Shoe Wars: Champions League Style

Around the world shoe companies are battling to grab attention of consumers. One way that they do that is by supplying uniforms to teams and in soccer that is no different. The Champions League Round  of 16 is a who's who of shoe companies.

A breakdown below: 

Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea: Nike vs. Adidas

Manchester City vs Barcelona: Nike vs. Nike

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atletico Madrid: Adidas vs. Nike

Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund: Nike vs. Puma

Schalke 04 vs Real Madrid: Adidas vs. Adidas

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Bayern Munich: Nike vs. Adidas

Arsenal vs Monaco: Puma vs. Nike

Basle vs Porto: Adidas vs. Warrior  

Nike has seven  of the 16 teams including an all Nike game in  Barca vs. Manchester City.  Adidas has six including an all Adidas match up of Schalke vs. Real Madrid. Also this years Round of 16 marks the first time that Warrior has had a club make the knock out round.

The new Billionaires Derby: PSG vs. Monaco

Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona move over cause your money means nothing any more. Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain enter French football arms race as they chase Champions League. The two French clubs are selling out $90 millions for players left and right. From Falcao to Cavani, no player is too expense for these two clubs. For the season to come, football fans will be watching France to see if these team gel and see if they become global force that they hope to.

Overkill on Golden Balls

So yesterday David Beckham said goodbye to soccer. This morning I woke up and checked the beIn sports app to see what the soccer schedule was this weekend and to my surprise the first four stories where tied to Golden Balls. I'm for covering his retirement but don't you think, that is a little overkill.

Oh Golden Balls

The winter transfer closed all over Europe and the biggest story in England was no other than Golden Balls. Ole Golden Balls signed with money bags club PSG on Thursday. The move was the lead of all the sports section in the England.

The $72 million man

After a half a season of hype, PSG fans finally got a look at their news $72 million man.

On Friday, the much hyped Lucas Moura made his debut for the club in their game against AC Ajaccio. Over the summer the oil rich club bought the 20 year old from São Paulo. Both clubs agreed that he would not join PSG until January. During the summer PSG outbid Manchester United for Moura services.

To start the game Moura started on the right side of the midfield pushing forward at any chance he got.

During the game he showed some of the skills that made him one of the worlds most valuable footballers. The one thing that surprised me was that Moura got involved in a couple of challenges, you don't usually see that with a player coming over from Brazil. His on the ball strength was impressive for a player who is only 20 years old.



The one negative I see was that he kept drifting inside and not staying on the wing.

Based on a first appearance it looks like Moura is going to be a stat in the French capital.

The Arsenal of France

A couple of years ago Arsenal's Arsene Wenger was criticized for playing a team that did not feature an English player.

Well PSG is stating to get like that. During the game Friday against AC Ajaccio, the team located in the French capital had two players from France in their starting 11. There were more players from Brazil, 4, than France. That is just not right.

The $pecial One and $ir Alex

It reads like a who's who of managers: Sir Alex, The Special One, and Carlo.  The group heads the  best-paid football managers in the world, list according to a Brazilian sports marketing group.  The interesting thing about the list is some of the out of way clubs that employee these high priced managers, from Anzhi to Guangzhou to Swiss National Team. The list shows the impact that new money is having on the game.

OTWT All Transfer team

With the transfer windowing now finally shutting around Europe. Here is the OTWT ALL Transfer Team. This team may have cost a ton, but I bet I can could coach them to a league title in any country.

Goalie: Hugo Lloris from Lyon to Tottenham Hotspurs
Defenders: Thiago Silva from AC Milan to PSG
Defender: Jordi Alba from Valencia to Barcelona
Defender:Javier Martineze from Athletic Club to Munich (I know he players in midfield but he has played 22 times in defense last year with Athletic Club)
Defender: Jan Vertonghen from Ajax to Tottenham Hotspur
Midfielder: Marco Reus from M'Gladbach to Dortmond.
Midfielder: Eden Hazard from Lillie to Chelsea
Midfielder: Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid
Midfielder: Alex Witsel from Benfica to Zenit St. Petersburg
Forward: Robin van Persie from Arsenal to Manchester United
Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan to PSG

Bench: Lucas Mora from Sao Paulo to PSG, Hulk from Porto to Zenit St. Petersburg, Oscar from Sao Paulo to Chelsea. Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax to PSG.

Money does not equal trophies

For three high profile clubs around Europe, having a ton of money does not mean success or trophies. The Independent takes a looking at what happen. Money does not equal happiness for Manchester City, PSG, Malaga.

Start Spending Like Crazy

A list put together by BBC Sport on the top 50 players from around the world that could be on the move during the month ahead.

What could be

With talk of Real Madrid and Barca destroying Spanish soccer and leaving for a European Super League, I talk you back to a post I did two years ago on what a European Soccer League would look like. The League would feature 24 teams and could be really interesting. It could work, but I would hate to see the current structure destroyed.

PSG outguns Chelsea with Money

PSG has outgunned Chelsea in the race for Javier Pastore. The $62 million move is more then a move to acquire a top rated creative midfielder, its shows that PSG is set to become a huge force in the transfer marker for years to come.

Five Clubs to Watch this Season

Teams are returning to preseason training around Europe and there are ton of story lines. But here are five clubs that I will be keeping on a close eye during this upcoming season.

• PSG: I have highlighted them in the past, but they are the team to watch in France this year. They are closing in on QPR's Adel Taarabt, that should be the first of many big money signings at the capital city club. 
• Maluga: They are turning into the Manchester City of Spain. Sheikh Al Thani purchased the club on June 11, 2010 and became president on July 28. Jesualdo Ferreira was brought in as coach but was sacked after a series of bad results. Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, who had previously been in charge of Villarreal and Real Madrid, took the reins while the club was in the relegation zone. He oversaw a revival thanks to five consecutive wins later in the season, a historic first for the club. With several new signings, which included Maresca, Martin Demichelis, Ruud van Nisterlrooy (above) and Julio Baptista, the club managed to finish in 11th place.
• Manchester City: It's one thing to make it to the Champions League, it's another to deal with the demand. They have a big enough squad, now the fan base is going demand that they contend for the league title and not just qualify for Champions League.
• QPR: Once the richest club in the world, now the club is going to face a tough return to the Premier League. Will the owners spend enough to keep them there and how much is the pending loss of Taarabt going to effect them. 
• Bayern Munich: Last years was a disaster in the league finishing third. How does the big spending club bounce back. 

Is PSG the Manchester City of France?

Two years ago, the fate of Manchester City changed when a big money group purchased the club. Fast forward to this upcoming season and all of the money that was spent in the transfer market has paid off as the club will be playing the in Champions League. The same might be happening in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Taarabt to PSG?
.

On 31 May 2011, Paris Saint-Germain announced that Qatar Investment Authority bought a controlling 70% stake in the club. Colony Capital and Butler Capital Partners, who bought the club from television channel Canal+ in 2006, remained as minority shareholders with 30% and 4,2% of the stakes. QIA is estimated to hold in excess of $60 billion of assets, an amount that will significantly increase by 2011 as the state completes its expansion projects to become the world's largest LNG exporter with 77 million tons output capacity. The Qatar economy has been one of the most dynamic, where the GDP has risen from $8 billion in 1995 to an estimated GDP of $52 billion. The groups has been rumoured to put in a bid to buy Manchester United. 


Now the group is rumoured to be sinking a lot of money into the club in this transfer market. After years of being an after thought, PSG has been linked with Manchester United Dimitar Barbatov, Juventus's Mohamed Sissoko and QPR's Adel Taarabt. In the past the team would not be able to spend this much in a transfer window but with the funding in place they are more than happy to spend.

Jersey Palooza

Fans take pride in their soccer jersey, no matter the game, fans will wear the jersey that shows support for their current club, that was no different during the Real Madrid and DC United game on Sunday. The OTWT Tailgating Crew did our best to create a running list of the some of the jerseys that we saw in the crowd.

Some of the jerseys that were spotted:

DC United
Real Madrid old and new
Dutch
Barca
Portugal
Liverpool
Various South American clubs
Brazil
Germany
Eric Cantona United Jersey
Manchester United
Arsenal
England
Argentina
Benfica
Croatia
Celtic
Roma
Aston Villa
Boca Juniors.
Porto
AC Milan
Juventus
France
Bayern Munich
USA National Team
River Plate
FC Dallas
Ajax
PSG
Everton
Sao Paulo
Lyon
I'm sure we missed some but this shows how much soccer teams support their teams.

OTWT: UEFA Cup predictions

During its history the UEFA Cup has been the red haired step child to the Champions League, but this year in its final year as the UEFA Cup, it has some interesting match-ups in the the Round of 32. There are a couple of former European Cup winners and even some up and coming clubs.

Here is how I see the round going:

• Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg: PSG, the only top flight club in Paris has shown a rebirth this year after a couple of years battling relegation.
  
• FC Copenhagen v Manchester City: Manchester City, the only question is what will the roster look like after the January transfer window.
  
• NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg: Hamburg.
  
• Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv: Sampdoria
  
• Braga v Standard Liège: Standard Liege, could be a team that makes a run deep into the knock of rounds.
  
• Aston Villa v CSKA Moscow:Villa, this might be one of the hardest ties to call. I would not be shocked if the former UEFA Cup champions beat the rising English team.
  
• Lech Poznan v Udinese: Udinese
  
• Olympiakos v St Etienne: Olympiakos
  
• Fiorentina v Ajax: Fiorentia
  
• Aalborg v Deportivo de La Coruña: Aalborg
  
• Werder Bremen v Milan: Milan, maybe Golden Balls will make an appearance in the knock out stages.
  
• Bordeaux v Galatasaray: Galatasaray
  
• Dynamo Kiev v Valencia: Valencia
  
• Zenit St Petersburg v Stuttgart: Stuttgart. Zenit look like a team that could care less to be there.
  
• Marseille v FC Twente: Marseille.
  
• Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham: Donetsk. I think that Harry will be more concerned with the Premier League rather then the UEFA Cup.
  

The match ups are really not that bad, some are really interesting.

A Return to Respect

For the last seven years Lyon has dominated the French League and PSG has been down at the bottom part of the table for the last couple of years. But that all appears to be change.

For the last couple of years PSG has been battling to stay out of League Two. But this year that appears not to be worry. The club that gave Europe their first look at Ronaldinho appears to have their house in order.

Last week PSG went to OM and won for the first time in a long time. So maybe Paul LeGuen has gotten Paris's only top flight team back to the top of the French standings right where they should be.

Maybe if it all continues PSG will be hosting a Champions League game which would be nice.

More then 51 million pounds can get you an overated French Striker

With the transfer market getting ready to open again at the end of the year, it makes you wonder about how much some players have cost over the years. One of the players that jumps out at you is the sulky French striker Nicolas Anelka. The current French and Bolton striker has cost a staggering more then 51 million pounds in transfer fees over the years. Not bad for a player, who has all of the talent in the world and a bad attitude to match. Over the years Anelka has failed to live up to his great potential.

The transfer fee for the Frenchmen started low when Arsenal paid PSG only 500,000 pounds for the player in 1997. That then jumped when Real Madrid paid the Gunners 23 million pounds. The Anelka European Tour continued when went he signed with PSG for an undisclosed fee. After being loaned at to Liverpool, Anelka then head for Manchester City for 13 million pounds.

At this point you would think that the Frenchmen was sick of moving and would want to start to settle down. But after three years with the citizens the Frenchmen was on the move again heading this time to Fenerbahce for 7 million pounds.

Anelka then moved to his current home Bolton for 8 million pounds. Over the years Anelka has cost more then great players such as Luis Figo, who during his time has only cost 41.2 million pounds.

If I was betting man I would say that he will be moving again in the next transfer window for 10 million more pounds adding another stop on the Anelka European Tour.