Joe Green Sports

Vuelta a Espana 2017- The Favourites The 72 nd edition of the Vuelta a Espana is under way, and already there have been signs of who is clearly out of their depth and who has a chance of walking away with overall glory. Here are the riders who fall into the latter category, and some who may upset the odds. The Favourite – Chris Froome The Sky leader has never been in such good form coming into the Vuelta. A 3-time runner-up (2011, 2014, 2016), Froome has already gained an advantage on all his rivals after the stage 1 team time trial and the opportunistic bonus seconds he picked up on stage 3, where he released an astonishing acceleration that decimated his rivals and put him in the red leader’s jersey. With a 42km time trial on stage 16 that is perfect for Froome and a disaster for nearly everyone else, even if the Kenyan-born Briton loses time in the mountains he will likely reclaim it here. However, the 4-time Tour de France champion has looked in total control even whe...

Champions League Final Preview 2017: Juventus vs Real Madrid Tonight, the footballing world descends on Cardiff as two European giants go head-to-head for what is arguably the greatest prize in world football. Juventus, with their compact defence, will hope to overcome the reigning champions Real Madrid, who possess a frightening attack, the centrepiece being Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has torn La Liga defences to pieces all season, scoring 25 goals in the league and 10 goals in the Champions league. Assisted by the tireless Karim Benzema and the “Welsh Wizard” Gareth Bale, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich have both been dispatched by Ronaldo & Co. There seems no way to halt the charging Real attack. Enter Giorgio Chiellini. The 6ft Italian centre-back has been a defensive wall for Juventus since 2005. With Chiellini at the core, Juventus have only conceded 99 goals in the last 5 seasons, a staggeringly low number. Alongside club and country team-mates Leonardo Bonucci and ...

Lions Watch #1: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 -13 British & Irish Lions Match report: The Lions had to make a good first impression, and in that sense, they fell at the first hurdle. Straight from kick-off, a mistake from Iain Henderson gifted the ball to the Barbarians, who then battered the Lions defence for almost ten minutes, but to no avail. The Lions gradually worked through the phases and eventually won a penalty, but Sexton missed what would usually be a guaranteed 3 points, inviting more Barbarians pressure. Sexton later got on the scoresheet with a penalty, but approaching the half hour mark the Lions were still holding on to a shaky 3-0 lead. The provincial Barbarians finally produced an end product to their fantastic first-half performance, a Bryn Gatland up-and-under resulting in Anderson-Heather driving over the line, with Gatland getting the conversion to give the Barbarians a 7-3 lead at half-time. Greig Laidlaw steadied the ship with a penalty just after the br...

5 things Warren Gatland must do if the Lions are to beat the All Blacks 1. Rotation, Rotation, Rotation The Lions tour is without doubt the most gruelling event on the rugby calendar. Coming off the back of a hard-fought season, the squad will be beaten up twice a week by the provinces in so-called warm-up matches, and then face the most physical team on the planet at the end of it. 3 times. If the players who play 80 minutes each week in the midweek games start against the All Blacks, Gatland shouldn’t be surprised if the injury list is longer than the injury-hit tour of 2013. 2. Keep Morale high Graham Henry’s time as Lions coach is the perfect example of how NOT to win the series. Henry lost half the squad, mentally at least, on day one after telling his players who would be starting in the Test matches before they’d played a single warm-up game, leaving most of the squad disgruntled and with no motivation. The squad was effectively cut in two, with the midweek players trai...

The Cypriot God… From Blackburn Not many English players like to go abroad, least of all to Cyprus. But when Matt Derbyshire, born in Lancashire, packed his bags and headed off to Cypriot First Division club Omonia Nicosia, he thought it was the end of his professional footballing career. The striker had had spells at English clubs like Rotherham and Birmingham, and even played 14 times for the England Under-21s, yet when he found himself without a club in August 2016, he decided it was time for a different challenge. He was instantly a hit in Cyprus, marking his league debut with a 2 nd -minute penalty, and scoring the winner in a Europa League qualifier meant he became an immediate fan favourite. As the season went on, the boy from Blackburn couldn’t stop scoring, even surpassing Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the leader board for the European Golden Shoe. Before you complain that Derbyshire was being marked by a 38-year-old Cypriot carpenter while Zlatan has to deal with the best around...

WHY ANDREA BELOTTI ISN'T WORTH £86 MILLION £86 million. That’s a lot of money. Even for football’s sky-rocketing transfer deals, only Paul Pogba has cost more money than that. Suarez, Higuain, Ronaldo and even Gareth Bale were all considered to be worth less than this gigantic sum. So why is Andrea Belotti, currently playing for 9 th placed Torino and with just 3 competitive caps at international level, set to become the 2 nd most expensive player on the planet? Despite foreign interest, Belotti’s biggest admirer is a lot closer to home; Torino’s president, Urbano Cairo. Indeed, Cairo rates Belotti so highly, when the time came for contract negotiations in December, he stuck a whopping £86 million buy-out clause in the Italian’s contract. Belotti had only signed for the club 4 months earlier, after an underwhelming season at Palermo. While 10 goals from 13 games is not a bad return, it hardly warrants such a high valuation. Belotti continued to score, and Cairo continued t...

Bundesliga 2016/2017 Review – Bayern Reign Supreme LAHM AND ALONSO LEAVE ON A HIGH Bayern Munich captain Phillip Lahm, and Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso, both announced their retirement from football would be at the end of the season, adding extra incentive for the title to stay in Munich. Bayern were in the top 2 from the very start of the season, losing only twice in 34 matches and scoring 89 goals, 30 of which came courtesy of striker Robert Lewandowski. They finished 15 points ahead of newly-promoted RB Leipzig, who defied all odds to qualify for the Champions League in just their first season ever in the top flight. Borussia Dortmund made up for an underwhelming season with victory in the German Cup, but there will be plenty of improvement needed for manager Thomas Tuchel’s side if they are to challenge Bayern and Leipzig next season. STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR GERMAN CHAMPS However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Bayern. They were beaten 6-3 on aggregate by Rea...