Finally some positive news for Serie A and Italian football in general, this midweek, while some sides played in the Coppa Italia, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Roma played and won in the Champions League. It was the penultimate matchday of the group stages, and although Roma haven't mathematically qualified yet, AC Milan have mathematically […]

This Champions League midweek had some highs and some lows for the Italian sides in the tournament. And if you're interested in awesome match reports and other Champions League news, be sure to visit my latest article on Champions League Talk regarding the midweek action! Let's start with the positives, Roma won 3-2 away from […]

After a truly fantastic matchday of Champions League action, there are so many things to review, especially after so many goals were scored. There were 53 goals scored in all 16 matches of the Champions League this midweek, that's an average of 3.31 goals per game! Not bad at all. Real Madrid travelled to Milan […]

With the another matchday of the Champions/Europa League group stages coming up, I've decided to take a look at what could be the more interesting matches of the 40 which will be played in the two competitions. The way I've chosen these matches is by looking at the teams which are playing, how they've been […]

While AC Milan and Roma were both humiliated in their Champions League matches yesterday, Inter Milan put on a good show for any people who watched the European champions. Both sides were equal on points at the top of the group, but with Inter's win, the nerazzurri go top of Group A. Twente and Werder […]

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 […]

The new Deloitte Money League is out and the Bundesliga is stronger than ever.

It has been an interesting week in rumors. First the managers! Hoffenheim will say goodbye to Ralf Rangnick because he wants to spend money this summer. They will then say hello to Jurgen Klinsmann, who is the epitome of frugality. After all, he only forced Bayern to rebuild it's training facility. Meanwhile the possessors of […]

The promised whirlwind transformation at Manchester City FC will have to wait a bit longer and it won't include Kaka. The Brazilian superstar has turned down an outrageous offer from City which some sources are indicating is as high as £300,000 per week to quit Italian side AC Milan. Kaka said yesterday: “I am extremely happy here. I want to […]

Yesterday, the Bundesliga's five UEFA Cup entrants were handed very tough groups for the upcoming middle stage of the UEFA Cup. While group previews will be prepared later this month, let's take a look at the draws for Hertha, Schalke, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Hamburg. 1. Group A Schalke was a top seed, despite being throttled […]

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 […]

Young-Pyo Lee has joined Dortmund after the club agreed to terms with Tottenham Hotspur for the South Korean fullback. Lee's survival at Spurs this long has been something of a oddity for us Lilywhites as he had fallen behind Gareth Bale, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Jamie O'Hara and Gilberto in Juande Ramos' estimation. He had been a […]

1st Schalke What You Know: If baseball's Chicago Cubs had a baby with the Red Sox prior to 2004, Schalke would be the offspring. What You Don’t: All things both good and bad must end. What to Expect: Yes, Campeones! I say that, bucking all trends, and knowing full well that Schalke could be leading […]

A look at Bayer Leverkusen's Bruno Labbadia concludes our The New Gaffer: Introducing... series this week. So far we've examined, in order: the journeyman, the company man, the stranger and, er, Martin Jol. Labbadia is a mix between a poor man's Jürgen Klinsmann and a poor man's Christian Bale (take a look!). In other words, […]

Fred Rutten isn't the only new Dutch manager in the Bundesliga, as ex-Tottenham Martin Jol took over the reigns of Hamburg earlier this month. It's been nearly 30 years since Jol's last appearance in Germany. He made 9 appearances for Bayern Munich as a midfielder in 1978/79 before returning to the Netherlands the next season. […]