Eight more games today to complete Champions League Matchday 5. Like yesterday, one early kickoff (at 18:30CET = 12:30pmET), due to the fact that the game is in Russia (København at Rubin Kazan); followed by seven games kicking off at the usual time (20:45CET = 2:45pmET). Viewing options in the US: all of them available on DirectTV; three televised live on FSC/FSP/FSE (with some replays later in the day; check soccertvlisting.com; and seven of them available for streaming via foxsoccer.tv:
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Schedule
Matchday 5.1: Fixtures & US Television Listings
Eight Champions League games taking place today for Matchday 5.1 (see here for all 16 Matchday 5 fixtures as well as group standings). One early game, Olympique Marseille at Spartak Moskva, starts at 12:30pm ET (18:30 CET), since it takes place so far east, in a different timezone from the rest; the other seven games kick off at 2:45pm ET (20:45 CET).
Of the eight games, four will be broadcast live on the various Fox Sports channels; seven are available on DirectTV; and seven will be streamed on foxsoccer.tv (requires a subscription):
Schedule
Everything You Need Going Into UEFA Champions League Matchday 5: Fixtures & Group Standings
Matchday 5! Eight games today (2 each in Groups E-H) and eight more tomorrow (Groups A-D). The end of the Group stage is fast approaching: Matchday 6 is in two weeks, Dec 7-8, at which point the top two in each Group advance to the Knockout phase (which doesn’t begin until mid-Feb).
With that in mind, we give you not only this week’s fixtures, but also all the current group standings–and we take a quick look at how things are shaping up for which clubs will likely advance out of each group. If you haven’t been paying sufficient attention over the past couple months/four Matchdays, here’s your chance to catch up:
(Note: as usual, we have pulled the list of fixtures–and here the group standings–from UEFA.com, with links preserved to club, group, and match pages–click through any of the links below for news, previous results, lineups, etc.)
CommentaryNewsTable
Top of the Table: Is Anyone Actually Going to Win the Premier League?
[Editor’s note: Here’s the inaugural edition of something we’d like to make a semi-regular feature: a look at the top of the table. Here we look (once again) at the Premier League table, but we plan to check in on other tables around the world over the course of the season.]
Someone eventually has to win the Premier League title–but from recent results, it’s hard to figure out who. Here’s the top of the table as of today–it’s virtually certain to be one of these teams that ends up on top at the end:
1 Chelsea 14 9 1 4 28 9 19 28 2 Manchester United 14 7 7 0 28 15 13 28 3 Arsenal 14 8 2 4 28 15 13 26 4 Manchester City 14 7 4 3 19 11 8 25 5 Bolton Wanderers 14 5 7 2 26 20 6 22 6 Tottenham Hotspur 14 6 4 4 21 19 2 22
But alas none of the top contenders have been especially impressive:
Chelsea lost again over the weekend, this time to lowly Birmingham–their third loss in four weeks, following losses at Liverpool and at home to Sunderland. And the latest loss came days after unceremoniously dumping their assistant manager; whether or not it contributed to the latest loss, it has precipitated close to a full-blown crisis at Stamford Bridge, with manager Carlos Ancelotti saying “I am not in control at Chelsea.”
Man City had been the team in crisis-mode over the past month, with their home fans booing a scoreless draws against Man U and Birmingham–until they broke out of their doldrums this past weekend in a big way, with a 4-1 thrashing of Fulham. Following which, Fulham’s manager (and Man City’s former manager–and Man U legend), the “super classy” Mark Hughes, said Man City are still in the hunt: “On their performance today certainly they’re contenders. They were excellent. If they have belief and there’s some forward thinking, and maybe they’re a bit more attack-minded as they were today on more occasions, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be. They’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”
Arsenal had been cautiously mentioned by commentators and supporters over the past few weeks–that this could be year they finally reclaim the title. But that was before the 2nd half of Saturday’s North London Derby.
Man U? Somewhat surprisingly, still undefeated–but hardly dominating, with a record of 7 wins and 7 draws. And let’s not forget they had been the team in crisis not too long ago; in fact, young Mr. Rooney returned to the pitch this past weekend.
Rounding out the top of the table, tied with 22 points apiece, are the victors of that North London derby, Spurs–whose manager thinks they’ve got a shot at the crown; and Bolton (not sure who thinks they have a legitimate shot at the title). But who knows, the way things are going…
In fact, the situation can be best summarized by Uncle Harry’s comments referenced above:
This is the best chance anyone is going to get, this season. The league has never been more open. Sunderland go to Chelsea last weekend and win 3-0, Manchester United were losing by two goals at Aston Villa until late on. It’s wide open for somebody who can put a run together. It’s there for someone to have a real go at it. Why be fearful and say ‘we can’t win it’. Why can’t we win it?
CommentarySchedule
What to Watch This Weekend (Nov 20-22)
We’re back with our picks for the weekend–as usual, culled from the SoccerInsider’s comprehensive listing of matches being televised in the US this weekend (all times ET):
Saturday (Nov 20)
England, Spurs-Arsenal 7:30 a.m. ESPN2, ESPN Deportes: an early kickoff the match of the weekend te heated North London derby! Check what our resident Spurs and Arsenal supporters had to say about this one, here and here.
Spain, Valencia-Villarreal noon ESPN Deportes: 3rd and 4th in the La Liga table–cf. Sid Lowe’s column devoted to Villareal after their match v Hercules a few weeks ago.
Netherlands, Ajax-PSV Eindhoven 2:45p.m. ESPN3.com: We usually don’t include streaming-only matches, but will make an exception for this battle of Dutch heavyweights. If you’re only going to watch one Eredivisie matchup all season, might as well be this game. Via FIFA’s “Classic Rivalries” feature:
While older Ajax fans may always view Feyenoord as their arch-rivals, younger supporters have just as much deep-seated rivalry with PSV, who represent not just thoroughbred sporting adversaries but advocates of another philosophy of how the game should be played. True heavyweights of the Dutch footballing landscape, PSV have fully earned the right to be considered Klassieker opponents.
[…]
Since 2000, PSV have won the league on seven occasions, putting together a run of four consecutive titles between 2005 and 2008, including a 2007 triumph that went down to the final moments in the last round of games. That run of success has not gone down particularly well at the Arena, where a series of coaches have come and gone without being able to shift the spotlight back on to Ajax. Instead, their arch-rivals have taken over as the team most successful at defending Dutch colours in Europe, having reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2005.
Indeed, it’s shaping up that way again: PSV is atop the table, while Ajax is chasing them, currently in 3rd place (with Twente in between).
Spain, Real Madrid-Bilbao 4 p.m. GolTV: Will Madrid keep rolling towards El Clasico? (Which is a week from Monday btw…yes Monday, due to some Catalonia election over that weekend) Bilbao is one of the handful of teams in the middle of the table (they’re currently 8th) that are battling to finish 3rd. Bilbao do have a dangerous striker up front in 6’5” Fernando Llorente (the Lion King, apparently: “Un ‘Rey Leon’ en el area“)–he and Capdevila of Villareal are just about the only La Liga players who are not on Barcelona or Real Madrid that are getting playing time on the nat’l team.
Germany, Bayern Munich-Bayer Leverkusen 6 p.m. ESPN Deportes: A good Bundesliga rivalry, with Munich 6th in the table, recovering from a poor start, while Leverkusen is 2nd (chasing Borussia Dortmund). Leverkusen’s fans have been confidently looking forward to taking on Munich, according to this:
The Beatles’ most oompaloompaish tune has long been staple terrace fare in the Bundesliga but it was still surprising to hear the old chestnut on Saturday at the Millerntor. Bayer Leverkusen were beating St Pauli 1‑0 when the visiting supporters started chanting that slightly rejigged, teutonified version of “Yellow Submarine”.
“Zieht den Bayern die Lederhosen aus” (take away Bayern’s lederhosen), went the ever-popular cry.
Sunday (Nov 21)
England, Fulham-Manchester City 11 a.m. FSC: Dempsey seems to be playing very well, if he is a bit dim. As for Man City, clearly Mancini should be feeling the heat for the style of play, even as they remain fourth in the table. They fired Hughes last year when he was spot on the benchmarks they set for him. Honestly, it is hard watching them play at times with no wide players and three holding midfielders.
MLS Cup, Colorado-Dallas 8:30 p.m. ESPN, Galavision Live from Toronto. We’re sure to dip in and make a comment before kickoff.
Monday
England, Everton-Sunderland 3 p.m. ESPN Deportes: How will Sunderland follow up that crushing of Chelsea? Will we see Gyan score again–so that we can see him dance again? And if so, WWBD (what will Bolo do)?
Video
Brasil v Argentina Amistoso Internacional – Melhores Momentos [video]
That is to say, the “best moments” from Wednedsay’s international friendly between Brazil and Argentina in Doha, Qatar. Though aside from Messi’s winning goal in extra time–and Dani Alves’s half-volley in the first half which rocketed off the crossbar–there really aren’t all that many best moments. Take a look:
Commentary
Club & Country: A Look at the Compositions of Eight National Squads
While watching bits and pieces of the four international friendlies that were televised here in the US yesterday afternoon (Argentina defeating Brazil 1-0 in Doha, USA beating South Africa 1-0 in Cape Town, France over England 2-0 in Wembley, and Portugal embarrassing Spain 4-0 in Lisbon), we got to thinking about the compositions of these squads: how many of the players on each national team play for domestic clubs, versus clubs abroad?
A couple different things led us to this question: looking thru the USMNT squad for this match, which seemed to us surprisingly MLS-heavy, and studying this guide to the current Seleção, which also seemed to have a larger-than-expected domestic contingent.
So we thought it might be interesting to take a quick look at the data for these eight national teams. According to the Current Squad lists pulled from Wikipedia (and reproduced for reference below, after the bump), here are the numbers–the percentage of each squad that is currently playing club ball domestically:
Argentina: 0% (0/21)
Brazil: 40% (8/20)
England: 96% (26/27)
France: 65% (15/23)
Portugal: 28% (5/18)
Spain: 82% (18/22)
South Africa: 61% (14/23)
USA: 56% (10/18)
Some observations:
It is remarkable that Argentina brought called up no domestically based players for this match–though they did take a handful to the World Cup. Somewhat ironically, one Argentine plays for a Brazilian club; the other 20 are scattered in various European leagues (multiple players in Spain, Portugal, and Italy; a single player in each of Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England and Russia)
40% does seem like a surprisingly high number for Brazil–though that’s skewed by the fact that all 3 goalkeepers play domestically.
That England didn’t achieve total purity/insularity is a bit of a fluke: that single outlier (Jay Bothroyd) doesn’t lie that far outside England (Wales), and wouldn’t have gotten his first (and probably last) call-up to the national team had Rooney, Bent and Dafoe not been out with injuries.
That nearly 2/3 of France’s squad play for French clubs is somewhat surprising–perhaps because one tends to focus on the players that play abroad for “big” clubs (Nasri, Clichy, and Sagna for Arsenal; Malouda for Chelsea, Kaboul for Spurs, Abidal for Barcelona, Benzema for Real Madrid).
The four outliers on the Spanish squad are all in England (Reina, Torres, Fabregas, Silva). Not only is Spain’s squad pulled mostly from La Liga–it’s pulled mostly from Barcelona (8 players) and Real Madrid (5), with only two other clubs even represented: Villareal (3) and Athletic Bilbao (2).
Of the nine members of Bafana Bafana that play outside South Africa, four are in England, three are in Belgium, one is in Holland–and two are in Israel.
Schedule
A Full Slate of International Friendlies
Wednesday brings a number of full slate of international friendlies–some 20 matches, taking place all over the globe. See here for the full list of fixtures–for those of us in the US a few the most attractive matchups will be broadcast live:
Brazil-Argentina (12pmET on ESPN2 & ESPN Deportes; tape at 10pmET on ESPN Deportes): The big one of the day! The South American rivals meet in a neutral location–Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
South Africa-USA (2pmET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes & Galavision): The USMNT returns to South Africa to face the World Cup hosts in Cape Town.
England-France (3pmET Fox Soccer Channel): live from Wembley!
Portugal-Spain (4pmET on ESPN Deportes; tape at 8pmET on ESPN Deportes): The World Cup champions will travel to Estadio do Luz in Lisbon to meet their Iberian rivals.
Except for the England-France match, the above matches plus a handful more will be streamed on ESPN3.com; check the SoccerInsider’s rundown here.