This week we discuss the Sicilian and Madrid derby. We also talk about Club Atlético de Madrid and their UEFA problem. We take the Ballon d’Or “short list” and make it really a short list. All that and so much more on this weeks episode of Forza Futbol.

As started on our weekly Forza Fútbol podcast, this season we do predictions each week.  Three games in La Liga and three games in Serie A.  Two points for the correct result and one point for guessing a goal scorer.  So far Hannah has tore up the table and leads with 28 points, Mando has 24, and I (Elisa) suck with 18. Our resident Napolitano Gene has joined in the fun this week.

 

Here's our picks from podcast 33, play along and let us know your predictions!

 

La Liga:

Almería v Sevilla:  HANNAH Sevilla Kanoute, ELISA draw Negredo, MANDO Sevilla Navas, GENE Sevilla

Betis v Mallorca:  HANNAH Mallorca Webo, ELISA Betis Sergio Garcia, MANDO Betis Jose Marí, GENE Betis

Racing v Deportivo:  HANNAH Depor Lafita, ELISA draw Guardado, MANDO Depor Mista, GENE Deportivo

 

Serie A:

Napoli v Juventus:  MANDO Napoli, Lavezzi, ELISA Napoli Lavezzi, HANNAH Napoli Hamsik, GENE Napoli Denis

Chievo v Atalanta:  MANDO Atalanta Doni, ELISA Draw Doni, HANNAH Atalanta Floccari, GENE Nil Nil Draw

Lecce v Udinese:  MANDO Udinese Quagliarella, ELISA Udinese Quags, HANNAH Udinese DiNatale, GENE Udinese Quags 

 

Join in the fun and let's hear what you think!  Post here @ Oleole or email us at forzafutbol@forzafutbol.com.  Grazie y Adios!

 

 

The matches begin on October 23. These are some great groups and I can't wait until the games kick off. Out of all eight groups I only see two (Groups G and H) that don't look as strong as the other six. Some match ups I'm looking forward to have to be Sevilla - Sampdoria, Olympiakos - Galatasaray, AC Milan - Wolfsburg and Hamburg - Aston Villa.
Group A
Schalke
Paris Saint Germain
Manchester City
Racing Santander
FC Twente

Group B
Benfica
Olympiakos
Galatasaray
Hertha Berlin
Metalist Kharkiv

Group C
Sevilla
Stuttgart
Sampdoria
Partizan Belgrade
Standard Liege

Group D Tottenham
Spartak Moscow
Udinese
Dinamo Zagreb
NEC Nijmegen

Group E
AC Milan
Heerenveen
Braga
Portsmouth
Wolfsburg

Group F
Hamburg
Ajax
Slavia Prague
Aston Villa
MSK Zilina

Group G
Valencia Club
Brugge
Rosenborg
FC Copenhagen
Saint-Etienne

Group H
CSKA Moscow
Deportivo La Coruna
Feyenoord
Nancy
Lech Poznan

This week on Forza Futbol we look at week six in Serie A and La Liga. We also discuss the Azzurri call ups from the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.

Giuseppe Rossi has gotten the call from Lippi and is making the jump from the Azzurrini to the Azzuri. Rossi is just one of four new faces to enter the squad. Christian Maggio, Fabiano Santacroce and Simone Pepe are also included. I'm really looking forward to seeing Rossi get his chance at the senior level. I believe he is really going to be a main contributor to Italy in the next few World Cups and Euros. Here is the full list of call ups for the games against Bulgaria and Montenegro.

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray)
Defenders: Bonera (Milan), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Santacroce (Napoli), Zambrotta (Milan)
Midfielders: Aquilani (Roma), Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Maggio (Napoli), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Nocerino (Palermo), Perrotta (Roma)
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Pepe (Udinese), G Rossi (Villareal), Toni (Bayern Munich).

Love him or hate him Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the worlds best strikers. He can create something from virtually nothing. If you haven't seen his most recent magical moment you need to see his goal from Saturday against Bologna. An amazing back heal from behind the defender. Just amazing.

With the start of the new Champions League campaign, one of the topics that has frequented Spanish commentary and blogs is - Is the Premier League outshining La Liga? Is La Liga are 2nd Tier League? (I don't want to go there, but the same Spanish rags claim that Serie A is a retirement league and will get worse should Ibra or Kaká leave.)

OK, the yahoos from the Spanish rages, exaggerate, freak out and love high drama. They need to fill up their dailies and create news. But it's been awhile since a La Liga team has won the Champions League, Spanish clubs are in debt, and people are worried.

Does the Prem brand better than La Liga? Is the Prem moving towards the NBA mega-sensation and is La Liga far behind? C'mon, La Liga still shows their games at 10pm at nite. This is not conducive to Asia and the the other foreign markets. Do the Spanish teams do a good job of promoting themselves overseas other than the Big Two? Look, Everton has been coming to the US every year and West Ham came over to play this past year. Pompey went to China. These teams are spreading the Prem love and they are NOT the Big Four. Is La Liga doing enough to earn fans and sell shirts? We have the best fútbol, shouldn't that be enough?

Also what about the provincial, club media deals? Is this archaic? Is a league-wide agreement as used in England, more conducive to a strong league?

Deportivo La Coruña's President has said that the future of Spanish football is foreign investment? Do you agree?

Here's my two cents, I think Spain can learn a lot from the Premiership, particularly the media deals and distribution of wealth (even though the richer clubs still get more money due to more appearances on TV and attendances). I also adore the parachute package for teams promoted and relegated. Spain needs something like this drastically. I also think the branding can improve of La Liga, but in moderation. The league as a whole should try and assist in this matter. Why don't they produce and offer Friday preview shows in Spanish? Why aren't some of the Spanish football opinion shows made available, with dubbing or translation to foreign markets?

The infrastructure and organization in Spain needs vast improvement. Why are the games decided sometimes 3 hours before kickoff? How is that conducive to coach potato fans? The technology, camera angles, and TV picture, needs to get to the 21st century. The visuals are appalling. Have you ever compared a Prem or CL game to a La Liga game. The La Liga game pales in comparison.

We need access to more La Liga games on TV or via broadband. Why not offer the other games at a more moderate price? It's difficult for Spaniards to watch non local games, let alone foreigners. This has got to improve. Also access to kits, merchandise, magazines, daily rags would be awesome. Do you know how hard it is to find an Athletic Bilbao kit?

But I like the provincial nuances and local flavor of La Liga and I for one, don't want them to lose this. The play on the pitch is amazing, along with the parity and strength of the mid table teams. The cantera or youth academies keep producing wonderful talent. And there are players that are loyal or don't want to go abroad - see Cazorla, Villa, Silva, Casillas. I don't want foreign investment to come in and ruin La Liga or great an artificial market. We don't need billionaires, just better marketing and business savvy. The Spanish owners already do a fine job sticking their clubs in the red. I also feel that the last remaining socio clubs, need to stay that way - Real Madrid, Barçelona, Athletic Bilbao, etc. It keeps accountability.

But where there is talent on the pitch and in the back office ie managers and technical directors, some will want to go abroad where the money is IE England. But I am not worried about the level of play or the trophies, to me it's all cyclical. The money is in the Prem, but that is a bubble that will burst and a recalibration or reallignment will take place. The Premiership will not always be at the top. Relax.

And honestly I don't want a super league. I don't want to watch just the top leagues or the same teams always winning. That's boring and not what football is all about. We already have the Champions League, World Cup and other tournaments where the cream of the crop rise to the top. Isn't that enough?

OK, those are my thoughts, but I want to hear from you. What do you think? Give us your comments and we'll read them on the podcast. We'd love to hear from you. It's a fascinating topic, that won't go away.

Will this be the return to a marvelous Milan? Having made a few changes this summer Milan are entering the season fresh. There will be no Champions League to worry about though there will be UEFA Cup starting with a match against FC Zürich on the 18 of September. So lets get down to the transfers. Arriving at the club this summer Flamini and Senderos from Arsenal, Abbiati from Atletico Madrid, Zambrotta from Barcelona, Borriello back from Genoa, Storari from Cagliari, Cardaccio from Nacional (Uruguay), Viudez from Defensor (Uruguay), Antonini from Empoli, Shevchenko from well you know and a guy you might have heard about Ronaldinho from Barcelona. Those whom have departed the San Siro: Gilardino (Fiorentina), Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Cafu (Expired contract), Serginho (Expired contract), Storari (Fiorentina), Grimi (Sporting Lisbon), Abate (Torino), Simic (Monaco), Digao (Standard Liege), Ronaldo (Expired contract), Paloschi (Parma), Oddo (Bayern Munich), Brocchi (Lazio) Let's take a look at a few of the signings. Mathías Cardaccio from Nacional of Uruguay a 21 year old midfielder who signed a four year contact with Milan. He has a nose for goal from distance and isn't afraid to take a shot. He fancies himself a younger Pirlo. Tabaré Viudez from Defensor Sporting of Uruguay is a 19 year old left footed Midfielder. Pudants in Uruguay have been praising him as Uruguay’s most promising talent. Mathieu Flamini Ronaldinho: Andriy Shevchenko Marco Borriello

Well the UEFA draw for the Champions League Third Qualifying Round and the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round. Confused yet?

Participants in the CL 3rd Round in La Liga and Serie A are the 3rd and 4th place winners of our leagues.

Participants in the UEFA Cup 2nd Round is the Intertoto winners in La Liga and Serie A.

The Cup winners or 5th and 6th place winners in our leagues will take part in the Group Stage, I believe.

Now that we got that squared away. Here's the draw:

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:

Pick of the draw: Atletico de Madrid vs Schalke 04. Good news: let's get to business right away! Bad news: Las Pupas? Or rather why us? This could possibly be an early exit for Atleti. Especially without Kun. But Atleti has the talent to seize the day and beat Schalke. This is going to be a mouth watering affair. Save the date! August 12th and 27th!

Other notable: Fiorentina vs Slavia Prague. Fiorentina has been waiting for this moment to play with the big boys. Put playing away against the Eastern European teams could be a banana skin. Fiorentina has reengineered their squad a lot. Will they be in sync and have their chemistry together in time? I certainly hope so.

Cakewalks: Why do the big teams get all the breaks? Luck or conspiracy? Barcelona failed to place first or second and have to qualify. They will face either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow in Poland. I don't think missing Messi will make a difference with Eto'o, Henry, Bojan, and Gudjonsen. Nope they are loaded. Meanwhile, Juventus is back to vye for Champions League glory! They will face either Tampere United of Finland or Artmedia of Slovakia. No problem, ya think?

UEFA CUP

A Coruña draw a toughie! Deportivo La Coruña are back in Europe after hard times financially. Team Depor will face Hadjuk Split from Croatia. This could be a difficult tie, especially if Depor lose hard man Coloccini to Newcastle. Depor ended their summer early and are raring to go. They will need to be at their best.

Easy peasy for Maradona's old team. Napoli who have been long missing from Europe to face off against KS Vilaznia of Albania. This should be a shoo-in for the Southerners. Forza Napoli.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? What are your predictions? Post your comments and let's discuss.