Here are a few interesting stories I came across this morning, enjoy:
Champions League Round Up: Barcelona thrash Basel, Inter wins, Simao equalizes for Atletico
Boca coaching legend, Bianchi, is the favorite to land the Argentina job
Chicago Fire v. NY Red Bulls . . . playoffs on the line for NY, Osorio returns to Chicago
Ballack and Loew to have a crisis meeting, after Ballack publicly criticized the German coach.
More Champions League action this week. Here is the schedule of games a few notes of interest.
10:30pm Zenit St. Petersburg v Bate Borisov
Notes: Zenit lost it first two matches to Real Madrid and Juventus and currently sits last in group H with 0 points. Bate lost Real, but tied Juventus 2-2 in a very exciting match. Zenit’s coach, Advocaat, has warned his players about Bate’s fast and aggressive style.
12:45pm Steaua Bucharest v Lyon
Notes: A win could see either team jump into second place in their group.
12:45pm Porto v Dynamo Kiev
Notes: Porto look to protect their impressive home record and work their way up the table.
12:45pm Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
Notes: Luca Toni could be available for the match, but Klinsmann is not ready rush him back. Fiorentina is in stunning league form and hopefully they can transition that into the Champions League.
12:45pm Juventus v Real Madrid, Live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes
Notes: Claudio Ranieri’s men are in poor form at the moment riding a 5 game winless streak. Juventus slipped to 12th in the Serie A table after losing to Naples this weekend. Juventus is also in an injury crisis: Christian Poulsen (thigh), David Trezeguet (knee), Jonathan Zebina (achilles), Cristiano Zanetti, Tiago, Mauro Camoranesi, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Nicola Legrottaglie and Olof Mellberg (all thigh). Real Madrid on the other hand are coming off a fantastic win against Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby on Saturday. Juventus need something to get them back on track, but I don’t think they will have enough to stop the high flying Merengues.
12:45pm Fenerbahce v Arsenal, Replay on ESPN Deportes at 2:45pm
Notes: Both coaches face selection dilemmas. Deivid, Gökçek Vederson, Josico and Emre Belözoğlu are all absent for Fenerbahçe, although Gökhan Gönül could be fit to feature at right-back. Arsène Wenger suffered a blow on Monday when Kolo Touré was ruled out with a shoulder injury, joining fellow first-choice defenders William Gallas and Bacary Sagna on the sidelines. Nicklas Bendtner and Johan Djourou have been given the all-clear, however, after sitting out Saturday’s 3-1 Premier League victory against Everton FC.
12:45pm Manchester Utd v Celtic, Replay on ESPN Deportes 7pm
Notes: Sir Alex has his own, more enviable predicaments. First whether to recall Carlos Tévez, absent from Saturday’s 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion FC in which the in-form Wayne Rooney claimed his eighth goal in six games for club and country. “It is very difficult trying to gauge whether I can play the three of them [Tévez, Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov] together,” he said. “I think it is possible with one of them playing in behind.” And then whether to rest Cristiano Ronaldo in favour of Nani, another weekend scorer. Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz told Sir Alex that Ronaldo, still recovering optimum fitness after returning from ankle surgery, had struggled with playing a second match in five days last week; Nani, by contrast, is “nice and fresh”.
12:45pm Villarreal v Aalborg, Replay on ESPN Deportes at 5pm
Notes: Villarreal have injury doubts over Joan Capdevila, Santi Cazorla and Edmílson while Guille Franco should be fit to play. Sebastián Eguren, on the other hand, will miss both this and the return game against AaB in November. For visiting coach Bruce Rioch, at least the stream of injuries are decreasing to a trickle. “We are getting close to a full squad which is a relief,” said the former Scottish international midfielder who has Andreas Johansson in contention and Jeppe Curth ready to play on the right. The biggest blow is the absence of Kasper Risgård who scored three times in ushering AaB through the qualifying rounds.