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Showing posts with label Villarreal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Villarreal. Show all posts

UEFA Europa League: English sent packing

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Big-spending English giants Manchester City, Liverpool and Rangers crashed out of the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday to end Britain's interest in the competition. Roberto Mancini's City side, bank-rolled from Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Mansour's £500 million investment, beat Dynamo Kiev 1-0 at Eastlands but bowed out 2-1 on aggregate. At Anfield a lacklustre Liverpool eked out a goalless draw with Sporting Braga to put the plucky Portuguese side through 1-0 on aggregate. Scottish giants Rangers, the finalists of the then UEFA Cup in 2008, had been in a strong position after coming away from their first leg at PSV Eindhoven with a scoreless stalemate. But a 13th minute goal from Jermain Lens meant it was the Dutch visitors rather than Rangers whose name went into Friday's draw. Joining PSV, Dynamo and Braga in the last eight were Benfica, FC Twente, Spartak Moscow, FC Porto, Villarreal. In Manchester, City were cut to 10 men in the 37th minute after Italian Mario Balotelli was shown a straight red for a dreadful, high one-footed lunge at Goran Popov in a bad-tempered clash that also saw seven yellow cards brandished. But the home side rebounded immediately after Balotelli's rash challenge through Aleksandar Kolarov, the Serb scoring from an indirect free-kick through a congested area. Over at Anfield, Liverpool striker Andy Carroll made his first start since his £35 million move from Newcastle in January. But Kenny Dalglish's men failed to find their spark against Braga who were progressing to the last eight of a European competition for the first time in their history.


Liverpool's sorry tally of only one goal in their last five Europa run-outs ultimately cost them dear. PSV qualified when catching Rangers on the break, with Lens sliding home Balazs Dzsudzsak's cross from the left.PSG went out 3-2 to Portugual's Benfica after the two teams finished 1-1 on the night. Nicolas Gaitan bagged that all-important away goal for the Lisbon-based club in the 27th minute, an ambitious left-footed shot swerving past the static Apoula Edel in goal.PSG responded eight minutes later, Mathieu Bodmer sending in a screamer of a right-foot volley into the corner of the net, but the Portuguese side held out. In Moscow, Spartak wrapped up a comprehensive 4-0 aggregate victory over toothless Ajax, the Russians winning 3-0 on the night courtesy of goals from Dmitri Kombarov, and Brazilian duo Welliton and Alex. There was no such luck for Spartak's domestic rivals Zenit St-Petersburg, whose 2-0 defeat of Dutch side FC Twente was not enough to overhaul a first-leg 3-0 deficit. And another Russian club, CSKA Moscow, lost 2-1 at FC Porto to go out 3-1 on aggregate, while Villarreal beat Bayer Leverkusen by the same scoreline to qualify 5-3 over the two legs.

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Posted by sojib

Lionel Massi guides Barcelona thru

10:52 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lionel Messi scored his 27th La league goal of the season as champions Barcelona beat Valencia 1-0 at the Mestalla stadium on Wednesday to move ten points clear of rivals Real Madrid at the Spanish first division top. Messi netted a 76th minute winner as Barcelona continued their unbeaten away run and put Real Madrid under extra pressure to win at home to Malaga on Thursday. Messi had missed several chances in the first half but came better14th minutes from time slotting in a cross from Adriano to clinch a vital win.It handed coach Pep Guardiola his first ever victory at the Mestalla, which had been the only top-flight venue where he had failed to secure three points.For third-placed Valencia it was a first league defeat since early December of last year and Villarreal are now just one point behind them in fourth.It was an emotional first return to the Mestalla for Spanish super star David Villa, who spent five years at the club before joining Barcelona for 40 million euros in the summer, and the forward was given a warm reception from the home fans.Spanish playmaker Xavi Hernandez returned to the Barcelona starting line-up after recovering from his calf injury to join Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets in midfield.


Valencia decided to play with Juan Mata, normally a winger, leading the line and the hosts started at a high tempo to try and disrupt Barcelona’s possession game. Eric Abidal and Dani Alves were both forced to make crucial clearances for Barcelona early on before the champions found their rhythm.In the ninth minute Messi went clean through on goal but the Argentine fluffed a chance he usually buries on autopilot.Messi had three chances to score but missed them all with goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, third choice at the beginning of the season, standing tall.Valencia thought they had scored in the 20th minute but Jordi Alba’s goal was ruled out for offside.Just after the half hour mark Messi squandered another goalscoring opportunity when his lob landed on the roof of the net with only Guaita to beat.Villa and full back Adriano both went close before the interval but Barcelona went into the break frustrated at the 0-0 scoreline. Substitute Roberto Soldado volleyed just wide in the 51st minute for Valencia’s best chance of the match and Pablo Hernandez then curled inches wide of the post minutes later to give Barcelona a warning.The decisive goal came on 76 minutes with Brazilian Adriano cutting the ball across goal for Messi to arrive on cue to guide in with his trusty left foot.Earlier Villarreal ended a run of four league games without a win with a 1-0 home victory over promoted Hercules.Italian forward Giuseppe Rossi scored his 13th league goal of the season on 21 minutes to seal Villarreal’s 11th home win of the campaign as they got back to winning ways after collecting two points from the last 12.Elsewhere Athletic Bilbao crashed to their fourth successive league loss with a 2-1 reverse at Real Zaragoza.

Czech Jiri Jarosik headed an equaliser three minutes after the break and Nigerian striker Ikechuwku Uche scored the winner on 55th minutes as Zaragoza moved out of the bottom three.Bilbao, who could have gone above Espanyol into fifth, stay sixth but Sevilla are now level on points after their 3-0 home win over Sporting Gijon on Tuesday.In other matches, city rivals Getafe and Atletico Madrid shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. Brazilian substitute Elias Mendes, only on the pitch for 14 minutes, grabbed an 81st minute equaliser for Atletico after Manu del Moral had put Getafe into a third minute lead.               

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Posted by sojib

Napoli face crucial test at AC Milan

9:36 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,


Italian club Napoli will find out if they are truly ready to challenge for the Serie-A crown this season when they travel to AC Milan in the crunch clash ties of the weekend.The game has been moved to Monday night to give the southerners an extra day’s rest following their Europa League exertions against Villarreal on Thursday.But the super-clash between the top two in the league will give Walter Mazzarri’s team the chance to show what they are made of.

In a season full of surprises that initially saw Lazio leading the table and champions Inter Milan struggling down in eighth place at the turn of the year, Napoli appear to have demonstrated that they have the staying power to go all the way.Still splitting the two Milan clubs with a mere 12 matches to play in the season, Napoli must genuinely be considered as very tide title contenders for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona.And although the club’s staff and players refuse to even pronounce the word title there is no denying that they are where they are on merit.

However, there has been one thing missing from their pursuit of glory this season and that has been the ability to cut the mustard against the very best.They may have done the double over Roma this season and thumped Juventus 3-0 at home in January but both sides are suffering from transitional campaigns and currently sit sixth and seventh respectively.When it mattered against the two big Milanese sides, Napoli came up short.

They lost 2-1 at home to Milan earlier on in the season despite enjoying a large part of the game and also proved frail defensively when they played away to Inter and lost 3-1.In two games against Liverpool in the Europa League group stage they also failed to secure a win.For them to go the whole way this season they are going to need to prove they can also come out on top in the biggest games where there is the most at stake.

They sit three points behind Milan and two ahead of Inter, meaning a win for Mazzarri’s team could result in the top three being separated by only two points when the weekend is up.If there is one thing in their favour it is that Milan have also proved susceptible to negative results in their biggest home games of the season.Not only did they lose 2-1 to Juventus and 1-0 to Roma but Tottenham came to the San Siro in the Champions League knock-out phase and also left with a crucial 1-0 success.

Milan also failed to beat fourth placed Lazio at home and needed a pair of controversial goals to sneak a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League group stages.A sign that Milan may be feeling the strain came from vice-president Adriano Galliano who was at pains to tell Radio Italia that the game would be no more important than any other.‘It,s keenly expected because it’s top against second but there,s still just three out of the 36 points left on offer’ he said.

‘Lets not forget that a victory over Napoli won't mean we’ve won the title, and vice versa.’The later start to the game means Inter can leapfrog Napoli on Sunday if they win away to Sampdoria.Juventus host Bologna on Saturday night and Roma entertain Parma on Sunday as the two traditional heavyweights look to drag themselves back into Champions League qualification contention.

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Messi and Ronaldo

2:46 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


If Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to lay down markers ahead of the Barcelona v Real Madrid showdown at the Camp Nou on Monday, scoring hat-tricks in their final La Liga games before El Clasico was a typically sublime way to go about it.

Messi and Ronaldo are the two best players on the planet right now. They play weekly at a level most can only dream of, consistently overshadowing the abundance of world-class players who line up as their team-mates and opponents alike, reports BBC sports.

They are the last two winners of the Fifa World Footballer of the Year award and, despite being far from stereotypical centre-forwards in a positional sense, have each won a European Golden Shoe prize in the last three years.

They have scored 27 La Liga goals between them already this term - four more than the next top scorers in the division, Villarreal.

"What more can you say about Messi?" asked Barca colleague and Spain's World Cup-winning goalscorer Andres Iniesta in the aftermath of Messi's eighth treble for the Catalan club, in an 8-0 destruction of Almeria last weekend. "There are no words left. Let's hope he continues as he is."

After firing in three more goals in Real's 5-1 drubbing of Athletic Bilbao on the same day to stay one clear of his rival in the race for the Pichichi (Spain's top goalscorer), Ronaldo preferred to do his own talking: "I'm very happy for scoring three goals, but the important thing is that we continue being leaders. Barcelona's 8-0 win at Almeria doesn't tell me anything, Let's see if they score eight goals against us on Monday."

Monday is the day when Spain's top two meet for the first time this season, with Real Madrid a single point ahead of Barcelona in the standings.

It is a game customarily filled with intrigue and the pre-match phoney war will be taken to new levels this time around with Barca's arch-nemesis Jose Mourinho overseeing his first Clasico in charge of Real.

But when the talking stops and referee Eduaro Gonzalez blows his whistle at 2000 GMT, the focus will then centre around Messi and Ronaldo - the two proxy leaders of their teams, the men who are almost certain to have the greatest impact on the result and, longer term, the destiny of the Spanish title.

So much has been written about them both before, these two fascinatingly contrary figures: Messi, the shy, formerly-fragile boy from Argentina who packed his bags aged 13 and put himself in Barcelona's care; and Ronaldo, the perma-tanned Portuguese with the perfect physique and arrogance to match his £80m attributes.

Perhaps it is because they are so unique, as far removed from each other as they are from the mere mortals who seek to attain their greatness, that they are so open to comparison.

It is a point Noe Pamarot made to me when I asked the well-travelled Hercules defender to compare two players he has done battle with in La Liga in the past three months.

"The stats are amazing for both of them, it is incredible how many goals they score," said Pamarot, who also played against Ronaldo six times during a five-year spell in English football playing for Tottenham and Portsmouth.

"But they don't play anything like each other. They have both got the speed and the skills, but for me, Messi plays only for the team and that makes him a more dangerous opponent. He isn't always looking to score himself - if he isn't scoring, he is making an assist or having a big influence on the game anyway.

"They are comfortably the world's best right now. But Messi is very, very special. He is starting to prove weekly he is on a different level to everyone else. Can he be the greatest of all time? If he carries on like this for some more years, he can end up the same or even better than Diego Maradona and Pele. Why not?"

Pamarot's thoughts cast my mind back to a study of the pair conducted by the University of Coruna in Spain in April. It found that more than 80% of Barcelona's passing moves involved Messi, compared to 60% with Ronaldo and Madrid. When Messi gets the ball, his only thought is getting it into the back of his opponents' net; when Ronaldo picks it up, his is to put it there himself.

At a time when the fluid passing and movement style of Spain and Barcelona is fashionable and everyone wants to watch tiki-taka, Ronaldo's fearsome power and single-minded selfishness when he is within sight of goal is, to some, considered an inferior alternative, aesthetically-speaking anyway.

Another player who has been on the receiving end of the genius of Messi and Ronaldo is Ivory Coast midfielder Didier Zokora. The 29-year-old played against Ronaldo five times in his three-year stint with Spurs and was in the Sevilla team that suffered a 5-0 defeat at Barcelona a month ago in which Messi scored twice.

"The two of them are very good, for sure, but I prefer Messi," said Zokora. "Messi is perfect in the art of dribbling, while Ronaldo's shot is incredible. It is very difficult to stop them, they are very, very fast. Could one of them go on and be the greatest? It is difficult to say it, but maybe..."

For now, it is far easier to let the numbers do the talking. Courtesy of Infostrada Sports, here are the pair's breathtaking goal tallies in black and white:

Lionel Messi:

- 22 goals in 17 games for Barcelona this season
- 54 goals in 48 games for Barcelona in 2010
- Has scored in nine consecutive games for Barca
- In last five seasons (this season last), has scored: 17, 16, 38, 47, 22

Cristiano Ronaldo:

- 16 goals in 18 games for Real Madrid this season
- 38 goals in 42 games for Real Madrid in 2010
- Has scored 14 goals in 12 La Liga games this term
- In last five seasons (first three with Man Utd), has scored: 23, 42, 26, 33, 18

Chalk and cheese they may well be, but in the prolific way they find the net these men - who rarely play as out-and-out strikers - do at least have something in common. And according to the University of Coruna's study, that's not all. They also believe Messi and Ronaldo to be the two fastest players in the history of the game in terms of running with the ball.

So who do you pity more ahead of the game the whole footballing world will be watching, the Barcelona backline or the Real Madrid rearguard? I asked Pamarot who it is easier to play against, and he laughed down the telephone at me. "Haha. Seriously? OK, I want to play against both because they are the ultimate test of your abilities."

Plaudits from pundits and their peers have not been in short supply as the build-up to the most talked-about domestic fixture on Earth grows ever closer. "It is clear to me, Cristiano is number one," said Mourinho.

After watching Barca and Messi rip apart his Panathinaikoas side in Europe on Wednesday, midfielder Luis Garcia purred: "Messi is a phenomenon. One can only enjoy his play. Such a player only comes by once in several decades."

Even the Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has got involved in the debate, claiming he prefers the "dribbles" of Messi to the playing style of Ronaldo, though his opinion should be taken with the caveat that the 50-year-old is a lifelong Barcelona fan.

On Monday, these two footballing phenomena go head-to-head before an expectant audience of about 98,000 people in Barcelona and tens of millions more on television around the world. They will both feel they have an extra point to prove, too: in seven games, Messi has never scored or had an assist against a Mourinho team; similarly in five, Ronaldo has never found the net against Barca.

With the likes of Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff all reaching the peak of their powers in different eras, perhaps we should be grateful that for this generation, the stars will collide in front of our very eyes.

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