David Villa

Gorgeous Gaffers

Hotties

The Special One Vs The Tinkerman

For two lines to be parallel, they need to extend for ever, always equidistant and never meeting. Map the lives, ancestry and experience of Claudio Ranieri and José Mourinho on to two lines and you will find that they have never come close to converging.

One is the son of a professional footballer and a wealthy heiress whose early years were marked by privilege, until the fall of António Salazar, the Portuguese dictator, in 1968 signalled the end of his family's power. The other comes from a long line of butchers.

One failed in his attempt to become a professional footballer, working his way into management throughout his twenties, starting from the most humble of assistant roles. The other was the epitome of the honest, journeyman pro, featuring mostly for unglamorous Italian clubs.

One got his first managerial job at Benfica, a club who have lifted the European Cup twice, have more club members than Barcelona and a stadium that holds 65,547. The other started at Vigor Lamezia, in Italian non-League football, playing in front of a few hundred fans.

And, if you were to ask Mourinho, there would be another parallel to make. One has won four league titles, four domestic cups, a Uefa Cup and a Champions League in six full seasons of management. The other, despite having managed roughly three times as long, has only two domestic cups to his name.

This evening, when Ranieri's Juventus, who are second in Serie A, visit Mourinho's table-topping Inter Milan, they will face off against each other for the first time, although they have been adversaries for much longer. Indeed, you can trace the animosity back to April 19, 2004. On that day, both were in Monaco: Ranieri to prepare Chelsea for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against the local side, Mourinho to meet Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, who was offering him the opportunity replace Ranieri.

In Ranieri's version of events, that meeting changed the course of history: his and Chelsea's. He was made aware of it even as it was going on and, while he knew that his job was in jeopardy, the brazen manner of the meeting between Mourinho and Kenyon, 24 hours before a crucial match (with a potential Champions League final against Mourinho's Porto at stake) left him shaken and nonplussed.

So much so that, the next night, with Chelsea in control, the normally cautious Ranieri made a number of attacking substitutions, which resulted in his team losing 3-1 to ten-man Monaco. It was perhaps the only time in his career that Ranieri deviated from his script and he paid a hefty price.

So we are left with two men who make no secret of their animosity towards each other. In a world where people often hide personal feelings behind a curtain of clichés and football-speak, the resentment being so public strikes a strident note. And, in many ways, it is difficult to explain.

In the broader scheme of things, while they are in charge of two of Europe's biggest clubs, their briefs are different. Mourinho has taken over an Inter team fresh from three consecutive Serie A titles and, in net terms, last summer he outspent every manger in Europe bar one in an effort to deliver a team capable of winning the Champions League.

Ranieri took Juventus to third in their first year back in the top flight and is charged with leading them through a transition year. He is not expected to challenge for the title; a decent European run and a strong Serie A finish would be enough.

This evening, the coaches are expected to overshadow the wealth of talent on display. Both have bounced back after shaky starts, both have been put through the wringer by the local media, fans and even some of their squad.

What little common ground exists between these two men, you do get the impression that their existence will continue to run in parallel. And while they will physically come together this evening, in every other sense, “never the twain shall meet”.

Number crunch
71 Mourinho’s win percentage as Chelsea manager (P185 W131 D36 L18)
54 Ranieri’s win percentage as Chelsea head coach (P199 W107 D46 L46)
103 Mourinho’s run of home league matches unbeaten (five with Inter, 60 at Chelsea and 38 at Porto

Courtesy - www.timesonline.co.uk

The Spanish League

Photoshoot - Michael Ballack

Luis Figo

Pictures and more

Jose @ an Inter game

Frank shopping for a vintage Ferrari before Sunderland game

Ballack injury during the world cup qualifier

Luis Figo

My first love in many ways than one !!!!!

It was a weekend of draws !!!

Chelsea drew with Spurs on Sunday !!!!

Inter Milan started their campaign to defend the Serie A title against Sampadoria with a draw :

I am sad but i do know that its just the beginning for both my teams and it will be just a matter to time until things start looking great...

Hopefully :)

Just like that !!!!

English Teams in Champions League

Four Barclays Premier League powerhouses, but where is the threat to stop another English invasion of the Champions League Final?

Barcelona are the natural challengers with a new coach in Pep Guardiola and a different way of playing, Jose Mourinho will love keeping Roman Abramovich waiting for another year and beware Bayern Munich under Jurgen Klinsmann. He means business on their return to the competition. The hardest draw is Real Madrid’s group, where UEFA Cup holders and Russian champions Zenit will pose a serious problem to the established powers.
One of Madrid or Juventus might struggle to find a way through. The eye-catching matches involving the English teams are the return of Fernando Torres to Atletico Madrid, Chelsea’s visit to Roma and — of course — Manchester United’s journey north to Glasgow. The defending champions have unfinished business in Scotland. And a certain former Rangers centre forward in their dug-out has a long memory.

Manchester United
Scots everywhere you look with Fergie, Gordon Strachan and Bruce Rioch, the former Arsenal manager, at Aalborg. United have far too much quality to be troubled, though they will want to improve on their attacking threat after two indifferent performances at the start of the Premier League season. Cristiano Ronaldo’s return should help! There are also no long-haul trips, which will please Fergie as he looks to keep his side fresh for domestic action. Villarreal are a difficult obstacle for Celtic. With Giuseppe Rossi leading the line, they will challenge for second slot and Celtic must overcome their rotten away record to advance. They may need points in Denmark to keep in the hunt.

Chelsea
There is little here to damage Chelsea. Roma are hard to beat on home turf, but rarely travel well — remember the seven they conceded at Old Trafford? They have good players, including former Liverpool man John Arne Riise and, especially, Francesco Totti if he gets out of bed on the right side, but Luiz Felipe Scolari will expect to go through with games to spare. Bordeaux are an average team from a declining league and Chelsea can target maximum points home and away. They will be rushing for the reference books to learn more about CFR, the champions from Romania. Watch Chelsea sail through (hopefully!!!!).

Liverpool
If you thought it was hard for Liverpool against Standard Liege, stand by for another bumpy ride. The highlight of the draw is the trip to Atletico Madrid, where ace goalscorer Torres and keeper Pepe Reina will visit old friends. Madrid can be the leading team in this group with quality players in Maniche, Simao, Luis Garcia and Diego Forlan. Marseille won at Anfield last season and ran Liverpool close in the group stages. We know all about the quality of PSV, who regularly qualify from this stage. This is a difficult draw, but none of the teams have the firepower of Liverpool. They should go through, but maybe only as runners-up to Madrid.

Arsenal
Difficult away matches, experienced opponents. If Arsene Wenger was waiting for the draw before deciding whether to move into the transfer market, he should be on to the bank manager this morning. Porto topped Liverpool at this stage last season and have Euro know-how. They don’t have great attacking might, but then neither do Arsenal. Fenerbahce gave Chelsea a fright in the quarter-finals last season and the Turkish club will be a hard place to go, especially with former Spain boss Luis Aragones in charge. Kiev were hopeless last season, but Moscow is a long, testing trip. Arsenal might have to settle for second place.

Courtesy - www.dailymail.co.uk

UEFA Champions League Draw - Road to Rome

Highlights of the show -

UEFA Goalkeeper of the year - Petr Cech
UEFA Defender of the year - John Terry
UEFA Midfilder of the year - Frank Lampard
UEFA Forward of the year - Cristiano Ronaldo

UEFA Player of the year - Cristiano Ronaldo

The Draw is interesting... the best one being Group H - Real Madrid and Juventus :)

Group A - Chelsea, AS Roma, Bordeaux , CFR

Group B - Inter Milan, Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis

Group C - Barcalona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shakhtar

Group D - Liverpool, PSV, Marseille, Athletico

Group E - Manchester United, Villareal, Celtic, Aab

Group F - Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua, Fiorentina

Group G - Arsenal, Porto, Ferenbache, Dynamo Kiev

Group H - Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit, Bate

Eyecandy

Sheva leaves for Milan

After two not-so-happy seasons, Andriey Schevchenko has moved back to Milan. His transfer to Milan was finalised and reported on Monday, 25 Aug 2008. Chelsea fans were divided in opinion on whether he was any good at all and / or whether he was any good at Chelsea.

In my opinion he was an outstanding player in an unsuitable place.. All of us know that Italian Football and English football is like Apples and Oranges....

May he earn all the respect and win the UEFA Cup this year !!!!

Inter Milan win the Supercoppa Tim

Picture Courtesy - http://www.inter.it/

Inter beat AS Roma 6-5 on penalties to win the Italian Super Cup on Sunday following a 2-2 draw in Jose Mourinho's first competitive game in charge of the Italian champions.

Sulley Muntari, a new signing from Portsmouth, gave Inter the lead after 18 minutes of his official debut after Maicon's cross had been deflected on to the bar by Roma defender Philippe Mexes. Last season's Cup winners Roma, playing their first game since the death of club president Franco Sensi last Sunday, levelled on 59 minutes at the San Siro when Daniele De Rossi lashed a stunning drive into the top corner from 30 metres.

Inter substitute Mario Balotelli thought he had snatched victory with a cool finish on 83 minutes but Roma forced a second equaliser in the final minute of normal time when the ball seemed to come off Mirko Vucinic and Inter's Dejan Stankovic. After a dull extra time, Juan missed the crucial spot kick in the shootout to give Inter victory before they start the defence of their Serie A title at Sampdoria next Saturday.

Frank Lampard ... True Blue Always

Much much richer after signing a new 5 - year contract with Chelsea...Gorgeous as always... He is the epitome of a true blue...

Chelsea - Unseen pics 2007-08

Michael Ballack gets married !!!!

Simone Lambe finally made an honest man out of Michael Ballack. Unlike any other ostentatious footballer's wedding, the Ballacks conducted the ceremony at a register’s office outside of Munich and was attended by only close friends and family, including the couple’s 3 young sons - Louis, six, Emilio, five, and three-year-old Jordi.

The wedding ceremony was followed by a 400-guest list party at the Bavarian Yacht Club on Lake Starnberg. The groom is rumored to have also bought breakfast for his hungover guests at the Four Seasons in Starnburg.

Have to say, I am quite pleased with Michael Ballack for taking this all the way to the altar. Not sure what finally sealed the deal after all this time - after all, he and Simone share three children together and have dated for many years. Perhaps he just likes to take things slow and be sure of his emotions. He looks like that kind of gentle, sensitive guy.

The wedding details: They were married in a ceremony at the castle of Kempfenhasen at Lake Stamberg yesterday afternoon. The reception was held at the Bavarian Yacht Club. No dramas; all is well.

By the way, Michael met Simone ten years ago, when she was working as a waitress in Kaiserslautern. He says it was “love at first sight.”