Champions League 2012-13: The week of the Play-off round draw

Before getting to the article itself, it is important to mention the pairs of the Champions League 2012-13 1/8 finals, decided by the draw earlier on Thursday:

Celtic-Juventus

Valencia-PSG

Real Madrid-Manchester United

Shakhtar-Borussia

Arsenal-Bayern

Porto-Malaga

Milan-Barcelona

Galatasaray-Schalke 04

The major matches of the week:

The match of the week took place in Barcelona, where the home side had to take over Atletico. There were no strange decisions in the starting line-ups, thus no extraordinary tactical surprises for the opponents. Atletico scored the first goal, thanks to some fantastic skills shown by Falcao. It happened on the 31^st minute. By that time the goal looked pretty logical, as

Champions League 2012-13: The sixth matchday, Part II

Read Part I

Group E

Shakhtar-Juventus 0-1 (Kucher (og))

The central match of the day took place in Donetsk, where the Italian champions needed a point to eliminate title holders Chelsea from the group stage. The conspiracy theory of a peaceful agreement

Champions League 2012-13: Tribute to the teams eliminated, Part II

Read Part I

CFR Cluj, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Group H, 6+3=1-2 9-7, Position 3

The Romanian champions got eliminated from the Champions League group stage in the worst of all scenarios. The team won 3 matches, earned a draw, but still was unable to reach the next round. Having huge problems in the domestic league, Cluj, as predicted earlier in the season, shone in the Champions League. The board was ought to change the manager in October, substituting Ioan Andone by Paolo Sergio. The Portuguese gave confidence to the team, which won two of the last group matches, including the noisy win at

Champions League 2012-13: Tribute to the teams eliminated, Part I

There were sixteen teams that said goodbye to the Champions League after the group stage. Some of them deserved a bit more, and some of them, as it happens regularly, were simply too unprepared for the biggest club tournament. The biggest names in this parade of losers are the English teams Chelsea and Manchester City, embarrassingly appeared on the wrong side of the Champions League play-offs. It was a huge blow for the two French teams from Montpellier and Lille to occupy the last position in their groups. Zenit and Benfica didn’t perform on the level expected. BATE, Anderlecht, Cluj and Olympiacos were the teams, enthusiasm of which will be missed in this Champions League.  

Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands

Group D, 6+1=1-4 8-16, Position 3

Having a decent squad, the Dutch champions were one of the biggest

Champions League 2012-13: The week of Leo Messi's incredible record

The major matches of the week:

With only 16 teams in the center, there are fewer chances to catch big matches. However, it doesn’t mean that we are going to face boring weekends when following the remaining Champions League participants. A fantastic occasion to enjoy a Champions League team was the Manchester derby last Sunday.

Roberto Mancini, now focusing his Manchester City only on the Premier League, introduced Mario Balotelli in front, leaving Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez on the bench. Sir Alex Fergusson’s only surprise was

Champions League 2012-13: The week of Madrid derby and Bayern-Borussia encounter

Champions League said goodbye to half of its participants. 16 teams are not going to be on our weekly focus any more. On the other hand, we will have a better chance to get involved in the remaining teams’ performances. Of the 17 initial leagues, we have only 9 left.

There is a plan to introduce an article in the coming weeks, dedicated to the 16 teams that left the Champions League. There is also going to be presented the promised article about
Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund. 

The major matches of the week:

The Madrid derby between Real and Atletico took place in non-usual circumstances, where

Champions League 2012-13: The sixth matchday, Part I

The last matches of the Champions League had to make the final corrections on the team standings. There were only three tickets available for the next round of Champions League, while Europa League fight was still open in two groups. 

Read about matchday 1, matchday 2, matchday 3, matchday 4 and matchday 5

Group A

Dinamo-Dynamo 1-1 (Krstanovic-Yarmolenko)

The snowy weather was determined to cancel the match between two Dynamos, but the referee decided to get away with a 15-minute suspension. The Maximir stadium was covered in white, to witness the last match of the Croation champions in the Champions League 2012-13. An incredible goal by
Yarmolenko was very close to spoil the Croatian holiday, but on the 93^rd minute of the match the substitute Krstanovic earned a penalty and converted it. The Croatians had finally started to score in this Champions League, but the referee didn’t give them time to do so again. The Ukrainians will restart the European season in another League.

PSG-Porto 2-1 (Thiago Silva, Lavezzi-Jackson Martinez)

The central match of Tuesday had to determine

Champions League 2012-13: The fifth matchday, Part II

Read Part I

Group E

Juventus-Chelsea 3-0 (Quagliarella, Vidal, Giovinco)

Chelsea’s Roberto Di Matteo introduced no strikers in what it had to become his last Chelsea line-up. It was Hazard, who had to replace Fernando Torres, while Azpilicueta occupied the right winger’s position. These amendments didn’t really shock Juventus, as the team, in its usual line-up, started aggressively and could score the opener pretty quickly. The Italian champions were well aware about Chelsea’s troubles in the left wing, so they were suggesting Lichtsteiner runs all the time. Chelsea’s counterattacks were dangerous. The title holders, however, started to forget about these forward runs somewhere in the beginning of the second half. The main architect of the match, Andrea Pirlo, was
more or less contained by Oscar, but Juventus had Marchisio and Vidal, plus three almost idle defenders, who were good in creating dangerous attacks. This is one of the few matches, where The Old Lady forwards showed great performance and backed the hard work done by their midfielders. In general, it is difficult to say where Di Matteo made his biggest mistake. The champions of champions were simply outperformed by a side, which was much more motivated. The moral condition of the Chelsea has been the case during the whole group stage, to be honest.    

Nordsjælland-Shakhtar 2-5 (Nordstrand, Lorentzen-Luiz Adriano (3), Willian (2))

The most controversial incident of the matchday took place in

Champions League 2012-13: The fifth matchday, Part I

As it usually happens, most of the play-off places got booked after the fifth matchday. PSG, Schalke 04, Arsenal, Milan, Borussia, Real, Shakhtar, Bayern, Valencia and Barcelona joined Porto, Malaga and Manchester United, to leave only three places available. These three places are going to be occupied by

either Juventus or Chelsea, Celtic or Benfica, Galatasaray or Cluj. The other 13 teams will either fight for Europa League tickets or show up to enjoy their last European match of the season.

Read about matchday 1, matchday 2, matchday 3 and matchday 4

Group A

Porto-Dinamo 3-0 (Lucho, Moutinho, Varela)

The Croatian champions came very close to score their first goal of the group stage, hitting the post on one and getting the ball cleared off the line on another occasion. Porto, already qualified, was another story. The team easily scored three to celebrate another victory in this Champions League.

Dynamo-PSG 0-2 (Lavezzi (2))

Despite Oleh Blokhin’s return to the Dynamo bench, the Kyiv side was unable to use their last chance to go further in the Champions League 2012-13. The French visitors, lead by incredible

Champions League 2012-13: The weekend of Rafa Benitez's debut at Chelsea

The major matches of the week:

We had a very intense weekend, full of important matches, and followed by some midweek football.

Portugal was expecting a Sunday afternoon match between Sporting Braga and Porto. It was a pretty balanced contest of Champions League group stage participants met. The Portuguese teams, compared to their competitors from other leagues, have a much lighter schedule. This is probably one of the reasons why teams from this country show some beautiful football. However,

Champions League 2012-13: The weekend of Barcelona's new La Liga record

The major matches of the week:

There were two important matches in Italy last weekend. Juventus was visited by Lazio in the opening game of Serie A week. The Roman guests were firm in their intention of taking a point from Turin. They had almost done it last year, but the substitute Alessandro Del Piero had managed to score the winner in the end of the match. This time there was no Del Piero, and Marchetti was awesome during the whole match. The champions even hit the bar once, but the luck was not with them that evening. The match got famous for Andrea Pirlo’s absence and Simone Pepe’s presence, who played for the first time this season. 

Milan was visiting Naples. After going down by two goals, Milan’s new hero Stephan El Shaarawy scored two, strengthening his position as the Serie A topscorer. He has now scored 10 of Milan’s 20 goals in the league. As it usually happens in matches of Napoli, there were not too many dangerous moments in front of goals, but physical battles in midfield. It was not Abiatti’s day, as he could have done much better to keep the score low. Credit to Milan and El Shaarawy for finding the right solutions to save the match. The gap between Milan and its next opponent Juventus is still 17 points.

The most attractive match took place in London, where Arsenal and Tottenham met in one of the most interesting London derbies. The match was moving on the direction of become a promising encounter, as Emmanuel Adebayor scored to his former club. But very soon he turned from hero to zero, as he was give a straight red card for a nasty tackle. It went far too easy for Arsene Wenger’s team afterwards, as Mertesacker, Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and Walcott scored each.  

Highlights of the week:

-        -  Barcelona’s new record: most points earned after 12 matches in the history of La Liga,

-        -  PSG lost again. This time it happened in the home match against St. Rennais, which played with 9 men almost all of the second half. The French League is getting more interesting now,

-        -  Mbokani saved Anderlecht again. His last minute goal brought a win to his team in the match against Kortrijk,

-        -  Zenit is in trouble again: one of the club fans threw a fireword towards the Dynamo goalkeeper. The champions were awarded a defeat,

-        -  despite the bad form in Champions League, Manchester City hasn’t lost in the domestic league yet. In the last round they crashed Aston Villa, scoring 5 without conceding, and climbed on top of the table for the first time in the season,
-         - the average domestic position of a Champions League participant is 3,4.

The upcoming week end:

There are two top clashes in Russia, where Spartak will meet rivals Dynamo in a Moscow derby. Champions Zenit will meet leaders CSKA. The number 1 and number 2 in the Greek league will face each other, as Olympiacos will visit PAOK. Two Champions League participants will meet in Portuguese and Spanish League matches between Braga and Porto, and Malaga and Valencia. Schalke 04 will have to fight to keep the second position in the match against challengers Eintracht. The two biggest matches of the weekend will take place in England, where Chelsea will fight Machester City in a match, where both teams have to rehabilitate after a poor Champions League week. Finally, Italy will be focused on the San Siro match against Milan and Juventus.

Club	Last Matches	Next match	Position in the domestic league
Ajax (Netherlands)	17.11 Venlo (H) 2-2 21.11 Borussia D. (H) 1-4	25.11 Roda (A)	4
BATE (Belarus)	17.11 Slavia (A) 0-0 20.11 Lille (H) 0-2	25.11 Shakhter (H)	1
Anderlecht (Belgium)	18.11 Kortrijk (H) 1-0 21.11 Milan (H) 1-3	24.11 Beerschot (A)	1
Dinamo Z. (Croatia)	17.11 Zadar (H) 5-0 21.11 Porto (A) 0-3	24.11 NK Zagreb (A)	1
Arsenal (England)	17.11 Tottenham (H) 5-2 21.11 Montpellier (H) 2-0	24.11 Aston Villa (A)	6
Man. City (England)	17.11 Aston Villa (H) 5-0 21.11 Real M. (H) 1-1	25.11 Chelsea (A)	1
Man. Utd. (England)	17.11 Norwich (A) 0-1 20.11 Galatasaray (A) 0-1	24.11 QPR (H)	2
Chelsea (England)	17.11 West Brom. (A) 1-2 20.11 Juventus (A) 0-3	25.11 Manch. City (H)	3
FC Barcelona (Spain)	17.11 Zaragoza (H) 3-1 20.11 Spartak (A) 0-3	25.11 Levante (A)	1
Real Madrid (Spain)	17.11Athletic (H) 5-1 21.11 Manch. City (A) 1-1	24.11 Betis (A)	3
Valencia (Spain)	17.11 Espanyol (H) 2-1 20.11 Bayern (H) 1-1	24.11 Malaga (A)	7
Malaga (Spain)	17.11 Osasuna (A) 0-0 21.11 Zenit (A) 2-2	24.11 Valencia (H)	5
Bayern (Germany)	17.11 Nurnberg (A) 1-1 20.11 Valencia (A) 1-1	24.11 Hannover (H)	1
Borussia D. (Germany)	17.11 Gr. Furth (H) 3-1 21.11 Ajax (A) 4-1	24.11 Mainz (A)	4
Schalke 04 (Germany)	17.11 Bayer (A) 0-2 21.11 Olympiacos (H) 1-0	24.11 Eintracht (H)	2
Benfica (Portugal)	16.11 Moreirense (Cup)2-0 20.11 Celtic (H) 2-1	24.11 Olhanense (H)	2
Porto (Portugal)	17.11 Nacional M(Cup)3-0 21.11 Dinamo Z. (H) 3-0	25.11 Sp. Braga (A)	1
Sp. Braga (Portugal)	16.11 Pampilhosa (Cup)3-1 20.11 Cluj (A) 1-3	25.11 Porto (H)	3
CFR Cluj (Romania)	16.11 Astra (H) 0-2 20.11 Sp. Braga (H) 3-1	24.11 Cluj-Napoca (A)	6
Galatasaray (Turkey)	16.11 Kardemir K. (H) 1-3 20.11 Man. United (H) 1-0	24.11 Elazigspor (A)	1
Juventus (Italy)	17.11 Lazio (H) 0-0 20.11 Chelsea (H) 3-0	25.11 Milan (A)	1
Milan (Italy)	17.11 Napoli (A) 2-2 21.11 Anderlecht (A) 1-3	25.11 Juventus (H)	12
Montpellier (France)	17.11 Valenciennes (A) 1-1 21.11 Arsenal (A) 0-2	25.11 Bordeaux (H)	14
PSG (France)	17.11 St. Rennais (H) 1-2 21.11 Dynamo K. (A) 2-0	24.11 Troyes (H)	3
Lille (France)	16.11 Lorient (A)  0-2 20.11 BATE (A) 2-0	25.11 Marseille (A)	8
Nordsjæland (Denmark)	16.11 AGF (A) 2-0 20.11 Shakhtar (H) 2-5	25.11Esbjerg (A)	2
Olympiacos (Greece)	17.11 Kerkyra (H) 2-0 21.11 Schalke 04 (A) 0-1	25.11 PAOK (A)	1
Shakhtar D. (Ukraine)	17.11 Arsenal K. (A) 0-2 20.11 Nordsjælland (A) 5-2	24.11 Hoverla (H)	1
Dynamo K. (Ukraine)	17.11 Metalurg D. (A) 0-1 21.11 PSG (H) 0-2	25.11 Arsenal K. (H)	3
Zenit (Russia)	17.11 Dynamo M. (A) awarded win to Dynamo 21.11 Malaga (H) 2-2	26.11 CSKA (H)	3
Spartak M. (Russia)	17.11 Volga (A) 1-1 20.11 Barcelona (H) 0-3	25.11 Dynamo M. (H)	5
Celtic (Scotland)	17.11 Aberdeen (A) 2-0 20.11 Benfica (A) 1-2	24.11 Inverness (H)	1

Champions League 2012-13: The fourth matchday, Part II

Read Part I

Group E

Chelsea-Shakhtar3-2 (Torres, Oscar, Moses-Willian (2))

The central match of the day reminded us the previous Champions League. Being dominated and dictated during 90 minutes of the match, Chelsea managed to take all three points in this home match against the Ukrainian champions. Shakhtar lost for the first time since last November, but these things have to happen at some point.

Chelsea introduced Cahill and Bertrand instead of Terry and Cole. Especially the left defender became the biggest topic of the match, as he

Champions League 2012-13: The fourth matchday, Part I

Champions League matchday 4 is where the first winners and losers emerge. We had three teams to qualify and three to give up the fight.

Read about matchday 1, matchday 2 and matchday 3

Group A

PSG-Dinamo 4-0 (Alex, Matuidi, Menez, Hoarau)

4 is becoming a magic number for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish superstar organized his national team’s most famous comeback recently, equalizing after being down by 4 goals. Now he assisted 4 times, to humiliate Dinamo Zagreb. Last week he

Champions League 2012-13: The week of BATE's championship

The major matches of the week:

BATE are the champions of Belarus again. By the end of the season the Brazilian-born forward Renan Bressan reestablished himself as a major player in BATE’s squad. The title holders had to earn three points in the remaining three matches. It was Bressan, who assured that the title would officially be defended in that particular match against FC Minsk. A great volley on the 23^rd and a penalty on the 54^th minutes would be enough to clinch the title for the ninth time in a row, but the teammates kept on attacking. The final whistle registered a score of 5-1 as the home crowd went wild. Congratulations BATE!

Champions League 2012-13: The week bringing the first defeats for Juventus, PSG and Ajax

The major matches of the week:

In the central match of the European weekend, Derby d'Italia, Juventus started strong against Inter, but as it usually happens, they decided to save some energy after the first goal. For the first time in 50 matches they didn’t succeed. Lichtsteiner’s aggressiveness, Vucininc’s sloppiness, Bendtners impotency and Pirlo’s tiredness coincided with Stramaccioni’s attacking mood. A deserved loss for the champions, who showed their worst second-half performance in quite a long period of time. Antonio Conte is

Champions League 2012-13: The third matchday, Part II

Read the first part here

Group E

Shakhtar-Chelsea 2-1 (Alex Teixeira, Fernandinho-Oscar)

The Ukrainian champions messed everything up in this group not only winning over the title holders, but also overperforming them in every component. They scored a goal in each half, and controlled the game all over the time. Only in the last 5 minutes the Ukrainian side gave Chelsea some air to breath. Oscar managed to become a goalscorer, but this was not enough to save the team from a defeat. One may claim that Lampard’s injury in the first half became crucial. In fact,

Champions League 2012-13: The third matchday, Part I

Champions League is entering an interesting phase, where every next match is becoming vital. Before we enjoy the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, let’s look at the results that the matchday 3 brought. Some of the teams had already built a good basis earlier in matchday 1 and matchday 2, others had to catch up here, so we received uncompromising matches. There was only one goal difference between the teams in 10 matches, and another 2 ended in a draw.

Group A

Dinamo-PSG 0-2 (Ibrahimovic, Menez)

After organizing his national team’s incredible comeback in Germany, Ibrahimovic had to miss several chances throughout the game. He scored only once in Zagreb in a match, which was nothing else but an easy walk for the French team.

Porto-Dynamo 3-2 (Varela, J. Martinez (2)-Gusev, Ideye)

Porto’s first conceded goals in this season’s Champions League could prevent them from being among the super four, which has won all of its matches so far. However, Jackson Martinez brought this third important victory to his team.

Standings:

Champions League 2012-13: The week of cup clashes

In the week, where teams were free of Champions League matches, there were cup clashes planned in most of the countries. About these and other matches of the previous weekend will be the story this time.

The major matches of the week:

The main football rivalry of Netherlands, called De Klassieker, took place last Sunday. Ajax was back after the famous win over Manchester City in the Champions League. The team was ready to show some quick football, but the circumstances prevented the champions of doing this. Christian Eriksen, who is getting closer to his top form, scored a nice goal, wittily cutting opponent’s two defenders before beating the keeper. Ajax decided to close down and break Feyenoord’s enthusiasm afterwards, but the team was making too many mistakes in the back. Feyenoord got the equalizer on the 23^rd minute. The second half started as the first one, where Ajax

Champions League 2012-13: The week of superior Juventus and Leo Messi

There are three matches played in the Champions League group stage. Two of most interesting teams represent the northern part of Germany – Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund. Schalke 04 and Borussia will be in the focus of the next article telling about Champions League participants. But before we need to sum up the performance of Champions League 32 in the previous week-end and see what to expect from the upcoming.

The major matches of the week:

Before enjoying the Champions League week 3 matches, we had all eyes on Italian Serie A, where the two leaders had to meet face to face.

Napoli is considered to be the only force able to stop Juventus, so the clash was expected to be cruel. Napoli suggested some harsh football, and Juventus had to accept. There were 41 fouls committed during the match. The teams were pretty solid and concentrated. Not losing seemed to be a big achievement for both, judging by the way the teams played. It was football with no risky counterattacks and no mistakes. And exactly when the hope to see a goal in the central match of the week was diminishing,

Champions League 2012-13: The second matchday, Part II

Go to Part I
Group E

Nordsjælland-Chelsea 0-4 (Mata (2), David Luiz, Ramires)

Despite the score, Nordsjælland was not totally smashed by the Champions of Champions. In fact, the Danish champions considered an unnecessary goal after a childish mistake in the midfield. They had several chances to equalize afterwards, including an episode where the ball hit the post. Only after David Luiz scored a beautiful goal from a free kick the home side stopped playing. Chelsea’s Mata was in a great form.

Champions League 2012-13: The second matchday, Part I

On the 2^nd and 3^rd of October the 32 teams completed the Champions League 2012-13 second matchday. It is still not clear who is going to leave the tournament and who advance to the play-offs, but some blurry picture of the strengths and weaknesses is already seen, when results of matchday 1 and matchday 2 are summed up. There are already teams, who earned some important points and can elaborate on this; and there are some that need to come into the fight, if they plan to leave a mark in this year’s Eurocups. Let’s take a closer look at the matches played in the second round of the group stage, where half of the matches were won by the visitors.

Group A

Porto-PSG 1-0 (James Rodriguez)

This was one of the central matches of the round, where

Champions League 2012-13: The week of derbies

The major matches of the week:

This was one of the biggest week-ends of the season, where fans have difficulties in choosing the right match to watch.

Let’s start with El Classico. There was a 7 point difference between the teams, while Barcelona had all its matches won so far. The starting line-ups didn't include any surprise decisions. Barca had Mascherano and Adriano in the central defense, due to Puyol's injury and Pique's disqualification. Despite the rumors, Oezil was on in Real’s starting eleven.

Champions League 2012-13: FC Porto and Malaga CF

FC Porto, Portugal

UEFA Ranking: 8

Champions League participations: 17 (missed only 1994-95, 2002-03, 2010-11) - - best result – Champions (2003-04)

Total transfer amount of all players: 173,8 mln €

The most expensive players: Joao Moutinho

TOP 10 BOOKS ON TACTICS

1. Football and Chess: Tactics Strategy Beauty

Why are football and chess 'beautiful games'? Do top football coaches read the pitch as a chess player reads the board? What is the connection between Jose Mourinho's defensive cunning and Grandmaster Wilhelm Steinitz's 'principles of defence'? The global popularity of football and chess remains unmatched by any other game. In this book, Adam Wells argues that stereotypical views of the games have concealed a deep connection between them. The first study of its kind, this book explores a rich world of tactics, psychology and aesthetics. Structural principles are analysed using real life examples to show how these connections play out on the board and in the field. This book is accessible to fans of either game, including football fans with no previous knowledge of chess. Readers will see how chess can be a pulsating, dynamic game, whilst appreciating that football shares much of the mystery and structural beauty of the world's greatest board game.

2.  FC Barcelona - A Tactical Analysis: Attacking

Champions League 2012-13: The week-end after Champions League Day 2

We enjoyed Champions League matches during the week, but let’s look back and see what happened in Europe in the week-end preceding the Champions League matchday 2. And there was a lot to watch! 

Champions League will be discussed right before the 3^rd matchday, and before this we will have a chance to watch closely the only two teams that not only won their two first matches, but also kept clean sheets. These two teams are Porto and Malaga.

Let’s start with Eredivisie.

Champions League 2012-13: The first matchday

It is always fascinating to watch the first round of Champions League group stage. It is especially interesting in the prospective of challengers and underdogs, who get only 6 chances to justify their presence in the tournament. Some of them have already achieved something tangible, something they will be proud of even if they do not build up on the successful start.

Let’s look at the 16 incredible matches closely.

Group A

PSG-Dynamo 4-1

Champions League 2012-13: The week-end before Champions League Day 2

While Wayne Rooney is still missing due to his injury, Alex Ferguson’s team has shown yet another pale performance, though took three points from Merseyside. Liverpool, struggling to get their first win in the season, controlled the game during all 90 minutes, even after being reduced to 10 men in the first half. Manchester United had to recover after an early goal in the second half. The ball appeared in Liverpool’s net twice - after a beautiful shot by Rafael and a controversial penalty converted by Robin van Persie – the Premier League topscorer with now 5 goals.

Champions League 2012-13: BATE Borisov and CFR Cluj

BATE Borisov, Belarus

UEFA Ranking: 55

Champions League participations: 2 (2008-09, 2011-12) - - best result - 3 points (2008-09)

Total transfer amount of all players: 20,2 mln €

The most expensive players:

Champions League 2012-13: The week-end after Champions League Day 1

There is a chance for us to talk about Champions League matches, but let’s wait with this until we are closer to the second matchday. Before that we’ll make the traditional week-end round-ups and talk about the two big surprising teams at the Champions League – BATE Borisov and CFR Cluj. So don’t miss the next-week post about Belorussian and Romanian champions. 

In the week preceding the Champions League group stage kick-off Arsenal

Champions League 2012-13: The last week-end before the group stage kick-off

In the week preceding the World Cup qualification matches, there was, as always, plenty of interesting action going on in the European pitches.

In the first clash involving two Champions League participants

Champions League 2012-13: Group G, Group H and Ranking

                                             Group G

SL Benfica – Portuguese runners-up

UEFA Ranking: 13

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 174,0 mio

3 most prolific players: Maxi Pereira, Oscar Cardozo, Gaitan

Ambitions for the season:

Champions League 2012-13: Group D, Group E and Group F

                                            Group D

Manchester City FC – English champions

UEFA Ranking: 20

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 489,3 mio

3 most prolific players: Kompany, Silva, Aguero

Ambitions for the season:

Champions League 2012-13: Group A, Group B and Group C

Now when the Champions League 2012-13 participants are allocated into groups, it is time to compare them by means of some interesting facts and figures.

                                           Group A

FC Dynamo Kyiv - Ukrainian runners-up

UEFA Ranking: 22

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 132,0 mio

3 most prolific players: Miguel Veloso, Kranjcar, Yarmolenko

Ambitions for the season:

Champions League 2012-13: All 32 arrived

As it is easy to notice, we are full house now – the last 10 teams have joined to complete the final list of 2012-13 Champions League group stage. The 32 teams represent 17 European countries. Spain and England have 4 participants; Germany, France and Portugal will send 3 teams; Italy, Ukraine and Russia will have 2 and Netherlands, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Romania, Turkey, Denmark, Greece and Scotland – 1 representatives. The draw will take place on Thursday, the results of which we will discuss next week.

But before the draw,

Champions League 2012-13: The first El Classico of the season

The Dutch Ajax started showing its class only in the second round of Eredivisie. The champions moved with a course of a goal per 10 minutes until the score became 5-0. For the remaining time the opponent received some air to breath. The final score is

Champions League 2012-13: FC Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Zenit St. Petersburg, Russia

UEFA Ranking: 24

Champions League participations: 2 (2008-09, 2011-12)- best result - 1/8 finals (2011-12)

Total transfer amount of all players: 146,4 mln €

The most expensive players:

Champions League 2012-13: The Top Supercups Allocated

The previous weekend gave us lots of exciting supercup matches with a large number of goals scored.

On Saturday the Italian champion met the national cup winner in Beijing. This was the first match for Antonio Conte to be absent due to his disqualification. Another important name missing in the Juve squad was Giorgio Chiellini. This could be the reason why Napoli found it too easy to pass through the Turin side defense. After some beautiful goals from both sides the score was 2-2 before the teams went on to the extra time.

Champions League 2012-13: The Domestic Leagues Start This Weekend

After a beautiful Euro 2012 and great Olympic Games sport fans will only demand high quality tournaments. Here we go - the group stage of the biggest club tournament on Earth called Champions League is not too far. 22 of the overall 32 participants are already known. The last 10 clubs will join them by the end of August.

We need to get ready for this amazing tournament as well. I will try to follow up the teams participating in Champions League until their exit at any stage. From time to time I will prepare articles about teams showing anything extraordinary either in their domestic leagues or in the Champions League.

But for now there is not much to say, but to get acquainted to the list of clubs ready to enter this glorious tournament.   

EURO 2012: Tournament of Broken Stereotypes

Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine is over. For the first time in history the reigning kings successfully defended their title, winning 3 major tournaments in a row. As statistics suggests, in the last 6 years we have seen the best ever national team of all generations. Congratulations to Spain!

As expected, there have been lots of bright moments. Recalling them is the only pleasure left after the cup was handed in to Iker Casillas. So let’s see what this European Championship could teach us.

First of all, each and every European Championship assumes maximum of 7 teams, which historically deserve to be called main favorites. These nations are England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

EURO 2012: 16 under a loupe: England

England

Factsheet: 

Euro 2012 Group D: 11-06-12: France – England, 15-06-12: Sweden – England, 19-06-12: England - Ukraine

FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking: 6

Previous European Championship Appearances: 1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004

Qualifying record: 8+5=3-0 17-5

Interesting facts: England has already been led by three different managers this year – Fabio Capello, Stuart Pearce, and Roy Hodgson.

All of the 23-squad members represent the domestic Premier League.

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After successfully sending the two non-English managers home, The Football Association hired an Englishman Roy Hodgson to lead the English team at the Euro 2012. He only had 2 months to research the playing style of Capello's England, choose a new captain and, of course, gather a 23-man squad and prepare it to the competition.

EURO 2012: 16 under a loupe: Spain

Spain

Factsheet: 

Euro 2012 Group C: 10-06-12: Spain-Italy, 14-06-12: Spain - Rep. of Ireland, 18-06-12: Croatia -Spain

FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking: 1

Previous European Championship Appearances: 1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008

Qualifying record: 8+8=0-0 26-6

Interesting facts: Spain won all of their 8 matches to directly qualify for the Euro 2012.

Iker Casillas holds the all-time record for the most matches played for Spain. He has been a part of a match 131 times so far.

Spain has the chance to become the first ever team to win three major trophies in a row.

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Spain has shown incredible football at the last two major tournaments. The previous coach Luis Aragones decided to focus on the technical abilities of the players as the Spanish players turned to be weaker in physical duels. The strategy brought much more than expected – two trophies in a row. Of course, the current manager Vicente Del Bosque would not change much in the tactics for the World Cup to follow the Euro 2008 triumph. He just added a little bit of pragmatism – his team won the World Cup for the first time, scoring only 8 and conceding 2 goals in 7 matches. However, they scored more than 3 goals on an average game during their qualification to Euro 2012. Considering the absence of their main goalscorer David Villa, the final number of goals scored at Euro 2012 should be comparable to the one at the previous World Cup.

EURO 2012: 16 under a loupe: Italy

Italy

Factsheet: 

Euro 2012 Group C: 10-06-12: Spain-Italy, 14-06-12: Italy - Croatia, 18-06-12: Italy - Rep. of Ireland

FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking: 12

Previous European Championship Appearances: 1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008

Qualifying record: 10+8=2-0 20-2

Interesting facts: In 1988 Italy, then 3-time world champions, qualified for European Championships for the first time: previously they only participated in the tournament on their home soil, where no qualification is needed.

Italy conceded only 2 goals during the qualification, which is the best result among all the participants.

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It has only gone the wrong way for Italy since they won the World Cup in 2006. Huge scandals in the Italian football are accompanied by injuries of crucial players. After The catastrophic results of the 2010 World Cup edition, Italy needs to get together and show a decent performance. History shows that the Italian national squads of 1982 and 2006 got motivated by the match-fixing scandals around the team and went on to win the tournaments. Will it happen for the third time?