Rafa to Juve...Almost

Reports from Goal.com claim that Juventus have come to a verbal agreement with Livepool coach Rafa Benitez.  Juventus will discard current incumbet of the head coach position Alberto Zaccheroni.  Rafa is a great manager, but I am not sure Italy is the place for his type of football.  The slower defensive play in Italy could be considered anti-Rafa.  He will reportedly try and bring Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel, Dirk Kuyt, and Javier Mascherano with him to Turin.  Man City is also among one of the many suitors preparing monster transfer bids for Fernando Torres this summer.  Juve president Jean-Claude Blanc has said the deal will last 3 years with Benitez.

Kun Overreacted A 'Lil

Did not see this as I was in sunny Florida all last week, but this is Sergio Aguero's reaction to being subbed Thursday versus Sporting.  Apparently, he didn't like it.



more of players being crazy after the jump...

Seam's Selections: Europa League Round of 16

Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting

Sporting put an emphatic end to their winless streak against Everton in their last Europa League match, beating the Liverpool side and advancing to the round of 16. Atletico defeated Galatasaray in the last round and are hoping that they can forget their poor form in La Liga with a positive result in Europe. Sporting will take their momentum towards a good result at the Vicente Calderon getting a much needed away goal in a 1-1 draw.

Lille vs. Liverpool

After a disastrous loss to Wigan on Monday Liverpool are surely out of the race for the last Champions League spot in England. Since the Europa League is the only competition Liverpool have a chance of success in expect the Reds to go into France and get the win. Torres and Gerrard will play a major part in a 2-0 win.

Juventus vs. Fulham

Key injuries have dampered Fulham's performances lately in the Premier League and Juventus has too much quality to let the Cottagers score on the road. The Bianconeri should score easily and wrap up their spot in the quarter finals in the 1st leg. My prediction is a 3-0 win for Juventus.

Benfica vs. Marseille

The eagles have put themselves in a comfortable position to win the Liga Sagres after a win against Pacos this weekend and both Porto and Braga dropping points. Marseille are currently 5th place in Ligue 1 but only 3 points behind leaders Bordeaux. Both teams are evenly matched so expect this to be a close game. Marseille will pick up the away goal from captain Niang but goals from David Luiz and Saviola will give Benfica a much needed result heading into the 2nd leg in France. Benfica wins 2-1.

Valencia vs. Werder Bremen (Seam's Dream Matchup)

Valencia have been great in La Liga this season with David Villa leading the way as usual. Look for number 7 to have a big game and score twice at home. Werder still has enough offensive talent with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Claudio Pizzaro, and Marko Marin, to pull off an away goal. But having said that Valencia will be up comfortably 3-1 going into the 2nd leg. Goals from Villa and Hernandez.

Remaining Round of 16 Selections

Hamburg 2 Anderlecht 0

Rubin 0 Wolfsburg 1

Pananthiaikos 0 Standard Liege 0

Serie A Weekend Highlights

Juventus 0 Palermo 2
   

AC Milan 3 Atalanta 1
   

Napoli 2 Roma 2
   

Inter 3 Udinese 2
   

More Italian League Highlights

The Dream's Europa League Predictions: Round of 32, 2nd Leg

Wolfsburg vs. Villareal

After a 2-2 away draw Wolfsburg have set themselves up for a very manageable 2nd leg fixture at home. Expect Wolfsburg to play a tight well-organized game with the main focus being on not conceding any goals. Villareal will have to go for the win if they will have any realistic shot of advancing to the next round. An early goal off a set piece will give Wolfsburg the advantage and a late equalizer will make it close for Villareal but not close enough. Wolfsburg 1 Villareal 1.

Juventus vs. Ajax

Juve's quality finally showed last week after getting two away goals in a 2-1 win at the Amsterdam Arena. With the return leg being played in Turin, look for a very strong performance from a Juve side coming off of a 2-1 win against Bologna over the weekend. A young Ajax side will most likely be outmatched by the home team and Bianconeri will pass through to the next round with a comfortable 1-0 victory.

Galatasaray vs. Atletico Madrid

Frank Rijkaard's club has the clear advantage after a 1-1 draw in Madrid last week. Another disappointing loss to Almeria over the weekend won't do anything Atletico's confidence. As much as I like Kun Aguero and his Portugal-linked teammates there is slim chance they will be able to advance to the next round. A loss here will most likely mean a coaching change for Atletico in the near future. Not too big of a surprise considering Quique Flores, their coach, is no stranger to late season collapses (Benfica last year). Expect Galatasaray to play well at home and come up with a 2-1 win.

Sporting C.P. vs. Everton (Seam's Dream Matchup)

Its no coincidence that the Dream Matchup has including a Portuguese side over the past two weeks. The importance of this game is HUGE for the Lisbon side and keep in mind the counter for Sporting's current winless streak at the top of our page. Sporting did in fact end up with a decent result in the first leg at Goodison Park losing 2-1, but getting the much needed away goal. I'm just going to be blunt about this... Sporting has been terrible this year and like Poppa has mentioned the streak will continue to grow if they do not come up with a win tomorrow night at home. Having said all that, I still cannot get myself to believe in a team that hasn't even shown a glimpse of hope in months. Everton will win, hopefully not by much. Sporting 1 Everton 2

Since it is very difficult to predict exact scores for all these matchup with aggregate and away goals in mind, here are the my predictions for the teams I believe will advance to the quarter finals.

Ruben Kazan over H. Tel-Aviv

Valencia over Club Brugge

Red Bull Salzburg over Standard Liege

FC Twente over Werder Bremen

Fenerbahce over Lille

Athletic Bilbao over Anderlecht

Marseille over Kobenhavn

Roma over Panathinaikos

Shaktar Donetsk over Fulham

Liverpool over Unirea Urziceni

Hamburger SV over PSV

The Dream's Europa League Predictions

With plenty of interesting match ups in the round of 32 the Europa League should prove to have some excitement along with some upsets. Here are some of Seam the Dream's predictions for the most intriguing fixtures this Thursday.

Ajax vs. Juventus

Ajax will face off against a very disappointing Juve (currently in 7th in Serie A). The bianconeri have struggled in all aspects of their campaign this year and hopefully their new coach Alberto Zaccheroni will push for some away goals in Amsterdam. Having said that, Ajax will use their European experience against the Turin side hold them to a 1-1 draw. More.

Villareal vs. Wolfsburg

The defending Bundesliga champions will visit the yellow submarine Thursday night looking for an away goal. Both teams have disappointed in their leagues so far this season and since both teams have problems conceding goals, look for the team with the better attack to take this first leg. In my opinion that will be Wolfsburg and their Bosnian attack of Misimovic and Dzeko to contribute to a 2-1 victory. (Sorry Giuseppe)

Panathinaikos vs. Roma

Roma has been in great form of late and currently stand in 2nd place in Serie A. I expect their current form to carry them into Athens and get a strong result. 2-0 Roma with solid performances from the "Beast" and Jeremy Menez. More.

Atletico vs. Galatasaray

Expect a confident Atletico side after ending Barcelona's undefeated league run this weekend. Look for Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan to get on the scoresheet and give Atletico a solid result, but an away goal from Frank Rijkaard's side will keep the next leg interesting. 2-1 Atletico Madrid. More.

Hamburg vs. PSV

The first place Dutch side from Eindhoven will face some tough opposition against Hamburger SV. Hamburg are coming off a 3-1 victory against Stuttgart over the weekend and if healthy Dutch winger Eljero Elia can play a major role in this first leg. Also look for Hamburg's two strikers with Eredivisie experience, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Marcus Berg, to get some goals. Hamburg wins 3-1.

Hertha vs. SL Benfica (Seam's Dream Matchup)

Here's my personal favorite from all of Thursday night's fixtures. Look for a focused Benfica squad with no league match this weekend to get the win in Berlin (yes it rhymes). Hertha are bound for relegation in the Bundesliga with only 2 wins all season. With really nothing else to play for expect Hertha to put forth a strong effort against the much more talented Lisbon side. Goals from Cardozo and/or Saviola will give the Eagles a big advantage heading back home for the return leg. A sometimes shaky defense will most likely give up a goal to the home side so a 2-1 win will be enough for the Encarnados to be satisfied with the result.

Here are my predictions for the other Europa League matches Thursday night.

Rubin Kazan 2-0 H. Tel-Aviv

Clubb Brugge 0-3 Valencia

Standard Liege 1-1 Red Bull Salzburg

FC Twente 0-0 Werder Bremen

Lille 1-0 Fenerbache

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Anderlecht

Kobenhavn 0-2 Olympique Marseille

Fulham 1-1 Shaktar Donetsk

Liverpool 2-1 Unirea Urziceni

Big day for Inter

Manuel Fernandes is joining Inter Milan. There were many reports that he was heading to Sporting CP, however he decided to join fellow Portuguese Ricardo Quaresma and coach Jose Mourinho at the Serie A giants. I'm not sure of this move, however. If his goal was to get playing time, how will he get some there. I mean, there's more competition at Inter than Valencia. Doesn't make sense to me.

Also, Inter beat Juventus in the quarters of the Coppa Italia today 2-1. Lucio and Balotelli scored in the come from behind win. Diego scored Juventus' only goal. Goals and highlights here.