Allez Lyon!!!

Lyon:

Lloris
Reveillere - Cris - Bodmer - Kallstrom
Juninho - Toulalan - Makoun
Govou - Fred - Benzema

Bench: Vercoutre, Boumsong, Kallstrom, Ederson, Piquionne, Mounier

Bayern:

Rensing
Oddo - Breno - Lucio - Lahm
Schweinsteiger - Demichelis - Ze Roberto - Ribery
Klose - Toni

Bench: Butt, Van Buyten, Podolski, Ottl, Van Bommel, Sosa, Borowski

Feel free to post commentary, frustrations, and thoughts here during and after the game.

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Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann is preparing for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Olympique Lyon with the pressure already mounting on the former German national team boss.
The German champions are off to their worst start to a Bundesliga season in 31 years, winning just two of their opening six games as Klinsmann's side followed up a 5-2 home hammering by Werder Bremen with a shock 1-0 loss at Hanover at the weekend. Click to continue reading...

According to this article on Sports Illustrated's website, Bayern Munich were interested at one point in signing Landon Donovan and may still sign him during the winter transfer period. The article describes how Bayern's manager Jurgen Klinsmann was interested in signing Landon, but the Board of Directors were concerned because of Landon's previous experiences in the Bundesliga. Click to continue reading...

While this is expected to become a weekly column, I have decided to hand out the first Weekly XI based on the cumulative efforts of the first three weeks.  I will use a 3-4-3 formation for my picks. Schober (S04) Westermann (S04) Subotic (BVB) Friedrich (HBS) Kuba (BVB) Marin (MON) Schweinsteiger (FCB) Dejegah (WLF) Wichniarek (AB) Helmes (BL) Ibisevic (TSG) GK: Mathias Schober (Schalke 04) - The [. Click to continue reading...

Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann can invest in a few new Buddha statues for the team's locker room after hammering Hertha Berlin 4-1 for the Bavarians' first win of the season. After two lackluster draws, the victory puts Bayern within two points of league leaders Schalke 04.
Luca Toni scored for the first time this season early in the match, and defender Philipp Lahm curled home a pretty shot for Bayern's second goal. Click to continue reading...

Jürgen Klinsmann will wake up in the morning to a warm Danish and frothy cappucino to find out it was all a nightmare. He'll swing himself out of his king-size bed, stretch in his cotton PJs before enjoying a leisurely frühstuck. He'll then grab the leash and go wandering along the golden sands with a happy retriever bounding in the surf and a light heart beating in his tanned, relaxed chest. Click to continue reading...

Defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich kicked off the new Bundesliga season with a 2-2 tie with Hamburg. Bayern who were playing without Luca Toni and Franck Ribery wasted a 2 goal lead. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski scored to give Bayern a 2-0 lead only 19 minutes into the game. However, Guerrero scored for Hamburg in the 25th minute, and Trochowski scored in the 57th minute Click to continue reading...

I was reading this article on ESPN's website and it got me to thinking, how does Bayern Munich expect to measure success during Jurgen Klinsmann's time as manager. Are they expecting to go on a run of Champions League victories? What exactly is the measure of success? They won the Champions League Cup back in 2001. Click to continue reading...

I always think that international competitions like Euro or the World Cup provide much needed correctives.

Fernando Torres muscled his way past Philip Lahm in one of the more indelible images of Euro 2008 to provide Spain's winner. The Liverpool striker was one of the heroes in his country's win against Germany.

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Euro 2008 Final

Spain 1 - 0 Germany

It wasn't the most exciting or goal-filled game of the tournament, but Spain won't mind as they held on for a 1-0 win over Germany for their first European Championship in 44 years. Fernando Torres, who was overshadowed by his strike partner David Villa in the previous rounds,
scored the winning goal for Spain.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the European Champions now over, it is time to look back at the players who made the tournament one to remember.

From the daring Turks to the high-flying Russians to the dynamic Dutch, there were plenty of standout players in the tournament, but only 11 can make the Euro 2008 Best XI.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the European Champions now over, it is time to look back at the players who made the tournament one to remember.

From the daring Turks to the high-flying Russians to the dynamic Dutch, there were plenty of standout players in the tournament, but only 11 can make the Euro 2008 Best XI.

Click to continue reading...

First, congratulations to Sixes and Sevens who won the Wicked Deflection Euro 2008 Fantasy League.

Consider some of these fantasy points totals in choosing your Tournament 11.

Strikers
Lukas Podolski, Germany - 28
Miroslav Klose, Germany - 24
David Villa, Spain - 23
Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia - 22
Fernando Torres, Spain - 19
Nihat Kahveci, Turkey - 18
Semih Senturk, Turkey - 18
Dirk Kuyt, Netherlands - 15
Andrei Arshavin, Russia - 15
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden - 14
Robin van Persie, Netherlands - 14
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Netherlands - 14
Daniel Guiza, Spain - 14
Ivica Olic, Croatia - 12
Nuno Gomes, Portugal - 12
Libor Sionko, Czech Republic - 12


Midfielders
Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands - 25
Michael Ballack, Germany - 24
Hakan Yakin, Switzerland - 23
Cesc Fabregas, Spain - 22
Xavi, Spain - 22
David Silva, Spain - 21
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany - 20
Konstantin Zyrianov, Russia - 18
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal - 17
Andres Iniesta, Spain - 17
Arda Turan, Turkey - 16
Hamit Altintop, Turkey - 16
Deco, Portugal - 15
Jaroslav Plasil, Czech Republic - 15
Sergei Semak, Russia - 15
Danijel Pranjić, Croatia - 14
Luka Modric, Croatia - 14
Orlando Engelaar, Netherlands - 14
Marcos Senna, Spain - 13
Daniele de Rossi, Italy - 13
Darijo Srna, Croatia - 12
Igor Semshov, Russia - 12
Yuri Zhirkov, Russia - 12
Arjen Robben, Netherlands - 12


Defenders
Philipp Lahm, Germany - 20
Joan Capdevila, Spain - 19
Carles Puyol, Spain - 18
Christian Panucci, Italy - 18
Sergio Ramos, Spain - 17
Carlos Marchena, Spain - 16
Petter Hansson, Sweden - 13
Gio van Bronkhorst, Netherlands - 13
Pepe, Portugal - 12
Aleksandr Anyukov, Russia - 12
Giorgio Chiellini, Italy - 12

Goalkeepers
Iker Casillas, Spain - 19
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy - 12
Jens Lehmann, Germany - 12

I'd want to see Sneijder, Robben, Iniesta, Cesc, and Senna in my midfield. Click to continue reading...

Euro 2008 Final

Spain 1 - 0 Germany

It wasn't the most exciting or goal-filled game of the tournament, but Spain won't mind as they held on for a 1-0 win over Germany for their first European Championship in 44 years. Fernando Torres, who was overshadowed by his strike partner David Villa in the previous rounds,
scored the winning goal for Spain.

Click to continue reading...

Torres did really well to score his goal, with Lahm and Lehmann losing out.

Aragones took off Fabregas for Xabi Alonso. Xabi did ok while he was in there, but a better manager would have found a way to keep Cesc on as he was growing into the game.

Iniesta once again looked like a great midfielder pushing forward. Click to continue reading...

The final! Will Spain throw off the mantle of underachiever? Will Germany triumph, sending the momentum of its fans gained during the World Cup into a frenzy?
Funny how Foudy talks about how goalkeepers need games to be sharp in reference to Jens Lehmann. Foudy didn't say anything like that when saying she wouldn't want to play in front of Hope Solo after Solo protested getting replaced at the Women's World Cup by Scurry, who had hardly played. Click to continue reading...

By JAMES CLARKA very entertaining Euro 2008 wraps up today with a final pitting Joachim Loew's Germany against Luis Aragones' Spain. Two "traditional" soccer nations make for a heavyweight match-up (although, who could have denied the helter-skelter Turkey a place in the spotlight, had they advanced past the Germans? Click to continue reading...

In a game nearly the opposite of the first Semifinal (which was nail biting to the final seconds), Spain slaughtered Russia 3-0 and wasn't even as close as the score. Russia seems to have used every bit of energy and creativity in defeating Holland. Spain lost star striker David Villa to a thigh injury, and THEN began hammering the opposition. Click to continue reading...

The Germany vs Turkey game was one of the best games of the tournament. Back and forth action, great goals, multiple comebacks, and despite the losing effort a tremendously brave performance from the Turkish team, many of whom would not be in the starting XI except for injuries. Full credit to the Germans though as they showed their talent and class by maintaining their composure and getting the victory. Click to continue reading...

The Germany vs Turkey game was one of the best games of the tournament. Back and forth action, great goals, multiple comebacks, and despite the losing effort a tremendously brave performance from the Turkish team, many of whom would not be in the starting XI except for injuries. Full credit to the Germans though as they showed their talent and class by maintaining their composure and getting the victory. Click to continue reading...

I don't know what it is, but this tournament keeps throwing up dramatic results. Once again Turkey were involved in a game featuring a stunning late victory -- although this time they were on the wrong end of the scoreline. It's just too bad we couldn't see the whole thing, thanks to the broadcasting problems from Vienna. Click to continue reading...

Well all the clichés about the Germans were out in force for this semi-final although they actually progressed to the final through skillful counter-attacking football rather than ruthless efficiency, giving Turkey a taste of their own medicine with a last minute winner from Philippe Lahm,
Senturk had, once again, set up a grandstand finish with his 86th minute equaliser just reward for a fantastic team performance, especially in light of their injuries and suspensions which meant that Fatih Terim had only 13 outfield players available to him. Click to continue reading...

Gelobt sei das digitale Fernsehen - oder doch verflucht? Hin- und hergezappt habe ich gestern zuhause, zwischen der Bild-Störung des ZDF und der Übertragung von SF2. Bis ich mich schließlich für das ZDF mit SF2-Bild und Bela Rethy-Ton entschied und dadurch das Tor schon hörte, bevor ich es sehen konnte. Click to continue reading...

Germany got a late goal from Philip Lahm to win 3-2 over Turkey, and earn a place in the Euro 08 finals. I didn't get to see this live however, because of the lightning strike that knocked out the TV signal to most of the world. Turkey looked to be on their way to advancing to their first ever final in a major tournament through the first 20 minutes. Click to continue reading...

With no Euro games going on until Wednesday, lets check up on the latest transfer talk around Europe. Nasri to Arsenal Young French international Samir Nasri has confirmed on his website that he will be going to Arsenal. His websites lists a signing figure of 15.8 million euro. The exact quote from his website is, "We inform you with the news that Samir Nasri will not be an Olympique de Click to continue reading...

I bring to you the 4th installment of the Goal of the Week. All I can say is wow, if I thought choosing a goal of the week last week was hard, this week was impossible. So many good goals were scored this week in Euro 08, with the 2 runner up's being Bastian Schweinsteiger's goal vs. Portugal, and Russia's Roman Pavluchenko's goal vs. Click to continue reading...

Germany 3-2 Portugal
So, the quarter-finals are off to an excellent start, both from my own perspective (DEUTSCHLAND!) and for those of us who just want to watch good football. The only downside was that we didn't get to see Cristiano Ronaldo cry. (Nor did he take his shirt off, as far as I can tell. Click to continue reading...

I have been trying not to mention the Premier League in conjunction with Euro 2008 but, my word, Portugal made it difficult for me last night. While ITV was, predictably enough, focussing on every single move made by Cristiano Ronaldo, a far more interesting situation was developing at the other end of the pitch, where a team coached by Felipe Scolari was defending like they had only just been introduced to each other. Click to continue reading...

Player of the Day: Bastian Schweisteiger. How quickly he goes from goat to hero. Streaked in for the first, curled in the free kick for the second and made a nuisance of himself. Sending Mario Gomez to the bench in his favor looks to have been a smart move, although even a blind monkey could've seen that one.

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Even while sitting in the stands, Joachim Loew was still a factor in the Germany vs. Portugal game.  Loew's pregame decision to start Bastian Schweinsteiger proved to be a deciding factor in this game, as the Bayern Munich midfielder scored a goal and assisted on 2 others in Germany's 3-2 victory over Portugal. Click to continue reading...

Got to admit, Michael Ballack had a great game tonight. He looked imperious and confident in Germany's midfield, box to box, composed on that ball, a constant menace and the winning goal. A proper captain's performance.

But I can't help thinking he gave Paulo Ferreira an almighty shove in the back before heading home Bastian Schweinsteiger's cross.

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I have to admit that I'm a little surprised that Germany won. Good game though. Germany was able to exploit the soft spot that Portugal had shown in their defense and get some easy goals. I also thought they finally played the right lineup with Podolski, Klose, and Schweinsteiger leading the offense. Click to continue reading...

I have to admit that I'm a little surprised that Germany won. Good game though. Germany was able to exploit the soft spot that Portugal had shown in their defense and get some easy goals. I also thought they finally played the right lineup with Podolski, Klose, and Schweinsteiger leading the offense. Click to continue reading...

Well the first match of the knock-out stages, the quarter final between Michael Ballack's Germany and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal (copyright Clive-twatting-Tyldesly), continued the tournaments fantastic ratio of great games and goals, with the Germans ominously reaching the semis.

With Jogi Löw (pronounced "Yogi Lurve") banished to the stands, for his bizarre altercation with the fourth official in their final group match gainst Austria, Germany, led by assistant coach Herr Hansi Flick, eased their way past the much fancied Portugeezers, 3-2. Click to continue reading...

I'm switching back and forth from ESPN Deportes and regular ESPN for this, the first major clash of the quarterfinals.
The nearly-consensus #1 player in the world and his posse versus the German machine of soccer efficiency.
Mario Kempes is calling out Ballack and Ronaldo, saying they have to step up for their teams. Click to continue reading...