CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | FC BARCELONA - REAL MADRID AWAIT DRAW

Sorry guys,  I was out last night & could not post the Ajax 0 - Real Madrid 3 + Villareal 0 - Napoles 2 Champions League summary.

However found these diagrams of all the Champions League Clubs that go onto the next phase, with the two SPANISH FOOTBALL representatives FC BARCELONA & REAL MADRID. Below are the Clubs that finished first of their Group with those in second place.

courtesy of "AS"

As with most people, big surprise not to see Manchester United, nor Manchester City,  with the latter giving earlier promising signs.

Below is a diagram that show all the Clubs that could be matched with Barça  (Napoles, CSKA, Basilea...) or Real Madrid (Napoles...Milan)

Courtesy of "marca.com"

The next phase draw - match ups - occurs tomorrow with Clubs from the same country & who shared Group not meeting up. That is, not allowed to play together. In any case, all Clubs that have reached this stage are to be taken seriously.

Tomorrow we will know more.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | VILLAREAL 0 MAN CITY 3 | OLYMPIQUE DE LYON 0 REAL MADRID 2

VILLAREAL & REAL MADRID had CHAMPIONS LEAGUE obligations tonight with their respective Group matches. Here are the final results & the scorers.

Villareal - Man City

VILLAREAL hosted MANCHESTER CITY in their Group A match & went down 0 - 3. The Spanish Football Club was very undermanned with half a dozen key players out with injury, but this is not an excuse as Manchester City was a deserved winner.

YAYA TOURE put in two fabulous goals in the 30th & 70th min, with BALOTELLI scoring his goal in the 48th min. Spanish International DAVID SILVA is in sweet form & helped Manchester City in the creativity area, to make us locals realize how much we miss the player in La Liga.

Villareal says goodbye to Champions

CR7

OLYMPIQUE DE LYON went down to REAL MADRID 0 - 2 in their Group D match & gives the latter a secured participation spot in the post-Group phase of Champions League. The match could be basically divided into two; a first half with Real Madrid flowing & overriding Lyon & a second half with Lyon playing better, hitting the bar & making Real goalie Casillas work hard, in fact, to much for what was considered a "fairly" controlled game. 


The two goals came from CRISTIANO RONALDO with the first a free-kick power-driver in the 29th min & via a penalty taken,  as a "cool cucumber",  in the 70th min.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | VIKTORIA 0 FC BARCELONA 4 | VALENCIA CF 3 B.LEVERKUSEN 1

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE night with two SPANISH FOOTBALL representatives doing the job of winning & in the course break some Club, personal & Champions League records. Emotive night for Valencia with their performance, & Barça securing their presence in the next phase of the competition.

Lionel Messi

VIKTORIA PILSEN hosted FC BARCELONA in their Group G game & lost 0 - 4 with one man less on the field. The home team had a great first 20 mins with good counter-attacking Football & missed a sitter which Barça goalie Valdes nicely stopped by the way. Then the Czech "flash in the pan" disappeared as Vitokia defender Cisovsky gave a penalty & was sent off for violent play ( or it seemed ). LIONEL MESSI scored the penalty in the 23rd min to take his Club goal tally to 200 goals,  a personal milestone.


It was then "shut the store door" as Barcelona took control & another goal fell in the +45 min by LIONEL MESSI. At the other end Barça goalie Victor Valdes broke the "Clubs All-Time Historic Record for a Goalkeeper" not being scored when he surpassed the previous 824 minutes mark held by Miguel Reina ( father of current Liverpool goalie Pepe).

CESC FABREGAS got his bit with his goal in the 71st min & LIONEL MESSI notched up another HAT-TRICK with his +90 min goal. Another "signed ball" for the trophy room.

Soldado- Valencia CF

VALENCIA CF had a must win match & managed a "Lazerus" as they defeated BAYERN LEVERKUSEN  3 - 1 in their Group E match, keeping their hopes of staying in the competition still alive. We saw another "record" tonight when Valencia player JONAS scored in the 9th SECOND!,  a "Champions League Record" (although UEFA has said it may not, either way, its damn quick).


This obviously set Valencia on course with high hopes although Bayern managed to equalize via KIESSLING in the 31st min. However, this was a final for Valencia & they played as such with ROBERTO SOLDADO putting the Spanish Football Club ahead again in the 65th min & defender RAMI then securing the victory in the 75th min with his contribution to the night.

Tomorrow more Champions League with Spanish Football Club participation: Real Madrid & Villareal FC, two good games not to miss.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | B LEVERKUSEN 2 VALENCIA CF 1 | FC BARCELONA 2 VIKTORIA PILSEN 0

The last two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs with CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualifying Group match commitments, Valencia CF & FC Barcelona, returned a sweet & sour ( or sour & sweet ) result that I will now go into more detail below with the final results & scorers.

Sam for B.Leverkusen

VALENCIA CF travelled to Germany to play fellow Group E Club BAYERN LEVERKUSEN & finished losing 2 - 1 to virtually shut for the Spanish Football Club the Euro-Champions League door. Valencia started well & looked confident with JONAS scoring in the 24th min, later creating chances ( that they did not get finished ) to set the path for the rest of the game.

But the game-plan crumbled in a space of two minutes in the second half when Leverkusen player  SCHURRLE equalized in the 53rd min & when Valencia was figuring out what had  happened , SAM put Bayern ahead in the 55th min with a nice curved goal. End result, a loss for Valencia.

That´s what happen when you don´t knock-out your opponent when you have him against the ropes. They more than likely recover & return a blinding combination punch!

Iniesta goal

FC BARCELONA hosted VIKTORIA PILSEN in their Group H clash & won 2 - 0 thanks to the goals from INIESTA in the 10th min, which was brilliant with some great individual skills, & DAVID VILLA in the 82nd min.

Barcelona dominated 90 % of the match & didn´t score more because they seemed to be at half gas & attempting to entertain themselves rather than "kill-off" the match. Messi hit the post in the 2º half but sinned tonight of individuality as he attempted to score "his style". Not bad, as it was great to watch, but passing to team-mates would have been more effective.

Barça won & that was their main aim, but they looked off-phase tonight, perhaps it was all too easy.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | MANCHESTER CITY 2 VILLAREAL 1 | REAL MADRID 4 OLYMPIQUE LYON 0

Heads & Tails for the SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs participating tonight in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. Villareal needed to not lose to keep their slim chances of overcoming their Group for possible qualification, while Real Madrid needed a victory to seal their place beyond the Group phase. 

David Silva

VILLAREAL needed to not lose their Group A match against MANCHESTER CITY & it was never going to be easy. However, the door of hope opened for the Spanish Football Club in the 3rd min when CANI put them ahead, & this gave wings to Villareal.

But the Spanish team did not count that luck - or bad luck - was going to visit the stadium & "stick a finger" or two into them (Mourinho style). Villareal played well, very well,  against the odds & put City on the ropes at times. But as the wise say you have to find your luck & Manchester City did so in the 42th min when Spanish defender MARCHENA put in an own goal to allow the home team to equalize. Bad luck for Villareal I hear some say...


The second half saw City go all out, & Villareal ( & goalie Lopez ) stood firm admirably. Until good - or bad - luck again made a visit & in the 93rd min SERGIO AGUERO - maybe off-side perhaps? - scored the winner to the delight of the home crowd & the unbelief from the Spanish players. Final result, 2 - 1 & Villareal knowing that their Euro run end with this Group. Congrats to City!

Benzema

REAL MADRID secured their place beyond the Group phase ( Group D, in fact ) to win comfortably 4 - 0 French Club OLYMPIQUE LYON. Real Madrid Coach Mourinho put on Benzema over Higuian & the Frenchmen scored in the 19th min from a Ronaldo header flick-on. Real Madrid was virtually in control of the whole match with some sporadic threats from Lyon that Casillas & the Madrid defence stopped or the Lyon forwards missed.

The goals came in a steady flow in the second half when Madrid decided to go out & "kill" the game while the French only objective was a draw. With the visitors lack of ambition , Real Madrid took the ball & happy moved things around to their liking.

Khedira

The second goal came in the 47th min when Benzema set up on a platter a ball the KHEDIRA fired home. Then OZIL got into the action with his 55th min goal sneaking the ball under the Lyon keeper. Madrid denfender SERGIO RAMOS got his goal from a Xabi Alonso corner after finding the ball bounce into the path of his power shot in the 81st min. 


They are the official goals, there could have been more had the referee not disallowed a quick free - kick taken goal from Xabi that Benzema scored ( apparently without referee´s whistle blown) & some nice saves by Lyon goalie Lloris.


Overall, a comfortable night at the "Bernabeu" office for Real Madrid, something that would have been unheard off a couple of years back with Lyon.

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THE FOOTBALL COUNTER-ATTACK | CRISTIANO RONALDO - REAL MADRID GOAL AGAINST AJAX IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | VIDEO

Yesterday during the REAL MADRID - AJAX Champions League match we had the chance to all witness a perfect text book example of the use of a "counter-attack" in Football. It occurred around the 23rd min & it all started from defender Sergio Ramos ending up with Cristiano Ronaldo 16 seconds later & goal. Here is the VIDEO:



For the youngsters & the technical profiles here is an image of the build-up:

Quick, sharp, accurate, deadly & poetry in motion. Very difficult to execute but when you have so many talented players in one side it becomes easier, & yes, it gets trained & a lot.
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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | NAPOLES 2 VILLAREAL 0 | REAL MADRID 3 AJAX AMSTERDAM 0

Two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs participated tonight in their respective CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Group matches with mixed end results. Here is a brief summary of events, along with the final results & the scorers.

Napoles scores from penalty

VILLAREAL travelled to Italy to face NAPOLES in their Group A ( "Group of Death") match & lost 2 - 0. Villareal knew beforehand that a victory here was vital for their aspirations & may have suffered from the tension & the nerves. The Italians did the damage,  & the job,  in the first half with goals from HEMSIK in the 13th min & CAVANI in the 16th min via a penalty.

Villareal pulled from pride & managed to play better in the 2º half & claimed a penalty on Nilmar in the 82nd min which was not called. However, the Italians were too Italian & locked the match to their advantage & assured the three points

All uphill for Villareal from now on. 

Kaka scores for Real Madrid

REAL MADRID defeated 3 - 0 AJAX OF AMSTERDAM with deadly counter-attacking play. The news from this match was the big improvement of Brazilian midfielder KAKA who put in his best performance for many months at Real Madrid. The other headline was VARANE who played from the start (ahead of Albiol) & was outstanding,  & Turkish new signing ALTINTOP got a run at the end after months injured from a back operation.

AJAX played their best Football the first 25 minutes forcing Real Madrid goalie Casillas to pull two great saves to avoid his team getting behind. But the Dutch slowing lost steam & in a deadly counter-attack on speed & one touch combination Football CRISTIANO RONALDO finally riffled the first in the 25th min.  Then just before the end of the first half a combination play with CR7 set up KAKA & allowed the latter to place the ball in the 41st min for the second goal. The Brazilian was ecstatic as he began to once again feel the "flow" & the importance of being a Top Football player. BENZEMA scored the third in the 48th min & it was precisely thanks to a Kaka set-up. From here the match lost intensity as changes began from both sides. Benzema went off with a pull groin muscle complaint that will have to see what are the results. Ajax admirably did not put the head down & managed to force Casillas to make another top save mid way & kept battling . 

As mentioned above, Real Madrid Turkish signing ALTINTOP came on for the last 15 minutes to his & the crowds delight as he begins his full recovery & aim to get back at playing Football

Tomorrow more Spanish Football Clubs in Champions League action:
FC Barcelona (Bate) & Valencia CF (Chelsea FC)

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2011 - 2012 GROUPS DRAW | LIONEL MESSI AWARDED UEFA BEST PLAYER IN EUROPE

The Top European Football Clubs - along with the four Top Spanish Football Clubs - have been drawn in Groups for the upcoming UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE season 2011 - 2012 competition. The most notable observation is Group A where VILLAREAL has been drawn in a "killer" group which beforehand is the most difficult of all the Spanish teams. REAL MADRID is in Group D & repeats with Lyon & Ajax, while VALENCIA CF  in Group E has Chelsea FC & will meet up with ex player just transferred to the English Club Juan Mata,  & FC BARCELONA is in Group H & should be relatively happy with the draw.

courtesy of sportyou.es

Straight  after the European Club Groups draw for Champions the voting by 53 European journalists (Live) was celebrated with three candidates up for the inaugural "UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 2010 - 2011". The journalists had to give their winners vote to either Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Fc Barcelona) & Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) with the final outcome not surprising anyone as it was given to LIONEL MESSI.

Lionel Messi 2011 - courtesy as.com

This new personal Award makes the Barça & Argentine International "hot favourite" candidate to given next January the "FIFA World Player - Golden Ball" which would be his 3rd if actually awarded. There is ( & cannot be ) any doubt that Messi deserved totally to win the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award tonight, congratulations!

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