To kick off this edition of the OTT, Congratulations to small clubs doing big things this season, even though we'll probably talk more about big clubs doing insignificant things... And special thanks to unclesox for the classy title that nods to all the knowledgeable folks who post here regularly. There will be plenty of times to mock the frivolous spending and epic fails... And without further ado, we pick up our regularly scheduled programming already in progress from here...
Drogba trolls Arsenal again coming into the 2nd half and scoring twice late in the game for Galatasaray as they beat Arsenal 2 x 1 in the Emirates Cup. Poor Wenger ...
Well, Madrid and Chelsea both won their matches last night. So it will be Mou v Madrid on Wednesday in Miami.
Right after he called Brazilian Ronaldo the real Ronaldo too and talked about the heavy politics at Madrid.
Remaining top 10 salaries : 5th : zlatan ibrahimovic 14.5M 6th : radamel falcao 14M 7th : wayne rooney 13.8M 8th : sergio aguero 13.5M 9th : yaya toure 13M 10th : thiago silva 12M
Rumors now swirling of ANOTHER possible Napoli-Liverpool deal. Napoli president De Laurentiis: "We have asked Liverpool to see about the availability of one of their five Big Ears coppas. Five is a lot and we feel that with the relationship between the two clubs at its peak at the moment the timing is right to negotiate for one of their Big Ears trophies. Rafa is very keen to get the 2005 edition because that is the version he won for the club. He'd like to be able to taunt the Rossoneri every time they come to visit the San Paolo. But the Napoli board are most interested in the 1984 edition because Liverpool won it against Roma at the Olimpico. That was the most crushing defeat ever for the Giallorossi and the Big Ears presence during the Derby del Sole could go a long way in helping to revitalize the Napoli-Roma rivalry. Imagine the hatred the '84 Big Ears could generate if we were to bring it with us every time we played at the Olimpico, and I'm sure Big Ears would enjoy visiting the ground it was presented at all those years ago. He would be very impressed to see how much the Olimpico has changed over the years with the roof and video scoreboard. Additionally, the '84 Big Ears could be loaned out to the Lazio Curva Nord ultras for the Derby della Capitale. I'm not sure I'd want to be present at the stadium for that occasion. HAHAHA! The '77 Big Ears is also an option for us since it was also presented at the Olimpico but Liverpool are not too keen to let that one go since it was their first Big Ears. And we are not too interested in either the '78 or '81 editions. Negotiations will be tough but I feel Liverpool would consider the offer if we were to rename the San Paolo Curva B as 'The Kop' or play "You'll Never Walk Alone" over the tannoy before the start of each game. Diego Armando Maradona has informed us that he is in favor of us getting the Big Ears trophy so that he can tell his friends that he won it for us. He's sick and tired of only getting to talk about that good-for-nothing Coppa UEFA from 1989."
CL qualifying: Maccabi Tel Aviv were trailing Basel 0-3 on the night and 0-4 on aggregate. It's now 3-3 on the night, 3-4 on aggregate. Also , Skenderbeu (Albania) leads Shakhter Karagndy (Kazahkstan) 2-0 on the night after losing the first leg 3-0 away. Of course every time I post on this thread about a possible dramatic comeback in progress, it stalls...
^ Yup. Comebacks totally stalled after I posted about them. Maccabi and Basel finish 3-4 on aggregate for Basel. Shakhter Karagandy lead 4-3 on aggregate now (with an away goal).
Some interesting news out of Russia. LPB wannabes Anzhi Makhachkala appear to on the verge of selling many of their top players after their frustrated billionaire owner Suleiman Kerimov apparently told everyone that he is drastically cutting its financial lifeline due to poor performances by the club. Club chairman Konstantin Remchukov tweeted this: "The main news is that there will be a reorganisation at Anzhi. Many expensive players will go, and the budget will be around $50-70 million dollars a year." Can't help but wonder if Guud Hiddink saw this coming. So, do hey have any defenders of interest? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Anzhi_Makhachkala#Current_squad
So the 5 seeded teams are now know in the league side of the Champions League playoff draw (to be held on Friday): seeds: Arsenal, Lyon, Zenit, Milan, Schalke unseeded: Real Sociedad, Fenerbache, Pacos de Ferreira, Metalist Kharkiv PSV/Zulte Waregem. Some potentially uncomfortable match-ups for the big clubs.
I'm not sure FOX has the rights to show qualifying CL matches. GolTV is showing the Celtic match right now.