What you missed while this wasp was haunting your nightmares…
- Europa League roundup (teams in bold advance): Dinamo Bucarest 2-3 Vorskla Poltava, Spartak Moscow 2-3 Legia Warsaw, Rennes 4-0 Red Star Belgrade, PSV 5-0 Ried, Alania Vladikavkaz 2-0 Besiktas, AEK Lanarca 2-1 Rosenborg, Spartak Trnava 1-1 Lokomotiv Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv 1-0 Litex Lovech, Gaz Matan Medias 1-0 Austria Wien, Dinamo Tbilisi 1-1 AEK Athens (aet), Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-0 Ekranas, CSKA Sofia 1-1 Steaua Bucharest, Young Boys 2-2 Braga, Rapid Bucharest 1-1 Slask Wroclaw, Sparta Prague 1-0 Vaslui, Panathinaikos 2-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv, Helsingborg 1-3 Standard Liege, Schalke 6-1 HJK Helsinki, Vitoria Guimaraes 0-4 Atletico Madrid, Partizan 1-2 Shamrock Rovers (aet), Anderlecht 2-2 Bursaspor, Trabzonspor – Athletic Bilbao (cancelled), Rangers 1-1 Maribor, Dinamo Dnipropetrovsk 1-0 Fulham, FC Sion 3-1 Celtic, Club Brugge 2-0 Zestafoni, Sochaux 0-4 Metalist Kharkiv, Roma 1-1 Slovan Bratislava, Rabotnicki 1-3 Lazio, Birmingham 3-0 Nacional, Stoke City 4-1 Thun, AZ Alkmaar 6-0 Aalesund, PSG 2-0 Differdange 03, Karpaty Lviv 1-1 PAOK, Tottenham 0-0 Hearts, Red Bull Salzburg 1-0 Omonia, Sevilla 1-1 Hannover 96, Sporting CP 2-1 Nordsjælland.
- CONCACAF Champions League roundup: Los Angeles 2-0 Alajuelense, Morelia 4-0 Motagua, Toronto FC 0-1 FC Dallas, Tauro 0-0 UNAM.
- Oh, hey, look, Lionel Messi is the Best Player in Europe. Imagine that.
- FC Sion may face expulsion from the Europa League after fielding players signed while under a transfer ban; that would allow Celtic to go through, possibly saving Scotland the embarrassment of having no representatives in any European competition this year (for more information on WHY Sion is under a transfer ban, I’d refer you to this piece I wrote in 2009 on the issue).
- AZ Alkmaar striker Jozy Altidore scored twice for his club in AZ’s 6-0 win over Aalesund; Carlos Bocanegra also scored for Rangers, but they lost, making that way less interesting.
- Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has slammed the FA for treating his team “like shit”. The FA would counter that that’s because Manchester United have a tendency to act “like dicks” if their spines weren’t “like jelly”.
- Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher will be fit for Sunday’s game against Arsenal.
- Arsenal centerback Thomas Vermaelen is doubtful for Arsenal’s match against Manchester United on Sunday.
- Tottenham have signed Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Juventus midfielder Yago Falque on season long loans.
- Tottenham are also in talks with West Ham midfielder Scott Parker over a possible transfer.
- Liverpool are prepared to let Joe Cole move to Tottenham if Tottenham actually want Joe Cole.
- Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani will spend this season on loan at AC Milan.
- Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles will miss two weeks with a collarbone injury.
- Bolton have rejected Arsenal’s £7 million offer for centerback Gary Cahill. No, I didn’t leave a “1″ off in front of that price.
- Aston Villa left back Luke Young may move to QPR.
- Norwich City centerback Daniel Ayala will miss two months with a knee injury.
- Serie A has gone on strike. I know, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my weekend, either.
- Fenerbahce have asked to be relegated to Turkey’s second flight while they manage the impact of the matchfixing allegations leveled against them.
- MLS has rescheduled three games (New England-Philadelphia, DC United-Portland, and New York-Los Angeles) due to a possible conflict with Hurricane Irene hitting the East Coast.
Bolton should hold out since Arsenal is hurting… it will cost them a lot more than 7M to get their season back on track..
Come on, Wenger!!! I know you think English players are overvalued, and you’re probably right. But the last week of the transfer window when you desperately need defensive depth is not the time to prove a point. Especially since we’ve got gobs of cash lying around. Spend the damn money!!! Pay Bolton 15 or 20 mil and be on your way. Pay Rennes for M’Villa. Pay Everton 25 for Arteta + Jagielka. Just do it!