Dortmund - Real Madrid, Barcelona - Bayern Munich in the semi finals of the Champions League

What a semi finals we have this year (2013) in the Champions League: Real Madrid will play in Germany in the first leg (24.4) against Dortmund and one day before, Bayern Munich will play with the Messi and his friends in Munich. 

The match between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, would be a great opportunity to watch in Pep Guardiola's new team next season. Those teams met in the past 4 years ago in the quarter finals, then Barcelona won in its way to the win of the cup.

The new transfer of Alex Ferguson: Shinji Kagawa

Manchester United have agreed a deal around £12m to sign Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. The 23-year-old Japanese needs to pass a medical and obtain a UK work permit, this will be completed by the end of June.

Shinji Kagawa is celebrating a goal

Have a look at the performance of Shinji Kagawa in the following video:

Aris Thessaloniki

What do you know about Aris Thessaloniki from Greece?
I always look into interesting details about football clubs around the world in order to find out more facts. This time I will give you details about Aris Thessaloniki from Greece:

• Founded on 25 March 1914.
• Aris = Ares - god of war.
• The club board has decided in 2006 to create an organization called "Aris Friends' club" to give to the fans of Aris to participate in management by buying no par value shares.

Alan Sherar and Capello resignment

 
Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team. He is widely considered as one of England's best ever strikers, being both Newcastle's and the Premier League's record goalscorer.

On his senior career he has scored 283 goals and 30 goals in England national team. Shearar said: "Just because Capello's gone and a new one, it's not all rosy. England will probably not win the Euros". "If we can use that [Euro 2012] as a stepping stone for the new manager to feel his way in, to do very well, to get a feelgood factor right, then look to Rio two years after that. That can be the test for us."

Manchester United against Liverpool

Javier Hernandez from Manchester United: "You know in your mind it's Liverpool and it doesn't matter where the teams are in the league, you want to win"
"In Mexico we know about the rivalry. Across the world everybody knows about the history of the two teams," he said.

The Champions League Continues

Lyon VS Apoel

Apoel was definitely the wild card in the group stage. With FC Porto, Zenit, and Shacktar Donetzk in their draw they really had their work set out for them. Coming out top of that group was quite an achievement, but as we move forward, the competition gets fiercer as the prize becomes within reach. Lyon hasn’t had a great Champions League campaign so far. They’re a strong team, but they haven’t been showing it, giving Madrid a couple of easy wins and barely pushing past Ajax. Will they shape up or will Apoel create another surprise victory as underdogs?

Leverkusen VS Barcelona

Barcelona are of course heavy favourites in this match and Leverkusen will have a tough time threatening the defending champions. A win is fairly predictable for the Catalans, but the Germans will definitely make them work hard for it and could produce an upset if Ballack is fed some good passes near the goal. Leverkusen, however, has also been a bit flaky with regards to defense despite having the talented Bernd Leno guarding their goal line very convincingly. Presenting Barca with anything but a solid wall will prove to be very dangerous for the German side.

Zenit VS Benfica

Zenit comes into this game with a pretty distinct disadvantage – they haven’t been playing matches. The Russian league is on a break and that means that they’ll not be as warmed up as they usually are. On the other side of the field we have Benfica who have been playing brilliantly. Holding Manchester United to draws was what put them out of the running so it’s no wonder that the Portuguese side is the favourite in this clash.

Milan VS Arsenal

Arsenal will be playing the first leg of this battle away although considering their very successful track record in Italy they are not likely to be too intimidated by this. The renowned Robin Van Persie will be expected to bring some of the goal-scoring magic that he usually does although with the Gunners’ problematic Premier League campaign and an unimpressive defense-line in this competition, it can’t all be left up to RvP to sort out. Milan on the other hand have Ibrahimovic, Boateng, and Robinho, as well as an overall quite experienced team making them clear favourites for this match.

Africa Cup of Nations final kick-off delayed

 

The final, between Zambia and Ivory Coast in Libreville, had been due to start at 19:00 GMT, but has now delayed to 19:30 GMT due to logistical reasons. The organisers of the tournament said on Wednesday that 70% of tickets have sold out for the final event in the Gabonese capital on Sunday.

Zambia will be third time in the final, trying to win their first Nations Cup title. Ivory Coast will try to win their second continental title, 20 years after their last triumph against Ghana.  

David Ginola had an injury during skiing

David Ginola, the former Newcastle, Tottenham and France winger (1995-2002), broke five ribs and suffered injuries to his neck and collarbone while skiing in the French Alps. The retired footballer, was forced to wait in the gathering dark for an hour-and-a-half while an air ambulance located him.

"He is feeling very sore. We just have to wait to assess some damage. He is going to get better because he does not spend too much time feeling sorry for himself" said Ginola's friend.

Brendan Rodgers signs new Swansea City deal

Brendan Rodgers has joined to The Swans in July 2010 and now he has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Liberty Stadium until summer 2015.

Rodgers: "I'm delighted to sign the new deal. I've been very pleased with my work over the last 19 months".

"I can only promise that over the next 3 and a half years I will continue to fight for the club and its people to help us become a sustainable Premier League club".

Zambia 1-0 Ghana

Zambia shocked Ghana and earn a place in the Africa Cup of Nations Final after 1:0 win (Emmanuel Mayuka). The Chipolopolo have never won the Africa Cup of Nations, but they were two times runners up.

Blackpool on the road to Wembley?

Blackpool beat Sheffield Wednesday 3:0 and secure their place in the next round of the FA cup. Mat Phillips (7), Lomana LuaLua (14) and Ludovic Sylvestre (54) scored and send The Seasiders to a battle against Everton in the FA cup fifth-round.

 Sheffield Wednesday boss Gary Megson:  "It's obviously disappointing. It's nowhere near where we can play in and out of possession and we got a footballing lesson. I thought we were a yard short during the game and once they got the ball, they passed through us.

"If we have any pretensions of playing in the Championship, that's the sort of team we are going to play against week in week out."

 Blackpool boss Ian Holloway:  "I'm delighted with the lads, it was absolutely terrific and very professional from the off. It's not my main team, but my squad are growing, they understand what we are trying to do.

"That's as complete a performance as I've seen from Matt Phillips tonight. He attacked and did his defensive duties and he's English, and you seem to get more [money] for English players don't you?"

Manchester United VS Liverpool

A match-up fueled by a rivalry that was recently re-ignited with the Evra-Suarez incident, this game will be an interesting one. Manchester United proved their mental strength in their last game against Chelsea, showing that they’re not just an outfit of extremely expensive players who can’t be moved from their comfort zone.

Coming back from what could have been an embarrassing result of 3-0, United drew deep to equalize with 3 goals. Some have argued that the two Roonie penalties were perhaps not rightly awarded, but at the end of the day, bad decisions go both ways and United was definitely applying the type of pressure that will eventually bring goals through penalties or otherwise.

The last Premier League game between these two teams ended in a 1-1 draw, but in the FA Cup match-up Liverpool overcame the Red Devils chalking up a satisfying 2-1 victory thanks to a late Dirk Kuyt winning strike. Both teams are hungry for the points. United will be looking to challenge City in the rankings while Liverpool are running out of time if they’re to somehow forge their way into the top four. Motivation will not be an issue.

Liverpool are the underdogs although they will have Suarez back on the field having completed his ban of eight games. Will favorites Manchester United build upon the confidence they created with their performance against Chelsea?

El Clasico – The Drama Continues…

In the first leg of two, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in a typically charged El Clasico matchup, this time played as a Copa Del Rey fixture. The game provided the usual suspense and drama that we’ve come to expect from these rivals although the El Clasico has become a pretty frequent occurrence and with Barcelona constantly a convincing favorite, some have begun to argue that it’s starting to lose a bit of the twinkle it once had.

Christiano Ronaldo provided a positive start for Madrid by putting his team’s first shot on goal in the back of the net. Some uninspired defending by Pique and a slow reaction from Pinto let the man from Portugal put Madrid in the lead, but that goal would provide only a little compensation for what was to come.

Barcelona dominated the game, and if Messi wouldn’t have been as quiet as he was, the final result would have probably been far more devastating.
Madrid held on to their 1-0 lead until the beginning of the second half when Barcelona equalized through an impressive goal from Puyol who charged into the box unchecked to head in a corner.
Driving in the decider, it was Abidal with an unexpected tap-in off a lovely pass flicked over the Real Madrid defense line by Messi. The Bernabeu crowd was far from chuffed.
And so ended yet another Barca triumph…
Will the second leg be played out differently? And if not, could we see a Real Madrid team as Copa Del Rey champions, but without having defeated their arch rivals the entire season?

Inter - Juventus in Serie a

Two giants of Italian football collide as Claudio Rainieri's Inter welcome the Old Lady to the San Siro. While the men from Milan continue to underperform this season, the most successful side in Italian football have finally started to show signs of former glories with an impressive start, which sees them still unbeaten as we reach week nine.

These two could hardly be further apart at present and three managers in the past year tells you all you need to know about Internazionale. It wasn't so long ago that the black and blues were the top team in Europe and with a squad list including stars like Sneider, Zanetti and Maicon it's hard to see how they have managed such a dreadful start. Five games was all Gasperini was allowed before the axe came down after recording one draw and four defeats. Stability and improvement was needed and former Juve boss Rainieri was assigned to halt the sinking ship. Fans could be forgiven for thinking it wasn't the best idea to appoint a man known by the nickname “the tinker man”, due to his constant chopping and changing of personnel, and to date results have not improved significantly enough to say the appointment was the wisest.

Meanwhile, over in Turin, Juventus have started the season like a team intent on returning back to the top of the pile, including a fine 2-0 win over champions AC Milan. Former player Antonio Conte has brought a solid workman-like mentally back to the team and, coupled with standout performances from Claudio Marchisio and Simone Pepe, they have been in top spot more often than not since the season started in September. Inter should provide a tough test to the emerging bianconeri, but, having been as predictable as the British weather so far this season, nobody quite knows which Inter team will turn out come 7:45 on Saturday evening.

Will Inter make it back to back home wins for the first time since May? Can Juve extend their unbeaten start to the season? 

Chelsea - Arsenal in the premier league

One of the Premier League's marquee games hits our screens for the early kick off this Saturday afternoon as Arsenal head to West London, looking to end a sequence of results that has not seen them claim victory at the home of their rivals since November 2008. Stats lovers beware, with 9 games gone so far this season, these sides sit 1st and 2nd in the foul play table with 42 yellows and 6 reds between them. Friendly it isn't and all eyes will be on Stamford Bridge come 12:45.

A summer of limited activity has seen new boss Andre Villas-Boas bring his own unique style and enthusiasm to what many see as an aging Chelsea team. Fernando Torres seems to have finally rediscovered the form that made him one of the top marksmen in Europe and Frank Lampard has been proving his critics wrong and continuing to do what he does best. Indiscipline seems to be a big problem right now however, with six yellows and two reds being shown last week alone. Recent years have shown Chelsea excel in this type of game but the lack of discipline shown this season (making them the worst in the league) will be sure to give the Chelsea boss cause for concern as one of the more ill tempered games of the season draws near.

If running a tight ship and making sure you have a wallet full of money is your game then Arsenal are the team to be. While out ransacking the bargain boutique this summer, teams around them have gone out and spent big money in their quests for Premiership glory. Losing Fabregas and Nasri will affect any team and, while reinforcements were brought in, the transfer window is now a good two months behind us and Messrs Arteta, Benayoun and Gervinho are yet to convince that they are the players to take Arsenal to the next level. Luckily for Arsene Wenger he did keep hold of at least one of his superstars in Robin Van Persie, who so far this season has been in blistering form. Keeping him fit is where the hard work really lies.

La Liga – Season Opening Review

The Spanish League's opening games have unleashed a wave of criticism from a number of club owners, journalists, and football fans alike. At Camp Nou, Villareal, with a solid line-up, were demolished 5-0 by Barcelona while Madrid crushed Real Zaragoza 6-0, with Zaragoza hardly even able to try their luck with a shot at Madrid's goal.


The criticism is being led by Seville's president Jose Maria del Nido who has invited representatives from 17 Spanish clubs (obviously excluding Barca and Real) to his club's stadium to discuss how to remedy what he's referred to as a league that currently resembles “a piece of crap”.


The focus is being put on the huge amounts of money that the two superteams are taking from the television revenues that the league generates. Real Madrid and Barcelona currently enjoy about half of the total amount which hovers around the £520 million mark per year.


Critics are mostly blaming this huge difference in income as the reason for this extreme imbalance in La Liga, but is that entirely accurate? Of course it's a huge part of it, but credit has to be given to good management. Money isn't enough to build up a great club. This has been proven countless times before in leagues all over the world. If the television revenues are indeed being divided unfairly then this should be analysed and changes should be made accordingly, but we must remember that it's also a natural occurrence for some teams to be more successful than others.


Comparing the Spanish League to the English Premier League also puts things into perspective. Let's go back to 1991. Since then, La Liga has had 5 different teams as champions, but if we look at the English Premier League, we only get 4 teams. Should we be discussing the imbalance in the EPL?

English Premier League – Transfer news and match round-up

It was a pretty dramatic week for the English Premier League with some surprising match results and lots of hype surrounding the final signings squeezed in before the transfer deadline.

Manchester United + Arsenal = Abuse!
Manchester United's thrashing of Arsenal 8-2 sent ripples through the football world as Wayne Rooney racked up an inspiring hat-trick. Not only will Arsenal have to step up their game with adrenaline shots to the heart, but psychologically they now how have a huge hurdle to overcome.

Manchester City vs Tottenham
Another big result was Manchester City's victory over Tottenham 5-1 leaving the Hotspurs at the bottom of the table, pointless after playing two games. Both Manchester teams now have three consecutive wins under their belts.

Newcastle vs Fulham
Newcastle is enjoying a solid start to the season. They topped Fulham 2-1 thanks to two goals by Leon Best.

Queens Park Rangers vs Wigan
Franco Di Santo scored twice in Wigan Athletic's home game against QPR, leading the team to a 2-1 victory.

Last Minute Shopping
This week's transfer deadline led to a lot of interesting signings, some for the better and others arguably for the worse. Here's a short summary of some of the significant buys that took place this week...


Cesc Fabregas: Arsenal to Barcelona for around £30 million
Stewart Downing: Aston Villa to Liverpool for £20 million
Samir Nasri: Arsenal to Manchester City for £26 million
David de Gea: Atletico Madrid to Manchester United for £18 million
Juan Mata: Valencia to Chelsea for £23.5 million
Sergio Aguero: Atletico Madrid to Manchester City for £38 million
Mikel Arteta: Everton to Arsenal for £10 million
Yossi Benayoun: Chelsea to Arsenal
Craig Bellamy: Manchester City to Liverpool
Owen Hargreaves: Manchester United to Manchester City
Scott Dann: Birmingham to Blackburn
Scott Parker: West Ham to Tottenham for £5 million
Phil Jones: Blackburn to Manchester United
Ashley Young: Aston Villa to Manchester United for £17 million
Charlie Adam: Blackpool to Liverpool
Gervinho: Lille to Arsenal for £10 million
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain: Southampton to Arsenal for £12 million
Peter Mertesacker: Werder Bremen to Arsenal for £9 million

Drogba hurt as Chelsea beats Norwich

Chelsea avoided an early blow to their Barclays Premier League title hopes but lost Didier Drogba to a sickening injury as they struck late again to beat 10-man Norwich 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

The Canaries looked set to stun the Blues when Grant Holt pounced on a horrible error from Hilario to equalise and Drogba appeared to be knocked unconscious in an aerial challenge with Goalkeeper John Ruddy.But Frank Lampard blasted home from the penalty spot after Ruddy was sent off for bringing down Ramires and Juan Mata scored on his debut, adding to Jose Bosingwa's first goal for almost three years. Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas and captain John Terry used their programme notes to urge the home fans to get fully behind their team today after some booed them off at half-time against West Brom last week.

But supporters could be forgiven for wanting to see a performance to give them hope Chelsea have what it takes to topple Manchester United as champions this season, something called into question by their opening two displays. Villas-Boas responded by pairing Fernando Torres and Drogba together in what was a 4-4-2 for the first time this season. Possibly expecting a 4-3-3, Norwich began the game with a five-man defence and they duly fell behind inside six minutes.

After allowing Ramires to test Ruddy from 25 yards, they made the same mistake with Bosingwa, who brilliantly found the back of the net via the inside of the post.

Norwich began to settle and should have levelled in the 17th minute when Holt beat the offside trap but was unable to get a touch on Wes Hoolahan's brilliant ball over the top.Chelsea's passing was becoming ragged, although Torres was close to teeing up Drogba as the pair began to demonstrate an understanding that had been lacking in previous outings.

Chris Martin wasted another great chance to equalise, Hoolahan playing him clean through only for Hilario to save before crowding out the forward's rebound attempt and tipping over Kyle Naughton's 25-yarder. He also smothered Holt's header before City boss Paul Lambert withdrew Zak Whitbread for Anthony Pilkington on the half-hour mark and went 4-4-2.

 

Designed by Dalglish – Liverpool 3:1 Bolton

 

Saturday was a great day for football fans as we watched an inspired Liverpool team blow a hole right through Bolton, providing the latter with a cruel wake-up call after what until now had been a fairly positive season for them. Kenny Dalglish looked on in satisfaction as his recent signings worked well together to provide the Anfield fans with a very convincing victory.

Although failing to score, Luis Suarez played a fantastic game keeping the Wanderers' defense on its toes while providing the Reds with a strong foundation that they could base their attacks upon. An example of this was the first goal which began from a beautiful cross in from the outside of Suarez's boot. Suarez met Downing who failed to put the ball passed Jussi Jaaskelainen. Kuyt collected the deflection and fed it to Henderson. The summer signing was blocked, but re-collected and shot one right passed Jaaskelainen into the left corner.

The next goal came from Martin Skrtel in the form of a cracking header off a nicely placed corner from Charlie Adam. The newbie soon got some reward for his efforts by putting the lid on the game with the third goal coming off his right boot.

A late goal by Klasnic may have won the Wanderers a bit of face, but it was pretty clear that they never really showed any presence against the hosts with sloppy defense work throughout the match and Jaaskelainen chalking up another weak performance.

Can Liverpool's solid form be carried over into another victory? Can Bolton's flaky performance predict a sure loss against Manchester United

Javier Zanetti - The end?

Has Javier Zanetti's international career finally come to an end at age of 38 after 145 international caps?

New Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella left him out of the squad to face Venezuela and Nigeria.

What do you think?

Arsène Wenger - The future

Arsène Wenger,(born 22 October 1949) is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996. He is currently the club's longest serving manager and most successful, based on trophies won.

Arsenal lost to Liverpool 2:0 on Saturday (20.8.2011) but Arsene Wenger was remaining defiant despite seeing his side lose 2-0 to Liverpool  this afternoon:

“We had eight players out and still had a good performance, so it is not all doom and gloom," Wenger said.

"The target is to have a good team and good players. You can spend money and have a bad team," he added.

Cristiano Ronaldo

What can we say about the talented Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo?
He has achieved a lot of awards and he still on the top of the football arena.

Ronaldo is the most expensive player in football history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, makes him the highest-paid football player in the world, and values him at €1 billion as per his buyout clause.

Ryan Giggs is a legend

Birthdate: 29 Nov 1973
Birthplace: Cardiff, Wales
Position: Midfielder
Appearances: 875
Goals scored: 159
United debut: 02 Mar 1991 v Everton (H)

Ryan Giggs is one of the best players that played in Manchester united. He won almost every available award and he is considered as one of the talented midfielders in the world.

Welcome to the Football shirts blog

Hi all, how are you?

I have created this blog in order to update you on football stuff and news from the football shirts arena. In addition I will share with you my thoughts on my football shirts application on Facebook.

I hope that you will like this blog and I will be always happy to receive from you any feedback!