It’s late night out here in the soccerverse and the stories never stop! Tonight we announce David de Gea’s secret for being a great keeper, Gonzalo Higuain isn’t leaving Real Madrid and your latest Champions League results!

UEFA Champions League 

Both FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich have secured their spots in the semi finals of Champions League. Barca beat AC Milan 3-1 at Camp Nou while Bayern showed Marseille no mercy with a 4-0 aggregate win. Only two spots remain with Chelsea playing SLB Benfica tomorrow at Stamford Bridge and Real Madrid hosting APOEL.

English Premier League

Marouane Chamakh is staying at Arsenal. Well, that’s what he plans. With only one start this season, he’s been struggling with with his form and only scored one goal this season. Rumors speculate that the Gunners are looking to trade him back to Bordeaux but Chamakh insists he can be useful to Arsenal.

Any Chelsea fans out there? Remember defender Alex? Alex currently plays for PSG and he’s lashed out at his former club saying that part of the tension in the locker room was due to big egos saying:

“Chelsea’s squad had a lot of big names – and that entails a lot of egoism.”

Doughnuts are lifeblood people. At least that’s what Manchester United’s David de Gea is saying. De Gea is crediting the sugary goodness for his form on the pitch.

“I hide doughnut bites in my gloves and nibble on them during matches,” De Gea announced while showing one of his gloves filled with crumbs. “Other goalkeepers don’t know how much this helps.”

La Liga

Gonzalo Higuain isn’t going anywhere Madridistas. Reports surfaced that Real Madrid were looking to switch one of their best for Manchester City’s Kun Aguero. Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho accused the press for trying to ‘destabilize’ the club. Leave it to the Special One to set the press straight.

We have some interesting headlines for you crazy, soccer fans! Chelsea are looking to steal two of Real Madrid’s best players, a student gets arrested for disgusting comments via twitter and the USMNT under-23 fail to qualify for the Olympics. All in today’s DKA!

La Liga

Looks like Chelsea FC is interested in adding two of La Liga’s best to their lineup. The Blues are preparing a €100 bid for Real Madrid players Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain. Now here is where it gets interesting. This transfer could depend on whether Jose Mourinho decided to head back to Stamford Bridge as  a manager persuading the two players to join him. As for Ronaldo, his future with the Whites seems bright but for Higuain, he’s not giving us Madridistas any comfort during his post-match interviews, quickly avoiding any question that deals with him leaving the Bernabeu.

English Premier League

Mick McCarthy could be joining his former club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, after witnessing their decline after his departure in February. After 5 1/2 years as the manager, McCarthy was fired after a 5-1 loss against West Brom giving McCarthy’s assistant, Terry Connor his time to shine. When asked if he could return, McCarthy gave his opinion in true Irish fashion, simple and blunt:

“I would never say never, that’s all I can say. Stranger things have happened in football – Carlos Tevez, for example, is back playing for Manchester City.”

A new injury has struck a Manchester United goalkeeper. Anders Lindegaard had an injury setback and could miss the rest of the EPL season. In January he damaged some ligaments in his ankle preventing him from playing. Luckily for MUFC, David de Gea is back into top form so the club shouldn’t be too affected.

Fabrice Muamba

After collapsing during an FA Cup match last weekend, Fabrice Muamba is making tremendous progress. This weekend the Bolton midfielder sit out of his bed, watched TV and was able to eat.

A 21-year old student was jailed today for inciting racial hatred about Fabrice Muamba via his twitter account. After the public phoned police about the comments, they quickly tracked down and arrested Liam Stacey, a Swansea University student. One of Stacey’s tweets was:

 ”LOL (laugh out loud). **** Muamba. He’s dead!!!” 

What is wrong with this generation?

Olympic Qualifying

The U-23 USMNT had a heartbreaking game last night as they failed to qualify for the Olympics after tying with El Salvador. For a in-depth recap of the match, you can read it on mlssoccer.com.

UEFA Champions League

The first leg of the Quarterfinals kicks off today! Matches to watch out for are:

APOEL – Real Madrid

Benfica – Chelsea FC

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Hope your Tuesday has been spent with loved ones, or at least doing something you love. Now that the day is almost over, here’s a recap of the best stories you may have missed today while you were partaking in V-Day fun! Your late-edition Daily Kick Around includes more sexy Alex Morgan shots, the potential USMNT away jersey for 2012, results of the UEFA Champions League matches and much more!

US Women’s National Team

Alex Morgan is the soccer player that just keeps on giving. First, she scores lots of goals for the USWNT in their path to the 2012 Olympics in London, then she does this. Can she be any sexier? I don’t think so. Thank you Alex and Sports Illustrated, sincerely.

US Men’s National Team

I don’t remember exactly when it was, but near the end of last year, an image of what is supposedly the USMNT home kit for 2012 leaked onto the Internet. I’m not a huge fan, but I don’t hate it. It’s certainly not the worst jersey I’ve ever seen. However, the leaked 2012 away kit just might be. Have a look for yourself here. Who in their right mind would want to sport this? I would imagine the number is very slim.

Scottish Premier League

Yesterday, the Glasgow Rangers filed papers declaring their intention to go into administration. They had 10 days to officially announce it, and they didn’t waste any time doing so. The Rangers appointed Duff and Phelps as administrators today, and have been docked 10 points in the league standings. Yikes! Not good news for Rangers fans, and especially bad for the three Americans–Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya–that are a part of the squad. What happens next for them? Find out more here.

 UEFA Champions League

A lot of footy fans spent their Valentine’s Day watching the UEFA Champions League games, and I can’t think of a better way to spend the day! In case you weren’t able to catch them, Barcelona beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 ( full recap here ) and Lyon defeated APOEL 1-0 ( full recap here ).

It’s a new week filled with lots to talk about, footy fans, so I’m going to jump right into it! The biggest news today comes out of Scotland, where the Glasgow Rangers are in hot water. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how excited we are for tomorrow, and no, it’s definitely not for Valentine’s Day…the Champions League action is back! Plus, will Carlos Tevez actually return to Manchester City after all the drama surrounding him? That, and much more in today’s Daily Kick Around!

Scottish Premier League

Bad news for Glasgow Rangers and their fans: the Scottish club has lodged legal papers stating their intention to file for administration – the UK’s version of bankruptcy. Their financial woes are the result of a tax bill that the club would be unable to pay. The club has 10 days to declare that administrators have taken over operations. They will also have 10 points deducted from the league standings, but at this point, I think that is the least of their concerns.

UEFA Champions League

Rejoice! The UCL is back in action tomorrow after two months off. The round of 16 is set to kick off Tuesday, with Barcelona facing Leverkusen and Lyon taking on Apoel. For a full list of all the UCL matches, go here!

 English Premier League

After spending three months in Argentina — unauthorized — is Carlos Tevez finally returning to Manchester City? Now that the January transfer window has ended, Tevez has run out of options and seems to be set to come crawling back to City and right his wrongs with manager Roberto Mancini. It appears that Mancini will welcome him back with open arms (if Tevez apologizes) but I’m not sure I would. Is he really worth the drama? Plus, how long until he is at match fitness? If I were Mancini, I would think long and hard before giving him another shot.

After their embarrassing 5-1 loss to West Brom at home this weekend, the Wolverhampton Wolves have fired manager Mick McCarthy today. McCarthy has been with the team since 2006, and helped them win promotion to the Premier League in 2009, but has been a disaster this season. With only one win in the last 13 games, the Wolves have slipped into the bottom three of the table.

Unfortunately, we haven’t stopped talking about the drama before, during and after the Manchester United – Liverpool match from Saturday. Despite the poor character displayed from players on both clubs, they managed to avoid any sanctions from the FA. Each club is likely to receive a stern letter reminding them of their responsibilities, but that’s it. Really, FA?

Major League Soccer

The off season hasn’t exactly been a good one for the New England Revolution and their fans. The MLS club said goodbye to three of their top forwards, leaving them desperate for players with attacking prowess. Today, a glimmer of hope, as the Revs signed Saer Sene of the Bayern Munich reserves, a forward who has scored 19 goals in 55 appearances.

Africa Cup of Nations

In a shocking result, Zambia defeated the Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations, winning their first ever continental crown. The incredibly unlikely winners have some wild stats that were stacked against them, including being given a 1.9 percent chance of winning the title at the start of the tournament. Here’s a more in depth look at the statistics behind Zambia’s historic win.

Finally, I leave you with a silly and fun video of the LA Galaxy’s David Beckham goofing around between sets at a photo shoot … and pulling off one of the coolest foosball trick shots ever! He makes it look so easy…but I’m sure if I tried it, I would be hunting down a lot of errant shots!

Fear not, footy fans! Today’s DKA may be an evening post on this frenetic Friday, but it’s still filled with all the latest juicy news including an interview with USMNT’s Brek Shea, more on Megan Rapinoe’s all-star hair and fun stats about the Champions League Round of 16 draw.

U.S. Men’s National Team

FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea is the latest national team player, following Juan Agudelo and Kyle Beckerman, to be featured in ussoccer.com’s “An Offseason Abroad” interview series. Shea talks about his experience  training with Arsenal. What did Arsene Wenger have to say about Shea? Find out here.

U.S. Women’s National Team

You probably saw in yesterday’s DKA that we love the ussoccer.com interview with Megan Rapinoe’s Hair. That’s right – not Megan, her hair. But did you know that Nike actually made and sold a t-shirt of her fabulous coif? Unfortunately, it’s sold out, but if anyone knows what black market I can find one in — perhaps Rapinoe’s gift-basket? — do tell. In the meantime, Rapinoe fans can find Warhol-inspired Rapinoe hair on a tee from zazzle.com. I wonder if Brek Shea is jealous.

Champions League

If you’re a stats geek like me, you probably love reading the Five Aside Blog at ESPN.com. Paul Carr’s CL Round of 16 preview gives you five quick nuggets of firsts, onlys, and consecutive streaks, including everyone from Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona to Switzerland’s Basel and Cyprus’s APOEL.

Five Aside also has all the winners and losers from the draw, including some great points on first-time matchups. Which match do you think is most even? Here are the draws:

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Barcelona

AC Milan vs. Arsenal

Napoli vs. Chelsea

Marseille vs. Inter Milan

FC Basel vs. Bayern Munich

Lyon vs. APOEL Nicosia

Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Benfica

CSKA Moscow vs. Real Madrid

We know you’re itching to get out for the night, so we’ll keep this one short and sweet. Keep an eye on @AerysSoccer on Twitter for any breaking news, and don’t forget to follow us on Tumblr!

The Blues celebrate with Didier Drogba after his goal

By far one of the biggest matches of the day was the match-up between Chelsea FC and Valencia. It was a do-or-die match for both clubs; the outcome would determine who would advance to the round of 16 in Champions League.

Didier Drogba scored two of the goals for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Dorgba put his club up 1-nil in the 3rd minute after a beautiful pass by Juan Mata, shooting the ball into the right-hand corner past Valencia keeper Diego Alves.

Drogba, who was rumored to leave Stamford Bridge in January, scored yet again in the 76th minute with yet another pass from teammate Juan Mata.

The third goal would come from Brazilian Ramires, who received a pass from Drogba and slotted a beautiful left-footed shot past Alves.

With this 3-nil win, Chelsea keep their third clean sheet in four matches and secure their spot in the next round.

Group winners for today are Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL and FC Barcelona. The Runners-up were Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit and AC Milan.

Champions League Match Scores

Genk 1-1 Leverkusen

Olympiacos 3-1 Arsenal

Dortmund 2-3 Marseille

Porto 0-0 Zenit

APOEL 0-2 Shakhtar Donetsk

FC Barcelona 4-0 BATE

Plzen 2-2 AC Milan

Look for a recap from Toni Stone of Arsenal’s match tomorrow. And stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your Champions League updates!

Photo courtesy of Chelsea FC