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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: BATE, Big Spenders and Italian Match-fixing

Big Spenders

In this week’s review section we look back at some of the big stories from the world of football to help learners of English improve their vocabulary, including the Champions League games involving BATE and Bayern Munich. You can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.

A Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Good

Champions League debutants Malaga continued with their impressive form by winning 3-0 again in the second set of games – this time away at Belgian side Anderlecht. However, even this great victory almost pales into significance when compared with Belarusian side BATE Borisov’s amazing 3-1 victory over German powerhouse and last year’s Champions League runners-up, Bayern Munich.

Bad

Not so good however for big-spending Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain who both failed to win their respective matches in the Champions League. City were held at home by German champions Dortmund, while PSG were defeated by a more experienced Porto side. Maybe money cannot buy success after all?

Ugly

Last week we focused on former Argentinian star Almeyda’s comments about alleged match-fixing in Italy and now one ex-Bari player, Andrea Masiello, has been given a 22-month suspended sentence for admitting that he deliberately scored an own goal in a crucial Serie A game against Lecce at the end of the 2011 season. Very ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

debutants: First-timers

pales into significance: Does not really compare with

match-fixing: When teams decide on the result before a game, a form of cheating in football

powerhouse:A  A traditionally strong side

were held: Drew at home (hold to a draw)

an own goal: A goal scored by a player in his/her net

22-month suspended sentence: He was not sent to jail but if he commits another crime then he will receive an additional 22 months.

Welcome to the website that helps students interested in football improve their English language skills. Soccer fans can enhance these skills with lots of free language resources: a weekly podcast, football phrases, explanations of football vocabulary, football cliches, worksheets, quizzes and much more at languagecaster.com.

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The Good, The Bad, The Ugly