the monthly magazine about the beautiful game of football

Futbols24 magissue 2may2013

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may 2013Issue Nr. 2

dear readers of futbols24 mag, we're glad to welcome you to the may edition! New edition, new topics and heroes! First of all, I would like to say a huge thanks to Asuman Dogan for cover of this edition. You can share some love to her and follow asuman on twitter. This time we have chosen turkish striker Burak Yilmaz as our cover hero. He had an amazing season in champions league!

Editor in chief:Rolands Juhna

Design and Layout:Cristian LiberumNastya Mendez

Authors:rolands juhnanastya mendez

This time we gave a bit more attention to Champions League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Why these competitions? It's quite simple. Champions league has been full of amazing duels. Such, as malaga and borussia dortmund. That was an amazing match between those teams and you can find out more about this match in this edition. It's worth to once again remember this memorable match...

Malaga is featured in our magazine for the second time in a row... maybe it's often, but we think that such teams deserve attention. I suggest you to see the article from our new author Nastya Mendes. She took a closer look to the experienced malaga defender martin demichelis, who was one of the main heroes in this fantastic champions league journey for malaga. Argentine veteran did a great job.

There are also some quite interesting articles about French football. Saint etienne is having a great season and recently they won coupe de la ligue trophy. it's their first trophy since 1981...little story about final match and one of the main heroes of saint etienne brandao, by our ligue 1 expert cristian liberum. brazilian veteran has been a key player for saint etienne. will he remain such next season?

I hope you'll enjoy this edition and you'll be awaiting for the next one too! We're planning to invite some new authors, some well known authors. of course, me and my colleague cristian gonna remain and bring you more and more interesting articles. If you enjoy our magazine, subscribe to ourprofiles on twitter and facebook and stay tuned about all the newest info we're bringing to you!

website:futbols24mag.com

email:info at futbols24mag.com

subscribe:futbols24mag

futbols24

Rolands Juhna

best regards,enjoy the magazine!

Issue Nr. 2

3 turkish sensationburak yilmaz

9 Martin demichelis.Career restart in Malaga

11 Borussia & MalagaGame without losers

17 Les verts are headingback to europe!

21 brandao. Key of asse success

23 Michel Bastosfuture savior of schalke 04

25 transfer of mario gotzefuture of bayern?

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Football is all about the passion. Galatasaray has one of the most passionate fans in the world and this season, they saw one of the most passionate strikers in Europe quickly rising to a new heights. Burak Yilmaz has proven to be one of the best strikers in Europe at the moment. Here’s story of Turkish football sensation.

Yilmaz is one of those football’s “late bloomers”. He was considered as a very talented footballer in Turkey, but for a long time, he couldn’t find the right place, where to fulfil his potential. His career is quite unique. Yilmaz is just the second Turkish footballer, who have played for all of the most successful Turkish football clubs. Before joining Galatasaray, Yilmaz spent some time with such clubs, as Trabzonspor, Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

Turkish striker had relatively quiet career till his move to Trabzonspor. There he worked together with famous manager Şenol Güneş, who’s well-known and deeply respected in Turkey. Many say that Güneş was the main reason, why Yilmaz finally could fulfil his potential and become an impressive force in Turkish league. After having period full of odds with Fenerbahce, Yilmaz managed to quickly transform into one of the leading players of Trabzonspor.

Burak Yilmaz without any doubts is one of the names I’ll remember from UEFA Champions League 2012/2013 edition. 27 years old Galatasaray striker scored 8 goals in Champions League and he was one of the reasons, why Turkish side made it to the 1/4 finals, where they had to face a painful loss against Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.

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Yilmaz became much stronger both physically and mentally. He became a much more powerful and faster player and he knows how to use his physical attributes to get a great effect. He’s very passionate and emotional, it’s almost impossible to find someone to compare him with. Yilmaz is well-known for his mental strength, he has a tremendous work rate and gets the best out of his teammates. Former Turkey manager Guus Hiddink acknowledged that and left some really positive comments about passionate striker.

Just in a few seasons, Burak Yilmaz became a hot prospect, because of his astonishing perfor-mances with Trabzonspor. He scored more than a 50 goals in just two seasons and in 2011/2012 season he became Super Lig Top Scorer with 33 goals in 34 matches. After such a great season, it was clear that Yilmaz gonna move forward. Many European clubs were showing an interest about Turkish sensation, but biggest interest came from Galatasaray. They got him for a really small price, just €5 millions. Now his market value is about €15 million. And that’s all because of his great perfor-mances both in Super Lig and UEFA Champions League. Yilmaz has ignited a huge interest about himself, he’s going to be one of the hottest picks for upcoming transfer window.

Story of Burak Yilmaz is one of the... There have been a lot of “late bloomers” examples in the his-tory of football. Many players have that huge tal-ent and potential, but many of them just waste it and slowly lose it. Career of Yilmaz probably would slowly go downwards, if not the Şenol Güneş. Ex-perienced manager worked a lot with Yilmaz. He’s now much more consistent and disciplined player. He rarely picks up unnecessary fouls and yellow cards, but he’s still a real fighter with an explosive character.

“Technically gifted, strong and almost unstoppable... That’s how you can describe Burak Yilmaz...”

“Burak is a mod-Ern proFEssional FooTBallEr, i likE His dETErminaTion and Hard-workinG cHaracTEr. HE nEvEr complains aBouT anYTHinG in Train-inG. HE is THE TYpE oF plaYEr You rarElY sEE nowadaYs. HE nEvEr GivEs up, HE is GrEaT in onE on onE siTuaTions and plaYs wiTH a loT oF passion and dETEr-minaTion. i rEspEcT Yilmaz and am proud oF His rapid dEvElopmEnT.”

Guus Hiddink

Galatasaray seemed like a perfect place for Yilmaz this season. They have build a really solid squad with such well-known stars, as Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder. But you can’t say that Yilmaz has done less than these two. I think Yilmaz is the man, who ignites the team. He’s local guy, he has that amazing mentality and passion for football you can see only in this country. Turkey loves football and it’s more than a game there. Fans and even players always have the passion, atmosphere is amazing. Just look back at the Telekom Arena in Champions League, when Galatasaray was going to get those important victories in group stage or when Turkish side got past Schalke 04 and advanced to the 1/4 finals. Passion, passion, pas-sion... You just need to love Turkey for that.

“HE’s a plaYEr wHo’s doinG wEll in THE cHampions BEcausE scorinG EiGHT Goals is Hard Task For EvErY sTrikEr. as alwaYs, wE HavE To BE FocusEd on plaYErs, likE Yilmaz. HE can crEaTE a loT oF proBlEms For us. THE dEFEndErs HavE To BE on THE Ball BEcausE iT’s crucial THaT wE makE iT To THE sEmi-Finals.”

crisTiano ronaldo

Burak Yilmaz is on the peak of his career at the moment and he has all the needed skills to remain on top. He does those quick and intelligent runs, he has a great dribbling and it won’t be easy to beat him in aerial duels. Yilmaz has all those quali-ties a great striker should have. Add his emotional and passionate character and it’s a striker every manager would love to see in his team. Turkish fans can only say a huge “Thanks!” to Şenol Güneş. He re-discovered and saved this talent. Respect!

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arsEnal F.c.Arsene Wenger had a lot of head-ache this season. After Robin van Persie left Arsenal, Wenger got two additions in attacking line - German international Lukas Podolski and French international Olivier Giroud. Later there came a contract renewal with Theo Walcott. Despite fact, that Arsenal has 4-5 players, who could bring 10+ goals per season, team still lacks an unstoppable force in at-tack - a player, like Yilmaz, who could easily bring 20+ goals per season. If Arsenal wants to reach titles once again, they need some fresh blood. I’m sure Yilmaz could bring some extra versatility for Gunners. Now it’s all up to Arsene Wenger and to the management of club. If they are ready to spend 20-25 millions for a quality striker, who will be on top for at least next 3-4 seasons - it’s their chance! Yilmaz was linked with Arsenal already in previous season and he expressed a desire to join Gunners. I think it’s worth to give a try, while Yilmaz is still a hot pick for any of the top clubs.

mancHEsTEr uniTEdYilmaz recently has been linked, as one of the main targets of Red Devils and Sir Alex Ferguson. Rumours are various. Javier Hernandez looks unhappy with role he has, Robin van Persie won’t get any younger and Danny Welbeck is far away from being a goal-machine for United. Red Devils could face some changes this summer. Of course, United can hope that they gonna get Colombian sensation Radamel Falcao, but that won’t be an easy (and cheap) task. Atletico Madrid will ask at least 40 millions for their biggest star. I think for an English club, Yilmaz could be even better option, as Falcao is. Just look at his stature (188 cm), he’s very strong and technically gifted. He should quickly adapt to English foot-ball and that’s an important moment for United. They need a player, who will bring those goals immediately. Just my personal opinion, but I think at the moment - Yilmaz would be a better option, than Falcao or any other (maybe except Lewandowski) striker for Red Devils.

paris sainT GErmainLes Parisiens definitely will be in a need for star striker this summer. Yes, PSG has one of the best strikers in the world in their squad - Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But... Ligue 1 could soon become too boring for Swedish star and that wouldn’t be a surprise, if he would like to move back to Italy. So I think that Yilmaz could be an inter-esting option for French grand. Even if Ibrahimovic stays in Paris, arrival of Yilmaz shouldn’t be an issue for Carlo Ancelotti, who loves to rotate his quad this season. Ibrahimovic, Yilmaz, Lavezzi... That would be a real threat for any opponent. It looks that Kevin Gameiro will leave Paris anyway, so PSG will definitely look for addition in their attacking line. With such a bright talents in midfield (Marco Verratti, Javier Pastore, Lucas Moura), Yilmaz would be provided with a great support. I’m sure he could easily become a leading striker in French league within the first sea-son there. Hard to predict, will there be a serious interest from PSG, but I think it’s worth to think about it.

future?

Without any doubts, Burak yilmaz is one of the hottest picks in upcoming summer 2013 transfer madness.Yilmaz is currently linked with many European clubs. From England, Italy and other countries. These three teams is just my subjective choices. Places, where Yilmaz could bring the biggest contribution. I can’t exclude that he could stay in Istanbul. Despite a fact that he’s a really “hot pick” at the moment, Galatasaray is anyway a solid option. Squad is good enough to try to surprise everyone in European competition once again next season. Summer will bring us answers about Yilmaz’s future but I anyway can suggest you to check out this goal machine in action, if you still haven’t seen him. You will be satisfied for sure...

cristian liberum

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PASSION

LOVE

MALAGA

martindemichelis32 years old argentine de-fender martin demichelis is one of the heroes of malaga 2012/2013 squad. He was one of the key players in the greatest success of spanish side. Together with another veteran defender weligton, demichelis has formed one of the strongest centre back pairs in la liga. Here’s acloser look on argentine star martin demichelis.

Just few football players are lucky to live through such a wonderful journey, as Martin Demichelis had this season with Malaga. No matter what place Andalusian club will take at the end of this season, it’s 100% clear that this was a memorable and unforget-table season for every player from this 2012/2013 Malaga squad. One of them was Martin Demichelis. Argentine veteran had an important role in this Champions League success. Destiny has been very generous against Demichelis in last few years. Despite he had some sorrow and negative emo-tions in his last season with Bayern Munich, Malaga came as a new challenge. Argentine didn’t felt really comfortable in Germany. Different mentality, different culture. Malaga and Spain was a chance to feel the taste of homeland. Same language, similar traditions and also a new challenge in terms of football. Back in 2010, both - Malaga and Demichelis faced a major changes. New owners for club, new step in career for Argentine veteran.

Demichelis had a chance to rejoin his former manager Manuel Pellegrini, who had the responsibility to make all those ambitions to become a reality in nearest future. They knew each other well, as they worked together in Argentinian club River Plate back in the be-ginning of 2000’s. In Bayern Demichelis had to battle injuries and face a lack of trust from Louis van Gaal. They couldn’t find a common language. With Manuel Pellegrini situation was clearly opposite. Chilean manager gave a credit of trust for Demichelis and Argen-tine quickly became a key player in Malaga squad. They became one of the strongest centre back pairs in Spain together with Malaga captain Weligton. Successful perfor-mance by veteran defenders was one of the main reasons, why Malaga qualified for UEFA Champions League. Even more, they both were key players in this season’s Champions League success. Even against much younger and stronger opponents, both veterans looked confident and strong.

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“JusTiniano possE is my favourite place. I was born and I grew up in this little town. That’s a place, where I had my family and friends surrounding me all the time.”

“diEGo maradona was my idol, since I was a kid.”

“mY wiFE and mY son gives me a great motivation. I love to see them in stands be-fore the game. It’s a fantastic and important feeling.”

“sporTsman was my dream profession. If I wouldn’t be a footballer, I still would look for an opportunity to be a professional sports-man.”

“campEonEs dE la vida - alEJandro lErnEr is my favourite song.”

“THE TrusT a coach has in a player means everything. This comes from hard work and humility, like the rest of the players.”

“manuEl pEllEGrini has brought a great wisdom, discipline and philosophy to our squad. It helps us keep ourselves on the right track.

“mY pHilosopHY oF winninG BY mi-cHaEl Jordan is my favourite book.”

“FamilY and FriEnds. I love to spend my free time with them. They make me feel better.”

“rEd is colour I like the most”

“porscHE is my favourite car.”

“TwiTTEr is the social network I’m using the most. You can find me there.”

nastya mendez

PASSION

LOVE

MALAGA

quotes

This season was a dream come true for Malaga, despite all the odds Spanish club had. Argentine veteran didn’t left the club in difficult situation and he helped Malaga to reach the 1/4 finals of Champions League. Demichelis proved that he’s a real profes-sional and odds can’t scare him away. Malaga was wonderful, same I can say about Demo-chelis. Those were a memorable matches in Champions League. Los Boquerones fans will always remember this season. It was special! It’s hard to write something about the future of Martin Demichelis, as we all know about the situation with Malaga and it’s finances. It’s almost clear that we won’t see Andalusian club in European competitions next season, because of disqualification from the UEFA. Is it fair? Probably, not. It’s sad that such an interesting squad will be left our of chances to live a dream once again. Same goes with Martin Demichelis. Anyway, it was nice to see a re-start of career for Argentine veteran. He deserves some respect!

of martin demichelisabout life, family and football

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game without

losersstream of events can’t be predictable in any kind of sports. no matter it is football, ice hockey or some individual sports. and it is normal, otherwise noone of us would watch it if all is clear before the competition. But some-times there happen something such that can’t be called as simply unpredict-able or unexpected. it is something, what you can’t describe in words just.You think it’s over, you have even no hopes anymore because all be-comes obvious. But then happens something extra-ordinary in a very short range of time and you have no words to say. Such games stay memorable for long. And one such „hall of fame” game we got also in this season. UEFA Champions League, quarterfinal game, second leg, April the 9th, Westfalenstadion, Borussia Dortmund vs Malaga. A match to be remembered forever.Before the quarterfinal draw these two teams beside Turkish Gal-atasaray were put as an under-dogs. Maybe about Borussia some people were not so straight, but what causes Malaga, then there were a lot of texts from series „They have jumped over their heads, team that doesn’t belong to the best 8 football clubs in Europe” and so on. Very rough expressions but from the other side – what else to expect if you have around such teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris Saint Germain. Teams – giants in European football, with a lot of resources in player squad and

and financial stuff. And when these two „underdogs” got put together in the draw as one of the quarter-final pairs, then reaction was even more derisive. Like one team will get insanely lucky by managing to play in the semifinal and overall this pair will be the most boring from all other quarterfinal duos and it will be boredom to watch their two battles. If only at that time these, in some way „haters” would know how wrong they will be.First game in Malaga ended with a score 0:0. And despite the game was quite interesting, at least I saw it such, goalless game never brings positive attitude to usual football fans, general population. If those, who follow football very often, get very satisfied even if there are no goals scored, then usual fan wants to see balls going into net. That’s why almost noone could predict, that second game in Dortmund will be clearly opposite looking by its performance, intrigue and... drama.Both teams started to play this second game in a cautious style. Although there was a feeling that doubtfully these teams will go to

penalty shoot-out. And they didn’t. Malaga, opening the score in 25th minute, crossed out this issue. With this scored goal they not only excluded the possibility of playing extra time but also brought very serious problems for Dortmund. Since German team now needed to score two goals to become the winners. And to concede the goal against Malaga, team, who plays very hardly in defence and there-fore get forced to score them back two – it sounded like a mission im-possible for hosts. However, shortly before the ending of first half, Le-wandowski managed to calm down Dortmund’s fans – tied 1:1. Second half started quietly from one side. From the other – tense since the first goal scored in this match never left the fans and play-ers. Because now there were no jokes – one team will have to eat this bitter candy after the match will end. And noone wants it – Malaga, team, which has a lot of problems and whose future seems coloured in dark clothes because of disqualification from Eurocups and Borussia Dortmund, team, which

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deeply inside from year to year has hopes that it is still possible for them to win their second Champions League trophy (first one was won in season 1996/97). Time was running out and with this score 1:1 it seemed all fine for Malaga. Face expressions of Dortmund fans became more cheerless with every minute going away. And then came the 82th minute, when, probably, all football world thought it is all clear and over. Eliseu, who came on the pitch just on 74th minute, scored the second goal for Malaga. And it was a tragedy for Borussia – now they had just 10 minutes, including stoppage time, to score two and get a victory and ticked to the semifinal of UEFA Champions League. Are you kidding me? Such was the feeling of most people who watched this match. Only the biggest Dortmund’s fans had still some little belief left.

Time started to expire, and nothing changed. For that moment Malaga seemed as confident as it was whole match. Some little mistakes but overall – no panic. With every minute the situation of home team seemed more and more hope-less. When just started stoppage time, I think there was noone who believed anymore. Even true fans of Borussia. All knew that miracles can happen but not this time. Game didn’t seem from those where might happen miracles. Score 2 goals in stoppage time in UEFA Champions League quarterfinal? It sounded just too weird to believe. However, this time it all turned around so suddenly that it is hard to describe that. In the first minute of stoppage time Borussia finally managed to score their second goal. But one minute already was gone and only few were left. And then... hard to describe what hap-pened with Malaga. Just after the second goal of Borussia, after all slow-motions from tv channels, next episode wasn’t Malaga’s kick-off from the centre of field. It was Borussia again, who was with

the ball. Even to this score Malaga just had to play more smartly, to first touch kick the ball out, by a chance buy some time, even it costs yellow card. But somehow this experienced team collapsed in a minute. Crossing from Borus-sia, chaos in the Malaga’s pen-alty area... and Westfalenstadion explodes. Explodes from happiness, from fact that impossible became possible. And shock in Malaga’s player and stuff eyes. How this could ever happen? They have no explanation even now.There was a big resonance after this game. In repeated goal videos after the match it was clear that the referees were not at their best in this game. They didn’t notice the offside of Malaga’s first goal and... it became clear that there was even two off-sides of the last Borussia’s goal. Malaga coach Manuel Pel-legrini after the match was angry to say the least. But now it is only poetry to say that Borussia’s win was not fair. It was. The saddest moment of all this drama is that these two teams got such draw that they had to play against each other

And each had the biggest motivation that is ever possible. Malaga understood, that there won’t be such chance anymore, maybe even in this decade or, who knows, century, ac-cording to their problematic situation overall. Borussia, in the same time, realized that this might be their one of the last chances as well, if some team leaders soon will leave the team. So this was the game „now or never”. For Barcelona, Bayern, Real Madrid and other grands it is „today or next time”. But not for these two. In this battle „never” came to Mal-aga. And it is sad that team, which struggled a lot, got such „present”. From the other side, Borussia deserved this win not less Malaga. And even if it was the gift from the God, the 2 luckiest minutes of all time for Borussia, it doesn’t change the fact that Borussia was somehow worse than Malaga. And no matter how will things go at the continuation of this tournament, Borussia are winners already. And Malaga as well. This was the game, where was no stronger or weaker team. It was the game, where emotions and dedica-tion was on the first plan. Someone had to concede, this time it was Malaga. But maybe somewhen, after many, many years, these teams will meet each other in this tourna-ment once again. And we will see another battle between next generation’s Caballero’s, Gotze’s, Isco’s, Lewandowski’s and others...

rolands juhna

“i cannoT Explain wHaT Has HappEnEd insidE mE aFTEr THaT – i THink i nEEd To sEE a docTor aFTEr sucH GamE. iT FEEls likE wE’vE won THE TropHY. iF wE plaY as wE did To-niGHT wE won’T win THE cHampions lEaGuE, BuT iF wE plaY as wE rEallY can and HavE ToniGHT’s passion, THEn wE can do wEll. mY assisTanTs and i wErE lookinG aT EacH oTHEr in sHock in THE drEssinG room, saYinG “THis is crazY”. THis is dEFiniTElY THE BEsT FEEl-inGs i’vE EvEr FElT.”

“You can alwaYs call sucH dEFEaTs a cruEl, surE, BuT i don’T aGrEE wiTH THaT. iT’s a rE-allY painFul loss For us BEcausE oF THE GrEaT and inspirinG pErFormancE THE TEam puT in ToniGHT. THEY saY THaT Borus-sia dorTmund arE THE BEsT FooTBallinG TEam in EuropE YET THEY End up pumpinG THosE lonG Balls (inTo our pEnalTY Box). iT’s a sad EvEninG For us, BuT anYwaY, wE HavE To conGraTulaTE our opponEnTs wiTH THis vicTorY.”

jurgenklopp

manuelpellegrini

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ASSE

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French ligue 1 side saint-Etienne once was one of the most feared teams in French football. it’s still the most successful French club with 10 league titles on it’s account. despite having a colourful and bright history, saint-Etienne was silent for 32 years. since 1981, les verts had no trophies in or outside the France. moment of changes came on April 20, 2013. Saint-Etienne finally broke the silence and won their first Coupe de la Ligue title, beating Stade Rennais in dramatic final. Some may say that this was only a luck, some may say that this was a deserved victory and a beautifulfinish of this journey. Opinions may vary, but facts remain the same - saint-Etienne is returning to the European competitions! les verts once again will have the chance to play in Europe and show that they have more than just a history to present.

For teams, like Saint-Etienne and Stade Rennais, every final is a huge opportunity. Those are solid French teams, but titles aren’t a thing they see very often. This year’s Coupe de la Ligue final was a chance for both teams to get back into Euro-pean competition and bring an amazing feelings for their fans, who are thirsty for such joyful moments. Stade Rennais failed, Saint-Etienne succeeded. Cup... It’s always a 50/50.

If we look at teams, Saint-Etienne and Stade Rennais got past on their way to the finals - I would like to say that Les Verts re-ally deserved to win this trophy. 5-3 on penalties in 1/4 finals against mighty PSG and 7-6 on penalties in 1/2 finals against solid Nord-Pas-de-Calais pride - Lille. Miss on Idrissa Gueye was crucial and doors to the final were open for Les Verts. Stade Rennais had less problems on their way to the final. 2-1 in 1/4 finals against Troyes and 2-0 in 1/2 finals against reign-ing champions Montpellier.

Stade de France was painted in green and red colours by 79 000 fans, who came to see the final of Coupe de la Ligue 2013. It was a chance fans of both teams were awaiting for a long time...

Match turned to be quite dramatic and nervous. Unfortu-nately, teams weren’t able to present their fans a lot of goals. Stakes were high, no one wanted to take an extra risk and concede a goal from the counter-attacks. Destiny of this match was decided by Brazilian veteran Brandao, who scored the only goal on 18th minute.

Brandao once again impressed everyone with a high work-rate and he took away some attention of Rennais defenders from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had more space to breath throughout the game. No surprise, that Brandao even-tually was chosen as the Man of the Match. For a second time in his career...

For Stade Rennais this was too tough exam. Since Romain Alessandrini got injured, situation around Breton club has gone only downwards. Fans had their hopes on explosive and creative winger Jonathan Pitroipa, who shined in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, but he failed to impress the fans and he was unable to bring the needed danger around the penalty box of Les Verts. Pitroipa simply didn’t got ball enough and in cases he got it, he was quickly stopped by the ASSE’s defence. Not the best day for the African star...

Saint-Etienne has the chance to once again step up on the European arena. Now they have guaranteed trip to UEFA Europa League and they still have some good chances to get themselves into UEFA Champions League, which would be a massive achievement for a team, which had a lot of financial problems not so long time ago. Personally, I would love to see Les Verts in Champions League. They have everything to earn the sympathies of European football fans. Allez!

winnErs oF coupE dE la liGuE in lasT 10 YEars

2004 socHaux2005 sTrasBourG2006 nancY2007 BordEaux2008 psG2009 BordEaux2010 marsEillE2011 marsEillE2012 marsEillE2013 sainT-ETiEnnE

Coupe de la Ligue was found-ed back in 1994. It’s a cup competition, which is similar to French Cup. Only difference is that only professional clubs are permitted to compete in this cup. Clubs from Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and Championnat National can compete for this trophy. Winner gets a chance to play in UEFA Europa League qualification round. Marseille, Bordeaux and PSG are the most successful Coupe de la Ligue clubs with three titles each. Most successful player of this competition is Souleymane Diawara, who won this trophy in 2004 with Sochaux, and in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 with Olympique Marseille.

ASSE

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2010 marseille3 games 4 goals

2011 marseille3 games 1 goal

2012 marseille2 games 2 goals

2013 ASSE5 games 2 goals

Brandao statistics incoupe de la ligue

13 games 9 goalstotal

32 years old Brazilian veteran Brandao has felt the sweet taste of victory for the last for seasons. Especially, in the Coupe de la Ligue tournament, which looks like a favourite one for Brazilian striker.

Brandao was transferred from Shakhtar Donetsk for Olympique Marseille in January of 2009. French club paid €6 million for then 28 years old striker. Brandao was very influential player for Ukrainian grand, but he failed to reach the same heights in France. He was solid, but not a great addition for Marseille.

Despite being twice loaned out back to his homeland Brazil, Brandao managed to be very important part for Marseille in Coupe de la Ligue. He won three titles in a row, scoring a winning goal in 2012 Coupe de la Ligue final.

Move to Saint-Etienne in summer of 2012 was a lucky one. Brandao quickly became one of the leading players of Les Verts and he once again became the Man of the Match in final of Coupe de la Ligue. Four titles in a row! Not many players have achieved such success. Who knows, maybe fifth title is awaiting for Brandao the next season?

32Brazilian veteran was born in 1980, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He started his professional career in 1998.

9Saint-Etienne is alreadyninth club in the careerof Brazilian veteran. Hehas played for suchwell-known clubs, asShakhtar Donetsk andOlympique Marseille.

Brandao has been suc-cessful in Ukraine and France, winning total of 10 various titles. With Shakhtar he won three league titles and two cups. With Marseille, Brandao won league title and three Coupe de la Ligue titles. Recent League Cup title with Saint-Etienne was tenth trophy in career of Brazil-ian veteran.

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Despite being a regular scorer in all clubs he played, Brandao has never been called up for a Brazil national team. His performance wasn’t enough bright to impress the management of Bra-zilian team. At this stage of career, it looks that international career will stay as an unfilled dream for Brandao.

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brandao has wonlast fourcoupe dela liguetitles ina row

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Old man Brandao wins fourth Coupe de la Ligue trophy in a row... If we look back at the summer of 2012, we can see how successful step Saint-Etienne made, when they signed 32 years old veteran. He lost his place in Marseille and theoretically, he was at the point, when you have the choice - stay in the top leagues or chose the easy way and earn some extra money before your retirement in UAE, Qatar or any other such type of league. Brandao stayed in France and that was a smart decision.

Saint-Etienne has made a great progress in recent seasons and it has fully recovered from all those problems they had. Christophe Galtier took Les Verts back to the old heights. Maybe they aren’t a title contenders, but I’m sure there’s not many foot-ball fans, who would dislike or feel any antipathies against this young and ambitious squad.

Brandao looks like the missing piece of puzzle for Saint-Etienne. He’s the man, who can bring that rich experience he has from times, when he was one of the leading players in Shakhtar Donetsk and Olympique Marseille. Christophe Galtier slowly and wisely integrated Brazilian veteran into his young squad. Brandao started season as a substitution, but later he became a regular starter for Les Verts. So far, he has scored 10 goals in Ligue 1, which is solid number, if we look back at his performances in the last few seasons.

Veteran has an important role for Les Verts. No mat-ter how old he is, you can’t leave him open just like that. He isn’t the most gifted technically, but that’s not a problem, if you have such players, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Yohan Mollo. Those two have solid pace and skills, while Brandao is physical-ly very strong with a great work rate. He isn’t afraid to get involved into aerial battles and he knows how to score those goals with his head. Brandao brings versatility and extra headache for the opponent’s defensive line. He’s always a threat.

I’m glad that Christophe Galtier gave a chance to Brandao and I really hope to see him in green jersey next season too. He’s the man Les Verts needed so much. Veteran, who still can make a great impact and even bring back some trophies. Great move!

brandaokey of ASSe success

cristian liberum

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michel bastos. future saviour of schalke 04season 2012/2013 for Bundesliga team schalke 04 is not as suc-cessful as it could be. in Bundesliga team has almost no chances to get into the Top 3 which automatically guarantees to play in the uEFa champions league for the next season.In Champions League Schalke didn’t play that bad at the beginning, even more, managed to come through the group stage by finishing first ahead Arsenal. Although games against Galatasaray in 1/8 final of the tournament showed that team is not stable. Rather instable mentally than by its real strength. First game in guests 1:1 and optimistic hopes, at home second leg and loss 2:3. Similar with Bundesliga – first several games Schalke played on a very high level and seemed there is no questions about which team will get its place into the TOP 3. Although change of the coaches, player injuries and some other problems brought a lot of unsuccessful matches to the team. And for now it is sooner surprise and lucky coincidence of circumstances that Schalke still has even theoretical chances to get into third place and more practical – to finish 4th. Halfly team can say thanks to Michel Bastos – player, who joined Schalke 04 on loan from French side Olympique Lyonnais on 29 January 2013. Bad news for Schalke – Bastos doesn’t belong to them yet. The good – his loan agreement with the team expires just at the end of next 2013/2014 season.

Bastos’s way to the European football elite was not an easy one. At least it was not similar to many other his compatriots, who entered their place at some European club and never left this continent. Bastos did it. Born on 2 August 1983, Bastos joined Dutch team Feyenoord in 2001, although didn’t play any game there and was loaned out to other Dutch team Excelsior for one season

In 2003 he returned back to his motherland Brazil and spent there three seasons. Being brought up by Atletico Paranaense all this time, he was loaned out to other Brazilian clubs Gremio and Figueirense, where played the most part of matches. In 2006 he decided to return to Europe. And only then, at the age of 23, started the real Michel’s way to European elite clubs.

First from 2006 to 2009 he played for French side Lille, where approved his scorer abilities. While being winger for both left side defence and midfield, he managed to score 25 goals in 97 matches, which is superb indicator. While playing for Lille, he was awarded the Trophée du Meilleur Passeur and became the only player in Ligue 1 history to appear in the top five of both the goals-corer’s table and the assists’ table since the creation of the assists’ table for the 2007–08 season. He was also nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year Award and named to the league’s Team of the Year. Such perfor-mance didn’t stay without attention and just shortly after that, on 15 July 2009, he moved to another French team Lyon for 18 million euros, and officially he is the player of this team still.

Career in Lyon, without doubt, was the best so far for Bastos, at least in my opinion. He scored many goals for this team and was its one of the leaders for sure. He played an important fole for the team, for example, on 21 February 2010, scoring a 21 minute hat-trick against Sochaux, as Lyon won the match 4–0 to move into the Champions League spots. And it is only one of many bright moments about his career in Lyon. If all is fine with this team, then noone knows if Bastos would get loaned out to Schalke now. But Lyon faced with many problems, first of all, financial character and therefore situation came only worse. Club had to sell out several important players to get some money and avoid bank-ruptcy. Similar situation is with Bastos. Doubtfully Lyon

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did this move with a drop of happi-ness. It was forced situation to lone out this player.

And in such way, here comes interesting situation. One team, which has hardnesses and prob-lems, helping to another, which has different kind of problems. If watching from Bastos’s side, it is not the worst scenario for him. Many expected that it would be hard for him to fill into the Schalke team just at the mid season, when team has its own style and also additional problems. But it was not to be. Already from the first games it was noticeable that Bastos is more than just a good player. He can be the leader even of a such team like Schalke 04. He scored an important goal for Schalke against Galatasaray, which still gave some hopes to qualify for the next stage, and in the same time he found his way to the goal in the Bundesliga matches four times. Just play-ing for the team not more than 3 months. Anyway, it is performance that clearly says one – Bastos will become clear leader of the Schalke in the next season. This allegation has several reasons.

First of all, Bastos in Schalke can share his attention more to attack-ing actions. While playing for Lyon, sometimes he was forced to play even as a left back, so his attacking potential was limited. Secondly, Schalke 04 coach Jens Keller trusts him more than Lyon manager Remi Garde. Also seems he has found the right position for Bastos – left side just under the main striker. In such position Bastos feels very comfortable.

Third aspect is not less important. Schalke for this moment has more various possi-bilities in the attack with several attacking tended players than Lyon. In Lyon for last years it was hard to find a real communi-cation there. There are just few players left who can give a good support to the at-tack for a longer period of time. Because of problems, mostly there are youngsters now playing, who logically have no such experience.

In Schalke situation is a bit different. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Julian Draxler, Jefferson Farfan – these players can create a lot of headache even for the strongest teams. Overall, this all together is what makes Bastos more useful in Schalke and can give him a quite leader status in the next season. Because in such way of playing style he feels like a shark under water.

Here only remains one question – how will it be for Bastos after the end of the next season? How big are chances for Schalke to get him for real? Bastos contract at the Stade de Gerland is not running out until June 2015. But till that, noone knows how things can go, because everything is possible. One thing is clear – after Lewis Holtby’s departure to Tottenham, Bastos is the guy what Schalke really needs. And he is here. And not for few months but at least a year. And he is ready to score and give a real support to this team.

This all means only one – next season in Bundesliga will be just more than interest-ing. Because several questions appear already now. Who will stop Guardiola & co? How the situation will be for Borussia Dortmund?

And of course – will Schalke 04 manage to interrupt this duo battle between two German grands? We gonna find out those answers next season.

micHEl BasTos quicklY adapTEd To BundEsliGa and Found His placE in scHalkE 04 squad. iF Brazilian Gonna sTaY in GErmanY For anoTHEr sEason, HE could BEcomE onE oF THE lEadErs oF THis GErman sidE. HE Has a GrEaT poTEnTial To BrinG His carEEr To anoTHEr lEvEl. His FuTurE will also dEpEnd From THE siTuaTion in lYon and FrancE. iF lEs GonEs arE GoinG To makE THEir comEBack To cHampions lEaGuE, BasTos could rETurn To FrancE.

rolands juhna

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marioThe closer we get to the summer, the more transfer rumours appear. Especially in football. There is no summer when you feel bored. some-thing happens every year. or at least talks go all the time then. Germany is no excep-tion. often there are hap-pening a lot of player moves from one club to another or somewhere abroad. it is not something new that German Bundesliga teams all by one are very ambitious and search for their best squad from year to year. unquiet in this case is also Bayern munich. German grand, who has al-ways been on top in Bundes-liga, winning several cham-pions titles and also having a great chance to triumph in the uEFa champions league in this season.

Team, with great squad, where player of the each position from reserves is not a lot worse than main squad player. Sounds like dream team and Bayern is such. But team is not satisfied even with that. Already it is clear that legendary Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola will take the wheel of defending Bundesliga champions in the new 2013/2014 season, re-placing Jupp Heynckes. Bayern is not patient in the player choice as well. Team doesn’t want to wait when summer’s craziness of transfers will start. That’s why newly team announced that it has signed young German talent and he will join the club on 1 July. It wouldn’t be some-thing special, unless his name is Mario Gotze and he is playing for Borussia Dortmund.

This announcement came very unexpectedly. And even more – because it was announced just before the main battle in the Champions League started, where by the ironicity of des-tiny both German teams Bayern and Borussia D played in semifinals against Spanish grands Barcelona and Real Madrid. So actually to rate it, it was very bad from those, who let these news come on air at a such time. They could await bit longer and then make it clear, other-wise it surely can affect the performance in the Champions League. But it is only my opinion about ethics.

Other point comes straight out – why Gotze had to move so suddenly from Borussia to their main rivals Bayern Munich? And even more, if Borussia lately has proved that team can com-pete even against TOP clubs (the example of Champions League). As it seems, the main

trioof mario

howfarwillthis move?

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"It could have been timed better," Klopp told at the press conference..

"I was told last night at 10pm that it had come out. I've known about it since a day after the Málaga game. Now I can say that time heals almosteverything.

It's going to take a while, this news is not good for us. The timing of it is not anideal. Anybody can make their own minds up as to why it's come out now, but it is out."

jurgen klopp

with Heynckes? Actually, in case Bayern triumphs in the Champions League, there is not a lot to improve. Only show more stability. Maybe that will be the goal for Guardiola.

In the camp of Dortmund now all seems a lot worse than just month ago. Gotze gets called „betrayer” and accused from fans. Götze quickly came in for fierce criticism from irate Dortmund fans, who posted messages on his official Facebook page, while Lothar Matthäus, who won seven Bundesliga titles with Bayern, claimed they had every right to “feel betrayed”. On the timing of the announcement Matthäus said: “It’s not fair, it’s unbelievable.” Personally for me it is hard to imagine how will he feel when playing against Dortmund. I think he will get a lot of whistles. That’s why such moves are not right just because of ethics. And also timing was bad to say the least, if even Borussia coach Jurgen Klopp admits it.

Bayern’s apparent lack of contact with Dort-mund over the deal has also seemingly upset the selling club, who earlier revealed Götze’s agent had informed them the 20-year-old wanted to move to the Allianz Arena, but stressed they had heard nothing official from the Bavarians. In announcing the deal, Bayern claimed they had kept quiet “out of considera-tion” for Dortmund’s clash with Madrid at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday night. Dort-mund pointed out that Götze acted appropri-ately at all times.

Götze was under contract at Dortmund until 2016, with his release clause reportedly set at €37m (£31.5m), meaning he will become the most expensive German player ever. This also seems bit confusing for Dortmund, because ap-parently they had big plans on Gotze. Now all these plans exploded like a bubble. But it is life, such happens. Those who have more power, also rule the world.

For the „world rulers” Bayern this move makes them even more stronger and brings the distance to other Bundesliga teams. If now it was just Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and other teams, then soon it will be only Bayern and Bundesliga. For some sad, for some happy moment. But for Bayern it might become the trio of the Mario. Mario Mandzukic and Mario Gomez already have adapted into the team. Now they got also third Mario, who could become the determinant point of all Bayern supertrio attacking potential. Only question – will Bayern management and Guardiola let it happen to work with all 3 Marios for at least one season? Especially, if Lewandowski joins the team? From now on, the more all goes with Bayern, the harder to understand and explain what and why. For the moment Gomez or Man-dzukic doesn’t seem worse Lewandowski. So his appearance would make things only harder. But maybe Guardiola wants harder life and more problems? Maybe he wants to try Jose Mour-inho’s way of life when he said that he needs to get problems in order to progress? How wouldn’t it be, one thing is more than clear – Bayern builds up the strongest team ever and with its possibilities and financial resources team can become like an unbeaten dynasty – when all are participating but winner is one. Barcelona managed such only few seasons.

Maybe Bayern will go for a longer period of time? And Guardiola says – yes?

reason is not about level of playing – at Bayern he will play at the same level if being in Dort-mund. The issue comes from the perspectives of the future. Gotze is just 20 years old and already proved to be one of the best in the world. His statistics and performance doesn’t lie. So of course he needs to get stable future and play in the highest possible level. Can Borussia Dortmund give for him such? In this one I doubt.

Problem hides in the power. Overall power. Borussia seems to be unable to hold its best squad for longer period of time. Within Mario Gotze ready for leaving the team is another its leader Robert Lewandowski. Which means team will become a lot weaker in the next season, no matter what it will get for the replacement. And that means that there is a very few chances to repeat this miracle what happened in this season when Borussia went very far in the Champions League and may win it. For Bayern it is not a problem to say the least. To say more – seems even hard will be for the team to handle all this situation of so many good play-ers in the squad.

Look how you want – someone needs to be sold. The main candidature for the departure is Arjen Robben. Player very unstable and egois-tic. So for Bayern Gotze is like a golden choice. Very young, very perspective and already insanely skilled. What can be better for a team – grand? And what can be better for Guardiola, who will come with huge ambitions. Here comes another question though. What will he do if Bayern wins all what it can in this season rolands juhna