UEFA Champions League 2012/2013 Thread

[beavis]

Rizzoli to referee Champions League Final

UEFA has announced that Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli will be the man in charge of Saturday's Champions League Final between Bayern Munchen and Borussia Dortmund.

The match at Wembley will be Rizzoli's fifth Champions League game of the season and his 27th in total. His last European game was Malaga's 2-0 round of 16 win over FC Porto back in March.

The 41-year-old, who has been an international referee since 2007, previously officiated the 2010 Europa League Final between Atletico Madrid and Fulham, and also refereed at EURO 2012 last summer in Poland and Ukraine.

At the Final in London, Rizzoli will be assisted by his countrymen Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani. The 4th official will be Damir Skomina from Slovenia and the two additional assistant referees, Gianluca Rocchi and Paolo Tagliavento are also from Italy.

[portughezu']

Gotze, out pentru finala Ligii !





Lovitură puternică pentru Jurgen Klopp şi Dortmund, înainte de finala Champions League. Deşi medicii erau optimişti în privinţa recuperării lui Mario Gotze pentru ultimul act de pe Wembley, gruparea germană a confirmat că acesta nu va fi inclus în delegaţia care va lua drumul Angliei, anunţă Bild.de.

După accidentarea suferită în meciul tur cu Real Madrid, Gotze a fost forţat să stea departe de teren, iar locul său în echipă a fost luat de Kevin Großkreutz, care cel mai probabil va fi titular şi contra lui Bayern.

"Finala Champions League era ţelul meu şi am tras din greu în ultimele săptămâni pentru a fi apt de joc. Îmi pare incredibil de rău că nu voi putea evolua şi că nu îmi voi putea ajuta echipa. Am încredere totală în băieţi şi voi fi suporterul lor din tribună", a spus Gotze pentru site-ul oficial al Borussiei.

Meciul de pe Wembley ar fi avut o încărcătură specială pentru mijlocaşul de 20 de ani, care ar fi îmbrăcat pentru ultima oară tricoul lui Dortmund, chiar în faţa viitoarei sale echipe. Din vară, Gotze va veni la Munchen, sub comanda lui Guardiola, e reziliere în urmă cu ceva mai bine de o lună.

[beavis]

Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munchen preview

Germany international Ilkay Gundogan will be vital to Borussia Dortmund's hopes in the Champions League Final against Bayern Munchen.

Bayern are widely considered the favourites for Saturday's all-German showdown at Wembley Stadium, especially since the Bavarian club destroyed FC Barcelona 7-0 in their 2-legged semi-final.

Up against Barca's vaunted midfield of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, Bayern's central-midfield duo, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez, were far too strong and provided a solid foundation for the German club's impressive triumph.

Dortmund and Bayern are expected to play similar 4-2-3-1 formations at London's showpiece stadium, which will make the midfield battle crucial as neither side will have an obvious advantage tactically.

Up against Schweinsteiger and Martinez, who combine impressive physical capabilities with accurate passing, Dortmund will need Gundogan to be at the top of his game if they are to ensure Bayern lose their third Champions League Final in 4 seasons.

Since last season's German Cup Final, when Dortmund beat Bayern 5-2, Heynckes' side have won 2 of 4 meetings with the Westfalenstadion club, with the other 2 matches ending in a stalemate as the Bavarians clinched the Bundesliga title by 25 points.

Dortmund hosted Bayern earlier this month in Bundesliga with Kevin Grosskreutz and Mario Gomez scoring in a 1-1 draw as both coaches gave some of their key players a rest.

In a huge blow for Dortmund, attacking midfielder Mario Gotze, who will join Bayern next season, has been ruled out of the Final with a hamstring injury he suffered in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.

[deangel9]

Cine va castiga UCL sezonul acesta?

Bayern Munchen
8 17.78%

AlexSUN
CrYSTy-fcv
KekeJr
Kiddosu
mariusmarinescu
niculicitavi
stefyultra
usern

Bravo!

[beavis]

un sezon de vis pt bavarezi... urmeaza hegemonia ?

pt ca altfel nu-mi explic de ce l-au dat afara pe Jupp

numai in cazul in care vor sa domine Europa (UCL - Supercupa Europei - CM al cluburilor) inca 2-3 sezoane de acum incolo

oricum va fi destul de greu pt Pep sa vina la conducerea unei echipe ce a castigat totul (nu cred ca VfB are puterea sa castige Cupa)



LOL

[beavis]

Champions League - Team of the Season


Manuel Neuer (Bayern)



Lahm (Bayern) - Silva (PSG) - Subotic (Dortmund) - Schmelzer (Dortmund)



Xavi (Barca) - Schweinsteiger (Bayern)



Gotze (Dortmund) - Muller (Bayern) - Ronaldo (Real Madrid)



Lewandowski (Dortmund)

[FREAKTUNING]

Frumos, Bayern cu putin noroc a castigat aseara, dar meritau mai ales ca in ultimii 4 ani au ajuns de 3 ori in finala.

[beavis]

Top 10 all-time Champions League goalscorers

After another thrilling season of continental football, we are finally closing in on the campaign's showpiece event - the Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium.

This year's competition has again produced some memorable moments as the continent's biggest and best clubs battle to be crowned European champions for 2013.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were again prominent as their sides made it to the semi-finals and battled with Borussia Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski and Bayern Munchen's Thomas Muller to win the Golden Boot award.



10. Alessandro Del Piero - 42 goals
Alessandro Del Piero is one of the 4 players profiled in our top 10 who scored all his Champions League goals for only one club.

The former Juventus icon netted 42 times for the current Italian champions in Europe's elite club competition during his lengthy career at the top, winning the Golden Boot award twice.

He helped them to win the trophy in 1996, playing the full game in the eventual triumph over Ajax on penalties and also participated in 3 other finals for Juve, although they all ended in defeat.

Despite being a prolific goalscorer in the competition, he only scored once in his 4 appearances in the Champions League Final, against Borussia Dortmund in 1997.



9. Filippo Inzaghi - 46 goals
A 2-time winner of the Champions League, Filippo Inzaghi certainly made his mark in the competition over 13 years with Juventus and, most significantly, AC Milan.

Strangely, Inzaghi is one of just 2 players in our list who never won the Champions League Golden Boot during his career, so making his way into the overall top 10 serves to highlight his consistency in front of goal on an annual basis.

The striker's most significant contributions saw him net a double and win the Man of the Match award as Milan defeated Liverpool in the 2007 Final in Athens, avenging their infamous Istanbul defeat in the Final of 2 years before, a game which he had missed out on.



8. Eusebio - 47 goals
One of the 2 great players in our list who performed their heroics in the competition before the modern Champions League era is Eusebio.

The Portugal legend led Benfica to a string of European Cup finals over the course of the 60s in an historically-important spell which saw the Portuguese giants challenge Real Madrid's early dominance of the tournament.

A 3-time Golden Boot winner in 1965, 1966 and 1968, Eusebio's 47 goals came over the course of just 64 European matches.



7. Andrey Shevchenko - 48 goals
While his spell at Chelsea may not have been prolific, Andrey Shevchenko's goalscoring exploits for Dynamo Kiev and AC Milan ensure he is still up there with Europe's greats in our top 10.

The Ukraine icon won the Golden Boot twice, but with a large 7-year gap (in 1999 and 2006), while he was also on the winning and losing end of penalty shoot-outs in the Final.

In 2003 he scored the decisive spot-kick as Milan beat Juventus at Old Trafford to win the trophy, but 2 years later it was his miss that sealed Liverpool's remarkable comeback against the San Siro giants in Istanbul.



6. Alfredo Di Stefano - 49 goals
Legendary Real Madrid star Alfredo Di Stefano is the player with the best goalscoring strike-rate in our top 10, with his 49 European Cup goals sensationally arriving in just 58 games.

Famously part of the side who won the first 5 competitions between 1956 and 1960 to go along with his own personal goalscoring exploits, he arguably goes down as the most decorated player in the tournament's history.

Di Stefano scored a hat-trick in the memorable 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 Final to help seal the fifth-successive trophy at Hampden Park, which was amongst numerous other great moments in his continental career.



5. Thierry Henry - 50 goals
Despite never winning the Golden Boot in his Champions League career, Thierry Henry still impressively made it to 50 goals in the tournament during his time with AS Monaco, Arsenal and FC Barcelona.

It was for the Gunners that he scored the majority of his European goals, but having failed at the last hurdle with Arsenal in 2006, he finally won the competition in 2009 with Barca - starting in the Rome Final against Manchester United.



4. Cristiano Ronaldo - 50 goals
The semi-finals of this year's competition may have been miserable for Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid as they suffered a demoralising defeat to Borussia Dortmund, but the first leg of the tie did see the Portuguese star reach his half-century of goals in Champions League.

Ronaldo won the Golden Boot as he helped Manchester United to win the 2008 competition and led them to another Final in 2009, where Sir Alex Ferguson's men lost to FC Barcelona.

While he has not been able to enjoy the same level of team success in the tournament so far since moving to Santiago Bernabeu, he has become an even more prolific player, having now netted over double the amount of goals for Madrid in Europe than he ever did at United.

Ronaldo beats Henry in our list due to playing in fewer games to reach the 50 mark - he has played 92 in the competition to date, compared to the Frenchman's total of 114.



3. Ruud van Nistelrooy - 56 goals
One of the most prolific poachers in the modern era, Ruud van Nistelrooy certainly made his mark in Champions League during his illustrious career.

A winner of the Golden Boot 3 times in the space of 4 seasons in 2002, 2003 and 2005, backing Van Nistelrooy to score became a common theme of a European night, with him eventually racking up a stunning total of 56 goals.

The big frustration for the Dutchman when he looks back on his career will be his failure to win the tournament, despite having spent his peak years at Manchester United and Real Madrid, two of the continent's biggest and most successful club sides.



2. Lionel Messi - 59 goals
It will take something truly exceptional to prevent Lionel Messi sitting at No. 1 on this list by the time his career has reached a conclusion.

Despite still being only 25-year-old, the Argentine superstar is already second, above all but one of the continent's great goalscorers of past and present on 59 goals from 79 Champions League games.

The remarkably consistent Messi has won the Golden Boot in each of the last 4 seasons, although Cristiano Ronaldo is set to break that streak this time around.

Having already won the tournament 3 times with FC Barcelona, the potential list of team and individual honours Messi could rack up by the end of his playing days could be truly spectacular.



1. Raul Gonzalez - 71 goals
The man Messi is chasing for top spot in the Champions League goalscoring stakes is Real Madrid legend Raul, who also netted a handful of strikes for Schalke in the competition after leaving Santiago Bernabeu.

The striker scored a total of 71 times in a stunning European career in front of goal and will always be synonymous with a tournament he won on 3 occasions for the Spanish capital giants.

While Raul's place at the top of the charts may not be ever-lasting with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo making up fast ground, it looks like he is going to hold on to the top spot for a while longer yet.

[beavis]

Malaga lose Euro ban appeal

The Court of Arbitration for Sport have dismissed Malaga's appeal to play in Europa League next season.

In December, UEFA ruled Malaga would be ineligible to play in Europe for 2 years, later reduced to one, for violations of financial fair play rules.

Malaga appealed to CAS last week, but UEFA's ruling has been ratified.

A CAS statement read: "CAS has dismissed the appeal filed by Malaga against the decision taken on 21 December 2012 by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body decision".

"As a consequence, the Spanish club is excluded from the Europa League 2013/2014 and will have to pay a fine of €300.000."

Malaga's place in next year's Europa League will provisionally go to ninth placed FC Sevilla.

Rayo Vallecano, who finished eighth, would have taken the spot but have not been granted a UEFA licence.