European Football News
European Football NewsTransfer moves, news, views, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Eredivisie and more
|
The About a Ball Guide to Sporting Lisbon; All the pressure on Sporting
On Tuesday evening Sporting travel to Old Trafford to play their fifth game in the group stages of the Champions League, with the away side fearful that a trio of familiar faces could come back to hurt them and effectively end their participation in the Champions League. United have in their ranks, both in playing and management staff, some old Sporting names; Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo both launched their careers at the club whilst Carlos Quieroz had a one season spell in charge of Sporting in the mid-nineties.by Walter Townsend on Tuesday, 27th November 2007
...Read more
World Cup Qualification offers McLaren's successor immediate redemption; Croatia drawn with England again!
The organisers of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010 pulled out all the stops for a high profile draw, which put all the eligible teams into a group for their qualifying groups. The main event was of course the European draw and the groups contain several familiar opponents for the home nations. Most notably England have the opportunity to gain a measure of revenge over Croatia after their disappointing exit only last week at the hands of Slaven Bilic's men. But it isn't only England who face familiar opposition; Wales must meet Germany again whilst the Republic of Ireland have two more matches against Cyprus to look forward toby Walter Townsend on Monday, 26th November 2007
...Read more
Surprise package Atalanta travel to league leaders; Atlanta-Inter Milan Preview
Unbeaten Inter Milan welcome one of the surprise packages of the Serie A season thus far when Atalanta travel to the San Siro to play Roberto Mancini's side, so far unbeaten in the Italian league with 7 wins and 4 draws in the opening 11 games of the season. Atalanta have enjoyed an excellent start to the season and after finishing mid-table the last few seasons in Serie A have really progressed under the leadership of experienced manager Luigi del Neri this season, currently occupying 6th place in the league have lost only one game so far.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 23rd November 2007
...Read more
Former Arsenal striker Wiltord centre of attention; Rennes-Lyon Preview
The one-time Arsenal striker Sylvain Wiltord will be centre of attention on Saturday evening as his old side Lyon travel to Brittany to play 4th placed Rennes in the French league. The top of the table clash is the main fixture of the French league this weekend and Wiltord after his controversial on-off move from Lyon to Rennes this summer will be dominating the headlines. Both sides come off defeats last time out when Lyon were beaten for the first time at home this season by Olympique Marseille whilst Rennes were comprehensively beaten by another of the pretenders to Lyon's throne; Bordeaux.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 23rd November 2007
...Read more
About a Ball Guide to Croatia; England aware of Croatia threat?
England go into their final crucial match against Croatia knowing that they need only a point to cement their path through to Austria/Switzerland next summer. Croatia have already qualified for the tournament but despite the fact they are assured of their participation next summer have announced their intention to field a strong team against England to help overcome the poor 2-0 defeat they suffered against Macedonia at the weekend. Managed by the former Everton and West Ham centre back Slaven Bilic, an integral part of the team that finished third in the World Cup in France 1998 they will be suitably motivated to pick a strong starting XI.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 21st November 2007
...Read more
Qualification picture clearer
After the weekend games the picture for qualification for Euro 2008 looks a good deal clearer with several of the main protagonists claiming their spot including Spain and Holland at the finals with several groups already decided before the final match day on Wednesday. Perhaps the biggest surprise is in England's group, where not only did Steve McLaren's men qualify they are still in with a shout of claiming top spot in the group prior to their meeting on Wednesday with Croatia after Israel beat Russia 2-1.by Walter Townsend on Monday, 19th November 2007
...Read more
Which sides are ready to book their ticket to Euro 2008?
This weekend and next Wednesday see the final round of European Championship Qualifying games with several big countries still not certain of their place in the draw including England, France, Italy and Holland.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 16th November 2007
...Read more
Everton's future opponents are Champions; Zenit take Russian league title
Whilst most major European leagues are just beginning to get going the Russian league has just finished and new winners have been crowned. They are Everton's future opponents in the UEFA Cup Zenit St. Petersburg. Thanks to the millions pumped into the club from main sponsor Gazprom, Russia's largest employer, Zenit have been crowned Russian Champions for the first time since the collapse of communism and for only the second ever time in their history; the first dates from USSR times when known as Zenit Leningrad they took the title in 1984.by Walter Townsend on Monday, 12th November 2007
...Read more
Honours even at De Kuip; Feyenoord 2-2 Ajax
An exciting game at de Kuip finished 2-2 on Sunday afternoon between the two big rivals in the Dutch league Feyenoord and Ajax. The draw leaves both sides on 25 points but PSV missed the chance to go top as they stumbled to a 1-1 draw against AZ later in the day.by Walter Townsend on Monday, 12th November 2007
...Read more
The Clash of the Pretenders; Villarreal-Sevilla Preview
Two of Spain's pretenders to the Spanish throne come head-to-head on Sunday evening with Villarreal and Sevilla playing each other for the right to considered one of the teams most likely to challenge the recent dominance of the top two; Real Madrid and Barcelona. Both sides have played some attractive attacking football this season and hopes are high that they will serve up a real treat on Sunday evening.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 9th November 2007
...Read more
Bayern looking for a second wind; VfB Stuttgart-Bayern Munich Preview
An intriguing 13th match day in the Bundesliga this weekend pits the current Champions of the Bundlesliga, Stuttgart, with the pretenders to the throne, Bayern meeting each other at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadion on Saturday afternoon. Stuttgart claimed the Bundesliga title last season after a great run in the final weeks stealing in to win the title but this season Stuttgart have struggled to recapture last season's form. Bayern had such a poor season that they didn't even claim a Champions League spot but after heavy investment in the summer many considered them the Champions elect before a ball had even been kicked in anger.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 9th November 2007
...Read more
Dutch Klassieker on the cards; Feyenoord-Ajax Preview
The first meeting of Feyenoord and Ajax takes place on Sunday in the match known locally as "De Klassieker" or "The Classic" and it promises to be an entertaining affair with both sides knowing that a win could take them top of the Dutch league going into the international break. After 10 games both sides are locked on 24 points with Ajax just shading their eternal rivals thanks to goal difference.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 9th November 2007
...Read more
Roma steal a share of the points; Sporting 2-2 AS Roma
An exciting encounter on Wednesday night ended 2-2 between Sporting and Roma in the Champions League handing the initiative to Roma and Manchester United in the group and giving the Lisbon based side a mountain to climb in their remaining two fixtures in the group. It was point Roma scarcely deserved after a late fumble by Tiago in the Sporting net handed Roma a share of the spoils after Sporting had thought they had done enough after a brace from Liedson cancelled out Casetti's early opener for the Romansby Walter Townsend on Thursday, 8th November 2007
...Read more
About a Ball Guide to Hapoel Tel Aviv; Struggling Hapoel should be straightforward for Spurs
Spurs travel to Israel to take on Hapoel Tel Aviv in their second game of the UEFA Group Stage. Both sides are currently bottom of the group having lost their opening matches. Like their visitors Hapoel Tel Aviv are also struggling to meet expectations and currently sit bottom of the Israeli league with only three draws in their opening 8 league games and find themselves under pressure to perform in this match against Spurs. Hapoel finished last season in 4th place and managed to get through the group stages of last seasons UEFA Cup which included a win against PSG in France before being knocked out by Rangers in the round of 32.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 7th November 2007
...Read more
About a Ball Guide to Lokomotiv Moscow; Can Aberdeen derail Lokomotiv?
Aberdeen welcome Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow to Pittodrie on Thursday night in their second outing in the UEFA Cup Group Stages after loosing their first game away in Greece to Panathinaikos 3-0. Aberdeen if they are to advance to the knock out stages know that they have to maximise their home advantage against the Muscovites, who were also in action a fortnight ago in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Atletico Madrid.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 7th November 2007
...Read more
About a Ball Guide to 1. FC Nuernberg; Everton face trial in Nuernberg
Everton travel to Germany to play 1. FC Nuernberg on Thursday evening in the UEFA Cup looking to build on the good start they enjoyed in the first group game when they beat Larissa 3-1.by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 7th November 2007
...Read more
About a Ball Guide to Benfica; Belligerent Benfica can cause Celtic concern
Benfica travel to Glasgow for a crucial Champions League showdown between the two sides that are currently bottom of the group, both on three points to play each other. Celtic will certainly be hoping that they can overturn the defeat which left them on only three points after three games and potentially give them the springboard they require to challenge the currently joint leaders AC Milan and Shakhtar. Nevertheless Benfica may prove stubborn opposition as a number of late wins in both league and European competition have shown, not least in the home game between the two when it took until the final moments of the game for the Lisbon giants to grab the winner.by Walter Townsend on Monday, 5th November 2007
...Read more
The Return of the Italian derby; Juventus-Inter Preview
After a year's absence from the fixture list of Serie A the "Derby of Italy" returns to the calendar and promises to be an interesting match-up between Italy's two biggest teams; Juventus and Inter. Last season, of course, the game wasn't played after Juventus' part in the Serie A match fixing scandal and Inter were the main beneficiaries of that, not only cantering to last season's title but also gaining the two titles prior to last season, which Juventus were deemed to have won falsely and picking up two Juventus players on the cheap; Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Viera.by Walter Townsend on Friday, 2nd November 2007
...Read more
Roma to face Totti without Milan; Milan-Roma Preview
4th placed Roma travel to the San Siro this weekend to face AC Milan on Sunday afternoon in the knowledge that they will have to make do without their talismanic striker and captain Francesco Totti, who limped out of the Champions League match on Tuesday night against Sporting Lisbon. Despite the fact that Totti could participate in some light training earlier this week he is definitely out of the match against Milan meaning that Roma will have to start with Mirko Vucininc in his placeby Walter Townsend on Friday, 26th October 2007
...Read more
Werder chance to close the gap on Bayern; Schalke-Werder preview
Second place Werder Bremen travel to Gelsenkirchen on Saturday afternoon to take on struggling Schalke with the chance to narrow the gap to league leaders Bayern. Thomas Schaaf's men are currently 6 points behind Bayern and with the league leaders playing on Sunday, Werder have the chance to narrow the gap to 3 points at the top of the table. Schalke. despite their poor form. also have the chance to go second depending on how other results go, if they can claim all three points on Saturday afternoon.by Walter Townsend on Thursday, 25th October 2007
...Read more
:: About a Ball European News Archive ::
Check out all the latest news from Angola here now!