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Manchester City and Tottenham are ready to lock horns at the Etihad Stadium in a potential Premier League title-defining clash which promises to be dynamite.
For the past two season’s, Manchester City and Tottenham clashes have been largely contests to decide the squabble for the much-coveted fourth UEFA Champions League spot.
In 2009 Peter Crouch’s late winner gave Harry Redknapp’s men a deserved 1-0 win and a place in the following season’s Champions League competition to boot.
One year later, City exacted a measure of revenge as they came out on top after a hard-fought 1-0 victory came, ironically enough, from a Peter Crouch own-goal as Roberto Mancini became the first ever coach to guide City into the Holy Grail of club football.
Manchester City vs Tottenham 2012
This time around the match has taken on extra significance. Simply put, the destiny of the Premier League crown will be made all the more clearer come tea-time on Sunday afternoon after these two title pretenders have settled their duel.
Real Madrid and Barcelona face off against each other in the ‘El Clasico’ Copa Del Rey Quarter-Final first leg as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola lock horns again.
If Barcelona are God, then Real Madrid must be the Devil. Because, for one to exist, the other must co-exist.
Whereas, one perceives themselves as the divine representation of the finest aspects of Spanish club football possible to the naked eye, the other whilst sees that same club as everything but.
Which one represents Real Madrid and which one represents Barcelona? Take your pick. For the rest of the continent the fourth meeting between the two sides this season is just as eagerly expected as the last three.
So far it is Pep Guardiola’s armada of stars who rule the roost – at least in terms of head-to-heads with La Blaugrana winning 2 of the three.
But, with the competition between the pair as fierce as ever, nothing can be taken for granted when the European champions lock horns with the current La Liga leaders and Copa Del Rey holders.
The UEFA Champions League last 16 draw takes place on Friday in Nyon with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Napoli awaiting their fate in the knockout round.
Two seeding pots have been formed, one consisting of group winners and the others of runners-up as follows:
Group winners: Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Benfica, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL and Barcelona.
Group runners-up: Napoli, CSKA Moscow, Basel, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit St Petersburg and AC Milan.
As typical of the draw, seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs which will be played on February 14/15 and 21/22, with the return matches taking place on March 6/7 and 13/14.
No team can play a club which have emerged from their group nor can they be drawn against any side from the same country until at least the quarter-finals.
The remainder of the draw will be held on March 16 with the final taking place in Munich’s Allianz Arena on May 19.
In Football, the working man’s hard earned cash means nothing in the modern age. So, @Mattpottinger points to the Mayans.
The Mayans, as everyone knows, did three things. Sacrifice people, produce high-quality dark chocolate, and make speculative apocalyptic calendars. They were spot on with the first two, but as for the end of the world, 2012 it will not be. They were three years off.
A report into the Global Sports Market by Price Waterhouse Cooper [http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/sponsorship/sponsorship-to-overtake-gate-revenues-as-biggest-sport-segment/3032636.article] predicted that by 2015, sponsorship will be the number one form of revenue in sport, overtaking gate returns. The Mayans were right, they just forgot to carry a three.
Sponsorship, the gelatinous, all-conquering corporate evil, fuelled by children’s tears, environmental plundering and Clarkson-esque vitriol, is about to claim its victory. In three short years it will overtake gate revenues, the working-class father of football, who, tar-lungged and asbestos poisoned, cannot compete in the ultra-violet light of 21st century football.
In The Stands previews La Liga’s big Saturday night match as Real Madrid host Barcelona in the season’s first ‘El Clasico’.
There are some things in life which stand out as not-to-be-missed hallmark events and dates. We all know them; they include birthdays, Bank Holidays, Christmas Day, Easter, May Day, Valentines Day and of course VE Memorial Day come November.
For the football fan the list includes the opening day fixture to a new season, the Cup final, the UEFA Champions League final in May, as well as the first local derby against those retched neighbours.
To that list you can add the ‘El Clasico’. The clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona has become arguably the biggest club match on the continent as two of the most decorated clubs on planet Earth throw all including the kitchen sink at each other.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona, 2011
Saturday’s Spanish blockbuster will be the seventh time the pair have played one another this calendar year with the last few bouts being memorable in their own right.
In The Stands brings forth the team news and our predictions as Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in the El Clasico.
Going into Saturday’s clash Real Madrid currently sit top of La Liga on 37 points, three ahead of second place Barcelona having played one game less.
Both sides are bang in form and also recorded fines wins midweek in the UEFA Champions League as Barcelona crushed BATE Borisov 4-0 at the Camp Nou whilst Jose Mourinho’s men thumped Ajax 3-0 in Amsterdam – reserve teams and all.
Ahead of the game, In The Stands puts forward some likely scenerios.
What Happens If Real Madrid Win?
If Real Madrid manage to beat Barcelona come Saturday night then they will move six points clear of their closest rivals with a game in hand to boot.
More significantly, the win will mean that Los Blancos would have broken the proverbial ‘mental barrier’ previously hindering them when facing the Spanish and European champions.
Chelsea host Valencia at Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Champions League Group E with a place in the last 16 at stake.
For under fire Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, Tuesday night’s clash with Valencia is a potential career decider as Blues boss. Simply put, his tenure in the Chelsea dugout is on the line.
Under pressure and threatening to incur the wrath of the notoriously impatient Roman Abramovich, ‘AVB’ will be all too aware that elimination – or failure as the big Russian upstairs will view it – at this early stage of Europe’s elite cup competition will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 5 courtesy of Manuel Friedrich’s injury-time winner confirmed that the Blues are in a crisis and despite making a positive start to their Group E campaign, are in real danger of capitulating at this early stage.
Napoli host Manchester City at the Stadio San Paolo in a match which will be crucial in deciding who joins Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
In what has come to be defined as the ‘Group of Death’, both Napoli and Manchester City are left to fight it out for their Champions League lives in Naples as Europe’s elite cup competition begins to get super serious.
With group leaders Bayern Munich having already booked their place in the last 16, it is left to both City and Napoli to slug it out for a place in the last 16 with 2 matches left to play.
Currently Manchester City lie in second place in the group on 7 points, two ahead of third place Napoli whose 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich on Matchday 4 could come back to haunt them.
So it is almost make-or-break time and here are three possible outcomes to Tuesday’s clash with all their subsequent consequences detailed as well.
England host Spain at Wembley in a mouthwatering friendly match designed to see exactly where Fabio Capello’s men stand on the International stage.
An acid test, or quite simply a glorified friendly fixture? Some say the former whilst others stress the latter.
Neither in agreement nor in disagreement, the English media have themselves been keen to point out that Saturday’s clash with the European and World champions comes at an important time for Fabio Capello’s men who continue to remain unconvincing.
The last match saw the Three Lions squander a 2-0 lead away at Montenegro and the result was made all the more severe as key striker Wayne Rooney was shown a straight red card following a petulant kick out at Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic.
The expected three match ban swiftly followed and threatening to cut his losses on the temperamental number 10, coach Fabio Capello has decided to leave ‘Wazza’ out as he plots a way past a Spanish side bristling with confidence and oozing class.
In The Stands looks ahead to the first Manchester derby of the season as Manchester United host Manchester City at Old Trafford. Our crystal balls are out!
So when do ‘noisy neighbours’ become more than a nuisance. When do they become more than a racket and more specifically do those noisy neighbours annoy you more than what even you ever thought they could do?
The answer in footballing terms is when they sit two points ahead in the Premier League table, have a better goal difference, harbour plenty more ‘cash-to-splash’ and are looking to dethrone your side as kings of the city.
We leave it to yourselves to guess who exactly represents who in this context. But essentially this is what the reinvigorated Manchester derby has metamorphosized into.
It has gone beyond mere city bragging rights, it has surpassed pub banter and even jokes about bare cupboards and no cups.
Biggest Manchester Derby Ever?
Olympique Marseille host Arsenal at the Stade Velodrome as the two leading sides in the UEFA Champions League Group F lock horns.
The hosts Marseille current sit at the summit of the group having grabbed six points from two matches with second placed Arsenal two behind on four points.
Despite both sides monopolizing what did promise to be one of the tightest groups this season, little can be taken for granted given the resurgence of third placed Borussia Dortmund and the importance of sealing top spot in the group.
Incidentally, both sides have had poor seasons domestically with L’OM languishing in 15th place in Ligue 1 – one point off the relegation zone, whereas Arsenal lie in tenth place after their worst ever start to a Premier League season.
Still, poor defending, a lack of confidence and angry fans have not perturbed either club on the continent and when the classical Champions League theme tune rolls around both sides appear to throw off their domestic masks for something more resembling a European cape with a big ‘S’ on the front.
Manchester City host Villarreal at the Etihad Stadium on Matchday 3 as Group A in the UEFA Champions League begins to take shape.
Both sides urgently need a win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying from the Champions League’s ‘Group of Death’ and with leading pair Napoli and Bayern Munich battling it out in Naples, their double-header could prove crucial come matchday 6.
After two round of matches City are in third place on 1 point whereas their opponents on Tuesday remain rock bottom with no points from two games.
Poor form on behalf of the Spanish outfit whilst in squad unrest (and the Carlos Tevez saga) have hampered both teams on the continent this season, although both sets of players know that a win will go a long way towards readdressing the precarious qualification situation they face.
The significance of this match has not been lost on anybody not least City’s best player this year David Silva who stressed the importance of gaining all three points.
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