Champions League's Getting Good

In attempt to make this a real blog I'm going to try and post weekly somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday. Any additional posts will be simply out of boredom and maybe incited by big enough events (probably coupled with boredom).

Champions League draws were today and now that we're finally down to the round of 16 we're getting a bounty of mouth-watering fixtures (as we've all forgotten about the "group of death" with a little help from absentees Man City).

So here're the Champions League match-ups:

Galatasaray (Turkey) v. Schalke (Germany)

Celtic (Scotland) v. Juventus (Italy)

Arsenal (England) v. Bayern Munich (Germany)

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) v. Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

AC Milan (Italy) v. Barcelona (Spain)

Real Madrid (Spain) v. Manchester United (England)

Valencia (Spain) v. Paris Saint-Germain (France)

Porto (Portugal) v. Malaga (Spain)

I'd imagine both Galatasaray and Schalke are happy with that draw. Celtic have got a tall order on their hands facing what I believe to be the most solid defensive side in the tournament in Juve. Particularly if Juve get a little more finishing talent in the January transfer window I'd almost favor them to go all the way. Arsenal are certainly feeling the pressure for not sending out a powerful squad in their last game and conceding the top seed as Bayern are always in with a shout for success. Shakhtar against Dortmund should be great entertainment. I see Dortmund either dying out quickly or going very far. Milan would be much a more menacing foe a year ago but this match still brings a great deal of history to the table. Of course the draw that everyone will be talking about is the return of Ronaldo to Old Trafford, Real Madrid v. Man United. Watching the two best managers of this generation (and perhaps all time) square off will be something special and with Real's massive points deficit in La Liga (currently 13 behind Barca and perhaps more shockingly 4 points behind Atletico) this tournament has to be the only focus for Mourinho's men in what looks to be his last season with Real. And to top it all off it's difficult not to view this effectively as a match-up between Spain and England, La Liga versus the Premier League, a statement, at least for the time being, on which is the world leader in club football. PSG, who look to continue with record-breaking spending this month, will fancy their odds against Valencia. Lastly Malaga, who shocked everyone with their great group performance, should be a good match for Porto yielding more exciting games regardless of where your fandom lies.

The Europa League draw also took place but since there are still 32 teams and it's effectively the runners-up cup it's a lot harder to get excited for that until finals or semis.

Euro 2012 Group Preview!

Group A

Russia (13), Greece (15), Czech Republic (27), Poland (62)

Average FIFA Ranking: 29.25

 Also dubbed "The Group of Life" there is no real stand-out candidate that high about the others. That being said, Russia are still clear favorites to come out on top. With Zenit St. Petersburg club-connections through the midfield Russia should have a very clear passing game and if they can keep their attack plan in mind their possession should win them 1 or 2 of their games and enough to move them out of the group. They've also got good attacking substitution options in Pavlyuchenko and Pogrebnyak which should prove to be an important opportunity as it's not a high-scoring group.

 Don't expect Greece to pull the same win they did in 2004; the Greeks aren't even the team they were in South Africa two years ago. While they did exceptionally well and went undefeated in the qualifying round it will most likely end up to be just that--an exception. The only hope they have is to play to their strength in the back and sneak the odd goal off of a less-structured team like Poland or the Czechs.

 The Czechs have one of the worst set-ups going into the tournament. Their biggest scoring option comes in their captain, Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky, who admittedly plays better for his national team thanks to being played in a more favorable position in the middle behind the aging Milan Baros. To be honest I haven't seen a stat on this but I'd imagine they're the oldest starting 11 going into the tournament by far.

 Poland's biggest reason for advancement will come through the fact that they're one of two host-nations. Crowds can sway judges and energy will be high for the home-team. Lewandowski helped lead Borussia Dortmund to the Bundesliga title this season with a great goal-scoring record. At the back Szczesny has been further establishing himself as a top-class keeper for Arsenal this season over Fabianski, coincidentally also Polish.

Final Prediction: Russia to advance with maybe the Poles thanks to a call or two going their way. Most likely the Greeks defense keeps them at draws when they need it and they take second over Poland.

Group B

Germany (2), Netherlands (3), Denmark (9), Portugal (10)

Average FIFA Ranking: 6

 By total contrast, "Group of Death" has never looked to be so true. Germany, considered favorites by many, have what looks to be the best 11 and arguably the best 23 of any team in the tournament. The Germans present too many amazing scoring options in Gomez, Podolski, Muller, Ozil, Klose, and, if he plays, Gotze. Not to mention the Bayern Munich club-connection is great through the starting 11. On top of all of this the most recent 5-3 loss to Switzerland playing without any Bayern players could be just the injection needed to get those other players playing like they should. Their one problem will come at most likely right back as it looks that Lahm will be played on the left and Mertesacker isn't fit yet.
 Holland boasted the most points scored in qualification for the tournament and will hope to keep that high-scoring run going. They also have something to prove after such a dismal performance in the World Cup final just two years ago. We know the team are capable of scoring some fantastic goals but they'll need some good performances at the back to really keep them in the tournament until the end. However, possibly the worst defense in the group they'll need Huntelaar, favored by van Marwijk, to keep scoring like he did for Schalke this season.
 While the Danes don't have as many household names as their cohabitants in the group they've certainly got a fine team made up of very talented and able players. That being said, it makes it so much harder to give such a good team such little hope of getting out of the group. Nicklas Bendtner, who has a very good international goal scoring record, should lead the team to a win but I just can't see them have enough to make it over such challenging opponents.
 While the Dutch sport the worst defense in the group, I'd give Portugal a shout for the best. Because they so barely qualified in the playoff against Bosnia I see this team really trying to prove that they still deserve to be taken seriously on the international level. Their starting game against Germany will be crucial in keeping some of that drive alive. Assuming their defense holds I think the Portuguese confidence will be high enough to carry them out. Ronaldo will of course be the player to watch, particularly on those set-pieces from 20-30 yards out. The biggest downfall I can see in this team is Helder Postiga being just a tad too old to play the lone up-front position and some crosses going just beyond his reach.
Final Prediction: By all accounts the Germans and the Dutch should make it out of this tournament but given the nature of the group and how tight it will be I don't see both of them doing it. With that in mind my vote would be for Germany to win and Portugal to clinch second. But of course as it is the "Group of Death" it's impossible to write off a Dutch win with Denmark taking second. 

Group C

Spain (1), Croatia (8), Italy (12), Republic of Ireland (18)

Average FIFA Ranking: 9.75
 Considering they are defending Euro champions and won the last World Cup it's a surprise to most they they're not favorites by most to win (by most accounts, it's Germany). If they were to pull it off they'd be the first international side to ever win three consecutive majors. Everyone knows what the Spanish team can do and how they'll play so their biggest downfall will most likely be the predictability of what to expect. Given that they will also be without the goal-scoring machine David Villa as well as one of their most solid competitors Barca captain Carlos Puyol, they'll need players like Llorente and Negredo to make up for the lack of goals and Barca-prospect Jordi Alba to fill in defensively.
 I'm admittedly not too knowledgeable about the Croatian team. From their Premier League time I've seen what playmakers Modric and Corluka can be. New-on-the-scene Jelavic has also been incredible for Everton after coming down late in the season from Rangers. The percentage of his goals that have been first-touch is unprecedented; something like 34 out of 34 this season for 'Gers and Everton combined.
 Aging Italians might have some sort of a chip on their shoulder given the lack of faith the press seem to have in them. They do have a good understanding of each other and various club connections through the whole pitch; many of them currently at Juve. If Balotelli can hold it together through the tournament he'll get the playing time and if he gets the playing time he'll do some brilliant things.
 The only ones giving Ireland much hope seem to be the Irish. Their fans will show up and make the games fun for both sides involved but it's hard to see what this team would have to do to make it beyond the group. I'm most excited to see if Sunderland's young James McClean get some international play as I think he's really something special.
Final Prediction: I'd go for Spain to comfortably win the group and Croatia to move on possibly on the head-to-head game against Italy.

Group D

England (6), France (14), Sweden (17), Ukraine (52)

Average FIFA Ranking: 22.75
 The rankings are deceptive through this group. England are hardly far and away the best team as the numbers would have you believe. Roy's boys have a "new manager high" and might be able to cruise through on that alone. It'll be interesting to see how Rooney comes into the squad after the second game, most likely for Carroll so he and Welbeck can play up front. Solid defense and physical play are of course to be expected from the English so that reputation alone might be one of their best tools to pull something over on another team.
 The French team has something interesting going for them in that while they haven't lost in 21 matches, there's still no "best team" in the mind of Laurent Blanc. This isn't a terrible problem for a manager to have if they're winning but to play a good tournament Blanc will need to establish a side with little changes. Cabaye should add to the attack in those few established players up front in Ribery and Benzema.
 Another team I'm not too familiar with outside of the glaringly obvious presence of Zlantan. Larsson's feeds to Ibra will be by far the best thing going for this team but it won't be enough to get them into the quarter-finals.
 The host nation of the final will have plenty of buzz but most likely little bite. As a huge fan of club connections I have to mention the number of Dynamo Kiev players in this squad. The highlight of the tournament will be if 35 year-old veteran Andriy Shevchenko scores a goal in front of a stadium filled with crazed Ukrainian fans.
Final Prediction: While France's undefeated streak might come to an end, I still see them topping the group with the English not far behind.

General Round-Up of the Prem

City beat second-bottom Bolton at home 2-0 in what was a very comfortable match. Bolton came to the Etihad where they put up no fight against Mancini's continued success. Controversy surrounded the games as Mario Balotelli, who started and scored one of City's two goals, was spotted leaving a strip club in the wee hours of the morning yesterday. This is of course against team policy and Mario now looks set to be hit with a £250,000 fine. On the day, it was still an easy win against Bolton putting the pressure on Man U tomorrow as they have to head to White Hart Lane to take on Spurs. This is particularly vital for the Red Devils' title hopes as they need a win to stay within two points of the league leaders across town.

Spur's manager, Harry Redknapp, continues to be linked with the open managerial position at England; a position that 'arry has previously referred to being "the pinnacle" of his coaching aspirations. Stuart Pearce, the England U-21 maanger, stepped in as caretaker manager of the English squad until the FA appoint a someone permanently. His first of three friendlies prior to the 2012 Euros was this past week against the Netherlands. The game ended in a 3-2 loss but there were some positives to be taken from it. The side was relatively young and largely experimental particularly up front with Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, and Fraizer Campbell. When asked if Pearce himself wanted the job full-time he responded that he was very willing to take on the position for the coming two friendlies as well as into the Euros, if necessary, but he was not to continue beyond the tournament. Yesterday the FA also announced that they would not appoint a manager until the club season had ended in May.

Arsenal were gifted a late win at Anfield despite very open admissions that they were outplayed. Liverpool's problems remain ever-present as Kenny Dalglish sticks to his conviction that the playing style is more important than the result. The win moves Arsenal three points clear of Chelsea and alone to 4th place in the table. To pull off a spot in the Champions League after easily their worst start to the season in somewhere around 50 years would be a testament to two very evident points seen in today's win against an in-form Liverpool side. The first is that if van Persie leaves, as he looks set to if they cannot finish top 4, the attack will be lost. His amazing movement and intelligent runs have led to shattered records this season as he's on 25 goals in league and 31 goals total. The other big thing that was exceedingly highlighted through the game was that Wojciech Szczęny is truly a world-class keeper. Stopping Kuyt's penalty as well as the rebound was only one of many brilliant plays from Szczęny throughout the game. It's hard to believe there was such a debate in the goal last season for Arsenal.

The Chelsea players put on a lackluster performance and ended up losing 1-0 away to West Brom whose home form may be picking up yet. Villas-Boas remains about as calm as he can be given the position his team is in, the possible candidates that wouldn't mind taking the job, and let's not forget the owner's itchy trigger finger of a track record when it comes to managerial dismissals.

Newcastle host Sunderland tomorrow in the North East's Tyne-Wear derby. Both teams suffered minor setbacks last week from what were looking to be two of the best runs of the season. Newcastle remain "punching above their weight" fiscally speaking as they're solidly 6th in the table surrounded by the biggest clubs in England. Sunderland also continue to climb the table and gather points under their new manager Martin O'Neal.

Other news in the table (I'm getting lazy so this will be much briefer), Stoke continue a very solid season as they're playing far too many games stretched between the league, local tournaments, and Europe. Norwich and Swansea remain testaments to what Philippe Auclair referred to as "one of the untold stories of English football," the increase in quality of play in the lower divisions, as these promoted sides look set to stay up this season (and possibly more seasons to come). Aston Villa and Blackburn's 1-1 draw helped neither manager as they each remain under fire from the fans. Wolves' new manager Terry Connor, who last week had a great comeback for a draw for his first match in charge, heads to the north bank of the Thames to face Fulham at Craven Cottage. Fulham's Clint Dempsey boasted his finishing talent in the week scoring the only goal in the friendly as the United States beat Italy for the first time ever.

Rangers and Portsmouth Enter Administration

Rangers F.C. (one of the two biggest teams in the Scottish Premier League along with Celtic F.C.) is a Glaswegian side who are currently said to owe at least £49m to the HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) in supposed taxes that were avoided through payment plans based out of the UK. The attempt to dodge these payments through some sort of employee-benefit trust scheme sends them into administration, a situation in the UK very similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US. The one key exception between administration and bankruptcy is that in the UK and "administrator" steps in at the company and runs the finances as opposed to the idea of the "debtor in possession" who still runs the company now under much more stringent financial watch in the US. Also, any team who enters into administration takes a huge blow in the tables as they're deducted points for not being able to support themselves.

The big deal about this is that Rangers are literally half of the SPL. Their games against Celtic, known as "Old Firm Derbies," are widely regarded as some of the greatest games of football in the world outside of the major tournaments. If Rangers are to actually go down into liquidation they will reform but it's not exactly clear how. There is an option that they could attempt to join the English leagues at the lowest level but there would have to be much negotiations in the FA. One of the other biggest things to come out of this is what will happen to Celtic if they are to just be left at the top of Scotland all by themselves. There's also talk of them joining into the English leagues but this would be even more complicated because as it stands they're too good to join at a low level and work their way up through the seasons but at the same time, they can't just jump into the Championship as it would disallow another team who'd earned its spot.

Portsmouth, who are looking at relegation in the Championship, have also just entered administration and are in a bad spot right now but it's nothing in comparison the extreme crisis at Rangers. They owe around £4 or £5m in taxes due to negligent owners. It looks like they'll probably end up getting out of this as they have a huge fan base and could draw the attention of a very good new owner who's up for a challenge.

Manchester Clubs and Spurs Fly While Wins Dry Up for Challengers

About two months ago this line would've read as a joke (at least the Manchester part). In December both Manchester clubs went out of the Champions League at the group stages while Arsenal and Chelsea moved on. This earned the failed sides a spot in the Europa League (or Champions League Lite, if you like). Last week MUFC played away at Ajax (a very good club from Netherlands) and won comfortably putting out a good side while City went to face Porto (the best Portuguese side, previously managed by Andre Villas-Boas, now manager of Chelsea). City won very comfortably as well in a very good match against a great team. Although it was a Europa League game, they are both Champions League teams.
Tottenham have been looking better than ever as their manager, Harry Redknapp, was both acquitted of charges of tax evasion and became highly favored to be the next England manager on the same day.

Under them in the table sit Arsenal and Chelsea. Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger is facing increasing pressure for money not spent (correctly) in the trade windows. Arsenal have become a team that lets their best players go while bringing in new talent that still needs cultivation before reaching the necessary level of play. As those new players do reach that point where they are "good enough" they are traded and the cycle begins again. This has all been most recently highlighted last week with their 4-0 loss to AC Milan in the Champions League and today with their 2-0 loss to Sunderland in the FA Cup.

Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas is under amazing pressure from Russian owner Roman Abramovich who has recently been seen at the Chelsea training grounds. Their steady decline in play along with rumors that the senior players don't agree with the young manager have brought a lot of questions to the west London side. A loss 3-0 to Napoli in the Champions League and a 1-1 draw at Championship side Birmingham in the FA Cup today haven't helped their cause.

The potentially greatest thing about all of this is that Jose Mourinho (manager of Real Madrid and former manager of Chelsea) has basically said he wants out of Spain and wants to return to England (maybe Chelsea). This would be an extra slap in the face to Villas-Boas as he used to be an assistant coach for Mourinho. In a recent interview AVB was giving credit to those who'd taught and influenced him and failed to mention Mourinho in that category. And while all of this is happening Pep Guardiola (the Barcelona manager) has also expressed interest in trying his talents on a new stage and new country. It would seem that he would fit in well at Arsenal if Wenger was to leave, by his own will or not. So the possibility of these bitter managing rivals facing off with new squads at their command is actually not too far from a reality.