European Competitions

Juventus Knocked Out Of The Champions League.
Posted by Gersloveofsport


Juventus have sensationally been knocked of the UEFA Champions League after a 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray.For Galatasaray and their coach Roberto Mancini they can now look forward to the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League.

With the game having been abandoned last night due to a torrential snowstorm, it resumed today in Istanbul in what could only be described as horrendous conditions. With the ball barely rolling across the pitch, both teams had extreme difficulty in controling the game. Juventus seemed to have things under control until about the hour mark but then Didier Drogba had a great chance for Galatasaray, taking the ball and shooting on goal only for Buffon to produce a brilliant one-handed save.

Galatasaray did look quite dangerous when breaking whereas Juve didn't really make Gala goalkeeper Muslera work too hard. Drogba was really fired up for this game and he began urging on the home crowd. Then, with only five minutes left a long ball up to the Ivory Coast International was headed on into the path of Dutchman Wesley Sneijder (pictured) who took it past the Juve defense to shoot across Gianluigi Buffon into the corner of the net. This sent the Galatasaray supporters into a frenzy. Juventus just couldn't find an answer and they will have to make do with Europa League Football in the spring.

  It's been a very poor Champions League campaign for the Old Lady of Turin and coach Antonio Conte (pictured) will come under pressure to explain it.







Published by @gersloveofsport

2013 World Club Cup - Morocco
Posted by Gersloveofsport

The 10th Edition of FIFA's Club World Cup takes place this week, for the first time in Morocco. While the much-maligned competition has its detractor's, I for one think its a great idea. To have the Champions of all the different regions taking on each other competitively is a fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents to a global audience.

One issue of contension though, is Fifa's determination to condense the tournament to eleven days instead of two weeks. In these days where the squad game rules, especially in Europe, teams from the weaker Confederations are expected to play three games in seven days. While finance in Europe's biggest clubs isn't an issue, for the weaker teams taking part it certainly is. The quality of player available to the smaller Confederations teams obviously wouldn't be up to the standard of Europe's top clubs, and to expect them to play three games in seven days just makes no sense. It wouldn't be so bad if the major European and South American teams also played as many games but that is not the case. With both Europe and South America having a bye to the semi-finals, they only have two games in a week. It's a little unfortunate but thats the way Fifa want it.

Teams:

Al Ahly -  African Champions League Winners

This is their fifth time at these Championships and their second in a row. Unfortunatley for them they have had no competitive league football this year as the Egyptian league was suspended due to the infamous Port-Said disaster and it's not known when it will resume. For Al Ahly to even be here is a miracle in itself. It just shows the quality and determination this squad possess. It's quite an experienced squad, with the likes of goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy, midfielders Shehab Ahmed, Mohamed Aboutrika (pictured), and Emad Meteab. The best they can hope for would be to be competitive in the first game against Guangzhou but with limited competitive matches I would expect them to fall in the quarter-finals.

Raja Casablanca - Moroccan Champions as Hosts

The hosts for this years Club World Cup, Raja comfortably won their domestic Title in June, losing only two games the whole season. This season however, after eleven games they've won four, drawn four, and lost three. Maybe their focus has been on this World Club Cup instead of the league, even though they are only five points adrift of the leaders Moghreb Tetuoan. Raja's squad, you would imagine probably won't be up to this standard. With Hicham Aboucherouane not involved in the squad they will be seriously hampered, as striker Yassine Salhi (pictured) will have to carry the burden on his own. With Raja facing Auckland in the opener, the best they can hope for would be to shock the New Zealanders.

Guangzhou Evergrande - Asian Champions League Winner

Guangzhou, under the tutelage of World Cup winning coach Marcelo Lippi are quite interesting. Having narrowly missed out on an historic treble with the Asian Champions, Lippi and his squad will want to make amends here. Having had both of his main strikers suspended for the second leg of the Chinese FA Cup, they just failed to overturn a 2-0 deficit. With midfielder Dario Conca (pictured) leaving the Chinese champions at the end of these championships, after a hugely sucessful few years, his team-mates will want to give him a great send-off. They have great quality in the squad, with Huang Bowen and Dario Conca in midfield pulling the strings and also croping up with goals while Elkeson, Muriqui and Gao Lin are the main goal threat. Guangzhou have to play Al Ahly in their first match and i wuold expect them to win and win well. As for how they will fare against Bayern is another question, if Bayern take them lightly, then Guangzhou might manage a draw.

Bayern Munich - UEFA Champions League Winners

What can you say about the German treble winners? They have beaten all before them this year. Having demolished Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the champions league semi-final, they then went on to beat Dortmund in the final. Then, in came the wonderful Pep Guardiola to put his stamp on Bayern. Where could he improve the team? Was it possible? He hasn't changed personel too much, only bringing in Thiago who got himself injured. The biggest change he made was to move captain Philipp Lahm (pictured) into midfield, and its paying off. With Arjen Robben and Ballon D'or nominee Frank Ribery in the team anything is possible. Having only dropped four points in the league this season, they are well on their way to another Bundesliga Title. They are going to be very hard to beat here, especially if they bring with them the same winning mentality they've showed so far this season

CF Monterrey - Concacaf Champions League Winners

Mexicans Monterey haven't fared very well in their domestic league, winning only five games in the Apertura championship. The focus from teams from this side of the world is very different from Europe, as once teams have qualified for the World Club Cup they take their foot off the peddle and wait for their opportunity to shine on the big stage. However, on many occasions if proves to be the wrong way to go about it. With new coach Jose Guadalupe Cruz only in the job since August it remains to be seen if he can get the most out of his new squad. They have plenty of experience, with the likes of Leobardo Lopez, Brazilian Lucas Silva and Humberto Suazo (pictured) up-front. With them having to play either Auckland or Raja Casablanca i'd fully expect them to move on to the semi-finals.

Auckland City FC - Oceania Champions League Winners

Perenial participants in the Club World Cup, Auckland, while still amateur have great experience to call on. Defender Ivan Vicelich is New Zealands most capped player, but age is creeping up on him. The rest of the squad are relatively youngand they will be eager to tear into locals Raja in their first game. A player to watch out for is Papua New Guinea youngster, 17 year-old David Brown (pictured) who has already scored two goals this season. They have beaten Al Ahly and TP Mazembe in previous editions of this and i'd expect them to be victorious in the game against Raja Casablanca.

Athletico Mineiro - Copa Libertadores Winners

Brazilian side Athletico Mineiro, winners of the Copa Libertadores in july have an array of talent at their disposal. Manager Cuca leads a well organised team but with an emphasis on attacking football, with ex- CSKA Moscow, Man City and Everton striker Jo at the fore-front. Former World player of the year Ronaldinho (pictured) is the main man in the Athletico team, directing things from the number 10 position. With himself and Jo scoring 27 goals between them it's easy to know where the threat comes from. But, with  Diego Tardelli also in the team, they can switch all along the front line and try and confuse defenders. Ronaldinho has had a resurgence at Athletico and if he can reproduce some of the form that made him World player of the year it cuold be a woderful finish to the year for the Brazilians.


Published by @gersloveofsport 

The big surprise in the Champions League.
Posted by Shane Burns.


It is very rare that a Champions League campaign doesn't produce a shock or a surprise in the competition. Since the famous Jose Mourinho Porto side of 2004, almost year in year out there has been a team to surprise all in the competition. Whether it be Liverpool's shock in Istanbul against AC Milan in 2005, Arsenal in 2006, Liverpool again in 2007, Chelsea in 2008. It's hard to deny that in 2009 arguably the two best teams on the planet contested the final in Rome where ultimately Lionel Messi stole the show in a memorable 2-0 victory over Manchester United. Jose Mourinho clocked up his second Champions League title in 2010 coming from nowhere to beat Louis Van Gaal's Bayern Munich side in Real Madrid's Bernabau. 2011 seen Schalke and Manuel Neuer reach the semi final's against Manchester United when the German's weren't expected to get out of the group. 2012 seen Chelsea win the Champions League finally in Munich and 2013 seen Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund side take Europe by storm. So that just leave's 2014.....Who will that be?


Atletico Madrid:

Diego Simeone's young Madrid side have been wrote off numerous times by the media in recent times. The sale of Sergio Aguero to Manchester City in 2011 brought in the Colombian Radamel Falcao whose form caught the eye of Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri who took the option to purchase his buy out clause. Now, Diego Costa has stepped up and is alongside former Madrid striker Aguero, is the most on form striker in Europe. The youth of Koke and Arda Turan have swept aside Zenit, Austria Vienna and Porto in their group to secure qualification with two games to go. With Thibaut Courtois in goal, Simeone's side have conceded less goals and continue to go from strength to strength in La Liga.

Paris Saint Germain:

The mega rich Parisian club have made strides in the Champions League in the last two years. Now twenty-five games unbeaten at home in the Champions League, Laurent Blanc's side seem to be going from strength to strength in the UEFA competition. Possible Ballon D'or candidate, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is no doubt in the form of his life alongside record signing Edinson Cavani. Captained by Thiago Silva, PSG certainly are right up there with the favourite's to win the competition. The one flaw to their game is arguably their weakness upon the counter attack and lack of pace at in their defence.

Manchester City:

Finally after the money spend, Manchester City's Champions League dream is becoming a reality. The form of Argentine striker Sergio Aguero is spearheading Pellegrini's side into the last sixteen of the competition. The former Real Madrid manager has strength in dept throughout his squad so it is little wonder why Sheikh Mansour's club are finally becoming one of Europe's elite. The failures in the past two campaign's seem a lifetime away with the form and style City are sweeping past teams in Europe. The return to fitness of skipper Vincent Kompany pay prove to be pivotal for City should they have ambitions of going all the way to Lisbon in May.

Juventus:

Antonio Conte has really transformed this damaged Juventus side into one of Europe's finest teams. The midfield of the Old Lady is arguably the best combination in Europe that consists of Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio. The purchase of Carlos Tevez for a bargain €12m and free transfer of Fernando Llorente could be the key in the Turin side reclaiming the glory days of Platini. There is no doubt Juventus' solidity at the back is as good as ever, however wide of midfield is an area Juventus are certainly lacking. Reports claim they are in talks with Dnipro starlet Yevhen Konoplyanka.

There is no doubt one of these sides will make up one of the semi final places of the Champions League, and let's face it, how many people would have considered these four teams contenders for the title when the draw was made. This truly signifies the glory of the UEFA Champions League.