Champions League Talk

Analysis of the Champions League

UEFA’s Stand For Club Identity And Fair Practices

October 10th, 2008 · Comments · FIFA, UEFA, Uncategorized, ac milan, arsenal, champions league, champions league history, chelsea, disciplinary action, epl, liverpool, real madrid, rules

This may be a bit long-winded and rambling but I hope you stick with me as there are a number of important points to discuss.  UEFA recently released a publication entitled “Safeguarding The Heritage And Future Of Team Sport In Europe”, which outlines UEFA’s stance on principles of good governance, player agents and home-grown players. […]

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Pressure Squarely on Chelsea Against Cluj

October 1st, 2008 · Comments · Frank Lampard, cfr 1907 cluj, champions league final, chelsea, didier drogba

How cliche that Transylvania is the setting for today’s Champions League encounter between Cluj and Chelsea, given of course that it’s Oct. 1 and we’re about to be bludgeoned for the next 31 days with the images and sounds of Halloween. Just check out the nearest Target or Wal-Mart if you don’t believe me.
The ironic […]

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Friday Five: Wembley to Host 2011 Champions League Final, Thierry Henry Unhappy

September 26th, 2008 · Comments · barcelona, champions league, champions league final, cska sofia, everton, liverpool, real madrid

In a new experiment, I am going to try a weekly wrap-up of news stories that caught my eye but that I don’t think require pages of analysis as I am prone to doing
So, here they are, concise and hopefully interesting.

UEFA are expected to formally confirm in December that Wembley will host the […]

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A Sporting Chance to Win Group C

September 15th, 2008 · Comments · champions league group stage, sporting lisbon

What do Werder Bremen, Villareal, Atletico Madrid, Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Dynamo Kyiv, Celtic and Fenerbahce have in common (hint: the answer is not “They’re all in the Champions League group stage which starts today”)? Give up?
Well, all of these clubs are in fact in the group stage of the Champions League, but the answer […]

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UEFA Website Redesign Launched

September 9th, 2008 · Comments · UEFA

This is a bit late but I did want to acknowledge that UEFA.com has re-launched with a new take on their familiar look. The layout is a bit cleaner though the page now contains more elements. The color scheme is basic white and black though the newly launched photo gallery adds plenty of color.
I’d be […]

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Schalke Shocked In Third Qualifying Round

August 28th, 2008 · Comments · arsenal, atletico madrid, champions league qualifying, liverpool, schalke

After leading 1-0 from the first leg, Schalke had to have had some confidence going into Madrid for the second leg. A strong performance from Atletico saw them thump the German team 4-0 to advance to the group stage for the first time since 1996-97. I had picked Atletico as my ‘dark-horse’ team in the […]

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UEFA Reviewing FC Porto’s Champions League Ban

June 13th, 2008 · Comments · UEFA, disciplinary action, fc porto, rules

UEFA have annulled an earlier decision to exclude Porto from next season’s Champions League. Porto were initially expelled from Champions League play over alleged bribery of referees in the 2003-04 season. UEFA’s appeals body decided to send the issue back for consideration to their Control and Disciplinary Body, effectively annulling the June 4 decision […]

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CSKA Sofia Stripped Of Champions League Spot

June 6th, 2008 · Comments · UEFA, champions league, champions league qualifying

Just days after Porto FC were stripped of their place in the Champions League, CSKA Sofia have suffered the same fate though for different reasons.
CSKA won their 31st Bulgarian league title this season and earned a place in the Champions League’s third qualifying round but could not meet the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) Licensing Commission […]

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Porto Stripped of Champions League Berth

June 4th, 2008 · Comments · UEFA, porto fc

UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body has stripped Portuguese champions Porto FC of their place in next season’s Champions League over alleged bribery of referees during the 2003/04 season. UEFA cited Article 1.04 (d) of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League regulations (available via this PDF) in their decision. The article states that to be eligible to […]

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