The Football Thread

[Luíz for 32]

My predictions:

Premier League: Chelsea
Liga BBVA: Real Madrid
Serie A: Inter
Bundesliga: Bayern
Champions League: Chelsea
Europa League: Porto

FC Porto will fight with Juventus and Liverpool for the title, no doubts. Manchester City is not a true team and they have no tradition in European Football, which is very important.

For Champions League, I can see 6 clubs able to win it.

1. Inter, as defending champion;
2. Chelsea, the most complete, equilibrated and experienced team;
3. Barcelona, best team of the world;
4. Real Madrid, with greatest manager in their bench, they will everything in two or three years;
5. Manchester United, the last journey of big generation (Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs);
6. Bayern Munich, they are working to rebuilt their greatness.

 

[Buzissa2]

Premier League is weird this year. At week 2, three 6-0.

 

[eliooo932]

Owen or Gigs should have taken the penalty shot instead of Nani. Can't believe United lost 2 easy points.

 

[CKR132]

Arsenal 6 Blackpool 0.

Up next we face Blackburn.

 

[eindhow2]

CHELSEA FC fan here since my young years..

They had great results in their first two games.. 6-0 to both West Brom and Wigan..

As what Salomon Kalou said, Be afraid, be very afraid.^^

 

[prtzn2]

Arsenal 6 Blackpool 0.

Up next we face Blackburn.

Hey, fellow Arsenal fan, I don't know if you read "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby, but if you haven't, I recommend it...

Talks about how he started following Arsenal as a kid, and finishes with Arsenals title won against Liverpool 18 years after that (if I'm not mistaking)...
Great, great read...

 

[CKR132]

Hey, fellow Arsenal fan, I don't know if you read "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby, but if you haven't, I recommend it...

Talks about how he started following Arsenal as a kid, and finishes with Arsenals title won against Liverpool 18 years after that (if I'm not mistaking)...
Great, great read...

Thanks! I've read it after searching the net. It was a great read. Thanks again.

 

[dxjayrock20082]

Hopefully our teams will meet this UEFA Champions League. Best of luck to our teams.

 

[prtzn2]

Hopefully our teams will meet this UEFA Champions League. Best of luck to our teams.

Best of luck for all of us!
Great news is that my local team, Partizan (Belgrade) qualified for the Champions League , but I have veeeery modest expectations from them...
Actually, not getting trashed would do the job from me...

 

[Saskibaloia2]

Crouch sends Tottenham through ...

Crouch sends Tottenham through ...

The lad who looks more like a basketballer than a footballer sends the Spurs to a convincing 4-0 victory over Swiss football club: Young Boys at White Hart Lane.

This will be the first time in the club's history that the North Londoners will head over to the Group Stages of the prestigious UEFA Champions League.

 

[eindhow2]

The lad who looks more like a basketballer than a footballer sends the Spurs to a convincing 4-0 victory over Swiss football club: Young Boys at White Hart Lane.

This will be the first time in the club's history that the North Londoners will head over to the Group Stages of the prestigious UEFA Champions League.

After Chelsea, am also a Spurs fan.. All because of Jermaine Defoe..

 

[Luíz for 32]

SC Braga made history, entering for the very first time in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Huge game in Seville, eliminating the local team, with much higher budget then the portuguese team. Just brilliant!

 

[Buzissa2]

Champions League Group Stage Draw

Group A - Inter, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, Twente
Group B - Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel Aviv
Group C - Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor
Group D - Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Copenhagen, Rubin
Group E - Bayern Munich, Roma, Basel, Cluj
Group F - Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina
Group G - Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre
Group H - Arsenal, Shakhtar, Braga, Partizan

SC Braga made history, entering for the very first time in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Huge game in Seville, eliminating the local team, with much higher budget then the portuguese team. Just brilliant!

The draw gives some hope to Braga.

 

[Saskibaloia2]

Well Done to Braga! A great achievement for Portuguese Football.

Well Done to Braga! A great achievement for Portuguese Football.

Many expected Sevilla to go through but it was amazing that Braga was able to knock off La Liga Top 4 Regulars Sevilla.

So lads, which is the toughest group?

Which is the weakest group?

Which club do you think will have a great campain?


My thoughts:

Which is the toughest group?

For me, I think it's either Group A or Group G.

With Group A, it features the defending triple trophy Italian Club from Milan who will be stronger than ever and will try to defend its crown, the consistent German outfitt that is always considered a dark horse in UEFA Continental Tournaments, the very, very hungry North London Club (Spurs) who after so many years have reached this stage and are determined to show that there's more to English Club Football than the "Big 4".

Group G in my opinion is also a very tough group because AC Milan is determined to show to the Football World that they can achieve what they used to achieve back in 2005 and much more in their UEFA Champions League victory in 2007. Furthermore, the Group features a Madrid team that not only "reloaded" but also in my opinion, has the second best coach or possibly the best coach in the world in Portugal's Jose Mourihno. In addition, the Group features Dutch Club: Ajax and are ready to show Europeans that they can still play. In addition, this is the chance for Uruguay's Luis Suarez to show the "Special One", Real Madrid and the rest of the Spanish Football world that he has the talent to take on La Liga's very best.

Which is the weakest group?

Well, I actually see three "easy" teams: Group B, Group F - I'm sure Chelesea fans are happy with their group and Group H.

Which club do you think will have a great campain?

I believe that with Real Madrid's talented lineup and Jose at the coaching helm, nothing will be able to stop "Los Merengues" from achieving the trophy that they used to dominate in the early days.

I'm hoping to see Chelsea take on Real in Wembley Stadium. What a matchup that would be?! The "Special One" taking on the English Club that he dearly holds in his heart in England's best stadium.

If Jose doesn't win this edition of the Champions League, I am confident to say that he will win next season's edition.

 

[CKR132]

So lads, which is the toughest group?

I'll go with Group G - Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre

Which is the weakest group?

I say Group B with Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel Aviv. Lyon despite their success on the French Ligue, has really no history of going far into the UEFA CL.

Which club do you think will have a great campaign?

My biased opinion is inclined towards Arsenal but will be watching out for Real Madrid.

 

[JGX2]

In the Americas we like to play with obstacles on the pitch:

 

[Buzissa2]

The strongest: A,G
The weakest: C,D,E
Average: B,F,H

 

[Saskibaloia2]

Ibrahimovic off to Inter's Rivals ...

Ibrahimovic off to Inter's Rivals ...

What on earth is former Inter Milan striker Ibrahimovic thinking?

That's the difference between European Football Clubs and Players in Europe and Football Clubs and Players in Latin America, in Europe it's common to play for your former team's arch-rivals such as what is happening with Ibrahimovic and William Gallas (Arsenal to Tottenham).

I'm a fanatic of Nacional de Montevideo and it is impossible for a player or someone who has played for Penarol (our arch-rivals).

 

[Kwijibo2]

First journey of the Spanish League
Racing 0-3 Barça
Mallorca 0-0 Madrid

See you next league

 

[CKR132]

Usain Bolt wants to play for Manchester United

Usain Bolt wants to play for Manchester United

Usain Bolt wants to play for Manchester United (seriously)
By Brooks Peck

Since Usain Bolt gained world-wide fame for being ridiculously fast at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he's been able to mix in visits to his favorite club, Manchester United, his other favorite club, Real Madrid, and more between running ridiculously fast. In the past, he's talked about playing as a "left-sided defensive midfielder" when he was in high school, but now he's seriously talking about his future as a footballer and not just his past.

Says the 24-year-old in his autobiography:

"Ideally, if I was to play football, I'd sign for my favorite team -- Manchester United. People say it's not realistic but nobody has seen me play so you never know. If Alex Ferguson saw me in one of those charity matches he might think I could replace Ryan Giggs."

You might laugh at that last sentence, but considering Sir Alex just bought a player for £7 million sight unseen, picking the next Ryan Giggs out of a charity match could be possible.

But according to the Guardian's Simon Hattenstone, Bolt isn't just spouting off to sell books:

I ask about his ambitions. Ultimately, he says, he'd love to make a go of playing football professionally. He's being deadly serious. One of the perks of being Usain Bolt is that sporting stars love to meet him, so whenever he's travelling and there's time, he tries to train with a top football team. Last year it was Manchester United, a few days ago it was Bayern Munich. He's still carrying a copy of the French sporting newspaper L'Equipe, which features a spread on his football skills and praise from Bayern manager Louis van Gaal. He shows me a photo of himself with his arm wrapped round the dwarfed 6ft German forward Miroslav Klose. "If I keep myself in shape, I can definitely play football at a high level," he says.

Presumptuous? Yes. Impossible? Maybe not. His speed and celebrity would certainly get him a trial somewhere -- whether he has any skills on the ball or not.

All this will have to wait until at least after the 2012 Olympics, though. At which point Ryan Giggs will probably still be playing and Bolt will probably still be carrying around that copy of L'Equipe.

from yahoo!sports