Los Blancos Are La Liga Champions
Real Madrid won it’s 32nd Spanish league title and their first in four season after a 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on last night. The win leaves Los Blancos seven points clear of their biggest rivals FC Barcelona with two games remaining.
Goals from Gonxalo Higuain, Mesut Ozil and a 44th goal of the La Liga season for their superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Since winning the title in 2008 Madridistas had to endure watching their rivals Barcelona lift the La Liga title. The players, coaches and fans celebrated their triumph in traditional fashion at Cibeles fountain and will continue their celebrations at the Granada over the weekend.
“I won the league title in Portugal, Italy and England, but this one has been the toughest. I’ve won seven league titles overall and I know what it feels like.
“Barcelona won all their games, as befits the great team that they are. They’ve been winning to the very last day.
“They are a club with great tradition that knows we deserved to win this title.”- Jose Mourihno
Despite winning his first La Liga title Mourihno knows his club cannot lose focus as next season they’ll have to fight even harder next season if they are to retain their title.
“We have to celebrate this championship, we have to continue working after tomorrow because next season will also be tough and we have games to play still in this campaign.
It was a tough ans strenuous season for Jose Mourihno and his men and they deservedly won the title that not even their biggest rivals should envy.
Advantage City
The battle of Manchester and the biggest derby match between both United and City went to the blue side.
Manchester City took a big step towards winning their first Premier League title when they defeated neighbors Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium from a powerful Vincent Kompany header.
The Citizens wanted the match more and it showed as they were the better side on the day. United came out with a strategy which was a relatively defensive one as they played with the intention of earning a draw. This negative thinking proved to be a failure as they were continuously giving away corners and finally paid the price in the 1st minute of stoppage time in the first half.
Manchester City captain Vincent was allowed a free header and he gratefully accepted his gift to give his club a 1-0 lead going into halftime. After Plan A failed everyone expected to see some changes in the United lineup but those changes never came until the 58th minute when Danny Welbeck replaced a seemingly useless Ji-Sung Park.
Regardless of the changes United made in the second half a goal was never on the cards for them as they never posed much of a threat on City’s goal, the City goalkeeper was barely called into any action during the entire match.
The most fight that was showed by anyone who were on the red side of Manchester came from Sir Alex Ferguson after the manager had to be separated from City manager Roberto Mancini on the sidelines.
After today’s victory the title is now in the hands of Manchester City as they only need to win their two remaining matches against Newcastle and QPR who is managed by their former manager Mark Hughes.
Lukas Podolski Is A Gunner
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger today said his Gunners needed to buy a new striker, hours later the Gunners announced the signing of FC Koln striker and German international Luka Podolski. The German club risked losing their prized asset for nothing next summer as his contract was set to expire.
On his move to Arsenal the new Gunner said:
“The move to Arsenal gives me the opportunity to play at international level in a top European club,” Podolski told Cologne’s official website.
“I chose not to leave FC, but for this great opportunity in my sporting career.
“The decision for this step is not easy for me because FC Koln, the city and the fans are very special for me. I’ll wear the FC always in my heart. We must now concentrate all the forces together and focus exclusively on the league.”
On the signing of Podolski Arsene Wenger said:
“We are delighted to secure the deal for Lukas and see him as an important part of our future,” Wenger told the club’s official website.
“He is a top-class player, a very good finisher and a proven performer at club and international level. He is a very strong player and will provide us with good attacking options.”
Blues Book Their Ticket To Munich
Chelsea are through to the UEFA Champions League Final for a second time in three season. The Blues surprised football spectators just under a week ago when they won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge with Didier Drogba scoring the goal. It was a good defensive performance 
by the Londoners who also had the help of some very poor finishing from Barca most notably Cesc Fabregas.
The road to Munich was still a long way away from Roberto Di Matteo and his men as they had to go to Camp Nou and try to hold off Barca once again. Many had already written Chelsea off by saying they will be overwhelmed by the Catalans on their huge pitch. Some went as far as saying that Chelsea will have to deploy a 11-0-0 formation in order to secure passage through to Munich.
The match started off as expected with Barca dominating the possession and pushing their counterparts back. Things were made tougher when Gary Cahill had to leave the field injured with twelve minutes on the clock and replaced by Jose Bosingwa.
Barca fans and players were probably licking their lips seeing Jose Bosingwa replacing Cahill, when it comes to going forward the Portuguese is strong but defensively he is poor which was a worrying sign seeing the Blues had to defend.
The Catalans took the lead in the 35 minute through Sergio Busquets, things got troubling for the Blues as captain John Terry was sent off for kneeing Alexis Sanchez in the leg in and off the ball incident. Now with a man advantage Barca capitalized on Terry’s dismissal and extended their lead six minutes later from Andres Iniesta. (more…)
Reading Wins Promotions To The EPL
A goal with nine minutes left on the clock at Madejski Stadium by Mikele Leigertwood secured a second promotion to the Barclays Premier League for Reading for the 2012/13 season. The Royals now go 8 points clear of third place West Ham United with two games remaining. The Royals have enjoyed a very successful lat few months winning 15 of their last 17 matches which placed them in such a great position.
It has been four seasons since Reading last competed in the top-flight of English football, in 2006 they got promoted to the top flight and surprised everyone by finishing in eight place but this success couldn’t be repeated and the following season and they were agonizingly relegated on goal difference.
Last season the Royals came close to promotion to the top-flight but lost to Swansea City in the third place play-off final, this season they have avoided the battles of the play-off by clinching second place automatic promotion spot.
Congratulations to Royals fans all over the world you deserve it.
Top 5 Worst Penalty Kicks Ever
Following Ayegbeni Yakubu’s poor penalty kick in Blackburn Rovers 3-2 loss to Liverpool at Ewood Park it’s only fair to shed some light on some of the worst penalty kicks ever taken. Not on the list but could have been if it was a Top 10 would be the likes of David Beckham, Alessandro Del Piero, Neymar and Dimitar Berbatov. Hide your children because there penalty misses are absolutely atrocious.
Here’s the Top 5 Worst Penalty Kicks Ever: (more…)
Benfica Boss Takes A Shot At Chelsea After Champions League Exit
Benfica who were group winners in a group which consisted of Manchester United couldn’t get pass the London club and their quest ended at Stamford Bridge. Roberto Di Matteo’s men took another step towards winning a first ever Champions League trophy for the club after eliminating Benfica to advance to the semifinals where they will meet defending champions FC Barcelona.
The manager of Benfica Jorge Jesus felt his club deserve to go further in the competition and he was not shy to give his opinion on his clubs exit from the competition.
Jesus said: “We have defeated better sides than Chelsea in the Champions League.
“When you reach the quarter-finals, anything is possible, but Chelsea will have no chance against Barcelona. We are the ones who deserved to play against Barca.
“We have been the best team in Lisbon and London. I am very proud of my men. We played with 10 men for the best part of an hour and we were still the best team. We made Chelsea look ordinary.”
Some managers are gracious in defeat when they get this far in the competition but Jesus obviously isn’t one of them.
Ryan Giggs: 900
Ryan Giggs played his 900th match for Manchester United over the weekend. In the modern day football loyalty is something that is a rarity, no longer can you find a player fully committed to playing his entire career with one club. The 38-year-old made his first appearance for Manchester United in 1991 and has since gone on to win 12 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, 3 League Cups, 2 UEFA Champions League trophies along with some individual honors.
“To play 900 games for this club, who I’ve grown up supporting, is special – it’s a great day for me,” Ryan Giggs said. “I am sure there will be more twists and turns in the title race and I expect more drama and late goals.”
The Welshman’s 900th appearance was made to be more joyful when he scored the game winning goal in the 91st minute against Norwich City. After the match his manager Sir Alex Ferguson who reached a milestone of 25 years managing Manchester United this season heaped praise upon his evergreen midfielder and Legend.
“For a player to play for one club for 900 games is exceptional, and it won’t be done again,” Ferguson told the BBC. “He deserved that goal for his service to the club. He’s had an amazing career and he’s an amazing man.”
Having signed a one-year extension to his contract this season Giggs will have a chance to add more appearances to his well decorated career and more silverware aswell. Congratulations Ryan Giggs on such an amazing achievement.
Zambia: From Tragedy To Triumph
For the first time ever Zambia are the champions of Africa after defeating favorites Ivory Coast in a penalty shoot-out.
In 1993 a military plane carrying 30 passengers, 18 of which were players of the Zambian national team crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing everyone on board after leaving Libreville in Gabon for a World Cup qualifier against Senegal.
Now 19 years down the road Zambia are once again in the eyes of the world and this time it in the form of triumph, not tragedy. In attendance to witness this day of joy and remembrance was legendary Zambian player Kalusha Bwalya who was a member of the 1993 Zambian team, Kalusha’s who played for PSV Eindhoven at the time of the incident survived simply because he was making his own way to Dakar.
After 120 minutes of football it came down to penalty kicks, the first 14 penalty kicks were scored, on the 8th penalty kick for the Ivory Coast head coach François Zahoui asked Gervinho to take the spot kick but he refused and Kolo Touré instead stepped up to take the kick and saw it saved by Zambian goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene. (more…)
Capello Resigns
Fabio Capello has stepped down as manager of England months ahead of the kick off of Euro 2012. The former England manager have been heavily criticized for his tactics and the players he selected for the team. Capellos’ resignation came after a meeting with the FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley Stadium.
Recently the former Three Lion boss spoke out of the FA decision to strip defender John Terry of the captain of England due to his ongoing racial abuse case that is pending with QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.
There were shouts of harry Redknapp taking over for when Capello resigns after the Euro’s but with the England post now vacant those shouts will be heard even more and will be much louder, the Italians resignation mioght be welcoming news to some England fans but this is not welcoming news to Spurs fans though.
The Busby Babes Story
On Wednesday 4th December 1957 the Busby Babes came up against Dukla Prague in an away fixture in the European Cup in which they lost but went into the next round on aggregate. A few delays in the team return journey home almost caused the team to miss their league match against Everton FC the following weekend. For United’s next away tie against Red Star Belgrade the team had a plane chartered due to their previous problems.
On the 14th of January 1958 at Old Trafford, United defeated Red Star Belgrade 2-1 in the first leg of their second round European Cup tie.
Monday 3rd February 1958, Manchester United boarded their flight to Belgrade and arrives a few hours later to poor conditions. The visibility there was poor and it was snowing, the standards are below the average required by British European Airways. The airport engineer saw the plane only when it was parked on the apron.
On Wednesday 5th February 1958, the tie between United and Red Star Belgrade ended in a 3-3 draw which was enough to see them through to the semifinals of the European Cup for a second year running. The team celebrated their achievement with a cocktail party at the British Embassy.
February 6th 1958, the team along with five other people departs Belgrade in the sunshine as they head towards Manchester but the takeoff is delayed by an hour as Johnny Berry lost his passport. The plane then finally makes it trip to Munich for a scheduled refueling and arrives to an airport filled with snow, rain and low cloud. Captain James Thain was forced to use anti-icing equipment in order to make his descent into Munich.
(more…)
My Club
Crispin
Arsetonishyn
jliburd
