We’re less than a month away from seeing Rooney, Drogba, Arsene, ‘nando, Deuce, and the rest of the lads of the English Premier League battle it out for glory and money. So Cathal and I have decided to announce an official 2010-2011 Fantasy Premier League Challenge. And this year we have prizes, such as an official Premier League jersey, for the winners thanks to the good folks over at SoccerPro and Cult Zeros. But more on that later…

Here are the details as to how to join in on the action:

• First, head on over to the official fantasy premier league website and log in. (You’ll need to register if you haven’t done so before, which takes all of two minutes.)
• Once you have logged in and set up your team, go on and click the “Leagues” link in the left navigation bar.
• Click create/join and in the “join a private league” section enter in code 273254-72821 and click submit. You should now be in the AFR Legends league.

Okay, so want to know the prizes that can be won? Thought so.

• The Winner chooses from SoccerPro’s selection of official soccer jerseys
• 2nd place gets a custom Cult Zeros shirt.
• 3rd place chooses from SoccerPro’s selection of soccer balls of your choice (priced below $25, courtesy of SoccerPro)
• 4th, 5th, and 6th place will receive a $10 Gift Card to spend on soccer gear at SoccerPro

So as long as you keep up with your team, you’ll have a good shot of winning something. The competition was organised between Football Corner, my site A Football Report, and Yanks Are Coming. Anyway, good luck!

While most people have jumped aboard the Jose Mourinho or the Louis van Gaal boat prior to today’s big clash, that wasn’t always the case. I was on the Barça boat myself, and I have to say that it really has amazed me to watch recent European “giants” be cast aside by “underdogs” Inter & Bayern. Now I know that Inter and Bayern are European powerhouses, they have, of course, won both their respective domestic titles and domestic cups. However, neither side have proved to be a real threat on Europe’s biggest stage in quite some time. It’s been refreshing, akin to Bordeaux not allowing Lyon to win Ligue 1 for an 8th year in a row last year. And, in truth, I think we’re set for a cracker.

So before we look inevitably look forward to the madness set to occur in front of an audience of hundreds of millions from around the world, let’s take a step back and see just how the Germans and the Italians have shifted the epicenter of European power.

The Group Stage

Inter had it rough, didn’t they? The Nerazzuri had to deal with European and Spanish champions Barcelona, Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv, and Russian champions Rubin Kazan in Group F as well. This was the only group in the entire Champions League that had all four teams being winners of their respective domestic leagues. So even though Jose couldn’t beat Barcelona at this stage, kudos has to go to Inter for finishing second in the group.

Bayern had Bordeaux, Juventus, and Israel’s Maccabi Haifa. So yeah, what an easy group. Though Bordeaux dominated, the group’s second spot looked to be Juve’s before the Germans came back from 1-0 down in Torino to thrash the Bianconeri 4-1 and go through to the knockout stages. This was the beginning to Juve’s atrocious season. So I suppose Inter, Milan, Roma, and the rest of Serie A owe Bayern for their demoralising victory. Well done lads.

The Round of 16

Chelsea Dagger – By the Fratellis/Samuel Eto’o

Well, this one was full of drama. Jose going home to Chelsea. Mourinho took some swipes at his old club, saying they haven’t won anything legitimate since he’d left. Of course Carlo Ancelotti won the double this year for the Blues, but it’s always nice to hear Jose run his mouth a bit isn’t it? The first leg was won by Inter 2-1 at San Siro thanks to goals from Esteban Cambiasso and Diego Milito. Chelsea were denied a certain penalty, but hey, that’s football. Jose played ultra-defensive, counter-attack football, and didn’t it pay off? Samuel Eto’o took one of Inter’s few chances brilliantly, and Inter took the game 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. Sorry Don Carlo…

If you thought Inter’s first leg was controversial, then wow, Bayern Munich’s Round of 16 first-leg tie with Fiorentina made OJ Simpson’s trial look like a speeding ticket. Bayern grabbed a 2-1 victory thanks to Klose, but he should have been sent off after a daft tackle. But he wasn’t and he went on to score the match winning goal from an apparent offside position. Fiorentina were furious, and though they looked set to perform a bit of vigilante justice with a 2-0 start to the second leg, Bayern came back with three unanswered goals from 3-1 down to actually win the game 4-3. Like Juve, Bayern broke Fiorentina’s heart as well, as they had a relatively poor season. Now that I think about it, this German squad knocked out quite a few Italians. But anyway…

On to the Quarterfinals…

Inter had CSKA Moscow, which everyone said was “going to be harder than it looked.” But come on, Inter were always going to go through. The first leg at San Siro was 1-0 thanks to Milito, then second was 1-0 thanks to Sneijder. I don’t see what all the fuss was about.

Bayern, on the other hand, had to put up with the incredible Wayne Rooney and co. Everyone then said, “Well, Bayern play nice football. It should be a nice game” which means, “Rooney is going to have his way with those Germans.” The first leg initially lived up to the pundits’ expectations, as Rooney gave United a very early lead at the Allianz Arena. But then Franck Ribery had his way with United scored an equalizer, and the rich man’s Paul Dickov, the epically hard-working Ivica Olic scored an injury time winner for Bayern. It was also assisted by Rio Ferdinand’s decision to dribble from the back. So Bayern were feeling pretty good as they went to Old Trafford for the second leg, but so were United, who had a dream start to the match. Rooney was playing on a bad ankle, but still helped the Mancs jump to a 3-nil lead over the Bavarians. And that was that. Or was it? Olic snatch an impossibly-angled goal, and then a Rafael sending off gave Bayern hope once again. Just like his shoe sponsor says, “Impossible is nothing,” Arjen Robben scored an impossible last-minute volley that made the score 3-2, but 4-4 on aggregate. So Bayern heroically progressed on away goals thanks to their bald 25-year-old Dutchman. Fergie wasn’t all that happy with the loss, but the Germans were through!

Semifinals! You surely know about this one, don’t you?

I’ll start with Bayern Munich vs. Lyon. Michel Platini was so happy that one of his French sides made it this far, but all that pride was soon stripped as Bayern won 1-0 at home then 3-0 over at the Stade de Gerland over in France. Embarrassing stuff, but the Germans took that form and used it to snatch a Bundesliga title and a German Cup as well. Good job guys! Unfortunately Franck Ribery will not be able to take part in the final because of his reckless, studs-up challenge in the first leg of the semifinal. It was deemed a straight red, so now Franck has to sit in shame and think about all the stuff he does outside of football until the World Cup comes around.

On to Inter vs. Barcelona! Barcelona were coming off of a 6-3 aggregate win over Arsenal, so surely they could toss Inter aside as well. After all, it was beautiful, perfect football being played in Catalunya compared to, well, not perfect football. Just as Narcissus couldn’t help looking at himself, Barcelona couldn’t help but play predictable, pretty football, which Jose Mourinho jumped on, drowning the threats of Messi and Ibrahimovic. Inter became legends by defeating Barça 3-1 at the San Siro, thanks to goals from Eto’o, Milito, and Maicon. The second leg was just as unpredictable. Carlos Puyol was not able to play, but told Catalans to prepare for this game like it was a war. And didn’t they just do that? Barcelona were dominating, and then the Camp Nou fans can be thanked for helping influence the referee for Thiago Motta’s red card, which infamously prompted Inter fans to create this picture of Sergio Busquets.

So now it was 11 vs. 10 men in Barca’s favour; surely the Blaugrana would toss the Italians aside? But that wasn’t the case. Inter backline of Lucio, Zanetti, Samuel, and Maicon played like Spartans, defending their ground despite being outnumbered. It was, in my opinion, the greatest defensive display since Greece won EURO 2004. Gerard Pique scored a stunner in the dying minutes, and a disallowed Bojan Krkic goal ensured that Jose could celebrate “the best feeling [he's] ever had in his career.” Barcelona were sore losers and turned the sprinklers on Inter. Not exactly something “Beauty” would do to the “Beast” in a Disney film, but I digress…

The Final! We made it!

It was an epic journey to get to Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, and both teams have already cemented legendary status with their loyal fans. That being said, footballing gods are above footballing legends in my book. So who will become gods? Inter Milan or Bayern Munich?

Become a fan of A Football Report on Facebook! Join in on the banter!

Captions are due by Sunday (5/16) at midnight! Email them to contest@afootballreport.com.

The best part? Not only will the winner this week win your country’s official Adidas Capitano World Cup replica ball, but all entrants will be sent a code that gives you a $5 discount on any purchase of $25 or more from SoccerPro & a $10 discount on any purchase of $100 or more.

And if you use the code in your purchase, email contest@afootballreport.com your receipt from SoccerPro and you’ll be entered in a random drawing to have your purchase of a jersey (of $80 or less) reimbursed.

So why not save $5 on your country’s team jersey or $10 off a new pair of football boots? Just think of something (anything) brilliant for the picture below! Looking forward to reading all of your captions, and good luck! So… what’s going on in this week’s caption with Drogba and this panther? Try to keep it (relatively) clean!

The World Cup just a little more than a month away, and I have created A World Cup Report, a subset of my own site, A Football Report, to cover the beautiful game at its grandest stage. A World Cup Report has contributors from all over the world sharing their views on everything related to the World Cup.

Anyway, to make the time speed up I launched the “What’s Going On Here? World Cup Caption Contest”. For the next four weeks there will be four pictures on A World Cup Report, and each week the person with the best (most creative, funny, etc…) caption will win a prize! This week the prize is an official World Cup scarf. So if you can think of a good caption for the picture below with Maradona, Martin Palermo, and Lionel Messi, email contest@afootballreport.com. For full contest details,click here!

The World Cup just a little more than a month away, and I have created A World Cup Report, a subset of my own site, A Football Report, to cover the beautiful game at its grandest stage. A World Cup Report has contributors from all over the world sharing their views on everything related to the World Cup.

Anyway, to make the time speed up I launched the “What’s Going On Here? World Cup Caption Contest”. For the next four weeks there will be four pictures on A World Cup Report, and each week the person with the best (most creative, funny, etc…) caption will win a prize! This week the prize is an official World Cup jersey. So if you can think of a good caption for the picture below with Lamps and JT, email contest@afootballreport.com. For full contest details, click here!

To all Liverpool fans, I really am sorry. I love watching the in-form Reds when they put it all together, but Thursday night’s display against Atletico Madrid was nothing short of abysmal. While I do not want to take anything away from Atletico and their 1-0 home victory, the truth is that the Spanish side has been in horrible form losing three consecutive La Liga matches (3-0 away to Espanyol, 1-2 home to Xerez, and 2-1 away to Villarreal). I know that there was a volcano and all that forced Rafa and the rest of the Reds to travel on the ground to Spain, but there’s no excuse for not getting a shot on target. Seriously, this is Liverpool Football Club. You are supposed to be merciless and ruthless when going forward, not simply allow players to run at you freely. I’m confident that things will be sorted out at Anfield, but with the current set-up I just do not enjoy watching this club, which is not something I am happy to admit.

Anyway, Diego Forlan capitalized early, and while I, along with most football fans, see Liverpool reaching the Europa League final via a win at Anfield, the club has done nothing to deserve it. Call me a bellend, but I believe Liverpool are too big of a club for the Europa League. Form is temporary, class is permanent, but trophies are based off of form. I watch the Europa League to see the underrecognized play exquisite football, and that is exactly what Roy Hodgson has been able to do with Fulham. The Cottagers look slight favourites to progress to the Europa League final after holding Hamburg in Germany to a nil-nil draw, thanks greatly to a brilliant display from Mark Schwartzer. The “total football”-esque style of play Roy has his London lads playing is nothing short of breathtaking. Dominating possession and downing the likes of Shakhtar Donestk, Juventus, and Wolfsburg sounds like a great run by a side going far in the Champions League.

And yet, Fulham has made strides by reveling in its modesty. After all, the club doesn’t play in front of 60,000 supporters at home; they have a cool 26,000 at most matches. No one is here to deny that Liverpool are the better club with a bigger mission and a grander history. Rather, all I am saying is that the club that plays the best football in the matches they have participated deserves to come out as the champions. It doesn’t always happen, and Liverpool may very well beat Fulham if the two reach the Europa League final. However, if the two face off in Hamburg, where the Europa League final is, England’s neutrals, as well as football’s neutrals, will be pouring out support for the blokes based out of the River Thames.

Who are you cheering on?

Eric Beard is the co-founder of afootballreport.com

With another major goalkeeper gaff from Fabianski on the second goal, it is clear that Wenger needs to strengthen his squad in a few areas. Sure, the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Andrey Arshavin are going nowhere, but it has been reported that the Arsenal gaffer will be given a £45m transfer budget, which apparently is more money than Carlo Ancelotti will have with Chelsea to spend.

Already believed to have secured Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh’s services on a free transfer this summer, Arsenal will finally have enough money to splash on a major signing. Chamakh’s teammate at Bordeaux Yoann Gourcuff has been rumoured to be on Wenger’s transfer list, and the French midfielder has been in scintillating form this season. Other rumoured targets on Wenger’s list are Benfica’s Angel Di Maria and David Luiz, Birmingham keeper Joe Hart, Paris Saint Germain playmaker Stéphane Sessegnon,  Torino’s wonderkid Angelo Ogbonna, and then of course Mario Balotelli and Felipe Melo. £45m is not enough to buy all of these targets obviously, probably just three or four (maybe even five).

I personally feel that Arsenal were just about three world-class players away from the Premier League title this campaign, as the lack of squad depth has been shown as the club’s major weakness in the past few matches. So now that Wenger has been given money to splash, what do you think? Will Arsenal finally be an undeniable force and go on to win Premiership next season? They certainly won’t if they keep Almunia or Fabianski as their #1 goalkeeper.

Eric Beard is the co-founder of afootballreport.com.

Liverpool failed to claim three points away at St. Andrews in a 1-1 draw against Birmingham, a clear blow to the Reds’ pursuit of Champions League football. Although Tottenham lost to Sunderland 3-1, Manchester City moved up to 4th place in the Premier League standing with a comprehensive 6-1 away win at Burnley. Man City are sitting in 4th with 59 points from 32 games, Tottenham are in 5th with 58 points from 32 games, and Liverpool are in 6th with 55 points from 33 games. The table tells us that the race for the final Champions League spot is a two-horse race, but the table hardly tells the whole story. Here are two reasons why Liverpool still have a chance to bring Champions League football back to Anfield next year:

1. Manchester City and Tottenham have the toughest remaining schedules out of any team in the Premier League.

Manchester City are in very good form, however, The Citizens’ last six matches of the campaign are against Birmingham, Manchester United, Arsenal (away at the Emirates), Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham (away at Upton Park). Though four points clear of Liverpool with a game in hand, how many points can City really expect to gain from these fixtures? Mancini would accept a draw against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, and it is tough to expect to gain three points against quality sides like Aston Villa, Birmingham, and Tottenham. Not to mention that in the last fixture away at Upton Park the Hammers could well be fighting for their lives to stay up in the Premier League. I cannot realistically see Manchester City finishing with more than 70 points.

Tottenham, on the other hand, have it no easier. Hosting Arsenal, then Chelsea, and then traveling to Old Trafford to face United, Harry Redknapp has it all still to do. After those three matches Spurs face Bolton, travel to the City of Manchester Stadium, and then close with Burnley. Again, I cannot see Tottenham taking more than 10 points from these closing matches.

2. Liverpool have perhaps the easiest remaining schedule

Liverpool’s five remaining fixtures: Fulham (Home), West Ham (Home), Burnley (away), Chelsea (home), Hull City (away).

With the exception of the Chelsea match at Anfield, there is no excuse for Rafa Benitez’s men to not take three points from every one of their remaining matches. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are finally hitting their form, the Reds are playing world-class football in front of their home supporters, and even with a poor away record there is no excuse for not winning against Burnley and Hull. It’s certainly possible that Liverpool could win all five of their remaining fixtures and finish with 70 points, which I think is the magic number for Champions League football this campaign.

What are your thoughts? Will Liverpool miraculously finish 4th or will Manchester City or Tottenham bring Champions League football home to their supporters next season?

Eric Beard is co-founder of AFootballReport.com, a site dedicated to the beautiful game.