English Clubs Just Aren't Very Good This Year

It's an off year for English football. Despite all the money and hype, amid all the allegations of racist abuse and "handshakegate"s and other drama, English teams have consistently come up short in international competitions.

Take Arsenal. Here is a team that sit fourth in the English Premier League, which is good enough to make the UEFA Champions League next year. Other than one embarrassing display at Old Trafford in late August, Gunners have looked fully capable of hanging with the best teams in England.

Today, against AC Milan in the first elimination round of this year's UCL tourney, Gunners looked more like a youth side taking on the senior club -- or if you prefer a U.S.-centric comparison, the JVs facing the varsity. Either way, it wasn't pretty. Arsene Wenger's men were outplayed, outhustled and overwhelmed by the rossoneri, going down 4-0 in a game that frankly didn't look that close. The teams really didn't look like they belonged on the same pitch at the same time. Milan's pace was far faster, their passing crisper, their marking tighter. They made better runs in attack. Their goalkeeping was better. This was Arsenal's worst-ever defeat in European competition and one that, barring a miracle in the return leg, will leave them with nothing but the FA Cup and fourth place in the Prem to play for.

And it's not just Arse, either. Neither Manchester club (currently 1-2 in the Premiership) made it out of the group stage of this year's Champions League. That's just embarrassing considering the payroll disparities between the Mancunians and their group stage opponents, particularly in Man U's case (Otelul Gulati and FC Basel? Really?).

Or take the Europa League. Tottenham Hotspur were drawn into a group with teams from Ireland, Russia and Greece (Greece!) and couldn't even finish second. This is a club, Spurs, that are supposed to have a realistic shot at winning the league in the first time in (what might as well be) centuries. Birmingham City and Fulham didn't make it out of their groups either. I know there's a big gap between those clubs and the ones at the top of the Premiership table, but come on. Interestingly enough, the team with the toughest Europa League draw, Stoke City, actually qualified for the elimination round.

All of which begs the question: is this just a one year anomaly we are looking at? Or is the sun finally setting on the Premiership empire? Time will tell, but the signs are ominous. Last year's Champions League finale showed us just how far the gap has widened between the best team from Spain and its English counterpart. This year's Champions League and Europa League group stages demonstrated that English clubs at the very least play down to the level of inferior opponents, if they can indeed be called that. Today we saw that the fourth-placed Premiership side were little more than target practice for the top team in Italy.

What is the cause of this? That is another topic for another day but suffice it to say that it can't be economic, given all the petro and oligarch cash that has flooded the Premiership in recent years. That would mean that the players are certainly still world class. What about the coaching? We can sing the praises of Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp and others, and deservedly so, but maybe, just maybe their counterparts on the continent have overtaken them. Arsenal especially just seem to lack something this season that could suggest Wenger has lost his magic touch. Do English teams maybe have a handicap when it comes to fitness levels? Have they gotten sloppy with their defending? These things deserve a look. Stay tuned.

The Wednesday Wrap: River Rules In Day Of Draws

Even though there were no Champions League or UEFA Cup matches today was a busy day in the world of soccer/football--and not just in Europe either. In fact, the biggest games outside of the San Siro were probably played in South America, where the Copa Libertadores group stages have begun to take shape. Interestingly enough, of all the important games that were played today, only one--River Plate's 2-1 victory over Club America--had a winner. The rest were draws. Look at these scores:

Inter Milan 1, AS Roma 1
Barcelona 1, Valencia 1
AC Milan 1, Catania 1
Atletico Nacional Medellin 1, Sao Paulo 1

Actually there were two more games that ended tied after 90 minutes but as these were the German cup quarterfinals and only played over one leg, they went to overtime. Wolfsburg beat Hamburg 2-1 after extra time while Bayern beat cross-town rivals 1860 Munich (who are a second division side these days) 1-0 on a Franck Ribery penalty in the 122nd (and I imagine last) minute of the game. This means Borussia Dortmund and Carl Zeiss Jena--who won yesterday--join Bayern and Wolfsburg in the semis. I don't think those matches have been drawn yet.

In the Libertadores. Group Five, with River, America, Universidad Catolica and Universidad San Martin, is living up to its Group of Death billing, as all four clubs are now tied with three points each after two games. The River-America match was obviously the main event so far--probably among all Copa Lib matches. What a great game. I invite anybody who thinks the only good club soccer is in Europe to check out a tape of this game. Highly entertaining stuff. In the end River probably deserved to win, but America played well also. I can't wait for the return leg in Mexico City, on April 2.

Back in Europe, Serie A clubs put in a full midweek matchday. Inter got an 88th minute goal from Javier Zanetti to escape with a point--and perhaps the league title--from their game with second-placed AS Roma. Inter's lead remains at nine points. There are still 13 games to play but the two teams won't face each other again. You can pretty much rule out the third- through fifth-placed teams (that would be Juventus, Fiorentina and AC Milan) of the title equation. Juve is 13 points in arrears and yesterday only managed a scoreless draw against their cross-town rivals. Fiorentina and Milan are 17 and 19 points behind Inter, respectively.

Saturday Summary, Feb. 23: A Gruesome Day For Gunners

You hate to see scenes like this on the soccer field and when it's the result of an intentional challenge by an opposing team's player it makes the whole thing even worse. I'm not going to provide any video links to Martin Taylor's vicious tackle of Eduardo da Silva. You know where to find them if that's your thing. Arsene Wenger has called for Taylor to receive a lifetime ban and for once I agree with him. The incident cast a dark cloud on what was otherwise a solid effort by Birmingham City and James McFadden at St. Andrews. Obviously Eduardo is lost for the season and also for the Euro championships that very well could have been a stage for his arrival as a soccer superstar. The 2-2 tie could also have wide-ranging consequences in the Premiership title hunt, as Man United's smackdown of Newcastle allowed Sir Alex' men to pull within three points of Gunners.

It was a dark day for the Fulhamericans as well, who were unlucky to lose to West Ham United in the first of two London derby matches this weekend. (The bigger one, of course, is at Wembley tomorrow). There is also another on tap for Wednesday, when Spurs and Chelsea play a rematch in EPL play. Here is how the London derby league looks going into tomorrow:

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Arsenal	8	7	1	1	16	9	22
Chelsea	5	3	1	1	5	2	10
Tottenham	8	2	3	3	17	14	9
West Ham	6	2	3	1	4	6	7
Fulham	8	0	6	2	7	18	2

Besides being in serious and acute danger of being relegated from the Premiership, this also concludes Fulham's London campaign for the season. Maybe they'll be replaced by Charlton (I don't count Watford, a more solid candidate for promotion, as a London club). Unless Chelsea win both games with Spurs over the next week, Arsenal will clinch the "league." And West Ham? Alan Curbishley's men are ninth and could very well make Europe next season. The sixth- through eighth-placed teams are all even on 44 points. Hammers have 40.

Elsewhere, there was excitement in the Bundesliga, where Bayer Leverkusen beat Schalke to move into third place (Hamburg SV will displace them if they beat top-of-the-table Bayern Munich tomorrow, but that game is played in Bavaria, where HSV have barely won in the past 30 years). Werder Bremen, who had played so well in recent weeks, lost at Eintracht Frankfurt, who are now quietly seventh, which is I think the highest they've been in a generation. But the biggest Bundesliga game is still on tap tomorrow.

I don't know how this happened, but there were eight goals in a Serie A game today. I could have sworn there were entire weeks where there weren't eight goals in all of Serie A back in the catenaccio days. Torino and Parma were the teams in question and they shared the spoils in a 4-4 draw. Roberto Stellone (no relation to Sylvester, I don't think) and Andrea Gasbarro both had braces for Torino and Parma, respectively. In the other Serie A game today, Juventus are losing at Reggina.

Finally, the remaining Champions League representatives from Greece and Turkey both suffered setbacks in their respective leagues today. Fenerbahce Istanbul, who are neck-and-neck with Galatasaray in the Turkcell Super Lig lost at home to Bursaspor, a mid-table side. What is even more shocking is that this was Fener's first loss at home--in all competitions--this season. Olympiakos, meanwhile tied their game at PAOK Saloniki today. They still lead the Super League by two points over Panathinaikos, who play tomorrow.

Photo taken from Guardian.co.uk without permission.

Saturday Summary, Late Edition: Juve Tops Roma, Real Goes Down

Finally, Juventus beat a top side, edging AS Roma by a 1-0 score earlier today. Alessandro del Piero scored the game's only goal via free-kick on the stroke of halftime. Check it out on youtube, it was pretty sweet. Juve move within a point of second-place Roma with the victory, their first against "top competition" since being promoted back to Serie A this year. They had come close before though, tying Inter Milan twice, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Roma once. So the bianconeri are back. We'll see them in Europe next year for sure; and it will probably in the Champions League.

A few short weeks ago I was ready to (and in fact nearly did) anoint Real Madrid as Spanish league champs. Their lead was nine points at the time and I didn't see how Barca could close the gap. But after losing two of their last three games, including last night's at Real Betis, Madrid's lead is five points. There are 14 games left to play, which is plenty. A lot can happen in that time so let's not anoint anybody as anything just yet.

Except maybe in Holland, where PSV Eindhoven's lead is nine points with nine games left. PSV won at Willem II today (no big shock as Tilburg are second-last). Second placed Ajax Amsterdam also won to keep pace, by a 6-2 hockey score. Oh wait, that was a hockey game. Just kidding. With the victory Ajax put some space between themselves and third-placed Heerenveen, the current employer of one Michael Bradley. Heerenveen only managed a tie today (and no, Bradley didn't score). Ajax visit Eindhoven March 9 and Heerenveen a few weeks afterwards. PSV have pretty smooth sailing besides Ajax' visit, which is why I think they'll end up winning the league without trouble. But who cares about the Netherlands? They don't even have any teams left in the Champions League and Ajax didn't even make the UEFA Cup this year (losing their qualifier to Dynamo Zagreb, who were since eliminated in group play).

Saturday Summary, Jan. 26, 2008: Bradley Brace Buoys Heerenveen

Michael Bradley scored two of Heerenveen's three goals in its shutout victory at DeGraafshap Doetinchem to push the Pride of Friesland into second place in the Dutch Eredevisie. Heerenveen's stint in second could be short-lived, however, as it has played two games more than the third- and fourth-placed clubs (that would be Ajax Amsterdam and Feyernoord Rotterdam), but so what? The team is playing great thanks in large part to the son of the U.S. Men's National Team coach: three straight victories by a combined tally of 12 goals to one. Bradley has scored in each of the team's last five games and has netted eight goals in its last nine. No wonder this guy is being viewed as a possible replacement for Rafael van der Vaart at Hamburg SV! The argument could in fact be made that Bradley is the best U.S. soccer player on the planet right now. And the kid is not even old enough to drink legally in his home country (he turns 21 in July) so we have every reason to believe he's just getting warmed up.

There were many other games played today, but none of them particularly interesting. Chelsea's FA Cup victory at Wigan was probably one of the more worthy ones. I saw most of that game and thought both sides looked pretty good. Wigan have really turned things around since Steve Bruce took over and look like a solid Premiership side now--not one that is in 17th place and level on points with 18th-placed Sunderland. If the Fulhamericans are going to escape relegation it will probably not come at the expense of Bruce's team. Speaking of Team America, Roy Hodgson's men face a crucial game at Bolton Tuesday (Bolton being one of the teams that would make a more realistic candidate for relegation).

Another moderately interesting game took place in Italy, where AS Roma saw off Palermo by a 1-0 score. I generally like Roma best among Italian teams precisely because their style is so un-Italian (i.e. boring) but what I saw of today's game was pretty dull. Mancini scored in the 59th minute to decide matters. With the win Roma move within four points of first-placed Inter, who face a potentially difficult game at Udinese tomorrow. In today's other Serie A game, Sampdoria beat Siena to move into sixth place.

There was one game in Spain's Primera Division today; Sevilla saw off Osasuna 2-1, with all goals coming in the second half. Sevilla have now moved up to seventh after a disastrous start to the season. They're poised for better things now, and are still alive in the Champions League (and in fact stand a good chance of advancing to the quarterfinals as they are drawn with Fenerbahce Istanbul in the first knockout round).

Finally, there were a full slate of games in France's Ligue Un, but none of these were particularly compelling either. The top two teams, Olympique Lyonnais and Girondins Bordeaux, play tomorrow. Third-placed Nancy managed only a scoreless tie at relegation-threatened Auxerre, and fourth-placed Nice played 17th-placed Toulouse to a 1-1 draw. The most noticeable result was of course Olympique Marseille's 6-1 thrashing of Caen (who aren't half bad and in sixth place). Dibriel Cisse notched a hat trick for l'OM, who are now eighth after a rough start to the season.

Saturday Soccer Summary, Dec. 22, 2007

The top game on the continent was probably the Olympique Lyonnais vs. AS Nancy cracker in France's Ligue 1. The perennial French champs (what is it, five in a row now? Six?) are in their familiar first-place perch in their domestic league but have been somewhat inconsistent so far this year. They struggled to advance out of their Champions League group, needing a victory at Ibrox Park on the final match day, and have showed signs of vulnerability in France as well. Nancy, by contrast, have come out of nowhere. Three seasons ago the Lorainois were languishing in France's second division, which is so bad it probably looks Major League Soccer look downright mediocre. Nancy's top scorer is a guy called Kim who is not Korean but Brazilian (his real name is Carlos something).

So what happened in the game? The first goal wasn't scored until the 80th minute, when Czech international Milan Baros (a name Liverpool and Aston Villa fans are no doubt familiar with) struck for Lyon. But Chris Malonga notched the equalizer three minutes from time and the two sides ended up splitting the points. Lyon now have two points out of their last three Ligue Un games and take a four point lead into the league's mini-break (league games resume Jan. 12). This one isn't settled yet. The two sides meet again on the penultimate match day.

In Italy, AS Roma had a solid 2-0 victory over Sampdoria Genoa, on a brace by Francesco Totti. The win moves Roma four points behind Inter Milan, who face their cross-town rivals at the San Siro tomorrow afternoon. Unless Milan (that would be AC Milan) win the derby match, Serie A will basically be Inter's for the taking.

In Spain there were two pretty big games ahead of tomorrow's massive Real-Barca face-off at Camp Nou (actually there is another big game tomorrow, between Atletico and Espanol, the third- and fifth-placed teams, respectively). Valencia notched two goals in the last quarter hour of play to earn a point at Zaragosa and Sevilla scored an impressive 4-1 victory over sixth-placed Racing Santander (maybe not that impressive; Seville's third and fourth goals came in the last five minutes of the game when Santander were likely throwing everybody forward).

Finally, in Britain Arsenal won the London derby over Tottenham, but not without a good fight by Spurs. Fulham and Wigan tied 1-1 in the toilet bowl game, as did Aston Villa and Man. City, Liverpool returned to the winner's circle with a solid 4-1 victory over Pompey and then there were a few other games I don't care enough about to recap. In Scotland, Celtic managed a late goal to steal a point against manager-less Hibs. Celtic are still in first, but Rangers have three (count 'em, three!) games in hand over their neighbors.

Soccer Saturday Summary: Reading Rips Reds And Other Upsets

Several upsets went down in today's European league action, with Reading's impressive 3-1 victory over Liverpool the most interesting from an Anglo-American viewpoint. Royals American left winger Bobby Convey proved his worth--and hopefully secured a spot in the starting lineup--with a brilliant assist on Reading's third goal that sealed the deal. Liverpool did not play well at all, but you have to hand it to Steve Coppell's team for a gritty effort that earned them their first-ever victory over the Reds. It was also Liverpool's first Premiership loss of the season and does not exactly inspire confidence ahead of their decisive Champions League game at Marseille next week. Is Liverpool's season on the brink? The past couple of years the Reds have had better European campaigns than Premiership ones. Maybe an early ouster from Europe is what Rafa Benitez' team needs to get centered and make a sincere run at Premiership glory? Then again, maybe it won't be Benitez' team anymore if that happens. Maybe it won't be his team even if it doesn't. I can't see the Spaniard having much wiggle room at this point. Figure Tom Hicks and gang to have itchy trigger fingers right about now...

The team of another American player also notched an impressive upset today, as Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 bested Werder Bremen by a 4-3 score. With Bayern Munich only managing a scoreless draw at home to hapless MSV Duisburg, Bremen could have moved into first place with a win. Alas, they didn't get any points, as Mike Hanke scored a hat-trick, including a 77th minute strike that proved the difference. Third-placed Hamburg also played a disappointing scoreless game at home (to Energie Cottbus). Hannover move into fifth placed with the win, which if I'm not mistaken is the highest they've been in the Bundesliga in a generation or more (I could be wrong on this).

The third-biggest upset of the day was probably in France, where perennial champs Olympique Lyon went down at Caen, a newly-promoted side that are nevertheless seventh in Ligue Un. Despite the loss, Lyon still has a four point lead over second-laced AS Nancy, who only managed a scoreless draw at Valenciennes. I say "only" but looking at the L1 table I just realized Valenciennes are currently fifth.

In Italy, Fiorentina lost at Palermo, though I'm not sure how much of an upset this is seeing as La Viola have played like crap recently (no wins in their last five games) and Palermo are now seventh, albeit with a game or two more than other teams in that region of the table.

Celtic now stand to give up first place in the SPL, as Gordon Strachan's side managed only a 1-1 draw at home to St. Mirren. This qualifies as a major upset as St. Mirren are 11th in the 12 team SPL, meaning they are only marginally better than the New York Red Bulls, while Celtic have qualified for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League. More importantly, I don't think Celtic had so much as given up a single goal in the SPL this season, until Stephen McGinn (whoever he is) scored in the 74th minute to put St. Mirren up. Luckily for Celtic, Derek Riordan managed an equalizer 11 minutes later. But Rangers, two points in arrear of Celtic, will take over first place if they win the game in hand they now have over their hated rivals.

One more upset to tell you about, in Turkey, where Galatasaray lost their first league match of the season, to defending champions Fenerbahce in an Istanbul derby match. What's that? You didn't think I covered Turkey? Soccer Source is everywhere! I was actually going to include Fenerbahce in the Top 25 this week then decided against it at the last minute--in favor of PSV Eindhoven. I am now regretting this decision, as PSV lost to Roda yesterday and Fenerbahce are looking really good both domestically (where they're third) and in the Champions League where they can advance to the Round of 16 with a victory at CSKA Moscow Dec. 12. Ironically, the team they are competing with (and hold an edge over) for that Round of 16 spot is none other than PSV.

Soccer Source Saturday Summary, Dec. 1, 2007: Gritty Gunners, Royal Raul, Pernicious Porto

The top game in La Liga was undoubtedly the Barcelona derby. Andres Iniesta struck first for Barca, but Coro equalized midway through the second half. Earlier, Real Madrid saw off seventh-placed Racing Santander at the Bernabeu. Top-of-the-table Real got a brace from Raul and didn't seem to have much trouble, winning the game 3-1. There was a third liga game today: Arsenal vanquishers Sevilla lost at UD Almeira. The Andalusian side are now 11th, having lost their last three liga games since knocking off Real Madrid Nov. 3.

Arsenal played a gritty game at Villa Park in today's top Premiership match-up, rebounding nicely from that (meaningless) Champions League loss at midweek. After going a goal down, Arsene Wenger's men outplayed their hosts in a stellar first half and then simply bunkered down in the second. Which is what you do when you get the lead on the road, especially at a place like Villa Park, where the home fans were in full-throated support. It was amazing how loud they were, even on the Fox Soccer Channel feed. The Birmingham side played well but simply couldn't get around the Arsenal bulwark in the second half.

In Italy, AC Milan and Juventus played a scoreless draw at San Siro. What's that? A scoreless game in Serie A? How could it be? It wasn't the worst nil-nil match I've seen (some are much worse than others. If you've been watching Serie A the past 40 years you should know given how numerous they've been. Sometimes I seriously think there is more scoring at a Star Trek convention for evangelicals than during your typical Serie A weekend). Both goalies played very well and Juve hit the post in the first half.

Werder Bremen have temporarily taken over first place in the Bundesliga, thanks to their victory over Hamburg SV in the "Nordderby." HSV had looked very good coming in to today, beating up on Stade Rennes in the UEFA Cup at midweek, but it unfortunately didn't carry over. Hamburg is still in third place despite the loss, one point behind Bayern Munich and three behind Werder. Bayern can--and probably will--reclaim the top spot tomorrow when they face 14th placed Arminia Bielefeld.

Finally, in Portugal FC Porto rebounded nicely from their midweek loss at Anfield (the team's first loss all season) to win on the road at Benfica, 1-0 in a game pitting the top two teams in the bwin liga against each other. Freddy Adu got into the game in the 69th minute but was unable to get the Lisbon side level. Porto now have a seven point advantage over Benfica after only 12 games.

Soccer Source Saturday Soccer Summary: Man U Go Down

An early goal by Nicolas Anelka was enough to get Bolton an historic home victory against Manchester United, their first since 1979. It was only United's second loss in the Premiership this season (the other came Aug. 19 in the Manchester derby) and third overall (Coventry in the League Cup was the other). With Arsenal squeezing out a late victory today against a surprisingly stubborn Wigan, it means Sir Alex' squad are two games behind Gunners in the loss column (to get all American on you. It means they're three points behind and Arsenal has a game on hand). The loss is sure to have consequences in my Top 25 as well, where Man. U were third in the most recent ranking.

Elsewhere in the Top 25, #1 Inter Milan is winning against Atalanta Bergamo, 2-1 and #8 Barcelona are scoreless at halftime.

Among completed games, #6 Chelsea beat Derby, though not without some difficulty and without scoring anywhere near the 10 goals I had anticipated. #10 Lyon came through with an impressive win at Rennes, #11 Bayern Munich returned to the win column, polishing off Wolfsburg 2-1, fellow Bundesliga side #12 Werder Bremen, #14 Roma, #18 Olympiakos and #20 Celtic all won their games. #21 Dynamo Zagreb managed only a 1-1 draw at NK Medjimurje, one of the world's most storied franchises. (Yeah right. Name one of their players without looking it up. Or for that matter, tell me where they even play). #24 Rangers had no problem at Falkirk, winning 3-1.

Some late games will follow this afternoon, with the rest taking place tomorrow. Based on all the above victories, the other teams will have plenty of pressure to step up and hold serve. If they do (or even if they don't) you can expect Man U to drop a few spots.

(Early) Soccer Source Saturday Summary: Chagrin For City

Heading over to the Swamp for the Red Bulls' playoff game, so I need to crank this out early. I'll have full reaction to that game later tonight. For now, let's focus on the continent: Manchester City had their arses handed to them at Stamford Bridge today. Not sure if the six goal margin is justified; Sven's men hung in there for large portions of the first half and it wasn't until the second that the floodgates opened. But I do know this: In last week's top 25 write-up, I mentioned this would be a major test for City, who are not playing in Europe this year. So consider having failed the test, Citizens. I can safely say this team does not belong amongst England's--let alone Europe's--elite. One that definitely does, however, is Manchester's other team, who put on a clinic of their own at Old Trafford today. The 4-1 dismantling of Middlesbrough was the first time in a century that the club scored four goals in four successive games. United are now top of the table, but they have played two games more than Arsenal, whom they displaced. The Gunners, by the way, face a formidable test at Anfield tomorrow and then have Man U at home Nov. 3 with a Halloween trip to Sheffield Wednesday for a Carling Cup match thrown in at midwek.

Elsewhere in Europe, the top clubs were mainly idle today. Check that. By the time of this writing, Juventus were losing to Napoli 3-1. The top game in the Bundesliga, between Werder Bremen and Schalke 04, ended 1-1. VfB Stuttgart got a much-needed victory, over Bayer Leverkusen. In Spain, Espanyol and Malaga drew 2-2. The big game is tomorrow, between Valencia and Seville. Finally, Celtic made quick work of Motherwell, winning 3-0 and cementing their hold on first place. The 'Hoops now have a three point lead over idle Rangers, who face Dundee United tomorrow. Rangers would need to win by more than four goals to dislodge Celtic.

Soccer Source Saturday Summary: Spanish Favorites Fall

Spanish rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona fell from the ranks of La Liga's unbeaten, succumbing to Espanyol Barcelona and Villareal, respectively. Espanyol's Raúl Tamudo scored his second big goal in a week's time. Neither loss is a major upset as both Espanyol and Villareal are top level teams this year--and both were playing at home--but I imagine there will be consequences when Soccer Source's Top 25 rankings are released Monday morning. ("Foreshadow, foreshadow, foreshadow," as my 10th grade English teacher used to say.)

Spain's was the only league that saw major upsets today. Elsewhere in Europe, top-of-the-table clubs Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Olympique Lyon and Arsenal all booked clear victories in their respective leagues. Rangers won the latest version of their friendly neighborhood competition with Celtic by three goals.

In Mexico, America continued their return to form, beating Pachuca 2-1, while Chivas yielded a last-minute equalizer to Atlante. The player who scored that goal, Alain Nkong, is a Major League Soccer castoff, if you can believe that. The Cameroonian was waived by the Colorado Rapids--twice (in 2005 and again the following year).

Speaking of MLS, guess who scored again for Benfica? That's right, Fredy Adu. His volley in the closing minutes salvaged a tie for the Lisbon side. Fredy was a second half substitute again. When is Jose Antonio Camacho finally going to start him? Thanks to Yanks Abroad for alerting me to this.

Finally, what is going on with German champions VfB Stuttgart? They had their asses handed to them today by Hamburg and have now slipped to 13th in the Bundesliga. They are dead last in their champions league group with zero wins and two losses. But they haven't only been losing to quality competition, either. Karlsruhe, Rostock and Hannover have all beaten Stuttgart over the past weeks. Figure Armin Veh to be on the short- short-list of managers whose jobs are in peril. Who will go first, him or Martin Jol? Now taking wagers...