bjorn

Friday 21st January:

Another sweet revenge.

This evening Brugge have taken another sweet revenge against rivals Anderlecht as they trashed them with 1-3 on their own pitch. It was Englebert who opened the score and on the half hour mark Kallstrom doubled the lead. Seol pulled one back for “the mauves” but in the second half Brugge kept controlling and dominating. When Casas added a goal to his account the game was certainly over, but Brugge had the chance to score again as Ceh missed a penalty.

Everyone knew that this was a game that Brugge certainly wanted to win especially after the “Mendoza-affair”. Brugge got off to a good start when midfielder Englebert opened the score after Casas’ nice pass. Anderlecht fought back and had some nice chances too but Butina prevented everyone from scoring. When the fans had seen 30 minutes of football they saw another goal as Mendoza crossed a nice ball to Kallstrom, who was just out of the area, and he finished it off with a powerful effort. Eight minutes after that Seol pulled one back for Anderlecht to give them a way back into the game. But Brugge were full of confident in the second half and when Casas scored his goal the game was over. Ceh had the chance to make it 1-4 from the spot but he blazed the ball over the bar and so they left with 1-3 and another sweet revenge

Final score: Anderlecht 1 – Club Brugge 3
Scoreline: Englebert 10 min 0-1; Kallstrom 31 min 0-2; Seol 39 min 1-2: Casas 65 min 1-3
Attendance: 26341
Bookings: Deschacht, Tihinen; Clement (misses next match), Diogo
Player ratings: Butina 8, Diogo 8, Van der Heyden 8, Clement © 5, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 9, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 7, Ceh 7

Saturday 22nd January:

On the last playday of the “first round” Antwerp lost at home with 1-3 against Genk while Beveren – Germinal Beerschot ended two all. Lierse beated Oostende with 2-0 while Lokeren did the same against Roeselare. Both Sint-Truiden and Mouscron scored once while Standard – La Louvière and Westerlo - Charleroi ended 1-0.

Sunday 23rd January:

Cercle Brugge easily disposed AA Gent with 3-0 to complete the 17th playday.

Anderlecht manager Hugo Broos is unemployed as of today as he was sacked by the chairman. Anderlecht are currently in a dissappointing 5th position.

Wednesday 26th January:

Liverpool have signed worldclass midfielder Claude Makélélé from Chelsea. It’s rumoured that they’ve splashed out €9,75M for the French player.

Cup defeat for Brugge.

In the quarter finals of the Belgian Cup, Club Brugge lost on the pitch of Germinal Beerschot. The first half saw two beautiful goals. One from GBA’s Agyeman and one from Brugge’s Casas. In the second half Asubonteng scored his first goal for GBA to give them a 2-1 lead for the second leg.

The game started slowly as both teams were looking afraid to push forward. In the 19th minute Agyeman opened the score for the home team with a nice chip over Butina. Brugge got their equaliser thanks to a great goal from Casas. He stole the ball from Van Dooren before he dribbled past Hoefkens and smashed it into the bottom right corner. The game was level again and although both teams had several chances neither of them could score until eight minutes from the end when Asubonteng scored his first goal this season for GBA. It was a nice and deserved win for the home team, but will it be enough for the return?

Final score: Germinal Beerschot 2 – Club Brugge 1
Scoreline: Agyeman 19 min 1-0; Casas 32 min 1-1; Asubonteng 82 min 2-1
Attendance: 12357
Bookings: Van Dooren, Thompson; Maertens (misses next match), Van der Heyden
Player ratings: Butina © 7, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 6, Maertens 6, De Cock 6, Aghahowa 6, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7 (Verheyen 70 min 7), Casas 8, Mendoza 7, Ceh 7

There was also first division football this evening as Antwerp easily defeated AA Gent with 3-0 while Beveren did the same against Oostende. Lokeren scored three times against La Louvière, who scored twice. Sint-Truiden - Charleroi ended one all while Standard won against Genk with 3-2. The last game this evening ended in a 2-2 draw between Westerlo and Roeselare.

bjorn

Sunday 30th January:

Today Sint-Truiden chairman Leo Schepers sacked manager Jacky Mathijssen as he failed to get his team out of the relegation zone. Last year he was one of the best managers, now he isn’t even a manager.

In other news today, Chelsea brought in FC Bayern’s Jens Jeremies. The English billionaire team paid €11M for the worldclass defensive midfielder. They didn’t stop spending their money as they also brought in FC Bayern’s Roy Makaay. The German club received €16,75M for their cultured striker.

And there was more transfer news today as AC Milan have paid €22,5M plus Massimo Ambrosini for Arsenal’s flamboyant winger Robert Pires.

Two players decide the game.

On the 18th playday Brugge easily defeated Oostende. Two players were in great form as both goals from Casas were set up by Verheyen, who started the game because Aghahowa was away with his national team.Both goals came in the first half but there could have been more if it wasn’t for keeper Willequet.

Casas is surely a quality striker and he’s proven this once more. When the 14th minute came he scored his first goal as he headed in Verheyen’s nice cross. Oostende were totally blown away as they didn’t managed one shot on target. Just before the end of the first half Verheyen passed the ball to Casas. He controlled the ball before he curled it into the top corner from out of the area. In the second half Brugge had enough chances to score more but Oostende goalkeeper Willequet prevented his team from being humiliated. With the league just being over the half, it’s almost certain that Brugge will take the First Division tittle once again.

Final score: Oostende 0 – Club Brugge 2
Scoreline: Casas 14 min 0-1; Casas 45 min 0-2
Attendance: 10671
Bookings: Ramcic; Englebert, Verheyen.
Player ratings: Butina 7, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 8, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Verheyen 9, Englebert 8 (Lange 77 min 7), Kallstrom 7 (Saeternes 77 min 6), Casas 9, Mendoza 8, Ceh 7

In the other game this afternoon Cercle Brugge and Antwerp scored both once. In the evening there was another game as Anderlecht won in and against Germinal Beerschot with 0-2.

Monday 31st January:

Sint-Truiden have appointed my assistant manager Chris Van Puyvelde as their new manager. Luckily I have another assistant manager at the club but I will look for another one if possible.

When the evening came I had already two new assistant managers appointed. The first one was Maurizio Costanzi an Italian and the other one was a Belgian named Serge Van Den Plas.

February, the return of the Champions League…

Tuesday 1st February:

Both the board and fans are still delighted with the way I’m doing my job.

We also had the Goal of the month award today:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1) Casas for Brugge vs. Oostende2) Zoundi for Lokeren vs. La Louvière3) Fadiga for Genk vs. Antwerp </pre>

And my profile looked like this:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Ability to handle pressure 8 sameAmbition 11 sameLoyalty 9 sameMedia handling 19 sameProfessionalism 14 sameTemperament 14 sameReputation good good</pre>

Wednesday 2nd February:

Five goal thriller at Jan Breydelstadion

This evening 17305 fans saw an entertaining five goal game at Jan Breydelstadion. After 10 minutes there were already three goals as Casas opened the score for Brugge before Victor equalised from the spot. Seven minutes after that Kallstrom scored a nice goal from 30 yards out. From then on the game slowed down and the last two goals came in the last three minutes as first Englebert scored to make it three-one and two minutes later Snelders scored a consolation goal.

The game got off to a stormer as Casas scored in the first minute with a nice chip. Two minutes later Victor equalised from the spot after the man in black awarded a penalty. Kallstrom restored Brugge’s one goal lead with a magnificent 30 yard strike. From then on the game went into first gear and the fans had to wait a while to see some entertaining. Three minutes before the end of the game Englebert made it 3-1 but GBA fought back on 89 when Snelders scored a consolation goal. One thing is for sure GBA has and will be a difficult task for Brugge every time.

Final score: Club Brugge 3 – Germinal Beerschot 2
Scoreline: Casas 1 min 1-0; Victor pen 3 min 1-1; Kallstrom 10 min 2-1; Englebert 87 min 3-1; Snelders 89 min 3-2
Attendance: 17305
Bookings: Englebert (misses next match); Thompson
Player ratings: Butina 5, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 8, Kallstrom 8, Casas 8, Mendoza 7, Ceh 7

And here are the results from the other games this evening. La Louvière crunched Westerlo with 6-1 while Lierse defeated Mouscron with 2-0. My former assistant manager is doing a nice job as he leaded Sint-Truiden to a 2-5 win in Roeselare.

bjorn

Friday 4th February:

Anderlecht easily beated Antwerp with 3-0 this evening.

Saturday 5th February:

Close win for the champions.

Despite controlling the game from start to finish Brugge managed only a 1-0 win over Mouscron. It was Casas who scored for the eight game in a row. His partner upfront hasn’t scored in the last five games and didn’t score in this game also.

Brugge controlled the game from start to finish but thanks to great work from Mouscron ‘keeper Vandendriesschie Brugge could only score once. In the 28th minute Kallstrom set up Casas with a nice pass and he blasted it past the keeper. The Argetinian striker is in sensational form as this was the eight time in a row that he found the way to the goal. The next game for Brugge is at home in the Belgian Cup.

Final score: Club Brugge 1 – Mouscron 0
Scoreline: Casas 28 min 1-0
Attendance: 16857
Player ratings: Butina 6, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 7, Verheyen 7, Kallstrom 8, Casas 7, Mendoza 7, Ceh 7

In the other games Beveren defeated Charleroi with 1-0 while Germinal Beerschot won with 2-1 against Oostende. Lierse defeated Roeselare with 1-0 while Lokeren – AA Gent ended 3-2. Sint-Truiden won for the second time in a row, as this time they defeated La Louvière with 2-0. Standard won against Cercle Brugge with 2-1 while Westerlo - Genk ended one all.

Wednesday 9th February:

Brugge stroll trough.

In the second leg of the Belgian Cup Quarter finals Brugge managed to go trough on away goals. One goal from Casas was more then enough to seal the faith of GBA. It was very obvius that Brugge wasn’t in their best day as from their 20 chances that they created they only managed 8 on target.

One thing was sure before Brugge started this game, they needed to score at least once. Aghahowa started upfront as Mendoza was on the bench and Verheyen in midfield. Brugge had some nice chances in the early stage of the game but Verbist was keeping it all out, until the 22nd minute. Ceh had the ball on the left wing and he crossed it to the far post, Casas was waiting there and he headed the ball in very simple. Brugge pushed for more to be certain of their qualification but they always find Verbist in goal. But Brugge were never in danger as Germinal Beerschot didn’t creat a single chance.

Final score: Club Brugge 1 (2) a – Germinal Beerschot 0 (2)
Scoreline: Casas 22 min 1-0
Attendance: 23790
Bookings: Diogo, Ceh, Verheyen; Wiggers
Player ratings: Butina 6, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Verheyen 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Aghahowa 7, Ceh 8

There was also first division football this evening as Standard managed to win in and against AA Gent with 0-2 while Genk won at home with 1-0 vs. Lokeren.

bjorn

Friday 11th February:

The draw for the Belgian Cup Semi Final was today. We would play at home against Kapellen in the first leg. In the second leg we will visit the third division club.

Saturday 12th February:

Last placed Charleroi difficult opponent for League leaders.

Charleroi got away from their own stadium with a 1-1 draw against the league leaders Club Brugge. Di Gregorio opened the score for the home team in the first half and they even had chances to make it two. In the second half Brugge had the best chances and they found their equaliser trough Mendoza.

Charleroi had the best chances of the first half and were awarded for their play in the 41st minute when Gregorio opened the score for “de zebra’s”. They could have made it two nil before the end of the first half but Butina was placed well on Gregorio’s shot. Brugge got furiuos out of the dressingrooms and it was Mendoza who scored the equaliser. In the second half Brugge had the chances to take the lead but in the end both teams got away with a deserved point.

Final score: Charleroi 1 – Club Brugge 1
Scoreline: Di Gregorio 41 min 1-0; Mendoza 46 min 1-1
Attendance: 11713
Bookings: Reina, Ghislain, Sama, Desmets, Defai, Kanfory; Kallstrom
Player ratings: Butina 7, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 6, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 8, Englebert 8, Kallstrom 7, Casas 7, Mendoza 9, Ceh 7

AA Gent trashed Westerlo with 5-0 while Antwerp and Standard couldn’t score. Genk easily defeated Sint-Truiden with 4-1 while La Louvière lost at home with 1-2 against Lierse. The last game ended in a 1-1 draw between Mouscron and Germinal Beerschot.

Sunday 13th February:

Lokeren won in and against Cercle Brugge with 1-3 while Oostende defeated Anderlecht with 3-2. Roeselare was able to win his home game against Beveren with 2-1.

In other news Parma sacked their manager Claudio Cesare Prandelli because they are currently in a disappointing 13th place in the Serie A.

Friday 18th February:

Parma appointed Giovanni Vavassori as their new manager today. He will have the difficult task to lead his team back to a high mid-table position in the reamaining of the season.

Saturday 19th February:

Brugge win the game in the dying minutes.

Before the game everyone thought Brugge would walkover Roeselare but despite dominating the first half from start to finish the entered the dressingrooms with a goal down as Vervaeke scored an undeserved goal. In the second half Mendoza equalised and in the 91st minute Casas scored the winning goal.

The first half ws tottaly controlled by Brugge but they failed to hit the back of the net. The disaster was complete when Vervaeke scored in the 45th minute. Just like in their previous game Brugge started very furious at the second half. Mendoza scored the equaliser on 69 and Brugge pushed forward to get their winning goal. Both fans and he manager may be very thankful to Casas as he scored with a fine strike in the 91st minute. And so Brugge stay unbeaten in their own stadium, in the league.

Final score: Club Brugge 2 – Roeselare 1
Scoreline: Vervaeke 45 min 0-1; Mendoza 69 min 1-1; Casas 90+1 min 2-1
Attendance: 13021
Bookings: Aghahowa, Mendoza; Orlans
Player ratings: Butina 6, Diogo 8, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 5, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 7, Ceh 6

Beveren humuliated La Louvière with 4-1 while Germinal Beerschot easily defeated Charleroi with 3-0. Lokeren lost heavily at home with 1-4 against Antwerp while Sint-Truiden defeated AA Gent with 2-1. Westerlo kept the three points home against Cercle Brugge as they defeated them with 2-1.

Sunday 20th February:

Today Oostende and Mouscron couldn’t score as the game ended 0-0. In the other game Lierse demolished Genk with 5-0. And in the last game Anderlecht and Standard scored each one time.

Wednesday 23rd February:

Lierse won in and against Charleroi with 1-2.

bjorn

Friday 25th February:

Mouscron - Anderlecht ended two all this evening.

Saturday 26th February:

Bad preparations before Champions League game.

In their last game before the home game against FC Bayern, Brugge lost in and against la Louvière. Despite getting off to a flyer as Mendoza scored in the first game Brugge were 1-2 when the first half ended as Hiligsmann and Vervalle scored. In the second half Verheyen, who started because Aghahowa was away with his national team, equalised but six minutes later Klukowski scored the winning goal.

Brugge got off to a nice start as Mendoza scored in the first minute of the game. La Louvière fought back and scored twice before the first half ended. First Hiligsmann and then Vervalle found the back of the net. In the second half Verheyen scored the equaliser with his head but La Louvière were determined to win this game as they pushed forward. It was Klukowski who scored the third and final goal for La Louvière. The question that is going trough every Brugge fan is: Are we ready for Bayern?

Final score: La Louvière 3 – Club Brugge 2
Scoreline: Mendoza 1 min; Hiligsmann 16 min 1-1; Vervalle 34 min 2-1; Verheyen 79 min 2-2; Klukowski 3-2
Attendance: 13116
Bookings: Klukowski, Van der Heyden (misses next match), Diogo (misses next match), Verheyen (misses next match)
Player ratings: Butina 7, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 5, Clement © 7, De Cock 6, Verheyen 8, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 7, Mendoza 7 (Lange 71 min 7), Ceh 6

In the other game this evening Antwerp won at home against Westerlo with 3-1.

After the game Mendoza came to me to tell me that he was unhappy to be substituted in the game against La Louvière. He gave me an ultimatum as he said that he would be allowed to play entire games or he would leave. I showed him one finger before I showed him his contract that expires this season. I wrote on it that he transfers to Anderlecht at the end of the season and that was when he understood how stupid his ultimatum was.

Sunday 27th February:

Cercle Brugge lost at home against Sint-Truiden with 0-3 while Roeselare lost with the same result at home against Germinal Beerschot.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Who are FC Bayern?

We will meet FC Bayern in three days and I thought now was the time to give you my opinion about them. They are a great club who always been a dominant force in the Champions League. Last season they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and they are willing to to the same or even better this season. In the group stages They ended in second position after Liverpool and before Besiktas and PSV.

Their current topscorer in the Champions League is Claudio Pizarro as he scored three times this season. I’m very happy to see that they sold both Jeremies and Makaay to Chelsea as they were two starplayers. They even sold Deisler to them. They received €42M for these three players but the pressure is on manager Ottmar Hitzfeld now as the fans expect him to progress to the next round of the Champions League.

To be totally honest I think we have a fair chance to progress if we can pick up our great form we had in the Champions Cup. We will now the first half of the answer in three days when they visited our stadion. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

bjorn

March, to progress or to fail?

Tuesday 1st March:

The board and fans were still, just like every other month, delighted with the way I’m performing.

My manager profile looked like this:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Ability to handle pressure 8 sameAmbition 11 sameLoyalty 11 2 upMedia handling 20 1 upProfessionalism 16 2 upTemperament 16 2 upReputation good good</pre>
And then it was time for the goal of the month:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1) Baseggio for Anderlecht vs. Standard2) Imschoot for Sint-Truiden vs. AA Gent3) De Mul for Sint-Truiden vs. Cercle Brugge</pre>
Wednesday 2nd March:

Great result for the return

This evening Club Brugge managed to get a nice win against FC Bayern. It was Casas who opened the score. Six minutes before the end of the first half Ceh made it two from the spot and gave Brugge some hope. In the second half Mendoza made it three but Bayern scored a vital goal a minute later trough Scholl.

Before the game started manager Björn told us that he believed that they had a chance to beat FC Bayern. Thirteen minutes into the game Casas scored after a nice pass from Englebert. With six minutes left in the first half Saba made a stupid foul on Casas in the area and referee, Stefano Farina, awarded us a penalty. It was Ceh who stepped up and converted the penalty. The 27000 fans in the stadium were celebrating. In the second half Brugge kept playing nice football and when Mendoza scored with a nice chip, after Englebert’s trough ball, it looked like Brugge were ready for more in Europe. But Bayern were sure to get at least that vital away goal and they got it a minute later as Mehmet Scholl scored from a freekick. The big question now is, is three – one enough for the return leg or will Bayern get some confident out of their away goal?

Final score: Club Brugge 3 - FC Bayern 1
Scoreline: Casas 13 min 1-0; Ceh pen 39 min 2-0; Mendoza 78 min 3-0; Scholl 79 min 3-1
Attendance: 27229
Bookings: Clement; Hargreaves
Player ratings: Butina 8, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 6, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 8, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 9, Ceh 7

And then there were seven other games that were finished this evening in the Champions Cup. Ajax lost heavily at home as Dinamo Kiev continue their good form with a 0-3 win in Holland. Lazio won against Inter with 1-0 while Liverpool – AC Milan ended one all. Juventus won in and against Monaco with 0-1 while PAO managed to get a draw at home against Arsenal. The final score was two all. Chelsea got away from Porto with a 1-2 win while the last game ended in a 0-2 win for Man Utd over Sparta Prague.

There was also first division football today as AA Gent beated Lierse with 4-2 while Charleroi trashed Oostende with 5-1. Mouscron - Beveren ended 3-1.

bjorn

Friday 4th March:

Anderlecht managed to beat Lokeren with 2-1. I really wonder when they will appoint a new manager.

Saturday 5th March:

Another draw for Brugge in the league

In their last four games, including this one, Brugge only managed to get one win. Surely they shouldn’t fear to lose the Competition but still the fans are worrying about the recent form in the league. Against Genk they started the second half trailling one goal as Roussel found the back of the net. In the second half it was Casas, with his 25th goal of the season, who equlised.

It’s good for the league that Brugge didn’t win against second placed Genk as otherwise they would have 20 points lead. In the 44th minute Roussel opened the score with his first goal of the season for his club. Both teams had chances to score in the second half but Butina and Carini were playing great in the second half. But Brugge were determined to score at least once and they did this trough Casas. It was his 25th goal for Brugge this season, which is surely more then him and his manager expected from the Argetinian striker. With ten games left to play Brugge have 15 points more then Standard who jumped over Genk in the table.

Final score: Club Brugge 1 – Genk 1
Scoreline: Roussel 44 min 0-1; Casas 73 min 1-1
Attendance: 23235
Bookings: Gvozdenovic, Aghahowa (misses next match); Wamfor, Sigurdsson, Fadiga
Player ratings: Butina 8, Maertens 6, Gvozdenovic 7, Clement © 6, De Cock 6, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 7, Ceh 6

In the other games Beveren defeated AA Gent with 3-0 while Germinal Beerschot did the same against La Louvière. Lierse – Cercle Brugge ended two all while Mouscron beated Charleroi with 2-0. Sint-Truiden and Anwerp scored both three times while Standard won in and against Westerlo.

Sunday 6th March:

Oostende managed to beat Roeselare with 2-0, which leaves Roeselare in last position.

In other news Liverpool won the English League Cup on penalties after a 2-2 draw with Newcastle. Makélélé and Diouf put Liverpool on roses after 15 minutes but goals from Jeffers and Bellamy made things level again. In the penalty shoot-out it was Liverpool who came out as 6-7 winners.

Monday 7th March:

Former Anderlecht manager Hugo Broos was appointed as the new manager of Charleroi today. His task for the rest of the season would be to get them out of the relegation zone.

Wednesday 9th March:

There were three games today in the first division as Anderlecht won against Cercle Brugge with 2-1 while Genk demolished Beveren with heavy 6-1 results. Standard kept up their nice form with a 4-2 win against Lokeren.

Sunday 13th March:

There was a game sheduled for this evening as Roeselare managed to get a win against Mouscron. When the final whistle came the scoreboard showed a 2-0 win for the home team.

Wednesday 16th March:

Brugge make history!

This evening Brugge qualified for the Quarter Finals of the Champions Cup and because of this they are one of the eight best teams in Europe this season. At half-time it was still nil each and Bayern had the pressure om them as they needed to score. But it was Mendoza who scored the first goal of the game. Bayern pulled one back in the 79th minute from the spot. It was Riedl who converted the penalty.

This is unbelievable, Brugge confirmed their statute as sub-top club in Europe. They beated German giants FC Bayern 4-2 on aggregate score. When the first half ended Bayern managed four shots from eight on target, but they were all saved by Butina, who is unlikely one of the biggest reasons of Brugge’s succes. Brugge managed three of his four shots on target and knew that they had a real chance to qualify. In the 55th minute 615, of the 47236 fans in the Müncher Olympiastadion were celebrating as the much criticised Mendoza fired in Casas’ nice cross. Bayern had to score at least three time from now on to get extra time. But the German fans knew that this wasn’t going to happen especially not with Butina in a magnificent day, like today. On 79 De Cock handled the ball in the area and the man in black pointed at the spot. Riedl, a very promising 21 year old German striker, stepped up and fired it past Butina. It wan unbelievable how concentrated the player was, and on his age that’s admireable. But still Bayern couldn’t score anymore and Brugge made it to the last eight.

Final score: FC Bayern 1 (2) - Club Brugge 1 (4)
Scoreline: Mendoza 55 min 0-1; Riedl pen 79 min 1-1
Attendance: 47236
Bookings: Kuffour, Scholl; Englebert
Player ratings: Butina 8, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 6, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 6, Englebert 4, Kallstrom 7, Casas 7, Mendoza 8, Ceh 6

bjorn

Geneve, 15 o’clock:

Live draw for the Quarter Finals of the Champions Cup.

Sepp Blatter: Welcome back everyone. I see some schock results have happened? Let’s have a look at the second round.

First game: Ajax vs. Dinamo Kiev

In the first leg Ajax lost surprisingly at home with three – nil. Dinamo Kiev is putting on a real display with some nice results troughout the whole campagne so far. Gavrancic, Nanni and Belkevich were the players that scored the goals for the team from Ukraine. In the second leg at Ukraine it was 0-0. And so Ajax are out of the Champions Cup and Dinamo Kiev is our first Quarter finalist.

Second game: Club Brugge vs. FC Bayern

The first game was in Belgium were the home team got away with a 3-1 victory. Casas, Ceh and Mendoza were the ones that scored before Scholl pulled one back for the German team. Bayern needed to win the return leg with 2-0 but instead they got a draw as Mendoza opened the score before Riedl pulled one back from the spot.

Third game: Lazio vs. Inter:

The current holder of the Champions Cup got a 1-0 victory in the first leg. A goal from Stankovic was the only goal at Olimpico. In San Siro it was Mihajlovic who scored the only goal of the game and Lazio progress to the Quarter Finals on 2-0 aggregate.

Fourth game: Liverpool vs. AC Milan:

The first game was played in England and ended one all. Kaka opened the score for the Italians but in the second half Kristiansen pulled one back. Everybody knew it would be a hard task for Liverpool but somehow they managed to get a 2-2 draw their, to go trough on away goals. Although Shevchenko gave Milan a 2-0 lead but a penalty goal from Nakata and a fine strike by Owen made things level again. And so we have our fourth Quarter Finalist.

Fifth game: Monaco vs. Juventus

Everyone knew that this was going to be very hard for the French team and in their home game they lost with 0-1 as Di Vaio scored the only goal of the game. The same result came in Delle Alpi but there it was Del Piero who scored the only goal of the game.

Sixth game: PAO vs. Arsenal:

An entertaining first game in Greece saw each team scoring twice. Olisadebe opened the score for the home team before Henry scored a brace to give his team a 1-2 lead. Loannou pulled one back for PAO but surely it wouldn’t be enough for the return. In England that same Loannou opened the score after 7 minutes but two minutes later Henry pulled one back. From then on Arsenal took control over the game and a goal from Edu and another one from Henry made sure that the team from London progressed.

Seventh game: Porto vs. Chelsea

The first leg was in Portugal and after nine minutes Chelsea took the lead trough Joe Cole. But two minutes later Yuri made things level again. Chelsea pushed forward and just before the end of the first half Mutu scored the last goal of the evening. In the return leg at England it was really a spectacular game. Deco opened the score for Porto and everyone thought that Porto were ready to shock the football world. But one man stood up as Hernan Crespo scored an amazing five!! Goals and another one from Veron to make it 6-1 and 8-2 on aggregated.

Eight game: Sparta Prague vs. Man Utd:

The first game in Prague ended in a 0-2 victory for the Red Devils as Keane and van Nistelrooy scored the goals there. In the return game in England Poborsky opened the score but goals from Solskjaer, Fletcher and Ernesto Perez made sure that the team from England were trough to the Quarter Finals.

Sepp Blatter: So this was the review of the second round of the Champions Cup and before we start the draw we will have a look at the five best goalscorers this season in the Champions Cup. On the first place we have the great performing Frenchmen, Thierry Henry from Arsenal with 13 goals so far. He is followed by another player from the Premier League, Ruud van Nistelrooy. He has scored 9 times in the Champions Cup this season for Man Utd. On third place we have a Peruvian, who is playing in the Belgian First Division. Andres Mendoza has scored 8 times for Club Brugge. On 4th place we have Hernan Crespo, who has scored 7 times for English club Chelsea. And with the same amount of goals on the 5th place we have Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Man Utd. All these players are still in the competition so they can still score a lot of goals. Last season’s top goalscorer Simone Inzaghi had 18 goals last season in the Champions Cup. This season he has only scored once for Lazio.

Sepp Blatter: Now let’s get the draw underway…..

bjorn

The first team that comes out the box is English side Man Utd. They will welcome Belgian side Club Brugge to their stadium. It will be intresting to see if Brugge can shock us once again. The first game is played on Wednesday, 30th March 2005.

The second team that’s coming out is another English side as Liverpool will face another Italian side, Juventus. I’m sure that Juventus will try and take revenge for Liverpool’s win against AC Milan.

The third game will see Chelsea at home against Ukrainian side Dinamo Kiev. An interesting game as Dinamo Kiev has nothing to lose. Maybe they can schock us also once again. But the English superstars are redy for them they say.

And the fourth and final game will see Arsenal at home against Serie A side Lazio. So the current top goalscorer and his team against the current Champions Cup holder. Intresting to say the least.

Sepp Blatter: So all the English teams will play at home in the first leg, it’s a bit strange but what can we do about it? I would like to welcome four of you guy’s back here for the draw of the Semi Finals of the Champions Cup.

Ok. We will play against the current leaders in the English Premier League. I’m confiident about it. Not because we have a chance to win – as we don’t in my opinion – but I’m confident because we have nothing to lose, not even our pride. That game means a lot of money for the club and a good training session against the Top of the World.

Friday 18th March:

Anderlecht couldn’t get a win against Westerlo as the game ended two all.

Saturday 19th March:

It’s unbelieveable…

This were the words of Club Brugge manager Björn Noppe after the derby game with Cercle Brugge. Despite having numerous chances troughout the whole game Brugge failed to score and were punished in the 89th minute when Svetlicic scored to one and only goal for the visitors.

The better Club play in Europe, the weaker they play in the league as they slumped to another defeat, this time against neighbours Cercle Brugge. Man of the match Olivier Van Impe stopped every shot of Club Brugge as he played a magnificent game. Cercle Brugge even left the stadion with an undeserved win but they won’t stop sleeping for this. Svetlicic scored the one and only goal in the 89th minute. He was only nine minutes on the pitch then. Maybe there’s still hope for the other teams to take the First Division title.

Final score: Club Brugge 0 – Cercle Brugge 1
Scoreline: Svetlicic 89 min 0-1
Attendance: 17070
Bookings: Verheyen; Vandenbussche, Kubik, Frigard
Player ratings: Butina 7, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 6, Verheyen 7, Englebert 6 (Saeternes 10 min 7), Kallstrom 6, Casas 7, Lange 7, Gvozdenovic 7

Beveren won against Antwerp with 1-0 while Hugo Broos won his first game with Charleroi. They defeated Roeselare with 2-0. Germinal Beerschot walked over AA Gent in a 4-0 win while Lierse won against Standard with 1-0. Mouscron defeated La Louvière with 3-2 and Sint-Truiden won at home against Lokeren with 1-0.

Sunday 20th March:

Jaime Pacheco is no longer the manager of Mallorca as chairman Mateo Alemany sacked him today. Mallorca are currently in 19th position which means they will be relegated if results don’t improve soon.

In other news, there was one game sheduled this afternoon as Oostende lost at home against Genk with 0-2.

Wednesday 23rd March:

Barcelona have won the Spanish Cup thanks to a two – one victory over arch rivals Real Madrid. After only three minutes Motta opened the score for Barca but five minutes later Ronaldo made the score level again. Barca and Real had both the chances to win the game but in the end it was Marquez who gave Barca the Spanish Cup with his goal in the 78th minute.

Easy Cup win for Brugge.

You could clearly see the difference between Club Brugge and Kapellen this evening as Brugge easily defeated them with 5-0. A brace from Casas were the first two goals of the game and later in the first half Englebert added his goal. Two minutes after the restart of the second half Mendoza made it four and with 15 minutes left on the clock Englebert added another one to his account.

Before the game started everyone expected Brugge to win, and they did it, but not in the way the fans expected. It became a real goalfestival. After 19 minutes of football Casas opened the score for his team and seven minutes later he made it two. Brugge had a lot of chances and Englebert’s first goal of the game putted Brugge on roses. In the second half Brugge kept controlling the game and when Mendoza made it four the game was played. Englebert’s second goal of the game made sure that Brugge shouldn’t worry for the return. Brugge played very well and this was what they needed after a slightly dissappointing First Division moment.

Final score: Club Brugge 5 – Kapellen 0
Scoreline: Casas 19 min 1-0; Casas 26 min 2-0; Englebert 41 min 3-0; Mendoza 47 min 4-0; Englebert 75 min 5-0
Attendance: 27624
Bookings: Van der Heyden, Diogo, Ceh
Player ratings: Butina 8, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 9, Kallstrom 7, Casas 10, Mendoza 10, Ceh 7

There was also one game in the First Division this evening. Lokeren easily defeated Westerlo as they ran out 4-1 winners.

SoS

nice to see you bounce back from that harsh defeat so well