TW3 #12

A busy weekend all over the place and for all sorts of reasons, so let's get to it.

For the first time since 2003, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not a league champion. It was the Milan derby on Sunday evening and it turned out to be one of the games of the season. Having cut Juventus's lead to a single point in midweek, Milanese hopes were high, especially as a brace from Zlatan put the Rossoneri ahead after Diego Milito had put Inter ahead early. Two Milito penalties restored Inter to the lead and a complete thunderbastard from Maicon put the tin lid on it. As job interviews go, it was a pretty good one for Andrea Stramaccioni who now looks like being confirmed in the role full-time. More remarkably, with Inter three points from third, he could yet get them back into the Champions League. While it was all going off in Milan, Juventus were cruising to a 2-0 win over Cagliari in Trieste. Mirko Vucinic had them in front early on and an own goal from Michele Canini sealed the game and, as it turned out, the championship. The club, or elements within it, still claim it's their 30th Scudetto and another star needs adding to the badge, but that conveniently ignores the 2005 and '06 championships that were stripped for... well, y'know... that massive cheating scandal. They've earned this one though. Still unbeaten, they've conceded just 19 goals in the league all season.
At the bottom, Novara beat Cesena, but both were down anyway. Nine-man Genoa lost to Udinese and need a point from their last game at home to Palermo to make sure of survival. Lecce need a win to draw level with them and force a play-off. They're away to Chievo. Speaking of Udinese, Antonio di Natale gave hints that he will be finishing at the end of the season. Now 34, he has been fighting through injuries for a while and the sudden death of Piermario Morosini has seemed to give him pause to reflect on the potential issues inherent in carrying on.

Anderlecht are champions of Belgium after a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge left the gap at seven points between the two clubs with two games remaining. A last-minute penalty from Guillaume Gillet snatched a point after Maxime Lestienne had looked like wresting the initiative back. The top four in Holland all won, so Ajax finish top with Feyenoord in second and in the Champions League play-offs. PSV and AZ go into the Europa League directly with Heracles taking a spot after their cup final loss to the Eindhoveners. Heerenveen and Twente go into the play-offs for the remaining Europa League spot along with Vitesse and NEC, but the Eredivisie has an extra place through the fair play league. Twente will get it if they don't make win the play-offs. If they do, the extra place goes to Excelsior who were relegated. De Graafschap and VVV go into the promotion/relegation play-offs with Eerste Divisie sides Den Bosch, Cambuur Leeuwarden, Willem II, Sparta Rotterdam, Helmond Sport and FC Eindhoven. FC Zwolle replace Excelsior.

With things tied up at the top end of the Bundesliga, all eyes were on the bottom this week and big black clouds - metaphorically and literally - descended over Koln. Lautern were already down and they were joined by Koln who were thumped 4-1 at home by FC Bayern. Fans reacted by letting off smoke bombs leaving the pitch shrouded in thick black smoke causing the game to be called a few minutes early. Hertha BSC face a play-off to maintain their Bundesliga status as they beat ten-man Hoffenheim to leapfrog Koln. Greuther Furth sealed the 2.Bundesliga title after a 2-2 draw with bottom placed Hansa Rostock as Eintracht Frankfurt - also promoted - lost to Karlsruher, a win that gives Karlsruher a shot at survival in a play-off. The push for the promotion play-off place was a three-way affair with two sides facing each other, St Pauli beating Paderborn 5-0 at the Millerntor. It wasn't enough as Fortuna Dusseldorf drew 2-2 with MSV Duisburg to finish ahead on goal difference. St Pauli needed another five.

The title is sewn up in Spain as well, so again we look down the table for action. Racing are down already, but the other two spots are still open. Sporting and Zaragoza both won while Rayo - in horrible form - Villarreal and Granada were all beaten and could all go. Sporting have it all to do - They go away to Málaga next week needing a win and a run of results to go for them - but that final relegation place is wide open. Granada are away to Rayo in what appears the pivotal clash, but Granada will be depleted after having two sent off at the end of their defeat to Real Madrid on Sunday as tempers boiled over with the Zaragozan referee.
Valencia sealed third, but Unai Emery - as has been rumoured for some time - will be leaving the club. Mauricio Pellegrino will take over.

Intrigue in Portugal surrounds the fate of União de Leiria. Having olnly raised eight players last week, they at least had 14 for the loss to Benfica this week as players who have been unpaid for some time decided to withdraw their labour. Leiria are done as a Primeira Liga side. The other relegation place is a straight fight between Feirense and Académica. Feirense need a win on final day and hope Académica lose. Anything else and they're gone. Estoril are promoted with one of Moirense and Desportivo Aves joining them.

The gap in Turkey is down to one point, Galatasaray leading despite being held by Besiktas this week. Fenerbahce beat Trabzonspor to close the gap so it's all on next week's Fener/Gala clash next week. Manchester City's Yaya Touré bagged a crucial brace against Newcastle to leave his side ahead of United in the race for the EPL with a game to go while Chelsea won the cup. Shakhtar Donetsk completed the first part of what they hope is a double with a cup win over city rivals Metalurh. A draw on the final day of the league will seal that double. Still two games to go in France and little is decided. Any one of seven sides could still go down while the top three all won, so Montpellier still lead by three from PSG who are two clear of Lille. Lille go to Montpellier next week.

Another big week awaits, the headline event being Wednesday's Europa League final between Athletic Club and Atlético Madrid in Bucharest. Atlético are the nominal home side and will wear the red and white stripes.

TW3 #6

Rounding up last weekend's action.

Game on in Spain. Real Madrid were held by Valencia at the Bernabeu while Barcelona beat Zaragoza with something to spare. The gap is down to four with a game between the two contenders to come. Suddenly, games for El Real against city rivals Atlético and Athletic look potential deciders. Málaga go above Valencia who drop to fourth, but Levante refuse to go away in teh chase for that final Champions League place. Performance of the week though belongs to Rayo Vallecano. The perennially cash-strapped club thumped Osasuna 6-0, Michu with a couple. There's a full midweek programme this week with that Madrid derby the highlight. Barca are at home to Getafe.

Porto have taken charge of the Liga Zon Sagres after beating Braga 1-0, Hulk the goal-scorer, and seeing Benfica lose by the same scoreline to Sporting the following day. Ricky van Wolfswinkel got the Sporting goal from the penalty spot early on and Luisao was sent off in teh last minute. Porto lead by four from Benfica who remain a point ahead of Braga.

Juventus, still unbeaten, move back to the top of Serie A after beating Palermo 2-0 and seeing former player Amauri grab a late winner for Fiorentina in Milan. Zlatan had given the Rossoneri the lead, but Stevan Jovetic squared it up and Amauri struck with a minute to go. There's a midweek round of fixtures here too with Juventus at home to Lazio who remain third after Stefano Mauri's stunner helped them to a 3-1 win over Napoli. Milan are away to Chievo.

The gap at the top of the Bundesliga remains three points after routine wins for both Dortmund and Bayern. The two meet on Wednesday at the Westfalenstadion with Dortmund reporting that they've had 450,000 applications for tickets for the 81000 capacity ground. It should be a cracker. At the bottom, Lautern are toast.

Wins for Montepellier and PSG in Ligue 1 leaves the latter at the top on goal difference with their game in hand against Marseille to come on Wednesday. Lille lose pace after defeat in Brest which brings Lyon within striking range for third place and the final Champions League place.

Silverware in Holland where PSV beat Heracles 3-0 in the cup final in Rotterdam and in Scotland where Celtic finally got over the line after thumping Kilmarnock. There are midweek games in the Eredivisie with AZ v Twente and Heerenveen v Ajax the highlights. PSV are away to Waalwijk and Feyenoord at Roda JC. In the Ukraine, Shaktar won the big game and go ahead of Dynamo on goal difference.

TW3 #5

Rounding up last weekend into a neat little package.

What a game in Dortmund on Friday night. Leading 2-0 early in the second half, BvB were looking good for win number 17 from their last 18 games. But Stuttgart turned the game on it's head with a Julian Schieber double helping them into the lead. Back came Dortmund only for a defensive mix-up deep in stoppage time to allow Christian Gentner to snatch a dramatic 4-4 draw. Bayern's fourth win in a row sees them close within three points. Dropped points for both Schalke and Gladbach leave it a two-horse race. Leverkusen, on the fringes of the European places, sacked Robin Dutt after their fourth successive league defeat. Sami Hyypia takes temporary charge. Down in Regionalliga Nord, the Magdeburg fans arrows clearly worked and backed up their goal from last week with two more this week, and it was enough for a win which lifts them off the bottom.

More goalfests in Italy where Inter won their first game under Andrea Stramaccioni by the odd goal in nine in a game that featured four successful penalties and two red cards. Genoa scored three of the penalties - two by Alberto Gilardino - but still came up short. Diego Milito bagged a hat-trick for the Nerazzuri. Genoa responded by sacking coach Pasquale Merino and replacing him with Alberto Malesani who previously coached the club as long ago as last December before being replaced by Merino. There were seven more goals in Roma's game against Novara, Luis Enrique's side running out 5-2 winners. Milan were held by the quietly effective Catania and Juventus were comfortable winners over Napoli. The gap at the top is down to two.
All of that was rather overshadowed by events elsewhere as nine former Bari players were arrested as part of match-fixing investigations, Andrea Masiello admitting to scoring a deliberate own goal after being offered €50,000 to lose a game against Lecce. This one will run and run.

As you were at the top of La Liga as Real Madrid came away from Pamplona big winners. Barcelona beat Athletic shortly afterwards to retain the status quo. El Real's five goals against Osasuna took them to the 100 mark for the season. Valencia dropped more points with a draw at home to Levante who are still right on their heels. Málaga couldn't take advantage with a home defeat to Real Betis where a win would have sent them third. A third straight win for Zaragoza pulls them within four points of safety. The greatest of escapes is still on. Defeats for Sporting and Racing make them look doomed.

In the Eredivisie AZ were held at home by Vitesse which allowed Ajax, who stuck six past Heracles, to go top by a point. FC Twente are two points further back from the Alkmaarders, one point ahead of the next three - PSV, Feyenoord and Heerenveen - who all won.

Benfica beat Braga, bringing the latter's brief leadership of the Liga Zon Sagres to an end. However, it's Porto who now lead the way after a comfortable 2-0 win over Olhanense. Benfica are a point behind, Braga one point further back. Marítimo and Sporting CP look certain to finish fourth and fifth - the Europa League spots - one way round or t'other.

Montpellier weren't in Ligue 1 action, but stay top after PSG were beaten by Nancy. Lille laboured to beat Toulouse to close within four points and give themselves breathing space back to the chasing pack.

Celtic have to wait a week for the Scottish title. Rivals Rangers won as did the hooped half of Glasgow, but one more point will do it for Neil Lennon's men. Olympiakos did seal the deal in Greece, beating Panaitolikos 1-0. Despite Panathiaikos beating Aris by the same score, Olympiakos are ten points clear with three games to go. Manchester United put one hand on their 20th English championship by beating Blackburn as rivals City were held by Sunderland. The gap is five, but it feels like 50 such is the difference in momentum between the two sides.

Midweek sees the intra-continental competitions take over with Champions League and Europa League quarter-final second legs and the Copa Libertadores centre stage - Godoy Cruz v U de Chile looks a cracker - before a packed Easter schedule.

Marking your card #3

Things to look out for this weekend.

Real Madrid got back to winning ways last week, but have a tough trip to Pamplona to play Osasuna on Saturday. Barcelona have already slipped up there and they take on Athletic this week. The Bilbao side back up from Thursday's 4-2 Europa League win over Schalke 04, the Liga authorities refusing to put the game back. It makes little difference: Athletic have struggled to back up from European exploits all season long and Barcelona should win this relatively comfortably. The 2-2 draw between the two at San Mamés was one of the games of the season. It's difficult to make a case for a repeat.

It's a big week in Portugal. Porto face the obdurate Olhanense at home, but new leaders Braga go to Lisbon to face the side they usurped at the top, Benfica. Should Braga win, they will fancy going on to take the title. Anything else and it's all still up for grabs.

It's third v fourth in France on Sunday when Lille host Toulouse in the battle for the final Champions League place. PSG can steal a march on Montpellier by winning their game against mid-table Nancy as the southerners don't play until Wednesday as the league allowed Marseille to reschedule in order to better prepare for Champions League football. Fat lot of good that did...

In Poland, two of the traditional powerhouses meet on Friday night when Wisła Kraków host Legia. Wisła are down in seventh, eleven points behind leaders Legia who are having a bit of a wobble having drawn the last two. Both have parsimonius defences, so this looks like being a cagey affair - well as cagey as it ever can be.

Having been denied by Rangers last week, Celtic can seal the Scottish title this week, though they'll need a helping hand from Motherwell who play their Glasgow rivals. Even if it doesn't happen this week, there's always the week after.

In the US, Sébastien Le Toux returns to Philadelphia - the club he didn't want to leave - with the Vancouver Whitecaps and a win for the Canadians would heap pressure on Piotr Novak. Chile's version of Rangers travel to play Universidad de Chile who are still quite incredible to watch. The big one in Russia sees leaders Zenit take on fourth-place Spartak Moscow. And if English non-league football is your bag, York City's trip to Luton on Friday night is a massive game. These sides met in the FA Trophy semi-finals, York sneaking through over two legs, securing a dramatic draw at Kenilworth Road to edge it 2-1 on aggregate. Further down the ladder, Chester FC celebrate two years since their rise from the ashes of Chester City with a home game against Whitby Town. 11 points clear with seven games to go, a win for Chester puts on foot in next season's Conference North. Our new best friends at 1.FC Magdeburg have a tough trip to Halmstad to take on Germania.


Finally, in Belgium Westerlo and Sint-Truiden begin their five-game series to determine which of them gets relegated. They will be utterly fed up of the sight of each other by the end of April.

You should find something to suit your tastes from that little lot. Wherever you end up, have fun.

TW3 #4

The weekend in a nutshell.

Inter go down in Turin, Ranieri offed as a result though in reality it had long been coming. Milan continue to lead, that man Zlatan with both goals in a 2-1 win over Roma. Cesena are almost down, but it is just a matter of time.

Real Madrid's little wobble is over following a 5-1 thumping of Real Sociedad. Barcelona also won, away to Mallorca, so the gap remains six points with a Clasico still to come. Málaga are the new incumbents of fourth and it could get better yet for the nouveau riche Los Boquerones as Valencia's second straight loss means it's tied on 47 points for third. At the bottom, Zaragoza's second straight win has pulled them level with both Racing and Sporting Gíjon, albeit still six points adrift of Granada and Villarreal. A fighting chance, nothing more.

Montpellier return to the top of Ligue 1 with a win over St Etienne combined with PSG being held 1-1 by Bordeaux. Lille remain third after cruising past Evian. Auxerre are in all sorts of trouble and hit the bottom after defeat to fourth-placed Toulouse.

A good weekend for Ajax in the Eredivisie who continued their great run with a win over PSV. They're a point behind AZ - 1-0 winners over RKC Waalwijk - but Twente fall away after a draw with ADO. Big wins for Feyenoord and Heerenveen see them make up a trio on 51 points with PSV a point further behind Steve McClaren's team.

New leaders in Portugal where Benfica and Porto both drew - Pablo Aimar sent off in a 0-0 draw for the former against Olhanense, the latter pegged back late on by Paços de Ferreira - and Sporting Braga beat Académica to go past them both.

The Belgian regular season has ended and now they go into their play-off frenzy. Anderlecht finished top and Kortijk sneak into the top six who play off for the championship as Cercle Brugge buggered it up against Lokeren and drop into the Europa League play-offs for the teams finishing 7th to 14th. Westerlo and Sint-Truiden play-off to avoid relegation. Clear? As mud.

Celtic have to wait at least a week for the Scottish title after defeat to Rangers in a feisty, tempestuous game, but they will be champions. So will Manchester United, south of the border, after rivals City extended their worrying run of complete inability to win away from home.

The fall-out from the trouble at the Panathiaikos-Olympiakos game saw the Greek FA award the match as a 3-0 to Olympiakos, fine Panathinaikos and order them to play four games behind closed doors. Both sides won this weekend - a 7-2 thumping of Asteras for Olympiakos for whom Kevin Mirallas got three - which leaves Olympiakos ten points clear.

Finally, Germany. Wins for the top three leaves the status quo intact, but a surprise loss for Gladbach at home to Hoffenheim sees them fall away and their season is in danger of fizzling out. They are a long way clear of Leverkusen though, so a top four finish is still very much on. 2.Bundesliga is finally taking shape. Of the top five, only Greuther and Eintracht Frankfurt won - Greuther against an increasingly dismal Lautern, Eintracht 4-0 away to Union Berlin - and they're away and over the hill now.

A busy midweek sees the Champions League quarter-finals hog the headlines and an emotional return to White Hart Lane for Bolton in the rearranged FA Cup tie, the game that was abandoned after Fabrice Muamba's heart attack.

That was the week that was #1

Taking over from the Vague round-up, something a bit more in-depth...

Last week was a European week with Barcelona and that Lionel Messi bloke grabbing all the headlines. That was a shame as APOEL's penalty shoot-out win over Lyon got a bit shouldered out of things and Athletic Club's trip to Manchester United in the Europa League was one of the games of the season. With APOEL reaching the quarters, Arsenal not quite managing to overturn the four-goal deficit against Milan and Chelsea 3-1 down going into this week's return leg against Napoli, Cyprus look likely to have more clubs in the quater-finals than England. Effort.

Onto matters domestic and in Spain, the one-horse races for first, second and third places all remained exactly that, even if Valencia - in a lonely third - could only draw with Mallorca, chucking a two-goal lead away in the process. More pain for Villarreal against Getafe on Monday night. Their survival hinges on finding three clubs worse than them. Fortunately Racing, Sporting and Zaragoza combine to fit that bill rather well. The only real race is for fourth and Málaga have that spot this week, Athletic conspiring to lose at Osasuna.

Napoli were stunning on Friday night in Serie A, thumping six past Cagliari. They conceded three though, a hat-trick for Joaquin Larrivey. Cagliari responded by sacking manager Davide Ballardini and re-hire former boss Massimo Ficcadenti who himself was sacked by the club four months ago. Clear? Milan won again to extend their lead at the top with Juventus - still unbeaten - only drawing in Genoa. Inter got back to winning ways against Chievo, but Ranieri is still on thin ice. The bottom three look done already, but Novara dented Udinese's Champions League hopes with something of a shock win.
Wins for the top two in France leaves that battle as it was, but both pull clear of third-placed Lille who were beaten by Lyon. St Etienne sneak into fourth after a win over VA. Four points cover the bottom seven meaning squeaky bums all round. In Ligue 2, Monaco finally pulled themselves out of the bottom three. It's still too early to talk of a resurgence.

The Eredivisie had one of it's bonkers weeks. Ajax went top briefly after a win of RKC Waalwijk, but AZ returned there in the late game on Sunday after beating Graafschap. PSV lost 3-1 at NAC Breda and fired Fred Rutten. Twente went and lost to NEC to stuff their chances of going top. Heerenveen also won to remain fifth, but a draw for Feyenoord sees them lose pace in sixth. AZ lead by three from Ajax, but one point covers second to fifth.

Porto stuffed up in the Liga Zon Sagres, drawing at home to Academica. Benfica's win over Paços de Ferreira and Braga's win over Leiria brings them both within a point. Sporting are a yawning eleven points further back in fourth.

Galatasaray are miles ahead in Turkey, likewise Basel in Switzerland. Olympiakos have opened up a bit of a gap in the Greek Super League after Panathinaikos were beaten by AEK. Legia opened up a bit of a gap in the Ekstraklasa after Slask were beaten by Korona. Warsaw derby next week.

Finally, Germany. Dortmund were held in Augsburg to a goalless draw, but remain four points ahead of Bayern, 7-1 winners against an increasingly shambolic Hoffenheim. Gladbach could only draw with Freiburg and they lose ground; Schalke move within a point of the Foals by beating Hamburg. But it's 2.Bundesliga where the real fun is. Three points covers the top five, still. Paderborn were held 0-0 by Bochum, the only ones in the top five not to win. Greuther beat Alemannia to remain top by a point from Eintracht Frankfurt who stuck five past Hansa. Then come Fortuna, 3-1 winners over Erzebirge. All that heaped pressure on St Pauli to win on Monday night and they did, 1-0 over Karlsruhe who remain in deep trouble at the wrong end.

Liga Sagres Round 9: Braga move clear

Porto 1 - 1 Belenenses
Naval 1º de Maio 1 - 0 Leixões
Sporting Braga 2 - 0 Benfica
Paços de Ferreira 0 - 1 União de Leiria
Olhanense 0 - 1 Rio Ave
Nacional 2 - 1 Vitória Setúbal
Sporting Lisbon 1 - 1 Marítimo
Académica 2 - 0 Vitória Guimarães

Oh how excited their supporters are now. It was not so very long ago that Sporting Braga fans were bemoaning the loss of coach Jorge Jesus to Benfica last summer, and yet Domingos Paciência has stepped into the hot seat and delivered 8 wins in 9 matches - including this weekend's victory in the battle of the top 2 and by far the best sides in the league so far. Hugo Viana gave the hosts an early lead, which was doubled 12 minutes from time by Brazilian striker Paulo Cesar. Benfica's army of South American stars could find no way through the Braga rearguard even after Andre Leone received his marching orders on the stroke of half time. Braga are now the only unbeaten team in the Liga Sagres and sit three points clear at the top.

Porto missed out on the chance to close the gap on O Glorioso after they were held at home by Belenenses; After Lima had given the visitors the lead, Ernesto Farias rescued a point but the 31,000 crowd at the Dragao were far from impressed and for probably the first time in his regime Jesualdo Ferreira is feeling the pressure. Ironically, things in the Champions League are going fine for him but his side just can't click domestically, where they lack the dominance in midfield they had with Lucho Gonzalez and the predatory threat up front of Lisandro Lopez, although Falcao has impressed thus far with 7 goals.

Of course, it could be worse, you could be Paolo Bento, who is also feeling the heat from home fans after his side picked up their third consecutive draw at home to Maritimo. Sitting improbably in fourth are Rio Ave, after they won at Olhanense through an early Joao Tomas strike. Nacional sit just below them on goal difference after they beat Vitoria Setubal thanks to an Anselmo Goncalves winner. Setubal have conceded 18 goals already this season and have a defence dodgier than an Afghani election. Elsewhere there were wins for Naval, Leiria and Academica, who remain bottom despite picking up their first victory of the campaign.

What's on this week

A look ahead to what's on this week for our UK readers.

Day	Time	League	Game	Channel
Saturday	19:00	La Liga	RCD Espanyol v Real Madrid	Sky Sports Live
Saturday	19:45	Serie A	Lazio v Juventus	ESPN Live
Saturday	21:45	Bundesliga	Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich	ESPN
Saturday	21:00	La Liga	Sevilla v Real Zaragoza	Sky Sports Live
Sunday	11:00	Russian PL	Dinamo Moscow v Spartak Moscow	ESPN Live
Sunday	14:00	Serie A	Internazionale v Parma	ESPN Live
Sunday	16:30	Bundesliga	FC Koln v Schalke 04	ESPN Live
Sunday	18:00	La Liga	Valladolid v Valencia	SKY Sports Live
Sunday	19:45	Serie A	Genoa v Napoli	ESPN Live
Monday	12:30	Eredivisie	PSV v Roda JC	ESPN
Monday	13:30	Eredivisie	Ajax v NAC Breda	ESPN
Monday	15:00	Russian PL	CSKA Moscow v Krylia Sovetov	ESPN
Monday	22:15	Bundesliga	Round Up Show	ESPN
Tuesday	18:00	La Liga	Revista de La Liga	SKY Sports 1
Tuesday	21:30	Serie A	Round Up Show	ESPN
Tuesday	22:00	Eredivisie	Round Up Show	ESPN
Wednesday	21:00	Liga Sagres	PortuGol	ESPN

TV Listings to September 3rd

A look ahead to what's on this week for our UK readers.

Day	Time	League	Game	Channel
Friday	19:30	Bundesliga	Monchengladbach v Mainz	ESPN Live
Friday	21:30	Serie A	Round up	ESPN
Saturday	19:30	Bundesliga	Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg	ESPN Live
Saturday	19:00	La Liga	Real Madrid v Deportivo La Coruna	SKY Sports 2 Live
Saturday	19:45	Serie A	AC Milan v Internazionale	ESPN Live
Saturday	21:00	La Liga	Real Zaragoza v Tenerife	SKY Sports 2 Live
Sunday	17:00	Serie A	Roma v Juventus	ESPN Live
Sunday	18:00	La Liga	Valancia v Sevilla	SKY Sports 2 Live
Monday	11:00	Eredivisie	Feyenoord v FC Twente	ESPN
Monday	17:30	Bundesliga	Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen	ESPN
Monday	21:00	La Liga	Barcelona v Sporting Gijon	SKY Sports 2
Monday	21:30	Bundesliga	Round Up Show	ESPN
Tuesday	13:15	Russian PL	Lokomotiv Moscow v Kuban	ESPN
Tuesday	14:45	Russian PL	Spartak Moscow v Rubin Kazan	ESPN
Tuesday	18:00	La Liga	Revista de La Liga	SKY Sports 1
Tuesday	21:00	Serie A	Round Up Show	ESPN
Wednesday	18:15	Liga Sagres	PortuGol	ESPN

Liga Sagres Week 1 Results

Leixões 0-0 Belenenses
Nacional 1-1 Sporting CP
Sporting Braga 1-0 Académica
Naval 0-0 Olhanense
União de Leiria 1-1 Rio Ave
Paços de Ferreira 1-1 FC Porto
SL Benfica 1-1 Marítmo
Vitória Setúbal 1-1 Vitória Guimarães

Yellow Cards: 40
Red Cards : 2 (Hulk - FC Porto, Paulo Sergio - Académica)

Liga Sagres Week 1

Seeing as our regular Portuguese correspondent is "missing in action" at the moment, the Liga Sagres gets underway in Portugal this weekend. In fact, it's already underway after Leixões and Belenenses drew 0-0 last night. FC Porto are looking to defend their title and can the big two in Lisbon, Sporting CP and Benfica finally bring the title back to the capital for the first time since 2005. União de Leiria return to the Liga after a season in the Liga de Honra and top flight football returns to the Algarve with the elevation of Olhanense, who come up as Champions of the Liga de Honra. It's the first time an Algarve side has been in the top flight since Farense were relegated in 2004.

ESPN will also be carrying regular coverage of the league.

This is how they line up this week

Leixões 0-0 Belenenses
Nacional v Sporting CP
Sporting Braga v Académica
Naval v Olhanense
União de Leiria v Rio Ave
Paços de Ferreira v FC Porto
SL Benfica v Marítmo - Live on ESPN Sky Ch 417 or 442 in HD Sunday 8.15pm
Vitória Setúbal v Vitória Guimarães