[print_link] | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the UglyIn this week’s football review section we look back at some of the big stories from the world of football to help learners of English improve their vocabulary. This week we congratulate those sides making it into the Champions League group stage, report on the ‘bore-draw’ between Manchester United and Chelsea and look at why Fenerbahce are in trouble. You can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.
This week’s football review
Good
A good week for Glasgow Celtic who came from behind to defeat Kazakh side Shakhter Karagandy 3-2 on aggregate to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League. They were one of ten teams to progress to the next round along with AC Milan, Arsenal, FC Basel, Real Sociedad and German side Schalke.
Bad
After all the hype in the pre-match build up, the first real big game of the Premier League season between Manchester United and Chelsea finished in a dull scoreless draw. We were expecting sparks to fly as returning Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had made an offer for Manchester United’s star player Wayne Rooney, while it was also new United manager David Moyes’ home debut. Apart from one or two near misses the game never really took off with the spoils shared.
Ugly
Turkish side Fenerbahce had their appeal to be re-instated to European football turned down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and so will be kicked out of the Europa League after club officials had been found to have fixed matches during the 2011 season.
Vocabulary
came from behind: To win after having been losing
on aggregate: In total (after the two matches)
to progress to: To qualify for
pre-match build up: The talk before the game
scoreless draw: A 0-0 draw
sparks to fly:
debut: First game
the spoils shared: Draw; one point each
turned down: Rejected
fixed matches: Ensured that the result was known before the game took place
