European Football

[taz]

The Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie seasons start this weekend. Defending champions Borussia Dortmund will open up proceedings against Hamburg tonight. Borussia Dortmund were close to breaking many records last season after winning the Bundesliga comfortably. They have lost Nuri Sahin but have brought in a replacement in Ilkay Gundogan who was impressive for Nuremberg last season. Bayern Munich are the favourites to win the Bundesliga. Under Jupp Heynckes, who took Bayer Leverkusen to 2nd place last season, will be looking to do miles better than last season where they only just finished 3rd. They have made many changes at the back with Rafinha and Jerome Boateng shoring up the defence and one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Manuel Neuer. Schalke and Stuttgart will also be looking to improve after last seasons disastrous showings from both clubs.

Lille are the defending champions in Ligue 1. They have made a number of signings with Dimitri Payet being a very good signing for their midfield. They have lost Gervinho who was exceptional for them last season but with Eden Hazard and Moussa Sow, i think they have enough to challenge for the title. Marseille have made a decent acquisition in signing Alou Diarra from Bordeaux. He will boost the midfield significantly. The strikeforce let Marseille down last season with Andre-Pierre Gignac flopping miserable after his big money move from Toulouse. Loic Remy did fare relatively well but Marseille need both to be firing on all cylinders. The Ayew brothers, Jordan and Andre, also broke into the Marseille first team and were exceptional last season. PSG will be the team to lookout for. Favourties to win Ligue 1 after making many big money signings such as Jeremy Menez, Kevin Gameiro (who was brilliant for Lorient last season socring 22 goals), Blaise Matuidi and Mohamed Sissoko to strenghten the midfield and very good additions in goal with Nicolas Douchez and Salvatore Sirigu coming in. Goalkeeper was a weak area for PSG with Apoula Edel and Gregory COupet not convincing last season. We also await the biggest signing in Ligue 1, Javier Pastore. Lyon dominated Ligue 1 for several years but in recent years their dominance has slowly been brought to a halt. 3 years without no silverware and limited funds, Jean-Michel Aulass is relying on his youngsters to do the business. THey have still got class operators such as Lisandro Lopez, Michel Bastos and Yoann Gourcuff so would not rule them out of the title race.

In the Netherlands, Ajax finally won the Eredivisie after 7 years. My money is on them to win the Eredivisie again. They have a fantastic signing in Theo Janssen from Twente who in my opinion was the best player in the Eredivisie by far conjuring up assists and goals. They may have lost Maarten Stekelenburg but have got a ready made replacement in Kenneth Vermeer. PSV Eindhoven have made some signing bringing in Georginio Wijnaldum, Kevin Strootman and Dries Mertens but i cant see them winning the league. THey lost an influential player in Ibrahim Afellay in January and have now lost Balasz Dszudszak. It will be difficult to replace both players. Twente will be there or thereabouts but havent made a key signing and in losing Theo Janssen, i cannot see them winning the league so my money is on Ajax.

There is also a big match in Russia as CSKA Moscow face Zenit St Petersburg. CSKA currently lead Zenit by five points and have been impressive with Seydou Doumbia scoring the goals and Keisuke Honda racking up the assists. Zenit have not the been the dominating force that they were last season but are slowly closing in on CSKA.

[RomaShield27]

Nice work, taz, thats a pretty sweet round-up. Always good to keep up-to-date on those leagues (especially since we all know how much Sky Sports and the english media in general shun other European leagues, except for La Liga). Its mad to think that the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie all start this weekend, it seems so soon. The Bundesliga is quite the entertaining league and no doubt will be again this season.

As for PSG, I hope the cnuts get relegated. Here's a good article about their new found wealth from the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14393012.stm

[taz]

Nice work, taz, thats a pretty sweet round-up. Always good to keep up-to-date on those leagues (especially since we all know how much Sky Sports and the english media in general shun other European leagues, except for La Liga). Its mad to think that the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie all start this weekend, it seems so soon. The Bundesliga is quite the entertaining league and no doubt will be again this season.

Thanks. Like you said, with SKy Sports they have little to no updates on the other European leagues apart from La Liga. It does seem soon but i am glad to have some competitve football back on tv. My forte is the Russian Premier. Only started watching it two years ago after watching the Moscow derby and since then, i have took a keen interest in the RPL. The current season is interesting. CSKA are in front with a batch of teams behind them all separated by a couple of points. Zenit St Petersburg are keepign the pressure on, Dinamo Moscow are doing extremely well after a poor showing last season (the signing of ZvJezdan Misimovic has worked wonders), Rubin Kazan (2008 & 2009 champions) are are very consistent under Kurban Berdyev, Anzhi Makhachkala with their riches are in the race for the title and and casued a big shock last weekend by defeating Rubin Kazan 3-0. Lokomotiv Moscow are in the mix but sacked Yuri Krasnozhan in the middle of the season after he worked wonders at Spartak Nalchik last season and did well to bring Lokomotiv towards the top positions. Paulo Sergio is now in charge. Spartak Moscow are another team that promise so much but are very inconsistent. It hasnt helped that they have lost their talisman, tender Alex.

Roll on the Bundesliga, Eredivisie and Ligue 1!!!!

[RomaShield27]

Well, the old Russian league has lots of money now, doesn't it? Lots of dirty oil money. And lots of good Brazilian players. They actually show live Russian games on Setanta Ireland now, as well as on ESPN, I think, so I've watched a few games when nothing else was on. Also, naturally, with Spalletti joining Zenit I've been keeping an eye on them a bit.

[taz]

Well, the old Russian league has lots of money now, doesn't it? Lots of dirty oil money. And lots of good Brazilian players. They actually show live Russian games on Setanta Ireland now, as well as on ESPN, I think, so I've watched a few games when nothing else was on. Also, naturally, with Spalletti joining Zenit I've been keeping an eye on them a bit.

Haha that is similar to how i describe the league. Lots of money in the game. Zenit are backed by Gazprom, which is the biggest oil and gas industry in the world. Anzhi have a wealthy Uzbek pumping money into the club. However, they have got a 6+5 rule in Russia with clubs only allowed to field 5 foreign players at one time which is good because it allows clubs to push through their youngsters. Zenit have brought through recently Alexei Ionov and Maxim Kanunnikov who look like hot prospects. ESPN show some matches on delay due to it cclashing with other programmes. Bet365 show about four matches a weekend so its all good.

[DavidP]

wouldn't you say that nukri revishvili is the best keeper in the entire russian Premiershit, taz?

[taz]

wouldn't you say that nukri revishvili is the best keeper in the entire russian Premiershit, taz?

I will say he he has done well for Anzhi this season. Didnt really get much of a lookin at Rubin due to Sergei Ryzhikov being between the sticks for them. He has put in some great performances. Aginst Rubin last week, he made some terrific saves to deny Alan Kasaev and Alexey Medvedev and the weekend before against Zenit he made some superb saves before finally being beat by Aleksandr Kerzhakov. He is one of the best keepers in the league alongside Igor Akinfeev, Anton Shunin, Ryzhikov and Vyacheslav Malafeev (when fit).

[DavidP]

agreed. this goal from just about a month ago was also spectacular from martsvaladze

[taz]

agreed. this goal from just about a month ago was also spectacular from martsvaladze

Remember seeing that on ESPN kicks while waiting for the Copa America. Cracking strike.

[taz]

FT: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Hamburg

Defending champions Borussia Dortmund made a great start to the season by comfortably disposing Hamburg. BVB took the lead after 16 minutes through Kevin Grosskreutz with a clever finish that which went into the net via the post. It was a great Dortmund move finished off by Grosskreutz. Mario Gotze made it 2 on 29 minutes after some nice buildup play resulted in Robert Lewandowski flicking the ball on for Mario Gotze to pass the ball into the net. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, Kevin Grosskreutz got his 2nd and BVB's 3rd. Grosskreutz played a nice 1-2 with Gotze and although his initial shot was blocked, Grosskreutz was able to bundle the ball home at the 2nd attempt. Hamburg managed to get a goal 11 minutes before full time after Marcell Jansen headed a corner goalwards which was headed off the line by Shinji Kagawa with the ball falling to Robert Tesche who was able to blast the ball home.

I had my fears that Borussia Dortmund would not be able to replicate their achievements from last season but after tonights showing, they will definitely be up there come the end of the season. Mario Gotze goal was brilliant. Great buildup play. Ilkay Gundogan did well and looks liek a capable replacement for Nuri Sahin. There was no Lucas Barrios but Robert Lewandowski performed well in his absence.

[forzaitalia]

Have they lost anybody apart from Nuri Sahin, Taz?

[taz]

Have they lost anybody apart from Nuri Sahin, Taz?

No other notable absentees but Nuri Sahin was exceptional last season and most of their goals came through him but they have strengthened this season. Moritz Leitner has come in from Augsburg and looks like a good prospect, Ilkay Gundogan has looked good since coming in. I had my doubts on whether they can perform to the standards set last season but from their showings in the Liga Pokal and the performance tonight, they look to have carried on from last season. No Sahin and no Barrios (who is out injured) tonight and they still looked brilliant. When the Champions League kicks in, then it will be interesting to see how they cope with the extra games but i think they have the strength in depth for it. Sven Bender and Antonio da Silva can easily back up the midfield. Chris Lowe and Lukasz Piszczek can back up the defence. It is looking good for Jurgen Klopp.

[taz]

FT: Hertha Berlin 0-1 Nuremberg

A low key affair with few chances. Nuremberg were the better team overall with Hertha Berlin not being able to create many chances. Nuremberg scored the winner 10 minutes from time when Jens Hegeler was able to turn and cut the ball back for Tomas Pekhart to finish from close range beating Thomas Kraft. Nuremberg finished in the top 6 last season and fans can be forgiven for expecting the same but Dieter Hecking is looking at securing safety first and foremost. Hertha Berlin were lacklustre with no creativity and didnt string enough passes together. Markus Babbel should look at bringing a couple more players in to complement Adrian Ramos and Pierre-Michel Lasogga.

[taz]

FT: Paris St Germain 0-1 Lorient

The favourites got their campaign off to the worst possible start going down at home to Lorient. Julien Quercia getting the only goal of the game midway through the first half when he was able to sweep home Yann Jouffre's freekick. PSG hardly created any chances with their notable chance coming five minutes from time with Nene being denied by a fantastic save from Fabian Audard. It is only the first game of the season but PSG will be under pressure to get the three points next weekend in a tricky away trip to Rennes.

[red]

The save wasn't that good.

The ball wasn't anywhere near the corner. 'Keeper made it look more difficult than it was.

[taz]

The save wasn't that good.

The ball wasn't anywhere near the corner. 'Keeper made it look more difficult than it was.

I still thought it was a decent save.

Lorient will be buzzing after tonights result. They lost key players such as Kevin Gameiro, Morgan Amalfitano and Jeremy Morel but have managed to get a shock away win at PSG on the opening matchday.

[taz]

In Russia today, Zenit beat CSKA 2-0 at Khimki. ALexandr Kerzhakov gave Zenit the lead on 55 minutes when he was able to head home Domenico Criscito's cross. A minute later, Danny was able to dribble through the CSKa backline to play in ALeksandr Anyukov who dispatched the ball beyond Igor Akinfeev. Zenit are now just 2 points behind CSKA. Dan Petrescu's Kuban Krasnodar defeated Dinamo Moscow 3-1 ending their 5 match winning streak. Anzhi Makhachkala beat Tom Tomsk 2-0 on they day where they signed Yuri Zhirkov from Chelsea. Goals coming from Ruslan prudnikov and Mbark Boussoufa. Anzhi lie in 4th place.

[DavidP]

yet another clean sheet from revishvili. and yuri zhirkov?? anzhi is looking fucking strong

[red]

The save wasn't that good.

The ball wasn't anywhere near the corner. 'Keeper made it look more difficult than it was.

I still thought it was a decent save.

Oh, it was a decent save.

It's just the claim that it was fantastic was a bit of a stretch.

[taz]

FT: AZ Alkmaar 3-1 PSV Eindhoven

AZ Alkmaar got off to the perfect start with an impressive victory over PSV. AZ Alkmaar took the lead midway through the first half when Dirk Marcellis crossed for Maarten Martens to drill the ball home into the roof of the net. AZ made it two 5 minutes before the break when Nick Viergever took aim from 25 yards with his powerful shot beating Andreas Isaksson. Isaksson should have done better. New signing Dries Mertens pulled a goal back for PSV with a low drive into the bottom corner from 12 yards. Ola Toivonen was close to making it 2-2 when his shot from distance was palmed away by Esteban Alvarado. PSV should have had a penalty midway through the second half when Giorginio WIjnaldum was hacked down but referee allowed play to go on. New signing Jozy Altidore made it 3-1 when he headed home an Adam Maher cross. PSV pushed men forward in the closing stages with Mertens having the notable chance which was in turn saved by Alvarado. Not the ideal start that Fred Rutten would have wanted for PSV and need to get back to winning ways on the next matchday. AZ lost their star striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson to Ajax with Altidore being brought in to replace Sigthrosson. There are question marks due to his unsuccessful stints around Europe but he has made a good start. Lets see if he can prove to be an able replacement.