like the most competitive group. Behind the Turin giants it'll be a real battle between Sevilla and Lyon for the second spot, but don't overlook Dinamo Zagreb. The Croatia side are decent outfit and aren't usually pushovers at home.

Group F, with 2014 and 2016 Champions League winners Real Madrid coming up against Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon, Legia Warsaw should be another interesting group. Madrid will of course be the favourites to win the group, but behind them it will be fascinating to see if Dortmund under Thomas Tuchel can replicate their impressive domestic results in Europe or if they'll come unglued against Sporting or Legia.

One thing we call all agree on though, unless you support either of these two teams, is that it'll be nice to see someone finally stop Real Madrid and Bayern Munich from reaching the last four.

For the past five seasons, both clubs have made the Semi-Finals every year. Time for a change.

Arda Turan Comforted by Spanish Footballers After Loss (Video)

2016-06-18T09:27:00.003-04:00

If you happened to watch the Turkey versus Spain match yesterday you likely noticed two things: the one is a dominant European defending champions side that basically took the Turkish squad "behind the shed" so to speak, and the other is Turkish fans booing and hounding their captain Arda Turan, one of the most popular Turkish footballers in decades.

But what followed the difficult 3-0 Turkey loss was signs of respect from teammates and opposition alike, as both sets of footballers took extra time after the conclusion of the match to show their support for the Barcelona and former Atlético Madrid attacking midfielder.

The fact that Turkey has underperformed in the eyes of the Turkish fans is clear, but let's be honest, in a country where national team football has slumped in recent years, it was a last qualifying match-day surprise that the Turkish team even qualified for the tournament and would have likely not even been in contention to qualify if it wasn't for their captain who started his career with Istanbul club Galatasaray.

Whatever the case, the footage at the end of the game is almost heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time; poetry in football.

Barcelona Laugh Off Their Transfer Ban

2015-07-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Barcelona, who are currently serving a transfer ban imposed by FIFA for the rest of 2015, have shown this week that the ban is a toothless joke

Despite supposedly not being able to sign players, the Catalan giants have gone ahead and scooped up Atletico Madrid’s bearded playmaker Arda Turan for a fee of €34 million.

The 28 year old Turkish international captain will not be able to line up behind Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar until January, so technically Barcelona haven't broken the conditions of their ban, but the whole thing seems very shady.

The player had been a target of both Manchester United and Chelsea, but opted for five months off before taking to the pitch with the European Champions.

It does make you wonder why FIFA would even bother imposing a ban, if a club like Barcelona can sidestep it like this, but this is FIFA we're talking about.

5 Amazing Goals From the Halfway Line

2015-04-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

As Stoke City's Charlie Adams sent an incredible 65 yard effort sailing into the Chelsea net on Saturday, fans and pundits immediately started saying it was better than David Beckham's famous strike against Wimbledon in 1996.

Although there is a certain amount of luck involved when scoring a goal from half, you can't overlook the sheer audacity to try such an effort to begin with and the near perfect technique involved.

The following are five other amazing strikes from the halfway line:

5 - Rivaldo for Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid, 1998

Brazilian attacking midfielder Rivaldo scored many wonderful goals during his time at Barcelona, but there were few quite as incredible as one he scored from half against Atletico in 1998. Moving up to the halfway line Rivaldo paused for a moment, looked up and hammered a brilliant over the opposition keeper.

4 - Ryujiro Ueda for Fagiano Okayama vs Yokohama FC, 2011

Unique in our list of goals from the halfway line was Ryujiro Ueda's incredible headed effort from half that crept over the line thanks to a hilariously inept display by Yokohama's keeper. This goal at 58.6 metres in distance is the longest recorded headed goal in the history of professional football.

3 - Cani for Villarreal vs Osasuna, 2011

Villarreal's midfielder Cani has never been a particularly prolific scorer for the club, but in January 2011 he roared over half and scored the goal of his life against Osasuna. Cani intercepted an errant pass and with a bit of swerve and dip scored a very special goal in the commentators words.

2 - Iñigo Martínez for Real Sociedad vs Athletic Bilbao AND Real Betis, 2011

Why settle for one goal from half when you can score two in the space of two months? Real Sociedad's Iñigo Martínez marked his first season in the senior squad with a stunning goal in the derby against Athletic Bilbao and then followed that up with an equally brilliant long range bomb against Real Betis.

1 - David Beckham for Manchester United vs Wimbledon, 1996

Before the opening match of the 1996/1997 season, David Beckham had already won a league and cup double with a talented group of young players dubbed "Fergie's Fledglings" and was considered to be a pretty special crosser of the ball. But after receiving the ball on the halfway line and scoring arguably the most famous goal in the history of Premier League against Wimbledon he took his first step towards superstar status.

How Europe's Top Dogs Last Season Are Doing

2015-03-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

With less than two months to go in most of the big leagues across Europe there are several of the usual suspects, namely Bayern Munich in Germany and Juventus in Italy, that seemingly have their leagues wrapped up already.

But what of the other sides that won their respective domestic titles last season? Will we see them repeat or have they been knocked off their perch?

England

At the time of writing, last season's Premier League champions Manchester City are six points behind Jose Mourinho's Chelsea after 29 matches played and the West London club also have a game in hand. Of Chelsea's ten matches left this season, they seemingly only have two difficult fixtures left: one against Manchester United and a match against a resurgent Liverpool side. Manchester City on the other hand in their remaining nine fixtures face local rivals Manchester United as well, and have potentially tricky fixtures against Southampton and Tottenham, who are both fighting for spots in Europe. Despite Chelsea's patchy form of late it's hard to see City overhauling them and it would appear to be their title to lose.

Spain

Last season's surprise winners Atlético Madrid are looking extremely unlikely to repeat as champions of La Liga as they are a full nine points behind Barcelona with only eleven matches to play. In fact, they also trail second place Real Madrid by eight points and Valencia by a single point. With El Clasico looming this weekend, the race for the title will be coming to a boil. But it'll almost certainly be Real and Barca that will be odds on to win La Liga. Unless Atlético can pretty much win out their last eleven fixtures, including a tilt with Barcelona, it's hard to see the championship coming back to the Calderon.

Italy

The 2013/2014 Serie A champions Juventus have built up a seemingly insurmountable fourteen point league at the top of Serie A over second place Roma and it would take a historic collapse in their last eleven matches to not claim the title. Juventus have two challenging fixtures left against Fiorentina and Lazio, but even if they were to suffer defeat in either or both of those matches they will still likely win the league.

Germany

Another league that will likely have a repeat champion is the German Bundesliga as Bayern Munich have amassed an eleven point lead over Wolfsburg with eleven matches to play. Bayern don't appear to be easing up during the title run in either as they have racked up big wins over Werder Bremen, 1. FC Köln and Paderborn recently, along with also smashing Shakhtar 7-0 in the Champions League. Wolfburg would have to continue their own recent good run of form, and hope for the unlikely prospect of Bayern slipping up to have any hope of overhauling the Bavarian giants.

France

Ligue 1 is where things could get extremely interesting during the final months of European league football. Last season's champions Paris Saint-Germain trail frontrunners Lyon by two points with nine matches left to play. Complicating matters is the fact that third place Olympique de Marseille is only four points behind Lyon and Monaco are only eight points behind themselves, despite losing top stars Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez last summer. The one big advantage Lyon seem to have is that they will not be playing any of these immediate chasing sides in the title run-in, while PSG still have to play Marseilles, who will also come up against Monaco.

5 Facts About Atletico Madrid Players

2015-03-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

When you think of Madrid you probably think of Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, but seem to be changing.

In 2014, Atletico Madrid lead by Diego Simeone won the La Liga championship and reached the Champions League final. While not having the financial power of rivals Real Madrid or the youth system of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid has been able to remain competitive while losing some of their stars from last season.

They are a well-coached team with under rated but very talented players. Some of those players are not as well known to football fans as players at Real Madrid or Barcelona, but that too is about to change.

Here are five facts about Atletico Madrid players.

Arda Turan – The Turkish Beckham

In his home country of Turkey, Arda Turan is known as “The Turkish Beckham”. He is a football icon in his country but also with the Atletico Madrid fans.

Similar to Beckham, Arda Turan’s wife is also famous. She is an actress in Turkey and even Turan has done some acting himself. He appeared in the movie “The Governing Woman 2”, which perhaps showed that he is better suited on a football field than in front of the camera.

Antoine Griezmann – Singing for His Country

Atletico Madrid signed Antoine Griezmann from Real Socieded for 30 million euros. He was quick to make an impact on his new team scoring 11 goals in 24 games.

Part of his initiation process with his national team (France), he was asked to sing a song. He went with the popular “La Bamba” which is ranked 354 on Rolling Stones’ list of Greatest Songs of All Time.

Raul Jimenez – Real Madrid Fan

The 23 year old Mexican striker was signed from Almeria, but has seen limited time behind Mario Mandzukic and now Fernando Torres.

But what has upset Atletico Madrid fans is not his inability to gain a spot on the team, but rather his public showing of support for eternal rivals Real Madrid on Twitter.

He has been very open of his love and support for Real Madrid on Twitter this season, something not normal, more so when you represent Atletico Madrid.

Diego Godin – Once Sold for $37

Diego Godin has become one of the staples of Atletico Madrid defense, and perhaps one of the most under rated defenders not only in Spain but in football in general.

This was not always the case, when he was 17 years old; Diego Godin was sold from Defensor Sporting to Club Atletico Cerro for $37.

That kind of money would not even buy his cleats now, never mind the player.

Fernando Torres – The Prodigal Son Returns

Fernando Torres comes from a family of Atletico Madrid supporters, the biggest one being his grandfather. Unfortunately he wasn’t alive to see his grandson play for his beloved club, but Torres has always stayed true to his memory even when he was transferred to Liverpool.

He had always dreamed of one day returning to Spain to represent Atletico Madrid.

His third match back with Atletico Madrid he scored two goals against Real Madrid to eliminate them from Copa del Rey. The perfect return home from El Nino.

The Harsh Realities of Champions League - Rd of 16, Leg 1

2015-02-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 is upon us and the excitement has already managed to deflate for some of the fan-bases. As we always do, we take a look at the teams that did not impress us much in the first leg of competition.

Atlético Madrid (at Bayer Leverkusen, Score: 1-0 loss)

Aside from the fact that Atlético managed to lose in Leverkusen by an absolute perfect margin for the hosts, Spain's defending champions and last year Champions League finalists just didn't seem to be "in" their first leg fixture in any capacity. With overall possession of less than 40%, just 2 shots on target and a red-card to Portuguese midfielder Tiago, the visitors seemed almost disinterested.

The big question now is whether Atlético can bring back the exciting style of football with which they managed to attract thousands of new supporters less than a year ago when Diego Simeone's side showed the world that not only big-money clubs can achieve greatness.

Bayern Munich (at Shakhtar Donetsk, Score: 0-0)

When a side like FC Bayern take to the pitch in an away two-leg fixture, the game-plan is almost always the same; score away from home. Managing just 2 shots on goal against a Ukrainian side that can't play in their own stadium, but rather have to host their matches a mere 1,200 kilometers across the country in Lviv is unacceptable for Pep Guardiola's side.

Now, the Germans are facing the fear of any surprise away goal from Shakhtar at the Allianz Arena. That and the fact that Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso will be missing the home match due to his red-card in the first leg, a sending-off in what was supposed to be a celebration of his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance.

Arsenal (vs AS Monaco, Score: 3-1 loss)

Perhaps it was the deflected against the run of play goal that opened the scoring for visitors AS Monaco, or maybe the lack of confidence that Arsenal has generally displayed in the knock-out stages of this competition, but the Gunners have their work cut out for them as they are looking to travel to France for their 2nd leg match after a 3-1 loss on home ground.

What seemed like a bright start for the home side initially, took a negative turn when AS Monaco's Geoffrey Kondogbia saw his long range shot take a deflection off of Arsenal's center-back Per Mertesacker and hit the back of David Ospina's net. Arsenal turned the pressure on again, but the English side was just not clinical enough. The Gunners kept at it, but saw various chances such as tap-ins and free headers inside the Monaco box go wide.

Even when the home side managed to score late and bring the scoreline to a more acceptable 2-1 tally, instead of slowing the match down and taking the one goal deficit into the 2nd leg the Gunners rushed the kick-off, giving Monaco enough time to score a third away goal, surely putting the French side into the quarter-finals.

Trivia Sundays - 5 Faceless Players - Atlético Madrid Edition

2015-02-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

This week on Trivia we give you 5 faceless players from Spanish defending champions Atlético Madrid.

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5

That Arda Turan is a Work of Art (Gallery)

2015-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Today Turkish midfielder Arda Turan is celebrating his 28th birthday. The Atlético Madrid man has become instrumental for his club since his arrival at Vicente Calderón and has since been the subject of artwork from illustrators from around the internet.

Here are some interesting drawings, paintings and caricatures of the birthday boy:

Can Fernando Torres Get Back on Track at Atletico?

2014-12-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Once heralded as one of the greatest strikers in the world the past four years have been difficult for Fernando Torres.

After leaving his first club, Atletico Madrid, for Liverpool seven and a half years ago his career first touched great heights in England and internationally, but while his former clubs fortunes have improved, Torres have plummeted.

His time at Anfield was an unqualified success in terms of personal achievement, after bagging 65 goals in 102 appearances for Liverpool, but honours eluded the club and the uncertainty of the ownership situation for the Merseyside outfit, along with the departure of Rafa Benitez as manager led him to ask for another move.

Moving onto Chelsea in January of 2011, the striker who had helped his country to glory at Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010, at last found the club success he had craved as Chelsea would go on to win the Champions League and FA Cup in 2012, along with the Europa League in 2013.

Personally though he struggled in his seasons at Stamford Bridge, scoring only 20 goals in 110 appearances and making the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons with some comical misses for Chelsea.

What happened to Torres at Chelsea has prompted several theories, all with varying degrees of probability. Some claimed that injuries slowed him down, others that his confidence was shot in his early months at the club and never returned, while more claim that they never played to his strengths in West London.

On that last point though, he has struggled for Spain to a degree in the last two years and only managed 1 goal in 10 appearances for Milan.

Now that Milan have purchased the player from Chelsea and sent him off on loan to Atletico Madrid, Torres will be hoping to recapture the form that brought him so much success in the first place and where better to do that than the club he supported as a boy and first joined at age 13.

For Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone bringing in Torres until 2016 could be a great coup and his assistant Germán Burgos has already promised that, "We will get the best out of him".

So it's move back home for "The Kid" and the Atletico fans will be hoping it's a happy homecoming that results in them moving back up the table.

Football's 5 Wildest Moments of 2014

2014-12-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

As we prepare to bid farewell to 2014, with many football writers and fans focusing on the more memorable moments and standout players of the year, I preferred to focus on the instances of pure insanity in football this year and let me tell you I struggled to get it down to five.

5 - Steven Gerrard Slips Up

Carried by the inspirational play of Luis Suarez, who was aided by standout performances throughout the 2013/2014 season by Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling and Steven Gerrard, it seemed almost certain that Liverpool's 24 year wait for a league championship was finally over. However it was not to be, as Gerrard disastrously slipped up against Chelsea at the end of April which allowed Demba Ba to race in and score to put his side ahead. Liverpool lost that match 2-0 and would never recover as Manchester City surged to the title.

4 - Faroe Islands Stun Greece

The Faroe Islands hadn't won a competitive fixture in three years, while Greece had only months before made it to the last 16 of the World Cup, but it mattered little as the European minnows upset the Greeks 1-0 in 2016 European Championship qualifying. This put an end to Claudio Ranieri' brief time in charge.

3 - Atletico Madrid Win La Liga

With La Liga appearing to be in danger of being completely dominated by only two sides for the foreseeable future, it was both a great shock and breath of fresh air that Diego Simeone's side became the first club other than Real Madrid or Barcelona to win the championship in Spain in ten years.

2 - Luis Suarez Bites Again

With Luis Suarez playing the football of his life in 2013/2014, and nearly dragging Liverpool to the title, an injury suffered prior to the 2014 World Cup was disappointing indeed. However the Uruguayan striker dragged himself back to fitness and stunned England with a two goal performance that effectively knocked the Three Lions out of the tournament. Against Italy though he would do something he had already been in trouble for twice before at club level as he sunk his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini and was later kicked out of the World Cup.

1 - Germany 7 - Brazil 1

It's not worth writing that much more than the score alone. In a friendly a score of this scale would be a shock, but in a World Cup semifinal? It was insane and not a result that Brazilian fans will forget for a very long time.

Throwback Thursdays: Atlético Loses Match, but Wins 1985 Supercopa

2014-10-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

2014 marked an incredible year in Atlético Madrid's history. For just the second time in the club's history, the 'other' Madrid outfit managed to reach the Champions League Final. They also won the Spanish league title for the tenth time and recently defeated Spain's Cup holders Real Madrid in the 2014 Supercopa de España, just the second time they have won that trophy.

Today's day however, marks another incredible time for Atlético. On October 30th 1985 Atlético Madrid would go on to win what would be their first Supercopa de España after defeating the previous season's league champions Barcelona over two legs.

Led by Spanish coaching legend Luis Aragones, who coincidentally passed away this year to mark another chapter for Atlético in 2014, the club from Madrid punished the defending champions in the capital at the Vicente Calderón Stadium on October 9th, 1985 by a final score of 3-1. After conceding the first goal, Atlético hit the back of the net three times thanks to goals from three different players, of three different nationalities. The first to tie the match up came via Argentine striker Mario Cabrera, the second from Spanish center-back Miguel Ángel Ruiz and the last from Uruguayan international forward Jorge da Silva.

With the momentum in their favor, the first leg winners headed into Camp Nou on October 30th knowing that the chances were on their side, but the venue in Barcelona was no walk in the park. Barcelona was led by Englishman Terry Venables who led the Catalan side to an impressive 10 point margin league championship the year before (in an era when a win was just worth two points).

In the 32nd minute just like in the first leg in Madrid, Barcelona took a 1-0 lead. Center-back José Ramón Alexanko put the ball into the back of Atlético goalkeeper Ángel Jesús Mejías's net with an impressive low shot from just inside the penalty area.

The goal from Barcelona, together with the away goal at the Vicente Calderón Stadium meant that one more goal from the hosts could see the home side win the trophy. But Madrid's defense was resilient and withstood Barcelona's attacks. The back four which included team captain Miguel Ángel Ruiz dug in to hold on to the 1-0 defeat to claim their first ever Supercopa de España, a title they would have to wait nearly 30 years to win again.

First leg 3-1 victory

The Harsh Realities of Champions League - Week 1

2014-09-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Every match-week we take a look at the clubs that did not perform as expected, or were just disappointing altogether.

With week 1 of group play in the books, here are the clubs that did not impress.

Atletico Madrid

The defending La Liga champions and last year's UEFA Champions League runner-ups Atletico got a bit of a reality check when they were humbled by Greek champions Olympiacos in Piraeus. Of course Swedish side Malmö FF should not be a huge challenge for the Spanish side in this group, but if the Madrid club cannot adjust themselves to perform better, they may see themselves lose out on the next stage to the Greeks and Juventus, who they play in week 2 in Madrid.

Arsenal

The big debate on the seeding of none-champions has been prominent leading up to the first week of play, and perhaps the Gunners had proven the case for those who do not believe that the London club should have been seeded higher than those clubs who have actually won their domestic league. Of course their 2-0 loss in week 1 came at the hands of a very good Borussia Dortmund side in Germany, but Arsenal was simply outclassed and will have to look for immediate answers when they host Turkish side Galatasaray at the Emirates next.

BATE Borisov

There's one club that simply showed they have no business being at this stage of the competition. And although it may seem that they very just victims to a great performance by Porto's Algerian midfielder Yacine Brahimi, who's hat-trick led to BATE's 6-0 loss in Portugal, meetings with Spain's Athletic Bilbao and Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk may not prove to be much easier, and I would not be surprised if the Belarus club finish their six matches with 2 points or less.

CSKA Moscow

With Bayern Munich and Manchester City the other two clubs in their group, AS Roma should have been the club CSKA was to defeat if they were going to have any chance of a surprise second place finish or perhaps at least a third place Europa League qualification. Instead, the Russians were handed a heavy 5-1 defeat in the Italian capital, and were only able to score once after the home side had already put 5 in the back of the net. They will surely be glad to come back home for their next match, although wether at Khimki Stadium in Moscow or in any other stadium around the world, the result against the German champions will very likely not favor the Russian side.

Liverpool

The only outfit on this list that have actually won their first match, Liverpool did not look great while snatching an injury-time 2-1 victory via the spot-kick, against Ludogorets Razgrad, a Bulgarian side who is literally just "happy to be here". Of course this may be due to the fact that The Reds have not been a part of the Champions League group stages for some time now, or perhaps they just had an "off day", but when facing any Bulgarian opposition at Anfield, Liverpool should be showing much better football than they did this week. Next week's meeting in Basel should be a good marker for Liverpool's fans to see whether their club has any chance of making a run in this year's competition.

SL Benfica

Although Benfica's group is not of the toughest varieties in this year's tournament, a home loss to Zenit is inexcusable unless the Portuguese club is looking to go back to the Europa League as soon as the group stages are over with. The Portuguese side had no answers for the two goals scored by Zenit's "foreigners" Hulk and Axel Witsel and will surely look to rebound against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany at their next UCL fixture. Of course the sending off of goalkeeper Artur in just the 18th minute may have been a big factor, but the Russian side were already in the lead since the 5th minute.

Weekend Recap - 5 Best Matches (Highlights)

2014-09-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Some great football was on display this weekend from all around the world. Although the English Premier League produced some incredible matches this weekend, for the sake of variety we give you the best matches from Romani, Russia, Italy, Spain and of course England.

Botosani 3 - 2 Dinamo Bucuresti

An interesting affair in Romania as home side FC Botosani took on popular club Dinamo Bucaresti. After trading two goals a piece and a small break due to many Botosani player and staff complaints about a penalty awarded to Dinamo, the home club managed to find the winning goal late in the match.

Zenit St. Petersburg 3 - 2 Dinamo Moscow

As expected this fixture between the table leaders Zenit and second place club Dinamo Moscow did not disappoint. Dinamo started brightly after a beautiful goal from French international Mathieu Valbuena. After eventually going down 2-1 due to an own goal and a goal from former Arsenal flop Andrey Arshaving, Dinamo did manage to get back in the match grabbing a second to tie the game at 2-2. But the hosts would have the last laugh when Igor Smolnikov grabbed the match winner with just a minute left to play.

Parma 4 - 5 AC Milan

It took nine combined goals in this match to declare AC Milan winners over Parma by a single goal. This match had everything from two red cards to an own-goal to a penalty.

Real Madrid 1 - 2 Atletico Madrid

The Madrid derby was as always a pretty passionate affair. The defending La Liga champions Atletico were victorious thanks to a 76th minute masterpiece goal from Arda Turan.

Arsenal 2 - 2 Manchester City

Spectacular football was on display at the Emirates stadium on Saturday as The Gunners hosted Manchester City. The two clubs traded goals and leads for an eventual 2-2 draw.

That Falcao is a Work of Art (Gallery)

2014-09-13T21:00:00.000-04:00

Radamel Falcao García Zárate is the full name of the Colombian striker who has become a sensation in the world of football in the last decade or so. Even though Falcao had to miss the 2014 World Cup due to injury, he is a favorite of artists all around the world as a subject of their work.

Here are some of the best illustrations and paintings of the forward.

Football Kits With Movie Sponsorships

2014-09-13T18:00:00.000-04:00

I've seen pizza joints, gambling websites and legitimized loan shark companies advertise on football kits in recent seasons, but nothing strikes me as being more ridiculous than a film being plastered all over the front of a kit.

But that's what Sampdoria have done with their current kit which is adorned with the logo of Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Now, don't get me wrong I like some of Frank Miller's work. As a comic book geek I bow down to his seminal Batman books, "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Batman: Year One", but Sin City 2 was always going to struggle at the box office on the back of a guy who has fallen out of favour after his weird right wing ramblings on Twitter in the last few years.

But I digress, having any movie on your kit is a strange idea as even successful films aren't actually in cinemas that long before they fall into that strange void between theatrical runs and Blu Ray releases.

It can also lead to a club's design team making decidedly odd choices, like the kits put out by Atletico Madrid in the 2003/2004 season when they were sponsored by Colombia Pictures, as seen below. The home kit with the red and white stripes, with the simple Spider-Man logo isn't bad, but the away kit looks like something you'd pick up in a bargain bin at a discount store.

The reigning La Liga champions, had even worse luck later that season though when they were forced, or more accurately contractually obligated, to put Hitch and, worse still, White Chicks on the front of their kits as seen below.

On a more temporary basis, for one match against Barcelona in 2013, Rayo Vallecano were sponsored by the producers of Iron Man 3, which raises the possibility of sides changing sponsorship on the fly mid-season and also makes me want to own that particular kit.

This wasn't the first time the club had gone all Hollywood blockbuster for their sponsorship, as the year before they had worn a coming attractions patch for the Avengers on their chests.

With their penchant for adding superhero movie promos of the front of their kits, I think I've made my mind up about Rayo Vallecano being my new team in Spain.

Viva Los Franjirrojos!!!!

5 Matches to Watch This Weekend

2014-09-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

A great weekend of football is coming up and we take a look at five matches that intrigue us most, with the majority being played on Saturday. Three of those will be in the English Premier League, while we also will be watching what should be a very interesting Russian Premier League meeting and of course the biggest derby in Spain.

Zenit St. Petersburg vs Dinamo Moscow (Russian Premier League)

After six match-days in the Russian Premier League these two squads sit one-two at the top of the league with only three points separating the title contenders. While Dinamo had recorded five wins and one loss in their first six matches, the giants from St. Petersburg boast a perfect record so far in league play.

Manchester United vs Queens Park Rangers (English Premier League)

Sure the EPL is only three weeks into the season, but oddly nonetheless The Rangers are sitting 1 point clear above The Red Devils and Van Gaal's side is still looking for their first win of the young campaign. Perhaps United can grab the full three points on home ground against a mediocre Queens Park Rangers team, but the real story here will surely be Rio Ferdinand's return to Old Trafford after leaving the club this summer after spending 12 years at the club.

Arsenal vs Manchester City (English Premier League)

This one should just be a great affair between two clubs that are very likely to be at or near the summit of the table once all thirty-eight matches have been played. Arsenal's new front-man Danny Welbeck may make his debut in this one, and if he is able to match his performance with the one he had for England less than a week ago, City could be in for a tough one.

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid (La Liga)

A replay of last season's Champions League finals is on the cards for this weekend when the Madrid derby kicks-off on Saturday. But although the two clubs share the capital of Spain as their home, it seems that not many Atletico supporters were interested in travelling for this "away" match and Real should have a proper home-field advantage. But the two have already met this season twice, during the two legs of the Supercopa de España which Atletico won 2-1 on aggregate; and , Real were shocked by Real Sociedad in the last round of domestic matches when the "white and blue" came back from a two goal deficit to defeat Los Blancos by a final score of 4-2.

Chelsea vs Swansea City (English Premier League)

This match-up may not seem all that intriguing until you take a look at the EPL table. I'll give you a moment...Alright, so now that you have realized that both clubs hold perfect records after three matches, this fixture suddenly becomes one of the more interesting ones this weekend. For a more in-depth analysis of the only two clubs that have won all three games to date in England this year CLICK HERE. Otherwise, it'll be interesting to see whether Swansea can at least secure a draw at Stamford Bridge to keep their undefeated streak going.

The 10 Worst Shirt Sponsors Ever

2014-08-30T15:00:00.000-04:00

As I was writing the Fridays Fake News earlier this week about Victoria's Secret sponsoring AS Monaco, I started to wander whether there have been any really funny sponsors on football shirts in the past. I could recall a few from the top of my head, like the "TY" heart logo on Portsmouth's shirts, or that hedious Spider-Man movie number on the chests of Atletico Madrid players some years ago. After having some research done, I present to you: the worst shirt sponsors ever!

Atletico Madrid - SpiderMan

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one that found this design absolutely ridiculous. To me it looks like one of those fake merchandise pieces you find every once in a while in China where they mix two brands that have no business being together.

Clydebank FC - Wet Wet Wet

Scottish side Clydebank FC were sponsored by local pop group Wet Wet Wet in the early 90's.

AC Milan - Pooh Jeans

I think it's pretty safe to assume that both the founder of the jean company and AC Milan representatives at the time did not pass their English classes with high marks, or perhaps they skipped those altogether. I would expect a German team to be the first with Pooh on their chest, but AC Milan?

St. Johnstone - Bonar

While I can forgive AC Milan for not realizing the meaning of Pooh in the English language, there is absolutely no excuse why Scottish club St. Johnstone would purposely put this textile brand on the front of their shirts. Mind you when the club won the Scottish cup for the first time this past season, I'm pretty sure this sponsor was relevant to some of the club's supporters.

Club America, Chivas, Monterrey, Saprissa and Philadelphia - Bimbo

Baking goods company Bimbo seem to want their company's name on every football shirt in the world. Only problem is, well, here's a quote from the dictionary: "Bimbo - an attractive but stupid young woman, especially one with loose morals."

FC Nurermberg - Mister Lady

I don't know what business owners think when they come up with names like these. Mister Lady, a clothing brand that sounds more like a cosmetic sex change clinic were the shirt sponsors for FC Nuremberg in Germany.

Lyon - le69

The French are wonderfully sexual people. Sure, this particular sponsor did not have anything to do with sex, but nonetheless, there is no way you can look at this shirt and not think of the act.

Getafe CF - Burger King

Because nothing says an athlete in top shape than a greasy Whopper. Spanish side Getafe wore the Burger King logo for 3 years before switching to the very slightly healthier manufacturer of frozen meals Confremar.

Scarborough FC - Black Death Vodka

Another sponsorship deal with a company that has no business putting its name on the shirts of athletes. Sure, Scarborough FC has never been particularly the home to world class footballers and I personally love Vodka, but aside from the fact that football and 40% alcohol usually don't mix the name Black Death is perhaps also not something most are used to see on a football shirt.

Voukefalas Club - Soula's House of History & Villa Erotica

Cash strapped amateur Greek club Voukefalas has turned to the oldest profession in the world for their sponsorship deal. This deal with two local brothels makes the possibility of Victoria's Secret sponsoring AS Monaco not as far-fetched as it seemed when we reported on that yesterday. It seems that unlike the rest of the economy, the (legal) sex trade in Greece is booming.

Torino's Alessio Cerci a Target of Cyber Crime

2014-08-19T21:00:00.001-04:00

Alessio Cerci claims he was a target of cyber pirates, which is the adult version of the dog ate my homework.

Alessio Cerci, currently plays for Torino, apparently had taken to Twitter to announce his move to Atletico Madrid. He is now claiming that it wasn’t him that sent the tweet out, but rather some cyber pirates that had hacked his account. Stranger things have happened, but if cyber pirates are targeting Alessio Cerci it must be a slow day in the world of cybercrime.

He claims that he was playing Playstation and someone hacked his online account, thus gaining access to his Twitter account and sending out this false tweet. A couple of questions come to mind when I read that explanation, first was does he play FIFA 14 online and if so is he playing as himself? But I have digressed from the main point of this story.

He goes on to say that he wasn’t aware of the situation and that it wasn’t until Torino PR department contacted him that he realized what was going on. He also says that he wasn’t the one that deleted the message a few minutes after it was posted, and that he expects the authorities to find the guilty party. Yeah, sure, there is nothing the Italian police rather do than look for the culprit of this vial crime. Just in case, the police is looking into this, let me help them by give them a brief description of who they should be looking for. Male, owns a Playstation, Italian or of Italian descent, spends a huge amount of free time playing online games, knows how to use Twitter and perhaps as an inability to keep something to himself and has a very loose lip. Alessio, does this sound familiar? Could it be someone you know?

He ended his explanation to the media by saying that he is a Torino player but the market is still open. This guy is incredible, and I don’t mean just on the field or on Playstation. He has a way with words, and at a time where perhaps less could be more, he went with more.

Hopefully there is a lesson that not only Alessio but all of us can take from this story, hackers play online video games. Players beware, it could be you next.

Best U21 Starting XI

2014-08-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

There are plenty of young players applying their craft around the world, some of these players are playing for big clubs and have earned spots in their national teams.

Long are the days, in which young players would only get their chances in middle of the table sides or even lower divisions. The youth movement has taken over football and we are likely to see players appearing in the biggest stages, representing some of the bigger clubs in the world.

With that in mind, I have decided to put together a list of the best U21 starting XI.

Goalkeeper – Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)

The former Benfica goalkeeper had a breakout season with the Lisbon giants last year. He came into the team due to an injury to Artur and once he was there he never looked back. He was one of the reasons Benfica was able to win the domestic treble last season and reach the final of the Europa League for the second year in a row. He won the best goalkeeper award for his performances in the Portuguese league, where he allowed 3 goals in 13 games. His performances caught the attention of Atletico Madrid that this offseason paid his release clause and signed him from Benfica. He will have the task to replace Thiabaut Courtois, which won’t be an easy task.

Right Back – DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders)

His domestic performances for the Sounders earned him a spot in the US roster than travel to Brazil to play in this summer’s World Cup. His performances there proved that Klinsmann was right in taking this youngster to the tournament. He is an incredible player, with tremendous speed and great dribbling skills. His performances for club and country have made him a desirable target for clubs like Tottenham. The London club has signed him but he will remain in Seattle until 2015. The signing of the young American right back, is a move that could help his growth and exposure.

Center Back – Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)

The young French international and Real Madrid star needs no introduction. In 2012-13 he made a name for himself during his El Clasico debut, playing incredible defense and even scoring a goal. His performance was so dominant that he relegated the more experienced Pepe to the bench. Since then he has been a main staple of not only Real Madrid’s back line but also of the French national team. He was one of the best players for France in this summer’s World Cup. The sky is the limit for this young star.

Center Back – Marquinhos (PSG)

He made his name with Roma at the young age of 18, proving himself on the squad and forcing older and more experienced players to the bench. He was so impressive that PSG didn’t waste any time and paid 31.4 million euros for his services in the summer of 2013. Playing time at PSG wasn’t easy, not when you have players like Alex and Thiago Silva ahead of you, but he still managed 21 league appearances and 2 goals. Marquinhos has dual citizenship, Portuguese and Brazilian, and both countries are looking at having him in their roster, I believe he will end up playing for Brazil. Perhaps replacing David Luiz in that center back role.

Left Back – Luke Shaw (Manchester United)

Luke Shaw had an incredible season with Southampton, proving to be one of the greatest promises in English football. When the season was over it was obvious that Shaw had outgrown Southampton and that bigger clubs would be interested in his signing, so it was no surprise when on June 27th, Shaw signed a four year contract with Manchester United for a fee believed to be around 30 million pounds, thus becoming the most expensive teenager in world football. This will be a very important season for him, we will see if he can handle the demands of playing at a club like Manchester United

Right Wing – Lazar Markovic (Liverpool)

He is hands down one of the most electrifying players in European football at this time. He signed with Portuguese side SL Benfica, last season, moving there from Partizan in Serbia. After his first game, it was obvious that a player of his talent wouldn’t be staying in the Portuguese league for too long. His has incredible speed, ball control and the ability to finish like if he was a pure forward. No surprise to anyone that has seen him play, that Liverpool signed him from Benfica after being there only for one season. This is one of those kids that you would pay to go see, an incredible talent that will be adding more quality to the Premier League and showing himself to a must larger audience.

Central Midfield – Paul Pogba (Juventus)

Making this team without Pogba would be like driving a car with no tires. Pogba joined Juventus on a free transfer from Manchester United after Alex Ferguson preferred Tom Cleverley over him. In the many years of Sir Alex in charge of Manchester United this will have to go down as one of his worst mistakes. He has taken over Juventus and become a focal point of that team’s way of play. He has also been a key element with the French national side, winning the Best Young Player award at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Central Midfield – Marco Verrati (PSG)

The young Italian international is considered by many the future of the Italian national team. What he lacks in size he makes up in football IQ. He is very intelligent on the ball, knows exactly what he wants to do with it, and adding to that his passing ability makes him one of the most complete young midfielders in the game. No surprise that he was included in the Italian World Cup squad this summer, and even less surprising his great performance against England in their opening match.

Left Wing – Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)

He and Luke Shaw are by far the two best young talents that England has produced in the last couple of years. He has the ability to play on either wing or even behind the forward make him a very attractive player from an offensive perspective. He broke in with Liverpool at the age of 17 and has been gaining more minutes on the field as the time has moved on. He is an incredible talent, and now with Suarez gone, his team will depend even more on his ability.

Attacking Midfielder – Julian Draxler (Schalke 04)

By far this was the hardest decision that I had to make when putting this starting eleven together. There are three other players that could also be in this spot, like Quintero (FC Porto), Bernard (Shaktar Donetsk) and Ross Barkley (Everton). Ultimatly only one could make it and my decision went with Draxler. He has been a regular with Schalke since the age of 17 and a German international since the age of 18, with also half of Europe after his signature it is hard not to have him on my starting XI. This past summer he became a World Cup winner and managed to get some minutes in the semi-final win over Brazil when he came in for Sami Khedira.

Forward – Mitchy Batshuayi (Marseille)

The young Belgium U21 international had a breakout season with Standard Liege last year, prompting several clubs to come knocking on their door in attempts to sign the young forward. In 97 games for Liege he scored 39 goals. From the many clubs that were interested in his signature, Marseille were the lucky winners. He will now be able to apply his craft in Ligue 1 and continue his rise to stardom.

La Liga Leaked & Released Team Kits 2014-15 Season (Gallery)

2014-07-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

Let us take a look at some of the already released and leaked La Liga team kits.

Sevilla 3rd Jersey

Malaga 3rd Kit

Valencia Home Jersey

Valencia Away Jersey

Cordoba Kits

Osasuna Home & Away Kits

Deportivo la Coruna Kits

Sporting Gijon Home Jersey

Espanyol Kits

Sevilla Away Jersey

Levante 3rd jersey

Athletic Bilbao Away Jersey

Athletic Bilbao Home Jersey

Athletic Bilbao Home Kit

Athletic Bilbao Away Kit

Villarreal Kits

Real Sociedad Home, Away & Goalkeeper Kits

Athletic Bilbao Home Jersey

Atletico Madrid Home Kit

Celta de Vigo Home, Away & Goalkeeper Kits

FC Barcelona Home Jersey

FC Barcelona Home Kit

Betis Home, Away & Goalkeeper Kits

Real Madrid Away Jersey

Real Madrid Goalkeeper Jersey

Real Madrid Home Jersey

Real Madrid Home, Away & Goalkeeper Jersey

Sevilla Super Cup Kit

Sevilla Goalkeeper Jersey

Sevilla Home Jersey

Getafe CF Kits

Real Valladolid Kits

Valencia Home Kit

5 of Football's Craziest Owners

2014-07-03T17:00:00.000-04:00

When a sole owner takes on a football club, sinks a pile of their own money into it and doesn't see much of a return, many would accuse them of being mad.

With the glamour involved in owning a football club, and some owners treating this ownership as a vanity project to boost their already staggering egos you wouldn't be wrong in accusing some of these individuals of not dealing from a full deck.

The following are some of the more colourful characters that have been involved in football over the past few years:

Vincent Tan, Cardiff City

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Berjaya Group, which consists of a wide range of businesses including property investments, luxury resorts and gambling, quickly made himself a notorious figure in the Welsh capital upon purchasing the club in 2012.

The Malaysian businessman rebranded the clubs traditional blue kits to red and changed the clubs badge to include a dragon, so it had more appeal in foreign markets. Cardiff’s fans were understandably furious.

Tan also replaced the head of Cardiff’s player recruitment with a 23 year old co-op student who was a friend of his sons, who was later found to have visa issues. He also quite publicly hammered club manager Malky Mackay for his transfer dealings and Cardiff's on pitch performance. After trying to force Mackay to resign, and thus avoid having to give him a payout, he ended up sacking him in December of 2013. Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was brought in as a replacement, but was unable to save Cardiff City from relegation from the Premiership.

Massimo Cellino, Leeds United

Leeds owner Massimo Cellino hit the headlines recently when he ordered manager Dave Hockaday to not select keeper Paddy Kenny because of his birth date. Cellino, believes the number 17 is an extremely unlucky number and went as far as to replace any seats numbered 17 at his former club Cagliari’s ground with seats 16B. When he found out that Kenny’s birthday is May 17th, it was curtains for the big veteran at the club.

Apparently, Cellino’s superstition came about as a result of Cagliari seemingly always losing fixtures on the 17th day of any given month.

The Italian entrepreneur experienced difficulties when taking over Leeds United in January, 2014 after he failed the Football League’s ownership test, thanks in large part to two prior convictions for deceiving the Italian Ministry of Agriculture out of a reported £7.5m and for false accounting at Cagliari. He appealed the decision and was eventually able to take over the once great club. He immediately sacked and then re-hired manager Brian McDermott, before finally deciding to end his spell for good at the end of May.

Cellino also holds a deep mistrust in the colour purple, not the film with Whoopi Goldberg but the actual colour, and has asked Leeds fans to refrain from wearing it to matches.

Zdravko Mamic, Dinamo Zagreb

Zdravko Mami, the Coatian giants intimidating owner might just be the craziest of the bunch. During his time at the helm of Dinamo he has been arrested after verbally attacking the Croatian Minister of Sports, Science and Education on the radio, he has punched a Croatian FA director, broke a city official’s hand with a pair of crutches, and assaulted a former Dinamo director and chased him until the poor guy had to escape over a fence.

He has also attacked journalists on numerous occasions and once forced one to hide behind bushes for ten minutes so Mamic couldn’t get his hands on him. The fiery owner also got into a fight with former Hajduk Split player Ivo Bego after climbing into the stands to celebrate a Dinamo win near the Split supporters.

Mamic has been detained by police for his hostile behavior and also had tense relations with Dinamo’s ultra supporters, the Bad Blue Boys.

Ken Richardson, Doncaster Rovers

The fact that the South Yorkshire club’s former owner Ken Richardson was later described by police as “the type that would trample a two-year-old child to pick up a 2p (coin)” should tell you all you need to know about his character.

Running a football club, even one outside of the Premier League like Doncaster, requires a lot of money and this was something Richardson hadn’t accounted for. He attempted to run the club as cheaply as possible, even hiring a former manager of Stockport County’s club shop to be Rovers first team manager, in one of the strangest managerial hirings ever. But this was to be the least of the damage he was to inflict on the club.

After being denied by the local council in his attempts to finance a new stadium, Richardson hired two men to burn down Doncaster’s Belle Vue ground in an attempt to claim the insurance money. Unfortunately one of the arsonists, a former SAS operative, dropped his phone at the scene of the crime and it was quickly traced back to the perpetrators.

Rovers were left in horrible debt and they subsequently crashed into the Football Conference as Richardson was sent to prison for four years.

Jesus Gil, Atletico Madrid

The late Spanish businessman, Mayor of Marbella, and president of Atletico Madrid was known for his extremely volatile relationship with fans, players, journalists and, most of all, managers. In seventeen years, Gil went through a staggering 39 managers as he sought to win a League title.

Known for his controversial right-wing views, Gil ruled Atletico Madrid like the town of Marbella which he governed with an iron fist. He hired and fired managers, players and club staff at will, and was frequently in trouble for his sexist and xenophobic outbursts.

When Atletic finally won a league title in 1996, he rode around Madrid on an elephant to celebrate their victory.

With a court case hanging over him in 2004, the 71 year old Gil died from a heart failure. This seemed somewhat fitting from a man who once told a radio presenter who was urging him to calm down as he may have a heart attack on air, that “they can stick my heart up my arse".

Real Madrid Enters Race for Keylor Navas Signature

2014-07-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

Some of the biggest European clubs are looking at Keylor Navas as a target for this upcoming transfer window.

The Costa Rican goalkeeper has had an incredible World Cup and in large part is due to his incredible performances that Costa Rica made it to the quarter finals of the tournament and will play the Netherlands on Saturday. He was the man of the match in their round of 16 confrontation with Greece, which saw him save Gekas penalty to send Los Ticos to the quarter finals of a World Cup tournament for the first time in their history.

The interest of several European clubs started shortly after the 1-0 win against Italy during the group stages. He had been phenomenal in net against Uruguay’s match but the performance against Italy cemented his status as a truly world class goalkeeper. He has only allowed 2 goals in 4 games, one of the best ratios in the tournament and of any goalkeeper still left in competition.

The latest club to add its name to the growing list of clubs currently looking at Navas is Real Madrid. News coming out of Spain point in that direction, with Diego Lopez close to a deal with Napoli and Iker Casillas falling out of grace, the move for Navas seems to be a logic one. According to Antena 3, Real Madrid, FC Porto, SL Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Monaco are all in the race to sign the Levante goalkeeper.

Levante is open to offers and will most likely deal him to the team that makes them the best offer, and it will be very difficult for some of these clubs to compete with Real Madrid on that front. In case Madrid fails this signing they have also been looking at Kiko Casilla from Espanol, but Navas is their main target.

FC Porto has been reported to have made a 3 million euro offer plus a player, but Levante is looking at an amount in the range of 5-7 million euros in order to part ways with their goalkeeper. Levante knows that right now they have a very good commodity in hand, and that Keylor Navas has increased his value to the highest point possible, so in order to cash in on him they will have to sell him during this offseason.

Here is a video from Levante that has started to make the rounds on social media sites of Keylor Navas saving tennis balls during a practice session.

Tiago Joins Chelsea FC on a 2 Year Deal

2014-06-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

Tiago will re-join Diego Costa & Courtois at Chelsea this coming season.

The former Portuguese international will be leaving the Spanish capital to move to a familiar city, England. He will rejoin Chelsea this summer transfer market, making him the third player Jose Mourinho has “stole” away from Atletico Madrid.

The Portuguese midfielder had several offers from European sides, including Zenit and Monaco but he has decided to move back to a familiar home and play for Mourinho. He will be signing a two year deal with Chelsea FC, which will be announced very soon.

Tiago no longer plays for Portugal. He left the national team following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to focus solely in his club career. He finished his contract with Atletico Madrid this past season, and it was clear that he didn't have any intentions of renewing, rather looking at other places where he could continue his career.

Stamford Bridge will see his return after he had transferred there in 2004/05 season from Benfica. He was successful in his first stint at Chelsea but it wasn’t a very long one. The year after arriving he moved to Lyon of the French league. He has since then also played for Juventus of Italy. The 33 year old is hoping that this time around he will get to finish his contract there and be a more critical part of the team, helping them reach the Premiere title which has eluded them since the 2009/10 season.

Mourinho sees his team reinforced for the upcoming season with a player he knows well and that had an incredible season at Atletico Madrid last year.

HOPDAYS - Duvel, the Thibaut Courtois!

2014-06-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

As soon as I tried this beer for the very first time I had the same reaction as when I saw Courtois play, “that’s a keeper” I said to myself.

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This pale Belgian (the beer that is) has all the qualities of a perfectly balanced brew, in the same way the goalkeeper has everything required to be great in his footballing career. The beer is full of flavor with, caramel, citrus, slight sweetness and a bit of bitterness all making up a nearly perfect combination. Courtois is no different, with his perfect goalkeeper height, his play in the air, on the ground and his ability to save the occasional spot-kick this Belgian keeper is as promising as they come.

This style of brew would likely be described by the avid beer drinker as being “medium body”, no different from Courtois who’s stature is a bit on the skinny side compared to others in his position. But both the beer and the player leave a lasting impression, just as Duvel has a long lasting flavorful taste after you are done drinking it, Thibaut Courtois left his stamp on Atletico Madrid by helping them to the La Liga title and a finals appearance in the Champions League, a club he is leaving after his loan spell has ended this summer.

Just as the goalkeeper, the beer does very well both on the domestic and international fronts. Courtois has found success for both club and country, starting in net for the Belgians in this year’s World Cup as well.

Unlike some of the bigger brand-name beers, Duvel has managed to preserve its flavor and popular taste over the years. At the young age of 22, Courtois’s career success is yet to be determined, but as of right now he is probably the most promising goalkeeper in Europe, something many in (and even outside of) Belgium will be hoping he can maintain.

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