European Football

[taz]

[forzaitalia]

Somebody on a Rovers messageboard said La Liga is the 'SPL on steroids'. It made me laugh, and I guess it is true if you're talking about the domination of two teams.

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[RomaShield27]

I agree. Sky Sports and the English media in general wouldn't see it like that though, of course. No goals equals no excitement, dull league, etc. Wasn't it the famous Italian calcio journalist Gianni Brera who said the perfect game would end 0-0? Try telling that to Jeff Sterling.

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[taz]

FT: Augsburg 1-1 Werder Bremen

Werder Bremen missed out on the chance to move upto 2nd when they were held to a draw at Augsburg. The home side move a point clear of Freiburg and Hamburg at the bottom. On the 10 minute mark, a corner fell to Markus Rosenberg whose shot went narrowly over the crossbar. On the 20 minute mark, Rosenberg went even closer but this time, the crossbar denied him. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Augsburg broke the deadlock. Sascha Molders pounced on a defensive lapse, backheeled the ball for the onrushing Axel Bellinghausen to slot the ball past Tim Wiese. With 20 minutes to go, Werder equalised. Mehmet Ekici's corner was flicked on by Andreas Wolf and Claudio Pizarro nodded the ball home to equalise. Werder went forward looking for the winner but were unable to find it.

[taz]

FT: Hamburg 1-1 Wolfsburg

Thorsten Fink earned a point at home against Wolfsburg in his first game in charge of Hamburg. The point moves Hamburg off the foot of the table. Wolfsburg got off to the perfect start inside two minutes when Mario Mandzukic headed home a Patrick Ochs cross. On the 10 minute mark, Gokhan Tore was put through in goal but he took too long allowing Marcel Schafer to come back and clear. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Hamburg equalised. Gojko Kacar played Mladen Petric through who then delicately chipped the ball past Diego Benaglio to equalise. With this point, Wolfsburg move upto 11th.

[taz]

FT: Malaga 0-4 Real Madrid

Real Madrid scored an impressive victory at La Rosaleda ver big spenders Malaga to record their sixth win on the trot in all competitions. Real Madrid broke the deadlock on the 10 minute mark. Angel Di Maria played the through ball for Gonzalo Higuain who then went past Ruben and slotted the ball into the empty net. Malaga went close to equalising on the 20 minute mark when Apono's freekick brought out a good save from Iker Casillas. On the 25 minute mark, Di Maria played the perfect cross for Cristiano Ronaldo to march in and volley home to make it 2-0. 5 minute later, Ronaldo then took on Martin Demichelis and drove home a low shot into the bottom corner to make it 3. It was 4-0 with 10 minutes to spare in the 1st half when Di Maria's corner was headed across the box by Sergio Ramos for Ronaldo to superbly flick the ball into the net. It could have been 5 just minutes into the 2nd half when Kaka picked out Higuain but the Argentinean dragged his shot wide when 1-on-1 with Ruben. Malaga also had their chances in the 2nd half striking the woodwork twice.

[taz]

FT: Juventus 2-2 Genoa

Juventus were denied the chance to open up a 3 point lead at the top after being held to a draw by Genoa. Juventus broke the deadlock 5 minutes in. An Andrea Pirlo corner was pulled back to Claudio Marchisio whose shot from the edge of the box was diverted in by Alessandro Matri. Genoa equalised on the half hour mark when Marco Rossi headed home an Alexander Merkel cross. 5 minutes before half time, a poor Miguel Veloso pass gave Mirko Vucinic an excellent opportunity to score but his shot was straight at Sebastian Frey. Alessandro Matri did have the ball in the net 5 minutes into the 2nd half but it was disallowed after he was offside when Vucinic played the ball through. 5 minutes alter, a freekick was whipped in which Merkel flicked on which went narrowly wide. Matri did get his second on the hour mark when Vucinic's pass was dummied by Pirlo allowing Matri to stroke the ball home from 12 yards. Minutes later, a Marco Rossi cross was headed onto the bar by Merkel. Genoa managed to equalise with 5 minutes to go when Juraj Kucka nodded the ball down for Andrea Caracciolo to lift the ball into the net past Storari at his near post. Genoa had chances to score the winner through Jorquera and Caracciolo.

[taz]

FT: Lorient 0-0 Toulouse

10 men Toulouse held on to a goalless draw at Lorient. 5 minutes before halftime, Franck Tabanou had to clear on the line when Innocent Emeghara handled an Anrold Mvuemba freekick towards goal which went undetected. Tabanou went close 10 minutes into the 2nd half when he went past Pedrinho before firing narrowly wide. Toulouse were reduced to 10 men 20 minutes before time when Pavle Ninkov pulled back Kevin Monnet Paquet. Toulouse went close in the dying seconds but i dont think both teams will complain with a point apiece.

[taz]

FT: Barcelona 0-0 Sevilla

A dramatic conclusion resulted in Sevilla shutting out Barcelona at the Camp Nou to gain a creditable draw. Barcelona now slip to 2nd with Real Madrid top by a point. Andres Iniesta twice went close in the opening 10 minutes with Javi Varas denying him. The next 10 minutes, Jesus Navas twice pounced on mistakes by Erci Abidal and Dani Alves but was denied by Victor Valdes. Varas also denied David Villa with his eet 5 minutes before half time. Minutes into the 2nd half, Lionel Messi went close with a freekick. Iniesta's first time shot moments later was tipped over by Javi Varas. With 15 minutes to go, Iniesta looped a shot over the bar. Then in the closing stages, Barcelona were awarded a penalty when Federico Fazio brought down Iniesta. However, the penalty was delayed when Frederic Kanoute first received a yellow for nudging the ball ff the spot and then was shown red when he clattered into Cesc Fabregas. However, Javi Vars pulled out a superb stop to save Lionel Messi's penalty. There was still time for Fernando Navarro to be shown a red for bringing down David Villa.

[taz]

FT: Lecce 3-4 Milan

Milan rallied from 3-0 down at half time to come back to win 4-3 at the Via del Mare. It took 4 minutes for Lecce to take the lead when Carlos Groosmuller whipped in a freekick which Guillermo Giacomazzi flicked into the net past Christian Abbiati. Minutes later, Christian Obodo had an effort tipped over the crossbar. On the half hour mark, Lecce were awarded a penalty when it appeared that Daniele Corvia dived. Massimo Oddo made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0. 10 minutes before half time, Grossmuller slotted home the third. Kevin Prince Boateng was brought on at half time and what an impact he made. Seconds after the restart, Boateng had a volley tipped over. Minutes later, Boateng started the comeback with a powerful drive into the top corner. 10 minutes later, Boateng scored hsi 2nd with a marvellous efrot with the outside of his boot. He made it 3 with 25 minutes to go with a low shot beating the keeper at his near post. Milan scored the winner with 5 minutes to go when Mario Yepes headed home an Antonio Cassano cross. Milan have moved upto 7th.

[taz]

FT: Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Schalke

A late goal saw Schalke move upto 3rd at the Bay Arena. Bayer Leverkusen remain in mid table after this result. Bayer Leverkusen started off the strongest with Michal Kadlec testing Lars Unnerstall and Michael Ballack had a goal correctly ruled offside. On the hour mark, Klaas Jan Huntelaar went close to scoring for Schalke but was denied by Bernd Leno. Then with 10 minutes to go, Lars Unnerstall denied Andre Schurrle and in the same move, Jefferson Farfan raced down the other end to slot the ball into the bottom corner to gain the 3 points.

[taz]

FT: Ajax 1-1 Feyenoord

10 men Ajax fought back for a draw with Feyenoord at Amsterdam Arena. Feyenoord took the lead on the hour mark when Ron Vlaar's shot was blocked but only as far as Stefan De Vriij whose shot rebounded off Kenneth Vermeer and into the net. Vermeer was then sent off minutes later when he brought down Guyon Fernandez when he was through on goal. However, minutes later, Ajax equalised when Jan Vertonghen headed home a Theo Janssen cross.

[taz]

FT: Groningen 1-1 Twente

Twente missed out on the chance to move level with 2nd placed Feyenoord when they were held to a draw at Groningen. Twente took the lead on 20 minutes when Ola John managed to get his shot away beating Brian van Loo who will be unhappy not to have made the save. John also went close with a freekick minutes later. Groningen equalised with 25 minutes to go when Nikolay Mihaylov blocked a David Teixeira shot but Hyung Jun Suk was on hand to slot the loose ball home. Wout Brama had a golden opportunity minutes later to win it for Twente but he sent his header off target.

[taz]

FT: Anzhi Makhachkala 3-5 CSKA Moscow

Anzhi Makhachkala are in danger of missing out on the top 8 split after they were defeated by CSKA Moscow. They took the lead after 4 minutes through Samuel Eto'o but CSKA were 5-1 up with 5 minutes to go through Seydou Doumbiax3, Vagner Love and Alan Dzagoev. Jan Holenda scored two consolation goals in the final 4 minutes. Anzhi are 4 points clear of Krasnodar with 2 games to go with Anzhi needing to win 1 of their next two to guarantee a spot in the top 8 split.

[taz]

FT: Hannover 2-1 Bayern Munich

Hannover climbed upto 4th with victory over leaders Bayern Munich. Mohammed Abdeallaoue wass unlucky not to give Hannover the lead after 10 minutes when he saw his shot rebound off the post. However, on 20 minutes, Philipp Lahm brought down Christian Schulz for a penalty which Abdellaoue converted. Then a huge melee broke out on the sidelines after a Rafinha foul on Sergio Pinto which resulted in Jerome Boateng being shown a red card. On 40 minutes, Mario Gomez fired over from close range. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Christian Pander saw his shot deflect off Luiz Gustavo and beat Manuel Neuer to make it 2-0. Just past the hour mark, it was 10 v 10 when Steve Cherundolo was shown a 2nd yellow for bringing down Franck Ribery. Bayern pushed men forward and pulled a goal back through David Alaba after a great run.

Matchday 10 of 34

Friday 21 October

Augsburg 1-1 Werder Bremen

Saturday 22 October

Borussia Dortmund 5-0 Cologne
Nuremberg 2-2 Stuttgart
Kaiserslautern 1-0 Freiburg
Hoffenheim 1-0 Borussia Monchengladbach
Hertha Berlin 0-0 Mainz
Hamburg 1-1 Wolfsburg

Sunday 23 October

Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Schalke
Hannover 2-1 Bayern Munich

[taz]

FT: Valencia 1-1 Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao were denied the 3 points late on at Mestalla following a Roberto Soldado goal. 10 minutes before the break, Fernando Llorente went close when his header rebounded back off the post with Vicente Guaita beaten. Soldado was unfortunate not to get a penalty when he tangled with Fernando Amorebieta midway through the 2nd half and with 20 minutes to go, Athletic broke the deadlock. Iker Muniain cut in from the right and curled a superb strike. With a minute to go, Ever Banega teed up Roberto Soldado to equalise.

[taz]

FT: Bologna 0-2 Lazio

Lazio recorded their 3rd successive Serie A victory to move upto 2nd after victory at the Dell'Ara. Lazio took the lead midway through the opening half as Hernanes fierce freekick was diverted in for an own goal by Robert Acquafresca. Acquafresca nearly atoned for that error a minute later but his low shot went narrowly wide. 10 minutes before the break, Acquafresca's effort on target was blocked by Senad Lulic when Federico Marchetti was found in no mans land. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, DJibril Cisse played the ball to Lulic to drive home the 2nd goal of the evening past Federico Agliardi. Bologna didnt really produce much of note except for a stinging Archimede Morleo freekick which was kept out by Marchetti.

Matchday 8 of 38

Saturday 22 October

Fiorentina 2-2 Catania
Juventus 2-2 Genoa

Sunday 23 October

Lecce 3-4 Milan
Cagliari 0-0 Napoli
Inter 1-0 Chievo
Parma 1-2 Atalanta
Roma 1-0 Palermo
Siena 2-0 Cesena
Udinese 3-0 Novara
Bologna 0-2 Lazio

[taz]

FT: Lille 3-1 Lyon

Lille scored an impresive win over Lyon to keep up the pressure on Montpellier and Paris St Germain. Lyon broke the deadlock midway through the first half. Jimmy Briand latckced onto a Yoann Gourcuff cross and slotted the ball through the legs of Mickael Landreau. Bafetimbi Gomis went close to doubling the lead 10 minutes before the break but his shot went inches wide. On the stroke of half time, Dimitri Payet's corner was not cleared by Hugo Lloris and Bakari Kone allowing Moussa Sow to steal in to equalise. Just past the hour mark, Payet whipped in a freekick which Marko Basa headed home to put Lille ahead. With less than 10 minutes go, a nice team move saw Joe Cole drive a Moussa Sow cross into the bottom corner.

Matchday 11 of 38

Saturday 22 October

Bordeaux 1-1 Brest
Caen 1-3 Montpellier
Marseille 2-0 Ajaccio
Nancy 1-0 Nice
St Etienne 1-0 Valenciennes
Sochaux 1-1 Evian
Lorient 0-0 Toulouse

Sunday 23 October

Auxerre 0-1 Rennes
Paris St Germain 2-0 Dijon
Lille 3-1 Lyon