The importance of Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic to AC Milan goes beyond the simple statistics – 6 total matches for AC Milan, five goals. On a team full of high-profile talent and scoring ability, Ibra has stood out early in the season as the player who has carried Milan offensively and helped them remain in […]

UEFA Champions League Real Madrid's offensive woes will not be aided when they travel to the Stade de l'Abbé Deschamps on Tuesday and face an Auxerre squad who gave up the fewest goals in Ligue 1 last season with a meager 29. While Auxerre's form has not carried over to this current season, where they […]

Like most soccer fans, I am a soccer league polygamist. Because I live less than 20 minutes from an MLS club, I root for and follow Major League Soccer in the U.S. However, I am also a passionate Arsenal fan who lives and dies in every match they play throughout the year. And of course, […]

The Champions League and the Europa League are now priorities, now that the Bundesliga has surpassed the Serie A, Italian teams need to pull their weight in European competition. The first matchday of the group stages of the Champions League and the Europa League didn't play out too well for the Italian clubs involved. Out […]

Despite their excellent start to their campaign the pressure is on Chelsea ahead of their Champions League opener tonight. Carlo Ancelotti’s men travel to MSK Zilina and the general consensus amongst the footballing world is that they need to succeed to in Europe this season. While last year saw Chelsea return to the domestic heights […]

La Liga clubs spent a week on vacation after the opening round of fixtures because of the international FIFA date, although for Real Madrid and Barcelona, many of their players were on international duty. In particular, ten players from Barcelona and six players from Real Madrid traveled to Buenos Aires midweek for the Argentina – […]

Fernando Torres returned to goal scoring form to give Liverpool’s season a much needed kick-start against West Brom. But will this be the start of a bright season for Roy Hodgson’s side or will the men from Merseyside disappoint once again? It’s been a bit of strange week for Liverpool. It started with midfielder Javier […]

Today's UEFA Champions League draw was one that should prove that Serie A is still one of the premier leagues in the world, and that Inter is arguably the world's best club. The Nerazzurri swept the UEFA individual awards: Goalkeeper of the Year (Julio Cesar), Defender of the Year (Maicon), Midfielder of the Year (Wesley […]

Last season was a special one for the Blucerchiati, as they finished the season in fourth place in Serie A and qualified for the Champions League. The club also unveiled a striker-duo that could not only lead Sampdoria to further success but form the basis of a more potent attack on the Italian national team. […]

Today I was a Sampdoria fan, I cheered wildly for them, and I hated Werder Bremen with all my heart. It was partly nationalistic, and mostly due to the fact that I wanted to see Cassano in the Champions League. But Sampdoria didn't make it through, they lost in the most heartbreaking of manners, taking […]

In 2005-2006, Napoli was looking to escape dire finances and Serie C1. In 2010-2011, Napoli can credibly claim that it is competing for a Champions League berth. The Partenopei led by their president Aurelio De Laurentiis have been slowly built up and well managed to the point where last season they qualified for their their […]

Mention the 2009-2010 season to Juventus' 170 million fans and they will shake their head in disgust. Italy's most successful and beloved soccer team was a shell of itself, missing out on a European tournament spot due to poor play and aging players. It is not a coincidence that the Italian national team also failed […]

How can you follow up a season which finished with a treble? After 5 years of dominance in Italy, Inter Milan finally dominated in Europe, and now Rafa Benitez is left with a tough job on his hands. Benitez wants to change a lot of things with Inter, starting with the playing syle. The Spanish […]

Italy's oldest soccer club finished a disappointing ninth last season, and the management has made it clear this offseason that such a result is unacceptable. Disappointing play by a number of key players left the club outside the top six, one year after qualifying for the UEFA Cup and two years after returning to Serie A […]

Earlier today, UEFA unveiled its pairings for both the UEFA Champions League play-off rounds and the UEFA Europa League play-off draw. For Champions League participant Sampdoria, they will take on Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen on August 18 (away) and August 24 (home). The Werder are the 2009 UEFA Cup runners-up, losing 2-1 to Shakhtar […]