Week 2 of 2012/2013 Season

Lovely weekend of football. Lots of rain in England, but still lovely weekend of football.

Let's start with Saturday. Two biggest games going on were Chelsea vs. Newcastle and Manchester United vs. Fulham. For the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, Chelsea have won their first three games in a row. A 2-0 win against Wigan, a 4-2 win against Reading, and now a 2-0 in against Newcastle. The first goal was a penalty caused by a foul against Torres. Eden Hazard was the one who converted it, making it 1-0. At the end of the first half during stoppage time Torres scored the second goal which was assisted with a toe poke, heel poke, or whatever by Eden Hazard. Eden Hazard has so far had a really good start to the Premier League. I think he's has been involved with almost all 8 of the goals Chelsea has scored so far. To be more exact (not really) I think it's about 6-7 goals he's been involved with. Torres has been showing his old self. He's looking more confident in front of goal which means he's scoring more goals.  He doesn't have the lingering shadow of Drogba on his back this season, so this is a great time for his shine you know after a good ending of last season (winning the FA Cup, Champions League, and Euro 2012).

The second big game on Saturday was Manchester United vs. Fulham. The first to score the goal was Fulham, but at the 10th minute Robin van Persie scored his first goal for the Red Devils. Kagawa scored the second, and Rafael scored the third putting the Reds 3-1 in front. Unfortunately Vidic put in an own goal making it 3-2, but that's how the game ended. Manchester United won their second game of the Premier League. The biggest news out of that game is definitely Wayne Rooney's gash on his thigh. If you haven't seen it's a really big nasty one. It's so bad that it has caused him to be sidelined for about four weeks. I think someone stepped on him on accident and woosh, huge gash. If you are easily disturbed by blood and any type pictures like that, I suggest you NOT go and look it up.


So today, Sunday, there were a lot of big matches played too. Let's begin with the Premier League. games played by Arsenal vs. Stoke and Manchester City vs. Liverpool. The Arsenal game turned out to be another 0-0 draw for the Gunners. I watched a bit of that game, and a lot of them seem to be scared to shoot or something. Arsenal dominated that game, yet they were very hesitant to shoot. Arsenal are playing well, it's just their finishing needs a little work. I guess you could say they are feeling the effects of no Robin van Persie (who scored 40% of their goals). The Manchester City vs. Liverpool game was played at Anfield and that game also game to a 2-2 draw. Goals came from Skrtel, Yaya Toure, Suarez, and then Tevez in that order. There have been lots of surprises this season, and I pretty sure there are more to come.

Moving on to La Liga. Barcelona played an away game at Pamplona again Osasuna. Barcelona was behind 1-0 a majority of the game until Magical Messi came up and got 2 goals in the second half giving the Blaugrana the win for that night. On the other hand of things, Real Madrid LOST their match against Getafe. Like I was really surprised to hear that. Real Madrid were the first to score with a goal from Higuain, but two goals from Getafe put them in front and gave them the win. I'm not really sure why Khedira hasn't been playing which may be a reason why they lost. Another reason could be that Madrid are feeling the effects of not having Pepe as one of their central defenders. When he comes back to play maybe a lot of things will change.

A lot went on this weekend, and a lot of is going to go on next weekend. Stay tune to keep up what's happening in the footballing world!

The Season has Begun!

Both seasons that I love to keep up with (EPL and La Liga) have begun finally. Most of the games have been played on Saturday (yesterday) and today some will be played on tomorrow (Monday). Here are the games that I've been able to keep up with so far are first the Arsenal vs. Sunderland game. This was a way for the new transfers, Podolski, Santi Carzola, and Giroud to show what they had. Unfortunately they weren't able to penetrate Sunderland's defense enough and the first game for the Gunners ended in a 0-0 tie. At least they got one point, but it isn't the three that they wanted. 

Chelsea vs. Wigan is another game that was played today. They were able to take the 3 points away with two goals, one from Ivanovic and the other from Lampard in the first half of the game. This was first Premier game for Hazard and he showed great skill that he has because he had a pretty good game. Oscar another young transfer was also able to make his debut and showed a pretty good performance. 

On the other side of things in England, the defending champions of the Premier League had a struggle during their first game. The newly promoted Southampton showed they weren't going to take the game lightly. They were the first to score which means Manchester City had some catching up to do. In the end City were able to take away a win by 3-2 with goals from Tevez, Dzeko, and Nasri. Hopefully this doesn't happen again in the near future for the them because that was one heck of a scary start for City. 

Manchester United will be playing Everton tomorrow. 

In Spanish news, both the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had their opening season games today. Real Madrid played Valencia FC and left the game with a 1-1 draw with Higuain scoring their only goal. Not something they wanted of course. On the other side of things FC Barcelona played Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou and beat them 5-1. The first goal came from the club captain Puyol during a corner kick from Xavi and then Sociedad drew the game 1-1 a few minutes later. The Catalan giants were going to take that and two goals from Messi and a goal from Pedro put the Blaugrana up 4-1 by half-time. The greatest thing is at the second half David Villa came onto the field after being sidelined from an injury since the Club World Cup in December 2011. What's even better is that he scored a goal and ended the game 5-1. This gives Tito Vilanova his first win of a La Liga season as the head coach. 

The first game is only the beginning and anything can happen during the season. But it's always good to start off the season with a win. It's a good moral booster and it helps set the tempo for what the season has in store. 

Olympics are over and the Season is Beginning

 

Today is the last day of the Olympics, and I write right now, the closing ceremonies are currently going on. I follow a lot of the Olympic athletes on Twitter and many of them are heading home, have finally landed, or have decided to stay for the ceremonies. The 30th Olympiad was great! Hosted by a great country and all the events were super exciting. Some were unexpected and some were so expected and mind blowing. I watched many different events such as field hockey, volleyball, handball, swimming, gymnastics, and the most important football (soccer for the Americans). Sadly I wasn't able to watch the finals for any both the men or women's finals because I had school the day of the women's finals and I had a scrimmage I had to go to for the men's finals! OF course when I came home I found out the results right away. I was soooo happy for the USWNT! They were able to retain their gold medal by beating Japan 2-1. Carli Loyd scored both goals and Hope Solo (from the highlights, replays, and everything I read on Twitter) played a really great game making multiple important saves. For the men's finals it was Mexico vs. Brazil and the score was also 2-1 with the Mexican side taking the gold medal. Brazil was the favorite because of all the big names like Oscar, Neymar, etc. But Mexico brought the gold home and this is their first time winning a medal in Olympic soccer. Not bad, not bad at all.

The medal race between China and the USA were really close. Each day or two the country in the lead would change. But near the end of the competition the USA took over. I mean took over. You can see the picture for yourself. The USA dominated the Olympics. America may be known for it's fast food restaurants and obese issue, but when we play sports, we take them seriously.

Sad that the Olympics are over, BUT football season is about to begin really soon. Most club's pre-seasons are over by now and everyone is getting ready for their first league games. The most recent major pre-season game was the FA Community Shield where Manchester City (current Premier League winners) took on Chelsea (current FA Cup winners). Chelsea were the first to draw blood as Torres opened the scoring (A new season and a fresh start from the success of Euro 2012, hope all goes well for him). But Yaya Toure equalized very soon after. Ivanovic got a red card for a reckless tackle sending him off and leaving Chelsea to 10 men. During the second half Tevez and Nasri were able to put City up 3-1. Chelsea fought back with a deflection from Pantilomon which gave Bertrand a goal to put the score to 3-2. That wasn't enough though as the whistle blew and Manchester City were able to grab the Community Shield. This is only the beginning and I can't wait till the EPL and La Liga start! EXCITED.

Chelsea vs. MLS Allstars

After the past two years playing and being thrashed by Manchester United (2010 score 5-2, 2011 score 4-0), the MLS All-stars reign again beating the Europeans champions Chelsea 3-2. I watched the game and I'll have to say that the MLS All-stars played a better game. Their passing was more complete and they were more efficient with their finishing than Chelsea. At half time Chelsea had 9 shots on goal only 2 on target, while the MLS had only 4 shots, but 3 were on target. That's what I call making your chances count.


First goal was was at the 21st minute from Chris Wondoloski. A great cross from Thiery Henry and unsuccessful clearance by John Terry gave Wondoloski the chance to open the scoring for the game and the All-stars. Chelsea had to try and catch up and they did with a wonderful header from John Terry because of a corner-kick from Lampard. The game's score stayed 1-1 at half-time. After half-time at the 58th minute, Frank Lampard himself scored a goal. After a cross from him, the All-stars were not able to clear the ball. The ball was crossed right back into the box and Lampard was there to finish it. For a midfielder he has sure scored a lot of goals. I remember the announcer saying how if you didn't know Lampard was a midfielder, you'd think he would be a center forward. Chelsea were now up, but the MLS came back. A wonderful pass from David Beckham to De Ro. De Ro waits while Chris Pontius comes running into the box and is able to finish it off. It's 2-2 now. The game was coming down to it's final minutes when Eddie Johnson took the final shot which was partially deflected by a Chelsea player and ended the game then and there. The MLS All-stars beat Chelsea 3-2. They have (I guess) redeemed themselves from the last two years playing against Manchester United. The last time Chelsea played the MLS All-Stars they also lost 1-0.


So after a wonderful 4-2 win in Seattle and a 1-1 with PSG in New York, Chelsea have to leave Philadelphia on a 3-2 lose. Their next stop is to Miami where they are to AC Milan. I wonder how that game will be because Milan has lost two of their most vital players, Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva. Also I was looking at the results from all the MLS All-star games, and they have never played a Spanish team, like Barcelona or Real Madrid. I personally would love to see the MLS All-stars play either of the two Spanish Giants.

Hazard(ous) Brothers

Thorgan Hazard 

If it wasn't enough already to have one of the Hazards, Chelsea had to go out and purchase the other Hazard. In recent news, not only has Eden Hazard signed for the English giants, but also his little brother, Thorgan Harzard, has jumped on board. The 19 year old is transferring from the French based club Lens. He only made 14 appearances for the Ligue 2 team. Like his brother, Thorgan is also an attacking midfielder/winger. It seems that he hasn't a lot of playing time, but because he is Eden Hazard's brother and he comes from a very dominant footballing family it seems that he must be able to succeed.

Eden Hazard

Thorgan Hazard IS only 19, so he still has a lot of time to develop. It looks as if the Chelsea first team is full at the moment, so when the transfer has officially been completed, the only reasonable thing Chelsea could do is loan him out. It sounds bad, but he needs the experience. I really do wonder why Chelsea made the move on Thorgan? Maybe, once Thorgan has gotten the experience he needs Chelsea will proudly be able have the cool name "Hazard Brothers" or "The Hazardous Brothers" being echoed through Stamford Bridge Stadium. The only other brother pairs that play for the same team are Kolo and Yaya Toure who play for Manchester City and the the twins Rafael and Fabio who play for Manchester United (but Fabio just recently got loaned out to QPR).

But anyways, for whatever reason Chelsea has for bring Thorgan Hazard to the club, for skills or for just because, once he is able to make it into the first team I'm going to be really excited to watch the two brothers play side by side!

English Premier League vs. La Liga

 

These two leagues are probably the two most popular and competitive leagues there are. But which one is the best  league of the two? Each league is unique and play different styles of football. Here is what I think:

I think the English League is definitely more competitive than La Liga. If you think a little harder, there are multiple top clubs competing for the title such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and honestly it seems that most of the clubs have somewhat a fighting chance unlike La Liga. In La Liga it's literally two clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, fighting for first place, and everyone else trying to win third place. That's 2 large Spanish Clubs verses 5 large English Clubs. I'm not trying to say that the other Spanish Clubs can't compete, because they can, but until the La Liga tables fluctuate as much as the EPL table, then EPL wins for the most competitive league out there.

BUT who has the best teams in the world? This might a bit biased, but I believe that La Liga holds the two best teams in the world. To play in the two Spanish Giants it's almost a dream come true to many footballers. Some of the best players to ever play the sport had their best moments while they played in La Liga, like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Figo, etc. And currently the two best players right now (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) play in La Liga. So yes, I believe that La Liga has the best teams. Both clubs are very competitive in their league and in the Champions League (yes I know Chelsea AN ENGLISH CLUB won the most recent one, but BOTH Spanish giants were able to make it to the semi-finals, ok?)


I just want to mention though, that I don't think that English Clubs can't compete with the two Spanish Giants JUST because I say that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I'm just saying that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I believe that big English clubs can compete with the two teams and I have always believed that. AGAIN Chelsea has proven it this past May.


There is one more comparison that I would like to mention: the type of players each league produces. Right now, I think that Spain wins. They have produced and produce some of the best midfielders lately. And come to think of it, I really can't think of any English players that play in the Spanish League. But I know some Spanish players who played or play in the EPL. EXAMPLES WOULD BE:


David Silva (Manchester City)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool)
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Juan Mata (Chelsea)
Xabi Alonso (ex-Liverpool)
Cesc Fabregas (ex-Arsenal)
Alvaro Arbeloa (ex-Liverpool)
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
David de Gea (Manchester United)

This is only a small list of some current and recent Spanish players. The most recent English Players in La Liga were Jonathan Woodgate (Real Madrid) who only had 9 appearances for the club. He was then loaned off and then went back to the EPL. Then of course the very famous David Beckham (Real Madrid). Other than that, I don't know any English players. I think this goes to show that Spanish players are vital for teams. I think it's because of their midfield mastery and magic (cheesy I know) they bring to a game. Another reason there may not be many English players in La Liga could be because Spain and England have very different styles of play. England concentrates more on strength and La Liga is more finesse....patience.


So which league do I prefer the most.....I would actually have to say the EPL. Even though Barcelona is my favorite club team and I root for Spain, I chose the EPL because there is more competition between clubs. None the less though, I still love La Liga! I watch it just as often and always checking on updates about that league....but everyone likes more competition.

Truths and Rumors

TRUTHS: Chelsea have purchased the young and  upcoming Belgium Eden Hazard who seems to have a bright future in the football industry. He has definitely impressed many of the big clubs that were after him while he was Lille; now will he impress while he's in a big English football club?


Another truth, after the many issues with Eric Abidal, Barcelona have finally made a purchase for a left back. His name is Jordi Alba. If you watched the Euro 2012, you saw that the 23 year old impressed. He may be small but he is FAST. He has the energy and speed to run the pitch. And like I said before he even got a goal in the Euro 2012 final! Like many of the Barcelona players, he is a product from La Maisa so he has the Barca DNA in him. He really began his professional career when he played for Valencia FC and that's where he turned into the talented left full back he is today. Now he's back at his boyhood club and I'm pretty sure he's ready to impress.


Also other truths, Arsenal have made two big purchases, Lukas Podolski a forward who also plays on the wings and a straight up striker Olivier Giroud. Currently the contract issues with Arsenal's star Robin van Persie are unstable.


RUMORS: So the rumors can come true or never happen, but here is what's currently on the market. Chelsea are about to make another big move about 25million pounds for a Brazilian attacking midfield named Oscar. He is supposedly another up and rising star (only 20 years old), and if Chelsea can sign him he can show the footballing world what he has. (Chelsea, because of Roman Abramovich, have a lot of spending power on them).

Another rumor, and it seems like it's going to go through is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago from AC Milan are going to be moving to Paris-Saint Germain (PSG). The French club currently have the money and with money comes power. They are spending big this summer as we can see with the targets such as Ibra and Thiago.

Oh, Real Madrid hasn't made any purchases yet, but it seems that their target Luka Modric from Tottenham will be making the moved to the Spanish giants. This move seems inevitable, but nothing has been put and set in stone so until the papers say "REAL MADRID SIGN LUKA MODRIC" this is going to be a rumor. This also makes me think, what is going to happen to Kaka?

AND Newcastle seem to want Andy Carrol back, but Liverpool want a good 20 some million pounds for the guy.

NOW to the coaches. There have been lots of new changes for the next season and they are all truths.


Tito Vilanova has finally begun his run as the first-team head coach for FC Barcelona after Pep Guardiola resigned from his four year reign in La Liga. They are currently training and awaiting for their pre-season to begin. Liverpool has sacked Kenny Dalglish and has been replaced by Brendan Rodgers who was the former Swansea City coach. And in Tottenham news, Harry Redknapp has been sacked and  replaced by (surprisingly) Andres Villas-Boas. Yeah, you didn't think that he'd show up this fast after his minimal time at Chelsea. Speaking of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich made the right move and hired Roberto Di Matteo as the full time head coach.

There is definitely more to come! I wish I had blogged more this summer. But this is actually the third time I've actually turned on my computer this summer. Or is it the second?

Chelsea are Champions League Winners!

It's quite unbelievable actually. Chelsea are the UEFA Champions League Winners and this is their first. (I bet you no one expected this at all this season). After a really tough season, Chelsea were able to tough it out and win both the FA Cup and Champions League. That means they qualify for next years Champions League and Tottenham, who are in fourth place in the Premier League, are kicked out.

The game was a brutal game. Bayern were at home and hoping everything would just go their way. It was at first when Mueller put a goal in, but at the 88' Drogba equalized and the game had to go into overtime and eventually penalty kicks. In the end, Drogba put the last penalty kick in and finalized the win for Chelsea. This was definitely a blow to the German side and I am really, really sad because I was rooting for them, but it sometimes luck really is the deciding factor on who wins or lose. In a way I really don't think Chelsea should have won. I just don't. It could be because I was rooting for Bayern Munich or Bayern Munich did a better job. Chelsea has luck. That have an ass load of it. 

Well we're going to have to wait till next year to see what happens. Anything can change. The status of whether Di Matteo will finally become Chelsea's head coach has still been undecided. Roman make a smart choice for once and appoint him as head coach. He brought this Chelsea team, who was falling apart, to be winners of the FA Cup and champions of Europe. What more could you possibly want? 

I couldn't watch the whole game through. I get really, really anxious and it can get really ugly at times. I could only watch parts of it. But I did see the end, and well that's it. Chelsea are winners. Congratulations Chelsea for becoming champions of Europe, sorry for the loss Bayern Munich, but good job! 

They Called it Survival Sunday

This Sunday couldn't have been a more exciting day of football. So many teams fighting for top spots and trying to resist relegation. The most exciting battle though was the one between Manchester City vs. Manchester United. Today was the day that decided who would win the Premier League Title. Guess what? Manchester City won! The season has been a crazy, crazy, season and the match between Man. City and QPR was a great one to end it off. Manchester United won their game with a goal from Rooney, but that wasn't enough and The Reds end their season trophy-less.

Now the game, The Citizens vs. QPR was ridiculous! A goal from Pablo Zabaleta put City up 1-0 making the game look like it was going City's way (the whole game City has 80% of possession). But at the 48', QPR equalized with a goal from Cisse and a bad clearance from Lescott.  Man. City's title hopes looked a bit out of reach. At the 55', QPR's captain Joey Barton elbowed Tevez in the face and was sent off with a red card. Through all the hustle and bustle he also kneed or kicked Kun Aguero which also made his look like he had no class, but that didn't stop QPR. By the 66', QPR scored again and were in front 2-1 with a header from Jamie Mackie. The Citizens needed 2 goals to win and that seemed almost impossible. I'm guessing that Man. City really, really wanted it because a brilliant corner was taken by David Silva and the ball was headed in by Edin Dzeko at the 90+2' (there were 5mins of stoppage time and City needed one more goal to win it). And here it came, Kun Aguero takes the final shot at 90+4', putting his team up 3-2 and sealed the title win for Manchester City after 44 years! Luckily for QPR (who were fighting relegation), were able to stay in the Premier league due to the Bolton Wanderers tie verses Stoke City.

Here are the updates for the other teams. Arsenal needed a win to secure a third place spot in which they did. Tottenham also won, but the only way they could reach the third place spot was if Arsenal had lost. So the Spurs' final spot is fourth. Newcastle lost to Everton, so Newcastle is in 5th place. Chelsea won their game against Blackburn who were already set for relegation, so Chelsea are 6th place which qualifies them for the Europa league, unless they win the Champions League and qualify for that competition.

So here is are the top ten of the Premier league and the Bottom three (you can click on the picture to see the whole table). I cannot say how happy I am for Manchester City. I was sitting in a restaurant which was playing ESPN soccer and that's when I heard the news. I got a little carried away, but who cares!

One Emotional Weekend

I must say this was probably my favorite weekend of football out of this whole season. It began with the Chelsea vs. Liverpool, FA Cup final. I was rooting for Chelsea, because I personally do not like Suarez....so go Blues! And what do you know, the Blues won! Two goals, one from Ramires and Drogaba. Andy Carroll also got on the score sheet, but it wasn't enough to take the FA trophy away from Chelsea. THOUGH there was a controversial goal in which Carroll heads in the ball, but the ref says that it didn't pass the line. But none the less, Cech made a great save and kept Chelsea in the game until the last minute. Now it's off to the Champions League, and to win that competition is super, super important. If they win the Champions League final, they can say they've had a pretty successful season after all they've been through. I mean if they can take home two prestigious trophies, the FA Cup the Champions League, how can you say that's not a successful season? Second they would automatically qualify for the Champions League next year. That seems to be their only chance to to qualify for the most prestigious tournament in Europe because they are in 6th place in the EPL. (I'm still rooting for Bayern Munich for the Champions League Final though).

Speaking of the EPL, the title race between United and City is STILL ON. Manchester City played first, away at Newcastle. Newcastle are a very strong side, and they were fighting in hopes of breaking into the top three. Unfortunately (and fortunately), Newcastle lost and Manchester City was able to win 2-0 with both goals from Yaya Toure. On the other ends of things, Manchester United played Swansea City and they stayed in the title race with a 2-0 also, with goals from Scholes and Young. It seems that the title race is really going to be decided based on the last game of the season. Manchester City are to play QPR and Manchester Untied are to play Sunderland. Let's see how this turns out.

And in Serie A, the final winners of the league or Scudetto is Juventus! Juventus were able to take a 2-0 from Cagliari. While they were playing, the Milan derby (Inter vs. AC Milan) was going on and AC Milan lost to Inter 4-2, which caused the title to slip out of their hands. Finally after years of waiting, Juventus are finally Champions of Serie A, again.

Now to La Liga (this is where I got emotional). It was FC Barcelona vs. Espanyol (the Catalan derby). FC Barcelona was able to take a 4-0, all goals from the one and only Lionel Messi. A freekick, two spot kicks, and a great run gave him 50 goals during the La Liga season and a total of 72 goals during a European season. The Atomic Flea still has two more games to bag more goals. It's like he's unstoppable. But during the game and after the game is what got to me. This game was not only special because it was the Catalan derby, but also Josep Guardiola's last game at the Camp Nou as Barcelona's manager. When Messi scored his 4th goal, he went to Guardiola and gave him, I guess a farewell./thank you hug which was joined by the rest of his teammates. Now that's what I call mes que un club. After the match was the most emotional part. This was Guardiola finally saying goodbye as the manager to the supporters at the Camp Nou. I can't really explain it, but you can watch this video and see what I mean. You don' need to be able to understand Catalan to get the gist or the emotion, all you got to do is watch and be a supporter of FC Barcelona to understand. That's all. I've got to say a 4-0 win is a great way to send Guardiola off. Gracies Pep!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH GUARDIOLA'S FAREWELL TO THE CAMP NOU 

Chelsea in 6th place

Since the 2-0 lose against Newcastle, it looks like Chelsea will be ending the season in 6th place. If you watched the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, you will know that the two goals Cisse scored were brilliant goals. They were absolutely brilliant, especially the second goal. The second goal really made you go "Holy mother of God." If you don't believe me, just see for yourself

CLICK HERE TO SEE CHESEA vs. NEWCASTLE HIGHLIGHTS 

On another note. Because Chelsea weren't able to take a win from this match, I'm pretty sure that their season is going to end not being able to secure a spot for a Champions league spot. At least they'll be able to play in the Europa League. The rest of the season now, what they have to look forward to is the FA Cup final against Liverpool and the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich. Those two competitions are definitely something they can look forward too. After what Chelsea have been through this season, if they can take the FA Cup and Champions League Final, I would say they had a pretty good season. Next season they can always start fresh, and if Di Matteo stays, there is nothing that Chelsea cannot do. 

Now looking at the standings of the EPL, Newcastle and Tottenham are both tied with 65 points each. The games this weekend (Tottenham vs. Aston Villa and Newcastle vs. Manchester City) are going to be vital games to determine who might get the fourth place spot. Arsenal must watch out too. They need to win their game against Norwich City this Saturday. I've got to say, this weekend of football is going to be really intense. Everyone is fighting to keep their spots and others are fighting to take spots. I'm not predicting anything, but this is what I WANT to happen. 

• I want Arsenal to win their game and eventually secure the third spot in the league 
• I hope that Manchester City wins so they have a chance to beat Manchester United in the league (so that means Newcastle needs to lose) 
• I actually hope that Tottenham lose because if that happens, there is a chance that Bale could move to Barcelona. 

Selfish I know, but hey everyone has their own opinions. 

Torres finding old form

It's been a pretty good week for Chelsea! They are off to the finals in Munich and they just thrashed QPR 6-1. AGAIN if Roman Abramovich does not make Di Matteo manager, I will consider him....stupid! I'm pretty sure any other club would gladly take Di Matteo as a manager after all he has shown recently. The beginning of the game Struriridge was able to pull of a beautiful stunner to open the scoring. John Terry was able to finish off a great corner, and then here comes Torres. The next three goals Torres showed his old self and was able to complete a hat-trick for the first time since 2009. This doesn't mean that Torres is back, but he's taking definite baby steps and showing that he is indeed a world class player. If you don't believe me check out these the highlights below!

CLICK HERE FOR CHELSEA VS. QPR HIGHLIGHTS 

UCL Final: Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea

Well what do you know the two teams that were expected to move on, Real Madrid and Barcelona, did NOT make it to the UCL final. I have got to say this is one heck of a surprise to me and I'm pretty sure to the whole footballing community. Real Madrid's game was a little more intense because the game had to go to penalty shoot out. Ronaldo and Kaka were both denied by Neuer and Sergio Ramos just BLASTED it over the crossbar. I honestly do not know what Ramos was thinking. It's kind of sad that Ozil and Benzema did not get to kick. Schweinsteiger, the German, sealed the deal for Bayern Munich sending them off to the final in MUNICH (how nice).  

I'm pretty sure no one expected the UEFA Champions League final to end up like this. Everyone pretty much expected FC Barcelona or Real Madrid to be in the finals, but noooooo. If anything, I'm very very glad that Real Madrid did not move on. If FC Barcelona aren't able to move one, Real Madrid shouldn't either. Both Spanish giants are out of the tournament and the final which is going to be on May 19th is going to be Chelsea vs Bayern Munich. 

Who am I going to root for? I wasn't sure about it, but I think I'm going to root for Bayern Munch. My reasons why I'm going to root for them? 1.) They beat Real Madrid, the rival team to Barcelona 2.) Chelsea beat Barcelona and kicked FCB out of the tournament 3.) I think that Munich will benefit due to the losses from Chelsea's squad 4.) Bayern Munich is not Barcelona, so parking the bus won't work on them 5.) Munich are at home, so they have the home advantage 

Your Offense is only as Strong as your Defense

 You've heard the saying "Your offense is only as strong as your defense." In the footballing world that is true, and Barcelona have proven that. We all know that Barcelona's footballing concept is to keep possession and attack, keep possession and attack. Sometimes they forget to defend because they are so caught up in attacking. For example, near the last few minutes of the game, no one was marking Torres and and easy chip ball sent Torres on his own counter-attack making Valdes deal with a one on and one and obviously he lost that match.

Barcelona's defense has shown that they have been the problem. Carles Puyol's age is catching up with him and Abidal's age and medical conditions are unpredictable. The only true defenders the team has are Dani Alves and Pique. Mascherano is a defensive midfielder. If I were Pep, I would really consider making some important purchases during the summer transfer. There definitely needs to be someone else scoring goals.  Everything has been put on Messi, and let's be honest, he can't score every single goal for Barcelona. Football is a team sport and you can't rely only on one man to do the job. Alexis Sanchez needs to pick up his game, Pedro....I don't know what's up with him, and Villa well he's on the wrong side of 30. Cuenca and Tello a rising stars, but they need more experience and time to grow. SO right now another striker should be on Pep's list to buy. Another purchase for Pep to buy would be defenders, especially a left back and center back. There have been rumors with a link to Jordi Alba (from Valencia) who seems to be the man for the left back position. BUT I think two defenders are really needed. Barcelona need a solid back so that the other team won't score goals against them

Overall, I think Pep is a great manager and he should continue with Barcelona. Not being to successful for one year out of the 4 years and numerous trophies he has won is no reason for him to leave. It's just that because Guardiola only signs one year contracts, and I'm kind of scared of what his decision is going to be for the next season.

League Round Up (April 6-8th)

Let's bring all the games into one big pile of closure by starting with the English Premier League. The battle between Manchester United and Manchester City for the title win just seems to fade farther and farther away from Mancini's reach. Manchester City played Arsenal at the Emirates stadium and took a harsh defeat with a late strike from Mikel Arteta losing 1-0. City are now 8 points away from United who secured a home win with goals from non other then Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes which gave them a 2-0 win over QPR. Mancini seems to still be having problems with the young Italian, Balotelli who received a red card during the Arsenal game. From different news sources, City are going to try and sell the controversial striker. It looks like Manchester United have the league title all wrapped up for the 20th time and only 6 more games to play in the league (unless some miraculously happens and Man. U drop a bunch of points, and Man. City win all their games). Chelsea who are continuing their good form (even though the game they played Wigan was NOT a very good performance) won at Stamford Bridge 2-, trying to secure a Champions League spot for next season. Tottenham try and keep their 4th place spot with a 0-0 tie when they played Sunderland. The Spurs taking only one point from the game, they are now two points behind Arsenal and only 3 points in front of Chelsea. Newcastle though is not far, with 56 points TIED with Chelsea. Six more games means a potential 18 more points for any of these teams. 

La Liga has become more and more tight lately. Real Madrid played Valencia this Sunday and were only able to take away 1 point from the Santiago Bernebeu with a tie of 0-0. It may have been European fatigue that has caused this tie between the two sides, but non the less, Madrid now only sit 4 points atop the tables when only a few weeks ago it was 10 points. Valencia were able to take a crucial 1 point and still in 3rd place but only 1 point of in front of Levante and 2 points from Malaga who still have to play Racing Santander Monday April 9th. If Malaga secure a win, they will be able to gain the 3rd place spot. But for the gap between Barcelona and Madrid to even shrink a little, Barcelona took on threatening relegation team Zaragoza and were able to take a 4-1 win, with goals from Puyol, Messi (2), and Pedro for Barcelona and Aranda for Zaragoza. The title race and places are still being fought for and there are still a few games to be played which can decide anything. For the title winner it may come down to the Clascio on April 22nd.  

The last league I'll be talking about is Serie A. The title race is still live and high paced with a 2-0 win for Juventus against Palermo. They sit atop of the table with 65 points only 1 point away from Milan's 64. Milan were not able to secure a win as they lost to 2-1 to Fiorentina at the San Siro.

With the Champions League semis still yet to be played and leagues are still hot and winnable, I believe that the end of each season for each league will be exciting to watch, and everyone should keep up to date and be posted on all things football. You can check out the links above to keep up with your favorite teams or leagues. If you go to the Football News Link there you can check out articles and opinions of all the different games and teams!