UKRAINE
Photo: Shakhtar
The first half of the season is done in Ukraine with reigning champions Shakhtar Donetsk ending 2012 with a dominating 17 wins from 18 domestic games. Their only misstep came at the hands of Arsenal Kiev in a 2-0 loss. Both captain Darijo Srna and Eduardo received starts for Shakhtar on Friday in a 2-0 victory over Kryvbas. But it wasn’t a good day for the Croatians as both were subbed off due to injury. In the 59th minute, Eduardo was hit in the eye by Shershun and was unable to continue the game. He was replaced by Devic, with the Kryvbas player not even being cautioned for his foul.
In the 69th minute, Olexiy Antonov was sent off for a vicious tackle on Srna, and the Croatian captain was unable to continue. The severity of the injury is not yet known but we will have a better picture of Srna’s situation on Wednesday, when Shakhtar host Juventus in their last Champions League group stage match. Shakhtar are already through to the knockout round.
With Shahktar cruising through the Ukrainian season and gunning to lock up the title with a handful of games to spare, Ukraine’s last Champions League qualifying spot (2nd place) is still up for grabs between Dnipro, Dynamo and Metalist. Ivan Strinić got the start for Dnipro on Saturday and played the full 90 minutes in a scoreless duel with Metalurh Donetsk. The point gives Dnipro sole possession of second place going into the long winter break, with play resuming March 1st. Nikola Kalinić came off the bench for Dnipro in the 63rd minute but was unable to find the winner.
Dynamo Kiev defeated Hoverla 4-2 on Friday to keep pressure on Dnipro. Niko Kranjčar remains sidelined with an ankle injury while defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukokević came off the bench in the 68th minute. Dynamo travel to Zagreb on Wednesday in an essentially meaningless Champions League match. Will Dinamo Zagreb finally score a goal?
ENGLAND
Photo: Eurosport
Nikica Jelavić was completely shut down Saturday versus Manchester City as Everton managed to leave Etihad Stadium against the English champions with a 1-1 draw. Jelavić only had one shot on goal to his name as the Man City defense kept the Croatian in check. Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini put Everton up in the 33rd minute with a shot from close range but went from hero to villain 10 minutes later, pulling down City striker Edin Dzeko in the box. Carlos Tevez would convert the penalty.
Jelavić was taken off late in injury time, but as of late, it seems only Fellaini could score for Everton. Will Nikica Jelavić recover that same goal scoring consistency he had early in 2012 with Everton?
Photo: Fulham
Mladen Petrić and Fulham were blanked Saturday in a 3-0 loss to Tottenham at Craven Cottage. The maybe-former Croatian international managed three shots versus Spurs with only one being on frame and was subbed out in the 79th minute. Tottenham scored three second half goals to put Fulham away and send the Cottagers down to 13th in the league table. Fulham have not won in their last seven and Petrić isn’t receiving the service he needs to score goals in London. Where does he rank on Croatia’s striker depth chart?
SPAIN
Sevilla play Real Valladolid on Monday and will be without the service of Ivan Rakitić as he serves his red card suspension. Sevilla beat Espanyol 3-0 on Wednesday in their Copa Del Rey match, with Ivan playing the first 56 minutes and scoring his third goal of the season in the 45th minute.
Rakitić goal vs. Espanyol in Copa del Rey action
Luka Modrić made a brief five minute cameo appearance in the Madrid derby between Real and Atletico Saturday. Modrić came on in the 88th with Real in control of the match and up 2-0, which is where the score remained. Luka had six total touches in his limited time. Real reduced the gap between Atletico to five points, and they remain 11 behind leaders Barcelona. Real’s final Champions League group stage match is Wednesday at home against Ajax.
RUSSIA
Slaven Bilić’s Lokomotiv Moscow secured an important 1-0 win on Saturday over Alania Vladikavkaz. Vedran Čorluka played the full match and picked up a yellow card in the 50th minute as he returned to playing center-back. Their third consecutive win moves them into a tie for fifth in Russia. Their final matches before the winter break are Moscow derbies on the road at Spartak and Dinamo. Dario Krešić has returned to the bench as backup keeper for Lokomotiv.
Stipe Pletikosa recovered from his recent injury to start in goal for FC Rostov as they won 2-0 over Kryliya Sovetov to continue their climb up the table. Stipe had a few easy saves to make but the majority of Sovetov’s shots failed to hit the target. The win moves Rostov up to 11th, with ten points from their last four matches. They’ll look to crack the top ten with two winnable matches before Russia’s three month long break.
Pletikosa save at 1:10
Tomislav Dujmović and Mordovia Saransk play Amkar Perm on Monday as they look for their first points in seven matches.
Germany
PHOTO: Bundesliga
The Bundesliga match of the day turned out to be a snooze fest as Borussia Dortmund frustrated Bayern München to a 1-1 draw. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Mario Mandžukić, started and played 86 minutes in the draw. Mario finished with only one shot on goal and will have to wait until next weekend at the earliest for a shot at his tenth Bundesliga goal. The Croatian international is in a five-way tie for the Bundesliga golden boot.
PHOTO: European cy
Ivan Perišić remains silent ever since asking for a transfer almost a month ago. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder, came on in the 73rd minute for Jakub Błaszczykowski and failed to register a shot. Ivan will be looking for a chance in Champions League against Manchester City on Tuesday.
Photo: REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen
Ivica Olić’ goalless drought has now reached seven games as Wolfsburg squeaked out a 1-1 draw against HSV on Sunday. Ivica started on the left side and played 85 minutes in the draw. The former Dinamo Zagreb striker finished the game with only one shot. Srdjan Lakić came on in the 86th minute of play for Olić. With the draw, Wolfsburg continue to flirt with the relegation zone and find themselves only four points up in the safe zone.
PHOTO: European cy
Milan Badelj started and played the full 90 minutes for HSV in the draw. The former Dinamo Zagreb captain started behind Artoms Rudņevs and Maximilian Beister in a playmaking role and finished with one shot. Milan played well and wasn’t at fault for the lone Wolfsburg goal. Ivo Iličević looked on from the bench for Hamburg.
Ivan Klasnić also looked on from the bench for Mainz in a 2-1 win over Hannover 96.
France
PHOTO: olweb.fr
Bad news for Dejan Lovren as Lyon register two wins with the former Dinamo Zagreb defender on the sidelines. On Wednesday, Lyon smashed on rivals Marseille 4-1 at Stade Vélodrome. On Saturday, Lyon managed to shut out Montpellier 1-0 at Stade de Gerland. Lyon find themselves atop the Ligue 1 table as Lovren will be sidelined for at least another week.
Italy
Life in Pescara is getting really difficult for Croatian international Ante Vukušić. The 21-year-old striker is now scoreless in 10 matches after failing to reach the back of the net in a 5-1 loss at Napoli on Sunday. Ante started and played 67 minutes in the loss as Pescara finished the match with only ten players. Pescara sit at the bottom of the Serie A table and have scored a league low ten goals in fifteen matches. Mediocre players plus no service equals zero goals.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 12/4
Manchester City at Borussia Dortmund(Champions League), Ajax at Real Madrid(Champions League), Dynamo Kyiv at Dinamo Zagreb(Champions League)
Wednesday, 12/5
BATE at Bayern München(Champions League), Pescara at Cagliari(Coppa Italia), Juventus at Shakhtar Donetsk(Champions League)
Thursday, 12/6
Ironi Kiryat at Olympique Lyonnais(Europa League), AIK at Dnipro, Krasnodar at Rostov
Friday, 12/7
Hoffenheim at Hamburger SV, Sevilla at Espanyol, Volga at Lokomotiv Moskva
Saturday, 12/8
Bayern München at Augsburg, Wolfsburg at Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid at Real Valladolid, Dinamo Moskva at Terek Grozny
Sunday, 12/9
Tottenham Hotspur at Everton, Genoa at Pescara, Olympique Lyonnais at Saint-Étienne
Monday, 12/10
Newcastle United at Fulham
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
Ozil to leave Madrid for ManU this January.
Digging the Cibona banner up top. I want to watch just to see Darryl Strawberry’s kid. haha
Modric big mistake Man United would have been a great fit!
Maybe not a failure but he def wasn’t an automatic starter for those first few months.
@anonymous………so, you think Modric has lived up to expectations? Then why is he sitting in big games. Easy to get those type of stats against the lesser teams. Where is he when they play meaningful games. Stats can be skewed…..8 great perforances against bottom-tier teams than 2 below average performance against a top-tier team in games 9 and 10 will give the impression that a player is doing great when looking at the overall stats after 10 games. Its what you do in the big boy games.
And your comments about me are dead wrong. Who am I ready to sell out????? I don’t sell anybody out. I just state my opinion without a bias. I take the homer glasses off. I don’t look at a player and change my opinion of him just because he is croatian. In the case of Modric. You wont find a bigger fan of his than me, but I cant ignore that he has not played up to the level that was expected of him.
As for porcelain doll Bogut…….he is fragile.
Now, its up to you if you decide to ignore my comments. But, you want to know the reason you don’t ignore my comments….its because deep down you know I am correct in what I write. You just have a difficult time in seperating the emotional attachment.
http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/206/Tournaments/4/Seasons/3470/Stages/6652/PlayerStatistics/Spain-La-Liga-2012-2013
@ ziva
lets face it. you are a sensationalist who loves to draw attention to yourself with extreme statements. sometimes you have good points. sometimes you have some knowledge. but man are you ready to sell your alleged country men out and turn on them at the drop of a dime. blasting bogut for constantly getting hurt to the point that i think every could sense you were pretty much hoping he would get injured just to prove your point. making a joke about vukcevik’s car accident. and now instantly turning on modric. here are the overall stats on efficiency in la liga with a link attached above. modric is doing exactly what he is supposed to. he’s ranked 23rd in overall efficiency with only ronaldo, alonso, and ramos on real madrid ahead of him. he is a world class player that is doing what he always does in a difficult situation to adjust to. he needs more playing time though.
@chopper…………give him a season?????? He may not have a season. Mourinho wont be back at Real unless he wins the league again (unlikely) or the Champions League. Modric is the guy Mourinho wanted. If Mourinsho goes there would be a good chance they would try to get rid of Modric as well and try to get some of that money back before they realize he was a complete failure by Real Madrid standards.
Nobody called him a failure at Spurs. The expectation levels are night and day between Spurs and Madrid.
Also people called Modric a failure in his first few months at Tottenham. It wasnt long til he was there best player though.
Regarding Modric, well said Chopper & Croatia vs Antwerp.
He’s not like a one-dimensional winger where his position and job would be obvious. On a team like Madrid he is essential a role player until he can really find his niche. I mean we havent even figured out how to use him on the National Team yet.
Take it easy Ziva. Some players struggle without a full pre-season and Modric basically had zero pre-season. He was solid against Barca in his first outing but you have to be patient and give him time to adjust to the way Real play. The special one knows that Luka will be an important part of that team, like he was at Spurs, but this club is completely different and time will tell. Calling it as a failure now, well that’s just not right. Give him at least a season and with a full pre-season, next year he will go bang!!!
hahaha
Here is your US soccer update……..David Beckham played his last game in MLS.
Update over.
No U.S. Soccer ?
Bundesliga is an underrated league and if UEFA Financial Fair Play is legit they are well ahead of the curve. Teams in the EPL are mostly all in debt while in Germany they don’t have these problems because of strict financial regulations
Pletikosa btw is in very good form with Rostov, shame he never got to play in a top league consistently
adjust to what???????? If you are true star “zvijezda” you don’t need to adjust to anything. I’m not knocking Modric. He is a damn good player, but he is not elite. Elite players don’t sit the bench when their team has a big game.
You guys are making excuses for Modric because: 1.) you like him, 2.) he is croatian, and 3.) you want to see him succeed; and 4.) probably some of you are jersey-chasers and have his shirt.
Totally blind in your thinking. Right now Modric has played very well against the bottom tier teams and average sides, but has not been a difference maker on the pitch against the better teams.
@ Anonymous – Istina!
@ Dado – well said.
Bundesliga is for Njemci. I like our boys playing there because they do not get burnt out. On the flip side they get the shaft sooner or later.
I love Modric and his game is transcendent, BUT he needs to man up and attack the box from time and time and shoot to score. You can’t always pass the ball into the net. Having said that, Madrid can pusi mi kurac, there run around like chickens without heads. This is not sustainable and thats why Barca is up 11 pts in La Liga. Madrid needs to play through Modric more if that want CL success.
Jebi ga, I just need the Magician ready to represent in March when it is going to be ON!
@ziva a world class player needs time to adjust to a different league and new team mates.Luka Modric is a WORLD class player!
Umm, actually Modric was bought to be Xabi’s successor. Xabi is aging and recently refused to extend his contract, leaving Real no choice but to sell him in the Summer.
Nowhere did I read Real planned to make him an automatic starter–in his first season. His purpose is to play various positions due to his versatility. And to be Xabi’s successor.
With that being said he is a World Class player. As evidenced with his selection by Fifa/FifaPro as one of the World’s top 15 midfielders.
Modric was also also bought for his versatility and ability to defend and pull strings in offense.
@Mate….sure, usually you are given time, but not at a place like Real Madrid. True world class players dont need time, they make the adjustment right away. I was wrong about Modric. I really thought he was a stud who could make an instant impact at Real. I was wrong. He is a very good player, but he is not a true stud.
Rostov pobijedio, Pletikosa ponovno netaknute mreže!
http://is.gd/fzJ9mR
I’ll actually agree with Ziva on the Anonymous comment, dude, I don’t think even one thing you said was objectively correct…Borussia Dortmund’s midfield is extremely talented, and Perisic should start, but only over Grosskruetz when he is on the pitch (frankly, a german player will always play over a foreigner in germany if they are relatively equal, same for a spaniard in spain, etc etc)
@ Ziva
Most of the time I agree with you, but you have to give Modric time man, a lot of us fans want big things out of our players out of the gate, but it’s not always that easy…different style of football, different formation, different role for him whether he takes Ozil’s or Kheidara’s spot, everything is different, shit, even the women are hotter so just give him more time…he’s really not doing that poorly and oh yes, it could be worse (Kaka’s situation over the past years)
@poglavnik…..So Modric is a role player?????? Funny, because he was not brought into Real Madrid to be a role player. He was brought in to challenge Barca’s MF when they come u against them and add another aspect to Real’s game. He and Mourinho have failed in that aspect. And, now you are trying to say he is only a role player. Role players are not brought in for 30 plus million. Way to make excuses. Listen, you make like Modric (as I do as well), but you have to be honest and take off the homer glasses. He has not performed to expectations.
and now we have idiots claiming the bundesliga is on par with the HNL, when the Bunesliga might be the best league from top to bottom on the planet…….and then they want to question me?????? Whoever posted that is doing a good enough job of making a fool out of themselves….no additional commentary from me is needed.
What are you talking about? Every Bundesliga team is first in their group for Champions League. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Bayern Munchen vs Dortmund Champions League Final
Back to Back CHAMPIONS , our L.A. Galaxy !!! Beautiful 3-1 Win ! Thank U Beckham,Donovan,& Keane !!! Bog,Hrvati,Hajduk,i Champions L.A. Galaxy !!!
Jelavic got brutalized by Kompany today. Everton made Man City look like a goon squad.
Jelavic seems to get frustrated by lack of service sometimes. Gibson squandered a perfect opportunity with an awful shot when Jelavic sat wide open on the edge of the box.
Re Real Madrid/Modric and the Great One:
He may be a great manager, but I find his teams tedious to watch. Inter was hard sell the year they won the C.L.
Bayern Munich’s midfield has been exposed as mediocre by Borussia Dortmund today. Bayern is a one trick pony and that will be exploited in CL. Horrible long passes and turnovers all day.
How Perisic remains on the bench is a mystery considering how horrible most of Dortmund’s midfielders are. Klopp is a flash in the pan big mouth and once Dortmund sell their best players, as most German clubs often do, he will sit at the bottom of the table with his team shouting out his Deutsch from the sidelines using his big arrogant mouth. The Bundesliga teams will always get humiliated in the CL given the lack of tactics and creativity of the German-tongued coaches. Lowe is the only half-decent one and yet his national team always fails to finish when it counts as well.
I’d rather do anything else than watch German football anymore. It’s on par with HNL. With Modric leaving Tottenham (thank god) and with Jelavic posing on the field as a tourist I can’t stand English football either.
This year is a new low for Croatians around Europe. Coming here to read comments by morons like Ziva Istina and Ivica is also a low, continuously, for CSR. Is this as good as it gets? If so I can easily forget about this site until the national team play again. Then I’d just come here for the highlights and certainly not the commentary.
@Ziva-The truth does not hurt nearly as many people as much as you seem to think it does.Looking at the world through your narrow little field does not make you nearly as right as what you generally think you are.And yes,of course you know that life is good for him because he is making some nice cash.Cash is your God,you have that,all is fine.
Yeah quit busting his balls every game Ziva!
He was never gonna be the man at Real.
He is a great role player that can contribute offensively and defensively and hopefully he can continue getting the minutes he does because that is not an easy midfield to crack.
Dado……hey man, the truth hurts. You can keep making excuses for him and being a homer. He simply has not lived up to the expectations when he came to Madrid. Either way, life is good for him. He is making some nice cash at Madrid.
Ziva is right he not been playing well he is not a REAL player and that is it and i am not a Modric Basher but he is not a REAL player need to go to Man U, that i think would have been best choice because he wouldnt be asked to score alot of goals since Chicarito Van P Rooney Welbeck Nani do the scoring, good luck Luka on the BEanch at REAL
http://www.stadium-live.com/Channel3.html
stream of real vs atletico
HQ live stream Real-Atletico
http://www.stadium-live.com/Channel3.html
Luka on the bench
In less than 2 hours the L.A. Galaxy defend their MLS Championship vs. the Houston Dynamo . Can’t wait ! Should be a good game . Hajduk plays tomarrow in also what should be a good game vs. Rejka . Naprid Bili, i Galaxy ! Hajduk zivi vjecno! L.A. All The Way ! Bog,Hrvati,Hajduk,i Galaxy !!!
Lay off modric ziva, he’s been playing solid. Not his best or worse. His passing percentage is always high. When he’s on the field with the ball at his feet he does great, that’s when Madrid starts playing. His teammates need to stop only playing Ronaldo, that’s the reason they’re hurting. When modric touches the ball they play. He gets everyone involved. Soccer isn’t all about stats. It’s more than that.
Petric is starting for Fulham alongside Berbatov.
Keep it up Modric! If you get a chance to play against Atletico, take your limited chances!
Forget the question if Modric will impress in the Madrid derby. Question is will he even start in the derby. Looks like this will be another big game for Real where he will be on the bench. He is approaching bust category.