Season 32 Week 14 processing...

Welcome to week 14, hopefully everybody had a good christmas.

No orders yet from Newcastle and Watford.

The reset is underway...

Hi Paul, 

Hopefully turn has arrived now, was sat in "outbox" unsent for some reason

Not written a preview in a while but here's a quick one to kick off 2022.

Barcelona

A tough trip to Zaragoza this week who sit in 5th and have a strong frontline including Luis Alberto and Iker Muniain. Hopefully Brozovic can keep Alberto quiet and my forwards can do some damage. Next week Barca host Atletico in what is a huge match.
The Champions League gets really serious this week with Barca visiting one the the best teams in the game. Rich has got his Real side firing and any team which can choose between .... Haaland, Messi, Ronaldo, Eden Hazard, Chiesa, Kante, Szboszlai, Lautaro Martinez, Zakaria and the experience of Modric and Iniesta can't be awful. A huge task for Barca.
Barca are recalling Edmond Tapsoba from loan this week to add some more competition in defence and there are rumours of a world class keeper on the way to succeed Keylor Navas.

Nacional

A huge week ahead at Nacional as well. If Barca have it bad ...... it's worse in Uruguay.  Nacional travel to 3rd place Defensor who boast a 100% home record in the League.  A huge game in any season. Defensor are ultra attacking with their wingers doing a lot of damage.
The good news is that it's much much worse in the Libertadores where Nacional travel to the all conquering Santos. Santos sit an incredible 8 points clear in Brazil leaving some great teams trailing in their wake. The good news is ..... actually, forget that.
Nacional are bringing in the experienced Mauro Arambarri to partner Guido Rodriguez in midfield and add even more steel to the side. Rumours are floating around Montevideo that a deal is being worked on to allow Jose Giminez to join at the end of the season. Nothing has been formally announced at this stage but fans are getting excited.

Hannover

After a couple of huge games against Frankfurt and Wolfsburg in recent weeks Hannover travel to Kaiserslautern. A consistent side with a strong spine has proven successful in recent weeks and the team need to keep focused as the 2nd Bundesliga title race is really on with only 2 points separating the top 3.
Hannover face Aberdeen, who are flying in Scotland, in Europe. Experienced duo Radamel Falcao and Shinji Kagawa pull the strings for the Scottish side and Hannover will really have their work cut out.

Rennais

The Rennes management are putting great faith in the stellar front line of Griezmann, Thuram and Ben Yedder. All 3 managed to get on the scoresheet last week and the fans are expecting more of the same.
No changes this week but management are working hard to improve the quality of the defence and add more balance to the team.

Schalke

A massive CL Qtr against Watford, away, beckons a Schalke team picked on form and skills.
The manager has picked a formation that he hopes will contain the attacking opponents and quickly turn defence into attack. Mbappe is missing after picking up a minor injury last week and Goretzka is not quite ready to be included.

A home game against stuttgart sees FAP v FAS with Baumgartner, Jovic and Klostermann refreshing the side.

The board have been busy sorting out some contract renewals and a couple of youngsters have been listed...

Phil@Watford wrote:

Hi Paul, 

Hopefully turn has arrived now, was sat in "outbox" unsent for some reason

Received thanks Phil

Watford

Manager has decided to roll the dice this week, go big or go home is the motto.. The decision has been made to drop the BW and go full PEPIOLA, with KDB coming in for Rice at DL and Maddison going DR. There should be enough TA between the midfield trio of Partey/KDB/Maddison. Grealish sticks to LW after impressing last week. Man Utd in the league and Partey is going to have to do a job on Fernandes otherwise this will be another back and forth game! Logic was to match up the DLDR of FAS vs DLDR of PEP. Will be interesting to see how it unfolds.. Something the manager has been reluctant to do in league games but, never know until you try.. 

Champions Cup... Could of been a Final match up, however got to play the best to be the Champions. Again the decision has been to go with DLDR in the CUP game as no doubt Schalke have planned to play something different then there norm, so can't be left doing my usual. Similar thoughts - In form/trained up players in order to progress.

GENK

Same philosophy adopted here, Kessie to dynamic to play at BW so have opted for PEP with Camavinga, Kessie and Gravenberch dominating the midfield for years to come. This weeks opponents are Bruges, who have a lot of players and only sit one place behind Genk. However, a win is a Must to keep in touch of Anderlecht who have only lost 1 game all season and currently 2 points between us. Time is running our for Anderlecht to drop points..... 

As for Europe, PSV. A strong duo up front in Giovinco and Dzeko with a combined 37 goals between them! So going to be a interesting game, and a midfield of Anita, Van Ginkel and Gustavo Scarpa! Strong opposition for Genk, who always love a European game! 

LEVERKUSEN

Leverkusen have managed to get themselves out of financial trouble, swift sales and a well timed bank loan allows Leverkusen to be "Big players" in the market.. Just like Josep Bartomeu would say..... debt isn't quite 1.2billion. Karlsruhe this week which is a good test vs an old foe from last season! Be interesting to see how far the teams have come. No changes to the Leverkusen side this week, Szalai and Musiala make the bench and awaiting to return to the first 11, Put the effort in on the training ground first!

Blackburn in the European Cup, Spanish themed and a mixture of youth and experience just like the Leverkusen side. So will be a good test of strength with Son Hueng-Min coming into the side and Busquests preferred to Dorsch. 

BOTAFOGO

Palmeiras are this weeks opponents, 8 points off top. Probs a little to ambitious for myself. But the team have been instructed to not give up! Dodo returns to the starting line-up, eager to make a impression with Couto impressing in recent weeks. A debut for Marcos Llorente who looks to make the DR position his own in the league. Manager is expecting big things from the Spanish international. Saul and Llorente in midfield and Casimeiro anchoring the side! 

Estudiante the opposition between Botafogo and progression, something the manager is taking very seriously in order to win some silverware! A bit of experience preferred this week. Galhardo keeps his spot up top as Hulk recently returned from injury. Schellotto comes in RB after some sublime performances in the position using his versatility and Fernandinho comes in at DR after being rested in the League. Tete keeps his place at LW after manager made a rookie mistake earlier in the season... Left footed, playing at RW.. 

Good luck to all!

Friendly games have kicked off. Midweek games to follow in the morning. League games to kickoff at 1000 hours Wednesday morning...

Champions Cup - Quarter-Final results

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 1
Plymouth 5 Charlton 3
Man City 2 Bayern 0
Watford 1 Schalke 4

Congratulations to all the winners and quite a performance by Schalke.

Europa Cup

Genk 3 Spurs 0
Atletico 5 Liverpool 4
Valencia 4 Dortmund 3
Arsenal 4 Nantes 5

Copa Libertadores

Botafogo 6 Sao Paulo 1
Fluminense 3 Estudiantes 1
River Plate 3 Palmeiras 1
Santos 3 Nacional 4

Confederations Cup

Cosmos 5 Tokyo 0
Melbourne 1 Accra 0
Chicago 2 Setif 1
Wydad 1 Mamelodi 2

European Cup Winners Cup

Chelsea 6 Athens 0
Lazio 0 Berlin 2
Atalanta 0 Soton 1
Napoli 3 Everton 1

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup - Quarter-Final results

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 1
Plymouth 5 Charlton 3
Man City 2 Bayern 0
Watford 1 Schalke 4

Congratulations to all the winners and quite a performance by Schalke.

Congrats Ben, obviously another entertaining game.  Injury to Thiago last week (another one) was always going to cost me.

European Cup

Leverkusen 5 Lille 0
Twente 5 Gladbach 0
Westham 2 Frankfurt 3
Leicester 3 Lyon 2

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Europa Cup

Genk 3 Spurs 0
Atletico 5 Liverpool 4
Valencia 4 Dortmund 3
Arsenal 4 Nantes 5

Delighted to win this one, also 3 injuries last week to key players was always going to make it difficult but to come through especially away from home against a tough side is a great result.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Copa Libertadores

Botafogo 6 Sao Paulo 1
Fluminense 3 Estudiantes 1
River Plate 3 Palmeiras 1
Santos 3 Nacional 4

Solid performance by Fluminense on the face of it, pleased with that.  

What a result at the bottom, who is the up and coming Nacional manager......

European Fairs Cup

Dresden 2 Jena 1
Palace 3 Rangers 1
Hannover 3 Aberdeen 2
Birmingham 3 Norwich 2

Europa Conference Cup

Dragovol 1 Innsbruck 3
Derby 2 Rapid Vienna 3
Wednesday 1 Real Betis 2
Anderlecht 4 Lillestrom 2

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Bordeaux 2 Rotterdam 1
Bohemians 5 Honved 0
Limerick 0 Galatasaray 1
West Brom 4 Mechelen 1

Europa Intercity Cup

Zagreb 1 Leipzig 3
Leeds 5 Spartak 0
Standard Liege 0 Cherry 4
Burnley 4 Kragujevac 1

Copa SudAmerica

Danubio 3 Penarol 2
Independente 9 ( nine ) Defensor 1
Porteno 2 Amexica 0
Cruzeiro 6 Medellin 0

Reset for the League games is underway, kickoff at 1000 hours...

Paul Hemmings wrote:

European Cup Winners Cup

Chelsea 6 Athens 0
Lazio 0 Berlin 2
Atalanta 0 Soton 1
Napoli 3 Everton 1

No messing about from Chelsea.

Well delighted with the continental games - can the teams bring the form into the league games - some massive games for all the teams so fingers crossed!

Tom@Charlton wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup - Quarter-Final results

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 1
Plymouth 5 Charlton 3
Man City 2 Bayern 0
Watford 1 Schalke 4

Congratulations to all the winners and quite a performance by Schalke.

Congrats Ben, obviously another entertaining game.  Injury to Thiago last week (another one) was always going to cost me.

Thanks Tom - think we have had nearly 20 goals in 2 games this season so the fans getting value for money - the clubs' goal bonus amounts less so!