Champions League Semi Final Liverpool, 1 Chelsea, 1

For Liverpool the impressive performers were Fabio Aurelio, Martin Skrtel, Dirk Kuyt and especially Xavi Alonso.

The 1st chance of the 1st half was set up by the excellent Xavi Alonso as his pass found Dirk Kuyt in space but his chest control was not as good as it should be and brought out a comfortable save from Petr Cech. Joe Cole had Chelsea's best chance as he was put through by Frank Lampard but he was caught in 2 minds and he fluffed his chance.

Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty when it looked like Jamie Carragher had brought down Drogba in the box but this being the champions league and involving Liverpool, nothing was given.

Liverpool then had another chance when Steve Gerrard played Fernando Torres through but Cech was able to smother his effort. Just as it looked like it was going to be a goalless 1st half, Alonso's quick thinking from a free kick found Kuyt, his cross was intercepted by Lampard but he hesitated and was robbed by Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt with Mascherano making a complete mess of his attempted cross but it fell kindly for Kuyt as Claude Makele made a big error with his attempted clearance and Kuyt put the ball between Cech's legs to make it 1-0.

Liverpool came out with purpose in the 2nd half and played some good football but could not create too many chances but just as it seemed it was going to be yet another 1-0 home leg win between these 2 sides; John Arne Riise decided in all his wisdom to head the ball instead of clearing with his leg and put the ball into his own net with seconds to go in 5 minutes of extra-time.

Ratings

Liverpool

Beppe Reina 6 He was not duly tested but was solid throughout and stood no chance with the goal

Alvaro Arbeloa 5 He was poor throughout and was culpable for the equalizer as he allowed Kalou to put in a speculative cross.

Fabio Aurellio 6 He had a decent enough game until a groin injury put paid to his participation.

Jamie Carragher 6 He was there again with this last ditch tackles but was very luck to escape without giving a penalty and yellow card that would have ruled him out of the 2nd leg.

Martin Skrtel 6.5 He was up to the task of keeping Drogba quiet and did not put a foot wrong all night. He was the best defender on view.

Dirk Kuyt 6 He gives you far more quantity than he does quality and did not see too much on the ball in the 2nd half.

Javier Mascherano 6 He had a better 2nd half but he is not good on the ball and he should take a bit of blame for the equalizer as he did not stop the cross coming in.

Xavi Alonso 6.5 He was Liverpool's best player on the night but his 2nd half was not as good as his 1st.

Ryan Babel 5.5 He showed glimpses of his potential but again it was another unconvincing display before he was replaced in the 2nd half

Steve Gerrard 5.5 This is the Gerrard that always shows up in games of this magnitude

Fernando Torres 4 He was extremely poor and the chances he had, he fluffed them as he kept on diving trying to win cheap free kicks. Pathetic display from Liverpool's player of the year.

Substitutes

John Arne Riise 3 His own goal was just ridiculous. He should have cleared the ball with his right leg but decided to head it into its own net.

Yossi Benayoun5 He did not do anything worthwhile when he was on the pitch.

Chelsea

Petr Cech 7 He produced some very good saves with the pick of the bunch being a very good tip over from Gerrard in the 2nd half. He was the man of the match.

Paolo Ferreira 5.5 He did not do too much in a good or bad sense.

Ashley Cole 5.5 He made a few mistakes and was not able to go forward as he would have liked but made a vital block from Alonso.

John Terry 6 He made some vital tackles but once in a while the thug in him comes out as he had an unsavory situation when Torres was on the floor he seemed to step on him.

Ricardo Carvalho 6.5 He provided his usual panache in defence and was not found wanting in any department as he helped to keep Torres very quiet.

Florin Malouda 5 He was not effective at all even when he had a good chance, he dithered too long and allowed Mascherano to make a fine block.

Claude Makele 5.5 He did what he normally does but father time is catching up on him.

Frank Lampard 6 He was better in the 1st half and had a very good chance in the 2nd half but his pocket was picked by Carragher.

Michael Ballack 6 He just glides around the place with a lot of class but he did not see too much of the ball from Chelsea's point of view.

Joe Cole 4 In all candor he was hopeless as he gave the ball away cheaply, did not support Drogba at all and was found wanting in all areas.

Didier Drogba 6 He had a decent game as he was always a constant threat to Skrtel and Carragher but his histrionics were getting annoying.

Substitutes

Salomon Kalou 6 His great cross in the dying minutes for the equalizer may have just saved Chelsea's season.

Nicholas Anelka Not sure if he touched the ball during his time on the pitch.

The First Week of the Champions' Round of 16

The 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 is on and some have just got generally beaten.

By Camilla Mancini

The initial eight clubs from the Knockout Phase of this renowned competition met between Tuesday fourteenth and Wednesday fifteenth for the first leg installations. On every one of the four matches there was a triumphant club that presently has a foot in the quarterfinals, either with a limited preferred standpoint like Lyon, or with a nearly unsurpassable one, similar to Milan. This first part of the last 16 will now need to hold up until March sixth and seventh to proceed with the test and search up for the possibility move over to the following stage; yet first the rest of the 8 will meet amongst tomorrow and this Wednesday. All the same, here is a short audit of the principal matches:

February fourteenth - Lyon 1-0 APOEL: these two had their experience at the Stade de Gerland, where the Cypriots appeared to be in inconvenience against Olympique Lyonnais, which commanded amid the entire amusement. In spite of the fact that Les Gones still have a higher UEFA coefficient than APOEL, the Cypriots have been enhancing a considerable measure amid this season and in reality it has turned into the principal Cypriot club to come to the round of 16. APOEL's execution has been great amid the opposition however on Tuesday it wasn't sufficient and Alexandre Lacazette saw a possibility in this to put the objective that gave his group the present lead.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 Barcelona FC: at the BayArena were playing the Werkself and the as of late most threatening club in the Champions, Barça, which presently is most of the way into quarterfinals. Amid the primary a large portion of the Germans stood up solid obstructing the Spaniard squad, however at 41' Alexis Sanchez scored his first Champions League objective, giving the prompt guarding champions couple of minutes before the break. In second half Leverkusen respected the guests with an objective from Michal Kadlec, anyway this simply spun the enthusiasm of the guests to battle back and after 3 minutes Sanchez was scoring once more, to then be trailed by Messi at 88'.

February fifteenth - Zenit St. Petersburg 3-2 Benfica: A very late objective from Shirokov broke the tie supporting the Russians. Notwithstanding the brutal low temperature (- 10 C) the two groups completed an awesome activity and kept things very even. The first to score was Maxi Pereira at the 20', however after 7 minutes was trailed by Roman Shirokov's first objective of the day. By the 71st moment an opportunity to score landed for Sergei Semak, yet there was likewise one for the Portuguese Oscar Cardozo at 87' to achieve a draw; anyway a moment following a second objective from Shirokov gave Zenit the lead.

Milan 4-0 Arsenal: the harshest of the outcomes from this week has been the 4-0 that Milan nailed on Arsenal. The Italians had less ownership of the ball than the Gunners, however that didn't have any effect, at last the 53% of ball ownership that Arsenal had didn't implied anything. Kevin-Prince Boateng got in the score sheet at 15', trailed by Robinho scoring once on every half (38', 49') and to close the overwhelming thrashing a punishment was put by Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his comrade, Djourou, thumped him over.

Camilla Mancini is a standout amongst the most qualified duplicate scholars on Sports Betting and presently composes for Instant Action Sports. Don't hesitate to republish this article completely on your site, make a point to leave all connections set up and don't adjust any of the substance.

UEFA Champions League Group Stages Final Games Review

The UEFA Champions League achieved the last phases of the Group round this week with the simply the last gathering positions to be chosen. Which groups would make up the last 16 and proceed onward to the emotional thump phases of the opposition, which will continue in February one year from now? Which groups would top their gatherings and in this way potential pick up a less demanding draw? Different issues to be chosen were which encourage 8 groups would gain the reassurance of a ticket into the UEFA Cup and which remaining 8 groups would complete base and say farewell to all European football this season.

We begin our audit the responses to these inquiries on Tuesday night and with the fight to top Group D. The crown jewels at long last went to Liverpool who moved above Atletico Madrid. Liverpool handled a marginally under quality side against PSV Eindhoven, resting chief Steven Gerrard and with striker Fernando Torres still not completely fit. However the previous Champions still dealt with an amazing 3 - 1 away win regardless of going an objective down. PSV then again are one of the eight groups that are presently completely dispensed with from European in the wake of completing base of the gathering.

The opening objective from PSV was scored by Danko Lazovic objective which originated from a corner that ought to never have been given. The ball unmistakably contacted a PSV player last just for the Russian linesman, standing a matter of yards away, to grant a corner to the aggregate mistrust of everybody. The choice completely angered Liverpool administrator Rafa Benitez, and he was thusly addressed by the arbitrator.

Luckily for Liverpool, the objective did not have an enduring bearing on the amusement. Ryan Babel conveyed the score to 1 - 1 with a header in first half damage time. At that point in the second a large portion of, Liverpool's Spanish winger Albert Riera, scored with a totally splendid strike from 25 yards. The 5 times champions were in complete control and youth David Ngog fixed the win, with his first senior objective for the club. That all implied that Atletico Madrid needed to, in any event equivalent, or better Liverpool's outcome to complete best of the gathering. Shockingly, they could deal with a 0-0 attract away to Marseille. The draw was adequate for Marseille to guarantee third position and with it a place in the UEFA Cup.

Gathering D FINAL POSITIONS

1 Liverpool 14 pts

2 Atletico Madrid 12 pts

3 Marseille 4 pts

4 PSV 3 pts

In Group An it was the Italian group Roma who at long last asserted the main position beating French side Borbeaux 2-0. Therefore the French side completed base of the gathering and were thumped out of Europe out and out. It was Roma's Brighi who opened in a low cross from Perrotta that broke the gridlock soon after the hour check. At that point Francesco Totti terminated in from the edge of the case to anchor the win and best spot.

In the interim, Chelsea invited back their Ivorian striker Didier Drogba, yet just as a substitute. Despite the fact that they won their amusement 2-1, because of Drogba's triumphant objective, generally speaking Chelsea didn't look excessively persuading against the unfancied Rumanian side Cluj.

Scolari's Chelsea needed to win to anchor their section to the last 16 and it was left to the magic Drogba to fall off the seat and seal the win with a great wrap up. This win for the Blues implies both Spain and England will have four groups in the last 16 of The Champions League. This is the first run through two countries have accomplished the accomplishment in a similar season.

Gathering A FINAL POSITIONS

1 Roma 12 pts

2 Chelsea 11 pts

3 Bordeaux 7 pts

4 CFR Cluj 4 pts

In Group B there was a somewhat astounding completing position for Inter Milan and chief Jose Mourinho. They needed to agree to second place behind the Greek side Panathinaikos. The Greeks beat the Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta 1 - 0 while German's Werder Bremen beat Inter Milan 2-1. The outcome anchoring Bremen with a place in the UEFA Cup.

It was a dull and inauspicious first half in Germany yet Claudio Pizarro put Bremen ahead then Markus Rosenberg made it 2-0. Entomb pulled an objective back through Zlatan Ibrahimovic who began the diversion on the seat. He nestled into awesome 25-yard shot however it ended up being just an encouragement. The outcome implied Werder Bremen clutched seal a place in the Uefa Cup.

The Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, who have shocked me a little in this current season's opposition, their first, really came into this last amusement against Panathinaikos with a shot of advancing to the last 16. Tragically, they couldn't satisfy the tremendous desire and didn't endure to the UEFA Cup because of Bremen's win.

Gathering B FINAL POSITIONS

1 Panathinaikos 10 pts

2 Inter Milan 8 pts

3 Werder Bremen 7 pts

4 Anorthosis 6 pts

The last standings in Group C had just been settled before commence on Tuesday evening. It was in this manner no extraordinary astonishment that, before a fairly void Camp Nou, first-put Barcelona handled a to some degree debilitated side. The choice saw Barca lose their 20-coordinate unbeaten kept running by losing 2 - 3 to Shakhtar Donetsk, who wind up in the UEFA Cup.

Swiss group Basle finished a hopeless European crusade with a single point after they were crushed 1-0 at Sporting Lisbon. Donning, who won on account of Yannick Djalo's first-half objective, completed second in the gathering behind Barcelona on 12 focuses.

Gathering C FINAL POSITIONS

1 Barcelona 13 pts

2 Sporting Lisbon 12 pts

3 Shakhtar Donetsk 9 pts

4 Basle 1 pt

On Wednesday evening, Group E saw Manchester United, rather shockingly, held to a 2-2 draw by Aalborg at Old Trafford. Be that as it may, it didn't prevent the momentum champions from completing best of their gathering as Celtic oversaw secure their first triumph in this current season's opposition by beating Villareal 2 - 0 at Park Head.

Utd's Argentine striker Carlos Tevez opened the scoring after only three minutes and Aalborg more likely than not dreaded the most exceedingly terrible however shockingly, they leveled when Michael Jakobsen headed home. Far better was to come anyway as Jeppe Curth's header ideal on the stroke of half-time gave Aalborg, what must be depicted as a stun lead. It was England striker Wayne Rooney who spared Man Utd's reddens when he delivered a trademark intense wrap up.

Villarreal had obviously been trusting against the chances that Man United would by one means or another mistake against Aalberg so they could complete best of the gathering, anyway they neglected to convey their finish of the deal losing their diversion as Gordon Strachan's Celtic at last delivered a win in this present season's crusade. Shockingly, the win was too little to late for the Glasgow side who are currently out of Europe out and out. No insolence to Aalberg however I wouldn't have put any cash on them completing anyplace else other than base of the gathering when the step was made back in the mid year.

Gathering E FINAL POSITIONS

1 Man Utd 10 pts

2 Villarreal 9 pts

3 Aalborg 6 pts

4 Celtic 5 pts

The German goliaths Bayern Munich completed Group F in the lead position after a decent 3-2 away win at French heroes Lyon. The outcome implies Lyon needed to content with completing second.

German forward Miroslav Klose place Bayern in front before Luca Toni set up Ribery for their second. Ribery at that point turned supplier for Klose as Lyon went to pieces. Lyon battled back however with Govou pulling an objective back Karim Benzema included a second. Yet, they could draw level and Bayern clung onto their triumph. In the gathering's other amusement Alberto Gilardino headed in the main objective to give Fiorentina triumph over Steaua Bucharest and with it a place in the Uefa Cup. Steaua then again completed the gathering absolute bottom closure their crusade with a lone point.

Gilardino headed into the far right half of the net after a corner from Juan Manuel Vargas before Steaua were diminished to 10 men when Pawel Golanski was sent off in the 72nd moment for a second yellow card.

Gathering F FINAL POSITIONS

1Bayern Munich 14 pts

2 Lyon 11 pts

3 Fiorentina 6 pts

4 Steaua Bucharest 1 pt

It was an awful night for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal as they neglected to accomplish the attract they expected to see them complete best of their gathering. Wenger, as he regularly does, conveyed a youthful side however they offered little opposition and were defeated by Porto, who proceeded to win 2-0 and with it jumped over the Gunners to top the gathering.

Porto's objectives originated from Bruno Alves who headed the 2004 victors into the lead before Lisandro Lopez multiplied the lead with a cool wrap up. In the gathering's other amusement, Roman Eremenko scored a first-half objective that gave Dynamo Kiev a 1-0 prevail upon Turkish side Fenerbahce and with it saw them assert the final place in the Uefa Cup.

The midfielder gathered Artem Milevskiy's turn around go from the left and struck an exact left-footed shot that went between the legs of the goalkeeper.

Gathering G FINAL POSITIONS

1 Porto 12 pts

2 Arsenal 11 pts

3 Dynamo Kiev 8 pts

4 Fenerbahce 2 pts

The last 16 groups have been chosen for this present season's UEFA Champions League. The draw for the thump out stages happens on the nineteenth December and they way the gathering standings have worked out, it will undoubtedly hurl some extremely fascinating connections to anticipate.

Rik Talavera, is The Soccer Blogger. An enthusiastic soccer fan, Rik has taken after the amusement his entire life and has a broad information of all the significant alliances, groups and players.

Champions League Final 2006: Arsenal FC (1) - FC Barcelona (?)

Is the part of the ref constrained to judging the two groups as indicated by the principles or would he say he is simply one more player, a few minutes playing with one group and the following minute with the other? The impact of the ref appears to be huge.

Envision that a player is moving toward the objective and the objective guardian leaves this very objective. The player passes the attendant however perceiving his thrashing, the manager gets the foot of a similar player. In any case, at that point;

The player, Eto'o from Barcelona, figures out how to kick the ball to Giuly who denotes an objective. 0 - 1?

The arbitrator, anyway drops this objective, draws a red card from his pocket and exhibits it to the guardian of Arsenal. Red, ten players left, yet at the same time the objective is dropped. A wrong choice? Manage number one: in the event of favorable position the diversion proceeds.

After this, the ball ownership of Barcelona keeps on expanding, yet they neglect to check the equalizer. Before completion the principal half, Campbell from Arsenal heads the ball fantastically into the objective Barcelona. 1 - 0. The main half closures.

The Second half.

This time it is Henry from Arsenal who erroneously gets yellow. Arms stockpile on ease, Barcelona in tension.

Furthermore, it is down-pouring.

And after that, a we as a whole imagine that Barcelona loses pace and Arsenal keeps on overwhelming the amusement. At that point, exactly when a similar Arsenal if bringing down pace, envisioning that the triumph is inside reach - the goalkeeper gets yellow for holding up the diversion - it is Eto'o from Barcelona who balances the amusement. 1 - 1.

Furthermore, soon after Belletti marks a second objective and with just ten minutes to go, Barcelona moves in course of the glass. 1 - 2.

Three minutes are added to the diversion, however it won't encourage Arsenal.

This one is for Barcelona. Well done folks! Holiday...

Hans Bool is the originator of Astor White a customary

Champions League Final 2008 - Manchester Utd V Chelsea

The Luzhniki stadium in Moscow played host to the 2008 Champions League last between two English Premier League Teams, Chelsea and Manchester Utd. The two groups knew each other well and both needed more than anything to win the Cup.

It began well for Man Utd when Christiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a header in the 26th moment, bouncing above Michael Essien to meet Wes Brown's cross. Minutes late Chelsea were about on level terms when Man Utd goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar needed to paw away a header from his own particular safeguard, Rio Ferdinand. Petr Cech denied United a second objective in the 34th moment with a fine twofold spare from shots by Rooney and Carrick. In the 45th moment, Chelsea's Michael Essien took a theoretical shot that diverted off Vidic and Ferdinand in to the way of Frank Lampard who opened the ball flawlessly in to the net. Chelsea were back in the diversion.

Amid the following 45 minutes the two groups had opportunities to win. Didier Drogba hit the post from a privilege footed shot from 25 yards toward one side while John Terry cleaned up the line from a Ryan Giggs shot.

In additional time the diversion saw couple of genuine possibilities and the amusement turned revolting. Didier Drogba was sent off for slapping Vidic and Chelsea players felt Tevez had been unsporting in not restoring the ball after a break in the amusement for damage.

Additional time completed and the diversion went to punishments. Tevez and Carrick scored for Utd as did Ballack and Belletti for Chelsea. Ronaldo tried which Cech spared. Lampard scored for Chelsea. Hargreaves for Utd. Ashley Cole hit the back of the newt to take Chelsea to the skirt of triumph. Nani scored to give Utd trust. John Terry ventures up for Chelsea and misses! The strain is presently unendurable, Anderson and Kalou both score, now it's dependent upon Anelka, yet the weight is excessively and Van der Sar palms the ball away - Manchester United are delegated rulers of Europe!

FIFA Worldcup 2010 in Africa

The World Cup 2010 is approaching and will be the greatest occasion in Europe.When it comes to wagering you can depends on Ladbrokes, the UK's greatest games wagering site. Since Foot Ball is the world's greatest and the most watched occasion the world over and we Ladbrokes knows how imperative World Cup is. Occasion with such an extensive amount significance, Land merchants know data, tips,updates, world container wagering chances and payout accessible for you.

South Africa will have this incredible occasion of the FIFA World Cup 2010 and it will be the Mecca of all games occasions. The competition will be held through the span of a month from June eleventh to July eleventh. You'll have 10 opportunities to win huge through world container wagering.

South Africa will be one of the thirty-two going after football's most desired prize, the Jules Rimet Trophy!

At this moment, the qualifiers are occurring between in excess of 200 countries planning to get their opportunity to play in the finals. After this stage is complete,the 200 countries qualifying are separated into 6 gatherings:

- Africa

- Asia

- Europe

- South America

- North, Central America and Caribbean

- Oceania

Ladbrokes offers you free wager offers for these 6 bunches are then separated into different territorial gatherings and will go up against each other for the best seed and sprinter up in each gathering. This procedure will rehash itself until the required number of groups per division is met so as to contend in the last stage for the title.

All wagers on FIFA 2010 right currently tend to support the conspicuous decisions, for example, guarding champions and 3-time victors, Italy and also 7-time champions and run of the mill World Cup wagering most loved Brazil. Whomever it is, one thing is without a doubt, it will energize watch and wager on world container.

The distinctive settings for the FIFA are:-

- Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg

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So you have 10 opportunity to wager on FIFA.

History of the World Cup

The World Cup is the chief global football title, composed at regular intervals by the International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA. Despite the fact that FIFA was established in Paris in 1904, the principal World Cup was not held until 1930. FIFA's first forerunner to the occasion was a global competition held in 1906, however around then, FIFA's enrollment was all European. It would not grow to different landmasses until after 1909. The First World War demonstrated a noteworthy hindrance to both FIFA and any endeavors to compose future global football occasions, as the greater part of the participation were belligerents. Be that as it may, FIFA became associated with sorting out Olympic football occasions amid this period, which extraordinarily prodded energy towards a non-beginner competition.

The principal World Cup was held in Uruguay, as they were the two-time victors of FIFA's latest endeavors at global competitions. Thirteen nations sent groups, with Uruguay crushing Argentina 4-2 in the last. The early competitions of the 1930s were tormented by issues coming from universal travel: group from the Western Hemisphere were to a great extent unwilling to movement to Europe for the competition, and the other way around. In spite of these challenges, the World Cup quickly came to eclipse Olympic football as the chief football occasion in universal rivalry.

The Second World War intruded on World Cup football once more, with the competitions of 1942 and 1946 being dropped. The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was in this way essential for two reasons: it was the primary Cup to be held since 1938, and it included the arrival of the groups from the United Kingdom and Uruguay, both of which had been boycotting FIFA occasions for a considerable length of time. Uruguay beat Brazil in a really popular match known as the Maracanazo. Competition finals have been held like clockwork since 1950. The competition has since extended from 16 spaces to 24, lastly to 32. The development of the competition speaks to both the development of footballs universal fame, and additionally the distinction and notoriety of the tournement as football's head occasion.