Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Champions League circus comes to town

So the first two teams are in the hat for the Champions League quarters following Tuesday night's action, with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid going through at the expense of Arsenal and AC Milan.

On an eventful night in Germany, Arjen Robben caused controversy for the manner in which he earned a penalty against the Gunners, which Thomas Muller would miss during the 1-1 draw, with Arsene Wenger insisting after the match that the Dutchman was a master at diving.

In the other game of the evening, Clarence Seedorf's Milan side were forced to jump through hoops as Diego Costa and Co. proved too strong for the Italians in what turned out to be a thumping 4-1 win.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014 12:00

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Bayern attempt to stop Arsenal by any means necessary

Arsenal face a monumental task of repeating their Allianz Arena heroics from last season and claiming the victory that would take them through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Gunners need to win by two-clear goals in Germany following their first-leg loss to Pep Guardiola's side and, speaking ahead of the game, the Bayern boss admitted his side will lose out if they allow Arsenal to have the ball.

He said: "If we let Arsenal keep the ball, we will have a lot of problems.

"They have a lot of quality, every single player has unbelievable technical skills with the ball. They have players like [Santi] Cazorla, [Mesut] Ozil, [Tomas] Rosicky and [Mikel] Arteta - it is no problem for them to keep the ball in their lines.

"So the only way to avoid that is to keep the ball for ourselves - and obviously we have to be aggressive."
Tuesday, 11 March 2014 12:00

Ronaldo tops star-studded Goal Rich List

Cristiano Ronaldo has pipped Lionel Messi to the top spot of the 2014 Goal Rich List.

The Real Madrid star is the hottest property in football and boasts an estimated wealth of €148 million [£122m] - just €2m [£1.5m] more than his Barcelona rival.

The list, topped by the now-retired David Beckham in 2013, features the likes of Wayne Rooney, Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Click here to see the full Goal Rich List top 10.
Monday, 10 March 2014 12:30

Monday, March 10, 2014

Golden oldie Eto'o rolls back the years

Samuel Eto'o proved age is just a number as he put in a talismanic display in Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Tottenham on Saturday.

The Cameroon striker, who turns 33 on Monday, opened the scoring after pouncing on a mistake from Jan Vertonghen before winning a penalty following a challenge from Younes Kaboul.

Eto'o's also made light of recent accusations that he was older than 32 with his goal celebration as he hobbled up to the corner flag and pretended to nurse a bad back.

I knew about it. It was fine, it was the best way to diffuse a situation which was funny - make fun of a funny situation - it was good," said Jose Mourinho.
Sunday, 9 March 2014 12:00


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Sherwood hopes Spurs switch on against Chelsea

Tim Sherwood has warned his Tottenham side that a repeat of their last away outing in the Premier League could see them on the receiving end of a drubbing against Chelsea.

Spurs face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge having failed to win their in the league since 1990, when Gary Lineker scored the only goal of the game.

And Sherwood has called for improvement after seeing his side stumble to a shock 1-0 defeat against Norwich City at Carrow Road before picking up a narrow victory at home against Cardiff City.

"If we play like we did against Norwich they're gonna need more lightbulbs for the scoreboard," Sherwood warned ahead of the trip to face Jose Mourinho's side.
Saturday, 8 March 2014 11:50