Season 32 Week 10 processing...

Welcome to week 10.

No Orders received from Newcastle and Real Madrid.

The reset is underway...

WATFORD

Out for revenge this week, Watford rarely lose. When they do the manager goes full inquest mode and the manager questions.... If only.. Should i play a different Tactic... Would two DY's been better... Alas, all them go out the window and we focus on the next game! This weeks opponents are the Villains... Some promising youngsters, some veterans and some players proving themselves! 

Going to be a very interesting tactical matchup... the relentless PEB, attacking attacking attacking Vs the impressive ISF who Villa have managed to turn a corner with as of late with a different personnel. Soyuncu and Maguire will be kept busy with the likes of Wesley and Watkins. And Partey maybe have to drop deeper to help mark Buendia! Will the lack of natural width cost the villa? With De Bruyne and Barnes getting free roam to attack Lamptey and Kolasinic... Rabiot will have the task of trying to contain the mercurial Grealish... Only change this week brings in Wan-Bissaka for Cancelo who has played 13 games this season already, but the manager needs to manage the workload and Wan-Bissaka has built a better partnership over the last couple of seasons with Maguire. 
As for Champions League.. Watford have managed to climb up to second in the Group stages. This weeks opponents are Juventus! Who sit 3rd in the League chasing Ac Milan and Inter. Will they go all out in the cup game? or are they focused on making up group in the league? Usual changes in the Cup, Cancelo, Baines, Ward-Prowse, Maddison and Sterling in the side to keep things fresh. 

Watford havn't done to many transfers this season trying to keep settled, this week see's Idrissa Gueye comes in to add a much needed competition for Delcan Rice and someone to help take the burden at BW.

GENK

Only scored 4 goals last week... Have the team gone backwards? The performance would suggest not, with Genk peppering the goal with 22 shots! I'm sure once the front three of Griezmann/Hlozek/Mahrez play a couple more games together things will run like clockwork! A debut for Kessie at BW. But didn't have much to do on this occasion so will take a bigger challenge to see how he adapts to the Genk midfield! Another debut this week for Koulibaly, the defender is being eased into life at Genk. What does this mean for Rudiger? A deal has been struck with sister club Leverkusen to take him to his homeland in Germany to add much needed improvement on Mustafi. 

In Europe, Stuttgart are the opposition this week. An Hungarian/Latvian theme through the the squad with Salazi, Ngay, Juanzems and Sabala being the main men for Genk to try and breakdown! Genk are top of their respective group. However, that doesn't stop the intensity that the squad need to play with to get though to the next round. Experience comes into the side this week, Cabaye was rested last week so regained his Stamina and Coentrao comes in. Rudiger final game for the Club will be the cup game and finally Mousa Dembele remains in the DY position. 

Off field there is little going on at the club, a few reviews. Releasing some players to allow the next Generation of talent to be brought into the club,

LEVERKUSEN

The German machine keeps on marching, up to 4th now. 1 point off 2nd and 7 points off top... Maybe a little to much to expect to catch Schalke! But finishing as high as possible is the aim this season! Could of been looking at relegation had the manger not changed things up earlier in the season. Dresden are this weeks side in the way of 3 points! Both sides play wingers so will be interesting to see how the game unfolds! Could be  the final game for a couple of players who had aided the side to get them where they are but younger and future of the club need to be bedded into the first XI to help progress the squad. Milinkovic-Savic returns to the side in place of Nainggolan, even though he deputised extremely week while Savic was visiting the Physio... Being 33 means his legs can't keep up with 2 games per week. Who will pull the strings... Holtby... Or Busquets...
Gladbach... in Europe Last season Leverkusen scrapped past the side, but will this season be the same? Draxler, Neuhaus, Turan, Eggestein and Hector. Very tough side to breakdown and win against, so Son and Shaarawy will have to be on Form. Lewandowski has found himself amongst the goals recently so will need to keep firing to aid the sides ambitions. 

BOTAFOGO

Saul integrated himself into the side seamlessly and aided the side to a comfortable win over Corinthians. Partnering Casemiro and Fernandinho in midfield to dominate the game, maybe Saul and Grimaldo would like more Spanish players in the side... Playing all out PEP in Brazil certainly makes for a attacking side, but hopefully found the right level of grit and determination to propel the side forward! 6 players earned a Sublime rating last week.. Long may that form continue! The manager continues to try and reduce some of the Aging players... Fernandinho, Hulk, Leonardo, Bravo.. How much longer will these players be able to perform at the top, 2 games a week...
Sao Paulo were the boggy side a couple seasons ago, however the side feel much more better to handle them now and relish the chance to act some revenge! Agnaldo and Hudson will need to be kept quiet for the side to gain all 3 points! Moura, Neymar and Hulk are looking forward to going up against the back line of Caio, Lucas and Caique... 
Boca! Copa Libertadores opponents! Reimond Manco is the Peru goal machine, Player of the Season and Captain! helps to drag his side through many games. However, Casemiro will be relishing the chance to shackle the player and unleash his attacking players! A strong line-up for the side to keep momentum going and secure progression in the competition! 

Off-field see's the departure of Francisco Evanilson... Could he have taken over from Hulk.. However looking forward to the player being brought in....

Thanks Phil for the great read as usual.

Data entry is underway...

Barcelona


A huge game in Europe this week away at Plymouth. A point will see Barcelona top the group with qualification already secured. Plymouth look strong with new addition Lukaku a beast up front and goal machine Gundogan in midfield. Quite a few League regulars are rested for this game with Olmo, Valverde, Kounde and Cucurella stepping up to get some game time and try to force their way into the starting 11.
The League sees the Blaugrana host bottom of the table Santander with the only change being Ansu Fati returning to the starting line up after injury.
The big games in La Liga see Betis host Atletico and Valencia host Zaragoza.

Nacional


Nacional host Argentine giants River Plate in a huge Libertadores game. The feared attacking trio of Rodriguez, Icardi and Simeone will test the home defence in what is a must win game for Nacional.
The League provides an easier test with visitors Atenas. Zaracho coming in at DY so Lodeiro can focus on the Libertadores games is the only change to a very settled line up.

Hannover


The race for promotion is really heating up in Germany. In a massive game of the top two Wolfsburg host leaders Frankfurt while Hannover visit Mainz and have an opportunity to make up some ground. Only one change to the starting eleven with Gregoritsch coming in for the injured Poulsen in attack.
Europe sees Norwich visit Hannover in an intriguing fixture. With the wily John McGinn pulling the strings and Danny Welbeck leading the line the Canaries are a force to be reckoned with. Alexander Isak returns to the Cup side to lead the line and Florian Grillitsch adds to the Austrian contingent with a start in midfield hopefully shutting down McGinn.

Rennais


It's a top of the table clash in France's bottom division which could see Rennais put some daylight between themselves and second place Angers. It's a tough ask with injuries plaguing the side. The lethal Patson Daka and young gun Isak Johannesson are on the treatment table and experienced forward Bakambu and debutant Truffert step in the team. 
Europe sees Hungarian giants, Ferenvaros, visit northern France in a game the home side need to win. Aouar, Ben Yedder, Rami and co will be up against it but hopefully they can do enough.

Schalke

Two welcome home games for Schalke this week.

The midweek CL match against PSG sees FAP lining up against FAS with Schalke fielding a conventional lineup. Coman and Goretzka will provide the width to hopefully out-gun the PSG attacking threat. Kimmich to handle the PSG TM and Havertz pulling the strings.

It's the Rivierderby this week v Dortmund - SLA v ISF. Schalke employing a CC to help block a free-scoring Dortmund lately. Davies and Ferran freshening up the midfield and the manager giving Mbappe the freedom to attack as he sees fit!

The board have decided to sell some shares and list a couple of players to keep the finances ticking over.

League games will kickoff at 1000 hours this morning ( Wednesday ). Euro games are underway...

Good luck to everyone 

Champions Cup - Match day 5 results

Charlton 2 Real Madrid 2
Inter Milan 4 Ajax 4

Plymouth 3 Barcelona 2
AC Milan 6 Lisbon 0

Man City 2 Benfica 0
Schalke 4 Paris 0

Watford 7 ( seven ) Juventus 2
Bayern 3 Man United 2

Wow seven goals for Watford in group four certainly helps their chances of going through to the quarter-finals but it is still far from over with Watford top and Man United and Bayern only a point behind with just one game left. Definitely through are Real Madrid from group one who look like a different side this season and have dominated this group from day one, Barcelona also go through but could still lose top spot to Plymouth who could lose second spot to AC Milan, so its still tight here with plenty to play for still. Manchester City and Schalke have dominated group three and are both through with City top and they can both relax and enjoy match day six. Charlton and Ajax are both on seven points behind Real Madrid so its still tense for them.

Europa Cup

Genk 1 Stuttgart 0
Liverpool 4 PSV 2

Atletico 5 Roma 1
Spurs 4 Feyenoord 1

Nantes 5 Etienne 5
Valencia 4 Celtic 1

Villa 3 Monaco 2
Arsenal 6 Dortmund 3

Genk, Atletico, Valencia, Arsenal and Dortmund are all through with a game to spare. Close everywhere else.

Copa Libertadores

Botafogo 3 Boca 1
Vasco 1 Estudiantes 2

Fluminense 5 Argentinos 2
Sao Paulo 2 Barselona 1

Nacional 2 River Plate 1
Flamengo 6 Millonarios 0

Santos 5 ElNacional 0
Palmeiras 2 Corinthians 1

Estudiantes, Botafogo and Santos all go through and it is again very close everywhere else.

More results to follow later.

League game reset is underway...

Big win for Ben. Barca still need a point at home against Milan to top the group.

Rob@Barcelona wrote:

Big win for Ben. Barca still need a point at home against Milan to top the group.

Always hard fought and close in the 'Wilson' Derby... undoubtedly could have gone either way.

Great win for Atletico - need a result in the league though!

Interesting to see how Twente and Independiente got on as well later on!

European Cup Winners Cup

Chelsea 2 Partizan 1
Berlin 4 Red Star 2

Chelsea and Berlin both go through.

Athens 0 Gornik 1
Lazio 2 Marseille 2

Three points separate the top three and all to play.

Everton 5 Sparta 1
Hamburg 0 Atalanta 2

Everton and Atalanta both through.

Soton 3 Basel 1
Cologne 1 Napoli 2

Soton and Napoli both through.

European Cup

Leverkusen 4 Gladbach 1 both go through with Leverkusen finishing top.
Shaktar 3 Blackburn 2

Twente 4 Brondby 1 Twente finish top.
Lille 2 Coventry 2

Wolfsburg 2 Vikingur 2
Lyon 2 Westham 3 both go through with Westham top.

Brighton 1 Ararat 0
Frankfurt 1 Leicester 2 Leicester through at the top.

Fairs Cup

Molde 0 Wimbledon 0
Rangers 3 Dresden 4 Dresden through but can still be overtaken by Rangers.

Ruzomberok 2 Palace 2 Palce go through still very tight for the other spot though, still anybodys.
Hibs 3 Jena 4

Hannover 4 Norwich 1
Bratislava 3 Auxerre 0 Any two from three with only Auxerre out of the running.

Aberdeen 1 Birmingham 3 both go through.
Shelbourne 1 Zenit 0

Paul Hemmings wrote:

European Cup

Leverkusen 4 Gladbach 1 both go through with Leverkusen finishing top.
Shaktar 3 Blackburn 2

Leverkusen going from Strength to Strength at the moment. 

Roll on the league games and rollacoaster of emotions 

Intertoto

Consett 3 Honved 4
Shamrock 2 Bordeaux 4 Bordeaux and Honved both through.

Rennais 2 Ferencvaros 3
Bohemians 1 Rotterdam 1 Bohemians through but second still wide open.

Limerick 2 Fenerbahce 0
Linfield 1 Mechelen 2 Limerick and Mechelen both through.

Slovan 0 Galatasaray 1
Ujpest 1 West Brom 3 WBA and Galatasaray both go through.

Copa SudAmerica

Emelec 1 Defensor 0
Alianza 0 Danubio 1 Danubio through but its close for second between Emelec and Defensor.

Independente 6 Penarol 1 both go through.
Cristal 2 Strongest 1

Medellin 4 Gremio 1
Porteno 1 Catolica 0 Medellin second and Porteno top both go through.

Amexica 1 Cruzeiro 3
Velez 3 Colo-Colo 0 Cruzeiro through in top spot but its close for second.

The fans are seated the players are ready and the ref blows for the start of the league games, good luck to everybody this week...

Nantes 1 Toulouse 0 Oscar on 2 minutes.

Plymouth 1 Newcastle 0 Bernardo on 3 minutes.
Man City 1 Chelsea 0 Rashford.
Mainz 0 Hannover 1 Brandt.
Betis 0 Atletico 1 Bernat.

Interesting and crucial game at Maine Road where joint leaders of the Premiership clash in a battle for outright leader, with a good start for the home side...

Genk 1 Lokeren 0 Griezmann on 4 minutes.
Corinthians 0 Santos 1 Rony.
Cruzeiro 0 Fluminense 1 Fred.
Arsenal 1 Man United 0 Pereira.

Petrazalka 0 Ruzomberok 1 Sulejmani on 6 minutes.

Corinthians 0 Santos 2 Jean Chera on 7 minutes.