Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Bad News to Arsenal Fansclub

news come soccernet :

Mexican striker carlos vela has rejoined the Arsenal squad ahead of Wednesday's Champions League semi-final against Manchester United after spending a day in quarantine due to fears over the swine flu outbreak.

Vela, 20, was told to stay away from the Gunners' training session following a visit by some friends from Mexico, where more than 150 deaths have been blamed on the virus.

Mexico is the centre of the outbreak of the disease and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "It looked to be a massive problem because we were asked yesterday to keep him at home and not get him to the training ground."

"Now he has the all-clear and today he was free again to attend training."

Wenger added: "It was basically down to the fact he had visitors from Mexico, friends who came to visit him last week."

With strikers Robin van Persie and Eduardo both injured Vela could well find himself on the bench for the European clash.

Meanwhile, Arsenal defender Kiran Gibbs is struggling with an ankle injury and is a major doubt for the match at Old Trafford. His likely replacement Mikael Silvestre is not certain to be involved either as he tries to shake off a back complaint.

Captain Cesc fabregass (ankle/knee) and defender Johan Djouru (knee) also got through training on Tuesday morning but leading scorer van Persie (groin) and left-back Gael Clichy (back) remain sidelined, while Russian midfielder Andrei Arshavin is ineligible.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Newcastle United's

Striker Mark Viduka could return to play

The 33-year-old Australia international is back in full training after a long-standing Achilles problem and will travel with the rest of the party when they head south from Tyneside.

Manager Alan Shearer said: "Mark Viduka has trained for the majority of the week and will travel with us. He has trained well.

"He's obviously got a huge amount of talent and we believe if we can keep him fit, then he will play a big part in helping us."

Shearer is hoping for further good news on the injury front with defender Steven Taylor due to resume full training on Friday and midfielder Joey Barton hoping to do the same next week to put himself in contention for the home encounter with Portsmouth.

Striker Obafemi Martins remains a doubt with a groin problem, while full-back Jose Enrique is struggling to make the match with the knee injury which kept him out of last Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stoke City.


Fernando Torres wants to stay at Liverpool

The Spanish striker says he feels at home at Anfield because he is treated the same way as local heroes Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher by the club's fans.

And the 25-year-old wants to repay Liverpool's supporters for their warmth towards him by giving them the Barclays Premier League title at Manchester United's expense.

Torres said: "I would love to remain at Liverpool for many seasons to come. I feel at home here. I still have this season plus another four years left to run on my contract.

"The club has been brilliant with me and I owe the fans a lot. They took to me as if I was one of their own. They treat me in the same way they do Gerrard or Carragher... it is unbelievable.

"I hope to repay their warmth by giving them a Premier League title because it has been a long time since the club

The Matc Schedule of Laliga spain

Time of the matc

La Liga 18 Apr 09 - 19:00

Athl.Bilbao - D.La Coruna

La Liga 18 Apr 09 - 19:00

Atletico Madrid - Numancia

La Liga 18 Apr 09 - 19:00

Getafe - Barcelona

La Liga 18 Apr 09 - 19:00

Malaga - Mallorca

La Liga 18 Apr 09 - 21:00

Huelva - Real Madrid

La Liga 19 Apr 09 - 16:00

Almeria - Osasuna

La Liga 19 Apr 09 - 16:00

Valladolid - Villarreal

La Liga 19 Apr 09 - 16:00

Espanyol - Santander

La Liga 19 Apr 09 - 18:00

Valencia - Sevilla

La Liga 19 Apr 09 - 20:00

Betis - Gijon




Champion Leguage

Chelsea and Barcelona advanced to the Champions League semifinals with separate draws Tuesday and will face each in the next round.

Chelsea held on to oust Liverpool 7-5 on aggregate after a 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the quarterfinals, and two-time champion Barcelona advanced past Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Germany.

The first leg of the semifinals will be at the Nou Camp on April 28. The second leg is set for May 6 in London.

Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso scored in the first 28 minutes to give Liverpool hope of overturning the 3-1 loss at Anfield, but Frank Lampard ended up with two goals for Chelsea and Alex and Didier Drogba added the others. Liverpool's Lucas Leiva and Dirk Kuyt also scored late.

Aurelio started things off for Liverpool by exploiting a gaping hole in the Chelsea defense to score in the 19th from a free kick on the right flank. Branislav Ivanovic, whose two goals in the first leg had put Chelsea in control, later hauled down Alonso with both hands as the ball was floated into the box and the Spaniard converted the resulting penalty.

"We had a bad start," Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink said. "It is possible to have one if you are playing against a team that is good tactically. But we knew we had to come back with a reaction in the second half and that is what we did."

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech nearly gifted Liverpool a third goal either side of halftime, but it was counterpart Pepe Reina who fumbled the ball into his own net in the 51st to give Chelsea its first goal of the match. Nicolas Anelka crossed low from the right flank and Drogba nudged it inside the near post under pressure from Martin Skrtel and, despite initially blocking it, Reina bumbled it over the line.

Chelsea soon made it 2-2 when Alex scored with a swerving free kick from a same central position.

In the 76th, Lampard controlled Alonso's weak clearance to release Drogba and the ball was returned to the England midfielder to make it 3-2.

The game looked over, but Liverpool came back with two goals in three minutes. Leiva made it 3-3 in the 81st with a long-range strike that was deflected into the opposite corner by Michael Essien, and Dirk Kuyt met Albert Riera's cross with a powerful header.

Lampard finished off the Reds in the 89th, however, sending Chelsea through.

"I think, clearly, when you lose you have to be disappointed but when you lose in this way you have to be proud and have your head up," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. "Thinking about the Premier League, maybe it's positive because if we can score four goals here at Stamford Bridge, we can do the same in any stadium. We can win a lot of games with this mentality."

Barcelona did just enough in Munich as Franck Ribery gave Bayern the lead in the 47th minute, taking a pass from Ze Roberto and beating Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes with a high shot to the far right side. Seydou Keita equalized for the Spanish league leaders in the 73rd after a pass from Xavi Hernandez.

"We reacted well to the defeat in Barcelona," Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann. "If we had scored early and if we had led 2-0, who knows what would have happened. Maybe they would have lost some confidence. We went out against the best team in the world at the moment."

Barcelona was coached by assistant Tito Vilanova because head coach Pep Guardiola was banned to the bench after his outburst in last week's first leg.

"We still have a lot of time before we have to think about Chelsea, but they are a great team," Vilanova said. "We have not reached our goals yet. ... We are still in three competitions and have a chance to win a lot but we have to see how the players respond to this pressure."

In front of a sold-out crowd of 66,000 at Munich's Allianz Arena, Bayern was more aggressive early. Luca Toni missed a chance in the sixth minute, and then had a goal called back for offside a minute later. Ribery then shot just over in the 14th.

Bayern did well to shut down winger Lionel Messi, who scored twice in the first leg. Striker Thierry Henry missed the return match with a cold.

On Wednesday, defending champion Manchester United plays at FC Porto after a 2-2 draw in the first leg, and Arsenal hosts Villarreal after their 1-1 draw last week.