Nine Men Benfica Holds Off Juventus; Valencia Almost Pulled It Off!

It was a thrilling Thursday night for European football! After the two great Champions League games, the Europa League semifinals were full of goals in one game and tension in the other. 

Benfica Holds Off The Old Lady

Let's start with the tension from the Juventus stadium as the Old Lady needed to win to clinch a spot in the final. However, Benfica had other plans and fought until the end to hold a well-deserved 0-0 draw. 

Down to 10 men at the 60th minute, the Portuguese side showed strength and discipline to stop the ever-flowing wave of Juventus attacks. Benfica even had to play the last 10 minutes with only nine players after an overhead kick by Pogba ended up in Garay's face and Benfica did not even any subs left.

Juventus had trouble creating opportunities to score despite a world-class Paul Pogba. The French man was all over the pitch and was with no doubt the best Italian player last night. But Pogba's tricks and efforts were not enough, especially since Juventus' strikers were not in good form. Tevez tried a lot, but never found the target. As for Llorente (substituted by Osvaldo at the 75th), he wandered around the box for most of the game, never being able to pull free from Luisao's marking. 

Juventus should have regrets after this game as they had all the cards in hand. They won't have the opportunity to play the final in their own stadium on May 14. Benfica will play their second consecutive final.

M'Bia Saves Sevilla From Disgrace

Arriving in Valencia with a two-goal lead, Sevilla had made a big step toward the final. They probably believed they were already in Turin when the referee blew the kick-off. Maybe they had also forgotten that Valencia had recovered from a three-goal deficit against Basel in the quarterfinals! 

Valencia had no options, they had to score. And they did. They had a 2-0 lead at halftime, already making it 2-2 on aggregate. 

The third goal from Matthieu at the 69th minute were the Graal to the final and Valence held it until the 94th minute!

The minute chose by Stephane M'Bia to put on the savior suit and head the winning goal into the net! M'Bia, goal scorer in the first leg, will probably have a statue of himself in Sevilla tomorrow. 

The final will then showcase two footballs that are fairly similar. One team from Portugal, another one from Spain. Two Spanish teams in the Champions League final. In other words, proof that the Iberian football is a la mode! 

Who will win the UEFA Europa League title?  

Will Monaco Survive Without Falcao?

Falcao injured himself on this challenge. He suffers
from a torn ACL and could miss the World Cup.

It was a bitter-sweet night for Monaco on Tuesday, Jan. 21,  as they easily defeated Chasselay, a fourth division team, 3-0, in the French Cup and suffered the loss of their striker, Radamel Falcao for many months! 

The Colombian striker suffers from an ACL injury and could miss the 2014 World Cup! If it is a huge loss for Colombia, it could also be a terrible thing for Monaco. Indeed, the club had a lot of expectations from their expensive striker, but unfortunately Falcao has not been at his top so far this season. He just came back from a thigh injury a week ago, after being kept off the field for more than three weeks. And now, an torn ACL! 

Monaco might have trouble to qualify for the Champions League next season without their striker, especially against the unstoppable PSG and the impressive Lille, Lyon and Marseille this season.

Many players could leave if the club fails to qualify for the major European competition.

However, Monaco showed that they could play without Falcao, thanks to French striker Emmanuel Riviere who really stepped up and scored crucial goals for the club. And Monaco is--a little bit--lucky that Falcao injured himself during the transfer window! With its huge budget, Monaco is already targeting replacements for the Colombian. 

Among targets are Brazilian Hulk and Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic. The Brazilian was already on Monaco's radar last summer, but decided to stay at Zenith. Will he change his mind now? As for Vucinic, he does not play as often as he was last year with Juventus since the arrival of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente. Maybe he will be attracted by some playing time on the French Riviera! 

Let's hope Monaco finds a way to fix the problem and let's hope that Falcao will be fit before the start of the World Cup! No one wants to see Colombia without their main offensive threat! 

   

UCL review: Goals, Records, And Snow Storm!

Eight of the 16 UEFA Champions League Group stage final games were played yesterday, Tuesday, December 10. Five teams involved were already qualified for the next round. The rest had to battle out their way in the last 16. 

The most interesting game was the duel between Galatasaray and Juventus as the Turkish side needed a win to qualify while the Italian simply needed to bring one point home from their trip to Istanbul. If fans and intensity were present at the Turk Telecom Arena, they were, unfortunately, not the only one as snow and hail join the party right from the start. After 30 minutes of an intense and entertaining game game under a dreadful snow storm, officials decided to stop the game and clear the snow off the field. But it was a lost cause and the game was finally postponed to a yet to determined date. Both teams will play this decisive game already knowing the result of the other game as Real Madrid defeated Copenhagen on the road, 2-0. 

Two goals for Madrid and two records! Real Madrid becomes the club which scored most goals in the history of the Champions League group stage (20) and Cristiano Ronaldo the best goal scorer in group stage history as well with nine goals.

Both Manchesters won today with a 1-0 win for United at home over Chaktior and an impressive 3-2 win for City over Bayern Munich in Germany! Both teams were already qualified. Let's hope for English fans that Arsenal and Chelsea will do the same tomorrow.  

Finally, Benfica defeated PSG, 2-1, but it was not enough to clutch the last ticket as Olympiakos dominated Anderlecht, 3-1, on the road. The Greeks join Paris in the round of 16. 

Results are as follows:

Group A

Manchester United 1-0 Donetsk / Real Sociedad 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

1- Manchester; 2- Leverkusen; 3- Donetsk; 4- Real Sociedad

Group B

Copenhagen 0-2 Real Madrid / Galatasaray 0-0 Juventus (Postponed)

1-Real Madrid; 2- Juventus (-1); 3-Galatasaray(-1); 4- Copenhagen

Group C

Benfica 2-1 PSG / Olympiakos 3-1 Anderlecht

1- PSG; 2- Olympiakos; 3- Benfica; 4- Anderlecht

Group D

Bayern Munich 2-3 Manchester City / Victoria Plzen 2-1 CSKA Moscow 

1- Bayern; 2- City; 3- Plzen; 4- Moscow

UCL: Does Galatasaray have what it takes?

The Turkish side must win its last game, tonight, to clutch the last ticket to the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League and it won't be an easy task.

Indeed, Galatasaray faces Juventus Turin in a decisive game at home. In their first encounter, both teams left the field with one point after a 2-2 draw in Italy. Tonight's game is a winner-takes-all game and should be very entertaining with the always loud Turk Telecom Arena fans to support their team. 

But does Galatasaray have what it takes to defeat the Italian back to back champions who only needs a tie to qualify? Here are a few keys of the game that Galatasaray will need to get the win:

• In-form stars: A few players have many Champions League games in their feet and have the experience of tough, decisive games. Didier Drogba, winner of the competition with Chelsea two years ago, is one of them. He scored two goals in five previous games and, despite his age (35), he is still a major threat for defenses and an in-form Drogba could be deadly. Galatasary surely hopes that the great Ivory Coast striker will be on fire tonight. Wesley Sneijder's form will also be a key of the game. The 29-year old Dutch only scored one goal and has no assist in three games so far so he will have to pick it up if Galatasaray wants to go through.

• A strong defense: Undoubtedly the weakness of the team. Galatasaray gave up 14 goals in five matchs, which makes it the third worst defense of the competition. Not what you expect from a major team. However, the team conceded 10 goals against Real Madrid only, but no excuse! The defense needs to wake up and be focus for 90 minutes to stop the Italian offensive power because when Tevez, Llorente, Vidal, Pogba and Co. are feeling well, they can find a way through any defense. 

• Juventus' struggle away from home: The Italian side has not won a single game on the road in their two previous games on the road (1-1 to Copenhagen; 1-2 to Real Madrid). Galatasaray will have to use this weakness to win the game, which means putting a lot of pressure high on the field and don't give Juventus time to play like they were at home. Controlling the maestro Andrea Pirlo is key to close Juventus' style of play, but it won't be an easy feat.

• The home crowd: The Turk Telecom Arena is one of the loudest, craziest stadium in Europe with an incredible home crowd! Turkish fans are known to push behind their team from start to finish. Juventus could have trouble adapting, even if similar atmosphere can be seen in Italy.

One goal. That's all Galatasaray needs to qualify; one single goal without giving away any. Can they do it? Will Juventus be knock-out of the Champions League for one little point? We'll have the answer after 90 minutes of  a ferocious battle in Turkey.  

UCL: Juventus' Last Chance; Paris One Win Away

Juventus manager Antonio Conte is confident his players
will do the job against Copenhagen tonight

Today's UEFA Champions League games are going to be, once again, very entertaining with many teams under pressure to stay alive and some others to seal the deal and the qualification for next round.

Among the teams looking to survive and avoid elimination, Juventus is the main one. The Bianconerro, who are leading the SerieA, have the biggest difficulties in the Champions. They haven't won a single game so far, tying three times and losing once to Real Madrid in four games. Antonio Conte's team holds fourth place of Group B, but could take the second place with a win tonight over Copenhagen if Real Madrid defeats Galatasaray in the other match.

"We are going to play a very important and difficult game, but the only thing that matters is to win it," said Juventus manager Antonio Conte during the pre-game press conference. "if we want to keep playing in the Champions League this season, we MUST win."

The Italian side could count on Llorente and Tevez who both are in form offensively. Both players are getting better and better every game, their complicity on the field growing each game. Juventus also has one of the best defense, if not the best, in the Calcio and this could make a big difference against a fairly poor Copenhagen side.

As for the teams which could grab qualifications for next stage tonight, Paris St Germain is one point away from reaching next round in Group C. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's teammates know that the task won't be easy against a solid Olympiakos team, but they are ready for the challenge and it is hard to see how the Greeks are going to stop the scoring machine that is PSG (13 goals in four games so far).

In Group A, Manchester United visits Bayer Leverkusen and needs a win to qualify. In the same time, Chaktior Donetsk hosts Real Sociedad, already out. David Moyes' men know what they have to do and are up for the job.

Finally in Group D, both Bayern Munich and Manchester City are qualified before this game, so there is no real challenge there except for the first place of the group. Bayern with 12 points needs one more win to ensure their first place.

All games kick-off at 8:45 p.m. GMT.