Well its one of those strange things that football sometimes conjures up some little nugget that makes you check the facts fully before you really believe it could be true For example, Liverpool never lost when Ian Rush scored until the League Cup final of 1987 against Arsenal. 145 games Liverpool went without losing when […]

On paper, FC Barcelona could be the world's most formidable attacking side. Messi, Henry, Eto'o, Xavi, Alves, Iniesta, Abidal. Some of the most prestigious names in world football and are among the great wealth of talent in Barcelona's ranks. They have been a dominating force this season with 24 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses, […]

Torres was visibly irritated when subbed off in the 74th minute with the scoreline still two-nil. He wanted his hat trick against Blackburn, but Rafa Benitez's message was clear: save it for Chelsea. As Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge needing to score at least three goals to survive in the Champions League (0-3 would mean a […]

We love a good midweek match now and then and Liverpool v. Chelsea was the record put on repeat as the Reds met up with the Blues for their requisite Champions League match for the season. While not a league game, it may as well have been, if not for the evening kickoff and painfully […]

When Manchester United scored two late goals on Sunday to secure a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Aston Villa, the result seemed to sweep under the rug the idea that United were a team in serious danger of relinquishing their Premier League lead heading into the home stretch. After Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at home to FC […]

It was a strange booking. Xabi Alonso stuck out a leg and caught Real Madrid's onrushing defender, Pepe, but Javier Mascherano took the booking. This may have been for kicking the ball away, but the Argentinian seemed to be clearing it in case play didn't stop. It didn't look a bookable offense. As Liverpool's midfield […]

Why does the Premier League produce so few Ballon d’Or winners? This year’s edition of the Champions League has followed the script so far, and unless a major upset occurs in the quarter-finals, then at least one English team will be in the finals for the fifth straight year. One oft-cited reason for this dominance […]

It didn't send boots aquaking in Catalunya, but it is a team to respect based on their precedent. If there is one demon they will have to overcome in order to get to that historic treble, they will have to do so against a side that they have never beaten. Never Beaten Bayern In four […]

On Friday, the Champions League Quarterfinal draw was revealed and La Liga teams were given a difficult path towards an all-Spain final. Futbol Club Barcelona FC Barcelona who are chasing a historic treble will face Bayern Munich in the quarters and if they can get past the German super club than they will face either […]

It seems like yesterday for some football fans, a day burned in to the memories of English footballs collective consciousness. The 1980's saw three major footballing disasters hit English football, The dreadful fire at Bradford City's title party which claimed the lives of 56 fans on May 11th 1985, 18 days later we then witnessed […]

This past week was a disappointing week for the Serie A in the Champions League, to say the least. As it is well known, all 3 remaining Serie A teams were eliminated in the Round of 16. Although Roma and Juventus put up a good fight in their matchups, Italy's top clubs fell short in […]

Jonathan Wilson, the inimitable scholar of tactical mechanics with his recent Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics (a book I included in a piece on tactical reductionism for this website) has made a very convincing argument why English Premier League clubs have come to dominate the Champions League in the last four seasons. […]

It's the first of March and although there is everything to be decided, you can smell it in the air. This could be the year United do what hasn't been accomplished by a British club since Celtic in 1967: winning the League, FA, and European Cups, in addition to the Premier League trophy. Yet as […]

The question I am posing is looking purely at what the UEFA Cup means to clubs from the English Premier League. Judging by recent participants and how they have fared, it appears to feature very low on most Premiership clubs’ list of priorities. Before the profile of the European Cup was sufficiently raised and rebranded […]

The most exciting part of the UEFA Champions League is underway, The Knockout Stages. We're getting closer to crowning a European champion and if Italian teams continue to play the way they did on Tuesday in the 1st leg of the Round of 16 then the UEFA Champions League trophy will not settle in Lo […]