Top Club Earners

Great accomplishment of English soccer teams of the Champions League for the past six years have been greatly rewarded.  But neither Liverpool the 2005 winner nor Manchester United the 2008 winner top the financial earnings of the continent.  A study released by StageUp, the Italian sports business consultancy, Chelsea top the list.  On that period, it earned more than any European club from competition.  It earned about €184 million of the €3 billion that UEFA gave out to 70 clubs. 

Second on the list is Manchester United as Alex Ferguson its coach, hit the trading floor.  Third is Arsenal that earned from competitions but was hit hard by property decline.  Fourth is Lyon, it is boost up due to its being the only consistent French performer club in the league.  Fifth is Liverpool who got €131 million.  StageUp president Giovanni Palazzi said that the study revealed that good policies for domestic revenue sharing on championships like the Premier League sufficient to stop the teams from becoming the only winners. 

Championship League Draw, Italy And Spain Ties

Barcelona the European champions will face Samuel Eto’o their past striker.  As they begin their defense of the title in Milan in the Champions League opening match next month.  The draw also matches AC Milan and Real Madrid, the nine time European champions in another Spanish against Italian clash with Kaka facing his previous club.  Eto’o moved out of Barca in the close season due to a swap deal of 66 million euros. 

The Cameroon forward got a score for Barcelona in the 2006 finals of the Champions League and only last May winning his third trophy and like his Swedish counter part, will try to put one against his previous team mates.  Joan Laportam Barcelona’s president told Italian Sky television that it will be very emotional to have Samuel Eto’o at the camp and Ibrahimovic at the Siro.  It is destiny.  The group is very complicated and we are proud of last year but now we have to dream and work hard.

FC Barcelona Caps Perfect Season

The 2008 to 2009 season for the FC Barcelona has been a fairy tale season. The club now has the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League titles for the season. With the superb play of the team lead by Lionel Messi, now acclaimed as one of the finest players of the world, has been the catalyst for the success of the club this year. 

The La Liga title was all in hand by the latter quarter of the season. The Copa del Rey was also a runaway win for the FC Barcelona squad. The last one of the three titles was one filled with drama. The final protagonists had come neck and neck until the last game of the season, with FC Barcelona being able to catch up to the lead built by Manchester United. The game though was anticlimactic as the Spanish club had controlled the game all throughout, leaving the old guard of the Red Devils ending their season with a second place finish and game reels of the FC Barcelona team being awarded the Champions League Cup for 2008.

Arsenal Has Lofty Goals

Arsenal’s Kolo Toure believes that his current crop of stats can be as great as the 2006 team and be able to get into the Champions League finals. But they have to face the mighty Manchester United team at Old Trafford, with Kolo Toure the only remaining member of the “Invincibles” who ran through the 2003 to 2004 Premier League campaign nary a loss.

Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira are no longer on the team but in their place Emmanuel Adebayor and Samir Nasri have come of age to make a run at the Champions League contention. For this upcoming match, they are not the favoured as top scorer Robin van Persie is out with injury and Andrey Arshavin will not suit up due to suspension. As for their match, Kolo Toure said that they have “the same type of team as we both like to play but the team that would win will be the one which defends the best.”

Inter Milan At A Crossroads

Jose Mourinho, the mercurial manager had a very successful run with Chelsea and when he moved to Inter Milan, he had inherited a veteran laden team led by Patrick Vieira, he still falls short of expectations.

He is the highest paid manager in the game today but he has been able only able to match the accomplishments of his predecessor Roberto Mancini. There are differences though as his current lead of ten points over their nearest competitor with still six games to go. It has been a relatively easy Italian championship compared to the ones won by the previous manager of the team.

There also were the positives, the teenage stars Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli and the negatives, the transfers of duds like Ricardo Quaresma and Mancini. But they are out of Champion’s League contention with terrible losses to Panathinaikos at home and a draw by Anorthosis of Cyprus. The clock is ticking for Mourinho works his magic as his window would be closing soon.

Malaga Chasing for Champions League Place

Malaga’s quest for a berth in the Champions League was given a great push when they beat Valladolid three goals to one. The newly promoted side this time last year was still in second tier competition and the win gave a boost to the club’s history.
Malaga took the lead on Albert Luque’s bending left footer found space between two defenders and beyond the outstretched arms of Valladolid keeper Justo Villar. A penalty made on the 29th minute courtesy of Antonio Galdeano increased Malaga’s lead to two goals until Pedro Oldini scored on a header in the 84th minute to cut the lead to one. Ignacio Perez, who was put in as substitute then scored in injury time for the final score.
The win allowed Malaga to cut the lead of the last finals berth to two points currently held by Villareal. For its part, Malaga has only lost two of its last fourteen matches and needs to win the last remaining ones to be in contention for the last ticket to the Champions League finale.

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