Real Madrid play Russian outfit CSKA Moscow on March 14 in the Champions League Last 16 Second-Leg, the Spaniards drew in Moscow but in order to secure qualification in the return fixture, they must carry out a series of different tasks.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring just before the hour mark to give Madrid the lead in a bitterly cold Russia on Tuesday night

Real Madrid looked like they were going to return to Spain with a healthy lead from their First-Leg Champions League Last 16 match in Moscow on Tuesday night, but a lasp of concentration made them pay the price as they conceeded in stoppage time.

Before the game, there was much speculation about who manager Jose Mourinho would choose for the match. The former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan boss said before the match: “I’ll pick the players I think are best suited to the playing conditions.” So what he meant by this was – I’ll pick a defensive formation filled with players who are able to scrap and fight in bitterly cold conditions.

The team consisted of two holding players, Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira, in a usual 4231 system with Karim Benzema leading the line. The starting XI was actually quite a positive one and not what most expected. Cristiano Ronaldo started out on the left and ex-Getafe forward Jose Callejon, who has 3 goals in 5 appearances this term, played on the right.

But this article isn’t a Match Report, no. It’s a analysis of CSKA Moscow’s gameplan and strategy and what Real Madrid have to do in the return leg in order to secure progression to the quarter-finals.

Number 1 – Test out the keeper more

Sergey Chepchugov made his first Champions League appearance for CSKA Moscow this season on Tuesday night as regular stopper Igor Akinfeev is out. And from what I saw, Chepchugov didn’t look that comfortable inbetween the sticks and with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Mezut Ozil firing at him – he’s unlikely to match them. At the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid must take more shots and test the inexperienced 26-year-old goalkeeper out more.

Number 2 – Stop Seydou Doumbia and you stop the team

Anyone that vaguely follows the Russian Premier League knows that Ivory Coast internationa Seydou Doumbia is one of the best players in the division and argueably CSKA’s most talented individual. Last campaign, the 24-year-old netted 12 times in 15 appearances, this season he’s scored 33 goals in 41 games and he’s one of the Champions League’s top scorers.

The player’s movement and ability to finish is second to none and when presented with a chance on goal, he will take it and make you pay. You cancel the little forward out of the encounter, and you ineviatbly delay Moscow’s game and stop the team attacking wise.

The current La Liga leaders are favourites for the clash on home turf on March 14, but CSKA possess dangers and if they are not allowed to exploit them by Madrid, then it should be a safe passage to the quarter-finals for Jose Mourinho’s side.

The WWE’s straight edge super star CM Punk took time out of his busy schedule this week to address the controversial topic of Chris Brown and Rihanna being back on working terms. CM Punk lit the fuse with a simple tweet that stated ” I would like @chrisbrown fight somebody that can defend themselves”.

Chris Brown wasn’t ready to back down and tried his best to ridicule the WWE superstar for making such a comment: “@CMpunk needs more followers. He’s such a leader! Not to mention the roids hes on has made it utterly impossible for him pleasure a women. @CMpunk contact my assistant and I’ll have em send u an autographed pic for my biggest FAN!!!”

Then this prompted CM Punk to release a short video talking on the subject and saying how he feels Chris Brown didn’t pay his dues on the matter and that picking up some trash on the streets was not sufficient for the beating he put on Rihanna. Punk went as far to say that he would like to fight Chris Brown and teach him a lesson and he believes that Karma (not the wrestler) would one day exact revenge on Chris Brown’s cowardly acts.

Chris Brown was clearly bothered by the video, despite his best attempts to not show it, and he rambled on with the following tweets.

@chrisbrown
@cmpunk the video u just posted was cute! It’s so funny how defensive u are. And the fact that I really don’t know who you are and could give a s— is the funny part! I really hope this 15 minutes of fame is paying you for the long run becuz music last forever! Wrestlers come and go according to ratings!

I miss the real wrestlers! ( Hacksaw Jim duggan, Brett the hitman heart, coco beware, rowdy roddy piper) #Notnopunks. THE ROCK #Notnopunks.

@chrisbrown
Note:today will be the last day I bring @cmpunk existence up!The confrontations that people continuously bring my way are very amusing. Cuz honestly, that s— is too time consuming to argue wit every person who has their own issues to deal with!”

CM Punk replied with a final tweet before his Smackdown appearance which would end up becoming the number 1 trend on Twitter and ultimately make him the winner of this Twitter fight:@CMPunk “#aintnowomanbeater.”

The first round of the Champions League round of 16 is coming to a close tonight with the final two matches of the first series of matches between Europe’s top football clubs.

Didier Deschamps will be hoping to capitalize on Inter's weak form and get Marseille in the quarterfinals

Basel will be hosting Bayern Munich tonight at the St Jakob Park in Basel with the Swiss champs hoping to shock another one of the Europe’s top teams. A lot of people were shocked at Basel’s 2-1 over Man United in the last game of the group stage but since then Basel has tied all 5 games they have taken part in and will desperately need a win against the Bavarians who are tough to beat on home soil.

Inter Milan meanwhile will be traveling to the Stade Velodrome in Marseille for an interesting clash against Olympique Marseille. Inter have struggled mightily as of late losing 5 and drawing 1 of their last 6 matches. They’ve seen their goal lit up on multiplle occasions and will hope for a draw against a side that hasn’t lost since November of last year.

As the back stories show, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan might be the bigger names, but a win is not guaranteed at this stage of the competition, and certainly not against two up and coming teams in Basel and Marseille who themselves are hoping for Champions League glory.

Kobe Bryant was once heralded as a selfish basketball player with no remorse or care for the players around. His personal transformation over the past couple years has been apparent and the latest signs of progress from the Black Mamba came this week when Kobe Bryant stood up for Pau Gasol when he was asked about the media on the matter.

Kobe Bryant first clarified the tough situation that Pau is under by saying, “Pau, it’s hard for Pau because of all this trade talk and all this other stuff, it’s hard for him to kind of invest himself completely or immerse himself completely into games when he’s hearing trade talk every other day. I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him.”

He even went further and publicly demanded that Lakers GM Kupchack does something about the whole situation. “I talked to (Gasol) a little bit about it. It’s just tough for a player to give his all when you don’t know if you’re going to be here tomorrow. I’d rather them not trade him at all. If they’re going to do something, I wish they would just (expletive) do it. If they’re not going to do it, come out and say you’re not going to do it. This way he can be comfortable, he can go out, he can play and he can invest all of himself into the game.”

Mitch responded saying he was simply doing his job and attempting to improve the team. This isn’t the first that Kobe Bryant has been critical of the front office and to Kupchak’s defense he has always delivered and equipped the team with enough talent to win two championships and hold on to a player like Andrew Bynum who has emerged as the clear second best center in the league.

Napoli was the first team to put a dent in the Man City armor this year when they single handedly knocked out Man City from the Champions League and proved to the rest of the Europe that Mancini’s side were not invincible. Tonight they have another huge challenge when they take on a struggling Chelsea side who are desperate to get back in the win column, especially in a competition as large as the Champions League.

Can Napoli keep knocking out richer English clubs?

Chelsea have gone 5 Premier League games without a win and are now in 5th place, and out of a CHampions League spot. No one is sure how safe Andre Villas-Boas’ job is, but it’s certain that the team’s performance in this two legged affair against Napoli will go a long way in determining the Portugese manager’s fate.

Chelsea will be able to count on the services of Didier Drogba after the Ivorian returned from his international duty in the African Cup of Nations.

The second leg of the Napoli v Chelsea encounter will take place next week and will determine the quarterfinalists in the biggest club football competition of them all.

Deron Williams took matter into his own hands in order to further extinguish the hype around New York that has rapidly developed following Jeremy Lin’s rise to prominance and the return of Carmelo and Baron Davis.

The All-Star was one of the players that was initially blazed up by the Linsanity, but was clear in his intentions to remove any trace of being a stepping stone by netting 8 threes on the road to a 38 point performance. The Nets handed the Knicks a 100-92 win at the Madison Square Garden which led to the team’s second loss in three matches.

Williams’ heroics also got in the way of the return of Carmelo Anthony to the starting lineup. Baron Davis even made an appearance off the bench and the much heralded JR Smith was making his second appearance for the club. The Nets, who will soon be moving to Brooklyn, set forward a clear resounding message that they will not stand quietly and play second fiddle.

Jeremy Lin finished the game with 21 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 4 steals but his shooting was off going 7-18. Carmelo was held to 11 points despite playing 31 minutes while Bareon Davis adeed 3 points in 9 minutes. Jr Smith was 0-5 from three point land and finished with 4 points.

Monday Night Raw is back after a WWE Elimination Chamber PPV that was largely forgettable. So let’s hope for some big things this time around as we bring you the WWE Raw results and recap for February 20 2012.

WWE Raw 2/20/2012

-Wow, Eve heel turn right off the bat. She’s making the Bella twins look innocent which is rare. She says she used Zack Ryder, and that she will use John Cena as well – anything to get attention to herself! Just as she’s about to head to Cena’s locker room Cena pops right behind her, probably having hear the conversation, and Cena gives her a ‘really?’ shruggish look.

-John Cena comes out to the usual mixed reaction. Eve then comes out now and is playing the poor puppy role but Cena doesn’t buy it and says Eve has been drinking the ‘skank juice’. Cena says he lost a broski for a ‘hoe’ski . Cena says Eve should go for the Rock, because they’re both ‘scandelous bitches’. Eve is on the floor crying Cena tries to help her up at which point Eve tries to kiss him. Cena manages to break free and says ‘I’m disease free and I would like to keep it that way’. Crowd starts chanting ‘We want Ryder’.

-Another prerecorded promo from the Undertaker where he promises something big tonight.

-Shameus vs Mark Henry: The Big White gets a comfortable victory over the previously undefeatable Mark Henry who seems to be slowly creeping back to jobber status.

-John Laurinaitis backstage is confronted by Theodore Long. John says the idea of being both GMs came from Otunga. Teddy says the people should decide who gets the job. Laurinaitis sets up a 10 man battle royale (with losers of yesterday’s Elimination Chamber losers) with the winner going on to face Punk at Wrestlemania! So basically this is a 10 man royal rumble on tap tonight!

-R-Truth and Kofi Kingston vs Primo and Epico: Kingston and Truth get the win despite having competed in the grueling chamber match last night.

-Latest inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame: Ron Simmons, aka the guy who always says ‘Damn’. He joins the Four Horsemen and Mike Tyson.

-Chris Jericho interviewed by Josh Mathews: Jericho says the Elimination Chamber rules state clearly that you can only be eliminated by pinfall or submission and that Punk is a punk for defending his championship in such a cowardly way.

-Otunga vs Ezekiel Jackson: Both brand GMs are backing their guy ringside. Otunga manages to win and Laurinaitis takes the chance to mock Teddy.

-Undertaker is out now, in physical form. Taker says the last year has been hell, a hell of uncertainty. Taker isn’t too good on the mic, people are even starting to ‘what’ him. He says some jumbo mumbo about how big this match is, and that it’s the ‘apocalypse’. Triple H comes out, probably to rescue his ‘brand’. HHH gives Taker some corporate speak about the match being bad for business. HHH says that Undertaker simply wants HHH to take him out of his misery, but the COO says he’s not going to be the one to put him down. Undertaker thinks HHH is not doing this because he knows he can’t do what HBK couldn’t do, and realizes that he is no better than his best friend Shawn Michaels. HHH gets riled up about this and accepts the match. He does set forward one condition: Hell in a Cell. Taker walks out with a tap on the shoulder of HHH (just as HHH had initially done to him).

-Daniel Bryan vs Santino Marella: Bryan quickly taps out Santino once again.

-Kelly Kelly and Aksana: Hottest Diva duo ever? They lose to the Bella twins in quick order however.

-John Cena is out again this time to address The Rock. John Cena says The Rock is no longer the People’s Champion, but a Champion with people. Cena says he doesn’t respect The Rock. Cena makes a good case that The Rock has sold out. Cena says the only reason The Rock came back in the first place was to promote ‘Fast Five’ and launch his Twitter account, and he’s saying this knowing Vince will probably fine him. DAMN, CENA BROUGHT IT!

-CM Punk comes out wearing a blazer over this tights…mocking Jericho’s style I guess with what he calls a ‘came fur’ jacket? He’s ringside to commentate on the 10 man battle royale.

-Big Show, Cody Rhodes, R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, The Great Khali, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Santino Marella, Chris Jericho are the contestants. Khali first one to exit followed by Miz, Wade Barett and R-Truth (the last 2 who were thrown out by Santino). Big Show throws out Ziggler leaving Jericho, Marello, Big Show,Rhodes, and Kofi. Marella and Kofi out now with just three left. Jericho and Big Show left now! Chris Jericho helps win with Cody Rhodes screwing Big Show over once again.

-So Jericho will go on to face Punk at WrestleMania as many expected. Punk extends his hand out to Jericho, but Y2J walks out making it clear this feud is going to be anything but friendly.

That wraps up our WWE Raw results and recap for Feb 20. Let us know your thoughts on the show in the comment below.

Hello and welcome back to another one of our WWE PPV recap posts bringing you all the WWE Elimination Chamber 2012 results including match winners and the most talked about highlights. So if you didn’t have a chance to watch Elimination Chamber 2012 live, here’s all the developments you need to know from the final PPV before WrestleMania.

WWE Elminiation Chamber 2012

-The show is taking place in Milwaukee where 3 championships will be contested, 2 of them inside the cage.

-WWE Championship – Chris Jericho, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk: Kofi and CM Punk start off as the first two contestants but it’s R-Truth who’s the first to be eliminated. Ziggler is second with a Jericho codebreaker ending Dolph’s hopes of a title. Jericho submits Kofi and attempts to throw him out of the chamber in order to further humiliate him. CM Punk uses this opportunity to kick Jericho and knocks him out of the chamber into a cameraman and into a bunch of equipment. Jericho looks knocked out. Meanwhile Miz and Punk go at it one on one. CM Punk delivers a GTS to Miz and wins it.

-Video showing Santino Marella’s ‘Jeremy Lin’ moment in how he was able to beat the odds and win the battle royale for the right to take Randy Orton’s spot in the elimination chamber.

-Another promo for the Cena vs Rock showdown at WrestleMania. This one takes an inside look at John Cena’s gym and the genuine work ethic and support he engages in there. This battle is increasingly being painted as blue-collar hard worker vs Hollywood superstar. It’s not necessarily a black or white, good vs bad, face vs heel type of matchup – which only goes to further the intrigue in what people are starting to call the biggest match in pro wrestling history.

-Phoenix vs Tamina: Diva’s Championship – After a good effort from Tamina, and even going on and trending on Twitter, Phoenix manages to hold her title but definitely was tested. Cole says Beth Phoenix might be the most dominant Diva champion ever.

-Another little Marella video where he continues his Rocky parody. Also Josh says we will get a Jericho interview later on in the night.

-John Laurinaitis comes out to give his major announcement. As Laurinaitis asks for a performance review of Theodore Long, Alberto Del Rio comes out. Del Rio reiterates that Theodore shouldn’t be the Smackdown GM, but Laurinaitis should be (what’s up with these ridiculous GM names?!). Mark Henry comes out as well and also makes the point that Theodore doesn’t deserve to be the Smackdown GM, and also gives his blessing for John to be Smackdown GM. Christian now comes out as well, says the same thing as the other two. They take a group picture, it’s pretty hilarious.

-Yet another Marella Rocky-esque promo where he runs up a short number of stairs.

-World Heavyweight Championship: Big Khali, Cody Rhodes, Santino Marella, Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett,Big Show. Khali gets under 30 seconds of in ring action and ends up getting eliminated by a Big Show spear! Big Show manages to climb into Bryan’s pod from the top before it had chance to open and beats him up like they’re locked up in a phone booth. Then Bryan manages to run out once his pod opens but SHow puts him through it. So much for the ‘bullet-proof’ glass that’s suppose to be guarding those things. A combination of Barrett and Rhodes manage to eliminate the Big Show. Santino then comes out of nowhere and eliminates Rhodes who is so furious he delivers his finisher to Santino. Santino pins Barrett as well and now its only Marella and Bryan left. Daniel’s got a big smile on his face. This is Sansanity! #Santino is number 1 trending worldwide. He’s putting up an insane fight against the Champ. Daniel Bryan gets the LaBelle lock in and wins! The crowd is devastated after thinking the underdog story could have potentially happened.

-Shameus comes out and knocks out Bryan, perhaps this sets out his intention loud and clear that he wants a go at Bryan at WrestleMania.

-Really weird backstage promo with Hornswaggle eating loads of cheese and asking a Diva to cut the cheese, who ends up farting. Then Jack Swagger shows up and beefs it up with Justin Gabriel. Theodore comes out, and Swagger says he agrees that Laurinatis should be running both shows. Long responds that he agrees someone should be running both shows, but it should be Theodore himself.

-Time for a Rock promo. Or not. It’s a commercial for The Rock’s new DVD. I don’t know how you can have a new DVD after The Rock had a 5 DVD called “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” and he hasn’t even wrestled since then.

-Justin Gabriel vs Jack Swagger United States Championship: Swagger makes quick work of the South African and continues his streak.

-One more WrestleMania Rock vs Cena promo. A once in a lifetime match it’s being billed as. Enough infomercials guys!

-Kane vs John Cena Ambulance Match: I have a feeling this whole feud was set up to buy some time until WrestleMania and sell some extra ‘Rise Above Hate’ t-shirts. After the umpteenth week of Kane and Cena battling all over the place, John Cena does an AA from the top of the ambulance. Cena wins!

That wraps up what has to be considered an anti-climatic 2012 WWE Elimination Chamber. What are your thoughts on this year’s WWE Elmination Chamber results?

The UFC returns to Japan for the first time since December of 2000 when a middlweight championship bout between Tito Ortiz and Yuki Kondo headlined UFC 29. The Saitama Super Arena will be hosting this star studded event in the hopes of once again bringing glamour and glory to the former mecca of mixed martial arts.

UFC 144 Preview

The main event this time around will be a lightweight championship match between Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson. Edgar is on many analyst’s top pound for pound list, but his match against Henderson could be his toughest one yet. Edgar defeated an out of shape BJ Penn twice while also outlasting a not fully developed Grey Maynard twice. Ben Henderson is a different beast altogether. He is a former champion like BJ Penn but without the complacency and with better work rate, he is young and motivated like Grey Maynard but with a much more balanced skill set and the experience to go into a big fight and get the result.

Prediction: The fight will come down to whether Edgar’s speed will make up for Henderson’s clear power advantage. I personally have a feeling that Henderson is simply too strong and too good at too many things for Edgar to point his way to another win. Henderson TKO stoppage win in 4th round.

The co-main event will be Rampage Jackson vs Ryan Bader. This is hardly a fair match-up considering Jackson is coming off a loss to Jon Jones while Ryan Bader has barely recovered from a loss to Tito. Jackson will be facing up against an opponent with a similar style to his, but don’t expect Bader to throwdown for extended periods with the TUF winner most likely chasing takedowns for the majority of the fight.

Prediction: Jackson should land some good shots while stuffing the takedowns of Bader. Rampage hasn’t shown great killer instinct as of late so I see this one going the distance with Jackson earning a unanimous decision win.

Other big fights include a welterweight fight between Akiyama and Shields – two submission specialists who have dabbled in the middlweight division before. Akiyama’s strength and saavy should be too much for Shields to handle and I can see Akiyama winning a decision in front of the home crowd. Yushin Okami should be able to overpower Tim Boetsch while Anthony Pettis is expected to outskill the relentless Joe Lauzon.

All in all, it’s scheduled to be an exciting card from top to bottom and everyone is hoping that a good crowd shows up on the 26th of February for UFC 144. If you plan to watch UFC 144 live, let us know which fight you’re most looking forward to.

The English FA Cup 5th Round took place this weekend and it was filled with big surprises. Besides two matches that ended in draw and will therefore see a second leg, all matches ended with a clear winner. Perhaps the biggest surprise is Sunderland getting revenge on Arsenal, who had beat them a week earlier in the EPL thanks to a last minute goal by Thierry Henry.

Chelsea and Tottenham will be severely disappointed in being unable to break the stalemate between themselves and opponents Birmingham and Stevenage, respectively. Liverpool had a tough opening half against Brighton, but put the game away in the second half ending the game with a 6-1 scoreline. Everton ousted Blackpool, Leicester handed Norwich a suprise loss on their ground, while Stoke and Bolton also advanced.

Here are the matches for the FA Cup 6th round:

Liverpool v Stoke City

Chelsea/Birmingham City v Leicester City

Stevenage/Tottenham Hotspur v Bolton Wanderers

Everton v Sunderland

There are some very intriguing matches in the next round and it really is up for grabs this time around with the likes of Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal out of contention.