Friday, February 28, 2014


Stadio San Paolo, Napoli - 27 February, 2014 - Europa League

SSC Napoli got in front after 17 minutes through Lorenzo Insigne, but Jonathan De Guzman got them back on level terms on the half hour mark. Napoli regained their lead on 78 minutes through Higuain's effort and just when they're under extreme pressure from Swansea City a late strike from Gokhan Inler sealed Partenopei's passage into the next stage of Europa League.

SSC Napoli 3-1 Swansea City
17' 1-0 Insigne L. // 30' 1-1 Guzman // 78' 2-1 Higuain // 93' 3-1 İnler




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Monday, February 24, 2014

SSC Napoli vs Genoa Italian Serie A 24-02-2014

SSC Napoli vs CFC Genoa - Italy, Serie A, Game week 25th

SSC Napoli remain 3rd in the Serie A league table, with 50 points, being 4 points behind 2nd Roma and 13 behind leading. In 24 rounds Napoli managed to win 15, draw 5 and lose 4 games. In 2014 Benitez’s players lost only one game - 0:3 against Atalanta, at the beginning of February. To tell the truth Napoli can forget about Seria A Championship and focus on winning second place, for which they will battle with Roma for sure to the very end of the league season. And they are not without chance – Napoli’s performance this season is very good and they present a stable form both in the league as well as in Europa League. However in the last game preceding the match against Genoa, they only drew the EL game in Swansea that can be read as a quite a surprise. But it should not have any negative effect on their form in Serie A, it can only additionally motivate them. 
Genoa team occupy 10th position in the Seria A table, having 31 points in the 24 rounds. 8 wins, 7 draws and 9 defeats can’t be satisfying. Also the negative goal balance - 27:31 – shows that their performance and form this season is not particularly good. Gasperini’s team is at the moment 32 points behind the leader, Juventus. Quite a precipice! Theoretically they have some chances to achieve the 5th place that allows playing in Europa League Quali but they will have to catch up more than 8 points. In spite of the weak performance Genoa’s forward, Alberto Gilardino, managed to score 11 goals already, being only 3 behind leading Giuseppe Rossi (14). Moreover in the last league game, against Udinese Calcio (3:3), it was him who rescued Genoa from losing.

Date: 24th February, 2014 – 9 pm CET
Stadium: Stadio San Paolo

Possible line-ups: 
SSC Napoli: Reina - Fernandez, Albiol, Maggio, Ghoulam - Dzemaili, Behrami, Hamsik, Insigne, Mertens - Higuain.
Genoa: Perin - Burdisso, Portanova, Marchese - Motta, Sturaro, De Ceglie, Antonelli, Matuzalem - Konate, Gilardino.



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Liverpool vs Swansea City Highlights
Competition: Premier League – Match date: 23 February 2014
Venue: Anfield, England


The Reds keeping their winning run going, but it was far from an easy battle as they also being made to suffer a lot in that tight encounter which ended in 4-3 victory for Brendan Rodgers' men. Daniel Sturridge opened his team's lead after just 3 minutes, which was soon followed by Jordan Henderson to make it 2-0 on 20 minutes. Three minutes later, Swansea pulled one back from Jonjo Shelvey's strike and on 26 minutes they got back on level terms with an effort from Wilfried Bony.
Sturridge showcasing his sharpness again with his effort on 36 minutes to give his team a slender lead as they go into half time break. The away side got back into the tie once again as Bony completed his brace from the spot kick on 47 minutes. Fortunately for the Reds, they're goal scoring spree was not over yet as Henderson grabbed his second on that tie on 74 minutes.

Liverpool 4-3 Swansea City
3' 1-0 Sturridge D // 20' 2-0 Henderson J. // 23' 2-1 Shelvey J. // 27' 2-2 Bony W. // 36' 3-2 Sturridge D // 47' 3-3 Bony W. // 74' 4-3 Henderson J.




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Saturday, February 22, 2014


Monaco 3-2 Reims
AS Monaco 1-0: Valere Germain goal vs Stade de Reims (8').
Reims 1-1: Prince Oniangue goal vs AS Monaco (53').
AS Monaco 2-1: Jeremy Toulalan goal vs Stade de Reims (63').
Reims 2-2: Prince Oniangue second goal vs AS Monaco (71').
AS Monaco 3-2: Layvin Kurzawa goal vs Stade de Reims (90+5').


 After the break, Stade de Reims reacted positively as they got back on level terms with an effort from Prince Oniangue, but 10 minutes later the home team regained their lead thanks to a goal from veteran midfielder, Jeremy Toulalan. However, the away side continue to cause problems as they equalized again, with another strike from Oniangue on 71 minutes. Just when that tie looked to be ending in a draw, AS Monaco snatched all three points with a late goal from Layvin Kurzawa deep in stoppage time.
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Monday, February 17, 2014


Manchester City - FC Barcelona - 2013/2014 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16
Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2014, 8:45 PM - 20:45 CET

It cannot be said that Bayer Leverkusen has managed well to time its form for the continuation of the Champions League. They probably have a wish to eliminate the renowned rival, but in the second part of the season Bayer oscillates and it can be said that has played more bad matches than good ones. They were firmly second in the Bundesliga but now two teams are dangerously close to them. One of them is Schalke, who defeated them on Saturday in Leverkusen which only confirmed that the Factory Team is not fit.
They started the second part of the season with a chance to win three trophies, but had made a mistake in the Cup and were eliminated by second division K’lautern. Thus, two consecutive defeats at home, which is not encouraging at all on the eve of this match. Coach Hyypia had rested stopper Toprak against Schalke and he now returns in the starting line-up, but there will be no Can because of yellow cards. Reinartz has recovered and he goes in the midfield, and Boenisch stays on the left flank.
Paris Saint-Germain team has no problems like its new opponent, although, it was too unexpectedly eliminated from the Cup. The Champions League and the domestic championship are more important for the Parisians, where they want to win trophies, and because of which a huge amount of money has been invested in this team. In the championship everything goes according to the plan, they are the leaders with five points more than second Monaco with whom they drew away two rounds ago. On Friday have routinely defeated Valenciennes at home by 3-0 where coach Blanc had expectedly changed the team for a little bit. He has at his disposal a large number of quality players and he maximally use it, so he changed six players as compared to the team that drew in Monaco and it hadn’t felt in the game at all.
In Leverkusen will probably run on the pitch a team that is closer to one that played in Monaco, as the opponent is much stronger than Valenciennes. It is possible that he will combine again, but it is quite certain that injured Cavani will not play, which is a handicap but Blanc has a number of excellent players at the striker position, and there is also Ibrahimovic who can alone solve the match.

Possible line-ups:
Bayer Leverkusen: Leno – Hilbert, Toprak, Spahic, Boenisch – L. Bender, Reinartz, Rolfes – Sam, Castro, Kiesling.
Paris Saint-Germain: Sirigu – van der Wiel, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell – Verratti, Matuidi, T. Motta – Lucas Moura, Ibrahimovic, Pastore. 

Stadium: EBayArena, Leverkusen, Germany
Referee: Viktor Kassai
 
You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]



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Thursday, February 13, 2014


Fulham vs Liverpool - Competition: Premier League 
Match date: 12 February 2014
Venue: Craven Cottage, England 

Kolo Toure has been recognised as the weak link in Liveprool back four couple of their first choice defenders are out. he scored an own goal before hitman Sturridge scored to make it 1-1 on the night. Game was on level terms at halftime but exploded after break, former United player Richardson put Fulham 2-1 up agains before Brazilian Philippe Coutinho cut inside from left side and curled one towards the net, took deflection and went in. Liverpool won the game with a massive penalty given to them later in the match which was converted by Steven Gerrard and now they have 53 points on the table which only keep them 4 points away from Chelsea who are top of the league.

Fulham 2-3 Liverpool:
Fulham – Kolo Toure (og) 8' // Kieran Richardson 63'.
Liverpool – Daniel Sturridge 41' // Philippe Coutinho 72' // Steven Gerrard (pen) 90'.

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Sunday, February 9, 2014


AS Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain
Football: France, Ligue 1, Game week 23rd
Date: Sunday, 09 February 2014 – 9 pm CET
Stadium: Stade Louis II, Monaco, Monaco
 
Everyone at AS Monaco are still in shock after the news regarding a long-term injury of their topscorer Falcao. The player will not be able to help his teammates in the race to championship. His successor has just been brought to France. In the transfer period AS Monaco bought from English Fulham the former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov. The upcoming matches will show if the Bulgarian international was a good choice. AS Monaco somehow coped with the first two games without Falcao – they won against Marseille and drew 2:2 with Lorient. When the last five games are taken into account, Monaco managed to win three and drew the other two. Their home stats are quite good: 8 wins, 2 losses and only one loss. Altogether Monaco lost only two games this season in Ligue 1: against Lille and Valenciennes.

Paris Saint-Germain team are not without injury problems. The manager Laurent Blanc does not have at his disposal the topscorer Cavani, who is sidelined with an injury for a couple of weeks. Yet, the situation is not as bad as it seems since they have in the squad Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish magician has already scored 18 goals, which gives him the title of the best scorer in France. Moreover, the Paris side strengthened their ranks brining from Newcastle United the French international Cabaye. Such a duo can determine the score and help PSG to increase their advantage from five to eight points. It would also be a big step to the championship. In the last three games they won two and drew one.

Possible line-ups:
AS Monaco: Subasic – Raggi, Carvalho, Abidal, Kurzawa – Toulalan, Kondogbia, Moutinho – Rodriguez – Berbatov, Riviere.
Paris Saint-Germain: Sirigu – van der Wiel, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell – Motta, Cabaye, Matuidi – Lucas, Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi.


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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Barcelona vs Real Sociedad - Competition: Spanish Copa del Rey 
 
After 59 rounds at the top of the Primera Division, part of it in this season and part of it in the previous one, Barcelona has slid on second place which now has to share with its biggest rival Real Madrid. Barcelona was close to drop on third place, which hasn’t happened for ages but is nevertheless sufficiently shaken. The cause of the fall is not only the first defeat at home by Valencia on Saturday but Barca before that drew twice with Atletico and Levante, so the loss of the leadership positions was inevitable.
When it comes to the match against Valencia, they were totally unexpectedly defeated by significantly weakened opponent who maximally punished the desperate defence of the Catalans. Barcelona is very vulnerable on both wings and opponents use it but this time the stoppers have failed too. Three received goals is half of all hitherto received at the Camp Nou, which only confirms where the problem is. Absences cannot be an excuse as only Neymar and Puyol didn’t play. We should expect changes in the team now given that this is a Cup match and an uncomfortable visiting match against Seville in waiting for them in the next round of the championship.
Real Sociedad too has no reason to be satisfied after it failed in one more derby match last weekend. The numbers are the best proof as this team received a total of 17 goals and scored just three in four away matches; against first three-placed teams and fifth-placed Villarreal. So, when they play against a weaker team or when they are the hosts the whole thing works, but for stronger ones Real Sociedad hasn’t found a medicine yet. On Sunday in Madrid they even looked good for the most part of the match, especially in the first half when they played on equal footing. They felt apart in last 20 minutes when they received three goals, so at the end it was a convincing 4-0 win for Atletico.
Coach Arass unexpectedly experimented a bit or he deliberately rested several players for the match at the Camp Nou and Vela was the lone striker, Agirretxe stayed on the bench, and Gazantaga and Zurutuza were a novelty in the midfield. Now the question is how much he will change the team, as running out at the Camp Nou with a mixed team can bring a real catastrophe.

Possible line-ups:  
Real Sociedad: Zubikarai – Zaldua, M. Gonzalez, I. Martinez, Jose Angel – Ruben Pardo, Zurutuza – Vela, Xabi Prieto, Griezmann – Agirretxe.
FC Barcelona: Pinto – Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano – Song, Roberto, Iniesta – Tello, A.Sanchez, Messi.

Match date: Wednesday, 05 February 2014
Kick Off Time: 21:00 GMT
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]



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Monday, February 3, 2014

Juventus vs Internazionale
Competition: Italian Serie A
Match date: 2 February 2014
Venue: Juventus Stadium

Juventus took an early lead through, Stephan Lichtsteiner who latched on to a magnificent pass from midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo to make it 1-0 in 15th minute while a goal just after the break from defender Giorgio Chiellini made it 2-0 and put the result the game beyond inter Milan. You can watch the full match highlights and extended video of the of the game here shortly after the match is over.

Juventus 3-1 Inter Milan:
Juventus: Stephan Lichtsteiner 15, Giorgio Chiellini 47, Arturo Vidal 55.
Inter Milan: Rolando 71.






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Sunday, February 2, 2014

Galatasaray – Bursaspor – This last Sunday’s match in 19th round strongest Turkish league is the derby of the round where we the second Galatasaray against the eighth Bursaspor, which also has seven points less.
Galatasaray crushed Elazih in the cup duty after theye were hold to a goalless draw. Coach Roberto Mancini will be able to use Burak Yilmaz after his ban ended. Aydin Yilmaz is still injured. Chedjou is carrying a problem and he is doubtful as Gokhan Zan is. The new transfer Koray Gunter is looking for his debut as Izet Hajrovic and Alex Telles are.
  • Probable lineups Galatasaray: Muslera – Eboue, Chedjou, Kaya, Sarioglu – Inan, Felipe Melo, Colak – Sneijder – Burak Yilmaz, Drogba

Bursaspor team suffered a narrow defeat on the road in the cup against Eskisehir. Coach Christoph Daum is without banned Ferhat Kiraz. Besides him, Pablo Batalla and Sebastian Pinto are missing. Michel Basser and Colin Kazim Richards are doubtful. Serdar Aziz has also a slight problem. Volkan Sen and Sercan Yildirim are looking for their debuts.
  • Probable lineups Bursaspor: Frey – Ozbayrakli, Aziz, Civelli, Taiwo – Tufan, Cinaz, Belluschi, Tuncay – Sestak, Fernandao

Head to Head:
Last Meeting: 25.08.2013 Bursaspor - Galatasaray: 1-1
Wins Galatasaray: 52
Wins Bursaspor: 26
Draws: 29

Galatasaray vs Bursaspor
Football: Turkey Super League: 19. Round
Date: Sunday, 02 February 2014 - 17:00 GMT
Stadium: Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Referee: Mete Kalkavan

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]





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