Juventus went a long way toward reversing a slow start to their season, beating Soccer Source No. 2-ranked Real Madrid 2-1 yesterday (Juve are 13th. Yeah they'll move up). Alessandro Del Piero got a lovely goal in the fifth minute and Claudio Ranieri's side scored another before Real started to mount a comeback (they came close too. Click to continue reading...

Arsene Wenger today made his case for abolishing UEFA's away goal rule that serves as the primary tie-breaker in European competition. The illustrious coach of Arsenal FC told the Guardian he felt "the weight of the away goal is too heavy now tactically - it was created 42 years ago at a stage when the teams that went abroad just defended. Click to continue reading...

The title of this post tells you everything you need to know about today's UEFA Champions League games. Give or take a few minor details.

The biggest news first: Mighty AS Roma, who last season were a few points from winning Serie A (and returned with largely the same lineup) lost against a team called CFR Cluj from present day Romania. Click to continue reading...

By now you probably know about UEFA's group stage draw for their signature club event, the Champions League (cue that stupid music they adopted as the Champions League anthem). We could just cut and paste the groups like a lot of other bloggers did, but seriously, what good would that do you, our loyal readers? Click to continue reading...

Though we were not impressed with Liverpool coming into the season (a view that was not exactly expunged by their first few performances on the pitch), we didn't think qualifying for the Champions League would be anywhere near this difficult. We shrugged off the scoreless draw in the first leg as an anomaly Stevie G and co. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool played a scoreless draw at Standard Liege that may frighten their supporters a bit but ultimately shouldn't be enough to derail their bid for the group stage. After all, Champions League seasons have been Reds' saving grace for most of the decade. Expect this season to be no different.

Greek club Olympiakos, on the other hand, may not be so fortunate. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal pulled off a huge coup at the San Siro yesterday, notching two late goals to oust AC Milan from the Champions League. Gunners were at a disadvantage going into the game, with the teams having played a scoreless first leg at Emirates. But Arsene Wenger's side outplayed their Italian opponents a fortnight ago and they did so again today. Click to continue reading...

A pair of fatal errors cost Celtic their Champions League match with Barcelona at Parkhead yesterday. The result, a 3-2 home loss, will be extremely difficult for Hoops to make up in the return leg. Difficult, and if Gordon Strachan is to be believed, unlikely ("I wouldn't bet the house on it," were his exact words, when asked if his team could come up with the 2-0 win necessary to advance). Click to continue reading...

Inter Milan suffered only their second loss of the season yesterday, as Liverpool came through with a shocking upset of what was widely viewed as the best team in Europe (and not just by this Web site). Yes, Reds got help from the referee but let's give credit where it's due: Rafa Benitez' team played a great game and ultimately deserved to win. Click to continue reading...

When the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 pairings were drawn, this site offered a preliminary forecast, with a promise to revisit the matter closer to kick off. That time is now. Our main guide is still the Top 25 ranking of the world's soccer clubs, (the number in parentheses is the team's corresponding ranking this week; the first leg's home teams are listed first):

Liverpool (unranked) vs. Click to continue reading...

It's time for the first-ever Soccer Source Fearless Forecast, as we zero in on the just-drawn UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match-ups. Our main guide will be the Top 25 ranking of soccer clubs, a season-long work-in-progress that attempts to gauge the standings of the best club teams in the world. Click to continue reading...

Glasgow Rangers were unable to gain the single point that would have seen them through to the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, instead losing 3-0 to Olympique Lyonnais at Ibrox tonight. Karim Benzema notched a second-half brace to seal the deal for the guests, after Sydney Gouvou opened scoring in the 16th minute of play. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's Castilian striker Fernando Torres, a.k.a. El Niño ("the kid"), is apparently desperate to draw Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. According to Fox Sports ("Torres praying for Real clash"), the Spanish international told the Reds' official website: "I hope that we draw Real Madrid, that would be a great tie. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool pulled out an impressive victory at Marseille's Stade Velodrome tonight, beating down their hosts by a four goal margin to advance to the Champions League Round of 16. Steven Gerrard put in his own penalty kick rebound four minutes into the game and Marseille never recovered. Four different Reds scored in all as Rafa Benitez' side proved they belong among the final 16. Click to continue reading...

The luck of the Irish was on Celtic's side today, as Gordon Strachan's team advanced to the Champions League Round of 16 despite losing the final group stage game at AC Milan. Celtic Chairman John Reed should send a thank-you letter to Oscar Cardozo and Benfica Lisbon, as the Portuguese side beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 on a brace by Cardozo, which assured Celtic's advance. Click to continue reading...

A single point from today's group stage finale at AC Milan will be enough for Celtic Glasgow to advance to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. The trip to San Siro comes at an opportune time for Gordon Strachan's men; The Rossoneri are an even .500 (7-7-4) in Serie A and Champions League competition this season and have not won at home since Oct. Click to continue reading...

With Arsenal and FC Porto losing their Champions League games this week, there are now no unbeaten teams left among those still alive in European (UEFA Cup or CL) competitions. Three teams (Chelsea, Man U, Barca) are unbeaten in champions league competition and several others have not lost in their domestic leagues (Arse, Liverpool, Porto, Benfica, Ajax, to name a few) but as far as I can tell everybody who is still playing in the UEFA Cup or UCL has lost at least once this season. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea and AC Milan were the only teams to clinch advancement to the Round of 16 in yesterday's UEFA Champions League games. There were some other noteworthy results:

• Real Madrid was upset by Werder Bremen. The Spanish side could have sealed their own passage with a mere point, while Bremen was facing a "must win.

Click to continue reading...

Solid performances by Inter Milan, AS Roma, Barcelona and Sevilla saw the four teams through to the round of 16 on the penultimate match day of UEFA Champions League group play. Meanwhile, Rangers blew a chance to clinch passage to the next round by losing at Stuttgart, who had absolutely nothing but their pride to play for. Click to continue reading...

If it seems like it's been awhile since the last UEFA Champions League match day, it's because it has. Nearly three weeks to be exact, which is like three years in soccer time. No, not really. The last time these group's played, Man U and Arsenal qualified for the round of 16. Today, a number of teams can join them:

The key game today is probably Barcelona versus Lyon. Click to continue reading...

Despite only managing a scoreless draw at Slavia Prague, Arsenal were able to join Manchester United as the first teams to advance into the UEFA Champions League round of 16. Man U. made quick work of Dynamo Kiev, winning 4-0 at Old Trafford. The Red Devils victory opened the door for AS Roma to advance as well, but the Italian side only managed a 2-2 draw at Sporting Lisbon (and were fortunate to make off with the point, as the equalizer came on an 89th minute own goal by Anderson Polga). Click to continue reading...

Matchday Four's first batch of games failed to provide conclusions in the UEFA Champions League group stage, as both teams that could have advanced with victories only managed ties. Both Chelsea and Real Madrid were in the driver's seat but both played to scoreless ties on the road--Chelsea at Schalke 04 and Real at Olympiakos. Olympiakos' goalkeeper, Antonis Nikopolidis, was apparently the man of the match for the Greek side, according to uefa. Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal all "control their own destiny" in their UEFA Champions League groups and can clinch spots in the knockout stage with wins this week. Marseille, Roma, Chelsea, Sevilla and either Barca or Rangers can join them if they win their games and have another result go their way:

Arsenal advance if they beat Slavia Prague (what are the chances of that? Click to continue reading...

Yesterday, Soccer Source predicted trouble for Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool, a potential struggle for Real Madrid and smooth sailing for Chelsea. Okay, I also thought Valencia would win their game. And actually, I didn't predict smooth sailing for Chelsea either, but I did say they wouldn't have the cakewalk Arsenal had. Then again, the U.S. men's basketball team at the '92 Olympics didn't quite have that kind of cakewalk. Click to continue reading...

The continent's big guns were able to create some distance between themselves and the also-rans in their respective Champions League groups, thanks to a matchday where nearly everything went as scripted. The one mini surprise was Rangers scoreless draw to Barcelona at Ibrox. I say "mini" because Barca haven't played very well since the internationals break and were missing Deco for today's game. Click to continue reading...

The G-14 is set to completely revamp itself and is inviting around 50 clubs from 23 countries to join the new organization, reports Soccerex Business News. I'm not entirely sure who Soccerex is or what they do, but they quote G-14 communications manager Derek McGlynn saying ""the new organisation will have the same concept as the previous body - to protect the rights of its member clubs. Click to continue reading...