Schalke disappoints with a 1-1 draw against PAOK

Schalke 04 only managed a 1-1 draw in their Champions League qualifying match against PAOK.  Despite overwhelming possession in the first half, Schalke only managed a single goal in the 32nd minute by Jefferson Farfan.  PAOK came out in the second half ready to battle and was able to penetrate the Schalke penalty box.   In the 73rd minute the disappointment was there for the Schalke fans when Miroslav Stoch got the equalizer for the Greek.  

 

It took Schalke sometime in the first half to get their feet and it was also only during the first three minutes that PAOK got three corners.  After that it was all Schalke in the first half, but PAOK was defending resolutely.  When PAOK had possession the ball barely made it across the midway line, with inaccurate passes and lack of good coordination.  However it took Schalke 32 minutes to net the ball for its only goal by halftime. 

In the 32nd minute Szalia received the ball in the penalty area, but had trouble controlling it.  With presence of mind he pushed the ball to his right toward Jefferson Farfan.  He fired at the net with his left foot and pushed it inside the far post for the 1-0 Schalke lead.

 

 Two minutes earlier, in the 30th minute, Jermain Jones fired over the  net from about 30 meters distance.

 

PAOK performed better in the second half and were able to break into the Schalke penalty box several times.  In the 73rd minute Miroslav Stoch found some room on the left side and moved into the centre unhindered.  His shot with his right foot moves directly into the far corner of the net.  Timo Hildrebrand had no chance. 

Schalke's troubles continued when Jefferson Farfan was carried off the field in a stretcher and went directly to the dressing room.  He was replaced by Teemu Pukki in the 87th minute.

Unfortunately Schalke did not sew up the game in the first half when they had the chance and PAOK was able to hang on to the draw and goes into the second leg in Greece with the advantage of an away goal.  

 

Schalke's troubles continue with two Bundesliga and one Champions League match in the books, Schalke has managed 1 loss and two draws.  The Royal Blues have a lot of work ahead of them.

 

Schalke:  Hildebrand - Howedes, Uchida, Fuchs, Matip - Matip, Meyer Clemens (69th), Draxler - Hoeger (Goretzka) Jones , Farfan (Pukki 87th) - Salai

PAOK:  Jacobo - Miguel Vitor, Lino, Tziolis, Stoch - Lawrence (Kace 60th), Lazar, Katsouranis, Kitsiou, Lucas (Oliseh 90th) - Salpingidis (Athanasiadis 60th)

FC Barcelona vs Chelsea 2-2 - How Chelsea's Strategy Paid Off

Last Wednesday the Blues pulled off a remarkable win at Stanford Bridge, setting the stage for what promised to be a sure comeback by Barca at Camp Nou.  After all Barca had had 83% ball possession and the Chelsea goal appeared to be a stroke of luck.  Not so, there was disappointment by football fans around the globe, when Chelsea pulled off an upset victory yesterday at Camp Nou. 

Busquets got the go ahead in the 35th minute for Barca, which pointed toward a determination by Barca's star line up to win.  37 minutes into the match, John Terry was send off, leaving Chelsea to play shorthanded for 53 minutes.  To add insult to injury Iniesta made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute, which seemed to settle Chelsea's fate.  Hard defensive work, with a limited amount of counters paid off at 45+1 when Ramires narrowed the score to 2-1 just before the half.

In the second half Chelsea kept the rear tight and a few faux pas by Barcelona, including a missed penalty shot by Messi and a few more spoiled attempts at goal, finally gave the aggregate success to Chelsea.  Fernando Torres, who was subbed in the 80th minute, finally gave the final blow to Barca with his breakaway goal in injury time, making the comeback complete.  Chelsea did the unbelievable and defeated what is arguably the best  team in Europe, if not the world.  How did that happen?

Sepp  Herrberger, the post World War II coach of the 1954 World Cup winning team once said, "A game lasts 90 minutes and the ball is round."  In other words, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." 

Chelsea's game strategy was a strong defence with limited counters.  That strategy worked.  Barcelona was unable to jump out of its box, continuing to try to penetrate and almost impregnable defence with short passes in very tight areas.  While it permitted them to break through occasionally it wasn't what was needed against Chelsea.  A few longer passes, shots from the distance and spreading out Chelsea's defence may have been a little more effective.

After watching the last three Barca games, two against Chelsea and the Spanish league match against Real Madrid, it is clear that Barca's strategy changes little.  It is hard for the team to go out of the box and adjust in what has been a successful strategy.  The other team managers noticed too. 

Chelsea, with just 28% of overall ball possession, took on a giant with defence and breakouts.  It is hard to argue that that strategy didn't work.

Chelsea Depite All Odds Defeats FC Barcelona 1-0

After yesterday's FC Bayern's win over Real Madrid with goals by Ribery and Gomez, today Chelsea hosted FC Barcelona at Stanford Bridge in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.  Frank Lampard, Chelsea manager said it was all about "Belief" prior to the match.  Chelsea started the match as the underdog.  In their respective leagues Chelsea is sixth in the English Premier League, while Barcelona is second, trailing Real Madrid in the Spanish league.  Real and Barca meet this weekend in a head on head matchup in league play. 

Barcelona started the match as the dominant team with a ball possession of 83 to 17%.  In the 9th minute Alexis Sanchez hit the crossbar after the ball came to him with a lofty pass from Iniesta and there was no one between him and Cech.

While Barcelona was the dominant team in the first half, Chelsea create plenty of opportunities and their counters eventually paid off in 45+2 minutes.  Frank Lampard stole the ball from Messi and send a long pass to Ramirez on the left side who pushed it to Drogba who transported the ball into the net for an unlikely 1-0 Chelsea lead.

Although Barcelona had more passes, more ball possession and put the pressure on Chelsea, the Spaniards were unable to penetrate and when they did they were stopped by Chelsea's keeper Cech.
Even the three free kicks that were executed in the first 75 minutes, two went into the wall set up by Chelsea and one went well over the net.

In exta time Chelsea's lucky star shone once again when Barcelona hit the post just before the final whistle.  It was definitely Chelsea's night.

Despite 71% ball possession and Chelsea seldom venturing into Barcelona's half, the English side managed to defend successfully to maintain the lead in the second half.  A well defended lead, which gives them a one goal advantage for the second half.


Chelsea:  1.  Cech - 2. Ivanovich 3. A. Cole 24. Cahill 26. Terry 7. Ramos 8. Lampard 12 Mikel 16 Raul Meireles (Bosingwa 88th)10 Juan Mata (Kalou 74th) 11 Drogba

Barcelona:  1. Victor Valdes, 2. Daniel Alves, 5. Puyol, 4. Fabregas,(Alcantara (79th) 6. Xavi Hernandes, (Cuenca 87th) 8. Iniesta, 14. Mascherano, 16. Busquets, 21. Adriano 9. Alexis Sanchez (Rodriguez 67th) 10. Messi

Champions League Group of 16 Draw

The stage is set for the Champions League Group of 16 competition, which will be played as a knock out.  Teams will play an away and home match during the periods 14-22 February 2012 and 6-14 March 2012. 

Bayern Muenchen should be able to get beyond the Group of 16 with its fortunate draw of FC Basel.  The operative word is "if" though.  After all FC Basel knocked Manchester United out of the competition.  Bayern will have to remain focused, even though they emerged the winner against Basel in the qualification round 3-0 and 2-1. 

Bayer Leverkusen drew FC Barcelona and Leverkusen's fans will see stars like Messi and Xavi and Iniesta.  David Villa will be out with an injury.   Barca is the clear overwhelming favourite.  Regardless, the games need to be played and surprises are always possible. 

Chelsea drew Napoli and all bets are off in that competition, while Arsenal meets AC Milan.   CKSA Moscow drew the other power house Real Madrid and Marseilles is matched with Inter Milan.

The Matches for the Group of 16:

FC Basel vs Bayern Muenchen

Bayer Leverkusen vs FC Barcelona

Olympic Lyon vs APOEL Nicosia

SSC Napoli vs Chelsea

AC Milan vs Arsenal

CSKA Moscow vs Real Madrid

Zenit St. Petersburg vs Benefica Lisbon

Olympique Marseilles vs Inter Milan

Champions League - Manchester City vs Bayern Muenchen Preview

Wednesday will see the clash of two league leaders when Manchester City hosts FC Bayern Muenchen in Group A Matchday 6 play.  While Bayern is already qualified for the Round of 16, Manchester City, which has taken a five point lead in Barclay's cannot pass to the Round of 16 without the help of  Villareal.  City presently holds third place in Group A with 7 points, with Napoli holding second with 8.  Villareal has not won a single game. 

Bayern comes to Manchester, having recovered from two successive losses to Borussia Dortmund and Mainz 05, with a weekend victory of 4-1 over Werder Bremen.  Manchester City leads the Premier league with five points, having defeated Norwich 5-1 on the weekend. 

Although Bayern has already qualified, the match is a matter of confidence building.  Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes will have the challenge to continue to build the flow of play from the midfield to the strikers, a skill that has been lacking since the absence of Bastian Schweinsteiger due to a broken collar bone.   Defeating Manchester City will also be a matter of prestige and confidence building.  Bayern will want to continue on its winning ways at Eastlands on Wednesday.

Manchester City's recent games include a 1-1 against Liverpool and wins over Arsenal (1-0) and Norwich (5-1).  Manchester will line up at Eastlands with a full slate, while Bayern still has Bastian Schweinsteiger and Breno out of action.   The absence of Schweinsteiger, Munich's on pitch leader and midfield director, has been a particular problem for Jupp Heyncke's.  Toni Kroos and Arjen Robben did not travel to Manchester due to the flu.   This will have an impact on the outcome.  Bayern's strength is its bench and not unsolveable for Heyncke.

Boateng will be returning to the Eastlands to face his former teammates,  an opportunity to show his stuff as a Bayern first stringer.  




While it is difficult to predict the outcome, one thing is certain, the clash of the two league leaders will be a demonstration of two top notch teams from England and Germany.   This is a must win for City and a matter of prestige for Bayern.  A City win is no guarantee to move on to the Group of 16.  A miracle is needed in the Napoli/Villareal match.

Prediction - This will be a close match, but Manchester's survival in the Champions League is at stake.  City has to go for it from the start.  Expect quick counters by Bayern.  2-1 Bayern.

EURO 2012 Schedule

UEFA has released the Euro 2012 schedule after completing its draw yesterday.  With number 2 placed Netherlands and third placed Germany in Group B, the general consensus is that Group B is the toughest group, while Group A is the easiest.

Group A               Group B                   Group C             Group D

Poland                    Netherlands             Spain                    Ukraine
Greece                    Denmark                 Italy                      Sweden
Czech Republic      Germany                 Rep of Ireland      France
Russia                     Portugal                  Croatia                 England



The opening game of Euro 2012 will be played in Warsaw, Poland and features Group A with co-host Poland meeting Greece on June 8th 2012.  The final will take place in a brand new world class stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.  Ukraine is co-host of the championship.

Spain, the reigning European champion and World champion is widely seen as the favourite for this tournament.  Spain is in Group C along with Italy the Republic of Ireland and Croatia.  England, in Group C will not have a breeze through with Sweden and France in the group.

Below is the tournament schedule confirmed by UEFA (all times CET):

Friday June 8th

Game 1 Poland vs Greece        18:00   Warsaw
Game 2 Russia vs Czech Rep  20:45    Wroclaw

Saturday June 9th

Game 3 - Netherlands vs Denmark 18:00 Kharkiv
Game 4 - Germany vs Portugal       20:45 Lviv

Sunday June 10th

Game 5 - Spain vs Italy           18:00 Gdansk
Game 6 - Ireland vs Croatia    20:45 Poznan

Monday June 11th

Game 7 - France vs England    18:00  Donetsk
Game 8 - Ukraine vs Sweden   20:45  Kiev


Tuesday June 12th

Game 9 - Greece vs  Czech Rep  18:00 Wroclaw
Game 10 - Poland vs Russia        20:45 Warsaw

Wednesday June 13th

Game 11 - Denmark vs Portugal        18:00 Lviv
Game 12 - Netherlands vs Germany  20:45 Kharkiv


 Thursday June 14th

Game 13 - Italy vs Croatia                 18:00 Poznan
Game 14 - Spain vs Ireland                20:45 Gdansk

Friday June 15th

Game 15 - Sweden vs England            20:45 Kiev
Game 16 - Ukraine vs France             18:00 Donetsk


Saturday June 16th

Game 17 - Czech Rep vs Poland        20:45 Wroclaw
Game 18 - Greece vs Russia              20:45 Warsaw

Sunday June 17th

Game 19 - Portugal vs Netherlands   20:45 Kharkiv
Game 20 - Denmark vs Germany      20:45 Lviv

Monday June 18th

Game 21 - Croatia vs Spain               20:45 Gdansk
Game 22 - Italy vs Rep Ireland          20:45 Poznan

Tuesday June 19th

Game 23 - England vs Ukraine          20:45 Donetsk
Game 24 - Sweden vs France             20:45 Kiev

Wednesday June 21st is a day off from the schedule as teams prepare for the knock-out stage of the tournament.   The top two teams in each group advance to the quarter final.

Quarter Final:

Thursday June 21st

Game 25 - Winner Group A vs 2nd Group B     20:45  Warsaw

Friday June 22nd

Game 26 - Winner Group B vs 2nd Group A    20:45  Gdansk


Saturday June 23rd

Game 27 - Winner Group C vs 2nd Group D     20:45 Donetsk

Sunday June 24th

Game 28 - Winner Group D vs 2nd Group C     20:45 Kiev

Monday June 25th  and Tuesday June 26th are game free as teams prepare for the semi-final match ups.

Semi- Finals:

Wednesday June 27th

Game 29 - Winner Game 25 vs Winner Game 27 - 20:45 Donetsk

Thursday June 28th

Game 30 - Winner Game 26 vs Winner Game 28 - 20:45 Warsaw


Final

Sunday July 1st

Game 31 - Winner Game 29 vs Winner Game 30  20:45 Kiev