This season's Champions League and Europa League has its usual cast of superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery but I wanted to feature a few names that I think you'll be hearing a lot more about as the January transfer window approaches. 1) Miralem Pjanic — midfielder — Olympique Lyonnais The "new Juninho" […]

While the Aughts have been full of speculation/proposal about the Old Firm joining the EPL, the 90’s was about the Old Firm joining what was dubbed as the Atlantic League. It was a joint proposal from the big clubs in the Netherlands, Scotland and Portugal. ESPN is reporting that there may be another attempt at […]

Arsenal beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park, all but assuring their qualification for the Champions League group stages, with two away goals.  It was not the presiding effort of their 6-1 away win at Everton, but the two deflected goals – from Gallas and Gary Caldwell's foot – fulfilled the requirement in what was arguably […]

Part of the changes to qualification this year sees the champions of smaller domestic leagues gaining the chance to reach the group stage of the Champions League. In the Champions Path, the feature match-up should be between FC Zurich and FK Ventspils. Latvian titleholders Ventspils edged past last season's group stage participant FC BATE Borisov […]

RheinEnergieStadion I used the stats feature at ESPN Soccernet to calcluate the clubs with the best attendances. Out of the top 20 attendances in Europe, Germany had 9 clubs. This post is to equip you with a tool to help promote our great league. Because, while we are in a slump in the Champions League […]

With Newcastle teetering over the relegation trap door, skipper Michael Owen will lead a mass exodus at the club, should they fall through it into the Championship on Sunday. With Owen out of contract it is likely that he will leave the club in the summer regardless. The question is where will he go? A […]

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside's has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points.  Gartside […]

When Jermain Defoe rejoined Tottenham yesterday, he became the newest member of an extremely unique club that has seen it's membership dwindle over the last few seasons. Very few players rejoin a club they used to play for whilst at the peak of their powers but Defoe returns to Tottenham with his best years ahead […]

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 […]

After seeing his team well and truly played off the park Celtic manager Gordon Strachan honoured United as being the best side his Scottish champions had ever faced in Europe. That is some accolade when you consider that the Bhoys have played AC Milan and Barcelona in recent years. However are United still the best […]

To use a golf analogy, the teams in the group stage of the Champions League make the turn today and tomorrow with the completion of the first three games of the group stage. And while it's early, for some teams, it's make-or-break time. Group by group, here's an analysis of who needs to win: Group […]

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 […]

Defender Marcell Jansen has transfered from Bayern München to Hamburg today. The 22-year old played 73 games over 3 seasons for Borussia Mönchengladbach before switching to Bayern. Now after only a single year and 17 games in Bavaria he has moved north to Hamburg for an undisclosed sum. He reportedly signed a five-year contract that […]

Champions League Talk was recently sent a copy of "Jinky: The Jimmy Johnstone Story" written by Jim Black and I was given the honour of reviewing it. Jinky, born James Connolly Johnstone, was a dynamic winger that played for the Celtic side that won nine Scottish championships in a row between 1966 and 1974. He […]