Home nations and Ireland: Where do they rank?

There is still a chance that all four home nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) and Ireland will be going to the Euro 2016 finals in France. Never before have all five been to the same major championships but this represents the best opportunity to put that stat to bed. Of the five both England and Wales lead their groups with Northern Ireland 2nd in theirs. Both Scotland and Ireland are in the same group and face a tricky task of overcoming Poland and Germany to qualify.
 However the question that arises from the potential of having all five at the same tournament is, How do they rank against each other?
For me I think they rank as follows

1. England
2. Wales
3. Ireland
4. Scotland
5. Northern Ireland 

England:

England top my list as they have the better players but you would expect that with the highest population of the five. The depth at their disposal is not as good as it used to be with the foreign invasion of the Premier league not helping. 

Wales:

Halfway through the qualifiers and Wales are currently top of their group. Last weekend's 3-0 success in Israel showed how far Wales have come in a relatively short period of time. Gareth Bale is the star of this side backed up in midfield by Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen however you can't help but think where they would be if Gareth Bale were to be injured, as it was Bale who rescued Wales from embarrassment in Andorra and put Israel to the sword. 

Ireland:

3rd are Ireland and this is being a little optimistic. Yes we lost against Scotland last November but I'm hopeful of a victory over the Scots in the return game in June. The team doesn't have anywhere near the quality of the Irish side in the 1990s or even the start of the 2000s. It's very much a hard-working side similar to Wales minus Bale and Ramsey. The depth isn't there as shown by midfielder Robbie Brady playing at left-back against Poland and Jon Walters being used in a wide role. 

Scotland:

Scotland are 3 points better off than Ireland in the group at the moment but while goal difference might be vital I think what separates Scotland and Ireland is the fact that Ireland managed to sneak a point against Germany. It's that point that could be the final difference between either Scotland or Ireland qualifying or getting a play-off spot. 

Northern Ireland:

A flying start to the group has seen Northern Ireland very much on course for a first ever European championship appearance. Their last major tournament finals was the World cup in 1982 so the long wait is nearly over providing they get over the line. However it has to be noted that their group isn't as strong as the other groups. They lost a head-to-head game with Scotland last week in preparation for their victory over Finland. Manager Michael O'Neill is getting the maximum out of the resources available to him with Kyle Lafferty in good form. Depth isn't there either with the problem of players declaring for the Republic still in fashion among players coming up through the under-age ranks for Northern Ireland.  

MLS expansion: Where will they stop?

On Wednesday (March 25th) Major League Soccer (MLS) awarded a place to the owners of Minnesota United. They are expected to remain in Minnesota and make their MLS bow in the 2018 season.
This week's announcement by MLS combined with the addition of Atlanta and a second Los Angeles team, the league will have 23 teams by the start of the 2018 season. It could be 24 providing David Beckham's Miami franchise can secure a stadium which remains in the balance at the moment.
MLS has been expanding at a fast pace in the past couple of years, this year alone two new sides made their debuts in New York City and Orlando City. In the long run how many teams will MLS feel is enough?

Will 24 be enough? 26? 30? (1) It really does remain to be seen but across the world there aren't many leagues that feature more than 24 teams, apart from Argentina this year which decided to go with a monstrous 30 teams. With the 2015 MLS campaign under way we currently have 20 sides competing with 10 in each conference, does MLS want 14 in each conference which would take the overall number to 28. With more sides means more fixtures and MLS sides play a lot of fixtures when you factor in league, cup and CONCACAF champions league games into the 9 month season.

Relegation-Promotion?
MLS fans generally are quiet divided when it come to the relegation-promotion debate, with the cost of the franchise being a big factor against relegation. However as the MLS growing in size it does raise the possibility of creating a 2nd tier of MLS sides especially if they go beyond 24 teams. If they expand to 28 there is enough teams to create a 2nd tier which would open up the relegation-promotion path. It has to be stated though that relegation-promotion is a concept that would be alien to the U.S. None of the major sports have it. We take promotion-relegation for granted here in Europe and even in Ireland with suggestions of a 16 team premier division with no relegation gets shot down on the basis of "what about relegation" "you got to have relegation". However that debate is for another post but it is merely an idea being thrown out there as the MLS continues to grow.

Where next?
Then you have the question of where. If MLS decides to go beyond 24 teams, where will they expand to? St Louis is a popular choice among many but did managed to secure a United soccer league expansion berth.
You have other big city options like Las Vegas, San Antonio, Sacramento, Ottawa if they wanted to go for another Canadian expansion. Miami have a stadium location issue to solve before they can be fully approved of their bid.

Return of Euro qualifiers

The European champions qualifiers make their return tomorrow as the nations do battle for the 23 places in the finals up for grabs. Most of the groups are refreshingly competitive thanks in part to the expansion of the finals to 24 teams.
The tightest group is probably group D which features Germany, Poland, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Gibraltar. At this stage its probably safe to assume that both Gibraltar and Georgia are out of the running for finals places which leaves a four way tussle for two automatic final places and one play-off spot. Poland currently lead the way with ten points followed by Germany, Scotland and Ireland all on seven. The pick of the games without doubt this weekend is Ireland v Poland. It's a massive game for both sides and an early indicator to who has more to offer in terms of qualification for the finals. Defeat for Poland will rein them into the tussle even further but should they win, they give themselves a great chance of a top 3 finish at least. Other games this weekend in group D are Scotland v Gibraltar and Georgia v Germany, one expects both Scottish and German victories without too much trouble there.

Another group with an interesting look is group B which was expected to be a Belgian landslide but that hasn't materialised. The red devils are 4th but with a game in hand. The pacesetters are instead Israel  who incidently are the opponents in Belgium's game in hand. Wales are 2nd a point behind while Cyprus sit quietly in 3rd on six points. The big game this weekend from that group is Israel facing Wales in Haifa.

The last round of qualifiers in November featured some terrific shock results with the biggest being San Marino collecting their first point in Euro qualifiers against Estonia and the Faroe Islands were victorious in Greece. Be terrific to see the same kind of results again in this round but with San Marino away at Slovenia and the Faroe's off to Romania it'll be very difficult.

The annual can Irish clubs do it post

With the summer edging closer the annual question around Irish and Northern Irish sides is how far can they go in European competition, which starts again in July. These European games are a big deal for sides on this island as the prize money for entering is greater than what is on offer domestically. It also gives us a platform to compare the two leagues here to other leagues and see how we fare.

However the question remains, realistically how far can Irish and Northern Ireland sides go this summer. For the League of Ireland (Republic of Ireland's league) the entrants are already decided with Dundalk set for the champions league qualifiers and Cork City, St Patrick's Athletic and Shamrock Rovers flying the tricolour in the Europa league qualifiers. Looking at that line up I have to say its probably the strongest line up of clubs we have entering in quiet a while. Northern Ireland will have its entrants finalised in the coming weeks as their seasons closes end of April. Currently Crusaders are on course for a champions league berth with Linfield in 2nd. After that its a fight between Portadown, Glentoran (Both play the cup final), Cliftonville and Glenavon for the final Europa league spot via the league.
          I fully expect Dundalk to struggle in the champions league, being unseeded opens the door to having a tie with the likes of Celtic, Malmö, APOEL or even Dinamo Zagreb, which would require a monumental effort over two legs. One only has to look back last summer to see how St Patrick's Athletic were blown away by Legia Warszawa after a tremendous effort and result in the 1st leg in Poland. Indeed that shows how tough it is for Irish sides in the champions league, a great result is only half the battle. Recent history dictates that Dundalk will be out after one round as not since Shamrock Rovers beat Flora Tallinn in 2011 has an Irish side progressed a round in the champions league.
Northern Ireland's adventures in the champions league haven't been great either with the likes of Celtic, Debreceni and AEL Limassol putting out Cliftonville and Linfield in recent years.

The Europa League is where progress in recent years has been made. Indeed it was Shamrock Rovers who made the group stage breakthrough in 2011 while St Patrick's Athletic have had some good runs in this competition in recent years. For Cork City its a first European campaign since 2008 and will be unseeded while St Pats and Rovers will have the luxury of a seed in the 1st qualifying round. As a City fan I will be hoping we can progress one or two rounds but much really depends on who we get. Being unseeded opens the possibility of playing Rosenborg or even IFK Göteborg which would be tough but if we could overcome those sides we would have an excellent chance of getting to the 3rd qualifying round.
 
For the Europa League I can't see it being an unbelievably good year for Irish sides but I'd expect St Pats and Rovers to get through one round at least before coming up against better opposition. For City I'm going to optimistic and say the same.  Should Crusaders claim the Northern Irish title they'll start in the 1st qualifying round against the champions from Wales, San Marino, Armenia and the likes which gives them a half a chance of progressing to the 2nd qualifying round where they'll face the same obstacles as Dundalk. I'd back Crusaders to get through the 1st qualifying round.
For Linfield I'd expect them to get through one round before going out but for the others currently battling to get into the Europa League with the exception of maybe Cliftonville I can't see any of them getting through one round.

A decent start

Three games into the 2015 League of Ireland and Cork City have made a decent unremarkable start to the campaign. The fixture list for the opening three games had an element of "tough start" about it with two away games at Sligo and Shamrock Rovers sandwiching a home game with Limerick.

That opening game in Sligo was played in horrible wind and rain up in Ireland's north-west. It seemed to be a common theme around the rest of the opening day fixtures with strong wind robbing us of a potentially good game between Shamrock Rovers and St Pats.
In Sligo though it seemed City were content to hold on for a point. It wasn't till Sligo had taken a late lead that City opened up from their defensive shell and chase a result. A premature celebration from the home fans added to the drama in stoppage time when a former Sligo right-back in Ross Gaynor planted his shot into the railway end goal to ensure City got out of Sligo, wet, cold and a point better off.

The point rescued in Sligo could turn out to be a big one. Leagues are often won on small margins, turning points or just sure greatness and while it maybe to early to suggest this is a turning point is could well be the point that wins City the league or guarantees a European finish or if things are particularly bad could be the difference in staying up.

The second game was against a young Limerick side with many off the field problems. City survived an early scare to rack up five goals without reply and secure the first victory of the season. I wasn't at the game but the general feeling was City will be facing tougher assignments than this over the course of the season.

The third game was a potential cracker away at Shamrock Rovers. However the game failed to ignite. A dour game with few chances followed but City got their point on the road. New signing Liam Miller showed his experience and class with a couple of fine touches but looking back at this game City might feel this was a game for the taking. With that result it means City have five points from nine which is a decent return. City host Galway tomorrow night before Saturday's trip to Bray so hopefully City can post a couple of victories to really push on with this decent start.

A Clásico draw might open the door

They have both registered victories, both were fairly comfortable winners and both kept clean sheets, no not Barcelona or Real Madrid but Valencia and Atlético Madrid. Valencia running up a 4-0 win in Elche and Atlético overcoming Getafe in the Madrid clash. Sunday's El Clásico clash affects both of these sides in a small way because depending on the outcome they could be "only" six and seven points behind the leaders respectively.

   Valencia's victory on Friday moved them onto 60 points just five off leaders Barcelona while Atlético's 2-0 victory over Getafe on Saturday moved them to fifty-nine points. With the top two meeting head-to-head this Sunday, this weekend provided an opportunity for both Los Che and Los Rojiblancos to close the gap and they have done their bit now they await the outcome of the Clásico. 

  The ideal result? well that would be a draw. A draw will move Barcelona up to sixty-six points with Real Madrid remaining a point behind. That leaves Valencia six points off the top with ten to play and Atlético a further point behind. Both Nuno Espirito Santo and Diego Simeone will tell you they are not title contenders but with the top two within reach it remains to be seen if both can keep pace between now and the end of the season. 

  With ten games to go after this weekend in La Liga, both the top two have tough looking games left with the potential for points to be dropped to get Valencia and Atlético back in contention. Obviously the two outsiders need to keep pace which won't be easy either. However here is a list of games where the top two might drop points. 

Matchday 29: Celta de Vigo v Barcelona 

Matchday 31: Sevilla v Barcelona 

Matchday 32: Barcelona v Valencia

Matchday 33: Celta de Vigo v Real Madrid

                       Espanyol v Barcelona 

Matchday 35: Sevilla v Real Madrid

Matchday 36: Real Madrid v Valencia

Matchday 37: Atlético Madrid v Barcelona 

                       Espanyol v Real Madrid

The European draws

Later today both the Champions league and Europa League quarter-final draws will take place. As you might have heard this week there are no English sides left in either competition while Spain have 4, Italy have 3 and Germany, France and Ukraine have 2 each.

    The Champions league draw is up first and being an open draw anything is possible. Both French sides could meet each other, we could have an El Clásico quarter-final and we could have a Bayern v Real Madrid meeting. However I'm going to have a go at predicting the draw and what I hope is the draw come half eleven.

• Barcelona v Juventus 
• Atlético Madrid v PSG 
• Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
• Porto v Monaco 

Juventus haven't made the semi-finals of this competition since 2003 believe it or not and what better way for them get back to the semis than beating the side they overcame in the 2003 quarter-final. Obviously Barcelona would be overwhelming favourites should they get anyone outside of Real Madrid and Bayern but Juventus I think would make things tricky for them. They nullified attack minded Dortmund quiet well, they don't concede many goals and have decent strike force in in-form Carlos Tévez and Álvaro Morata. A defensive shield of Chielini and Bonucci will need to be in form to keep the threat of the Barca front three out but this would be an interesting tie. 

   Atlético Madrid v PSG is a particular tie I would like to see happen not least because both sides have good claims to be dark horses for glory but it would be a good match-up. Atlético's defence isn't as good as last season but still strong by other season standards. PSG seem to be saving themselves for European games. A tie that could well go to extra-time and penalties. 

  Bayern Munich out for revenge against the side that humiliated them last season. For Bayern fans dumping Madrid out early would be revenge served on a cold dish but does offer Madrid the chance to dump a fellow favourite out early. One has to expect goals should these two meet in this round. 

   Porto and Monaco are arguably the two "weakest" sides left but are also two of the complete outsiders. Would be terrific for either side to reach a semi-final and you can be sure that both sides will be hoping for this match-up to come through. Would have to fancy Porto as they do have a better attack than Monaco however Monaco have the better defence. A single goal or away goal victory for Porto would be my prediction here. 

The Europa League is technically and open draw however the political situation in Russia and Ukraine ensures that we can't get a match-up between them clubs until the final providing of course they get there. So here is my hope for the draw. 

• Sevilla v Dynamo Kyiv
• Napoli v Wolfsburg
• Club Brugge v Dnipro
• Fiorentina v Zenit

Both Sevilla and Dynamo Kyiv were free scoring in the last round, dumping out Villarreal and Everton respectively. The 5-2 success for Kyiv over Everton was a statement that Kyiv are not to be taken lightly. Sevilla showed they will be tough to beat in the previous round. A truck load of goals with Sevilla to do just enough at home to get through but a great tie if it happens. 

   Napoli are among the favourites to win this tournament and in Wolfsburg they could be in for a tough tie. I'd expect a close tie between these two as Wolfsburg would have designs on glory in May as well. Add in the fact that Wolfsburg are in great form since January and Napoli's recent form isn't quiet as good so we could have a tactical battle in this one. 

  The two rank outsiders going head-to-head would be good to see. Dnipro saw off Ajax on away goals after extra-time last night and Club Brugge had a very impressive result away to Besiktas. both sides are strong at home and it might just be the tie that goes all the way to penalties that will decide it. 

Fiorentina overcame a generous Roma last night and could've been more convincing in victory if Mohammed Salah didn't have such a love affair with the Roma woodwork. They are a dark horse in the same vain as Wolfsburg and will be a particularly dangerous team to play especially on the counter with the pace they have. Zenit last night sent another Italian side in Torino packing...just. They have obvious quality in attack and strong at home but I could see them being the victim of Violet counter attacks. 

Trying to predict the Europa League winners?

A tricky task indeed. With the Last 16 ties going into their second legs tonight none of the ties are over although both Torino and Villarreal do have a lot of work to do if they are to emerge from their ties. The rest of the ties are more or less in the balance. Who will emerge victorious in Warsaw?

   

  I'm going to go out on a limb and put forward Sevilla to go on and retain the title they won last year. They are in a great position going into tonight's home leg with fellow La Liga side Villarreal courtesy of last week's smash and grab 3-1 win at El Madrigal. They have a rich recent history in this competition and it's predecessor the UEFA cup with 3 titles in the last decade. They have quality littered throughout with names such as Carlos Bacca, Éver Banega, Krychowiak and the evergreen José Antonio Reyes, backed up by the likes of Stephane Mbia, Kevin Gameiro, Vitolo and Deulofeu they have the squad to juggle both this competition and the league. Currently Sevilla are four points off Atlético in La Liga who have slipped to the 4th and final champions league spot via the league, the Andaluz club could see this competition as the best possible route into the champions league next season especially if they are unable to bridge the gap between themselves and both Atlético and Valencia in the race for the champions league via the league. 

   With the winners now getting a champions league place as a thank you for going all the way through what is a marathon on a competition its given this year's competition an extra edge. Sevilla won't be walking to the title, they will face stiff competition from the remaining sides, all of which would have legitimate cases of going on to win the title themselves. A particularly strong case can be put for Napoli to go on and win the title. You only have to look at Rafael Benítez to see they have a manager who has history in this competition like Sevilla do. Benítez was victorious with Valencia in 2004 and Chelsea in 2013 and combined with the fact that only the top 3 in Italy get champions league football this is a route that could be looked at as a good alternative. The Italians are currently 4th and three points off Lazio so its not an insurmountable gap to close but certainly Napoli will be contenders. 

 In fact Italy have four other sides left with two facing each other in Roma v Fiorentina. Both sides are contenders and again in Fiorentina's case this is the best chance of getting into the champions league next season. Roma's fall from the title race has left them in a position where they are looking over their shoulders in Serie A but this is their only chance of a trophy so it makes for an interesting battle tonight. Add in the fact that both sides are level at 1-1 from the first leg in Florence and who have potentially the game of the night on your hands. 

   As for dark horses well take your pick really. Wolfsburg are Germany's sole rep at this stage and boast a striker in lethal form in Bas Dost plus being 3-1 up on Inter Milan gives them a great chance of reaching the last 8. What about Everton, now England's only rep in both European competitions. The have pretty much nothing but this competition to go for so could be a dangerous side to play. 

Club Brugge are an interesting shout, the only Belgians left in Europe but have a good chance of making it to the last 8 tonight as they have a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg with fellow dark horses Besiktas. Should they progress against a side that sent Liverpool packing in the last round then they could be in with a shout. Either way it's going to be exciting as 16 teams becomes 8 tonight. 

An open Champions league?

Is the champions league more open this season than in previous years?. The 1st knockout round saw one of the pre-tournament favourites Chelsea eliminated by a spirited Paris Saint-Germain side while Schalke were so close to sending another pre-tournament favourite packing in Real Madrid. Granted we did have the Bayern stroll against Shakhtar and Barcelona are widely expected to finish Manchester City off tonight, but the the rest of the field looks pretty open.
 
The rest of the field contains Atlético, Monaco, Porto, Paris Saint-Germain and the winner of the Juventus Borussia Dortmund tie tonight. That's five of the last eight who were not among the favourites pre-tournament. The favourites will still remain Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich but to have as many as five outsiders making up the rest of the field makes for interesting viewing. It means we are guaranteed at least one match up between the outsiders in the last eight.
 
 Friday's draw is an open draw so we could also have a match-up between two of the favourites. In that case we will be guaranteed two match-ups of the outsiders which increases the likelihood of an outsider making the final.

   Of the outsiders, who is best equipped to make the final? Personally I fancy Atlético to reach a second final in succession. The reason for this is down to the fact that they can now focus on the champions league without the intense pressure of a title run-in. Yes they coped well on both fronts last season but being nine points behind in the title race this term rules them out realistically of another title success. Their only objective remaining domestically this season is overtaking Valencia in 3rd, who are a point ahead of them.

   Monaco, of the outsiders are the weakest and did just about enough over two games with Arsenal to squeeze through on away goals. They do have a mean defence in their favour but attack wise they just don't have enough.

  Paris Saint-Germain showed against Chelsea how well they can play with a very impressive performance with ten men in the second leg seeing them over the line. However their talisman Zlatan is suspended for the first leg of the quarter-finals which could be crucial to them.

  Porto were dominant against Basel in both games. They blew the Swiss champions away at the Dragao with a selection of fine goals too. They are a young team with good quality such as Brahimi, Herrera and Casemiro and will be a match for any side in the competition. However they don't have a defence strong enough to keep the favourites (should they draw any) or even the likes of Atlético or Paris Saint-Germain out.

  The winner of Juventus Borussia Dortmund will be interesting. Juventus are the lone Italian side left while Dortmund are getting a resurgence up the Bundesliga table going. When the draw for this tie was made, Juve were neck and neck with Roma in Serie A at the top while Dortmund were looking up at everybody in the Bundesliga, now Juve have pulled away from Roma and Dortmund are now only looking up at half the Bundesliga. This tie is still balanced at 2-1 Juventus from the first leg. An away goal for Dortmund could be vital providing they get past a defence that is the meanest in Italy. Either one of these teams won't be among the favourites to win the tournament but do provide interesting opposition.