SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.
Napoli failed a big test of their Serie A title credentials as they lost 2-1 at home to Udinese. The hosts needed to win at the Stadio San Paolo to make it a two-horse race for the title after Inter Milan slipped up, but they instead remained six points adrift of the league leaders with five games remaining.
Real Madrid
Manchester United's grip on the Premier League title grew tighter following late drama at Arsenal. Chelsea bounced back from Champions League disappointment with a win at West Brom. At the other end of the table, Wigan produced a fine display at Blackpool to earn a vital three points and move out of the relegation zone. Meanwhile, West Ham were beaten at home by Aston Villa as Birmingham and Everton both picked up wins.
Inter Milan, who are third in Serie A and five points behind league leaders AC Milan, travel to the Ennio Tardini stadium to face Parma on Saturday. AC Milan, meanwhile, will be without Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Saturday's match against strugglers Sampdoria.
Ibrahimovic, who is the team's joint top scorer with 14 goals alongside Alexandre Pato, will start a three-match ban this weekend.
Second-placed Napoli are three points behind Milan and riding a four-match winning streak in Italy as they go into their home clash with European hopefuls Udinese.
The relegation battle takes centre stage on Saturday, before Arsenal face Liverpool on Sunday looking to narrow the gap on Manchester United. The action kicks off on Saturday with five intriguing encounters, including a vital clash at Bloomfield Road between Blackpool and Wigan. West Ham are another side in deep trouble after back-to-back losses halted what appeared to be a very promising revival and dropped them back into the relegation places. Aston Villa are the visitors to Upton Park this weekend. Birmingham are just three points clear of the trapdoor after struggling to find consistency all season but will be confident of making a decisive move up the standings when former manager Steve Bruce brings his Sunderland side to St Andrews.
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, Barcelona begin the Clasico mind games by giving Real Madrid the manita, Diego Maradona's 1986 Golden Ball is 'melted down' by the mafia, Nemanja Vidic almost cries, Luis 'The Owl Kicker' Moreno boots a human and an awful statue of David Beckham is unveiled in Iran.
Wherever you look at the Premier League table, every team is involved in a battle of some sort. Mid-table mediocrity has failed to gatecrash the party this season.
The thing about Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is that very few people have heard him speak. Fewer still have heard him speak in a language they understand. And when Abramovich does speak, it's never in public or to the media. As for the people he employs to actually run Chelsea -- primarily club Chairman Bruce Buck and Chief Executive Ron Gourlay -- they talk very little and say even less. And so you can attribute pretty much anything you like to Abramovich. Roman likes chocolate. Roman enjoys cold showers. Roman wants to buy the Eiffel Tower. Roman wants to sign Lady Gaga. Anything is possible. Anything is plausible. Because Roman won't tell you otherwise. And official denials from club spokesfolks are not taken seriously.
