Champions League Semis: Schalke vs Manchester United Recap (1st Leg)

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Schalke vs Manchester United

I guess I could be right when I said that Manuel Neuer could be the next Van der Sar (also, I didn’t realize he was the captain).  He made a lot of awesome saves, denying Man U’s dangerous scoring attempts from Rooney, Giggs, etal.  He’s probably the main reason the score was still 0-0 by half-time.

for me, Manuel Neuer was the man of the match
photo courtesy of uefa.com

But after 67 minutes of deadlock, Man U finally beat Neuer when Ryan Giggs found the back of the net from a set up by Wayne Rooney.  And two minutes later, Rooney scored another one, this time from a set up from Javier Hernandez.  Well, Neuer held it off for as long as he could.  Schalke’s defense just exposed their keeper one too many times in this match.  I’m surprised that Man U didn’t score more than two.

I was hoping for Schalke to pull off another 5-2 kind of win against the Red Devils.  But Man U’s defense was just pretty solid, neutralizing any attempts from Schalke. 

Jersey swap watch: Saw Raul swap jerseys with Giggs after the match.  Raul had hoped to swap jerseys with Giggs and actually said so prior to the match.  Neuer approached Giggs afterwards, I think he may have asked for a jersey too, but I’m only just guessing, hehe.  This is one of my favourite parts of the game, the minutes after the final whistle blows when players take off their shirts, swap jerseys… I wish the camera/coverage would be a bit longer during this part.

Christoph Metzelder wearing a face mask

On an unrelated note… I’ve been wondering why Christoph Metzelder was wearing a mask when I saw their previous games.   Apparently he broke his nose… for the 4^th time.  Too bad, though, coz without the mask, he’s kinda hot J

Metzelder without the mask.  Isn't he a cutie?

Champions League Semis: Schalke vs Manchester United (1st Leg)

Schalke vs Manchester United (1^st Leg)

April 27 @ 2:30AM 

Champions League QF: Inter Milan vs Schalke Recap (2nd Leg)

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Inter Milan vs Schalke

Raul scores the 1st goal
photo from uefa.com

Raul proves that he still got it, scoring the 1^st goal of the match.  With brilliant ball control, he beat the goalkeeper and netted in his 71^st Champions League goal.  Throughout the match, he posed quite a threat to Inter’s defense and goalie.  He was either making shots or setting them up. 

Inter equalized with a goal from Thiago Motta
photo from uefa.com

Inter's Lucio tried to convert with a header the corner kick from Sneijder.  But the ball deflected onto a Schalke player (sorry, couldn't tell who it was) and Thiago Motta was just in the right place to give the ball a tap to score the equalizer.

Raul sets up Schalke's 2nd goal.  He definitely is still an attacking force to reckon with.
photo from uefa.com

But then Schalke ended any of Inter’s hope of even just trying to salvage some pride from a 5-2 defeat in the 1^st leg when Raul, executed a clever move of chipping the ball forward, giving  Howedes the chance to break away and score their 2^nd goal.

Schalke moves to next round and faces Manchester United.  Speaking of Man U, Sir Alex Ferguson was seen watching the Inter Milan-Schalke game at the stands.  I guess he we sizing up his next opponent.

Champions League QF: Inter Milan vs Schalke Preview (2nd Leg)

Inter Milan vs Schalke (2^nd Leg)

April 14 @ 4:30AM

Inter Milan, will have to work really hard to overturn a 3-point deficit.  With Schalke coming in with 5 away goals from a stunning 1^st Leg win, Inter would really need to score a lot of goals.  But I think It think, other than scoring goals, they should also have to fix their defense problems which was the cause of them conceding 5 goals to Schalke in the last match.  Aren’t Italians known for their very organized defense?  Or was it Germany?

Initially, I was rooting for Inter on this side of the table, but somehow the defending champions, doesn’t seem to be the strong team they were last season.  Now I’m rooting for Schalke, with Raul leading the way to defeat Man U.  And hopefully, face off with Barca in the finals J

Aggregate Score:

Champions League R16: Lyon v Real Madrid Munich Recap (2nd Leg)

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Lyon v Real Madrid
Replay: March 17 @ 9PM

Real Madrid just really dominated this match in their classic Spanish posssession style of football.  They had way more chances than Lyon and we able to convert three of them.  I guess they finally broke the record of never beating Lyon in a match, and it’s a first time since 2004 that they finally reached the Quarterfinals stage.

Cristiano Ronaldo did play after all but was not able to score a goal (I guess I’ll have more chances to see if this is true).

former Real Madrid legend & captain, Raul who is now playing for Schalke

With Schalke also advancing to the next round, I wonder if the two teams will get to play against each other.  This would be a really interesting match, but my money would be on Raul’s Schalke :P

WAGs: Mamen Sanz

Behind every great man, is a woman.  Or so they say.  I have always been fascinated about the women who captured the hearts of football’s greatest players.  So I decided to do a little digging into the women who are collectively called WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends of Football Players).

this Spanish striker is known for kissing his
wedding ring after scoring a goal, as a tribute to his wife

I know, I know… I said I’ll try not to feature WAGs that are models, but when I saw Raul score for Schalke in the 1^st Leg of Champions League's Round of 16 and did his “kissing-of-his-wedding-ring” goal celebration, it made me curious about his wife.  So my next WAG post will be about Raul Gonzales’ other half.

former Queen WAG in Real Madrid

Where Are They Now: Galacticos

When Florentino Perez started his first term as Real Madrid's President in 2000, he created a new policy of signing a galactico (superstar), or the best player in the world at the end of every season, no matter how much money it would take.  This policy began the period in Real Madrid’s history known as the Galacticos Era.

Zidane still has hair! ...but why is his shorts so… short?

Champions League: Round of 16, 1st Leg Results

Results are in.  The first two games of Champions League’s Round of 16 ended with a victory for Tottenham and a draw for Valencia and Schalke.

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Milan v Tottenham

Peter Crouch gives Tottenham a priceless away goal.  The match got a bit interesting when Gattuso lost his cool…



pic courtesy of www.mirrorfootball.co.uk



Here are the game stats:

Milan		Tottenham
0	Goals scored	1
6	Shots on Goal	2
3	on target	6
9	Corners	5
33' 56''	Possession (time)	28' 16''
54	Possession (%)	46
11	Fouls committed	17
3	Yellow cards	0
0	Red cards	0

Goals:

            80^th minute – Peter Crouch (Tottenham)

More here:

Crouch scores as Spurs sink Milan
Redknapp radiant but Milan unbowed
Milan 0 - 1 Tottenham: is for the Spurs the first act
Tottenham shine as Milan turn the San Siro into the Sin Siro

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Valencia v Schalke

I guess Raul can still wreak havoc in Spanish soil as he scored the equalizer for Schalke.



courtesy of http://www.eufa.com/



Here are the game stats:

Valencia		Schalke
1	Goals scored	1
9	Shots on Goal	3
7	on Target	6
5	Corners	7
36' 6''	Possession (time)	20' 56''
63	Possession (%)	37
9	Fouls committed	21
1	Yellow cards	5
0	Red cards	1

Goals:

            17^th minute – Soldado (Valencia)

            64^th minute – Raul Gonzales (Schalke)

More here:

Schalke pay tribute to Raúl, the real deal
Raúl earns Schalke draw at Valencia

Champion's League: Round of 16

1^st leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 starts in a couple of hours.  I can’t really comment on the 16 teams left since I’m way out of touch when it comes to the current status and standing of the football clubs in Europe.  I used to follow the Champions League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundasliga but stopped the year my favorite team, Juventus FC was relegated.  I have just recently revived my interest in European Football.   So I’ll just point you to great links that offer pre-match highlights, team info and match predictions.

AC Milan vs Tottenham

3:30AM on Feb 16 @ Ball’s Channel

If I were to choose between the two teams, I’d go for Inter Milan.  Why?  Two reasons.  One, they were one of my favorite teams, back when I used to follow the Champions League. Second, Filippo Inzhagi.  He was also one of my favorite players back then.  He used to play for Juve, at a time when the club was still at the top of their League.  Anyway, I’m happy to know that he hasn’t retired yet and he’s still in top form as he is the 2^nd top goal scorer in this season’s Champions League, for their club at least. 

Looking at the rest of AC Milan’s line up, it’s good to know that other than Inzhagi, there are some of the players from way back who are still around like Nesta, Zambrotta and Seedorf who are still around.  I was expecting all these new batch of great players.  Other players of note in AC Milan are Robinho, Pirlo and Ibrahimovic.

For Tottenham, players of note are van der Vaart, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe.

More at:

Tottenham turn attentions to other Milan giant 

Tottenham's Rafael Van Der Vaart: We Can Beat Milan In Champions League

Champions League preview: Milan v Tottenham

 

Valencia vs Schalke

5:30AM on Feb 16 @ Ball’s Channel

Not much I can say for both teams yet.  We’ll see how the match ends.  If I were to choose from the two… hhhhmmmmm…. Maybe Valencia?  Although, I do like Raul who is now playing for Schalke (so this is where he went, after leaving Real Madrid.  I love how he celebrates his goal, kissing his wedding ring)

Players to watch for Valencia: David Navarro, Joaquin, Ever Banega, Roberto Soldado

Players to watch for Schalke: Raul, Jefferson Farfan, Jurado, Christoph Metzelder

More at:

Soldado ready to go for Schalke jugular

Champions League Special: Valencia – Schalke Key Personal Battles

Raul wants happy Homecoming

Champions League preview: Valencia v Schalke