Champion League : Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb Preview

Tweet Football - Arsène Wenger has revealed the following team news ahead of Tuesday's Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb:

Arsenal

Champion League - on team news…

Coquelin and Arteta are out. Arteta is short-term and Coquelin is longer. How big the damage is we don’t know but we will know for certain this [Monday] afternoon. Everyone from Saturday's game is available and Ramsey is available.

on Coquelin’s injury…

It is at least a month. I’m a bit cautious as we have had so many bad surprises on the scans… but the team for the next few months will be without Coquelin.

on getting more injuries than most clubs…

It looks like that at the moment. I must say we have been hit very hard in November as until November and the Sheffield Wednesday game we had quite a good record and since then we lost a few players. But now we have Ramsey and for the weekend Oxlade-Chamberlain will be back as well. After that Walcott will be the next one. [As for] the players who have long-term injuries, basically some of them are from last season like Rosicky and Welbeck

Source:Arsenal.com

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Tweet Football - Valencia have completed a training session at the Petrovsky Stadium of Saint Petersburg and fight to Zenit

Valencia

Champions League - Valencia CF face their penultimate match of the group stage of the Champions League against Zenit this week, looking to ensure the team's qualification for the next round of the competition. Zenit are the leaders of Group H and have already has sealed their progress to the knockout stage. The game will be held on Tuesday from 6pm Spanish time, and very low temperatures are expected in St. Petersburg.

Valencia have completed a training session at the Petrovsky Stadium of Saint Petersburg this afternoon where the team will play against FC Zenit tomorrow. The training session has been characterised by the low temperatures. Kick-off of tomorrow's match is at 18:00 h, Valencia CF will do their best to take the victory home.

.Source : valenciacf.com

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Barcelona Positive Spirits focus, Turns to the Champions League

Tweet Football - Focus now turns to the Champions League. Barcelona side take on AS Roma for Matchday 5 of the group stages

Barcelona

Champions League - After the 4-0 triumph against Real Madrid on Saturday, the focus now turns to the Champions League. Luis Enrique’s side take on AS Roma for Matchday 5 of the group stages. After training, Dani Alves appeared before the press to speak about the physical and mental state of the team.

“The morale of the team is very high because the Clásico is always a difficult match to win. When you win, especially in the way we did, you gain confidence and leave with the feeling that you are doing things well,” said the full-back.
El Clásico

Luis Enrique : Confirmed that Leo Messi is Fully Fit Game With AS Roma
 

Alves was keen to highlight the good performance at the Bernabéu: “It was not down to the demerit of our opponent, but to the great merit of ours. It was a game in which Madrid were far inferior. We were incredible in all areas. We did not allow them to have options and I think we played better than in the 6-2 (win in 2009) because on Saturday we controlled the game and dominated.”

The Brazilian, however, stressed that Barça must now remain focused on the main objective: “It is great to have won the match against Madrid, but the ultimate goal is at the end (of the season). If you win the Clásico but do not win titles, you are left to look silly."
Barça’s secret

“The key to winning these games is to have a great team with ambition,” said Alves. “Our objective is always to be better than before but this is only proven if we win titles. We are on track.”

Alves has been with the club since 2008 yet he feels that the team continues to evolve despite various changes that have taken place over the years.

“Barça has revolutionized football in recent years, for the good of those who love this sport,” he stated. “Over the years, different managers have passed through the club but the concept remains the same. For this, I believe Barça has changed the history of football,” he concluded.

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Luis Enrique : Confirmed that Leo Messi is Fully Fit Game With AS Roma

Tweet Football - Luis Enrique Says : Champions League game with AS Roma tomorrow, Messi is fully fit.

Barcelona

Champions League - Luis Enrique spoke to the press on Monday ahead of the Champions League  game with Roma tomorrow at 8.45pm CET, saying that “it is essential for us to secure top spot in the group against Roma. We have two games left and that’s what we intend to do … It is important for us to play well, because I think we’ll be dealing with a very different kind of Roma tomorrow to the one we saw at the Olimpico”.

A lot of the questions, and quite understandably, were about the amazing 4-0 victory at the Bernabéu on Saturday, including the concern that after all the fuss, it might be hard to bring the players back down to earth for another match. “I think the team is intelligent enough to know how difficult it is to win football matches” he retorted. “People are heaping praise on us at the moment, but we are fully aware that this is still the first third of the season and there’s a long way to go yet.”
Roman conquest

He was also asked how it feels to be facing the side he once managed – and who would be in trouble if they don’t get anything out of the game on Tuesday. “I think it’s a nice game for them” he replied. “They have to come and win at the Camp Nou. Nothing else will do … It will be a very different game to the first one. They played it very tight at the back in Rome, while tomorrow I think we’ll see an interesting game between two top quality skilful sides.”

“The pace of the game at the Olimpico was not what we wanted” he continued. “But we always struggle when a team sticks eight or nine men behind the ball. But all the same, we didn’t give them many chances and created lots for ourselves. I’ll always take a game like that. We played well, and I hope we are just as superior tomorrow, but that this time we manage to take our chances when we get them.”
Messi back

Luis Enrique also confirmed that Leo Messi is fully fit. “He looked great when he came on against Madrid and it’s a joy for all the fans and everyone involved at Barça to know that. Now what he needs to do is get back into the rhythm of playing matches, charge up his batteries, and in no time we’ll be able to enjoy seeing Messi back at his best.”

Source : Barcelona Official Web

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Diego Pablo Simeone: Atletico Madrid played very well

Tweet Football- Our coach answered the the media after the team's win by 0-1 against Betis. Simeone analysed the match against the green and white team.

Atletico Madrid

Liga BBVA - Diego Pablo Simeone appeared in the pressroom at the end of the game at the Benito Villamarín. The Argentinian coach analysed Atlético’s win in Seville: "I think the team played a great match. It managed from the start of the match to be deep, decisive, with good pressure and that immediately created scoring situations. In the second half, it was slightly more of the same, where the team held the pressure and we also generated many scoring situations. What’s important is that we continue to grow."  

With respect to how he sees the team, our coach said that "this team is building up and is renewing itself with some new guys. The important thing is to know what we’re playing and from that, the team will continue to grow. Today a very good match was played on all lines and we are happy."

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AS Roma Football Clinics in the Country of South Africa

Tweet Football - AS Roma this week brought the joy of football to almost 1,000 underprivileged children in South Africa.

AS Roma

Serie A - The Italian giants were invited to host a number of football clinics in the country by the South African Sports Minister and this week a delegation of Roma coaches – led by Ciccio Graziani, European Cup finalist with the Giallorossi and World Cup winner in 1982 – visited a number of cities to put on the AS Roma Soccer Clinic 2015.

The coaches met poor and needy children from Johannesburg, Soweto, Sun City and Polowkane as part of a AS Roma project that aims to highlight the fact that football knows no colour – it’s a sport for all.

As well as coaching the children, Roma’s  coaches took time out to coach their South African counterparts – passing on invaluable best practice tactics and tips for developing young football players in the future.

AS Roma would like to thank all the young players who attended the clinics and wish them luck for the future.

Source : asroma.it

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Important Victory Inter Milan

Tweet Football : Biabiany says : Winning was important today, Thank you to everyone who helped me through the difficult, times and to all my team-mates. I'm happy about the goal

Inter Milan

Serie A - Jonathan Biabiany showed his delight at today's drubbing of Frosinone in a post-match interview with Mediaset Premium.

"I'm very happy, it was important to get the victory today because these matches are never easy. I'd like to thank everyone who supported me when things got tough and also my team-mates for helping me to score.

Inter Milan Serie A Standings Lead

"The coach had mentioned during the week that he was thinking about playing me, but I didn't know for sure. He keeps his cards close to his chest."

Having been born in Paris, the Nerazzurri forward also revealed the emotions going through his head as the French national anthem was played before kick-off: "I haven't heard La Marseillaise in a stadium since I was playing in the France U21 team. I have family in Paris and I'm always in contact with them. There are horrible things happening at the moment, but the important thing is to remain united and pray for people who have lost loved ones."

Finally, he had a few words to say on Inter's position at the top of Serie A: "We are Inter, so it's only natural that we aim for the very best."

Source : http://www.inter.it/

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Inter Milan Serie A Standings Lead

Tweet Football - Inter Milan managed to become the top standings while Serie A at the weekend to 13th after they conquered Frosinone Calcio 4-0.

Inter Milan

Serie A - Adem Ljajic played a key role in Inter's 4-0 victory over Frosinone tonight in Week 13 of Serie A 2015/16.

The Nerazzurri forward – who chipped in with two assists – commented on his side's victory after the game.

"That was the response we had to give. We knew there was a difficult game lying ahead of us and we had to get the three points. These games are tough because you have everything to lose.

"I'm pleased with my performance and with how the team played. The coach went for an attacking line-up and we managed to play some good football. I hope the fans have gone home happy."

The Serb wrapped things up with a few words on Inter's next match against Napoli: "We'll turn our thoughts onto the challenge at the Stadio San Paolo tomorrow. We have to improve week on week in order to end the season as high up in the league as possible." 

Source : http://www.inter.it/

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Massimiliano Allegri : Juventus Consistent Progress Vs AC Milan

Tweet Football - Massimiliano Allegri underlines his charges’ consistent progress after watching them see off Milan on Saturday evening at Juventus Stadium

Juventus

Serie A - clean sheet and a third consecutive league victory were particularly pleasing points for Massimiliano Allegri to pick up on after watching his men beat Milan 1-0 on Saturday evening at Juventus Stadium.

Speaking to journalists after the game, he began: “I’m very satisfied with the attacking intent of this team, while defensively we did not give much ground away to their frontmen.

“We need to work on the pace of our passes, while we have to be more clinical in the final third. Nevertheless, we showed great solidity at the back today, we kept a clean sheet and so I consider this another step in the right direction.”

Sinisa Mihajlovic : We knew Juventus would come out strong

Asked about the motives behind changing formation at half-time, the Tuscan tactician explained: “In a 3-5-2, Alex Sandro is able to exploit his pace and willingness to roam forward even more than in a 4-4-2.

“Meanwhile, I believe it’s important to play with three men in attacking positions and it’s true that Dybala operated effectively between the lines today. When (Roberto) Pereyra returns from injury and Hernanes reaches peak condition, we’ll be even less predictable in our build-up play.”

Allegri finished the interview with a word on injuries sustained by Sami Khedira after playing last week with Germany and Patrice Evra, who had to be substituted during the first-half by Alex Sandro.

“Sami’s old scar has worsened since coming back from international duty. He trained well on Thursday, was OK yesterday, but I preferred not to take any risks with him today.

“As far as Patrice is concerned, his ankle has not been at 100 per cent for a little while now. Everyone else is on the road to recovery.”

Source : Juventus.com

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Sinisa Mihajlovic : We knew Juventus would come out strong

Tweet Football-Sinisa Mihajlovic The post-match interviews from Saturday night's round 13 Serie A clash in Turin with Juventus

AC Milan

Serie A - : SINISA MIHAJLOVIC (press conference)

"We knew Juventus would come out strong after the break and push forwards, and I think we did well in defence, but at the other end we didn’t create enough chances. When they broke the deadlock, there was a reaction from us, but time was running out and we weren’t able to create any real danger. We must improve on this aspect. However, I fielded a very attacking line-up and when we have a full squad available we will analyse whether to change the formation. In the past 5 matches though the 4-3-3 formation has brought us consistent results and we have done well. We have players with character in the team, but tonight we made far too many mistakes with our passing when trying to launch attacks."

M'BAYE NIANG

"We were missing something today in the final third. We lost the match, but we have to put it behind us and focus on winning the next one versus Sampdoria. We have to keep on working and take to the field next Saturday with the desire and motivation to win.

My fitness is improving with each training session, but I have to keep on training because after a lengthy injury I am still working towards peak fitness so I can give my best in matches.

I enjoy playing in a 4-3-3 formation, but if we do switch to a 4-4-2, the coach will decide where is best to play me: I will keep on working hard for the team regardless."

ALEX

"Juventus only had one chance and they took it. We will have to be more attentive in the future. The objective is to always defend well and make life hard for our opponents on the counter-attack. We did well at the back tonight, but we were unable to score a goal.

I am certain that we can get back on track right away. We lost at a tough ground today and we need to give a strong response in the next match.

In the past 5 or 6 matches we have performed well in defence and conceded very few goals. This is important as a team is built from the back. We need to make improvements however when we’re in possession and be more dangerous in attack.

Donnarumma is brilliant. He’s only 16, but I think he’s excellent. I hope he can keep this up. We have to put in an improved display versus Sampdoria and go for the win." 

Source : acmilan.com

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