Sunday, September 19, 2010

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19.09. (Sun) 21:00 Girondins Bordeaux - Olympique Lyonnais

Relegation Form

Only a few months ago, Girondins de Bordeaux against Olympique Lyonnais would have been billed as a top of the table clash, but five matches into the new season both sides are languishing deep in the lower half of the table, desperately seeking inspiration for better.

Bordeaux’s slump doesn’t really come as a great surprise, though the fact it’s been so deep is somewhat of a shock. Under Jean Tigana, stripped of key players last term such as Marouane Chamakh and Yoann Gourcuff, who controversially fled to Lyon, les Marine et Blanc have picked up just one league victory.

Last weekend, the 2008-09 champions sunk to 18th in the table, a position that would suggest a battle against the drop, and their coach didn’t deny that’s exactly how his side played as they turned in a simply dreadful showing against Nice to lose 2-1 on the Cote d’Azur.

“We just didn’t play and in the first half we were catastrophic before improving after that and creating chances,” Tigana scorched to the press, according to Ligue 1’s official website. “It’s not good enough. We’ve got a lot of work to do and the players need to ask hard questions of themselves. From January to the present day Bordeaux’s form has been relegation form.”

Les Girondins have been unable to replace last season’s aces. Though Anthony Modeste has contributed two goals in four games, he is too raw to be a top class centre forward, while Fahid Ben Khalfallah has been hugely disappointing to date. But it’s not just Bordeaux’s new boys; their established first team picks must raise their game too, as Tigana intimated last Sunday.

No Trigger Required


Lyon are little better off than les Girondins in terms of league position. Presently les Gones are stationed 16th with just five points from their five matches, though at least Claude Puel can point to an improving trend in performance level as reason for optimism.

Last Saturday his men played reasonably well to take a 1-1 home draw with Valenciennes, though the full-time score was ultimately a disappointment, particularly after taking the lead. But the midweek success over Schalke in the Champions League may be the catalyst OL need for their season to finally take off.

“We don’t really need anything in particular to trigger our season,” Puel argued to the media, according to the LFP’s official website. “It was like the match against Valenciennes - these two matches represent some very solid groundwork.

“We’ve seen that we have a lot of technical potential. We were well balanced [against Schalke]. We need to fine-tune the understanding among the players in the final 25 metres but I think our last two matches have shown many promising signs in terms of our progress.”

Yoann Gourcuff has proven to be something of a catalyst in OL’s improvement, but his return to the Stade Chaban-Delmas will spark high feelings on Sunday due to the manner and timing in which he declared his desire to leave.

“It's a bit special to play against my former club,” he told Football365. “I spent two wonderful years there; it went very well with Laurent Blanc. We managed some good things in the league and Champions League; there was a lot of satisfaction.

“I have never cheated there. Today, Bordeaux is over. I think the fans will not like me and could whistle, but that’s football.”

Gourcuff and Lyon have much to prove.



TEAM NEWS

Bordeaux


Jean Tigana has a number of injury worries approaching this fixture. Goalkeepers Ulrich Rame and Abdoulaye Keita continue to miss out through injury, but there are greater problems elsewhere on the field. Centre-back Marc Planus has been training with the first team again, albeit with a huge bandage on his leg, while Anthony Modeste is liable to miss out after scoring two goals in four appearances.

Better news surrounds Wendel, who should return to the team after missing last weekend’s defeat.

Any number of changes could be made by Tigana such has been the abject nature of les Girondins’ start to the season.

Probable Starting XI:
Carrasso; Chalme, Sane, Ciani, Tremoulinas; A. Diarra, Fernando; Ben Khalfallah, Plasil, Wendel; Maazou

Lyon

Slowly but surely, Claude Puel’s early season injury headaches are starting to clear up. Cris returned to normal training on Thursday, indicating that he could possibly come into contention, while Aly Cissokho is nearing fitness too. Cesar Delgado is in the final stages of his rehabilitation following a muscular problem, while Michel Bastos and Lisandro Lopez have each played the last two games.

Only Ederson is now a long-term issue.

Changes may be made after the Schalke victory, though Puel won’t touch his squad too much after a rare win.

Probable Starting XI:
Lloris; Reveillere, Lovren, Diakhate, Kolodziejczak; Toulalan, Pjanic; Briand, Gourcuff, Michel Bastos; Lisandro


Prediction
These are undoubtedly two clubs in crisis, though Bordeaux’s problems are clearly far deeper than Lyon’s. Jean Tigana’s side are playing hopelessly poorly at the moment, and though they’ve recorded positive results against Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille, don’t back on them completing a hat-trick against OL. There are signs les Gones are starting to get going, and this could kick-start their season.

Bordeaux 1-1 O. Lyon

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19.09. (Sun) 19:00 Atletico Madrid - Barcelona

Regain Control

Barcelona only lost one game over the course of last season in La Primera Division – away at Atletico Madrid – and after slipping to a shock defeat to Hercules last weekend, they are expected to be fully stretched as they return to the scene of 2009-10’s only reverse.

Los Colchoneros have won widespread praise for the start they’ve made to their Liga campaign. On the opening Monday of the season, just a few days after they’d lifted the European Super Cup with a triumph over Inter, Quique Sanchez Flores guided his side to a smashing 4-0 victory over Sporting Gijon to lift them top of the table. That was swiftly followed by a 2-1 triumph over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames – a venue where neither Barca nor Real Madrid won during 2009-10 - last weekend.

But Atleti’s momentum was halted somewhat in midweek as they were surprisingly defeated in the Europa League by Aris in Greece. Matched against a side containing a number of Spaniards eager to impress against an established outfit from their homeland, los Rojiblancos looked flat throughout, and excepting a couple of glaring misses from Diego Costa late in the second half, rarely threatened.

“I don't think we deserved this result, although I have my doubts,” Flores told the media after the game. “There was no control of the situation, we were very vague. We did not suffer at all from their counterattacks, nothing excessive. But a lack of self control that we had meant we never got to create a sense of danger.”

There can be little doubt that the capital city club went into the midweek match considering Barca at the weekend as their main objective, so it will now be a double blow if they fail to beat the Blaugrana on Sunday.

Uncomfortable


A full scale crisis was nearly on the cards at Camp Nou in midweek. As Barcelona faced Panathinaikos in the Champions League, they were caught out by a long punt forward from the Greek side, and as their defence dozed, Sidney Govou nipped in to give the Shamrock a surprising advantage.

On the back of a 2-0 defeat at the venue by Hercules last weekend in what is one of the greatest shocks result in club football over the last few seasons, it would have been easy for la Blaugrana to panic. Indeed, had Lionel Messi not instantaneously levelled the match, a tough night for the Catalans might have been in order, but their equilibrium was instead restored and Barca played some champagne football as they ran out stunning 5-1 winners.

“We needed to have a good feeling again and the team has played a very complete match,” Andres Iniesta told Marca after the midweek encounter. “We have started the league well and we have not stopped tonight, despite the chance our opponent got after 20 minutes.”

On Thursday, Iniesta looked forward to the clash with Atletico, confessing it is a fixture that Barca will certainly not take lightly. “Last year [this] was the only match we lost,” he remembered. “They are historically a rival who make us uncomfortable and we have to try and make things right and break that slump. We try to do business as usual because we cannot play any other way.

“The reality is that Atletico Madrid have won the UEFA Super Cup, won their first two league game, and have important players who are in good form. It will be difficult.”

Barca face undoubtedly their stiffest challenge of the season to date on Sunday, yet these are the kind of clashes Pep Guardiola’s side tend to rouse themselves for most impressively.



TEAM NEWS

Atletico

Quique Sanchez Flores made some changes to his squad in midweek but did not excessively rotate his side. Those regular players omitted against Aris, such as Jose Antonio Reyes, will be restored.

Sergio Aguero wasn’t risked in Greece after picking up an injury against Athletic Bilbao but should return, though Tomas Ujfalusi probably won’t play.

Probable Starting XI:
De Gea; Perea, Godin, Dominguez, Lopez; Reyes, Assuncao, Raul Garcia, Simao; Forlan, Aguero

Barcelona


Jeffren Suarez has been back training with the main group, but he’s not ready for first team action yet. Gerard Pique was nursing a head injury and didn’t train on Wednesday, while Andres Iniesta worked out separately, but both should be back in the fold for the weekend.

Pep Guardiola gave his men the day off on Thursday.

Probable Starting XI:
Valdes; Dani Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell; Xavi, Mascherano, Iniesta; Messi, Villa, Pedro
 

Prediction
This is a highly dangerous match for Barcelona, but though they lost it last season, Pep Guardiola will be keen to remind his players that they did so with a greatly depleted side. They will be at full strength this time around, and though Atletico have started the season in terrific form, Barca have a wonderful opportunity to silence some critics at the Vicente Calderon. Expect them to do just that in an open and exciting match.

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Barcelona 

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19.09. (Sun) 17:30 Schalke 04 - Borussia D.

Schalke Still Waiting On Form

For Schalke fans who have been waiting for their team to find their best form, Tuesday’s 1-0 loss away to Lyon was yet another disappointment. Christoph Moritz made a silly error early in the game to allow Michel Bastos to net the game’s only goal, and centre half Benedikt Hoewedes was controversially sent off not long thereafter. Before half-time, Schalke were really against the ropes, and did rather well to avoid losing by a greater margin.

Heading into the 136th Ruhr derby, Schalke are winless in the Bundesliga since April 23. Die Knappen have lost all of their three league fixtures this term, but will hope to rebound on the grand stage that is the Ruhr derby. The word “crisis” is being mentioned more and more, but coach Felix Magath feels that such a stage has yet to be reached.

“It is normal to see pressure appear after three straight defeats,” he admitted to Deutsche Presseagentur. “We have to deal with this. This should not be a problem for us. There is no need to panic.”


Still, Magath himself is likely feeling pressure from his superiors at Schalke. The coach has splashed cash on the likes of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Jose Manuel Jurado and Sergio Escudero, and financially, his club are counting on a return to Champions League football next fall.

As the proverb goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and that step could be made against Dortmund. In perhaps the biggest derby in Western Europe, and in front of a capacity crowd at the Veltins-Arena, perhaps everything will rapidly come together for Schalke.

Dortmund Enter Derby After Whirlwind In Lviv

Still an extremely young side, Dortmund showed both expected naivety and exceptional maturity in Thursday’s 4-3 victory away to Karpaty Lviv. In that match, the Schwarzgelben went 2-0 ahead early, but saw their advantage disintegrate in the second half, the equaliser coming after defender Mats Hummels fell flat on his back. After twice hitting the post late, they conceded a silly counterattack goal and appeared on their way to a stunning loss. It was a show of pure inexperience.

But that all changed late. Dortmund pushed and pushed, and finally equalised in the 87th minute, when Robert Lewandowski found Lucas Barrios, who leveled with an emphatic finish. Deep in injury time, Barrios set up 18-year old prodigy Mario Goetze with a perfect chipped ball, and the attacking midfielder completed his brace with a cool finish. Their late showing required the kind of composure and coolness that you’d never see from a U-21 side, which almost describes Dortmund.

After the game, Heinz Buese of the Associated Press labeled what he saw as the “craziest game of the club’s history.”

Nuri Sahin, who converted an early penalty, hailed his team’s performance.

“This was a great game, the end was beautiful,” the Turkish midfielder told reporters. “We all made mistakes, and each of us knows what he has done wrong. The fact that we came back as a team shows that we have great attitude.”

Their tremendous comeback will send Dortmund into the Ruhr derby with heads full of steam. Striker Lucas Barrios, who equalised late before assisting Goetze’s winner, issued a rally call on Friday: “We owe our fans one more victory at Schalke!”

TEAM NEWS

Schalke


Christoph Metzelder, Tim Hoogland, Christian Pander and Levan Kenia have been ruled out of Felix Magath’s matchday squad, but the coach still has a number of tough decisions to make in his selection. Known for making surprising squad decisions at the last moment, Magath could use any of a number of formations and combinations of players.

Probable Starting XI:
Neuer - Moritz, Hoewedes, Plestan, Sarpei - Jones, Rakitic - Farfan, Jurado, Raul - Huntelaar

Borussia Dortmund

After sustaining a hip flexor injury while preparing for Thursday’s match in Lviv, skipper Sebastian Kehl has been ruled out. He will join Tamas Hajnal, Dede, and Mohamed Zidan as definite absentees from Juergen Klopp’s squad. The only question mark lies over Mario Goetze, who took a knock to the head against Lviv, but is expected to start ahead of Jakub Blasczykowski.

Probable Starting XI:
Weidenfeller - Owomoyela, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Bender, Sahin - Goetze, Kagawa, Grosskreutz - Barrios


Prediction
It’s only a matter of time before Schalke reach their best form, but at the moment, Dortmund are far too good to lose. Given the defensive woes of Schalke and the fact that Dortmund conceded four in Lviv, expect a goalfest. Either team could win, but a draw seems most appropriate between these bitter rivals.

Schalke 04 2-2 Borussia

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19.09. (Sun) 14:30 Manchester United - Liverpool

'This is the fixture'
With 36 English titles between them, Premier League games don't get much bigger than Manchester United against Liverpool.

The two North West giants continue their intense rivalry at Old Trafford on Sunday in a fixture that always serves to make the heart beat a little faster for supporters of both sides.

The backdrop to this encounter involves a season which has barely got underway but has already had its fair share of drama for the two teams.

United have already fallen four points behind defending champions Chelsea after throwing away winning positions to draw in away games against Fulham and Everton, while Sir Alex Ferguson’s side also had a below-par night against Rangers in the Champions League.

Liverpool have a new manager, Roy Hodgson, who has made a mixed start as the Reds look to recover from last season’s disastrous seventh place finish which eventually led to the departure of Rafael Benitez to Inter.

Admittedly Hodgson’s charges have had a very difficult run of fixtures to open the new campaign, along with European commitments to be balanced, but defeat on Sunday would mean an unsatisfactory return of one win from five league games.

Therefore the pressure is on for the new man at the helm to pick up some sort of result at Old Trafford in a game the significance of which his opposite number knows all too well.

Ferguson – who once famously said his aim at United was to knock Liverpool off their perch at the top of the domestic game – used his pre-match press conference to re-iterate just how big the game is.

"I sound like a parrot but this is 'the fixture'. There is no question about that," he asserted.

"It doesn't change. The form fluctuates quite a bit but we won the last game so hopefully that turns it back towards us again.

"Roy has the experience. He has gathered a wealth of experience in Italy, Switzerland and Finland and the job he did at Fulham was absolutely extraordinary.

"But our approach will not change. We have to express ourselves the way we always do.”

A win in front of their own fans will certainly be the target for United, although they will be wary of their fierce rivals.

Liverpool have tasted victory in three of the last four games in the head-to-head, although the last meeting saw the Red Devils win 2-1 thanks to a winning goal from Ji-Sung Park.

Whatever the result on Sunday there is sure to be incident, with the final result potentially significant in setting up a positive or negative season ahead for either side.



TEAM NEWS

Manchester United
Antonio Valencia begins a long injury absence after picking up a serious ankle injury in midweek.

Many of United's other key players will be feeling fresh after Sir Alex Ferguson made 10 changes for the Champions League draw against Rangers.

Anderson is back in first-team contention after a long absence with a knee injury, although is unlikely to start the match.

Rio Ferdinand is expected to make his first Premier League start of the new season alongside Nemanja Vidic - a player who has struggled against Liverpool in the past - in the centre of United's defence.

Possible Starting XI: Van der Sar; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Nani, Fletcher, Scholes, Park; Rooney, Berbatov.


Liverpool


Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will return for Liverpool after being rested, along with Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel, for Thursday's Europa League win against Steaua Bucharest.
England midfielder Joe Cole, who set Liverpool on their way to victory against Steaua with a goal after 30 seconds, will also make his return to Premier League action after completing the three-match suspension he icurred for a red card against Arsenal on the opening day.
Fabio Aurelio (Achilles) and Dirk Kuyt (shoulder) are both still sidelined.
Possible Starting XI: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Konchesky; Poulsen, Meireles; Jovanovic, Gerrard, Cole; Torres.

Prediction
Manchester United have dropped needless points in recent league games against Fulham and Everton, while the midweek draw with Rangers did little to improve the mood at Old Trafford.

Liverpool have had a very tough run of fixtures at the start of the season, but they would certainly have hoped for better than just one win from their domestic games so far.

The formbook usually goes out of the window in games between these two bitter enemies, which makes predicting a tough ask, but I'm backing the home side to edge a victory here.

Man Utd. 2-1 Liverpool