Peter Odemwingie Is Here... For Now: 12/5

West Bromwich Albion 3-1 Newcastle United

Peter Odemwingie scored twice for the Baggies, who are back up to eighth with the win. Odemwingie is surely not long for this world, though; after choosing the Nigerian national team over his birthplace, Russia, someone is going to make him disappear one of these days. You do not cross the Russian mafia. Hmmm, suddenly Thursday's events make even more sense, at least from the perspective of Sepp Blatter's instinct of self-preservation.
MatchStat) Yellow Cards: West Brom 0, Newcastle 5

Sunderland 1-0 West Ham United

The Black Cats were a bit more dominant than the final scoreline shows, winning on Jordan Henderson's quality finish of a lovely goal and rarely being threatened by the Hammers. ZOMG stay tuned for the Avram Grant sack, which is surely, maybe coming soon possibly! Enjoy the Championship next year, West Ham.
MatchStat) Shots on Goal: Sunderland 7, West Ham 1

Spanish Inquisition:

The match of the day pitted third place Villareal against eighth place Sevilla. The Yellow Submarine won, 1-0, thanks to a 29th minute goal from Nilmar. Fourth place Espanyol won 1-0, scoring after going down to ten men. The late match between expected mid-table team Athletic Bilbao and surprising mid-table team Real Sociedad went to last season's second division champion (Sociedad), 2-0, on a penalty and an own goal. Sociedad improved to sixth with the win.

Insert Cheap Italian Stereotype Here:

Eighth place Sampdoria beat Bari, 3-0, to move up to a tie for fifth on points and goal difference with Palermo and Inter Milan. Third place Juventus beat eleventh place Catania, 3-1, thanks to a brace from Fabio Quagliarella, closing the gap to leaders AC Milan to six points ahead of their showdown with second place Lazio next weekend (barring the threatened player strike).

Das Boot:

Borussia Dortmund won at Nuremberg, 2-0, to extend their Bundesliga lead to ten points over Mainz, thanks to goals from Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski. Bayer Leverkusen won 3-2 against relegation threatened FC Cologne to surpass Hannover for third place, eleven points off Dortmund's pace.

Midweek Action:

Liverpool hosts Aston Villa on Monday, and then the final group games in the Champions League are on Tuesday and Wednesday. With twelve of the sixteen knockout spots already secured, I'll focus here on the what's left to play for in each group:

Group A- Tottenham and Inter have clinched qualification, but are even on points, and Spurs hold the tiebreaker. Both teams play on the road in the final fixture, Tottenham at Europa League-bound Twente, and Inter at eliminated Werder Bremen.

Group B- Schalke and Lyon are through, but first and second place are still at stake, with Schalke a point ahead of Lyon. The other two entrants are still both alive for the Europa League spot, with Benfica two points ahead of Hapoel Tel Aviv. On Tuesday, Schalke travel to Benfica, and Lyon host Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Group C- Manchester United and Valencia are through, and they play one another at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Valencia wins the group with a win, and Man U wins the group if they do not lose. Rangers have clinched the Europa League spot, and finish out their Champions League run at Bursaspor, who have five losses in five games in the competition.

Group D- Barcelona are through as group winners, and Panathinaikos are eliminated. The second spot will go to either Copenhagen (7 points) or Rubin Kazan (6 points). Kazan travel to Barcelona (where they won last year) while Copenhagen host Panathinaikos.

Group E- Bayern Munich have won the group, and Cluj are eliminated. Roma (9 points) and Basel (6 points) are both still in play for the second spot. Basel's chances seem slim, however, as they must win in Munich and see Roma lose at Cluj to advance.

Group F- Everything has been decided. Chelsea won the group, Marseille finish second, Spartak Moscow are headed for the Europa League, and Zilina are headed home.

Group G- Only the Europa League spot is left to play for, as Real Madrid have won the group, and AC Milan have clinched second. Ajax (4 points) plays at Milan, and Auxerre (3 points) plays at Madrid.

Group H- Everything is left to play for here, except for Partizan Belgrade, who, like Zilina and Bursaspor, enter the final matchday with zero points. Shaktar Donetsk (12 points) hosts Braga (9 points), while Arsenal (9 points) hosts Partizan.