Weekend TV Preview: 5 - 7 September

Saturday 6 September

12.15 Peterborough Utd v Bristol Rovers, League One, Sky Sports 1 & HD1
Four single-goal defeats in five games must be proving a little tiresome for Posh fans. Rovers have had little more to shout about.

14.00 Macedonia v Scotland, World Cup Qualifier - Europe Group 9, Setanta Sports 1
Macedonia are no mugs. Unbeaten in the four friendlies they've played this year, including holding Poland and Serbia to home draws, they proved a tough team to beat in England's ill-fated Euro qualifying group. George Burley's injury-hit squad will do very well to get a result here.

15.00 Wales v Azerbaijan, World Cup Qualifier - Europe Group 4, Sky Sports 1 & HD1
Lumped into the same group as Germany and Russia, Wales look destined for another fruitless campaign. They'll need maximum points against the also-rans to have any hopes. They really should win this one.

16.30 Slovakia v Northern Ireland, World Cup Qualifier - Europe Group 3, Setanta Sports 1
Since the break-up of Czechoslovakia it's become apparent that Slovakia was the Andrew Ridgely of the outfit. Wales put five past this lot at their place during the Euro qualifiers.

17.00 Georgia v Republic of Ireland, World Cup Qualifier - Europe Group 8, Five
With all the invasion shenanigans in Georgia recently, this games is being played in Germany - Mainz to be precise. The compact 20,000 seater Stadion am Bruchweg should allow the traveling Irish support to gain a sort of home advantage they wouldn't have otherwise had.

19.00 Andorra v England, World Cup Qualifier - Europe Group 6, Setanta Sports 1
Easy start to the campaign for England - there really is no excuse for anything other than a cruising win.

20.00 Argentina v Paraguay, World Cup Qualifier - South America, Sky Sports 2
Readers of Chris O's superb round-up on these pages will be aware that the South American super-qualifying group is already a third of its way through. At this stage Paraguay and Argentina occupy the top two slots; this match should provide the pick of today's offerings.

22.00 Ecuador v Bolivia, World Cup Qualifier - South America, Sky Sports 2
Neither team have much chance of qualifying but a win either way will keep one teams faint hopes still alive.

22.20 Fluminense v Gremio, Brazilian Campeonatos, SportsXchange
Fluminese have had a stuttering campaign, after an awful start things are starting to look better for them. Gremio are top of the table but seem entirely incapable of traveling to Rio having lost in all of their games there this season against Vasco, Botafogo and Flamengo. They're unbeaten everywhere else.

Bundesbag Week 3: Egypt - 1908

Historians have argued for centuries the exact date Miroslav Klose last scored a goal. It's been that long. The big man himself was starting to feel the pressure during the game against Berlin last Sunday. After missing another chance, he lost his cool and took a swing at the goal post. Fortunately for Klose he missed. Those Bavarian posts can turn pretty nasty when provoked.

Mindful of his comrades pain and aware that a confident Klose is a prolific Klose, Bastien Schweinsteiger handed the goal-shy striker the ball to take Bayern's second penalty of the afternoon. The score was 3-0 to Munich after 70 minutes and here was the perfect opportunity for Miro to get off the mark. He missed... (Not really - he scored and wheeled away in triumph.)

The game finished 4-1 after Marko Pantelic scored a late consolation with a sweet strike and complimented Luca Toni Cascarino's and Phillip Lahm's efforts which were both of picture book quality.

None of them were as good as Ashkan Dejagah's goal for Wolfsburg in their 2-2 draw with Frankfurt. It was a goal worthy of van Basten which came off the back of some gorgeous build-up play from Gentner and Schafer. Mind you Amanatidis' opener for Frankfurt was pretty tasty too. Come to that Toski's equaliser was top draw as well, but for me Jejagah's gaol was something else.

Indeed it was a weekend that kept the scorers up late. Especially at the Bayarena where Leverkusen welcome the newly promoted Hoff II who have made a dream start to the season. Trust a team owned by a drug company to harsh their buzz. They gave them a 5-2 (gerd) mullering with Kiesling scoring a brace.

The other new boys managed to fair better. 'Gladbach must be greatly relieved to be in the winners' club after their 3-2 win over Bremen at Borussia Park. Werder on the other had have had a terrible start. Diego is back and Pizzaro is in among the goals but they just can't stop letting them in at the other end.

The third promoted team also registered their first win at the Wildparkstadion against Karlsruhe. However, FC Koln's 2-0 victory was completely over-shadowed by the sudden and frightening collapse of Umit Ozat during the first half. The Koln skipper seemed to be minding his own business when he simply fell over. Later reports reveled that Ozat had had a seizure and swallowed his tongue.

While medical staff desperately tried to get him breathing again, the players of both teams stood dumbfounded. Both Koln's keeper Faryd Mondragon and head coach Christoph Daum were in tears. Finally the signal came from the dressing room that Ozat was OK. The news was greeted by applause from the home fans and the game continued.

Elsewhere, Cottbus are playing a dangerous game of seeing how long they can go without scoring a goal. Three games so far guys - keep it up. Dortmund were the beneficiaries this time and beat Energie 1-0.

BVB's neighbours Schalke and Bochum played the first Rhein Derby of the season. The Royal Blues worked off their Champions League disappointment with a win, also 1-0.

Hamburg have not had much of a mention on the Bundesbag but that will change pretty soon. Martin Jol has signed Alex Silva from Sao Paulo and Tiago Neves from Fluminense. The latter scored a hat-trick in the Libertadores final and was believed to be heading for Spain or England, by me at least. Hamburg rounded off a good week's work with a heartening 4-2 win at Bielefeld.

Finally, the week before last, Hannover coach Dieter Hecking stated, just prior to the game against Cottbus, that any team that could not beat Energie at home were in trouble. Well he couldn't have been more right and watched his team play out a tedious 0-0 draw.

Spool forward to this week and a trip to a half empty Mercedes Benz Stadium in Stuttgart. The home side won with a convincing 2-0 scoreline. Gomez was on the mark again. Not even Jen Lehman's comedy goalkeeping could save Hecking's blushes. I'd say that qualifies as trouble... for him at least.

That's it. Results and tables here.

Slipping out the back door

Pick up a newspaper today and the chances are the back pages are filled with talk of Robinho, Berbatov and the many other players moving to new clubs before the Premier League transfer window closed last night.

Yet for all the players grabbing the headlines and milking the spotlight, there are those that have been shown the door to make way for them in recent weeks. Here's our look at some of the names we've gotten used to seeing in the Premier League over the years who'll now (if only briefly) exit quietly Stage Left.

Patrik Berger
Aston Villa to Sparta Prague
The former Czech Republic midfielder who arrived at Liverpool from Borussia Dortmund in 1996 spent seven years with The Reds, scoring 28 goals in 148 appearances. He became a fans' favourite before moving onto Portsmouth and Aston Villa where injuries limited the number of games he played. After a loan spell with Stoke last season, he returned to Villa and played his last game in England in the 2-0 defeat at home to Wigan at the beginning of May 2008. A few weeks later, the 34-year-old Berger joined Sparta Prague as a free agent on a two year contract.

Stephane Henchoz
Blackburn Rovers (released)
When Stephane Henchoz arrived at Blackburn Rovers in 1997, it was the start of a long tour of British clubs that would eventually end back at Ewood Park this summer. The Swiss defender started his career at Neuchatel Xamax five years earlier before moving to Hamburg in 1995, but his arrival at Blackburn preceded relegation from the top flight where he was quickly snapped up by Gerard Houllier at Liverpool. It would prove to be the most successful period of his career, lasting six years before short spells at Celtic and Wigan followed. Henchoz returned to Blackburn in 2006 where he made just thirteen more appearances before his release by new manager Mark Hughes.

Stelios Giannakopoulos
Bolton Wanderers (released)
Greek winger Stelios was a player renowned for scoring plenty of goals at the Reebok and important ones too. In the five years he was there, he averaged one goal every six games including many that helped Bolton progress in cup competitions and avoid relegation in the Premier League. He was also their top scorer in 2005/06 but when manager Sam Allardyce left the club a year later and with injuries affecting his performance, the writing was on the wall for the popular midfielder. His contract was not renewed by Gary Megson this summer and a return to Greece may now be on the cards for him.

Paul Dickov
Manchester City to Leicester City
The term 'journeyman' hardly does Paul Dickov justice. Even while at Arsenal for the first six years of his career, he was loaned out to Luton Town and Brighton before arriving at Manchester City for the first time in 1996. Here, the battling Scottish striker scored 35 times in 158 appearances and played under five different managers during a turbulent time for the Maine Road club. He was eventually sold by Kevin Keegan to Leicester City where he averaged a goal every three games, but despite doing well for The Foxes, he expressed a desire to return to the Premier League which was provided when Blackburn bought him in 2004. After a further two years, he returned to Man City for the second time, squeezing in loan spells at Crystal Palace and Blackpool before returning, aged 35, to Leicester City for a second spell there.

Ian Harte
Sunderland (released)
The direct antithesis of Paul Dickov, transfer-wise, Ian Harte has just three names on his CV. The most prominent of these is without question Leeds United who Harte played for between 1996 and 2004. Here he developed a reputation as a dependable left back and set-piece specialist who quickly became a regular for the Republic of Ireland team. Having helped Leeds reach the semi-final of the Champions League in 2001, the club started to self-destruct and a few years later Harte made a surprise move to Spanish club Levante where he played for three seasons. In August 2007, Harte returned to England with a move to Sunderland but after just seven appearances, he was released by former team-mate Roy Keane and is currently looking for a new employer for the 2008/09 season.

League of the Week: Italy / Serie A

By way of a complement to our weekly look at German football called Bundesbag, we're going to be regularly updating you on the other leagues vying for your attention around Europe and indeed the world at large.

This week, we're checking out the first weekend of action in Serie A, and we begin with reigning champions Inter who were playing away to Sampdoria on Saturday. It was Jose Mourinho's first league match at the helm of the Nerrazzurri and it looked for all the world as though he'd be on his way to a winning start when Zlatan Ibrahimovic finished off a one-two with Brazilian midfielder Mancini to score in the 33rd minute.

But Mourinho's injury-wracked Inter side capitulated in the 68th minute when Daniele Franceschini finished off a smart move to grab an equaliser and the game ended 1-1.

Though Inter may have felt frustrated at not picking up all three points, they'll be grateful not to have suffered the same fate as their close rivals Milan who were beaten 2-1 at home by newly-promoted Bologna.

Despite the appearance of new boys Flamini, Zambrotta and Ronaldinho as well as the returning Shevchenko, it was the 2007-08 Serie B runners-up that took the lead through Marco di Vaio after 18 minutes. Yet Ronaldinho was not to be overshadowed and it was he that crossed the ball for Ambrosini to head home just before half time.

The Brazilian continued to have a major impact on the game, setting up several unconverted chances for his team-mates but it was Bologna who found the breakthrough eleven minutes from the end thanks to a tremendous 25-yard strike from Francesco Valiani.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti put the result down to bad luck and didn't seem unduly bothered about his team's fortunes in the coming weeks, saying: "I'm optimistic, we were unlucky... We could have been more compact and together but from a physical perspective we couldn't have done any more than that."

Elsewhere, 2007/08 runners-up Roma had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Napoli. Alberto Aquilani put the home side ahead after half an hour and Mirko Vucinic should have made it 2-0 at the end of the first half when he missed an easy chance that was saved by Gennaro Iezzo.

Roma, who were without Totti and Perrotta through injury, continued to pile on the pressure in the second half, but the visitors had upped their game too. On 55 minutes, Slovakian Marek Hamsik finished off a goalmouth scramble following a corner to equalise just a minute after Napoli had Fabiano Santacroce sent off for a second bookable offence. Roma, however, were unable to score from any of their remaining attacks on the opposing goal and the game ended 1-1.

There were differing fortunes for the two remaining promoted teams that came up with Bologna. Serie B champions Chievo started well with a 2-1 home win over a Reggina side that only narrowly avoided relegation last season, while Lecce suffered a heavy 3-0 loss on their travels to Torino. Catania were another team that only just avoided the drop last time around, but they began their new campaign well with a 1-0 victory over Genoa.

Juventus caught the eye last year, finishing third and qualifying for the Champions League via the qualifiers, but they struggled to beat Fiorentina who finished last season just one place below them in the table and finished their game yesterday afternoon with only ten men.

Claudio Ranieri's black-and-whites were without David Trezeguet, Giorgio Chiellini, Cristiano Zanetti and Momo Sissoko to name but four, yet they opened the scoring through a 39th minute tap-in by Pavel Nedved despite some early pressure by the visitors.

Fiorentina looked sloppy for a while and looked the more inferior side, but they soon turned things around and had Juve on the back foot for much of the game. They had to wait, however, until 70 seconds from the end for an equaliser which came from some skilful play by Alberto Gilardino. It was disappointing for the home fans, but they, like their counterparts look set to have plenty to cheer about during the remainder of the season both at home and in Europe.

The top scorers this weekend were Lazio, 4-1 winners away to Cagliari. Two of their goals came from Argentinean striker Mauro Zarate and all four came in the last half an hour after fellow Argentine Joaquín Larrivey had put the home side 1-0 up after 32 minutes.

In other news from this weekend's games, Atalanta picked up a 1-0 over Siena while Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale scored two of his side's goals in a 3-1 win at home to Palermo.

That means Lazio lead the table on goals scored after one game ahead of Torino in second place. Udinese and Bologna lead the chasing pack while Lecce suffer the indignity of lying bottom, below Cagliari (19th) and Palermo (18th).