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Crisis ridden Barca set for La Liga showdown with Real; Barcelona-Real Madrid Preview
Usually serene Barcelona are undergoing a tumultuous period at the moment in terms of both form and behind the scenes where reports of manager/player bust ups are beginning to filter through to the ever eager Spanish sports press. In addition to that it looks like Barcelona’s best player this season so far, Lionel Messi will miss the game with an injury picked up last week.by Walter Townsend on Saturday, 22nd December 2007
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Arsenal and Liverpool with the first chance to run the rule over Euro opponents; Inter-AC Milan Preview
On Sunday afternoon the two teams that Liverpool and Arsenal drew to play in the next round of the Champions League Internazionale and AC go head-to-head in the first city derby of the season. Inter are currently flying high, top of the table, unbeaten whilst AC Milan have been languishing in mid-table unable to sort their home form out, and yet to win at the San Siro. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are officially playing away so this may be the ideal opportunity to set that record right without the pressure of playing at home.by Walter Townsend on Saturday, 22nd December 2007
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British clubs avoid each other in Champions League draw
All 4 English clubs avoided Celtic in the draw for the Champions League made today in Lyon, with Chelsea getting arguably the best draw of all 5 teams after they drew Olympiacos from Greece.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 21st December 2007
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Chelsea consider van der Vaart move, but do they really need him?
A report in today's Telegraph suggests that Chelsea are weighing up a move for Hamburg's Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who has been enjoying an excellent season in the German Bundesliga for his current side.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 21st December 2007
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About a Ball Guide to AZ Alkmaar; Everton to learn their A to Z
Despite being already qualified and occupying a guaranteed top spot in their UEFA Cup group with one game left to play Everton still have a tricky looking trip to Holland, and they’ll be glad they don’t have to get anything from the game to confirm their qualification. Although Everton will be able to rest some of their players AZ still need a win to be certain of progression, although a draw will probably be enough as well.by Walter Townsend on Thursday, 20th December 2007
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Atletico ready for the top?
Atleti fans have seen more false dawns than Truman Burbank in recent seasons so they are likely to greet the current third place that their side occupy with a degree of some scepticism. However, their club are riding high in La Liga are in fact only one win off Barcelona in second and 7 points away from current league leaders Real Madrid and have already qualified for the knock-out stages of the UEFA Cup with a game to spare and so are well placed in Europe.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
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Valencia turn gold into lead; Valencia 0-3 Barcelona
In less than 4 months of the current La Liga season it seems as if the Valencia squad has been transformed from a side that finished fourth to one that is dull-witted and disinterested in playing football despite heavy investment over the past summer and a recent change of management.by Walter Townsend on Saturday, 15th December 2007
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Wounded Marseille travel to Bordeaux; Bordeaux-Marseille Preview
In one of the more eagerly anticipated rounds of the French league wounded Marseille, after their humiliation at the hands of Liverpool midweek when they were trounced 0-4, make the trip to Bordeaux on Sunday evening. Although the two cities are quite some distance apart there has always been a fierce rivalry between the two teams, which sprang up during the eighties, when they were the two top sides in the country.by Walter Townsend on Saturday, 15th December 2007
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Waspish Cottbus breeze past Hanover; Energie Cottbus 5-1 Hanover 96
Energie Cottbus lived up to their name tonight as they brushed aside the challenge from high flying Hanover to lift themselves off the bottom of the Bundesliga table and out of the relegation zone for the first time in 2007/08 with their best win of the season. Hanover put in comfortably their worst showing of the season shipping in 5 goals and not showing any of the attacking qualities that have lifted them to an excellent 5th placed in the Bundesliga at the halfway stage.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 14th December 2007
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No clear favourite for Mestella clash? Valencia-Barcelona Preview
Both Barcelona and Valencia go into the clash at the Mestella Stadium on Saturday night with something to prove in the league; the home side simply haven’t performed under new coach Ronald Koeman, who took over the helm some two months ago failing to win in their last 5 matches. whilst Barcelona have been unusually poor on their travels in the league, with only 1 win at bottom side Levante to their name.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 14th December 2007
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Lacklustre Inter cruise past PSV; PSV Eindhoven 0-1 Inter Milan
PSV tumbled out of the Champions League after failing to win their final group match against Inter Milan, although even if they had won Fenerbahce's victory against CSKA Moscow meant that PSV's efforts would have been in vain.by Walter Townsend on Thursday, 13th December 2007
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Resurgent Lyon leaves Rangers in their wake; Rangers 0-3 Olympique Lyon
Rangers were unable to finish off a good start to their Champions League campaign after they failed to get the required draw to advance into the knock-out stages against a classy Lyon side, who grabbed an early goal through Sydney Govou, before adding two more late on through their potent young striker Karim Benzema. The Scottish side now have to satisfy themselves with a UEFA Cup spot after the defeat.by Walter Townsend on Thursday, 13th December 2007
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Early goals catch Marseille out; Marseille 0-4 Liverpool
Early goals at the start of both halves caught Marseille napping as Liverpool bulldozed their way past the French side and into the knockout stages of the Champions League after an early penalty from Gerrard on 4 minutes and a Torres goal on the 11th minute. An early second half goal from Kuijt sealed Liverpool’s' passage through, before Babel added a late fourth to complete the Marseille misery.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 12th December 2007
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Werder suffer Greek tragedy; Olympiacos 3-0 Werder Bremen
Olympiacos qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League for the first time thanks to a 3-0 win over German side Werder Bremen completing the double over Schaaf's men after an early goal from Stoltidis; the midfielder also got the final goal with a header from ex-Sheffield Wednesday striker Darko Kovacevic being sandwiched by them. Whilst the win was slightly flattering for the Greeks their overall performance in the group stages has been exemplary, especially against their main rivals for second spot; Lazio and Werder. Werder have to settle for a spot in the UEFA Cup after finishing third.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 12th December 2007
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The About a Ball Guide to Olympique Lyon; Can Rangers tame the Lyons?
Rangers face a vital match in their quest to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League when Lyon travel to Ibrox for a Group E showdown. Both teams are on 7 points, although a draw will favour Rangers on the head-to-head. Lyon are top of the league in France at the moment and after a dodgy start both at home, which included an unprecedented two defeats on the trot in both Ligue 1 and the Champions Leagu, they have picked up form and have began to look like the Lyon of old. However, Lyon have recovered their form after adjusting to life without several player who left in the summer and now look to present formidable opposition to Rangers.by Walter Townsend on Tuesday, 11th December 2007
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About a Ball Guide to Olympique Marseille; Gerets makes his mark
Liverpool's final opponents in the Champions League group stage Marseille have been undergoing quite the transformation on the South Coast since Belgian Eric Gerets took over, just a few days before the match in Liverpool, in which Marseille stunned their hosts by grabbing the 3 points. Although it hasn't been entirely straight forward since Gerets took the managerial hot seat things have improved greatly to the point that Marseille represent much more dangerous opposition now, than they did 2 months agoby Walter Townsend on Monday, 10th December 2007
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Can Koeman conjure Valencia victory? About a Ball Guide to Valencia 2007
Crisis ridden Valencia travel to Stamford Bridge with an outside chance of still making the UEFA Cup, despite a terrible European campaign, which has seen them slip to bottom of the group they were expected to qualify from. League form has also been largely disappointing and they find themselves in 7th position behind the like of Racing Santander and Espanyol. The poor start to the season cost Quique Flores his job and Ronald Koeman has been drafted in, but so far the change of management has so far failed to yield the desired results.by Walter Townsend on Monday, 10th December 2007
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Barca squeeze past Depor to keep Real in sight; Barcelona 2-1 Deportivo la Coruna
Barcelona managed a narrow victory over 2nd from bottom Deportivo la Coruna on Sunday night but had to come from behind after the vistors grabbed an unlikely lead in the 3rd minute. A Ronaldinho penalty 5 minutes before the break restored parity and a goal 20 minutes from the end from Xavi helped the Catalans to keep the pressure on Real ahead of their clash in 2 weeks time.by Walter Townsend on Sunday, 9th December 2007
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Bielefeld blown away; Borussia Dortmund 6-1 Arminia Bielefeld
On a gusty evening Dortmund ran out comfortable winners over struggling Bielefeld knocking in 2 goals before half time before adding another 4 after the break as the Bielefeld resistance crumbled in the face of the Borussia attack. It was an outstanding night for the hosts, who after beating reigning Champions Stuttgart last week, have recorded the second win on the trot to ease them into the top half of the table lifting them from 12th to 9th. Bielefeld on a miserable run of form could end the weekend in the relegation zone after their third straight loss depending on how other results go this weekend.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 7th December 2007
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Turkish heavyweights clash; Fenerbahce-Galatasary Preview
This weekend one of the most eagerly awaited games of the Turkish fixture list sees heavyweights Fenerbahce and Galatasary meet for the first of their two annual league dust-ups at the Sukru Saracogllu Stadium on Saturday evening. Galatasary are currently top and unbeaten in the Turkish Superlig whilst Fenerbahce are back in third, 4 points off their most keenly hated rivals. Therefore this game has taken on a pivotal role in the Championship; if Galatsary win they will take a potentially decisive step to the Championship and of course deposing Fenerbahce as reigning Champions, whilst if Fenerbahce can get the win then all bets are off as they close to within a point of the current league leaders.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 7th December 2007
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