England
Saturday
12:45 SS1 Liverpool - Manchester Utd
17:20 SS2 Derby County - Sheffield Utd
17:30 SS1 Manchester City - Chelsea
Sunday
13:30 SS5 Stoke City - Everton
Monday
20:00 SS5 Tottenham - Aston Villa
Italy
Serie A
Saturday
17:00 SS3 Palermo - Roma
19:30 SS1 Inter - Catania
Sunday
14:00 SS1 Genoa - Milan
14:00 SS2 Lazio - Sampdoria
14:00 SS3 Bologna - Atalanta
14:00 SS4 Napoli - Fiorentina
19:30 SS1 Juventus - Udinese
Spain
Saturday
19:00 SS3 Racing - Barcelona
21:00 SS2 Sevilla - Sporting
Sunday
16:00 SS2 Villarreal - La Coruna
18:00 SS4 Real Madrid - Numancia
20:00 SS2 Almeria - Valencia
Germany
Friday
19:30 SS1 Frankfurt - Karlsruher SC
Saturday
14:30 SS2 Koln - Bayern
14:30 SS3 Dormtund - Schalke
Sunday
16:00 SS3 Hannover - Monchengladbach
France
Saturday
18:00 SS4 Lyon - Nice
20:00 SS4 Bordeaux - Marseille
Sunday
20:00 SS3 PSG - Nantes
Brazil
Saturday
22:20 SS1 Gremio - Goias
Sunday
20:00 SS4 Cruzeiro - Palmeiras
Showing posts with label ligue 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ligue 1. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Saturday, 23 August 2008
Lyon vs Grenoble, 23 August 2008
My 4th live match today, and my first from Ligue 1 this season. With Serie A and La Liga starting next weekend and introducing more competition into weekend evening viewing, I thought I'd get a Ligue match in early. I don't usually watch many matches on a weekend evening, as I tend to watch stuff with Sally then, and much as she loves me, persuading her to let me watch various foreign leagues on her weekend evenings is never going to happen. She's very good the rest of the time, and if there's something really interesting I want to see she'll let me. As she's out with friends tonight, I'm left with the French League for company.
Lyon won the league again last season, for the seventh time in a row, but found it much more of a struggle, with it going right down to the last day. Out has gone Alain Perrin, and in has come Claude Puel, and with him a rejuvenated squad. Most importantly, they have resisted several overtures from "bigger" clubs for Karim Benzema, which will be a massive boost this season. Against Lyon tonight are Grenoble, promoted from Ligue 2 last season, and a complete unknown as far as I'm concerened.
Lyon give some sort of proof of the unbalance that Champion's League money gives to a league - fortunate enough to be in the Champion's League at the time when the money really started to take off, earning more money, enabling them to outperform the rest of their league and contine to qualify season after season and earn more money in the process. It could almost have been any club in Lyon's position, but they were the lucky ones in the right place at the right time.
Lyon took an early lead after a corner after poor marking to give Grenoble a huge mountain (no pun intended) to climb to get anything from the match. The mountain got even steeper ten minutes before the break when poor marking again allowed Benzema to get his third goal in as many matches with a simple tap-in in front of goal. Lyon were playing some nice passing football without really ever reaching top gear. Lyon produced a controlled performance in the second half to keep Grenoble at bay without extending too much effort. It's difficult to assess Lyon's chances for the season based on this performance, but the ease at which they secured victory suggests they will certainly be up there this season, especially if Benzema can continue to keep banging in the goals.
It was mentioned during second half commentary that Valenciennes midfield David Sommeil suffered a heart attack during training on Wednesday. He was revived at the side of the training pitch by his team-mates, but remains unconscious in hospital. Also, a bus containing Marseilles supporters crashed on their way to a match at Le Harve today, killing two supporters and seriously injuring several others. Obviously thoughts go to all affected by these events.
Lyon won the league again last season, for the seventh time in a row, but found it much more of a struggle, with it going right down to the last day. Out has gone Alain Perrin, and in has come Claude Puel, and with him a rejuvenated squad. Most importantly, they have resisted several overtures from "bigger" clubs for Karim Benzema, which will be a massive boost this season. Against Lyon tonight are Grenoble, promoted from Ligue 2 last season, and a complete unknown as far as I'm concerened.
Lyon give some sort of proof of the unbalance that Champion's League money gives to a league - fortunate enough to be in the Champion's League at the time when the money really started to take off, earning more money, enabling them to outperform the rest of their league and contine to qualify season after season and earn more money in the process. It could almost have been any club in Lyon's position, but they were the lucky ones in the right place at the right time.
Lyon took an early lead after a corner after poor marking to give Grenoble a huge mountain (no pun intended) to climb to get anything from the match. The mountain got even steeper ten minutes before the break when poor marking again allowed Benzema to get his third goal in as many matches with a simple tap-in in front of goal. Lyon were playing some nice passing football without really ever reaching top gear. Lyon produced a controlled performance in the second half to keep Grenoble at bay without extending too much effort. It's difficult to assess Lyon's chances for the season based on this performance, but the ease at which they secured victory suggests they will certainly be up there this season, especially if Benzema can continue to keep banging in the goals.
It was mentioned during second half commentary that Valenciennes midfield David Sommeil suffered a heart attack during training on Wednesday. He was revived at the side of the training pitch by his team-mates, but remains unconscious in hospital. Also, a bus containing Marseilles supporters crashed on their way to a match at Le Harve today, killing two supporters and seriously injuring several others. Obviously thoughts go to all affected by these events.
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