Richard Lewington

Internazionale striker David Suazo has received a one-match suspension for what was deemed by the referee to be a flagrant elbow on PSV Eindhoven defender Carlos Salcido during their Matchday 2 fixture. He was only given the one-match ban and not a three-game suspension as the UEFA disciplinary committee felt that the incident could not […]

I am sharing a link to a very cool map created by Bill Turianski who runs billsportsmaps.com. He has created a map showing all the clubs involved in the group stage but the twist is that their logo is sized relative to their average domestic league attendance figure. The site features similar attendance maps for […]

As if Chelsea needed more rumours about goings on at the club, Spanish sports newspaper AS is reporting that three clubs were already in contact with the player’s agent, Steve Kutner: Juventus, AC Milan and Real Madrid. AS has also reported that Lampard would cost around €18 million (£12.5 million), quoting unnamed sources at the […]

I just wanted to post a quick apology for not writing anything in the last few days. I've been busy with my wedding (which was this past Saturday) and will now be off for a week for my honeymoon. I'll be back in full force next week and will recap this weeks games. -The Scout

Where has the time slipped away to? I've not even finished my previews and Matchday 1 has already come and gone! As I was watching some of the matches and highlights, I made some notes and thought I would share them with you here. Real Madrid 2 – Werder Bremen 1This was a very entertaining […]

Today we look at Group F which features defending English Premier League champs Manchester United, Roma, Sporting Lisbon and Dynamo Kiev. The group looks like ti should belong to the favourites and it will be a battle between Sporting Lison and Dynamo Kyiv for the UEFA Cup berth. Manchester UnitedHow they got here: Finished first […]

Today we look at Group G which features defending Serie A champs Internazionale, perennial darkhorses PSV Eindhoven as well as CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahçe. Everyone has been pegging Group E as the "Group of Death" but I believe that this group could be one of the tougher ones with the potential for some upsets. InternazionaleHow […]

Just to be different, we start with Group H on Day 1 of our countdown to the kickoff for the Champions League proper. Each day we will examine one of the groups and explain our picks to emerge from thegroups into the knockout rounds. ArsenalHow they got here: Finshed 4th in the English Premier League; […]

If you, like I, am a "world-class" armchair manager then join us in the prediction and fanatasy football leagues that we've started. First, there is a Fantasy Football League for Champions League Talk readers. To sign up for free, register today at http://en.uclfantasy.uefa.com/ After you register, enter in the following code to join the Champions […]

Some new directives have emerged from UEFA's meeting with referees, which was held at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland last week. The referees recognised that there is an increasing tendency for the illegal use of arms in the penalty area, particularly prior to the taking of corner kicks and free kicks, and that this should […]

UEFA has fined the clubs that had crowd trouble during the final qualifying round for the Champions League. Belgium's Anderlecht were hardest hit as UEFA fined them 20,000 Swiss francs after fans threw missiles and attempted to invade the pitch during their second-leg defeat against Turkish side Fenerbahce in Brussels on Aug. 29. Fenerbahce, who […]

As I mentioned last week, we're going to take a look at the UEFA Cup, this companion competition to the Champions League. The UEFA Cup evolved from the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was founded in 1955, two weeks after the founding of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. The original tournament lasted three years, with […]

Thursday's draw for the group stages was made at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and sees some of last season's knockout stage matchups grouped together. For example, Roma will be offered the chance to avenge the 7-1 drubbing they suffered against Manchester United. Those two are paired along with Sporting Lisbon and Dynamo Kiev in […]

The third qualifying round completed on Tuesday and Wednesday (except for the postponed AEK Athens – Sevilla match) and there were few shocking results except for the ouster of Ajax by SK Slavia Praha. This will be a major disappointment for Ajax as they lost to FC København in the third qualifying round a year […]

As we reported yesterday, Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed during a Primera Liga match on Saturday. Today brought the sad news that Puerta has died, just three days later. He had suffered a heart attack and had been on life support since Saturday. What makes this even sadder is that Puerta was going to become […]