Monthly Archives: September 2015

The weekend of October 3^rd and 4^th is a big one in European football, featuring a high-profile match in nearly every top-flight soccer league. In the English Premier League, Manchester United and Arsenal will do battle. In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will face off. In the Spanish La Liga, Atletico and Real Madrid will play a crosstown rivalry grudge match. And in the Dutch Eredivisie, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven will challenge one another for bragging rights.

Amidst all of these headline-worthy matches between top title contenders, the Premier League also has one fixture on the other end of the spectrum this weekend. The match in question is Aston Villa V Stoke City, both clubs have experienced hugely disappointing seasons so far this fall and are

FC Barcelona weren't just the best football club in Spain last season; they were the best football club in the world. Between their La Liga title, their Copa del Rey victory, and their UEFA Champions League triumph, Barca were on top of the world. Now, though, with the Catalonia independence debate heating up, FC Barcelona's future is uncertain. Barca and fellow La Liga competitors RCD Espanyol are Catalan football clubs. If Catalonia breaks off from Spain and becomes an independent state, then Barcelona and Espanyol could potentially not be eligible to compete in the Spanish La Liga. Such a drastic change would undoubtedly have far-reaching impacts on both teams, as well as upon the landscape of Spanish and European soccer as we know it.

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When Wayne Rooney scored a penalty goal 84 minutes into England's September 8^th Euro 2016 qualifier
2016, it was a big moment for a couple of different reasons. First of all, it gave the Three Lions a valuable 2-0 win on a competitive international stage-something that is still important, a year after England's dismal performance in the 2014 World Cup. Secondly, it continued England's perfect record in the Euro 2016 qualifying competition-eight wins, zero draws, and zero losses, with 26 goals scored and only three conceded. No other national football team in Europe is playing better football right now-not even World Cup champs Germany, who only have a 6-1-1 record in the European Championship qualifiers. Third, and most importantly, Rooney's late-game penalty goal against Switzerland was his 50^th for the England national football team-not just a personal record, but a new record period in the annals of Three Lions football. So we assess the facts surrounding the

Ask anyone in the soccer community who they expect to top Champions League 2015 - 2016 Group E, and the answer will be Barcelona every time. Not only are Barca the tournament's defending champions this year, but they also haven't lost many players since beating Juventus to take the title this past spring. Indeed, other than former team captain Xavi Hernandez and common late-game substitute Pedro, Barcelona have held on to almost all of their core talent for the 2015 2016 season.

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A Slow Start for Barcelona

That fact didn't save Barca from a surprisingly slow start in this year's Champions League, though. The defending UCL champs laced up their cleats to face AS Roma in their first game of the 2015 2016 competition. The game,

One of the biggest questions of the 2015 summer transfer window was: Is Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Real Madrid? In the earliest weeks of the window, the big rumor was that Ronaldo was upset that manager Carlo Ancelotti had been sacked and replaced by Rafael Benitez. There were also rumors of a row of sorts between Ronaldo and fellow Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale, who made it clear that he wanted to be the Vikings center forward. The speculation at the time was that Ronaldo might transfer to Manchester United during the summer, but no such move ever transpired.

Of Contracts and Transfer Fees

Fast-forward to now, and rumors about Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Spain are on the table once
again. It's not even October, and Real Madrid still have a long way to go before the end of the campaign. Chatter about losing their best player could keep Vikings fans from really enjoying the 2015 2016 soccer season.

Still,

When the groups were drawn for this year's UEFA Champions League on August 27^th, Group D looked like one of the most "open and shut" of the entire tournament. Between Juventus (last season's runners-up) and Manchester City (so clearly dominating the English Premier League this season), the group's top two teams were easy to identify. What were the chances of either of these top-ranking football clubs bowing out of the UCL before the knockouts? Never mind the fact that Sevilla were coming off two straight Europa League titles, or that Borussia Monchengladbach had just played one of their best seasons ever in the German Bundesliga. In the eyes of most soccer fans and experts alike, Champions League 2015 - 2016 Group D belonged to the Zebras and the Sky Blues.

For the new football season, Soccer Box is pleased to announce that we have added the Slovan Bratislava home shirt 2015 2016 to our online store. The jersey, a beautiful white and light blue kit manufactured by Adidas, is the garb of Slovakia's most decorated soccer club. Founded in May 1919, Slovan Bratislava have won Slovakia's modern top-flight football championship-the Fortuna Liga-on eight occasions. Their most recent victory came in 2013 2014, and the 2015 2016 campaign will see the team trying to reclaim the top spot. But what of the team's history and past success? Find out more in this Slovan Bratislava team profile.

A Long and Decorated League History

Slovan Bratislava (often nicknamed "the Sky blues" by fans) have a long and impressive legacy that stretches back many years. Indeed, the football club's eight Fortuna Liga titles are only the tip of the iceberg as far as their trophy case is concerned.

In Slovenia, NK Maribor hold an enviable status among the country's football clubs. Along with Celje and Gorica, Maribor are one of the only three teams in the country that have never been relegated from the top-flight soccer division. The top-flight league, the Slovenian First Football League (abbreviated to 1. SNL in the country's native tongue) has been in operation since 1991. Find out about this club's successful history and keep reading this NK Maribor team profile.

A Tradition of Dominance

Maribor have not just tallied 24 seasons in the 1. SNL but are also the league's most successful soccer club. Indeed, Maribor (commonly nicknamed "the Purples" or "the Violets") have taken first place in the Slovenian First Football League 13 times. They've come in second place on four additional occasions and have finished third three times. The final tally? Of the 24 Slovenian First Football League seasons that the Violets have

This article will provide a Dynamo Moscow team profile, an invaluable source of information for fans of Russian football, and football supporters in general. Keeping track of all the different football clubs from Moscow isn't the easiest feat for casual followers of the Russian Premier League. During the 2014 2015 season, Moscow teams accounted for nearly one-third of the entire RPL division. Two of them, CSKA and Dynamo, finished the year in the top five. Another two, Spartak and Lokomotiv, ended the season in sixth and seventh place, respectively. The fifth club, Torpedo Moscow, was relegated down to the Russian Professional Football League thanks to their 15^th place finish.

Of all of these various Moscow football clubs, Dynamo Moscow is the oldest. Indeed, Dynamo Moscow is the

Five games into the 2015 2016 La Liga season, RCD Espanyol are skirting the top five. Typically, we don't expect this particular football club to push into the top tier of the Spanish top-flight. After all, Espanyol's Parakeets have never won a La Liga title. Their biggest success in Spanish football has been in the Copa del Rey, which they've won four times. The most recent of those victories came in 2006, against Real Zaragoza. But could that be about to change? We analyze the Espanyol 2015 - 2016 prospects, and ask can they secure a top-five La Liga placing?

Espanyol's Recent History

Bottom line, Espanyol are no Barcelona or Real Madrid when it comes to Spanish soccer prestige. They
also haven't made much of an impression in the La Liga for the past decade. Indeed, last season, the Parakeets only won seven games total, finishing in 10^th on the league standings table. That performance was still an improvement