Chelsea’s undefeated domestic run of 100 games.


Jonathan Wilson takes a look at the state of Polish football and the stuttering plans for Euro 2012.

Was David Moores duped or blinded by the money?

Here we go again. The intent is good, using a major tournament as the platform is not such a good idea.


Raphael Honigstein on the consummate late developer Luca Toni.


Last weekend in Serie A six of the top seven teams faced each other. The top three (Inter, Roma and Juventus) all won. The next four teams (Fiorentina, Milan, Sampdoria and Udinese) all suffered losses and remain locked in a tight struggle for the last Champions League spot.

Fiorentina are four points ahead of Milan and Sampdoria and Udinese are a point further behind.
Down at the less glamorous end of the league seven teams are in a dog fight to avoid the three drop spots. Last weekend only Empoli (draw), Cagliari and Reggina (wins) did themselves any favours while the woes of Torino, Catania, Parma and Livorno continued.

With five games left until the end of the season this weekend has a schedule that has eight fixtures that are crucial to the title race, the last Champions league spot or relegation. Only Juventus with third place almost guaranteed away to Atalanta, and Siena (eight points above the last relegation spot) versus Genoa (comfortably in eighth) have a “who cares” look about them.

With two successive wins Inter appear to have regained some traction in a bid to win their third scudetto. This weekend Inter is in Turin to play Torino and both teams currently enjoy four point gaps – Inter on second place Roma and Torino on eighteenth place Reggina.  

Torino made Walter Novellino the thirteenth (particularly unlucky) coaching casualty of the Serie A season and followed the lead of a number of struggling clubs by bringing back a former coach. In this case Gianni De Biasi who quit the team sitting firmly at the foot of the Spanish Primera Liga Levante to rejoin Torino. Novellino stepped in to replace De Biasi last summer.

Turin’s other team has the second worst home record in Serie A but only two of the sixteen home games this season have been decided by more than a single goal and both times Torino won. A new coach, a home record that is perhaps not as bad as it may appear might add up to a tough assignment for Inter especially given that they will again be missing top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic. A knee problem has caused the big Swede to miss the last three matches and the next question whether or not he will be ready for the Milan derby in a fortnight.

Roma appears to have the easier game with slumping Livorno the opposition.  Livorno have only one win in their last 15 league games and one win against Roma in Rome in the same number of attempts. Livorno sunk to bottom spot after losing to Cagliari last weekend and although they still have time to escape with games against Milan, Atalanta, Torino and Empoli still to come they will have to start scoring goals more regularly. Seven goals in 15 games have taken them to the precipice.

Reggina pulled off a surprise 1-0 win over Sampdoria last Sunday courtesy o####oal from Franco Brienza. The January transfer window signing from Palermo has now scored seven times and if Reggina are to survive then the former Italy international is the most likely hero. However, considering that Reggina are one of three teams without an away win this season – and have only scored eight goals on the road - any away match is going to be problematic.

This weekend it is Milan at the San Siro and Reggina are likely to face a resurgent Inzaghi who has scored two doubles in Milan’s last two matches. No matter the outcome this weekend Reggina will maintain control of their own fate as they will face fellow strugglers Parma, Catania, Empoli and Cagliari in their final four games.

When coach Davide Ballardini took hold of the Cagliari reigns (the return of another former coach) the club had collected a miserable ten points in their first 17 games. In the next sixteen games another 22 points have been earned and last weekend Cagliari was able to jump two points above the last relegation spot by beating Livorno with a double from Acquafresca.

Another key game this weekend has the Sardinian side up against second from the bottom Empoli. Empoli (with another recalled manager Gigi Cagni) have shown signs of resuscitation with a win and a draw in the last two after a run that saw only a single point from a possible total of 21.

Despite sitting above Empoli, Cagliari are in more need of the win as they finish the season against Inter, Fiorentina, Udinese before a final round game against Reggina. Empoli have to play Genoa and Udinese then finish with Livorno and Reggina.

Further up the table Fiorentina will be hoping to continue a run of eight games that has seen them go W,L after losing to Inter. Palermo have won their last two games (another multi-manager team) but have lost ten times awy from home and only collected twelve points in 16 games. Even a moderately decent road record would have had the Sicilian team challenging for a Champions League position.

The winner of the Sampdoria vs. Udinese match will retain a credible interest in fourth spot while the loser can forget it and battle instead for a UEFA Cup spot. Sampdoria have only lost once at home this season although another six games have finished as draws. Last weekend’s single goal loss to Reggina was the first time Sampdoria have been shut out in fourteen matches while Udinese loss to Roma was their first set back in eight league games.

 The Easter holiday fixture list in England has, on many occasions, proved to be a turning point in the title race. With the second leg of the Champions League quarter finals set for Tuesday and Wednesday, all three English teams left in the competition as well as Spurs will only play one Premiership game this weekend. In all twelve teams face double headers.

The top game has Chelsea facing Spurs for the fourth time this season and the previous three have been excellent games. These clubs are second and third in the top flight's "form" table and Chelsea are looking for an eighth straight league win while Spurs are trying for a sixth successive Premiership victory.

Manchester City and Fulham play each other Monday and by the time the full time whistle is blown either of these clubs could be safe for another year. On Friday Fulham plays Everton at Goodison in a match up that has seen the home club win every time over the 11 premiership encounters. Also on Friday, City have a massive six-pointer with a Charlton side that has generated momentum over the last month.

Other games that catch the eye over the next three days include; Reading v Liverpool (Saturday); Bolton vs. Everton (Monday); Charlton vs. Reading (Monday); Portsmouth v Man Utd (Saturday); Arsenal v West Ham (Saturday); and Newcastle v Arsenal (Monday). The Scottish League plays one more round before the split although there looks to be precious little to decide.

The Championship continues to be beat it’s elder cousin the Premiership in terms of competitiveness and uncertainty. The pick of the games is Sunderland vs. Wolverhampton.

In the Bundesliga it is case of the top versus the bottom with Schalke 04 playing every football fan’s favouritre abbreviation Borussia M'gladbach. M‘Gladbach fans cannot blame their defense for their present predicament – they have only let in 33. Goals at the other end have been the problem – only 22 - and their away form has been atrocious with only 5 points gained on the road. M‘Gladbach also have a tough run-in. They still have to play in form Hamburg, 7th place Hannover, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, before finishing off against relegation rivals Mainz and Bochum.

Empoli are the surprise packet in Serie A this season and this Saturday they travel to the San Siro with a lead of one point over Milan. Founded in 1920 this is only their 7th season in Serie A and last season was their best ever finish – 11th and 45 points. Empoli have already equaled their best-ever points total and still have 9 games left. Top scorer is Luca Saudati with 9 goals and he is a man who fits the description of having had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus – 13 different moves between clubs and this is his 4th spell with Empoli. He started his career with Milan.

In Spain the biggest game would appear to be Real Zaragoza versus Barcelona. Of the last 17 games between these two Barcelona has won 8 and drawn 4. Zaragoza has already beaten beat Barcelona this year 1-0. The win came at the Nou Camp in the Copa Del Rey but they lost 2-1 at home and were knocked out. Zaragoza have only lost twice at home this season – back to back in December to Osasuna and Valencia.

Their top scorer Diego Milito with 11 goals - last season he had 15 - was with Genoa when they won Serie B but they were refused promotion because they were caught match fixing. He then moved to Real Zaragoza to replace David Villa when he moved to Valencia and it now looks that Milito may move again this summer – perhaps even to Barcelona.

Last but certainly not least the MLS get underway this weekend. While the media attention has been on the Beckham signing and others such as Blanco the fact is we are going to see neither of these players before mid-season. This weekend expansion club Toronto FC takes a first bow at the Home Depot Centre where they will face Chivas.