Jun 15, 2015 by Alex Baker
Chile vs. Ecuador
They may have struggled at times in their 2-0 opening win against Ecuador, but of all the pre-tournament favorites, it looks like Chile who are off to the best start. While it admittedly took a 67th minute penalty won and converted by Arturo Vidal to open the scoring, Chile were largely successful at containing a formidable Ecuador attack led by Enner Valencia. Ecuador however, came close on a number of occasions, particularly in the 82nd minute when Valencia rocketed a header off the crossbar that could have leveled the score and changed the game.
But two minutes later Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez played in Eduardo Vargas who slotted a shot past Ecuador keeper Alexander Dominguez from the center of the box to make it 2-0. It... Read More
Feb 27, 2015 by Alex Baker
Already favorites to win the Premier League and advance to the last eight of the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea could lift one of the three remaining trophies available to them this season in this Sunday’s League Cup final at Wembley. Standing in their way will be a determined Tottenham Hotspur side that arguably threw away its chance to advance in the Europa League in order to save its best for this final.
And while earlier in the season Chelsea’s Diego Costa was the in-form striker in the Premier League, of late it’s been Tottenham’s homegrown goal-getter Harry Kane who’s been banging them in. Kane was on target twice the last time the two sides met, on New Year’s Day, when Spurs handed Chelsea a surprise 5-3 defeat at White... Read More
Feb 17, 2015 by Alex Baker
The English champions-elect got a weekend’s rest heading into Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, as FA Cup action brought a one-week halt to Premier League play. Meanwhile their opponents for Tuesday’s meeting were hit with the equivalent of a six-month Arsenal injury crisis in the course of 90 minutes.
PSG had no less than seven players forced off the pitch due to injury during their Ligue 1 clash with Caen Saturday. Of those seven, at least four are expected to be unavailable to face Chelsea.
Granted Chelsea had a more difficult time than expected knocking PSG out of the Champions League last season. However this year’s model is a different animal than the one that squeaked by on away goals last year. Mourinho is often known as a... Read More
Feb 13, 2015 by Alex Baker
Speaking to reporters ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough, Arsene Wenger indicated Gabriel Paulista would likely start for Arsenal.
“He’s very close to [making his debut],” said Wenger. “He likes to defend. It’s more and more difficult to find people like that.”
The Brazilian center-back was signed from Villarreal last month but has yet to make an appearance in an Arsenal shirt.
After the ups and downs of the Gunners’ early season, the FA Cup is probably Arsenal’s best shot at silverware at this point. But that said; retaining the Cup is unlikely to be Wenger’s priority. The battle for third and fourth place is heating up and could go down to the wire. Manchester United, Southampton, Tottenham and even Liverpool are all in competition with Arsenal for... Read More
Feb 11, 2015 by Alex Baker
Just last month, we were talking about Barcelona being in crisis. Now, a few short weeks later, and they could be in line to win the treble. On Wednesday against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey, they were far from perfect on. But Luis Enrique’s men got the job done with a 3-1 win that sets them up nicely for the second leg.
It was far from a vintage Barca performance and there were mistakes made that could prove costly, depending on how the second leg plays out. But throughout all their ups and downs this season, Barcelona has managed to soldier on. Barring any great surprised from Villarreal, they’re looking like favorites to advance in the Cup, they’re one point behind Real Madrid in the table, and on current... Read More
Feb 09, 2015 by Alex Baker
The final whistle may have blown, but the war of words between Juventus and AC Milan following the former’s 3-1 win on Saturday shows little sign of abating.
The controversy stems from Juve’s opening goal, a 14th-minute strike from Carlos Tevez that may or may not have been offside. AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani accused the Italian champions of manipulating the replay footage to make the goal look onside when it actually wasn’t.
Juventus has ridiculed this claim. But unlike other Serie A clubs, Juve is responsible for producing its own video replays. Galliani and Milan argue that the replay was only shown at halftime, meaning that Juve’s video replay people had time to doctor the footage.
Speaking to Corriere della Sera, Galliani claimed, “They purposely don’t show the replay... Read More
Feb 06, 2015 by Alex Baker
Real Madrid head into this weekend’s Madrid Derby hit by some key absences; most notably, James Rodriguez, who broke his foot midweek against Sevilla and will be out for at least two months. But perhaps more worryingly, Sergio Ramos will be sidelined for five weeks with a hamstring, while left-back, Marcelo is suspended. Luka Modric and Pepe are also sidelined due to injury.
With Marcelo unavailable and Fabio Coentrao also doubtful, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is likely to start Alvaro Arbeloa at left-back. Meanwhile Tony Kroos and Isco are likely to feature in midfield in light of James’ and Modric’s absence.
One player who Ancelotti will be able to select is Cristiano Ronaldo. The current World Player of the Year turned 30 this week and has served out his... Read More
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