The recent international break let club football fans stop for a second, reflect and take stock of where their teams’ progress sits, with the 2020-21 season now heading into the final quarter. Across Europe’s top five leagues, some of the usual suspects continue to stake their claim as the continent’s best teams, while the title races in Italy, Spain and Germany look set for a suspenseful conclusion. Respected statistics outlet CIES Football Observatory has been tracking the performances of individual players and released a new list of the best-performing stars for the first quarter of 2021 ..read more

As per the Guardian, the Portuguese Football Federation has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for coronavirus.  The Juventus forward will now undertake a period in quarantine after contracting the virus while away on international duty. As a result, Ronaldo will now miss Portugal’s clash with Sweden in the UEFA Nations League on Wednesday as he begins a ten-day period of self-isolation. From the report, the Portuguese Football Federation made the announcement in an official statement on Tuesday, which reads: “Cristiano Ronaldo was released from training with the nation ..read more

According to Sky Sports News, Barcelona midfielder Arthur has signed a five-year contract with Juventus after undergoing a successful medical at the J-medical centre over the weekend. The Bianconeri had been heavily tipped to sign the Brazilian from the beginning of last month, but they were unable to find the breakthrough in the negotiations due to the player’s desire to stay put at the Camp Nou. Earlier this month, Bianconeri sporting director Fabio Paratici acknowledged that the 23-year-old would need to be convinced to join the club and they have eventually succeeded in doing so. Arthur’s ..read more

At the start of the season I made my predictions for the Champions League Group Stage, and 14 out of 16 teams tipped to qualify were correct, with Schalke getting through instead of Galatasaray (Group D), and Lyon ahead of Shakthar Donetsk (Group F). So now it is time for the knockout stages, let us have a look at who will advance to the Quarter Finals. Champions League Round of 16 Legs to be played on 12th February & 6th March Manchester United v Paris Saint Germain This tie could not come about at a better time for Manchester United to be honest, since Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has took over ..read more

Another Champions League season is upon us, with some interesting groups being drawn and various betting promo codes you can use to back potential winners. But which teams will advance to the knockout stages from their respective groups and which teams will finish third and go on to play in the knockout stages of the Europa League? Here are my predictions… Group A Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco & Club Brugge Europa League winners Atletico have had a rather awkward start to their domestic league season, but will still qualify from this group. They have added some good new signin ..read more

Tonight Juventus will take on Barcelona, Europe’s hottest team this season, in the champions league final, having not tasted European cup success since 1996. Despite coming into the game off the back of a league cup double, and 4 successive serie A title wins, they enter the match as underdogs, thanks to the dynamic for of Barca’s dynamic fron three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. However with the correct shape discipline and organisaton, I have no doubt Italy’s top club can finish the night as treble winners. So with out further ado here is how I think J ..read more

Played by some of the top teams in the world, the UAFA Champions League is seen as the ultimate prize in European club football, and this weekend, FC Barcelona are to clash with Juventus for the 2015 final in Berlin. Although the El Clasico showdown of Barcalona and Real Madrid that everyone was expecting won’t be going ahead, Juventus have shown their worth in the course of this tournament, which is making the outcome a tricky call for the bookies. After a few wobbles in the early part of the tournament – including away defeats to both Atletico and Olympiakos – the Old Lady have gone str ..read more

The Champions League Semi Finals are upon us once again, Juventus play Real Madrid, while Barcelona play Bayern Munich in the other semi. Considered to be the weakest out of the four teams, we shall look at Juventus’ chances in this year’s competition. Can they get past Real, and if they do, can they win the whole thing? The underdog tag out of the four semi finalists is what helps Juventus, they have the chance to take to the field with no pressure, allowing them to relax and express themselves. They will be comprehensively aided in their search of European glory by the fact that on Saturday ..read more

So, to the fourth in this series of 6 articles looking at the top 60 players in world football and probably the hardest list to select. In researching this list I realised our generation is blessed with a group of fantastic central midfielders and picking just 13 was very difficult. In fact, it proved too difficult and I had to choose 4 honourable mentions instead of just 3. I apologise and hope you will understand the difficulty. Thank you and please enjoy, comment, discuss, vent your outrage at my selections and read the next article on the top 10 wingers and attacking midfiel ..read more

Leading on from the top 10 goalkeepers in the world; I now present you the top 10 Centre-backs in the world. Remember, this is partly judged on recent performances and partly on permanent class. Enjoy, comment and discuss and remember to look out for the remaining four articles in this series of 6, the next one being the top 10 full-backs. Centre-backs Honourable mentions: Diego Godin – An old school centre-half who bought into the ‘Simeone way’ from the very beginning to great effect. His dogged style and aerial prowess means he is now crucial for club and country. He was ever-pre ..read more