Vacation is over, it's time to get cracking on this here website again. I had some nice travels to San Francisco and New York, including getting to meet Stephane, super-fan of Belgian club RWDM. Very nice to meet you! I've started the lengthy process of updating all the clubs and leagues to reflect the various promotions, relegations and reorganizations of the offseason. Click to continue reading...

Former Wales international Mark Delaney claims Gareth Barry would be "crazy" not to move to Liverpool.

Delaney, who made 158 appearances for Villa between 1999 and 2007, believes the Champions League represents a career path too good to refuse.

"He has been Villa's best player for the last four or five years and I am surprised it has taken this long for a big club to come along," said the 32-year-old, who was capped 36 times for Wales. Click to continue reading...

With the race for European places hotting up now that clubs have had their final chance to add to their squads, Sven-Goran Eriksson has refused to close the door on any option.

City famously qualified for Europe via the Fair Play route to play in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup and now it's the Intertoto Cup that the Blues are covering themselves for if they fail to qualify through their Premier League position.

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After nearly 70 years of no European action, Atlético Madrid� beat Gloria Bistrita 2-2 (on away goals) to clinch a place in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. They won the home leg 1-0 thanks to a fantastic, in-the-box strike by Forlán in the 11th minute, a defensive error on the part of [...] Click to continue reading...

Quick Entry. Chosen squad for tomorrow's home leg against Gloria Bistrita: GK: Leo Franco & Abbiati Defence: Seitaridis, Pablo, Perea, Fabiano Eller, Antonio López & Pernía Midfield: Maxi, Maniche, Luccin, Jurado, Costinha & Raúl García Strikers: Mista, Braulio, Forlán & Agüero. Missing: Luis García & Cléber Santana are unavailable (injury/fitness). Click to continue reading...

Sergio Aguero has put his holiday on hold and has been training for Saturday's Intertoto home leg against Gloria Bistrita. I have not had any holidays, but Atlético comes before everything. The new players that have come in are very strong...Now we just to work on our understanding to win games. You always need a period of [...] Click to continue reading...

Here's Part I.� Luis Perea qualifies for Spanish citizenship this week which means that the Colombian centre-back frees up an extracommunitarian spot. It's a crucial spot that� will probably� be occupied by Cléber Santana for Atleti's Intertoto home game against Gloria Bistrita. Cléber is an attacking midfielder and his services are desperately needed to secure a spot in [. Click to continue reading...

Dear God, I honestly don't know where to begin.� Atleti conceded two goals in the first half as a result of defensive errors. The first goal, in the 7th� minute, was the fault of Luis Perea: poor marking and casual defending by the Colombian centre-back. The second goal was caused by a shambolic pass by who [...] Click to continue reading...

Another quick entry. Here's manager Aguirre's chosen 18: GK: Leo Franco & Christian Abbiati DEFENCE: Seitaridis, Perea, Pablo, Eller, Ze Castro, Antonio Lopez, and Pernia MIDFIELD: Luccin, Costinha, Petrov, Raul Garcia, Jurado, and Maniche OFFENCE: Maxi, Mista, and Braulio Predictably strong squad for the away leg against Gloria Bistrita. This will be the first game for new arrivals Raul Garcia and [. Click to continue reading...

Quick entry. Tomorrow, Thursday 19-July, los rojiblancos will fly to Romania ahead of their Intertoto game on Saturday to familiarise themselves with the pitch and surroundings. The away game against Gloria Bistrita will take place Saturday afternoon and will be televised on Telemadrid hopefully it'll also be available via livefooty for supporters on the other side of [. Click to continue reading...

After two hard-fought rounds against OFK Grbalj (Montenegro) and Maccabi Haifa (defeating the Israelis 2-3 in penalties), Gloria Bistrita secure their spot to the third round of the Intertoto, where they will face Atletico Madrid. The Romanians will be looking to frustrate los Rojiblancos as they did� to Israeli giants Maccabi. Atletico Madrid, of course,� view this [. Click to continue reading...

I mentioned previously that Antonio Lopez was a strong candidate to be next captain of los rojiblancos. Who is challenging the Spaniard for that key role? Fan favourite Maxi Rodriguez, the influential Argentine midfielder (fully recovered from that horrendous injury he suffered during the early part of 06/07). Today, during the Argentine's talk with the press [. Click to continue reading...

According to AS, MARCA, and the club's official website, manager Javier Aguirre had a long discussion with Antonio López: We have had a pleasant relationship for a while now, and we have spoken about many different things. We collectively and individually re-evaluated and analyzed last season's performance and also examined what we should improve upon. Click to continue reading...

Intertoto (click here for official site) Since Atlético didn't qualify for UEFA (ugh- don't remind me) through their league position, they hope to reach� it via the Intertoto route. As such, the club will begin training sessions next Monday for preparations (newly signed Forlan, Perea, and Aguero are excluded due to international duty). Los rojiblancos will face [. Click to continue reading...