Inter Milan v Barcelona Champions League Semi Final

Posted on April 19, 2010 by SoccerCapper

The Nerazzurri host Barca at the San Siro in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday night.

It’s a tie that captures the imagination as both teams consist of some of the world’s best players and both boast two of the best and most dapper managers in Europe in the form of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

Both managers already have winner’s medals in this competition already, Mourinho as coach of Porto in 2004, and Guardiola from last year. It is likely one of them will make it two medals this year as the winner of this semi-final will undoubtedly be favourites against either Bayern Munich or Lyon in the final.

A nice sub-plot to this fixture will be the matchup between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o. Barcelona and Inter Milan agreed an incredible deal in the summer which saw Ibrahimovic join Barcelona for 46 million euros plus Samuel Eto’o in exchange. That deal raised many eyebrows as some would consider Eto’o to be the better striker of the two alone.

Eto’o seems to be fired up for this clash and has been speaking to the press about his desire to put one over on his former team mates.
“We all dream of beating Barcelona, and if I score at the San Siro then I will celebrate it”, he is quoting as saying to the press.

Samuel Eto’o is 7.00 to score the first goal on Tuesday with Ibrahimovic’s odds being slightly shorter at 6.00 for the opening goal.

Both sides are having to fight hard on the domestic front with Barcelona being held to a goaless draw by city rivals Espanyol on Saturday night and Inter Milan sitting a point behind Roma who went top after a 2-1 win over Lazio on Sunday. Inter will have had an extra day’s rest over Barcelona which may give them an advantage as a long season reaches its climax with massive games coming thick and fast for both sides.

This fixture was played out earlier in the competition as both sides were drawn in the same group. The game at the San Siro ended 0-0 with both defences managing to nullify the opposition attacking threat. A similar outcome is likely this time too, with Barcelona being content to take a draw back to the Nou Camp with them. Back a tight affair to end 1-1 at 6.50 with PartyBets.com.

View full post on PartyBets Blog

Inter Milan to Pip Fiorentina to Coppa Italia Final?

Posted on April 16, 2010 by SoccerCapper

It is the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final on Tuesday as Inter Milan travel to Fiorentina with a 1-0 lead.

These two sides were inseparable on Saturday evening as they cancelled each other out to a 2-2 draw. A result which has dented Inter Milans Scudetto chances this season. A repeat of this result would not be enough for Fiorentina as they trail 1-0 on aggregate, so the dynamics of this match will be slightly different from the weekends encounter between the pair.

Bet on Coppa Italia Semifinal, 2nd leg Fiorentina v Inter Milan

The Nerazzurri are may well be gunning for revenge after seeing a late goal from the Violas centre back Per Kroldrup secure a 2-2 draw which opened the way for AS Roma to leap them to top of Serie A on Sunday afternoon.

Fiorentina are showing good home form now and are unbeaten in their last four games. Jose Mourinho’s men know a draw will be enough for them to book a date in this season’s final and set up a potentially historic season as they continue to be in with a chance of completing the treble which includes the Champions League if they can get past mighty Barcelona in the semis.

A win for Fiorentina will see them keep alive their only chance of silverware this season, and they will take heart from the weekends performance which saw them lead Inter for much of the game.

After playing each other only a few days ago, barring any major changes to the starting elevens on both sides, it is hard not to look at a repeat result once again. A draw will be enough to take Inter through and it is worth backing again with PartyBets.com.

“To keep up this kind of form is very difficult and no one will give out anything to us until the end,” David Pizzaro told Roma Channel “But the important thing was to move top and now it’s all in our hands. We must become aware that we are in first place.”

View full post on PartyBets Blog

Champions League Final Line In Sight for Man City

Posted on April 16, 2010 by SoccerCapper

Roberto Mancini’s men took a step closer to fourth place with a convincing 5-1 home demolition of Birmingham on Sunday.

The Manchester outfit made it 14 goals in three matches as Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez both struck braces to push their goal difference above that of rivals Tottenham – which could prove crucial come May.

A relatively dull first half sprung to life with four goals in five minutes following a quick fire double for Tevez, a reply from Birmingham’s Cameron Jerome and a neat finish from Adebayor.

Tevez’s first came from a 38th minute spot kick after Birmingham’s Scott Dann was adjudged to have felled Adebayor in the area.

The Argentinean’s second, just two minutes later, resulted from a corner that Nedum Onuoha initially thought he had scored from, however, replays showed that Tevez got the final touch to make it 28 goals for the season.

Birmingham pulled one back in the 42nd minute through a Cameron Jerome header after James McFadden had sent in a teasing cross.

But just one minute later Adebayor restored the two goal cushion by latching onto a delivery from winger Craig Bellamy.

Alex McLeish’s men came out for the second half with a renewed impetus but failed to break down the Man City defence.

And with the game entering the closing stages, Birmingham’s failure to find the net was punished by a Nedum Onuoha blast that made the score 4-1.

The Midlands team were merely playing for pride when Adebayor sprung the offside trap to secure a 5-1 victory and with it, snatch away any of the pride that Alex McLeish’s side had hoped to maintain.

View full post on PartyBets Blog

Portsmouth Down But Not Out With FA Cup Final Berth Won

Posted on April 15, 2010 by SoccerCapper

Pompey battled admirably and showed real grit to make it to their second final in three years but the South Coast side certainly had the rub of the green. Perhaps they deserve it after such a terrible year.

With the score at 0-0 and the game into extra- time, Spurs centre back Michael Dawson became the umpteenth player to slip on the Wembley surface over the weekend. Unfortunately for Dawson, he did it on his own six yard line as he moved to intercept a routine knockdown in the box.

With his marker grounded, Frederick Picquionne had a simple finish to put Portsmouth a goal to the good. If Spurs fans were bemoaning their luck about that incident, far worse was to come.

Peter Crouch soon had the ball in the net at the other end with a trademark volley but referee Alan Wiley disallowed the goal for an infringement on the goalkeeper. The look on Pompey keeper David James’s face said everything about the decision- he clearly felt that his team had dodged a bullet.

The ‘foul’ was against Nico Krancjar who did nothing but jump to head Gareth Bale’s cross. James came flying out to meet it, missed the ball but inevitably collided in mid-air with Krancjar- the Spurs player didn’t move at all in the keeper’s s direction but was still penalised for the collision.

Any Spurs fans who still felt it might be their team’s day had their optimism punctured when Aruna Dindane then went on a curving run towards the penalty area. Midfielder Wilson Palacios tracked the run all the way but couldn’t get a tackle in until the pair were inside the box.

Inevitably the tackle was clumsy and Wiley gave a penalty- despite the fact that Palacios did get a touch on the ball. Kevin Prince-Boateng delivered the final blow by despatching the spot-kick.

Now Portsmouth can make history. No side has been relegated and won the FA Cup in the same season though several reached the final. Middlesbrough were the last in 1997 and Pompey fans are beginning to think their club is the one to overturn this particular hoodoo.

View full post on PartyBets Blog

Soccercapper

Sports trading advice

Tag Archives: Final

Inter Milan v Barcelona Champions League Semi Final

Inter Milan to Pip Fiorentina to Coppa Italia Final?

Champions League Final Line In Sight for Man City

Portsmouth Down But Not Out With FA Cup Final Berth Won