Euro 2012 Qualifiers - Final Round Preview

The biggest games from the last round of Euro 2012 Qualifiers to be played on Tuesday, October 11, 2011. Previewing the matches while getting my Mourinho on and predicting the starting lineups:

Brazilian Serie A Week 28

Vasco stumble as Corinthians reclaim the summit.

A summary 3-0 thrashing at Internacional halted Vasco works as they finally lost a game after an excellent run of form and fall off the summit. Their defeat in Porto Allegre was just their second in 13 games and it allows Corinthians, who led the league through most of June and July, to take over.

Europhiles Notebook - Promotion Report

We run the rule over the promoted clubs form the top leagues in Europe this season. Find out how each club is doing after having made the step up over the summer. We grade them from A-D base on their performances so far.

English Championship Week 10

Nottingham Forest lost more than their manager on Sunday

With their latest setback, a fourth defeat in five games, at home to Birmingham City 3-1, the former two time European Champions drop to 21st, just one spot outside the bottom three. As a result of this continuing atrophy, manifested in their complete inability to build anything resembling a promotion challenge, manager Steve McClaren resigned. Like the club he is leaving, McClaren too has experience at the highest level and has won a title with Twente in Holland. However he has long been considered suspect and his departure may be no bad thing for Forest.

Brazilian Serie A Week 27

Vasco and Corinthians are the big winners.

Despite only drawing 2-2 in their top of the table clash, losses suffered by 3rd placed Sao Paulo and 4th placed Botafogo, ensured the leading duo remain clear of the scrap below them in the table.

Sunday's big game saw the two title contenders go head to head and deliver just as the occasion demanded. Defender Dede, fresh off his national team call-ups for Brazil in their home and away matches against Argentina, got things started for Vasco, only for Alex to level things on 21 minutes. While Fagner then scored a goal at the start of the second half, midfielder Danilo returned the favour in the 67th minute to ensure that the game finished all square. With the point, Vasco improve to 50 points, two clear of Corinthians, who are on 48.

2011-12 European Football Wrap - Episode VII

A look around Europe at the continent's top leagues. Lots of goals in West London, a couple of derbies elsewhere in England. Some trepidation at the top in Germany, a surprise team at the top in Spain, an unlikely one at the top in Italy and a top of the table clash in France between the league's most titled team and its new financial giant.

We're off !

France:

Lorient and Sochaux were big winners on Saturday as the remaining five games ended in draws. After Costa Rican striker, Joel Campbell, on loan from Arsenal, and Yoann Jouffre had given Lorient the points against visiting Valenciennes, Sochaux scored an empthatic 3-0 victory over high flying Toulouse. Modibo Maiga with a double and Cedric Bakambu gave Sochaux the points at home to inflict a first loss for Toulouse in five games while moving the home side into the top half of the table for the first time.

North Atlantic League Wrap Episode I

Introduction:

At the turn of the century, an idea was mooted to improve the competitiveness of the Belgian, Portuguese and Scottish Leagues by creating a multinational league comprised of clubs from these three (and at the time Dutch league) together.

While on their own, each league had little going for them, with two or three giants dominating every year, this combined league had some good features. A competition that saw the likes of Porto, Benfica, Sporting, Celtic, Rangers, Standard Liege, Anderlecht, Ajax and PSV going head to head every week was seen as an attractive proposition. Not only would it give the bigger teams more practice and better games, it would increase the depth of the middle ranked teams and cannon fodder. Moreover, it would offer a chance to market an attractive product for television audiences who were tired of watching the same old domination.

Europhiles Notebook - Europe's Financial Elite

With so many clubs in Europe now owned or directly under the control of foreign multi-billionaires, the phenomena of sugar daddies owning clubs are not as rare as they once were. While foreign ownership is fast becoming the norm in leagues such as the English Premiership, there are now those teams which are a level above.

Having been bought by the financial elite, these clubs are playthings for stratospherically mega-rich owners for whom breaking the financial ceiling of transfer records while doling out astronomical wages is the rule rather than the exception. We review the performances and standing of some of Europe's richest clubs and see how they are doing with their monetary advantage.