Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 20/21 March 2010

This weekend, I’m still in Europe, Athens to be exact, and I am very, very glad. Why am I so glad? Because I like football and we can watch it here. This is one of the suckiest weekends of world football on American television, but it’s not because there are great matches being played this weekend. Let’s look at the big matchups.

There are two matches this weekend between WCR Top 25 Clubs. In the Eredivisie, PSV Eindhoven will be hosting FC Twente in a battle of the top two Dutch clubs. Will you be watching it? Si tú hablas castellano. It’ll be broadcast, delayed of course, on ESPN Deportes this weekend. It’ll be live on ESPN 360, but it’ll be just as Spanish. Be glad, however. The other match between ranked opponents is between Benfica and Porto in the Portuguese League Cup final and you won’t be able to watch that on television no matter what language you speak.

There are other good matches this weekend, though. Is that what you’re saying? It’s true that the superclasico is this weekend between River Plate and Boca Juniors. With television rights and two English-language networks, Fox can’t work it into the live schedule. It will be live on FSE. ¡Disfruta! How about Bordeaux and Lille? French football on American television after the demise of Setanta USA? Don’t be foolish. While we’re on the subject, you can forget Panathinaikos-Olympiakos too, because there is no Greek football on American television under any circumstances or on any network.

Bollocks, you say? (You know you did, I heard you.) You just care about Manchester United and Liverpool anyway. You can watch that, right? Sure. That’ll be $15 please, because it’ll be on Fox’s pay-network, FSP.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to access live feeds on your computer for matches you can’t watch on television. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Benfica vs. Porto (Sunday, 3:15 pm (EDT), Not Televised)

2. Twente at PSV Eindhoven (Saturday, 2:45 pm, ESPN 360)

3. Liverpool at Manchester United (Sunday, 9:30 am, FSP)

4. River Plate at Boca Juniors (Sunday, 2:00 pm, FSE)

5. Manchester City at Fulham (Sunday, 11:30 am (delayed), FSP)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

3:00 am – Melbourne Victory vs. Sydney FC (FSC)

8:30 am – Wolverhampton Wanderers at Aston Villa (ESPN2)

10:30 am – (6) Bayern Munich at Eintracht Frankfurt (ESPND, ESPN 360)

11:00 am – Bolton Wanderers at Everton (FSC, FSE)

11:00 am – (13) Tottenham Hotspur at Stoke City (FSP)

1:00 pm – Genoa at Fiorentina (FSP, ESPN 360)

1:00 pm – Real Valladolid at Deportivo La Coruña (ESPND, ESPN 360)

1:30 pm – (12) Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia Dortmund (GolTV)

1:30 pm – West Ham United at (8) Arsenal (FSC, FSE)

2:45 pm – (22) Twente at (23) PSV Eindhoven (ESPN 360)

3:00 pm – Sporting Gijon at (2) Real Madrid (ESPND, ESPN 360)

3:45 pm – (4) Inter Milan at Palermo (FSC, FSE)

3:45 pm – Udinense at (16) Roma (ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – Ponte Preta at Palmeiras (GolTV)

5:00 pm – Birmingham City at Sunderland (Delayed) (FSP)

5:00 pm – (24) Sevilla at Espanyol (ESPND, ESPN 360)

6:30 pm – Santos at new York Red Bulls (FSC)

7:00 pm – Burnley at Wigan Athletic (Delayed) (FSP)

7:00 pm – Tigres at Cruz Azul (Azteca)

7:00 pm – Chivas de Guadalajara at Monterrey (Telemundo)

7:15 pm – Millonarios at Santa Fe (GolTV)

8:30 pm – Hull City at Portsmouth (Delayed) (FSC)

9:00 pm – Atlante at Morelia (ESPND, Azteca)

9:00 pm – Toluca at San Luis (TeleFutura)

9:30 pm – Real Cartagena at Junior Barranquilla (GolTV)

10:45 pm – Tecos UAG at Atlas (Telemundo, TeleFutura)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

9:30 am – Liverpool at (3) Manchester United (FSP)

10:00 am – Napoli at (9) AC Milan (FSC, FSE)

10:30 am – (11) Schalke 04 at Hamburger SV (GolTV)

11:30 am – (18) Manchester City at Fulham (Delayed) (FSP)

12 noon – (1) Chelsea at Blackburn Rovers (FSC, FSE)

12:15 pm – Atletico Madrid at Mallorca (GolTV)

12:30 pm – Hertha Berlin at Wolfsburg (ESPND, ESPN 360)

2:00 pm – Almeria at (14) Valencia (GolTV)

2:00 pm – River Plate at Boca Juniors (FSE)

3:00 pm – Jaguares at Pumas UNAM (Telemundo)

3:45 pm – Juventus at Sampdoria (FSC, ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – (5) Barcelona at Real Zaragoza (GolTV)

4:00 pm – Queretaro at Indios (FSE)

7:00 pm – Puebla at Santos Laguna (TeleFutura)

7:30 pm – Pachuca at Club America (Univision)

Non-Televised Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:

Sun., 7:30 am – (25) Ajax at RKC Waalwijk

Sun., 11:00 am – St. Mirren vs. (17) Rangers

Sun., 12 noon – Lille at (10) Bordeaux

Sun., 1:00 pm – Olympiakos at (15) Panathinaikos

Sun., 3:15 pm – (7) Benfica vs. (21) Porto

European Stadium Tour: San Siro

Okay sports fans, it’s time to reintroduce the European Stadium Tour feature to the website now that I have another review to contribute. I still owe you one from the South American Stadium Tour feature for Monumental in Buenos Aires, but that’ll come in a bit. For now, all eyes are on Milan and the San Siro.

As you probably can tell from the title and the pictures, last night I went to the San Siro to see a match between Inter Milan and Genoa. Before I get to the stadium highlights, I want to give a shout out to Soccer Tickets Online. I got my tickets from that site, for a reasonable price, and I told the operator that if all went well, I would add a link to his web page on my site. Obviously, everything went well.

The day before the match, I walked to the San Siro to check it out in the daylight. As far as I can tell, it is about a thirty-minute walk to the nearest metro stop, though there is a tram stop close to the stadium. I have to say that from the outside of the stadium, it was not that impressive except for the massive size of the structure. It definitely isn’t the most attractive stadium from the outside. It’s just a large steel structure with very little surrounding it in the immediate neighborhood. Nevertheless, I have seen a hundred matches from the stadium on television, so I knew that the experience from the inside would be much better.

The experience from the inside was much better. (I told you it would be.) I walked to the stadium again, this time at night because the match had an 8:45 pm start time. As you can imagine, the entire area is inundated with football fans, and I felt safe in the neighborhood both heading there and heading back. Entering the stadium through security and finding the seats was quick and painless, especially considering I don’t speak the language.

I didn’t get anything to eat at the match, though the offerings seemed like pretty routine ballpark fare. I had a coke, but a coke is a coke is a coke. One thing I found interesting is that like some other stadiums I’ve been to in Europe, you couldn’t get beer inside the stadium, though it was abundant outside. You could, however, get liquor. They were selling two items that I could tell to accompany your coke, if you’d like them. One was Borghetti, in little airplane bottles, a coffee liquor that I haven’t tried but looks similar to Kahlua. The other was a clear liquid in an airplane liquor bottle. It looked like vodka, but I didn’t see any beverage other than coke being sold and coke and vodka is pretty damn nasty. (Unfortunately, I speak from experience.) Maybe it was rum? I hope it was clear rum. Anyway, there were some alcohol options.

The crowd was loud and very into the match, especially, of course, the supporters section at the far end. It was a very energetic crowd, as you tend to see in European stadiums, and appeared to be a very knowledgeable crowd. One thing I noticed in the section that I was in was that many of the fans, rather than just shouting occasional expletives at the referee, would go into three- or four-minute diatribes about the referee and his educational background, his mother, his children, his pets and his choice of toothpaste. Or so I imagined; again, I don’t speak the language.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the size of the crowd. It was a Sunday night match, which I would imagine would get a bigger than normal crowd, though I have not looked into whether or not that is actually the case. Inter was taking on Genoa. Though it obviously wouldn’t be as full as an Inter/Juventus match, Genoa isn’t exactly Bari (no offense, Bari). With a quality opponent, I expected the stadium to be more than about 75% full, which is what it appeared to be. Maybe seeing the Wednesday afternoon crow at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires set my sights too high.

The match itself was dramatic, or at least as dramatic as a 0-0 draw can be. Inter Milan clearly was the better club and created several chances that they were unable to take advantage of. Still, they also made a handful of horrible mistakes and gave Genoa too many chances to score. The match could have gone either way and I suppose when either team could have won by a 3-0 score line, a point to each club is the fair result.

That is it for the San Siro. I had a great time and think that every football fan should make a trek to Milan for a match at the stadium. I suppose that as far as football experiences go, I’d rank it behind La Bombonera and Parc des Princes and as far as football cathedrals go, I’d rank it below Allianz Arena, but it definitely scores high marks in both categories and is a five-star experience.

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Rome Edition

Sorry folks, but I’ve fallen victim to the sporadic internet access that has been plaguing me in Italy. A day or so late, but here we go . . .

Well, folks, I’m sure you’re aware of the big news of the week. Real Madrid, in what has become familiar form, has been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Lyon in the Round of Sixteen. And I’m sure some of you have come here to see how far Real Madrid has dropped in the rankings. And, lo and behold, they’ve stayed put. ¿Que pasa?

As I’ve pointed out several times recently, I don’t factor in the results of two-leg rounds until the round is over. Although it is certainly over for Real Madrid, due to the different scheduling of UEFA this season, we still have another week to go in the round. Real’s failure to advance will definitely be noticeable in next week’s rankings – I promise. This week, however, we are still waiting for the round to end.

Since we are in this mild holding pattern, the rankings – at least at the top – have become fairly stagnant. This week’s top ten is last week’s top ten, though in a slightly different order. In addition to how Real’s loss will affect next week’s rankings, we are all anxious to see how the Chelsea-Inter Milan match plays out and see how that fixture will affect the rankings, as well. One more week of drama before the rankings get all shook up next week.

And why do the rankings get all shook up next week? It’s because of my beloved Bonus Points – or as they are known at this point in the season – Moderate Bonus Points. Those are awarded to the top eight survivors in the UEFA Champions League, Copa Libertadores and CONCACAF Champions League. (Other confederations as well, but they don’t matter at this point because they are on a completely different schedule.) I’ve been writing about these for literally years, and you can read about them and how they are applied in older posts if you click here.

For this final week before the Moderate Bonus Points are awarded, here are the rankings:

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – March 15, 2010

1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Chelsea maintains its spot atop the World Club Rankings following a 4-1 thrashing of West Ham United. Coming Up: The Blues have been up here for a while. Whether it stays up here another week depends on large part on the outcome between it and Inter Milan on Tuesday night. Domestically, Chelsea will return to action on Sunday against Blackburn Rovers.

2. Real Madrid (Esp) (2) – Yes, following a 1-1 draw with Olympique Lyon at midweek, Real Madrid has been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. After this week’s finales, we’ll see how far that causes it to drop. Real did balance that, however, with a 4-1 victory over Real Valladolid to stay atop La Liga’s Primera Division. Coming Up: On Saturday, Real Madrid will host Sporting Gijon.

3. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – With authority, Manchester United eliminated AC Milan from the UEFA Champions League with a 4-0 butt-whoopin’. In Premiership action, Manyoo almost equaled that feat with a 3-0 victory over Fulham. Coming Up: In a big match for both clubs, Manchester United will welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford on Sunday.

4. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – Inter Milan was upset 1-3 by Catania on Friday to let everybody in Italy just a little closer to the Serie A leaders. Coming Up: All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to see which one of these monoliths will fall. Domestically, Internazionale is heading to the islands to take on Palermo on Saturday.

5. Barcelona (Esp) (5) – Barça took care of business in a serious fashion as Lionel Messi outscored Valencia 3-0 to keep pace with Real Madrid in La Liga. Coming Up: Barcelona still has a lot of work to do in the Champions League as VfB Stuttgart comes to town with the clubs knotted at one after the first leg. Domestically, Barcelona will take on Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

6. Bayern Munich (Ger) (6) – Bayern may have fell 2-3 at Fiorentina at midweek, but that still was enough to allow Bayern Munich to advance to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. In league play, Bayern defeated Freiburg 2-1 to maintain its narrow lead in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: Bayern is off until Saturday when it will take on Eintracht Frankfurt.

7. Benfica (Por) (7) – In its Europa League match, Benfica could manage only a 1-1 draw at home against Marseille, which is not a very good result. Domestically, Benfica fared better with a 1-0 victory over Nacional. Coming Up: The rematch with Marseille will take place in southeast France on Thursday. In another big match, Benfica will face Porto on Sunday in the Portuguese League Cup final.

8. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – In almost embarrassing form, Arsenal dispatched Porto from the UEFA Champions League in 5-0 fashion at midweek. In England, Arsenal defeated Hull City 2-1 to keep pace with the leaders. Coming Up: Arsenal is off until Saturday when it welcomes (in a way) West Ham United to Emirates Stadium.

9. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – Not a good week for the red and black. After being humiliated at the hands of Manchester United in a 0-4 match to be eliminated from the Champions League, Milan defeated Chievo 1-0 in Serie A action, but lost David Beckham for some time in the process. Nevertheless, the club is now a single point from Internazionale for the top spot in Serie A. Coming Up: On Sunday, Milan will host Napoli in its next Serie A match.

10. Bordeaux (Fra) (9) – As it prepares to face off with Olympiakos with Champions League advancement at stake, Bordeaux’s French fortunes are turning, as it only picked up one point in two Ligue Un matches this week, losing 1-2 to Auxerre and drawing with Monaco 0-0. Coming Up: Bordeaux has the lead and home-pitch advantage in its rematch with Olympiakos on Wednesday. (I’ll be on a ferry to Greece while it’s being played. Reckon they’ll have a way to show it?) Another big match for Bordeaux will be Sunday’s against Lille.

11. Schalke 04 (Ger) (11) – With a 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, Schalke 04 kept pace with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. Coming Up: Schalke is off until Sunday when it faces off with Hamburger SV.

12. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (13) – Speaking of Hamburger SV, Leverkusen defeated the Europa League contenders 4-2 on Sunday to keep up with Bayern and Schalke. Coming Up: Leverkusen hits the road to take on Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

13. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (17) – The Spurs continue to look like a threat for a Champions League spot following a 3-1 defeat of Blackburn Rovers. Coming Up: A good test for Tottenham will be on Saturday when it takes on Stoke City in an away matchup that it should win if it has hopes for next season’s Champions League.

14. Valencia (Esp) (12) - Ugh. First a home draw against Werder Bremen, 1-1, had to make Valencia feel bad. Watch Lionel Messi put in three goals in a 0-3 defeat to Barcelona had to leave it feeling even worse. Coming Up: The rematch with Werder Bremen takes place in Germany on Thursday. Sunday, Valencia will host Almeria in a Primera Division match.

15. Panathinaikos (Gre) (15) – After putting in a stunning effort against Roma in the first knockout round, Panathinaikos completely fell apart in a 1-3 home loss to Standard Liege in the Europa League. Domestically, however, Panathinaikos was same old-same old with a 1-0 victory over Asteras Tripolis. Coming Up: Panathinaikos has to go to Belgium for the rematch with Standard Liege on Thursday. In a match that I will be at if I can find a ticket, Panathinaikos will host Olympiakos in Athens on Sunday.

16. Roma (Ita) (16) – Roma moved one point closer to Inter, but two further away from Milan, with a 3-3 draw against Livorno this weekend. Coming Up: On Saturday, Roma will host Udinense in its next Serie A match.

17. Rangers (Sco) (19) – Rangers defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 to further sew up its next SPL championship. In the Scottish Cup, Rangers drew 3-3 with Dundee United this weekend, meaning . . . something. It’s the Scottish Cup. I really don’t care. Coming Up: In the Scottish League Cup, which I care even less about, Rangers will take on St. Mirren on Sunday. At least that’s the final, though.

18. Manchester City (Eng) (14) – Man City’s dream of next season’s Champions League will not come to fruition with 1-1 draws against Sunderland. Coming Up: We’ll see how the boys in light blue do against Fulham on Sunday.

19. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (23) – Rubin probably hoped that it would have done better than a 1-1 home draw against Wolfsburg in the first leg of the Europa League meeting between the two. In its 2010 Russian Premier League debut, Rubin Kazan defeated Lokomotiv Moskva 2-0. Coming Up: Rubin Kazan heads to Germany to take on the defending Bundesliga champions in the second leg of their Europa League match. Domestically, Rubin Kazan will take on Tom Tomsk on Sunday.

20. Sporting Braga (Por) (22) – Braga kept pace with Benfica in the Liga Sagres with a 1-0 victory over Rio Ave this weekend. Coming Up: No Upcoming Matches.

21. Porto (Por) (BU) – Porto returns to the rankings despite its humiliating 0-5 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in Porto’s Champions League swan song. Domestically, Porto fared better with a 2-1 victory over Academica. Coming Up: In one of the biggest matches of the weekend, Porto will take on Benfica in Portugal’s League Cup final.

22. Twente (Ned) (BU) – The Eredivisie leaders return to the rankings after defeating ADO Den Haag 3-1 this past weekend. Coming Up: In another of the big matches of the weekend, Twente will head to Eindhoven to take on second-place PSV on Saturday.

23. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (20) – PSV drops a few notches after getting thoroughly destroyed by Ajax by a 1-4 score. (It’s one of the few matches that I actually got to see this weekend and it wasn’t even as close as the score.) Coming Up: PSV’s season may hinge on the outcome of its match with Twente at home on Saturday.

24. Sevilla (Esp) (NR) – Despite managing no more than a 1-1 draw with Deportivo La Coruña this weekend, Sevilla moves back into fourth place in the Primera Division and back into the rankings. Coming Up: Sevilla will host CSKA Moscow tomorrow night in the second leg of the Champions League matchup between the two clubs. Domestically, Sevilla will take on Espanyol in Barcelona on Saturday.

25. Ajax (Ned) (25) – Despite pulling PSV down, Ajax doesn’t move up despite its 4-1 buttkicking of PSV this weekend. Coming Up: Ajax returns to action on Sunday in the Eredivisie against RKC Waalwijk.

Bubbling Under: Aston Villa (Eng), Flamengo (Bra), Internacional (Bra), LDU Quito (Ecu), Peñarol (Uru).

Next Five: Mallorca (Esp), Marseille (Fra), Montpellier (Fra), PAOK (Gre), Palermo (Ita).

Matches This Week Between Top 25 Clubs:

16 March – (4) Inter Milan at (1) Chelsea

20 March – (22) Twente at (23) PSV Eindhoven

21 March – (7) Benfica vs. (21) Porto

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 13/14 March 2010

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. I don’t have any excuse except that I’ve been having a good time in Rome and I haven’t had time since the belated ESPN Deportes schedule was released to put this together. I have the time now and I’m putting it together.

It’s okay, though, because the biggest matches are all on Sunday. In fact, there really are only four big matches this week, including two matchups involving WCR Top 25 Clubs. The biggest is Lazio-Bari, because that’s the match I’ll be at. Since it’s not televised though, I won’t talk about it any more. The other big matches also take place on Sunday in Spain (Barcelona-Valencia), the Netherlands (Ajax-PSV Eindhoven) and Germany (Bayer Leverkusen-Hamburger SV).

I’d also like to note that I don’t like this Fox Sports Plus taking Setanta’s place crap and I don’t think I’ll be subscribing. One of the main reasons that I subscribed to Setanta wasn’t so I’d get that extra Manchester United match a month; it was because I could get Ligue Un and SPL and Russian Premier League matches as well. None of those appear to be on the Fox Sports Plus schedule. I’m not subscribing to yet another station for just another three or four Premier League matches a weekend when they are so easily accessible over the internet. In the words of the great Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

Now, on to the schedules. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Valencia at Barcelona (Sunday, 2:00 (EDT), ESPND, ESPN 360)

2. PSV Eindhoven at Ajax (Sunday, 11:30 am, ESPND, ESPN 360)

3. Hamburger SV at Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday, 12:30 pm, ESPN 360)

4. VfB Stuttgart at Schalke 04 (Saturday, 4:00 pm (EST), (delayed) ESPND)

5. Fulham at Manchester United (Sunday, 9:30 am, FSP)

Friday, March 12, 2010

2:30 pm – (3) Inter Milan at Catania (FSC, FSE)

9:00 pm – Indios at Tecos UAG (Galavision)

Saturday, March 13, 2010

4:00 am – Wellington Phoenix at Sydney FC (FSC)

7:30 am – Blackburn at (17) Tottenham Hotspur (ESPN2)

9:30 am – VfL Wolfsburg at Borussia Monchengladbach (GolTV)

10:00 am – Everton at Birmingham City (FSC, FSE)

10:00 am – West Ham United at (1) Chelsea (FSP)

12:30 pm – Freiburg at (6) Bayern Munich (GolTV)

12:30 pm – (8) Arsenal at Hull City (FSC, FSE)

2:00 pm – Aston Vlla at Stoke City (Delayed) (FSP)

2:00 pm – Athletic Bilbao at Sporting Gijon (ESPND, ESPN 360)

2:45 pm – Fiorentina at Napoli (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – Deportivo La Coruña at Sevilla (GolTV)

4:00 pm – Wolverhampton Wanderers at Burley (Delayed) (FSP)

4:00 pm – VfB Stuttgart at (11) Schalke 04 (Delayed) (ESPND)

5:00 pm – Wigan Athletic at Bolton Wanderers (Delayed) (FSC)

6:00 pm – Monarcas at Queretaro (TeleFutura)

6:00 pm – San Luis at Jaguares (ESPND, Azteca)

8:00 pm – Santos Laguna at Pachuca (TeleFutura)

8:00 pm – Pumas UNAM at Chivas de Guadalajara (Telemundo)

10:00 pm – Club America at Atlante (Delayed) (Telemundo)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

9:30 am – Fulham at (4) Manchester United (FSP)

10:00 am – (16) Roma at Livorno (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

10:00 am – Siena at Juventus (ESPN 360)

11:30 am – (20) PSV Eindhoven at (25) Ajax (ESPND, ESPN 360)

12 noon – Deportivo Xerez at Villarreal (GolTV)

12 noon – (14) Manchester City at Livorno (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

12:30 pm – Hamburger SV at (13) Bayer Leverkusen (ESPN 360)

2:00 pm – Cruz Azul at Toluca (Telemundo)

2:00 pm – (12) Valencia at (5) Barcelona (ESPND, ESPN 360)

2:00 pm – (7) Benfica at Nacional (ESPN 360)

3:45 pm – Chievo at (10) AC Milan (FSC, FSE)

4:00 pm – (2) Real Madrid at Real Valladolid (GolTV)

6:00 pm – Huracan at River Plate (Delayed) (FSC)

6:00 pm – Monterrey at Puebla (FSE)

6:30 pm – Santo Andre at Corinthians (GolTV)

Monday, March 15, 2010

4:00 pm – Portsmouth at Liverpool (ESPN2)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 12 noon – (21) Mallorca at Getafe

Sat., 1:00 pm – Auxerre at (9) Bordeaux

Sat., 2:15 pm – Rio Ave at (22) Sporting Braga

Sun., 7:00 am – Lokomotiv Moskva at (23) Rubin Kazan

Sun., 8:45 am – Dundee United at (19) Rangers

Sun., 10:45 am – (15) Panathinaikos at Asteras Tripolis

Sun., 12:30 pm – ESPOLI at (18) LDU Quito

Sun., 4:00 pm – (24) Marseille at Toulouse

Fearless Europa League Predictions - Round of Sixteen

Okay, it’s time for more of my fearless Euorpa League predictions. Why fearless? Because, really, what are you going to do to me if I’m wrong. And I’m wrong about half the time in this tournament. Still, that doesn’t stop me. This tournament, much, much more so than the Champions League, is just an exhibition allowing clubs that weren’t good enough to advance in the Champions League an opportunity to make more money for UEFA. So, take all of my predictions with a few grains of salt. They all are based solely on the current World Club Rankings. If you had access to clubs beyond the Top 25 or 35, you wouldn’t even need me. But you don’t, so you do, so here we go.

GO AHEAD AND DECLARE A CHAMPION NOW GROUP

I’ve mentioned before that in the last two seasons of the UEFA Cup, I missed Zenit St. Petersburg and Shakhtar Donetsk completely. How did I miss them? I refused to pick clubs in the Russian or Ukranian leagues, so I picked against those clubs in every single round. That’s right; for the clubs that ultimately won the cup, I was 0-10 in picking their matchups. There’s only one league left in the Round of Sixteen that I won’t pick to advance and that’s Belgium’s Jupiler (Is that right? It’s something like that.) Here’s another opportunity for a smaller, less accomplished league to put me to shame.

(29) Hamburger SV (Ger) over RSC Anderlecht (Bel)

(15) Panathinaikos (Gre) over Standard Liege (Bel)

PICK OF THE ROUND

In the last round, I went 1-5 in the category that I called the close calls. (Or something like that. I forget exactly what I called it.) But that meant that I was 70% on all of the others. Not too bad. In the category with the biggest difference in rankings between the clubs, there is only one matchup, so I’m making that my pick of the week.

(23) Rubin Kazan (Rus) over (110) VfL Wolfsburg

MODERATE CONFIDENCE

These are picks that I’m not as comfortable with, but still make with some confidence. First is the matchup between Atletico Madrid and Sporting CP. Atletico is my favorite Spanish club but has been very disappointing this season. Sporting has also been disappointing, but has shown up in the big matches like a recent drubbing of Porto. I’m going with the Portuguese club in this one.

(50) Sporting CP (Por) over (81) Atletico Madrid (Esp)

In the other matchup of this round, I’m going with a club I picked against in the last round against a club I picked to win in the last round. I thought Juventus had a much tougher matchup in the last round, but it got by Ajax and got some of my respect in the process. Fulham is English and doesn’t have a lot more going in favor of it this season. I’m going Juve.

(44) Juventus (Ita) over (70) Fulham (Eng)

Finally, is the matchup between Valencia and Werder Bremen. Bremen is my favorite German club, but I’m going against them, as well. Valencia is just too strong this season, definitely heading for a spot in next season’s Champions League, and if they motivate themselves at all for this round, they should advance fairly easily.

(12) Valencia (Esp) over (42) Werder Bremen (Ger)

CLOSE CALLS

This is the category that got me in trouble last time around. These could go in any direction. In the last round, five of the six went in the direction I said they wouldn’t. Law of averages is on my side in this round, then, right? Right? Whatever. These all should be great matchups and I am going strictly by the rankings in my picks. In both cases, I’m picking the French club to narrowly lose. Here are the picks:

(17) Benfica (Por) over (24) Marseille (Fra)

(39) Liverpool (Eng) over (46) Lille (Fra)

There you go. Who knows if they’ll be right? Who cares? It’s all in fun, just like the Europa League. Enjoy!!!

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Milan (and Pisa) Edition

Sorry for the temporary blackout everybody, but I’ve been locked in the internet dead zone that was my hotel in Milan. Today, I arrived in Pisa, received some internet and have been able to crunch the numbers. The good news is that I finally got to go to an Inter Milan match at the San Siro. The bad news is that the rankings are a day late, but better late than never is what I sometimes say.

At the moment, the top of the rankings are paying close attention to what will be going on over the next two weeks in the Champions League. As a reminder, the results of this round of the Champions League will not be worked into the calculations until the round is complete, which will be in the rankings two weeks from now. For now, it looks like any of the top five clubs could be at the top of the rankings when the dust clears.

For now, those top five clubs are in a kind of holding pattern, with Real Madrid and Barcelona switching places in the rankings due to Real’s rise to the top of the Primera Division. This puts us in a weird position where both of the top two clubs are behind in their Champions League matchups and are barely holding on to the tops of their respective leagues. (Though Chelsea is technically no longer top of the Premeirship, their game in hand still gives them the functional lead for purposes of the rankings.)

Okay, this thing is late enough already. On to the rankings!!!

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – March 8, 2010

1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Chelsea stays top this week following its 2-0 defeat of Stoke City in the FA Cup quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal tie with Aston Villa. Coming Up: While we all wait for the rematch with Inter Milan, Chelsea will host West Ham United on Saturday.

2. Real Madrid (Esp) (5) – With a 3-2 victory over Sevilla, Real Madrid gets a little revenge and the top spot in the Primera Division as Barça continues to struggle. Coming Up: Real Madrid will host Lyon on Wednesday night (I need to find a bar in Rome to watch the match in if anybody has any ideas) and try to overcome a 0-1 defecit. On Sunday, Real Madrid will take on Real Valladolid in a Real battle in La Liga.

3. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – I’ve waited for years to see a match at the San Siro and when I finally see one, it’s a 0-0 draw with Genoa. Oh, well, it was a great match nonetheless. Coming Up: Getting a tad bit of a break before its rematch with Chelsea, Inter will face off with Catania on Friday this week.

4. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – Manchester United moved into the technical league of the Premier League over Chelsea, who played an FA Cup match, by defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 this weekend. Coming Up: First up will be United’s return match against AC Milan on Wednesday at Old Trafford with Manyoo holding a 3-2 advantage. Domestically, Manchester United will host Fulham on Sunday.

5. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barça dropped from the top of the Primera Division as it continued to disappoint with a 2-2 draw with Almeria. Coming Up: In what will be the match of the weekend, Barcelona will host third-place Valencia on Sunday.

6. Bayern Munich (Ger) (6) – Bayern managed to put another point between it and Leverkusen despite managing only a 1-1 draw with Köln this weekend. Coming Up: Like me, Bayern will head to Italy this week when it takes on Fiorentina in the second leg of their Champions League matchup with Bayern holding a 2-1 advantage. In Bundesliga play, Bayern will host Freiburg on Saturday.

7. Benfica (Por) (7) – Benfica picked up points on both Sporting Braga and Porto this week with a 3-1 victory over Paços de Ferreira. Coming Up: In the most anticipated Europa League match of the next round, Benfica will host Marseille on Thursday. Domestically, Benfica will take on Nacional on Sunday.

8. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – Arsenal kept pace with Manyoo in the Premiership this weekend by scoring a 3-1 win over Burnley. Coming Up: In what should be a great match, Arsenal welcomes Porto to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday for the second leg of their Champions League matchup with Arsenal in the hole 1-2. In Premier League action, Arsenal faces Hull City on Saturday.

9. Bordeaux (Fra) (9) – In a battle of the top two clubs in Ligue Un, Bordeaux and Montpellier battled to a 1-1 draw, with Bordeaux being short-handed most of the match. Coming Up: Bordeaux has two games in hand in Ligue Un and it will play a makeup match against Auxerre on Wednesday. It will follow that match against with another one in Monaco on Saturday.

10. AC Milan (Ita) (11) – In a battle of Inter Milan’s top rivals for the Serie A lead this season, AC Milan and Roma played to a 0-0 draw. Coming Up: AC Milan will have its work cut out for it this week as David Beckham returns to Old Trafford with a 2-3 deficit. Regardless of the results, AC Milan will host Chievo at the San Siro on Sunday.

11. Schalke 04 (Ger) (17) – Schalke moves up the rankings by virtue of moving into second place in the German Bundesliga following a 4-1 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt. Coming Up: Schalke’s next match will be at home on Friday against VfB Stuttgart, who may very well have other things (Barcelona) on its mind.

12. Valencia (Esp) (12) – No current matches. Coming Up: As I am typing this, Valencia is playing Racing Santander in a Primera Division match. On Thursday, Valencia returns to action against Werder Bremen in the Europa League. The biggest match of all, however, should be Sunday’s match against Barcelona in another La Liga match.

13. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (10) – It finally happened and Bayer Leverkusen became the last club from a major European league to lose its first match, falling 2-3 to Nürnberg. Coming Up: It won’t get any easier this weekend either for the now-third-place club who hosts Hamburger SV on Sunday.

14. Manchester City (Eng) (14) – No current matches. Coming Up: After a two-week break, Man City will finally return to action on Sunday against Sunderland.

15. Panathinaikos (Gre) (16) – With a 3-0 victory over Levadiakos, Panathinaikos finally moves to its rightful place ahead of Roma in the rankings. Coming Up: I expect Panathinaikos to have an easier time with Standard Liege in its next Europa League matchup, beginning Thursday, but I’ve been wrong about these things before. Domestically, Panathinaikos will take on Asteras Tripolis on Sunday.

16. Roma (Ita) (15) – Roma drops a notch despite holding AC Milan to a 0-0 draw in Rome on Saturday night. Coming Up: Roma will try to bounce back on Sunday when it takes on Livorno.

17. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (18) – Like Roma, the Spurs only managed a 0-0 draw against Fulham in its FA Cup quarterfinal, yet Tottenham moved up a notch in the rankings. The rankings can be a fickle wench sometimes. Coming Up: The Spurs will return to action at White Hart Lane on Saturday against Blackburn Rovers.

18. LDU Quito (Ecu) (NR) – This is probably a blip in the rankings caused by the fact that Ecuador’s season has just begun, but the defending Copa Sudamericana champions are off to a red-hot domestic start, defeating Deportivo Quito 1-0 and giving the club four wins and a draw in its first five matches. Coming Up: Since it’s not participating in the Copa Libertadores, the 2008 Champions of that tournament will not play until Sunday when it faces ESPOLI.

19. Rangers (Sco) (19) – Glasgow Rangers continued to cruise to a second straight title (it’s two right?) with a 3-1 victory over St. Mirren. Coming Up: Rangers will take on Kilmarnock in a league match on Tuesday (since Scottish clubs typically aren’t playing in Europe at this time of year) and will take on Dundee United on Sunday in a Scottish FA Cup quarterfinal match.

20. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (13) – PSV fell out of the top spot in the Eredivisie, and way down the rankings, this week following a 1-2 upset against NAC Breda. Coming Up: In one of the big matches of the season in the Netherlands, PSV will head to Amsterdam this weekend for a battle with Ajax.

21. Mallorca (Esp) (NF) – Mallorca moved back into fourth place in the Primera Division this week with a huge 3-0 defeat of Sporting Gijon. Coming Up: As it tries to hold on to a Champions League spot for next season, Mallorca will take on Getafe on Sunday.

22. Sporting Braga (Por) (23) – Braga fell two more points behind Benfica this weekend by playing into a goalless draw with Vitória Setúbal on the weekend. Coming Up: Next up for Braga will be a home matchup against Rio Ave on Saturday.

23. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (21) – Rubin Kazan took home the Russian Super Cup this weekend with a 1-0 victory over CSKA Moskva. Coming Up: Rubin Kazan returns to Europa League action on Thursday at home against VfL Wolfsburg. On Sunday, the Russian Premier League returns to action, at least for Rubin Kazan, as it hosts Lokomotiv Moskva.

24. Marseille (Fra) (22) – Keeping pace with the 1-1 draw between the clubs in front of it in the Ligue Un table, Marseille had a 1-1 result of its own against Lorient. Coming Up: As mentioned above, Marseille will head to Lisbon to take on Benfica in the biggest matchup of the Europa League Round of Sixteen. In Ligue Un action, Marseille will take on Toulouse on Sunday.

25. Ajax (Ned) (BU) – Ajax returns to the rankings after a sizable absence following a 3-0 defeat of Sparta Rotterdam. Coming Up: Ajax’s season could hinge on the outcome of Sunday’s match at home against PSV Eindhoven.

Bubbling Under: Flamengo (Bra), Hamburger SV (Ger), Internacional (Bra), Porto (Por), Twente (Ned).

Next Five: Aston Villa (Eng), Montpellier (Fra), PAOK (Gre), Palermo (Ita), Peñarol (Uru).

Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:

10 March – (10) AC Milan at (4) Manchester United

11 March – (24) Marseille at (7) Benfica

14 March – (13) Valencia at (5) Barcelona

14 March – (20) PSV Eindhoven at (25) Ajax

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - FAQ Edition

As I ride the train from Paris to Marseille, I’m anticipating questions/doubts/threats regarding this week’s rankings. For that reason, I’ll do a FAQ edition. “F” in this context will stand for “future” rather than “frequently” because nobody has asked the questions yet, since I haven’t yet published the rankings, but people will ask, so here are some of the answers.

Why is Chelsea still number one? They sucked this week, didn’t they? Yes, they did. They lost at the San Siro to Inter Milan and at Stamford Bridge to Manchester City. The rankings are based on the entire season to date, not just recent results, but that doesn’t seem to be enough of an explanation. With respect to the Man City loss, Chelsea still is in first place in the Premiership. While Chelsea’s stats in the Premier League aren’t quite as good as Barcelona’s in La Liga, the league rating for the Premier League is high enough that it still keeps Chelsea a little above Barcelona. With respect to the Inter Milan loss, in a topic that I write about almost every week during this time of the season, the Champions League results are not factored in until the end of the round. If Inter Milan (or anybody else) knocks Chelsea out of the Champions League, Chelsea will lose its top-ranking. If Manchester United (or anybody else) knocks Chelsea off its perch atop the Premiership, Chelsea will lose its top-ranking. Until one of those two things happens, however, Chelsea likely is number one to stay. (And if neither of those things happens this season, it’ll be near impossible to argue that Chelsea isn’t number one.)

Why is Roma still ranked ahead of Panathinaikos (to name one example)? Didn’t Panathinaikos just remove Roma from the ranks of the Europa League survivors? Yes it did, and quite impressively too, I might add. Again, this is something I’ve written about before. The Europa League, like it’s predecessor the UEFA Cup, has very little value in the formulas used to determine the rankings. This is particularly true in the earlier rounds of the tournament. When all is said and done, the formulas used to determine the rankings are much more impressed with a third-place result in the Italian Serie A than in a first-place result in the Greek Super League. Reasonable minds can differ on this opinion, but that is how the numbers work. Is Roma more concerned with qualifying for next season’s Champions League and possibly (though not likely) winning Serie A or with advancing to the Round of Sixteen in the Europa League this season? I don’t know. But year after year, top clubs have underachieved in the second-level European tournaments and so the results are often discounted in the formulas.

So, we think you’re full of crap and don’t know what you’re talking about. Can we see the WCR Top 25 anyway? Sure, here you go.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – March 1, 2010

1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Yes, it was a horrible week for our leaders. First, Chelsea fell 1-2 in the first leg of its battle with Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan in the Champions League. Historically, losing 1-2 on the road in the first leg gives you about a 50-50 chance of advancing, so this matchup is as close as we anticipated it would be. More embarrassingly, Chelsea fell at home to Manchester City by a 2-4 score. I blame John Terry. So does Wayne Bridge. Coming Up: Chelsea’s lead in the Premier League has been reduced to a sliver. It won’t add to it this weekend as it will be hosting Stoke City in the next round of the FA Cup.

2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barça fared a little better than Chelsea in its first Champions League knockout leg, but it still has to be disappointed in only securing a 1-1 draw against VfB Stuttgart. Domestically, Barcelona did escape Malaga with a 2-1 victory at the Nou Camp. Coming Up: Barcelona’s next Primera Division match will be Sunday against Almeria.

3. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – Internazionale seems to be poised to upset top-ranked Chelsea in the Champions League after defeating the London club 2-1 in the opening leg at the San Siro. In Serie A play, Inter held serve with a late goal to secure a 3-2 victory over Udinense. Coming Up: On Sunday, Inter will host Genoa at the San Siro. The most important thing about this match is that, knock on wood, I will be there, so you can look forward to a continuation of the European Stadium Tour series.

4. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – In late news from last Monday, Manchester United defeated West Ham United 3-0 to move within spitting distance of Chelsea. Yesterday, Manchester United became the first club to repeat as Carling Cup champions (name, notwithstanding) since Nottingham Forest 20 years ago by defeating Aston Villa 2-1. Coming Up: Manyoo’s lone match of the week will be an away matchup on Saturday against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

5. Real Madrid (Esp) (5) – Real Madrid tore up the field against Tenerife. At least, they tore up Tenerife by a 5-1 score. Coming Up: The biggest match of the weekend in Spain will be Sunday’s rematch in which Real Madrid will try to get a little revenge for an earlier loss against Sevilla.

6. Bayern Munich (Ger) (9) – With a 1-0 victory over fourth-place Hamburger SV, Bayern finally moved back to the top of the Bundesliga table, which is a spot that it has seemed destined to reach for several weeks now. Coming Up: On Saturday, Bayern will take on Köln, who drew with Leverkusen this past weekend to make room for Bayern at the top.

7. Benfica (Por) (7) – The week started off well for Benfica who defeated Hertha BSC 4-0 to advance to the Round of Sixteen in the Europa League. The good times just kept coming from there as Benfica crushed Leixões 4-0 to maintain its lead over Braga in the Liga Sagres. Coming Up: Next up for Benfica will be a Liga Sagres match on Sunday against Paços de Ferreira.

8. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – The Gunners find themselves back in the Premier League hunt following a 3-1 victory over Stoke City. Coming Up: Arsenal’s relatively weak part of the schedule continues on Saturday when Burley comes to Emirates Stadium.

9. Bordeaux (Fra) (10) – No recent matches. Coming Up: After consecutive Ligue Un postponments, neither of which were enough to remove Bordeaux from the top of the Ligue Un standings, Bordeaux will return to action on Sunday at home against Montpellier.

10. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (6) – It may have taken longer than expected, but Leverkusen finally was forced out of the top spot in the German Bundesliga following a 0-0 draw with Köln. Coming Up: As it now plays follower instead of leader, Leverkusen will face off with Nürnberg on Sunday.

11. AC Milan (Ita) (11) – It was a rather good week for the boys in Red and Black as they picked up six points in two Serie A matches. The week started with a 2-1 victory over disappointing Fiorentina. The week ended with a 3-1 defeat of Atalanta. Coming Up: In what currently anticipated to be the WCR Match of the Weekend, AC Milan will head south to take on Serie A third-place club Roma on Saturday.

12. Valencia (Esp) (12) – Things seemed well enough at midweek for Valencia because, even though it took extra time, Valencia defeated Club Brugge 3-1 to advance to the next round of the Europa League. Things weren’t so rosy (or orangy) at the end of the week when Atletico Madrid took advantage of a nine-man Valencia club and Valencia fell 1-4. Coming Up: If it can keep some players on the field, Valencia should have an easier time Sunday against Racing Santander.

13. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (13) – The short-lived good times in Europe ended for PSV this weekend when, despite a 3-2 victory at home against Hamburger SV, PSV was eliminated from the Europa League by the German club by way of away goals. Domestically, things were much easier for PSV, who maintained its narrow Eredivisie lead with a 5-1 victory over RKC Waalwijk. Coming Up: PSV returns to action in Holland on Saturday by taking on NAC Breda.

14. Manchester City (Eng) (14) – The FA Cup matters little in the rankings, but Man City, I’m sure, would still have preferred not to be eliminated at the hands of Stoke City by a 1-3 score. The heartbreak was made up for, though (for both Man City and Wayne Bridge) by a 4-2 thumping of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge over the weekend. Coming Up: No matches scheduled this week.

15. Roma (Ita) (15) – Yes, as explained in the FAQ’s above, Roma remains a notch ahead of Panathinaikos despite its falling to the Greek club 2-3 and being eliminated from the Europa League. Roma also lost points to the clubs from Milan by scoring only a 2-2 draw against Napoli. Coming Up: Can Roma do anything to save its reputation in these rankings? We’ll see on Saturday when it hosts AC Milan.

16. Panathinaikos (Gre) (16) – See above. Yes, Panathinaikos advanced to the Europa League Round of Sixteen by scoring a second straight 3-2 victory over Roma. It also kept itself ahead of Olympiakos in the Greek Super League by virtue of its 2-0 defeat of Panionios. Coming Up: Panathinaikos is off until Sunday when it hosts Levadiakos.

17. Schalke 04 (Ger) (18) – Schalke moves up a notch following its 2-1 defeat of Borussia Dortmund. Coming Up: Schalke’s next Bundesliga match will be Saturday at Eintracht Frankfurt.

18. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (BU) – The topsy-turvy ride for clubs battling for the fourth Champions League spot from England returns the Spurs to the rankings in a week that saw it advance in the FA Cup with a 4-0 victory over the Bolton Wanderers and do what Chelsea and Manchester United failed to do recently, defeat Everton 2-1. Coming Up: This weekend, the Spurs will head to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham in another FA Cup battle.

19. Rangers (Sco) (19) – The final nail was put into the Celtic coffin this weekend when Rangers defeated its archrivals by a 1-0 score. Only a miracle of biblical proportions could keep them from winning another SPL title. (Queue ominous music.) Coming Up: Rangers will host St. Mirren in the next leg of its victory tour on Saturday.

20. Porto (Por) (20) – Is this the same Porto club that looked so good last week at home against Arsenal and Sporting Braga? One week down in Lisbon and it all turns to crap as Porto fell hard, 0-3, to Sporting CP. Coming Up: The schedule finally gets a little easier on Saturday (in anticipation of the Arsenal rematch) when Porto hosts Olhanense.

21. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (23) – A goalless draw against Hapoel Tel Aviv was enough to allow Rubin Kazan to advance to the Europa League Round of Sixteen. Coming Up: Just ahead of its Russian League opener, Rubin Kazan will take on CSKA Moscow on Sunday in the Russian Super Cup.

22. Marseille (Fra) (NF) – It’s just a coincidence that Marseille returns to the rankings a few hours before I arrive there for the first time. Seriously, just a coincidence. With a 3-1 victory over Kobenhavn, Marseille advanced to the Round of Sixteen in the Europa League. In Paris, where I just left, Marseille humbled Paris St.-Germain with a 3-0 walloping. Coming Up: Marseille’s next match, as it awaits Benfica in the next round of the Europa League, will be Sunday against Lorient.

23. Sporting Braga (Por) (24) – Braga finally got back on track this weekend with a 3-1 victory over Olhanense. Coming Up: Next up for Sporting Braga will be a Saturday match against Vitória Setúbal.

24. Sevilla (Esp) (22) – Sevilla took a point from CSKA Moscow in the Russian leg of the clubs’ Champions League matchup. Domestically, Sevilla could get only a point at home against Athletic Bilbao in a goalless draw. Coming Up: The schedule just gets rougher for Sevilla who head up to the Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid on Sunday.

25. Internacional (Bra) (25) – Internacional’s success in the Copa Libertadores continued with a 2-1 victory over Ecuador’s Emelec. Coming Up: No matches scheduled in the coming week.

Bubbling Under: Ajax (Ned), Aston Villa (Eng), Flamengo (Bra), Hamburger SV (Ger), Montpellier (Fra).

Next Five: Chivas de Guadalajara (Mex), Mallorca (Esp), Olympiakos (Gre), Palermo (Ita), Twente (Ned).

Matches This Week Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:

6 March – (11) AC Milan at (15) AS Roma

7 March – (24) Sevilla at (5) Real Madrid