FOOTY FAIR

The Champions League Final Might Stream Live on YouTube

2016-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

British television giant BT Sport are reportedly in talks to broadcast their exclusive live coverage of the Champions League final on YouTube in a bid to boost viewing figures.

In the first season of their £897 million contract, the network's audience have nowhere near what they expected so they have opted to take the radical step of airing the showpiece final as a free-to-air event on the Google owned popular video sharing site.

The network's use of unpopular pundits such as Robbie Savage and Michael Owen haven't helped matters, but another factor has to be the prevalence of streaming sites that many favour over paying for extortionate cable subscriptions or low cost IPTV packages.

Despite efforts to block such technology, they continue to pop up and provide viewers with either free or much lower cost footie fixes.

BT Sport obviously recognize this, so it'll be interesting to see if this YouTube venture comes off and if so, what impact will it have on the future of football broadcasting.

The Roundtable: What We Would Like to See Happen in Europe This Season

2015-07-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

After a short hiatus, the FootyFair RoundTable is back. This feature is where we go beyond the headlines and talk to real football fans about current topics or issues in the football world.

Today the group discussed what they would like to see happen in Europe next season.

On the round table today we were joined by:

Bramble
Parmar
Luka
Jay
GM
Iain (me)

What do you want to see happen in European soccer this season?

Iain:
Manchester United's backness level at 100%. Meaning that not only are we back in the Champions League, but we're back in the later stages.

Jay:
Of course. I'd like to see some teams make a go at the big guns. We need a Porto like run in my opinion to switch up the boring semi and finals we've slumped into the past few years in the Champions League.

Iain:
Yeah, the big two Spanish clubs and Bayern Munich have dominated in recent seasons and that makes for a dull Champions League.

GM:
I have not found the champions league to be dull in any way, shape, or form for the past five years.

Parmar:
Do I really need to say it? A Chelsea v United final just to tell UEFA to fuck off! It won't happen but a man can hope.

Luka:
Yeah, I'm with Travis on this one. As a neutral, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Champions League group and knockout stages, best club tournament out there by far.

Bramble:
United backness level to max and of course I'd like to see us make at least the Quarterfinals or Semifinals in the Champions League. The United haters in here, like GM and such, are happy with the CL last year but I thought it was ass without us. Also I'd like to see an English vs German or Italian final. I'm sick of the Spanish teams. So lets hope for a Spanish early exit this year.

Luka:
All I want to see is some entertaining footy, some player antics once in a while for the comedy (ie Suarez biting a man, Zlatan ranting to a referee in the tunnel etc.) and some great goals. Also, I want Hajduk to make the Europa League group stage and hopefully draw a team I can fly directly to watch (Tottenham would do nicely).

GM:
Being content with CL is about my teams success not other's failure. And my haterade levels have dropped significantly in the past few years.

Jay:
I'm not saying CL wasn't entertaining. Just that I'd like you see some different teams make a real deep run at it. It's like playing in a 6 team league you get bored of the same game over and over.

Bramble:
It was entertaining right up until the Semifinal stage where it was the same old same, same old. The only team that was interesting was Juventus. Also the CL needs United, because we bring a different level of hype to the knockout rounds.

Luka:
Yeah but at the same time Bramble, you said last year that you didn't want another Monaco v Porto final like in 2004, so it's a real fine balance I guess that you are looking for because in my opinion, that Porto and Monaco (in 2004 not 2015) team were both very, very good and deserved to make that final.

Bramble:
I can't dispute I said that, but Porto vs Monaco in 2015 would've been terrible. Yeah the 2004 final was good I won't deny that I guess. Porto at the top of their game and Monaco playing the best they've ever played.

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Let the games begin.

Football Posters by Matthew King (Gallery)

2015-05-08T16:00:00.000-04:00

Matthew King has created an incredible collection of football posters representing some of the biggest footballing stars in European football.

He has called this collection “Football Illustrated” and you can see more of his work at http://society6.com/matthewking

UEFA CL Semi-Finals 5 Fun Facts and Infographic

2015-05-06T16:00:00.000-04:00

Before the quarter-finals of the UEFA CL competition we featured an awesome statistical infographic of the match-ups as designed by our friends at GuaranteeTickets. Well, they are at it again with a neat collection of data for the semis. As a side bonus, they presented 5 interesting facts about the match-ups as well:

1. If both Real Madrid and Barcelona advance into the final, this will be the first “El Clasico” in the final of Champions League. Furthermore, any of the teams that advances to the finals will play against each other in the finals for the first time!

2. Both Guardiola and Ancelotti are going to face their old clubs in semi-finals. Ancelotti was in charge of the Juventus team in between 1999 and 2001.

3. Family affair - Thiago Alcantara, who transferred from Barca to Bayern is going to play against his brother, Rafinha.

4. The defeat Barcelona suffered in the game against Bayern (Bayern won 4:0) was their biggest in Champions League. The interesting thing is that Bayern lost in a game against Barcelona 4:0, which is also their biggest defeat in the Champions League.

5. Since 1987, Real Madrid didn’t win a two-legged tie against Italian team, although they took four points from Juventus last year and beat them in the final in 1998 with a goal that was scored by Predrag Mijatovic.

The Round Table: What Would You Change About Football?

2015-04-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Every weekend we go beyond the headlines and talk to real football fans about current topics or issues in the football world.

Today the group was asked what they would change about football at the moment.

On the round table today we were joined by:

Bramble
Luka
Parmar
Jay
Hawk
Iain (me)

If you could change anything about football at the moment, what would it be?

Jay:
Greedy players would be my first thought. Player's, much like society of today, seem to feel entitled to millions of dollars without having to put in the hard work every week. It may seem like an unrealistic change, but what's more realistic... FIFA/UEFA/FA/etc. being less corrupt moving forward, or players playing for passion rather than paychecks?

Luka:
A fourth substitute, designated for goalkeepers (so GK for GK only). And an additional substitute for extra time in cup ties.

Parmar:
Video technology for controversial initial calls by the ref/linesman for goals scored off "apparent offside" or the big one handballs or missed handballs inside the box. It's 2015 for fuck sakes and it's time our game comes into the times.

Parmar:
Add to that controversial "dives" in the box when a player is given a card for embellished when in fact he was fouled.

Iain:
Limited terms on how long FIFA officials can stay in office. Sepp Blatter has been in charge of the world governing body for 17 years now, the organization has been plagued by scandal and he's likely going to stay in power for at least another term. There needs to be a limit on how long he and other executive committee members, along with heads of National Associations can stay in office. More transparency would also be nice. For instance why did Qatar win the bid for 2020 for example? I think we all know why they won, but let's hear the exact reasons why they had a better bid than Australia or America.

Bramble:

Complete overhaul of FIFA's hierarchy Starting with Sepp ending with the professional administrator at the front desk. The office of FIFA stinks from on high to down low. Limit the amount of time someone can stay in office as these seemingly lifelong, Cesar-like dictatorship has proven nothing but bad fruit. Same said for England's FA, UEFA, Concacrap all the regional governing bodies.
This one may seem far fetched but the BIG, I guess, but it would be 14(?) clubs in the Europe Champions league, and it being an actual league instead of a tournament. Not sure on the in's and outs of how it would work but they for sure wouldn't be in their domestic leagues anymore unless relegated from the CL. Not only would that help domestic leagues by having the big boys gone for at least a season but it'd stop the Champions League from being the predictable mess it's become. Downside is teams like Liverpoop would be champions more (Laughs).
The big SC... SALARY CAP. The North American standard should be applied it'd bring teams to a more even keel and it'd force youth academy development again like the days of Yore. Also addresses what Jay said about player greed.
4th sub as stated by Luka.
Video tech as stated by SP.
Euro back to 16 teams.
World Cup goes back to 24 teams.
Some type of World Cup-like tourney for club teams. Not the current joke of a tourney in the Far East and Middle East. A month long tournament every two or four years.
Shorter seasons for the players sake. Or winter break, in England, for those that need it.

Parmar:

Isn't the FFP kinda of a soft cap though? You break it you pay a fine or penalty a la luxury tax in North America.

Bramble:

A more strict Salary cap, because clearly FFP isn't working. The leagues are just having the same champions over and over and over again. The Bundesliga has become a little bit more superior version of the Scottish Premier League. Or just look at the the Scottish League South, also known as La liga.

Parmar:

I would be ok with it, Chelsea has finally developed a good youth system with a bunch of promising players that are, or will be, ready to make the jump up. At the same time though if the Champions League remains as is you'd have the likes of Everton, Villa, Southampton, etc. in the CL if too much parity is created. Is there anything wrong with that? I guess not but then we will be right were the National Hockey League is and have managers and owners finding loopholes to circumvent the cap from pressure from the supporters and media.

Hawk:

Landmines and phasers.

Snipers, polar bears, bayonets, trap doors.

Thanks for checking out this week's Round Table.

17 Former EPL Footballers Will Participate in the UEFA Champions League Semis

2015-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

With the last English clubs in Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal departing from this year's UEFA Champions League competition in the Round of 16, the semi-finals will be the second round without any EPL contestants. But the lack of English teams in this year's semis doesn't mean that there aren't any footballers that once dazzled the English Premier League left.

There are 17 footballers that once wore an English club's kit and the list of players is quite impressive. In fact, the list is so juicy it could rival any of the clubs left in the competition.

Here is the team of footballers that currently play for one of the four Champions League clubs and have in the past played for at least one EPL team.

Goalkeeper:

Pepe Reina

Unfortunately this is the only weak spot this team would have as the former Liverpool shot-stopper is the only former EPL goalkeeper left in the competition. Nonetheless, Reina would make a great addition to most clubs if of course Manuel Neuer wasn't on the team's books.

Centre-Backs:

Gerard Piqué, Jérôme Boateng and Thomas Vermaelen

A solid center-back line with former Manchester United Piqué, Arsenal's Vermaelen and Manchester City reject Boateng would be one of the strongest back duos in any of the combinations possible.

Full-Backs:

Álvaro Arbeloa and Patrice Evra

A perfect combo with former Liverpool man Arbeloa playing on the right and United's Evra on the left. And if you think Evra is no longer a great choice for an all-star team such as this, Boateng is known to have the ability to fill in on either flank.

Center Midfield:

Paul Pogba, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Luka Modrić

Talk about versatility. Former Liverpool and West Ham Argentine Mascherano can play both in the defensive midfield role and fill in at center-back. While Frenchman Pogba who spent a bit of time with Manchester United as a youngster is known to be comfortable in all capacities of the midfield. Another midfielder formally with Liverpool Xabi Alonso would likely start from the bench, while ex Spur Modrić fills in the attacking-midfield role very nicely.

Wingers:

Arjen Robben and Gareth Bale

Just like with the full-backs, the wingers split nicely with former Chelsea Dutchman Robben playing on the right, while ex Tottenham full-back turned winger Bale prefers the left side.

Forwards:

Javier Hernández, Carlos Tevez, Claudio Pizarro and Luis Suárez

This is where it gets real interesting, I mean take your pick. Okay, so in most likelihood former Chelsea striker Pizzaro would not see very much playing time with the competition from the other three, but the rest of the striking force on this list is absolutely incredible. Former Red Devil's Mexican Chicharito would perhaps be the other striker starting from the bench if the team was to play with two up front, as the starting positions would surely go to ex Liverpool biter Luis Suárez and the only man on this list that played for 3 EPL clubs (West Ham, Manchester United and Manchester City) in Carlos Tevez taking the other.

The one that can play anywhere:

Cristiano Ronaldo

If this list wasn't strong enough we conclude it with former Manchester United superstar and recent Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. A man who can almost literally play in any position on the pitch. Should Pepe Reina be worried about his starting lineup spot on this team?

Throwback Thursdays: Wonder of Istanbul

2015-03-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

Known as the “Wonder of Istanbul” the 2005 Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan will go down in history as not only one of the greatest matches of all time but the most epic Champions League final ever played.

Liverpool were the clear underdogs heading into this match, and when by halftime AC Milan had scored three unanswered goals, this looked to be one of the most lopsided games in the history of the tournament.

Maldini scored only after 57 seconds and Hernan Crespo added two more to give the Italian giants a comfortable lead in what looked to be an easy victory.

Nobody watching the game or perhaps even playing it believed that the trophy would be going anywhere else other than San Siro, with the exception of one man, Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool captain led the fight and got Liverpool on the board with a header shortly after the start of the second half.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, had made a critical move at halftime, by bringing in midfielder Didi Hamann to cover Kaka and stop the quality balls getting towards the Milan front line. This allowed for Xabi Alonso and Gerrard to have more room in midfield and assert themselves in a position to be able to recover the ball and launch quick attacks.

A minute after Gerrard scored, Vladimir Smicer took a tremendous shot that went low and through Dida’s hands. Only five minutes after that Liverpool had leveled the game. Xabi Alonso scored after Dida saved the initial penalty shot from Alonso. In the span of five or six minutes, Liverpool had done what most had thought to be the impossible, and tied the game at three apiece.

The game ended in a 3-3 draw and the extra time did nothing to change the score line with both teams playing on an empty tank and clearly waiting for penalties to decide their fate, but it was Liverpool’s keeper Jerzy Dudek that would end up being the hero of the game by making two incredible saves in the 117th minute, stopping Shevchenko from giving AC Milan the win.

His heroics continued to the penalty kicks where he saved a penalty kick from Pirlo and Shevchenko to give his team the 3-2 win on penalties and complete one of the most incredible comebacks in football history.

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.

Buffon Versus Reus - Head to Head Interview (Video)

2015-02-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

Before the first leg of the round of 16 clash between Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, Puma put together a hilarious head to head interview between Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Dortmund's star footballer Marco Reus.

The two talked about favorite actors, penalty shots and other random things.

Any Given Sunday: Football on Demand

2015-02-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Turn on the TV on a Saturday morning in North America and you have the pick of the litter with multiple Premier League matches, La Liga and Bundesliga games. As they progresses you can almost watch any single match from around the world in one of the many sports channels available to us.

Same is true during the week when it comes to Champions League games, Europa League, mid-week league matches, cup or Euro/World Cup qualification matches. Football has gone from a Sunday family outing to a 24/7 business for TV stations. A very lucrative business that the ratings show to be on the rise and as long as people tune in more stations will be paying through the nose to obtain those so desirable TV rights.

We have moved for some time now to all football channels showing nothing but games and highlights, feeding the monster that is football fans worldwide, but what should the next step be in this evolution? Team channels are already a reality, with most big name clubs from Europe having their own channels offering games, interviews, special content on gameday, and even matches of their younger squads or other sports played by the clubs either be basketball, futsal or any other. This evolution is reaching its climax, so it will be only a matter of time before the next step is needed in this evolution of football consumption.

Fans demand more and more, the need to interact with their audience is an evolutionary need for any sport if they are to survive the evolution of television watching. Could VOD be the next logical step to be taken between leagues, federations, organizations and TV broadcasters?

The main difference between sports and other TV shows is that sports fans want to watch sports live, not on tape delay. A movie or a TV show can be watched at any time, but sporting events need to be watched live for the audience to have the full enjoyment of the experience. VOD could still work under these premises.

Imagine UEFA selling the Champions League rights to a broadcaster; for the sake of the argument let’s use ESPN. So now ESPN has the rights for the United States for all Champions League games. ESPN could still show one of the matches on their channel for content purposes, since these days everything comes down to content. They could make all matches available on a ESPN Champions League VOD subscription. Charging fans a fee for this extra channel or even offering for free if you are subscriber of all of their channels. This would allow the viewer to pick any of the games being broadcasted at that time instead of being forced to watch one on the main channel.

Games could then be available for 2 weeks on VOD until the following set matches’ takes place. Adding to the VOD options could be the post-game interviews and media scrums as well, iconic matches from the past between the teams facing each other now. The content could be endless in a partnership between UEFA, Premier League or any other league and a massive TV station.

Allowing for that VOD to be available on mobile devices would be the next logical step, but with more and more specialization of TV stations and the creation of options that allow the viewer’s more and more avenues to watch their favorite team, this could be a solution that while at a price could be the end of illegal online streaming.

If every single match is available on demand for you to view in HD on any TV of your home or any of your mobile devices why bother with a crappy stream and the ever annoying pop up ads.

Champions League Posters by Romain Vendé (Gallery)

2015-02-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

French designer Romain Vendé designed a set of cutout style posters to represent some footballers that are currently participating for the major clubs in the UEFA Champions League. You can follow Romain on Twitter

Champions League Classics (Gallery)

2015-02-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

Jerzovskaja (@FootballHeroes) is an illustrator from Zurich, Switzerland that has been doing a lot of work revolving around the world of football and iconic players from various clubs, countries and eras. Today we feature 20 of over 100 illustrations from a collection he calls Champions League Classics – Star Players. To see the rest of the project click here

Arjen Robben: No Longer a Symbol of Selfishness

2014-12-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

If you've ever played football even once in your life, be it at the professional level, for your school team, or simply with a bunch of friends in a parking lot I can almost guarantee that you've played with a selfish player.

A selfish player or a ball hog, is someone who tries to take on five players every time they have the ball and will only pass if they have absolutely no other option.

They likely wear bright neon pink boots and have an unhealthy whiff of arrogance about them.

For every great goal they score, there are at least six other times that they screw up a promising attack with their selfishness.

Arjen Robben, as gifted and talented as he undoubtedly has been, fell into this category up until about two seasons ago. Sure, he scored a few great goals from midfield and had the innate ability to ghost past defenders, but he had the frustrating habit of always cutting to the middle from the right and either taking on one player too many or blazing the ball over the top of the goal.

Frustration with him among some Bayern Munich supporters peaked after he missed a crucial penalty in the 2012 Champions League Final, that the club would lose on their own pitch to Chelsea.

The Dutch international has dramatically improved in the seasons following that traumatic defeat and after terrific performances for club and country is now considered to be among the best players in the world.

Redeeming himself with the winning goal in the 2013 Champions League Final, along with playing a big role in Bayern's domestic dominance, he also enjoyed a memorable World Cup in 2014 with the Netherlands as he helped his country to a berth in the Semi Final.

His improved performances, and his reduced selfishness, have not gone unnoticed with his teammates as Bayern captain Phillip Lahm said this week to Jutarni, "Robben has changed a lot, he's no longer a symbol of selfishness."

I will have to remember that line, "a symbol of selfishness", and perhaps roll that out to one or two ball hogs at my next indoor 5-a-side match.

Throwback Thursdays - Top 5 Goals in Champions League History

2014-12-11T16:00:00.001-05:00

With the group stage of the UEFA Champions League now behind us, and Aaron Ramsey going into the books with an incredible goal against Galatasaray on Tuesday, we count down the best 5 goals in the tournament's history (as voted by no one else but myself).

#5 - Ronaldinho vs. Chelsea - 2005

#4 - Dejan Stankovic vs. Schalke - 2011

#3 - Zinedine Zidane vs. Bayer Leverkusen - 2002

#2 - Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Porto - 2009

#1 - Mauro Bressan vs. Barcelona - 1999

The Harsh Realities of Champions League - Week 5

2014-11-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

As we do after each week of play, we take a look at the clubs that were less than impressive during week 5 of matches in the UEFA Champions League.

Olympiacos

After a bright start to their group stage campaign with wins against Atletico Madrid and Juventus in their first two of three matches, Greek side Olympiacos have dropped in form drastically suffering their second straight loss, a drubbing in the hands of Spanish champions Atletico by a final score of 4-0. The Greek defense could not get a single thing right it seemed as the first three of the goals were crucial defensive mistakes, while the last goal of the match could also be seen as a defensively lazy play. Atletico's newly aquired Croatian forward Mario Mandžukić was the pain in Olympiacos' back on the evening, surely sending the Greek side to compete in Europa League action as the only way they could still qualify for the next round would be the combination of them defeating Swedish side Malmö FF whom they lost 2-0 to at the Swedbank Stadion, and they would also need help from group leaders Atletico who would have to win in Torino against a Juventus side that have lost just once in their home stadium all year in both domestic and Champions League competition.

Liverpool

Oh boy, where to start on this one? Liverpool is making its fourth appearance in five weeks on our 'Harsh Realities' list, as Brendan Rodgers' side is just not good enough this year. With a perfect opportunity to level themselves on points with Swiss side Basel for the second spot in the group, The Reds blew it once again and find themselves going into a must win final group match against that same Swiss club that they lost to in Switzerland just a few weeks ago. This week against Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad it was trouble from the very start as Liverpool conceded within the first five minutes after goalkeeper Simon Mignolet spilled a ball he surely should have kept. But it looked as if the English club would come out with the win after all as Rickie Lambert and Jordan Henderson put Brendan Rodgers' side up 2-1. With two minutes from full-time however, Liverpool's season would be summed up to a tee as the home side would equalize after a successful corner-kick conversion. To make the next round of this year's competition Liverpool would need to defeat FC Basel by more than 1 goal in their week 6 meeting, a feat they were able to accomplish last (and only time this season) on August 31st when they defeated Tottenham in league action.

SL Benfica

Before yesterday's match against Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg, Portugal's defending Champions were sitting just 1 point behind second place AS Monaco and tied on points for third place with the Russians. But after their 1-0 loss at Zenit, followed by Monaco's 1-0 win in Germany against group leaders Bayer Leverkusen, the Portuguese side find themselves out of the competition entirely, without even a chance to qualify to the Europa League as they are now guaranteed to finish last in the group. To make matters worse, Zenit's winning goal was scored by Portuguese midfielder Danny. The last time Benfica has exited European action this early in the year was during the 2008-09 season when they finished last in their UEFA Cup group, playing their last European match on December 18th.

Schalke 04

Sitting 3 points behind group leaders Chelsea, Schelke looked like a decent squad even after their 4-2 loss to third place Sporting Lisbon in match-week 4. But this week their position in the next round of this year's Champions League is looking a lot less guaranteed after total annihilation at the hands of Jose Mourinho's side Chelsea, on home ground by a final score of 5-0. The German side was able to get a good result during first week play at Stamford Bridge, holding the London side to a 1-1 draw on September 17. But on home soil things were very different, as Schelke conceded 3 times before the half and then twice more in the second forty five. Facing Slovenian side Maribor may seem as a fairly easy task for the Germans, but with Chelsea guaranteed top spot in the group it is hard to imagine Mourinho fielding a full-strength squad against Portuguese side Sporting in week 6 action, with the Lisbon side needing just a draw against the Londoners to make sure a higher finish than Schalke.

Can Southampton Finish in the Top Four?

2014-11-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

As Southampton's supporters witnessed the nightmare of their team, which had finished in 8th place in the Premier League in 2013/2014, ripped to shreds in the summer through the sale of several of their best players, you couldn't blame them for being concerned.

By early August, with defender Dejan Lovren, striker Rickie Lambert, and attacking midfielder Adam Lallana sold on to Liverpool, left-back Luke Shaw sold to Manchester United, and right-back Calum Chambers transferring out to Arsenal, the prospect of relegation seemed to loom large for the Saints.

With Argentinian coach Mauricio Pochettino leaving for Spurs, the club appeared to be going through it's most traumatic period since the dark days of League One.

Prior the season starting I tuned into BBC's 606 Phone-In show to hear an interview with Southampton's new Chairman Ralph Krueger. Coming to the club after a long spell in North American and European hockey, the Canadian seemed from the outside to be an odd choice to take up such a post at the football club.

In light of what had occurred that summer, Krueger was predictably skewered by Saints fans and neutrals a-like who called into the show. Some even suggested that it was a "Fire Sale" and that the club didn't care if they got relegated.

Krueger, for his part, displayed a quiet confidence in the face of such a strong backlash and told caller after caller to have faith in new manager Ronald Koeman. He suggested that the club would bring in replacements for the players that had left and he believed that there was talent in the youth ranks that was ready for the step up to the first team.

Despite his positive outlook many, myself included, remained unconvinced. But then something incredible happened.

With the club bolstered by the signings of Dušan Tadić from Twente, Sadio Mané from Red Bull Salzburg, Hull City's Shane Long, Toby Alderweireld on loan from Atletico Madrid, and best of all Graziano Pellè from Feyenoord, the club has roared to their best-ever start to a top flight season.

Southampton haven't been scraping results either, rather they have pulled themselves to within four points of league leaders Chelsea by playing terrific attacking football.

Under Ronald Koeman, they have become one the best sides to watch in the Premier League and many neutrals are now hoping that they can stay in the top four.

In the years since the Champions League was expanded to include four sides from England, the usual suspects for qualification into the biggest competition in club football has been made up of a small number of teams. For years it was Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal that consistently locked down the qualifying spots, with Manchester City's new riches later forcing out Liverpool, and outside of that it was only Tottenham and Everton occasionally threatening to force their way in.

This season though with Manchester United still struggling through their post-Alex Ferguson transition, Liverpool in a mess after the sale of Luis Suarez, Arsenal dropping silly points, and Manchester City nowhere near as good as they were last season, the only one of the big clubs that's assured of finishing in and around the top of the league is Chelsea.

So if Southampton can maintain their current form, even allowing for one rough patch at some point, this season may be the best opportunity for the club to break into the Champions League.

Looking at the Saints schedule after a match with Aston Villa at Villa Park, they then have matches against Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal in consecutive weeks. It's a tough run of matches, but if the club can come through that relatively unscathed they should be in great shape heading into the New Year.

For Southampton to make the top four, after the trauma of last summer and being only a few years removed from League One and Administration, this would certainly rank as one of the greatest single season accomplishments of the Premier League era.

Borussia Dortmund: Perfect in Europe, Crap in Germany

2014-11-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

After a resounding 4-1 thumping of Galatasaray, Borussia Dortmund have now collected the maximum of 12 points in the Champions League and have provided their fans with a much needed distraction from their wretched league form.

After collecting only 7 points from 10 league matches, the club are reeling in the second bottom of the Bundesliga. But does this mean that the domestic league sides that have overcome Dortmund this season are all better than Arsenal, Galatasaray and Anderlecht?

Surely that can't be the case, but what is the problem though?

One thing that has killed the club this season, domestically at least, is the number of key injuries they've suffered so far. With players like Ilkay Gündogan, Marco Reus, Sebastian Kehl, and Mats Hummels spending significant amounts of time on the sidelines the club have rarely been able to send out their best side.

Defensive mistakes have also cost them badly in the league, with Hummels, Erik Durme, and Neven Subotic all namely costly errors at key moments. In the Champions League the club has seemed a lot more focused and less rife with errors.

The small, but significant, errors in the league simply haven't occurred in Europe.

It could also be a matter of domestic sides figuring out how Dortmund play and effectively countering them, whereas European sides haven't picked up on their weaknesses yet. They also aren't suffering the burden of expectation when it comes to beating German sides that aren't Bayern Munich.

Manager Jurgen Klopp for his part isn't panicking and has said, "It’s about the answers rather than the emotion of the moment. There will always be questions and, as a coach, you have to have the answers."

Sporting Lisbon Demand a Rematch Against Schalke

2014-10-23T21:00:00.000-04:00

As Schalke 04's Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting converted a last minute penalty to consign Sporting Lisbon to a 4-3 defeat, the Portuguese club were left seething in rage.

After coming back from two goals down to level the match at 3-3, it appeared that Sporting were on their way to a well earned point. This is until Russian referee Sergei Karasev awarded a penalty for what he saw as a handball by Sporting’s Jonathan Silva.

With the TV replays showing that the ball had clearly hit Silva's head, the aggrieved Lisbon side filed a complaint with UEFA.

It was in fact Schalke 04 who made this public though, as they announced the following statement:

"The green-whites [of Sporting] have demanded the match to be played again or alternatively to receive the bonus for a draw.

“Schalke 04 have been asked by Uefa for their position on the matter and will submit this shortly while taking into consideration the protection of the club’s own interests.”

If you read between the lines, that last sentence loosely translates to "tough shit Sporting!"

It would be a near unprecedented move for UEFA to replay the match just down to one side being affected by a blown call, especially if Schalke doesn't acquiesce to Sporting's request for a replay.

I'm not a betting man, but I'd put a fiver on this going absolutely nowhere.

The result, as it stands, leaves Schalke in second place in Group G with five points and Sporting Lisbon is in fourth in the group with one point.

The Harsh Realities of Champions League - Week 3

2014-10-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

We are half way through the group stages of this year's Champions League and there are some clubs that have made this list a permanent home while others will be on here for the very first time. An interesting week of action nonetheless is in the books, so let's take a look at some of the clubs that quite simply disappointed in the last two days.

Juventus

Juve is on this list for the very first time this week. After a decent start in their win against Malmö in day 1 of action, I gave Juventus a break and did not include them on this list when they lost to Atletico Madrid, because after all a loss to last year's finalists is not all that bad. But this week the Italian champions have made many wonder whether they can handle the pressure of both holding on to first place in their domestic league and continuing in the Champions League as well. A 1-0 away loss is perhaps not a disaster result, but after three matches played Juve players fins themselves in third place in their group A, behind Atletico Madrid and the Greek club they lost to this week Olympiacos. Juventus will face the Greeks once more in the next match-day. this time on home ground.

Liverpool

Oh boy. The Reds are the only club making this list for the third time in three matches. Although a loss to last year's champions Real Madrid is not the most horrific result Liverpool could have gotten, but it was the fashion they collapsed in during their match on home ground. 3-0 was the result both after the first half and full-time, but really it seemed like Madrid could have scored 20 if they really wanted to. Liverpool seems to lack identity this year both in their domestic campaign and in Champions League also. Now, Liverpool are in third place behind Madrid and minnows Ludogorets Razgrad and are tied on 3 points with the last place FC Basel also. Unfortunately for The Reds it does not get much easier as they face the same Madrid team, only this time at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Manchester City

Here's another first on this list, and the EPL champions are here not because of a loss but rather a tie against a club that had no points after the initial two matches and was playing their home meeting with City behind closed doors (or what at least was supposed to be that). City got off to a great start in the freezing cold in Moscow going up 2-0 in the first half. But The Sky Blue's managed to lose that lead to a CSKA club that looked nowhere near ready for Champions League football this year after losses in both of their first two matches. Sitting in third place, two points behind AS Roma, City will need a much better performance against CSKA in their next match at the Etihad if they are thinking of making the next round of competition.

AS Roma

Roma's striker Gervinho seems to be having a great season and it looked the same for his club. That was during the first two weeks of play and then there was this past Tuesday. Gervinho was still having a decent day in terms of getting on the score-sheet. He scored a goal against Bayern Munich this past Tuesday, but the seven goals scored by the Germans at the Stadio Olimpico kind of made the Ivorian's goal seem a bit pointless. 7-1 was the final in favor of the Bavarians, and although it's fair to say that Bayern is probably one of the best clubs in the world, losing by a score like that on home ground is not what was expected from AS Roma. Next match-day AS Roma will have a chance to redeem themselves, but a trip to Munich to face the same club that just had them running for the walls may not be so enticing.

BATE Borisov

I guess it's not a surprise to see BATE on this list again. But after a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of FC Porto in Portugal, the club from Belarus looked to make some progress in week 2 with a 2-1 win over Atletico Bilbao. This week however they were back to their old self, as they gave up 7 to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, only this time it was not on the road but rather at their home venue, the Borisov Arena. BATE will face Shakhtar again next match-day in Lviv, Ukraine. Sitting just two points behind the Ukrainians, BATE Borisov will look to erase the 7-0 loss from their memory and shock the Ukrainians.

5 Most Incredible Own Goals

2014-10-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

One of the funniest moment in football is the own goal. It doesn’t happen very often but when it does it always brings a smile to my face.

I looked around for the top 5 own goals scored around the world and I believe I found some really great own goals, so great that if they were own goals they would be considered for goal of the year.

Here are what I consider the 5 most incredible own goals in football.

Game: Partizan Belgrade vs Anderlecht (2010)

During the 2010 Champions League qualifier matches, Lecjaks scored one of the most incredible and memorable own goals of the competition history. Instead of clearing a dangerous attack and playing the ball into the stands, he smacked the ball into his own net. A goal he will probably never forget.

Game: Bastia vs RC Lens (2001)

When your team has a 3-0 lead, as a defender all you need to do is keep your concentration and ensure you see the game to the end, and if possible keep the clean sheet for your team. Queudrue had other plans, when he scored an own goal from 30 yards out. This was a goal that any forward would be proud off, even Queudrue would be proud of it, had it been in the opposite net.

Game: FC Fehervar vs Debrecen DVSC (2008)

The Hungarian league doesn’t get the same attention as some of the greatest leagues in Europe, but the own goal scored by Durica was good enough to be on any league’s highlight reel. Perhaps Durica’s goal is one of the most difficult own goals to score, considering it came off a penalty kick for the opposing team.

Game: Sun Hei vs Citizen Hong Kong (2005)

This goal would be something you would expect to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic score, but instead Festus Baise scored it in his own net. His team won the match 3-2 but he scored of one of the best and most incredible own goals I have ever seen, too bad it was in his own net, otherwise he would have a great story to tell his grandchildren.

Game: Oita Trinita vs Albirex Niigata (2013)

Shimizu and his opponent Tanaka were involved in an own goal that was sure to become the butt of all jokes involving own goals. Shimizu trying to get his team’s attack started quickly and kicks the ball into his opponent’s rear, which bounced the ball into the back of his net.

Throwback Thursday - 1992/1993 - Marseilles

2014-10-02T15:00:00.000-04:00

For the 38th edition of the European Cup, the tournament was re-branded as the UEFA Champions League and the competition we know today began to take shape.

Although, Group Stage matches had been introduced the year before, they were fully embraced for the 1992/1993 season and would eventually be expanded in the coming years.

In the first year of the Champions League, the European Champions would come from France for the first, and so far only, time and would not come from Paris.

The Olympic Marseilles side that season, in which they would win the 'Cup with the big ears', contained players such as Didier Deschamps, Alen Bokšić, Rudi Völler, Abedi Pelé, Marcel Desailly and Fabien Barthez, and is undoubtedly one of the finest Ligue 1 sides that has ever graced European competition.

Under colourful owner Bernard Tapie, the club won five French League titles in a row and had reached the final of the 1991 European Cup before falling on penalties to a wonderful Red Star Belgrade side.

Two years later though, they would finally bring the trophy back to the country that had played such an important role in the formation of the European Cup though.

The Champions League in the 1992/1993 season consisted of 36 teams, a larger number than had been in the European Cup previously, in order to accommodate the new countries formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia and also first time entrants from Israel and the Faroe Islands.

After a Preliminary Round had reduced the number of sides to an even 32, the first round proper consisted of two legged home and away ties to determine which clubs would advance to the second round, which was also a two leg knockout affair.

One of the more memorable clashes in the knockout stages was the second round clash between English Champions Leeds United and the reigning Scottish Champions Glasgow Rangers, who were in the midst of a record equaling run of nine league titles in a row.

Over the course of two epic 'Battle of Britain' encounters, Rangers defeated Leeds 4-2 on aggregate after beating the Yorkshire club by a score of 2-1 in both legs. Interestingly enough, Leeds lone goal in the second leg was scored by the mercurial Frenchman, Eric Cantona, who would leave the club soon after and subsequently become a legend at rivals Manchester United.

After the conclusion of the second round, the remaining eight sides were drawn into two groups of four, with the group winners advancing to the final.

As expected the powerhouse AC Milan side, who were in the midst of a golden period of success, powered to a perfect record in their group with home and away wins over IFK Goteborg, Porto and PSV Eindhoven.

In the other group, Olympic Marseilles just edged out Rangers by a point and advanced to the final, as they topped a group also containing Club Brugge and CSKA Moscow.

Going into the final in Munich, the Italians were heavy favourites and were expected to add to their recent European Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990.

Before the final, Marseilles had defeated Valenciennes to wrap up the French title in a match that would later have dire consequences for the club. They were well rested as they took on Fabio Capello's side and were quietly confident of victory.

Milan, with Marco van Basten and Paolo Maldini among their ranks, started well and had great chances to score through Van Basten and Daniele Massaro. Eventually though, they were undone by a 43rd minute header by Ivorian-born French international Basil Boli and despite a few threatening attacks in the second half, Milan were unable to score and fell 1-0.

This wonderful triumph over the biggest side in Europe at that time, was later overshadowed by allegations that Tapie had paid several Valenciennes players to take it easy against his side, in order for Marseilles to be well rested and ready for the final.

The club were subsequently banned from European competition for the following season, stripped of their 1992/1993 French League title and relegated to the second division.

They did however get to keep the European Cup, despite allegations over the years of wrong doing in a few of their Champions League matches leading up to the final. In particular, their 1-0 over Brugge came under investigation for potential match fixing and the 6-0 drubbing of CSKA has also come under suspicion.

No evidence of wrong doing on the part of Marseilles that year has ever been proven though and their name remains on the list of Champions League winners.

15 Posters of 2013-14 Champions League Stars by Andy Greaves (Gallery)

2014-09-30T15:00:00.000-04:00

Andy Greaves is a London based graphic designer and a huge fan of football. Considering his love for both football and graphic design he created a series of posters representative of 15 players that played in the 2014-14 Champions League.

He decided not to go with the obvious options of Messi and Ronaldo and instead 15 other players that represented some of the big clubs in that year’s competition.You can follow him on Twitter at @andygreavsie

10 Best Champions League Goals of 2013-14

2014-09-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Champions League week one is behind us and we were treated to some incredible games and some even more incredible goals. Since this week there is no Champions League football I have decided to look at the best 10 Champions League Goals of 2013-14 season.

Robin van Persie vs Bayer Leverkusen

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Galatasaray

Yaya Toure vs Viktoria Plzen

Vladimir Weiss vs PSG

Julian Draxler vs Basel

Jens Hegeler vs Real Sociedad

Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Anderlecht

Alvaro Negredo vs Bayern Munich

Gokhan Inler vs Marseille

Robert Lewandowski vs Arsenal

The Wit, Wisdom and Genius of Brian Clough

2014-09-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the passing of one of the finest managers English football has ever known, Brian Howard Clough.

Born in Middlesbrough on March 31, 1935 the man who would later be nicknamed "Old Big Head" as an all conquering manager, broke into professional football for his local side in 1955.

Clough, a high scoring striker for Middlesbrough and later Sunderland, hit an incredible 251 goals in 274 matches with a strike rate of 0.916 goals per match which is the highest ever in England for a player with more than 200 appearances.

Sadly his playing career was cruelly cut short at the age of 27 after tearing the medial and cruciate ligaments in his knee, after a sickening collision with Bury's keeper Chris Harker on an icy pitch in December of 1962.

After an aborted comeback at age 29, Clough shook off the anguish of a playing career that was to an extent unfulfilled and stepped into management at Hartlepool United.

His most important decision when taking up the reigns at Victoria Park was convincing Burton Albion's manager Peter Taylor to join him as his assistant. Together the two men would leave an unforgettable mark on English and indeed European football.

After moving to Derby County, a club rooted to the bottom of the old Second Division in 1967, Clough and Taylor went to work on building the side from the ground up.

It's been said about the two of them that Clough was the "shop window" and that Taylor was "the goods in the back" and there's something to that as Taylor had an incredible eye for spotting diamonds in the rough, and bringing them to Derby, while Clough was able to mould these players into a cohesive unit.

After winning promotion to the top flight in 1969, Derby stunned the football world by seeing off the challenges of the leading sides Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United in capturing the 1971/1972 League Championship. It was an incredible achievement for the East Midlands club, who did it by playing positive attacking football under Clough and Taylor.

Despite a run to the 1972/1973 European Cup Semi-Final and eventual defeat over two legs to Juventus, the outspoken Clough fell out with the Derby County board and left the club in the fall of 1973. It was a parting of the ways that was later to be regretted to different extents by both parties.

After a brief spell at Brighton and Hove Albion, and a disastrous 44 day reign in charge of his old enemies Leeds United, Clough and Taylor reunited at Nottingham Forest where they would achieve their greatest glory.

Winning promotion to the old First Division in 1976/1977, Nottingham would then incredibly storm to the League Championship in 1977/1978, as they finished comfortably ahead of European Champions Liverpool.

Greater things were to come for Forest though, as they won not only win the 1979 European Cup by beating Malmo in Munich, but they would follow it up with a win over Hamburg in the 1980 final in Madrid. For a club of Forest's relative size this was an incredible achievement and one that will likely not be repeated.

Despite Clough's achievements he never got the job he truly craved, that of the England manager's chair after his various rows with chairmen and the media, it was little surprise that the English FA were fearful of giving him the "second most important job in the country".

Clough would even go on to fall out with his partner in so much success, Taylor, after his assistant briefly retired and then took up the manager's post at Derby. Unfortunately the two would never resolve their differences before Taylor's early death in 1990 at the age of only 62. The fact that they never made peace was something Clough regretted for the rest of his life and he in fact dedicated his autobiography to his old friend and assistant manager.

He opened his book with:
"To Peter. Still miss you badly. You once said: 'When you get shot of me there won't be as much laughter in your life'. You were right"

Clough would manage Nottingham up until 1993, with the club achieving further success in the League Cup and always playing attractive football. Unfortunately the end of his time at the club saw Forest relegated from the top division, however the mark he left on Forest will never be forgotten.

Losing his battle with stomach cancer on 20 September 2004, Clough was mourned equally by fans of both Derby County and Nottingham Forest, usually the bitterest of rivals, who deeply acknowledged the work he had done in putting them both on the map.

Besides his outstanding success in football, Clough was also known for his outspoken views. Here are some of his funnier quotes over the years:

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but then again I wasn’t on that particular job.”

“David Seaman is a handsome young man but he spends too much time looking in his mirror rather than at the ball. You can’t keep goal with hair like that.”

“I’m sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, I’d want to run the show. They were shrewd because that’s exactly what I would have done”

“The River Trent is lovely, I know because I have walked on it for 18 years.”

“Beckham? His wife can’t sing and his barber can’t cut hair.”

When meeting Teddy Sheringham: “I’m calling you Edward because that’s what it says on your birth certificate.”

"Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes."

"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there."

“I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the business…but I was in the top one.”

“When I go, God’s going to have to give up his favourite chair.”

Liverpool vs Ludogorets a Colorblind Nightmare

2014-09-19T06:00:00.001-04:00

When many Liverpool and Ludogorets fans sat down to watch their teams opening match in this year’s Champions League they didn’t know what they were in for. While most watched a thrilling match with Liverpool snagging in the victory in the last minutes which made for an incredible finish to the match, others were left scratching their heads and trying to make sense of what just had happened.

Liverpool played in red while Ludogorets played in green and for people that are red/green colorblind all they could see was floating heads on the TV screen. This made impossible for them to know who was who during the match.

Many of the fans used Twitter as a way to voice their displeasure and the frustration what was happening to them.

The return leg is in November and knowing the issue that green and red kits could cause during the game, fans are hoping that clubs and UEFA will find a solution that prevents this from happening again.