Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 30/31 May 2009

Now that Barcelona has been crowned Champions of Europe, the weekend action on television is dwindling. There still will be a reduced schedule this week, but after this week there will be very little to show. That also means that this week will mark the conclusion of the Top Five Matches of the Weekend segment in the weekly schedule, but we still plan to bring you schedules for future weekends, even though there won’t be much to bring.

This weekend can be broken into two major categories – season finales and cup finals. As far as season finales go, Spain, Italy and France all finish their regular domestic seasons this weekend. There is little drama involved, though, there still is a little in France, where Bordeaux can clinch a Ligue Un title if it can manage a draw or better against Caen. If it fails, the door is opened, ever so slightly, for Marseille who still can sneak in for a championship with luck and a victory over Stade Rennes.

In cup action, there are finals going on in England, Scotland, German and Portuguese (and maybe more). The biggest of these is, as usual, the English FA Cup, which features two clubs in the WCR Top 25 in Chelsea and Everton. While the cup would be a big deal for Everton, it is merely consolation for a season with so much promise for Chelsea.

There’s also a lot of South American action, but I won’t write too much about that since it will feature so heavily in the next several weeks. Of note, however, just to the north is the second leg of the Mexican Clausura championship, which sees two of the most exciting Mexican clubs in recent years, Pachuca and UNAM Pumas, face off for the title.

It should be great, if fleeting. As always, have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Chelsea vs. Everton (Saturday, 10:00 am (EST), FSC, Setanta USA)
2. Cruzeiro at Sao Paolo (Sunday, 3:00 pm, Not Televised)
3. AC Milan at Fiorentina (Sunday, 9:00 am, FSC)
4. UNAM Pumas at Pachuca (Sunday, 8:00 pm, TeleFutura)
5. Lazio at Juventus (Sunday, 9:00 am, ESPN 360 (11 am on FSC))

Friday, May 29, 2009

9:00 am – Saturn Moscow at Amkar Perm (Setanta USA)
3:00 pm – Nigeria at Ireland (Setanta USA)

Saturday, May 30, 2009

10:00 am – (3) Chelsea vs. (24) Everton (FSC) (Setanta USA)
2:30 pm – Bayer Leverkusen vs Werder Bremen (ESPN 360)
3:00 pm – (2) Barcelona at Deportivo La Coruna (GolTV)
3:00 pm – (12) Bordeaux at Caen (Setanta USA)
5:00 pm – Almeria at (21) Atletico de Madrid (Delayed) (GolTV)
7:10 pm – Once Caldas at Tolima (GolTV)
9:15 pm – Junior Barranquilla at Cucuta Deportivo (GolTV)
10:30 pm – Columbus Crew at Seattle Sounders (FSC)

Sunday, May 31, 2009

12:45 am – Kuban at Zenit St. Petersburg (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
8:00 am – Stade Rennes at (17) Marseille (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
9:00 am – (10) AC Milan at Fiorentina (FSC)
9:00 am – Lecce at Genoa (ESPN 360)
11:00 am – Lazio at (16) Juventus (Delayed) (FSC) (Live at 9 am on ESPN 360)
1:00 pm – (9) Real Madrid at Osasuna (GolTV)
1:00 pm – Atalanta at Inter Milan (Delayed) (FSC)
3:00 pm – Corinthians at Santos (GolTV)
3:00 pm – FC Dallas at Chicago Fire (TeleFutura)
4:00 pm – Racing Club at Gimnasia La Plata (FSE)
5:10 pm – Tacuarembo at (25) Defensor Sporting (GolTV)
8:00 pm – UNAM Pumas at Pachuca (TeleFutura)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 10:00 am – (19) Rangers vs. Falkirk
Sun., 11:00 am – (18) Sevilla at Numancia
Sun., 12 noon – (11) Porto vs. Pacos Ferreira
Sun., 3:00 pm – (13) Gremio at EC Vitoria
Sun., 3:00 pm – (20) Cruzeiro at (8) Sao Paolo

Copa Libertadores Predictions - Quarterfinals Edition

Along with the rest of the world, I am focusing on the UEFA Champions League at the moment, since the finals are in a few hours, but I would be remiss if I passed on the opportunity to follow-up with the WCR Copa Libertadores prediction series. The Copa Libertadores quarterfinals begin tonight with a pair of matches, so let’s get to the predicting.

Unlike the UEFA Cup, where the predictions were a shot in the dark, but consistent with the Champions League, we here at WCR have had a good season thus far in our predictificationizing. In the first knockout stage of the South American championship tournament, we were 7-1, including our prediction of Defensor Sporting over Boca Juniors, which was an apparent surprise to many. Our one mistake? We picked Libertad over Estudiantes. Oh well, nobody’s perfect. What’s going to happen in the quarterfinals? Let’s discuss.

There are four clubs in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals that also are in the most recent WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World. All of the participating clubs are among the top sixty-five clubs in the world, with some help from the bonus points awarded for reaching the continental quarterfinals. All of our predictions in this round will be consistent with the current rankings.

Who do we love? We continue to love the Brazilian clubs this season. The clubs from the Brasileirao were 4-1 in the first knockout round, with the only loser (SPORT Recife) falling to another club from Brazil (Palmeiras). We believe that trend will continue, at least in the quarterfinals.

The top three clubs from last season’s Brazilian Serie A are in the top half of the Copa Libertadores draw, with two of them facing off in the quarterfinals. In addition to a league matchup this coming Saturday, Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro will face off in this tournament. Sao Paolo has struggled thus far in the Brasileiro, which is consistent with last season when it overcame a slow start to win the Serie A title. We believe the reason for this is the club’s focus on the Copa Libertadores at this point in the season. At least, that’s what we’re telling ourselves. Our prediction:

(8) Sao Paolo (Bra) over (20) Cruzeiro (Bra)

The winner of that matchup will face the winner between Brazil’s Gremio and Venezuela’s Caracas FC. Caracas played admirably to reach the quarterfinals of this tournament, winning its group, which included Mexico’s Chivas de Guadalajara and current Argentine Clausura leaders Lanus, before getting past Ecuador’s Deportivo Cuenca in the round of sixteen. We believe, however, that the run will end here and Gremio’s superior fire power will prevail. Our prediction:

(13) Gremio (Bra) over (64) Caracas FC (Ven)

There is one Brazilian club in the bottom half of the draw, along with the only remaining Argentine club and a pair of Uruguayan clubs. Palmeiras had a tough draw in the first round in the knockout stages, needing penalty kicks to get by compatriots SPORT Recife. Meanwhile, Nacional walked through the prior round following San Luis and the rest of the Mexican’s federation withdrawal from CONMEBOL competition. We are going to go with Palmeiras, who is coming off of a scoreless draw with Sao Paolo over the weekend and is on the verge of entering the WCR Top 25. Our prediction:

(28) Palmeiras (Bra) over (48) Nacional (Uru)

In the final matchup, we have the current Uruguayan leaders Defensor Sporting, fresh off an upset defeat of the tournament’s second seed, Boca Juniors, taking on the last remaining Argentine club in Estudiantes. Defensor has been playing well all season in its domestic league, while Estudiantes has struggled some in Argentina. That was the basis for our prediction of Defensor Sporting over Boca Juniors and is also the basis for our prediction in this round. Our prediction:

(25) Defensor Sporting (Uru) over (40) Estudiantes (Arg)

That is it for this round. It’ll be a few weeks before we see the results, but we’ll be watching closely and suggest you do the same now that European action is concluding. Enjoy the matches!!!

WCR Champions League Predictions - Championship Edition

First off, let me just say how happy I am that the UEFA Cup tournament finally is over. Prediction-wise, that tournament is a crap shoot given the different motivations that each participating club has in that tournament as opposed to each club’s own domestic motivations.

Much easier to predict are the meaningful continental championships like the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores. There is no questioning the motivations of the clubs involved in these tournaments. The only motivation is to win and be crown champion of Europe or South America. The UEFA Champions League title is the official championship of Europe and the unofficial championship of the world. With domestic league titles already in hand, Manchester United and Barcelona have been able to focus on the upcoming championship match for weeks.

Thus far, the WCR Champions League predictions have been pretty good. Overall, our record is 11-3, including 6-2 in the opening knockout round, 3-1 in the quarterfinals and 2-0 in the semifinals. Leading the way have been Manchester United and Barcelona, who have been favored every step of the way leading up to the finals. Now, one of them will have to lose, but which one?

This will be a match featuring tremendous talent, including arguably the two best players in the world in Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo. But focusing on those two would be very little of the glory story. We would be ignoring Eto’l, Rooney, Henry, Van Der Sar and the rest. Both clubs are loaded on both sides of the ball and in the net. The two clubs are close in talent level, as is evidenced by the fact that the two clubs have been ranked one and two in the WCR Top 25 most of the season.

Who wins and why? First, we’ll deal with the why. The return of Thierry Henry is exciting news for Barcelona and gives Barca its full arsenal of weaponry to throw at Van Der Sar. At the other end, however, Barcelona’s defense is depleted. Because of suspensions in the semifinals, Barcelona will be without both Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal. Meanwhile, Rafael Marquez is also out due to injury. Manchester United, on the other hand, will be at full strength, save for the suspended Darren Fletcher. I think that the missing defenders for Barcelona will prove to be the difference, especially late in the match, allowing Manchester United to outscore its opponent and take home a second consecutive championship.

Barcelona (probable starters) (4-3-3): Valdes, Puyol, Toure, Pique, Sylvinho, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Eto’o, Henry.

Manchester United (probably starters) (4-5-1): Van Der Sar, O’Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Giggs, Carrick, Anderson, Rooney, Park, Ronaldo.

Prediction:

Manchester United 3 Barcelona 1

Ronaldo 40, 90
Rooney 86

Eto’o 64

That’s our prediction here at WCR. I wish I could be in Rome to watch the match, but instead likely will be at Mackey’s in Washington, D.C. wearing my Barcelona jersey. Whatever happens, it should be both fun and historic. Enjoy the match!!!

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Penultimate Weekly Edition

For the final time this season, there was a lot of action this past weekend. But does anybody care? Well, some do. The Germans cared and they celebrated the first-ever Bundesliga title for Wolfsburg despite Bayern’s efforts in trying to chase it down. They cared in France. Even though nothing was settled there, Bordeaux did move a little bit closer to the Ligue Un title. They cared in Uruguay. Current league-leaders in Uruguay, Defensor Sporting, scored an upset away victory over Boca Juniors to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. They cared in Glasgow. There, Rangers defeated Dundee United to take another Scottish Premier League title in another close race with Celtic.

Okay, so it looks like a lot of people were interested in this past weekend’s excitement, but one still could not help but look ahead to Wednesday’s matchup. You know the one I’m talking about, but I’ll talk a little about it anyway. The two clubs that have spent most of the season in the top two spots of the WCR Top 25 will take each other on in Rome for the official championship of Europe and the unofficial championship of the world. And this is how it should be, even though it is seldom how it is. In fact, this is the first time since Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich in the 1999, the UEFA Champions League final will feature two clubs that won their domestic championships in the same season. Throw on top that the match features, arguably, the two best players in the world in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and we likely are looking at one for the ages.

So, after Wednesday’s championship match, will that be it? Only if you are Manchester United. Hell, even Barcelona has another Primera Division match to play. In addition, we have domestic cup finals in three countries involving four clubs in the Top 25. Rangers will face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final and Porto and Pacos de Ferreira face off in the Taca de Portugal. Most importantly, of course, will be Saturday’s FA Cup final which will see Chelsea try to win its second title in three seasons against Tim Howard and Everton. In South America, a pair of ranked clubs, Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro, take each other both in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinal matchup and in Brasileirao action.

The rest of what happened and what is coming up appears below in the penultimate weekly WCR Top 25 of the season. Enjoy, and see you in Rome (or in a local pub) on Wednesday.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 25, 2009

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – The Red Devils did their part to keep Newcastle United from being relegated, though the efforts were in vain, by beating Hull City 1-0 in their final Premiership match of the season. This Week: Let’s see. In case you hadn’t heard, Manchester United will face Barcelona in Rome on Wednesday for the UEFA Champions League championship.

2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – In its meaningless Primera Division match of the week, Barcelona fell 0-1 at home to Osasuna. This Week: That didn’t matter. Wednesday’s match against Manchester United is the only one left that matters. And boy will it matter. The winner of that match likely will spend the rest of the summer atop the WCR Top 25 rankings. Next week’s meaningless Primera Division match of the week will be at Deportivo La Coruna.

3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – Chelsea finished the Premiership season in third place despite defeating Sunderland 3-2 in the season finale. This Week: Chelsea will take on the best English club outside of the Big Four, Everton, in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

4. Arsenal (Eng) (4) – Arsenal finished its season in style on Sunday by defeating Stoke City 4-1 at Emirates Stadium. This Week: Season over.

5. Liverpool (Eng) (6) – Liverpool moves up a notch after securing the runner-up position in the Premiership with a 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the season finale. This Week: Season over.

6. Inter Milan (Ita) (5) – For all intents and purposes, Inter’s season ended when it secured its fourth consecutive Scudetto. On Sunday, Inter fell to Cagliari by a 1-2 score. This Week: Internazionale will host Atalanta in its season finale on Sunday.

7. Wolfsburg (Ger) (8) – When the heat was on, Wolfsburg sizzled. On Saturday, Wolfsburg crushed the UEFA Cup runners-up, Werder Bremen, 5-1 to win its first Bundesliga title in history. Congratulations, Wolfsburg. It’s a well-deserved championship. This Week: Season over.

8. Sao Paolo (Bra) (7) – In a battle of Copa Libertadores quarterfinalists, Sao Paolo and Palmeiras battled to a scoreless draw in a Brasileirao match. This Week: Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro face off twice this week, first in Copa Libertadores action at midweek and then again on Sunday in the Brasileirao.

9. Real Madrid (Esp) (9) – The end of the season means nothing to Los Blancos and they are playing like it. Real Madrid lost its fourth consecutive match this weekend, falling 1-3 at home to Real Mallorca. This Week: Real Madrid finishes off the season on Sunday against Osasuna. Whatever.

10. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – Milan let Juventus back into the race for second place in Serie A after losing to Roma by a 2-3 score. This Week: AC Milan will finish off the season on Sunday against Fiorentina, who still is fighting for the final Champions League spot from Italy.

11. Porto (Por) (11) – Porto finished its Liga Sagres championship season with a 1-1 draw against Sporting Braga. This Week: Porto will go for the domestic double this week, playing the Taca de Portugal final on Sunday against Pacos de Ferreira.

12. Bordeaux (Fra) (12) – A 2-1 victory over AS Monaco on Saturday wasn’t enough to clinch the Ligue Un title for Bordeaux, but it was close. This Week: Any result other than a loss against Caen this coming Saturday will secure Girondins de Bordeaux its first Ligue Un championship since the 1998/99 season.

13. Gremio (Bra) (13) – Gremio’s only match of the past week was a 2-0 victory over Botafogo in its Brasileirao match. This Week: Two matches in the upcoming week for Gremio. First up is a Copa Libertadores quarterfinal match in Venezuela against Caracas FC. On Sunday, Gremio will take on Vitoria in domestic league play.

14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (14) – Bayern scored an impressive 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, but Wolfsburg kept Bayern at bay in the race for the Bundesliga title. This Week: Season Over.

15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (15) – Season over.

16. Juventus (Ita) (16) – Juve put serious pressure on AC Milan for second place in Serie A, for what it’s worth, with a 3-0 thrashing of Siena. This Week: Juventus will finish off its season on Sunday at home against Lazio.

17. Marseille (Fra) (17) – Marseille’s title hopes are faint, at best, but they are still alive following a 2-1 away victory against Nancy Lorraine. This Week: Marseille will host Stade Rennes in its season finale on Saturday. All it can do is win. The rest is up to Caen.

18. Sevilla (Esp) (18) – Sevilla clinched a Champions League spot this week with a narrow 1-0 defeat of Deportivo La Coruna. This Week: Sevilla will finish off another moderately successful season on Sunday against Numancia.

19. Rangers (Sco) (19) – Congratulations are in order for Glasgow Rangers who, with a 3-0 victory over Dundee United, who won its first Scottish Premier League title since 2005. This Week: Rangers will be seeking its first domestic double since 2003 on Saturday when it takes on Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final.

20. Cruzeiro (Bra) (20) – Cruzeiro continued as the most successful club of the Brazilian Copa Libertadores group in domestic play with a 2-0 victory over Vitoria. This Week: Its Sao Paolo week for Cruzeiro as the two clubs face off in both midweek Copa Libertadores action and weekend domestic play.

21. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (22) – Another huge victory for Atletico this weekend, pounding Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in its penultimate Primera Division match. This Week: A victory at home against lowly Almeria on Sunday will put Atletico in the qualifiers in next season’s Champions League.

22. VfB Stuttgart (Ger) (21) – A 1-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday was disappointing, but a loss by Hertha Berlin guaranteed that Stuttgart will return to the qualifiers of the Champions League next season. This Week: Season over.

23. Sporting CP (Por) (24) – It mattered little, but Sporting CP finished off its season in second place in the Liga Sagres following a 3-1 victory over Nacional. This Week: Season over.

24. Everton (Eng) (23) – Everton finishes the season in fifth place in the Premiership after a 2-0 defeat of Fulham in London. This Week: The big one for Everton in London this season will be on Saturday when Everton takes on Chelsea at Wembley for the FA Cup.

25. Defensor Sporting (Uru) (NR) – I haven’t had an opportunity to double check this, but this may be the first time in the two-year history of the weekly rankings that a club from Uruguay to enter the charts. Defensor gets here after a surprise 1-0 victory (that was predicted here on WCR) over Boca Juniors put the club into the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Domestically, Defensor defeated Rampla Juniors 4-1 to maintain its lead in the Uruguay Clausura. This Week: After defeating Boca Juniors, Defensor will take on the only remaining Argentine club, Estudiantes, in midweek Copa Libertadores quarterfinal play. Domestically, Defensor will host Tacuarembo on Sunday.

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Celtic (Sco), Fiorentina (Ita), Lyon (Fra), Palmeiras (Bra), Twente (Ned).

Next Five (also alphabetically): Ajax (Ned), Benfica (Por), Olympiakos (Gre), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Velez Sarsfield (Arg).

Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
27 May – (1) Manchester United vs. (2) Barcelona
27 May – (8) Sao Paolo at (20) Cruzeiro
30 May – (3) Chelsea vs. (24) Everton
31 May – (20) Cruzeiro at (8) Sao Paolo

WCR Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 23/24 May 2009

As we head to the end of the season in most of Europe and some of the Western Hemisphere, the weekend television schedule becomes a little off-kilter. A primary reason for this is that, to avoid “cheating” and to keep things “fair,” many leagues have all of their matches played at the exact same time during the final week or two of the season. As you can imagine, this is fun for those matches that are determinative of championships or relegation spots, but it does make a strange television schedule as most matches are shown on a delayed basis, often where you already are aware of the score because it had been broadcast in the match broadcast live. If you can get past that, however, there is a lot of football worth watching this weekend.

Saturday’s schedule will be very light, because Italy and England, which constitutes most of FSC’s schedule, both play on Sunday only this week. The most excitement, however, should be on Saturday morning, when GolTV will simulcast both the Wolfsburg/Werder Bremen match and the VfB Stuttgart/Bayern Munich match, which accounts for three of the WCR Top 25 Clubs between them. Since this is the final weekend of the Bundesliga season, it’s for all the marbles. Bayern could finish first, second, third or fourth (and miss the Champions League completely next season). If you watch no other football this weekend, this is what you should watch. If you have additional time, however, France and Spain also have their penultimate weekend matches on Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be lots of English and Italian action, including six Premiership matches (one live, five taped) on Setanta USA. Though there is much less excitement in these leagues at the top of the table, the big interest will be in seeing whether Newcastle United can stave off relegation with an unlikely victory at Aston Villa and a little bit of luck. Being a Magpie supporter, I’m cheating a little this week and putting that match in my list of Top 5 Matches of the weekend. The rest of the action is listed below. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend

1. VfB Stuttgart at Bayern Munich (Saturday, 11:30 am (EST) (Delayed), GolTV)
2. Sao Paolo at Palmeiras (Sunday, 3:00 pm, Not Televised)
3. Werder Bremen at Wolfsburg (Saturday, 11:30 am (Delayed), GolTV)
4. Roma at AC Milan (Sunday, 9:00 am, FSC)
5. Newcastle United at Aston Villa (Sunday, 11:00 am, Setanta USA)

Saturday, May 23, 2009

11:30 am – Werder Bremen at (8) Wolfsburg (Delayed) (GolTV)
11:30 am – (21) VfB Stuttgart at (14) Bayern Munich (Delayed) (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Osasuna at (2) Barcelona (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Monaco at (12) Bordeaux (Setanta USA)
5:00 pm – Valencia at Villarreal (Delayed) (GolTV)
5:00 pm – (17) Marseille at Nancy Lorraine (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:00 pm – Puebla at UNAM Pumas (Telemundo)
7:15 pm – Deportivo Cali at Junior Barranquilla (GolTV)
8:30 pm – Chivas USA at Kansas City Wizards (FSC)
9:10 pm – Envigado at Cucuta Deportivo (GolTV)

Sunday, May 24, 2009

4:15 am – Lokomotive Moscow at Rubin Kazan (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:00 am – Zenit St. Petersburg at Dinamo Moscow (Setanta USA)
9:00 am – Roma at (10) AC Milan (FSC)
9:00 am – (5) Inter Milan at Cagliari (ESPN 360)
9:00 am – (16) Juventus at Siena (ESPN 360)
11:00 am – Newcastle United at Aston Villa (Setanta USA0
11:00 am – (1) Manchester United at Hull City (FSC)
1:00 pm – (3) Chelsea at Sunderland (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
1:00 pm – Middlesbrough at West Ham United (Delayed) (FSC)
2:00 pm – Braga Sporting at (11) Porto (ESPN 360)
2:45 pm – Stoke City at (4) Arsenal (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
3:00 pm – Penarol at Nacional (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls (TeleFutura)
4:00 pm – (25) Fiorentina at Lecce (Delayed) (FSC)
4:00 pm – Boca Juniors at Velez Sarsfield (FSE)
4:30 pm – West Bromwich Albion at Blackburn Rovers (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
5:00 pm – Real Mallorca at (9) Real Madrid (Delayed) (GolTV)
6:15 pm – Bolton Wanderers at Manchester City (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
7:00 pm – Santos at Fluminense (Delayed) (GolTV)
7:00 pm – Indios at Pachuca (TeleFutura)
8:00 pm – (23) Everton at Fulham (Delayed) (Setanta USA)

Monday, May 25, 2009

5:00 am – Falkirk at Inverness (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:45 am – Hamilton at St. Mirren (Delayed) (Setanta USA)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 3:00 pm – Deportivo La Coruna at (18) Sevilla
Sat., 3:00 pm – (22) Atletico de Madrid at Athletic Bilbao
Sat., 5:30 pm – EC Vitoria at (20) Cruzeiro
Sun., 8:00 am – (19) Rangers at Dundee United
Sun., 11:00 am – Tottenham Hotspur at (6) Liverpool
Sun., 11:00 am – Nacional at (24) Sporting CP
Sun., 3:00 pm – (7) Sao Paolo at Palmeiras
Sun., 3:00 pm – Botafogo at (13) Gremio

UEFA Cup Final Prediction

Hopefully, you haven’t been following along with our UEFA Cup predictions too closely here at WCR. While our Champions League predictions (11-3) and Copa Libertadores predictions (6-1) have been pretty good, the UEFA Cup predictions have been pretty damn poor. Following a 4-12 start to the knockout stages, we came back with our best round with a 6-2 record in the second knockout stage. In the quareterfinals, we went with Germany and France victories instead of Germany and Ukraine and finished 2-2. In the semis, since they were intra-national matchups, we went with the clubs higher in the table. Yeah, that didn’t work out so well, either, as we finished 0-2. That makes us 12-18 in UEFA Cup predictions. So why should you listen to us? You shouldn’t. That won’t stop us from going forward, though. Deal with it.

Our predictions last season were pretty similar in their futility. There are other similarities, as well. Most notably, we have a former-Soviet club against a western European club with some history of success. Last season, it was Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Rangers for the title, This was, of course, after I had predicted Zenit to lose for the fifth consecutive round.

This season, I have predicted Shakhtar Donetsk to lose four straight times leading up to the finals. Yep, I picked Tottenham Hotspur, CSKA Moscow, Marseille and Dinamo Kiev. The runners-up in Ukraine’s Vischaya League will face Werder Bremen, who has struggled all season in the Bundesliga. The second half of Werder’s season has been focused on the UEFA Cup, and quite successfully. We did manage to pick Werder Bremen over St. Etienne and Udinese, though its victories over AC Milan and Hamburg SV came as a surprise.

So what’s going to happen this time? Hell if I know. I know that when I’m on a roll, I should keep it going. Even if it’s a bad roll, you ask? Umm . . . sure, why not.

So will Werder Bremen, without Diego, and suffering a sub-par domestic season, be able to pull off a victory against another eastern European upstart that has cruised through the earlier rounds of the UEFA Cup? I’m saying yes. It’s been several months since Werder has anything else to play for and I believe that it should be focused enough to take advantage of its talent and its payroll.

Prediction: Werder Bremen 2 Shakhtar Donetsk 0.

Enjoy the match.

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Congrats All Around Edition

As we approach the end of the season, the rankings have become more stagnant and predictable. Many of the matches mean very little as many clubs have already settled upon their finishing position in the season table. Still, as we will see below, there are some changes, especially at the bottom of the rankings.

Congratulations are in order for a lot of clubs. Cancun’s Atlante became the first club to punch a ticket to the Club World Cup with its 2-0 aggregate victory over Cruz Azul in the finals, following a scoreless draw in the second leg. No less important are the numerous domestic championships that were secured this weekend. Manchester United needed only a draw against Arsenal to win its record-tying 18th Premiership title – which was fortunate since a draw was all than the Red Devils could manage. Meanwhile, Barcelona won the Primera Division title in lackluster fashion, following Real Madrid’s loss to Villarreal. Likewise, AC Milan’s loss to Udinese meant a fourth consecutive Serie A title for Inter Milan, who at least did manage a victory of its own.

The action was fast and furious in the two most intriguing leagues in Europe, both of which saw each of its clubs play two matches this week. In Ligue Un, Bordeaux shot to the top with a pair of victories, replacing Marseille who fell 1-3 to Lyon, who is uncharacteristically playing the spoiler role. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg scored two huge victories to move into the catbird’s seat in the Bundesliga. Wolfsburg can clinch the title next week if it can beat Werder Bremen, who will be fresh off the UEFA Cup final, on Saturday, though a draw likely will be enough due to goal differential. If Wolfsburg loses, then the winner of the match between Bayern Munich and Stuttgart will take the title. What a great weekend it should be!!!

There was other action and stuff. You can read about that below. We are getting near the end of the weekly rankings this season, so enjoy while you can.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 18, 2009

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Following a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic, Manchester United needed only a draw against Arsenal to clinch another Premiership title. Ninety minutes or so later, the Red Devils had secured a 0-0 draw against the Gunners and another Premiership title. This Week: This weekend is a meaningless match for Man U, away against Hull City, though it likely will mean quite a bit to both Hull City and Newcastle United. I guess I’ll be rooting for the Red Devils for a second week in a row.

2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barcelona completed two steps in its treble quest this week. First, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-1 to secure Spain’s Copa del Rey. Then, this weekend, Barcelona secured the Primera Division title despite losing 1-2 to Real Mallorca. This Week: Don’t expect much as Barca prepares for the Champions League final by hosting Osasuna on Sunday.

3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – Chelsea defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 this week to keep its very, very fleeting hope for second place in the Premiership. This Week: Chelsea will finish its season next weekend in the Northeast against Sunderland.

4. Arsenal (Eng) (4) – In a match that regrettably meant nothing to the Gunners, Arsenal and Manchester United played to a goalless draw. This Week: This weekend’s match won’t mean anything either, but it is the season finale. For the record, Arsenal will be hosting Stoke City.

5. Inter Milan (Ita) (6) – Congratulations to Jose and the boys as Inter Milan finally clinched another Serie A title. Internazionale did not need a victory to win the title, but it got one yesterday, defeating Siena 3-0. This Week: Now, there’s nothing for Inter to do but finish off the last two matches of the season. The first one of those two will be Sunday against Cagliari.

6. Liverpool (Eng) (5) – Liverpool moved closer to finishing the EPL season in the runner-up position with a 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. This Week: Liverpool will finish its season this weekend at Anfield against Tottenham Hotspur.

7. Sao Paolo (Bra) (7) – Sao Paolo advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores after Mexico withdrew from all CONMEBOL competition, negating its knockout round matchup with Chivas de Guadalajara. On Sunday, Sao Paolo fought Atletico Paranaense to a 2-2 draw. This Week: In a marquee Brasileirao matchup, Sao Paolo will take on Palmeiras on Sunday.

8. Wolfsburg (Ger) (9) – Wolfsburg stayed in first place in the Bundesliga with two wipeout victories this week, 3-0 over Borussia Dortmund and 5-0 over Hannover 96. This Week: Wolfsburg can clinch the Bundesliga title on Saturday with a victory (or probably even a draw) against Werder Bremen.

9. Real Madrid (Esp) (8) – Real continues to play as if the rest of its season is meaningless. Of course, it is. Without a great fight, Real fell 2-3 to Villarreal on Saturday, clinching a Primera Division title for Barcelona. This Week: Real Madrid will host Real Mallorca on Sunday as this long, painful season comes to an end.

10. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – Milan fell 1-2 this week to Udinese to finally surrender the Serie A title to Internazionale. This Week: As it attempts to hold off Juventus for second place in the Italian table, AC Milan will host Roma on Sunday.

11. Porto (Por) (13) – Nothing else matters this season for Liga Sagres champions Porto. Unlike others that are playing for nothing, however, Porto is still playing well, defeating Trofense this weekend 4-1. This Week: Porto will finish off its Liga Sagres schedule on Sunday hosting Sporting Braga.

12. Bordeaux (Fra) (12) – Two matches for Bordeaux this week, two victories for Bordeaux this week, defeating Valenciennes 2-1 and beating Le Mans 3-2 to move into first place in Ligue Un. This Week: Bordeaux will host Monaco on Saturday as it moves one match closer to dethroning Lyon for the Ligue Un title.

13. Gremio (Bra) (12) – Gremio defeated Universidad de San Martin 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. Gremio didn’t fare as well in the Brasileirao, falling 1-2 to Atletico Mineiro. This Week: Gremio will host Botafogo on Sunday in its next Brazilian Serie A match.

14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (14) – After defeating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 at midweek, Bayern’s title chances took a big turn for the worse after getting upset against first-half leaders TSG Hoffenheim in a 2-2 draw. This Week: Bayern will need to beat VfB Stuttgart in its Bundesliga finale, as well as additional help, if it is to win another Bundesliga title.

15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (15) – Season over.

16. Juventus (Ita) (16) – Juve failed to take advantage of AC Milan’s loss in a lackluster 2-2 draw performance against Atalanta. This Week: Juventus will take on Siena on Sunday as it attempts to chase down AC Milan for second place.

17. Marseille (Fra) (11) – Marseille defeated Nice 2-0 to stay ahead of Bordeaux temporarily, but fell 1-3 to Lyon to drop into second place in Ligue Un. This Week: It’s not over for Marseille yet, though it doesn’t look good. On Saturday, Lyon will try to regain form against Nancy Lorraine.

18. Sevilla (Esp) (18) – Sevilla still is in third place in the Primera Division despite managing only a scoreless draw against Osasuna. This Week: Next up for Sevilla is Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

19. Rangers (Sco) – Rangers got pole position in the Scottish Premier League, then gave it up after a 1-1 draw with Hibernian, then got it back when Celtic couldn’t beat Hibernian and Rangers defeated Aberdeen 2-1. This Week: With a victory at Dundee United on Saturday, Rangers can secure the Scottish Premier League title.

20. Cruzeiro (Bra) (20) – Cruzeiro slid past Universidad de Chile to become one of four Brazilian clubs to reach the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. Over the weekend, however, Cruzeiro fell 0-2 to Nautico in domestic play. This Week: Next up in the Brasileirao for Cruzeiro is a hoime match against Vitoria.

21. VfB Stuttgart (Ger) (BU) – Stuttgart scored a 2-1 victory over Schalke 04 and a 2-0 victory over Energie Cottbus to stay alive in the hunt for the Bundesliga title. This Week: It’s all on the table this week for Stuttgartas it takes on Bayern Munich. A victory and a Werder Bremen victory over Hamburg could deliver another Bundesliga title for Stuttgart.

22. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (BU) – A clutch 1-0 victory over Valencia has moved Atletico de Madrid into the final Champions League spot in the Primera Division. This Week: Atletico has two weeks to hold on to its position. The first of those two matches will be Sunday against Athletic Bilbao.

23. Everton (Eng) (NR) – A 3-1 victory over West Ham United was good enough to move Everton into fifth place in the Premiership and back into the rankings for the first time in quite a while. This Week: Everton will finish its Premiership season on Sunday in London against Fulham.

24. Sporting CP (Por) (23) – Sporting clinched second place in Liga Sagres with a 2-1 victory over Maritimo. This Week: Sporting will finish off its season on Sunday at home against Nacional.

25. Fiorentina (Ita) (BU) – La Viola moved very close to securing another Champions League spot with a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria. This Week: Fiorentina can clinch the spot on Sunday with a victory over last-place Lecce.

Bubbling Under: Celtic (Sco), Lyon (Fra), Pachuca (Mex), Palmeiras (Bra), Twente (Ned).

Next Five: Ajax (Ned), Borussia Dortmund (Ger), Olympiakos (Gre), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Santos Laguna (Mex).

Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
23 May – (21) VfB Stuttgart at (14) Bayern Munich

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule (US) - 16/17 May 2009

What is a great match? There are two types that immediately come to mind – those in which two great clubs face each other and those that are meaningful. If a match includes both types, all the better.

As far as matches between great clubs, those are coming from England and Spain, at least this week. The biggest, of course, will be Saturday’s matchup of two WCR Top 25 Clubs in Arsenal and Manchester United at Old Trafford. Man U can clinch a third consecutive Premiership title in that match. In La Liga, a pair of great, but not-as-great, matchups take place when Villarreal hosts Real Madrid on Saturday and Atletico de Madrid hosts Valencia on Sunday.

The meaningful matches, however, are taking place in France, Germany and Mexico. Ligue Un has become a battle between two clubs – Marseille and Bordeaux – and Marseille will be hosting six-time defending champions Lyon on Sunday in what could become an instant classic. In the Bundesliga, there are four clubs within two points of the lead. None of them are playing each other this weekend, but GolTV will be hosting the match between Bayern Munich and TSG Hoffenheim. In Mexico, the second-leg of the Clausura quarterfinals are this weekend, and all of them will be broadcast on either Telemundo or TeleFutura.

Below is the rest of the schedule. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Arsenal at Manchester United (Saturday, 7:40 am, Setanta USA)
2. Valencia at Atletico de Madrid (Sunday, 3:00 pm, GolTV)
3. Lyon at Marseille (Sunday, 3:00 pm, Setanta USA)
4. Real Madrid at Villarreal (Saturday, 4:00 pm, GolTV)
5. Bayern Munich at TSG Hoffenheim (Saturday, 11:30 am (delayed), GolTV)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

7:40 am – (4) Arsenal at (1) Manchester United (Setanta USA)
10:00 am – Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur (FSC)
10:00 am – Fulham at Newcastle United (Setanta USA)
11:30 am – (14) Bayern Munich at TSG Hoffenheim (Delayed) (GolTV)
12 noon – West Ham United at Everton (Delayed) (FSC)
2:30 pm – (10) AC Milan at Udinese (FSC)
3:00 pm – Auxerre at Paris St. Germain (Setanta USA)
4:00 pm – (8) Real Madrid at Villarreal (GolTV)
4:30 pm – Catania at Roma (Delayed) (FSC)
6:00 pm – (12) Gremio at Atletico Mineiro (Delayed) (GolTV)
6:00 pm – Tecos at UNAM Pumas (Telemundo)
6:30 pm – Wigan Athletic at Stoke City (Delayed) (FSC)
6:45 pm – Aston Villa at Middlesbrough (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
8:00 pm – Puebla at Monterrey (Telemundo)
8:30 pm – Hull City at Bolton Wanderers (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
11:00 pm – DC United at Chivas USA (FSC)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

6:30 am – Terek Grozny at Lokomotiv Moscow (Setanta USA)

8:30 am - (5) Liverpool at West Bromwich Albion (Setanta USA)
9:00 am – Sampdoria at Fiorentina (FSC, ESPN 360)
9:00 am – Atalanta at (16) Juventus (ESPN 360)
11:00 am – Blackburn Rovers at (3) Chelsea (FSC)
1:00 pm – (2) Barcelona at Mallorca (GolTV)
1:00 pm – Indios at Toluca (Telemundo)
2:00 pm – Benfica at Braga Sporting (ESPN 360)
2:30 pm – Siena at (6) Inter Milan (FSC)
3:00 pm – Columbus Crew at Los Angeles Galaxy (TeleFutura)
3:00 pm – Lyon at (11) Marseille (Setanta USA)
3:00 pm – (21) Valencia at Atletico de Madrid (GolTV)
4:30 pm – San Martin at Racing Club (Delayed) (FSE)
5:00 pm – Palmeiras at Internacional (Delayed) (GolTV)
7:00 pm – Jaguares at Pachuca (TeleFutura)
10:00 pm – Zenit St. Petersburg at CSKA Moscow (Delayed) (Setanta USA)

Monday, May 18, 2009

5:30 am – LeMans at (17) Bordeaux (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
7:15 am – Stade Rennes at Nantes (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
11:00 am – (19) Rangers at Hibernians (Significantly delayed) (Setanta USA)
3:00 pm – Sunderland at Portsmouth (Setanta USA)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 7:30 am – Aberdeen at (19) Rangers
Sat., 9:30 am – (9) Wolfsburg at Hannover 96
Sat., 2:00 pm – (18) Sevilla at Osasuna
Sat., 2:45 pm – (13) Porto at Trofense
Sat., 2:45 pm – (23) Sporting CP at Maritimo
Sat., 5:20 pm – (24) Velez Sarsfield at Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
Sun., 8:00 am – (22) Celtic at Hibernian
Sun., 12 noon – (25) Twente vs. Heerenveen
Sun., 3:00 pm – Atletico Paranaense at (7) Sao Paolo
Sun., 5:30 pm – (20) Cruzeiro at Nautico

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Shut Up Chelsea Edition

I don’t mention it too much when I post the weekly Top 25s, but I’m a Newcastle United supporter. (Yes, it’s been a long season.) Among the English Big Four, I usually root for Chelsea for a couple of reasons. One is just residual respect that I have so Jose Mourinho. The other reason is, primarily, that I just don’t care that much for the other three. I might have to move them down the list after this past week, however. Did you have some bad calls made against you in the Barcelona match? Definitely. Were you treated unfairly? Debatable. There were some bad calls on both side of the ball. Did you handle it properly? Hells no. Ballack and Drogba’s behavior, in particular, brought shame to the Blues and lowered my opinion of the club. But maybe that’s just me.

Speaking of the Champions League semifinals, we have the matchup that every non-Chelsea fan in the world wanted to see. Manchester United ended things early against Arsenal and Barcelona ended them late against Chelsea, but both results resulted in the top two clubs in the world receiving a date with destiny in Rome on May 27. The only thing we need for a perfect ending to a great European season is Thierry Henry to get better and nobody else to get hurt.

Another thing that took place behind the ranking scene is that Spain passed Italy in domestic league ranking. This will be reflected below as one Fiorentina exits the rankings and Sevilla and Valencia return.

What else is going on? Hmm . . . Porto followed AZ Alkmaar into the champions circle by clinching another Liga Sagres title this week. In North America, Mexican clubs Atlante and Cruz Azul finally will play the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League final – take that, swine flu!!! Well, that’s all I have for now. Let’s just skip the rest of the small talk and get to the rankings.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 11, 2009

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – United lived up to its Number One ranking by defeating Arsenal 3-1 at Emirates Stadium to secure a second straight trip to the UEFA Champions League final. Domestically, Manchester United beat its cross-town rival City 2-0 to move closer to a third consecutive Premiership title. This Week: At midweek, United will take on Wigan Athletic in a make-up match. On Saturday, the Red Devils will host the Gunners in a match in which it could clinch the domestic title.

2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – It wasn’t pretty, but it was pretty close. I had pretty much given up on a Barcelona victory before Iniesta’s late goal. Domestically, Barcelona moved another point ahead of Real Madrid with a 3-3 draw with Villarreal. This Week: Barcelona also has a midweek match. Barcelona’s is the Copa del Rey final in which it will take on Athletic Bilbao.

3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – It was heartbreaking to be sure, but after the gutless 0-0 draw performance in the first leg, I was happy to see Barcelona walk away with the 1-1 draw and advancement in the Champions League semifinal second leg. I must admit, though, that I was also glad to see Chelsea put the beat down on Arsenal with a 4-1 victory. This Week: Chelsea has now clinched no lower than a third place finish in the Premiership. As it attempts to chase down Liverpool, Chelsea will host Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.

4. Arsenal (Eng) (4) – The Gunners are ranked this high because of the Super Bonus Points they received for making the UEFA Champions League semifinals. It certainly isn’t because of this week’s performances, in which Arsenal fell 1-3 to Manchester United in European action and 1-4 to Chelsea in domestic play. This Week: Arsenal just can’t catch a break or an easy match. Since it has clinched fourth place in the Premiership, I’m not expecting much from Arsenal on Saturday when it takes on Manchester United at Old Trafford.

5. Liverpool (Eng) (6) – With a 3-0 victory over West Ham United, Liverpool is moving a little closer to a second-place finish in the Premiership. This Week: Liverpool will take on once-certain-now-questionably-relegation-bound West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

6. Inter Milan (Ita) (5) – Inter appears to be cruising to another scudetto. With a 2-2 draw against Chievo Verona, Inter did not pick up any points, but it didn’t lose any either, so that still brings it one match closer to the title. This Week: Inter will host Siena on Sunday in its next Serie A match.

7. Sao Paolo (Bra) (7) – Sao Paolo opened up its Brasileirao defense on Sunday with a 0-1 loss to Fluminense. This Week: Sao Paolo will play the first leg of its Copa Libertadores knockout round matchup against Chivas de Guadalajara this week. Domestically, Sao Paolo will host Atletico Paranaense on Sunday.

8. Real Madrid (Esp) (10) – It does appear that Los Blancos have given up. Secure in second place in La Liga, Real Madrid fell 0-3 to Valencia in a match in which it didn’t look very impressive. This Week: Real Madrid takes on Villarreal on Sunday in a match that has potential to be great, but only if Real Madrid shows up to play.

9. Wolfsburg (Ger) (8) – Wolfsburg managed to stay on top in the extremely tight Bundesliga, but only by virtue of goal differential, despite its 1-4 loss to VfB Stuttgart. This Week: This is a double match week for the Bundesliga and Wolfsburg’s two opponents will be Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday and Hannover 96 on Saturday.

10. AC Milan (Ita) (9) – It wasn’t the most exciting match in the world, but Milan’s 1-1 draw with Juventus made it much more likely that Milan will finish second to Internazionale in Serie A. This Week: AC Milan will take on Udinese in its next Serie A match on Saturday.

11. Marseille (Fra) (12) – No current matches. This Week: To make up for no match this week, Ligue Un will have a double match week this time around. On Wednesday, Marseille will take on Nice. In one of the most anticipated matches of the French season, Marseill will host Lyon on Sunday.

12. Gremio (Bra) (11) – Gremio began its Copa Libertadores knockout stage with a 3-1 away victory against Peru’s Universidad de San Martin. In its domestic league season opener, Gremio finished with a 1-1 draw against Santos. This Week: Gremio will host San Martin in the second leg of their Copa Libertadores set before hosting Atletico Mieniro in the Brasileirao on Saturday.

13. Porto (Por) (13) – Porto closed out yet another Liga Sagres championship this weekend with a 1-0 victory over Nacional. This Week: Porto will play out the rest of its Liga Sagres schedule beginning with an away match against Trofense on Sunday.

14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (14) – Bayern moved into a tie with Wolfsburg for the Bundesliga lead with a 3-1 victory over Energie Cottbus. This Week: As the exciting Bundesliga season comes to a close, Bayern will host Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday and take on first-half leaders TSG Hoffenheim, who have really dropped off in the second half of the season, on Saturday.

15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (16) – AZ finished off its Eredivisie championship season in style with a 3-1 victory over SC Heerenveen. This Week: No matches.

16. Juventus (Ita) (15) – Juventus scored first against AC Milan, but it wasn’t enough as the club from Turin finished with a a 1-1 draw at the San Siro. This Week: Juve’s next Serie A match will be on Sunday when it hosts Atalanta.

17. Bordeaux (Fra) (17) – No matches this week. This Week: Bordeaux has an easier schedule than Ligue Un co-leaders Marseille this week. Bordeaux will take on Valenciennes on Wednesday before hosting Le Mans on Saturday.

18. Sevilla (Esp) (BU) – Sevilla returns to the rankings this week following its 3-1 victory over Real Mallorca. This Week: The exciting portion of the Primera Division season is concluding. Sevilla returns to facing the other half of the table when it takes on Osasuna on Sunday.

19. Rangers (Sco) (25) – With a 1-0 home victory over Celtic on Saturday, Rangers has taken control of the Scottish Premier League. This Week: Now, all Rangers has to do to win the title is beat the clubs that it should beat over the next few weeks. Two of those matches take place for Rangers when it takes on Hibernian on Wednesday and hosts Aberdeen on Saturday.

20. Cruzeiro (Bra) (19) – Cruzeiro moved a little closer to the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals with a 2-1 away victory over Universidad de Chile. Cruziero also was the only ranked Brazilian club that was victorious in its Brasileirao debut, scoring a 2-0 victory over Flamengo. This Week: The week starts off with the home leg of Cruzeiro’s Copa Libertadores matchup with Universidad de Chile. In domestic action, Cruzeior will take on Nautico on Sunday.

21. Valencia (Esp) (BU) – With a little help from Real Madrid’s apathy, Valencia scored a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid and return to the WCR Top 25 rankings. This Week: In perhaps the best match of the weekend in the Primera Division, Valencia will take on Atletico de Madrid on Sunday.

22. Celtic (Sco) (Sco) (18) – A major sip up this weekend for Celtic as it fell 0-1 to Rangers and gave up the SPL lead. This Week: Celtic needs both the win and to be lucky in order to regain the top spot in Scotland. There’s nothing that can be done about the luck part. Celtic can still do things about the winning part as it takes on Dundee United and Hibernian this week.

23. Sporting CP (Por) (24) – It won’t be enough to win the Portuguese title, but Sporting did score a 2-1 victory over Vitoria Setubal. This Week: As it tries to hang on to second place in the Liga Sagres, Sporting will take on Maritimo on Sunday.

24. Velez Sarsfield (Arg) (20) – Velez Sarsfield remains atop the Argentine Clausura despite a second consecutive draw, this time 2-2 against Racing Club. This Week: On Sunday, Velez Sarsfield will take on Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.

25. Twente (Ned) (22) – Twente will take the Netherlands’ second Championship League spot despite falling in its Eredivisie finale 0-1 to Ajax. This Week: Twente still has a match to play this weekend as it takes on SC Heerenveen in the KNVB Beker final on Sunday.

Bubbling Under: Ajax (Ned), Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Fiorentina (Ita), Pachuca (Mex), VfB Stuttgart (Ger).

Next Five: Everton (Eng), Hertha Berlin (Ger), Libertad (Par), Lyon (Fra), Santos Laguna (Mex).

Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
16 May – (4) Arsenal at (1) Manchester United

WCR Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 9/10 May 2009

We’re a little late in bringing you the schedule this week, but we are sliding it in with about twelve hours to spare.

There is a lot of great action this weekend, and the best of it will be Sunday’s doubleheader on Fox Soccer Channel featuring four clubs form the WCR Top 25. The match of the weekend takes place in England where a London Derby sees Arsenal welcome Chelsea to Emirates Stadium in a match that could be an unofficial UEFA Champions League third-place match. Following that, from the San Siro in Italy, AC Milan will host Juventus in a battle of clubs whose best domestic hopes will be second place in the Serie A.

That would be good enough in most weeks, but we have much more. Saturday’s highlights include a Primera Division matchup between Real Madrid and Valencia and a Bundesliga battle between first place Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart, both on GolTV. Sunday sees the return of the Brasileirao, with Fluminense hosting Sao Paolo in the season opener for both clubs. Sunday will also see another English derby, this one from Manchester, as City comes to Old Trafford to face United. Even Monday has a highlight, of sorts, as Newcastle United hosts Middlesbrough in a battle of clubs trying to avoid relegation.

A few of the best matchups won’t be televised here in the U.S., at least not this weekend, though I’m sure you can find them if you try hard enough. Out of the Eredivisie, though the match means very little for anything other than pride, Ajax will host Twente on Sunday morning. In a much more meaningful match on Saturday morning, Rangers will host Celtic in a match that could decide the Scottish Premier League championship.

All in all, this is one of the better weekends of football of the season. Enjoy the matches and have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend

1. Chelsea at Arsenal (Sunday, 11:00 am (EST), FSC)
2. Juventus at AC Milan (Sunday, 2:30 pm, FSC)
3. Celtic at Rangers (Saturday, 7:30 am, Not Televised)
4. Real Madrid at Valencia (Saturday, 4:00 pm, GolTV)
5. Twente at Ajax (Sunday, 8:30 am, Not Televised)

Saturday, May 9, 2009

10:00 am – Tottenham Hotspur at Everton (FSC)
10:00 am – Aston Villa at Fulham (Setnata USA)
11:30 am – (8) Wolfsburg at VfB Stuttgart (Delayed) (GolTV)
12:30 pm – (6) Liverpool at West Ham United (FSC)
2:30 pm – Udinese at Lazio (FSC, ESPN 360)
4:00 pm – (10) Real Madrid at Valencia (GolTV)
4:30 pm – Portsmouth at Blackburn Rovers (Delayed) (FSC)
5:00 pm – Stoke City at Hull City (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:00 pm – Cruz Azul at Jaguares (FSE)
6:00 pm – Toluca at San Luis (TeleFutura)
6:45 pm – Sunderland at Bolton Wanderers (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
7:00 pm – Columbus Crew at Kansas City Wizards (FSC)
9:00 pm – Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas (ESPN2, ESPND, ESPN 360)
10:00 pm – Necaxa at Club America (TeleFutura)
10:00 pm – Monarcas at Tigres (Telemundo)

Sunday, May 10, 2009

8:30 am – Manchester City at (1) Manchester United (Setanta USA)
8:30 am – PSV Eindhoven at Willem II (ESPND, ESPN 360)
9:00 am – (5) Inter Milan at Chievo Verona (FSC)
9:00 am – Genoa at Atalanta (ESPN 360)
11:00 am – Hamburger at Werder Bremen (GolTV)
11:00 am – (3) Chelsea at (4) Arsenal (FSC)
1:00 pm – Villarreal at (2) Barcelona (GolTV)
1:00 pm – Monterey at UNAM Pumas (Telemundo)
1:00 pm – Tecos at Puebla (ESPND)
2:30 pm – (15) Juventus at (9) AC Milan (FSC)
3:00 pm – Espanyol at Atletico de Madrid (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Los Angeles Galaxy at Seattle Sounders (TeleFutura)
3:00 pm – Pachuca at Atlas (Telemundo)
3:15 pm – Nacional at (13) Porto (ESPN 360)
4:30 pm – Boca Juniors at San Lorenzo (Delayed) (FSE)
5:00 pm – (7) Sao Paolo at Fluminense (Delayed) (GolTV)
5:00 pm – Chivas de Guadalajara at Indios (ESPND)
5:15 pm – Hamilton at Inverness (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
10:00 pm – Kryla Sovetov at Zenit St. Petersburg (Delayed) (Setanta USA)

Monday, May 11, 2009

8:30 am – Saturn Moscow at Spartak Moscow (Setanta USA)
3:00 pm – Middlesbrough at Newcastle United (Setanta USA)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 7:30 am – (18) Celtic at (25) Rangers
Sat., 9:30 am – (14) Bayern Munich at Energie Cottbus
Sat., 4:00 pm – Veitoria Setubal at (24) Sporting CP
Sat., 5:05 pm – Racing Club at (20) Velez Sarsfield
Sun., 8:30 am – Heerenveen at (16) AZ Alkmaar
Sun., 8:30 am – (22) Twente at Ajax
Sun., 9:00 am – (21) Fiorentina at Catania
Sun., 3:00 pm – Flamengo at (19) Cruzeiro
Sun., 5:00 pm – (23) Libertad at Olimpia
Sun., 5:30 pm – Santos at (11) Gremio

Copa Libertadores Predictions - First Knockout Round Edition

It’s not only prediction season in Europe – it’s prediction season in South America, as well. I love knockout rounds!!! This week marks the first of the knockout rounds in the Copa Libertadores and that means the team here at WCR has been locked in a dark room since last Thursday staring into crystal balls, reading tarot cards, and smoking some Native American wacky tobacco to come up with the winners of the next round. What did they come up with, you ask? Dehydration, strained vision and what I believe is something related to scurvy. They also came up with some predictions. I’ll concentrate the rest of the entry on those.

Of course, we here at World Club Rankings pay close attention to the World Club Rankings when we make our predictions. There are four clubs that are currently in the WCR Top 25 and since none of them are playing each other, we certainly are predicting those four clubs to advance to the quarterfinals. That gives us our first set of predictions:

(11) Gremio (Bra) over U. San Martin (Per)
(19) Cruzeiro (Bra) over U. de Chile (Chi)
(7) Sao Paolo (Bra) over Chivas de Guadalajara (Mex)
(23) Libertad (Par) over Estudiantes (Arg)

Well, that takes us half the way there, but only half way. Other predictions took a little more time to make and, now, they are taking me a little longer to convey. But now it’s time. I’ve already predicted three Brazilian clubs to advance. The other two that remain in the tournament take on each other. Sport Recife did a great job in winning its group, but the first “upset” (as in victory by a club that didn’t win its group and is the worse seed) that I am predicting is a victory over Palmeiras.

Palmeiras (Bra) over Sport Recife (Bra)

I have a soft spot in my heart for Uruguayan clubs. My favorite club in South America, however, is Boca Juniors. That makes the Boca/Defensor matchup difficult to predict. Boca has thoroughly sucked in the Argentine Clausura, focusing most of its attention on the Copa Libertadores. Can a club completely ignore its domestic season and succeed in the Copa Libertadores? It’s happened plenty of times before, but I usually pick clubs that can do well in both at the same time. I’m doing that this time.

Defensor Sporting (Uru) over Boca Juniors (Arg)

The other Uruguayan club that remains has a little bit of an easier time. That’s because it is facing San Luis, who at press time looks like it will have to play its “home” matches outside of Mexico because of Swine Flu fears. This added bonus will only help a Nacional club that already is better than San Luis.

Nacional (Uru) over San Luis (Mex)

That leaves the eight/nine matchup, which is as it should be – a battle between two middling clubs that are very close to each other in ability. It’s not often that a Venezuelan club has much success in the Copa Libertadores, but having won its group and getting to play its second leg at home, I’m going to pick Caracas FC to get past Deportivo Cuenca in the first knockout round.

Caracas FC (Ven) over Deportivo Cuenca (Ecu)

That’s it for this round. We’ll be back in the next round and check our stats. Enjoy the tournament!!!

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Barcelona Six Pack Edition

Real Madrid had an opportunity to move within a single point of Barcelona for the Primera Division lead with a victory at home on Sunday. What happened? I’m sure you’ve seen it somewhere. Barcelona opened up a can on Real Madrid and scored a half-dozen goals in beating Real Madrid 6-2. There is now no question who the best club in Spain is. Is Barcelona the best in the world? It still has to prove the answer to that one. In one of the more boring matches of the season, Chelsea sat back and played Barcelona to a scoreless draw in their Champions League semifinal matchup. Meanwhile, Manchester United eeked past Arsenal in a 1-0 match in the other semifinal. With all of the firepower in the Champions League semifinals, who would have thought that John O’Shea would be the only person to score? I love this game.

Meanwhile, the group stage came to the end in the Copa Libertadores. Proving its domination, Brazil place five clubs in the final sixteen. No other nation was able to put in more than two, including Argentina. In Africa, the CAF Champions League worked its way down to eight and the big surprise is that Egypt’s Al-Ahly is not one of them after being eliminated by Nigeria’s Kano Pillars.

Everybody knows what’s coming up this week in London, with Chelsea and Arsenal both hosting the second-leg of their respective Champions League semifinals. For those of you who would like to look a little further ahead, though, Sunday will see a pair of great domestic matches when Chelsea hosts Arsenal and AC Milan hosts Juventus. As far as the rest of the action, both last week and coming up, see below.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 4, 2009

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – John O’Shea provided all of the scoring as Manchester United escaped from home with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal. In Premiership action, United had little trouble getting past Middlesbrough 2-0. This Week: As I’m sure you already know, Manchester United heads to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal on Tuesday for the second leg of the Champions League matchup. Domestically, United hosts City in the Manchester Derby on Sunday.

2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barcelona wasn’t able to break through Chelsea’s defense last week as the clubs finished with a scoreless draw in their Champions League match. No such problems for Barca in the Primera Division, however, as it was able to score six times against Real Madrid in its 6-2 away victory that pretty much clinches the Primera Division title for Barcelona. This Week: Barca heads to Stamford Bridge to play in the second leg of its Championship League semifinal. Domestically, there are still fun matches left in the Primera Division as Barca hosts Villarreal on Sunday.

3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – It may have been smart, but it sure as hell was boring. With its all-defensive plan, Chelsea managed to escape Spain with a goalless draw against Barcelona. Domestically, Chelsea won its derby with Fulham by a 3-1 score. This Week: Chelsea will host Barcelona on Wednesday. Let’s hope this one is more exciting than the last match. Domestically, one of the more exciting matches of the weekend takes place in another London derby when Chelsea takes on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

4. Arsenal (Eng) (4) – Arsenal may be in trouble after failing to escape from Old Trafford with an away goal. The Gunners will be down 0-1 when the second leg picks up at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. In the Premier League, Arsneal rolled right past Portsmouth with a 3-0 victory. This Week: I’m tired of writing about the Champions League at this point, so this next sentence will be it. Arsenal will host Manchester United on Tuesday. Domestically, Arsenal will host Chelsea on Sunday. Perhaps the best week ever in the short history of Emirates Stadium.

5. Inter Milan (Ita) (5) – Inter Milan bounced back into the win column this week with a 2-0 victory over Lazio. This Week: As Inter Milan moves closer to the scudetto, it will take on Chievo Verona on Sunday.

6. Liverpool (Eng) (6) – This weekend, Liverpool eased past what I’m sure will be a strong club next season in the Championship, Newcastle United, by a 3-0 score. This Week: Since every other top club in the world will play in the London area this week, it seems only right that Liverpool will play an away match against West Ham United on Saturday.

7. Sao Paolo (Bra) (7) – No current matches. This Week: Sao Paolo will take on Chivas de Guadalajara this week as the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores begins. Also beginning is the Brasileirao and Sao Paolo will begin its title defense in that league on Sunday against Fluminense.

8. Wolfsburg (Ger) (10) – An Edin Dzeko hat-trick was more than what Wolfsburg needed as it destroyed first-half champion TSG Hoffenheim 4-0. This Week: Wolfsburg is still leading the Bundesliga, but Bayern Munich is breathing down its neck and this week won’t be easy as Wolfsburg has an away match against VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

9. AC Milan (Ita) (8) – AC Milan was never really threatened as it defeated Catania 2-0 in Serie A play this weekend. This Week: In what should be a great match in the race for Serie A runner-up, AC Milan welcomes Juventus to the San Siro for a Sunday match.

10. Real Madrid (Esp) (9) – Real Madrid had been playing so well for so long and was getting within striking distance of Barcelona and then BOOM, Barcelona laid down a 6-2 beat down on the club from Madrid. This Week: Real Madrid’s second-place finish is not being threatened by anybody, but this weekend’s match at Valencia has enough starpower to be more than exciting this coming Saturday.

11. Gremio (Bra) (13) – With a 3-0 victory over Boyaca Chico in its final group stage match, Gremio won its group and enters the Copa Libertadores knockout stage as the number one overall seed. This Week: That top seed allows Gremio to play the lowest seed left in the Copa Libertadores, Deportivo San Martin from Peru. In its return to the Brasileirao, Gremio will take on Paulist League runners-up Santos on Sunday.

12. Marseille (Fra) (11) – A 2-2 draw with Toulouse leave Marseille in a virtual tie with Bordeaux for the top of Ligue Un. Marseille is still up on goal differential, but it cannot afford to slip up at all from here on out. This Week: No matches this week.

13. Porto (Por) (12) – Porto moved a little closer to yet another Liga Sagres title this week following a 3-0 victory over Maritimo. This Week: Then next step for Porto in its walk to the title is a home match on Sunday against Nacional.

14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (18) – Bayern moved back up into second place in the Bundesliga after scoring a hard-fought 2-1 victory over lowly Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday. This Week: Another lowly club, Energie Cottbus, awaits Bayern Munich this coming Saturday.

15. Juventus (ita) (14) – A ninety-third minute goal by Lecce left Juventus reeling with a 2-2 draw in a match that looked like it assured Juventus three points. This Week: If Juve wants to move up from third place in Serie A, it will have to beat AC Milan on Sunday at the San Siro. No easy task.

16. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (15) – Not that it mattered much for the 2008-09 Eredivisie champions, but AZ fell 0-3 to 2008-09 Eredivisie runner-up Twente on Sunday. This Week: This one won’t matter either, and AZ has been playing recently like they don’t matter, when AZ welcomes SC Heerenveen to Alkmaar on Sunday.

17. Bordeaux (Fra) (17) – Bordeaux removed the drama with two early goals and went on to defeat Sochaux 3-0 to claim a share of the current Ligue Un lead. It is now a two horse race and neither horse is named Lyon. It’s about time, frankly. This Week: No upcoming matches.

18. Celtic (Sco) (16) – Celtic continued its war for the SPL title this weekend with a 3-1 victory over Aberdeen. This Week: We all know that the only battles that matter in the SPL war are those between the big armies from Glasgow. The final one of the season takes place on Saturday when Celtic crosses town to take on Rangers.

19. Cruzeiro (Bra) (20) – Cruzeiro fought Atletico Mineiro to a 1-1 draw on Sunday, but that was enough to hand Cruzeiro the Mineiro League title. This Week: Cruzeiro enters the first knockout round of the Copa Libertadores this week in an away match against Universidad de Chile. Domestically, Cruzeiro returns to Brasileirao action this week when it hosts Flamengo.

20. Velez Sarsfield (Arg) (19) – Velez Sarsfield could manage only a scoreless draw in an away match against San Martin, but that was enough to keep Velez Sarsfield atop the Argentine Clausura table, at least for the moment. This Week: With no continental action for Velez Sarsfield, the club will return to action on Sunday against Racing.

21. Fiorentina (Ita) (21) – La Viola is doing its best to hold on to the final Serie A Champions League position, this week with 1-0 victory over Torino. This Week: Fiorentina will take on Catania on Sunday as it attempts to maintain its position.

22. Twente (Ned) (25) – Along with Ajax’s thrashing at the hands of Sparta, Twente’s 3-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar guarantee Twente second place in the Eredivisie and a 2009-10 Champions League position, now that the Netherlands has finally gotten rid of that blasted playoff for the spot. Congrats!! This Week: It’s too little too late for Ajax, but the club from Amsterdam will host Twente on Sunday in a match that is mainly for pride.

23. Libertad (Par) (NR) – Despite falling 0-2 to Mexican club San Luis, Libertad won its Copa Libertadores group and will travel to Argentina to take on Estudiantes in the first knockout round. Domestically, Libertad took advantage of a Cerro Porteno draw and a 1-0 victory over 3 de Febrero to move into first place in the domestic table. This Week: As I mentioned, Libertad will take on Estudiantes this week in a Copa Libertadores match. Domestically, Libertad will take on Olimpia on Sunday.

24. Sporting CP (Por) (22) – Sporting remains ranked and in second place in the Liga Sagres despite a scoreless draw this week against Academica de Coimbra. This Week: Sporting returns to Liga Sagres action on Sunday against Vitoria Setubal.

25. Rangers (Sco) (23) – Rangers defeated Hearts 2-0 this weekend as it continues to chase down Celtic for the SPL title. This Week: The best way to catch Celtic is to beat Celtic and Rangers will have an opportunity on Saturday when the two clubs from Glasgow meet.

Bubbling Under: Everton (Eng), Genoa (Ita), Sevilla (Esp), Stuttgart (Ger), Valencia (Esp).

Next Five: Ajax (Ned), Aston Villa (Eng), Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Lyon (Fra), Olympiacos (Gre).

Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:
5 May – (1) Manchester United at (4) Arsenal
6 May – (2) Barcelona at (3) Chelsea
9 May – (18) Celtic at (25) Rangers
10 May – (3) Chelsea at (4) Arsenal
10 May – (15) Juventus at (9) AC Milan