The Sofia Derby

The biggest derby in Bulgaria and maybe in the whole Balkan region. CSKA (the Reds) versus Levski (The Blues)

CSKA was founded as the Central Sport Club of the Bulgarian Army in 1948 while Levski was named after the Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski in 1914. In the past Levski fans were poor and liberal people whereas CSKA fans were from the intelectual elite.Nowadays both clubs have supporters from all social groups.

Levski has more wins in the games betweeen the two teams, but in the last few years the balance has become almost equal.

CSKA has an advance in the Championship - 31 titles versus 26. Levski has won the Bulgarian Cup 27 times and CSKA 19 times.

In the current Championship CSKA is second and Levski is fifth. In the last match between the two teams on 20.09.2009 CSKA won with 2-0.

Richest Football Clubs in The World

Real Madrid quite surprisingly are at the top the list of the richest clubs in the World, beating Manchester United who are in second position.

There are 4 English clubs included in total, 3 Italian, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich

Top 20 Richest Football Clubs In The World:

Club Revenue
1 Real Madrid £289.6M
2 Manchester United £257.1M
3 FC Barcelona £244.4M
4 Bayern Munich £233.8M
5 Chelsea £212.9M
6 Arsenal £209.3M
7 Liverpool £167.0M
8 AC Milan £165.8M
9 AS Roma £138.9M
10 Internazionale £136.9M

Christmas Top Leagues Preview

There are some very instrguing matches in the top leagues due the week before Christmas. I'm pretty sure these matches will be nice gifts to the soccer fans.

1. Premier League

Portsmouth-Liverpool

The disappointemnt in this season Liverpool will play against Portsmouth which are at the bottom of the table and urgently need some points. The match is at Saturday 12:45 at Fratton Park.

Fulham-Manchester United

The insidious team of Fulham has a good chance to impede the champions at Craven Cottage, but If Manchester want to stay in the battle for the title, it should win the match.

2. Bundesliga

Hamburger-Werder

Interesting match between the 4th and the 5th team in the Bundesliga. I expect a lot of goals and attractive football from the two teams.

3.Italian Serie A

Fiorentina-Milan

Fiorentina is not playing convincing football ,but I assume that they can win against Milan.

Roma-Parma

Again match between the 4th and the 5th team at the table. However,as always in Serie A, I didn't expect attractive football. One of the two teams will score maybe with counterattack and that will be all fot the whole match.

Champions League's Round of 16

Sixteen teams qualified for the next stage in Champions League Tournament. The top two eams from each group go into the first knockout round in the spring.

In Group A Bordeax won the 1st place and Bayern Munich qualified as a second team. Juventus finished only 2 points after Bayern Munich. Maccabi Haifaм, as everyone expected, failed totally.

Group B was more interesting. CSKA Moscow surprisingly qualified for the next round along with Manchester United. Wolfsburg and Besiktas also played some really good matches and finish with 7 and 4 points each.

In Group C the favourites Real Madrid and Milan finish on the top but they both had a lot of weak and unconvincing plays so the the group was undecied until the last matches.

In Group D Chelsea and Porto showed great form and totally dominated over the other two teams Atletico Madrid and Apoel. Chelsea will be one of the top candidates for the Cup this year, that's for sure.

Group E was most surprising for me. Fiorentina and Lion qualified,but one of the two teams at the bottom was...Liverpool. Liverpool is in weak form in Premiership, that's right, but they always play well in Champions League. Well, that year was not like that. They fail both in Premiership and the League and I think all Liverpool fans want to forget about this year's performance as soon as possible.

Group F: Barca and Inter qualified in this group, but Rubin and Dinamo played attractive football and win some points, too.

Group G: 1st place for Sevilla and 2nd for Stuttgart. It was a great battle between the German team and Unirea for the 2nd place.The Romanian team was definite one of the surprises in this year's competition.

In Group H Arsenal and Olympiacos played good games and took their games without too much effort.

Blackburn-Chelsea

Chelsea are in a great form. They won their away game at "Emirates" with 0:3 and proved that they are the best team in England so far. Probably Carlo Anchelotti will use players that have not played a lot so far the season, but still Chelsea are going for the win. Blackburn are in the middle of the Premiership table and their only chance for participating in Europe Competitions next year is good performance in Carling Cup or FA CUP. Both teams will play without the tention of winning at every price so my pick is over 2.5.

Pick: Over 2.5
Odds: 1.9

Best Local Derby Matches

Celtic-Rangers: The biggest derby of UK. The Glasgow derby between Celtic and Rangers is dated back to 1888 and is referred to as the ‘Old Firm’ derby. The derby is in the spotlight now more than ever, with authorities clamping down on sectarian hatred. Celtic are considered a Catholic club and Rangers-Protestant, while political aspects also come into play. Like any other local derby, violence and abuse has always been a part of this one also as they hold the honours of having the most number of arrests. But that cannot take away the excitement from this rivalry which on matchdays can generate a worldwide audience of 150 million.

Milan-Inter: The Milan derby is contested between two of the most successful and glamorous clubs of Italy. It is often referred to as "Derby della Madonnina" in honour of one of the main sights of the city, the statue of the virgin Mary on the top of the Duomo, which is usually called "Madonnina". It is one of the few derbies where both teams share the same ground – San Siro. It is also believed that there is a certain South American rivalry between the two clubs. The Rossoneri (Milan) prefer Brazilian players while the Nerazzurri (Inter) have a liking for Argentinians.

Fenerbahce-Galatasaray: This Istanbul derby involves two of the most successful clubs of Turkey, who have 17 league titles between them. There is a class difference between the fans of the two clubs. Galatasaray fans are mainly from the aristocratic class while Fenerbahce fans are largely from the working class. There is a geographical divide also as Galatasaray is located in the European side of Istanbul, whereas Fenerbahçe is located on the Asian side. There has been no shortage of controversy in this derby with bookings, sending offs and clashes between the two sets of supporters a common thing.

Boca Juniors-River Plate: The derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate is one of the biggest in the world and possibly the biggest in South America. It is referred to as the El Superclásico and is between two of most popular clubs of Argentina. It is a clash between teams from two socially diverse backgrounds - the rich (River) and the poor (Boca). On matchday the entire country is at a standstill anticipating the outcome of the derby. The match generates worldwide popularity due to the sheer passion of the fans. The stands of both teams are loaded with passionate songs against their rivals, fireworks, flags and rolls of paper. This derby often ends in riots which are either between the two sets of supporters or between fans and the police.

Flamengo-Fluminense: This Rio de Janerio derby is arguably the biggest in Brazilian football. It is referred to as the Flu-Fla derby. The term was coined by a journalist named Mario Filho during the professionalization of Rio de Janeiro's football. Another name for this derby is Clássico das Multidões (Crowds' Derby). The rivalry between these two clubs began in October 1911, when a group of dissatisfied players from Fluminense left the club, and went to Flamengo, which at the time had no football section. It is currently played at the 70,000-seater Maracana Stadium but in 1963 both teams clashed in an epic derby that was played in front of a world record attendance of 194,603 fans at the same stadium.

Manchester United-Manchester City: Historically this local derby is not the biggest one in English football. Liverpool-Everton and Arsenal-Tottenham have much more history and are considered to be more important as the gap in success between the teams is not as huge as it is between the Manchester clubs. Now United are one of the most popular clubs in the world while City are probably the richest so the rivalry has gained new momentum.

November

Here is a calendar for November. I expect a lot of interesting matches in Barclays Premier League this month so i will preview the most exciting upcoming events.

First, at 8th November we have Chelsea-Manchester United. Maybe the best teams in the league so i didn't expect a lot of goals but the two teams will play carefull and discipline and waiting for chances.

Then, at 21st we have another big clash. Liverpool-Manchester City. After the big transfers Manchester became one of the top candidates for the championship. Liverpool is in very big crisis and need to win all of its matches to keep its chances for title.

On November, 29th we have the battle for Liverpool - Everton-Liverpool . The grand final for the month will be Arsenal-Chelsea, another crucial match for the battle for the title.