Any recent soccer coverage (especially from that of a non-football site) must make mention of Lionel Messi. Over the past month in particular, the play of the little Argentine has suggested that he could be the greatest soccer player ever—at 22, mind you. Maradona has even said so himself (though he says a lot of things).

Saturday evening brought the big showdown: Barcelona v. Madrid, Messi v. Ronaldo, La Liga title on the line at the Bernabéu. Anticlimactic, it was. Just over half an hour, Xavi chipped the ball over the Madrid backline, and Messi, with a faint touch, converted inches of space into a clear shot on goal. 1-0. Read the rest of this entry »

Football talk dominates the headlines now (especially with Vick landing in Philly), but across the pond, the coming weekend brings about the dawn of the futbol season in England. Just last week, the top divisions in both France and Germany also kicked off, with the likes of those in Spain and other countries to follow suit as August winds down.

Besides battling for the championships in their respective leagues, clubs around Europe will also be vying to stay in the top four (or top three in Germany, France, and Russia, and top two in Turkey, Holland, Greece, Scotland, etc.) to qualify for Champions League football in 2010/11 to compete for continental supremacy (this year’s spots obviously have been decided). Here’s a club-by-club rundown of those most likely to nab those coveted CL spots from the three top leagues in Europe.

England (EPL)

*Awash with more Arab money cash than any other league in the world, the Premiership’s Big Four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United) has now expanded into a wide-open Big Six, with Manchester City and Tottenham looking to deliver on their substantial investments.

1. Chelsea

2008/09 EPL Finish: 3rd

2009/10 Champions League participants: Yes

Bringing in a disciplinarian last season didn’t work out with all the big-name stars in their roster. With ex-AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti in to manage the egos instead of battle them this time around, look for him to coax the best out of the likes of primadonnas such as Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka.

2. Manchester United FC

2008/09 EPL Finish: 1st

2009/10 Champions League participants: Yes

Wayne Rooney simply can’t compensate for the loss of the best player in the world. But with pure wingers in Antonio Valencia and Nani, as well as Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov upfront, they’ll lack movement but retain the same fixed point system that gave them success with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The difference between Read the rest of this entry »

The cruel thing about soccer is that in an instant, 180 minutes of hard-won domination can be rendered useless. Case in point, yesterday’s Champions League semi-final match between Chelsea and Barcelona.

Over the course of two matches, Chelsea managed to shackle — statistically-speaking — the greatest Barcelona team ever, better than the likes of the early ‘90s “Dream Team” and the ’06 squad featuring Ronaldinho at his superhuman peak. Barcelona was running scared shitless, mistiming every pass in anticipation of hard tackles flying in, especially from one man — marauding midfielder Michael Essien.

It was Essien who gave Chelsea the advantage when Read the rest of this entry »