Hertha Berliner Sport-Club von 1892 (commonly Hertha Berlin or HerthaBSC) is a German football club based in Berlin. A founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900, the club has a long history as Berlin'sbest-supported side and competes today in the first division Bundesliga.

Entry to the Bundesliga

At the time of the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, Hertha was Berlin's reigning champion and so became an inaugural member of the new professional national league. In spite of finishing clear of the relegation zone, the team was demoted after the 1964-65 season following attempts to bribe players to play in the city under what had become decidedly unpleasant circumstances after the erection of the Berlin Wall. This caused something of a crisis for the Bundesliga which wanted for political reasons to continue to have a team in its ranks representing the former capital.

Through various machinations this led to the promotion of Tasmania 1900 Berlin, which then delivered the worst-ever performance in Bundesliga history. Hertha managed a return to the premier German league in 1968-69 and developed a solid following making it Berlin's favorite side.

However, Hertha was again soon touched by scandal through its involvement with several other clubs in the Bundesliga match fixing scandal of 1971. In the course of an investigation of Hertha's role, it was also revealed that the club was 6 million DM in debt. Financial disaster was averted through the sale of the team's former home ground.

In spite of this, the team continued to enjoy a fair measure of success on the field through the 70's with a second place Bundesliga finish behind Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1974-75, a semi-final appearance in the 1979 UEFA Cup, and two appearances in the final of the German Cup (1977 and 1979).

The following season saw the fortunes of the team take a turn for the worse as they were relegated to 2.Bundesliga where they would spend thirteen of the next seventeen seasons.

Plans in 1982 for a merger with Tennis Borussia, Blau Weiss 90 and SC Charlottenburg to form a side derisively referred to as FC Utopia never came to fruition. Hertha slipped as low as the third tier Amateur Oberliga Berlin where they spent two seasons (1986-87 and 1987-88). Two turns in the Bundesliga (1982-83 and 1990-91) saw the team immediately relegated after poor performances.

Hertha's amateur side enjoyed a greater measure of success, advancing all the way to the final of the German Cup in 1993 where their run ended in a close 0:1 defeat at the hands of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.

Financial woes once more burdened the club in 1994 as it found itself 10 million DM in debt. The crisis was again resolved through the sale of real estate holdings in addition to the signing of a new sponsor and management team. By 1997 Hertha found its way back to the Bundesliga where they have generally managed to finish in the upper third of the slate. When Hertha was promoted in 1997, it ended Berlin's six-year-long drought without a Bundesliga side which made the Bundesliga the only top league in Europe without representation from the country's biggest city and capital.

Most recently, bright spots for the side have been a continuous string of appearances in international play in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League beginning in the 1999 season, and the signing of players such as Sebastian Deisler and Brazilian international Marcelinho, named the Bundesliga's player of the year in May 2005. Hertha has also invested heavily in its own youth football academy, which has produced several players with Bundesliga potential.

The team was almost relegated in the 2003-04 season, but rebounded and finished 4th the following season, but missed out on the Champions League after they were held to a draw on the final day by Hannover 96, which saw Werder Bremen over take them for the spot on the final day. As a thank-you gesture, Werder sent the Hannover squad ninety-six bottles of champagne. In 2005-06 the Herthaner finished 6th, and qualified for the UEFA Cup by defeating FK Moskva in the Intertoto Cup but stopped at the first round of the UEFA Cup by Odense BK.

In 2006-07 Hertha finished 10th after sacking manager Falko Götz at April 11th. Hertha starts saison 2007-08 with a new manager, Lucien Favre from the Swiss Champion of 2006 and 2007, FC Zürich. They finished 10th again, but starting in the first qualification round of the UEFA Cup via Fair Play Ranking with Danish club FC Nordsjælland, and Premier League side Manchester City.

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Club Atlético River Plate, known also as River Plate or simply River, is an Argentine sports club best known for its football team, established in 1901. The club is based in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez, and play at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti. River is the 9th football club in the All-Time Club World Ranking and the 1st in America, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). club is currently ranked 72nd in the world and in the past it has been ranked as the best football club in the world six times in the monthly IFFHS club world ranking, the last time being in October 1993.


"River Plate" is sometimes used as the English name for the Río de la Plata, the river on which Buenos Aires sits. It is believed that, in the club's early days, one of the founders (Martínez) observed sailors playing impromptu football games in the port of Buenos Aires next to crates marked "The River Plate", hence the club name.

River has always been one of the most important teams of South America. They have combined to win 38 official tournaments which includes 33 Argentine League titles, 2 Copa Libertadores (1986, 1996), a Supercopa (1997) and an Intercontinental title (1986). In 1986 River Plate fans had the distinction of watching River win the league title, Copa Libertadores, Interamerican Cup, Intercontinental Cup, as well as Argentina's triumph in the 1986 FIFA World Cup with Hector Enrique, Nery Pumpido, Oscar Ruggeri.

Club Atlético River Plate and Club Atlético Boca Juniors are the two largest football clubs in Argentina, with more than half the country's football fans supporting the clubs. Due to the rivalry between them, the Boca Juniors vs River Plate Superclásico local derby match was listed by the BBC as one of the most famous derbies in the world., and also as one of the Fifty sporting things you must do before you die by The Observer newspaper.

El Monumental is River's home stadium in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. With a capacity of 65,645, the stadium was inaugurated on May 25, 1938. Is also used in matches for the Argentina national football team.

River Plate also has a basketball team playing in the amateur Buenos Aires league. It played 10 seasons in the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol between 1985-1993 and 2004-06, reaching the finals in 1988 and obtaining 2nd place in 2004 and 2005 editions of Copa Argentina, but in July 2006 the club got expelled by the League because of a debt in player's salaries. River Plate also has professional male and female volleyball teams in regional and national competitions, male and female handball teams among the best in regional and national competitions and a female field hockey team that made its debut in Buenos Aires' top division in 2007.

River Plate also has a basketball team playing in the amateur Buenos Aires league. It played 10 seasons in the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol between 1985-1993 and 2004-06, reaching the finals in 1988 and obtaining 2nd place in 2004 and 2005 editions of Copa Argentina, but in July 2006 the club got expelled by the League because of a debt in player's salaries. River Plate also has professional male and female volleyball teams in regional and national competitions, male and female handball teams among the best in regional and national competitions and a female field hockey team that made its debut in Buenos Aires' top division in 2007.

by WIKIPEDIA

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Club Atlético Boca Juniors, known also as Boca Juniors or simply Boca, is a popular Argentine sports club, best known for its football team. Its home base is the neighbourhood of La Boca, in Buenos Aires, and their home field is Estadio Alberto J. Armando, better known as (La Bombonera).

They are the reigning holders of the Recopa Sudamericana title. Their main rival is River Plate, with whom they contest the Superclásico.

Boca has won a record 18 international titles, equal to A.C. Milan. Their haul includes six Copa Libertadores, four Recopa Sudamericana, three world club titles (Intercontinental Cup), two Copa Sudamericana, one Copa Oro, one Supercopa Sudamericana, and one Supercopa Masters. Domestically, the club has won 23 national championships, second only to River Plate.

The club is a permanent fixture in the IFFHS Club World Ranking top 25, Boca is currently ranked 3rd and has reached the top position of the monthly ranking 6 times (mostly during coach Carlos Bianchi's tenure).Peñas (fan clubs) exist in a number of Argentine cities, and abroad, in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Spain,[citation needed] Israel and Japan.

Boca Juniors are particularly popular in Japan because of the club's success in recent years at the Intercontinental Cup held in Japan. All over the world, fans are drawn to Boca by the club's international titles, and by the success of Boca players who went on to play in European football such as Hugo Ibarra, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Diego Cagna, Enzo Ferrero, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Nicolás Burdisso, Fernando Gago, Diego Maradona, Claudio Caniggia, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Román Riquelme and Carlos Tevez.

Boca have fans throughout Latin America, especially in Colombia and Peru[citation needed], and also in parts of the United States where there has been Latin immigration and where in July 2007, after the club had toured pre-season, it was reported that the club were considering the possibility of creating a Boca Juniors USA team to compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) with in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles and Arizona mentioned as possible locations.Boca Juniors has had a long standing rivalry with River Plate.

The Superclásico is known worldwide as one of world football's fiercest and most important rivalries. It is particularly noted for the passion of the fans, the stands of both teams feature fireworks, coloured confetti, flags and rolls of paper. Both sets of supporters sing passionate songs (often based on popular Argentine rock band tunes) against their rivals, and the stadiums are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. Sometimes the games have been known to end in riots between the hardest supporters of both sides or against the police. The English newspaper The Observer put the Superclásico at the top of their list of 50 sporting things you must do before you die.

The two clubs both have origins in the poor riverside area of Buenos Aires]] known as La Boca. River however moved to the more affluent district of Núñez in the north of the city in 1923.
Boca Juniors and River Plate have played 327 games all time against each other, with Boca winning 121, River 105 and 101 times the games ended in a draw. In the Professional Era the two clubs have played 184 games with Boca winning 68, River 61 and 55 draws.

This intense rivalry has not stopped players from playing for both clubs, most notably Gabriel Batistuta and Claudio Caniggia.Boca's two most successful coaches were Juan Carlos Lorenzo (1976~79, 1987), and Carlos Bianchi, (1998-2002, 2003~04). Toto Lorenzo won five titles with the team, including the Libertadores Cup in 1977 and 1978, the Intercontinental Cup in 1977, and the Metropolitano and Nacional in 1976. Bianchi won nine, including Aperturas in 1998, 2000 and 2003, the 1999 Clausura, the Libertadores Cup in 2000, 2001, and 2003, and the Intercontinental Cup in 2000 and 2003.

On 22 August, 2006, it was announced that Ricardo Lavolpe would take over the post of coach on September 15, replacing Alfio Basile, who has been selected to manage Argentina National Football Team. Lavolpe failed to continue Basile's chain of success, losing the 2006 Apertura championship in spite of a 4 points advantage with only two rounds to go.

Miguel Angel Russo was hired as Lavolpe's replacement. Boca took second place to San Lorenzo de Almagro in the 2007 Clausura tournament, but went on to win the Copa Libertadores with a 5-0 overall rout of Brazilian Grêmio.

Carlos Luis Ischia was hired after Miguel Angel Russo left to go be San Lorenzo de Almagro's Coach. Records:
* Boca Juniors and Milan both hold a world record 18 official international titles.
* Boca Juniors has the most official titles (domestic and international) for an Argentine football club with 40 titles in the professional era (48 including amateur titles).
* Boca Juniors were awarded the title "Campeón de Honor" (Honour Champion) in 1925, due to a highly successful tour through Europe in which the club played Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad, as well as German and French teams, with an impressive record of 15 wins, one draw and three defeats. This title was declared official by the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, thereby increasing the total number of amateur and professional titles to 49 (31 domestic and 18 international titles).
* 40 consecutive Primera División matches unbeaten - an Argentine record: from 5 May 1998 to 2 June 1999, with 29 victories and 11 draws.[42]
* Three times winner of the Intercontinental Cup (now replaced by FIFA Club World Cup), a record tied with Peñarol, Nacional, Milan and Real Madrid.

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vs

Manchester United defeated Newcastle United 2-1 away in their last league fixture, their 11th straight league win and 16th successive league match without a loss.
In their last five matches, Man Utd have won all five, picking up all fifteen points on offer. Man U scored nine and conceded two in these matches, as they currently sit 1st in the league, seven points clear of 2nd placed Chelsea and 3rd placed Liverpool, with a match in hand.
Manchester United will be without Wes Brown (ankle/foot), Gary Neville (calf/shin), Owen Hargreaves (knee) and Rafael (ankle/foot) for this match.
Liverpool defeated Sunderland 2-0 in their last league encounter, their first league win in three matches.In their last five, Liverpool have won three, drawn one and lost one, earning ten points from the available fifteen. The Reds scored eight and conceded five in ths matches, and currently sit 3rd in the league - equal on points with 2nd placed Chelsea and six points clear of 4th placed Aston Villa.Liverpool will Phllipp Degen (metatarsal) and Daniel Agger (back) in this match.

Prediction
Liverpool were victorious 2-1 over Manchester United earlier this season at Anfield, but last year’s Man Utd vs Liverpool fixture saw the Red Devils victorious by a convincing 3-0 margin.
Both teams had massive midweek victories in the Champions League, but Liverpool’s incredible 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid will be the one that undoubtedly has the more effect of the two.
With their domestic title hopes floundering, the win on Tuesday proved that Liverpool undeniably still has what it takes to challenge any side - both at home and abroad - and the incredible duo of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard should strike fear in the hearts of even the most formidable opposition, Manchester United included.
Manchester United’s talent, form and confidence are all unquestioned at this point, with the current English, European and World Club Champions eyeing up an awe-inspiring five title wins this season. Their victory over Inter Milan on Wednesday further cemented their place at the pinnacle of world football, but their display against an unimpressive Inter side was unconvincing to say the least.
Still, Man Utd have not lost a single league match at home this season, and the fortress that is Old Trafford should prove daunting to a Liverpool side that has not beaten United here in the Premier League since April 2004. With no signs of them letting up in any of their title races this season, Manchester United will go into yet another match as favourites for victory.
But with Fernando Torres in scintillating form on Tuesday night, Liverpool will certainly not approach this fixture feeling that they have nothing to play for or no hope for victory. With the title race technically still alive, albeit barely, Liverpool will go into this match to prove a massive point that, despite their poor run of late, they still have what it takes to compete with the best of the best.
And so we are set to witness one of the matches of the season in what promises to be a glorious showdown between two of football’s greatest clubs.
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BV Borussia Dortmund is a German football club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia and one of the most successful clubs in German football. In addition to six German football championships and two DFB Pokal victories, Dortmund won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1966 (becoming the first German team to win a European title) and the UEFA Champions League in 1997.

Fortune smiled on them in 1993 with a run to the UEFA Cup final, which they lost 1–6 on aggregate to Juventus. In spite of this result, Borussia walked away with DM25 million under the prize money pool system in place at the time for German sides participating in the Cup. Cash flush, Dortmund was able to sign players who later brought them a string of honours through the rest of the 1990s. They won Bundesliga championships in 1995 and 1996 – with Matthias Sammer from the '96 side being named European Footballer of the Year.

In a memorable 1997 UEFA Champions League Final in Munich Dortmund faced a Juventus team featuring Zinedine Zidane. Karl-Heinz Riedle put Dortmund ahead finishing from Paul Lambert's cross. Riedle then made it 2 with a bullet header from a corner kick. In the second half Alessandro Del Piero pulled one back for Juve. Then 20 year old substitute and local boy Lars Ricken latched on to a through pass by Andreas Möller. Only sixteen seconds after coming on to the pitch Ricken chipped Angelo Peruzzi in the Juventus goal from over 20 yards with his first touch of the ball. With Zidane unable to make an impression against Lambert's marking Borussia lifted the trophy 3–1.

Borussia then went on to beat Brazilian club Cruzeiro 2–0 in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup Final.

t the turn of the millennium, Borussia Dortmund became the first – and so far the only – publicly traded club on the German stock market. Two years later they won their third Bundesliga title. The club had a remarkable run at the end of the season to overtake Bayer Leverkusen, securing the title on the final day. In the same season Borussia lost the final of the 2002 UEFA Cup to Dutch side Feyenoord.

Dortmund's fortunes have steadily declined since then. Poor financial management led to a heavy debt load and the sale of their Westfalenstadion ground. The situation was compounded by failure to advance in the 2003 Champions League when the team was eliminated on penalties in the qualifying rounds by Club Brugge. Borussia was again driven to the brink of bankruptcy in 2005, the original €11 value of its shares having plummeted by over 80% on the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). The response to the crisis included a 20% pay cut to all players.

The team still plays at the leased Westfalenstadion, named after its home state of Westphalia. To raise capital, the stadium was renamed Signal Iduna Park, after a local insurance company, in 2006 under a sponsorship agreement that runs until 2011. The stadium is currently the largest football stadium in Germany with a capacity of 81,264 spectators, and hosted several matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a semi-final. Borussia Dortmund enjoys the highest average attendance of any football club in Europe, at more than 80,000 per match (2004).

Current notables on the team roster include Alexander Frei, Sebastian Kehl, Roman Weidenfeller, Dedê, Nuri Sahin. The team suffered a miserable start to the 2005–06 season, but rallied to finish seventh. The club failed to gain a place in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play draw. The club's management recently indicated that the club again showed a profit, however this was largely related to the sale of David Odonkor to Real Betis and Tomas Rosicky to Arsenal.

In the 2006–07 season, the club unexpectedly faced serious relegation trouble for the first time in years. The team went through three coaches and appointed Thomas Doll on 13 March 2007 after dropping to just one point above the relegation zone. Christoph Metzelder also left Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer.

In the 2007–08 season, the club has lost to many of the smaller clubs in the Bundesliga. This season was one of the worst in 20 years. Nevertheless they reached the DFB Pokal final against Bayern Munich where they lost 2–1 in extra time. The final appearance qualified Dortmund for the UEFA cup because Bayern already qualified for the Champions league.

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FC Bayern Munich (German: FC Bayern München) is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful club in German football, having won 21 German titles and 14 cups.

The club was founded in 1900 by eleven football players led by Franz John.Although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. In the middle of the 1970s, the club had its period of greatest success, when the famous team led by Franz Beckenbauer won the European Cup three times in row (1974–76). In recent years they have been by far the most successful team in German football, winning seven of the last ten championships. The club's last international title was the Intercontinental Cup in 2001.

Since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Munich plays its home games in the Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played for 33 years in the Olympic Stadium. The team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the colours of Bavaria.
Bayern is a membership-based club and with more than 147,000 members. There are also more than 2,400 officially-registered fan clubs with about 177,000 members.[5] The club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis, referees, and senior football with more than 1,100 active members from 1998–2004 Bayern were coached by Ottmar Hitzfeld.

In Hitzfeld's first season, Bayern won the Bundesliga and came close to winning the Champions League, losing 2–1 to Manchester United in injury time after leading for most of the match. The 1999–2000 season resulted in Bayern winning their third league and cup double. A third consecutive Bundesliga title followed in 2001, won in a finish on the final day of the league season. Days later, Bayern won the Champions League for the fourth time after a 25 year gap, defeating Valencia CF on penalties. The 2001–02 season began with a win in the International Cup, but ended trophyless otherwise. A season later Bayern won their fourth double, leading the league by a record margin.reign ended in 2004, with Bayern underperforming, including a cup defeat by second division Alemannia Aachen.

Felix Magath took over and led Bayern to two consecutive Doubles. Prior to the start of the 2005–06 season, Bayern moved from the Olympic Stadium to the new Allianz Arena, which the club shares with TSV 1860. On the field their performance in 2006–07 was erratic. Trailing in the league and having lost to Alemannia Aachen in the cup yet again, coach Magath was sacked shortly after the winter break.

Former Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld returned to Munich in January 2007, but Bayern finished the 2006–07 season fourth, thus failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in more than a decade. Additional losses in the DFB Cup and the League Cup left the club with no honours for the season. For the 2007–08 season, Bayern Munich made drastic squad changes to help retool and rebuild. They signed a total of eight new players and sold, released or loaned out nine of their existing players. Luca Toni from ACF Fiorentina, Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen and record signing Franck Ribery from Olympique Marseille headlined the signings. The new additions paid off, as the Reds went on to win the 2008 DFB-Pokal and the Bundesliga, being on top of the standings on every single week of play.

On January 11, 2008 it was announced that Jürgen Klinsmann would succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld as Manager on July 1, 2008. He signed a two year contract. During the first half of the 2008–09 Bundesliga season, Bayern got off to a rocky start, winning just two games until day six. Eventually Bayern finished the first round second to 1899 Hoffenheim. In the DFB-Pokal Bayern is amongst the last 8, playing their next game at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. In the Champions League Bayern is also amongst the last 16, after winning Group F in front of Olympique Lyonnais, ACF Fiorentina and Steaua Bucharest. They have faced Sporting Lisbon in the Round of 16 beating them 0–5 away from home and now seemed destined for the quater-finals of the Champions League.

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