SEVILLA (Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, SEVILLA 4-0 DINAMO ZAGREB, ATTENDANCE: 35,215

From Madrid a RENFE train took me south to the capital of Andalusia, Seville.

My second Champions League game of the week involved Sevilla as they hosted Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.

Sevilla are the regions most successful club with many domestic and European honours. The club have won the UEFA cup/Europa League five times in the last decade, including three on the bounce 2014-2016.

Their home ground, the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, was opened in 1958 and replaced the old Estadio de Nervión. The ground is about a 10 minute walk from the main (Santa Justa) train station, where I based myself in the nearby hotel, but a good 30 minute walk from the city centre attractions, including Seville Cathedral (below).

Cathedral of Saint Mary

The land for the new stadium was purchased by the then president of the club Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán but weeks before construction began he died suddenly died. His successor promised to name the new stadium in his honour.

Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán was officially opened in September 1958 with a 3-3 draw between Sevilla and Real Jaén.

During the World Cup of 1982 the stadium hosted two matches one of which was semi-final between West Germany and France, scene of the infamous Toni Schumacher challenge/assault on Patrick Battiston.

In 1986 the stadium also hosted the European Cup final between Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona, the less said about that particular European Cup season the better as far as I am concerned.

The ground was made all seater in the 1990's and now has a capacity of around 41,000. There were around 35,000 inside the ground tonight to witness a comfortable home win for Los Rojiblancos.

Goals from Luciano Vietto (31) Sergio Escudero (66) Steven N'Zonzi (80) and substitute Wissam Ben Yedder (87) ensured an emphatic victory. 

Zagreb's Petar Stojanovič received his marching orders in first half stoppage time which hardly helped their cause but, in truth, they offered very little even with a full complement of players.




The result puts Sevilla top of Group H, 2 points ahead of Juventus, with both teams going head to head on the next matchday.

ATLETICO MADRID (Estadio Vicente Calderon)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, ATLETICO MADRID 2-1 FC ROSTOV, ATTENDANCE: 40,392

This is the one. This is the one I've waited for. The first of my Spanish trilogy of matches was a game at the Estadio Vicente Calderón. This is scheduled to be the last season at this iconic stadium before the Atletico move next year.

A flight from Liverpool took to me to Madrid where I finally got a chance to visit the famous old ground, at the third attempt, after my previous trips were foiled by late kick off changes.

Atletico Madrid were hosting FC Rostov, who are first time Champions League qualifiers from Russia. Atletico won 1-0 in Rostov on Don two weeks ago and a repeat performance this evening would see 'Los Rojiblancos' through to the knockout stages.

The Vicente Calderon, which opened in 1966, is located on the banks of the River Manzanares, which gave the ground it's original name of the Estadio de Manzanares. The name was later changed in honour of Vicente Calderon, the club president who was the driving force behind the new ground.

The ground was upgraded for the 1982 world Cup, with the most recent upgrade being the installation of red and white seats. An unusual feature of the ground is that the M30 motorway passes underneath the Main Stand, of which one side is closed on matchdays allowing spectators to walk around freely and, in my case, also take photographs!

                    

The new ground is on the edge of the city and is clearly visible as you descend in Barajas International Airport and can also be seen from the transfer bus into the city.

The Estadio La Peineta, officially known as Estadio Olímpico de Madrid, will be ready for the beginning of the next season. The ground originally had a capacity of 20,000 which will be increased to around 73,000 spectators for Atletico. Unlike the current ground, all the seats will be covered by a new roof. Luckily for tonights game there was no rain tonight though it was very, very cool sat high in the stand behind the goal.

Pre-match there was time to see the sights (ahem) of Madrid so this involved another trip to the fabulous Fogg Birra and Cheese bar, with it's superb selection of beer, and another great bar, La Mayor, on Calle Mayor, not far from the Catedral de la Almudena. From here it was a straightforward 20 minute walk to the stadium.

It was a fantastic sight as I approached the ground, with the floodlights beaming into the night sky. It heightened the anticipation and on entering the ground I could not have failed to have been impressed by this cauldron of colour and sound.

Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring for Atletico after 28 minutes when he flicked the ball over the 'keeper into the Rostov goal. The home celebrations had barely subsided when Sardar Azmoun was played through to equalise. Atletico controlled the game but stubborn defending and a little luck almost secured Rostov a point.

However in the last seconds of the game Griezmann scored (what seemed) a controversial winner. The Frenchman fired home a superb volley but the linesman had his flag up as Griezmann was in an offside position. The referee though overuled him as the ball came off a Rostov defender on the way through.

The result meant Atletico Madrid qualified for the last 16 from Group D alongside Bayern Munich.

If you have not been to the Estadio Vicente Calderon then I suggest you try and make a point of getting there before it's too late. I promise you won't regret it!

PRESTON ATHLETIC (Pennypit Park)

SCOTTISH CUP 2nd ROUND, PRESTON ATHLETIC 0-3 MONTROSE, ATTENDANCE: 350

This weekend my attention switched to north of the border and my first Scottish trip of the season.

When the draw was made for the second round of the Scottish Cup there were two ties that stood out for me Linlithgow Rose v Stirling Albion and Preston Athletic v Montrose. After much deliberation, I opted for the latter and a trip to East Lothian.

Founded in 1945, Preston Athletic play in the Lowland League and are based at Pennypit Park in the town of Prestonpans. They became a senior club in 1994, when they joined the East of Scotland League, and were founder members of the Lowland League in 2013. The club is also a full member of the Scottish FA, meaning automatic qualification for the Scottish Cup.

Pennypit Park is in a fairly central location, just off the high street. There is a large stand but the rest of the ground is grass banking. It is next door to the rugby club, which is almost identical, but for a marginally bigger stand,  There is a clubhouse in the corner serving traditional fayre, so naturally a pie (or two) had to be scoffed! The Goth brewpub is a three minute walk from the ground, so pre-match was spent sampling the wares of the brewery.

The town of is famous as the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, which was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart, and was the first major battle in this Jacobite Rising, which took place on 21 September 1745.

Today the theatre of conflict was on the football field as the Panners looked to overcome league two strugglers Montrose. The Gable Endies have already lost to non-league opposition in a cup competition this season, having been dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Turiff United. However, it would be a task for the home side as they themselves are not exactly firing on all cylinders and currently prop up the Lowland League table.

It was obvious from the opening exchanges that there was going to be no upset here. Preston really should have been (at least) 3 down at HT but some of the Montrose finishing was woeful, also Craig Pennycuik in the Panners goal made some fine stops. It remained goalless at the break. 

Moments after restart though Preston were awarded a penalty for a push in the box but Ross Colquhoun's (48) effort was saved by Allan Fleming. Two minutes later Montrose finally made the breakthrough with a spot kick of their own, after a trip in the area, Gary Fraser stepping up to score.

A second goal was quickly added, when Chris Templeman (67) fired home from the edge of the box. Game over. A further goal followed, substitute Jonny Court (86) poking the ball home from a few yards out, there were also plenty more missed chances in between for the visitors.

Preston left the field with 8 men as, in the 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee brandished red cards to Jack Jardine (dangerous play) Gavin Stevenson (second yellow) and then Danny O'Rourke saw red after the final whistle. That completed a miserable afternoon for the home side, who competed well but were comprehensively beaten.

The game turned on two penalties in the space of a few minutes.
Preston's Ross Colquhoun saw his effort saved by Allan Fleming (above)
then Montroses' Gary Fraser scored his to open the scoring (below). After that
the visitors never looked like losing the tie.

STAMFORD AFC (The Zeeco Stadium)

FA CUP 4th QUALIFYING ROUND, STAMFORD 1-1 WREXHAM, ATTENDANCE: 1,264

Continuing the Welsh theme of the past few weeks, today I headed across to Lincolnshire where Northern Premier League Division One South side Stamford were hoping to cause an FA Cup shock by knocking out Conference giants Wrexham.

Stamford have never reached the first round proper in their history, whilst Wrexham have had their giantkilling moments in the distant past.

My visit came almost four years to the day since I last visited Stamford. The Daniels were then playing at Kettering Road which was their home from 1896 until December 2014, when they moved to a brand new purpose built ground, Borderville Sports Complex, known as the Zeeco Stadium in a sponsorship agreement.

The ground is everything you would expect of a smart new stadium, with a seated stand along one touchline and a terraced stand behind one of the goals. The ground is exposed down one side, with a grass bank offering perfect views of the pitch. Security patrolled said bank to ensure nobody was watching for free!

It had been a turbulent build up to the game for The Dragons as manger Gary Mills was sacked on Thursday after a poor run of results, losing four of their last six games. It all added to the potential banana skin that was facing Wrexham this afternoon.

The odds though were clearly against Stamford but their three wins at home have come in cup competitions, including two in the FA Cup. To reach this round the Daniels have beaten Sleaford Town, St Neots Town, Gresley and AFC Mansfield. They nearly pulled off the shock.

I travelled across with a Wrexham supporting mate of mine and he was telling me how bad Wrexham have been this season. At this moment in time he reckons staying up will be success. I was a little taken aback by that that comment but having seen them today I now understand where he is coming from.

A Zeeco Stadium record crowd of 1,264 watched The Dragons start brightly and take the lead after 5 minutes when Shaun Harrod fired home from six yards after Martin Riley had headed down a deep cross.

Wrexham tried to play football but there was no end product and they couldn't find the killer pass. Stamford in truth offered little in attack and the first half drifted to it's conclusion with only the one goal difference.

Stamford made a tactical substitution at the break and it turned the game on its head. Ryan Robbins came on to play alongside Jevani Brown and the pair caused the Wrexham backline all sorts of problems.

Robbins had a glorious chance to level the match when he went through one-on-one but he could not beat Shwan Jalal in the Wrexham goal. It wasn't long before The Daniels were level though when Brown was fouled in the area and Lee Beeson (58) fired home the resulting penalty.

After that Stamford created enough chances to have gone on and won the game, especially with another one-one-one chance which was squandered, this time, by Brown. 

Wrexham will be relived to have another chance at The Racecourse on Tuesday. Stamford may feel this was an opportunity missed.

CARDIFF CITY STADIUM

WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION, WALES 1-1 GEORGIA, ATTENDANCE: 32,652

For the second weekend in succession I was in the capital as Wales hosted Georgia in a World Cup qualification game.

Wales won their first match at home, beating Moldova 4-0, but came into this game on the back of a decent draw away in Austria. Ok, the Austrians were no great shakes, yes Wales took the lead twice, but they are unbeaten at the Ernst Happel in four years.

Three points at home against Georgia and everything in the qualification garden will look rosy, won't it?


Wales started brightly and took the lead after 10 minutes through a superb Gareth Bale header. However the Georgians looked very dangerous on the counter.

Wales were very slow out of the blocks for the second half and the Georgia began to make inroads into the Welsh back line. It was no shock when Tornike Okriashvili headed the visitors level after 57 minutes. 

As the game became more stretched Wales looked dead on their feet and were very fortunate to come away with a draw, as Georgia missed a couple of great chances, including one effort which crashed off the crossbar, to grab the win.

The absence of Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen from the midfield clearly showed as the second half progressed. There was no guile or inventiveness and you simply can't keep expecting Bale to dig the side out of a hole.

Apparently this was only the second time Georgia had avoided defeat in a competitive away match since 2012. A disappointing result but the booing at the end of the game from some Welsh fans was bang out of order.

Attention now turns to the home game with Serbia in November, which already looks like a must win game. Onwards....