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Match Focus: Marvellous Marseille Denied Again by Lyon

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Match Focus: Marvellous Marseille Denied Again by Lyon If an end had to come to Marseille’s scintillating winning run of eight matches, it was probably always destined to be at Stade de Gerland against Lyon, in the derby of the two Olympiques. Exactly the same had happened on their last such run of successes, when Bernard Lacombe’s side defe...

Match Focus: The Key Issues Ahead of El Clásico

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Match Focus: The Key Issues Ahead of El Clásico El Clásico - an encounter that attracts interest from every fan, no matter who they support. The meeting between Real Madrid and Barcelona is widely considered the biggest in football and this weekend’s installment promises to prove why.Naturally, we at WhoScored.com are excited about S...

Match Focus: Sounders vs Galaxy to decide the Supporters' Shield

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Match Focus: Sounders vs Galaxy to decide the Supporters' Shield As far as heavyweight clashes go, this is Major League Soccer’s greatest offering. The LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders aren’t just two of the biggest clubs in North America, they’re the best two as well.The West coast sides will complete a quickfire double-header this weekend in the...

Match Focus: Make or Break for Both Sides in Turkey's Intercontinental Derby

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Match Focus: Make or Break for Both Sides in Turkey's Intercontinental Derby “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that,” Bill Shankly was famously quoted as saying. Anyone who has experienced the Intercontinental derby would probably agree.The grand Istanbul derby is older than the Turkish republic i...

Match Focus: Improving Ireland Upset the Odds to Frustrate Faltering Germany

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Match Focus: Improving Ireland Upset the Odds to Frustrate Faltering Germany For John O’Shea and Ireland, it was a “special night”. For Germany, it was the culmination of a frustrating opening to these qualifiers that left manager Jogi Loew talking about a “post-World Cup hole”.The sides' surprising 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen leaves Ireland joint...

Match Focus: Lyon’s Growing Stamina Catches Out PSG

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Match Focus: Lyon’s Growing Stamina Catches Out PSG Three weeks, it turns out, is a long time in the life of Ligue 1. If somebody had told you at the start of the month that after Paris Saint-Germain’s meeting with Lyon, one team would be steeling themselves for a productive winter while the other would be questioning the very direction of thei...

Match Focus: Favre Changes Fire Gladbach’s Ambition

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Match Focus: Favre Changes Fire Gladbach’s Ambition There are moments, even at such an early stage of the season, that have a sense of the pivotal about them. Perhaps Borussia Mönchengladbach and Schalke both had epiphanies of sorts when they met at Borussia Park on Saturday evening. A fixture between two of the pretenders for Champions League p...

Match Focus: Can Slaven Bilic Pull Off Another Upset in England?

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Match Focus: Can Slaven Bilic Pull Off Another Upset in England? The number 13 lived up to its unlucky reputation as Arsenal failed to extend their run of 12 consecutive UEFA Champions League play-off victories. Had Demba Ba converted his chances, it could have resulted in Arsene Wenger leaving Istanbul with a mild case of triskaidekaphobia but lady luck didn&rsq...

Match Focus: Bielsa’s Marseille Caught Out by Makélélé’s Bright Bastia

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Match Focus: Bielsa’s Marseille Caught Out by Makélélé’s Bright Bastia As Marseille’s tracksuited players enjoyed the traditional pre-match pitch walk on the turf at the Furiani, they looked like they were without a care in the world; enjoying the warmth of the Corsican summer, and the calm before the storm. Then, they were suddenly snapped out of their comfort, ...

Match Focus: 5 Talking Points from Argentina's Stalemate with the Netherlands

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Match Focus: 5 Talking Points from Argentina's Stalemate with the Netherlands The second of the semi-finals was never going to live up to the standards set by the first, but it was not excessive to expect something mildly more exciting than the dire goalless draw and ensuing penalty shootout victory for Argentina over the Netherlands. Nonetheless, with a World Cup Final set u...