Chelsea chases 7th Premier League win at Wigan

LONDON — Three points ahead at the top of the standings, Chelsea is chasing its seventh consecutive Premier League victory when it goes to Wigan on Saturday aiming to maintain the only perfect record in English football.

Looking back to how they finished last season, the Blues could make it 12 league wins in a row.

Although Chelsea finished third behind Manchester United and Liverpool, that was down to a midseason slump that led to the departure of manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. But a finish of five league wins in a row has carried on this term despite another change of manager.

Carlo Ancelotti is now making a big impact in his first season in English football and the Blues have also collected victories in the Champions League and on Wednesday in the League Cup to make it nine in a row under the new manager.

Chelsea rested many of its front line players for Wednesday's 1-0 victory over second tier Queens Park Rangers but they will be back for the game at Wigan.

Ancelotti's assistant Ray Wilkins said it was important for the backup players to get competitive action because, when injuries and suspension disrupt the team, they will be ready to take their places in the starting lineup.

"If you see the size of the squad we have, a lot don't play week-in week-out so it's vital for them to get airtime," Wilkins said. "It's entirely up to the young men to push themselves forward and the two that played have been doing so in the reserves and training.

"We want to win everything we enter. Every side that takes to the field in a Chelsea shirt wants to win the game and the tournament they are playing in. If we can blood a few on the way, all well and good."

Chelsea faces a Wigan side which has lost four of its six league games so far and was beaten 4-0 by Arsenal last weekend.

That means Ancelotti's team should be confident of coming away with three more points which will be vital because most of its nearest rivals also expect to beat teams in the lower half of the standings.

Second place Manchester United visits Stoke buoyed by Sunday's thrilling 4-3 victory over Manchester City in a run of six league and cup victories in a row since a surprise 1-0 defeat to Burnley.

Emerging from a slow start, Liverpool has won five in a row in all competitions and hosts next to last Hull, Manchester City welcomes West Ham and Aston Villa aims to make it seven consecutive wins as it visits Blackburn. Sixth-place Tottenham hosts promoted Burnley, which has had an encouraging start with three wins out of six games, while Arsenal goes to Fulham.

Portsmouth's bid to capture its first point of the season after six straight losses won't be helped by Everton's return to form,

David Moyes' team also had a poor start but has scored 11 goals without reply in its last three games -- a 4-0 Europa League triumph over AEK Athens, 3-0 over Blackburn in the Premier League and 4-0 at Hull in the League Cup.

Birmingham hosts Bolton in Saturday's other game and, on Sunday, Wolves goes to Sunderland.

In the race to capture promotion to the Premier League, West Bromwich Albion holds a one-point lead and hosts Crystal Palace. Second-place Newcastle visits Ipswich, which is still without a victory in eight games this season under new manager Roy Keane.

Turkish big-boys continue to assert dominance

Last year all the talk in the Turkish league was of how lowly Sivasspor could break the established order at the top. The start to this season, however, has proved that fairytales do not happen and that the power of the big clubs in the country will continue to trump the plucky underdogs as long as the quality players remain.

Two of the country's biggest, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, have begun the season in flying form. With 100% records after six games, they have opened up a six-point gap over their nearest challengers, Eskisehirspor, and look like pushing each other all the way to the finishing post.

By contrast, the 'Brave Men' of Sivasspor are looking decidedly less brave this season after exceeding all expectations last year. Five defeats after six games, and one single point from Denizlispor, has seen them sink without a trace.

Manager Bülent 'The Soldier' Uygun was heralded as a genius for his ability to bring a side devoid of big names through as genuine challengers for the title in 2008-09. Unfortunately he cannot even pinpoint a European distraction as the reason for his failure thus far, as Sivas were beaten 5-0 on aggregate, 3-0 at home and 2-0 away, by Shakhtar and eliminated from all European competitions earlier this month.

The club actually went on a two-day break from the training ground to try and solve their problems, but it does not appear to have done much good, as they returned to a similar story - defeat against Manisaspor.

Defending champions Besiktas can only claim to have done marginally better though. While they topped the table ahead of Sivas and also won the cup last season, they have struggled to make an impression this season and have gone five games without a win.

Besiktas coach Mustafa Denizli, already under pressure, was quoted as saying that he was considering leaving the club following the 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the Champions League. While they may not have been expected to beat the English champions in Europe's top club competition - even at home - the ball started rolling with their abysmal domestic performances, which led him to say: "I have the responsibility through the good times or the days when things are not going how we want them to. There are ten days to the CSKA Moscow game [in the Champions League]. Until that day, things have to change at Besiktas. I may be one of the things to change."

Certainly a 1-0 defeat at home to Kayserispor will not have helped his situation and, despite playing reasonably well, the club have not picked up the points they need. Beaten 3-0 by cross-city rivals Galatasaray in their Istanbul derby last Saturday, some gossip from the Black Eagles' fans has suggested the team are 'hexed'; although footballers have always been a superstitious lot.

Of course it may just be that Galatasaray are one of the most in-form sides in Europe at the moment. Averaging around three goals per game, Frank Rijkaard has turned the Lions into a real attacking force. Always blessed with some of the best Turkish players - such as Arda Turan - his two main stars have Premier League pedigree.

Former Manchester City midfielder Elano and ex-Liverpool striker Milan Baros have settled well in the Turkish league and wingers Harry Kewell and Abdel Kader Keita have also proved themselves to be tricky customers. Rijkaard's team rarely loses once going ahead, and they seem to have adopted a Dutch style. Unsurprising given their backroom staff.

Assistant manager and Dutch legend Johan Neeskens that their unbeaten run is no big mystery. "There are no secrets to this," he said. "This is an important statistic, but we need to work hard to maintain it. There is no doubt that this is what we are going to do."

Fenerbahçe are the only other side in the league to have maintained an unbeaten run. The fourth-placed side from last year have come out of the traps well in the league and matched its best-ever start to the season, if not in the Europa League where they were defeated by FC Twente.

Recent form suggests that the Yellow Canaries may be losing their tempo, as they failed to convince despite picking up three points from their games against Manisaspor and Bursaspor; yet German coach Christoph Daum said his team will learn from its defeat against FC Twente, which will make the team a better side in the league. ''That loss will make us stronger, I am sure of it," he said.

And it may well do. Fener have started the season aggressively and while they need to be more efficient in making passes that may lead to goals, they are looking capable of maintaining a push towards the title. While Galatasaray have turned their attention to flowing attacking football, Fener seem to have gone the other way. Something that is backed up by Daum: "We battle until the final whistle,'' he said. ''That shows that the new Fenerbahçe never stops combating in a game."

While the top two continue to battle in their own ways for control of the league, the Turkish top flight has been unable to ignore a scandal that has seen Ankaraspor demoted to the second division. The club were punished following links to top flight rivals Ankaragucu - the new home of Darius Vassell - which the country's football authorities said were anti-competitive.

The debate was sparked after Ahmet Gökçek, son of Ankaraspor's honorary chairman Melih Gökçek, who is also the mayor of Ankara, was elected the chairman of Ankaragücü at the end of August. Two of Ankaraspor's best players were transferred to Ankaragücü on the final day of the transfer window for undisclosed fees and TFF officials found that the ''merging process'' of the two clubs was damaging competition.

Neither club made the best start to the season, but the news has made significant waves in the region, overshadowing the impact made by Ankaragücü's high profile summer signing Vassell, who has two goals in six starts.

Any hopes that one of the smaller clubs could fight the established order this year for the title appears to have been put to bed already. With Sivasspor and Ankaragücü struggling with issues that do not always fall on the pitch, Trabzonspor's 1984 title looks set to stay as the last time one of the big three clubs in Turkey failed to win the trophy.

Arsenal - Wigan 4-0

After two consecutive defeats in Manchester and a remarkable recovery in Belgium against Standard Liege, Arsene Wenger’s men were finally home again and hoping to build on the Champions League win and please their extremely demanding fans.

Constantly on the attacking end for in the first 20 minutes, mostly through Dutch international Robin van Persie, the Gunners’ efforts finally paid off when Wenger’s sole summer signing Thomas Vermaelen rose up above the Wigan defence to head home yet another well-taken set-piece.

Having missed a series of chances to double their lead in the first half, Arsenal were glad to see the scoreline increase to 2-0 right after the break, when their new top goalscorer Thomas Vermaelen found the net for the second time with a fierce shot right under the crossbar after being set up by the ever-present van Persie.

Half an hour in, Roberto Martinez made a double substitution which was apparently working; only for a couple minutes, though, as a Clichy cross from the right hand side found Eduardo da Silva who managed to put the ball into the net after several attempts, the 3-0 scoreline putting some real daylight between the two sides.

Just moments away from the full-time whistle, an apparently injured Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas completed the rout with a well-placed shot at the near post after receiving a thunderous Nicklas Bendtner cross from the right side and giving Gunners’ fans even more reasons to cheer about at the end of their convincing 4-0 win against Wigan.

Champions of Spain Versus Champions of Italy

Nine months till the final.

The lure of European football transcends merely the million dollar incentives; rather the Champions League represents a team’s arrival at the highest echelon of world football. Or at least it did when it was called the European Cup.

Marketing men have milked football for every penny that’s available, and milked a few more pennies that weren’t. With nine months to go until the Champions League final there’s almost an entire season between now and the most prestigious game in football, and yet the best team in Spain and the league winners of Italy are somehow playing each other on a so called ‘Match Day #1’. The competition is bogus.

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3190160,00.html

In an effort to widen the reach of the European football capture it seems that a little intrigue got lost in the trade for profitability. Once upon a time the legacy of the European Cup carried a charm that was undeniable. The European elite were pitted against the other elite Europeans in a format that was both rational and palatable. Home and away fixtures dictated who were the better team over the randomly selected fixtures, and failure to advanced offered nothing more than the exit.

If you wanted to be recognised as European Cup winners and if you wanted to bask in all the accolades that were deserved by European Cup winners then you first had to qualify by being the most superior team in your domestic league. Only domestic champions were invited and second placed teams, third placed teams and other placed teams were consigned to subordination.

Once the list of elite teams was compiled the European Cup competition was conducted in a manner befitting a true ‘cup’ competition. You could be drawn against a minnow from some new Eastern European country, still Champions, but sill a minnow. Or you could be drawn against the best team from the Spanish league or from Italy. Either way, you had two games in fair exchange to advance or not. There were no dead rubbers, there were no visas for supporters and there was significant football each game and every game.

In an effort to incorporate new emerging markets the Champions League umbrella has stretched beyond the usual contestants and engineered-additions have brought new television contracts even if they haven’t brought new quality football teams. All of Liechtenstein or the majority of northern Serbia will pay to see their nauseating representative preserve a terrible goalless ignominy at Liverpool or Madrid. While teams like Liverpool or Madrid will endure the ignominy in order to sell more replica shirts or to plicate improved sponsorship talks.

The charm of the European night has gone. At least waning. And it’s been replaced by the most profitable business arrangement that can be negotiated.

Some nine months before the conclusion of the Champions League final the calculated and rather artificial arrangement of the tournament format has fabricated an anomaly of a fixture very early on in the proceedings. Last season’s Champions League winners and Spanish La Liga Champions Barcelona are playing Italian Champions and one of the tournaments’s fancied cubs Internazionale. The game chronologically appears first on the calendar and so has some significance yet no real consequence. Given the rather mediocre contingent that irritates the group’s minion hierarchy; the outcome of this specific fixture was far from decisive, bordering on irrelevant. A win, lose or draw would almost certainly conclude with absolute an unequivocal advancement to the latter stages for both superior clubs. The pantomime of qualification is indecently fuelled by business and has nothing to do with football.

More teams, more interested customers and more money. That could also read as; more teams, fewer significant games, and a lower quality of football.

The one downside to the old style European Cup was that you only ever got to see one representative form any given opposing nation. If AC Milan were domestically better than Inter or better than Juventus then that was the team that we got to watch. The same was true in Spain; if Barcelona deserved the European Cup run then they were the only Spanish team to enter. It was limiting on your European football geography, but it was at least upholding to the integrity of the competition.

The one benefit of the larger more accommodating Champions League is that you’re almost certain to see the very best European clubs regardless of whether they are their very best domestic club. I understand and consent to having both Barcelona and Real Madrid playing in the most prestigious European competition, even though I also know that they can’t both be Spanish champions. The same goes for Italy, I want to watch Inter, AC and Juventus but they all can’t be league winners at the end of a season. And I’d rather watch the third placed team in England than the first placed team from pretty much all the other inferior and weaker European Leagues.

The rub truly comes when you have to watch inferior teams from inferior leagues. I’m not sure that French people watch the third best team in France play the fourth best team in France. I’m almost certain that I don’t want to watch them play on a Wednesday night in the Champion’s League.

An extended hybrid competition makes sense. We all want to see the best clubs play the best clubs in the best European competition. It just makes no sense when we don’t get to see the best clubs playing the best clubs. Or worse, when we do get to see the best clubs playing the best clubs, but NOT during the best European competition. Dead rubbers and inferior teams can go.

The fiasco runs abhorrent when you cast an eye over the rule book of the now defunct UEFA Cup and you try to understand the fusion that is the Europa League. Any precious semblance of tier-two European glory has been dismantled and bathed in shame. The convoluted and almost tedious route to the final deems the perceived success of qualification as bated venom. Summer participation precedes a season campaign that can stretch the length and breadth of Europe and sometimes well beyond. Thursday night in a country that has a land border with Iran or Syria should be deemed void or superficial preparation for West Ham away on a Sunday afternoon. The thirst for exposure has gone too far.

The mockery or insignificance of the Europa League is now being mocked by UEFA themselves. The UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winner Cup were once a prestigious punctuation on the European agenda, a stepping stone for aspiring teams ascending the ladder of the European elite. No such luck today. Rather the Europa League is an ambiguous fermentation for experimental rule changes and rotten ideas. Instead of accommodating the technological advancement that football requires the Europa League will host the shambles of five-official matches historically experimented at youth games, school games and girl’s games. And all this before the Champions League losers parachute in on the wrong side of half time only to swell the numbers to beyond comprehension.

Anyway, I cherish the fact that the Champions League has brought together the very best teams from the European football landscape and I’m glad that I don’t have to miss out or have to wait an entire season to see the most glamorous European clubs. It’s just that I find it odd that we have now engineered a scenario where we can watch a valueless game obediently contested between two of the best teams on the continent.

I want to watch these two teams play, but not on some balmy September evening. These teams should be playing the final and or at least playing for the final.

Seville wins Champions League opener

Sevilla tops Group G after Matchday 1 with a hard-working 2-0 victory over Romanian UEFA Champions League debutants Unirea Urziceni.

The Spanish club ultimately had to rely on Brazilian flair to find a way through a resistant Unirea side as Luis Fabiano, with a fine drive in first-half stoppage time, and then Renato, via a 70th-minute goalmouth header, assured their team of the three points. For Unirea coach Dan Petrescu there was the satisfaction that his charges’ intense effort had made them tough to beat, but no points and a burden of four bookings.

The initial pattern may have been as predictable as it was frustrating for the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán crowd. Unirea left only Marius Ioan Bilasco up front and often the striker, joint-top scorer in their championship-winning season, dropped deep to make a six-man midfield. However, Sevilla coach Manuel Jiménez had anticipated the type of task his team faced and both wingers, Jesús Navas and Diego Capel, pushed so far up that the hosts often probed in a 4-2-4 formation. Despite Dan Petrescu’s side working with first-class organisation and athleticism, as well as collecting three cautions for foul play, Sevilla began to exert control. Sorin Frunză conceded possession in midfield, enabling Renato to surge forward and hit a fine shot which Ersin Mehmedović deflected wide.

Capel was having a particularly energetic night down the left and his incisive crosses allowed Frédéric Kanouté and Fabiano to impose themselves. Tiberiu Bălan let the pressure get to him and fouled Fabiano. Sevilla’s in-form No10 cracked a 25-metre free-kick towards Giedrius Arlauskis’s top right-hand corner but the Lithuanian international goalkeeper excelled himself in tipping it over. Two tremendous blocks by overworked centre-half George Galamaz, from Kanouté on the half-hour and then Fabiano, also prevented Unirea from being blown away.

The deadlock lasted until moments before the interval when Brazilian international Fabiano added to his weekend double against Real Zaragoza. If Renato’s run down the left dragged Unirea defenders with him, his ensuing cut-back to the edge of the box paid even greater dividends as Fabiano swept the ball clinically past Arlauskis. After the break Sevilla upped the tempo and Capel wasted a Fabiano assist, blasting high over, before Galamaz was booked for a crude challenge on the flying left-footer.

Capel departed the scene soon after, being replaced by Diego Perotti, and Kanouté followed as Álvaro Negredo made his UEFA Champions League debut for his new club. Jiménez’s attempts to force the pace and tie up a tense game nearly came to quick fruition when former Real Madrid CF striker Negredo tested Arlauskis. The No1, though, earned some luck as the ball ballooned up from his save and dipped just past the goal frame. Even so, the substitutions finally worked as Perotti delivered a corner which Fabiano nodded on and Renato headed in to calm nerves.

* Sport * Football * Football Weekly Series: Football Weekly Previous | Index Football weekly medium badge Football Weekly Extra: Champ

A no nonsense, tough talking, say-it-how-it-is line-up of James Dart, Paul Doyle and Kevin McCarra join James Richardson in Studio 1 to round up this week's Champions League action.

With all four English clubs securing three points through narrow victories, the pod wonder how well equipped they are to progress. James and co discuss Arsenal's comeback, Eduardo's contribution and whether he should have been allowed to play in the first place.

Sid Lowe joins in the fun from Madrid with news of the Zlatan Ibrahimovic v Samuel Eto'o clash at the San Siro, and Paul uses his French expertise to examine the chances of Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux.

There's a full preview of the big derby at the weekend as Man City travel to Old Trafford plus a look ahead to Spurs making the short trip to Chelsea. And in case you have been hiding in a cave for the last couple of weeks, a reminder that FOOTBALL WEEKLY WILL BE LIVE THIS SUNDAY AT 6PM. Be sure to join us and to find out more click here.

Leave your comments for James and the team below but BE NICE please. We don't want a repeat of the last couple of pods.

Boxoffice Champions League Round Up 16th

Arsenal hit back from 2-0 behind to win at Standard Liege, Rangers draw at Stuttgart and Liverpool edge past Debrecen on another busy night of Champions League action.

Liverpool got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start thanks to a sole strike from Dirk Kuyt on a difficult night at anfield.

The Reds dominated for long periods and Kuyt broke the deadlock by prodding home after Fernando Torres’ shot had been parried into his path by Debrecen goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic.

Steven Gerrard went closest to doubling the lead when his fizzing shot fired inches over the crossbar.Debrecen did have some chances on the night and matched liverpool as they held on to bag the points.

Arsenal stormed back from 2-0 down inside five minutes to win their European opener.

Bad defending allowed Eliaquim Mangala to strikehome from 20 yards and Milan Jovanovic won and converted a penalty , but Nicklas Bendtner’s fine angled drive halved the deficit .

Thomas Vermaelen scrambled home Cesc Fabregas’ free-kick and he and Eduardo Da Silva were denied before the latter turned in Fabregas’ corner

Rangers opened their Champions League campaign with a very good result in Stuttgart thanks to a cracking goal from Bougherra.

Pavel Pogrebniak found the net with a powerfully placed shot on 18 minutes as Rangers were caught out on the break.

Sasa Papac made a mess of a close-range header as Rangers improved dramatically after the interval.
Bougherra romped forward to smash in a wonderful equaliser and Steven Davis went very close hitting the post late on.The Big match of the night was holders Barcelona at the San Siro taking on Mourinho’s Inter Milan ended up in a draw

Walter Smith unruffled by ‘ugly tactics’ talk

To play football, or not to play football? The question still stalks Walter Smith. It was two years ago that Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s lippy striker, made his barbed “anti-football” comment about Rangers’ style, and as Smith and his team prepare to re-enter the Champions League in Germany tonight, the topic is still being debated.

While Rangers arrived yesterday to face Stuttgart in their opening group G encounter, Smith was still having to bat away questions about his team’s on-field image. The irony for the Ibrox manager is that this allegedly atrocious style of play actually worked, carrying Rangers to their first European final in 36 years, in the Uefa Cup in Manchester, where they lost to Zenit St Petersburg.

Smith has always been self-deprecating on the subject, often humorously referring to his team’s “wild, gung-ho style”, and he was at it again yesterday as he once more debated the theme.

The Rangers manager does hope that his team can play in a more creative way in this 2009-10 Champions League, but still defends the 4-5-1 formation that helped Rangers to claw their way to Manchester two years ago.

“What Lionel Messi said about ‘anti-football’ didn’t bother me at all,” Smith said yesterday. “Nor did the criticism we received for playing 4-5-1 frustrate me in the slightest. Messi was right — I said so at the time. But managers are in jobs to make big decisions for games like these.

“We were facing Barcelona in the Champions League two years ago and, with the players we had, we couldn’t possibly have gone gung-ho against them. It would have been folly. Indeed, last season I watched Chelsea play Barcelona, and, even with the players they’ve got, they were not dissimilar to us tactically when they played them. So Messi’s comments didn’t annoy me at all. You always have to use a system which is best suited to the players at your disposal, to get a result. That’s all I tried to do.”

These days, despite their financial problems, Rangers arguably have players who are better equipped to attack than they did two seasons ago. As Smith said yesterday, over the coming weeks in Europe we are about to see if this is true or not, but with Steven Naismith, Kenny Miller and Pedro Mendes, Smith certainly feels that his side can be more offensive in the opposition half.

Yet old habits die hard. The Rangers manager also knows that it was quite a feat leading his side to that Uefa Cup final two years ago, and if the template worked then, why not use it again? It is a question that Smith has wrestled with as he has tried to make Rangers more expansive and attractive.

“As you move on, you want to try to show that you can maybe loosen up a bit and achieve a more attacking style of play,” he said. “Whether we can do that and still be successful is another matter, but it seems a natural progression to try to make.

“The last time we went into this competition we were a new team, but once we settled down, we managed to get a reasonable bit of success. In many ways I’m drawn back towards that old system, although we do now have one or two forward players who can cause teams problems.

“In the early part of our pre-season we looked at a system which was slightly more adventurous than the 4-5-1, because I wanted to see how we would do by using more attacking players in the wider areas. Now we must make a judgment in terms of what system we use in these Champions League away games.

“We will have to take into consideration the opposition, and also the home and away aspect. But I think we’ve got better in certain areas, so we’re about to see if we have improved to a level we’d have hoped for.”

However he chooses to shape his team, Smith is toying with the idea of throwing Kevin Thomson on from the start in the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium tonight, making a central midfield pairing of Thomson and Mendes. Depending on David Weir’s fitness, Smith may also play Lee McCulloch in the holding midfield role, with Kenny Miller as a lone striker.

After his red card against Heart of Midlothian three weeks ago, Thomson’s season has hardly got going, having missed most of last season through injury. Yet Smith sounded unabashed about playing the midfield player. “It has been an awkward situation with Kevin, but he has to start playing some time,” Smith said. “He is useful for us in terms of our retention of the ball. Away from home in Europe you have to make sure you are reasonably solid, and you look to make the other team work extremely hard to get their goals.”

The Rangers manager dismissed Stuttgart’s shaky start to the season under Markus Babbel, the coach; they have slumped to twelfth place in the Bundesliga after winning just one of their opening five fixtures.

“Their season has only just started,” Smith said, dismissing the notion of out-of-form opponents. “Stuttgart had a terrific second half to last season where they rose to finish third in the league.

“Any team can have a shaky start to a season — we haven’t had a great start ourselves — so we know we face a real test out here.”

Stuttgart (probable; 4-4-2): J Lehmann — C Trdsch, S Tasci, M Delpierre, S Celozzi — T Gebhart, T Hitzlsperger, S Khedira, J Simak — Cacau, P Pogrebnyak.

Rangers (probable; 4-1-4-1): A McGregor — S Whittaker, D Weir, M Bougherra, S Papac — L McCulloch — S Davis, K Thomson, P Mendes, S Naismith — K Miller.

Referee: M Busacca (Switzerland).

Extra refs in charge as Europa League starts

LONDON — UEFA Cup champion Shakhtar Donetsk opens its defense in the renamed Europa League on Thursday, with an even bigger change in place involving match officials.

For the first time in a European club tournament, the referee will have four assistants instead of two, with two extra officials stationed behind the goal lines to catch incidents or make decisions the ref doesn't see.

Although it is an experiment, the system of five officials could become the norm.

Soccer's governing bodies have approved the move to head off repeated calls for referees to get help from video technology. There have been several recent incidents of balls clearly crossing the line, but the goals not counting because the three officials couldn't see it.

In one Champions League game last season, the referee sent off the wrong player.

The extra officials will be on duty at each of the 24 matches as the group phase of the competition kicks off across Europe.

While most powerhouse clubs are in the Champions League, the Europa League includes several teams that have won or reached the final of European soccer's more prestigious competition.

Four-time European Cup champion Ajax welcomes Romanian club Politehnica Timisoara and two-time winner Benfica, which has added former Real Madrid players Javier Saviola and Javier Garcia to its lineup, faces Belarussian team BATE Borisov in Lisbon.

Of the other former European Cup winners, PSV Eindhoven goes to Sparta Prague, Celtic visits Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hamburg travels to Rapid Vienna and Steaua Bucharest hosts FC Sheriff.

Shakhtar, which beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in last season's final to become the last winner of the UEFA Cup, visits FC Brugge in its first group game. Bremen visits Portuguese team Nacional with striker Markus Rosenberg back in the squad after a three-month injury absence.

Another German team badly in need of a confidence-boosting lift is Hertha Berlin, which has lost four straight Bundesliga games. Hertha hosts Latvian club FK Ventspils but will be without Florian Kringe, a new arrival from Borussia Dortmund, who broke a bone in his foot.

Valencia, one of the favorites to win the title, goes to Lille having not lost in its last six visits to France in European competitions.

Adebayor Triggers Chaotic Scenes, Faces Investigation

Former Arsenal and now Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored the winning goal in a 4–2 victory over Arsenal on Saturday. He then proceeded to run to the opposite side of the pitch to taunt the visiting Arsenal fans.

Chaos in the stands ensued with objects being thrown on the pitch, knocking a steward unconscious.The English Football Association will look into Adebayor crowd taunting incident and another incident in the match where he allegedly stamped on Arsenal striker Robin van Persie. The stomp left van Persie with a gash on the side of the face. A decision on Adebayor’s actions is due Tuesday.

In a statement on Arsenal’s official Web site van Persie called the act a “mindless and malicious stamp.” He was “sad and disappointed” by his former teammate’s actions.

“He set out to hurt me today. I do feel lucky that I have not received a greater injury,” said van Persie shortly after the match.
“The contact was only centimeters from my eye. I have not received an apology from him, there were no words exchanged afterwards. He had his own agenda today and that is bad for football [soccer]. It’s bad for the game we all love.”
Adebayor left Arsenal for big-spending Manchester City in acrimonious fashion in the off-season.

Manchester City improved their record to four wins from four games. They are in third place behind Chelsea and Manchester United.

Arsenal has now lost two in a row after winning their first two games of the season.

But on the bright side for the Gunners, Eduardo had a two-match ban for diving in a Champions League play-off against Celtic overturned. The Croatian international striker will be able to play in Arsenal’s Wednesday Champions League game against Standard Liege.

Man United returns to Champions League at Besiktas

STANBUL (AP) — Manchester United returns to the Champions League for the first time since losing last season's final when it plays its opening group match at Besiktas on Tuesday.

A trip to Istanbul is no longer as intimidating as it was in the 1990s, when the English champions were eliminated by Galatasaray in a match marred by crowd trouble, and United will be expecting a good result after hitting form following a slow start to the season.

United defeated Arsenal 2-1 and downed previously unbeaten Tottenham 3-1 on Saturday despite conceding a goal in the first minute and having Paul Scholes sent off midway through the second half.

"We responded in the right manner, getting the ball down and playing some of our best football this season," United defender Rio Ferdinand said.

United started the season seemingly in a stupor from its 2-0 Champions League final loss to Barcelona, when the Red Devils showed nearly nothing of the style that brought them the previous year's European title and a third straight Premier League trophy.

Key to United's revival from a surprise early Premier League loss to Burnley has been Wayne Rooney's good form.

The England striker has scored six goals in as many games for United, including a solo effort to put United 2-1 up at Spurs, and is thriving in the central role made available to him following the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

Rooney, who also scored last week in a 5-1 win over Croatia that clinched England's place at the World Cup, is almost certain to continue up front at the Inonu stadium -- most likely supported by Dimitar Berbatov.

"Wayne knows the onus is on him to be one of the people who gets the goals," Ferdinand said. "He seems to have taken that on his shoulders and he's running with it."

Besiktas has opened its defense of the Turkish league title with just one win from five matches and was beaten 3-0 on Saturday at Galatasaray.

English clubs have provided three of the four semifinalists each of the past three years but, despite that domination and his own team's poor form, Besiktas goalkeeper Rustu Recber said United may still be unsettled by a hostile atmosphere.

"The level of hostility at the Inonu is unique," Recber said. "United have been to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, but the Besiktas fans are in a league of their own.

"They are the noisiest, the most passionate, and they stay with the team for 90 minutes. The noise is incredible. It will be a new experience even for those United players who think they have seen everything. Our fans can really make it hell."

David Trezeguet: I Want To Win The Champions League With Juventus

The hitman has underlined the Champions League as his top objective...

Juventus striker David Trezeguet admits his ambition is to lift the Champions League trophy with his present club, readying himself for tomorrow night's clash against Girondins de Bordeaux.

The French hitman seems revitalised following his goal against Lazio on Saturday night.

"I would like to win something with [coach Ciro] Ferrara. The Champions League has been the prime objective of my career," Trezeguet is quoted as saying on Goal.com Italia.

'Trez' has warned against complacency when Bordeaux visit on Tuesday, almost a year to the day he ruptured knee ligaments against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League last term.

"The first game is never easy. Bordeaux play nice football," added the hitman.

The striker recently announced he would quit the club at the end of the season, but a good trophy winning campaign could change his mind.

"Many things have changed in my head," he said. "Seeing the ball go in [against Lazio] may mean I don't want to change team any longer.

"I am evaluating what's best for me - the best would be to end my career here. I have spoken to [Alessandro] Del Piero about it."

Liverpool seals deal with Standard Chartered

LONDON — Liverpool football club announced late Sunday a sponsorship deal with British bank Standard Chartered, reportedly worth 80 million pounds over four years.

The deal starting in July 2010 was the "largest commercial agreement in Liverpool's history," a statement on the club's website said.

Media reports said the deal was worth some 20 million pounds (22 million euros, 33.2 million dollars) per season, which would equal the most lucrative ever in English football, but this could not be confirmed.

The figure would match the deal struck by Manchester United with Aon Corp, the American financial giant earlier this year, reports said.

Under the Liverpool deal, the bank's logo and name will replace Carlsberg as the main sponsor on the English Premier League club's shirt, ending a 17-year relationship with the side.

"This partnership brings together two highly successful organisations with a really strong cultural and strategic fit," Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow said in the statement.

"It is a real sign of the progress we have made at Liverpool that we have been able to secure the largest ever commercial deal in our history."

Peter Sands, group chief executive of Standard, said: "This is a great partnership. We are excited to be working with such a famous global brand as Liverpool Football Club for the next four years."

"This is an outstanding opportunity for Standard Chartered, our customers and shareholders, and for Liverpool, its players and fans."

The club said the deal aimed to step up Liverpool's profile in the lucrative Asian markets as well as in Africa and the Middle East, after a pre-season tour of Singapore and Thailand.

Standard Chartered, an emerging markets specialist, is listed on both the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges.

After a sluggish start to the season, Liverpool have won back-to-back games which will give boss Rafael Benitez encouragement ahead of Wednesday's opening Champions League group game with Hungarian side Debrecen.

Last season's runners-up in the Premier League thumped Burnley 4-0 at Anfield on Saturday

ESPN experts strike the right note

Ok, Guus Hiddink didn't know his Robbie from his Roy. But I have got to say I enjoyed the knowledgeable ESPN panel of Kevin Keegan and Guus Hiddink during the live coverage of Manchester United's 3-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur.

Guus Hiddink and Kevin Keegan

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ESPN experts: Guus Hiddink and Kevin Keegan

The Russian coach made Kevin smile when he once talked about 'Roy' Keane in the Spurs midfield instead of Robbie. But then again he only had a part of a season with Chelsea - yet, his only defeat in the league was against Spurs, so perhaps he should have spotted the difference between the two Irishmen.

The point is, though, I liked Hiddink and Keegan. They worked well together. Combined they possess a vast amount of experience at club and international level, and it shows, in their incisive analysis.

This was my first viewing of ESPN's live Premier League coverage, and I am quite prepared to tread on very dangerous ground by passing judgement of their coverage. And before you jump to any conclusions, I paid my £9 subscription fee. So, I feel entitled to my view.

The Spurs-Manchester United game was one I did not intent to miss, and like many others wasn't let down by the quality of the game, and the brilliance of Wayne Rooney.

So, to all those who gave me stick about Fabio Capello's reliance on Rooney, when I ventured that opinion after the England-Croatia World Cup qualifier, and expressed the worry about whether England have a Plan B... in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is relying more and more on the talents and goalscoring prowess of Rooney.

Yes, I might be passing judgement for their internet arm, ESPN Soccernet, but reaching for the highest possible ground, by declaring the best intentions of journalistic principles and attempting to remain unbiased, I actually preferred the Keegan-Hiddink duo than most of the other punditry we have become used to as armchair viewers.

Personally, I feel the BBC's big name pundits such as Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson have become too familiar, and while Gary Lineker has become one of the best ever former footballers to become a TV anchor man, this is a task best served by a proper professional. Hence, I actually prefer Ray Stubbs asking the studio panel more piercing questions, than the half jovial approach from Gary.

I have expressed this opinion many times in the past, that TV needs more of a cutting edge journalistic presence to sharpen up opinion.

Too often the managers 'union' on TV are loathe to say what they really think about managers currently in the dug out. They always leave themselves open to attack from the managers in employment who feel that they deserve protection from such sniping.

While I do like the wisdom of Glenn Hoddle, Graeme Souness and Ruud Gullit on Sky, sometimes Jamie Redknapp rabbits on a touch too long - although there is room for improvement there, as he is not afraid to voice strong opinions.

And who says women cannot make good reporters?

The interviews by Rebecca Lowe with club staff and players after the match, notably Sir Alex Ferguson, were first rate.

Ray Stubbs ventured to attempt to illicit a good 'story' from Hiddink by probing him about how much he misses the Premier League, and how much the general public warmed to him when he was boss at the Bridge, albeit in a temporary role

Would he be returning? Hiddink was impressively vague, but clearly his answers and body language suggested that he would.

I would have loved Ray to have asked Kevin Keegan the same question about a return to the Premier League, just loved it, loved it!

New era, same goals for Puel

For someone who cannot stand losing, being known as the Olympique Lyonnais coach who surrendered the French title after seven years of dominance is hard to take. Perhaps that is why Claude Puel's Lyon have started so strongly in their bid to reclaim it.

New faces
Lyon are joint top of Ligue 1 after four games and Puel will want to carry that momentum into the UEFA Champions League where they kick off their Group E campaign at ACF Fiorentina on Wednesday. Les Gones, group-stage contestants for a tenth successive season, are being tipped to go far as Puel's new-look side quickly hit their stride. "We recruited really well this summer," Puel told uefa.com. "Many players left, a few came, but they were the players we wanted. We recruited players of good quality, but it is never easy and you don't know how things will work out. That they have done is mainly due to the quality of the players we signed."

'Great spirit'
Lyon appear to have made the most of the €35m windfall from Karim Benzema's sale to Real Madrid CF. They have never spent so much in one summer, €72m attracting the likes of Lisandro, Aly Cissokho, Bafétimbi Gomis and Michel Bastos to Stade de Gerland, with Bastos arriving from LOSC Lille Métropole, the club Puel left in June 2008 to take charge of the then champions. "They have joined a squad with a great team spirit," Puel said. "You have to see the whole picture. A squad is composed of many details, a team is quite fragile, like a puzzle. It has been a good first month, but we will see about the rest."

High ambitions
What price, then, a first UEFA Champions League semi-final? Lyon have come close before, losing their 2005 quarter-final to PSV Eindhoven on penalties before a late AC Milan turnaround in 2006. "We don't look that far ahead," the 48-year-old said. "We aren't 100 per cent yet, we need to improve. We have an interesting squad but we might not have enough players. It seems like an impossible dream and it would be a lack of humility to think that far ahead."

'New era'
Motivation, though, is not lacking at Lyon's Tola Vologe training ground, even without the departed Benzema and Juninho Pernambucano, symbols of the club's recent supremacy. "When you have been champions seven times running, it is frustrating [to lose]," Puel said. "It was the end of an era, the last season for some players. That is why we are starting this season with new players who have not been champions. We want to do well in the Champions League without neglecting the domestic league, which is our benchmark throughout the season."

No nonsense
Puel made almost 600 appearances as a no-nonsense holding midfielder for AS Monaco FC and says he never could accept defeat. "When I was playing and when I started coaching, I could go days without speaking to my wife after a loss." If he has mellowed "with the years", his fighting spirit remains intact and he beat his players in their pre-season endurance tests, both running and on the bike. "I could destroy my opponent mentally as I never surrendered," he explained.

Mental strength
Sacked as Monaco boss during the 2001/02 campaign before twice guiding Lille into the UEFA Champions League, Puel eventually landed in Lyon in place of Alain Perrin to spread that winning mentality and build the foundations for long-term success. It is a task he relishes. "You have to be strong psychologically and have a great capacity for work," he said. "Most of all, you have to be confident. Even in bad times, you have to follow your path and have courage in your convictions." With the UEFA Champions set to begin, this is exactly how L'Entraineur général – his official job title – is squaring up to the challenge.

Manchester Derby? Bring It On...

If you have anything planned for next Sunday lunchtime then cancel it now. Mothers should be let down gently, lovers should be bought flowers days in advance and amateur football sides should be advised to cancel fixtures - for anyone who even vaguely likes football should be sitting down (or standing up in a public house) to watch the Manchester derby.

This is not just any Manchester derby, but the kind of Manchester derby so sexy it deserves to be introduced by the Marks & Spencer voiceover lady.

We have a Manchester United team who have scored ten goals in their last three games, fresh from swatting away an in-form Tottenham side like a troublesome flea. They are blessed with a player in the form of his life, revelling in being the main man for club and country. Whether United fan or neutral, nobody can resist an in-form Wayne Rooney. He plays Premier League football the way we all believe we would play if given the chance - like every game could possibly be his last.

Against Arsenal and then against Tottenham, United went behind to teams full of confidence but were not rocked. Simply speaking, they have looked like champions. Last season they had the air of a team doing just enough - and these were games they may have lost or drawn - but Sir Alex knows that there will be no such thing as 'just enough' this season.

They were helped at White Hart Lane by a Spurs side that looked overawed by their status as potential winners, with Aaron Lennon looking like the pre-'Arry Aaron Lennon, Wilson Palacios adopting the 'headless chicken' role and Redknapp sticking with the 'hit Crouch with the diagonal ball' plan against ten men who should have been run ragged with quick passing.

But United were excellent, with even Dimitar Berbatov playing with a half-smile to a soundtrack of boos, safe in the knowledge that he was playing for much the better side.

And now they face City, who notched a fourth win from four with a win over Arsenal that suggested that Mark Hughes might not be the weakest link at a club with strong ambitions. His tactics against the Gunners were terribly sensible and could have been lifted directly from Sir Alex's great big book of pragmatism.

Hughes matched Arsenal for formation - bringing in Nigel de Jong to buddy up with Gareth Barry, the man previously lumbered with the massive workload of a one-man defensive job. They were happy to surrender possession and ran out 4-2 thanks to a combination of the Gunners' usual routine of toothless tippy-tappy football and their own speed and accuracy on the counter-attack.

Emmanuel Adebayor has robbed his manager of the flattering headlines that should be heralding the arrival of a genuine top-four contender, though Hughes will be given little credit even if City run out Premier League champions with a winning margin deep into double figures.

A clash between two in-form clubs would ordinarily whet the appetite but add in local rivalry, the Carlos Tevez transfer, the Carlos Tevez poster and Rio Ferdinand's 'this town ain't big enough for the both of us' posturing, and we're almost wishing the week away. And remember, City will have no midweek Champions League exertions between now and Old Trafford on Sunday.

Raúl García to miss Atlético opener

Midfielder Raúl García will sit out Club Atlético de Madrid's UEFA Champions League Group D curtain-raiser against APOEL FC after breaking a toe in his right foot.

Three weeks
The 23-year-old former CA Osasuna player was carried off on a stretcher after 56 minutes of Atlético's 3-0 opening-day loss at Málaga CF in the Spanish Liga yesterday. Tests indicated a fracture and it is estimated he will be out of action for a minimum of three weeks. Abel Resino's side, who beat Panathinaikos FC in the UEFA Champions League play-offs to qualify for the group stage for a second successive season, host APOEL on 15 September. Atlético will also face Chelsea FC and FC Porto in Group D.

Inter-Bank football starts today

The league competition for the 2009 JNBS/Western Sports-sponsored Norman Goodison Inter-Bank football competition commences today with three matches at two venues.

At the Old Men's Hockey playing field, first-year entrants Pan Caribbean Financial Services Limited take on JNBS in the first match at 2 p.m. while this will be followed at 4 p.m. by the match between defending champions Scotiabank Group and RBTT.

Meanwhile, at the NWC playing field, NCB will oppose FCIB at 4:30 p.m.

The activities kicked off last Sunday at the NWC playing field with the traditional dress parade and one-day five-a-side competition. The eight participating teams were defending one-day rally champions Jamaica National Building Society, Scotiabank Group, National Commercial Bank, RBTT, First Caribbean International Bank, Bank of Jamaica, ICWI and Pan Caribbean Financial Services Limited.

Western Sports presented each team with two match balls during the dress parade ceremony which was won by Scotiabank Group. Pan Caribbean Financial Services Limited were second and RBTT Bank third.

In the preliminary rounds, the teams were placed in two zones of four, with Scotiabank Group winning Zone One with nine points and BOJ second with six. JNBS won Zone Two with seven points with FCIB second on four. Both semi-finals were decided on penalty shoot-outs with Scotiabank defeating FCIB and JNBS stopping BOJ after after both games ended 0-0 after full and extra time.

In the final, Scotiabank turned the tables on JNBS, winning 1-0 in extra time, thanks to a late goal from Rayon Clarke.

LIME on top in cricket

LIME defeated arch-rivals Digicel by 27 runs in the Best Dressed Chicken 30-over KO competition at Kensington Park last Sunday, as both teams continued their ongoing battle in Business House cricket this season.

Batting first, LIME were dismissed for 216 in 29.3 overs, thanks to national players Horace Miller (68) and Yannick Elliott (46), with their Melbourne Super league teammate Damion Jacobs getting 35 against Sadiki Bolt 3-17, Marvin Thomas 3-26, Paul Harrison 3-30.

Digicel replied with 189 for nine off their allotted 30 overs - Jowayne Robinson 56, Lloyd Gold 47; Jacobs taking 5-30. Andre McCarthy 3-36.

On the previous Sunday at Kensington Park, Digicel defeated NWC by 139 runs in the Reggae Jammin 50-over league. Digicel 253 off 45 overs - opener Joywayne Robinson 94, Garfield Moore 51; Duran Whyte 3-53, Carlos Francis 2-45. NWC 114 off 29 overs - Fabian Forbes 29, Oneil Wright 28, Whyte 23; Hanif Palmer 4-24.

Netball

Open League champions Scotiabank 'A' defeated RBTT 31-5 at the Leila Robinson Courts on Saturday, September 5, to be unbeaten in four matches at the halfway stage of the competition.

With several past and present national players at their disposal, Scotiabank 'A' had previously defeated their 'B' team, as well as NCB and the highly fancied Jamaica Broilers, who have lost only once.

In another Senior League match played recently, Broilers crushed NCB 62-19, while in the Intermediate 'A' League, JPS beat NWC 47-21, Sagicor drubbed ATL Group 62-29 and the Wisynco Group stopped Digicel 37-28. In the Intermediate 'B' League, NEM Insurance clipped Guardian Life 23-21 and JIO beat JF Mills 38-19.

Carib Cement winChallenge Trophy

KSAFA Business House knockout champions Carib Cement defeated league champions Scotiabank Group 8-7 on penalty kicks at Barbican playing field recently to win the annual Challenge Trophy play-off.

Defending league champions Carib Cement were beaten 3-2 by Scotiabank in the semi-final of the league, while Carib Cement had beaten them 1-0 in the KO final. Scotiabank went on to beat The Gleaner 1-0 in the league final through a Richard West first-half goal.

In this their third meeting of the season, Carib Cement won the penalty shoot-out after both teams were locked at 1-1 in regulation and extra time.

Jermaine 'Fast Car' Rowe drew first blood for Cement when scoring with a powerful free kick in the 44th minute, but this was cancelled out by an 88th-minute penalty from Nicholas McCreath. Then came the dreaded shoot-out.

Scotiabank, who are co-managed by Business House Football president Wayne Shaw and coached by Calvert Fitzgerald, also won the dress parade and five-a-side competition to cap a fine

England not as good as they think

OPINION: It was a quiet week on the Premier League front last week, with attention in England turning to the national team which under manager Fabio Capello has qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

Capello hasn't made any real changes as a manager. All he's done is understand that pace is a major issue to do well, rather than being static and relying on dead ball situations and he's picked players like Aaron Lennon to help him achieve that.

He knows how to get a team to qualify for the World Cup, unlike his predecessor Steve McLaren, who had people telling him what to say to players before and after games.

Capello will look at the World Cup and know that to do well he'll need stability at the back, while having as many match winners on the pitch as possible.

Everyone is already writing in the newspapers that England are going to do fantastically well in the World Cup.

They qualified for the World Cup without any real problem but their supporters need to appreciate that whatever pool they're drawn in, it's not going to be easy because they're not as good as they think they are.

The Champions League kicks off this week with the pool stages and I can't see any of the English clubs (Manchester Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal) having any trouble qualifying for the next stage.

For the first time there aren't any English teams in a dodgy group from which you think they might struggle to qualify.

It is a juggling act to cope with the fixtures in the Champions League as well as keep Premier League aspirations alive and you need to a big squad to do that.

Chelsea are the best equipped to do this because of the experience they've got in their squad.

Liverpool's best 11 doesn't have many household names in it and when you look beneath that you won't know any of them.

Arsenal have always had problems durability-wise throughout a season and they'll have to hope they won't be as unlucky with injuries as they were last season.

You have to wonder whether Manchester United have got enough quality to win the Champions League given that they've lost Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

As for the only Scottish team in the Champions League, Rangers, you have to say that it's always been difficult for a Scottish team to get through to the next stage.

Rangers are the only Scottish team that's got through to the second stage and that's only happened once, so just getting through to the knockout section will be seen as a success for them.

Maldini glad to leave Milan in safe hands

AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini believes the Brazilian trio of new coach Leonardo, heir apparent Thiago Silva and forward Alexandre Pato will have a major impact on the seven-time European champions' ability to compete for trophies in his absence.

Right man
Maldini retired at the end of last season after an extraordinary 25-year career with the Rossoneri and was subsequently followed out of the door by Kaká, who joined Real Madrid CF, and coach Carlo Ancelotti, who moved to Chelsea FC. However, Maldini is sure that Leonardo can overcome early problems and lead Milan to success. "It's definitely a great challenge for him and the club because to replace a coach like Ancelotti is not easy," Maldini told uefa.com. "It's his first experience as a coach, but after a turbulent start when he still didn't know whether to accept the offer, now I see him as very determined. He is a very intelligent guy who understands and knows the club very well."

Capable replacement
Although Leonardo is yet to prove himself as a coach, Milan are already grateful for what he did as a player and scout – most notably helping the Rossoneri to strike deals in Brazil for the likes of Kaká, Thiago Silva and Pato. Centre-back Thiago Silva, who joined last term but could not be registered until this season, is seen by many as Maldini's successor. "He was with me the whole of last year," Maldini said. "It was clear to us that we had a very strong player with great physical and technical potential, and he also has personality, which is crucial for a player who wants to play in this position for a team like Milan. He will need some matches to gel with his team-mates because training can't replace a real match, but he is a player with great potential."

A unique talent
Pato, who scored 26 goals during his first season and a half with the Rossoneri, is continuing to make strides as he tries to fill the hole left by Kakà. "He has all it takes to become one of the best players in the world," Maldini added. "He already is. Maybe it's still too much to expect him to turn around every match; people forget that he hasn't even turned 20 yet. It's normal for a player at this age to have more ups and downs than somebody more experienced, but he really is an extraordinary player – his speed and his ball control are unique."

Invaluable experience
Maldini will not discount the possibility of his former side upsetting the odds to win silverware this season. "In the Italian championship anything can happen because you can start with lots of enthusiasm and maybe you are able to do something out of the ordinary. However, there are two stronger teams than Milan in Serie A. As for the Champions League, I think it's an even harder competition because there are very, very strong teams, for example from Spain and England. But Milan aren't scared of anyone in two-legged ties, so hope lies in our experience and the memories we have from this competition which have made us so successful in the Champions League." The prospect of a Milan side lifting that trophy without Maldini, however, would take some getting used to.