Champions League - Matchday 12 Predictions

So the winner of this match faces Manchester United in the UCL final in Moscow. Wow! how exciting! *snickers in discontent* If I wanted to watch a Premier League match I'd tune into one of the many weekly shows from all around the world to do so... anyway all ranting aside, Liverpool will be pushing shit uphill against a confident Chelsea outfit tonight. Before the weekends match against Man U, I thought Chelsea were dead, but they weren't quite buried and they turned their season around in an instant. A makeshift Liverpool squad on the other hand, had a nightmare against Birmingham and I wonder if they'll be effective tonight.
The incentive for Chelsea winning tonight (besides the blooming obvious) is that they'll get to play in their "adopted" homeland in front of thounsands of comrads, while their wealthy owner, who has been out of the spot-light lately, basks in the glory of finally making a UCL final... how ironic that it'll be in his beloved motherland!

Wednesday match
Chelsea 1 v 1 Liverpool
(Chelsea to win on penalties 4-3, Ryan Babel and Jamie Carrigher to miss for the reds)

Champions League - Matchday 12 Review

Every footballer, at some stage of their life has dreamed about scoring an absolute cracker in a packed stadium during the final minutes of a World Cup final!

It was an awesome strike. I think that has to be up there with one of his best, especially in a game of this magnitude. To cap off a night like this with a goal of that quality was brilliant,"

Well this wasn't a World Cup final, but for club football, it doesn't get any better; securing your team a spot in the final with the only goal over two legs was very much like that dream and even though Paul Scholes didn't really expect that outcome (the priceless look on his face gives it away), he still managed to give red-haired dwarfs all around the world somethng to aspire too... ah red-heads, they wanna be just like rest of us, God bless'em!

Champions League - Matchday 12 Predictions

A week in European football is like an eternity in the league especially when there are a number of high profile matches in between. This time last week I was positive that United would be in the drivers seat to face Barca at Old Trafford, given their current form, but since their lack lustre displays at the Nou Camp and Stamford Bridge and the injuries to Vidic and Rooney, this fixture could be turned on its head!
United don't lose too many at home, although a draw will be enough to see Barce through. As much as I'd like to see Barca defend their European title, I think United deserve it more this year and it'll go down to the wire.

Wednesday match
Man. United 2 v 1 Barcelona

The Pundit's on a mission!

I have to begin this post with an apology to the loyal minions that read this blog cause I've been out of action for the last week or so. I'd love to comment further but currently I'm taking part in an Undisclosed Adverse Event and I've been swarn to secrecy for the good of Queen and country! Plus... the internet is hard enough to find out here and my window of posting opportunities is pretty small. That said, here are a few posts that I made earlier... Enjoy!

Ps. things should be back to normal this week.
Peace out.

Champions League - Matchday 11 Review

What was John Arne Riise thinking by trying to header the ball at knee height, while not under any serious pressure; and more importantly how much would it suck to be him right now!?

I decided to stoop and head the ball in the direction it came from," said the Liverpool defender. "But it was a swerving cross, the ball was wet, and it slid right off my forehead. It was a shock to see it lying in the goal."

In what was a scrappy match with few chances either way, Chelsea, as they so often do, kept plugging away and finally in what was the last play of the match, they were gifted that valuable away goal out of nothing... good one Riise, you just cost your team a finals birth! I hope that helps your contract talks in a years time.


This flair behind the goals was probably the most exciting thing that happened at the Nou Camp the other night. Except for Golden Boy Ronaldo's 3rd minute penalty miss. I say that cause there was no flair on the field and I thought the game was pretty uninspiring, which was disappointing considering the amount of superstars on the field at one time. I hope the return leg offers more... like a goal or a streaker! Speaking of which, what ever happened to streakers at the football!?

Champions League - Matchday 11 Predictions

Tuesday matches
Liverpool 2 v 1 Chelsea

Wednesday matches
Barcelona 1 v 2 Man. United

Liverpool have stepped up their game lately... especially at Anfield so they'll be hard to beat. Even if Chelsea bring their A-game I don't see them getting the win tonight.

Barca are still without key players and Henry was still sick on Monday, so he's doubtful for the match. Manchester United on the other hand are at full strength and are still on fire so I think that this will be a no-brainer.

flickr™ Football Photo of the Week

spain-football-boy
by stusea

Great composition, awesome lighting and overall a warming shot. Notice that the boy and the ball are the only things moving horizontally, while the surroundings are dominated by vertical lines and objects.

Champions League - Matchday 10 Review

Roma were quite unlucky not to get more out of this match and after the match Daniele De Rossi admitted his first-half penalty miss was the pivotal moment in the Italian club's defeat.

It was a highly-charged moment and probably I had too much time to think before taking it. I've scored penalties in important games like the World Cup final during my career but tonight I was less fortunate. I'm deeply sorry. I hoped that this would not have happened to me, especially tonight in a special game like this."

Let’s get one thing straight, Manchester United without Ronaldo and Rooney are not Manchester United... they’re more like Scunthorpe United on RedBull... and even though they came out charged (that’s what 5 cans does to you), Roma settled and started to play the ball around a lot nicer, yet once again, as was the case last week, they failed to capitalize on their chances. A full strength United will win the Champions League this year. They want it more than anyone at the moment.


In all fairness, Barcelona played like crap and they still won. Some critics say that that’s the sign of a good team; not me though! To me it could only mean 1 of 2 things. 1. Ronaldinho has to stop partying and come back into the team and 2. Rijkaard should employ cheerleaders that offer blow jobs as incentives for playing well. Maybe then the team will pick up its act... wait a minute is'nt that why they’re in this slump at the moment?... cause Ronnie is cashing in on 2 years worth of "incentives"!?

Ps. They won’t beat United in the semi’s.


Arsene Wenger felt his defense played a part in Arsenal's downfall as Sami Hyypia was allowed a free header to equalise Abou Diaby's opener and Fernando Torres found time to turn and score his side's second. After Gerrard's penalty, Babel completed the scoring with a stoppage-time fourth.

The defeat was not down to mental strength though, it was down to a lack of experience defensively. We made big mistakes and we conceded a goal from a corner and on the second goal we gave Fernando Torres too much room."

Hey Adebayor, watch Fernando Torres and you might learn how to score a goal! Had he finished that through ball by Hleb midway through the second half, the match would have been turned on its head. So finally the saga that was this threesome of matches ended and much to my surprise, Liverpool prevailed... and deservedly so. After conceding the first they woke themselves up and took the match by the scruff of the neck putting a lot of pressure on Arsenal. In the end, Liverpool's experience shone through and the young Gunners didn't know where to hide. Important lessons learned.


A brave Fenerbahçe went to Stamford Bridge looking to take something from the match... instead they were given an early headache by Michael Ballack’s 4th minute goal and then a sucker punch to the nads late in the match by Frank Lampard. Apparently after the game, Chelsea manager Avram Grant gathered his players in the locker room and got them to sign a card made out to team Fenerbahçe. One side read "Get well soon" and when you opened it up there was a picture of all the players lining up against Liverpool that read "Wish you were here!?"

Champions League - Matchday 10 Predictions

Tuesday matches
Liverpool 1 v 2 Arsenal
Chelsea 2 v 1 Fenerbahçe

Wednesday matches
Man. United 2 v 2 Roma
Barcelona 3 v 2 Schalke

Do-or-dies
Liverpool v Arsenal
Benitez told a press conference on Monday:

We don't want a 0-0 draw. I would prefer us to win. For us it is important to score a goal if we want to win the game. Arsenal can score goals away from home so we have to think about winning the game.”

This is where Liverpool’s luck will run out. They can afford to sit back and defend but no doubt Wenger will have tricks up his sleeve to make them come out and play and I think Arsenal will snatch an early goal through van Persie... yeah he’ll start.

Chelsea v Fenerbahçe
The fans at Stamford Bridge have become unsettled by some of Avram Grant’s tactical decisions and if Chelsea concede an early goal against Fenerbahçe things may turn ugly. It’s been a long time since the Londoners lost at home, so I don’t see Fenerbahçe getting the win, although a draw is possible. I have a feeling Drogba will bring his A-game and reek some havoc in the Turkish defense. It’ll be a tight match but Chelsea will just edge past this challenge. Why? Cause they know how to win in Europe at this stage of the comp... it’s in the next stage where they struggle.

Arsenal v Liverpool - Episode 2

Nicklas Bendtner, who much to my surprise started the match, suprised me again by scoring the equaliser on 53 minutes with a powerful header at the near post. Peter Crouch had opened the scoring with a nice half volley outside the box late in the first half and he was the only refreshing thing about Liverpool’s play as he came racing straight out of the blocks to help put early pressure on Arsenal. Once the Gunners settled though, Liverpool resorted to their defensive measures again and tried to close down the game. It’ll be interesting to see how Liverpool approach their third and final match this week. They’ve been very inconsistent at Anfield this year and may have to come out and play, especially if Arsenal snatch an early goal... Arsenal have recently proved that they can unlock some serious defences away from home... just ask Maldini and co. down at AC Milan.

Champions League - Matchday 9 Review

An awesome finish by Kazim Kazim, excuse my stuttering, and a wonder strike by Deivid have given Fenerbahçe a good little lead going to Stamford Bridge next week. This match was definitely a game of two halves with Chelsea dominating the first and Fenerbahçe controlling much of the second. A contributing factor to their dominance was the Turkish crowd which really got behind them; I’d suspect that playing in stadium in which 99% of the people eat kebabs and want your head on a stick would be intimidating... anyway the support paid off and now Fenerbahçe can go to London knowing that as well as facing a stadium that wants it managers head on a stick, they’ll be up against a team that hasn’t lost there in a really, really long time; anyone know exactly how long it’s been? If the moons and stars align and Fenerbahçe play their cards right, there could be another upset in the works.


Like all good trilogies, (Arsenal to play Liverpool three times in a week) the first movie always sets the scene, pace and main protagonists, which is what transpired in this highly entertaining match. Arsenal has it all to do when they visit Anfield in a week's time cause even though they dominated the majority of the match (61% possession) they struggled to convert their chances, which could come back to bite them.
Fabergas, Hleb and Flamini were brilliant in the midfield. Usual suspects Gerrard and Torres were menacing in patches, yet for most of the match Liverpool were pinned back in their defensive third. Besides scoring the goal, I thought Adebayor was useless. He has the first touch of a baby elephant and his goal scoring form reminds me of an old saying "throw shit at a wall for long enough and something will stick"


I had to add this one in for effect. I don't know if Bendtner was stumbling out of the way after missing the cross or if he was trying some sort of Ronaldo-esque back flick to put the ball over the line!? Either way, he stopped an inevitable goal which replays showed Wenger fuming over! For most of the 23 minutes that he did play, he was half a pace slower than everyone else and coupled with this miss his chances of making the starting lineup any time soon probably took a serious blow. Ouch!!


Faster than a speeding bullet football.
More powerful than a locomotive Cassetti.
Able to leap tall buildings defenders in a single bound.

Look! Up in the sky!
It's a bird. It's a plane. It's who else but... Cristiano Ronaldo - a strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Seriously though, did anyone see where he can from? One second the ball was floating across the face of Roma's goals and then the next there’s Ronaldo flying in from outside the box to bury the ball into the back of the net.

Roma rallied, but were futile against the super efforts of Ronaldo and co. Possession and match statistics were shared between both teams, but without Totti, Roma lacked that killer instinct in front of goal. Vucinic came close on several occasions and United absorbed a lot of pressure, but maintained their counter attacking rhythm while yet again they keeping another clean sheet. That’s now 6 matches straight without conceding a goal! They must have had happy mothers as teenage boys.


Barcelona were lucky to walk away with the win and I’m amazed at how Schalke didn’t score. They dominated play down the wings and had Barcelona’s defence rattled on several occasions; they just lacked that final touch. Understandably, Barce struggled without several key personnel, most notably Deco, Messi and Ronaldinho, yet they still managed score early thanks to another goal by the fearless 17 year old Bojan Krkić and then hold the lead.
This was probably Schalke’s best opportunity to inflict some damage on the reining champs so no wonder they were devastated with the loss... now they have to go to Camp Nou in a fornight's time and score at least a goal if they’re to have the slightest chance, while in the meantime trying not to concede. Their uphill battle awaits them.

Champions League - Matchday 9 Predictions

Tuesday matches
Roma 1 v 3 Man. United
Schalke 2 v 2 Barcelona

Wednesday matches
Arsenal 2 v 1 Liverpool
Fenerbahçe 1 v 1 Chelsea

flickr™ Football Photo of the Week

Thanks to the good people at flickr™ and my travels through the infinite realm of the internet, each week PTP will be posting unique and inspiring images that capture the diversity of cultures and raw emotions expressed through the love of this beautiful game. Think grass roots, think passion, think fanaticism, think of it as a look behind the scenes, behind the bright flood lights of the big stadiums and all the gloss that has transformed the game into such a globalised business. More importantly though, enjoy the images and don’t forget to post a comment on the artists page if you like what you see.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
by mcvalec
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