Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Jurgen Kramny Has Been Promoted VfB Stuttgart Coach Head

VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart

Tweet Football - Bundesliga strugglers Stuttgart have parted company with coach Alexander Zorniger after their 4-0 defeat at home to Augsburg kept them in the bottom three.

Bundesliga - "The manner of last Saturday's defeat has kept us very busy," said club president Bernd Wahler. "In the aftermath, we analysed the team and the coaching staff and came to this conclusion."

The 48-year-old Zorniger has only been in charge since the start of the season after Stuttgart narrowly avoided relegation last season, and his entire coaching staff have also been relieved of their duties.

U-23 coach Jurgen Kramny has been promoted as caretaker-coach for Saturday's away game at second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Stuttgart have just ten points from 13 games this term. and boast the worst defence in the German top flight with 31 goals conceded.

source : fifa.com
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Manuel Pellegrini : Manchester City Must Put Their "difficult situation"

Manchester City
Manchester City

Tweet Football - City, who have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition, face the Italian champions looking for revenge following their 2-1 defeat to Juve at the Etihad in September


Champions League - Manchester City must put their "difficult situation" behind them and use Wednesday's clash against Juventus as a test of their UEFA Champions League-winning potential, according to their coach Manuel Pellegrini.

City, who have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition, face the Italian champions looking for revenge following their 2-1 defeat to Juve at the Etihad in September. But Pellegrini, who has a number of key players sidelined through injury, said the prospect of finishing top of Group D and avoiding a potentially difficult draw in the knockout phase is key to their hopes of going further in the competition this season.
 
Barcelona proved a major obstacle for both City and Juventus last season, the Spanish giants ousting City 3-1 on aggregate in the knockout phase before outclassing Juventus in the final in Berlin. Avoiding the Catalans again would give City a boost and Pellegrini has called for a win on Wednesday that would both secure first place and test City's mettle against an established European side away from home.

"This year I think it's important to be at the top of the group, because it's a test for us tomorrow to try to win in a difficult stadium," Pellegrini told media in Turin on Tuesday. "And that would allow us to win the group."

He added: "It's important to try to avoid them (Barcelona). It's important for our club to at least reach one step more. It doesn't mean that if we finish top of the group, we're going to have an easy draw. It depends on a lot of different things. But if we can avoid important teams at this stage, then I think it's also important for our team."

City's injury crisis was described as a "difficult situation" by the Chilean manager, who saw his side dismantled 4-1 at home by Liverpool on Saturday. City centre-back and captain Vincent Kompany, as well as forwards Wilfried Bony, David Silva and Samir Nasri are still sidelined through injury.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri watched City's performance and said the hosts would "try to capitalise on City's weak points". But Pellegrini was quick to stress he did not regard Saturday's display as "normal", and believes the pressure will be all on the hosts as they bid to secure their own last 16 ticket.

"I think that all managers want to try to find the weakest points of the other teams, I don't think you can take the game from Saturday as one of our normal performances," Pellegrini said. "Now it's a different competition, it's a different game. We're here to play against Juventus, to try to beat them at home, because I think we were very unlucky when we lost to Juve in our stadium.

"It was a close game, they won the game but we didn't deserve to lose that game. But at this moment we're qualified for the next stage and tomorrow they need to at least not lose to qualify. That is important than seeing what are the weakest points of both teams."

He added: "Juve has a very strong squad, they reached the final last year. They're not in their best moment domestically, but I'm sure we'll be up against a team that is determined to win the game. But I also hope we find a Manchester City that will fight to win this game. Beating Juventus here is a big test for the future of our team in the competition."

Source : fifa.com
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Mourinho : Chelsea Positive Progress

Chelsea
Chelsea

Tweet Football - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was in a playful but confident mood following the 4-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv that edged them closer to the knock-out rounds.

Champions League - The Portuguese manager began his post-match press conference by asking journalists for a calculator so he could figure out what Chelsea would have to do to qualify for the last 16. After pausing and thinking about it, Mourinho said: "I know if we win, we finish first. If we lose we are going to the Europa League and with a draw second place."

The victory against an Israeli outfit that has lost every group game so far, means Chelsea are level on points with Porto and two ahead of Dynamo Kiev going into the last round of matches in two weeks. Chelsea host Porto while the Ukrainian outfit are at home to Maccabi. If Chelsea and Porto draw and Kiev win, all three will finish level on points.

That would leave Dynamo as the group winners, Chelsea in second and Porto heading to the Europa League. Having been under pressure recently after a string of poor league results left the English champions languishing down in 16th in the Premier League table. But the Portuguese manager, who has already won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010, was buoyant.
 
"My future, I think there are no rumours. I want to stay in the club, the club wants me to stay. For us there are no rumours," he said.

However, he was forced to deny there was a problem between him and Spanish international striker Diego Costa after the two were seen shouting at each other on the way into the changing rooms at half-time.

"I reacted, he did too. At half-time in the dressing room, a few kisses and a few cuddles. No problem," said Mourinho.

The 52-year-old was less impressed with the pitch in Haifa, though, after his captain John Terry picked up an injury and had to be replaced with Kurt Zouma.

"Such a beautiful stadium, such a great public display, (but) the surface was bad and dangerous," he said. "John has an ankle problem, and yes, I think it is from the pitch."

Gary Cahill gave Chelsea a first half lead before former Blues centre-back Tal Ben Haim was dismissed for the hosts just before the break after kicking out at Costa. Brazilians Willian, with a stunning free-kick, and Oscar added second half strikes in the final 17 minutes before Zouma scored in injury time.

Mourinho was asked about Maccabi's Israeli international forward Eran Zahavi, who has been linked with Premier League clubs.

"He is very intelligent in his movements. He knows how to make a run. The control inside, to have a situation to shoot," said Mourinho, who nonetheless suggested Zahavi would need to aim a little lower than the champions. "Not Chelsea, but surely he can play in England, for sure."

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was in playful but confident mood following the 4-0 Champions League victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv that edged them closer to the knock-out rounds.

The Portuguese manager began his post-match press conference by asking journalists for a calculator so he could figure out what Chelsea would have to do to qualify for the last 16.

After pausing and thinking about it, Mourinho said: "I know if we win, we finish first. If we lose we are going to the Europa League and with a draw second place."

The victory against an Israeli outfit that has lost every group game so far, means Chelsea are level on points with Porto and two ahead of Dynamo Kiev going into the last round of matches in two weeks.

Chelsea host Porto while the Ukrainian outfit are at home to Maccabi.

If Chelsea and Porto draw and Kiev win, all three will finish level on points.

That would leave Dynamo as the group winners, Chelsea in second and Porto heading to the Europa League.

Having been under pressure recently after a string of poor league results left the English champions languishing down in 16th in the Premier League table.

But the Portuguese manager, who has already won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010, was buoyant.

"My future, I think there are no rumours. I want to stay in the club, the club wants me to stay. For us there are no rumours," he said.

However, he was forced to deny there was a problem between him and Spain international striker Diego Costa after the two were seen shouting at each other on the way into the changing rooms at half-time.

"I reacted, he did too. At half-time in the dressing room, a few kisses and a few cuddles. No problem," said Mourinho.

The 52-year-old was less impressed with the pitch in Haifa, though, after his captain John Terry picked up an injury and had to be replaced with Kurt Zouma.

"Such a beautiful stadium, such a great public display, (but) the surface was bad and dangerous," he said.

"John has an ankle problem, and yes, I think it is from the pitch."

Gary Cahill gave Chelsea a first half lead before former Blues centre-back Tal Ben Haim was dismissed for the hosts just before the break after kicking out at Costa.

Brazilians Willian, with a stunning free-kick, and Oscar added second half strikes in the final 17 minutes before Zouma scored in injury time.

Mourinho was asked about Maccabi's Israeli international forward Eran Zahavi, who has been linked with Premier League clubs.

"He is very intelligent in his movements. He knows how to make a run. The control inside, to have a situation to shoot," said Mourinho, who nonetheless suggested Zahavi would need to aim a little lower than the champions.

"Not Chelsea, but surely he can play in England, for sure."

Source : fifa.com
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Striker Luis Suarez hailed Barcelona

Barcelona
Barcelona

Tweet Football - Barcelona striker Luis Suarez hailed his team's 6-1 rout of Roma in the UEFA Champions League as a "perfect game", which also saw Lionel Messi start for the first time since returning from injury. 


Champions League - Suarez scored twice as the holders celebrated qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League with another stunning display on Tuesday.

Barcelona discovered they had qualified from Group E before they had kicked a ball at the Camp Nou, the 1-1 draw between BATE Borisov and Bayer Leverkusen in Belarus ensuring their passage. Fresh from crushing eternal rivals Real Madrid 4-0 in Spanish La Liga action at the weekend, they then produced a performance that the Italians could not live with to secure top spot in the section.
 
"We know that every player has to fulfil their expectations," Suarez said. "We played a perfect game, very complete, and we didn't leave any space in midfield. In the first half we put the game away. Neymar, Messi and I are here for the good of the team, for the good of Barça. We don't think individually."

 
Messi, making his first return since injury, also notched up two goals. "The people were waiting for Messi to return and we're all happy that he scored," acknowledged Suarez.

Messi said there was an evident synchronicity with his teammates.

"With Neymar and Suarez we get on really well. We know we have a responsibility but we also want to have a good time," the Argentinian said. "I was really excited to have that feeling of coming back and playing again. I enjoyed watching the team, but playing is better."

Source @fifa.com
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Real Madrid : Benítez has Taken 20 Players to Lviv Vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Real Madrid
Real Madrid

Tweet Football - Benítez has taken 20 players to Lviv. Nacho Fernández and Denis Cheryshev return to the squad, while Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Álvaro Arbeloa have not travelled

Champions League  - Real Madrid confront their first opportunity to clinch top spot in Group A as they visit Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday five of the Champions League group stage (8:45pm CET), in what is their third away assignment in Europe this season. Lviv, where the Ukrainian outfit are currently playing their home games as a result of the ongoing troubles in Donetsk, will witness the Whites in competitive action for the first time ever. A victory for Rafa Benítez's men would ensure they go into the draw for the last 16 as group winners, although - depending on Paris Saint-Germain's result against Malmö - they could also mathematically seal first place even without taking all three points.

Madrid head into the clash with a record of three wins and a draw in this term's Champions League, with their triumph over PSG last time out seeing them book their qualification for the next round. In addition to being unbeaten so far, Real Madrid are the only club still to concede a goal in the tournament this season. In recent years, their figures in the group stage have been nothing short of tremendous: they are on a run of 19 games without loss in the competition's round-robin phase, nine of which on the road.

Squad
Benítez has taken 20 players to Lviv. Nacho Fernández and Denis Cheryshev return to the squad, while Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Álvaro Arbeloa have not travelled. “We're out to get the win and make sure of top spot”, declared the Real Madrid coach in his pre-match press conference.  

Shakhtar, whose qualification fate is out of their hands, realistically need a win to have any chance of keeping themselves in contention. Mircea Lucescu's side are third in the group on three points, after defeating Malmö on the most recent matchday. Last season's Ukrainian Premier League runners-up are on a sequence of 12 league victories in a row, one that has left them as leaders of the division, level on points with Dynamo Kiev. Alex Teixeira, who is on 19 goals in the domestic top flight, represents their chief attacking threat. 

Sub-zero temperatures
This will be Real Madrid's seventh European fixture in Ukraine (having previously played four in Kiev and two in Odessa). They came away from their last trip to the country with a 2-2 draw against Dynamo Kiev in 2006. In each of these encounters, the Whites were forced to contend with the cold, and tonight will be no different: the forecast is for match temperatures dropping as low as below freezing. 

Source : .realmadrid.com
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Gent beat Olympique Lyon 2-1

Tweet Football - Olympique Lyon attempt to qualify for the last 16 or minimal thrown into total failure Europa League after they were unable to do much at home to Gent at the Stade de Gerland on Wednesday [25/11] .

Champions League - The French envoy dramatically defeated 2-1. Gent made the winning goal in the extra period of time to bury the dream of Les Gones.
Thus, Lyon increasingly languishing in the bottom of the standings of Group H with a value of one, while Gent immediately climbed to second place and will compete fiercely with Valencia on Matchday 6 in order to accompany Zenit who previously had confirmed to appear at 16.
The first half went very well true for the hosts. Atusiasme supporters Lyon so formations occur when a quick goal in the seventh minute.
Jordan Ferri is what makes the whole Gerland noisy in the early game. Receiving feedback from Rachid Ghezzal mature, Ferri converts it into the opening goal.
However, the hosts made public heartbeat quiet when Danijel Milicevic responded in the 32nd minute. Scoreboard changed to 1-1 equally strong.
Position the two teams last until halftime.
In the second half Lyon really spread their threats. A number of opportunities dikreasi but none anyone managed to produce a goal.
Even disaster came when the game memaski extra time. Rather than draw so at least do not be embarrassed in front of their own supporters, Lyon just missed.
This time, Milicevic which provide a perfect service to Kalifa Coulibaly to make it as a determinant kemenanan Gent 2-1 on Lyon
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Champions League: Chelsea 4-0 Tel Aviv Win Against

Tweet Football - The 4-0 win against Maccabi Tel Aviv was also the second game in a row in which the team has kept a clean sheet and that is fundamental to the Blues’ development.


Champions League - ‘We started the season as a team that concedes more goals,’ said Mourinho, ‘and now we lost in Stoke 1-0, we drew at Stoke in the Capital One Cup 1-1, we beat Norwich 1-0, Dynamo Kiev 2-1, so defensively as a team we had a significant improvement and also individually the defensive players had an improvement. The quality of our game improved a lot.

‘When the players are top, you want always more, you are never satisfied,’ he added.

‘We are never happy with the way we are playing. Even when we are playing very well there are always things to improve. We put ourselves in the position where the result became more important than anything.
‘In the Premier League the most important thing was to get better results. In the Champions League we have been always balanced, never an amazing position but never a position to scare us. Now the most important thing is to get results and with results the confidence is now coming. If you can develop better results, at the same time come better performances.’

Mourinho has also explained his thinking behind his first substitution against Maccabi, when he replaced Eden Hazard five minutes before Willian scored the second goal of the game.

‘I had Pedro on the bench, and that is important,’ the manager said.
 
‘If I did not have Pedro on the bench then I don’t think I could improve on Hazard’s performance for the last 20 minutes of the match. But when I have Hazard with 90 minutes against Norwich on Saturday and 70 minutes against Maccabi on a pitch that doesn’t help, and I have Pedro fresh and I see the Maccabi right-back in trouble, tired and with cramps, I decided to give a hard time to him and bring Pedro on. I made the change because I had Pedro.’

Source : chelseafc.com
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