Saturday:

Aston Villa - Fulham 0 - 0
Middlesbrough - Newcastle 0 - 0
Stoke - Hull 1 - 1
Sunderland - Bolton 1 - 4
Wigan - West Brom 2 - 1

Sunday

Manchester City - Manchester Utd 0 - 1
Portsmouth - Blackburn 3 - 2
Tottenham - Everton 0 - 1
Chelsea - Arsenal 1 - 2

Monday

Liverpool - West Ham 0 - 0

These teams have made it to the last 16:

Group A
Nothing decided yet although Chelsea should win against Cluj in the last game and be joined by Roma who should beat Bordeaux.

Group B
Inter are through and will be joined by Panathinaikos or Anorthosis (they play each other in the last game)

Group C
Barcelona are through and so should Sporting if they dont lose to Basel as Barcelona crash at home to Sjachtar.

Group D
Liverpool and Atletico Madrid are through to the last 16.

Group E
Man Utd and Villareal shared the points last time, which meant they are both through

Group F
Lyon and Bayern Munich are expectedly through

Group G
Arsenal (trouble in the league) and Porto are through

Group H
Giants Real Madrid and Juventus are of course through.

Our list so far
1. Inter
2. Barcelona
3. Liverpool
4. Atletico Madrid
5. Villareal
6. Man Utd
7. Lyon
8. Bayern Munich
9. Arsenal
10. Porto
11. Real Madrid
12. Juventus
———–
13. Chelsea?
14. Roma?
15. Sporting?
16. Panathinaikos?

Now this would make the last 16 really symbolize the best teams in Europe.
Although Milan and Valencia are missed due to a weak 2007/2008 domestic season…

Brazilian playmaker and Milan superstar Ricardo Kaká has been quoted as wanting to play for Manchester City. Kaká told the media he was impressed by English football, just ahead of the clash against Portsmouth. The Brazilian wouldn’t be alone in the team as Robinho and Elano already at the club.

Not many would believe such a move would become a reality, although one should not forget Robinho signed for City, Tevez once signed for West Ham…

In football everything is possible but Kaká in City? Hm…. we’ll give it an honouring 10% chance!

Arsenal captain William Gallas has done it again. Sink into deep water that is. Last month this “captain” was caught by a photographer leaving a nightclub with a cigarette in his mouth, resulting in a two-week fine. This guy is supposed to be a role model for teenagers in the world of football but also someone to look up to at the Arsenal training ground.

This time…. he insults his own players. Perhaps you’d say “oh come on, as usual media is exaggerating”. Well not this time though. Gallas talked to the media for a long long time, basically insulting his mates in every sentence.

Gallas tries to explain the problems at Arsenal:

“There comes a time where we can no longer comprehend how this can happen. I am trying to defend myself a bit without giving names. Otherwise I’m taking all the blame. It’s very frustrating. I’m 31, the player is six years younger than me.”

And on…

“Big contracts — which Arsenal’s teenage players have now and United’s starlets waited years for — may be a factor. That makes the difference, perhaps. You can rest on your laurels, that’s for sure. The problem is that the Manchester youngsters have been through something, they have won something.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is really put under pressure now. Gallas should loose his captaincy and probably his place in the team as well. Not based on his comments only but because he is trying to force a way out of Arsenal. Not long ago he angered Gunners fans by stating he would like to move to France and play for a big club (uhm how many big clubs are there in France?)…

Yare yare (well well) as they say in Japanese, I mean surely Gallas is behaving in a natural manner.
Of course if I was a dreaming human being, coming from a difficult and poor background and all I wanted was to play football, and then I get this chance to play in Chelsea and then TO CAPTAIN ARSENAL FC, of course I would want to leave for a French team… surely you agree!

Barcelona midfielder Xavi is set to pledge his future to Barcelona and has hinted that he wants to finish his career at Nou Camp. Xavi has been at the club all of his life and seems to enjoy the development of the club. Barca top the table and have started La Liga in the best fashion.

Barcelona are very keen to keep the superstar in Barcelona and club president Joan Laporta states: ‘For us, he is a key player and is an example to every youngster that we have in the youth ranks’.

One key factor seems to be that Xavi never complains, he symbolizes Barcelona in many ways and is a role model for youngsters. Laporta continues: ‘I think that Xavi only has Barça as an option at the moment. He knows that we will do everything that we can, and perhaps even a little bit more, because we are talking about one of our own youth team products.’

Negotiations will start in the coming weeks between the two parties.

Liverpools official web page interviews club captain Steven Gerrard on his Top 5 games.

Here you can read what the superstar and Kop hero answers…

#5
I’m going to go for this season’s derby triumph over Everton at Goodison Park. We controlled the game from start to finish, thoroughly deserved our victory, and could have won by more than two goals. It’s always a great feeling to beat Everton and that’s why this game - because we were so dominant - has to be in my list.

#4
The 2001 FA Cup final when Michael Owen pulled it out of the bag for us when it looked as though we were going to lose. At one stage it looked like we’d have to settle for a runners-up medal because Arsenal had been the better side on the day and were deservedly ahead, but Michael was the hero and got us out of trouble with two bits of magic.

#3
I have to include another FA Cup final - this time the victory over West Ham two years ago. To be honest I thought we’d win the game comfortably but they made life really difficult for us and in the end we had to settle for penalties. I know I scored the two goals and that it has been labelled the ‘Gerrard final’, but that’s unfair on the rest of the team. I scored the goals and may have got the man of the match award on the day, but we did it together.

#2
The 2001 UEFA Cup final win over Alaves is a game none of us will ever forget. Before the match I was really confident it would be very straightforward because, on paper at least, we were a lot stronger than they were. But that’s football. It was a great game to play in and a great result in the end.

#1
There’s no other game I could select than the 2005 Champions League final. To be three goals down and come back to lift the trophy was amazing. I’ve seen the highlights many times since on the television and it’s always brilliant to watch.

//Thanks to liverpoolfc.tv

Inter Milan striker Hernan Crespo is according to the Italian and Spanish newspapers on his way to Madrid club.

Real Madrid is looking for a striker after receiving the news that Ruud van Nistelrooy is out for a season and Crespo is a top target. It is believed that his agent will fly out to Madrid for a talk with sports director Mijatovic in a matter of days.

Other names that are being mentioned are Andrei Arshavin, Didier Drogba, Mario Gomez, Vagner Love, Mirko Vucinic.

Almeria - Mallorca 2-1
Getafe - Sevilla 0-2
Real Betis - Santander 3-1
Espanyol - Numancia 3-4
Malaga - Villarreal 2-2
Atl Madrid - La Coruna 4-1
Bilbao - Osasuna 1-0

Recreativo - Barcelona 21.00 CET

Serie A

Siena - Bologna 1-1
Atalanta - Napoli 3-1
Cagliari - Fiorentina 1-0
Udinese - Reggina 0-1
Catania - Torino 3-2
Milan - Chievo 1-0
Sampdoria - Lecce 3-2

Roma - Lazio 20.30 CET

Everton - Middlesbrough 1-1

Just as we predicted, Everton and Middlesbrough shared the points at Goodison Park in an early encounter. Everton should be happy Yakubu was back in the starting XI to save the face of Moyes. In the first half Gary O’Neill had shocked the Blues with a finish in the bottom right corner in the 8th minute already.

Everton fought their way back into a fairly even game, had a possession of 64% and 11 corners against 1 for Middlesbrough. Everton super hero Yakubu was assisted by Mikel Arteta and scored the equalizer in the 65th minute from a very close range. Yakubu was substituted in the dying minutes and the match ended 1-1.

Let’s say Middlesbrough were a bit more happy with a point than Europe aiming Everton.