Not your grandfather's Champions League, the Asian Champions
League has been heating up in recent weeks, and has become much more
interesting since it was started in 2003.
Saudi giants Al Hilal will
attempt to end years of dominance by East Asian clubs when they take on Japan's
Urawa Red Diamonds in the two-legged Asian Champions League final beginning Saturday. Al Hilal are hopeful as they host Urawa in
the first competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Clubs from the Asian Football Confederation's eastern regions have won
the last five Champions Leagues, and 10 overall since the competition's first edition
in 2003. The west is particularly strong
now, though, with both Saudi Arabia and Iran qualifying for Russia, 2018.
Al Hilal captain Osama Hawsawi stated that "in World Cup
qualifying we faced both Australia and Japan and we qualified ahead of the
former and defeated the latter. There
are strong teams in both East and West, of course, but it should be noted that
two teams from the West qualified for the World Cup." Al Hilal has never
won the Asian Champions League, but hopes to this year. "We are determined to lift this
trophy," Hawsawi said. "We reached the final because we worked hard
and are intent on reaching this goal."
Urawa captain Yuki Abe was part of the team that won the
Champions League in 2007, and he said he now wanted to lift the trophy again in
honour of manager Takafumi Hori. "I
have had a lot of head coaches in my career, but Hori is one who has helped me
improve, so I'd like to help win a big trophy for him," Abe, 36, said." The winner of the final will take their place
at the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2017, alongside the likes of European champions
Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, back on the continent, Soccer fans are gearing up
for the Madrid Derby, Real Madrid vs. Atletico de Madrid. Atletico has been playing in a newly
refurbished stadium this season, and so this is the first such Derby played in
the Estadio Metropolitano
"Wanda". It is an
important game, over and above the rivalry, because both Real Madrid and Atletico
de Madrid have been playing catch-up against Barcelona. Only 900 of the 67,000 seats have been
released to Real Madrid's fans. Phenom Dani
Ceballos, 21, will play in his first derby.
Real Madrid has won only 7 of the
last 11 games, whilst Atletico is undefeated in their past 11 games.
In the standings Madrid, in third, are eight
points behind leaders and renegades Barcelona. Atletico, in fourth, are also on 23 points, but
has had terrible difficulty scoring.
Their last 15 games have featured
one or no goals. Seven teams have scored
more than Atletico’s 16 in 11 games. But Real have their own problems upfront.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have only one league goal each so far this
season. Valencia and Real Sociedad have both scored more goals than Real Madrid
so far. Attention shifts firmly towards
club football for the next four months, with Madrid also featuring in the Fifa
Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi next month.
In premiership soccer Champions
Chelsea face a stiff challenge to defend their Premier League title from
in-form leaders Manchester City but will fight till the end in the race,
midfielder Willian has said. City have won 10 of their opening 11 league games
and sit at the top of the table, nine points ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea. "It's difficult," Willian told
BBC's Football Focus. "Manchester City are playing very well but I think
we can fight for the title until the end."
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are second and third
respectively, a point ahead of Antonio Conte's men. "It is difficult to play when you were
champion last season and to fight for the title again as every team wants to
win against Chelsea," added the Brazil international.
Chelsea travel to West Bromwich Albion, who are 16th in the
league, on Saturday. Arsenal must win an
"electric" North London derby against Tottenham. Arsenal last beat Tottenham in a 2015 League
Cup tie but have failed to register a league win over their neighbors since
2014, drawing four and losing two of the last six league meetings between the
sides. As Tottenham have risen to
prominence over recent years, the derby has become more closely contested. Arsenal are sixth in the standings, four
points behind third-placed Tottenham and 12 behind leaders Manchester City,
with six wins in 11 league games.
In the United States, in NCAA College Football, there is only
one game today between ranked opponents, Number 24 Michigan (8-2, 5-2) at Number
5 Wisconsin (10-0, 7-0). Should Wisconsin go undefeated they would most
certainly go into the playoff. Michigan
is always a tough opponent, though, and could come away with a win today. Wisconsin beat Iowa 38-14 last week to pick
up its first ranked win of the year, and Camp Randall Stadium is always a
challenging location, but Michigan is
more well-rounded on defense and should be a tougher challenge.
In winning the game, Russia has completed two feats. First, in 22 World Cups, no host team has
ever lost the opening game. 6 of those
opening games ended in a draw, but nary
a loss. Also, Russia had three
total goals in their three game 2014 World Cup appearance, so they have already
almost doubled that total. 
