Fútbol – Última hora y Noticias sobre Fútbol – Diario Información

The much awaited tussle between Chelsea and Barcelona football clubs is here and the first leg of the two leg semifinal will commence in the evening in Barcelona. It is deemed as the match up of the season with teams with different abilities trying to out do each other. In many ways it will be a contest between the fast paced physical approach of English premier league and technically superior one touch football of Barcelona.

The prediction is hard to make and even both coaches are staying away from making any sort of announcements before the match.

I guess I need to put my head on block and I’m going with Chelsea Football Club. I believe the Barcelona is about to catch a slap. They will be beaten over both legs.

Chelsea unlike Bayern Munich in the previous round have a much stable and permanent defense and it will be mighty hard for the Barcelona’s forward to run them home and dry by beating the off side trap. Henry, Eto and Messi are good in La Liga this season but they haven’t come across the physical approach of Chelsea. Bayern had three new defenders in last four and probably playing for the first time together at Nou Camp.

Secondly most of Barcelona creativity is focused on Xavi and Inniesta, and the duo will face a stiff challenge from Essien and Ballack, both physically demanding players especially upper body strength which the Barcelona players lack.

The dual of the match could be either Essien and Xavi or Malouda vs Dani Alves. It may seem strange but most of Messi industriousness depends upon Alves as it provides Messi to go in on his left foot. Malouda drives will not only keep Alves in his own half but his better adaptability to defensive work will also make it easy for Boswinga to defend against Messi. Henry and Eto are free running players and they won’t get any space today so won’t be a big surprise if one of them get substituted around 75 minutes.

Leave all the rest to Drogba has Barcelona don’t have something called defense in football and with fast paced closing they will bound to make errors. Barcelona is not getting anything out of its home match.

Leave the rest for next week.

Outright Odds: 200/1

Group B Winners: 8/1

Paraguay have qualified for their third successive World Cup finals, but like fellow South American qualifiers Ecuador, their route to Germany was an inconsistent one. After leading the group early on, just one win from seven games in 2004 followed. However, this was levelled out overall with eight victories, four draws and six defeats, seeing them finish in fourth position with a round of fixtures to spare.

Viewers will no longer be treated to the talismanic goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, the veteran captain and dead-ball specialist who has now retired. He failed in his attempt to become the first goalkeeper to score in the finals but was superb at commanding his defence in France 1998 which saw them qualify to the second round.

One of Paraguay’s main strengths was a water-tight defence marshalled by Chilavert but this is not the case any longer. Veteran centre back Carlos Gamarra, with more than 100 caps to his name, will be 35 by the time the finals kick off and he lacks a commanding stopper alongside him. While goalkeeper Justo Villar has exceeded expectations, he is no Chilavert.

However, Paraguay possesses a resilient team spirit which could see them repeat the heroics of France 1998 and the qualities which saw them into the second round four years ago. At the moment they appear to have found a good blend between the veterans of yesteryear and the next generation of young talent.

With more firepower than recent Paraguayan sides, manager Anibal Ruiz faces a selection dilemma in attack. The established strike partnership of Roque Santa Cruz amd Jose Cardozo is under pressure from Werder Bremen striker Nelson Valdez.

Valdez could replace Santa Cruz who has recently suffered a knee injury and has struggled to make an impact at club Bayern Munich during his six seasons at the Bundesliga side due to the fierce competition for places. Valdez could partner Cardozo, who was Paraguay’s leading qualifying goal scorer with seven strikes.

If Santa Cruz is also fit, Paraguay could cause some real problems for their opposition as he is strong in the air and has pace and skill. It is the defence which poses the main problem as it is no longer solid enough as heavy 4-1 qualifying defeats to Brazil and Peru and a 5-2 reverse in Ecuador showed.

Despite qualifying in their last two campaigns, Paraguay could come unstuck this time around with England and Sweden likely to reach the last 16 at their expense.

Recommended Bet:

Despite their attacking prowess, Paraguay could miss out on a place in the second round with England and Sweden favourites to qualify. Check on the odds for the match against Trinidad & Tobago as that could be their best chance of success.

Paraguay to beat Trinidad & Tobago @ 1/2

For the third season in succession Chelsea found themselves pitched against the current European champions, Barcelona in group A. Werder Bremen and Levski Sofia make up the quartet and it would be a huge surprise if either of those teams progressed.

In group B Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Sporting Lisbon and Spartak Moscow will do battle. Bayern have been weakened by the loss of Ballack to Chelsea, but should still be good enough to get through. Inter Milan have strengthened at the expense of their scandal hit rivals in Italy and will be hard to beat.

Group C sees Liverpool, winners in 2005, returning to the scene of their Istanbul triumph to play Galatasaray. Turkish football seems to have gone off the boil and Gala might struggle against both PSV Eindhoven and Bordeaux.

Group D pitches Valencia, Roma, Olympiakos and the dangerous Shaktar Donetsk, and the first two should make the last sixteen.

Group E sees the most successful European team ever, Real Madrid against Lyon, Steau Bucharest and Dynamo Kiev. Real begin the campaign under the returning Fabio Capello and they should improve on last season’s dismal performance. Lyon under Gerard Houllier are still improving and should qualify.

Group F coughs up an Anglo-Scottish clash. Manchester United sent a reserve team up to Glasgow just before the season started and duly thumped the Scottish champions 3-0. Not many give Celtic much chance against United’s first XI who have started the season on fire. Benfica look dangerous again. They knocked both United and Liverpool out last term and will need to be respected. FC Copenhagen makes up the quartet and may surprise a few people.

Group G features Arsenal, last year’s beaten finalists, and they take on Porto, CSKA Moscow and Hamburg, not an easy group on paper for any of them and Arsenal will have to improve on early poor results at their brand new stadium. But expect them to qualify. No London team has ever won the European Cup/Champions League and Arsenal are desperate to beat their rivals Chelsea and Spurs (they’re in the UEFA cup this time) to that particular honour. But Arsenal have lost several notable players such as Pires, Campbell and Bergkamp and though they have young rapidly improving players like Van Persie and Walcott, it is hard to envisage them picking up the trophy this time round.

Group H sees the banned, but reinstated AC Milan host surprise qualifiers Lille, AEK Athens and Anderlecht. Expect AC to win the group comfortably, and the others to all take points from one another.

For those who like a bet, early odds quoted go: Barca 4/1 favourite, Chelsea 5/1, Real 9/1, AC Milan 10/1, Man Utd 11/1, Inter 13/1, Arsenal and Liverpool 18/1 and 20/1 plus on all the others. You can still get a free $30 bet at betfair.com by inputting the code 6CHE3VPWJ when required.

So who will land the pot of gold of the Champions League this year? Barca have added Thuram and Zambrotta from Italy, but they were surprisingly smacked 3-0 by their compatriots Sevilla in the Super Cup, the match between the Champions League and UEFA cup winners. Barca displayed a surprising weakness in the centre of their defence and John Terry and his pals at Stamford Bridge are certain to have noted that. Best of the outsiders is the fast improving Lyon.

Chelsea have added Ballack and the wonderful Shevchenko, and may be Ashley Cole too. As I have written elsewhere, I think Chelsea can do it this time. They would surely trade the Premier League title for the Champions League. But what do I know? I’m still working for a living. Make up your own mind. Good watching.

Manchester City were beaten by an impressive Bayern Munich side in the Champions League group A game. Bayern have now won their last ten games in all competitions, while City have yet to record a victory in their debutant Champions League campaign.

Mario Gomez scored twice for the hosts during the first half, in a game which could have seen Bayern win by an even greater margin. Gomez, who is the top scorer in the German Bundesliga scored his first goal after 38 minutes, following saves from the Blues goalkeeper Joe Hart from both Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller. Gomez was on hand again a few minutes later to score another goal from close range.

An insipid performance from City was made worse during the second half when striker Carlos Tevez, who was not in the starting eleven for the second consecutive game, refused to warm up and come on as a substitute, the unprecedented scene could now signal the end of his Manchester City career.

Tevez who had made his intentions of his desire to leave the club very clear during the summer, had cited his desire to leave due to family reasons. Despite interest from several clubs during the pre-season, which included Inter Milan and former club

Corinthians, a transfer away from the Blues could not be finalized. Tevez had also been replaced as club captain by Vincent Kompany, after his perceived disloyalty to the club by attempting to force through a transfer away from the club.

City manager Roberto Mancini has now stated that Tevez will never play for City again while he is the manager, however Tevez has since responded to the incident by stating that this was a misunderstanding and that he has always given his best for the club.

City’s off field problems seemed to be exacerbated when striker Edin Dzeko was replaced by Nigel de Jong ten minutes into the second half and he shook his head at Mancini as he left the pitch, which could be perceived as more dressing room unrest at the club.

Tévez signed a five-year contract with Manchester City in July 2009, after a much published transfer from rivals Manchester United, and he was made the club captain the following season, despite his prolific goal scoring record, he has made his intentions about his future quite clear, after first handing in a transfer request in December 2010, the player may well now lose the support of the fans and certainly the manager.

Jose Maurinho is one of the most respected coaches in Europe. This is not only because he knows his job very well, but because he is disciplined and would never take nonsense from anybody. He knows what he wants and demands it, not minding what people would think of him, as long as what he needs would assist him get the needed result.

Jose Maurinho is a pace setter; he is a god father, a disciplinarian and a charismatic coach, whose results speak on his behalf. He may not have been a football player, but as a coach he is fulfilled. He has succeeded where others have failed: he has won several domestic titles and two champions league titles (with FC Porto and Internazionale Milan).

One strong point he has is that he knows how to use what he has to achieve the result he wants. He knows where there are deficiencies and what he needs to cure the deficiency. When he came to Chelsea FC for example, the club was seriously in need of the premiership title, having failed to win it in the past 50years. Maurinho came in, brought in the likes Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Andrea Shevchenko, etc. and won the league back to back, breaking the 50years old jinx. He also won the FA cup, Carling cup and the community shield during his period of stay in Chelsea.

Nobody gave him the chance to win the champions league at Inter-Milan. People had thought that either Barcelona, Chelsea, Man-United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympic Lyon, Liver pool or Bayern Munich would win the league; but coach Maurinho proved them all wrong, defeating Chelsea and Barcelona convincingly along the way. He finally snatched the UEFA champion’s league title beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the final.

Now that he has signed to coach Real Madrid for the next 4 seasons, I see him winning the champions league which Marcello Lippi failed to win with the assemblage of world class players in his arsenal. With players like Christiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Raul Gonzalez, Higuain, Gutti, etc. Jose Maurinho would win several titles (domestic and continental) for the club, if only the club management would give him a free hand to make his selection and to determine the kinds of players to add to the team. Being a very respected coach who takes no nonsense from players, all players would surely give him his due respect and play in the role that they are assigned to play. As the new coach of Real Madrid, Jose Maurinho is set to make history again as he prepares to give them the champions league title which has eluded them for about a decade now.