Liverpool get Romanian side Unirea Urziceni in Europa League Draw

Liverpool will play Romanian side Unirea Urziceni in the last 32 of the Europa League.

City rivals Everton have been handed a clash with Sporting Lisbon - a side who topped their Europa League group which also included Hertha Berlin, Heerenveen and FK Ventspils.

Fulham fared the worst of the English sides in Friday afternoon's draw - they must face Shakhtar Donetsk, who won last season's UEFA Cup.

Last 32 draw
------------------------
Rubin Kazan v Hapoel Tel Aviv
Athletic Bilbao v Anderlecht
FC Copenhagen v Marseille
Panathinaikos v Roma
Atletico Madrid v Galatasaray
Ajax v Juventus
Club Brugge v Valencia
Fulham v Shakhtar Donetsk
Liverpool v Unirea Urziceni
Hamburg v PSV Eindhoven
Villarreal v Wolfsburg
Standard Liege v FC Salzburg
FC Twente v Werder Bremen
Lille v Fenerbahce
Everton v Sporting Lisbon
Hertha Berlin v Benfica

First legs to be played on February 18 and second legs on February 25.

Stumble It!

Champions League Draw - Man United get AC Milan, Chelsea face Inter, Arsenal v Porto

AC Milan v MAN UTD
Porto v ARSENAL
Lyon v Real Madrid
CSKA Moscow v Sevilla
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
Inter Milan v CHELSEA
Olympiakos v Bordeaux
Stuttgart v Barcelona

The first-leg ties will be played on 16, 17, 23 or 24 February. The return games will be played on either 9, 10, 16 or 17 March.

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Liverpool are not seeded for Europa League draw

Liverpool will not be seeded for the Europa League knockout stage draw which takes place in Switzerland on Friday.

The Reds enter at the round of 32 stage after being eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages.

Liverpool join fellow Premier League sides Fulham and Everton, who are also unseeded, in the draw.

A Uefa spokesman said: "The 12 group winners from the Europa League and the best four third-placed sides from the Champions League are the top-16 seeds."

Liverpool moved into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group, but their poor goal difference means they miss out on a seeding.

Fellow English clubs Everton and Fulham are also unseeded after finishing second in their groups.

Top 16 seeds :
A: RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
B: Valencia CF (ESP)
C: Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)
D: Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
E: AS Roma (ITA)
F: Galatasaray AS (TUR)
G: FC Salzburg (AUT)
H: Fenerbahce SK (TUR)
I: SL Benfica (POR)
J: FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
K: PSV Eindhoven (NED)
L: Werder Bremen (GER)
FC Unirea Urziceni (ROU) *
Juventus (ITA)*
VfL Wolfsburg (GER)*
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)*

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Champions League Group stages complete - 16 teams for second round named

The lineup for the UEFA Champions League first knockout round was completed on Wednesday when the group stage concluded with holders Barcelona, Inter Milan, VfB Stuttgart and Olympiacos taking the final four places.

Generally, the group winners are the stronger section with the five shorted priced sides in the Winners group, but with Inter Milan, Olympique Lyon and Bayern Munich lurking as dangerous runners-up opponents.

Group winners
------------------------------
Bordeaux (FRA)
Manchester United (ENG)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Chelsea (ENG)
ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Sevilla (ESP)
Arsenal (ENG)

Group runners-up
------------------------------
Bayern Munchen (GER)
CSKA Moskva (RUS)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC Porto (POR)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Internazionale Milano (ITA)
VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Olympiacos (GRE)

Knockout Draw
------------------------------
The draw will take place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at 12.00CET on Friday 18 December.

The UEFA Champions League first knockout round first-leg ties will take place on 16/17 and 23/24 February 2010 (with two games each day) with the second legs to be played on 9/10 and 16/17 March.

Outright Winner Betting Odds :
------------------------------
Barcelona 4.50 @ Betfred
Chelsea 5.00 @ Eurobet
Real Madrid 7.00 @ Bet365
Manchester United 9.00 @ Ladbrokes
Arsenal 11.00 @ Eurobet
Internazionale Milano 17.00 @ Eurobet
Sevilla 21.00 @ Centrebet
Bayern Munchen 23.00 @ Centrebet
AC Milan 23.00 @ Bet365

Stumble It!

Manchester United win in Wolfsburg while Bayern Munich thrash Juventus

Bayern Munich clinched their place in the Champions League knockout stages with a come-from-behind 4-1 victory over Juventus which saw the Italians eliminated.

Bayern earned the win at Juventus despite the Serie A side taking an early lead in Turin through David Trezeguet.

Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt levelled from the penalty spot and Ivica Olic put the visitors in front seven minutes into the second half.

Late goals from Mario Gomez and Anatoliy Tymoschuk sealed the German side's progression - to leave Juventus with the consolation of a Europa League place.

----------------

Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as Manchester United made light of their injury woes to record a 3-1 win over German champions Wolfsburg.

Edin Dzeko's 56th-minute header cancelled out Owen's first-half opener, but the English international struck twice in the closing stages of the second half to leave Wolfsburg contemplating a place in the UEFA Europa League.

Stumble It!

Barcelona beat Inter Milan 2-0 in Champions League to move to top of Group F

Barcelona bounced back from the brink of elimination when the evening started to take charge of Group F thanks to a Xavi Hernandez-inspired victory over Internazionale Milano.

The holders laid on their most complete performance, by some distance, since that fabulous day in May last year when they defeated Manchester United 2-0 to lift the trophy in Rome.

Their first goal came straight from the training ground. Xavi bent a corner to the near post, Thierry Henry flicked it on to the far, and Pique bullishly held off Thiago Motta to stab home.

For the second goal, Iniesta clipped an inside pass to Xavi, whose cushioned volley was measured to land between two defenders and meet the run of Daniel Alves. Alves dinked the ball to the far post and Pedro raced in to volley home.

Barcelona v Inter Milan match report at UEFA.com

Standings

Group F     Pld Pts 
Barcelona    5   8 
Inter Milan  5   6 
Rubin Kazan  5   6 
Dynamo Kyiv  5   5 

Stumble It!

Liverpool win in Hungary but Fiorentina beat Lyon to eliminate the Reds.

Liverpool supplied the win they needed as a minimum requirement in Budapest, but their evening ended in misery as victory for ACF Fiorentina against Olympique Lyonnais knocked the Merseyside club out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stage.

Debrecen 0-1 Liverpool
Missing the injured Fernando Torres for this must-win occasion, Liverpool's travelling supporters were asked to place faith in lone forward Ngog, who delivered with the only goal of the game in the 4th minute.

Debreceni v Liverpool match report at UEFA.com

ACF Fiorentina 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais
But ACF Fiorentina are through to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in ten years after overcoming Olympique Lyonnais in Florence, with Juan Vargas ensuring the Serie A side qualified from Group E converting a first-half penalty.

Fiorentina v Olympique Lyon match report at UEFA.com

Standings

Group E   Pld Pts 
Fiorentina  5 12 
Lyon        5 10 
Liverpool   5  7 
Debrecen    5  0 

Check out the Gooners Guide to the Champions League for more betting advice

Stumble It!

Arsenal ease through to Champions League knockout stages with 2-0 win

Arsenal eased to a comfortable 2-0 victory over R. Standard de Liege that ensured the London side finished top of Group H.

First-half goals from Samir Nasri and Denilson set Arsenal on their way to a convincing success which confirmed the north London side qualified for the last 16 as winners of the section with one game still to play.

Arsenal were temporarily down to nine men in the 33rd minute after a nasty clash heads of heads between Gallas and Arshavin as they both went for a Fabregas cross, and the Russian playmaker was still off the pitch a couple of minutes later when Arsenal went in front.

Vermaelen launched a long ball forward from just inside the Arsenal half, defender Landry Mulemo slipped over and Nasri scooted through to steer the ball past Sinan Bolat.

Further chances promptly came Arsenal's way when Nasri dinked the ball through for Arshavin, who sent a rasping shot just wide, while Fabregas had no better luck with an angled effort that rolled just beyond the far post.

The pressure paid off in added time at the end of the first half, when Denilson collected the ball from Kieran Gibbs some 25 metres out and struck a dipping shot that flew over Bolat's flailing arms.

Full match report on the UEFA website - hopefully with goals video to follow.
(videos usually posted after midnight following the matchday)

Stumble It!

Chelsea new Champions League favourites after AC milan stun Real Madrid

Chelsea are as short as 7/2 (4.50) for Champions League glory following their 4-0 mauling of Atletico Madrid replacing previous favourites Real Madrid who slipped to a shock 3-2 defeat at home to AC Milan.

Real Madrid had been voerall favourites after winning their opening two games but they let a 1-0 lead slip against the Italians at the Bernabeu, with young Brazilian striker Pato firing home the winner for AC Milan with two minutes remaining.

Real Madrid are out to 6/1 (7.00) with Betfred while Chelsea have been chopped into 7/2 (4.5) by the same firm after making short work of struggling Atletico.

The Blues maintained their 100% record in Group D thanks to two goals from Salomon Kalou, one from Frank Lampard and a stoppage-time own goal from Luis Perea.

Holders Barcelona remain tied as favourites at a general 7/2 despite the Catalans' shock 2-1 home defeat to Rubin Kazan on Tuesday.

Manchester United are no bigger than 7/1 (8.00) fourth best with bet365 after they edged to a 1-0 victory away to CSKA Moscow.

Antonio Valencia grabbed the vital goal from close range with four minutes remaining to take the Red Devils' tally to nine points from three games.

Stumble It!

UEFA Champions League Results for Tuesday - Barca beaten!

Rubin Kazan silenced the Nou Camp just two minutes into their Champions League clash with Barcelona as the holders slipped to a shock 2-1 defeat.

Alexander Ryazantsev's 35-yard rocket gave the Russians the lead in the Gro
up F encounter - and left Barca trailing for the first time this season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic levelled in the 48th minute, controlling the ball on his chest and firing home via a post, but there was another twist to come as Gokdeniz Karadeniz grabbed a 73rd-minute winner.

---

Another major upset looked on the cards at the San Siro as Dynamo Kiev twice led against Inter Milan only for Jose Mourinho's men to fight back to draw 2-2.

Taras Mykhalyk put Dynamo Kiev in front after five minutes and Lucio powered a header into his own net to restore their lead after Dejan Stankovic had levelled.

But Walter Samuel headed in at the right end two minutes after the break to make it 2-2.

Barca, Rubin and Dynamo are now all level on four points, with Inter bottom of the pool on three.

----

TUESDAYS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL SCORES

Champions League - Group E
FT Debrecen 3 - 4 Fiorentina
FT Liverpool 1 - 2 Lyon

Champions League - Group F
FT Barcelona 1 - 2 Rubin Kazan
FT Inter Milan 2 - 2 Dynamo Kyiv

Champions League - Group G
FT Rangers 1 - 4 Unirea Urziceni
FT Stuttgart 1 - 3 Sevilla

Champions League - Group H
FT AZ Alkmaar 1 - 1 Arsenal
FT Olympiakos Piraeus 2 - 1 Standard Liege

------------------------
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STANDINGS

Clubs         Pld W D L GF A Pts
Olympique Lyon  3 3-0-0  7:1  9
ACF Fiorentina  3 2-0-1  6:4  6
Liverpool FC    3 1-0-2  2:4  3
Debreceni VSC   3 0-0-3  3:9  0

Clubs         Pld W D L GF A Pts
FC Barcelona    3 1-1-1  3:2  4
FC Dynamo Kyiv  3 1-1-1  5:5  4
FC Rubin Kazan  3 1-1-1  4:5  4
FC Inter Milano 3 0-3-0  3:3  3

Clubs         Pld W D L GF A Pts
Sevilla FC      3 3-0-0  9:2  9
Unirea Urziceni 3 1-1-1  5:4  4
VfB Stuttgart   3 0-2-1  3:5  2
Rangers FC      3 0-1 2  3:9  1

Clubs         Pld W D L GF A Pts
Arsenal FC      3 2-1-0  6:3  7
Olympiacos FC   3 2-0-1  3:3  6
AZ Alkmaar      3 0-2-1  2:3  2
Standard Liege  3 0-1 2  4:6  1 

Stumble It!

UEFA probe up to 40 suspicious football results

Peter Limacher, UEFA's head of disciplinary services, told a conference in London that the number of matches under investigation by UEFA for suspected match-fixing has reached 40 cases, it has been revealed.

He added that most of the cases were from eastern Europe and involved the early qualifying rounds of the Champions League and UEFA Cup.

A year ago the number of games being investigated was 25, and UEFA announced they were to set up a six-man special investigation unit to look into corruption in their competitions.

Limacher told the World Sports Law Report conference that there were now 40 games where suspicious betting patterns had been identified, 15 of those in the last two years.

Limacher said: "It is mainly clubs from eastern Europe that are being investigated."

In April, the Macedonian club FK Pobeda were banned from European competition for eight years by UEFA after being found guilty of match-fixing against Armenian side FC Pyunik in 2004 - they lost 3-1 at home in a Champions League first qualifying round.

FK Pobeda's president Aleksandar Zabrcanec was banned for life from any football-related activity, as was the player Nikolce Zdraveski.

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UEFA getting it wrong again with Eduardo hysteria - Arsenal v Celtic

UEFA announced that its disciplinary unit was studying footage of the incident and had the authority to ban him for two European matches if it felt he had cheated.

The Scenario
In case you missed the incident, on a wet and slippery autumn evening in North London, two players challenging for a football at some pace go to ground in the penalty area - it's a tough call.

We see these situations hundreds of times a season, and all eyes go instantly to the referee, who has to make an instant decision, because the ruling bodies of football (FIFA and UEFA) have decided that use of video replay technology is unacceptable.

The referee, who was behind the action at the time, chooses a penalty (which as Gooner I thought it was at the time too - based on the initial TV angle).

However, for us at home, the subsequent television replays showed that the referee was wrong, and the keeper did not touch Eduardo. But that's a long way from saying that Eduardo cheated and should be banned.

The referee had three possible calls to make :
1) It was a foul and therefore a penalty.
2) There was no foul and was a goalkick - or corner - depending on the last touch
3) Eduardo "simulated" a foul and should receive a yellow card.

We can see in the replay that option #1 is wrong - but unless you are Uri Geller (is he still alive?) and can read minds - I can't see anything in the replay that suggests option #3 is correct either.

Remember, it's wet, the players are moving at pace, and probably most importantly, Eduardo has just come back from an 18 month injury in a similar contact situation. I have no doubt in my mind that he jumped to avoid injury.

How does a possible yellow card become a suspension?
Furthermore, even if the referee had decided upon option #3, the punishment for simulation is NOT a two-match suspension, but a straight YELLOW card. That's it. On the scale of offences committed on the football field - it's at about the same level as taking off your shirt to celebrate a goal.

Given both UEFA and FIFA's reluctance to use TV replays at any level of football to help referees to make correct decisions DURING the game, I'm amazed that they are advocating the use of replays to now go back and turn possible YELLOW CARD offences into SUSPENSIONS.

If the referee calls option #2 then there is no issue to go on with? And if he calls option #3 then it's a yellow card and it's dealt with? But somehow because of a referee call this is now a heinous footballing crime?

Where will it lead us?
Are UEFA also going to use replays to punish every defender that tugs a shirt? That action is a clear and obvious yellow card according to the rules of the game and goes unpunished.

What about verbal abuse of the referee and linemen? Now that UEFA are prepared to be mind readers to determine Eduardo's fate, are UEFA now also going to employ lip readers to apply retrospective yellow cards (and suspensions?) to all players who mouth off at officials - as laid out in the games statutes?

IF this happens then we will soon be watching games that are reduced to 8-a-side or more, and clubs will need to have squads of 50+ players to handle all the additional suspensions!

Obviously my extrapolation of UEFA's intent appears ridiculous, but it is the logical extension of UEFA's new found determination to embrace video technology to clean up the game.

Where did this mandate come from? Why hasn't it been announced? OR perhaps, just perhaps, this is another case of Michel Platini shooting his mouth off again without engaging his brain?

Get a technology grip and move on
Yes, UEFA should be using TV replays for important events DURING the game - but they're not likely to anytime soon.

And this "kangaroo-court" video committee that has been whipped up by the Scottish FA and UEFA as a response to some hysterical reaction will not serve as a suitable substitute.

UEFA president Michel Platini either needs to provide stable, sensible, football based leadership - or else get off the throne.

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FYR Macedonian club FK Pobeda charged with "manipulation"

UEFA have charged FYR Macedonian club FK Pobeda for "manipulating the outcome of a UEFA match to gain undue advantage for themselves and a third party".

The charge relates to a 2004 Champions League first qualifying round match against FC Pyunik in Skopje, which the Armenian side Pyunik won 3-1.

The charge also implicates the president of FK Pobeda, as well as a player, with UEFA's Control & Disciplinary Body set to deal with the case on April 17.

UEFA revealed in a statement they had brought the charge, almost five years after the game was played, based on reports of irregular betting patterns and declarations from witnesses.

A statement on UEFA's website read: "UEFA has announced today that the Macedonian club FK Pobeda, its president and one player have been charged for being in breach of the principles of integrity and sportsmanship by manipulating the outcome of a UEFA match to gain an undue advantage for themselves and a third party."

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Spurs lose 0-2 to Shakhtar - 33/1 longshots to progress

Tottenham have now drifted out to 33/1 with Ladbrokes to win the UEFA Cup after they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their last 32 clash at RSC Olympiyskiy.

The Ukrainian champions' first goal came with 11 minutes remaining, with substitute Yevgen Seleznov glancing home a Jadson free-kick.

Jadson added the second goal two minutes from time, wriggling into the penalty area and finishing low into Gomes' bottom corner and now Sky Bet make Spurs 5/2 to progress to the next round.

VIDEOS OF THE GOALS

Shakhtar 1-0 Tottenham - 78th minute Seleznyov


Shakhtar 2-0 Tottenham - 88th minute Jadson

Stumble It!

Champions League Knockout Draw : Italy vs England x 3

The champions league draw for the last 16 was made in Nyon on Friday and it has thrown up some mouthwatering clashes as English clubs face three Italian opponents ...and Real Madrid as well.

Manchester United will face Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos will return to England with Real Madrid as they take on Liverpool, with the second leg to be played at Anfield.

Arsenal will have the first leg at home as they play AS Roma, while Chelsea will clash against Juventus who are managed by former boss Claudio Ranieri for their .

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT DRAW
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

The ties will be played on 24/25 February and 10/11 March as the Champions League knockout phase begins.

Stumble It!

UEFA Cup Knockout Draw

Aston Villa and Tottenham have a potential last 16 clash - but they will have to get past a pair of quality opponents as they first face CSKA Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively in the last 32.

Manchester City will face FC Copenhagen in the last 32 but they could meet Deportivo La Coruna in the last 16.

Other last 32 ties include AC Milan up against Werder Bremen, while Ajax meet Fiorentina.

Last 32 draw (first leg 18-19 Feb/ second leg 26 Feb):
Paris Saint-Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v MANCHESTER CITY
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
ASTON VILLA v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v Saint-Etienne
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St. Petersburg v Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v TOTTENHAM

Stumble It!

UEFA Tells Wayne Rooney that he can stamp opponents freely.

Uefa says it will not punish Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney over his clash with Aalborg's Kasper Risgard.

The Danish defender claimed the England international stamped on him during the 2-2 Champions League draw at Old Trafford on 10 December.



Rooney, 23, faced a three-match ban had he been found guilty by European football's governing body.

Uefa assessed the incident after it was missed by referee Laurent Duhamel but decided that no action would be taken, as it would affect Manchester United chances of progressing and negatively affect sales of future TV rights to upcoming games.

(OK - I added the bit in Italics - but how on earth did they come to this decision otherwise? Rooney had gone mental)

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UEFA Champions League Results from Wednesday night

Lyon, Porto, Zenit St Petersburg and Juventus were winners on matchday four, with half of the games finishing all square.



The results mean the Manchester United and Villarreal (both 8 pts) sit atop Group E, and are all but mathematically through, while Lyon and Bayern Munich (8 pts) have a similar position in Group F.

Group G sees Arsenal (8 pts) on top but still needing one more good result, while Porto (6) have leapfrogged Dynamo Kiev (5).

Finally in Group H Juventus (10 pts) have qualified, and Real Madrid (6) and Zenit St Petersburg (4) are likely to battle for the second spot on matchday 6.

Stumble It!

Aston Villa shorten to lift the UEFA Cup.

Aston Villa have been cut for UEFA Cup glory after winning in midweek while Spurs and Portsmouth are on the drift.

Aston Villa kicked off their Group F campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Ajax at Villa Park and Ladbrokes have cut them to 11/1 to lift the trophy after goals from Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry secured victory over the Dutch visitors.

However, with the knockout stages still to come, there are plenty of challenges left and Villa can still be backed at 13.00 with PaddyPower.

Tottenham's miserable start to the season continued with a 2-0 defeat away to Udinese.

Spurs mixed passages of promising play with a defensive howler from goalkeeper Gomes and then an unnecessary red card to leave manager Juande Ramos even more uncertain about his future.

Spurs are 25/1 shots at BetFred for UEFA Cup glory - if you fancy their chances of getting sorted out.

Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth crashed to a 3-0 away defeat to Braga of Portugal and now Pompey are down at 40/1 in the betting ahead of their next fixture - a home clash with tournament favourites AC Milan.

AC Milan left some big names on the bench for their Group E opener away to Heerenveen but still cruised to a 3-1 win and have been cut to 7/2 by Ladbrokes.

Manchester City, who didn't have a fixture this week, are 14/1 to lift the cup.

Stumble It!

Europes best clubs ready for UEFA Champions League Draw

Sixteen teams gained automatic entry to the competition proper and the same number came through the third qualifying round on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Making their debut in the group stage are UEFA Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg, CFR 1907 Cluj of Romania, the first Belarussian qualifiers, FC BATE Borisov, and the inaugural Cypriot entrants Anorthosis Famagusta FC.

In all, 17 nations are represented in the draw, the ceremony for which will include the UEFA Club Football Awards.

English sides dominate the seedings for the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage draw which will take place from 18.00CET on Thursday at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum.

POT ONE
Manchester United FC (ENG, holders) 107.996
Chelsea FC (ENG) 124.996
Liverpool FC (ENG) 118.996
FC Barcelona (ESP) 117.837
Arsenal FC (ENG) 110.996
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 99.380
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) 96.934
Real Madrid CF (ESP) 93.837

POT TWO 92-66 points
FC Bayern Munchen (GER), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Villarreal CF (ESP), AS Roma (ITA), FC Porto (POR), Werder Bremen (GER), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), Juventus (ITA)

POT THREE 63-51 points
Olympique de Marseille (FRA), FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS), FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU), Panathinaikos FC (GRE), FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA), Celtic FC (SCO), FC Basel 1893 (SUI), Fenerbahce SK (TUR)

POT FOUR 49-1 point
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), ACF Fiorentina (ITA), Club Atletico de Madrid (ESP), FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU), Aalborg BK (DEN), Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP), FC BATE Borisov (BLR)

Stumble It!

Champions League : Twente 0-2 Arsenal

Twente 0-2 Arsenal
(Gallas 33, Adebayor 82)

Arsenal are on course for their 11th consecutive appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage after second-half goals from William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor secured victory at FC Twente.

It was competition debutants Twente who were first to threaten when Romano Denneboom headed wide at the far post.

Arsenal had not settled, two corners inside the opening quarter the sum total of their attacking efforts, and they almost fell behind when Denneboom swept past Denilson into the penalty area only to slice high and wide.

Arsenal responded, albeit ambitiously, as 17-year-old summer signing Aaron Ramsey's long-distance effort sailed over.

Denneboom was proving a handful and it was his pass which sprung the visitors' offside trap nine minutes before half-time, but one-on-one with Almunia, Marko Arnautovic's first touch let him down.

Arsenal still had not slipped into gear, their best chance of the half being a Bacary Sagna shot wide after Twente goalkeeper Sander Boschker had spilled Clichy's effort.

Twente continued to look the more assured after the restart, yet out of nothing, Arsenal took the lead. Van Persie's free-kick from the right was allowed to run on by the deep lying Twente defence leaving Gallas to bundle in from close range.

Gallas 0-1 : FC Twente vs Arsenal
by Matthierry

Buoyed by their lead, Arsenal assumed control and added a second when Theo Walcott latched on to a long ball over the top to sqaure for Adebayor to slot under Boschker.

Link to Adebayor Goal (bottom of page).

Stumble It!

Domestic form ahead of Champions League games

Seasoned European campaigners Dynamo Kyiv and Basel both suffered their first domestic defeats of the season at the weekend ahead of their UEFA Champions League second qualifying round deciders this week.

Dynamo Kyiv v Drogheda United
-------------------------
Two-time UEFA Cup Winners' Cup champions Dynamo had started with successive victories to assume early leadership of the Ukrainian Premier League but came unstuck. Dynamo lost 2-1 at home to FC Metalist Kharkiv to surrender top spot to FC Metalurh Donetsk.

Drogheda United who are trailing Dynamo 2-1 from the first leg in Dublin, enjoyed a 2-0 home win over Bray Wanderers on Friday to consolidate fifth place,

Basel v IFK Goteborg
-------------------------
Basel failed to find the net in a 2-0 defeat at FC Sion while IFK Goteborg won for the fourth straight Allsvenskan match when they defeated Malmo 2-0.

Goteborg are level 1-1 with Basel after drawing the first leg.

Dinamo Zagreb v NK Domzale
-------------------------
NK Dinamo Zagreb warmed up for their home leg against NK Domzale with a 3-1 over NK Inter Zapresic while the Slovenian outfit, already 3-0 down in the tie, played out a goalless draw with league leaders NK Celje.

Artmedia Petrzalka v Tampere
-------------------------
Artmedia Petrzalka won 3-1 in Finland in midweek and continued their good form when they won 2-1 at FC Nitra.

Tampere United received a shot in the arm ahead of the second leg in Slovakia by comprehensively beating Rovaniemi PS 5-0 at home.

FK Ventspils v SK Brann
-------------------------
Norwegian champions SK Brann recovered from consecutive league defeats with a 4-1 victory against Tippeligaen strugglers Ham-Kam Fotball as they prepare to face Latvia's FK Ventspils leading 1-0 after the first leg.

SK Rapid Wien v Anorthosis Famagusta
-------------------------
SK Rapid Wien had a shock 3-0 away loss to Anorthosis Famagusta last week and desperately needed some good news. They received a morale boost thanks to a 3-1 win over SV Kapfenberg.

Stumble It!

Man City & Villa get easy uEFA Cup draws

Aston Villa and Manchester City were handed ties against little-known opponents in the Uefa Cup second qualifying round draw on Friday.

Aston Villa will play Icelandic side Hafnarfjordur while Manchester City meet Danish side FC Midtjylland.

Both sides are scheduled to play at home in the first legs on 14 August.

Villa, in conjunction with their opponents, have requested the tie is switched, which would see the first leg take place in Iceland on 14 August, with the decider at Villa Park two weeks later.

UEFA CUP - NORTHERN SECTION - 2Q ROUND
---------------------------------------
Djurgarden (Sweden) v Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway)
MANCHESTER CITY v Midtjylland (Denmark)
FC Honka (Finland) v Viking Stavanger (Norway)
QUEEN OF SOUTH v Nordsjaelland (Denmark)
Ghent (Belgium) v Kalmar (Sweden)
ASTON VILLA v FH (Iceland)
Stabaek (Norway) v Stade Rennes (France)
Haka Valkeakoski (Finland) v Brondby (Denmark)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) v Lillestrom (Norway)
Elfsborg Boras (Sweden) v St. Patrick's Athletic (Ireland)

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Champions League 3rd Round Draw

Arsenal were handed an tie against former England boss Steve McClaren's new side FC Twente in the Champions League third qualifying round.

McClaren was appointed by the Dutch side in June this year, taking his first job since he was sacked by England in November 2007.

Liverpool have been drawn against Belgium's Standard Liege. Liverpool, who were beaten by Chelsea in the semi-finals last year, will fancy their chances of getting past Standard Liege.

The Reds will play their first leg away from home - as will Arsenal and Rangers, too, provided the Glasgow side make it through.

Elsewhere in the draw, highly-fancied Barcelona will play either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow and Italian giants Juventus face Tampere United or Artmedia Bratislava.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Full draw:
-------------------------------------
Aalborg/Modrica v RANGERS/Kaunas
Standard Liege v LIVERPOOL
FC Twente v ARSENAL
JUVENTUS v Tampere/Artmedia
BARCELONA v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Budapest
SK Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Panathinaikos/Dinamo Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Prague

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Euro 2008 : Spain beat Germany 1-0 in final

Spain have been crowned European champions for the second time as Fernando Torres's first-half goal in Vienna proved enough to defeat Germany in the final of UEFA EURO 2008.

After a strong start from Germany, Spain were the more dangerous side throughout an somewhat uninspiring final at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion and it took just one goal - in the 33rd minute, courtesy of Torres's pace, perseverance and an unerring finish - to end their long wait.

Xavi was the architect, playing a pass in behind the Germany defence towards Torres, who outmuscled a hesitant Philipp Lahm and clipped the ball over the diving Jens Lehmann and just inside the far post.

Spain had more openings in the early stages of the second half, Lehmann getting a touch to Xavi's low shot before Ramos nearly flicked in Silva's drive from the resulting corner.

Yet Germany still posed a threat, and at the hour mark substitute Marcell Jansen and Bastian Schweinsteiger combining for Ballack to shoot centimetres wide.

Klose then deflected a Schweinsteiger effort past the post and in response to Germany's renewed menace Spain coach Luis Aragones promptly introduced Xabi Alonso and Santi Cazorla in place of Fabregas and Silva.

The switches reinvigorated Spain instantly, Lehmann making sharp stops from Ramos and Iniesta while Torsten Frings blocked another Iniesta effort on the line.

Spain continued to carve out chances as the match reached its conclusion, Marcos Senna narrowly failing to apply the finishing touch to an unselfish header from substitute Daniel Guiza – but the celebrations really started for Spain at the final whistle.

---

SPAIN (1) 1
Torres 33

beat

GERMANY (0) 0

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Ballack to miss Euro 2008 final? Don't bet on it!

According to UEFA.com Michael Ballack is a doubt for Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Spain.

"Germany could go into Sunday's final against Spain without their captain and inspiration Michael Ballack as the midfielder is receiving treatment for a calf injury" the website says.

"Ballack sat out the team's final training session in Tenero on Friday and was also a notable absentee tonight as the team were put through their paces at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion on the eve of the UEFA EURO 2008™ showpiece." it continues.

"The muscles has tightened and we'll have to wait and see how things develop," explained coach Joachim Low. "Our medical people are working around the clock to give him a chance to play."

But do you believe it?

I need to go no further than Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger who has said .. "It's an old Bayern Munich trick!" said the Arsenal manager. "I'm convinced if it's a minor injury he will play - they have very good doctors in Germany!"

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Germany favourites for Euro 2008 again.

Germany have regained favouritism for Euro 2008 after booking their place in the semi-finals.

The Germans became the first team through to the last four after beating Portugal 3-2 in an enthralling contest in Basel. And it means Germany head the market again with Paddy Power making Joachim Low's side 5/2 (3.50) favourites.

Holland are the second favourites at 4.50 at BoyleSports, followed by :
Spain 6.00 at BoyleSports
Italy 6.50 at BoyleSports
Croatia 8.00 at VC Bet
Russia 17.00 at VC Bet
Turkey 26.00 at VC Bet

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Euro2008 : Four group winners found

After two rounds of games in Euro 2008, we've already found the four group winners, as UEFA's change to head-to-head tie breakers simplifies the rules.

GROUP A
Portugal top the standings as winners, while the Czech Republic and Turkey will face each other for the runners-up spot in the final match - which could go to a penalty shootout.

GROUP B
Croatia have beaten both Austria and Germany and are confirmed as winners, leaving Germany and Austria fighting for the runners up spot.

GROUP C
The Netherlands have been stunning in thrashing both Italy and France by three clear goals.

Romania, France and Italy are all battling for the second qualification spot on the final day in this quality group.

GROUP D
Spain will finish on top - with two well deserved wins already, while Sweden and Russia will face each other in matchday #3 for second place.

PROJECTED QUARTER FINAL MATCHES
19 June - Basel - PORTUGAL v (Germany)*
20 June - Vienna - CROATIA v (Turkey)*
21 June - Basel - NETHERLANDS v (Sweden)*
22 June - Vienna - SPAIN v (France?)*

* Prediction in brackets ()

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Croatia win Group B with victory over Germany

Croatia claimed a win over pre-tournament favourites Germany to claim top spot in Group B and reach the Euro 2008 quarter-finals.

Darijo Srna broke the deadlock on 24 minutes when he beat Marcell Jansen to Danijel Pranjic's cross and fired home and Croatia were gifted a second goal on 63 minutes when Ivan Rakitic's cross came off Lukas Podolski and rebounded off the post for Ivica Olic to slot home.

Podolski pulled a goal back with a late drive but Bastian Schweinsteiger's red card ended German hopes in injury time.

It was a famous victory for Croatia, and they now win Group B at a payout of 3.64 at the bookmakers (as previewed by Mike.)

Germany will now face co-host Austria in their final group match - and will only need a draw to progress to qualify the quarter-finals as group B runners-up where they will face Portugal.

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Holland beat Italy 3-0 - was the referee right?

Holland beat Italy 3-0 last night - scoring twice in five minutes in the first half - and scoring a killer goal late in the second half.

Many of the newspaper reports today are saying that the Dutch took advantage of a "referee mistake" to score the opening goal from an offside position - but I'm not so sure.

A possible explanation for the referee's decision was that Christian Panucci, who had collided with Buffon seconds earlier and was off the pitch, was adjudged to be playing Van Nistelrooy onside.

By the letter of the law Fifa rule 11 "If a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an opponent in an offside position, the referee shall allow play to continue and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission when the ball is next out of play."

(see FIFA Laws of the game )

This is to prevent a situation where defenders stationed on the goalposts could possibly just "walk off" behind the goal - and without this rule the attackers could be caught offside.

By going over the back of the goal line - is Panucci considered to be on the goal line while the referee allows play to continue and thus playing everyone onside?

I'm not SURE the rule was applied correctly and Panucci seemed oblivious to what was going on around him - but that's my take on how the situation was ruled.

It will be interesting to see what FIFA / UEFA have to say.

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Porto kicked out of 2008/09 Champions League

Porto have been excluded from next season's Champions League by Uefa, European soccer's governing body, over the alleged bribery of referees in the 2003-04 season.

Porto said it will appeal against the ruling but club officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The decision comes after a lengthy investigation known as "Apito Dourado," or Golden Whistle, into alleged bribery by Porto of referees in three matches in the 2003-04 season.

The affair, which came to light in April 2004, also resulted in five referees being suspended for periods between two-and-a-half and six years for either accepting the offer of prostitutes after matches or one who received €2,500 prior to a match.

Last month the Professional Portuguese Football League Disciplinary Commission docked Porto six points and fined the club €150,000.

Porto, who won last season's Portuguese title for the third time in a row, 14 points ahead of Sporting Lisbon, opted not to appeal as the six-points punishment did not affect final standings.

Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, the club president, has been suspended for two years and fined €10,000, but is appealing.

Jose Mourinho, who joined Inter Milan on Tuesday, was the Porto coach in the 2003-04 season when his side won the Champions League and Portuguese title but has not been implicated during the investigation.

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Moscow pitch less than perfect.

The state of the surface at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium pitch is causing concern ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester United.

The old synthetic pitch was ripped up after England's Euro 2008 qualifer against Russia in October and a new grass one laid in readiness for the final.

But experts decided it was too bumpy, prompting stadium authorities to lay another at a cost of £160,000 and using turf from Slovakia. So laying of a new grass surface at the Moscow venue was completed just 15 days ago.

Englishman Matt Frost who is in charge was asked whether he felt the pitch could have an adverse affect on the final said he was uncertain.

"You never know how it could affect the game - until you actually play on it you don't know. There is always that apprehension."

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Man City into Uefa Cup via "fair play".

Manchester City will play in next season's Uefa Cup after claiming a place via the Premier League's fair play table.

England were awarded an extra place in the tournament after the Premier League came top of Uefa's fair play rankings - which also includes a component for "positive play".

Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City side actually finished sixth in the Premier League fair play table, but all the sides above them had already qualified for Europe.

City will now be placed in the the Uefa Cup first qualifying round stage which starts in July.

Manager Sven Eriksson has been quoted on the clubs website as saying "It's like the dream came true - our dream to play in Europe has been strong all season. It's a confirmation that we are a good team, but also a team that behaves well on the pitch."

"It's a step in the right direction because the target for this club in the future is to play in the Champions League, and the Uefa Cup is a very good school to learn about European football."

City, who finished in ninth place in the league table, qualified for the Uefa Cup on the same basis in 2003.

The fair play system awards points based on criteria including respect for opponents and the referee, positive play as well as the number of yellow and red cards received.

City will not be able to host the first qualifying round tie at Eastlands as the pitch is due to be relaid once a Bon Jovi concert has taken place on 22 June.

Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium, which usually plays host to rugby league in the summer, has been mentioned as a possible alternative.

The draw for the first qualifying round will be made on 30 June, with City placed in the Northern section.

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Euro2008 Referees and pay levels announced.

UEFA said the 12 referees, who will be matched with assistants from each of their own countries, had been selected based on their good performances in European matches.

Referees will be paid 10,000 euros for every match at which they officiate with their assistants receiving 5,000 euros.

That corresponds to an increase of almost 60 percent compared with Euro 2004 where the officials received the same amount but in Swiss francs.

List of 12 Euro 2008 referees :
Konrad Plautz (Austria)
Frank de Bleeckere (Belgium)
Howard Webb (England)
Herbert Fandel (Germany)
Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
Pieter Vink (Netherlands)
Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)
Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain)
Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden)
Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

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Zenit blast four past Bayern Munich to reach final

Zenit St. Petersburg overcame a defensive crisis to thrash Bayern Munich 4-0 in their UEFA Cup semi-final second leg and reaching their first European final.

Zenit, without the suspended Andrei Arshavin, Radek Sirl and Fernando Ricksen, as well as Nicolas Lombaerts and Kim Dong Jin through injury, had only two available defenders – Ivica Križanac and Aleksandr Anyukov. These were joined at the back by Roman Shirokov, a recent convert to the centre-half position, and 38-year-old Olexandr Gorshkov, a makeshift left-back.

But the Russian champions combined resolute defending with lethal finishing, to leave Bayern wondering what exactly had hit them after a contest in which the territorial advantage was the Germans.

Goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and Konstantin Zyrianov set Zenit on their way in the first half, before Victor Fayzulin and Pogrebnyak then consigned Bayern to a painful defeat.

Zenit St. Petersburg 4 - 0 Bayern Munich
04 [1 - 0] P. Pogrebnyak
39 [2 - 0] K. Zyrianov
53 [3 - 0] V. Fayzulin
73 [4 - 0] P. Pogrebnyak

BONUS VIDEO LINK
See all four goals from Zenit St Petersburg v Bayern Munich

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Rangers are in the UEFA Cup final after penalty shoot-out victory

Nacho Novo hit the winning penalty as Rangers booked a place in the UEFA Cup final on penalties after a second scoreless draw.

Rangers were being dominated by ACF Fiorentina for much of the preceding 120 minutes and did not have a shot in anger until the 78th minute as the hosts piled forward but were somehow unable to find the breakthrough.

After 180 scoreless minutes over two legs, extra time came and then penalties, and when Barry Ferguson had the first attempt saved it looked like Rangers lack of attacking ambition would haunt them.

Yet Neil Alexander saved from Fabio Liverani and then Christian Vieri hit his penalty high over the crossbar, allowing Novo to seal an unlikely place in the final.

VIDEO LINK BONUS :
See highlights of the game and the penalty shootout.

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Chelsea Favoured After 1-1 Draw at Anfield

Chelsea are now heavy favourites after a last second own goal from John Arne Riise gave Chelsea a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final at Anfield.

Dirk Kuyt put Liverpool ahead by firing under Petr Cech just before half-time but in the fifth and final minute of added time at the end of the match Riise headed into his own net.

That had a drastic effect on the betting, with Chelsea now strongly favoured to reach a first Champions League final - the Blues on offer at 1.48, while Liverpool are out to 2.90.

(both prices available at internet bookmaker Pinnacle Sports)

Both sides had been at 1.95 before the first leg.

RELATED LINK :
Live Champions League Odds at BookieLabrat.com

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Champions League Betting Spreadsheet for Semi-finals

The Betting Spreadsheet is out for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and there are two clear recomendations.

The Tuesday night match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield is tagged as a very likely draw - with the best price of 3.10 (21/10) at Betsson rated at 136% value.

On Wednesday the spreadsheet favours the 2.53 odds (at PinnacleSports) on Barcelona scoring a home victory over Manchester United in the first leg - rating the price at a tasty 170% value.

Good luck with your punts.

RELATED LINKS :
Gooners Numb3rs - UEFA Champions League Spreadsheet
BookieLabrat Odds - Live Betting Odds for UEFA Champions League

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UEFA CL - Liverpool too good but it was close !!

Liverpool scored four goals - two in the last five minutes - to beat Arsenal and move through to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Liverpool are now a top price of 10/3 (4.33) with both VC Bet and bet365 for the Champions League after beating Arsenal 4-2 on Tuesday night.

On a rollercoaster night at Anfield, Abou Diaby put the Gunners ahead on 13 minutes, before Sami Hyypia equalised with a bullet header on the half hour mark.

Fernando Torres put Liverpool in front for the first time in the tie with 20 minutes to go but Emmanuel Adebayor looked to have won it in the 84th minute for the Gunners following a brilliant length of the field run from Theo Walcott.

Facing elimination on away goals, substitute Ryan Babel won a penalty a minute later which Steven Gerrard hammered into the top corner before the Dutchman sealed the win himself with a breakaway goal in injury time.

Congratulations to Liverpool ...

(he says going off to find another beer to drown his sorrows ...)

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Manchester Utd step towards semi-finals

Manchester United are into 2/1 (3.00) to win the Champions League after they took a huge step towards the semi-finals.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney gave United a 2-0 victory over Roma in the Stadio Olimpico to put them firmly in the driving seat going into the second leg of the quarter-final at Old Trafford next week.

Ronaldo made the breakthrough with a brave header in the first half for his 36th of a remarkable season. Rooney then extended their lead when he took advantage of a mix-up between goalkeeper Doni and Christian Panucci.

And it means the Red Devils, are now a best priced 3.00 (at Betfred) while their likely semi-final opponents Barcelona are next best at 4.00 with Ladbrokes and Centrebet.

Barca also claimed an away win in the first leg of their last-eight clash, beating Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen. Bojan Krkic scored the only goal of the game in the 12th minute, putting Frank Rijkaard's side in a powerful position ahead of the Nou Camp return.

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Bernabeu will host 2010 Champions League Final

Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium won its bid to host the 2010 Champions League final - heading off Wembley because of tax reasons, says Uefa.

Wembley was discounted after failing to provide assurances that players competing in the final would not be taxed by the British government. Rival bids from Munich and Berlin were also overlooked.

"Yes, the reason was the taxes," said Uefa president Michel Platini. He added: "The concerns we had over players being taxed were minimised by the English FA but not confirmed by the British government."

This year's final will be held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, with Rome's Stadio Olimpico hosting the match in 2009.

----

Hamburg was chosen to host the 2010 UEFA Cup final, beating a bid by Arsenal to host it in the Emirates Stadium.

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UEFA CL : AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal (video)

Words fail me ... so ... watch the goals
:-)



(Apologies if you've found this old post ...
YouTube finally found the video and deleted it)

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Money talks - 11 clubs turnover GBP 100m +

Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have established themselves in the world top five of highest-earning clubs, according to a new report.

They made £580m between them last season and Deloitte, the business consultancy which compiles the Football Money League, believes their revenues will only increase as English clubs as a whole seek to maximise their money-making potential abroad.

A ninth Premier League title combined with a run to the Champions League semi-finals and a £14m-a-year shirt sponsorship deal helped United earn £212.1m in 2007. Chelsea made £190.5m in the same period and Arsenal took £177.6m, mainly from corporate revenue which doubled to £91m in their first season at the Emirates Stadium.

There are six English clubs in the top 20, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United being the others. Financial analysts expect more to follow in 2008 because of this season's £300m Premier League broadcast deal.

The rich list 2008

1 (1) Real Madrid £236.2m
2 (4) Manchester United £212.1m
3 (2) Barcelona £195.3m
4 (6) Chelsea £190.5m
5 (9) Arsenal £177.6m
6 (5) AC Milan £153.0m
7 (8) Bayern Munich £150.3m
8 (10) Liverpool £133.9m
9 (7) Internazionale £131.3m
10 (12) Roma £106.1m

11 (15) Tottenham Hotspur £103.1m
12 (3) Juventus £97.7m
13 (11) Lyon £94.6m
14 (13) Newcastle United £87.1m
15 (16) Hamburg £81.0m
16 (14) Schalke £76.9m
17 (-) Celtic £75.2m
18 (-) Valencia £72.4m
19 (-) Marseille £66.6m
20 (-) Werder Bremen £65.5m

Last year's position in parentheses

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UEFA Cup Outright winner bets.

The UEFA Cup resumes this week for the round of 32 with 24 qualifiers plus the eight Champions League dropouts hoping to win Europe's lessor competition.

According to the bookies, these eight teams can generally be regarded as outside shots a long way behind hot favourites Bayern Munich with strong sides like Atletico Madrid, Tottenham, Everton and Villarreal, who all battled through the group stages of this competition, are seen as the other leading contenders at prices ranging from 8.00 to 15.00

Last year's semi-finalists Werder Bremen are the best priced out of those to have fallen from this season's Champions League at a best of 17.00 at BoyleSports.

In regards to the other UK sides, Bolton have been written off at prices as long as 100/1 while Glasgow Rangers have a quote at 50/1 with Paddy Power while Aberdeen, who face Bayern Munich in the next round, are way out at 500/1.

BEST PRICES :
Bayern Munich 4.35 @ VCBet
Athletico Madrid 10.00 @ Interwetten
Tottenham Hotspur 12.00 @ Interwetten
Everton 14.00 @ Interwetten
Fiorentina 17.00 @ Canbet
Villarreal 17.00 @ VCBet
Werder Bremen 17.00 @ BoyleSports

or get the latest UEFA Cup odds at BookieLabRat.com

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UEFA Champions League Draw

Liverpool and Arsenal have paid the price for finishing second in the their Champions League groups with draws Inter Milan and AC Milan in the first knockout round.

The Gunners will meet the holders AC Milan in February, while Rafa Benitez's Liverpool side go up against the reigning Serie A champions and current league leaders Inter Milan.

Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United have a tough match against the dangerous French champions Lyon while Scottish representatives Celtic are facing up to two matches against Spanish giants Barcelona.

Chelsea were drawn against Olympiacos of Greece and the other big tie in the last 16 pits mighty Real Madrid against Francesco Totti and Roma.

Schalke 04 of Germany take on 2004 winners FC Porto and Sevilla face Turkish side Fenerbahce.

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UEFA CL : Betting Sheet review

Time to check out how the UEFA betting spreadsheet went for Matchday #5 of the UEFA Champions League.

Wednesday was pretty successful and this means that the round as a whole was pretty good.

LIKELY WINNERS
---------------------
Success with Inter Milan (1.40), Manchester United (1.58), Chelsea (1.65), Celtic (1.93) and Besiktas (2.75) ... and just one failure with Lazio.

That's 600 units staked for 931 units returned.
A profit of +331 units gives a yield of +55%

VALUE DRAWS
---------------------
Both of Wednesday's draws came in - turning around the double failure on Tuesday and leaving the "value system" well in profit.

That's 400 units staked for 685 units returned.
A profit of +285 units and a tasty +71% yield.

So I think that the sheet helped punters to spot ways to make quid this week - and you'll be able to toast the sheet during a round of free beers down at the pub on Friday night.

Cheers !!

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UEFA CL : Betting Sheet for Nov 28

Yesterday's sheet nailed to two likely winners (just) - but failed with the value draws.

Here is the betting spreadsheet for Wednesday 28th November.

LIKELY WINNERS
---------------------
Celtic to beat Shaktar Donetsk @ 1.93 at PinnacleSports
Lazio to beat Olympiakos @ 1.94 at PinnacleSports
Besiktas to beat Marseille @ 2.75 at Canbet

Chelsea to win in Rosenborg @ 1.65 at Interwetten

VALUE SYSTEM
---------------------
DRAW Valencia v Schalke @ 3.60
DRAW Benfica v AC Milan @ 3.25

Good luck

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UEFA CL : Betting Sheet for Nov 27.

Here is the betting spreadsheet for Tuesday 27th November.

LIKELY WINNERS
---------------------
Manchester United to beat Sporting Lisbon @ 1.58 at Canbet
Inter Milan to beat Fenerbahce @ 1.40 at PinnacleSports

The likely winners are simply based on the MARgin bring greater than 75 points (or 3/4 of a goal). We should ignore the RES rating for Slavia Prague as it's only based on 15 previous games.

VALUE SYSTEM
---------------------
DRAW Seville v Arsenal @ 3.45
DRAW Stuttgart v Rangers @ 3.30

The value system is based on the strength of the AWAY side and also the projected MARgin. In this case both games are very close to even strength.

Good luck with your midweek punts.

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UEFA Champions League : Match Day Five

Matchday Five of the Champions League this week - as the group stage comes down to the business end.

Arsenal and Manchester Utd are already through while Chelsea should be coasting towards the knockout stage.

But Liverpool, Celtic and Rangers face crunch games where failure could cost them millions.

TUESDAY
17:30 CSKA Moscow (2.20) Draw (3.25) PSV (3.60)
19:45 Dynamo Kiev (5.00) Draw (3.40) Roma (1.91)
19:45 Inter Milan (1.45) Draw (4.50) Fenerbahce (9.00)
19:45 Lyon (2.75) Draw (3.25) Barcelona (2.85)
19:45 Man Utd (1.61) Draw (4.00) Sporting Lisbon (7.50)
19:45 Sevilla (2.20) Draw (3.32) Arsenal (3.65)
19:45 Steaua Bucuresti (2.20) Draw (3.03) Slavia Prague (3.62)
19:45 Stuttgart (2.25) Draw (3.30) Rangers (3.45)

WEDNESDAY
19:45 Benfica (3.40) Draw (3.25) AC Milan (2.38)
19:45 Besiktas (2.83) Draw (3.25) Marseille (2.78)
19:45 Celtic (1.95) Draw (3.40) Shakhtar Donetsk (4.30)
19:45 Lazio (1.81) Draw (3.55) Olympiakos (5.10)
19:45 Liverpool (1.50) Draw (4.20) FC Porto (8.70)
19:45 Rosenborg (6.50) Draw (3.76) Chelsea (1.62)
19:45 Valencia (1.67) Draw (3.75) Schalke (5.80)
19:45 Werder Bremen (3.10) Draw (3.41) Real Madrid (2.38)

All KO times GMT

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Henry out for Barca's trip to Lyon

Thierry Henry will sit out Barcelona's Matchday 5 trip to Olympique Lyonnais after he and Oleguer Presas were left out of the travelling squad.

Henry played a major role for Barca on Saturday evening, assisting Bojan Krkic for the second goal in a 3-0 victory against RC Recreativo de Huelva.

Yet he and Oleguer, who replaced Gianluca Zambrotta in the 65th minute at Camp Nou, both missed this morning's training session and will not make the trip to France as Barcelona look to secure progress to the UEFA Champions League first knockout round.

Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard will be able to call on Ronaldinho, who was rested against Recreativo.

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Euro2008 : Cars to Croatia as well?

Soccer: Russian offers Croatia incentives to beat England

A Russian billionaire has offered incentives to Croatia for beating England in their final Euro 2008 Group E qualifier on Thursday (NZ time), a result that would give Russia a chance to reach the finals.

Spartak Moscow owner Leonid Fedun said he would donate four Mercedes cars to Croatia's best players if their team comes away with a win at Wembley.

Russia had been in the driving seat following last month's shock win over England in Moscow but lost the initiative after a 2-1 defeat by Israel in Tel Aviv on Sunday. They must now beat Andorra and hope England lose to Croatia.

Not many in Russia, however, believe that already-qualified Croatia, who lost 2-0 to Macedonia in Skopje on Sunday after securing their passage to Euro finals, have the ability to beat England at Wembley.

Fedun said he simply wanted to boost Croatia's morale by offering their goalkeeper and the top three field players each a Mercedes. Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa plays for Spartak.

"I'm doing this strictly as a fan," Fedun was quoted as saying by the Russian media. If we have even a small chance we must try to use it."

Israeli media reported that English bookmaker Fred Done had promised a Mercedes to the Israel player, who scored a winning goal against Russia.

However, the Israeli FA said Omer Golan, who struck the injury-time winner, would not be able to accept the gift because it was deemed to be "beyond the bounds of sportsmanship".
(link to more on the original offer at BookieLabrat.com)

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Euro2008 : 12 countries through - 4 places left

Another six countries secured their places at UEFA EURO 2008 on Saturday night taking the total to 12 so far.

THE 12 SIDES SO FAR

Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Spain all progressed with victories while Croatia qualfied thanks to Russia's defeat against Israel, despite being beaten by F.Y.R. Macedonia.

France's players did not even have to put on their boots, with Italy's last-gasp win in Scotland enough to send them through also.

This takes to 12 the number of teams now qualified, with co-hosts Austria and Switzerland, holders Greece, Czech Republic, Germany and Romania already assured their places.

OTHER LIKELY QUALIFIERS

Group A
Portugal are one point back and in need of just a single point more after beating Armenia 1-0. However, Finland's 2-1 victory over Azerbaijan keeps them within three points of the Portuguese whom they could overtake by winning the Porto showdown on Wednesday.

There is also hope for Serbia who will take on Poland on Wednesday and Kazakhstan on Saturday 24 November after snow in Belgrade forced the game's postponement on Saturday. Serbia need wins against Poland and Kazakhstan combined with a Portugal defeat against Finland.

Group C
Turkey can qualify if they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina while Norway travel to Malta and need to win and see an upset in Istanbul.

Group E
England's now need only a point at home to Croatia on Wednesday when the Russians face Andorra.

Group F
Sweden lost 3-0 in Madrid but the Scandinavians will still qualify so long as they take a point from their concluding home game against Latvia. If Sweden lose, then third-placed Northern Ireland – 2-1 victors over eliminated Denmark – can pip them to second place on the head-to-head rule by winning in Spain.

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International Football - the betting sheet

So to recap briefly on how to read this spreadsheet ...

KULHAVY RATING SYSTEM
-----------------------
Worka on a home / away basis using a power ranking system to award performance points based on
- actually winning,
- the size of the win,
- the strength of the opponent
- whether it was an upset or not.

PK = Pick where (+) = home and (-) = away
MAR = Margin of win where 1 pt = 1/100th of a goal.

RES SYSTEM
-----------------------------
Is an attempt to show the results of previous matches where we had teams that were simialrly ranked with a similar margin.

PK = Pick where (+) = home and (-) = away
H/D/A = % of games results
OBS = number of previous matches used for %

NOTE :
In club based spreadsheets I'd want around 100 OBS before really being comfortable with the res system to being accurate to +/- 3%.

With internationals you have some RES predictions that have less than 20 OBS I'd say that the number could easily be +/- 10% of the REAL figure so be careful and don't wager your bank on a game with only a few previous items of data.

(Club leagues literally have 10 seasons x 380 games and as many as 300+ OBS)

DISCOVERED VALUE (DV) SYSTEMS
---------------------------
A backtesting sytem that finds games that "could" be considered a value play as the odds outweigh the risk - and there is a reasonable chance of the result occuring.

These are the bets shown in GREEN BACKGROUND along with the price.

There are six home wins (including Scotland !!) and five draws (including Israel) so I suspect UK punters will be hoping that this works again.

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UEFA CL : Betting Sheet for Nov 7 released.

Here's the betting spreadsheet for Wednesday night.



Remember that the European level there is significantly less data to work with - many sides will only play 6 games at this level in a season and then may miss a season by failing to qualify so it's harder to get quality picks.

Take special care to see the number of previous games being used to produce that pick (the OBS field) and if there is less than 50 games then treat the percentages with healthy scepticism.

Remember that typically 100 points of margin means and average win expectancy of 1 goal. Also remember that an average of 1 goal might mean a 2 goal win in one match and a draw in a second match - averages are tricky things when data is small.

Tonights best picks (dual system picked)
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Barcelona to beat Rangers @ 1.23 at Betsson
Manchester United to beat Dynamo Kiev @ 1.20 at Interwetten
Sevilla to win at Steaua Bucharest @ 1.75 at Interwetten
Arsenal to win at Slavia Prague @ 1.57 at Ladbrokes

Possible picks (res% system only)
-----------------------------------------
AS Roma to win at Sporting Lisbon @ 2.60 at Interwetten

Inter Milan to beat CSKA Moscow @ 1.30 at Bet365
Fenerbahce to beat PSV Eindhoven @ 2.00 at Bet365

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UEFA CL : Betting Sheet for Oct 24 released.

Eight more matches in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night - and quite a few of the games appear to have some good options.

The sheet has several "likely winner" choices on Wednesday.

Most Likely winners (picked by both systems) :
--------------------------------------------------------
AC Milan to beat Shaktar Donetsk @ 1.40 at Interwetten
Real Madrid to beat Olympiakos @ 1.30 @ Bet365 (latest price)
Benfica to beat Celtic @ 2.00 at Interwetten (latest price)

Other Likely winners (picked by one system ) :
--------------------------------------------------------
Chelsea to beat Schalke at 1.55 @ Eurobet
Valencia to win at Rosenborg at 1.67 at Ladbrokes
Liverpool to win at Benfica @ 1.75 at Interwetten

Expectation is 3 or 4 home winners, and 1 or 2 away winnners on these picks.

There are NO discovered winners tonight although draws in both Rosenborg v Valencia and Besiktas v Liverpool might be worth chasing the the draw prices got a little higher.

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UEFA CL : Betting Sheet for Oct 23 released.

We've run the numbers and can now release the betting spreadsheet output for Tuesday Oct 23rd in the3 UEFA Champions League.


(click the image for a full sized sheet)

A quick rundown through the "likely winner" picks for the eight games on Tuesday night - typically we would expect to go 3-1 with predictions in this range :

Most Likely winners (picked by both systems) :
--------------------------------------------------------
Arsenal to beat Slavia Prague at 1.20 at Bet365
PSV Eindhoven to beat Fenerbahce at 1.83 @ Ladbrokes

Most Likely winners (picked by one system ) :
--------------------------------------------------------
Sevilla to beat Steaua Bucharest at 1.25 at Betfred
Barcelona to win at Rangers at 1.70 @ Interwetten

=====

Also - after getting a few requests on the forum (Robbie, College_Football) we will also cover the "discovered value" system picks as well.

These are picks that are not "likely winners" usually - but by keeping a record of similar bets we've found that profits can usually be made by taking a handful of these good value bets each matchday.

Discovered Value Bets :
--------------------------------------------------------
HOME :
PSV Eindhoven to beat Fenerbahce at 1.83 @ Ladbrokes

DRAW :
Stuttgart v Lyon at 3.40 at Bet365
Rangers v Barcelona at 3.75 at Bet365
CSKA Moscow v Inter Milan @ 3.40 @ Ladbrokes

AWAY :
Lyon to beat Stuttgart @ 2.70 @ Betsson

As you can see by the prices we will need 2 or more of these discovered winners to hit in order to make a profit - and you will probably ned to play the Stuttgart v Lyon match by with betting X2 or laying Stuttgart.

Good luck with your punts.

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Klinsmann for England Job?

The Daily Mirror says Jurgen Klinsmann wants to become the next England manager and is ready to throw his cap into the ring when the axe falls on McClaren.

The German, who lives in California, has turned his back on the idea of taking a club job in England or elsewhere.

He guided Germany to the World Cup semi-finals in 2006.

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Euro2008 : Betting Sheet released

I've been burning the midnight oil this week in order to get the Euro2008 betting sheet out early - and it has been released onto the forum.

But as a special bonus - well also post it here (just click the graphic for a full sized version). IF you've got any questions or comments then get onto the forum thread and we can talk about it.



HOW TO READ THE SHEET
-----------------------------------
Basically there are two styles of betting - "likely winners" and "value betting".

1) LIKELY WINNERS SYSTEM
-----------------------------------
These are indicated by the + (home win) and - (away win) characters in the to PK columns.

The Kulhavy rating show the estimated strength of the two sides, with the MAR being the predicted margin where 100 points = 1 full goal.

The RES portion shows the previous results of similar rated games - where the OBS column show the total number of previous games.

You will find 8 home wins and 3 away wins predicted as "likely winners" this weekend.

A word of warning - while the likely winners can be profitable - if you can correctly select the right picks - it is difficult to make a long term profit if you are taking bets that are underpriced.

I would not recommend taking bets where the value % number is 85% or below - and these are indicated in red ink on the spreadsheet.

2) DISCOVERED VALUE SYSTEM
-----------------------------------
Regular readers will know that this is my preferred system - as the prices are better - but you have to be warned that these are not banker bets.

So in my opinion it is far better to place smaller stakes on EVERY value bet - and wait for probability to do it's thing - rather than risk it all on one or two choices that may not come in.

The discovered value bets are indicated with a "sickly green" background - showing the odds / the potential value / and the bookmaker.

Discovered value suggests 2 home wins, 6 draws and 3 away wins this weekend as being over-priced at the bookmakers.

Good luck with whatever you're betting on.

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UEFA CL : Arsenal 3-0 Sevilla

Arsenal made an impressive start to their group with a 3-0 thumping of Spanish debutants Sevilla at the Emirates Stadium in London.


Sevilla came into the match as winners of the last two UEFA Cup competitions, and after thrashing AEK Athens 6-1 on aggregate in qualifying, but they really struggled to come to grips with the pace and movement of the Gunners.

Sevilla began tentatively, defending in numbers as the hosts dominated possession early on, although both keepers had to be sharp to parry attacking efforts.

Arsenal took the lead in the 27th minute after Cesc Fabregas hit a shot from 25 metres which deflected off Julien Escude and wrong footing Sevilla keeper Andres Palop.

Arsenal pressed forward in search of a second with Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor having chances but Frederic Kanoute also had a couple of chances for Sevilla who showed glimpses of their good form.

After the break, the north London club continued to play with style and determination and were rewarded with a second goal on 59 minutes, when Fabregas whipped over a right-wing free-kick that was flicked on by Adebayor and thumped in by Van Persie.

Adebayor and Van Persie went close again after fine work from right-back Bacary Sagna while Sevilla committed men forward in the closing stages in search of a way back into the game.

Those gaps were punished in injury time when Aleksandr Hleb found Fabregas for a slide-rule pass that was turned in by Eduardo for an emphatic 3-0 victory.

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UEFA Champions League Spreadsheet

The patented "GoonersGuide Betting Spreadsheet" (TM) for Tuesday night's games in the UEFA Champions League has been released to the betting forum.

It covers all 8 games - and make recommendations on four likely home wins.

I've also covered the new "discovered value" systems as well - which pciks out one of those home wins as good value - and also targets a value draw bet as well.

You can get it all at the forum link below :
The Sheet -> UEFA CL - Round 1

RELATED LINKS :
Champions League Betting Previews
Latest Champions League Betting Odds

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Arsenal through to Group stages - 20/1 to win

Arsenal are 20/1 to win the Champions League with Ladbrokes after they easily progressed to the group stage by easing past Sparta Prague 3-0 on Wednesday night to secure a 5-0 aggregate triumph.

Leading 2-0 from the first leg teenager Theo Walcott brilliantly set up Czech star Tomas Rosicky's early strike while late goals from Cesc Fabregas and Eduardo Da Silva completed the win.

Meanwhile Celtic also advanced to the lucrative group stages - for which the draw is on Thursday - having overcome Spartak Moscow on a penalty shoot-out following a pulsating clash at Parkhead. The Bhoys are now 101.00 with Ladbrokes.

The Hoops took a 2-1 aggregate lead when Scott McDonald stabbed home but just before the break Pavluchenko levelled the matters, ultimately forcing the game into extra-time and then penalties. But Artur Boruc was the hero, saving two spot kicks to send Gordon Strachan's men through.

----

On Tuesday night Liverpool thrashed Toulouse 4-0 to progress through their qualifying tie 5-0 on aggregate and they're now available at 13.00 with Bet365 ahead of Thursday's draw to go one better than last year and lift the trophy.

Rangers edged past Crvena Zvezda 1-0 on aggregate following a tense goalless draw at the Marakana Stadium and they can be backed at a general price of 100/1 with most bookies but 126.00 with Bet365

----

Of course the leading candidates all automatically qualified for the group stages Manchester United and Chelsea were automatically in the hat for the group stages with Barcelona the favourites.

TOP SIX SIDES :
Barcelona are 6.00 at PaddyPower
Chelsea are 7.50 at Bet365
Manchester United are 7.50 at Bet365
AC Milan are 11.00 at Bet365
Inter Milan are 11.00 at Paddy Power
Real Madrid are 11.00 at Bet365

OF course you can always get the latest live prices for the UEFA Champions League at our partner site at Bookielabrat.com

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UEFA CL : Sparta Prague 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal moved a step closer to the lucrative group stages of the Champions League with a 2-0 away victory over Sparta Prague tonight.

On the ground where former captain Thierry Henry had become the club's all-time record goalscorer two season ago, the next generation of young Gunners looked to begin writing a new chapter.

And it was a hard-fought victory - courtesy of goals from Cesc Fabregas and Alexander Hleb, in stoppage time - on a humid night, overcoming tough opponents and a partisan crown at the AXA Stadium.

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