EPL Talk » fiorentina

Champions League – Group Stage Draw

David Schiavone — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:07:17 +0000

Group A

Bayern Munchen
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa

Group B

Manchester United
CSKA Moskow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

Group C

AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

Group D

Chelsea
Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL

Group E

Liverpool
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debrecen

Group F

Barcelona
Internazionale
Dynamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan

Group G

Sevilla
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni

Group H

Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiakos
Standard Liege

Reaction

Manchester United along with Arsenal have fairly straightforward groups and both should be looking to come out on top.

Chelsea have a couple of tough away trips to Porto and Madrid, while APOEL will prove to be Group D’s whipping boys.

Liverpool have a very tricky draw, Lyon spent big in the summer and thrashed Anderlecht in the qualifiers, plus Fiorentina are always a tough team, though I would expect Liverpool to progress as winners.

Other highlights include Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning to Inter and Kaka facing his beloved Milan. While Scottish representatives Rangers will be looking to progress and have a real chance of doing so.

Your thoughts on the draw please.

Arsenal Beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park, All But Assure Champions League Qualification

tyduffy — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:03:21 +0000

Arsenal beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park, all but assuring their qualification for the Champions League group stages, with two away goals. It was not the presiding effort of their 6-1 away win at Everton, but the two deflected goals – from Gallas and Gary Caldwell’s foot – fulfilled the requirement in what was arguably the most important match of the season.

Celtic obviously came into match with an inferior squad. The Scottish Premier League nowhere near equates the English one. Celtic’s biggest signing was £4m Scott Brown. As was mentioned in the telecast, new Celtic manager Tony Mowbray did have experience against Arsene Wenger from his time at West Brom. Unfortunately, said experience was losing to Arsenal with an inferior squad.

The tactics came as no shock. Celtic pressed early to disrupt Arsenal’s passing, with moderate success. When the club tired, they kicked Cesc Fabregas constantly, resulting in two yellow cards and accomplishing nothing but placing him at risk for injury. Fabregas is too savvy to be addled by wanton lunges. Even if the tactic had hampered his effectiveness, Arsenal have four or five players who can create adequately with the increased space from diminished attention.

Wenger again opted for the 4-3-3, using the exact lineup that played against Everton. This time, however, players shifted positions more frequently and both Gallas and Vermaelen attempted runs from the back. This suggests we may be seeing some true total football at the Emirates this year.

Arsenal’s back four, fronted by Song were solid again. Though, they benefitted from Arsenal breaking up plays high up the pitch in both matches. The trio of Alumnia, Vermaelen and Gallas appear confident now. Will this change when they face a team that can down the wings and challenge aerially with crosses?

The weak point for Arsenal was Nicklas Bendtner. He shone with the ball at times against Everton, but against Celtic he was woeful. Whether playing down the right or in the middle, his poor off the ball positioning placed him consistently two steps behind his proper place. He has the technical ability, but does he have the football intelligence?

Theo Walcott should take Bendtner’s place when he returns from injury. Though, if Bendtner remains the fall back plan for the slender shouldered one, that should influence Wenger’s to buy. Could Wenger take Rafael Van Der Vaart off their hands for £6m?

For those tracking other transfers as we approach the deadline, Emmanuel Eboue was not in Arsenal’s squad, leaving that reported £9m move to Fiorentina an option.

Mutu Ordered To Pay Chelsea £9.6 million

Paul Bestall — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:27:40 +0000

Romanian striker Adrian Mutu has been ordered to repay Chelsea a staggering £9.6 million in compensation after his sacking in 2004. FIFA ruled on the decision following Chelsea’s attempt to sue Mutu to cover losses incurred by his transfer fee and wages paid to him during his 14 month spell. Mutu was banned from football worldwide for 7 months and rebuilt his career in Serie A, firstly with Juventus and then Fiorentina.

Mutu joined Chelsea for £15.8 million in 2003 and hit the ground running, getting 6 goals in his first 5 games for the Blues but his performances quickly tailed off and he quickly became a peripheral figure at Stamford Bridge. He was tested for cocaine after missing a training session in October 2004 and admitted his guilt almost immediately after his name was leaked to the press.

He subsequently admitted the problems he was having at the time and worked hard to beat the stigma that was attached to him during his worldwide ban. The player’s agent, Christian Sarbu, said the decision was not final and they were planning to appeal the decision. “This is a decision taken by a sporting tribunal. After this is final, this can be taken to a civil court.

UEFA Cup Semi-Finals Set

Lonnie — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:10:11 +0000

From ChampionsLeagueTalk.com

Luca Toni continued to justify his massive transfer fee as his brace in extra-time rescued FC Bayern München’s UEFA Cup campaign from being derailed by Spanish club Getafe on Thursday. His 120th minute header allowed Bayern to steal the tie on away goals after an action packed 3-3 second leg draw.

Getafe have to feel hard done by, having gone down to 10 men from the sixth minute when Rubén De la Red normally a midfielder but deployed at centre-back because of injuries, was sent off for a foul on Miroslav Klose just outside the Getafe penalty area. Not willing to capitulate, Getafe took a 1-0 lead just before halftime on a solo effort from midfielder Cosmin Contra. Visiting Bayern fans reacted violently to the goal by tearing up seats at one end of the stadium before they were quelled by the police.

Getafe clung to that lead and should have extended it midway through the second half when substitute Braulio sprinted clear and rounded Oliver Kahn only to slip over on the wet turf as he lined up his shot. The roller-coaster ride began two minutes from the end of normal time when Bayern equalised on a strike from midfielder Franck Ribery. Heading into extra time, one would have thought that Bayern should be the stronger side but they quickly found themselves down 3-1 as Getafe potted two quick goals goals from midfielder Francisco Casquero and Braulio within three minutes of the start of extra time.

It was then time for Luca Toni to take centre stage. His first goal was created when Getafe keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri dropped a Mark van Bommel cross at his feet and the Italian striker does not often make mistakes when presented such opportunities. Still trailing 3-2 and with time running out Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn piled forward into the opposition area, disrupted the Getafe defence as he got a touch on the ball and Toni headed home to take the score to 4-4 on aggregate, sealing the German club’s place in the semi-finals.

You can’t help but feel bad for Getafe and Contra who put his disappointment aside to say that “nights like that make football special” after his team’s elimination from their first season in European competition. Getafe still have a Copa del Rey final on April 16th against Valencia CF to look forward to and I will be cheering them on in that one.

Bayern will now face FC Zenit St. Petersburg on 24 April and 1 May after Zenit hung on to dispatch Bayer Leverkusen despite losing the second leg at home 1-0. They had built up a 4-1 lead in the first leg in Germany so had little to do in order to advance on Thursday but still turned in a good showing and were a bit unlucky to lose. After weathering an initial storm by Leverkusen, the Russian side finished the match stronger than their German-based opponents and had Anatoliy Tymoschuk not missed his penalty kick, the match would have ended in a draw. Ironically, it was a Russian-born striker, Dmitri Bulykin, that scored the only goal of the game for the German side.

Perhaps the most impressive display of the day came from Fiorentina, who scored a 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on the strength of two goals from Romanian striker Adrian Mutu. Mutu, who also scored in the first leg, had a strong match and linked well with strike partner Giampaolo Pazzini. PSV had a few chances to get back in the match but when Sébastien Frey saved Timmy Simons’ penalty on 80 minutes, the writing was on the wall for the Dutch side.

Fiorentina will face Glasgow-based Rangers FC after they dispatched Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon with a 2-0 away. Rangers played a conservative game and twice hit Sporting on quick counter-attacks. Their first goal was a well-worked counter that led to Jean-Claude Darcheville cooly slotting home while Steven Whittaker’s brilliant solo effort in the 90th minute sealed the victory. Their 4-5-1 system, though unpopular with some of their fans, has seen them concede only two goals in their last six UEFA Cup games.

Rangers will be hungry to make the finals as they have not tasted continental success since a European Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1972. Fiorentina have to go even further back, winning the same Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1961. It is amazing that Fiorentina are even in the UEFA Cup considering they had to overcome a 15-point penalty last season (due to their part in the Italian match-fixing scandal). Fiorentina also lost their top goal-scorer Luca Toni to Bayern Munich this past summer but they have charged forward and are currently in 4th spot in Serie A which would see them attempt to qualify for next season’s Champions League.