Champions League Preview

In this short preview I would want to make some predictions about the upcoming round of 16 in the most prestigious league in the world. Celtic-Juventus is the first game. I believe in this game we have to not very equal teams. Juventus as an Italian champion and the leader in Italy right now seems to be the favorite and I believe they will win with at least 2 goals. PSG is the favorite against Valencia as they have now better players, but still it would be difficult for the French team if Valencia plays at the top of their game. In one of the most interesting battles Shakhtar takes on the German champions Borussia Dortmund. Here Borussia is the favorite as they are one of the favorites for the title in the league. Real Madrid takes on United in the last game on Wednesday and we eagerly await this clash of european champions that will focus mainly on the the return. I will predict that Real will take this battle, but it will be a close game that will probably be decied by one goal or penalties.So let's what happens. Good luck to everybody.

Nadals defeat in VTR

Nadal's matches in the VTR Open tournament definately ended amazingly. Horacio Zeballos won against Rafael Nadal in a  really close game where they finished 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-4 for Zeballos. Their prowess was almost ideally matched and they were neck and neck for the entire time. Eventually however, Zeballos finaly won and just dropped on the red clay from exhaustion and stood there. In an after-match inteview, Zeballos commentated on the match and how it was practicallty the one of his best games and he stated that he will never forget the match in which he managed to fight against one of the best players in the world. Nadal did not express any negative emotions toward the conclusion of the match and even said that he was both gratefull for being able to experience the feeling of challange in the face of his opponents and the fans themselves managed to move him emotinally due to their huge support from the sidelines. In the end Nadal left in preparation for his doubles match with Juan Monaco and Zeballos continued experiencing the trill of the game long after it finished.

The Bundesliga is almost decided

This weekend there were some pretty interesting games in the Bundesliga, which, in a way, secured Bayern Munich's first place. Hamburger crushed the 2nd team in the German league with 1-4 in Dortmund, thus increasing the difference between them and Bayern to 15 points. Even though Robert Lewandowski gave Dortmund the lead, the team was unable to preserve their lead and this was the cause for one of their worst defeats this season. Bayern Leverkusen also had an intense game and its result was unknown until the very end. Full of comebacks, the game ended 3-3, which, however was bad for both teams. Martin Stranzl scored for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 44th minute. Leverkusen then got to a draw in the 52nd minute. Mönchengladbach scored just 6 minutes later, returning their lead. Leverkusen them amazingly scored 2 goals in just 4 minutes. After this goal fiesta Leverkusen appeared to be the winners, but their opponents scored through Herrmann in the 86th minute and formed the end result. In the third German game this weekend Bayern Munchen crushed Shalke on the Bavarian stadium. The final score was 4-0. Interesting fact is that in the Bundesliga so far the 15th team is much closer to the European competitions than to falling to 2. League. Thus, even though the first place is pretty much decided, the passion for the other 17 places remains.

LeBron James and the Heat vs Lakers game

On February 10 2013 the basketball team  Miami Heat won over the Los Angeles Lakers with 107-97. This is their fifth win in a roll. James made the most points in the game with the amazing 32 points (almost a third of his whole team points).  Dwyane Wade follows him with 30, but the more interesting fact is that this is also James fifth game in a roll in which he scores 30 points or above. He is actually only one of the three official NBA players to score 30 points or above and have at least 60% accuracy in five games in a roll. The only two players are Adrian Dantley who played back in 1979 and Moses Malone in 1982. His coach, however, Erik Spoelstra doesn't celebrate about that too much. Maybe he doesn't want is player to end the streak from over excitement and overconfidence.
The two teams were fairly equal throughout most of the game untill Wade gave the Heat a lead of seven points making the score 89 to 82. After several minutes with cooperation between Wade and James the Heat got another lead of seven points making the game almost certainly a win. All that was caught by the audience. The spectacular plays made the whole crowd stand on their feet cheering for the Heat. James made the final 4 points for his team in the last 6 seconds. The Heat won in the end with which they can progress in the competition with confidence. The Lakers, however, lost the game which put them in 4-3 situation. This means that they dropped out of the competition. The coach, Nash, isn't happy from the results as his team could have done much much better. They had opportunities to win the game and to even get a significant lead, but overall Heat turned out to be better. Maybe next year the Lakers will have more luck and less mistakes.

Mario Balotelli Feels Comfortable at AC Milan

              Many people questioned the decision of Mario Balotelli to move to AC Milan from Manchester City. For such a young player, switching teams so often is usually a sign of inconsistency and underperformence. However, with the first two games for his new team Mario Balotelli proved to everyone that he is a world-class striker. Ever since he started playing for Internazional Milan there were many people praising his talent and even more critisizing his attitude. This trend continued in Manchester City and is still going. However, Mario Balotelli demonstrates an unexpectedly high level of consistency for his new club. The reasons behind his improvement can be many, but I will underline the ones I consider major for this sudden change. First of all, Mario Balotelli plays for the club he loves. And don't get me wrong, I am not composing this, he said it frankly in front of the media when he was in Internazional Milan. A very bold statement, but a sincere one, you have to admire it. The fact that he plays for AC Milan now provides him with extra motivation to perform better. Another reason for his recent success is the freedom on the pitch, provided by Masimilliano Allegri. The coach of AC Milan gave Balotelli an opportunity to maximize his potential. A player with such rare technique and creativity thrives when he is given the right amount of freedom on the football pitch, because this allows him to produce these unique "magical" moments in the game. The third major reason for his improvement is the fact that he is finally introduces as a central forward, the position he knows best. In Internazional Milan and Manchester City he was often used as a winger, and the two positions require dramatically different skillset and experience (NOTE: Balotelli was still doing a very good job at times). It is important for Balotelli to work on his temper and improve his personality, and as long as he continues to work hard for his team, success will surely come.

Sharapova and Grigor Dimitrov: Is It True?

The tennis world has been intrigued recently by a scandalous rumor: the best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov is said to be dating the Russian top player and the dream of many men Maria Sharapova. Both of them denied any comment, stating that their private lives are private and should not be discussed in public. It was clear that a sound investigation of the avialbale facts was needed to determine whether Grisho is really screwing the infamous Russian goddess or not.  Until recently Sharapova was engaged to a Serbian basketball player, but then announced their splitting up. According to the rumor she did not spend a long time being alone because she was spotted with Grisho in Milan, apparently taking a walk. After that the rumor took on and Sharapova and Dimitrov were proclaimed a pair by the paparazzi in no time.  The strongest proof of their affair is by far a recent Tweet Sharapova published: "I would like to hug my little puppy Grigor Dimitrov." Because Sharapova's dog is called Dolce, the media immediately adopted that nickname and started calling the Bulgarian tennis star "Dolce." Calling somebody "a little puppy" might seem as an unimportant detail to some people, but if a woman like Sharapova calls you her "little puppy," you can count yourself lucky. And it is quite certain that Grisho, who is one of the newest sensations in the tennis world and who is enjoying rising popularity and a place in the top 50 of world tennis, is one lucky man.