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 […]

While Juve's main concern this season isn't the Europa league, the European competition is helping Delneri build his team. So now that Juventus has played and won their first competitive match against Shamrock Rovers in Europa League qualification, Delneri will have a lot of positivies to look at. But Juventus hasn't qualified yet, they'll need […]

Juventus have been preparing for their Europa League qualifier which will be played against Shamrock Rovers with friendlies against Hamburg (0-0) and Lyon (2-1 for Juventus). Juventus will play the Irish club over two legs, and the team with the best results over the two legs will go through. The first leg will be played […]

Depending on the results of the final round in La Liga this upcoming weekend, Atlético Madrid can finish as high as ninth and as low as eleventh in Spain. Fulham completed their 2009-10 in the Barclays Premier League in twelfth position. All mattered not as they both navigated through massive European obstacles to arrive at […]

Fulham are on the brink of history. On Wednesday, they will be playing in the Europa League Final against Atletico Madrid. Win or lose this match, Fulham will leave some sort of historical mark. The question is which historical direction will Fulham go? If they win this Final, I would compare this season to the […]

The Race for the La Liga Crown If there were a match on which Barcelona would stumble in their path to a second consecutive La Liga title, Villarreal would stand in their way. All involved with FC Barcelona said the right statements after Inter Milan eliminated the Catalans from the UEFA Champions League. Barça president […]

There will be a Spanish team in a European final, but it is not the team that many expected. Atlético Madrid completed their strange and wonderful trip to the Europa League final with an extra time goal by Diego Forlán against Liverpool. As per usual, Atlético did not win the second leg of their Europa […]

Some people don't get football. They think we're mad to follow this mercurial sport that gives at least as much pain as it does pleasure. Well the next time someone asks why you're so mad about football tell them about Fulham this year. Tell them about how a club who, 15 years ago, was at […]

La Liga heads down the home stretch with five matches remaining, and Jornada 34 is littered with matches between the top and the bottom of the table. FC Barcelona hosts Xerez at the Camp Nou in the early Saturday kickoff, and both teams are running opposite of their position in the standings. Despite propping the […]

Can Spurs finish their run against the table's top three with a win at Old Trafford? And will rival Arsenal do Tottenham a favor against City on Saturday? To discuss these key match-ups as well as Thursday's Europa League results, I was joined by the review team – Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer – to […]

The powers that be in the Premier League tend to get all uptight when a club manager suggests that he's going to rest his starters for whatever reason. This is somehow an affront to the integrity of the competition and unfair to the other clubs fighting to avoid relegation or to get into Europe. Plus, […]

I'm noticing between Twitter and a few other things, there seems to be confusion over Portsmouth and the Europa League — due to them making the FA Cup final. Every year, UEFA makes any club who wants to take part in European competitions apply for a UEFA club license. Without the license, you can't take […]

Real Madrid and Barcelona's matches in La Liga this season have almost had the feeling of high-level training sessions. A few surprises sprinkled throughout, but the inevitability of the best team in the world and the most expensive team in the world deciding the championship arrives on Saturday night. Barcelona will come off a heavenly […]

Manchester United has gone crashing out of Champions League, having succumb to the left foot of Arjen Robben. On this episode of the EPL Talk podcast, I am joined by Laurence McKenna for our mid-week review show, talking about United's capitulation and Arsenals ouster at the boots of Lionel Messi. That, and a preview of […]

The quarterfinals of UEFA Champions League have not been a rousing success for England's two representatives, though Arsenal's late comeback against Barcelona has given a reason for hope at the end of the mid-week fixtures. On this edition of the EPL Talk podcast, Laurence McKenna, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself discussion the Champions League results as […]