Spanning the Globe

By: Bob | January 29th, 2007

Chances are you probably don’t have the time to follow every football league in the world closely. Never fear. We are here to help. Here’s a quick and dirty rundown of some of the highlights and lowlights from the weekend that was.

Germany – After a long winter break of bratwurst, beer and good times, the Bundesliga was back in action this weekend but no one told that to Bayern Munich. In front of a mere 80,000 interested spectators, Alexander Frei scored twice to give Borussia Dortmund a 3-2 victory. The loss leaves Bayern Munich 6 points behind leaders Werder Bremen, who dismantled Hanover 96 3-0 on Sunday.

Top four: Werder Bremen 39pts, Schalke 04 39, Bayern Munich 33, VfB Stuttgart 32

France – Suddenly Lyon suck. The perpetual champions are winless in their past four matches, this time playing to a 1-1 draw against lowly Nice. The tie, coupled with second place Lille’s 1-0 victory at Girondins Bordeaux has left Lyon with a precarious 13 point lead. Ok, it isn’t precarious but if they never win again they might be in trouble.

Top four: Lyon 51 pts, Lille 38, Lens 37, Marseille 36

Spain – Barcelona and Sevilla both won to put a sliver of space between them and Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table. Barca picked up their three points thanks to a 3-1 home win against Celta Vigo. The game featured one of the dodgier penalty kick calls you’ll ever see, but you won’t hear Barca’s fans complaining about it. Sevilla picked up their first win of 2007 with a 4-2 triumph at Levante. Real Madrid and Valencia both decided that losing is more fun than winning and as a result they lost ground in the tight race.

Top four: Barcelona 42pts, Sevilla 41, Real Madrid 38, Valencia 36

Greece – Olympiakos Piraeus are kings on the mountain following their 4-1 victory over OFI Crete. They were chanting the name Predrag Djordjevic in the streets of Athens after he scored a hat-trick for the league leaders. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ionikos lost again and have a mere 3 points after 19 rounds. In other words, they suck.

Top four: Olympiakos 49 pts,, AEK Athens 41, Panathinaikos 41, OFI Crete 26

Gulf Cup – “There is no logic in football,” said Oman’s Czech coach Milan Macala. “Bahrain’s players are taller than ours and still they didn’t score from the many crosses and corner kicks, while the shortest player in our side scored from an overhead.” Macala’s Oman side defied logic and advanced to the final of the Gulf Cup where they will play the hosts, United Arab Emirates.

Australia – Neither team decided it would be fun to score and as a result Adelaide United and Melbourne victory played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the A-League semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Sydney put themselves in excellent position to advance to the finals with a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets in the first leg of their playoff.

South America – For the ninth time in history, Brazil captured the South American U-20 championship. Argentina joined Brazil in qualifying for the 2008 Olympics thanks to their second place finish in the tournament.