Atletico Drop Chelsea, Face Rivals Real in UCL Final

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The first meeting between these two clubs last week ended in an uneventful nil-nil draw.  Atlético Madrid did not take advantage of playing at home and Chelsea did not produce an important away-goal.  Today the two met again for the second-leg of the Champions League semi-final.  Playing at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Atletico squared off to see would face Real Madrid in the final.

Over the weekend Chelsea won a huge match on the road to Liverpool despite resting a number of usual starters.  Torres did not start against Liverpool, but did start again today against Atlético.  Six defensive players also started for Chelsea with David Luiz and Azpilicueta in the midfield.  Captain John Terry also returned to the line-up quicker than expected after hurting his ankle in the previous meeting.

Chelsea first pulled ahead when Torres scored the opening goal.  Willian helped create the play when he was able to slip by two defenders and setup Azpilicueta for a cross.  Azpilicueta picked out Torres running towards him for a first-time shot to the near-post.  Torres' shot took a partial deflection off defender Miranda on the way towards the net to put the Blues on top.

That lead was taken away soon after though when Atletico Madrid responded and scored an all important away-goal.  From the edge of the box Thiago curled the ball to the back-post and Juanfran was able to keep it alive at the end line.  Juanfran volleyed the ball back across the face of goal which found it's way to Adrián López.  Hitting the shot first-time, López scored to put Atlético ahead on aggregate (44').

Coming into the second-half Chelsea needed to score again to survive the round so manager José Mourinho inserted Samuel Eto'o into the side, removing Ashley Cole in defense.  Before Eto'o could make an impact in the Chelsea offense he was caught making a clumsy challenge defending a set-piece.  Diego Costa drew the foul from Eto'o inside the box and proceded to score from the spot to extent Atlético's lead (60').

José Mourinho then added his final striker Demba Ba into the match, but Madrid only scored again shortly after he came on.  This time Arda Turan scored when his own header ricocheted off the crossbar and fell right back to his feet for a shot on an open net (72').

By this time Chelsea could not really expect to surmount a come-back and score three goals.  Atlético easily held on to the lead and secured their place in the final.  Next month the two clubs from Madrid will meet in Lisbon for the Champions League final in an epic meeting of cross town rivals.

Real Madrid Blowout Bayern Munich, Reach UCL Final

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Real Madrid travelled to Germany for the second-leg of their Champions League semi-final today with Bayern Munich.  Madrid barely edged the defending champions in the first-meeting 1-0 and now playing on the road Madrid needed another solid performance in this hostile environment.  Munich are normally unbeatable in their home stadium, but today found themselves in trouble very early in the match.

Madrid centerback Sergio Rames scored a pair of goals in the opening stages of the game to put Munich in a three goal hole.  First on a corner kick by Modrić, Ramos made a late run to the back-post where he was given a free header that he put into the net (16').  Just minutes later on another set-piece Ramos won a second header in front of Munich's goal to increase the lead.  Di María delivered the free-kick into the box and Pepe helped the cross along with a flick header to Ramos at the back-post for the score (20').

Real Madrid added one more goal in the first-half on a counter-attack through the middle of the field.  Bale was released on a break-away and at the last moment laid the ball off to Ronaldo who had a free shot and scored through the legs of keeper Neuer coming off his line (34').  By the end of the first-half the match was essentially over.  Bayern came into the match already down one goal from the previous match and found themselves in far greater hole by half-time.

Now needing five goals to overcome their tremendous deficit, Munich essentially gave up in the second-half.  Following the half-time break Bayern manager Pep Guardiola removed the central striker Mandzukic and inserted the defensive midfielder Javi Martínez.  Later other attacking players Müller and Ribery were taken out in place of Götze and Pizarro.  None of the changes made a positive impact on the game and Madrid even added a final goal at the end of regulation.

Ronaldo had two opportunities to score from well-placed free-kicks at the end of the match and finished the second chance.  His first free-kick was blocked by the wall, but the second time Ronaldo fired the shot low and rolled the ball under the wall as they jumped to score (90').

Surprisingly this is the first time in over ten years that Real Madrid have made it the Champions League final.  Tomorrow their opponent will be decided when Chelsea take on Atletico Madrid for their semi-final second-leg at Stamford Bridge.

Real Madrid Win First Leg Meeting With Bayern Munich

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The Champions League action continued today with Real Madrid hosting Bayern Munich in the other semi-final first leg.  The defending champions have been quite exceptional this season, particularly in the Bundesliga winning in a landslide.  Real Madrid, on the other hand, probably will not win La Liga, but did just come off a big win against rival Barcelona to lift the Copa del Rey.

Today Bayern Munich got off the a great start despite playing on the road.  By half-time the Germans had nearly eighty percent of possession!  However, Munich could not produce a goal and found themselves trailing at the break.

Similar to their last match in the Copa del Rey final, Madrid played against a possession driven team and had to rely on the counter-attack to get ahead.  Madrid scored on one such counter-attack when Rolando played the rightback Coentrão in behind the Bayern back line.  Coentrão was then able to roll a pass across the face of goal for Benzema at the back-post.  Benzema easily finished with a tap in to take the lead, scoring the only goal of the match (19').

The second-half was more of the same with Munich keeping the vast majority of possession, yet failing to score.  Even with fifteen corner-kicks by the end of the match Bayern could not produce an equalizer and Madrid keeper Casillas came away with a clean sheet.

Expect Bayern to score at least one goal in the replay next week as the two square off for the second leg in Germany.  It is rare for Munich to be held without scoring and Real Madrid will have to come up big to shut them out twice in a row.

Chelsea Tie Atletico In UCL Semi-Final

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Chelsea travelled to Spain today for an important Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.  Today was the first-leg of the semi-final and Chelsea manager José Mourinho gave Torres the start up front for the Blues against his former club.  Torres had another tiresome day as Atletico were able to control the majority of possession forcing the Chelsea striker to remain isolated for most of the match.

Atletico were the team more likely to score in this first meeting between the clubs, but had trouble breaking down the stout Chelsea defense.  The Terry-Cahill tandem in the center of the defense won nearly every ball played into their box to deny a number of Atletico attacks and the supporting midfielders Mikel and David Luiz stopped anything coming through the middle.

Chelsea will have some concerns going forward though, as a pair of injuries could leave them short-handed.  Keeper Pert Cech came down hard while defending a corner and had to be replace by Mark Schwarzer less than twenty minutes into the match.  Also John Terry sustained an ankle injury late in the match forcing David Luiz to drop back into the Chelsea defense to cover his absence.

Today was not a particularly good showing for Chelsea who had little offensive presence, especially lacking in fullback support.  Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta did not get forward at all making it nearly impossible for Torres, or anyone else, to threaten the Atletico defense.

Chelsea have a huge match over the weekend against Liverpool before the second-leg replay with Atletico.  Both matches will truly test the mettle of José Mourinho's team as Premier League and Champions League titles are on the line.

Manchester City Breeze By West Bromwich

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Manchester City hosted West Bromwich Albion today in a relatively easy fixture for the home team.  West Bromwich are floating around the relegation zone while City are trying to work back into the top spot in the Premier League table.  City came into the match in third place with two fewer games played than Liverpool and Chelsea, the first and second place teams respectively.  

Manchester City got on the board very quickly today when fullback Zabaleta pushed forward and benefited from a free shot by Agüero.  West Bromwich keeper Ben Foster blocked the initial shot by Agüero, but the rebound setup Zabaleta who scored with a diving header to take an early lead (3').

Soon after Agüero scored one on his own to extend the lead for City.  The West Bromwich defense could not close down the striker and Agüero was able to fire a shot from outside the penalty box into the far corner of the net (10').

West Bromwich got one goal back moments later on a well executed counter-attack.  Zabaleta lost possession to Liam Ridgewell who then play the ball forward to Sessegnon making a break.  Sessegnon picked out forward Vydra, then a final pass to Graham Dorrans led to the goal.  Dorrans did well to avoid Clichy inside the box and scored the only goal for West Brom against the scrambling City defense (16').

City managed to score one more goal in the first-half from a corner-kick to reestablish a two goal lead.  Nasri delivered the cross into the box and Kompany managed to get just a piece of the ball with a header to flick the ball on to Demichelis at the far-post.  Demichelis was left unmarked and scored an easy tap in for the final goal of the match (36').

The second-half was less eventful than the first as neither team were able to change the score.  The most crucial moment in the second-half came from an injury sustained by David Silva.  The midfielder came away from a challenge holding his ankle and had to be taken off on a stretcher.  We will have to wait and see how serious the injury is, but it could mean the end of the season for the Spanish international.  

Bale Scores Winner For Real Madrid, Win Copa del Rey

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It was only fitting that the Spanish Copa del Rey would come down to the two titans of La Liga.  Barcelona and Real Madrid met today for the third time this season to decide who would lift the King's Cup.  Barcelona won the two El Clásico meetings this season, though they sit in third place in the league table with Real Madrid second only to Atlético.

Today Real Madrid were in better form than Barcelona and took the lead early in the first-half.  On a counter-attack, Benzema sprung Ángel Di María and the winger fired off a shot between the legs of defender Jordi Alba (11').  Keeper Pinto got a hand on the shot, but could not stop the ball from reaching the net.

As expected Barcelona had the majority of possession and after half-time began to show signs to breaking down the Madrid defense.  However it was from a set-piece that Barcelona managed to equalize.  Xavi delivered a corner-kick into the box and centerback Marc Bartra won the header.  Bartra's header caught a piece of the far-post before finding the net to level the score (68').

Then in the final moments of the match Real Madrid pulled back in front thanks to a superb run by Gareth Bale.  Running up the left sideline, Bale was simply too quick for Bartra and he was able to dribble into the box and nutmeg the keeper for the winning goal (85').

Barcelona were so close to scoring another equalizer when Neymar found space inside the box moments later, but his shot cannoned off the post to deny the goal.  In the end Real Madrid held on to the lead and came away with the trophy.  It has been a disappointing season for Barcelona who have already exited the Champions League, and with this loss the Catalans miss out on another trophy.

Podolski Powers Arsenal Over West Ham

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Arsenal came into today's Premier League match against West Ham in fifth place, just two points behind Everton.  That fourth place position of course crucial for Champions League qualification and the Gunners hoped to replace Everton with a win today.  West Ham have not been great as of late, but as they showed in their last match against Liverpool, they do not go down without a fight.

West Ham took the lead late in the first-half when Antonio Nocerino got in behind the Arsenal defense.  Nocerino fired a shot from a tight angle and keeper Szczesny made the save, but the ball stayed in front of the goal.  Matthew Jarvis came in late and finished the loose ball with a header to put the visitors ahead (40').

Arsenal managed to respond in the few minutes left in the first-half thanks to a poor clearance by Stewart Downing.  The winger's clearance was left short and fell right for Santi Cazorla at the edge of the box.  Cazorla quickly played a through-ball for Podolski who made a good turn and shot to find the net and level the score (44').

After half-tim West Ham were rather deflated and Arsenal were able to take control of the match.  Oliver Giroud scored a go-ahead goal shortly after the break with a spectacular trap inside the box.  Vermaelen played a lofted ball into the box and the striker perfectly controlled the ball before shooting to put the Gunners in front (55').

Later in the half Aaron Ramsey came into the match and got an assist for the final goal of the day.  Ramsey played Podolski in behind defender Tomkins with a header and Podolski scored with a well struck first-touch shot (78').

Podolski is not always prefered by manager Arsene Wenger, but today he made the most of his inclusion in the line-up.  With this win Arsenal claim three points and pull ahead of Everton in the table.  Everton will have a chance to jump back ahead of Arsenal when they play Crystal Palace tomorrow at Goodison Park.

Liverpool Win Titanic Match Over Manchester City

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Today's match between Liverpool and Manchester City has been on the radar for some time now with title implications on the line.  Playing at Anfield, there were no surprises in the starting line-ups with both clubs putting their best eleven out for this crucial match.  Suarez, Sturridge, and Sterling headed the Liverpool attack while David Silva, Nasri, and Dzeko lead Manchester City.

Liverpool got off to a great start and had all the momentum in the opening stages of the game.  A pair of goals in the first-half had them in good position, for a time, as City struggled to get into the match.  First Raheem Sterling made a run behind defender Kompany and Suarez played a through-ball to put him in-on-goal.  Keeper Joe Hart came off his line in an attempt to intervene, but ended up in no-mans-land allowing Sterling to work enough space and bury the shot (6').

Yaya Touré was then forced to come out soon after the first goal with an injury.  While taking a shot from range, Toure injured his groin and could not continue.  Javi Garcia replaced him less than twenty minutes into the match.

Liverpool added a second goal from a set-piece later in the half to extend the lead.  Captain Gerrard delivered a corner-kick into the box and Martin Skrtel was at the near-post to attack the cross.  With a glancing header, Skrtel was able to sent the ball to the opposite post and find the side netting (26').

Manchester City eventually got into the match and gained a lot of momentum coming out in the second-half.  James Milner came on in place of Jesús Navas and the visitors started to take control of the match.  Shortly after coming on, Milner setup the first goal for City by rolling the ball into the path of David Silva who turned the shot into the net (57').  Moments later David Silva created another goal for City to level the score.  He intended to play a ball across the face of goal, but the pass came off defenders Glen Johnson and Sktrel causing a fortunate own-goal (62').

To make matters worse for Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge was force out with an injury and Joe Allen came on in his place.  But the Reds found an opening thanks to a mistake by Kompany in his own box.  The City captain scuffed a clearance and Coutinho pounced on the loose ball, smashing the shot home for the winning goal (78').

This win is the biggest of the season for Liverpool who extend their lead in the league table.  Chelsea reamin in second-place and City in third, though Manchester have played two fewer matches.  With only four matches left to play, Liverpool control their own fate and will need another strong performance when they play Chelsea in two weeks time.

Bayern Munich Down Man United, On To Semi-Finals

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Manchester United and Bayern Munich came away from the first meeting of the Champions League quarter-final with a 1-1 draw last week at Old Trafford.  Today in Germany, the second-leg was played with Munich starting the match with a slight away-goal advantage as well as home-field advantage.  

Although United were the team that had to score, they came out with a defensive mindset hoping to weather the initial storm that is the Bayern attack.  With seventy percent of possession in their favor, Munich failed to break down the United defense and the first-half ended scoreless.  The second-half, on the other hand, was far more exciting with momentum going back and forth quite quickly.  

After the half-time break Patrice Evra scored a spectacular goal to give United the lead.  A cross from Valenica was not cleared by any Bayern defender and Evra was able to run onto it and blast his shot back across the face of goal to score (57').  The lead was taken away in the blink of an eye however, as Mandžukić scored a header at the opposite end immediately following the goal from United (59').

At this stage of the match, the two teams were level on aggregate with one away-goal for each club.  United had done well to keep Bayern from scoring up that point, but the flood gates opened and Bayern put two more on the board.  First Robben setup Thomas Müller with a cross into the box that the forward managed to get enough on to turn into the United net (68').  Then Robben scored a final unassisted goal by coming across the box on his left-foot and rolling the shot inside the post (76').

With an aggregate score of 4-2, Munich ended with a comfortable margin over the Premier League team who go home empty handed.  The more surprising result of the day was the win by Athletico Madrid over Barcelona, eliminating the Catalans from the tournament.  The draw for the semi-finals is set for Friday with Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Athletico the four remaining teams in the competition.  The first-legs of the semi-finals are set for April 22 and 23 and should be an exciting build-up to the Final in Lisbon.

Chelsea Pull Off Unlikely Comeback

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Paris Saint-Germain enjoyed a two goal margin over Chelsea as the two met at Stanford Bridge for the second-leg of this Champions League fixture.  Winning 3-1 in Paris last week, P.S.G. came into today's match knowing that they needed another strong defensive performance to advance in the tournament.  Chelsea, on the other hand, knew that they must score two goals if they had any hopes of staying alive int the Champions League.

Eden Hazard was in the starting line-up for Chelsea, but lasted less than twenty minutes.  He was replaced by Andre Schürrle who found himself in the right place later in the first-half.  A long throw-in for Chelsea came into the P.S.G. box and David Luiz was able to get a flick header on the ball.  The flicked ball fell for Schürrle right in front of goal and he scored with a free volley (32').

Still needing more attacking presence, Chelsea inserted Demba Ba into the offense in place of holding midfielder Frank Lampard in the second-half.  Torres was also brought in for the final ten minutes of the match in a last-ditch effort by manager José Mourinho.  It was Ba though that managed to get the final goal to put Chelsea in front.  Azpilicueta fired a low shot towards goal that P.S.G. were unable to clear.  Instead Ba was able to get a sweeping left-foot on the ball from close range to score (87').

With just a few minutes left in the match, P.S.G. could not respond and thus eliminated from the Champions League.  That precious away-goal last week in France proved to be the deciding factor for Chelsea as the Blues advance to the semi-finals.

Liverpool Win Ninth Straight

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West Ham United hosted a red-hot Liverpool team today, coming into the match with an eight game winning streak.  Liverpool needed only a draw to take the first-place position back from Chelsea, but realistically needed to win in order to stay alive in the title race.  West Ham have been on a decent run of late despite sitting in the bottom half of the league table.

Andy Carroll and Steward Downing went up against their former club while Suarez and Sturridge led the attack for the visitors.  The match was wide open from the start with equal chances for both clubs.  Only one shot was on target though, and the first-half seemed likely to end scoreless until some late excitement arose.

Luis Suarez created the first goal-scoring opportunity when a counter-attack left him one-on-one with centerback James Tomkins.  Suarez was likely to score on his own, but Tomkins was caught playing the ball with his hand and a penalty was awarded for Liverpool.  As usual, Gerrard stepped in to take the penalty and he scored the spot-kick to take the lead (44').

In the few moments before half-time, West Ham were fortunate to equalize on a terrible missed call.  A corner-kick by West Ham was claimed by keeper Mignolet out of the air and Andy Carroll knocked the ball loose with a raised arm allowing Guy Demel to tap home the loose ball (47').  What's worse is the sideline referee called the foul, but it was ignored by head referee Anthony Taylor and the goal was counted.

Neither team truly took control in the first-half, and after half-time the match remained in close contest.  It was not until another decision by the referee that enabled Liverpool to retake the lead.  Lucas came on at the start of the second-half and played Jon Flanagan in-on-goal with an early cross.  Flanagan was first to ball and was fouled by keeper Adrián in the box to earn another penalty.  Gerrard again stepped up to take the shot and scored the penalty (71').

With the lead re-established Liverpool were able to play the possession game and managed to keep West Ham from scoring another equalizer.  The Reds are now back at the top of the Premier League table with two points over Chelsea in second place.  Next week will be a tougher test though, as Liverpool host Manchester City.  Liverpool need to play better than they did today if they want to beat City and keep the league title dream alive.

P.S.G. Handle Slumping Chelsea in UCL

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Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain faced off today in a Champions League match in the French capital.  P.S.G. are well in control of Ligue 1 while Chelsea are in trouble of letting the Premier League slip away.  Over the weekend Chelsea were stunned by Crystal Palace and today they looked to get past that embarrassing defeat with a win in the first-leg of the UCL quarter-final.

P.S.G. took the lead in the early moments of the match when Chelsea captain John Terry made a poor clearance off the line.  Terry headed the ball short and it fell right to Lavezzi inside the box.  In one motion Lavezzi brought the ball down with a chest-trap before finishing with a volley (3').

Chelsea were able to respond when P.S.G. captain Thiago Silva missed his slide-tackle inside the box.  Oscar drew the foul to earn a penalty and Eden Hazard scored from the spot (27' P).  Up to that point in the match the referee had been, to put it nicely, inconsistent.  Though on this occasion the call was correct and the first-half ended on level terms.

Chelsea's starting striker Schürrle was not having any impact on the game and in the second-half he was removed for the more prototypical center-forward Torres.  However, before he had a chance to influence the match Chelsea conceded an own-goal.  A free-kick for P.S.G. near the corner flag was sent into the box by Lavezzi and David Luiz turned the ball into his own net to put Chelsea behind again (61').

After retaking the lead P.S.G. were able to take control for the rest of the match.  Not everything went their way though as a pair of injuries to key players forced changes to the side.  First Ibrahimovic pulled up holding the back of his thigh indicating a probable hamstring injury.  He went straight to the locker room after coming off the field which is a bad indication for the seriousness of the injury.  Later Marco Verratti came off after a collision in midfield, but he was able to watch the rest of the match from the bench.

In the final moments of the match P.S.G. were able to add another goal from their final substitute Javier Pastore.  Making a run along the Chelsea end-line, Pastore manage to dribble around Azpilicueta and Lampard to work a shot from a tight angle, beating keeper Cech at the near-post (90 +3').

The deficit is not insurmountable for Chelsea who will have a chance to redeem themselves next week at Stamford Bridge.  Chelsea did manage to score an important away goal which could prove to be their life-line in the second-leg.  Also in their favor is the possible absence of Ibrahimovic who may not be able to play when the two meet again.

United Draw Bayern Munich, Schweinsteiger Sent Off

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Bayern Munich came to England today to face Manchester United for a Champions League quarter-final.  The first-leg meeting at Old Trafford was another tough test for the Premier League club taking on the defending Champions League title winners.

The first-half was quite forgettable for the home team as Bayern Munich completely dominated United. In fact Munich held nearly eighty percent of possession and forced United to play in their defensive third for almost the entire half.  Ryan Giggs was a ghost, Fellaini could not hold possession, and Phil Jones offered nothing in terms of offensive support.  Fortunately for United the visitors were not able to score and they had a chance to regroup during the break.

After half-time Giggs was pulled and replace by Kagawa, likely because of his experience against Bundesliga teams.  The change was positive and Kawaga assisted in creating the first goal of the match.  Kagawa delivered a corner-kick into the box and Vidic was able to score with a glancing header to back-post (58').

The lead did not last long however, as Bayern Munich's substitute Mario Mandžukić assisted on a goal at the other end.  Fullback Rafinha played a ball into the United box and Mandžukić headed it back down for Schweinsteiger who finished with a half-volley (67').  Although Schweinsteiger put his team level with United, his day ended on a sour note.  A late tackle on Rooney earned him a second yellow card and he was sent off in the final moments of the match meaning he will miss the second-leg of the quarter-final.

Bayern Munich have an away-goal advantage heading into the replay in Germany next week and will have home field advantage.  United were out-played for most of the match, but managed to score nonetheless.  The second-leg should be exciting as both teams will feel that they can win and move onto the semi-finals.