Bayern's 'Robbery' double act back on song



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Bayern Munich pair Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery have their "Robbery" double act back in full swing and the Bavarian side, who have scored 14 goals in their last two games, are once again one of the most potent attacking forces in Europe.  Few teams can cope with Bayern when their wingers are on song, especially with goal poacher supreme Mario Gomez, scorer of seven goals in his last two outings, lurking in the penalty area to finish off their runs.
 The Allianz Arena goal celebration has been played out 14 times in the last two matches after Bayern hammered FC Basel 7-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday and Hoffenheim 7-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Watch this football match live
 Following a goal, the natural roar of the crowd is instantly drowned out by a blast of rock music. The stadium announcer then gives the first name of the scorer, inviting the fans to reply with his surname.
 "Thank you" shouts the announcer to which the crowd cry "You're welcome", an intended joke which wears pretty thin after it has been repeated two or three times.
 Poor Hoffenheim had to endure the ritual seven times as they crashed 7-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday and Basel, who believed that it could not happen to them as well, were thumped 7-0 in Tuesday's Champions League match.
 Leading 1-0 from a shock first-leg win in the round-of-16 tie, Basel had no clue how to deal with the duo, who took it in turns to pull the Swiss champions apart. 
 Left-footer Robben was a constant menace with his favourite tactic, picking up the ball on the right touchline before cutting inside and running at the heart of the opposing defence. Watch his soccer skills here
 Teams know exactly what he is doing but few appear able to stop the injury-prone Dutchman, who has often been labelled selfish.
 Frenchman Ribery does similar damage down the left flank although he often prefers to go on the outside, slipping to the byline before pulling the ball back into the centre.
 That recipe provided three goals in 17 second-half minutes against Basel, all of them converted by Gomez, as Bayern surged into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-1 aggregate win.

Serie A - Van Bommel ready for Milan stay



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 The Netherlands international, 35, is out of contract at the San Siro this summer and is expected to return to his former club.
But the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona midfielder will put his dream on hold if the Rossoneri want him to stay.
"I’m happy at Milan and will speak to vice-president Adriano Galliani soon to understand what they want," Van Bommel, who joined Milan at the start of last year, told Sky Italia.
"I have to thank Galliani and director Ariedo Braida for signing me at my age. I’ve always said that I want to end my career at PSV but I don’t know when that will happen."
Van Bommel admits that he took time to adapt to life in Italy - saying that some games are “boring” - but he is now well into his groove and is first-choice under boss Massimiliano Allegri. Live football here

This Week in the Barclays Premier League

This Week in the Barclays Premier League
 SATURDAY, MARCH 17
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 SWANSEA CITY AT FULHAM ...watch football live here
 Swansea City has not won at Fulham since February 1980.
 Fulham is the only team that has not had a player sent off in the Premier League this season.
 Swansea City has kept 11 clean sheets in the Premier League. Only Manchester United has recorded more shutouts in the top division this season.

 WEST BROMWICH ALBION AT WIGAN ATHLETIC...watch football live here
 Wigan Athletic will be aiming to complete its first-ever league double over West Bromwich Albion.
 Wigan Athletic has not scored before the 43rd minute of a Premier League game since 10 December.
 West Bromwich Albion has won four of their last seven away games in the Premier League.

 SUNDAY, MARCH 18

 NORWICH CITY AT NEWCASTLE UNITED...watch football live here
 Norwich City has lost on three of its last four league and cup visits to Newcastle United.
 Newcastle United has conceded nine penalties in the Premier League this season, more than any other team.
 Should it concede a goal, Norwich City will create a new Premier League record of 29 consecutive away games without keeping a clean sheet.

 MANCHESTER UNITED AT WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS ...watch football live here
 Manchester United has lost on two of its three visits to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
 Wolverhampton Wanderers has kept only one clean sheet in their last 18 home games in the Premier League.
 Manchester United has won 12 of its 14 games against teams in the bottom half of the Premier League table this season.

 GOAL OF THE WEEK - Didier Drogba for Chelsea against Stoke City
 Following the recent controversial departure of manager Andre Villas-Boas, the long-serving striker handed Chelsea a much needed victory with an expertly taken goal.
 The Stamford Bridge stalwart collected Juan Mata's through-ball 12 yards out and kept his cool to round City keeper Asmir Begovic and stroke then ball into the empty net.
 On the day before his 34th birthday, Didier became the 22nd player to score a total of 100 goals in the Premier League.
 This was Didier's 220th Premier League appearance so making him the ninth quickest player to reach the three figures. Alan Shearer is top of the list having struck his 100th goal in just his 124th game.
 He is the first player from Africa to score 100 Premier League goals and only the second non-European after Dwight Yorke.

La Liga clubs look to finish the job in Europe

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After successful first legs, three La Liga teams are looking to secure their place in the quarter finals of the Europa League on Thursday night. [ Watch Live Football ]
Valencia, Athletic Club, and Atletico Madrid have ensured that Spain has a strong contingent in the competition this year and all three teams carry a lead into their respective games this week.
Not alot more needs to be written about Athletic who impressed all with a dynamic and controlled display at Old Trafford last week.  After securing a dramatic 3-2 victory, certainly the Basques that spoke after the game were confident of finishing the job at San Mames tomorrow.
“Of course we can do it. If people were impressed by the atmosphere we created at Old Trafford, just wait till you see what we have in store in the home leg “ exclaimed one exuberant fan.
They may have been billed by the English media as the underdogs of the tie, but to watchers of La Liga and to their fans themselves, the assured performance came as little surprise.
Despite having the restrictions of the self imposed ‘Cantera policy’, Athletic have developed an exciting team that promises to only get better.
The following morning, the English daily’s were waxing lyrical about the likes of Javi Martinez and Iker Muniain, but had they done their research properly then they would have known that los Leones posses two exceptional youngsters that providing they can keep hold of, can provide a spine for years to come.

Atletico Madrid romped into a three nil lead at the break against Besiktas last week, but former Rojiblancos favourite Simão’s goal means that Atleti still have some work to do in order to progress.
Besiktas may have only won two from their last eleven games, but Turkey is never an easy place to travel to and coach Diego Simeone is wary that the tie isn’t a foregone conclusion.
Speaking to UEFA.com [watch uefa football online] Simeone warned that the Turkish club were a “team to be afraid of”.And finally after a goal packed first leg, Valencia will take a 4-2 lead to PSV Eindhoven as they look to improve on 2009/10’s quarter-final appearance.Watch live
After the two Manchester clubs, Valencia are among the favourites to lift the trophy in May but travel to Holland without the services of inform Roberto Soldado and will have to be on guard of ‘new manager syndrome’ following Mondays sacking of Fred Rutten at PSV. Philip Cocu takes over till the end of the season and will be keen to get off to winning ways.
All three Spanish teams to qualify comes in at 3/1 (if you shop about) and I think that’s a pretty good bet.

Golden age for Lionel Messi

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Right now, if Messi maintains his fitness it's hard to imagine him not being the decisive factor. His brace against Racing Santander this past weekend means that, although we are barely in March, Messi has notched 50 club goals this season.Click here to watch his goals live.

Barcelona's Brilliance
Graham Hunter is also the author of "Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World," available as an e-book on the iPad, Kindle and Kobo. The printed version is available in paperback and can be ordered at BackPage Press. Watch football live here

It is a ridiculous figure. And it means that, at age 24, he is six short of beating the all-time Barcelona scoring record of 235 held by Cesar Rodriguez. Over the past week I have, for one reason or another, been in Messi's presence three times for interviews and I can tell you that there isn't a trace of hubris. No arrogance, no intense desire to grab the record and all the plaudits which go with it -- not even a hint of self-satisfaction.

One of the elements which may, eventually, elevate Messi to gold-medal position in the pantheon of all-time greats is his manner. For all the wealth, fame, acclaim and brouhaha which is quite naturally drawn to a sportsman of such excellence, he's still simply doing the thing he enjoys most.

Speaking to him after the destruction of Bayer Leverkusen, during which Messi became the first man in Champions League history to score five times in a match and the also the first to score four goals on two occasions, the striker was completely nonchalant. He'd done his job, he'd enjoyed it, he'd kept on going and going like a shark pursuing baby seals toward the end of the match, but Messi came off the pitch quite unconcerned at the records he was setting.

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