The last 16 Top European Clubs know their next opponent & their next match in the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. The competition enters the "knock-out" stage & the draw has paired some very interesting clashes that begin with the away leg the 15-16 Feb 2011.
The three Spanish Football Teams have a "relative" easier draw than the other Clubs, with the exception of FC Barcelona who will meet a difficult
Two Spanish Clubs participated tonight in their respective EUROPA LEAGUE Groups with good news coming out of both. Here is a quick summary of the games, the results & the goal scorers.
Rossi scores for Villareal
Belgium Club BRUGAS lost their Group D match against VILLAREAL 1 - 2. The Spanish Club with this victory finishes Top of the Group & assures its place in next Fridays UEFA draw for
The last Spanish Club with CHAMPIONS LEAGUE duties tonight was REAL MADRID hosting French team AUXERRE in their Group G match. The Spanish side lined up an "alternative team" to give some of the substitutes a run while Xabi & Ramos served suspensions & Casillas, Ozil, Di Maria & Khedira had a rest. The opening 11 were:
Dudek; Arbeloa, Albiol, Carvalho, Marcelo; Lass, Granero, Diarra; Pedro León
Two Spanish Clubs participated in their respective Champions League Group matches with relative good results. Both teams assured their presence in the next phase of the competition & will be in the draw on the 17th of December at Lyon (France) to match up the teams for the knock-out home & away legs/stages.
Pablo Hernandez scores
VALENCIA CF was looking for a victory in their Group C match
Mixed night for Spanish Teams playing their EUROPA LEAGUE group matches with a win & a loss. Here is a brief summary with the results & the scorers of the Villareal & Sevilla FC games.
Rossi : photo courtesy of marca.com
VILLAREAL took their great Spanish League form into their European Group D participation with another solid performance defeating Croatian Club DYNAMO ZAGREB 3 - 0.
Believe it or not there is more to Spanish Football after the 5-0 victory of Barça over Real Madrid in the Spanish League last night. The sport continues with more & bigger games & tournaments to play.
This afternoon the pre-European u-17 & u-19 Groups were drawn ay the UEFA Headquaters & teams were allocated with the following results for the Spanish National Teams.
In the u-17 category
Two Spanish teams participated & finished well in their respective Group C & D CHAMPIONS LEAGUE matches with both winning well & assuring their place in the next stages.
Juan Mata opens Valencia scoreline
VALENCIA CF steam-rolled BURSASPOR 6 -1 in their Group C game with Valencia CF assuring its place in the next stages of the Champions League independently of it last Group match against
REAL MADRID defeated 0 - 4 AJAX OF AMSTERDAM in their Group G CHAMPIONS LEAGUE return leg game. This assures the Spanish Club the top Group position & thus enables them to avoid the "Big Guns" in the next stage after the mini-leagues.
Real Madrid rested habitual players like Khedira, Carvalho & Huguain who did´nt travel & gave Benzema, Leon, Lass & Arbeloa a chance to start from minute zero. The
The CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Group G match between AC MILAN - REAL MADRID finished with a 2-2 draw result. However before I get into the details there is something that I which to leave clear forever in the cyber-space: the Football - Soccer Referee Howard Webb is a very bad Referee. Mr Webb highlighted his poor umpiring manners in the FIFA World Cup Final & tonight he showed his total incompetence with
Two Spanish Clubs had their night of CHAMPIONS LEAGUE with Group C & D action. Valencia CF played hosts to Scottish team Rangers & FC Bareclona travelled to Denmark for their game. Here are the results & scorers of the mentioned European Football clashes.
Roberto Soldado scores for Valencia CF
VALENCIA CF defeated GLASGOW RANGERS 3-0 in their Group C match to put the Spanish team closer to
Busy night for all four SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAMS as they played their EUROPA LEAGUE Group qualifying matches with overall general joy for the Spanish fans. I personally wasn´t able to witness all four matches but managed to keep the pulse of most via TV, radio & a Twitter account, therefore excuse me if some summaries are brief & to the main detail.
Sergio Aguero scores the 2º goal for Atletico
Two Spanish Football Clubs played their Group CHAMPIONS LEAGUE matches tonight, with one away at Scotland & the other here in Spain.
Rangers Edu scores against Valencia CF
VALENCIA CF travelled to meet GLASGOW RANGERS to play their 3 round Group C clash at Ibrox Park. As expected it was a difficult & rough turf to play Football at but they managed to pull a 1 - 1 draw with some luck on their
REAL MADRID CF practically ensured its qualification onto the next stage of the 2010 - 2011 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE after they defeated 2 - 0 AC MILAN in their Group G match, thus making it three straight wins to secure top spot of the group ladder with 9 points. The result was just as Real Madrid could have scored three - four more clear goals had luck gone their way.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores
REAL MADRID CF faces its first real big season 2010 - 2011 challenge & exam when they meet Italian giants AC Milan today (Tuesday) in their Group G Champions League qualifying match. This match will be a good test to see if Coach Mourinho is progressing with his work to put together a "new look" & younger Real Madrid Team to levels in which they can really hope to aspire & become Spanish League &
SPAIN defeated SCOTLAND 2- 3 in tonight's Group I clash in "Hampden Park" Glasgow to take them straight to the top of their Group ladder. The World Champions were the outstanding & dominating side until the match complicated itself for Spain in the mid 2º half with a meritorious Scottish attempt at comeback & near victory.
DAVID VILLA shots at goal
The first half was a Scottish wall that had
EUROPA LEAGUE action tonight with four Spanish Clubs participating in their Groups B, D, H & J respectively. Here is a quick summary & the results of a mixed night for the Spanish teams.ATLETICO DE MADRID finished their Group B match against German team BAYERN LEVERKUSEN with a 1-1 draw result. Atletico de Madrid put in a great second half to come back & equalize but failed half a dozen chances
SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his list of 20 Spanish players for the upcoming EURO 2012 Group qualifiers against Lituania & Scotland. Spain plays Lituania in the Spanish city of Salamanca on the 8th of October & then flys to Glasgow to play Scotland on the 12th of October.The news is that FC Barcelona midfielder XAVI HERNANDEZ has been left out
Two Spanish Teams played their respective Group CHAMPIONS LEAGUE matches tonight with mixed results & a late sour surprise.FC BARCELONA travelled to visit RUBIN KAZAN to end up drawing 1-1 in their Group D match. The Russians put in 5 defenders, 4 midfelders & 1 forward in a clear sign to build a wall & play counter-attack Football. This makes it difficult for any team to play well, yet alone
Yes the three points are important & yes REAL MADRID won away 0 -1 AUXERRE in their Group G CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualifier, but the image was sad. The Spanish team looked impotent most of the night & the French had their chances ( post included from a Pepe header in defence) of getting ahead.The French team put up a very organized defence that waited for their chances to counter-attack, which they
REAL MADRID defeated AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 2 -0 in the first Group G match of the 2010 - 2011 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE competition. A scoreline that leaves a bitter taste in the fans mouth as it could have easyly been 6-0 or even more. The Dutch team are less effective without their Uruguayan forward Suarez but were very "weak" tonight except for a couple of chances that gave the home team a scare or two.But