Jonathan Wilson in Russia

A return home has inspired Russia's captain; perhaps his problem in London was a lack of action and homesickness?

Arshavin looking 'better and better' as Zenit close in on Russian title.

Are Man City about to relive the Newcastle collapse of 1996?

Just under a year ago, 1,000 football fans voted Kevin Keegan's famous "I will love it if we beat them" rant as the most popular public managerial loss of temper in Premier League history. No such colourful behaviour yet from Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, but the Italian will be feeling the same stresses Keegan endured during his Newcastle side's loss of form towards the end of the 1995-96 season. City are second in the Premier League behind leaders Manchester United, despite at one time leading by seven points. United's ability to put together title-sealing runs of form seems to have been replicated again this season. Sir Alex Ferguson's men have collected 25 league points out of a possible 27 since mid-January, the only draw being the thrilling 3-3 comeback when 3-0 down against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In contrast, recent form makes somewhat grim reading for City. Since a 0-0 draw away to West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day, they have suffered defeats to Sunderland, Manchester United, Everton and Swansea. On Wednesday, City host a somewhat resurgent Chelsea side since knocking Napoli out of the Champions League. Mancini's men start the evening a full four points behind United, although they do have a game in hand. So what can City learn from history?

Fabrice Muamba has 'comfortable' night in intensive care, say Bolton

Fabrice Muamba remains in intensive care at The London Chest Hospital. He is continuing to show signs of improvement this evening. He is currently able to breathe independently without the aid of a ventilator. He has also been able to recognise family members and respond to questions appropriately. These are all positive signs of progress. However, his condition remains serious and the medical staff in intensive care will continue to monitor and treat him. His family and club would like to thank the media for continuing to respect their privacy at this time.

Paul Marshall in France

It is merely a sign of the times, the little man rising up against those who have oppressed him for years. The minnows of Ligue 1 have been in keeping with the zeitgeist in recent weeks, and though they have not quite set up camp in the upper reaches of the table like some sort of footballing 'Occupy' movement, they have certainly made it clear they will have a say in deciding the finishing positions of the established order come the season's end.

Phil Ball in Spain

Uuuuf ... as the Spanish say. Where do we start this week? Well perhaps with a rather unusual theme, at least as far as La Liga goes. It seems to have been a recurring topic throughout the week, set off by Jose Mourinho complaining once again that the Bernabeu is too 'cold' and that the stadium needs to get behind its players to a greater extent. 'Never mind about me' he said, adding that he wanted the supporters to mostrar mas carino (show more affection) to the players, and support them through thick and thin.

Roma reach agreement with ESPN

Coming to Florida...

Serie A club Roma have reached a unique agreement with ESPN to train at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Roma will use the facilities at the Walt Disney World Resort during the Serie A winter break after striking a six-year agreement with ESPN.

England: Premier League and FA Cup Weekend Reviews, Reports, etc.

FA Cup: Liverpool will tackle either Everton or Sunderland in the FA Cup semi-finals while Chelsea will face Bolton or Tottenham at Wembley.

Everton 1 - 1 Sunderland
Paul Wilson at Goodison Park

Chelsea 5 - 2 Leicester City
Kevin Palmer at Stamford Bridge
David Hytner at Stamford Bridge

Liverpool 2 - 1 Stoke
Richard Jolly at Anfield
Kevin McCarra at Anfield


Premier League:


Fulham 0 - 3 Swansea City
Jamie Jackson at Craven Cottage

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 - 5 Manchester United
Daniel Taylor at Molineux

Newcastle 1 - 0 Norwich City
Louise Taylor at St. James' Park


Five Things We Learned
Team of the Week

European Weekend Review

Barcelona closed the gap on Real Madrid to eight points in La Liga, while an Arjen Robben hat-trick helped Bayern Munich to an emphatic Bundesliga victory. Juventus ran riot at Fiorentina to keep the pressure on Serie A leaders AC Milan, while in France Eden Hazard starred as Lille demolished Valenciennes. The top of the Eredivisie table remains tight after the weekend's action, with just five points now separating leaders AZ Alkmaar from sixth-placed Heerenveen.

Review

MLS: Five Things We Learned in Week Two

Football in Montreal...

Houston Dynamo make light of an extended road trip; Montreal's 58,000 add to Canada's feelgood factor; John Spencer's impeccable timing for Portland.

Five Things

Monday MLS Breakdown: Sporting Kansas City continues to cultivate its championship mentality

Painful lessons from last season should help a youthful Sporting side in its MLS Cup pursuit this year, plus a look at the action from the second weekend of the MLS season.

Breakdown

Bolton midfielder collapses: Muamba still in "critical condition"

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba remains in a "critical condition" in intensive care after suffering a cardiac arrest during Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Fabrice Muamba's heart stopped beating for two hours after collapse


Amy Lawrence at White Hart Lane


Daniel Taylor: Fabrice Muamba the refugee who has made football his home

Speedy Medics Lauded

The Fifth Official

He scores when he wants...

Few of us like a Monday morning, but The Fifth Official does, for it brings with it a chance for him to point the finger and laugh. Here he pulls out the pretty, the puzzling and the downright pig-ugly from a week brimming with potential victims.

Off the Ball

Off the Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories. This week, Premier League chairman Dave Richards falls into Doha hotel fountain pool after claiming "FIFA stole football", crackpot Steaua Bucharest owner Gigi Becali vows to oust all foreigners, Joey Barton threatens to unleash a horde of deadly animals on a bunch of squatters, Didier Drogba shames himself with a Sergio Busquets impression and all of Lionel Messi's 50 goals this season in a three-minute clip.

The Joy of Six: British and Irish Managers in Europe

From George Raynor's Olympic success with Sweden to El Tel in Barcelona, we pick half-a-dozen bosses who made their mark on the continent.

England: Premier League & FA Cup Weekend Previews & Preditions

Eight teams will be looking to book their trip to Wembley as the last eight of the FA Cup gets underway. First up Sunderland travel to their bogey team Everton, where the Black Cats have won just two league games in 30 years. Elsewhere Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham take on Bolton at White Hart Lane for a place at Wembley. The remaining FA Cup quarter-finals see Chelsea take on the sole remaining Championship side Leicester City, while Liverpool tackle Stoke.

The Premiership has a diluted schedule this weekend, but leaders Manchester United are in action at Wolves as they look to maintain top spot. Elsewhere Fulham take on Swansea who’s victory over Manchester City last week knocked Roberto Mancini’s men off top spot, while Newcastle United face a trip to Carrow Road to take on Norwich City.

Preview


Premier League
Premier League Spotlight
Team News
Paul Merson's Previews


FA Cup
Tottenham vs. Bolton: Preview
Chelsea vs. Leicester City: Preview
Team News


Lawro's FA Cup and Premier League Predictions

Italy: Serie A Weekend Preview

Napoli are riding a five-match winning streak in Italy and travel to the Friuli stadium to face Udinese on Sunday. Mazzarri's side are fourth in the standings, level on 46 points with Udinese and just two points behind Lazio, who are third and hold the last Champions League qualifying spot. AC Milan, the only Italian team still in the Champions League, will look to extend their six-match unbeaten run with victory at Parma on Saturday. The Rossoneri are four points clear of second-placed Juventus at the top of the standings. Juventus look to end their four-match winless run when they travel to Tuscany to face Fiorentina on Saturday.

Preview

Spain: La Liga Weekend Preview + Eduardo Alvarez's Quiniela

Madrid host Malaga on Sunday and will look to build on their six-game winning run at home in all competitions since they were beaten by Barca on January 18. Barcelona go to Sevilla and at the other end of the table, Granada host strugglers Sporting Gijon on Saturday.

Preview

Quiniela

Eden Hazard: The player set to spark a summer transfer scramble

Eden Hazard looked mildly amused when he was informed by his interviewer at half-time of Lille's match against Lyon on Saturday that Sir Alex Ferguson was in the stands and had been caught yawning on camera. "I didn't know he was here," the 21-year-old shrugged. "Maybe he's tired."

UEFA Europa League: Thursday's (Round of 16, Second-Leg) Review, Reports, Quarterfinal Draw

Both Manchester clubs headed out of the Europa League on Thursday night in a thrilling night of action. A Klaas Jan Huntelaar hat-trick helped Schalke come back from behind to beat Steve McClaren's FC Twente, with a 4-1 win on the night giving them a 4-2 aggregate win. AZ Alkmaar survived a major scare to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League following an incident-packed 2-1 second leg win against Udinese.

Review






Athletic Bilbao 2 - 1 Manchester United (5-3 agg.)
Stuart James at the Estadio San Mamés
Basque brilliance blitzes Manchester United

Manchester City 3 - 2 Sporting Lisbon (3-3 agg.- Sporting Lisbon advance on away goals rule)
Kevin McCarra at the Etihad Stadium
Mark Ogden at the Etihad Stadium
Richard Jolly at the Etihad Stadium
Jamie Jackson at the Etihad Stadium
Joe Hart: I thought it was in

Europa League draw - Quarter-finals

AZ Alkmaar	v	Valencia
Schalke 04	v	Athletic Bilbao
Sporting Lisbon	v	FC Metalist Kharkiv
Atletico Madrid	v	Hannover 96

Europa League draw - Semi-finals

Atletico Madrid or Hannover 96	v	AZ Alkmaar or Valencia
Sporting Lisbon or FC Metalist Kharkiv	v	Schalke 04 or Athletic Bilbao

Friday MLS Forecast

The Forecast discusses the next step for Los Angeles and Seattle after continental heartache and predicts out the Week 2 fixture list will unfold.

Forecast

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final Draw

AC Milan have been drawn to face holders Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League while Chelsea have been paired with Benfica.

Champions League draw - Quarter-finals

APOEL Nicosia	v	Real Madrid
Marseille	v	Bayern Munich
Benfica	v	Chelsea
AC Milan	v	Barcelona

Champions League draw - Semi-finals

Marseille or Bayern Munich	v	APOEL or Real Madrid
Benfica or Chelsea	v	Milan or Barcelona

UEFA Europa League: Thursday's (Round of 16, Second-Leg) Previews

Manchester United and Manchester City will both be hoping to overcome first leg losses on Thursday evening to progress in the Europa League. Manchester City have the easier task of the two neighbours when they host Sporting Lisbon at the Etihad Stadium after losing the first leg 1-0 last week. On the other hand, Manchester United will face the uphill task of having to overcome a 3-2 deficit against Athletic Bilbao from the first leg tie at Old Trafford. Dutch sides AZ Alkmaar and FC Twente will be defending their lead away from home against Udinese and Schalke respectively. Alkmaar managed a 2-0 win last week while Twente scrapped past Schalke with a 1-0 victory.

Preview

Athletic Bilboa vs. Manchester United (agg. 3-2)
Preview


Manchester City vs. Sporting Lisbon (agg. 0-1)
Preview

Paolo Bandini in Italy

There was sadness in the Italian press after Napoli's Champions League exit at the hands of Chelsea, but a lot of pride too.

'Napoli kept dream alive right to the last moment, then they woke up' 

Sid Lowe: Is Spanish soccer the best in the world? Recent results indicate yes

Lionel Messi scored five goals in a single game last week, becoming the first player in the Champions League ever to do so. Most were impressed; some were not. Against Bayer Leverkusen, they said: So what? It is a familiar argument -- and one that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular have been forced to confront time and time again. Between them, they have racked up astonishing goal scoring figures, breaking records at every turn -- Messi has scored 50 goals already this season, Ronaldo 40 -- but the nagging doubt lingers. Yeah, they say, but against who?

Toronto FC defeat LA Galaxy to advance to Champions League semifinals

After watching his team surrender a tying goal, thoughts of a second straight wasted lead ran through Ryan Johnson's mind. Except this time, Toronto FC had the clock on its side. Nick Soolsma scored in the 67th minute and also had an assist and Toronto beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 on Wednesday night to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.

Chelsea v Napoli: Didier Drogba's cheating exposed by peek-a-boo during Champions League thriller

You'd think Didier Drogba would have learnt by now that the camera misses nothing and so it proved last night when the Ivorian's blatant cheating was exposed by his very own peek-a-boo.

UEFA Champions League: Wednesday's (Round of 16/Second-Leg) Review & Reports

Chelsea beat Napoli 5-4 on aggregate to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. A thrilling game ended 4-1 on the night in a tie that was only decided in extra-time by a thunderous strike from Branislav Ivanovic. Real Madrid secured their passage to the quarter-finals with a comfortable 4-1 win over CSKA Moscow.

Review

Chelsea 4 - 1 Napoli (agg. 5-4 after extra time)
Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Daniel Taylor at Stamford Bridge
Richard Williams at Stamford Bridge

Real Madrid 4 - 1 CSKA Moscow (agg. 5-2)
Sid Lowe at the Bernabéu

Rewind to 1987

Napoli's rise to prominence can be traced back to 1984 when President Corrado Ferlaino paid a record sum to bring Diego Armando Maradona to the Southern Italian club. The Argentine would single-handedly lift the Neapolitans to two Serie A title in three years, the first of which came under the reign of Ottavio Bianchi in 1987.

First XI: Goals That Never Were

After Clint Hill was denied in QPR's defeat to Bolton, this week's First XI pulls out a selection of some of the other goals that never were. Note: several such incidents - including those involving Clive Allen, Pedro Mendes and Freddie Sears - have previously been covered in the First XI bad decisions.

Under-8s game in Poland abandoned after crowd trouble

An under-8s indoor football match in Poland came to a premature end after crowd trouble forced the referee to abandon the game.

UEFA Champions League: Wednesday's (Round of 16/Second-Leg) Previews

Chelsea vs. Napoli (agg. 1-3)
Preview
Preview II
Daniel Taylor: Chelsea Old Guard's Last Chance


Real Madrid vs. CSKA Moscow (agg. 1-1)
Preview

Tim Vickery in South America

A Brazilian journalist this week came up with the thoroughly sensible idea that 7 March henceforth be commemorated as world football's Day of the Goal. It was not only the date on which Lionel Messi chalked up his five for Barcelona in the Champions League; in the South American equivalent, the Copa Libertadores, Neymar of Santos also added a magnificent hat-trick of his own. The first was nothing to write home about - a penalty which was perhaps harshly awarded. But there can be no quibbles about the other two. Both times Neymar picked up possession in his own half, cut through the defence and ran some 70 metres before scoring. The goals showcased his extraordinary control over the ball while running at pace, his capacity to understand space and improvise with its possibilities inside a fraction of a second, and also his eerily cool finishing.

Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard's Greatest Games

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish admitted he did not have the words to adequately describe the quality of captain Steven Gerrard's performance in the Anfield club's 3-0 victory over Everton. BBC Radio 5 live summariser Pat Nevin had no such difficulty, calling the Reds skipper's three-goal display the best he had seen by any player this season. "I think the best defender on the pitch tonight was Steven Gerrard, the best midfielder was Steven Gerrard, the best attacker was Steven Gerrard, the player with most vision on the ball was Steven Gerrard and the player with the best attitude was Steven Gerrard," enthused Nevin. "Honestly, you really can't beat that. I don't know what you can do in a game of football better than that." It is not the first time Gerrard has used his skill, strength and determination to almost single-handedly drive Liverpool to victory, often saving his very best for the biggest matches. Here, we look back at five of the midfielder's greatest games.

England: Monday's Premier League Reports

Liverpool 3 - 0 Everton
Henry Winter at Anfield
Jamie Jackson at Anfield
Richard Jolly at Anfield
Kevin McCarra at Anfield

If it wasn't for soccer mums, MLS would be bigger than Nascar

Soccer in the US is about much more than carpools and orange slices. I wish more of America would wake up to that fact.

UEFA Champions League: Tuesday's (Round of 16/Second-Leg) Review & Reports

There was late drama in Italy as, despite netting a late penalty and winning 2-1, Inter Milan were knocked out of the Champions League on away goals by a 92nd minute effort from Marseille's Brandao. Mario Gomez hit four goals as Bayern Munich swiftly eliminated the threat of a Champions League exit before humiliating FC Basel 7-0.

Review

Bayern Munich 7 - 0 Basel (agg. 7-1)
Report


Inter Milan 2 - 1 Marseille (agg. 2-2 - Marseille advance on away goals rule)
Report
Report II

Uli Hesse in Germany

Isn't it amazing how often Cologne feature prominently in these concise weekly reports, even though they are having neither an awful nor a fantastic season? Or maybe it's not that amazing after all, considering the club have a well-earned reputation for being a constant source of turmoil and upheaval; a headline-generating machine whose inner workings will forever remain mysterious to the outsider. And probably also to the insider.