Champions League draw - Live Blog

Hello and welcome to the live blog of Champions League draw. We will be updating this blog live during the draw. We have never tried this before. Let us see how it goes. I will quote all comments in the live blog
The draw starts at 17:45 CET 11:45 Eastern Tine 8:45 Pacific Time.
See you shortly!


8:50a : Nothing much happening at the moment.
8:55a : Europe's Best Player of the year award to be given by Luís Figo
8:57a : Draw about to start couple of UEFA suits added to the stage
8:59a : Paul Breitner ambassador for the UEFA CL final 2012, never know such a title existed
9:01a : Lots of mumbo jumbo. First they will put the 8 teams in pot-1 in different groups
9:04a : Lets draw guys! i have to go to work :-)
9:05a : Man U in C, Porto in G
9:06a : Real Madrid in D
9:07a : Chelsea in E, Bayern in A, Inter in B
9:09a : Arsenal in F & Barça in H. Pot-1 is done.
9:13a : Sir Bobby Charlton speaking.. will help in the draw the Pot -2 Villarreal is here :D
9:14a : Olympique Lyonnais goes to play Real Madrid again :-)
9:15a : Benfica goes into C with Man U
9:16a : Marseille goes to F, play Arsenal, Valencia goes to E play Chelsea the Mata reunion
9:18a : Shaktar goes to G, with Porto, Milan goes to H and Barcelona
9:20a : Submarine goes to play Bayern! Ufff
9:21a : Villarreal, Valencia and Barça get tough draws so far. Real Madrid get an easy one
9:24a : Pot-3 Lille goes to B. Inter gets a easy draw, Zenit goes to G, another easy group at the outset
9:26a : Ajax goes to D, Real Madrid has an easy draw so far.
9:27a : Olympiakos to F, another group shaping up to be easy
9:28 : Now Man City.. to Bayern and Villarreal !! UFF what a group for the Submarine!
9:29 : Leverkusen goes to E, FC Basel to C
9:32 : wow what a draw for Villarreal, if we come out of this group, it is almost like winning the Cup
9:33 : pot-4 ready to go!
9:34 : Napoli.. dont go into A..Noooooooooo HOLY SMOLLY
9:35 : APOEL goes to G, I still cant believe we are in the Group of Death
9:36 : Paul Breitner is bad luck for us. Galati goes to C
9:37 : D. Zagreb to D
9;39 : Viktoria goes to H, Barça & Madrid have it easy.
9:40 : Valencia get Genk. Decent draw for our neighbours. Very good chances of qualifying
9:41 : Trabzonspor goes to B and Dortmund goes to F
We are done.
Villarreal get the mother of all groups of death. #AUPA submarino

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
FC Bayern	Inter	Man United	Real Madrid
Villarreal	CSKA Moscow	Benfica	Lyon
Man City	Lille	FC Basel	Ajax
Napoli	Trabzonspor	Galati	D.Zagreb
Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Chelsea	Arsenal	FC Porto	FC Barcelona
Valencia	Marseille	Shakhtar	Milan
Leverkusen	Olympiakos	Zenit	BATE Borisov
Genk	B.Dortmund	APOEL	Viktoria Plzen

Here are the 4-pots from which the teams will be picked. The rules are simple.
1. One team from each pot in each group
2. No two teams from the same league in the same group

Pot-1	Pot-2	Pot-3	Pot-4
Barcelona	Shakhtar	Olympiacos	Trabzonspor
Man United	Valencia	BATE	B.Dortmund
Chelsea	Villarreal	Manchester City	Genk
FC Bayern	CSKA Moscow	Lille	Napoli
Real Madrid	Marseille	Zenit	D.Zagreb
Porto	Milan	Ajax	APOEL
Inter	Lyon	Leverkusen	O.Galati
Arsenal	Benfica	Basel	Viktoria Plzen

Cesc: The right move at the right time

Guest Writer Jamie McGregor from Spanish Football.Info joins us to talk about Cesc.

One of the longest running transfer sagas of recent times has finally come to an end. Like the Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid saga, the Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona tale has ended with the La Liga club getting their man. However, while few in the world of football questioned Madrid's purchase of Ronaldo, a considerable number of fans in both Spain and England have criticised the deal to bring Fabregas back to Barcelona. From the Barcelona point of view, there are some who ask whether Fabregas was a necessary signing. Sure, he's a great player but Barcelona already have great players, particularly in midfield. Also, with Thiago shining at the European Under 21 Championships, there is a ready made alternative to Cesc waiting in the wings. Basically, there is an argument that the money could have been better spent on other areas of the team. Indeed, in a poll carried out by Barcelona daily El Mundo Deportivo, support amongst Barcelona fans for signing Fabregas was around 33%, not exactly overwhelming. So that begs the question, was Fabregas the right move for Barcelona? For me the answer is an overwhelming yes for 5 main reasons.

1. You can never have too much quality. Firstly and most importantly, in Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona have bought a world class player. Although the transfer fee was high, the club know they are buying the finished article. This is the main difference with Thiago who, although showing sings of great potential, still has some way to go in his development. So while it may be true that Barcelona already have top quality players, particularly in the midfield, you can surely never have too many? What's more, modern football is less of a team game than a squad game and with the Spanish champions competing in six different tournaments next season there'll be no player who plays every match. Guardiola's philosophy since he took over is to have a strong, core group of 16, backed up with promising youngsters and in that sense Fabregas certainly strengthens the system.

2. Easy integration. Whenever a club buys a new player, particularly one costing 30 million euros, it's fundamental that the player can adapt and integrate smoothly with his new club. By this I don't just mean the playing style of the club but also that he can get on with his team mates and manager as well as adapt to a new culture and language. After the fiasco that was the Ibrahimovic deal, Guardiola has been careful to pick players who not only have the footballing ability to play for Barcelona but the mentality too. The signing of David Villa was a good example of this approach and Fabregas is a no brainer in that sense. Everyone knows the Fabregas story, everyone knows his desire to play for Barcelona and live in Catalonia. Through his time in the club's youth system and his involvment with the Spanish national team, Fabregas is already friends with the majority of the Barcelona team. Indeed, his twitter banter with Piqué and Puyol is well documented. His relationship with Guardiola is also very good and there's no doubt that his singing will strengthen rather than divide the dressing room.

3. The importance of identity. As everyone knows, Barcelona define themselves as a more than a club. While this may rile some who see it as self-righteous and arrogant, to those who've lived in and understand Catalonia there is undoubedtly a level of truth in that statement. It was therefore to the Barcelona critics' delight and the traditionalists' displeasure when the club signed a historic, multi-million euro sponsorhsip deal with the Qatar Foundation. To some it was an example of the club's hipocrisy while to others it was a betrayal of the club's principles. It's for that reason that the incorporation of Cesc Fabregas, a Catalan and boyhood supporter is so important. After Valdés, Piqué, Puyol, Xavi, Busquets and of course Guardiola, Fabregas becomes the seventh high profile Catalan to join the side. While it won't make up entirely for the Qatar deal, it will go some way towards appeasing those who feared the club was losing part of its identity.

4. Look to the future. 30 million euros may seem like a lot of money for a player who's not guaranteed a game but at 24 years of age, Fabregas will be part of the Barcelona set up for years to come. Cesc's main problem may be the same as his problem at international level, removing one of Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi. The latter of the three is a player Fabregas has been compared to the most. Xavi is the brain of the Barcelona team but he's 31. While he's not exactly on his last legs, he is carrying a long-term, recurring injury and won't physically be able to play every single week. Resting Xavi is always hard but with a replacement of the quality of Fabregas it's much easier. Interestingly enough, it wasn't until Xavi was around 24 that he started to regularly play 36 league games a season. That was due to the presence of a certain Josep Guardiola. If Xavi was the successor to Guardiola then Fabregas is the heir to Xavi throne.

5. The last big signing before UEFA financial fair play? Like many big clubs, Barcelona is carrying a hefty debt that will have to be brought under control soon, especially with UEFA's proposed financial fair play rules. You might wonder how spending 30 million will achieve that? It won't, but it's a last throw of the dice before they really do need to cut the debt. Vicepresident Javier Faus has already stated the club's plan to be the most financially solvent club in the world in two or three years. That almost certainly means Fabregas will be the last big money signing and for the reasons above, the most logical.

VARANE & BENZEMA: The French Connection

As part of the Mourinho's new policy of bringing in younger players into the club, today the press conference focused on Karim Benzema and young Rafael Varane. Rafa is only 18 years old, with one senior year at Lens under his belt was a surprise signing, recommended by new sporting director, Zinedine Zidane. He is a central defender, but can also play as defensive midfielder and sweeper. His parents are from Martinique in the Carribbean.

Rafa is a very soft spoken, intelligent footballer who answered each question thoroughly and honestly. He had a translator and took his questions in French and responded the same. Benzema was very brief and curt with his answers, in contrast. He had a strong command of Spanish and conducted his portion accordingly.

Rafa Varane was asked of all the teams in the world, why RM? How do you see yourself developing at RM? Rafa replied, " In this team I can evolve as a player. I also chose RM because of the coach, I can feel I can grow and progress in my career best."

Rafa was then asked to tell us about himself. Why he become a footballer? What defenders or players do you base your game on? Rafa Varane recanted that he was proud to be a part of RM. "It is the greatest club in world." Regarding his footballing history, in 1998 he experienced the world cup in France as a 5 year old boy. "I witnessed the greatest team ever for France, a multicultural, multi-ethnic team, (Love the insight from the youngster.)

Karim Benzema was asked if the money for Cesc would be used for his signing by Arsenal. Arsenal wants you. Have you talked to them? With a smile, Karim answered, "No, I haven’t talked to anyone. I am going to stay at RM and nothing more." (Good answer!)

Rafael Varane – So young what do you think of people comparing you to Fernando Hierro. "I am flattered to be compared to Fernando Hierro, a winner with 3 champions league trophies. I hope to have a great career like him." (I think it is a little over the top to compare him to the Hierro, a RM legend.)

Trainings resume at 9:30a and 5p tomorrow with a press conference at noon. Who is left? I hope to see Kaka and Marcelo. Then San Diego game day against Chivas de Guadalajara, and final training and press conference at UCLA starting at 5pm. Rumor has it that it will be Ozil and Khedira. More to come.

Training/Injury News: Sergio and Pepe missed training. Precautionary measures on Sergio for his back spasms. Pepe hurt his right knee in the game against the Galaxy. He also is being rested.

Per norm, you can find more fotos at our forza futbol facebook page!

Selling Cesc Fabregas

The Sun tabloid in England are reporting that Arsenal are set on selling Cesc Fabregas in the summer, and despite reports that Real Madrid and Inter Milan have both come knocking on the ex-La Masia midfielder, the player is adamant that he will only move to Barcelona.

Cesc is ready to leave North London. He has said clearly and often that he would like to win trophies and Arsenal have not done enough in the transfer market to stay competitive with Manchester United, Chelsea and now Manchester City. If it were merely a one-way desire, not much would come of it, but Cesc is a wanted man. Pep Guardiola counted on his services last summer to go along with the David Villa signing and to strengthen his options in the midfield. It is more than just securing a long-term replacement for Xavi.

Why would he leave the Arsenal captaincy to play a supporting role at Barcelona? Who says he wouldn´t start at Barcelona? Just because he is a supersub for Vicente del Bosque in a Spain shirt, playing third-wheel to Xavi and Iniesta, does not mean that Guardiola sees him in the same role. He came up as a deep-lying playmaker, but has taken on a much more attacking role behind the strikers for Arsenal at times. With young midfielder Thiago Alcantara graduating from La Masia and being promised a central role in next year´s blaugrana why then would Pep also continue on his quest for Cesc? He doesn´t see their roles as mutually exclusive either. It doesn´t seem workable, but Barcelona are different, and no I don´t mean the whole mes que un club thing, what I mean is that they construct their teams differently from others. It´d be interesting just to see how he actually fits all those seemingly interchangeable parts together into a cohesive whole.

That said, it doesn´t seem that Arsenal are likely to drop their evaluation of their captain, somewhere north of the 50 million euro, and Barcelona aren´t likely to pay that for essentially a bench player, but if Cesc forces his move it is in Arsenal´s best interest to close the door on the Cesc Fabregas era and build around any one of the rough diamonds they have coming through their academy system.

LA FURIA ROJA: Euro 2012 Qualifiers - Call ups

This week Vicente Del Bosque announced his squad list for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers: March 25th in Granada against the Czech Republic and March 29th in Kaunas against Lithuania.

In form Athletic Bilbao right back, Andoni Iraola is returning to the team. VDB wants options in defense due to the absence of still injured Barcelona player Carles Puyol.

While Valencia midfielder Juan Mata and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez who have been spending their national team time assisting the U-21 team qualify for the Olympics and upcoming European Championships, have been called up to step in for Barcelona's Pedro and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, who are also not available due to injury.


Here's the complete list:


Goalkeepers: Casillas (Real Madrid), Reina (Liverpool), Víctor Valdés (Barcelona).


Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Albiol (Real Madrid), Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Piqué (Barcelona), Marchena (Villarreal), Capdevila (Villarreal), Iraola (Athletic)


Midfielders: Iniesta (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Busquets (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Cazorla (Villarreal), Javi Martínez (Athletic), David Silva (M. City), Navas (Sevilla)


Strikers: Llorente (Athletic), Torres (Chelsea), Villa (Barcelona), Mata (Valencia)

Spotlight on Youth in La Liga

The Case for a Level Playing Field

Better late than never? Well, the transfer of Jon Miquel Toral to Arsenal from Barçelona has come and gone. Another youngster has been lured to the money and glamour of the Premier league. Toral is half English, so this could be considered a different case than Cesc, Merida, among others. My biggest pet peeve is the disparity amongst federations aka the legal age that someone can sign a European player to a professional contract.

I thought that UEFA was trying to level the playing field and encourage European players to develop locally with the recent Home Grown Rule (see my previous blog from earlier this year). I would like to see canteranos stay at their youth club until the age of 18. At that time, they could decide to sign a professional contract, or move on. I was under the impression that UEFA was going to do something to protect youth and the development of players. Obviously I was wrong.


Record Buyout Clause for a Youngster

Up in the north, Athletic Bilbao continues to weave their magic by scouting, pinching, and developing their young. This month, Athletic broke all records by signing young 16 year old defender Aymeric Laporte, a French Basque to a semi professional contract with a buyout clause of 18 million! The contract runs through 2014. The club has high hopes for the defender, who is breaking all records in the juvenil ranks.

Athletic decided recently to sign their cadets and juvenil players to semi professional contracts with buyout clauses, to fight off the big clubs like Liverpool, PSG, and Arsenal, from stealing their future. They want to avoid what happened in the case of San Jose and Berchiche who were signed by Liverpool and Tottenham for only 400,000 Euros each. San Jose was repurchased later for 2.7M Euros by ACB. Since then, Bilbo has contracted Iker Guarrotxena (young midfielder), Eric Saborit (youth side from Espanyol), Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta (cadet brought midfielder Eibar) and Jonas Ramalho (central cadet). Each player has a 10M Euro buyout clause.


Football Draft 2011

Each year the Spanish FA, and EA Sports recognize the cantera and top young players in Spanish football. Players are nominated and selected by a prestigious group of ex coaches, staff, and players. The winners are honored at the end of the season at a gala event. Last year the winners were Bojan Krkic (Barça), Sergio Canales (Racing Santander), Dani Parejo (Getafe) , David De Gea (Atlético Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Osasuna), and Alvaro Domínguez (Atlético Madrid).

Among the selected players being nominated this year are previous winners Bojan, Canales, and De Gea, as well as Thiago, who just signed with the Barça first team. Lesser know players such as Marc Bartra, a defender who Guardiola has already debuted in Primera, Real Madrid canterano Pablo Sarabia and Valencia starlet Isco. Special praise was given to the great youth work occurring at Real Sociedad, Espanyol, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid.


Here's the complete list:

DRAFT 132

GOALKEEPER: David De Gea Quintana- At.Madrid, David Gómez Vázquez- Dep. Coruña, Pol Ballesté López -Barcelona,
Aitor Fernández Abarisqueta -At.Bilbao, Alex Sanchez Benítez- Zaragoza, Alfonso Herrero Peinador-R. Madrid,
Joel Blazquez Robles- At.Madrid, Edgar Badia-Espanyol, Adrian Orton Vaño -Villarreal,Fernando Pacheco Flores -R. Madrid,
Diego Mariño Villar-Villarreal, Urtzi Erleaga-At.Bilbao

RIGHT BACK: Hugo Mallo-Celta Vigo, Joel Johnson-Valencia, Albert Martinez Dalmau -Barcelona, Albert Blázquez Robles-Espanyol, Daniel Carvajal Ramos-R. Madrid, Fernandez Jose Ignacio (Nacho) -R. Madrid, Jonathan Castro-Celta Vigo,
Martin Montoya Torralbo-Barcelona, Mario Gaspar Pérez-Villarreal, Manquillo Javier Gaitán-At.Madrid, Eduard Campabadal-Barcelona,Roy Alejandro Gajon-Zaragoza

LEFT BACK: Marcos Alonso Mendoza-Bolton, Angel Martinez Ortega-Espanyol, Brian Oliver Smith-Barcelona,Jon Aurtenetxe-At.Bilbao, Eric Saborit-At.Bilbao, Carles Planas Antolínez-Barcelona, Diego Alonso Caballo-R. Madrid, Alejandro Grimaldo-Barcelona, Antonio Manuel Luna-Sevilla, Antonio Luque Quintero-Sevilla, José Luis Gallart-Valencia,Victor Alvarez Delgado-Espanyol

CENTRAL DEFENDER RIGHT FOOTED: Marc Bartra Argal-Barcelona, Jonah Gimeno Ramalho-At.Bilbao, Rochelle David Calvo-Dep. Coruña, Sergio Rodríguez Sánchez-Celta Vigo, Iqnasi Miquel Pons-Arsenal, Carlos Garrido-Sevilla, Oscar Arroyo-Espanyol,
Derik OSED Prieto -R. Madrid, Sergio Gómez=Barcelona, Victor Bernardo Cruz-Córdoba, Sergio Menéndez-Sporting Gijon,
Paul Insua-Dep. Coruña

CENTRAL DEFENDER LEFT FOOTED: Porcelli Ignacio Sanz-Valencia, Marc Muniesa Martínez-Barcelona, Puerto Israel Pineda-Sevilla, Unai Bilbao Arteta-Barakaldo, Roger Riera Canadell-Barcelona, Pol García Teva-Barcelona, Rubén Sánchez Duarte- Espanyol, Jorge Pulido Mayoral-At.Madrid, Jon Gaztañaga Arrospide-R. Sociedad, Jon Aranda-R. Sociedad, Jordi Amat Maas-Espanyol, Iván Jiménez Sáez-R. Madrid


RIGHT SIDED MIDFIELDER: Aitor Castro-R. Sociedad, Álvaro López Bermejo-R. Madrid, Jorge Resurrection (Koke)-At.Madrid,
Sergio Roberto Carnicer-Barcelona, Oriol Romeu Vidal-Barcelona, Antonio Jesus Cotán-Sevilla, Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta-At. Bilbao, Ramon Arcas Cardenas-Rac. Santander, Ruben Pardo Gutierrez-R. Sociedad, Saul Ñiguez-At.Madrid, Iker Undabarrena -At.Bilbao, Fernando Quesada-Barcelona


LEFT SIDED MIDFIELDER: Fran Merida Perez-At. Madrid, Rafael Alcantara Do Nacismento-Barcelona, Ignacio Camacho Bartola -Malaga, José Gómez Campaign-Sevilla, Asier Illarramendi Andonegui-R. Sociedad, Eduardo Ramos-Leganés, Juan Muñoz Gallego-Sporting Gijon, Alejandro Fernandez Iglesias -R. Madrid, Carlos Lazaro Vallejo-Valladolid, Sergio Alvarez Diaz-Sporting Gijon, Pablo Iñiguez-Villarreal, Pol Calvet-Barcelona


RIGHT WINGER: Sergio Gonten Gallardo-(Keko)-Girona/At.Madrid, Kevin Lacroix Coscolina-Zaragoza, Pastor Fran-R. Madrid,
Paul Hervías-R. Sociedad, Francisco Femenía (Kiko)-Hercules, Cristian Tello-Espanyol, Juan Miguel Jimenez-Juanmi-Malaga,
Calvo Ezequiel-Betis, Juan Mera-Sp.Gijón, Hector Vellerín-Barcelona, Julián Luque Conde -R. Santander, Vadillo Alvaro Cifuentes-Betis


LEFT WINGER: Iker Muniain Goñi-At.Bilbao, Iago Falque Silva-Juventus, Pablo Sarabia Garcia-R. Madrid, Daniel Pacheco Lobato -Liverpool, Gerard Lazarus Deulofeu-Barcelona, Juan Carlos Pérez López-R. Madrid, Eneko Chapel-R. Sociedad, Alvaro Bustos -Sport. Gijón, Vico Federico Villegas-Córdoba, Suárez Zambrano Jossmar-CD Tenerife, Alvaro Alcaine-Zaragoza, Miguel Angel Saiz -Rac. Santander


SECOND STRIKER: Sergio Canales Madrazo-R. Madrid, Samuel Castillejo-Malaga, Joel Valencia-Zaragoza, Thiago Alcantara Do Nascimento-Barcelona, Francisco Román Alarcón (Isco)-Valencia, Jesus Fernandez - Suso -Liverpool, Alejandro Serrano (Mino) -Sp. Gijon, Juan Dominguez-Dep. Coruña, Rodrigo Moreno-Benfica, Jesse Rodriguez -R. Madrid, Denis Smith-Celtic,
Luis Alberto-Sevilla


CENTER FORWARD: Bojan Krkic Pérez-Barcelona, Guillermo Fernández-At. Bilbao, Borja González Tomas (Baston)-At.Madrid,
Alvaro Vazquez-Espanyol, Rubén Sobrino-R. Madrid, Álvaro Morata-R. Madrid, Rubén Rochina Naix-Barcelona, Jorge Orti-Zaragoza, Francisco Alcacer García -Valencia, Jairo Morilla -Sevilla, Raul Thomas-R. Madrid, Sergi Enric Ametller-Mallorca


Obviously the big clubs' PR departments are very productive. But isn't it wonderful to see so many players nominated that are already playing in the first team at their clubs, or for Spain at the youth level? The future looks bright!

Champions League: Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal

The highlight of the match will fall to one off-side call. Robin Van Persie, who had gotten caught behind the Barcelona defense, was whistled and in frustration he kicks the ball behind Victor Valdez's goal. A second-yellow, companion to another bit of hot-hotheadedness in the first half, sent the young Dutch striker off, leaving Arsenal down a man if not a goal.

If things stayed as they were, the Gunners were through, but the blaugrana were tough enough to keep out of goal on even terms. Was anyone sure that they weren't going to score? As it turned out, Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez, who hadn't scored in the Champions League in years, became the most unlikely hero. The man derided by some as a pass-happy stat machine showed his quality as the one man not double or triple teamed in the area all night. The goal settled the deadlock and put Barca through to extra-time, but they still needed a goal to go through. Messi's made penalty (after Pedro was tripped in the area) went in and a collective sigh went out of the Camp Nou bubble. Was it a soft penalty? Maybe in the rough-and-tumble Premier League, maybe Koscielny was tired and reached in with a late leg, but a penalty nonetheless.

Then, the riotous indignation began. The fix was in, UEFA hates English teams, and Barcelona paid off the refs. It's a sad state of affairs that real corruption is rampant in World Football, but in the Champions League? Against the most powerful league in the world? Fat chance.

You want reasons for why Arsenal lost the match and couldn't hold their tenuous aggregate lead in this? The game was at the Camp Nou. That's an easy one. Other than delusional madridistas or gooners, did anyone believe that the Gunners would hold them to a scoreless draw? Forget also the talent disparity, it's fairly even between them if we remove Messi from the equation, but Barcelona are just more experienced in this tournament. Lastly, and by far the more important reason, was tactics. Barcelona played their so-called naive approach to the game and Arsenal gave up their usual set-up for the Jose Mourinho route; defending with the entire bus in the area and giving very little support to Van Persie.
Did they forget everything they learned? They played essentially four central midfielders to clog Barcelona's approach and stifled their own attack by limiting the wing play. Zero shots on goal for the North Londoners? Seriously?

They did not attack the injury riddled Barcelona defense, did not pressure a rusty Victor Valdez and gave fidgety Javier Mascherano plenty of time on the ball. Barcelona were there to be had and they, themselves, for their mistimed challenges or faulty back-heels, for their lack pace or lack of sense, and not UEFA or refs or snotty foreigners, are to be blamed for being knocked out of another tournament in 2011.

Can WAGs and team rankings provide reliable statistics?

Let me set one thing straight: I deal in stats -- cold, objective data. Anything you can think to track about a sport, I find interesting. I'm not talking about just the basics, such as how many passes were completed or who scored and assisted. I'm talking about the nitty-gritty, the kind of information you can't believe found its way onto paper. For example, Ronaldo hasn't scored (a goal) since his girlfriend, Irina Shayk, pictured more modestly here, landed the SI Swimsuit cover. Has his mind been too preoccupied for his body to perform on the pitch? I'll let you decide, but it certainly adds a story to the mix. And it's something that can be tracked.

Nothing delights me more than to think I have an original idea. I started a blog, Yahoo Fantasy Football Stats, because I couldn't find a site that covered the info I wanted. And with my passion for stats, I found ways to extract data from data sets, to highlight some arcane matter in hopes of finding perfection, that ever elusive correlation coefficient of 1.00. A stat I find unique to my site that has shown some fascinating patterns is team performance against other teams ranked whatever: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20. The implications of this one stat could influence casual fans, fantasy football managers, and gamblers alike.

Take Barcelona and their performance across the season. Now that their home winning steak is over, where are you supposed to turn for certainty, insofar as stats may be able to provide it? Would it surprise you to learn that Barca have won every match, home or away, against opposition not ranked 11-15? It's true, the three times they have slipped up this season, they've done so to teams ranked 11-15, losing at home to no. 14 Hercules in week 2, drawing at home to no. 11 Mallorca in week 6, and drawing away at no. 13 Sporting Gijon in week 23.

Coincidence, perhaps? Could be. But take a look at some other coincidences, if so:

- Athletic Bilbao have earned just 1 win but 6 losses against opponents ranked 1-5; 2 wins, 2 losses against those 6-10; 5 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses against those 11-15; and 4 wins and 1 draw against those 16-20. The results form a clear-cut pattern of wins, draws, and losses.
- Atlético Madrid are 0-1-5 (W-D-L) against opponents 1-5.
- Espanyol have lost all five matches against opponents 1-5, but have won all six against those 6-10.
- Mallorca buck the trend against opponents 1-5, with a fairly even and respectable 3-2-3 record. But against those 6-10, they're 0-0-4.
- Real Madrid remain perfect against one set of opponents, those ranked 6-10: 9-0-0.
- Real Sociedad against opponents 1-5: 0-0-5.
- Sporting Gijon have not won a match against the lowest-ranked set of opponents, 16-20, earning 3 draws and 1 loss. Against the next highest group, 11-15, they're 1-4-1. So why might Gijon be flirting with relegation? Answer: They can't put away teams in the bottom half of the table!

The same trends occur in the English Premier League, the other league I track. Some notable results:

- Arsenal appear to struggle with opponents ranked 6-10, with a pedestrian 2-3-3 record, but they look stellar against bottom dwellers, winning 8 and drawing 1, with 0 losses.
- Chelsea have earned just 1 win in four matches against opponents 11-15.
- Fulham have lost only one match all season to a team ranked 6-10, 11-15, or 16-20. In other words, they're rubbish against the top quarter of the table, with an 0-4-5 record.
- Liverpool have the opposite problem and have lost merely once to opponents 1-5 or 6-10. They struggle with the bottom bracket of teams, apparent again recently versus West Ham, with a 2-2-4 record.
- Man City have earned 22 of 24 points against opponents 6-10.
- Man U's record against top-five oppositions, in order: WDWDW. I'd say they're in for a draw against Chelsea. Any takers?
- Tottenham, like Liverpool, struggle with bottom teams -- they're 1-1-3. But against opponents 6-10, they're the bullies of the schoolyard: 7-2-0.
- West Brom have 0 wins in eight matches against opponents 16-20, with an 0-4-4 record. Their companions in misery, Wolverhampton Wanderers, have fared about as well against the same set of opponents, with an 0-3-3 record. Are these abysmal records foreboding, in terms of the teams' prospects of avoiding relegation?

Why don't professional sports journalists track these data, if they're so useful? My guess is that it has to do with the fluctuating nature of the rankings, and to be fair, I should point out that I base rank on how things stand prior to the first match of a game week. To the skeptics out there, I will say that it's true, sometimes a team's performance against a certain set of opponents yields a hodgepodge of results. Case in point: Deportivo's record against opponents 16-20 is 2 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses. But this only serves to illustrate the shortcomings of blind devotion to any one statistic. If Deportivo were coming up against a bottom-quarter team, how would I make a call? This is where other stats -- goal differential, home/away record of each team, last five results, and more -- come into consideration, providing a composite correlation that casts a metaphoric stone into one pan or the other . As a season plays out, the stats grow more reliable. Or at least, that's what any responsible stats-tracker goes for, picking up threads along the way and dropping others as they become less promising. For now, I'll let the jury be out on WAGs' influence on scoring (or defending), the impact of shooting a work-placement student, and the many other bizarre elements of football. One way or the other, you can be sure it won't stop me from taking note.

Champions League: Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona

It was an evenly matched affair between two squads that hold firm to the ideal that football should be played with the ball at the feet, with joy in the heart, and not just with fire in the gut. It was an uncharacteristically gutsy performance by Arsenal, who usually fall short in big matches, but they were up against Pep Guardiola's blaugrana, so it looked to be an open, end-to-end match with little for Sports Betting between them. It was.

The Gunners came out pressuring, playing a high-line, and it worked for a time, but you sensed that Barcelona were taking control of the match and measuring the linesmen for those elusive calls as Arsenal were playing a dangerous game with the offside trap. David Villa squirmed through after Lionel Messi drove two Arsenal defenders away from the attack, found el guaje and the Asturian efficiently found the net between the Arsenal keeper's legs. It could have 0-2, should have been actually, considering Djourou handled the ball, Villa shot and the ball was headed in by a diving Lionel Messi. Inexplicably, the linesman's flag was up and Arsenal escaped with the scoreline manageable. 

You can then talk about Arsenal beating Barcelona at their own game in the second half. Not true. They played pure, Arsenal football and they beat Barcelona with their main strength and one of Barcelona's few weaknesses: they attacked with pace in numbers. Both the Robin Van Persie goal and the Arshavin goal were started by Barcelona gaffes in their own area. The blaugrana looked slow and very ordinary on the ball. Could it have been, as reported, that Barcelona did not train in London the day before the game and might have been less than sharp. Looked it to me. Messi while instrumental to the Barcelona attack as a provider, looked rather human in front of goal missing two obvious chances.

Still, all it means is that Barcelona still have the edge coming home to the Camp Nou. The important away goal is key. If they get a 1-0 edge at home. They go through.

La Liga vs Europe: FIRST BLOOD

We are back from the break. Nice as it may have been, most of us couldn't wait for battle to resume amongst the Gladiators on the Big Arena of Europe. La Liga's Gladiators return to the big stage in their quest for the ultimate prize for club football's quintessential trophy. So we begin our analysis / predictions for the 1st leg of battle, starting with the Europa League...


Napoli vs Villareal: For neutral lovers of La Liga and Serie A, these two teams have a huge followings. I believe this game has the ability to turn into one of the best games of the year. Both teams move the ball in a sweet manner and play very attractive football. Villareal holds a slight edge over Napoli in the fact that they possess a more complete squad and did very good not to lose any key performers despite the huge offers that came their way in January. It remains to be seen if Nilmar will be fully fit to join his strike partner Rossi in the first leg, but the rest of the squad has comfortably delivered without the Brasilian striker. This game should boil down to little details like first goal, the ability to maintain discipline etc, I'll stick my neck out for a draw in this one.



Sevilla vs FC Porto: How the mighty have truly fallen! Sevilla honestly look like Getafe right now. They can't deliver back to back victories and they do not seem to have an established goal that they want to achieve. I doubt they would be able to stop Porto. That said, they did add some key players to their squad during the winter market. I'm not sure on Rakitic ( whose price was a huge steal), If he is eligible to play, then Porto would be looking at a much different Sevilla. He clearly would be one to deliver the services that Sevilla strikers have been praying for. That said, Porto are in good form, got a bigger squad and have the Portuguese factor working for them (Braga already dealt with Sevilla). It would be hard for Sevilla to knick a draw in this one, which is the best result scenario I see Sevilla achieving.



To the Champions League, where the Gladiators are ready to spill blood, 3 games against teams from the big 5 leagues of Europe. It should be fun!


Arsenal vs Barçelona: Let's visit one of Europe's most popular cities London. As the Gunners try to prove that they are Men who can stop the Blaugrana assassins from blowing them to pieces. Can Arsenal in all fairness achieve such a feat? Well in football they say "Never say Never" until the final whistle is blown..... but I say a big NO, not this Arsenal side which is still no different from the past Arsenal teams. They have the same problem of not knowing what to do with possession and they do not play like a team that has the capacity to withstand Barsa's pressure. Their defense is not at par with teams such as Valencia, Villareal or Madrid and these are defenses that Barsa has bursted through. But maybe this might just be their lucky day and their defense could stand strong and Barcelona would just forget that it's a champions league game...... Barcelona wins 3-1.



Olympique Lyonais vs Real Madrid; This is a match a lot of Madridistas been waiting for. This game has become one of the most regular fixtures in the Champions League. It has been a matchup for 5 straight seasons. It makes one wonder if the gods of the game were trying to correct an anomaly. Lyon has had it good for the past 4 seasons and funny thing is that their performances have continued to dwindle every season after wins against Madrid. Right now Lyon has lost it's fear factor in Ligue 1 and it seems to be rubbing off on them in Europe. But they still are a formidable opponent, come rain or shine. Meanwhile Real has this jinx that they need to put to rest, and with Barcelona currently blowing away at the top of La Liga, Real might just put more attention and focus on the Champions League. The Loss of Higuain is still being felt, but the still got huge assets in the attack with Benzema and Adebayor. They both have experienced the Lyon firepower and know how Lyon plays. Lyon have also lost Makoun to the EPL. He was quite a handfull in their midfield. This game has been following a strange trend over the last four seasons...... 3-0,2-0,1-0 this might be a sign that Lyon dominance of Madrid has come to an end and Mourinho's men could finally break the Lyon cycle and round of 16 jinx at the same time. I predict the first leg will end in a draw or Real Madrid victory.



Valencia vs Schalke: Lastly we look at the toughest game of the knockout stage (Yes i said it and stand by it), Two teams currently in the shadows of the bigger boys in their various leagues and not having the best of seasons. Valencia has had a better league campaign so far when compared to her German counterparts, Valencia had a strong performance in the group stage and could have easily topped their group, if their coach was willing to show more guts. Now they are in the knockout stage and it's a do or die affair, now, no time to play safe, Los Che need that result at home before going to Deustchland which is no friendly place for any team to visit and earn an easy result. Los Che didn't lose any key starter in the transfer market, which is another good sign for them. Schalke lost Rakitic and Jones. Right now the momentum should be with Valencia but Schalke do bring to the table some players who do know La Liga inside out and have tasted victory in the Mestalla. Raul, Mertzelder, Jurado and even Huntelaar do know what the Mestalla has to offer and Raul has poached a few goals in same staduim. But still Valencia should be able to worsen things for Felix Magath's side and get that victory. 2-0 or 3-1 to Los Che is my prediction.



Final round up: In summary, I believe after the first leg matches, 4 of La Liga's Gladiators will have one foot in the next round of the knockout phase.

Article by Rapheal Harry for Forza Futbol.

World's Best Playmaker 2010

Continuing our look back at the year that was 2010, IFFHS (International Football Federation of History and Statistics), based out of Germany, has come out with various other accolades. This one is near and dear to my heart, Best Playmaker in the World, the creator, the maestro in the midfield. Based on points Xavi Hernandez is a cut above the rest. Followed by his partner in crime Andres Iniesta, and then double Balon d'Or winner Messi.



.1. Xavi Hernández (ESP/Barcelona) 223
.2. Andrés Iniesta (ESP/Barcelona) 148
.3. Wesley Sneijder (HOL/Inter Milán) 128
.4. Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona) 111
.5. Mesut Özil (GER/Real Madrid) 47
.6. Diego Forlán (URU/Atlético de Madrid) 30
.7. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Real Madrid) 27
.8. Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER/Bayern Múnich) 22
.9. Francesc Fábregas (ESP/Arsenal) 13
10. Arjen Robben (HOL/Bayern Múnich) 12
11. Frank Lampard (ENG/Chelsea) 11
.+. Xabi Alonso (ESP/Real Madrid) 11
13. Steven Gerrard (ENG/Liverpool) 10


Interesting facts: 4 on the list are Spanish players. 7 currently play in La Liga. If you include former La Liga players 10 out of 13 have made their mark at one time in the Spanish game. Mesut Ozil is the youngest on the list at 22. Frank Lampard is the oldest on the list at 32. Only two South Americans made the list. Xavi top "enganche" for the third year in a row!!

What do you think? Is this list pretty accurate? Are their any surprises, glaring omissions, or poor choices? Does this list validate the passing, possession, attacking, pressure game played in Spain?

The Top 50 Most Influential people in World Football for 2010

Don Balon has come out with their 50 Most Influential People in World Football of 2010. Please note that this is a Spanish paper/magazine/media source and is very Spanish and Latin centric. Well here are the powers that be, the movers and shakers in the beautiful game. They were selected for their ability to influence the present and future of the sport, as well as their global, regional, and local reach.



1 Joseph Blatter (president FIFA)
2 Michel Platini (president UEFA)
3 Ángel María Villar (president RFEF Spanish Football Federation)
4 Ricardo Teixeira (president CBF Brasil Football Federation)
5 Julio Grondona (president AFA Argentina Football Federation)
6 Nicolás Leoz (president CONMEBOL)
7 Issa Hayatou (president CAF)
8 Jack Austin Warner (president CONCACAF)
9 Chung Mong-Joon (vicepresident FIFA executive committee)
10 Geoff Thompson (vicepresident FIFA executive committee)
11 Jaques Rogge (president IOC Olympic committee)
12 Mohamed Bin Hamman (president AFC)
13 Vitaly Mutko (president Russia 2018)
14 Mohammed Bin Hamad (president Qatar 2022)
15 Giancarlo Abete (president Italian Football Federation)
16 Theo Zwanziger (president DFB, German Football Federation)
17 Herbert Hainer (president Adidas Group)
18 Mark Parker (executive president Nike)
19 Richard Scudamore (CEO Premier League)
20 Jaume Roures (president Mediapro)
21 Marcus Agius (president & chairman Barclays)
22 Sandro Rosell (president Barcelona)
23 Florentino Pérez (president Real Madrid)
24 Joel & Avram Glazer (presidents Manchester United)
25 Franz Beckenbauer (member of FIFA executive committee)
26 Peter Hill-Wood (president Arsenal)
27 Roman Abramovich (Chelsea majority shareholder)
28 J. Henry & T. Werner (Liverpool majority shareholder)
29 Andrea Agnelli (president & chairman Juventus)
30 Massimo Moratti (president Inter)
31 Silvio Berlusconi (Milan majority shareholder)
32 Nicolas Ericson (TV division director FIFA)
33 Joseph V. Tripodi (executive vicepresident Coca-Cola)
34 Steve Easterbrook (president McDonald's Europe)
35 Vicente del Bosque (España national team manager)
36 José Mourinho (Real Madrid manager)
37 Pep Guardiola (Barcelona manager)
38 Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager)
39 Mano Menezes (Brasil national team manager)
40 Sergio Batista (Argentina national team manager)
41 Arsene Wenger (Arsenal manager)
42 Leo Messi (Barcelona player)
43 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid player)
44 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona player)
45 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona player)
46 Jorge Mendes (Agent)
47 Giovanni Branchini (Agent)
48 Rainer Holzschuh (president ESM European Sports Magazine Germany)
49 Andrea Monti (director La Gazzetta dello Sport)
50 Françoise Morinière (chief executive L'Equipe group)


What do you think of the list? My personal opinion, is that the list is pretty much spot on. It is really interesting to see the power and influence of the big national teams, clubs, leagues, and confederations on the footballing world. One might call this group the iluminati of the footballing world or just the business footballing elite. Big responsibility as we entrust them with the keys to the beautiful game.

Could La Liga dominate the EPL?

Could we see La Liga domination of the EPL again in the Champions League?
Author: Rapheal Harry ---
Gone are the days when La Liga teams easily destroyed EPL teams in Europe, back then the nemesis of La Liga was the Serie A and to an extent Bundesliga. One could predict the winner of ties between La Liga teams and EPL except for games involving Barcelona (who had a poor record against British teams).

When European games come up, I still remember games like Arsenal vs. Deportivo in 2001/2002 thereabout, I believe that was the day Arsene Wenger became crazy with the idea of Beautiful Football. I watched the game with my uncle who supports Arsenal, the look on his face was priceless, He said “This Spanish teams should be banned, Look at how they embarrassed us (Gunners)” . The clash between Barcelona and Liverpool at Anfield was another of those games where La Liga was educating the EPL teams, all Liverpool fans watching the games with me and my friends walked out after the first half. But my Favorite was Real Madrid’s conquering of Man.utd. Funny enough it was the second leg which Man.utd won that made some of my EPL fans admit that La Liga was on its own. A red devil fan was amazed that Real attacked 4 times and scored 3 goals and struck the bar once. To him what would have happened if Real needed a result like in 2000? I remember Arsenal fans praying against meeting Valencia in the knockout stages cause to them Carew may not score all season but soon as he sees the Arsenal colors he starts to score.

Since then Billionaires have gone into the EPL, the average team there spends so much money and all of a sudden their teams began to get results against La Liga. Mourinho started with the Chelsea vs.Barsa drama, Arsenal embarrassed Real Madrid (still one of my worst games in Europe), Manchester united has been earning results in Spain and Liverpool have beaten Barcelona and Real Madrid on Spanish soil (the 2nd leg made me puke). Now they do not fear us, they see La Liga teams as what they can conquer; even present Barcelona needed the referee’s help to overcome Chelsea two seasons back. Is it still possible for La Liga teams to change the tide against EPL? I say YES it is.

Despite the influx of Cash into the EPL the quality of the game there is still very much the same, ‘Kick and Run’ football is still played by most of the teams. The Giants of the EPL are coached by foreigners and you can tell by the style of play. But even the Giants all struggle against teams that can keep the ball on the ground and not load crosses upon crosses into the box. If La Liga teams keep to that style that has made our teams a classic to watch and add more physicality, I believe we can overcome EPL again.

Take Valencia’s game against Manchester United. A Man.utd fan said to me, Valencia was too
respectful. This is one of the worst Manchester sides ever based on form, Valencia should have gone for the kill, and believed they could get a result. I’m sure they would have gotten at least a draw. This season should Barsa meet Chelsea and Madrid meet Arsenal what do you think would happen? I believe Madrid would be able to survive Arsenal's inability to match beautiful football with scoring and Madrid has more Physical men to do the job in the midfield. But Chelsea is a different thing entirely, they are the strongest and most physical side in the Champions League. I do not see Barsa been able to match them on the physical side especially since losing Yaya Toure who was a beast with brains, unlike Mascherano he is simply a Beast the brain part is more with Busquets.

I want to see 3 La Liga teams in the Semi finals again, we did it before without spending like the EPL teams do today. I believe Valencia are on the right part to what they did in the early 2000s, something tells me Barcelona have pressed the self destruct button on themselves while if Mourinho stays more than two seasons with Real, Europe would fear Madrid just like she did during the Del Bosque era. Should Manzano be able to lift Sevilla like he did with Mallorca they might just have found the real replacement to Juande Ramos. Atletico Madrid has shown that when they want to, they can take on anyone. Question is can they be more consistent? They will have to find adequate cover /replacements for Aguero and Forlan. Villareal is on a quite revival, never under estimate them. It would also help a lot for the revenue sharing in La Liga to be resolved quickly and the big two no longer getting a huge chunk of all the revenues. It should be shared accordingly and evenly, it will go a long way in saving La Liga teams and giving them a more competitive edge over their Rivals from other Leagues.

VIVA LA LIGA!

The Sad Case of Jose Antonio Reyes

Jose Antonio Reyes has said, since his transfer from Real Madrid (not wanted really by new coach Schuster) and not wanting to return to London with Arsenal, that with his move across town to Atletico,

•"I had hoped to play more, I am not going to lie to you, but these are decisions for the coach. We've had two games nothing else, there are many more to go and I wait for the chance to play in the starting XI. When a player joins a new team, he always hopes to be a starter. It is important to recognize that there are very many players of great quality in my position and for that reason I cannot complain."

How sad has the career of Jose Antonio Reyes become? First choice winger for Arsenal, to super-sub at Madrid, and mattress-maker second or third choice. Is this another in a long line of arrogant attackers that have been put down by their clubs or by their own arrogance? : Cassano, Adriano, Reyes, etc.

He could have stayed the course and adapted like Cesc Fabregas did in London. He had the winger's slot vacated by Robert Pires, and yet despite winning the league almost single-handedly for Capello's Madrid, he was unwanted in a return to the flash and circumstance of the new Real. So, he moves to the pragmatic side of Aguirre? It's his own fault, or at least his representation.