The Chess Match Begins

The Chess Match Begins

On February 26, 2014, the UEFA Champions League game between Chelsea FC vs Galatasaray AS will be played at 'Turk Telekom Ali Samiyen Stadium', in Istanbul, Turkey. 

This is the knock-out phase of the competition, and the next game between the two clubs will be on March 18, 2014, in London, England. 

          Mourinho 

The winner will be in the 'last 8', semi-finals of this tournament.  

However, before dreaming about titles, Chelsea's Coach Jose Mourinho, will need to win the 'Chess Match', with Galatasaray's Coach of Roberto Mancini.   

          Mancini

Mr Mourinho had the following to say, about this tie:

“I think this is a tie that will go to the end. It will go right to the end.”

I do agree with Mr Mourinho; this will be a tricky couple of games, and it will go right to the wire.

Thank you, 

Ben

Madrid's in Lisbon

Madrid's in Lisbon

Today, is the UEFA European Champions League Final, between Athletico Madrid versus Real Madrid.  Amazing to see two teams from the same city make it all the way to the finals.  This final will be played in the neighbour country of Portugal's capital city of Lisbon.  

     Athletico Madrid

I'm very much impressed at the journey of these two teams, to make to the 'bitter end'. 

     Real Madrid

May it be a good game, and let the better team win today.  

I'm waiting for the game to begin, and wanted to post this blog.  

Here's comes kickoff.  

Will Anderlecht of 1977 Show Up

Will Anderlecht of 1977 Show Up

Galatasaray soccer team is based out of Istanbul, Turkey.   They finished in second place, in last years domestic competition, behind the champions Fenerbahce.  

          Preview

Anderlecht soccer team is based out of Brussels, Belgium.  The team finished champions in the Belgium domestic division last year.  

Today is the first game of 2014 - 15 UEFA Champions League for both clubs.  

The game will be played at 'Turk Telekom Arena' in Istanbul, home of Gala.  

How is Anderlecht's record against Turkish opponents in Turkey? 

I found that it is a decent record of:

Won 2,

Draw 1, &

Lost 2. 

Both teams have last met almost 40 years ago, in the 1976 - 1977 'European Cup Winners Cup' competition.  After two games, Anderlecht triumphed to a 10 - 2 trashing of Gala, after winning each game with the identical result of 5 - 1.

It is with enthusiastic anticipation, I will be following this game.  Let the better team win. 

Thank you, 

Ben 

🤓

Madrid Duel

Madrid Duel 

The  UEFA Champions League final is going to be played in the city of Lisbon Portugal.   The teams that will play in this years prestigious final will both be from the city of Madrid.  The teams are:

Athletico Madrid 

&

Real Madrid 

Athletico Madrid beat Chelsea FC & Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich to make it to the final. 

    Ilker Casillas of Real Madrid

I am very much impressed that one city can have two teams go all the way to the finals.  

The city of Madrid is rejoicing and should cherish this moment.   They are clear winners in the UEFA Champions League. 

   Arda Turan of Athletico Madrid

Let's find out who will win the trophy.  

Sincerely, 

Ben

Last four of the UEFA Champions League

Last four of the UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League for the 2013 - 2014 season has proceeded to the Quarter-Finals (Last 4).  The following are the remaining teams left:

     Chelsea

     Bayern Munich

(No picture)

Real Madrid

(No picture)

Athletico Madrid

There were a couple of upsets in my opinion. 

Athletico Madrid eliminating Barcelona was a shocker. 

And

Chelsea FC coming back from a 3-1 first game loss, to win the second game 2-0. 

I'm very interested to see which teams will be matched against one another.  

What is your prediction for the 'last two'?

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

🤓

Sympathy for Gala

Sympathy for Gala 

Galatasaray soccer team has been eliminated from UEFA Champions League; it is a sad day, today.  However, hold your head up Gala, we the supporters, are still proud of your current and past achievements. 

          Burak Yilmaz

Always your supporter.  

Sincerely, 

Ben

Worrisome Developments at Galatasaray

Worrisome Developments at Galatasaray

I am a supporter of Galatasaray Football Club, of Istanbul Turkey.  However, I am extremely worried of the past 5 games of the club; prior to the Champions League game against Chelsea FC of London England. 

          Jump around

I have written below the past 5 games, and the record for 'Gala' is: 

2 wins, 2 draws, 1 tie. 

Next game: 

Sun 02/02/14, League, Galatasaray vs Bursaspor

          No matter how cold it is, need to train 

Wed 29/01/14, Turkish Cup, Galatasaray 3 - 0 Elazıgspor

Sun 26/01/14,Turkish League, Gaziantepspor 0 - 0 Galatasaray

Wed 22/01/14, Turkish Cup, Elazıgspor 1 - 0 Galatasaray

Sun 19/01/14, Turkish Cup, Antalyaspor 1 - 1 Galatasaray

Wed 15/01/14, Turkish Cup, Galatasaray 2 - 0 Tokatspor

          Stretching for top form

Understandably, the team is trying to find a 'new' playing style under the rule of Mr Roberto Mancini, however, they better do this extremely quick. Galatasaray needs to find 'top-form' to convince us loyal followers and 'football watchers' of the world that they have any chance of eliminating Chelsea FC from the Champions League, and making it to the last 8 of this competition. 

The 'clash' of Galatasaray and Chelsea will be on February 26, 2014; therefore, plenty of time to re-develop top-form, however 'convincing future Turkish League victories' will be the key to develop high-morale of the players.  

          Practising and jogging 

Here is a link titled 'The Clash of Galatasaray vs Chelsea', which I wrote recently of the match held between the two clubs in 1999.  If the link does not work, please copy/paste it to the address bar. 

http://goodread10.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-clash-of-galatasaray-vs-chelsea.html

Good luck to both teams.  

Thank you for reading,

Ben

🤓

Last 16 Teams of 2013 / 14 UEFA Champions League

Last 16 Teams of 2013 / 14 UEFA Champions League 

Congratulations to the last 16 'Football/Soccer Clubs', that made it to the UEFA Champions League.  The teams will now face each other in a 'knockout phase', which will begin on February 18, 2014. 

               Barcelona FC

Below are the teams which made it this far in the difficult, prestigious, and well organized tournament.  

Manchester United (England)

Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)

Real Madrid (Spain)

Galatasaray (Turkey)

Paris Saint-Germain (France)

Olympiacos (Greece)

Bayern Munich (Germany) 

Manchester City (England)

Chelsea (England)

Schalke 04 (Germany)

Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

Arsenal (England)

Atlético Madrid (Spain)

Zenit (Russia)

Barcelona (Spain) 

Milan (Italy)

The world respects accomplishment of these 'first class' teams.  

               Borossia Dortmund FC

Good luck to all the teams on their journey to the 'final'. 

What is your prediction for the last 2 teams to face each other in the final?, let me know please.  

               Athletico Madrid FC

Thank you for reading.  

Snow In Turk Telekom Stadium

Snow In Turk Telekom Stadium

If you are following this blog, I wrote about the stressful 6th, and last game of 'group B' of the Champions League; the title of the blog is simply 'Galatasaray vs Juventus in December 2013'.  

The game was played on Tuesday, December 10, but only for 31 minutes.  Why? you ask, since a soccer/football game is played for a total of 90 minutes.  

Due to snow, and hail falling onto the pitch, the game was 'called off' and after speculations of 'will the game be played' at all.  It was decided by the governing body of Europe, UEFA, that the game will be played the next day, for the remaining 59 minutes, that was today, December 11, 2013. 

Here are a few pictures of the game, while/when it was being 'called off'. 

Thank you. 

Odds & Champions League of 2014

Odds & Champions League of 2014

The teams that are remaining in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League are listed below.  Beside the each 'mighty' team, I have included the 'odds' given by:

www.williamhill.com

to win this prestigious trophy, here they are:

1. Bayern Munich 11/4

2. Real Madrid 9/2 

3. Barcelona 11/2

4. Borussia Dortmund 10/1

5. Chelsea 10/1

6. Manchester United 10/1

7.  Athletico Madrid 14/1

8.  Paris Saint Germain 14/1

9.  Manchester City 16/1

10. Arsenal 33/1

11. AC Milan 66/1

12. Bayer Leverkusen 100/1

13. Galatasaray 150/1

14. Zenit St Petersburg 250/1

15. Olympics 500/1

16. Schalke 04 500/1

Now, I'd like to bring to your attention another 'bet' taking place in the webpage of:

www.skybet.com

on the team to reach the finals in May 2013, again, here they are:

1. Bayern Munich 6/5

2. Real Madrid 2/1

3. Barcelona 9/4

4. Borussia Dortmund 11/2

5. Chelsea 6/1

6. Athletico Madrid 6/1

7. Paris Saint Germain 13/2

8. Manchester United 13/2

9. Manchester City 13/2

10. Arsenal 12/1

11. AC Milan 28/1

12. Bayer Leverkusen 66/1

13. Galatasaray 80/1

14. Schalke 04 100/1

15. Zenit St Petersburg 100/1

16. Olympics 200/1

I am following this tournament, since I like to watch the game, plus an added bonus is that the team I support, Galatasaray, has made it this far.  

As we can all see in the above 'odds', chances are very low that 'Gala' will progress further in this difficult tournament.

But there is always 'HOPE'.  

Next matchup for Gala is against Chelsea FC.  I am hoping that the 'underdog' will prevail to make it past the 'London' club.

I will analyze this matchup numerous times over the coming months since the 'head to head', knockout games will not be played until February 18 and March 11, 2014, respectively. 

Thank you for reading, please visit again in the future. 

Sergen the Coach

Sergen the Coach 

I wanted to write about a coach named Sergen Yalcin today. 

Why you ask?

I like to keep current in the game of soccer/football, and look for interesting stories within this sport.  

Here is an a good story, you will not have heard/read on many news channels. 

Sergen Yalcin become the coach of Gaziantepspor Soccer Team, 45 days ago. 

The soccer team fired the previous coach, due to unsuccessful results and ended in the bottom of an 18 team league titled, 'Super League' of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF). 

Since taking over the club as a coach, Sergen Yalcin has won all 4 games in charge for Gaziantepspor.  This is very surprising, as all games were against difficult clubs.  

After 4 weeks, the team went from being 'last' in the table to now in 10th place.  

Here is where the story gets interesting.  

Mr Sergen Yalcin has stated this week that he will quiet his job as a coach after 2 weeks, which will be after the end of 2 games, since the players are not getting their salaries regularly.

After 2 weeks, there will be a 1 month vacation in the 'Super League' of TFF.  

My advise to the management of Gaziantepspor Football Team are:

- solve the financial problem within the club, 

- pay your employees salaries on time, 

- respect each other,

- act professionally,

- try to keep your current coach Sergen Yalcin, and 

- try to sign him for a minimum of 2 year contract. 

I do believe there is success in the future for this club, if the above 'points' are implemented.  

Thank you for reading. 

Last 16, of the Champions League

Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League

I would like to congratulate Galatasaray FC, for making it to the 'last' 16 of 2013/14 UEFA Champions League. 

That's two years in a row for this organization.  

Well done. 

Thank you.  

Group B of UEFA Champions League

Group B of this seasons UEFA Champions League

Group B of this seasons UEFA Champions League, looks like this, after 4 games have been played.  

Clubs.            G.     W.      T.       L.   P. 

Real Madrid    4.     3.      1.       0. 14.     

Galatasaray    4.     1.      1.       2.   4.   

Kobenhavn     4.     1.      1.       2.   4.  

Juventus         4.     0.      3.       1.   3. 

I am a 'Gala' supporter, and my second favorite team is 'Real'.  I do believe that Real Madrid has guaranteed to make it to the 'Last 16' of the competition, congratulations to that organization. 

          Galatasaray FC

However, the second place spot, and the qualifier for that coveted 'Last 16' is still up-for-grabs.  The remainder games in this group are:

27 November 2013

Real Madrid 20.45 Galatasaray

Stadium: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

27 November 2013

Juventus 20.45 Kobenhavn

Stadium: Juventus Stadium, Turin

10 December 2013

Galatasaray 20.45 Juventus

Stadium: Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi, Istanbul (TUR)

10 December 2013

Kobenhavn 20.45 Real Madrid

Stadium: Kobenhavn 

For Galatasaray to make it to the 'Last 16', they will need to finish ahead of Juventus and Kobenhavn, therefore they will need to 'hopefully' not loose at Madrid, a tie would be a good result.  The last game will be against Juventus, and I do believe the winner of this game, will make it to the 'Last 16", which is the next round of the Champions League.  

          Real Madrid FC

I am sorry to say that, I do not give Kobenhavn has any chance of making it to the next round, therefore the last game against 'Gala' and 'Juve' will be a 'do or die' game.   The winner, surely will finish second in the group and proceed to the next round, and the looser will finish in third place.  

My prediction for 'Gala's' next two games are:

Real Madrid 0 - 0 Galatasaray

Galatasaray 1 - 0 Juventus

What is your prediction?

Thank you for visiting,