-
Manchester United – Even Robin van Persie is No Longer Interesting
For Manchester United, their latest win as they run away with the Premier League, was about Rafael scoring a rare goal and Ryan Giggs with the finisher putting a solid and remarkable performance (at his age) in the middle of the field. For the rest of the league, only Robin van Persie being slightly injured seemed to be causing any interest.
-
Arsenal FC – Santi Cazorla Relaxes Things for a Bit
It’s always impossible to decide who needed the win more – the underachievers, fighting to try and get into the Champions League, or a club fighting for survival in the Premier League. However, quality was what prevailed, as Santi Cazorla reminded many what he was all about for Arsenal when the season began.
-
NBA Trade Deadline 2013 – All the Deals
A rather dull trade deadline in 2013, with a lot of big names mentioned in potential trades, but eventually the Houston Rockets sending Patrick Patterson to Sacramento for Thomas Robinson (and others) while the Orlando Magic sent J.J. Redick to the Milwaukee Bucks were the biggest moves of the last couple of days.
-
Europa League – All 16 Teams in the Knockout Stage
The Europa League moves on to its second knockout stage, or the round of 16 if you will, with four former European Champions still in the mix – Inter, Chelsea, Benfica and Steaua. The English Premier League and the Russian League have the most clubs left in the competition with 3 teams each.
-
Liverpool FC – Luis Suarez Always Makes Up for Jamie Carragher
The power of Anfield was enough for about 60 minutes to push Liverpool to one of those special European nights, but even the prowess of Luis Suarez from set pieces (two wonderful free kick goals) wasn’t enough to make up for the mistake of Jamie Carragher early on.
-
Chelsea FC – Eden Hazard Shines Again While Fernando Torres Keep Missing
There’s a good chance that if it was up to Fernando Torres, Chelsea would have been still looking for that equalizing goal. Instead, in a performance filled with chances but a lot of disappointing and bad football from the European champions, it was Eden Hazard, coming off the bench, that became the hero of the day.
-
AC Milan – Kevin-Prince Boateng & Ricardo Montolivo Pull it Off
It’s hard to focus on just one player from the AC Milan side that pulled off one of their biggest Champions League wins in recent years, but in a performance heralded as tactically brilliant, defensively brave and hard working all-around, two men, Ricardo Montolivo and Kevin-Prince Boateng stand out a bit more than the rest.
-
FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Pulls a Disappearing Act
You’re allowed to have bad matches, but when your teams is at its worst, you expect Lionel Messi, or any big star with the ability to make a difference, to change the momentum of a match through some stroke of brilliance. Nothing worked for Barcelona on the terrible San Siro pitch, with so much blame to share around the team it’s impossible to throw just one player under the bus.
-
Champions League – Galatasaray vs Schalke Predictions
After a fantastic group stage performance, the Champions League round of 16 couldn’t have come at a worse time for Schalke, struggling in the Bundesliga to keep it together. On the other end of the fence, Galatasaray are in excellent form, reinforced with a few shiny new purchases to help their European season last a little longer.
-
Champions League – AC Milan vs Barcelona Predictions
Some matches, regardless of the disparity of talent and quality between the two sides, are always a gigantic meeting with the eyes of Europe magnetized towards it. AC Milan, going through a weird phase of rebuilding or change, trying to surprise the all-conquering Barcelona in yet another season where everything is up for grabs.