LONDON AND MADRID DERBY CLASHES

Football fans, its gonna be a great weekend with two great derby matches to be played as high flying Tottenham Hotspur face Chelsea in London and Atletico Madrid are put into test against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital. Spurs have had a quite impressive start to their campaign, winning seven of their eight games in all competitions this season, but Chelsea’s visit to White Hart Lane presents a stern test for the team and more importantly, one they can be judged on. Spurs are second in the Premier League table only behind the leaders Arsenal in goal difference. This fixture also witnesses the first encounter between Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas. Mourinho is being constantly criticized for benching Juan Mata and not playing him as a regular starter, so it would be exciting to see if Mourinho does some changes and introduces the spaniard in the starting lineup. A win for Spurs over Chelsea will go a long way towards their target of establishing themselves among the elite of England’s top flight.

In an other exciting derby of the weekend, Real Madrid host their capital counterparts Atletico Madrid in La Liga. Gareth Bale is expected to make his home debut in the derby clash after overcoming a thigh injury. The world record signing has missed Real's last two matches with the problem after pulling up in the warm-up ahead of the 4-1 victory over Getafe, but he returned to training on Thursday. Atletico Madrid have had a perfect start to the season making six out of six wins and they will be hoping to maintain their perfect record in the first Madrid derby of the season. Los Blancos are trailing their capital counterparts in La Liga after six games but it is to be seen if they can leapfrog them by a point with a win.

LEWANDOWSKI TO BAYERN ?

Bad news Dortmund fans, seems like we're gonna lose our favorite striker to the Bundesliga champions and the title rivals Bayern Munich. The Poland international has gone back on his earlier comments that a move to Bayern will be made official in 2014, but insisted that he has yet to make a final decision about his future. He was asked the question after Dortmund's DFB-Pokal defeat of 1860 Munich in the wake of Polish media reports which leaked details of his contract with the German champions. Will you be announcing your deal with Bayern in January? "Yes," he said. "Because then I can officially sign the contract." The Pole striker who was signed from Lech Poznan in 2010 for about €1.5 million per annum for a duration of four seasons, established himself in the line-up, becoming one of the most feared forwards in the world. The news wasn't much of a shock but a major upset to many Dortmund fans as the no. 9 had raised speculations earlier over leaving BVB in summer as his contract with Dortmund is due to expire in June 2014, allowing him to open talks with other clubs over a free transfer come January. Criticism is likely to be raised over the Poland international but is it the club who has to be blamed for his exit? He was worth many times more than what Dortmund tried to pay him to tie him to longer terms as goals followed goals from the Pole. It will be a lesson though for the German side how not to treat a player: undervaluing him in contract negotiations, failing to cash in at a time when his price is high, being left with a dissatisfied player in the ranks. Betrayal on the part of Lewandowski? Not a chance. There is nothing amiss with his timing. He was asked a question and answered it honestly. He has held his part of the deal. He's playing and scoring goals. Dortmund may fancy themselves as one of Europe's elite teams but they have not behaved like one here. Big clubs know how to keep their players happy.

So, the star striker is likely to join the Bavarians next summer but will he acclaim the same glory with them as well? Most probably YES and we wish him luck for the same.

MANCHESTER IS BLUE!! AGAIN!! (SUPER SUNDAY DERBY REVIEW)

MANCHESTER BLEEDS BLUE!! The much awaited Manchester derby was played at Etihad stadium and Manchester City proved victorious over Manchester United. Two goals from Sergio Aguero alongwith one each from Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure helped the Citizens seal an emphatic 4-1 win over the Red Devils. United's journey to their city rivals couldn't get any worse, the latter outplaying the former in every department. A terrific late strike from in form Wayne Rooney proved to be a small consolation for the visitors but they couldn't stop City from taking all the three points from the game. City were too strong for United technically, tactically and physically and blew them away with four goals in the first 50 minutes to put the game beyond reach. The absence of Robin van Persie from the visitors' squad made headlines, with the Dutchman omitted with a groin strain. The only bright point for United after a dreadful derby was the performance of goalscorer Wayne Rooney. But they face a tough challenge to retain their Premier League title this season considering their early run of fixtures. A lot was speculated over City being slight favorites to win the game and they proved the speculations right. They have now won four of their last six games against United and lost just two. Manuel Pellegrini's men must be quite happy with today's result.

Well, Arsenal made the headlines for the day as well as they reached top of the table beating Stoke City 3-1 at their home, in form Aaron Ramsey scoring for the Gunners once again. They now sit at the top of the table with 12 points in 5 games ahead of the second placed Spurs in goal difference. 

Thats all for today folks. Stay tuned for more. STAY WELL.

MANCHESTER BLEEDS BLUE OR RED?

It's super sunday and the much awaited game of the weekend, the Manchester derby is just a few hours from kickoff. The high profile game will have the red devils visit the city neighbours Manchester City at Etihad Stadium in what is considered to be a big test for both the sides early in the season. Both teams come into this match on the back of their impressive performances this week in Champions League. The Manchester derby is considered one of the biggest games in the English Premier League and both the managers will be looking to draw first blood in hunt for the title. Both clubs have secured seven points from their opening four Premier League matches, while the injured David Silva and Danny Welbeck could both return to the matchday squad. Sir Alex Ferguson won’t be involved in the Manchester Derby for the first time since 1986.

MANCHESTER DERBY- HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:
In the last two season's Manchester Derby has produced some great games with great goals. Looking at the past 5 meetings between the two sides we can see that City have won 3, scoring 13 goals while Manchester United have won 2, scoring 8 goals in the process. City seem to be slight favourites to win the game at home.

Last 5 Matches

Apr 08, 2013  - Man Utd 1-2 Man City 
Dec 09, 2012  - Man City 2-3 Man Utd
May 01, 2012 - Man City 1-0 Man Utd
Jan 08, 2012   - Man City 2-3 Man Utd
Oct 23, 2011  - Man Utd  1-6 Man City

The strikers of both teams will prove important in the derby. What is to be seen is does Manchester bleed blue or red this weekend. I'll be back with game review so stay tuned for the next update. Until then, CHEERIO, and enjoy the derby.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2013-14 MATCHDAY 1 and 2 REVIEW

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a Hattrick against Galatasaray

Champions League has burst into life yet again with its 2013-14 campaign kicking off its group fixtures. Matchday 1 saw some big names like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, PSG in action, all winning their matches comfortably and starting their champions league campaign with a much expected start. Both Manchester clubs showed appreciable performances prior to their much awaited premier league clash at the weekend. Rooney scored his 200th goal for the red devils with a brace while Van Persie and Valencia's goals contributed to their 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. Shakhtar Donestk sealed an easy 2-0 victory over the Real Sociedad in the second group A fixture. Group B saw Real Madrid smash the Turkish giants Galatasaray 6-1. Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the day with a fantastic hattrick notched against the latter with Karim Benzema scoring a brace as well. Isco contributed to Madrid's scoreline while the new signing Gareth Bale seemed to adapt to the their playing style. Juventus were expected to take all the three points against FC Copenhagen but the Danish side managed a draw against the Serie A champions even though the Italian side seemed to dominate the whole match. Group C saw Edison Cavanni scoring off the mark for PSG in his first ever UEFA CL appearance for the French side. Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty but Olympiacos couldn't deny a 4-1 victory to PSG. Manchester City looked focused in their 3-0 victory over Plzen with goals from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. Current CL champions Bayern Munich sealed a comfortable 3-0 victory over CSKA Moscow in their first CL fixture under Pep Guardiola and looked determined to defend their title this season.

Lionel Messi punches the air after another hat-trick completed a 4-0 Barcelona victory

Matchday 2 surceased with some unexpected results and quite impressing performances by a couple of teams. FC Barcelona, as expected marched into their champions league campaign with an empathic win over AFC Ajax, a match i was looking forward to eagerly. Lionel Messi proved yet again that he hasn't got four Ballan d'Ors to his name for no reason, with a fantastic hattrick which included a freekick goal that was a complete brace. This is Messi's 4th hattrick in all champions league editions. Gerard Pique netted a goal for the home team as well as they thumped the Dutch side 4-0. AC Milan faced quite a challenge from Celtic FC but two late goals in the last 10 minutes, including an unfortunate own goal by Emilio Izaguirre, saw the Italian side victorious over the Scottish Champions. Group E saw a major upset as Chelsea FC were shocked at home by FC Basel with the former facing a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho faced criticization over not playing Juan Mata as a regular starter. In another group E encounter, Schalke defeated Steaua Bucharest 3-0 with Kevin-Prince Boateng scoring on his UEFA CL debut for the german side, while Atsuto Uchida and Julian Draxler got the others. In another much awaited encounter, Napoli proved victorious over Borussia Dortmund. The Italian side defeated last season's finalists 2-1 with goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Lorenzo Insigne giving the home side the vital three points. The German side were expected to perform better considering their last season's run. Arsenal won 2-1 away at Marseille thanks for goals from Theo Walcott and in form Aaron Ramsey, taking their away win streak to 10 games in all competitions. Group G saw Atletico Madrid starting their campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Zenit St.Petersburg, while Porto beat Austria Wien 1-0 away from home.

So the champions league continues its campaign with the second round of group stage commencing in the first week of October, which will see some exciting fixtures as well with Bayern Munich facing Manchester City, Arsenal playing Napoli and a lot more. So stay tuned for next update,until then, CHEERIO.