Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Ibra vs Leverkusen

Zlatan Ibrahimovic lifted PSG over Leverkusen in UCL Action

Unfortunately you won't be seeing him at the World Cup in Brazil this summer, but you can check out plenty of Zlatan in UEFA Champions League play.  Today Ibra propelled PSG to a 4-0 win on the road at Leverkusen to all but secure their passage to the next stage.  He scored 2 goals on the day, the first a PK, and the second this rifle blast of a shot to the postage stamp:

Check out this great Fox Sports video - Ibrahimovic rifles in PSG's third goal

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Anderlecht

Zlatan Ibrahimovic put on a show vs Anderlecht in UCL action (bbc.co.uk)

I decided to resurrect the blog and this feature after being inspired by Ibrahimovic yesterday against Anderlecht.  Check out all his goals in the highlight video below, but pay particular attention to his third strike.  It was an absolute missile from 30 yards into the top corner of the goal.  ESPNFC is reporting that the goal was clocked at 122 km/h.  That's about 76 mph for us Americans.  Either way you put it, it's absolutely brutal.  His free kick later in the match nearly knocked the 'keeper off of his feet.

So check out the highlights below.  If you've seen them, watch them again.  If you haven't, you can thank me later.

Changes Coming to Champions League Qualification

There's a fascinating piece on ESPNFC today about some rule changes to the UEFA Champions League process that will likely take place in the coming years.  Most of it is coming about as UEFA seeks to strengthen the Europa League by offering a new incentive to win it.

According to ESPN's Dale Johnson, on Friday UEFA will announce that the winners of the Europa League will qualify for the next season's Champion's League.  This comes as a result of the fact that many of the bigger UEFA countries don't seem to lake the Europa League seriously.  Michael Platini has openly criticized France's attitude, and as Johnson points out, Italy hasn't placed a Europa League finalist since 1999.  So the reasoning is, give these clubs the carrot on a stick of Champion's League qualification and they'll push harder to win the tournament.  Will it work?  I guess we'll find out.

UEFA is also considering allowing 5 teams from the same FA into the Champions League instead of the current max of four, currently awarded to England, Spain, and Germany.  Italy used to get four, but lost their fourth slot to Germany a couple of years ago as Germany's success in European competitions has soared.  Obviously a lot of the minnows will be pretty unhappy about this, and if it happens, it remains to be seen if they will add more teams or just rework the current allocation.

This leaves a lot of permutations to discuss about league positioning, who finishes in the top four or five versus who won what competition and such.  I'll refer the interested reader to Johnson's article as he does a great job discussing scenarios and various loopholes in UCL history.

Personally I would welcome the addition of the Europa League winner to the Champions League.  I'm very glad that Chelsea took the competition seriously this year.  Sometimes the promise of more hardware isn't quite enough for a big club to play for when they're chasing the huge payday of a Champion's League spot in the league table.  This could offer more roads for the clubs that might feel stuck in the middle.

The Champions League rules and qualification procedures run in a three year cycle, which means the first Europa League winner that would qualify for the Champions League would be whoever wins the 2015 Final in Warsaw.

Bayern Munich Destroys Barca En Route to Commanding Lead

Bayern Munich dismantled Barcelona take a 4-0 lead on aggregate (FIFA.com)

I didn't think I'd ever see this day, honestly, the day when this incarnation of Barcelona was outplayed, outclassed, outhustled, and basically out-everythinged on the football pitch.  Bayern Munich accomplished just that though, and did it in absolute style.  The overriding feeling I had watching the match, especially in the second half, was like I was watching a charged up teenager totally dismantle a finely tuned watch or clock.  It really was a spectacle.

Bayern served notice right off the bat, as Barcelona barely had time to try to get their passing game going before the German side was launching an attack at goal.  In the second minute of the match Arjen Robben found the ball in the box and drove a shot in on Victor Valdes, but the Barca 'keeper proved himself awake and alert, stopping the shot and ending the first threat.

Barca got their first look of the match on nine minutes.  Pique got a decent look at the Bayern goal off of a corner kick, but steered his header wide of the target.  It would be pretty much the only first half highlight for Barca, though at that point they must have felt a little better for surviving the early minutes in Munich.

That illusion quickly evaporated in minute 25 though as the Germans took the lead and established one of the themes of the evening: Barca could not deal with balls in from wide, especially in the air.  Bayern defender Dante headed a cross back into the area, where a diving Thomas Muller headed it off of Valdes and inside the near post to give Bayern the 1-0 lead.

Barcelona continued with their style, clearly it wasn't time to panic despite being down a goal fairly early.  They held on to the ball and managed their usual 60+ percent possession, but there really was not a lot of purpose to it.  They came close to finding Messi in the six on 28 minutes, but Dante was alert to the incoming pass and tapped it out for a corner kick, which came to nothing.  That was the last significant action of a first half that finished 1-0 to the home side.

Bayern came out in the second half and immediately turned up the heat on Barca.  The Spanish again found their interior defense exposed in the 49th minute.  Bayern sent in a corner, and this time it was Muller who got the first head to it, dropping it down to Mario Gomez, who neatly dropped the ball into the net from about one yard out to make it 2-0 to the Germans.  Replays showed that Gomez was probably a fraction offside, and it really was close, but the goal stood.

However Bayern were not content and continued to pepper the Barcelona goal with quality chances.  In the 55th minute Robben dropped a nice little ball off to Frank Ribery in the 18, and the Frenchman sent a shot blazing the opposite way across the six.  It was too far out for Victor Valdes to grab, but fortunately for Barca, the ball rolled just wide of the far post.  Then just three minutes later Bayern nearly punished Barcelona on a set piece again as Robben directed a header toward goal off of a free kick.  This one floated wide as well, letting Barca breathe again, for the moment anyway.

Barcelona's best chance of the match came in the the 69th minute.  Defender Marc Bartra got a good look at the goal from an angle, but mishit his shot, sending it floating harmlessly over the crossbar.  One could just hear Barca fans thinking "If only it was one of our other players with that shot."

Following that miss, Bayern iced the match with two goals late on.  In the 73rd minute Robben made a run into the box, getting around a Barcelona defender, and slotting the ball inside the far post to make it 3-0.  It really was class finish by the Dutchman, but again the goal was not without controversy as Thomas Muller threw a clear pick on the Barca defender to help free up Robben.  It probably should have been a foul.

Bayern finally put the nail in the coffin for the match, and probably the whole tie, in the 82nd minute.  Again Bayern beat the Barca defense with a ball in from wide as David Alaba sent a ball across the six.  Muller was there waiting for it and tapped it in for his second goal of the match which made it 4-0 to Bayern Munich, which was still the score at full time.

It really was the finest performances I've seen in all the Champions League matches that I've laid eyes on.  In fact it was kind of tough to watch.  Barcelona certainly had their fair share of the possession (66%), but they could do absolutely nothing with it.  It truly was possession without a purpose.  Barcelona fans will certainly point to the fact that Lionel Messi was not anywhere near 100%.  Now, I'm not a master of tactics, but I'm not sure a healthier Messi would have done all that much good.  One can certainly argue that Messi at full strength would have given Barca's possession more purpose, but unless he was going to go back and play central defense in front of goal as well, I can't say that Bayern could have been stopped when they attacked.  Barca have been exposed from wide and on set pieces constantly during the Champions League this year, but have pretty much always been the better team and able to neutralize the weakness with their passing and possession game, but Bayern was quite obviously a class above anyone else they've played, including AC Milan and PSG.

No, Bayern deserve full credit for this performance, no matter what Messi did or didn't do.  They gummed up the internal works for Barca all day, never letting them get into sync.  Whenever Barca did start to get things going, the Germans were coming in with a hard foul or a slide tackle, taking Barca totally out of their game.

Now Barcelona face an uphill task next week at Camp Nou.  Without a road goal, they'll not only have to beat Bayern by 4, but they'll have to put up a clean sheet as well.  Good luck with that.  Also, Jordi Alba drew a late yellow for hitting Robben in the face with the ball and will now miss that match.  Finally, with the Bundesliga all wrapped up, Bayern Munich will certainly rest their front line players over the weekend so that they'll be fresh and ready to go next Wednesday.

United vs Real Madrid: Was it? Wasn't it? What of it?

Nani saw a controversial red card in the second half. (AP Photo)

Ok.  Let's cut right to it, no match review.  If you're a soccer fan, you've probably already seen the play multiple times.  If you haven't, you will.  I can't imagine anything happening in the rest of the soccer week that is going to dislodge this as the number one talking point or banter topic.  Indeed, should Real Madrid go on to win the Champions League, this could go down as the defining moment of the European season.

So, Nani saw red.  Was it justified?  If you really haven't seen it yet, he went in with a high boot while challenging Madrid's Alvaro Arbeola.  Now, I don't think even most Madrid fans would honestly think that was a red card, but I could be wrong.  I didn't think it was.  I'm not a referee, so I'm not going to get into the detail and argue the laws of the game.  There was quite the twitter conversation about Law 12, but in the end, I was hard pressed to see any player or prominent media personality that agreed with the call.  You see that play most often called as a yellow, hardly ever a red.

Now, I do say "hardly ever" because I've seen it.  Last year RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman saw red for a very similar challenge against a Tauro FC player.  Of course, astute supporters will point out that for Beckerman, the issue was intent.  Even as an RSL fan, I believe that Kyle wanted to kick the Tauro player, and I don't think Nani had that intent, so there's that.  I think it was a yellow on Nani.

So what happened after that?  Jose Mourinho out-managed Sir Alex, that's what.  The substitutions were key.  Luka Modric was the right man at exactly the right time.  His equalizer goal was outstanding, and Ronaldo's finish of Higuain's low cross was absolute class.  Diego Lopez also came up huge in goal for Madrid at the end.

What of United though?  Where was Chicharito?  Why did Rooney start the game on the bench?  United might just need RVP to subdue the Premier League, but the Champion's League is a different story.  Keep in mind, no United player scored in this one.  Their goal was an own goal by Sergio "I drop trophies and miss PKs" Ramos.  I really didn't see United catch fire until they went behind.  They were somewhat relying on that road goal as their trump, and they got burned for it.  Still, in the final analysis, it's too bad that we're talking about the ref and not the players.

Again: My take: Yellow Card, not red.  Do I feel for United?  Hell no.  Wanna see why?

So United, enjoy your turn on the wrong end of the decision for once.  Karma's a bitch, huh?  Not so funny now.

Champions League Roundup: Bayern Drubs Arsenal. Barca Fall

Didier Drogba returned to Champions League Play with Galatasaray (Getty Images)

The second week of knockout action in the UEFA Champions League action certainly provided some interesting results, though not a lot of it along with the pundits' scripts.  Out of the eight teams that played, probably only one really punched their ticket to the next round, but there definitely could be some surprises in store in the second legs.

The action kicked off on Tuesday with Arsenal hosting last year's finalists Bayern Munich at the Emirates in London.  The Gunners were reeling after the weekend saw them drop out of the FA Cup with a home loss to Blackburn.  Sadly for Arsenal supporters, things didn't improve on Tuesday as Bayern were up two goals within 25 minutes courtesy of Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller.

Arsenal did manage to survive until halftime without conceding again, and a stroke of luck awarded them a comeback goal in the second half.  The referee wrongly awarded a corner kick to the Gunners after Santi Cazorla's shot defected off of his own man.  Bayern 'keeper Manuel Neuer totally flubbed on the corner, missing the ball completely.  Arsenal man Lucas Podolski was in the right place at the right time to nod the ball into goal to give Arsenal hope on on 55 minutes, but Matrio Mandzukic struck in minute 77 to ice the match 1-3 to Bayern.  It's tough to see the Gunners going to Germany and making up the deficit, but as Chelsea fans will tell you, stranger things have happened.  However,  I do believe at this point that Bayern are as good as through.

Tuesday's other match took place in Portugal as FC Porto hosted La Liga's Malaga.  Much of the punditry, especially on Fox, gave Malaga the advantage in this one, despite Porto's excellent record at home in Europe.  Malaga have been decent in La Liga this year, but far from world beaters, and to me, they're a bit over-rated. 

Porto controlled the possession 63%-37%, but the match offered few clear chances for either side.  Finally Porto broke through in the second half though.  Portugal international Joao Moutinho took a pass from Alex Sandro, who positioned him well between the final Malaga defender and goalkeeper. From there it was only for Moutinho to side foot the ball into the net to give Porto the 1-0 win.  The hosts would probably have preferred to see a bigger advantage for all their possession, but Malaga will be disappointed not to come away with the away goal.

The shocker of the week came Wednesday at San Siro in Milan as AC Milan hosted Barcelona, who have looked to be a juggernaut in most of their competitions this year.  Barca seemed to sputter a little more than usual against Milan, albeit on an obviously choppy pitch.  Kevin-Prince Boateng put the home side up early in the second half, but in controversial fashion.  Riccardo Montolivo took a shot the quite clearly deflected off the arm of Milan's Christian Zapata, but there was no whistle.  The ball fell to Boateng, who managed to slot past Victor Valdes to give Milan the 1-0 lead on 56 minutes.  Gerard "Mr. Shakira" Pique was booked for dissent after the goal.

There wasn't controversy in the 81st minute though as Sulley Muntari beat Valdes with an excellent finish to make it 2-0 on full time.  The organized Italian side contained Messi for most of the match and their lead is well deserved, despite the obvious talking point.   Certainly Barca are more than capable of making up the ground at Camp Nou, but it might be a bit tougher without the away goal.  Don't bury them yet though.

The final game of the week took place in Turkey as a revitalized Galatasary squad hosted Schalke 04.  With former UCL champions Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba now in the fold, the Turkish side looked to be in good shape for a deep run in the knockout stages.  They even took the lead only 12 minutes in when Burak Yilmaz.  Yilmaz wowed the crowd by flicking the ball over a Schalke defender then banging into the net to get to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

Schalke had some other things in mind though.  Right before halftime Jefferson Farfan set up  US International Jermaine Jones after Gala gave the ball away in midfield.  Jones took the pass and calmly beat Gala 'keeper Fernando Muslera to tie the score at 1-1.  It would be the last scoring of the day.  Schalke will be well pleased with the way goal.

There is some controversy surrounding this result as well as Schalke have officially challenged the match with UEFA.  The concern is over Drogba's inclusion in the Galatasaray squad.  Drogba was given a temporary license with UEFA after the Ivorian striker contended that his contract with the Chinese club he joined was void after they failed to pay his wages for three months.  He then joined Galatasaray.  However, there is some dispute over this, and UEFA is investigating the legal status of the contract.  Schalke is contending that Drogba was ineligible to play pending the outcome of this investigation.  I doubt UEFA will do anything given the temporary license, but we'll see.  At any rate, the result is a positive one for the German club.

De Gea Sparkles as United Draw Real Madrid

United's David De Gea makes a kick save during the second half (telegraph.co.uk)

The Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Manchester United, two of the most high profile sports clubs in the world, definitely lived up to the hype, at least in my opinion.  The match, held in Madrid on Wednesday, produced a number of great chances for both sides, two outstanding goals, and the intense brand of soccer that the UEFA Champions League is becoming known for.  It's like a tournament where every game is a Super Bowl, especially in the final knockout stages.

A lot of the pre-match punditry seemed to really think that United was going to take the wood to Real.  After all, this has hardly been a typically successful year for the Spanish giants, being out of the La Liga race by the new year and facing the imminent departure of their manager, Jose Mourinho, at the end of the year.  He's had public spats with the Spanish media and team captain Iker Casillas, to name a just a couple.

Madrid came out well though, determined to protect their turf. It was obvious from the early going that United 'keeper David De Gea was going to face a firing squad for most of the day.  Sami Khedira ripped a shot wide in just the third minute, followed by another off target effort from Angel Di Maria in the fifth.  In the sixth minute, De Gea made the first of a couple of spectacular saves on the day.  Fabio Coentrao slammed a shot that looked certain to nestle into the corner of the net at the far post, but De Gea, a Madrid native, got a finger to it, tipping it onto the post, where it bounced back across the goal and away from danger.  It really was a superb effort.

Despite Real's hot start, it was United that got on the board first, very much against the run of play.  In the 20th minute the Red Devils sent a corner kick into the six where Danny Welbeck met the ball with a fine header, driving it toward the far post.  Madrid was out of position on the play, with the defender meant to be guarding the far post standing behind 'keeper Diego Lopez instead.  The ball rippled the back of the net to give United a 0-1 lead.

Real Madrid was not to be outdone though.  Ten minutes later, they converted on a corner kick of their own, and it was so well done that De Gea had no shot, even as well as he had been playing.  Cristiano Ronaldo rose on the corner, and exhibited hang time that Michael Jordan would be proud of, heading the ball just inside the far post to make the match 1-1 at the half hour mark.

Both sides continued to manufacture quality chances, but Manchester United really seemed to find their feet in the last 15 of the first half.  Their best chance to take the lead came in the 33rd minute and was again off the head of Welbeck.  This time it was Madrid's Diego Lopez's turn to make a fine save, as he tipped the ball wide of goal to preserve the tied score, which held to halftime.

The English side came out with substantial pressure on the Madrid goal to start the second half as Real's defense seemed incapable of stopping United from putting balls in the box.  The efforts culminated in a 47th minute header from Phil Jones, which drifted wide of the mark following a corner kick.

Di Maria was a danger man for most of the night for Real Madrid, and he forced a couple of quality saves out of De Gea early on in the second half.  The first came in the 52nd minute when De Gea grabbed a low driven shot by Di Maria and held it, preventing a rebound that might have been exploited by an onrushing Madrid attacker.  It wasn't just Di Maria that caused the United 'keeper trouble though.  In the 61st minute Coentrao sent a close range blast toward the near post, but once again De Gea was up to the task, making an acrobatic kick save right at the post to knock the ball out of danger.  It was a great reaction from the United shot-stopper.

United would have one more good chance at a winner as well.  In the 72nd minute, Lopez parried an effort from Robin Van Persie off the crossbar, but the ball bounced back down into the area.  Van Persie got there, and didn't hit it quite right, but managed to chip it over Lopez and send it rolling toward the unprotected goal line.  Xabi Alonso came rushing in to save the day for Real, sliding in and just clearing the ball away from the line to keep the draw.

In the end, the match slowed as United was obviously fatigued from their Sunday match, and Mourinho seemed to be content to keep the draw, trusting in his squad's ability to score at Old Trafford.  United will probably be more content with the result though, leaving Spain with the away goal in their pocket.  It really was quite the match.

Late Surge Pushes Chelsea to UCL Road Win

Fernando Torres and the Blues blanked Nordsjaelland 4-0 (AP Images)

After an opening match draw at home vs Juventus Chelsea traveled to Denmark to take FC Nordsjaelland, the Danish champions.  The Danes pushed Chelsea hard for nearly 80 minutes before the Blues finally broke the match open and cruised over the finish line.

Chelsea fans were perhaps right to be nervous after the defending European champions gave up a two goal lead at home to Juve, but the Blues got off to a pretty good start in this one.  In the early minutes Oscar sent a cross into Danes' area, and a Nordsjaelland defender headed it off his own bar while trying to clear the ball away from a lurking Victor Moses.  Then in the 10th minute Juan Mata connected with Frank Lampard, but Lamps sent the Spaniard's cross just over the crossbar.   Fernando Torres forced a save out of the Nordsjaelland 'keeper in the 22nd minute, and the Danes looked to have successfully weathered the early storm.

However in the 33rd minute the Danes turned the ball over to disastrous effect.  Torres took the ball off Enoch Adu and dished to Lampard.  Lamps hit Mata in the center of the area and he was able to slot the ball into the goal to give the Blues the 0-1 lead.

Early in the second half Torres had a chance to but the Blues up another goal, but the Nordsjaelland 'keeper barely beat him to another nice ball from Oscar.  Then in the 53rd minute The Danes dodged another bullet as Moses scored, but his goal was correctly ruled out for a foul.

Nordsjaelland fought well though, and their efforts nearly paid off with an equalizer late on.  In the 73rd minute Joshua John sent a low shot in on Petr Cech's goal, and Chelsea 'keeper just barely managed to save the ball, parrying it off the near post and away from danger.

The Blues finally put some distance between themselves and the home side on 79 minutes.  Torres earned a free kick just outside of the area when he was fouled by Michael Parkhurst.  David Luiz stepped up over the free kick and smacked a gorgeous right footed kick in off the left post to make it 0-2.  Then just three minutes later Mata got his second of the match after he drilled home a ball that deflected off of a defender.  Finally in the 89th minute Oscar dropped a little ball off to Ramires, who tapped home Chelsea's final goal of the night to make it 0-4.

The three points put Chelsea top of the group after Juve drew with Shaktar in the other Group E match from today.

UCL: Late Ronaldo Strike Sinks City

Marcelo celebrates his goal against City.  (Reuters/Action Images)

I loved this match so much that I watched it twice.  I'm not sure how someone could watch this, especially the last 20 minutes, and think that football is boring.  Real Madrid dominated the first half, but failed to close the door until right at the death, giving Manchester City plenty of chances to come away with a result.

Joe Hart's goal came under frequent bombardment in the opening stanza as the Spanish Champions pushed hard to get off the mark.  Obviously frustrated by their poor start in league play, they looked ready to take it out on City.  However Hart made great saves early and often to keep Madrid at bay.  At one point Cristiano Ronaldo tricked Vincent Kompany out of his boots and fired a low shot at the City goal, but Hart hit the deck and made the save.  Later Gonzalo Higuain seemed certain to put Madrid on top when he redirected a shot on target with his head, but once again the England 'keeper was up to the task.

City had a hard time getting out of their own half though.  They created very few chances in the first half, and seemed very vulnerable to the Madrid counter when they tried to create.  Despite the heavy possession and shots edge to the home side, the match was still 0-0 at halftime which suited City manager Roberto Mancini just fine.

The action really came to life in the second half though.  The longer the score stayed 0-0, the more confident City got, and they gradually began to carve out some chances.  They were the first to hit pay dirt on 68 minutes.  Yaya Toure triggered a counter attack featuring himself and the newly subbed in Edin Dzeko.  They streamed forward and caught Madrid in a 2 on 1 situation.  As they approached the penalty area, Toure hit Dzeko with a through ball, setting him up perfectly for a clinical finish past Iker Casillas to make the match 0-1.

The City goal really sparked Real Madrid to life, and they subbed in both Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.  The fresh legs had an immediate affect on the attack as Madrid pushed for the equalizer.  It finally came in the 76th minute as Marcelo found himself in space and smacked a shot into the top corner of the goal to make it 1-1.

However just when you thought Madrid would go in search of the winner, City struck again.  The Premier League champs earned a free kick just beyond the Madrid penalty area in the 85th minute, and Aleksandar Kolarov beautifully curled the shot just inside Casllas' far post to make 1-2 to City with 5 minutes left.

The drama was just beginning though.  Just two minutes later Benezma received the ball right the top of the City 18, turned around a defender, and slotted a goal inside Hart's near post to equalize at 2-2.  Hart would then come up with a huge save on Ronaldo as the 90 expired, but formerly sad striker had the last laugh in stoppage time as he sent in a dipping shot that actually bounced right before it got to Hart and kicked up into the net to give Madrid the 3-2 lead, which was the score at full time.

Champions League Draw and Predictions

Today was a day almost like Christmas Eve, or maybe Thanksgiving, for supporters of Europe's big clubs.  UEFA held the Champions League draw, and now we all know which big teams will be squaring off and which minnows are going to get a shot at upsetting someone to make it into the knock out stage.  As usual, the draw was exciting, and gave us a lot to talk about.

First off I'll list the groups, then I'll give my impressions/predictions.

GROUP A--
Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Paris St. Germain
Dinamo Zagreb

GROUP B--
Arsenal
Schalke
Olympiakos
Montpellier

GROUP C--
A.C. Milan
Zenit St. Petersburg
Anderlecht
Malaga

GROUP D--
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Borussia Dortmund

GROUP E--
Chelsea FC
Shakhtar Donetsk
Juventus
FC Nordsjaelland

GROUP F--
Bayern Munich
Valencia
Lille
BATE Borisov

GROUP G--
Barcelona
Celtic
Benfica
Spartak Moscow

GROUP H--
Manchester United
Braga
Galatasaray
CFR Cluj

The first thing that jumped out at me, and probably for most soccer watchers is group D, which in this case really is the Group of Death.  That groups contains the Spanish, English, German, and Dutch champions.  Who will come out of that group?  Well, I think Madrid for sure. but the rest is up for grabs.  It's tough to see Ajax making it out, so it's probably between City and Dortmund.  Sure, Dortmund lost Kagawa, but City will be in trouble if they don't have Aguero back.  I'm taking Madrid and Dortmund.

Group A seems pretty forward.  I'll take PSG and Porto, though I think Kiev could be a pitfall.  Group B seems pretty straight up as well.  I'll take Arsenal and Schalke 04, my favorite German side.  For group C, I'll take Milan and Zenit.

Group E is a little more interesting with Italian Champs Juventus and the defending European Champs Chelsea.  I'll take both of those clubs to advance, but both will have to contend with Donetsk, who are always an upset special.

My group F prediction my surprise a few.  Of course I'll take Bayern, but I'll also take Lille.  I've never been sold on Valencia in these competitions.  Borisov has been here before, but I don't see them making noise.

For group G, the obvious pick is Barcelona, but I'm going with Celtic to join them in the knockout stage.  This club is flying the flag for Scottish football this year, I think they've got a ways to carry it yet.

Manchester United can hardly complain about their draw in group H.  Seems like a walk in the Champions League park.  Sir Alex isn't going to sit for another group stage exit, so I'll take the Red Devils and Braga.

I wish these epic matches started right away.

UCL Report: Helsingborg vs Celtic

American International Alejandro Bedoya takes a shot (Getty Images)

This is going to be an interesting season for Celtic.  Their eternal Old Firm rivals, Rangers, have been sent tumbling down the Scottish football ladder after their financial crisis, leaving everyone who's anyone to predict that Celtic will have the SPL wrapped up early and easily.  This leaves them free, for the moment, to concentrate on getting into the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.  Not only do they want to fly the Scottish flag in Europe's premier club tournament, but the huge money they'd get just for qualifying for the group stage would go along way toward solving their own financial woes.

Coming into qualifying play on Tuesday, Celtic sat one step away from their group stage dream.  Standing in their way was Heslingborg from Sweden.  The Swedish champs should be of interest to US Soccer watchers as they recently signed former Rangers man and US International Alejandro Bedoya, who featured in this one for the home side.

Celtic took immediate action to help lock up their place among Europe's elite.  In just the second minute of the match Georgios Samaras sent a gorgeous cross to the top of the penalty area at the far post.  Kris Commons was there and met the ball with a picture perfect volley that drilled into the Swedes' goal to make it 0-1.

Unfortunately for the Scottish faithful, that was the lone offensive highlight for Celtic in the first half.  Helsingborg seemingly woke up after conceding the away goal and went into all out attack mode to try and equalize.  Their first big chance came on 16 minutes when Celtic shot stopper Fraser Forster made a nice kick save to keep a shot from Bedoya out of the net.  Then in the 24th minute, a defensive miscue on a counter attack seemed to give May Mahlangu a 1v1 chance at the Cetic goal, but Adam Matthews rushed back and made a nice tackle to end the threat and redeem his mistake.

Celtic looked better in the second half as they continued to nurse their 0-1 lead.  Helsingborg continued to threaten though, as Forster was once again called upon to save a Bedoya header in the 73rd minute.  However, Celtic were able to ice the match after Samaras scored off of a Commons corner in the 75th minute, making the score 0-2, which easily held until the full time whistle.

Perhaps it wasn't Celtic's best game as they looked vulnerable on several occasions.  However the two away goals will give them a nice advantage when they return to Scotland for the second leg of the tie.  That match will be in Glasgow next Wednesday, and it's really hard to see a way back for the Swedes.  Well played to Celtic.

Puddle's Goal(s) of the Weekend: Didier Drogba Clinches the European Cup

Of course these are my goals of the weekend! I don't know if you'll like the soundtrack, but it does a great job of showing both Drogba's header and his PK at the end.

Congratulations to Chelsea FC, 2012 Champions of Europe!

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech holds the European Cup as his team hoists him on their shoulders

I've never been happier to make a blog posting than I am tonight.  If you read my blog or follow my tweets, you probably know that I'm a Chelsea supporter.  Thus I am extremely happy and proud of my team for winning the 2012 UEFA Champions League Title.

It was very much against the odds in the final as well.  The Blues had to take on Bayern Munich in Munich to win the title.  Obviously, Bayern were the heavy favorites.  However Chelsea brought Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, and a ton of heart.

The match was scoreless into the 83rd minute when Thomas Muller finally broke through the Chelsea defense to make it 1-0, and Bayern had one hand on the trophy.  Chelsea pulled that hand back 5 minutes later when Didier Drogba equalized.  The match went into extra time, but no further goals were scored. 

Juan Mata missed his first PK, and Bayern took the advantage making their first three.  Then Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger missed their last two, handing the advantage to Chelsea as David Luiz, Frank Lampard, and Ashley Cole had all iced their kicks.  Didier Drogba nailed the final shot to hand Chelsea the European Cup on what could be his last act for the team.

I don't think you could have even thought to write a script like that.

Chelsea will also earn the final English spot in next year's Champions League.  Tottenham Hotspur, who had finished 4th in the Premier League, will now drop to the Europa League with Newcastle and Liverpool.

Suffice it to say, I'm a very happy footy fan this week.  Congrats to my Chelsea boys!

Barca's Gerard Pique Released From Hospital

Pique takes a hit during yesterday's UCL Clash (Getty Images)

Today there's some good news for Barcelona fans in a week that's been full of bad news.  Defender Gerard Pique has been released from the hospital after a short stay to evaluate a possible concussion sustained in yesterday's Champion's League match with Chelsea.

In the 17th minute of the match, Pique went up for the same ball with his teammate and 'keeper Victor Valdes and Chelsea's Didier Drogba.  All three players collided and went to the ground.  Valdes controlled the ball, and he and Drogba got up in fairly short order, but Pique appeared to be out cold after slamming him to his fellow Barca man with his head.  He eventually got up and played for a few more minutes, but was eventually was subbed off and taken to the hospital.

The club had this to say in an official statement:

"Gerard Pique has been discharged from hospital after follow-up medical tests proved satisfactory.  The Barcelona FC defender spent the night in hospital under observation after a heavy collision with Didier Drogba and Victor Valdes in the early stages of the match against Chelsea.  The player will now rest for a week before being re-assessed."

Pique is a class guy and a great player.  Hopefully he'll be back on the pitch as soon as possible.

UCL: Barcelona vs. Chelsea

Fernando Torres celebrates after sealing Chelsea's trip to the final. (AP Images)

If you're a Chelsea supporter like myself, the picture above is probably all you need and what you'll remember from this fantastic match.  ESPN Soccernet said in their commentary that this might be one of the greatest matches ever in European football.  I'm not sure about all of that, but it's certainly one of the best I've seen.

It was a brutal match that required a brutal effort from Chelsea.  Getting the 1-0 win last week at Stamford Bridge was hard enough, but today they had to deal with Camp Nou.  Not only that, but they ended up having to do it down a man for the better part of the match.

Everybody knew Barca was going to come out on fire.  Everybody knew Chelsea would have to defend their rear ends off.  Both of those things happened.  Lionel Messi brought Barca out of the gates quickly, just missing a shot wide of the near post in the 3rd minute.  In the 19th minute, he put a free kick on target that was brilliantly saved by Petr Cech.

Funny thing was that between those fantastic chances for Messi, not much happened for Barca.  They seemed to be at a loss for how to unlock Chelsea's defense, much the same as they were last week in London.  Most of their shots came in from distance, and one could see the frustration building on the faces of the Champions.

Barca did eventually find the key though.  They usually do, especially at home.  Interestingly enough, they scored their first goal after a corner kick, in which you'd figure the bigger Chelsea squad would have the advantage.  In the 35th minute Issac Cuenca received the corner and made a great pass to an onrushing Busquets, who promptly slotted the ball past Cech to give Barca the 1-0 lead.

Then things all went to hell for Chelsea.  In the 37th minute John Terry got caught putting his knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez away from the ball.  The linesman saw it and a red card was issued to the Chelsea captain.  It was a totally deserved red card as well.  It was a real bonehead move from Chelsea's skipper who should have known better.  Then to add insult to injury, in the 44th minute, Messi dished off to Andres Iniesta, who easily banged the ball home to give Barca the 2-0 lead in the match and the 2-1 lead on aggregate.  It looked like it was curtains for Chelsea.

The Blues had something to say about that though.  In the first minute of stoppage time, Chelsea caught Barca sleeping, maybe thinking they were as good as through.  Frank Lampard kicked the ball long into the path of an onrushing Ramires, who promptly chipped the ball over Victor Valdes to make the match score 2-1. and equalize the aggregate 2-2.  The Blues went into halftime knowing if they could hold on, they would be through on away goals.

There was no way Barcelona was going to let that happen easily, and their best chance came very early in the second half.  In the 48th minute Didier Drogba brought down Cesc Fabregas in the box to concede a PK to Barca.  Messi stepped up to take, and I'm not sure you'd want anyone else in football to take it.  However, the inexplicable happened.  Messi tried to put it in the roof over the mountain that is Petr Cech, and he hit the crossbar!  The ball bounced harmlessly away, taking with it Barca's best chance of landing a knockout blow on the Blues.

Chelsea would defend stoutly through the second half, bending but not breaking.  If I'm honest with you, they really didn't bend all that much.  Barca's style kind of worked against them, as they seemed to piddle around with short back and forth passes trying to think of a way through.  In the end it was useless possession as the seconds ticked off the clock.

The match finally went into three minutes of stoppage time, and the Blues fans got the moment they've been craving for over a year.  In the first of the three minutes, Tello took the ball into the box and gave it up.  While Barca stood screaming for a handball that wouldn't be given in a million years, Fernando Torres broke away on the counter.  Somehow Chelsea cleared and he got on the end of it, creating a 1v1 with a stunned and probably bored Victor Valdes. Valdes hit the deck trying to take the ball off of Torres' feet, but El Nino jumped expertly around the prone Barca keeper and tapped the ball into the net, sending the Blues into delirium.  It would be the last significant action, the match ended 2-2 and Chelsea took the tie 2-3 on aggregate.  

The result sends Chelsea through to the final in Munich next month against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.  Whatever happens in that match, this one will go down as one of the most memorable in Chelsea history.   The Blues seem to have Barca's number somewhat, as Chelsea has only lost to them once in their last 7 European meetings.  Lionel Messi has never scored a goal against Chelsea FC.

It has to be said that it was a crushing loss for Barca, who really gave it all on the pitch.  Nobody in a million years would bet that Lionel Messi would miss that penalty kick.  The cameras panned to Messi right after Torres scored, showing the little genius bowed down with his shirt pulled up over his head.  He's one fantastic footballer who is NOT used to losing big games.  He is also a class act, as is the rest of Barca, who sportingly congratulated the Blues after the match on their Herculean effort.

I'm not going out on a limb saying Barca is still the best team in Europe and probably the best in the world.  They've proved it time and time again.  However, this night, this day belongs to Chelsea FC.

Barcelona will be back though, hungrier than ever.

UCL Quarters: Barcelona vs. AC Milan

Lionel Messi converts his first PK of the match. (Getty Images)

Coming into today's UCL quarterfinal match between Barcelona and AC Milan, the Italians seemed to be a trendy to pick to upset the defending European Champs.  It is true that Milan could have gone through had they duplicated their 2-2 effort at Barca in the group stage, but I for one wasn't buying it.

Part of Milan's success last week at the San Siro was because they could pretty much defend most of the space on that pitch.  That wasn't going to happen on the wide expanses of Camp Nou, and it was obvious from the early moments.  In the 3rd minute Andres Iniesta had Barca's first chance, but put it wide.  In the 7th minute Lionel Messi looked to have a golden chance right in front of net but inexplicably put his shot wide as well. 

Maybe the Italians could live a charmed life in this one, but probably not.

Milan's day turned to shambles early on in the 10th minute when Philippe Mexes mishandled the ball just inside his own half.  Messi grabbed it and dashed in on goal.  He centered back to a trailing Xavi, but he wasn't quite ready for it, and bobbled it around the six.  It looked like Milan were going to escape, but the ball fell back to Messi and Luca Antonini made a dumb slide tackle on the little genius to concede a PK.    On the actual spot kick, Milan 'keeper Christian Abbiati guessed right, but couldn't get down on Messi's shot quick enough and Barca took the 1-0 lead.

After the goal, you could just feel the stadium relax.  Barca kept the possession for the most part, and it really didn't seem like Milan had much for them.  However, all that changed in the 33rd minute.  The Spaniards' defense went to sleep and Ibrahimovic found Antonio Nocerino running into the area.  He slid him the ball and Nocerino let loose a shot that Victor Valdes took an unconvincing swipe at before it went into the back of the net to make it 1-1.  That result would see Milan through on away goals.

Of course that would entail making sure Barca didn't score again, and that fable didn't last long.  Barca earned another PK in the 40th minute.  This one was a bit more controversial.  While setting up for a Barcelona corner, Alessandro Nesta got a couple of fistfuls of Sergio Busquets jersey.  Puyol set a pick on him and as they fought around it, Busquets went to the floor rather theatrically, drawing the penalty.  Now, it probably was a foul, but you could probably call this type of foul on 85% of corner kick in routines in pro soccer.  I'm sure Italian defenders defend corners like this every week.  Busquets flailed his arms before going down like the proverbial ton of bricks, making sure the referee saw it, and called it.  I'm sorry, it probably was a foul, but it was almost surely a premeditated dive by Busquets, and it's exactly that kind of play that makes people turn off soccer matches.  At any rate, Messi scored his second PK of the day and sent Barca to the half leading 2-1.

Milan never really got it going in the second half, and Barca put it away rather early.  In the 53rd minute, Messi let loose a shot that was blocked but the ball fell to Iniesta, who slapped it just inside the far post to make it 3-1 to Barca and kill the game off.  It also made neutrals like myself feel a little bit better about the impending result after the stench of the soft PK.

Milan never really threatened the Barca net for the rest of the match, and the Spaniards held on for the 3-1 win.  Now, I don't mean to imply that the second penalty was the reason Barca won.  I'm sure they would have won anyway.  I also don't want to imply that Barcelona didn't deserve to go through.  Of course they did, they were obviously the better team over two legs.  It's just unfortunate that a team as good as they are has to have something like a Busquets dive mar a pretty good performance.  You don't see Lionel Messi pulling that stuff.

As for Barcelona, they await the winner of Chelsea vs. Benfica in the Champions League semifinals.

UCL: APOEL vs. Real Madrid

CR7 is not happy after missing a shot vs. APOEL (Getty Images)

Often in American sports you run into the team that's "just happy to be here."  We all know what I'm referring to.  Maybe it's that low seeded team that somehow makes it into the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.  Maybe it's the baseball team that somehow managed to sneak into the playoffs for the first time in years.  We also call them "Cinderellas" and while they can be a fancy bet down at the sports book, not many people really give them a chance.

This year has seen one of the finest Cinderella stories ever in the UEFA Champions League.  In soccer parlance, they're often called minnows.  They're the club that comes from a tiny country, Cyprus in this case, and doesn't have money, but they make it all the way through the qualifiers and into the Champions League proper.  Apoel Nicosia did one better than that story this year.  They made it through the group stage, and even knocked French powerhouse Lyon out in the first knock out round.  Now they were up against Real Madrid though, and that's a different story.  Madrid is the most successful club in the tourney's history, with 9 European Championships to their name.

I don't want to leave the impression that Apoel was "just happy to be here" though, because I don't think they were.  They really tried to survive the Madrid onslaught, and came pretty close.  It took 75 minutes for Madrid to finally break down the defense and the 'keeper. 

Unfortunately for Cinderella, the glass slipper totally shattered after Karim Benzema headed home Kaka's cross for the first goal in the 74th minute.  Just eight minutes later, Marcelo centered a pass to a trailing Kaka, coming into the six unmarked, and he added another goal to make it 0-2.  Benzema added a third for good measure in the 90th.  Apoel, for their part, could not manage a single shot all day, and the match ended 0-3 to Madrid.

That is an Everest sized mountain to climb for Apoel going into Madrid next week, and even though I'm a Madrid supporter, there's a part of me that hopes they make a game of it.  So often soccer fans become jaded over money, transfers, and missed opportunities.  Those of us that are fans of big clubs that are in major tournaments every year seem to expect to win, and take it for granted.  We can all learn something from Apoel.  First, always put forth the effort.  This team has worked their tails off to get this far.  Second, whatever comes your way, don't just be "happy to be here."  We may not always get the results we want in football or in life, but we should all make the most out of our experiences.

So, do I think Apoel has a chance in Spain?  Probably not, but let's not forget, even Mount Everest gives up it's summit every year for people who work hard and keep the right attitude.  These kind of people are the guys that make up Apoel's squad.  Best of luck to them.

Wenger Receives 3 Match European Ban

                                                  mirrorfootball.co.uk

Seems Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is up to his old tricks.  Namely, thinking that the only reason the Gunners ever lose is because of referees.  It looks like it's gotten him into trouble again.

Today UEFA slapped him with a 3 game European ban for comments he made to the match official after Arsenal was eliminated from the Champions League by AC Milan.  Weird thing is, Arsenal won that match 3-0 (The Gunners had lost 4-0 in Italy).  At any rate, the ban and accompanying 40,000 Euro fine ($53,000) were handed down for "improper conduct."

If Arsenal qualifies for the Champions League or the Europa League, which looks likely, Wenger will be serving his third such UEFA ban in a year.  The other two bans stemmed from instances in last year's Champion's League, and the qualifiers this year.

Wenger has indicated he will appeal the ban.

UCL: Benfica vs. Chelsea

Chelsea's Fernando Torres in UCL action.  (Getty Images)

Chelsea had a tough week coming into their first leg of quarterfinal action at Benfica.  Last Wednesday they lost a lead late at Manchester City, and then had a disappointing home match on the weekend that ended in a draw vs. Spurs.  They looked like a side that might be content to play for a draw in Portugal, but what they actually put out was a great road performance.

The match took awhile to really get off the ground, as it looked like neither side was really willing to take a risk early on.  The first chance of the match fell to Chelsea in the 11th minute, but it was a long range effort from David Luiz that went well wide. Fernando Torres saw his first chance of the match on 22 minutes, but saw his volley miss as well.

Benfica would have a number of chances from set pieces throughout the evening, but they really didn't get a lot of quality from them and rarely troubled the Blues.  In the end, they would rue those missed opportunities.  

The best chance of the first half came to Chelsea in the 40th minute.  Raul Meireles set up  just outside of the 18 and sent a scorcher of a drive in on the Benfica goal.  Artur managed to dive and parry the ball away to preserve the 0-0 scoreline going into halftime.

Benfica must have had a great halftime talk as they came out on fire.  One of their best chances of the match came in the 47th minute as Oscar Cardozo sent in a drive on the goal that was blocked off the line by David Luiz.  The Benfica players shouted for handball, but Luiz had kept his hands firmly to his side as to not concede the PK.

Chelsea finally hit pay dirt in the 75th minute.  Ramires, playing against his former club, triggered a counter attack down the Chelsea right hand side.  The ball ended up at the feet of Torres, who sent a great cross into the six.  Saloman Kalou came streaking in unmarked and tapped the ball into the net to give the Blues the 0-1 lead and the all important away goal.

Benfica pushed for an equalizer in the last 15 minutes, but they never really seemed to threaten.  They looked to pretty much be out of ideas as to how to unlock the Chelsea defense, which stood firm.  In the end, Roberto Di Matteo's men held on to the 0-1 win and will take a good edge back to Stamford Bridge next week.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Ronaldo vs CSKA Moscow

My goal of the midweek this week is from the UCL, another quality strike from Cristiano Ronaldo. Still, it wasn't enough to secure the win in Russia.