Any Partizan Belgrade fans expecting an easy passge through to the Europa League group stages could be in for quiet a surprise next week. Shamrock Rovers are now the counties only team left in European competition but with that comes the possibility for an Irish side in a group stage of a European competion for the first time.
Shamrock Rovers are proberly the best euipped side to break into a group stage be it the champions league or Europa League but judging by their exit from the champions league to Danish runaway title winners FC Kobenhavn there is more work to be done.
The day of seeing Irish clubs in the group stages are coming of that there is no doubt. Our record in Europe in the past eight years shows significent progress.
Partizan Belgrade are the side that stand in the way from seeing that dream this season. Partizan are current Serbian champions and did play in the Champions league group stages last season. Like all Serbian sides, Partizan have lost their key players from that campaign, stand out name Cléo is now in China. Partizan also played in the group stage of the Europa League the season previously and they were extremely poor. Serbian sides since the breakup of the Yugoslavia simply are not the same as before 1991. Rovers could fancy their chances in this tie and if I am being honest I would give Rovers a strong chance of upseting the odds against their Serbian counterparts.
All the pressure will be on Partizan. Not easy when they set the standard fro Serbian sides last season with their group stage status in the champions league last season. Of course Partizan have quality players such as Sasa Ilic, Laime Diarra and Aleksandar Rankovic, but Rovers have a good crop of players themselves in Gary Twigg, Billy Dennehy and Conor McCormack.
Not matter what happens Rovers will look back on this European adventure with pride because they had a strong first half performance against FC Kobenhavn and a repeat of that showing will upset Partizan.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Both Spain's big guns lose on the same day
Not since August 2008 have both Barcelona and Real Madrid lost league games on the same day. However on the final day of April 2011 they repeated the feat with both sides going down to sides fighting relegation.
Real Madrid's defeat was particularly interesting since it was only José Mourinho's 3rd home defeat in the past nine years. Their opponents Real Zaragoza came into the game just a point above the La Liga trapdoor and were in desperate need for a victory. Javier Aguirre's side came to Madrid today to defend and limit Real space. However for all the possession Real found themselves with, it was Zaragoza who struck first just before half-time when a mix-up in defense between Pepe and Iker Casillas allowed Uché to square to Ángel Lafita who rolled the ball into the open net.
Lafita was involved for the next goal as he drew Ricardo Carvalho into fouling him in the area and as a result Gabi converted the spot kick. Sergio Ramos heaed a goal back for Real soon after but Zaragoza struck for a third when the vision of Uche put Lafita through on goal one-on-one with Casillas and finished cooly despite Marcelo's best efforts to keep his shot out. Despite Karim Benzema's strike shortly afterwards, Aguirre's men held on for a vital three points.
Barcelona:
Barcelona were beaten but like Madrid made changes to the El Clásico clash in midweek. However it was Barcelona who took the lead after Xavi with the help of Messi found Thiago Alcantara who finished impressively over Claudio Bravo. Real Sociedad rallied htough and found an equiliser through Diego Ifran struck on a loose ball in the Barca box. Javier Masherano bought down Antoine Griezmann in the box which resulted in a penalty which was just about converted by Xabier Prieto despite the best efforts of José Pinto.
Real Madrid's defeat was particularly interesting since it was only José Mourinho's 3rd home defeat in the past nine years. Their opponents Real Zaragoza came into the game just a point above the La Liga trapdoor and were in desperate need for a victory. Javier Aguirre's side came to Madrid today to defend and limit Real space. However for all the possession Real found themselves with, it was Zaragoza who struck first just before half-time when a mix-up in defense between Pepe and Iker Casillas allowed Uché to square to Ángel Lafita who rolled the ball into the open net.
Lafita was involved for the next goal as he drew Ricardo Carvalho into fouling him in the area and as a result Gabi converted the spot kick. Sergio Ramos heaed a goal back for Real soon after but Zaragoza struck for a third when the vision of Uche put Lafita through on goal one-on-one with Casillas and finished cooly despite Marcelo's best efforts to keep his shot out. Despite Karim Benzema's strike shortly afterwards, Aguirre's men held on for a vital three points.
Barcelona:
Barcelona were beaten but like Madrid made changes to the El Clásico clash in midweek. However it was Barcelona who took the lead after Xavi with the help of Messi found Thiago Alcantara who finished impressively over Claudio Bravo. Real Sociedad rallied htough and found an equiliser through Diego Ifran struck on a loose ball in the Barca box. Javier Masherano bought down Antoine Griezmann in the box which resulted in a penalty which was just about converted by Xabier Prieto despite the best efforts of José Pinto.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Turkish Super Lig
The Super Lig resumes at the end of the month and for the sides it is about getting to the targets. Obviously for the likes of Besiktas, Bursaspor and Fenerbahce those targets will be catching Trabzonspor at the top of the table. With Bursaspor out of Europe they are able to concentrate on domestic matters while Fener need to improve their home form if they are to catch Trabzonspor.
Trabzonspor however will be hard to catch especially if they keep up the performance they showed against Schalke last night. The key man has been the front two of Buruk Yilmaz and Umit Bulut. Gustavo Colman has been good when playing and Jájá Coelho has popped up with some crucial goals. Onur Krivak though remains the key in goal. The future star will be needed even more in the 2nd half of the season.
Kayserispor have showed over the past few years that they are indeed an emerging side. Consistantcy though remaisn the key for them. They do well against the big sides but do get the odd freak result. Goals however do remain a problem. Kayserispor do need a 20 goal season striker if they are to have hopes of landing a title in the future. Shota Arveladze though is doing a fine job.
Karabukspor deserve a big mention as the newly promoted side continue tod defy the odds. Nigerian Emmanuel Emenike is the star man for the surprise package. His twelve goals so far have put him on the radar of the bigger sides while Hakan Ozmert is 'El Commandante'.
Galatasaray though have been really poor this season. They have suffered shock results and despite signing Necati ates, Juan Culio and Kazim Kazim it does remain to be seen if they can propel themselves into a European spot.
Trabzonspor however will be hard to catch especially if they keep up the performance they showed against Schalke last night. The key man has been the front two of Buruk Yilmaz and Umit Bulut. Gustavo Colman has been good when playing and Jájá Coelho has popped up with some crucial goals. Onur Krivak though remains the key in goal. The future star will be needed even more in the 2nd half of the season.
Kayserispor have showed over the past few years that they are indeed an emerging side. Consistantcy though remaisn the key for them. They do well against the big sides but do get the odd freak result. Goals however do remain a problem. Kayserispor do need a 20 goal season striker if they are to have hopes of landing a title in the future. Shota Arveladze though is doing a fine job.
Karabukspor deserve a big mention as the newly promoted side continue tod defy the odds. Nigerian Emmanuel Emenike is the star man for the surprise package. His twelve goals so far have put him on the radar of the bigger sides while Hakan Ozmert is 'El Commandante'.
Galatasaray though have been really poor this season. They have suffered shock results and despite signing Necati ates, Juan Culio and Kazim Kazim it does remain to be seen if they can propel themselves into a European spot.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Robbie Keane to MLS?
Robbie Keane to MLS could be a possibility. Afterall he is desperate for first-team football and he could make this shock move across the pond to MLS. Reports in yesterday's papers made out that a number of clubs would be interested in taking the Irish hitman off Tottenham's hands.
Harry Redknapp doesn't have room for Keane at Spurs so Keane is definetly out in January. These rumours of Keane packing up for MLS could true but a move to another side in England or Europe could be a better option as he is only 30-years old and has for arguments sake another three years at the top.
Keane did in fact have the chance to go to Turkey and sign with Besiktas. Keane instead opted to fight for his place which has so far proved frustrating considering he could've been getting great service from Guti, Ricardo Quaresma and Roberto Hilbert at Besiktas.
Of the clubs chasing keen the Vancouver Whitecaps seen very interested. They will be an expansion side in 2011 and are keen on a big name signing. New England Revolution with the massive Irish expat community in Boston could be the club as with Portland Timbers, another expansion side for next season.
Whatever happens, Robbie Keane will be leaving Tottenham in January. To where is the big question.
Harry Redknapp doesn't have room for Keane at Spurs so Keane is definetly out in January. These rumours of Keane packing up for MLS could true but a move to another side in England or Europe could be a better option as he is only 30-years old and has for arguments sake another three years at the top.
Keane did in fact have the chance to go to Turkey and sign with Besiktas. Keane instead opted to fight for his place which has so far proved frustrating considering he could've been getting great service from Guti, Ricardo Quaresma and Roberto Hilbert at Besiktas.
Of the clubs chasing keen the Vancouver Whitecaps seen very interested. They will be an expansion side in 2011 and are keen on a big name signing. New England Revolution with the massive Irish expat community in Boston could be the club as with Portland Timbers, another expansion side for next season.
Whatever happens, Robbie Keane will be leaving Tottenham in January. To where is the big question.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Fenerbahçe 0-0 Galatasaray
0-0 the final score but it was a good game as the biggest derby in Turkey took place at the Sukru Saricoglu. Both sides had loads of chances with the best on the night going to Juan Pablo Pino of Galatasaray. He managed to round Volkan only for his goal-bound shot to be cleared to safety at the last second. Volkan proved to be in fine form and later in the half had to save brilliently from Lucas Neill's goal bound volley.
Fener had chances to with Mahamdou Niang and Miroslav Stoch constent threats on the night. Aykut Ercetin was also in good form tonight as he had to stop wave after wave of attacks. Pino could've had a hat-trick but for Volkan.
Lucas Neill was also lucky not to be shown his marching orders after constent fouling on Niang but the Aussie got away and was key at the back for Gala.
Ayhan Akman was also running the show for Gala in midfield. The experience helped and he also ventured forward from time to time. Emre at the heart of Fener's midfield kept things going for Niang and later Senturk but it just wasn't a day for goals in this game as both sides were defensively good. Milan Baros was missed for Gala. The Czech did manage two last week but was missed up front where Pino cut inside from left to threaten the Fener rearguard.
The draw proberly a fair result but not the result either were wanting with Bursaspor still leading the way at the top of the Super Lig.
Fener had chances to with Mahamdou Niang and Miroslav Stoch constent threats on the night. Aykut Ercetin was also in good form tonight as he had to stop wave after wave of attacks. Pino could've had a hat-trick but for Volkan.
Lucas Neill was also lucky not to be shown his marching orders after constent fouling on Niang but the Aussie got away and was key at the back for Gala.
Ayhan Akman was also running the show for Gala in midfield. The experience helped and he also ventured forward from time to time. Emre at the heart of Fener's midfield kept things going for Niang and later Senturk but it just wasn't a day for goals in this game as both sides were defensively good. Milan Baros was missed for Gala. The Czech did manage two last week but was missed up front where Pino cut inside from left to threaten the Fener rearguard.
The draw proberly a fair result but not the result either were wanting with Bursaspor still leading the way at the top of the Super Lig.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Cork 1-2 Salthill Devon
Cork last night bought the curtain down on their league season at home and it was possibly the worst result possible. To their credit Salthill came down to fight and win and they did that with a late penalty that moves them to within a point of Mervue to avoid the relegation play-off with Cobh next month.
Our promotion hopes evaporated last Friday when Kevin McHugh's strike gave Finn Harps victory in Ballybofey while Waterford United were victorious. The game last night should've been a farewell to the season in front of the home fans with a victory but that was not the case. Instead we had to settle for nothing while the game for us had nothing on it, it still was a chance to end the season on some sort of high.
Our home form this year hasn't been anything to write home about. Seven defeats in total at home did the damage as for promotion.
The first division next season will be though. Drogheda United were relegated from the Premier last night and so they will be our opponents next season will only one of Derry, Monaghan, Shelbourne and Waterford will definetly be going up with the other three playing Galway and Bray. A very though scenario but with the 2010 season behind us now I think it can be classed as a success. We have had a solid year from nothing to a promotion play-off push. 2011 will be a big year but so far it has been quiet good considering the cirmcumstances in March.
Our promotion hopes evaporated last Friday when Kevin McHugh's strike gave Finn Harps victory in Ballybofey while Waterford United were victorious. The game last night should've been a farewell to the season in front of the home fans with a victory but that was not the case. Instead we had to settle for nothing while the game for us had nothing on it, it still was a chance to end the season on some sort of high.
Our home form this year hasn't been anything to write home about. Seven defeats in total at home did the damage as for promotion.
The first division next season will be though. Drogheda United were relegated from the Premier last night and so they will be our opponents next season will only one of Derry, Monaghan, Shelbourne and Waterford will definetly be going up with the other three playing Galway and Bray. A very though scenario but with the 2010 season behind us now I think it can be classed as a success. We have had a solid year from nothing to a promotion play-off push. 2011 will be a big year but so far it has been quiet good considering the cirmcumstances in March.
The big derby tomorrow
Fenerbahce v Galatasaray. The biggest derby in Turkey and if I am being honest proberly the biggest in the world after Real madrid v Barcelona.
So much goes on in this fixture down the years that it often decides the destination of the title every season but in the last two years both sides haven't set the world alight. This season both are out of European football after disasterous qualifying rounds that saw Fener out of both the champions league and Europa League within four weeks. Galatasaray were out after some dodgy displays.
The build up has been good for Fener and they are in a better position than arch-rivals Galatasaray. Frank Rijkaard was sacked during the week as boss of the Ali Sami Yen side after Ankaragucu went to Istanbul and rocked to a 4-2 win. Fenerbahce meanwhile last Monday were 4-1 winners over Konyaspor. Fenerbahce are the form side going into this game.
The makings of a great derby then? possibly. There have been some dour derbies down the years with the cup quarter-final in 2008 being one of them.
A history of sendings off is not surprising and with eleven reds in the last three seasons in both derbies I think we can safely say there could be another few tomorrow night.
Galatasaray haven't beaten Fenerbahce in any fixture since 2008 when a Shabandi Nonda strike gave them a 1-0 win at home. Since that fixture there have been four games with Fener winning three and drawing one.
My verdict is that Fener will win by 3-2 possibly and with a few red cards too to add spice. Whatever happens it is going to be a good derby and who knows maybe Gala will win at the Sukru for the first time since 1999.
So much goes on in this fixture down the years that it often decides the destination of the title every season but in the last two years both sides haven't set the world alight. This season both are out of European football after disasterous qualifying rounds that saw Fener out of both the champions league and Europa League within four weeks. Galatasaray were out after some dodgy displays.
The build up has been good for Fener and they are in a better position than arch-rivals Galatasaray. Frank Rijkaard was sacked during the week as boss of the Ali Sami Yen side after Ankaragucu went to Istanbul and rocked to a 4-2 win. Fenerbahce meanwhile last Monday were 4-1 winners over Konyaspor. Fenerbahce are the form side going into this game.
The makings of a great derby then? possibly. There have been some dour derbies down the years with the cup quarter-final in 2008 being one of them.
A history of sendings off is not surprising and with eleven reds in the last three seasons in both derbies I think we can safely say there could be another few tomorrow night.
Galatasaray haven't beaten Fenerbahce in any fixture since 2008 when a Shabandi Nonda strike gave them a 1-0 win at home. Since that fixture there have been four games with Fener winning three and drawing one.
My verdict is that Fener will win by 3-2 possibly and with a few red cards too to add spice. Whatever happens it is going to be a good derby and who knows maybe Gala will win at the Sukru for the first time since 1999.
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