Richard Lewington

There are some pivotal battles to be fought in the upcoming Matchday and while some groups look to have clear patterns emerging, others could go down to the wire. Let's take a whirlwind tour of the current state of the groups along with my speculations on the ties on Matchday 5. Group A A win […]

Real Madrid have suffered another major injury blow as striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's season looks to be over after it was announced that he will undergo an operation to correct a problem with his right knee. The reigning Spanish champions already have Arjen Robben and Mahamadou Diarra out of action due to calf and thigh […]

In looking back at the past winners and runners-up in both the Champions League and UEFA Cup, one story jumped out at me more than any other. In what was their greatest season to date, Deportivo Alavés had a magical run all the way to the 2001 UEFA Cup Final. The 2000-01 UEFA Cup was […]

Konami has signed a deal with UEFA that allows the game creator to use all the elements and attributes of the competition to create an exclusive UEFA Champions League mode within the Pro Evolution Soccer game. They are the only game on the market to have an official deal to use the Champions League branding […]

When David Beckham joins AC Milan on loan from the LA Galaxy in January, speculation is that he will wear the number 75. With both the numbers 7 and 23 shirts (his previous numbers at Man Utd, Madrid and LA) taken (Pato wears #7 and Massimo Ambrosini wears #23), Beckham will take the number 75 […]

I thought I would share with you some of the articles that have caught my eye over the past couple of days: Kartik of Major League Soccer Talk argues that Landon Donovan's trial with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich is a good move for the player. Kudos to Werder Bremen for taking a tough stance on […]

Matchday 4 should be a pivotal one as many groups may well be decided once the games are completed. Who needs a win and who can afford to slip? Let's take a look at Tuesday's games. Group A Roma need to win at home against Chelsea but that is looking to be a tall order […]

In what has to be considered a poor decision, the UEFA Appeals Body has reduced the initial three-match stadium closure to a two-match behind closed doors sentence, with one match deferred for two years. Consequently, Atlético must play their next home fixture in the Champions League, against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday November 26th, without any […]

In what I see as a move with more financial impact than on-field impact, AC Milan are courting another superstar whose best days are behind him, but who is still capable of packing a commercial punch. The latest move is to be a loan deal for LA Galaxy star David Beckham. Beckham's season is over […]

With World Cup qualifying on, its been a little slow for UEFA club competition news but here are some stories around the web that I thought you'd find interesting. ESPN Soccernet details the problems at Fenerbahce Bundesliga Talk has posted a quick update on every club in the league Owen Slot, Chief Sports Reporter for […]

I had a great conversation with Jonathan Starling of the Third Half podcast last week. We discussed the upcoming UEFA Cup group stage, UEFA's stance on debt-laden clubs, the situation at Ajax and many other topics. I've posted the Champions League Talk segment of the show here as a separate podcast file but if you'd […]

This may be a bit long-winded and rambling but I hope you stick with me as there are a number of important points to discuss. UEFA recently released a publication entitled "Safeguarding The Heritage And Future Of Team Sport In Europe", which outlines UEFA's stance on principles of good governance, player agents and home-grown players. […]

UEFA held the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage today and some fascinating pairings emerged. Both Martin Jol and Steve McClaren will take their new clubs back to England as FC Twente will face Manchester City and Jol's Hamburg will take on Aston Villa. This year's groups are looking really tough and the field […]

Time to check in with the FA Cup again as the Second Qualifying Round gets under way. So far, I've seen a couple of my initial teams drop by the wayside as have their replacements. This stage of the tournament is quite tumultuous but still exciting for the clubs involved. 160 clubs are involved in […]

In a new experiment, I am going to try a weekly wrap-up of news stories that caught my eye but that I don't think require pages of analysis as I am prone to doing 🙂 So, here they are, concise and hopefully interesting. UEFA are expected to formally confirm in December that Wembley will host […]