Jurgen Klopp Dortmund manager Champions League touchline suspension extended after being sent to the stands against Napoli

Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp will be consigned to the stands for his side's Champions League clash with Arsenal after his touchline ban was extended for another game.

UEFA had initially suspended Klopp for one match for clashing with the fourth official during last month's 2-1 defeat to Group F foe Napoli. After reviewing the incident again on Wednesday, the European governing body has decided to double the length of the ban, meaning Klopp will not be on the touchline for the game at the Emirates Stadium later this month.

Klopp has already publicly apologized for his antics, admitting that he behaved "like a monkey," and Dortmund could yet decide to appeal this latest ruling.

Dortmund, which routed Olympique de Marseille 3-0 at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday, faces group leader Arsenal in a crunch clash at the Emirates on Oct. 22.

The Rossoneri recovered from a dreadful start to their 2012-13 campaign to snatch a Champions League spot

 In the immediate aftermath of AC Milan’s 3-2 defeat to Juventus on Sunday night, Massimiliano Allegri was once again asked about his club’s decision to allow Andrea Pirlo to move to Turin on a free transfer two years ago.

The Rossoneri boss rolled his eyes and said: “It gets boring saying the same things over and over again.”

Yet when it comes to assessing Milan’s hopes of finishing in the top three this season, Allegri just cannot help but repeat himself. “The season is long,” he says. “We were further behind last season,” he says. “There is time to recover,” he says. “Let’s see what position we’re in at Christmas,” he says.

The 46-year-old coach’s continued optimism is both admirable and understandable. And he is right that Milan was, in a way, in a worse position than this at this point last year. After seven rounds of the 2012-13 Serie A season, the Rossoneri had just seven points. This time around, they have eight.

However, there is one crucial difference. This time 12 months ago, Milan was eight points adrift of the Champions League places. Now the club sits 11 points out of third place, which merely underlines the jump in quality so many of Serie A’s top sides have made over the past year.

Roma has enjoyed its best start to a league campaign, winning its first seven games under new coach Rudi Garcia, while Napoli has dropped just two points thus far.

Much was made of the fact that Juventus had been given a tricky start to the season and yet the two-time defending champion is also undefeated, having won six of its games and drawn the other.

A reinvigorated Inter only lost its unbeaten record on Saturday night, to Roma, while Fiorentina looks a force to be reckoned with, even if competing on two fronts already seems to be taking its toll on Vincenzo Montella’s ridiculously talented squad.

With Lazio now showing signs of having rediscovered the hunger of last season, it is clear that this promises to be the most fiercely contested Serie A campaign for many years, which is not good news for Milan.

The Rossoneri are competitive, but only in the sense that they do not lack heart. They proved that once again in Turin, where they could have snatched what would have been the unlikeliest of draws, with Sulley Muntari’s second goal of the evening having given Juventus a serious case of the jitters.

It would not have been the first time this season that Milan had salvaged points with late rallies either, with Allegri’s men having come from two goals down to snatch draws at both Torino and Bologna. However, for all their commendable resilience, there is a sick desperation about the Rossoneri at the moment, not to mention mounting frustration.

It was evident again on Sunday night. Philippe Mexes saw red for dissent not long after fortuitously avoiding a dismissal for an alleged swipe at Giorgio Chiellini that is likely to result in retrospective action and could sideline the Frenchman for some time. That could place further strain on a defense that has shipped a disturbing 13 goals in seven games (only the bottom two, Bologna and Sassuolo, have conceded more).

Of course, it is worth noting that Milan had been forced to travel to Turin without its principal/only attacking threat, Mario Balotelli, as he was serving the final game of a three-match ban for verbally abusing match officials after last month’s defeat at home to Napoli.

The enigmatic forward has always played on the edge, but Milan had better hope that his latest indiscretion did not come from a more deep-rooted frustration with the obvious lack of quality around him. The Rossoneri simply cannot afford to lose the Italy attacker. As Bojan Krkic intimated recently, Milan’s attack is 80 percent Balotelli - which is arguably overselling the importance of Alessandro Matri and Robinho.

Allegri said after the Juve defeat: “You don’t have to be a scientist to see Milan aren’t doing well.” But you also don’t need to be clairvoyant to see that this season is unlikely to end well for everyone concerned.

The Rossoneri coach believes that “it is too early to stop dreaming” but the reality is that there will be no repeat of last year’s remarkable recovery - no matter how many times Allegri says it.

The draft for the 2013 NFL QBR

2013 TOTAL QBR

 

RK	PLAYER	TEAM	QBR
1	Peyton Manning	DEN	90.1
2	Philip Rivers	SD	77.0
3	Jay Cutler	CHI	73.5
4	Andrew Luck	IND	73.0
5	Matt Ryan	ATL	72.7
6	Drew Brees	NO	72.6
7	Jake Locker	TEN	72.3
8	Tony Romo	DAL	66.0
9	Michael Vick	PHI	65.4
10	Russell Wilson	SEA	60.5

Colts takes action to sack Manning

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts linebacker Robert Mathis was a 22-year-old rookie trying to turn heads in practice back in 2003. What better way to impress your teammates and the coaches than to sack the quarterback, right?

 

 

Not if that quarterback’s name is Peyton Manning.
Mathis found that out the hard way when he got chewed out for coming within 2 yards of the team’s former franchise quarterback.
 

“I came pretty close my rookie year, and I got an earful from more than just the coaches,” Mathis said. “You learn from it. … You don’t want to hurt your quarterback. They’re the engine to the team. You can’t hit him.”

Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea, another one of Manning’s former teammates, will finally get a chance to sack him when he returns with the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we are going to love to get our chances to get P on the ground a few times,” Bethea said. “But like I continue to say, it’s going to be a fun game. The atmosphere is going to be crazy Sunday night. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Manning was asked to compare facing his younger brother, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, to going against the Colts.

“I guarantee Robert Mathis hits a heck a lot of harder than Eli does,” Manning said. “From that standpoint, it’s definitely different. … Robert is having a great year.”

The Colts have to get to Manning first. Mathis may be tied for the league lead in sacks with 9.5, but Manning’s instincts make it tough to get him down to the ground. Manning has been only sacked five times, the fewest of any quarterback who has started every game this season.

"He’s a complete quarterback," Mathis said. "He has that mental clock in his head to get rid of the ball and have awareness. You just have to try to get him rattle as much as you can."

Time is now for Rex to end 'Jets' Pats jinx

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Rex Ryan is preparing to face the New England Patriots for perhaps the last time. To date, he has earned the opportunity to run Woody Johnson's football team for another year, but he's about to begin a three-game stretch that could define the season. If the New York Jets don't spring at least one upset -- Sunday is the best chance -- it might cause Johnson to abstain from Rex at the end of the season.

This is by no means a make-or-break game for Ryan, but a loss would create a three-game gap between the New York Jets and Patriots -- and that would mean the likelihood of a fifth straight season without an AFC East title in the Ryan era. It's no fault of his that he landed in the division during one of the great coach-quarterback runs in history, but there comes a point where you have to man up and ambush the bully.

The Jets will never get a better shot at the Patriots, who have lost major pieces on both sides of the ball. These are not the Patriots of Bruschi and McGinest and Seymour. They're 5-1 because of two body parts: Bill Belichick's brain and Tom Brady's right arm. Can Ryan live with himself if he keeps getting beat by one brain and one arm?

Ryan has lost five straight to the Patriots, two shy of the Jets' longest losing streak in the series (2003-06). The euphoria of that incredible playoff upset in January 2011 faded away a long time ago. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Jets, but they're better than we thought and the Patriots are more vulnerable than anyone anticipated. There's no reason Ryan can't stick it to Belichick on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

The five-game losing streak was brought up Wednesday on a conference call with the Boston media, and Ryan -- perhaps annoyed -- fired back when a questioner wondered if he's been "kissing Bill Belichick's rings a little lately."

"No, I haven't," Ryan said. "Maybe you have, but I haven't, and I never will. I came here to beat him and to win, and to win our own championship rings and all that type of stuff. Again, hey, the facts are we've lost five in a row to them and things like that. We'll see if it's six in a row."

Ryan is exuding confidence, especially behind the scenes, where players say he's been displaying the old Rex strut. He knows Brady, sans his usual cast of characters, isn't the same Brady. Maybe that's why rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson spoke out Wednesday, telling ESPN.com, "No one really treats him like [Superman] around here. I think he's the complete opposite of that."

The Jets held the Patriots to nine first downs in their Week 2 meeting, the only time in Brady's career -- 181 regular-season starts -- he was limited to single digits, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Many folks attributed Brady's struggles to a lack of chemistry with his new receivers, not the Jets' defense -- and Ryan took umbrage. You can bet he's been hammering that theme all week with his players.

In a way, he has a point. One play, one narrow outcome, can alter a perception. If New Orleans cornerback Jabari Greer lined up where he was supposed to, a yard deeper, he would've deflected Brady's touchdown pass last Sunday to Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds left. Greer's pleading fingertips missed the ball by an inch or two.

It will be remembered as another great moment in Brady's legendary career, but the storyline easily could've been, "What's wrong with Tom?" Until the last drive, Brady was a mediocre quarterback, throwing an interception with two-and-change to play that resembled something out of the Geno Smith album of picks.

 Brady can be had. Look at what's around him. He's throwing to the Dropsy Twins, Thompkins and Aaron Dobson, a pair of rookies who have combined for nine dropped passes. It looks like Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola won't play, meaning the Jets will have avoided them in both games. On defense, the Patriots' two heart-and-soul players, Jerod Mayo and Vince Wilfork, are done for the season. Cornerback Aqib Talib, arguably their best remaining defensive player, might not play this week.

For Ryan, there's more to gain than to lose on Sunday. A win over the Patriots would add another line of his résumé, which will be closely scrutinized by Johnson and general manager John Idzik. If Ryan loses, he's staring at the possibility of 3-6 at the bye week.

After New England, the Jets go on the road to play the first-place Cincinnati Bengals (4-2), who beat the Patriots, followed by the NFC-leading Saints (5-1) at home. It's a brutal stretch that could cripple the Jets' playoff hopes. If that 3-6 scenario unfolds, Ryan would be reduced to playing the arrow game -- hoping a strong finish with a rookie quarterback is enough to convince the bosses the arrow is pointed up for the Jets.

Ryan can do himself a huge solid by beating the Patriots at home, something he hasn't done since 2010. It won't guarantee his future, but it would be a huge step in the right direction.

The fearless France International Pogba says Juventus will beat Real Madrid

 Paul Pogba says he is not in the least bit afraid of Real Madrid, claiming that Juventus will win "at least" one of its upcoming Champions League clashes with the Spanish giants.

The Bianconeri have drawn its opening two games in Group B, against Copenhagen and Galatasaray, meaning it must pick up points in the double-header against los Blancos if it is to have a real chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

On paper, it looks like a daunting task, but Pogba is not in the least bit perturbed by the prospect of first travelling to the Santiago Bernabeu on October 23 in search of a positive result.

"There's nothing to fear," the 20-year-old France international told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We will beat Real at least once and we will go forward.

"We are Juve; we must never forget that. Because of the history, prestige and quality of this club, we are inferior to no one. And for this reason, Real Madrid do not scare me. Juventus is on the same level of all the European greats.

"We can even win in Madrid."

Just over a year after leaving Manchester United for Juventus, Pogba has established himself as one of the most exciting young midfielders in the game.

However, he says all the praise he is currently receiving will not go to his head, as he has two perfect role models at Juventus in Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon.

"I'm still nobody; What have I done? Nothing at all," the France international reasoned. "I look at Pirlo and Buffon, and I learn about what it is to be a true champion.

"Those two have won it all, they are monsters, but they do not give an inch - not even in training."

Even though he only arrived in Turin last summer, there has been speculation that Pogba could soon be lured away by another member of Europe's elite, with even Madrid mentioned as a possible destination.

The Under-20 World Cup winner freely admits that he does not know what the future holds for him, but is still keen to reassure Juventus fan that he is loving life in Italy.

"Certain promises are meaningless," Pogba mused. "How can someone today make an hypothesis on an entire career? I don't take anyone for a ride.

"And so, I look at the present and I say that I 'm happy here in Turin. I love everything about this club: directors, coaches, teammates and fans. And, at the moment, I do not see anywhere else other than Juventus."

Pogba is currently away on international duty with France.

Balotelli could miss Barcelona clash after picking up an injury in the midweek win over Armenia

 AC Milan star Mario Balotelli may not be able to face Barcelona in the Champions League after picking up an injury on international duty.

The 23-year-old striker was on target for the Azzurri in the midweek World Cup qualification match against Armenia, but has since returned to his club with a thigh injury, casting doubt on his participation in Saturday's Serie A clash with Udinese and Tuesday's European showdown with the Blaugrana at San Siro.

A statement released on Milan's official website read, "AC Milan announces that Mario Balotelli is suffering from a vastus intermedius muscle injury to the right thigh.

"The player will be monitored in the coming days in order to better define the extent of the problem and determine the prognosis."

Balotelli has scored three Serie A goals in four games so far this season, but missed Milan's last league fixtures after being sent off in the 2-1 home defeat to Napoli in September.