Champions League Group Stage

The groups have been announced! Earlier today the draw was conducted. In each group of 4, the top 2 teams advance to the knockout stage, and the 3rd team enters the Europa League at its knockout stage. Here are the groups (the numbers in parenthesis are club ranking in Europe).

Group A:

Bayern Munich (8), Juventus (29), Bordeaux (38), Maccabi Haifa (90)

Group B:

Man U (2), CSKA Moscow (26), Wolfsburg (77, though this is somewhat misleading; Wolfsburg just finished their best season in club history, winning the German Bundesliga, but because rankings are based upon record in tournament competition for the last 5 seasons; Wolfsburg are most likely better than Besiktas, so I put Wolfsburg first), Besiktas (61)

Group C:

AC Milan (7), Real Madrid (14), Marseille (25), Zurich (94)

Group D:

Chelsea (3), Porto (18), Atletico (35), APOEL (158)

Group E:

Liverpool (4), Lyon (11), Fiorentina (33), Debrecen (187)

Group F:

Barca (1), Inter Milan (12), Dinamo Kiev (40), Rubin Kazan (128, though similar situation as Wolfsburg: won domestic league last year, but haven't performed well enough in the 5 year period to merit a high ranking; certainly much better than the low ranking would suggest).

Group G:

Sevilla (6), Rangers (20), Stuttgart (44), Unirea Urziceni (124, similar situation as Rubin and Wolfsburg; perhaps stronger than ranking implies).

Group H:

Arsenal (5), Alkmaar (37), Olimpiakos (39), Liege (91)

More detailed analysis coming later as well as full updates on Europa League playoff results.

Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

RIP Teddy. No one can ever truly replace you.

Champions League Playoff

Several of the second legs happen tomorrow.

Maccabi Haifa (Israel) v. Red Bull Salzburg (Austria). The first result was 1-2 in Maccabi's favor in Salzburg.

Zurich (Switzerland) v. Ventspils (Latvia). Zurich won 0-3 in Latvia.

Debrecen (Hungary) v. Levski Sofia (Bulgaria). Debrecen won 1-2 in Sofia.

Anderlecht (Belgium) v. Lyon (France). Lyon thrashed Anderlecht 5-1 in Lyon.

Atletico Madrid (hmm, where are they from?) v. Panathinaikos (Greece). Atletico won 2-3 in Greece.

As for predictions: Well, the Lyon game is irrelevant. Anderlecht simply can't win by 4 goals, let alone win most likely. So Lyon are through.

Atletico have a definite edge of Panathinaikos. Atletico last year in La Liga (Spanish league) had an away goal differential of -1, and Panathinaikos had a home goal differential of 25 (33 scored, 8 conceded). Considering Atletico last year had a home record of 13 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses (goal differential: 24) and Panathinaikos' away record in domestic competition was 7 wins, 6 draws, 2 losses (goal differential: 8), Atletico will probably get the win. I predict Atletico win by 2.

No predictions for the other matches: data harder to get, and the clubs simply aren't as likely to go far in the tournament, so it simply isn't as important if Debrecen advances as opposed to Levski Sofia. Predictions coming tomorrow (if I can manage it) for the games on Wednesday and Thursday.

Afghan Elections and Iranian Cabinets

Well, results don't seem to be in yet. Allegations of fraud and serious irregularities remain common, but to what extent it impacted the election has yet to be seen. Both Karzai and the main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah have claimed victory. A repeat of Iran's mess?

Speaking of which, Ahmadinejad announced his cabinet on the 20th, and sparked some controversy by nominating 3 women, the first time women have ever been nominated for cabinet positions since the Revolution. A very clever ploy. If they are accepted, he comes out seeming much more moderate. If they are rejected, he is seen as being moderate and the Majlis (Parliament) as hardline and really conservative. Either way, he wins. The women, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, Fatemeh Ajorlou and Sousan Keshavarz have been nominated for the health, social welfare, and education ministries respectively.

Commentary on Arsenal v. Celtic

I'm watching the game on CSNBA (channel 40 for me), and I shall give reactions as things happen. All minutes given are approximate.

Minutes 13-15 or so: Celtic applying lots of pressure, with Arsenal forced to simply boot the ball up field when they get it as opposed to controlled build-up. Arsenal get settled afterward.

At the 22nd minute, and Arsenal having some very good passing sequences.

And Arenal definitely aren't happy now. Van Persie is down with a head injury. And the stretchers are coming out. He doesn't need them, but he appears to be walking off the pitch.

23rd minute: play resumes with Celtic possesion, but it is quickly lost as Celtic simply thump the ball up field and hope for some luck. Celtic don't seem to be interested in the more patient passing build-up that Arsenal has used. Whether that is simply their playing style in general or a wariness of overcomitting offensively and conceding on the counterattack remains to be seen.

25th: Celtic enjoying a reasonably long posession. No rush to goo anywhere, but definitely testing the Arsenal defense. Again, Arsenal aren't able to get and maintain posession.

27th: Arsenal free kick as a Celtic pass down the left wing goes too far. Celtic regain posession. Celtic throw.

28th: Celtic cross is too long. Arrsenal through. Commentatorson TV saying it has been over a decade since a Premier League club has won a tournament match at Celtic Park. Still, don't count Arsenal out.

29th: Pass over the top from Fabregas almost reached by Van Persie, but its just a little to close to Celtic keeper Boruc. Celtic posession. Arsneal posession deep in the Celtic half, but the cross is too long. Arsenal retain posession and kick it back to keeper Almunia.

Ah, I guess I should mention the line-ups, shouldn't I?

Arsenal: 4-3-3.
Keeper: Almunia
Defense: Clichy (left), Vermaelen and Gallas (center), Sagna (right)
Midfield: Denilson (left), Song (center), Fabregas (right)
Forwards: Arshavin (left), Bendtner (center), Van Persie (right)

Celtic: 4-5-1.
Keeper: Boruc
Defense: Fox (left), Loovens and Caldwell (center), Hinkel (right)
Midfield: Maloney, Donati, N'Guemo, Brown, and McGeady
Forward: Samaras.

39th minute: both sides enjoying decent posession. Few clear scoring opportunities. Still, both sides getting into rythym a little more.

41st: Arshavin gets a shot on goal, but it it is partially blocked, which takes all the venom out of it and it is easily saved.

And now Celtic have a god chance. Cut-back from the right hit away by the Arsenal defence and the follow up from Brown is saved reasonably comfortably by Almunia.

Arsenal go down the other end quickly, and Fabregas is fouled. Free kick Arsenal from 28 meters.

And its a goal!!! Fabregas takes the free kick, and Gallas hits it with his head, perhaps unintentionally, and hits it to the far post when Boruc had the near post covered. Celtic lost at home in the previous round to Dinamo Moscow 0-1, but won by 2 goals in Moscow. Will Celtic lose for a second consecutive time in Champions League competition?

And that is half time. 0-1 in favor of Arsenal. Half-time stats (courtesy of uefa.com)

Shots on target: Celtic: 1 Arsenal: 2
Shots wide: Celtic: 1 Arsenal: 0
Blocked shots: Celtic: 0 Arsenal: 1
Fouls committed: Celtic: 8 Arsenal: 6
Offsides: Celtic: 3 Arsenal: 1
Corners: Celtic: 2 Arsenal: 0
Ball Possession: Celtic: 48% Arsenal: 52%.

So fairly even, but Arsenal have the lead. Other games at this point:

Sheriff v. Olimpiakos: 0-0
Copenhagen (Denmark) v. APOEL: 0-0
Timisoara (Romania) v. Stuttgart (Germany): 0-2
Sporting Portugal (hmm, I wonder what country they're from?) v. Fiorentina (Italy): 0-1.

And we're back!

50th-Celtic pressuring a little with some good possession, but Arsenal get it, although it is quickly lost.

51st: Celtic have a free kick from the left wing. Celtic claim the Arsenal defense handled the ball (that's a no-no), but the referee says no. Oh, and on the replay there is a bit of hand, though inadvertent. Arsenal come up the other end, but Celtic regain posession.

53rd: Pass over the top for Samaras, but it is too long. Arsenal have posession at the top of the box, but Van Persie has the ball stripped. Celtic at midfield.

54th: Van Persie has a shot, but it is wide though Boruc loked a little lost.

55th: Arsenal get it to midfield and a sloppy pass hands Celtic the ball. Their cross from the right wing is headed away.

56th: Some Celtic substitutions. Donati and Samras are out. Celtic have posession around the Arsenal box on the left side. Ball is taken, and Arsenal are moving up to the center circle. Oh, and its a yellow card of N'guemo, for a bad, late challenge. This means he is suspended for the next match, for receiving a yellow in 2 consecutive games.

59th: Celtic kick. Headed out for Arsenal throw.

60th: Arsenal dominating possession lately. Arsenal has a corner. Near post header goes straight up, and Celtic gain possession. Celtic foul on the attack, and Arsenal thump the ball upfield. Relaxed passing in the midfield, but the ball is lost and Celtic counterattack, but the cross from the right is a bad one.

Well, at this point I feel like simply watching the game and not mentioning every thing. Anything BIG that happens will be mentioned. Otherwise, I will write a general reaction after the game.

70th: Oh dear. A cross from the left from Arsenal. Caldwell tries to hit it away, and instead hits it back into his own net. Its an own goal by Celtic, and now Arsenal lead 2-0 away. Celtic really are in trouble now.

90th: Celtic hasn't had any clear chances. It seems as though if the score will chance, it will be in Arsenal's favor.

Stoppage time has begun, with 2 minutes added on.

And that is it! Arsenal won 0-2. Celtic with a bit of an edge in possession, but Arsenal had more total shots (9-2).

Other results:
Sheriff 0-2 Olimpiakos
Kopenhagen 1-0 APOEL
Timisoara 0-2 Stuttgart
Sporting Portugal 2-2 Fiorentina



3oth: Celtic are offside. Arsenal kick.

Champions League Playoff Round Day 1

Games commence in around 10 minutes. As in the previous rounds, the round is composed of aggregate series. Today's games and some interesting things to note.

Olimpiakos (Greece) at Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova). Last year in domestic competition, Olimpiakos won 9 away games, drew 5, and lost 2, for a total goal differential of 11 (17 goals scored, 6 conceded). By comparison Olimpiakos' home record was 13 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss with 33 goals scored and 8 conceded, for a goal differential of 25. Sheriff's home record last season in domestic competitions was 13 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss with a goal differential of 24. No doubt Olimpiakos is the bettter club, but Sheriff have managed some upsets, so Olimpiakos shouldn't get overconfident. Sheriff have need to do well at home considering Olimpiakos' home record. Sheriff in theory have the advantage at home, but I'd predict Olimpiakos win today by 1 or 2 goals (soccer is hard to predict, so more specific predictions will not be made; and don't be surprised if I'm wrong).

The biggest matchup is Arsenal (England) at Celtic (Scotland). Last year Arsenal's away record was 9 wins, 7 draws, and 3 losses; they scored 37 goals and conceded 21. Their home record was almost identical in terms of goal differential (15 at home, and 16 away), but at home they managed 11 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses. Celtic's home record last season was 14 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss; they scored 48 goals, and conceded 13. Their road record was 10 wins, 6 draws, and 3 losses; they scored 32 road goals and conceded 20. Injuries could be very important in this first match, especially for Arsenal. Arsenal for sure will not have Djouru, Nasri, Rosicky, or Walcott, and could be missing at least one of Fabregas, Sagna, and Denilson. Celtic have the advantage for this game, due to their incredible home record. However, Arsenal did open their Premier League season with a 6-1 away thrashing of Everton. I expect this will be a close game. Prediction: a draw or decided by 1 goal in either side's favor, though more likely that Celtic will get the win.

I would do more predictions, but games have started by now. I will write reaction to games afterwards, and some posts on the early stages of domestic leagues in Europe and some political posts shall follow as well.

Europa League Part 1

Most of the 3rd qualifying round for the Europa League is going on today. I am watching the Galatasaray (Turkey) v. Maccabi Netanya (Israel) match on my computer. Some of the results so far.

Vaslui (Romania) wrapped up their 3-1 aggregate win over Omonia (Cyprus).

Qarabağ (Azerbaijan) stunned Finnish club Honka with a second 1-0 victory, winning 2-0 on aggregate. Qarabağ also managed an upset victory over Rosenborg (Norway) in the previous round.

PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) won both matches 1-0 against Cherno More (Bulgaria).

Champions League Part 2

The 3rd qualifying round has completely finished today, with some interesting results. Here is a run through of the most interesting matches and aggregate totals. For your reference, the country in parenthesis is where the club originates from.

Maccabi Haifa (Israel) 4-3 against Aktobe (Kazakhstan). The first match ended scoreless in Kazakhstan, and the match in Israel was a defense's worst nightmare, with an astonishing seven goals scored in a 54 minute stretch of the 90 minute game. Maccabi are perhaps somewhat dissapointed, having dismantled Northern Irish club Glentoran 10-0 on aggregate in the previous round. Still, a win is a win, and the advantages of advancing are not minor, as I shall explain in a different post focused on the importance of the CL.

Celtic (Scotland) 2-1 against Dynamo Moscow (Russia, obviously). Dynamo managed a 1-0 win at Celtic, but Celtic managed a 2-0 win in Moscow. This came as a bit of a shock seeing as Celtic hadn't won in European club competitions outside of Scotland in 6 years. In fact, it took an almost last minute goal by Georgios Samaras to hand Celtic the aggregate win. Still, Celtic are no doubt thrilled.

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), last year's winners of the Euefa Cup (which has been restructured and renamed the Europa League) lost due to the away goals rule against Timișoara (Romania). The second match ended scoreless in Romania after the 2-2 draw in Ukraine. Still, Shakthar's consolation (like all the other losing clubs from this round) is that they get to play in the Europa League Group Stage, which include 12 groups of 4 teams each, with the top 2 in each group advancing.

Honorable mention must be given to Slovene club Maribor, who stunned Zurich (Switzerland) 3-2 in Zurich; unfortunately (and oddly) for them, everything fell for them at home, where they lost 3-0, enabling Zurich to continue in the CL.

The Champions League, Part 1 (of many

Well, I apologize for the long break in posts. I have been busy and lazy, and never quite got in the habit of completely regular posts, but I shall try. I shall resume, with one regarding football!

Yes, the 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League has started, or rather the qualification matches have. For those unfamiliar with Champions League, it is the most important tournament for football (soccer) club teams (as opposed to national teams) in Europe, including the geographically non-European nations of Kazakhstan and Israel. It is a highly prestigious tournament, and as I shall cover in an additional coming post, highly important both in terms of the prestige it can bring to a club as well as the hard cash. Anyway, so far no club which has any serious chance of winning it has had to play, as clubs which play this early in qualification are (generally) not top clubs. For more information, please check it out here on Wikipedia (yes, it is accurate; I know this having further inspected the official site for the Champions League).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_UEFA_Champions_League_qualifying_phase_and_play-off_round

And here's a link for info on the tournament in general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_UEFA_Champions_League

All in all, not too much to say regarding action to date in the CL (as I shall call it). No important matches so far, and few surprises, the only notable surprise being Estonian club Levadia defeating Poland's Wisla Krakow. Not entirely sure how they managed it, but...

One important thing I should tell you regarding the CL and the Europa League (another tournament for European clubs, although less prestigious and important than the CL; weaker clubs end up in the Europa League; an extensive post on them shall follow this one) is that many rounds are decided on aggregate. What this means is that teams are divided into pairs. Each pair plays two games, one at the stadium of each team (meaning each team has to play one home and one away game). Whichever club scores more goals total in those two games goes on to the next round. If they score an equal number of goals, then it is decided by scores scored in away match.

To clarify that last bit. Let us say Club A plays Club B. The aggregate score (the total score after both games) is 3-3. But the game hosted by A ended up 1-1, and the game hosted by B ended up 2-2. Because A scored more goals on the road than B did, club A would advance.

Enough of the Champions League for now. A post on the Europa League is next (meaning in the next few hours) as is one on this summer's soccer trades.