PLAYOFFS: Quarter Finals Results

The quarters are in the books, and not without some surprises.

Juventus vs Manchester United






LEG #1: Manchester United 0 @ Juventus 0

A goaless draw in the first leg between Juve and Man U marked the first 0-0 result in the history of the MFL. Man U played a perfect road game, leaving them only a home win away from reaching the semis.

LEG #2: Juventus 0 @ Manchester United 2

Man U took the second leg 2-0 at home to knock off Juventus and move on to face Fiorentina in the semis. Al claims to have been pretty "lucky" crediting his posts for helping him move past his brother. This marks a historic moment in the Sirianni brother relationship as it is Al's first victory over Marc since his birth in 1983.

AGGREGATE: Juventus 0 - Manchester United 2

Internazionale vs AC Milan






LEG #1: Inter 3 @ Milan 3

Del's take:
match was controlled by David in the first half. He scored in the 4th minute, but I quickly countered in the 6th. He had many chances throughout the first half and a few in the second. I think at half time David was up 2-1 or it was tied at 1's. In the second half, I got my quality chances and converted 1 to tie it up. David retook the lead but in the 75th. In the 80th, Eto'o chipped one over the goalie and that's how it ended.

LEG #2: Milan 4 @ Inter 9

I felt comfortable going into game 2 with 3 away goals. I felt a tie would be good enough considering my defense was pretty bad in the 1st match.

David once again got off to a quick start and scored in the 6th minute. I scored soon after - in the 15th minute - to tie it at 1's. David scored the next three pretty quickly. I was now down 4-1, not having the away goal advantage anymore. I scored before the end of the first half. 4-2. The break did me good as I regrouped and focused knowing I needed at least 3 goals and a win to move on.

The second half was pure domination. I control play 100%. It's hard to believe but I didn't let up another goal and scored 7. Eto'o was on fire...I had figured out David's defense and kept attacking. With the score 5-4 instead of playing defensive, I went more aggressive. It paid off as Eto'o likely scored 5 or 6 goals in the game.

AGGREGATE: Inter 12 - Milan 7

PLAYOFFS: Quarter Finals Preview

Here it is boys, the real league starts this week. As Fiorentina and Roma wait to see who their semi-final opponents will be, two quarter-final derbys will offer plenty of drama to kick off the playoffs.

Juventus vs Manchester United

Matchday 4:
Man U 1 - Juve 2
Matchday 9:
Juve 2 - Man U 1
The Sirianni brother derby is tilted heavily in favour of Marc who took both league games 2-1, but Alex has proven that he belongs and he has taken results from Marc in the past. Expect these games to divide a household.

Internazionale vs AC Milan

Matchday 4:
Inter 2 - Milan 1
Matchday 6:
Milan 3 - Inter 1
These two sides split their league matches with the slight edge in aggregate going to David. Still, Inter is coming off a strong end to the season so expect fireworks in both legs.

Matchday 10: Results

This is it, the last week of regular season games. Al and Del have been granted a few extra days to play their game because of Al's hot shot new job that sees him travel all over the world to exotic locations (Sania, Thunder Bay, etc.). This league rules.

Manchester United 2 vs Internazionale 3
(Old Trafford)

Inter takes its revenge with a hard fought 3-2 victory over Manchester United. The win means Inter will face AC Milan in one semi-final while in the other the Sirianni brothers will battle it out when Juventus plays Manchester United.

AC Milan 1 vs Fiorentina 2
(San Siro)

Fiorentina avenged their week 9 loss with a controversial win that locked up the Pollo Memorial Trophy for most regular season points. In the 75th minute, with the visitors on top 2-1, the Playstation Network seems to have crashed leaving both players with nothing to stare at but a black screen. Milan Boss Davide Campolini, being the consummate professional he is, conceded the victory to Fiorentina manager Roberto Garisto, who greedily accepted. The win ensured that Roma was unable to catch Fiorentina for top spot in the league. League members will now be left to wonder what could have happened in the final 15 minutes that could have changed the course of the MFL FOREVER.

Juventus 1 vs Roma 2
(Stadio Olimpico di Torino)

Roma beat Juventus for a second consecutive time in league play to end their season with a win that secures them second place in the league and a first round bye. Goals from Mirko Vucinic and Julio Baptista helped the away side take all 3 points. Vincenzo Iaquinta struck late on a breakaway to snap Roma's shutout streak but the home side could not overcome a 1st half red card that put them down to 10 men for the majority of the game. Juventus finish their patchy season as the 3rd place holders.

Matchday 9: Results

Internazionale 4 vs Fiorentina 2
(San Siro)

Inter shocked the MFL with a very convincing and massively impressive win against an undefeated Fiorentina side. Inter was dominant, creating more chances and dictating the pace of play. Fiorentina did manage to score two goals despite Rob's TV settings being "messed up". The result comes as a big surprise as Inter entered the match in poor form, having lost their last four games, while Fiorentina was undefeated and stating their claim for the Maple Cup. The loss will unlikely change the final standings much but it does act as a warning to those who let regular season success go to their head.


AS Roma 4 vs AC Milan 0
(Stadio Olimpico)

AS Roma took the second and last Big Brother derby of the year by charging to a convincing 4-0 victory over an overmatched AC Milan. Both teams started the game cautiously but the momentum turned in favour of Roma when the Milan defence turned the ball over to Francesco Totti who slid a nice pass through to an unmarked Julio Baptista for the first goal. Roma's attack was dominant for the remainder of the match, particularly the play of the team's talisman Totti who completed a hat-trick late in the match. This win lifts Roma to two straight victories and sinks Milan to a third straight loss.

Juventus 2 vs Manchester United 1
(Stadio Olimpico di Torino)

Apparently, Juventus beat Manchester 2-1 sometime over the last week. Both managers are iffy on the scoreline so it'll stick as a 2-1 win for the home side. The win is a good one for Juve as it extends Marco's streak of beating Al in everything to one more category. As punishment, Al has been banished to Sarnia for one week.

Matchday 8: Results

Internazionale 1 vs AS Roma 2
(San Siro)

AS Roma snatched a victory from the hands of Inter through an inspired second half come back on Monday night. After trading chances early, Inter finially broke the deadlock when Diego Milito scored in first half added time to give the home side the edge at the break.

Despite being down by a goal, Roma boss Campolini decided to leave star striker Luca Toni on the bench in favour of Julio Baptista, and the brazilian international rewarded his manager with a breathtaking strike in the 68th minute to tie the game at one. Roma continued the pressure and finally struck again in the 78th minute when Francesco Totti managed to bang in a rebound after his first shot had struck the upright.

With Roma on top, the result looked like a foregone conclusion until the very last touch of the game. In the 90th+ minute, Milio managed to break away from the Roma defence and put a hard shot on goal that Doni pushed straight to Goran Pandev. With a wide open net for a draw, the ex-Lazio fag put the ball off the crossbar and out of play, marking the end of the game and extending his side's losing streak to four.

Juventus 2 vs AC Milan 1
(Stadio Olimpico di Torino)

Juventus picked up their second straight win by defeating AC Milan 2-1 on Monday night. While happy to pick up the win, Juve boss Marco Sirianni was not impressed with his team's play saying that he will "reevaluate the future of his FIFA career sometime soon." Milan's hard luck continued as they picked up their second consecutive loss due to a decisive own-goal.

Fiorentina 7 vs Manchester United 3
(Stadio Artemio Franchi)

Fucking finally. Rob wins.

Matchday 8: Preview

Internazionale (2-2-3) vs AS Roma (4-1-2)
(San Siro)

Inter has lost 3 straight and Roma is coming off a disappointing performance against Fiorentina last week so expect both teams to field aggressive lineups as they each try to steal 3 points.


Juventus (3-1-3) vs AC Milan (2-0-5)
(Stadio Olimpico di Torino)

Juventus seems to be back to their winning ways after beating Inter last week and will attempt to continue their strong form against an inconsistent Milan side. The visitors were embarrassed in Manchester last week and Manager Campoli is expecting a much better performance from his team this week.

Fiorentina (5-2-0) vs Manchester United (2-0-5)
(Stadio Artemio Franchi)

Manchester has been turning heads lately, especially after their 5-1 drubbing of Milan last week, but they'll have to be at their absolute best to stop the runaway train that is Fiorentina. If the visitors hope to hand the Viola their first defeat of the season they will have to rely heavily on luck and their world class keeper Edwin van der Sar, who will need to have his best match of the season.

Matchday 7: Results

Fiorentina 2 vs AS Roma 1
(Stadio Artemio Franchi)

Rob's review: In the most anticipated fixture of Matchday 7, Fiorentina hosted Roma in a battle for first-place. Coach Garisto received a huge blow (hehe.. i said "received a blow") when finding out just before kickoff that his star Murgu would be unavailable for the matchup against Roma and for the rest of the season. This news seemed to rally Fiorentina in their quest to conquer the inaugural FIFA league as they were organized and determined throughout the afternoon. On the other hand, Roma had everything to play for as their dreams of taking over first place were in their sights.

Fiorentina started the game with a 4-5-1 formation while Roma started in a 4-3-3 with leader and star Franceso Totti in an unfamiliar wide role and Toni up front. The game started very cagey and physical. Fiorentina allowed Roma to take possession of the ball yet Roma could not breakthrough the tight Fiorentina defence. Around the 30th minute, Fiorentina won the ball in midfield and Gilardino was sent on a one-on-one battle with a Roma centre-back, as he shrugged off the defender he drifted right and waited for Doni to commit then calmly slid the ball in the ol' onion bag to give Fiorentina a 1-0 lead. For the remainder of the half, Fiorentina manufactured a couple of chances on the counter-attack but could not find the goal to go up by two. Half ends 1-0 Fiorentina.

Both managers decided to maintain the status quo at half-time by not making any changes. Again Fiorentina mounted some effective counter-attacks but could not score while Roma created some chances and was equally unsuccessful. Finally, near the 65th minute manager Campoli became frustrated with his striker Luca Toni and substituted him for Julio Baptista and slid Totti back into his familiar striker position. Totti responded by netting an equalizer on a blistering shot that Frey couldn't but should've handled, 1-1. Minutes later, Fiorentina gather possession of the ball, knock the ball down the field fluidly and find Stefan Jovetic who is sent in on a breakaway alone, he slips it home to make it 2-1. The Florentine crowd erupt as they sense that this is the moment that they may have captured the Maple FIFA League Championship. Roma develop a couple of chances but cannot find the equalizer, Fiorentina win 2-1.

Fiorentina are now in control of their own destiny. With a 4-point lead on second place they can only slip once throughout the remainder of the season. Garisto stated after the game, "That's a character victory. Players like Jovetic and Gilardino stepped up to fill the void left by Murgu. The trophy is in our hands, we feel it". Campoli stated, "We Suck".

Internazionale 1 vs Juventus 2
(San Siro)

Juventus seems to be back on track after defeating Italian juggernauts Inter and leapfrogging them in the standings to take the over sole position of 3rd place. Gianluigi Buffon was very good late as the visitors managed to hold off a strong push led by Eto'o and Milito and pick up their first win in the league since late January.

Manchester United 5 vs AC Milan 1
(Old Trafford)

Dimitar Berbatov netted 3 goals in a dominating performance that lifts Manchester United even with Milan at 6 points. The home side took advantage of some questionable defending early when Berbatov stripped the Milan defense of the ball and walked in alone for an easy first goal. Milan was quick to respond as Pirlo leveled the game at 1-1 almost immediately only to fall behind again soon after on a Pirlo own-goal. That seemed to have broken the spirits of the Milan side who gave up 3 more goals in a match that will surely turn heads across the MFL.

Matchday 7: Preview

Breaking News: The new FIFA10 roster update has been released. This means that we should all download and save the NEW rosters. Some of us have made the changes manually (me = Toni) and some haven't (Del Sole = Pandev) but I think it's only fair that we all use the official FIFA10 rosters so that there are no excuses down the road. To download, go to EDIT TEAMS then to DOWNLOAD LATEST SQUADS. After you do that make sure you save your changes by going to MY FIFA !0 > FIFA 10 PROFILE > SAVE/LOAD/DELETE > SAVE > SQUADS

Fiorentina (4-2-0) vs AS Roma (4-1-1)
(Stadio Artemio Franchi)

The second meeting between these two juggernauts will again determine who sits first and who second. Roma is looking to avenge their only defeat this season that saw a controversial intervention from Milan manager Davide Campoli cost Roma a penalty while Fiorentina is looking to remain unbeaten and extend their first place lead to an near untouchable 4 points.

Internazionale (2-2-2) vs Juventus (2-1-3)
(San Siro)

The battle for third sees a Juventus visit a struggling Inter side who has lost their last two games after going unbeaten through their first four. Juve will hope to build on their positive result from last week and leap frog Inter for third spot.

Manchester United (1-0-5) vs AC Milan (2-0-4)
(Old Trafford)

Manchester has much improved since their 2-0 season opening defeat to Milan so the visitors can expect a much tougher match this time around. Wayne Rooney has been on a tear of late, scoring in each of his last 4 matches, while Milan's Ronaldinho has been equally impressive over the same span.

Matchday 6: Results

AC Milan 3 vs Internazionale 1
(San Siro)

AC Milan got revenge against their city rivals by taking the second derby of the year in compelling fashion. The Rossoneri came out determined, taking the play to Inter and being rewarded with a Ronaldinho goal in the 8th minute. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar extended the lead to two in the 21st minute and Ronaldinho added his second shortly after to make the game 3-0 before the 30th minute. After some tactical changes, Inter settled in but the damage had been done. Eto'o's second half strike was merely consolation for the visitors as their hot start to the season has been cooled by two straight losses to bottom table teams.

Juventus 2 vs Fiorentina 2
(Stadio Olimpico di Torino)

Juventus boss Marco Sirianni called his team's 2-2 draw to Fiorentina their "best match of the season." The draw comes at a tough time for the home side who have struggled to find favourable results over the past few weeks. Strong play from key players pushed Juve to an early two goal lead, including a stunning long distance strike from Diego that opened the scoring. Gamberini responded by heading home a Montolivo cross from a corner just before half to offer the league leaders hope heading into the second period. The visitors managed to tie the game but could not capitalize on a number of good chances down the stretch to take the victory. Still, the draw keeps unbeaten Fiorentina in first position at the close of week 6, making them, once again, the team to beat.

Manchester United 2 vs AS Roma 3
(Old Trafford)

Roma managed to squeak out a close 3-2 victory over a tough Manchester side Saturday morning by relying on a hat-trick from star striker Luca Toni. The former Bayern Munich man opened the scoring in the 32nd minute by cooly slotting home a pass from Francesco Totti that put the Italian squad up 1-0 at half time. Toni netted another in the 58th minute to put the Giallorossi in the driver's seat in what looked to be an easy win for the visitors. But a costly mistake by Doni got the home side back into the game when the Roman keeper cleared the ball straight to Owen Hargreaves who put it past a frantic Doni for Manchester's first goal of the match. Toni answered soon after with his 3rd of the game but the momentum was short lived as Wayne Rooney took a nice pass from Dimitar Berbatov and put the home side within one. Manchester continued to press, managing to bend the Roman defence but not break them. The win keeps Roma within striking distance of league leaders Fiorentina while Manchester's loss will keep them bottom of the table for a 7th consecutive week.