England: North London Derby Reports & Analyses

Szczesny hugs a ballboy...

Not their day...

Arsenal 5 - 2 Tottenham
Phil McNulty at the Emirates Stadium
David Hytner at the Emirates Stadium
Jason Burt at the Emirates Stadium
Kevin Palmer at the Emirates Stadium


David Pleat: Gunners thrive on supply lines
Paul Hayward: Walcott From Pariah to Poster Boy
Michael Cox: Defending a lost art for Arsenal and Spurs


Arsenal Hunt Redknapp Abusers

England: Carling Cup Final Reports & Analyses

Cardiff City 2 - 2 Liverpool (2 - 3 penalties)
Henry Winter at Wembley
Richard Williams at Wembley

Daniel Taylor at Wembley


Chris Bevan: A one-off, or the start of things to come 
Dietmar Hamann: Champions League Qualification More Important
Jim White: Cardiff's Heroic Efforts End in Failure

Player Ratings

Spain: La Liga Weekend Review + Wonderful Goals from (surprise!) Ronaldo and Messi

Real Madrid and Barcelona both won to ensure Jose Mourinho's side finished the weekend 10 points ahead of the champions at the La Liga summit.

Review

Dominic Raynor: 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, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo go head to head in a football rap battle, Cologne defender Kevin Pezzoni heads to carnival dressed as a cowboy and gets his nose broken, Valencia midfielder Ever Banega undergoes surgery after running over his own foot and Porto don't like being laughed at.

England: The North London Derby

Who: Arsenal vs. Tottenham
What: The North London Derby
Where: Emirates Stadium, London
When: Sunday, February 26, 8:30am EST
U.S. TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Preview
Preview II
Preview III


Henry Winter: RVP the only Gunner in my North London XI

England: Premier League Weekend Previews & Predictions

It has been a season of misery for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger but they have the chance to restore some pride this weekend in the Premier League. After successive defeats, by AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League and Sunderland in the FA Cup, Arsenal welcome North London rivals Tottenham to the Emirates on Sunday. Manchester City have a two-point lead at the top of the table and they host Blackburn, while Manchester United will look to keep the pressure on against Norwich. Elsewhere, another man under pressure Andre Villas-Boas sees his Chelsea side take on Bolton as Wolves, led by Terry Connor, play Newcastle at St James' Park.

Preview

Team News


Premier League Spotlight


Paul Merson's Predictions


Lawro's Predictions

England: Carling Cup Final Previews

Who: Liverpool vs. Cardiff City
What: Carling Cup Final
When: Sunday, February 26, 11am EST
Where: Wembley Stadium, London
U.S. TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Preview
Preview II
Preview III


Andy Hunter: Dalglish has priorities straight for Wembley return

Italy: Serie A Weekend Preview

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon believes defending champions AC Milan are the team to beat but insists his side will not go down without a fight this weekend. The Turin giants go into Saturday's top Serie A game against league leaders Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium as the only unbeaten team in Italy.

Preview

Spain: Eduardo Alvarez's Weekend Quiniela

Last season, most La Liga followers spent the final third of the tournament focusing in the long list of candidates for relegation. At one specific point, up to eleven teams could end up in the Segunda División, which set up an exciting end of the season. Things have changed slightly this year, with an interesting twist. After 23 matches, only seven points separate the 4th and 17th spots, which means that a decent run from a current theoretical relegation candidate could end up in a serious challenge for European football next season. This leads us to two conclusions: a) Villarreal supporters, please wait some more matches before throwing the towel and b) When team #17th beat team #5 (scroll down to match #5) on Sunday, we can't call it an upset anymore nor complain about it. Just get on with it and try to forget our seasons' total one more week. Shall we? Remember, it's '1' for a home win, 'X' for a draw and '2' for an away win.

Quiniela

Donovan, Dempsey on U.S. roster for Italy match

Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey are on the U.S. national team roster for next week's exhibition game at Italy and could play together for the first time since Jurgen Klinsmann was hired as coach last summer. The attacking pair were among 21 players selected for Wednesday's match in Genoa.

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England), Nick Rimando (Salt Lake)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Geoff Cameron (Houston), Timmy Chandler (Nuremberg, Germany), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Clarence Goodson (Brondby, Denmark), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland, Denmark), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham, England)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona, Italy), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim, Germany), Jermaine Jones (Schalke, Germany), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim, Germany)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Alkmaar, Netherlands), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles)

Carling Cup final: Liverpool's return to Wembley, 16 years on from the Spice Boys, cream suits and all that

Liverpool make their return to Wembley on Sunday for the Carling Cup final, their first appearance at the national stadium since an infamous visit in 1996.

On 11 May that year they were the beaten opponents as Manchester United secured a second double in three seasons thanks to a late Eric Cantona goal:

UEFA Europa League: Thursday's Review & Reports

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a hat-trick to see Schalke edge past Viktoria Plzen 3-1 in extra time while Atletico Madrid wrapped up an easy 1-0 win over Lazio. Tim Matavz scored twice as Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven blazed into the last 16 of the Europa League by wrapping up a 6-2 aggregate victory over Trabzonspor. PSV will face Valencia in the last 16 after Los Che also made it through at the expense of Premier League Stoke. Frank de Boer's Ajax gave Manchester United a mighty scare at Old Trafford before Sir Alex Ferguson's men nudged through 3-2 on aggregate to book a last 16 meeting with Athletic Bilbao. Matias Fernandez scored a late winner for Sporting Lisbon against Polish side Legia Warsaw, which was enough to see the Portuguese side 3-2 on aggregate after a 1-0 win on the night.

Review

Manchester United 1 - 2 Ajax (agg. 3 - 2)
Richard Jolly at Old Trafford
Andy Hunter at Old Trafford

The Joy of Six: League Cup Final Upsets

Birmingham shocked Arsenal; can Cardiff do the same to Liverpool? Eyebrow raising is what this cup is all about …

Amy Lawrence on the Champions League: Five Things We Learned

Basel Keeper Yann Sommer

Napoli's Edinson Cavani enhanced his already gilded reputation and the art of defending among Europe's elite has gone to pot.

Five Things

Arsenal-Tottenham derby 'the most crucial' in Arsene Wenger's reign

On the face of it, there is no reason why Tottenham's trip to Arsenal on Sunday should carry more significance than previous north London derbies. Two fierce local rivals, three keenly contested Premier League points and one much-coveted set of bragging rights - so far, so familiar. But scratch beneath the surface and an entirely different picture emerges. "This is the most important derby in Arsene Wenger's 16 years as Arsenal manager," former Gunners right-back Lee Dixon tells BBC Sport. "It comes at a very poignant time in the club's history."

Arsenal v Tottenham: clubs release joint statement urging fans to behave at North London Derby

Arsenal and Tottenham have issued a joint statement warning supporters that anti-social behaviour during Sunday's north London derby will not be tolerated.

Feeling the Heat in Naples

Naples is a curious mix of grimy alleys and grand avenues. As I found out on my first visit there this week, it is a place crying out for some TLC. In parts every single building and available space is covered with graffiti, while few of the ornamental fountains along the seafront are in working order. t is also a city with huge social difficulties: not far from the main tourist area is a huge shanty town, the like of which you'd never expect to see in western Europe. Football is a huge release for the public and by half-past-three on Tuesday afternoon the Stadio Sao Paolo was already starting to fill up as fans sought out the best seats.

UEFA Champions League: Wednesday's Round of 16 First-Leg Reports

The last kick of the game is a header...and the winning goal for Marseille

Marseille 1 - 0 Inter Milan
Report
Report II


Basel 1 - 0 Bayern Munich
Report
Report II

Manchester City's Hulk chants were unsporting, claim angry Porto

The opportunity for Manchester City's supporters was too good to pass up. Their team were on their way to a 4-0 win against Porto and the opposition had a striker going by the name of Hulk who was showing signs of frustration. "You're not incredible," the home fans sang. Hulk, real name Givanildo Vieira de Souza, certainly did not look like he had superhuman powers as Sergio Agüero inspired City to a 4-0 victory to send them into the next round of the Europa League with an aggregate 6-1 victory. Porto, however, have not seen the funny side. The Portuguese club are now preparing an official complaint in which they will ask Uefa to open disciplinary charges against the Premier League leaders – and they are denying it has anything to do with an apparent humour bypass.

UEFA Europa League: Wednesday's Reports

Manchester City 4 - 0 Porto (agg. 6 - 1)
Kevin McCarra at the Etihad Stadium
Richard Jolly at the Etihad Stadium