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Team Focus: Could this be the Valenciennd?

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Team Focus: Could this be the Valenciennd? You watch as your team dominates at home to your local rivals, hitting the woodwork three times, and are denied by two world class saves from the opposition ‘keeper. Holding the Champions of France to a spirited 0-0 draw, surely this team must be riding high in Ligue 1? 18th! Anyone tuning in ...

Troubles on Travels End Streaks for Levante, Dortmund & Lille

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Troubles on Travels End Streaks for Levante, Dortmund & Lille Normality was resumed in La Liga this weekend and with it, the early-season romance was somewhat gone. Levante’s unbeaten start to the season finally came crashing down at Osasuna and on hand to prosper were Real and Barca - victories against Sociedad and Mallorca leave the giants first and se...

Team Focus: Swansea City - Just Like Watching Barca?!

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Team Focus: Swansea City - Just Like Watching Barca?! So often it is that a promoted side is branded as a breath of fresh air into the Premier League that the phrase starts to lose its meaning, but if one side epitomises the term in this season or indeed recent years, perhaps it is Swansea City.At times it appears that the first Welsh side to have reac...

Form Analysis: Torres' Return Untimely for Gunners

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Form Analysis: Torres' Return Untimely for Gunners After serving a three game suspension for an over the top lunge back on the 24th of September, Fernando Torres returns to domestic action for Chelsea this weekend as Arsenal make their way to Stamford Bridge. Having struggled under Carlo Ancelotti in his debut season with just a single goal for the ...

Derby d'Italia: Inter Not As Bad As Advertised

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Derby d'Italia: Inter Not As Bad As Advertised It is the one fixture many Juventus fans look for before any other, particularly with Torino struggling in Serie B, the so called Derby of Italy between Inter and Juventus. The term, like most in Italian football, was coined by the great Gianni Brera to note the two teams never relegated from Serie ...

Bayern's Backline Aim to Prevent Dortmund's Title Defence

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Bayern's Backline Aim to Prevent Dortmund's Title Defence Hannover 96’s defeat of Bayern Munich last weekend brought an end to a run of eight matches without a single goal conceded by Jupp Heynckes’ side. A 23rd minute penalty by Mohammed Abdellaoue meant Manuel Neuer was finally beaten for the first time in 769 league minutes, since the openin...

Player Focus: David Luiz

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Player Focus: David Luiz Spectators saw the best and worst of David Luiz on occasion in the hot-blooded West London derby between QPR and Chelsea last time out, which eventually saw the underdogs prevail thanks to two first half dismissals for Villas-Boas' side. For most teams, and indeed players, going down to 9-men would ...

Barca Relying Too Much on Messi Whilst Madrid Share Attacking Load

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Barca Relying Too Much on Messi Whilst Madrid Share Attacking Load While Levante’s extraordinary fairy tale season continued on Sunday evening with a 3-0 win at Villarreal leaving them top of La Liga, Real Madrid sneaked past Barcelona to sit just one point off the summit. A last minute penalty miss from Lionel Messi leaves the champions just two points behin...

Balanced City Causing Power Shift in Manchester?

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Balanced City Causing Power Shift in Manchester? Going into the weekend, the game that was billed across Europe as the biggest for more reasons than one certainly lived up to the expectations in what proved to be a real classic, though Manchester United fans may well refute that.The Champions' noisy neighbours had found their voice more than ever ...

Malaga-Madrid Showdown to Prove Pelligrini's Players' Potential

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Malaga-Madrid Showdown to Prove Pelligrini's Players' Potential This Saturday evening sees one of the most anticipated match-ups in La Liga take place, as Real Madrid make their way to big-spending Malaga to face old boss Manuel Pellegrino. Added to the intrigue is the fact that, in Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Julio Baptista, the hosts also boast two former Real pla...