CL Quarter Final: Fixtures & Forecast

After the thrilling array of Last 16 ties, the contenders were finally whittled down to 8. The Quarter Final took place this morning devoid of any English clubs for the first time since 1995/1996, and the draw presented the following Fixtures.

Malagá V Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid V Galatasaray

PSG V Barcelona

Bayern Munich V Juventus


An interesting outcome to say the least. Ibrahimovic returns to the Nou Camp to take on his former club, whilst Drogba visits the Santiago Bernabéu to play against his Uncle Jose. This turn out also leaves the possibility for a Semi Final/Final El Clasico which is sure to set tongues wagging across the globe.

For me, I think that the last 4 will be Dortmund, Real, Barca & Munich with the Semi-Finals being drawn as Dortmund v Madrid & Barcelona V Munich.
Which leaves open the Final I have predicted since the beginning, Bayern Munich v Real Madrid.
What do you think?

Real Oviedo; SOS!

As you may be aware historic Spanish football team Real Oviedo have offered shares in their club for as little as around €10 a share. The club have spent 38 seasons playing top flight football in La Liga even challenging for the title on some occasions, along with qualifying to play in the UEFA Cup during the early 90’s. Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla are both products of Oviedo’s cantera. In 2003, a year which will stick in the minds of many fans, due to a combination of bad performances on and off the pitch the team fell into the Spanish Fourth Division but tremendous support prevented the club from going bust. However the situation recently became critical and this plea was posted on their website asking the world for financial help;

"Real Oviedo have not left their financial troubles behind. The situation is now critical. A share issue has begun to raise funds in order to save the club.  2M Euros are required to keep Real Oviedo from entering into administration within weeks. The club and supporters are crying out for financial help and this plea is extended to anyone who would like to contribute to keep this legendary club alive."


And with that, yours truly is now a shareholder of Real Oviedo.

Along with richest man in the world, Carlos Slim. The Mexican tycoon who has an estimated fortune of $70 billion. Looks like Sergio Ramos is now a realistic transfer target after all...

See you at the next AGM Carlos!!

International Wednesday; That savvy Swede!

In the midweek internationals, England took on Sweden at the aptly named Friends Arena. Normally Id be as enthusiastic as Adrian Chiles when writing about England but unusually this is not the case today. In a game that saw skipper Steven Gerrard earn his 100th cap for the national team, Youngsters such as Raheem Sterling earn their first, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic destroy England’s lead with 4 well taken (to say the least) goals.

England left the pitch at half time with a 2-1 lead but this was not to be as 3 goals from the man himself brought the final score line to 4-2. Zlatan earned his hat-trick with a well struck free kick,  finding Joe Harts far corner but this was not to be the last word from the PSG striker. He ended the night with this overhead kick. Fantastic technique from the Swede.

Ibra shows his unbelievable tekkers with this spectacular overhead kick!

Click here to watch the video of the goal.

Many spectators have hailed this as 'the best goal ever' others have dismissed this claim saying they have seen better. What do you think? Comment with the best goal you have witnessed.

Deadline Day: HB footballs final word!

9 days ago the transfers window slammed shut and in true deadline day style there were some last minute moves we were (& weren't!) expecting. Here is our pick of the bunch!

Rafael van der Vaart left Spurs to join his former club Hamburg for a fee of £10m! Hamburg are currently 15th in Bundesliga after failing to win any points in their first 2 games of the new season... your move Rafael!

Lyon keeper Hugo Lloris joined Spurs for £11.8m, the 25 year old is ready to take the place of Premier League veteran Brad Friedel who now holds the record for the oldest player to appear in a competitive match for Tottenham Hotspur!

In a last minute move, Michael Essien left Chelsea and joined current La Liga campeones Real Madrid on a season long loan. This move will re-unite him with Jose Mourinho, who managed the player at Chelsea.

 On 30th August, Esteban Granero left the Santiago Bernabeu and headed for Loftus Road after joining QPR for an undisclosed fee. El Pirata made his debut for the club in a 1–3 away loss against defending champions Man City.

Finally, French club Marseille welcome renowned bad boy Joey Barton on a season long loan. After the fiasco that ensued during QPR's final game of the season (how could we forget!) Bartons career was uncertain. He was handed a 12 match ban & fined £75,000 & the midfielder will still have to serve his ban despite relocating to France. Ooh la la!

Back to Business!!!

Could it really be? A new blog post on Handbag Football? It feels much longer than 2 months since we posted last...
We left off with the euros just finishing, the transfer window opening and everybody excited about the return of club football!
Finally...its back! (and has been for 2 weeks but a certain blogger has been sampling the cocktails of spain so sorry for delay!) & from now on Handbag Football will be there to guide you through the season!

Top 5 young'uns to keep an eye on!

1. Sergi Roberto - Barcelona!

This Spanish midfielder is apparently a transfer target of Chelsea, definately one to watch at a mere 20 years old! He has already notched up 83 appearances for Barcelona B & 2 for Barcelona. The futures bright...

                             

                  

2. Toni Kroos - Bayern Munich!

22 years of age & heavily featured in Germany's Euro 2012 campaign notching up his 30th cap for his national team. He had a succesful loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen at Bayern & impressed for last season. Also he has a younger brother, Felix, who is Currently at Werder Bremen. This guy is sure to be a legend for Germany!

3. Philippe Coutinho - Inter Milan!

This 20 year old Brazillian spent last season on loan to Espanyol & when watching La Liga i noticed the youngster straight away! Playing as an attacking midfielder, he definately makes his presence known despite his young age. He has already made 5 appearances for the Brazil national team too, could we expect to see him in 2014? I think so!

4. Raheem Sterling -Liverpool!

The youngest player to appear on the list, at only 17 years old this guy is a very exciting prospect at the moment in Liverpool. Joining their youth team in 2010, after seven years at QPR he has impressed coaches & fans since. He has made 3 appearances for Liverpool but this number is expected to rise under new manager Brendan Rogers! Keep an eye on this guy!

5. Mario Götze - BVB!

Last but not least, im sure you have already heard about this one! At 20 years old with 55 caps for Borussia Dortmund - with 12 goals! He is widely Anticipated by spectators as a young footballer everywhere with A lot of potential, expect to see more of Mario in the near future!

5 things to do whilst waiting for next season.

How is everybody? It's been 4 long, football-less days since Spain took the European Championship trophy to add to their collection & i felt 4 days was long enough for everybody to pick up from their post-euro depression & get excited for the return of club football!

However 18th August is a long way off, so to help i have devised a list of things to do whilst waiting for your team to kick-start their new league campaign!

1. Antique football - you can watch old football matches/highlights online to relive the magic on ESPN classics (Sky channel 442) often show repeats of old classics such as West brom v Wigan 05/06! In all seriousness, they do actually show some good games! I remember catching the 1960 European Cup Final Between Real Madrid & Eintracht Frankfurt! it was in black & white (obviously) and although it took me about 20 minutes to work out which shade of grey was which team, it was really interesting!

2. Read a book! - This can be any footballer/manager/WAG's autobiography of your choice! Or i would suggest a Sophie Kinsella book if you're off on Holiday! Funny & very easy to read, especially when its too hot to concentrate!*

*But NOT 50 shades of grey. i strongly advise against this!

3. Learn a new hobby! This can be anything, from Karate (will come in handy when fighting off other predators eyeballing the half price dress in the Topshop sale!) to Cocktail making! Time will fly if you spent summer whipping up Mojitos, especially if you drink as you learn! Or set up a lemonade stand & put the funds towards your Birkin piggy bank - more on this another time!

4. Learn a new language! My personal fave! A new language will really open up doors for you, particularly in the footballing world! Whether it being able to communicate with fans from other leagues & discuss matches to learning the wedding vows in a particular language to prepare for your wedding to *insert desired footballer here*. Also, you could learn a few insulting phrases just in case somebody insults your team. Be prepared!


5. Hibernate. It works for the squirrels! They go to sleep with a few nuts, and wake up & its spring again! Exactly the same for us handbag footballers, except we go to sleep with a few copies of Heat magazine, and re-emerge in late August refreshed & ready for another roller coaster football season!