CeltaSight. Former ally and almost the same age as Mostovoy himself, the last reminder in the Galician club of the defeat of Juventus in 2000 and his entry into the Champions League is Argentinean Gustavo Lopez. The indefatigable left midfielder with playmaker abilities, who at one time was involved in the national team, is good even in his 33 years.
Change of the guard . Beginners "Celts" were bought on the principle of division of labor. Marcel striker Habib Bamogo from Burkina Faso was leased to help get away from the relegation zone in the Spanish example. But the 22-year-old right-wing Brazilian lateral from Atletico Mineiro, Georges Lucas came to the club for the Jedi exploits in the UEFA Cup and immediately became the basis. The physiognomy of this guy for several days did not leave the official website of Celta and from the city advertising of upcoming matches.
Basis (for performance in the UEFA Cup). Pinto - Contreras, Angel, Tamas, Placente, Lucas - Obigna, Gustavo Lopez, Canobbio, Irenaeus - Bayano.
Chances to win (according to William Hill). 41 to 1.
Ajax
Sight. Klas-Jan Huntelar is one of the most clogged forwards in Europe and the most clogged of the young. Encouraging strong association with Ore van Nistelrooy, Huntelar is a subject of sustained interest in almost all European top clubs. Or those who consider themselves so.
Changing of the Guard. At the winter fair, “Ajax” behaved modestly according to tradition. Having sold Martin Rosenberg to Werder for 4.5 million euros, the Amsterdam team returned the old man Edgar Davids (free of charge) and purchased the Breda striker Leonard for 800,000 euros. Davids will not be able to help his home team in the UEFA Cup, since he has played in this tournament for Tottenham Hotspur, but Leonard will certainly have to come in handy. The brisk Brazilian sprinter, who is assigned one of the flanks of the Ajax attack for raids, is an excellent option for enhancing the game during any match.
The foundation. Stekelenburg - Heiting, Stam, Gryger, Emanuelson - Maduro, Gabri, Snyder - Leonardo, Huntelar, Babel.
Odds. 20 to 1.
Tottenham Hotspur
Sight. At the summer transfer auction, “Tottenham Hotspur” grabbed a lucky lot, having got Dimitar Berbatov in its ranks. Today it is one of the most versatile forwards in England, and on his account in matches of the current season there are 10 assists and 12 goals very different from each other. The tall Bulgarian plays his head cool, but he gets the techniques and ingenuity for more intricate attacking actions. The farther, the more in England they are imbued with the conviction that Berbatov would not have been lost in any club of the Premier League - neither in Manchester United, nor in Chelsea, nor in Arsenal.
Changing of the Guard. In winter, the club got rid of ballast by sending Edgar Davids to Ajax, and Reto Ziegler to Sampdoria. The only notable acquisition was Portuguese defender Ricardo Rocha of Benfica, who could not be declared for the UEFA Cup. However, those players who are present will come down to perform in this tournament, as long as everyone is healthy.
The foundation. Robinson - Shimbonda, Gardner, Lee Young Pe, Dawson - Zokora, Malbranc, Lennon, Jenas - Keen, Berbatov.
Odds. 5.5 to 1.
"Newcastle"
Sight. “Newcastle” after the simultaneous departure of two star forwards last summer fell into another crisis: Alan Shearer left completely, and Michael Owen - for another prolonged sick leave. However, Obafemi Martins picked up a rather quickly falling banner. This person with a passport, which indicates 1984 year of birth, and the face of a forty-year-old man spends his best season in life. The Nigerian scores a lot at the right time and is usually very beautiful. Martins' crown number is to take the ball at high speed and with a second touch punch past the goalkeeper with a parachute strike. For dessert, the public always gets a cascade of somersaults, with which Martins celebrates scored goals.
Changing of the Guard. Overactive on the transfer market, Newcastle, which resembles a shopaholic with its illegibility, this winter limited itself to buying an inexpensive and interesting US national team defender Oguchi Oneva. Talk about the possible sale of the club (as usual, to foreign investors) is becoming more insistent, so the current owners of the club decided not to splurge as much as possible. Moreover, they have already been thoroughly spent in recent years, and most expensive purchases have not brought any effect. For example, Luke striker bought from Deportivo for EUR 20.5 million this season has entered the field only five times.
The foundation. Given - Carr, Ramage, Taylor, Moore - Milner, Parker, Butt, Emre, Duff - Martins.
Odds. 15 to 1.
Rangers
Sight. Barry Ferguson, the captain, best player and charismatic leader of the Rangers, was recently removed from the squad recently as a result of a conflict with coach Paul Le Guen (from this incident, a rumor about Ferguson’s transfer to Zenit was immediately born). However, in the end, Le Guen himself was removed from the Rangers, having fired for his failure in the Scottish Championship.
Changing of the Guard. The firing of the French coach at the Rangers was followed by "ethnic cleansing." The main goalkeeper Letici left for Nice, defender Julien Rodriguez went to Marseille, and midfielder Jérémy Clement moved to PSG. Experienced Hugo Echiogu (34 years old, Middlesbrough) and David Weir (36 years old, Everton) were invited to replace Rodriguez, and 22-year-old Hybernian player David Thomson was replaced by Clement.
The foundation. McGregor - Hatton, Smith, Svensson - Adam, Ray, Ferguson, Hemdani - Boyd, Prsho, Nacho.
Odds. 21 to 1.
Maccabi
Sight. The main star of Maccabi is her head coach Roni Levy. Levi knows many Maccabi players by the youth team of this club, with whom he worked until 2003, when he was transferred to the main. With Levy, Maccabi won two Israeli championships in a row. After these victories, the current composition of Maccabi began to be compared with the great, by Israeli standards, the 1994 team, which did not lose a single match in the Israeli championship. In addition to success in domestic and European tournaments, Levy is known at home for being one of the first to use computer programs to analyze the state of football players.
Changing of the Guard. In the Israeli championship there is now only one team that can buy players more than 400,000 euros - the Jerusalem Beitar, the leader of the championship under the patronage of Arkady Gaydamak. The Maccabi, now in 7th place, didn’t buy anyone in the winter, but again pulled several players from the youth team to the main squad.
The foundation. Davidovich - Harazi, Olarra, Keynan, Casey - Katan, Dirseu, Anderson, Bokkoli, Masudi - Kolautti.
Odds. 101 to 1.
Zulte-Waregem
Sight. This year, as a result of sensational defeats from the “Zulte-Waregem” led by Frank Duri, the coaches of the Austrian “Austria”, the Belgian “Saint-Truiden” and the Russian “Locomotive” were dismissed. After such passions, Duri could not stand it and quit himself. Not from his semi-amateur club - but from the police, where he has been part-time until now. Duri felt that on the eve of the UEFA Cup playoffs he should focus on football. It is possible that if Sylte Waregem passes a couple more rounds, the team’s players will follow the example of the coach, in addition to football, they work as postmen, bakers and clerks.
Changing of the Guard. In winter, his most famous player, Nigerian striker Aliu, left Zulte Waregem. About six years ago, Milan's vice president Adriano Galliani called Aliu the most promising forward in the world, able to oust Andrei Shevchenko from the squad in a couple of years. After these words, Aliu was a little chilled for the Milan double, and soon went on loan to the Italian Siena. He didn’t do it there either, as later on in the Belgian Standard and Ghent. Even in Zulte-Waregem, the failed rival Shevchenko failed to gain a foothold in the main team, and now he has been written off to an even more modest club - the Belgian Mons.
The foundation. De Fliger - Minne, Dindelo, Lelu, Reina - Derheimers, Mert, Sergeant, van Nyuvenhause, Vershur - Matthews.
Odds. 251 to 1.
"Miner"
Attraction . Elano Blumer, who enchanted in his time at Santos with Robinho and Diego, is the only one of the six Donetsk Brazilians called up by Dunga to the main team. He can not be called a pure playmaker, dispatcher, forward of the second pace - he is absolutely free in his fantasies in the middle of the field and does everything that people do the above roles, and even more. In Brazil, this is called meiacampo. True, Elano somehow extremely quickly became chilly in Donetsk and asked for a transfer to a Western European club - like Madrid's Atletico. But Shakhtar does not let go, hoping for a gifted Brazilian in his next trip to European glory.
Changing of the Guard. In between the circles of the Ukrainian championship in Donetsk, they got rid of an overabundance of personnel in the composition. First, they sent for rent the Tolga, Barqueuan and Lashtuvka, who did not go to the base - someone to Turkey, someone to the English Premier League. And then they sold their elder, Julius Agahova, to Wigan. Only the 20-year-old central midfielder Alexei Polyansky from Donetsk Metallurg, who has already managed to score Hapoel in Channel One Cup, has been added to the UEFA Cup.
The foundation. Pletikosa - Chygrynsky, Lewandowski, Duljaj, Srna - Fernandinho, Matuzalem, Tymoshchuk, Elano - Marika, Brandao.
Odds. 26 to 1.
Sevilla
Sight. Over the past three seasons, Sevilla has been the most developing club of big European football. 85 million euros earned by the sale of the best pupils of their own school and the main breeding finds (Reyes, Ramos and Julio Baptista), the southerners did not begin to spend overnight. A little was allowed to build the stadium, a little to raise the salaries of leaders, and if they buy someone, what is called a pointwise. And, as a rule, successfully. One of such undoubted successes is the 29-year-old Malaysian Frederic Canute, who has turned from the Tottenham bench to the best so far (16 goals in 20 matches) Spanish sniper examples. The main advantages of Kanute with a growth of 192 cm are obvious. This is a great game on the second floor and the ability to concentrate on yourself the attention of the defense, which frees up areas for partners. At the same time, despite the impressive dimensions, Kanute is plastic and quirky. His game this season is one of Seville’s main arguments in the fight for the league title.
Changing of the Guard. The way Sevilla made its main winter purchase, Russia has been closely following the last six months. In addition to Alexander Kerzhakov, who cost the Andalusians about € 5 million, the 19-year-old defender of the Argentinean youth team Federico Fazio recruited Sevilla before the curtain. The tall (195 cm) teenager is called upon to strengthen the already reliable defense. Losses are almost imperceptible: Hesuli is leased to Real Sociedad, and Kepa Blanco, crowded out by competition, is already scoring goals for West Ham.
The foundation. Palop - Daniel Alves, Javi Navarro, Escudé, David - Jesus Navas, Renato, Marty, Adriano - Luis Fabiano, Canute.
Odds. 5 to 1.
Werder Bremen
Sight. The team from Bremen is one of the few refutations of the thesis that German football is too athletic, too direct and too cautious. Creativity and courage were inherent in the “Bremen” even before the arrival of Diego, which happened last summer, but with him the game of Bremen is twice as fun. The Brazilian supernova, the indefatigable and subtle “fantasist”, who inexplicably hid his qualities on the Porto bench, in “Bremen” at once turned into one of the most skilled playmakers in the world. His alliance with Miroslav Klose, who has not yet shot all the cartridges, makes Werder Bremen one of the main favorites of the current UEFA Cup. And the Werder Bremen can still become the champion of Germany - despite all its “non-German character”.
Changing of the Guard. Ivan Klasnic is being prepared for a second kidney transplant operation, and Martin Rosenberg was purchased from Ajax to fill the vacancy in the Werder Bremen attack, which, however, has already been played in European competitions. Peter Niemeyer, a German youth player who was gaining his mind and brain in the Dutch Twente, earned his homecoming in the winter. The Werder Bremen paid 2.5 million euros for it, which, however, he immediately returned to himself, releasing Mohammed Zidane to Mainz.
The foundation. Wiese - Fritz, Mertezaker, Naldo, Wome - Jensen, Frings, Borowski - Diego - Klose, Hunt.
Odds. 6 to 1.
| ? 3 (70) February 12 - February 25, 2007 |
 Under Nick
How stars are raised at the Bolletieri Academy Second year
Jo begins his second season at CSKA Shalom ride
PROsport on Channel One Cup How about the wall
Kirilenko receives money and criticism Vitamin B
Juventus tempers character
Cover: Maria Sharapova
Photo: BRIAN SMITH / CORBIS OUTLINE / RPG |