A quick synopsis of the major football events across Europe this weekend for those who are too busy to care or who simply wish to bluff their way through conversations on European football. The EPL is… Bluffer’s Guide to This Week’s Football
Rocko, I enjoyed that article. Some questions:
- Has Magath been employed by Wolfsburg again after his sacking by Schalke?
- Why did you not mention the masterclass by Totti in Florence? My highlight of the footballing weekend.
- Does anyone think that Napoli might win Serie A? I wrote them off after their 3-0 defeat away to Milan a few weeks back. But they’ve rebounded again now. They have to play Udinese and Juve at home but they’ve one of the best home records in Europe.
- Can you incorporate the Russian league into this round up if this is to become a regular feature?
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Yeah Magath was sacked for “financial irregularities” and then got himself a job with Wolfsburg within a couple of days and had also negotiated an end to Schalke’s investigation in exchange for no payoff. Weird.
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Words can’t do Totti justice. I had something typed but I found myself reading back over my inadequate words and deciding that until better men with better vocabularies can do justice to his character, I’d be better off leaving it unmentioned.
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They have a chance now alright. As I mentioned, there’s a Milan derby next up which will mean there’ll be points dropped. If Napoli win their next game (Lazio at home) and can keep their attackers fit they’re in with a shout.
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I can surely.
Cheers Rocko, thats great. With the GAA started i lose touch with any of these ones i may take a interest, really Italy & Spain. Mind you even though i don’t follow it at all, i always enjoy the German games when they are. Its a weird league alright.
Oh good jesus 
+1 :unsure:
An eventful weekend in Europe saw a league title decided in Portugal and significant top of the table clashes in Germany, Italy and Netherlands going some way to determining the destination of trophies in 2011…
Read more… http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011/04/bluffers-guide-to-early-april-european-football/
This round up is a very good addition indeed, Rocko. But I would have liked you to include the Russian league following your promise last week - even though we did lose again.
What a weekend of football in Italy though. As well as his 25 Serie A goals, Cavani has scored hat-tricks for his country and in the Europa League this season. I think he has 3 hat-tricks in the league itself too.
An oversight Bandage, with the big game in Holland and the Portugese league being decided I added a couple of additions this week so left out our domestic game and the Russsian season. Both are in their infancy however and will have plenty of opportunities to shine in this feature.
With various title races approaching their dénounement, here’s a quick look at the major events in European domestic football in the past week.
Read more:
http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011/04/bluffers-guide-to-european-football-1011-april/
Another good round up, Rocko. That was some goal indeed by Janssen last week for Twente.
An interesting look to the top of the Serie A table in the article too…
That was just to see if people were paying attention.
I’m heartily recommending Theo Janssen to all European clubs for a moderate to high sum this summer.
No mention of Roma and Totti’s heroics in Udine. What the fuck is your problem?
Couple of decent games on this week:
Real v Barca at 9pm tonight obviously. (Sky)
3rd v 2nd in Germany as Bayern host Leverkusen at 2.30pm tomorrow. (Streams only)
2nd v 4th in Italy with Napoli v Udinese tomorrow at 7.45pm (ESPN & Setanta)
This weeks’s installment:
After Porto’s early heroics the rest of European football is struggling manfully to crown domestic champions ahead of time with Milan, Dortmund, Barcelona and Manchester United all taking big steps towards securing league titles this weekend.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xi9pmc_bvb-scf-all-goals-www-rojadirecta-es_sport
http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011/04/bluffers-guide-the-week-before-easter/
Congratulations on the Mascara pun, Rocko. 
An informative read. Well done on including Russia this week.
Russia was in there last week too.
Never said it wasn’t. Prick.
http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011/04/bluffers-guide-to-easter-weekend/
There were precious few miracles to contend with the Resurrection on a weekend of consolidation as the big guns moved ever closer to replenishing their trophy cabinets across Europe.
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Netherlands
The closest title race in Europe (of the leagues I can be bothered looking at) was again one of the most dramatic. FC Twente fell to second place on goal difference last week but had the chance to go back top (at least briefly) with their Friday game at ADO Den Haag. Costa Rican striker Bryan Ruiz opened the scoring for Twente, Den Haag weren’t long making it 1-1 but Luuk De Jong bundled home a rebound with 5 minutes remaining to give Twente a lead they managed to hold on to.
PSV started the week on top of the table but now find themselves in third after a costly 3-1 defeat at Feyernoord. Toivonen levelled briefly for the 10-men visitors after they lost an early goal but a second goal for Wijnaldum and another from Castaignos secured the points for Feyernoord, who are going nowhere in 10th spot.
Ajax did manage to maintain their pressure on Twente on Sunday with a comfortable 4-1 win over the lesser Rotterdam outfit, Excelsior. (Siem De Jong’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKaLF7uToUM]overhead kick was the pick of the goals). There are two games to go in the Eredivisie and Twente lead Ajax by a point with PSV a further two points behind. Goal difference may be decisive and PSV do hold an advantage in this regard with Ajax also superior to Twente if the two teams finish level on points.
Ajax and Twente will meet in the Dutch Cup Final on 8th May before renewing their hostilities in the final league game of the season a week later.
Italy
Last week looked like being a decisive weekend in Serie A with Napoli and Inter losing ground on leaders Milan and an 18th Scudetto looks even more likely for the Lombardy giants after Napoli lost further ground on Saturday.
The Neapolitans took an early lead at home to Palermo, courtesy of a Cavani penalty (his 26th of the league campaign) but ahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=639JEq3oMUw] splendid volley from Balzaretti levelled the game and Bovo completed the turnaround just before half-time, slotting home a penalty after the referee had refused to play the advantage and ruled out a goal from Migliaccio in the process.
<a rel=“attachment wp-att-2095” href="http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011/04/bluffers-guide-to-easter-weekend/etoo_v_lazio350/] Inter moved into second place as a result with a reversal of Napoli’s fortunes. They fell behind to an early Lazio penalty, with Julio César receiving a red card in the process, but Sneijder and Eto’o scored either side of the interval to take full points for Inter. Milan were last to play of the title-chasing bunch and were frustrated for 82 minutes at Brescia before Cassano played Robinho in on a counter-attack and the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owj2Dss-PRM]Brazilian finished calmly . Milan move to eight points clear with four games to play.
Germany
At one stage on Saturday afternoon it looked like Dortmund would be celebrating a first Bundesliga title in quite some time (look it up yourselves) with second placed Leverkusen trailing Hoffenheim and the leaders facing the formality of a trip to bottom side Moenchengladbach in the evening game.
Both Leverkusen full-backs (Kadlec and Vidal) scored in the second half to maintain the club’s outside chance of a league win and denied the Dortmund the opportunity to secure the title in nearby Moenchengladbach. The champions-elect were surprisingly beaten by their hosts however, Idrissou grabbing the only goal of the game in a tight first half.
That victory gives Moenchengladbach a slim chance of survival, despite an unhelpful win for Wolfsburg over Koln and a surprising point earned by Frankfurt at home to Bayern. St Pauli slip to the bottom on goal-difference, having thrown away a first half lead to lose 1-3 against Werder Bremen. Stuttgart gave themselves a little breathing space with a 3-0 thumping of Hamburg, leaving Wolfsburg (in a playoff spot) and Frankfurt and Koln most vulnerable to being caught by the bottom two.
Bayern’s dropped points at Frankfurt were far from helpful in their quest for third place in the league (and the associated Champions League spot). Hannover had applied the pressure on Thursday evening with a win at Freiburg and now lead by a point with 3 games to go.
Denmark
FC Copenhagen completed their first ever 3-in-a-row with 7 games to spare in the SAS-Ligaen. Actually they secured the title with a full 8 games remaining as Nordsjælland’s defeat of OB on Thursday afternoon meant the leaders couldn’t be caught. They won 2-1 at Lyngby anyway.
France
<a rel=“attachment wp-att-2096” href="http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011/04/bluffers-guide-to-easter-weekend/taiwo350/] With Marseille retaining the League Cup on Saturday (thanks to a Taiwo goal) and Lyon due to play defeated finalists Montpellier, Lille had a chance to regain their composure and extend their lead at the top of Ligue Un which has narrowed alarmingly in recent weeks. Another less than convincing performance (this time at Lorient) ended in a 1-1 draw with Lille surrendering a half-time advantage in a nervous display.
Lille have not won in their last three games now and Marseille can go top tonight with a win over mid-table Nice. Even Lyon could give themselves a shout. If they manage to beat Montpellier they will move to within four of Lille with six games remaining.
Russia
A draw for CSKA Moscow at Tom Tomsk afforded Zenit St Petersburg a chance to return to the top of the table and they took that chance (with the correct number of homegrown players this week) emphatically, defeating Krylya Sovetov Samara 3-0 at the Petrovskiy Stadium.
Former table-toppers FC Volga continued their descent (now down to fifth place) after losing at home to Kuban Krasnodar who join them on nine points from six games. Spartak Moscow finally kick-started their season with a solitary goal victory over halfnamesakes Sparkak Nalchik, Dzyuba’s goal early in the second half proving decisive.