Group G of this season 2012/2013 UEFA Champions League was a very tight one as it featured Celtic and FC Barcelona. Favorites FC Barcelona were put in the same group as Scottish Premier League giants Celtics but the latter have been unable to take the top spot of Group G with just the 7 points they garnered from their 4 games. FC Barcelona took 9 points from their 4 matches but their last encounter with Celtic resulted in a defeat although pro soccer star Lionel Messi found the net in the 2nd half. Perhaps, it was the brilliant saves of the former Newcastle goalkeeper Fraser Forster which blocked the Catalans from seeing a nice victory.

Celtic 2-1 Barcelona

United Struggled in the Beginning But Won in the End

Manchester United were able to gain the 3 points they needed when they faced S.C. Braga in an away match of the UEFA Champions League tournament. It was the optimum efforts of Wayne Rooney, Robbie Van Persie and Javier Hernandez which stopped the Portuguese home team from snatching a win: Brazilian midfielder Alan’s 49th minute goal was not decisive.

Braga 1-3 Manchester United

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With Tottenham Hotspur trailing behind Manchester United in the league table of the Barclays Premier League, it will be no surprise when they get beaten in their away game on Saturday. Currently, the Red Devils are looking deadly as they have garnered 12 points from playing only 5 games and losing one out of them.

Although Chelsea appear to be on top of the league table, the standings could change soon especially when Arsenal thumps them during the arising weekend. It is possible that Arsenal may take 3 points from their 6th game but Tottenham Hotspur, even though they thrashed Carlisle United by three goals in their last encounter, may not be able to handle the offensive tactics of Sir Alex Ferguson‘s side. With pro soccer star Wayne Rooney looking good and free from injury, it may not be easy for Tottenham to avoid losing on Saturday. Rooney played in the League Cup match which matched his team against Newcastle United so the Tottenham defenders (Jan Vertonghen, Michael Dawson, Steven Caulker, Adam Smith) will have to mark him for 90 minutes in Saturday’s EPL session. Experienced center back Rio Ferdinand‘s missing out will not stop Man Utd.

Prediction — Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

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The opening match for Manchester United this season was a very interesting one as they had to face North West England side Everton F.C. Of course, a look at the title of this post ascertains what really happened to the Red Devils when they traveled to Goodison Park to retain 3 points from their Everton game.

Manchester United, although they had played both pro soccer stars Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck up front in their opening game, were unable to score a single goal to save them from the damage Fellaini‘s well-executed header caused them.

Fellaini had looked dangerous during the 1st-half when he smashed the woodwork which was being guarded by goalkeeper David De Gea with a clever shot. A few minutes after that event arose on the field, Welbeck  had a chance to score from inside the box but he sent the ball to the wrong direction when Everton’s defenders put serious pressure on him.

Although former Arsenal marksman Robbie Van Persie had been brought in the game to replace Welbeck, the midfield of United failed to deliver the ball to him on numerous occasions. Probably, if Nani had not kept joking with the game and had gotten serious, the away team could have broken the deadlock first to maybe hang on to a win or draw.

Hopefully, Manchester United will bounce back from their sad defeat. The 2012/2013 Barclays Premier League is still not over and the big teams will get dangerous as the season progresses. Chelsea F.C. will be playing Reading next but it is expected that the game will be won by the former although the latter could come up with a shock win.

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Instead of shutting up and staying away from disrupting the racism case against Chelsea Football Club defender John Terry, UEFA Champions League winner Ashley Cole has chosen to defend the aging lad who gets abused by Liverpool F.C. and West Ham United fans every season.

It is not surprising that a full-back as Ashley Cole will go to extreme lengths to defend a possible racist as John Terry. Although Ashley Cole looks like he is a black man, he certainly does not understand how serious John Terry’s awful behavior is. Racism is unacceptable in modern football.

And if Ashley Cole understood the seriousness of the actions of the former England captain, he would have refrained from showing support for John Terry, a player, who also shamefully slept with Wayne Bridge‘s ex-girlfriend awhile ago. Possibly, John Terry is an immoral footballer who must stop acting like a kid and start behaving like a grown man. Some of the Chelsea players probably know John Terry is not speaking the truth in the pending case but will not come out and publicly support the suffering victim.

Chelsea defender and others intervene in John Terry’s trial

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The 2012 European Championship tournament is over and Spain, of course, won it. One could argue that the teams which featured in the competition were all powerful ones. Nonetheless, it’s fair to ascertain that Germany, Portugal, Italy and England were not as formidable as Spain. Currently, Spain have the best team in the world and can match up against either Brazil or Argentina in any competitive football competition that is widely followed by fans around the globe.

Spain, a big side, won FIFA’s South Africa 2010 by fielding pro soccer star players (David Villa, Xavi Hernandez, FC Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta) who all manhandled Holland in the finals of the competition. Before Euro 2012 even started, fans around the world had predicted that Spain would lift the cup. The ones who predicted right, got their predictions to come to pass but the ones who failed to act as good predictors probably chose England to take the cup to any of the streets of the United Kingdom. Spain had the best midfield—and controlled the possession rates of almost all games they played in the competition—so their lifting of the trophy was not something that could be found as unexpected. Obviously, a team that fields the best midfielders in competitions and wins them undoubtedly deserves to be praised by true fans of the game.

Spain take the cup home

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From the way things are going, it is possible that Chelsea Football Club may be able to beat FC Bayern Munich if their players control the game. Chelsea do not play any important UEFA Champions League games next season since they did not perform very well for season 2011-2012. However, if the EPL side fail to hold on to the ball in the midfield in the upcoming game, there is no way Arjen Robben and his German Bundesliga team may not be able to stop Chelsea from winning their first UEFA Champions League title.

It  appears that the 1st-half of the match may not yield any goals. However, the 2nd-half may produce some goals and Chelsea  F.C. may have to remain solid at the back if they plan to remain triumph next Saturday.

ProSoccerStars.com Prediction: Bayern Munich 2-1 Chelsea

Read more: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1789583.html

Manchester City’s failure to beat Arsenal in their 32nd game only give Manchester United a decent chance at winning this season’s English Premier League football league.  Already Manchester United have 79 points from playing only 32 games and have kept Arsenal and Manchester City trailing by 18 and 8 points respectively. Of course, Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Spain from England has done not much harm to the team which continues to play their home games at Old Trafford Stadium.

The match between Arsenal and Manchester City did not go well for the away side when Arteta scored for the former 3 minutes before stoppage time arrived. A fateful event then followed when Mario Balotelli received a red card for performing an unneeded activity on the field during the 90th minute.

Incredibly, the Red Devils on the other hand had a successful home match when they thumped Queens Park Rangers by 2 goals. Both pro soccer stars Wayne Rooney and aging Paul Scholes registered their names on the scoring sheet in that encounter.

Now, it does not appear that Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini will be able to guide his team to win the 2011/2012 Barclays Premier League cup. Most United fans can sense that their team will probably prevent Arsenal and Manchester City from staying on top of the EPL league table in the upcoming weeks.

Manchester United’s pro soccer star forward Wayne Rooney was able to score a brace to help the team to defeat West Bromwich at home when they played their 28th game of the 2011-2012 season of the Barclays Premier League. The home side Manchester United dominated the game by holding on to the ball for at least more than 60% of the 90 minutes. Combative midfielders Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick were present in the formation which was deployed by aging Sir Alex Ferguson. Mexico’s Javier Hernandez started the match to handle an offensive role for the Red Devils and was not subbed.

Swedish defender Jonas Olsson was unlucky during the 66th minute of the match as he was sent off. Wayne Rooney had converted a penalty kick during the 71st minute after netting a goal for the Red Devils during the 1st half of the match. The performance of the Red Devils placed the team 1 point above rivals Manchester City.

Ghana are now in the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after beating Tunisia. Against Zambia, Ghana will have to score enough goals in order to increase their chances of playing against either Ivory Coast or Mali in the finals of the tournament.

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations competition took place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea but the two teams hosting it have not been able to enter its  semi-finals although they put up brilliant performances. The four teams left in the competition are known to be some of Africa’s finest and may make it to the FIFA’s Brazil 2014 World Cup due to start in the upcoming years.

Read more: Ghana punish Tunisia to enter the semi-finals

On 8 January, 2012, Manchester United were able to beat Manchester City in a 2-3 FA Cup encounter away from Old Trafford. Manchester City’s FA Cup game against Manchester United did not go well for them as Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck found the net for the Red Devils. Pro soccer star Wayne Rooney broke the deadlock just 10 minutes into the game and missed a penalty kick in the 40th minute after Welbeck had registered his name on the scoring sheet in the 30th minute. Rooney’s brace was decisive in the away team’s win. Of course, 2nd-half goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Argentina’s Sergio Arguero were not enough to save Manchester City. The FA Cup derby which took place at the Etihad Stadium saw both teams splitting the ball possession percentage.

                                   GOALS SCORED BELOW