REVIEW: Real not so ‘pretty in pink’

FOOTBALL – Real Madrid lost a Liga match after leading by two goals for the first time in eight year as Real Sociedad fought back to a claim a 4-2 win. Check out some facts.

REVIEW: Rossi makes record 246th start in 500cc/MotoGP

MOTORCYCLING – Valentino Rossi made a record 246th start in the motorcycling top category (500cc or MotoGP) on Sunday, as the Italian driver finished third at the British Grand Prix.

REVIEW: A slow start to the title?

FOOTBALL – Manchester United have failed to win their first three Premier League matches this season under new coach Louis van Gaal. Click on the continue reading button to see which teams took the title after failing to win the first three league matches.

INFOGRAPHIC: 2014 Basketball World Cup

BASKETBALL – Spain and United States are favourites to claim the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Click on the read more button to check our infographic.

ANALYSE THIS: Analysing the Europa League draw

FOOTBALL – The Euro Club Index (www.euroclubindex.com) rates all teams in top flight football in Europe and today has proved an invaluable guide to assess the 2014/2015 Europa League group stage draw. It points out the Group of Death, the teams facing strongest/weakest opposition and also the teams that were most fortunate/unfortunate in the draw.  

ANALYSE THIS: Europa League second favourites in pot 3

FOOTBALL – The 48 clubs in today’s Europa League draw have been divided into four pots based on UEFA coefficients. As explained in yesterday’s article, this can lead to misclassifications and potential groups of death. In this case, a group containing Napoli, Wolfsburg, Everton and Dynamo Moscow is possible with only two going through.

ANALYSE THIS: What is this season’s CL Group of Death?

FOOTBALL – The Euro Club Index (www.euroclubindex.com) rates all teams in top flight football in Europe and today has proved an invaluable guide to assess the 2014/2015 Champions League group stage draw. It points out the Group of Death, the teams facing strongest/weakest opposition and also the teams that were most fortunate/unfortunate in the draw.

ANALYSE THIS: CL draw system increases Group of Death chance

FOOTBALL – The Champions League draw pots for this evening are based on the UEFA coefficients for clubs at the end of last season. Those coefficients are based on a five year performance in European competition. In general, this system works reasonably well for teams which always participate in the Champions League or Europa League. The top three are Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich for example. The problem comes with clubs who have not always been present in the previous five years. Using the Euro Club Index as an alternative, we can identify teams who have been misclassified in this year’s draw.

REVIEW: Arsenal Masters in Arts of Qualifying

FOOTBALL – Arsenal are true Masters in Arts of Qualifying for the CL after they successfully negotiated their eighth qualifying campaign. More here.

ANALYSE THIS: Euro Club Index – Bayer Leverkusen up six spots

FOOTBALL – Away wins at FC København and the Euro Club Index’s eighth best team, Borussia Dortmund, have pushed Bayer Leverkusen up six places to 18^th in Europe since last Tuesday. Every week at this time we will look at the changes in Euro Club Index rankings over the last seven days.