At just 32, former Danish international Thomas Gravesen has called time on his career. The combative central midfielder started his career with hometown club Vejle Boldklub (VB). He was soon on the move and  played for Hamburg, Everton and Real Madrid. He didn’t last long at Madrid, as his combative style spilled over into training sessions and many Madrid stars were unhappy with his rough tackling. He did enough to get Robinho to take a swing at him (as pictured above). He was soon on his way out the door to Celtic after that incident. His last appearance was actually in an Everton shirt, as he spent the full After the last game of the 2007-08 season on loan from Celtic. He failed to feature regularly for Everton and  was released during by Celtic this past summer. He had hoped to secure a spot with a top club, but failing that he has decided to call it a day.

Gravesen is quoted by Danish website Sporten.dk as saying : “I have spent some extraordinary years abroad, I have played and lived in four countries. But I’m 33 in March, so before age and health force my hand I have opted to take the decision to stop myself.”

Gravesen had called an end to his international playing days back in 2006, after having scored five goals in 66 appearances for Denmark.

I’m surprised that a Danish club such as Aalborg could not have used a player like Gravesen but perhaps the wages he would ask for and the reputation that hangs over him from the Madrid incicdent were not viewed as a good risk.

Here’s a link to a video showing one of Gravesen’s final goals, which came in a Celtic shirt.

There are some pivotal battles to be fought in the upcoming Matchday and while some groups look to have clear patterns emerging, others could go down to the wire. Let’s take a whirlwind tour of the current state of the groups along with my speculations on the ties on Matchday 5.

Group A
A win for Chelsea over Bordeaux will take them through, regardless of the result between second place AS Roma and bottom club CFR 1907 Cluj. Roma and Bordeaux are currently tied on points with Roma holding the edge on goal differential. Chelsea hammered Bordeaux 4-0 on Matchday 1 but I don’t think we’ll see a repeat of that scoreline. I still see Chelsea winning but perhaps only by a single goal. A draw would be a good result for Bordeaux and would keep their hopes alive. Top through bottom is seperated by only three points in this group so Cluj can still make things uneasy for everyone with a win over Roma at home. Roma played well against an uninspired Chelsea side on Matchday 4 and will hope to keep the momentum going. I’m going to go for a draw in this match. I think Cluj will come out with an inspired performance.

Group B
Leaders Internazionale can advance with either a victory or a draw at home to Panathinaikos. Inter could even advance if they lose should there be a draw between Anorthosis Famagusta and Werder Bremen. The suprising Anorthosis side can achieve a knockout round spot if they win and Inter do likewise. Werder Bremen must win in order to keep their hopes alive. I wouldn’t bet on Bremen to get a win in Cyprus considering their up and down form this season.

Group C:
The main business is complete: Barcelona and Sporting are both through to the last 16 after taking care of business on Matchday 4 when the Spanish side drew with FC Basel 1893 and the Portuguese team beat FC Shakhtar Donetsk. The two leaders face-off in Portugal while Basel will hope to get a result on the road in the Ukraine.

Group D:
Pacesetters Club Atlético de Madrid and Liverpool FC will extend their Champions League campaigns into the new year by winning at home to PSV Eindhoven and Olympique de Marseille respectively. Atlético can also book up for the knockout stages if they draw and Liverpool avoid defeat. A point would also be enough for Liverpool – who like Atlético have eight points – provided PSV do not prevail in Madrid.

Liverpool will be bolstered by captain Steven Gerrard, who is expected to play in Wednesday’s tie against Marseille after recovering from the groin injury which forced him to miss Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Fulham.

Group E:
With Manchester United FC and Villarreal CF sitting pretty with a six-point cushion over Celtic FC and Aalborg BK, both are likely to qualify for the next round. The two leaders are pitted against one another on Matchday 5 and I picture a draw from their match. The real game of interest in the group is between Aalborg BK and Celtic, which is a battle for the UEFA Cup spot. The Danish champions have won four and drawn four since Allan Kuhn replaced Bruce Rioch, a sequence which has seen them climb to seventh in the Danish Superligaen, progress to the Danish Cup semi-finals and twice come from behind to secure a 2-2 draw at home to Villarreal CF last time out. Also working against Celtic is the fact that they are trying to secure a first away Champions League victory in their 20th attempt. Celtic are still without a number of first-team players due to injury, including Massimo Donati, Marc Crosas and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. They will be hoping to have Georgios Samaras and Aiden McGeady available after their own injury problems. I’d have to go with the home side in this one as the odds are truly stacked against Celtic. It will be a massive win for them if they can beat the Danes at home. If they do make it into the UEFA Cup spot, I could see them enjoying an extended run in that competition.

Group F:
This group looks to be all wrapped up. Olympique Lyonnais enter Matchday 5 knowing exactly what they must do to proceed: avoid defeat at Fiorentina. FC Bayern München may trail Lyon on goals scored, but they find themselves in an even more luxurious position – only the twin occurrence of Bayern losing at home to rock-bottom FC Steaua Bucuresti and Fiorentina beating Lyon will stop the German team celebrating. Fiorentina must win to keep alive their hopes of making the next round.

Group G:
Arsenal FC hold a two-point advantage over FC Porto and will qualify for the knockout stage with a  victory at home to FC Dynamo Kyiv. Arsenal have been struggling lately and have a number of injury concerns. Compounding their poor form were unhelpful comments from captain William Gallas, who questioned the bravery of his team-mates as well as the dressing room spirit. Gallas was not in the lineup against Manchester City this past weekend, a match the Gunners lost 3-0. Manager Arsene Wenger has had little choice but to reinstate Gallas to the team for the clash with Dynamo Kiev as his squad is depleted by injuries. Wenger will have to field a makeshift defence with nine first-teamers out. Wenger has selected 21-year-old Spaniard Cesc Fabregas to permanently replace Gallas as captain.

Porto will advance if they can beat Fenerbahçe SK in Turkey, unless Dynamo win at Arsenal. Fenerbahçe will welcome back last season’s goal scoring hero, Deivid, and will hope to play the spoilers for Porto while giving themselves a shot at UEFA Cup football.

Group H:
By gaining back-to-back victories against Real Madrid CF, Juventus have assured themselves a place in the knockout stage. Real Madrid will also advance if they can defeat FC BATE Borisov in Belarus and Zenit St. Petersburg fail to beat visiting Juventus. Juventus are going to be fielding plenty of their reserve/bench players so the odds are not in Real Madrid’s favour. I am hoping that the final Matchday showdown between Real and Zenit will have a knockout stage place on the line.

Champions League Talk was recently sent a copy of “Jinky: The Jimmy Johnstone Story” written by Jim Black and I was given the honour of reviewing it.

Jinky, born James Connolly Johnstone, was a dynamic winger that played for the Celtic side that won nine Scottish championships in a row between 1966 and 1974. He was also one of the famed Lisbon Lions, the Celtic side that became the first British side to lift the European Cup (now Champions League) in 1967.

Known as the ‘Wee Man’ (he stood just 5ft4in tall) to his manager and teammates, Johnstone was nicknamed Jinky by the fans because of his jinking movements down the wing that left defenders so bamboozled that he would often go back and beat them a second time purely for his own enjoyment. Many rate Jinky as one of the top players ever and he is a testament to hard work. As a young lad, he was never without a ball at his feet and often invented litle games and drills to improve his skills. Assist statistics were not accurately kept during that era but in his 515 appearances for Celtic, Jinky scored 130 goals. It’s not hard to imagine him having twice as many assists.

Despite all of his talent, Johnstone only appeared 23 times in a Scotland shirt, scoring 4 goals. Largely it was due to his lack of discipline off the field, which the book touches on briefly. After he was given a free transfer by Celtic at the end of the 1974-75 season he bounced around from club to club, never staying very long in any one place. He spent time with the San Jose Earthquakes of the NASL, Sheffield United, Dundee, Sbelbourne and Elgin City before calling it a day. His heart was always at Celtic Park and he was never quite the same player after leaving.

Life after football was difficult for Johnstone and this is where the book began to give us some insight into his life and friendships. However, while the book’s back cover promises that this is the definitive account of Jimmy Johnstone’s life, it falls short of delivering on that promise. This does not mean that the book is poor — it is still an entertaining, quick-paced read.

In reviewing the notes I made while reading the book, I often noted that there were large sections that seemed to be no more than re-hashing of match summaries with little personal detail. Frequently opportunities to delve into interesting and potentially telling personal situations are bypassed. We’re given a run through almost game by game of Jinky’s amazing career but until the final chapters of the book and Jinky’s struggles after his playing career ends and his battle with motor neurone disease (commonly referred to in North America as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Beyond these surface details, we get to know very little about the man, his family or his life outside the arena. There are only a few quotes from teammates and no quotes from family members. We don’t really learn why Jimmy drank so heavily, we’re not shown details of his disputes with legendary Celtic manager Jock Stein and there is no real indication of what his home life was like. His wife and children are distant, peripheral figurs. The really interesting bits are glossed over and I am going to assume that this is due to a lack of quality information available and not a lack of research. This is the only book on Celtic that I’ve read so I am in no position to judge accurately.

The book does give an outline of his life after football and it was a sad downfall. Not having been paid princely sums like today’s stars and not having been wise with his money, Johnstone found himself broke. He attempted to sell off his winner’s medals to feed his alcohol problem and he spent years failing at a variety of blue-collar jobs. One particular stint as a satellite-dish salesman sticks out as bitterly ironic. Here’s poor Jinky hoping to make a few bucks off of the same piece of equipment that hepled today’s top-paid footballers earn more in a week than Jimmy ever earned in a year.

Jinky was voted Celtic’s greatest ever player by the fans in 2002. Sadly, in 2006, Johnstone succumbed to ravages of motor neurone disease. The club paid tribute to Johnstone before the Scottish League Cup Final by wearing the number 7 on both the front and back of their shirts in his honour. At the end of the match, Celtic’s team wore shirts with the squad name “Jinky” and the number 7 as a further tribute

Despite the lack of personal detail that I wanted, the book was entertaining and provided some insight into a player and an era that I am not well-versed in. However, as a biography of Jimmy Johnston, it left me wanting to know a whole lot more.

Champions League Talk Rating: 3 out of 5

Note: I found a great clip of Jinky doing a duet with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds on a tune called Dirty Old Town. Jinky loved to sing a song or do karaoke and had a decent voice according to the book. This video backs that claim up. It also show some footage of Jinky in action.

Today’s the big day out for FC Zenit St Petersburg and Rangers FC as they will contest the UEFA Cup final in the City of Manchester Stadium. Rangers, whose European campaign began back on 31 July in the Champions League second qualifying round, can expect noisy backing in the City of Manchester Stadium given their supporters have only a 350km journey south of the border from Glasgow. (The BBC has an article on Rangers supporters traveling from all over to take part in the festivities)

History is not on Rangers side as two Scottish teams have lost UEFA Cup finals – Dundee United FC in 1986/87 and Celtic in 2002/03. Zenit are hoping to follow in the footsteps of CSKA Moscow who beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup final to become the first Russian club to lift European silverware.

The clubs have a bit of shared history as Zenit’s current manager Dick Advocaat actually replaced Rangers boss Walter Smith when the latter ended his first spell as ‘Gers manager in the summer of 1998. Advocaat was successful in his first two campaigns in Scotland, guiding a rebuilt team to a domestic treble in 1998/99 and then a league-and-cup double the following year, when Rangers finished a record 21 points clear of Celtic. The next two seasons proved less successful, and Advocaat stepped down as manager to become the club’s technical director – with Alex McLeish taking over as manager – before the end of his final campaign in 2001/02.

Taking a quick look at the team news, the big story is that Zenit will be missing leading scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak through suspension. However, playmaker Andrei Arshavin, Czech international Radek Sirl and Dutch midfielder Fernando Ricksen return after their bans. Soon after moving to Zenit from Rangers in 2006, Ricksen and Zenit faced Rangers in a friendly whi ch became overshadowed by a foul by the 31-year-old former Dutch international on Chris Burke, which left the youngster sidelined for a month.

It’s highly unlikely that any hard feelings over that incident will surface today and the focus will be on the football. It is going to be interesting to see if Rangers staunch defending can hold off the potent Zenit attack that ripped apart Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. The Russian Premier League re-arranged their schedule to allow Zenit plenty of time off prior to this match. Zenit decided to warm up for the final with a 2-2 draw in a friendly against AZ Alkmaar. Rangers were not afforded the same luxury by the Scottish Premier League and were involved in a controversial 3-1 victory over Dundee United in the SPL on the weekend.

Rangers will have midfielder Kevin Thomson as he has come through a fitness test on his foot injury and declared himself fit. Striker Daniel Cousin will not be available though as he is banned after being sent off against Fiorentina. First-choice goalkeeper Alan McGregor is still out, as are Charlie Adam, Chris Burke and Stephen Naismith. DaMarcus Beasley, out since November with ligament damage, recently made his return to action and could be considered, as could Lee McCulloch.

If I had to go out on a limb and pick a winner, I would go with Zenit by a 2-1 margin. I think their pace and ball movement will challenge the Rangers defence and an early goal for Zenit could change the face of the match and force Rangers to eventually come out of their defensive shell. Ultimately I am hoping for what I always hope for — a wide-open attack-minded game.

Here’s hoping!

In many ways it was a wild finish to the Round of 16 and it’s not done yet! We still have the second leg of the Liverpool – Internazionale tie on Tuesday, March 11th.

FC Schalke 04 overcame some poor form of recent days to pull off a thrilling shootout win over 2004 winners FC Porto. Keeper Manuel Neuer was Schalke’s hero, capping an outstanding man-of-the-match display with two penalty saves as the Bundesliga side go through to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time ever. Schalke were under pressure for large portions of the match. The pace and trickery of Bosingwa and Quaresma beat the Schalke defenders regularly but Porto were unable to find to get anything past Neuer.

The match looked to be done with eight minutes to go and Porto still trailing by a goal in the aggregate scoreline. Fucile was red-carded after a late challenge on Kobiashvili, yet López had not read the script. Four minutes later he received the ball from Lucho with his back to goal, turned and rifled high into the net via the underside of the crossbar to send the Dragão wild. Those hopes would soon be dashed by Neuer’s penalty saves and Schalke’s composure from the spot.

There were two slight shocks as Arsenal easily dispatched AC Milan, though I personally was not surprised by the result, and Roma dispatched Real Madrid. Arsenal’s central midfield pairing of Fabregas and Flamini were dynamic in helping shut down Kaka and Ambrossini but credit must also be given to Arsenals outside backs – Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy. Both worked tirelessly up and down the flanks defending strongly and smartly picking their spots to push forward.

Despite winning 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico two weeks ago, Roma were widely considered as outsiders against the Spanish champions heading into the second leg. With a lead, Roma were able to sit back and play a patient game, waiting to hit Madrid on the counter-attack. Both sides had plenty of scoring chances but the game remained scoreless well into the second half thanks to some timely saves by the goalkeepers. The momentum swung Roma’s way when Pepe saw red (after a second yellow card) for the hosts on 71 minutes. Roma went on to break the deadlock through Taddei just two minutes later. Raúl then equalised, only for Mirko Vucinic to seal Madrid’s fate in added time.

The most thrilling matches of the round came from the Sevilla – Fenerbahçe matchup. I had a real hard time choosing a clear winner prior to the start of the round and ultimately the two sides needed a penalty shootout to decider a winner. Both teams have been overshadowed in this competition by more glamorous names but I don’t think any of the big clubs were relishing being paired with either of these clubs. After the first leg in Istanbul finished 3-2 in facor of the hosts, I did not expect another high-scoring match but that’s what we were treated to.

Volkan Demirel turned from villain to hero to send Fenerbahçe SK into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time, saving three spot-kicks after hosts Sevilla FC had reversed the 3-2 scoreline from the first leg. Demirel was beaten by two long range efforts that it looked like he should have done better on. Those two goals allowed Sevilla to take the lead on aggregate and forced Fenerbahçe to step up their efforts. Brazilian midfield maestro Deivid scored twice to keep the Turkish sides hopes alive. In the shootout, Escude, Maresca and Alves all failed to score for Sevilla while the Fenerbahçe shooters were cooler and more efficient, missing only once.

In other scores, Manchester United advanced after defeating Lyon 1-0 at home in a lacklustre match. Barcelona eased past Celtic also by claiming a 1-0 victory at home. However, Barcelona’s win came at a high cost. Lionel Messi left the field in tears after being subbed off with a hamstring injury in the first-half. He is expected to miss at least six weeks. Chelsea had no problems seeing off Olympiacos with a 3-0 score in the second leg after the first leg ended in a scoreless draw.

Here are my picks to go through to the quarter-finals.

Liverpool v Internazionale
Olmypiacos v Chelsea
Roma v Real Madrid
Schalke v Porto
Arsenal v Milan
Lyon v Manchester United
Fenerbahce v Sevilla
Celtic v Barcelona

I could see Roma or Fenerbache advancing from their matches, those two ties were the hardest for me to pick a winner.

Enjoy the matches!

…and we are left with 16 teams. The knockout phase pairings will be drawn on December 21 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The complete list of teams heading into the draw is posted below:

2007/08 UEFA Champions League
Round of 16 – to be played 19/20 February and 4/5 March

Group winners Runners-up
A FC Porto Liverpool FC
B Chelsea FC FC Schalke 04
C Real Madrid CF Olympiacos CFP
D AC Milan Celtic FC
E FC Barcelona Olympique Lyonnais
F Manchester United AS Roma
G FC Internazionale Milano Fenerbahçe SK
H Sevilla FC Arsenal FC

The stories of legendary proportions continued to be written on Tuesday night as Group D was decided. In a stunning reversal of fortunes, former Group D leaders Shakhtar Donetsk were knocked out of all European competitions last night. Oscar Cardozo was the hero for Portugese giants Benfica as he scored two goals in the first half. Cardozo punished an early Shakhtar mistake, a poor back pass from Lewandowski, stepping past goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov and slotting the ball home in the sixth minute.

Shakhtar had a shout for a penalty soon after as Brandao was brought down inside the Benfica area but referee Kyros Vassaras waved play on. Benfica were able to continue building their momentum and in the 22nd minute, Cardozo struck again. He timed his leap to perfection as he headed in Maxi Pereira’s right-wing cross to leave the Ukrainian club shell-shocked. To their credit, Shakhtar picked up the challenge and tried to fight their way back into the match. They were given a lifeline in the 32nd minute when David Luiz was judged to have impeded Cristiano Lucarelli inside the Benfica area. Though Quim nearly saved it, Lucarelli converted from the spot to make it 2-1 and add a bit of potential controversy to the match. To my eye, it was embellished but TV replays are often misleading and the referee has to make a snap decision based on a one-time witnessing of the act.

The second half saw Shakhtar pile men forward and launch a desperate attack, but Benfica remained organized and compact and were able to concentrate everything they had into defending the lead. It was an exciting ending with plenty of close calls but ultimately Benfica prevailed and will now progress to the UEFA Cup where I would rank them as one of the favourites to progress deep into the competition. If you want to see about three minutes of highlights from this match there is currently a clip over on YouTube.

Benfica’s win meant that the outcome of the other match in the group did not matter though at the time none of the participants knew that. AC Milan were looking to finish the group stage strongly and assure themselves of a more favorable draw for the next round. However, the match itself was not a very exciting affair as both clubs lacked initiative for the first 45 mintues.

The one highlight from this match was the winning goal by Filippo Inzaghi. Not only did it give his side all three points but it also pushed him past German great Gerd Muller as the top scorer in UEFA competitions. Inzhagi now has 63 goals in 98 appearances in UEFA club competition and at 34 continues to surprise with his performances. It is unlikely that he will catch Raul for the all-time mark in Champions League play as he is twelve goals behind. It is even unsure how long he will last as the all-time scorer in UEFA club competitions as Ruud van Nistelrooy is charging hard towards both marks. van Nistelrooy has 57 goals is Champions League play and is having another fantastic campaign with 4 goals in 5 matches. van Nistelrooy also holds the single season record for the Champions League when he scored 12 goals for Manchester United in the 2002/03 campaign.

However, let’s celebrate what Inzaghi has accomplished and let us remember that it was his goals last season that fired AC Milan to victory in the finals of the competition. Congrats to you Super Pippo!

As AC Milan will be heading to Tokyo to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup against Boca Juniors and other regional champions, the final group games in Group D have been bumped up to today.

Coming off last week’s results, AC Milan have already qualified for the next round but will want to finish on top of the group. They take on Celtic at home and the Scottish club need a draw to be absolutely certain of qualifying for the next round. Celtic have yet to win in seven visits to Italy and are missing a couple of key personnel in Lee Naylor (calf) and Shunsuke Nakamura (knee). Goalkeeper Artur Boruc may be lost after this match for as long as a month as he will have his troublesome knee examined. He may require surgery but the team are hopeful that it is not serious. More worrying for Celtic is that Carlo Ancelotti has said he is going to field the best team available to him though Marek Jankulovski (knee), Ronaldo (calf) and Emerson (fibula) are out through injury.

The key area will be in midfield where AC Milan’s quality far outstrips that of Celtic. AC Milan’s attacking midfielder Kaká has been voted the European Footballer of the Year and is almost certain to win World Footballer of the Year as well. He’s picked up where he left off from last season with two goals and two assists in five Champions League matches. Kaká was the difference when Milan knocked Celtic out in the round of 16 last season. Add to the mix Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo and it’s easy to see that Celtic are going to have their hands full. However, Celtic did manage a 2-1 win back on Matchday 2 which became more famous for the pitch invasion incident involving Milan’s goalkeeper Dida. Celtic are likely to play a packed midfield in hopes of taking away space and time from Kaká.

The other game in the group sees Shakhtar Donetsk playing host to Benfica, who have already been eliminated from further Champions League action but could still qualify for the UEFA Cup with a win. A draw would see Shakhtar qualify for UEFA Cup, while a win coupled with a Celtic loss would put them through to the round of 16. Shakhtar had looked likely to qualify after consecutuve wins on the first two Matchdays (a 2-0 win over Celtic and a 1-0 win in Portugal over Benfica) However, they have since lost three straight games, twice to Milan and then last week at Celtic when they were beaten by Massimo Donati’s stoppage-time strike.

For Benfica, midfielders Fábio Coentrão and Cristián Rodríguez are both unavailable with leg injuries while Nélson is struggling to make it back to full fitness with a thigh problem. They were defeated by FC Porto in domestic action this weekend but it was a very tight match and a singular moment of brilliance by Ricardo Quaresma made the difference for Porto. Shakhtar did not play this past weekend as their scheduled domestic match with FC Zorya Luhansk was cancelled in order to boost their preparation for this match. The extra rest allowed players such as Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Zvonimir Vukic and Brandao to recover from niggling injuries and manager Mircea Lucescu will have a full-strength squad to choose from.

I think the extra rest will factor into this match, as will the home advantage and I would not be shocked to see a 2-1 or 2-0 scoreline in Shakhtar’s favour.

We’ll look over the results of Tuesday’s matches along with Wednesday’s matches in one big wrap-up article on Thursday. For now, we’re going to preview matches in Groups A through D.

We start with Liverpool where coach Rafa Benitez has been pestering club owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett about sanctioning more transfer activity in January. The owners have told him they will not discuss any plans until they arrive on Merseyside for the match against fierce rivals Manchester United on December 16. Liverpool are coming off a 3-0 win at Newcastle. This should tempt Benitez to field an unchanged line-up but don’t bet on it. Both clubs have the bulk of their squads to choose from and will both field stong lineups. Porto arrive at Anfield at the top of their domestic league and an unbeaten record in the Champions League as well. With all the talk about Liverpool and their managerial-ownership drama, now is a great time for Porto to come in and get a result. I think they will scrap for a draw in this one as the Reds have not had a great home record this season thus far and Porto know how to keep a game tight when they need to get a point.