There Is Only One Sinnacle

France midfielder Ribery hints at Bayern exit

“It would be difficult for me to stay if we do not reach this goal,” he told French sports daily L’Equipe. “It is why the club must, at all cost, finish at least in second place.”

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Despite this being a down year for Bayern Munich a repeat of two years ago where they didn’t quality for the Champions League doesn’t seem to be in the cards. It does point to a bigger question as to why Ribery performance has dropped this season after taking German football by storm in his first year at Bayern Munich.

Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson Pleased Arsenal Did Not Score An Away Goal

While a little disappointed the Red Devils didn’t win by a greater margin than 1-0, the Scot has said that United achieved their objective of keeping a clean-sheet in the Champions League semi-final first leg…

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Arsene Wenger: Manchester United Will Rue Not Scoring Twice Against Arsenal

The French tactician insists his Gunners will overturn the 1-0 deficit at the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday in the second leg of their European tie…

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Both managers are right in this soft and both can take away positives from last nights result. Manchester United got the win and kept a clean sheet and Arsenal is able to take it back to the Emirates only down 1-0. Advantage is still with United since an away goal would mean Arsenal would have to score three to advance which is an uphill task even at home.

Everton are lining up a summer bid for Newcastle striker Michael Owen with the former England star prepared for a cut in his £100,000-a-week wages . (Daily Express)

Made mention of this last month how Michael Owen would be a great fit for Everton. With Jo being outside of Everton’s price range, replacing him with Owen who grew up as an Everton fan would be a great replacement.

Manchester City are in talks with Lisbon’s 22-year-old midfielder Miguel Veloso over a £15m move. (The Sun, The Times)

Usually I’d say forget about signing playing from Barcelona, Manchester City should look to sign a player like Miguel Veloso. Then again Manchester City has already spent a boat load of money on Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany who each can play in the holding midfielder role.

Liverpool are considering a bid to sign Marseille skipper Lorik Cana as back-up for Xabi Alonso, who could be sold in the summer. (Daily Mirror)

I’m sure most of this is press talk but I just can’t see why Liverpool would sell Xabi Alonso. Here you have a player who can play for any team in the world, who never complains and willingly plays second fiddle to Gerrard and Torres in the Liverpool setup.

Barcelona are furious with the conduct of Chelsea’s players following the 0-0 Champions League draw at the Nou Camp.

Xavi says: “There was a team that wanted to play and there was a team that didn’t.” Referee Wolfgang Stark also comes under fire for snubbing a penalty and failing to award cards for bad tackles. “It’s an outrage. There were scandalous incidents,” Xavi adds. (Various)

What were Barcelona expecting? Chelsea must of saw how Barcelona blew out Bayern Munich in the first half. There was no way Chelsea was going to take that chance playing with Barcelona at the Camp Nou. On the other hand, the next time Chelsea complains about a team playing negative football someone should point out their performance against Barcelona.

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill thinks Rangers and Celtic players would become “monumental” if their teams were involved in a future two-tier Premier League in England. (Daily Record)

This talk of Rangers and Celtic joining the EPL always comes about every couple of years. Can’t see it happening for two reasons. 1) It will kill the rest of Scottish football so there will be an uproar over that. More importantly 2) There is no way two teams are going to make way to allow Rangers and Celtic in the EPL and even if they expand the league, teams would still be unhappy with a reduced share of the TV revenues.

NEW YORK and SANDY, UTAH — Major League Soccer announced Wednesday that legendary English Premier League side and current FA Cup finalists, Everton FC, will face the MLS All-Stars in the 2009 MLS All-Star Game at Rio Tinto Stadium, the home of Real Salt Lake, on Wednesday, July 29 (live on ESPN2 and TeleFutura at 9:30 p.m. ET). This midseason showcase will continue the theme of “MLS Takes on the World.” The MLS All-Star team is 5-0 in previous All-Star Games against international opponents.

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Everton isn’t a bad club for MLS to have face their All Stars with joining the likes of Chelsea, Fulham, Celtic and West Ham last year. With American and former MLS player Tim Howard currently Everton’s number one it all ties together nicely in what should be an interesting match.

Ronaldinho Is Yet To Find A Balance – Milan Fitness Trainer

The Brazilian has not seen much of the pitch since the turn of the year, but the Rossoneri fitness trainer insists his condition is top-notch.

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You would of gotten dirty looks if you said after the 2006 Champions League final that Ronaldinho wouldn’t win another title. Three years later it just appears that Ronaldinho is going through the motions out there. Maybe heading into the World Cup next year Ronaldinho rediscovers his love and passion for the game but I wouldn’t put any money on it.

Juventus will make a new bid for Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso after missing out on him last summer. (Various)

Nice timing for this “report” to come out a day after Rafa Benitez came out and said that Liverpool may have to sell before they could buy come the summer.

Real Madrid’s Dutch winger Rafael van der Vaart has been offered to Chelsea for £8m. (Daily Mirror)

Bye Bye Deco if this was the case but with no one knowing who will be Chelsea’s coach six months from now, I wouldn’t be in a rush to order any van der Vaart Chelsea jerseys.

Aston Villa want £5.5m-rated Steau Bucharest defender Dorin Goian. (The Sun)

With serious questions over Martin Laursen future due to injury it’s not surprising that Aston Villa are currently kicking the tires looking for a new defender.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has emerged as a shock contender to become Chelsea’s new boss. (The Sun)

Cause we all know hiring a coach with no European club coaching experience worked so well the last time.

Liverpool winger Yossi Benayoun will be offered a new deal to keep him from quitting the club in the summer. (The Sun)

Is Liverpool really fearful that Benayoun will quit the club come this summer? Don’t get me wrong he has been a great role player for Liverpool but fans wouldn’t be protesting on the streets of Liverpool if he left.

Erik Gerets Resigns As Coach Of Marseille

Olympique de Marseille head coach Erik Gerets has announced his decision to leave the club, according to French radio station RMC. The 54-year-old has guided les Phoceens to the summit of Ligue 1 this season, where they currently enjoy a five-point advantage over Girondins de Bordeaux.

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Weird time for this to happen with Marseille on the verge of dethroning Lyon at the top of Lique 1. With Gerets contact coming due in June he must of been really upset with the state of contact negotiations to walk away so close to the end of the season.

zzzzz’s are what comes to mind when thinking about yesterday’s Chelsea-Barcelona game. From a Chelsea point of view they should be thrilled with the 0-0 result despite not getting the away goal. Taking this back to Stamford Bridge Chelsea must be happy having control over their Champion League future. If Chelsea can’t win at home then in their minds they must think that they don’t deserve to make it to the Champions League finals anyway.

Angry Juventus Fans Protest In Turin: Sack The Board!

Juventus fans are showing signs of increasing tension and unrest as they turn their back on the directors by protesting outside the club’s offices in Turin.

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You really can’t give Juventus anything more than a C grade since return to Serie A. Yes they have claimed a Champions League place but the players they have bought in the last couple of years are not going to match what the likes of Inter Milan and A.C Milan can field as a starting 11. With Nevded retiring and Del Piero not getting any younger, Juventus need to make a splash in the summer transfer market.

Johan Cruyff: Barcelona Can’t Make Valencia Mistakes Against Chelsea

The Dutch legend has given his Blaugrana side a few tips on how to overcome a physical Chelsea outfit in the Champions League…

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Barcelona will need to do what Liverpool failed to do in the first leg against Chelsea which is limit their chances on set pieces. Chelsea have a massive height advantage so Barcelona will need to keep the ball in open play and not concede corners or free kicks in dangerous areas against Chelsea.

Manchester City have held talks with Barcelona about signing Samuel Eto’o for a fee of about £40m. The Cameroon international striker has stalled on a new four-year deal at the Camp Nou and Barca could run the risk of losing him for nothing with 14 months left on his current deal. (Various)

Barcelona are not going to wait around and lose Eto’o for nothing come 2010. If Eto’o stalls on a new contact this summer Barcelona will sell him. By the slim chance Eto’o does end up playing for Manchester City, if he isn’t happy at Barcelona by the first cold front hits Manchester Eto’o will regret leaving Barcelona.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admits he may have to sell some of his current squad to fund his summer transfer kitty. The Spaniard is eyeing Valencia duo David Silva and Raul Albiol, as well as Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry. (Various)

The only way Benitez could afford David Silva is if he sold Torres and we all know that isn’t going to happen. Silva is a 25 million euro player. The likes of selling Lucas and Yossi Benayoun will not bring back a Silva in return. Selling Daniel Agger however could lead Liverpool to replace him with Raul Albiol. As for Barry that is so summer of 2008.

Middlesbrough’s record £12m signing Afonso Alves will join Benfica in the summer, even if the Teesiders escape relegation. (Various)

It’s not like Alves is doing much to help Middlesbrough stay up. From a selfish point of view wouldn’t mind selling Alves join Benfica.

Tottenham midfielder Didier Zokora says he is ready to quit the club after losing his first-team place. Team-mates David Bentley, Tom Huddlestone, Gareth Bale and Jermaine Jenas also face uncertain futures at White Hart Lane. (Daily Mirror)

Still have a laugh thinking about on the Zokora to Real Madrid rumours which lasted a couple of days when Juande Ramos first took over Real Madrid.

Former Tottenham manager Martin Jol, now in charge of German side Hamburg, is favourite to succeed Jurgen Klinsmann, who was sacked as Bayern Munich manager on Tuesday. (The Times)

Good for Jol is this does happen. Martin Jol has Hamburg in position to do a Bundesliga/UEFA Cup double this year.

Klinsmann’s availability could interest Manchester City should the club decide to sack current manager Mark Hughes. (Daily Mirror)

With the likes of Robert Mancini and Frank Rijkaard out there Manchester City would be foolish to replace Hughes for Klinsmann. Despite Klinsmann time in England playing for Tottenham his tenure at Bayern Munich did a lot of damage to his repetition as a coach.

Manchester United winger Nani faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford following his second-half substitution in the 5-2 victory over Tottenham. The Portugal international has yet to complete 90 minutes in six Premier League starts this season. (Independent)

Been saying this for months. There are players who join clubs like Manchester United and think they have arrived on the big stage. Then there are players who join clubs like Manchester United and continue to improve their game in order justify playing week in and week out at such a club. Nani is very much the first example.

Chelsea right-back Jose Boswinga believes he can contain Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. (Daily Star)

Well Boswinga is not going to come out and say he is afraid Messi might rip him to sheds is he?

Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas could face a possible Football Association rap for criticising referee Howard Webb following his penalty decision in Spurs’ 5-2 defeat by Manchester United. (Various)

Mr Fishbowl was only speaking the truth.

Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor has compared AC Milan to bootylicious singer Beyonce after he admitted nearly quitting the Emirates for the San Siro. “It’s like a boy being told Beyonce is looking for them,” said the Togo international. (The Sun)

Wonder if former Arsenal now current A.C Milan player Mathieu Flamini felt the same way?