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Fan Football - by Ross CarpenterFirst competitive fixtures of the season!June 28th 2011 23:18
Champions League first qualifying round results 28th June 2011 First leg: Tre Fiori (San Marino) 0-3 Valletta FC (Malta) FC Santa Coloma (Andorra) 0-2 F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) You would not believe how pleased I am to see these first twinkles of a season... even if one of the teams sounds like a fighter plane (F91 Dudelange) 
UEFA Champions League knockout phaseDecember 25th 2007 07:30
English clubs have it tough in the first knockout phase of Europe's Premier club competition with Arsenal and Liverpool drawing reigning European champions AC Milan and Serie A leaders Inter Milan respectively. Manchester United faces a tricky tie against French champions Lyon while Chelsea has the easiest of draws against Olympiakos. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is optimistic that his young side can overcome champions Milan. "It's an exciting draw. If you look at last season's results then it's the hardest draw because they are the champions. "It's a big challenge but if you ask me do we have a chance to knock them out then I say 'yes'." he said. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez said his team will draw on the experience of winning the tournament in 2005 and finishing runners-up last year while Sir Alex Ferguson described Lyon, who knocked Rangers out in the group phase, as the toughest opponents they could have been drawn against. Full draw: Celtic v Barcelona Lyon v Manchester United Schalke v Porto Liverpool v Inter Milan Roma v Real Madrid Arsenal v AC Milan Olympiakos v Chelsea Fenerbahce v Sevilla Ties will be played on 19/20 February and 4/5 March, 2008.
UEFA CL: Celtic through to knockout stagesDecember 5th 2007 06:00
Tue, Dec 4: UEFA Champions League (Group D) AC Milan 1 - 0 Celtic Shakhtar Donetsk 1 - 2 Benfica SUMMARY: Scottish champions Celtic are through to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League for the second season on the trot despite going down 1-0 to AC Milan at the San Siro. Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi broke the deadlock on the 70th minute with his 63rd goal in UEFA club competitions - a new record - to seal the win, and top spot in the group, for his side. In the opening stages, the visitors looked nervous knowing that a draw would seal their place in the next phase of Europe's premier club competition. Once the nerves had settled, Celtic were happy to sit back and hit Milan on the counter-attack but lacked the incisive cutting edge to break the Rossoneri defence. However, the Scottish champions were stunned 21 minutes from time when Brazilian Cafu squared the ball inside the area for Inzaghi to score his record breaking goal. Despite the loss, the Scottish side were still able to celebrate qualification after Shakhtar Donetsk's 2-1 loss to Benfica in the other Group D match. [Video Source:YouTube]
AC Milan keeper Dida's two-match ban reduced!October 23rd 2007 06:30
AC Milan goalkeeper Dida has had his two-match suspension reduced by UEFA following an appeal by the club. The 34-year-old Brazilian was initially banned for two games for his theatrics following a very minor 'altercation' with a Celtic fan that had gone onto the pitch during the 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park. The initial two-match suspension has now been reduced to just one with a further game suspended for a year. AC Milan's grounds for appeal were that the keeper's actions was nevertheless a mistake but his error did not hinder anyone, not Celtic, nor any player. The club were also unhappy that Celtic were fined only £25,000 which, in their opinion, was lenient compared to the suspension Dida received. The decision by UEFA to reduce the suspension is an absolute disgrace. The initial two-match suspension was by no means harsh by any standards - some would say that Dida deserved to have been heavily punished for tarnishing the reputation and integrity of the game. By reducing the length of the suspension, UEFA has effectively condoned the keeper's actions and that any other player thinking of doing the same in the future can expect just a one-match ban. Who else thinks Celtic should reduce the fan's lifetime banishment from the club's matches now? They might as bloody well!
AC Milan through to Champion's League finalMay 3rd 2007 05:14
UEFA Champion's League: Semi-final 1 - 2nd Leg RESULT: AC Milan 3 - 0 Manchester United (Agg: 5 - 3) SUMMARY: 
BBC Sport
AC Milan are through to the final of the UEFA Champion's League for 2007 with a crushing win over Manchester United at the San Siro. The Red Devils were distinctly off-colour for such an important game and Milan's Brazilian maestro Kaka duly punished them with a goal inside the first 11 minutes to add to the brace he scored in the 1st leg. Confusion in the United defence between Gabriel Heinze and Nemanja Vidic gave Milan their second goal of the evening with Clarence Seedorf the scorer. It took until the hour for United to really get going but they still did not manage to break down the Milan defence and shortly after, it was all over - game, set and match Milan when substitute Alberto Gilardino was released down the middle and he ran 40 yards before coolly curling the ball home. While a Liverpool - Manchester United would have been absolutely mouth-watering, we will now witness a rematch of the epic 2005 final between Liverpool and Milan which the mighty Reds came out on top after coming back from 3 - 0 down to win on penalties. The Champion's League final 2007 will be in Athens on May 23rd.
CL: AC Milan 3 - 0 Manchester UnitedMay 2nd 2007 23:20
Liverpool 1 - 0 ChelseaMay 2nd 2007 04:42
UEFA Champion's League: Semi-final 2 - 2nd Leg RESULT: Liverpool 1 - 0 Chelsea (Agg: 1 - 1) Liverpool goes through 4 - 1 on penalties. Here is a video clip of Daniel Agger's goal which cancelled out Joe Cole's winner from the 1st leg of the Champion's League semi-final clash between Liverpool and Chelsea. The goal was brought about after Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was fouled by Joe Cole outside the penalty box. Gerrard fooled the Chelsea defence by appearing to run up for a crack at the near post only to roll the ball into the path of the unmarked Daniel Agger for the defender to prod the ball home. The might Reds went onto win 4 - 1 on penalties to book a place in the final of the Champion's League for the second time in three years. I wonder what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be doing now on the night May 23rd?
Athens, Here We Come! (Liverpool v Chelsea CL semifinal 2nd leg post-match)May 2nd 2007 01:23
Yes, you heard it right, Liverpool is going to the Champions League final once again! The tickets to Athens have just been booked and it's going to be the Reds! No Blues! This is perhaps the most important match of the season so far as i have mentioned and the result couldn't have gone any better! Somehow it felt like we have just won the trophy! Guess it's probably because everyone's been wary about our chances in getting through this time after down one goal deficit in aggregate. The match started well, and Rafa surprised everyone again (well, at least i am!) with his starting lineup, with Zenden starting his 3rd consecutive match on the left wing. Alonso is dropped to allow Gerrard playing at the middle alongside Mascherano, and Pennant on right wing. The solid Finnan returned to his right back position, and that's the only change in the defensive line from the first leg's team. Crouch upfront with Kuyt, to all Liverpudlians' delight. 
Once again, the victorious Reds!
Liverpool went on initiative from the start, and at one point around 20 minutes the possession reads Liverpool 71% to Chelsea's 29%. Pushing for that one goal to put us back into equation is important and at 22nd minute we got what we wanted! Agger's strike from Gerrard's free kick stunned Chelsea's defense and the ball in the net send the crowd into frenzy. From then on, we should be pushing for more, but Chelsea fight back. The latter part of the first half saw Chelsea bombarding their way to get the advantage goal, but we held on. Second half was pretty much an evenly fought game, although Chelsea put more pressure on us. But we were the ones that came closest when Crouch's header somehow put away to safety by Cech and Kuyt's header hit the crossbar! Pennant also could have scored from Terry's clearance mistake, but was too slow to hit the ball. And Chelsea were always dangerous with their free kicks, but we persevere and both teams enter extra time. The only real chance in extra time was when Kuyt's free inside the penalty box but could only hit it straight at Cech and being parried away. So here it is, we are in another intense penalty shootout. To be honest, i was a bit shocked when i saw Zenden came on as the first penalty taker. But i guess it all makes a bit sense that maybe Rafa had always been preparing him for this kind of moment. He was the utility player, and calm head is so important in taking penalties. He didn't fail Rafa. The rest of the story is on the video above, and Reina has proven his heroics last year at FA Cup final wasn't pure luck. We are in for another Champions League final! Overall, the team played well. Zenden was a bit non-existent, he should be taken out if not for him having a better defensive ability compared to Gonzalez, and also the experience in big matches. Pennant was decent and his cross to Crouch was superb. I think it's quite surprising when he is taken out instead of Zenden at that moment. Gerrard put an inspirational display where he drives around and some good passings. Kuyt was very hardworking, and Mascherano was magnificient! I am very impressed by his defensive display, no nonsense and less complains. I am certain we will see him very often next season. Defensively, all four backs were tough and solid. Agger's goal pretty much cancelled out his first leg's mistake in allowing Drogba's cross to Joe Cole which resulted the goal. And today he is in no mood to be dragged around by Drogba as easily as the first leg. Credit to Chelsea for keep pushing until the end, but we don't really appreciate how players such as Mikel Obi and Drogba keep going down easily. Essien did an excellent job playing out of position. Mourinho is again controversial with his comments that Chelsea were the best team and the only ones who wants to win. That is not true considering we have more shot on goals, although they did push very hard through the end of the match. I am in no mood to be pissed by his comments, whatever they said, we are in the final. We are in for another memorable Champions League final, and that is all that matters. Good luck to them in the Premier League race and fighting for the prestigious FA Cup. It's a good day, great day where everything is about the colour red. Excellent job everyone, well done! YNWA.
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