2012 Champions League Finale

Europe's biggest club competition the Champions League comes to a close tonight in Munich in a final which will see Chelsea play Bayern Munich. Bayern have a major edge in this competition as they have won the Champions League 4 times and the match will be played in their home arena. Chelsea are familiar to Champions League finals as the one and only time the club appeared in one was back in 2008 which they lost to Manchester United in Moscow. History aside this should provide one of the closest match-ups on the pitch as both these sides really cant be separated on paper.

As you can see from the projected lineups seven players from Chelsea and Bayern will be suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Bayern will be without Holger Badstuber, David Alaba, and Luiz Gustavo; while Chelsea are without captain John Terry, Ramires, Raul Meireles, and Branislav Ivanovic. Chelsea are also facing fitness battles for their two centre backs David Luiz, and Gary Cahill, also French playmaker Florent Malouda looks more and more like he will miss the match due to injury.

Bayern definitely have to feel they have the advantage due to the injuries and suspensions Chelsea have suffered. While Bayern will miss Badstuber and Gustavo in the back they aren't missing the major pieces that Chelsea is. You can argue that Chelsea wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the brilliance of Raimres. Say what you will about John Terry but he is Chelsea and is the captain and leader on the pitch for a sometimes mentally weak Chelsea side. Bayern have 2 great wingers in Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery that can just constantly feed the box with crosses for Gomez and if Luiz and Cahill aren't 100%.

Despite all the negatives for Chelsea they still have a great chance of bringing the trophy back to Stamford Bridge. They are playing with renewed confidence under caretaker manager Roberto DiMatteo. Chelsea though are going to need a great game from Drogba, Lampard and Mata. Those players to me are key for Chelsea to get anything from this match. If they all can produce for Chelsea I think they will take the trophy. However I like Bayern Munich to win the 2012 Champions League Finale. I feel that everything is going their way. From the suspensions and injuries Chelsea have to the luxury of them playing at home coming out of their own locker room it just feels that its all setup for them to take it. I'll go with Bayern to win 3-1 with Arjen Robben scoring 2 and Mario Gomez with the third. It should be a great game and all the action starts tonight at 20:45 (CET) or 02:45 (Eastern).

Nigel De Jong Still Is Violent

LOL and just a reminder

Season Finales Around Europe!

So it all comes down to this. Most if not all of the worlds attention will be in England. The title will be decided this week. Man City and Man Utd are tied at the top of the table and all City need to do is win their next game home against QPR. Man Utd who will be away to Sunderland need a City to lose or draw and a win against Sunderland to take the title. There are a ton of tiebreakers and scenarios so I'll keep it simple for you. Also there is relegation battles a plenty where Bolton will try to stay in the Premiership with QPR and Aston Villa possibly replacing them in the drop. In Spain the relegation battle is wide open with 5 teams possibly being relegated. While in Italy Genoa still could face relegation as they need to hope Lecce doesnt win their game against Chievo as Genoa faces a tricky and good Palermo squad.

Champions league places are on the line in all the 3 top leagues. England see's the final 2 spots up for grabs. Arsenal holds the edge with Tottenham in 3rd and 4th respectfully but Newcastle are within reach and 1 of those 3 will miss out. As for Italy my beloved Inter still have some sort of a chance to make it in the Champions League. It will be tough though as Udinese are in the drivers seat and needs basically just a draw to qualify for the 3rd and final spot. Lazio and Napoli still can qualify with Lazio having the best shot as they are only 2 points behind while Napoli and Inter are 3 behind. In Spain the 4th qualifying spot is up for grabs between 4 teams (Malaga, Atletico Madrid, Mallorca, and Levante). Newly rich Malaga are in the drivers seat and can basically seal it with just a draw.

Predictions

So here is how I see it playing out. I'll take Man City to win the league in England just on the tiebreakers can't see either teams losing those matches. Arsenal and Newcastle will make it into the Champions League. Going out on a limb here as Tottenham have arguably the easiest game home v Fulham but that could be tricky. Arsenal go away to West Brom who will bid goodbye to new England manager Roy Hodgson as Newcastle have to go to Everton. This is going to be very tricky for all teams so its really a crap shoot. If Arsenal don't happen to qualify they need to shoot themselves as that is some collapse! I don't think Bolton can beat Stoke at Stoke so I think we will see the Lancashire team in the Championship next year. In Italy I think Udinese takes 3rd spot and Genoa draws with Palermo keeping them up. Spain will see Malaga go to the Champions League while sadly Villareal get relegated as they have to face new Europa League champions Atletico Madrid while Zaragoza will beat Getafe away.

So that's it it should be fun and it all gets started Saturday! Something cool for Americans is that every match in the Premiership on Saturday will be televised on all the fox networks (Fox Soccer, Speed, Fuel, FX etc) and ESPN.

Noel Gallagher Interviews Mario Balotelli

Yeah seriously this happened but its actually a great piece. Noel and Mario both are crazy but they both are talented in their own rights and have a great convo here.

Guy Handcuffs Himself To Post Man City Fans Wish Match Was Cancelled

This wackjob handcuffed himself to the goalpost to protest (get this) airline RyanAir's recruitment policies in which they didnt hire his daughter. What Everton and Man City have to do with that who knows.

Van Persie Reacts To Ox's Substitution

Hilarious "I want to feel your love inside me"

Arsenal 10/11 Home Kit

Ok let me get this correct you pay 50 pounds each year and you get the same shirt every year if your an Arsenal fan (except that year with the great looking maroon shirt). I mean every club has its classic kit but I can't see any change in the Arsenal shirt year to year....

Kamara Is Confused

Football Comedy Part 2

The music that goes along with it is class

Arshavin In Back To The Future

HAHAHAHAHA

Mancinity

Roberto Mancini is the new manager at Man City. As a dedicated Inter supporter who loved Mancini during his spell as manager here (Champions League not included) I wish him all the best and will be supporting Man City after Arsenal of course!

Jimmy Bullard Is A Legend

Yes the title is right watch the video...

Milan Derby & Arsenal v Man Utd This Weekend

Excited for both on Saturday. Forza Inter of course and Go Arsenal (my 2nd favorite club). Should be very good games. Cant wait to see Sneijder we actually have a attacking midfielder!. Anyways these 2 Nike ads got me pumped for the weekend.

Yet More Fights! The West Ham Millwall Edition

There are some terrific videos on youtube that are just too blury to post on my respectable blog. But do check them out to hear the great hymns of "Your Support Is Fucking Shit", "Who Are Ya", etc

Defoe, Young and Pavlyuchenko Play Gaelic Football

Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Aston Villa) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham) feature in this Adidas F50i commercial.

Oh and I have no idea STILL what Gaelic Football is and thats after this video and reading up on it on Wikipedia. WTF

Top 10 2008 Fanzone Clips

GO ON MY SON WATCH THE CLIP AND LAUGH TAKE A BOW!

Federico Macheda

If you don't know who Federico Macheda is then come out from under that rock and watch the probably next best Italian striker for the next 15 years here.