Seeing as Ranieri is best remembered for blowing the 03/04 Champions League semifinal against Monaco (then managed by his predecessor at Juventus, Didier Deschamps), I'm not *too* keen on going through his comments seeking pearls of wisdom. However, he's an experienced manager and he's done quite well in his career so maybe what he says makes [. Click to continue reading...

Well that was one of the biggest headlines of the week in both England and Spain as well as in Italy.    Not pleased with Claudio Rainieri´s job during his 14-month tenure with La Vecchia Signora, the club is already looking for a replacement and the Spaniard is at the top of the list.  Somehow they [. Click to continue reading...

Give us a smile, Zdenek It's one of those things that seems so trivial when you watch it happen to someone else, and yet there is nothing like losing a tooth to hit a vanity nerve and send even a tough footballer into a state of confusion. Like Juventus' Zdenek Grygera, for instance. Click to continue reading...

At the end of the 6th Giornata we still saw surprises. Inter is top of the table, but they share a place with Lazio and Udinese, two squads who have been impressing in this start of the season. Both clubs are putting in good performances and don't look like calming down any time soon. Inter beat Bologna (with a splendid goal from Ibrahimovic), while Lazio needed a late equalizer from Simone Inzaghi (his first goal in Serie A in 4 years) to draw with Lecce.

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After tonight's display between Juventus and Palermo, the (Bianconero) cynic in me has this to say: at least we didn't tie. Indeed, after three consecutive draws against Catania, Sampdoria, and Bate Borisov, Claudio Ranieri can finally get rid of the "Mr. X" tag that was bestowed upon him this past week. Click to continue reading...

On the newly re-launched Third Half podcast (a roundup show for all the Talk web sites), I had a great discussions with host Jonathan Starling about the goings-on of Matchday 2. Download the episode from EPL Talk. It was a Matchday that saw debutants BATE Borisov and CFR Cluj pull off draws (and one might say [. Click to continue reading...

On This Week's show, host Johnathan Starling brings all the EPL Talk sister sites together for a relaunch extravaganza. Johnathan Starling asks Serie A Talk about Jose Mourinho's transition to Serie A, current surprises in Italy's premier league such as S.S. Lazio, the goal drought at Juventus, and Roma's Champions League turn around. Click to continue reading...

Roma Is Burning or Should Be Roma need to step it up and continue to set a fire underneath themselves, as this season's Champions League Final will be held at the Stadio Olimpico.  In knowing the final will be played on their home pitch infront of their fans the boys in red should gain inspiration and desire from that reality [. Click to continue reading...

4 seeds are the new 3 seeds; or, Transylvanians, Cypriots & Belarusians are legit. BATE were very fortunate to be eying a blonde Austrian rather than a turban-sporting Italian in net, but they were never predicted to sneak a deserved point. Cluj proved their Roma win was no fluke, even if they used a vastly different [. Click to continue reading...

Roma Is Burning Or Should Be Roma need to step it up and continue to set a fire underneath themselves, as this season's Champions League Final will be held at the Stadio Olimpico.  In knowing the final will be played on their home pitch in front of their fans, the boys in red should gain inspiration and desire from that [. Click to continue reading...

Roma Is Burning Or Should Be Roma need to step it up and continue to set a fire underneath themselves, as this season's Champions League Final will be held at the Stadio Olimpico.  In knowing the final will be played on their home pitch in front of their fans, the boys in red should gain inspiration and desire from that [. Click to continue reading...

There's no getting away from the fact that some team names are a little less familiar than others in the Champions League this season. But if we were expecting the likes of Romania's CFR Cluj and Belarus's FC BATE Borisov to roll out the welcome mat and let the more famous teams trample all over [... Click to continue reading...

30/09/2008

Gruppo E:

Aalborg - Manchester United 0 - 3
Villarreal - Celtic 1 - 0

Gruppo F:

Fiorentina - Steaua Bucarest 0 - 0
Bayern Monaco - Lione 1 - 1

Gruppo G:

Arsenal - Porto 4 - 0
Fenerbahçe - Dinamo Kiev 0 - 0

Gruppo H:

Zenit San Pietroburgo - Real Madrid 1 - 2
BATE Borisov - Juventus 2 - 2

01/10/2008

Gruppo A:

CFR Cluj - Chelsea ore 20. Click to continue reading...

After Catania and Sampdoria in Serie A, Juventus obtained their third consecutive draw in less than a week, this time in the UEFA Champions League. And don't be fooled by the name: if drawing against Bate Borisov (a Belarusian team at its European top competition debut) might seem like a bad result on paper, the [. Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

For Champions League Matchday 2 we're going to try something a little different. Rather than LiveBlogging just the one game here on the front page, we're going to do an all inclusive LiveBlogaganza to try and follow all eight games simultaneously. Foolish? Probably. But the plan is to have a place where we can discuss [. Click to continue reading...

Match Schedule Tuesday 30 Sept. 2008   20:45 Fiorentina vs FC Steaua Bucuresti 20:45 FC BATE Borisov vs Juventus Wednesday 01 Oct. 2008 20:45 Bordeaux vs AS Roma 20:45 Internazionale vs Werder Bremen all times (CET) UEFA.com Magazine Interviews UEFA.com magazine interviews Juventus legend, UEFA president Michel Platini UEFA. Click to continue reading...

When looking at the schedule of the 5th Giornata, all eyes had to be on Milan-Inter. The Derby was important not only for fans of those teams but for fans of other teams, as everyone had to hope Inter were stopped. And they were stopped, as the Rossoneri prevailed with a thunderous header from Ronaldinho, who scored his first goal in a Milan jersey.

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Week 2: Group H: Uefa Champions League FC BATE Borisov are meeting Juventus in the second round of the Champions League, tuesday 30th. Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site   Watch the match LIVE here! Click to continue reading...

Matchday 2 of the 08/09 UEFA Champions League will be played out on 30 Sep / 1 Oct - we have the head-to-head records for the clubs involved, a look at the predictions for each group and the highlights going into this round of the Champions League group stages. Did you know? Celtic have failed to win [. Click to continue reading...

Domani c'è la prima trasferta del girone di Champions League in casa del Bate Borisov, ma la testa della Juventus è ancora ai due pareggi di fila in campionato contro Catania e Sampdoria. Prima però il presidente bianconero Giovanni Cobolli Gigli torna sul derby di Milano.

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Jack Wilshere has a pre-contract agreement with Arsenal when he signs on pro forms in January which will see him make an enormous £15,000 a week The 16-year-old was promoted to the first team after impressing boss Arsene Wenger during pre-season and was subsequently rewarded with the number 19 shirt. Click to continue reading...

Vorrei provare a fare il punto della situazione sul momento attuale della Juventus. Direi che le cose non vanno benissimo, sia per i risultati, sia per come sono maturati, sia e soprattutto per il gioco espresso dalla Squadra. Tutto sommato possiamo dire che la difesa, indicata ad inizio stagione come il reparto più debole, in realtà si sta comportando abbastanza bene, nonostante l'assenza di Buffon.

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In a humorous (and rather unnecessary) interview Mourinho has criticised fellow coaches Ranieri (Juventus) and Berretta (Lecce). Nothing extraordinary considering the well-known big mouth of José! What is actually hilarious is that he called Berretta, Barnetta! "Barnetta (sic) spoke to me at the stadium and didn't say anything. Click to continue reading...

27/09/2008

Sampdoria - Juventus 0 - 0
Fiorentina - Genoa 1 - 0

28/09/2008

Bologna - Napoli 0 - 1
Catania - Chievo 1 - 0
Lecce - Cagliari 2 - 0
Palermo - Reggina 1 - 0
Roma - Atalanta 2 - 0
Torino - Lazio 1 - 3
Udinese - Siena 2 - 1
Milan - Inter ore 20. Click to continue reading...

27/09/2008

Sampdoria - Juventus 0 - 0
Fiorentina - Genoa 1 - 0

28/09/2008

Bologna - Napoli ore 15.00
Catania - Chievo ore 15.00
Lecce - Cagliari ore 15.00
Palermo - Reggina ore 15.00
Roma - Atalanta ore 15.00
Torino - Lazio ore 15.00
Udinese - Siena ore 15. Click to continue reading...

No deal for Sampdoria and Juventus: based on pre-game statistics, a 0-0 draw was a result almost foretold in advance. On the one hand we had the Blucerchiati, 17th in the Serie A standings with a goaltotal of 2 goals in 4 matches. On the other, the Bianconeri: 4 goals in as many games, and [...] Click to continue reading...

Welcomski once again to League of the Week, and before we start, no - this probably won't be the last comrade-like gag in this article because yes - this week we're turning our attention towards Russia.

First of all, a note to the more observant amongst you. It was suggested last week that we feature the American MLS as our next LoTW, but that will now be next week instead. Click to continue reading...

The Milan Derby at the San Siro dominates the weekend fixtures, elsewhere Fiorentina host Genoa, Sampdoria host Juventus and Roma host Atalanta...

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27/09/2008

Sampdoria - Juventus ore 18.00
Fiorentina - Genoa ore 20.30

28/09/2008

Bologna - Napoli ore 15.00
Catania - Chievo ore 15.00
Lecce - Cagliari ore 15.00
Palermo - Reggina ore 15.00
Roma - Atalanta ore 15.00
Torino - Lazio ore 15. Click to continue reading...

For some reason whenever Serie A plays during the week I always feel like it isn't the same. I love the tradition of Serie A Sundays and Serie A on Wednesday just feels strange. But it's still Serie A, so I could care less because I love calcio. Giornata 4 was another great round of calcio: Inter took sole lead of the Serie A table after getting a result vs a tough Lecce side thanks to Julio Cruz, Juventus drew Catania at home and wasted many chances to get all 3 points, Milan keeps bouncing back after a win in Reggio Calabria, Roma continues to struggle after losing away to Genoa, and Fiorentina were outclassed by Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.

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Fergie is understandably very angry with Emanuel Pogatetz for his challenge on Rodrigo Possebon. However, the 19-year-old Brazilian midfielder, who was making his first United start, was taken to hospital, kept in overnight for observation but has now learned there is no break.

"It looked a really bad one.

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In the modern game you always hear stories of players being prima donnas or trying to get a bigger contract or making a move to a big club just for the money, but Ciro Ferrara was a player who was none of those things. Ferrara was a model professional, a consistent performer, and even if he wasn't world renowned during his playing career he is simply one of the best defenders Italy has ever produced.

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Facciamo una segnalazione a "Chi l'ha visto?" per Jonathan Zebina? A fronte delle sue scarse (per non dire inesistenti) presenze mi chiedo quanto convenga tenere in piedi un contratto con un giocatore del genere. Un contratto, tra l'altro, rinnovano scelleratamente l'anno scorso fino al 2011!

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The third giornata of Serie A had less drama and surprises then the last two weeks, but it was interesting and exciting nonetheless. All the big teams won (including Milan for the first time): Inter swept aside Torino, Juventus won a tricky away game vs. Cagliari, Roma ended their "crisis" by soundly defeating Reggina 3-0, Milan finally won with a 4-1 victory over Lazio, and Fiorentina keep chugging along (with Gila scoring goals) with a win vs.

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