La Liga

Man United eyeing Asenjo as replacement for Van der Sar ?

According to reports in the Spanish press, Manchester United are considering a £5 million pound bid for Real Valladoid keeper Andres Sergio Asenjo. The 19 year old stopper is being looked at as a long term replacement for Dutch veteran Edwin Van der Sar, who is hanging up his boots soon.

This is not the first time a major club has shown interest in Asenjo. Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur were linked with him, and so were Barcelona. Asenjo reportedly had a £3.3m buyout clause (4.5 million euros) in his contract which was increased to around 6 million euros after he signed a new deal in January 2008.

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UEFA Cup 2008-09 Group Stages draw

The draw for the group stages of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup has been made, and we have some excellent fixtures within.

Portsmouth, in their debut season in Europe, will get a chance to play AC Milan at Fratton Park. Pompey are in Group E along with Herenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg.

There are eight groups in all, and 3 teams from each group qualify for the next round. They will be joined by the eight third placed teams in each Champions League group.

Group A :-

Schalke ( Germany)
Paris St.Germain ( France)
Manchester City ( England)
Racing Santander ( Spain)
FC Twente ( Netherlands)

Group B :-

Benfica ( Portugal)
Olympiakos ( Greece)
Galatasaray ( Turkey)
Hertha Berlin ( Germany)
Metalist Kharkiv ( Ukraine)

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Villareal 1-0 Celtic- Group E- 30/9/08- Champions League

A stunning second half free kick from Marcos Senna gave Villareal a crucial 1-0 win over Scottish giants Celtic in a Group E Champions League encounter on Tuesday night at El Madrigal. In the other Group E fixture, Manchester United beat Aalborg 3-0, with Dimitar Berbatov grabbing a brace.

Gordon Strachan swapped his 4-4-2 for a 4-2-3-1, with Greek striker Samaras playing alone upfront, and Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady on the wings. The Hoops played well in the first half, and had a glorious chance to go ahead just before the break, but Villareal goalkeeper Diego Lopez denied Samaras after a moment of madness from Submarines defender Godin.

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