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Champions League Matchday 1: Yesterday’s Results, Today’s Fixtures

September 14, 2011 — by Suman

The 2011-2012 Champions League Group Stage is underway, with Matchday 1 halfway done.  Eight matches in the books yesterday, eight more matches coming up later today. See below for yesterday's results--the most surprising that Barcelona and Milan drew in the Camp Nou; below that are today's fixtures with our preview notes (including a preview of Benfica-ManU sent in Jon Novy):   Tues 13 September 2011 - Results Group E: Chelsea 2 - 0 Leverkusen; Genk 0 - 0 Valencia Group F: Olympiacos 0 - 1 Marseille; Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal Group G: Porto 2 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk; APOEL 2 - 1 Zenit Group H: Barcelona 2 - 2 Milan; Plzeň 1 - 1 BATE Wed 14 September 2011 - Fixtures & Notes Group A: This is the proverbial Group of Death.  Every match will be up for grabs, and it's conceivable that any two of these teams could advance. Man. City-Napoli (Stadium: City of Manchester

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CommentaryPreview

Barcelona-Milan: A Matchup of European Giants on Matchday 1

September 13, 2011 — by Suman

There aren't many bigger clubs than Barcelona and AC Milan, so it's quite a pleasant surprise to have them meeting on Matchday 1. Unless there are some serious surprises over the next couple months, they should finish 1-2 in their group--it's hard to imagine either of slipping behind Zenit St. Petersburg or Cyprusians APOEL FC (see our run through today's fixtures for a full account of what APOEL is an acronym for)--so their two matches should be crucial, determining who finishes atop the group and gets the better seed going into the knockout stage (which doesn't start until five months from now, in Februrary). Frankly, though, it will be a quite a surprise if Milan finish with more points than Barcelona.  The latter are, of course, as you've likely been hearing ad nauseum, one of the greatest club sides in the history of the game: two Champions League titles in

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CommentaryPreviewSchedule

Our Quick Champions League Preview: Group Stage Matchday 1

September 13, 2011 — by Suman — 1

Balls Out for the UEFA Champions League
An exciting day--it's the start of the UEFA Champions League group stage! Matchday 1 consists of eight matches today and eight tomorrow, with all 32 teams in action.  Four of the eight groups play their matches today (Groups E, F, G, H), with the other four in action tomorrow.  As usual, all the matches kickoff at 20:45CET (= 2:45pmET for those of us in the US; as the saying goes, check your local listings for TV info). The big one to watch today is defending champion Barcelona hosting Italian Serie A champions AC Milan.  But let's take a quick look at all of today's fixtures: Tues 13 September 2011 Group E: Chelsea-Leverkusen (Stadium: Stamford Bridge, London): The Blues should win at home, despite not being quite settled: seems like they're still adjusting to new manager Andre Villas-Boas, the Fernando Torres

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CommentaryEnglandGermanyPreview

Arsenal Squeak Past Swansea; Tough Germans Await

September 13, 2011 — by Rob Kirby

Arsenal travel to Borussia Dortmund to kick off the Champions League group stage tonight. Facing the German champions after a challenging start to the season and a crucial if somewhat underwhelming 1-0 win at the Emirates against Swansea City on Saturday is a tough task, but that’s the scenario. Of principle importance, the team quadrupled its points total in the league. No use wishing what else might have been.
It's always good to have your own giant German. And a pocket Russian.
The positives: On Saturday, Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta made their first starts at the Emirates and put in solid performances for players who have had close to zero playing time with their teammates. Yossi Benayoun came on as a sub for his first performance in an Arsenal shirt as well. All put in solid shifts and with Ju-Young Park and Andre Santos warming

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PreviewSchedule

What To Watch This Weekend (Sept 10-11): Preparing for Champions League Matchday 1

September 10, 2011 — by Suman

Emma, the star of Borussia Dortmund
There's a lot of soccer to watch this weekend, especially since there will be a lot to watch come Tuesday and Wednesday: the start of the UEFA Champions League, with group stage Matchday 1, meaning 16 matches spread all over the continent. Hence, we highlight domestic league games this weekend featuring teams that qualified for the Champions League, so that you can get ready for Matchday 1 (and do some scouting for your fantasy team--join the CultFootball league!): Germany, Borussia Dortmund-Hertha Berlin 9:30amET (GolTV): Dortmund were the surprise stars of the Bundesliga last season, running away with the title.  They did sell young Turkish-German midfielder Nuri Şahin to Real Madrid, but hung on to 19yo midfielder Mario Götze, despite interest from Bayern Munich and ManU. See our coverage of Die Schwarzgelben in these two match reports from last season.  They're Champions League opener is

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PreviewSchedule

What To Watch This Weekend, Part 1: Friday Sept 9

September 9, 2011 — by Suman

De Silvestri of Lazio vs Pato of Milan at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, 1 Feb 2009. (Photo by New Press/Getty Images)
We've been persusing this weekend's list of televised matches--and we're coming across a lot to recommend. So as we continue whittling down the list for Saturday and Sunday, here are two matches today that you might tune in for. Check back within the next 24hrs for our picks for the rest of the weekend... Friday, Sept 9 Italy, AC Milan-Lazio 2:45pmET (FSC, Fox Deportes, ESPN3.com): It's the belated Serie A season opener--Friday Night Lights at the San Siro! These are two teams that should be near the top of the table throughout. AC Milan picked up another Scudetto last season, while Lazio is looking to improve on their 5th place finish. Plenty of players to watch for on both sides.. Portugal, Porto-Setubal 3:15pmET ESPN3.com: We

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Arsenal’s Word of the Day: Pivotal

August 24, 2011 — by Rob Kirby

Arsene-Wenger-water-bottle.jpg
The French professor..introducing new training techniques to bring Arsenal back from the brink?
Some thoughts from Arsenal observer Rob Kirby ahead of their pivotal Champions League playoff match against Udinese later today: Apparently, the last chance saloon is in Udine, Italy. I always wondered as to the exact location. Despite the fact that it would have scuppered the Man City deal, if Nasri played today it would have made sense both financially and sporting-wise. Arsenal will lose £20 million minimum (some say £25m) in TV revenue if they fail to qualify for the CL. Assuming the Nasri deal is £25m, that justifies hanging onto Nasri to my mind, since we seem to be incapable of finding anyone to replace him, anyway. Any hopes of attracting someone of Eden Hazard's calibre hinges on playing in the European top flight. But all this assumes Nasri's heart would be in it, and

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Commentary

Champions League Qualifying Playoffs – Much More Than Just Arsenal-Udinese

August 23, 2011 — by Suman

Given our Anglocentric view of the footballing world, the pre-group stage UEFA Champions League qualifying playoffs have primarily been about Arsenal's challenging tie against Udinese.  But there's more going on--much much more, including some interesting 2nd leg matches today. Here's the full schedule of today's and tomorrow's fixtures, from UEFA's site.  The matches we'll keeping an eye on are two involving rather "big" clubs from two of the continent's big leagues: Zürich vs Bayern München & Villarreal vs Odense BK.
Will OB sink El Submarino Amarillo?
Bayern won 2-0 last week against the Swiss club (founded, we just learned yesterday, by the same man who went on to found FC Barcelona).  So barring a lopsided upset today in Zürich they should advance to the group stage.  On the other hand, Danish OB (not to be confused with the true Korean beer) surprised the heavily favored Submarino Amarillo 1-0 at home in Odense (the 3rd

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