Soccer Blog|Football News, Reviews, Quizzes

The draw for the group stages of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup has been made, and we have some excellent fixtures within.

Portsmouth, in their debut season in Europe, will get a chance to play AC Milan at Fratton Park. Pompey are in Group E along with Herenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg.

There are eight groups in all, and 3 teams from each group qualify for the next round. They will be joined by the eight third placed teams in each Champions League group.

Group A :-

Schalke ( Germany)
Paris St.Germain ( France)
Manchester City ( England)
Racing Santander ( Spain)
FC Twente ( Netherlands)

Group B :-

Benfica ( Portugal)
Olympiakos ( Greece)
Galatasaray ( Turkey)
Hertha Berlin ( Germany)
Metalist Kharkiv ( Ukraine)

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FC Bayern squandered a 3-1 lead as Marcel Koller’s VFL Bochum struck twice late in the game to draw at the Allianz Arena last night.

Belgian Daniel Van Buyten put the hosts ahead after fifteen minutes, but Sinan Kaloglu equalised for Bochum in the 29th minute, with the goal being created by Mimoun Azaouagh.

Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto then scored on either side of the lemon break as Bayern made it 3-1. With less than 10 minutes to go, it seemed that Bochum were resigned to losing by the same margin as they did last time to Bayern ( in April 2008). But Christophe Dabrowski pulled one back in the 83rd minute, and two minutes late, substitute Dennis Grote silenced the home crowd by heading in Bochum’s third.

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Werder Bremen scored five goals for the second successive time in the Bundesliga as they won a nine goal thriller against Hoffenheim at the Weserstadion. After beating Bayern 5-2 last time around, Bremen seemed to be in a destructive mood as they went 4-1 up after just half an hour. Teenage sensation Mezut Ozil opened the scoring in the eighth minute, but Demba Ba equalised seven minutes later for the visitors. Claudio Pizarro (16′), Diego (21′) and Aaron Hunt (30′) put the hosts 4-1 up in no time at all, as Hoffenheim were left gasping for breath. To their credit, they hit back with a Sejad Salihovic free kick in the 36th minute, and the score read 4-2 to Bremen going into the interval.

On the hour mark, Brazilian Diego fouled Tobias Weis in the Bremen box, and Vedad Ibisevic scored from the resulting spotkick, bringing Hoffenheim one goal closer. A minute later, Bremen had Per Mertesacker sent off, thus reducing the home side to ten men.

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Werder Bremen repaid Bayern Munich for their 4-0 drubbing last season by stunning the German giants 5-2 at the Allianz Arena. In front of a capacity 69,000 crowd Bremen pumped in five, before Tim Borowski, signed from Bremen in the summer, pulled two back for Bayern. It was Bayern’s first home loss of the 2008-09 Bundesliga season, and the result comes days after their Champions League win over Steaua Bucharest.

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The draw for the second round of the DFB Pokal ( The German Cup) has been made, and we have some interesting matchups.

FC Bayern play Nurenberg, while Borussia Dortmund are up against Hertha Berlin.

The games will be played on September 23-24 2008.

Second round fixtures ( Home side indicated first)

Kickers Offenbach vs Karlsruhe

FC Obernueland vs VFL Wolfsburg

Erzgebirge Aue vs Werder Bremen

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Manchester City have completed the signing of young Belgian defender Vincent Kompany from German club Hamburger SV. The 22 year old, regarded as one of the brightest talents in Europe, joined Hamburg from Anderlecht in 2006 for two million euros. Kompany has signed a four year deal at Eastlands, and is expected to feature in City’s weekend clash against West Ham United. The fee involved was not disclosed, but the Manchester Evening News says that it is around the £6m mark.

Kompany failed to live up to his potential in the Bundesliga

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Jurgen Klinsmann had to do with a draw in his Bundesliga debut as FC Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 draw by Hamburger SV. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski gave the defending champions a 2-0 lead in the first half, but Paolo Guerrero and Pietr Trochowski restored parity for Hamburg as both teams walked away with a share of the spoils.

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Schalke finished third in the Bundesliga in the 2007-08 season with sixty four points, two behind second placed Werder Bremen.

Here is a list of Schalke 04 transfers for the 2008-09 season ( summer). Schalke are sponsored by Russian oil giants Gazprom.

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Wolfsburg, managed by Felix Magath, finished fifth in the Bundesliga last season. Here is the list of transfers made by the club in the summer as they aim to improve upon last season’s performance.

Magath looks to take the Wolves to greater heights

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Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga in the 2007-08 season, finishing ten points ahead of their nearest rivals Werder Bremen.

Manager Uli Hoeness has reportedly said that Bayern will not splash out millions in the summer. Gennaro Gattuso has decided to stay with AC Milan, although Bayern made no secret of their interest in him.

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Cameroon defender Pierre Wome has moved to newly promoted German side FC Köln on a free transfer. Wome, who missed the penalty that enabled Ivory Coast to qualify for the 2006 World Cup at the expense of the Indomitable Lions, leaves Werder Bremen after a two year spell.

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Arminia Bielefeld coach Thomas Van Heesen has left the North Rhine Westphalia based club. Von Heesen who was due to leave at the end of the season, said that he had reached an agreement with the club to terminate his contract.Bielefeld lost to Bayern Munchen 1-0 on Sunday, a game which marked the home debut of new Bayern coach Ottomar Hitzfeld. Hitzfeld, who replaced Magath, is in his second stint with the Bavarian giants.
Von Heesen has been linked with many clubs in the German media, including Hamburger SV, the same club where he plied his trade as a player for 14 years. He made 340 appearances for the Urgestein as a midfielder and scored 99 goals for them.

French legend Michel Platini has been elected as the new UEFA President. Platini defeated rival Lennart Johansson, who has held the post since 1990, in an election in Dusseldorf.

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Blackburn are set to sign South Korean forward Lee Dong Gook. The striker,who currently plays for the Pohang Steelers in his native Korea, has agreed to personal terms and is awaiting a work permit.

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German club Wolfsburg have signed Brazilian attacking midfielder Marcelinho from Trabnzonspor for a fee of 2.75 million euros. The Brazilian had signed for the Turkish club on a three year contract in 2006, but lasted less than six months at the club.

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German giants Bayern Munich could consider selling Owen Hargreaves to English leaders Manchester United. Bayern president Franz Beckanbauer has reportedly said that if an offer of around 20 Million Pounds + could interest the Bundesliga champions.

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