EURO 2008 PREVIEW SPECIAL: GROUP B TEAM PHOTOS - PART II

SFS continues today with its EURO 2008 preview special of the 4 groups,
with their respective teams & their photos. Today SFS previews GROUP
B: Austria, Croatia, Germanay & Poland.
Yesterday we previewed Group A (see the below posts) & tomorrow SFS
will continue with Group C.

(European Nations Cup)









GROUP B:
The teams that will play in this group are Austria, Croatia, Germany &
Poland. Beforehand, Germany & Croatia look favourites to finish in the
top 2 positions & move onto the Q/Finals. However, Poland have surprised
many with their play & Austria with the home advantage may find some
inspiration.


















AUSTRIA: Co-hosts ( along with Switzerland) have not needed to play
the qualification stage to get here; this could be a mayor handicap.
However, they are hosts & have the home advantage, which may hinder
the progress of the other group teams & surprise.


















CROATIA: One of the group favourite teams with talented players that
left out England in its qualifying group. Only negative point is their
inconsistency & mental strenght.


















GERMANY: Strong, organized & historically in line as favourites of
the group & the tournament itself. Not really bothered in their qualifying
games & will be hard to knock out.



















POLAND: Surprise & revelation in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Quick &
with an attacking based mentality, they will be dangerous & could
threaten the aspirations of the favourites within their group.

TOMORROW: SFS continues with its Euro 2008 Preview Special
with Part III: Group C: Holland, Italy, Rumania & France.

Special thanks to "as" for team photos Tweet

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SPANISH CUP: SEVILLA 1 - FC BARCELONA 1 - 1º LEG VIDEO HIGHLIGHT

See all the results, scorers & images of yesterday´s SPANISH CUP games on
the below post.

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SPANISH CUP 2008 - LAST 16 TEAMS: 1º LEG WEDNESDAY GAMES

The last 16 teams, 12 of them tonight, left in the SPANISH CUP have began
their 1º leg games with interesting & varying results. Here´s is a summary
of results, scorers & images.


















VALENCIA FC managed a valuable away win thanks to the 2º goals from
Ex-Betis player JOAQUIN (pictured above) who gave his team Valencia a
1-2 victory over REAL BETIS. Betis managed to pull one back thanks to
PAVONE in the 47th min.
















Shock result as RECREATIVO defeated VILLAREAL 1-0 thanks to
the goal from M.CACERES in the 2nd min of play. Recreativo managed
to keep at bay Villareal for the rest of the 88 mins of play left. Great
job!
























REAL ZARAGOZA was going well after OLIVEIRA ( pictured above)
scored in the 21st min. However, a penalty was awarded late in the 2º
half to RACING who scored thanks to GARAY in the 74th min . Final
result: 1-1

GETAFE do well in the Spanish Cup & defeated LEVANTE 3-0

with goals from ALBIN from a free kick, CASQUERO & PABLO
HERNANDEZ. Getafe are virtually assured a pass into the Q/F, if

nothing strange happens, of course.

ATHLETIC DE BILBAO played better but only managed a 1-1 draw

to in-form team ESPANYOL. The scorers were SORIANO in the 68th

min for Espanyol & SUSAETA in the 74th for Bilbao.

SEVILLA FC & FC BARCELONA finished the match with a 1-1

draw with goals from THIERRY HENRY in the 24th min for Barça &
CHAPEL in the 43rd for Sevilla. The 2º leg will be the big decider.

Tomorrow the last 2 games corresponding to the 1º leg will be played

between: At.Madrid & Valladolid / Mallorca & Real Madrid.

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REAL MADRID NEWS: VAN NISTELROOY RENEWS CONTRACT 2 MORE YEARS

News out of the "White House" ( Real Madrid HQ) is that its contract
with its Dutch International & forward VAN NISTELROOY has been
renewed & extended 2º more years until the 2009/10 season.

Van Nistelrooy will celebrate his 32nd birthday on the 1st of July & will
be with REAL MADRID until his 34th birthday at least. Real are very
happy to keep the Dutchmen who was due to finish contract this season,
after being the Spanish 1º Division Top goal scorer last season & now
with his 9º goals for the current season.

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EURO 2008 PREVIEW SPECIAL: GROUP A TEAMS PHOTOS - PART I

SFS has been receiving an increasing number of emails by its readers
requesting information on the teams ( specially the team photos) that
will participate in this years EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP hosted
jointly by Austria & Switzerland.

As we all know, there will be 16 teams that will play in order to attempt
to win & gain the European Cup & Title.There are 4ºgroups ( A, B, C, D)
that have all the teams grouped for the initial stage.

(European Nations Cup)

SFS begins today a PREVIEW of each Group (1º per day), starting today
with A. The aim is to satisfy its readers desires to see & have the photos of
the participating teams.

GROUP A:
The teams that will play in this group are Portugal, Chec. Rep, Switzerland
& Turkey.Beforehand, the favourites look on paper to be the Chec.Rep &
Portugal, as the two teams that will qualify for the next stage
( the Q/Finals) against the two winners of the other groups. However,
never underestimate Turkey, nor Switzerland who is joint host & will have
the local support.

PORTUGAL: Finished 2º in their qualifying Group. They have a line

up of autentic stars that caress the ball with a high level of skill. Only
handicap is their character that fades at times.

CHEC REP: Finished 1º in their Group & are favourites to finish on top
of Group A. Powerfull outfit with great physical endurance that will make

them hard to beat.

SWITZERLAND: Co-joint hosts, have not played in qualifiers to get to
their finals, this maybe a handicap. However, they have the home

advantage & local support that could give them wings.

TURKEY: Finished 2º in their Group that had eternal rival Greece,

where the latter finished on top. Skillfull team with great players

that need more consistency if they are to be a real threat.

TOMORROW: SFS continues with its Euro 2008 Preview Special with
Part II: Group B - Austria, Croatia,Germany & Poland.

Special thanks to "AS" for the team photos.

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REAL MADRID TRANSFER RUMOURS 2008: KARIM BENZAMA

Speculation continues about REAL MADRID´s interest in signning

young 20 year old French International & LYON forward KARIM

BENZAMA.

News this time comes from French press & from local Barcelona based

daily "Sport". According to both, Real Madrid is already talking to player

& his Club about the possibilty of getting the player over to Madrid for next

season. The rumour is that Real Madrid has put on the table 35M€.
Negotiations will be tough, as the player has contract until 2012 & the club

will want to get the most out of its star. Stay tuned!

*SFS thanks "Mundo Deportivo" for RM header.

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SEVILLA FC: BEST TEAM FOR 2007 ACCORDING TO THE IFFHS

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics
(IFFHS) has released its list of the "Best Teams for 2007"
with Spanish team SEVILLA FC being named the BEST
TEAM FOR 2007. It´s the 2º time in a row that Sevilla picks
ups the honour, according to the "statistics & co-efficients"
used by the organization.

FC BARCELONA finished in 11th place for 2007.

Here is the full list of teams:
CLASSIFICATION FOR 2007:

1. Sevilla 306 pts.
2. Manchester United 281 pts.
3. AC Milan 280 pts.
4. Chelsea 277 pts.
5. Santos 254 pts.
6. Boca Juniors 252 pts.
7. Inter de Milán 236 pts.
8. Liverpool 231 pts.
9. AS Roma 229 pts.
10. CF América Ciudad de México 222,5 pts.
11. FC Barcelona 216 pts.
.../... other Spanish teams on the list,
19. Real Madrid 190 pts.
32. RCD Espanyol 172 pts.
37. Valencia 167 pts.
38. Villarreal 164 pts.
45. Getafe 158 pts.
48. Osasuna 154 pts.

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UEFA LIST: THE BEST EUROPEAN PLAYERS IN THE LAST 50 YEARS

UEFA has invited the 16 participating EURO CUP 2008 Nations ( via
their Federation) to hand in their "Best all time player " in the last 50
years for their country.
As all shut lists, this will cuase plenty of debate, as it may not conform
will all opinions. However, here is the list of the final 16 names that make
up UEFA´s 16º Best players in the last 50 years.

(Alfredo Di Stefano for Spain)















SPAIN: Alfredo Di Stefano.
Played 31 games & scored 23 goals.

GREECE: Hatzipanago.

SWEDEN: Larrson.

RUMANIA: Hagi.

GERMANY: Fritz Walter

FRANCIA: Fontaine

PORTUGAL: Eusebio.

HOLLAND: Johan Cruyff.

SWITZERLAND: Chapuisat.

AUSTRIA: Prohaska.

ITALY: Dino Zoff.

RUSSIA: Yashin.

TURKEY: Sukur.

CROATIA: Davor Suker.

CHEC REP.: Masopust.

POLAND: Lubanski.

Names missing that come to mind are Franz Beckenbauer & Zidane.

Any opinion on the given list that you can see on

http://www.uefa.com?

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SPANISH FOOTBALL: "WINTER TRANSFER MARKET" 2008 GOSSIP

According to local daily "as", ATLETICO DE MADRID midfielder
MANICHE ( pictured below) is on the verge of leaving the club within
hours to join Italian club INTER MILAN in form of a loan until the
end of the season.
The wandering & controversial Portugues International has fallen out
of favour at Atletico & has been "parted" by his coach after continual
undisciplined behaviour.














News from "as" also mentions that English Premier Clubs CHELSEA
& TOTTENHAM have put up offers for REAL MADRID veteran defender
MICHEL SALGADO. In the case of Chelsea, they look for an experienced
& proven defender to fill in the gaps left by the exodus of its African
Internationals to the "African Cup" & injuries to key defenders that include
Captain Therry.
The only hurdle for both clubs could be the players salary.
























Lastly, according to Turkish TV , "NTV", BESIKTAS may have
come to an agreement with DEPORTIVO defender & Argentine
International FABRICIO COLOCCINI. The only thing now needed
is Deportivo´s OK who ask for 6M€, while Besiktas wishes to pay
less than that figure.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 18/2008 SUNDAY RESULTS

Exciting games played today in Round 18 of "La Liga".Here
is the summary of the scores, the scorers & imagines to keep
you updated.














DEPORTIVO played host to ATLETICO DE MADRID &
were beaten 0-3 in 30mins of brilliant Atletico play that puts
Atletico back into Champions League position on the table
(4th).
DIEGO FORLAN ( pictured above) started the ball rolling with
his goal in the 39th min. Then SERGIO AGUERO put in the second
goal after fabulous individual play ( see picture below) in the
52nd min, to later have JURADO header in the third in the 64th
min.















RECREATIVO & ALMERIA played a 1-1 draw with goals
from PONGOLLE in the 13th min for Recreativo & MANE
in the 19th for Almeria.

VALLADOLID managed an important 0-3 victory away at
GETAFE ( see them celebrating below) with two goals from
veteran midfielder DORADO & RUBIO

REAL MURCIA won OSASUNA 2-0 late in the game

with goals in the 72th min from GOTTOM & in the

92th min thanks to ABEL. Murcia are seen below celebrating

one of their 2 goals

Slim victory for RACING over ATHLETIC DE BILBAO

by the solitary goal from TCHITE in the 42min. Bilbao

were down to 10 men after Ustaritz received a Red Card.

REAL MADRID maintain the classification leadership

after defeating 2-0 REAL ZARAGOZA. However, the scoreline

is deceiving, because Zaragoza dominated the game, but sinned

by not taking its chances. Difficult if Real Madrid keeper
(below) stopped everything - up to 9 clear occasions - &

guarenteed the victory for Real.

However, Real Madrid just needs a few minutes to turn

a game around & "kill" you with a few plays.
Robinho did his magic a put a ball on the head of
VAN NISTELROOY in the 65th min to give Real its first

goal.

Then in the 76th min ROBINHO took all the wind out of
the Zaragoza sail with his individual play to drive home his
teams 2º goal & seal the 3 points for the team.

VALENCIA CF continue in trouble after drawing

0-0 against last placed LEVANTE. Not a good sign at

all for Valencia.

Lastly the DERBY between SEVILLA FC - REAL BETIS

finished 3-0 in Sevilla´s favour with two goals from LUIS
FABIANO in the 25th & 41st min & DANI ALVES in the

62nd min.

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FC BARCELONA NEWS: GIOVANI WANTED FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE

Its news here locally, as it is in England via the daily "The
Sun", that 18 year old Mexican promise & FC BARCELONA
forward GIOVANI has plenty of serious admirers in the
"Premier League".





















Concretely the clubs mentioned are none other than
MANCHESTER UTD, CHELSEA FC & TOTTENHAM.
Of the three only Chelsea & Tottenham have put up offers:
13M€ by Chelsea & 9.3M€ by Tottenham.
Independently, the market value of the youngster has been
"calculated" to be 20M€: will the offers increase to this
figure? Will Barça sell? Stay tuned! Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL: VIDEO HIGHLIGHT OF MALLORCA - FC BARCELONA & ESPANYOL - VILLAREAL 2008

Here is the VIDEO highlight of yesterdays two games
played of Round 18, in case you missed the goals.



Excuse the no-image of Barça´s 1º goal by Marquez. Its
the only video up on the net that has both games summarized
in a handy quick manner. However, do check out Eto´o´s
goal & Valdo´s goal for Espanyol. Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 18/2008 SATURDAY RESULTS

Two games played tonight in Round 18 of the Spanish 1º
Division.
























MALLORCA hosted FC BARCELONA & lost 0-2 with goals
from RAFAEL MARQUEZ in the 62nd min & SAMUEL
ETO¨O in the last moment of the game. This win for Barça
was vital for their confidence & to keep them in touch with
classification leaders Real Madrid.
























ESPANYOL again showed why its the "revelation" side
after defeating VILLAREAL 3-0. This win puts Espanyol
3º on the ladder & only 1ºpoint behind FC Barcelona who
are in the 2º position.
Espanyol put in a brilliant first half to score its 3 goals, thanks
to its rejuvenated Captain TAMUDO who scored twice ( 8th
& 35rd min) & VALDO who scored in the 13th min. Villareal
bettered in the 2ºhalf with Rossi hitting the post from a free
kick, but the damage was already done in the first 45 mins
by Espanyol.

(Raul Tamudo)
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REAL MADRID NEWS: SAVIOLA TO BOLTON?

Here´s the deal, according to Spanish paper "elmundo".
CHELSEA FC is about to sign Bolton French forward
ANELKA.

OK up till here. In order to fill the gap left by Anelka´s

move to Chelsea, Bolton maybe willing to offer 7M€

to REAL MADRID for its forward JAVIER SAVIOLA.
Stay tuned!

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SPANISH FOOTBALL: WINTER MARKET 2008 TRANSFER GOSSIP

According to English paper the "Daily Mirror" - picked up
here by "Mundo Deportivo" & other sports dailys - CHELSEA
FC has been authorized by its owner to get into the "Winter
Transfer market" & "get" star players. The amount of cash
available is 80M€, & VALENCIA CF forward DAVID VILLA
& SEVILLA FC defender DANI ALVES are some of the prime
objectives.
Lets remember that Villa has been sounding at Chelsea for
months & Alves was on the verge of signning last year. No
doubt Chelsea will find rivals in other clubs, but as we all
know, money talks most of the time,
SFS will follow the developments!














ATLETICO DE MADRID Portugues midfielder MANICHE
is having a difficult time at his club, due to his undisciplined
behaviour which has cost him his place on the team. In fact,
coach Aguirre looks like he will part Maniche for a long time,
& may never get back on the team.





















This has opened the door for the player to be transferred &
INTER MILAN maybe his next new club, if speculation
about its interest are true. Tweet

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SPANISH CUP: THURSDAY MATCH RESULTS

Quick news on the two games played tonight, that takes
the winners into the last 16 teams of the SPANISH CUP.
See results below, the team in black goes through into the
next round:

Zaragoza 3 (Milito;Oliveira;Sergio) - Pontevedra 1
(igor)

Almeria 1 ( Pulido) - Levante 1 (Alvaro) . Alvaro the
saviour with his goal in the 95th min. Tweet

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VALENCIA CF & FC BARCELONA TRANSFER NEWS 2008

The "Winter Transfer Market" is officially open & we already have
news of a transfer by VALENCIA CF. Its official, BOCA JUNIOR
19 year old midfielder EVER BENAGA ( pictured below) is a new
player of Valencia CF at a price of 18M€ & will sign a 5 year contract.
The player will be in Spain next Saturday & will be immediately at the
orders of coach Koeman.




















According to Italian paper "La Gazzeta", AC MILAN has received a
firm NO from FC BARCELONA in regards to transfering its star
forward RONALDINHO.
Good news for Barcelona fans, but it´s on the cards that if its a NO
today, it may well be a YES at the end of the season. Ronaldihno
needs an outstanding 2º round in "La Liga" & Barça to win a title,
or else it will be goodbye.

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SPANISH CUP: GUTI´s GOAL SAVES REAL MADRID AGAINST ALICANTE - SEE VIDEO

REAL MADRID won 2-1 ALICANTE in yesterdays SPANISH CUP
2º leg ( last 32 teams) clash. However, it was GUTI´s impressive goal
in the last minute that saved his team & put them into the last 16 teams
stage.
Due to a few requests from SFS readers, here is the Guti goal on VIDEO.
It´s a great goal indeed!



Excuse the music. All the available videos had the same audio. Tweet

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SPANISH CUP 2008 - LAST 32 TEAMS WEDNESDAY RESULTS

Tough games tonight, all 14 of them in the SPANISH CUP that shook
the big teams & put some hearts on hold. Tomorrow the last 2 games
will be played. Here are the results with the goalscorers, the team in
black is the outfit that qualifies. See also the below post for the 1º leg
results, if interested.

(Arjen Robben scored one of Real Madrid´s goals)
















Real Madrid 2 ( Robben; Guti) - Alicante 1 ( Borja) . Guti saves in the
last minute
Getafe 4 ( Uche 2; De La Red; Gavilan) - Burgos 1 ( Garrido)
Murcia 2 ( Richi;Iñigo) - Valladolid 3 ( Ogabeche;Camacho;Estoyanoff)
Sevilla 4 ( Fabiano;Fazio;Chevanton;Kanoute) - Denia 3 ( Jaime;Gregory;
Migue)
Recreativo 1 (Martins) - Jerez 1 (Antoñito)

(Rossi cameback with a goal in Villareal´s victory)



















Villareal 2 ( Rossi; G.Franco) - Las Palmas 1 ( Suarez)
Betis 3 (Xisco;Gonzalez;Edu) - Elche 0
Racing 2 ( Bolado; Carpintero o.g) - Malaga 0
At. Madrid 1 ( Mista) - Granada 74 1 ( Aranda)
Fc Barcelona 2 ( Esquerro 2) - Alcoyano 2 (Perona;Arnau)

(Barça scrapped through thanks to the 2ºgoals from Esquerro)























Mallorca 4 ( Arango;Guiza 2;Navarro) - Osasuna 0
Deportivo 1 ( Sergio) - Espanyol 2 ( L.Garcia; Tamudo)
Valencia 3 (Zigic;Joaquin 2 ) - Real Union 0
At.Bilbao 2 (David Lopez; Aduriz) - Hercules 0

Tomorrow´s games:
Zaragoza - Pontevedra
Almeria - Levante Tweet

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SPANISH CUP: LAST 32 TEAMS - 2º LEG MATCHES 2008

The SPANISH CUP returns tonight – last 32 teams - with the 2º leg games.
All matches will be played tonight, except two to be played tomorrow.

(Alicante - Real Madrid: 1º leg with a 1-1 result)

SPANISH CUP - 2º leg fixture ( with 1º leg result):

1 - 1 ( 1º leg result)
ALICANTE - R. MADRID
Wed-20:00
1 - 1 ( 1º leg result)
ESPANYOL - DEPORTIVO
Wed-21:00
1 - 2 (1ºleg)
REAL UNIÓN - VALENCIA
Wed-22:00
0 - 1 (1º leg)
BURGOS - GETAFE
Wed-17:00
1 - 2 (1º leg)
GRANADA 74 - ATLÉTICO
Wed-21:00
1 - 1 (1º leg)
ELCHE - BETIS
Wed-21:00
2 - 0 (1º leg)
OSASUNA - MALLORCA
Wed-21:30
2 - 1 (1º leg)
LEVANTE - ALMERÍA
Thur-20:30
2 - 4 (1º leg)
LAS PALMAS - VILLARREAL
Wed-20:00
1 - 1 (1º leg)
DENIA - SEVILLA
Wed-21:00
0 - 3 (1º leg)
ALCOYANO - BARCELONA
Wed-18:00
2 - 2 (1º leg)
HÉRCULES - ATHLETIC
Wed-22:00
1 - 1 (1º leg)
VALLADOLID - MURCIA
Wed-20:45
1 - 0 (1º leg)
PONTEVEDRA - ZARAGOZA
Wed-21:00
0 - 0 (1º leg)
MÁLAGA - RACING
Wed-21:00
0 - 1 (1º leg)
XEREZ - RECREATIVO
Wed-20:45

Surf into SFS late tonight for details of results, scorers & images

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REAL MADRID GOSSIP. SERGIO RAMOS IN FASHION AT MILAN

It´s no secret that AC MILAN need to renew their team with new

"blood" as Maldini, Cafu & Seedorf ( just to say a few) are, &
getting on in age.

AC MILAN directives look at the International market & see in
SERGIO RAMOS from REAL MADRID as the perfect addition to
their future proyect. Sergio Ramos is a very young player who is
having an exceptional season showing diversity ( can play as defensive
wing, central defender or midfielder) & goal at Real Madrid & with
the Spanish National team.

According to "Marca", the Italian giant is keeping a close eye on how
things will develope between Real Madrid & Ramos, as the latter is
asking for a salary raise that could open the door to Milan if negotiations
go sour. Therefore, Milan is preparing a "super offer" in an attempt to
lure Ramos over to Italy.

It is extremely difficult to think or see that the Spaniard will wish to leave
Real Madrid, where he is currently happy & is playing so well. However,
Milan will be in the shadow in case things & events change & a need

to find new opportunities arise for Ramos.

*SFS thanks Mundo deportivo for its R.Madrid header

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UEFA PICKS ITS 10 BEST GOALS FOR THE 1º PHASE OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: SEE VIDEO

UEFA has given its list of top 10 goals for 2007 in the 1º phase of the
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2007. In the Top 10 appears LIONEL MESSI
from Braça with his goal against Lyon, & FERNANDO TORRES with
Liverpool against Olympique of Marseille.
See full list & click the videos at "Mundo Deportivo":
http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/web/gen/20071230/noticia_53422743408.html

However, SFS consideres theses two to be the outstanding goals of the
1º phase of Champions. Enjoy!

Ibrahimovic (INTER MILAN) vs. CSKA


Tarik Sektioui (PORTO) vs Marseille
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