FOOTBALL – Lionel Messi converted a penalty against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, thus promoting this match to the 100th in the Premier League in which he has scored at least once. Tonight’s was his 206th La Liga match meaning that he has not scored in 106 league matches. FC Barcelona’s track record in the 100 matches in which he nets at least once is 91 wins, eight draws and one defeat (4-3 against Atlético Madrid in 2009). Messi’s La Liga goal total has reached 155.
Monthly Archives for March 2012
REVIEW: Real Madrid tally 100th goal of La Liga season
FOOTBALL – The good people from Pamplona are used to being chased by stampeding bulls but the red home jerseys served as the proverbial red rag in Madrid’s chase to absolutely shatter the single season La Liga goalscoring record tonight. The visitors won 5-1 and brought up 100 goals with eight matches remaining.
The following campaigns tallied at least 100 goals in a Spanish top flight season:
107 in 38 matches – Real Madrid 1989/1990
105 in 38 matches – FC Barcelona 2008/2009
102 in 38 matches – Real Madrid 2009/2010
102 in 38 matches – Real Madrid 2010/2011
102 in 42 matches – FC Barcelona 1996/1997
100 in 30 matches – Real Madrid 2011/2012
REVIEW: Robben’s March Hare Madness saves Bayern
FOOTBALL – It was not Bayern’s turn to slam in seven goals, but it was Arjen Robben’s March Madness that saved the day. Since his arrival in 2009, no Bundesliga player has scored more league goals in matches played in March than the 12 by the Dutchman in that month. Click ‘Read More’ to see Robben’s monthly distribution.
3 – August
1– September
1 – October
0 – November
3 – December
5 – January
4 – February
12 – March
6 – April
4 – May
OFF THE MARK – Cannot hit the side of a barn
FOOTBALL – Queens Park Rangers’ Adel Taarabt finally scored his first PL goal of the season and it was not for lack of effort. Before today, his 61 attempts without a goal led the Premier League. He has now passed the torch to Stewart Downing. Click ‘Read More’ to see the rankings at the start of the day.
Most shots fired without scoring in 2011/2012 PL (not including 31 March)
61 – Adel Taarabt (Queens Park Rangers)
53 – Stewart Downing (Liverpool)
50 – Shaun Wright-Phillips (Queens Park Rangers)
38 – John Arne Riise (Fulham)
19 – Roger Johnson (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Stat idea by @EPLStuff
PREVIEW: Boonen can join Flanders Tour elite (Cycling)
CYCLING – In-form Tom Boonen will be among the favourites to win the ‘Ronde van Vlaanderen’ (Tour of Flanders) tomorrow. This race is one of the most important one-day races of the season. If Boonen (or countryman Stijn Devolder) claim their third win they will join the record holders on three career wins. Click ‘Read More’ to see who they are.
3 – Achiel Buysse (BEL) 1940, 1941, 1943
3 – Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) 1949, 1950, 1951
3 – Eric Leman (BEL) 1970, 1972, 1973
3 – Johan Museeuw (BEL) 1993, 1995, 1998
….
2 – Tom Boonen (BEL) 2005, 2006
2 – Stijn Devolder (BEL) 2008, 2009
There are 10 more riders on two, including the great Eddy Merckx. Having produced cycling statistics for Infostrada Sports Group for more than 10 years, I can tell you it is a challenge in itself to find a list in which Merckx is NOT at least among the record holders.
ON THIS DAY: 1975: Wooden wins 10th title (Basketball)
BASKETBALL – Precisely 37 years ago, John Wooden won his 10th and last NCAA crown with the UCLA Bruins. In a way, it is ironic that a man who never spoke about winning or losing is one of the most successful at all time. Click here for a tribute to Coach Wooden, whose virtues embody everything that this website, and its makers, stand for. Character, consideration of others, personal preparation.
BIRTHDAY – 31 March: Gordie Howe (Ice Hockey)
ICE HOCKEY – Only very few athletes manage to get a statistic named after them. Gordie Howe is such a person and the ‘Gordie Howe hat-trick’ would involve scoring at least once, providing at least one assist and winning one fight in a single match. Howe became a legend of the Detroit Red Wings and a six-time NHL MVP. He was the childhood hero of Wayne Gretzky, who, when he found Howe’s trademark No. 9 unavailable on his first pro team, decided to play with No. 99.
Shares birthday with: René Descartes, Christopher Walken, Angus Young
ODDS AND ENDS – Oddschanger’s best bets
FOOTBALL – The stand out fixture in England sees out of form Liverpool (11/8) head to Newcastle (85/40) for Sunday’s early kick off. An incredible statistic shows that Kenny Dalglish’s side would be in 18th position if the Premier League had begun at the start of January.
The title race is really heating up and in just their second 15:00 kick off since January 1st, Manchester City (2/9) host Sunderland (14/1) where a win will see them regain top spot on goal difference. The Monday night football sees in-form Man Utd (2/5) head to Ewood Park for a meeting with Blackburn Rovers (17/2), the team who are looking to do a double over Fergie’s men following a 3-2 win at Old Trafford in December.
Oddschanger Best Bet in England – Newcastle v Liverpool OVER 3.5 GOALS 9/4
The main attraction in La Liga is Barcelona (2/17) attempting to extend their 7 straight league wins to 8 at the Camp Nou against Athletic Club (22/1). Both clubs have been involved in midweek European away ties, which saw Barcelona draw 0-0 and Athletic win 4-2 at Schalke. Despite good European form, Marcelo Bielsa’s men have claimed just one point in 4 La Liga fixtures; suggesting their focus may be on Europa League glory. Real Madrid top the table and are now 6 points ahead of Barcelona and 9 games away from a potential 32ndPrimera División title. Madrid (4/9) have an away fixture at Osasuna (7/1), where they suffered a 1-0 defeat last season.
Oddschanger Best Bet in Spain – Karim Benzema and Alexis Sanchez anytime scorers 4/1
On the back of a 4-2 loss to Athletic Club in the Europa League, Sunday sees Schalke (7/5) face a Hoffenheim (2/1) side whose poor form has seen them pick up just one win in four games. Despite the prolific Raul rolling back the years by scoring a double in his side’s Europa League defeat, Huub Stevens men will have to bounce back from the disappointment and look to continue their run of 3 Bundesliga wins on the bounce. Another, exciting clash in the Bundesliga sees league leaders Borussia Dortmund (3/10) hosting 7th place Stuttgart (10/1) in the Friday night game. Current leaders Dortmund are now 4/11 to win the Bundesliga following last weeks 6-1 victory away at Koln.
Oddschanger Best Bet in Germany – Shinji Kagawa anytime scorer 6/4
League leaders AC Milan (6/5) kick off the football in Serie A away at Catania (14/5). The Italian giants are on a five match unbeaten run and have scored an average of 2.28 goals in their last seven league games. Milan’s goal scoring run has included 7 in 4 games from their Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11/10 anytime goalscorer). The highlight of the Italian fixture list is undoubtedly Juventus (5/6) vs Napoli (19/5). The home side will be looking to maintain their 29 league games without a defeat when an in-form Azzurri arrive at Stadio delle Alpi. This fixture suggests goals with recent meetings including a 3-3, 2-2 and a 3-1.
Oddschanger Best Bet in Italy – Juventus v Napoli OVER 3.5 GOALS 21/10
(All odds provided are with BetVictor)
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INFOGRAPHIC: Premier League woodwork analysis
FOOTBALL: Our own Mark Montvai researched all 209 Premier League shots this season that hit the woodwork. Precisely 109 hit the post and 100 hit the bar. Liverpool is the most woodwork happy PL club this season with 22 hits. Mark has even figured out how the PL table would look like if goals came out of everything that has ‘crawled from the woodwork’. Click ‘Read More’ and let him blow your mind.
See here the result of his work. Mark is one of the biggest talents in Infostrada’s pool. There was a day on which he started, armed with a few skills, but definitely with a big passion for sports. Allow him to introduce himself and show the Premier League table that could had been:
INFOGRAPHIC: Football clubs in seventh heaven
FOOTBALL – One of the people helping us to regular Infographics has pointed out to us that there are three teams from the Euro Club Index Top 20 that are riding seven-match winning streaks in their domestic leagues. As championship races are heating up, find out here who those three teams are. They are ‘en fuego’.
Infographic produced by @iSpeakFooty (find him there on Twitter). This is the second Infographic provided by him to this website and we really like his work. If you have graphic skills and want to have a crack at this, please let us know. Click here to watch the Euro Club Index
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