With three Spanish teams reaching the Europa League semi-finals we could end up with straight Spanish finals in both of the European competitions. Atlético Madrid will play Valencia while Sporting Clube de Portgual will play Athletic Bilbao in the other semi-final. The first legs will be played on 19 April, the second legs on 26 April. The Europa League Final will be played on 9 May 2012 at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.

The first legs of the quarter-finals were played on 29 March and the second legs on 5 April.
AZ Alkmaar – Valencia 2-1, 0-4
FC Schalke – Athletic Bilbao 2-4, 2-2
Sporting CP – Metalist Kharkiv 2-1, 1-1
Atletico Madrid – Hannover 96 2-1, 2-1

The Europa League round of 16 was played on March 8th and March 15th.
Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) – Olympiakos (Greece)
Sporting CP (Portugal) – Manchester City (England)
Twente (Netherlands) – Schalke 04 (Germany)
Standard Liege (Belgium) – Hannover 96 (Germany)
Valencia (Spain) – PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) – Udinese (Italy)
Atletico Madrid (Spain) – Besiktas (Turkey)
Manchester United (England) – Athletic Bilbao (Spain)

Last year Porto beat Braga in an all Portuguese final and Colombian striker Radamel Falcao was the tournament’s top scorer with 17 goals for Porto. Falcao is again hot in the chase for the top scorer title, this time for Atletico Madrid (who won the title in 2010).

Both legs of the round of 32 were played in February.
Porto (Portugal) – Manchester City (England) 1-2, 0-4
Ajax (Netherlands) – Manchester United (England) 0-2, 2-1
Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) – Athletic Bilbao (Spain) 2-1, 0-1
Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) – Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) 0-4, 1-4
Stoke City (England) – Valencia (Spain) 0-1, 0-1
Rubin Kazan (Russia) – Olympiacos (Greece) 0-1, 0-1
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) – Anderlecht (Belgium) 1-0, 1-0
Lazio (Italy) – Atletico Madrid (Spain) 1-3, 0-1
Steaua Bucuresti (Romania) – Twente (Netherlands) 0-1, 0-1
Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) – Schalke 04 (Germany) 1-1, 1-3 aet
Wisla Krakow (Poland) – Standard Liege (Belgium) 1-1, 0-0
Braga (Portugal) – Besiktas (Turkey) 0-2, 1-0
Udinese (Italy) – PAOK (Greece) 0-0, 3-0
Trabzonspor (Turkey) – PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 1-2, 1-4
Hannover 96 (Germany) – Club Brugge (Belgium) 2-1, 1-0
Legia Warsaw (Poland) – Sporting CP (Portugal) 2-2, 0-1

The 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stages kicked off on 15 September. From a total of 194 teams from 53 associations, listed below are the 48 teams who qualified for the group stages. The group winners and runners-up have advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.

Group A
1. PAOK, Greece
2. Rubin Kazan, Russia
3. Tottenham Hotspur, England
4. Shamrock Rovers, Ireland

Group B
1. Standard Liege, Belgium
2. Hannover 96, Germany
3. FC København (Copenhagen), Denmark
4. Vorskla Poltava, Ukraine

Group C
1. PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands
2. Legia Warzaw, Poland
3. Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel
4. Rapid Bucuresti, Romania

Group D
1. Sporting, Portugal
2. Lazio, Italy
3. Vaslui, Romania
4. Zürich, Switzerland

Group E
1. Besiktas, Turkey
2. Stoke City, England
3. Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine
4. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel

Group F
1. Athletic Bilbao, Spain
2. Red Bull Salzburg, Austria
3. Paris Saint-Germain, France
4. Slovan Bratislava, Slovakia

Group G
1. Metalist Kharkiv, Ukraine
2. AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands
3. Austria Wien, Austria
4. Malmö FF, Sweden

Group H
1. Club Brugge, Belgium
2. Braga, Portugal
3. Birmingham City, England
4. Maribor, Slovenia

Group I
1. Atlético Madrid, Spain
2. Udinese, Italy
3. Celtic, Scotland
4. Rennes, France

Group J
1. Schalke 04, Germany
2. Steaua Bucuresti, Romania
3. Maccabi Haifa, Israel
4. AEK Larnaca, Cyprus

Group K
1. Twente, Netherlands
2. Wisla Krakow, Poland
3. Fulham, England
4. Odense, Denmark

Group L
1. Anderlecht, Belgium
2. Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia
3. AEK Athens, Greece
4. Sturm Graz, Austria

Chelsea and Bayern München have earned their places in the semi-finals. Can either of them possibly cause upsets by denying Barcelona and Real Madrid a spot in the final? The two Spanish giants are definitely regarded as the favourites to reach the Allianz Arena final on May 19th. The semi-finals will be played on 17-18 April and return legs on 24-25 April.

The quarter-finals first legs were played on 27/28 March and the second legs on 3/4 April.
Apoel – Real Madrid 0-3, 2-5
Olympique Marseille – Bayern München 0-2, 0-2
Benfica – Chelsea 0-1, 1-2
AC Milan – Barcelona 0-0, 1-3

The 1st leg of the round of 16 was played between 14-22 February, the 2nd leg between 6-14 March.
Olympique Lyonnais (France) – APOEL (Cyprus) 1-0, 0-1
Napoli (Italy) – Chelsea (England) 3-1, 1-4
AC Milan (Italy) – Arsenal (England) 4-0, 0-3
FC Basel (Switzerland) – Bayern München (Germany) 1-0, 0-7
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) – Barcelona (Spain) 1-3, 1-7
CSKA Moscow (Russia) – Real Madrid (Spain) 1-1, 1-4
Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) – Benfica (Portugal) 3-2, 0-2
Olympique Marseille (France) – Internazionale (Italy) 1-0, 1-2

The 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stages kicked off on 13-14 September. From a total of 76 teams from 52 associations, these were the 32 teams qualified for the group stages (and how they qualified). The winners and runners-up went through to the Round of 16.

Group A
1. Bayern München, Germany (3rd in Bundesliga, beat Zürich in the League route)
2. Napoli, Italy (3rd in Serie A)
3. Manchester City, England (3rd in Premier League)
4. Villarreal, Spain (4th in La Liga, beat Odense in the League route)

Group B
1. Internazionale, Italy (2nd Serie A)
2. CSKA Moscow, Russia (2nd Russian Premier League)
3. Trabzonspor, Turkey (2nd Süper Lig, instead of champions Fenerbache who are banned)
4. Lille, France (1st Ligue 1)

Group C
1. Benfica, Portugal (2nd Primeira Liga, beat Trabzonspor in the League Route)
2. Basel, Switzerland (1st Swiss Super League)
3. Manchester United, England (1st Premier League)
4. Otelul Galati, Romania (1st Liga I)

Group D
1. Real Madrid, Spain (2nd La Liga)
2. Olympique Lyonnais, France (3rd Ligue 1, beat Rubin Kazan in the League Route)
3. Ajax, Netherlands (1st Eredivisie)
4. Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia (1st Prva HNL, beat HJK Helsinki and Malmö FF in the Champions Route)

Group E
1. Chelsea, England (2nd Premier League)
2. Bayer Leverkusen, Germany (2nd Bundesliga)
3. Valencia, Spain (3rd La Liga)
4. Genk, Belgium (1st Pro League, beat FK Partizan in the Champions Route)

Group F
1. Arsenal, England (4th Premier League, beat Udinese in the League Route)
2. Olympique Marseille, France (2nd Ligue 1)
3. Olympiacos, Greece (1st Superleague)
4. Borussia Dortmund, Germany (1st Bundesliga)

Group G
1. APOEL, Cyprus (1st First Div, beat Skënderbeu, Slovan Bratislava and Wisla Krakow in Champions Route)
2. Zenit St.Petersburg, Russia (1st Russian Premier League)
3. Porto, Portugal (1st Primeira Liga)
4. Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine (1st Ukrainian Premier League)

Group H
1. Barcelona, Spain (1st La Liga)
2. AC Milan, Italy (1st Serie A)
3. Viktoria Plzen, Czech Rep. (1st Gambrinus Liga, beat Pyunik, Rosenborg, Copenhagen in Champions Route)
4. BATE Borisov, Belarus (1st Prem.League, beat Linfield, Ekranas and Sturm Graz in the Champions Route)

Regular updates with all the transfer news as they happen through this transfer window..

From Tottenham Hotspur: Striker ROMAN PAVLYUCHENKO to Lokomotiv Moscow for a fee of £8 million.

From Borussia Dortmund: Midfielder THOMAS EISFELD to Arsenal for a fee in the region of £400,000.

From Notthingham Forest: Forward PATRICK BAMFORD to Chelsea in a five year deal.

From Internazionale: Midfielder THIAGO MOTTA to Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of €10 million.

From Fulham: Striker BOBBY ZAMORA to Queens Park Rangers in a £9 million deal.

From Lazio: Striker DJIBRIL CISSE to Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee. The France international has signed a two-and-a-half year contract.

From Atalanta: Left winger SIMONE PADOIN to Juventus for €5 million.

From Chelsea: Striker PHILIPP PROSENIK to AC Milan for an undisclosed fee. The Austrian U-19 international moved from Rapid Wien to Chelsea in the summer of 2009. His time in England has been marred by injuries which halted his career at Stamford Bridge. He will now start on a fresh under Massimiliano Allegri at Milan.

From Stoke City: Winger BEN MARSHALL to Leicester City on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

From Peterborough United: Defender RYAN BENNETT to Swansea City but he will be loaned back to Peterborough for the remainder of the season.

From Manchester United: Midfielder RAVEL MORRISON to West Ham United for an undisclosed fee.

From Wolverhampton Wanderers: Striker ANDY KEOGH to Millwall on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

From Barnsley: Striker RICARDO VAZ TE to West Ham United for an undisclosed fee.

From Rangers: Striker NIKICA JELAVIC to Everton for a fee of £6 million.

From Halmstads BK: Winger MARCUS OLSSON to Blackburn Rovers, where his twin brother Martin Olsson already plays.

From Nottingham Forest: Centre back WES MORGAN to Leicester City on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

From Racing Genk: Winger KEVIN DE BRUYNE to Chelsea for a fee of £6.7 million. The Belgian international has signed a five-and-a-half-year deal but will be loaned back to Genk for the remainder of the season.

From Stuttgart: Striker PAVEL POGREBNYAK to Fulham

From Chelsea: Centre back ALEX to Paris St Germain on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

From Manchester City: Defender NEDUM ONUOHA to Queens Park Rangers on a four-and-a-half-year deal.

From Nancy: Midfielder SAMBA DIAKITE to Queens Park Rangers on an initial loan deal. The plan is to sign the Mali international permanently in the summer for €4 million.

From Werder Bremen: Defender ANDREAS WOLF to AS Monaco for an undisclosed fee. The former Nuremberg captain only spent six months with Werder Bremen. He has signed a three year contract with Monaco.

From Everton: Midfielder DINIYAR BILYALETDINOV to Spartak Moscow for a fee of £5 million. The Russia international moved from Lokomotiv Moscow to Everton in 2009 but has struggled to make an impact in England.

From Birmingham City: Left winger JEAN BEAUSEJOUR to Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee.

From Sporting Clube de Portugal: Midfielder JOÃO CARLOS TEIXEIRA to Liverpool for a fee of £850 000. The 19 year old playmaker was impressive playing in the NextGen series and predicted to have a great future.

From AZ Alkmaar: Midfielder PONTUS WERNBLOOM to CSKA Moscow on a four-and-a-half-year deal.

From GAIS: Midfielder MERVAN CELIK to Rangers on a free transfer.

From PSV Eindhoven: Midfielder RABIU IBRAHIM to Celtic on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

From Genoa: Striker DANIJEL ALEKSIC to St Etienne on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

From Lecce: Midfielder DJAMEL MESBAH to AC Milan for an undisclosed fee.

From Leeds United: Midfielder JONATHAN HOWSON to Norwich City. The 23 year old, who is also Leeds’ captain, was sold now so that he wouldn’t go for free at the end of season when his contract expired.

From Freiburg: Striker PAPISS CISSE to Newcastle United for a fee of £10 million. The Senegal international has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract.

From FC Köln: Striker SEBASTIEN FREIS to Freiburg to replace the departing Papiss Cisse.

From Racing Genk: Winger DANIEL PUDIL to Granada on a five-and-a-half-year deal. The Czech international will spend the rest of the season on loan to Serie A side Cesena before making his move to the Spanish club.

From Waitakere United: Striker TIM PAYNE to Blackburn Rovers on a two-and-a-half-year contract. The young New Zealander has impressed at a trial with the Premiership club and was offered a contract when he turned eighteen last week.

From Manchester City: Defender BEN MEE to Burnley on a three-and-a-half-year contract. The 22 year old already joined Burnley on loan at the start of the season.

From Luton Town: The three brothers RIO, COLE and JAY DASILVA have been signed by Chelsea’s youth academy. Rio and Cole are 12 year old twins while Jay is 13 years old.

From Sanfrecce Hiroshima: Striker TADANARI LEE to Southampton after finally having secured a work permit. The Japan international was the match winner when Japan beat Australia 1-0 in the 2011 Asian Cup final.

From Juventus: Midfielder IAGO FALQUE has signed a permanent deal with Tottenham Hotspur. The 21 year old Spaniard joined Spurs in August on a loan deal. He spent his early years in both the Real Madrid and Barcelona academies. He has featured several times in the Europa League for Spurs this season. Falque will now join Championship leaders Southampton on loan for the remainder of the season.

From Portsmouth: Left back HERMANN HREIDARSSON to Coventry City on a free transfer. The 37 year old’s contract was due to expire in the summer. Because of a recent lack of playtime he has now agreed to join a struggling Coventry on a short-term contract until the end of the season. The Iceland international, who has experienced relegation from the Premier League a record five times, is expected to retire after this season.

From Derby County: Centre back DEAN LEACOCK to Leyton Orient on a six month contract.

From Esperance Sportive de Tunis: Defender SYAM BEN YOUSSEF to Leyton Orient on a six month contract.

From Gillingham: Midfielder LUKE ROONEY to Swindon Town for an undisclosed fee.

From Real Madrid: Striker JOSE ANGEL POZO to Manchester City for €200.000. He will sign a five year deal on his 16th birthday, on March 15th. The deal could be worth as much as £5 million. There will also be clauses in the deal which allows him to move back to Real for set amounts.

From Scunthorpe United: Centre back MICHAEL NELSON to Kilmarnock on a two-and-a-half-year contract. The 31 year old has previously been an influental defender for Bury, Hartlepool and Norwich. Kilmarnock currently sits in 6th place in the Scottish Premier League.

From Viking FK: Midfielder BIRKIR BJARNASON to Standard Liège on a five year deal. The Iceland international making his move from the Norwegian Tippeligaen to the Belgian Pro League.

From Columbus Crew: Winger ROBBIE ROGERS to Leeds United. The 24 year old USA international is expected to have his work permit coming through after a succesful trial period with the English Championship club.

From Bolton Wanderers: Centre-half GARY CAHILL to Chelsea for a fee of £7 million. The 26 year old’s medical will go through today as he is signing a five year deal.

From Manchester United: Midfielder DARRON GIBSON to Everton for an undisclosed fee. The Ireland international has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal.

From Barcelona: Left back MAXWELL to Paris St Germain for a fee of €3.5 million. The 30 year old Brazilian has signed a three year deal.

From Bury: Winger MICHAEL JONES to Sheffield Wednesday. The 24 year old has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal.

From Coventry City: Striker LUKAS JUTKIEWICZ to Middlesbrough on a four-and-a-half-year deal.

From Chelsea: Striker NICOLAS ANELKA to Shanghai Shenhua on a two year contract. The 32 year old former France international has joined in the club’s bid to win the Chinese league.

The dust has barely settled around Luka Modric at Tottenham before they have a new problem in Rafael Van der Vaart. The Dutchman was last season’s top scorer for Spurs, with a lot of their games planned around his movement and style of play. His abilities as a finisher have never been in doubt. The price Spurs might have paid last season was less play-time for their strikers and, in the end, an acute lack of goals from them (Defoe, Pavlyuchenko and Crouch).
Van der Vaart’s influence has sometimes shown to be a bit of a double-edged sword. When things haven’t gone his way he has not held back his frustrations, earning himself bookings and being sent off – indeed he has even substituted himself off and walked straight to the changing rooms. When manager Harry Redknapp has substituted a visibly tired VDV, it has sometimes almost translated to disgust from the Dutchman. His nibbling injury problems, notably with a weak hamstring, has often been a problem. The injury problems was the reason Redknapp decided to omit Van der Vaart from Tottenham’s squad for the group stages of the Europa League. Van der Vaart spoke out in the media against that decision.

When Tottenham beat Arsenal last Sunday VDV was substituted in the 63rd minute. In the 1st half he had put his team ahead with a brilliant goal but displayed his short-comings in tracking back and helping the team to defend. To facilitate both Jermain Defoe and newly arrived loanee Emmanuel Adebayor as strikers, Redknapp had deployed VDV on the right side of the midfield. Van der Vaart has expressed before how he doesn’t prefer to play in that position. After the match Van der Vaart again decided to come out in the media and criticised Redknapp for playing him in that position and for substituting him.

Harry Redknapp has responded to the media by saying,
“Yes, it does seem to be a problem. Rafa can’t run back and chase the full-back. Against the better teams it is a problem.
“Rafa’s best position is in the middle, playing just behind the front man. The only problem is that Jermain Defoe plays there too and Jermain is playing very, very well at the moment.
“So, I guess I have got a decision to make, haven’t I? I suppose it’s now between Rafa and Jermain over who plays in the team.
“Rafa is a terrific footballer. He has great skill. But if you’re in the team and asked to do a job, really, you should just do it.”

Tottenham supporters are left to wonder why this discussion goes through the media, and where is the relationship between manager and player heading next time Van der Vaart is unhappy with a Redknapp decision.

Carlos Tevez turned his back on Manchester United. He hates the city of Manchester and he has been one long saga of troubles at Manchester City. Nobody denies his top scoring talent but he has been a nightmare to handle for City manager Roberto Mancini. After Tevez refused to come on as a 2nd half substitute in yesterday’s 0-2 loss to Bayern München in the Champions League, Mancini has had enough.
A furious Mancini has declared Tevez to be finished at the club. He has called for an emergency meeting with Manchester City’s wealthy owners from the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Mancini says the situation is impossible. When he was asked why Tevez refused to take to the field, Mancini replied: “He just refused to go on. I don’t know why. I cannot be happy with this situation. Would something like this happen at Bayern Munich, AC Milan or Manchester United? I am the manager. I decide everything. Carlos didn’t play at the start of the season because he has not had a pre-season for three years. He was not ready to play. If it was another player maybe this could happen, but for a player to refuse to go on in an important game like this is not right.”

Straight after the match Tevez told journalists: “I didn’t feel like playing, so I didn’t..” Today he has retracted it all as a misunderstanding, that he didn’t refuse to play. That’s certainly not Mancini’s view of the events.

Roberto Mancini stripped the Argentinian of the captaincy at the start of the season. Since then he has also discovered that being a regular starter is something he has to earn as well. Yesterday’s events could be the final nail in the coffin for Tevez. The manager is clear: If we want to improve like a team, like a squad, Carlos cannot play with us. With me, no – it is finished.

“It may not be my decision but if I’m deciding then, yes, he goes. For me, if a player earns a lot of money playing for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this – he cannot play again. Never. He has wanted to leave for the last two years. For two years I have helped him, and now he has refused to play. Never again.”