Not your grandfather's Champions League, the Asian ChampionsLeague has been heating up in recent weeks, and has become much moreinteresting since it was started in 2003. Saudi giants Al Hilal willattempt to end years of dominance by East Asian clubs when they take on Japan'sUrawa Red Diamonds in the two-legged Asian Champions League final beginning Saturday. Al Hilal are hopeful as they host Urawa inthe first competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Clubs from the Asian Football Confederation's eastern regions have wonthe last five Champions Leagues, and 10 overall since the competition's first editionin 2003. The west is particularly strongnow, though, with both Saudi Arabia and Iran qualifying for Russia, 2018.
Al Hilal captain Osama Hawsawi stated that "in World Cupqualifying we faced both Australia and Japan and we qualified ahead of theformer and defeated the latter. Thereare strong teams in both East and West, of course, but it should be noted thattwo teams from the West qualified for the World Cup." Al Hilal has neverwon the Asian Champions League, but hopes to this year. "We are determined to lift thistrophy," Hawsawi said. "We reached the final because we worked hardand are intent on reaching this goal." Urawa captain Yuki Abe was part of the team that won theChampions League in 2007, and he said he now wanted to lift the trophy again inhonour of manager Takafumi Hori. "Ihave had a lot of head coaches in my career, but Hori is one who has helped meimprove, so I'd like to help win a big trophy for him," Abe, 36, said." The winner of the final will take their placeat the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2017, alongside the likes of European championsReal Madrid. Meanwhile, back on the continent, Soccer fans are gearing upfor the Madrid Derby, Real Madrid vs. Atletico de Madrid. Atletico has been playing in a newlyrefurbished stadium this season, and so this is the first such Derby played inthe Estadio Metropolitano "Wanda". It is animportant game, over and above the rivalry, because both Real Madrid and Atleticode Madrid have been playing catch-up against Barcelona. Only 900 of the 67,000 seats have beenreleased to Real Madrid's fans. Phenom DaniCeballos, 21, will play in his first derby. Real Madrid has won only 7 of thelast 11 games, whilst Atletico is undefeated in their past 11 games. In the standings Madrid, in third, are eightpoints behind leaders and renegades Barcelona. Atletico, in fourth, are also on 23 points, buthas had terrible difficulty scoring. Their last 15 games have featuredone or no goals. Seven teams have scoredmore than Atletico’s 16 in 11 games. But Real have their own problems upfront.Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have only one league goal each so far thisseason. Valencia and Real Sociedad have both scored more goals than Real Madridso far. Attention shifts firmly towardsclub football for the next four months, with Madrid also featuring in the FifaClub World Cup in Abu Dhabi next month. In premiership soccer ChampionsChelsea face a stiff challenge to defend their Premier League title fromin-form leaders Manchester City but will fight till the end in the race,midfielder Willian has said. City have won 10 of their opening 11 league gamesand sit at the top of the table, nine points ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea. "It's difficult," Willian toldBBC's Football Focus. "Manchester City are playing very well but I thinkwe can fight for the title until the end." Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are second and thirdrespectively, a point ahead of Antonio Conte's men. "It is difficult to play when you werechampion last season and to fight for the title again as every team wants towin against Chelsea," added the Brazil international. Chelsea travel to West Bromwich Albion, who are 16th in theleague, on Saturday. Arsenal must win an"electric" North London derby against Tottenham. Arsenal last beat Tottenham in a 2015 LeagueCup tie but have failed to register a league win over their neighbors since2014, drawing four and losing two of the last six league meetings between thesides. As Tottenham have risen toprominence over recent years, the derby has become more closely contested. Arsenal are sixth in the standings, fourpoints behind third-placed Tottenham and 12 behind leaders Manchester City,with six wins in 11 league games. In the United States, in NCAA College Football, there is onlyone game today between ranked opponents, Number 24 Michigan (8-2, 5-2) at Number5 Wisconsin (10-0, 7-0). Should Wisconsin go undefeated they would mostcertainly go into the playoff. Michiganis always a tough opponent, though, and could come away with a win today. Wisconsin beat Iowa 38-14 last week to pickup its first ranked win of the year, and Camp Randall Stadium is always achallenging location, but Michigan ismore well-rounded on defense and should be a tougher challenge. -- Posted By Rex to SR at 11/18/2017 12:09:00 AM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/omnisport. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
