Friday, February 15, 2013

Bale Magic, Liverpool Loss, Gus Johnson, FA Cup Previews, Giving Up Football to Have More Sex, Quiniela

That Gareth Bale. He really is something. He's the biggest thing since sliced bread. Two lovely free-kicks by the Welsh Wizard gave Spurs a win in their Europa League match at The Lane against Lyon. Liverpool were not so lucky. Their miserable week continued with a loss up in St. Petersburg. Hulk scored one and Semak got the other as the hosts won 2-0. Andy Hunter was at Petrovsky Stadium. Thankfully, there were no reports of racism.

Newcastle are still alive in Europe, but things didn't go so well for them yesterday either. They had two goals incorrectly disallowed (one wasn't even close) for offside and their match at St. James' Park against Metalist finished scoreless. Let's see. What else? Chelsea won on the road, Inter Milan won, and Victoria Plzen shocked Napoli 0-3. Here's complete review all the action.



It is Friday (yes!) so we've got The Joy of Six. Today's edition is a bit odd. It's Peculiar Reasons to Give Up Football. Who said this:  "I have given up football for sex," he said. "I wouldn't sign for another club even if they gave me £10m, but it would be different if they were to offer me 15 different women from across the world. I would tell the club chairman: 'Please let me make these women happy – I will satisfy them like they have never been satisfied.' Nowadays, every time I think about football I feel like throwing up."  ??

Right. Enough of that. Sid Lowe is still thinking about Wednesday's match in Madrid. Here are his thoughts. Per usual from Sid, they are interesting thoughts. Speaking of the match on Wednesday, we didn't really comment on Gus Johnson's performance. We will now. We didn't like it. It was everything we feared. Too melodramatic, too much hyperbole, too loud. When he didn't talk, we enjoyed it. Add Warren Barton to the mix and you've got a disgusting cocktail on your hands. Toss it and get a beer. Hopefully this "experiment" won't last too long. Let's just say we're looking forward to the FA Cup this weekend. Unless David Pleat is on the mic, that is...

So, the FA Cup. The storied competition. A headline: Chelsea playing catch-up; Man City face Leeds; Luton host Lions. A preview. It's primarily fifth-round matches but Chelsea do have a fourth-round replay against League One's Brentford. Lawro's got some predictions.


Eduardo Alvarez knows what's up in La Liga. He's got his Quiniela in case you want to place some bets on the matches in Spain. As we reported earlier in the week, the race for the title is over, but there is plenty to battle for in terms of European spots. Check it.

The fixture list in Serie A is far more exciting. Michael Bradley's Roma host leaders Juventus whiel Fiorentina welcome Inter Milan to Florence. Here's a preview. Can't wait until tomorrow to get your live footy fix? You can watch AC Milan vs. Parma this afternoon at 2:45pm EST on beIN Sport USA.

Roberto Mancini says we just don't understand. Oh, we understand, all right. You will not retain the title with that group of mercenaries.

We'll finish on a sad note with a return to the FA Cup. In 1985, Luton and Millwall played (as they will tomorrow) and a riot ensued. It most likely prevented England from hosting Euro '88.


Off you go. Enjoy the weekend.

Onward!!

-SSN

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