It's always something with Liverpool, isn't it? Whether it be bickering board members, Rafa Benetiz grumblings, transfer sagas or stadium proposals there's always something afoot at Anfield.

Today it was scrapping by 1-0 against Belgium's Standard Standard Liège in the final qualifying round of the Champions League. Thanks to Dutchman Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool avoided embarrassment and qualified thanks to his 118th minute winner.

Admittedly, I did not watch this match but followed on a couple game-trackers. By all accounts, Liverpool was somewhere between dreadful and awful. Never have I seen the word "shambolic" used so often. Yet it's a results based game and Liverpool lives to play another day and by token of the victory adds £12 to the kitty.

From the cynics behind the keyboards, American defender Oguchi Onyewu wasn't much better for Liège, getting involved in numerous collisions and fouls. Probably not exactly the best game to showcase oneself for a transfer out of Belgium. (Onyewu has been linked to moves in Italy and France.)

In other Champions League qualifiers of note, Arsenal mushed Steve McClaren's 4-0 to advance 6-0 overall. Atlético Madrid dropped FC Shalke 4-0 to eliminate last year's quarterfinals and reducing Germany's entry into the Group Stages to just two. England, Spain and Italy each have four entrants.

The shock result is that FC Bate Borisov trumped Levia Sofia to become the first team from Belarus in the Champions League proper. Making the accomplishment even greater is the team is comprised of players from just Belarus and Russia and not full of Brasilian mercenaries.

Bate joins Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta in the Group Stage, which upset Greece champion Olympiacos 3-1 over two legs.

The draw is tomorrow and rest assured the European powers are keeping their fingers crossed they end up in the same group as the club that gave Alexander Hleb his start.

After weeks and weeks of transfer speculation, the saga of two of Europe's biggest targets finally appear closed. Within a couple hours of each other, Brasil's Kaká and Spain's David Villa ended any talk that they're moving before the summer transfer window closes.

Early Wednesday Kaká pledged his future to AC Milan. Later in the day, Villa penned a new six-year deal with Valencia, though as we know contracts don't mean that much in European soccer, but Villa shouldn't be on the move at least until the next transfer window opens up. .

The duo's future had been bandied about the tabloids all summer, naturally with Chelsea at the forefront. The transfer cost of both players hovered around the GDP of a couple European microstates.

Apparently fiscal sanity finally won out, well, until we see the amount of zeroes on the check Chelsea sends to Real Madrid to end the tedious Robinho saga.

To complete the sticking-around trifecta, the long-rumored Gareth Barry to Liverpool move finally, mercifically seems dead with the Aston Villa captain saying he's sticking with the club. Thankfully its only a couple more days when we can put all this talk to rest and focus on the games themselves.

Steve Nash's favorite Premier League team appears to have finally inked a forward in the form of Euro 2008 breakout, Russian baby face Roman Pavlyuchenko. The deal isn't 100 percent, but it appears Tottenham and Pavlyuchenko's Russian club Spartak Moscow have come to an agreement and the player himself is quoted as saying the move is done.

Now, does this move pave the way for Spurs to sell Dmitar Berbatov to Manchester United? Seems pretty likely.

Either way, it addresses a glaring need for the North London club, which basically only has Darren Bent as a forward, while Berbatov pouts with the reserve team. Oh right, Tottenham is winless in two Premier League matches so far.

How good Pavlyuchenko is and how he'll adapt to the Premier League is another good question. He did tally 77 times in 147 matches for Spartak and did show a knack for goal in Russia's nice run to the Euro 2008 semifinals. (Oddly enough, he was dubbed 'overweight' before the tournament.)

At the very least, he'll offer a physical presence with his 6-foot-2 frame to the pint-sized Spurs' midfield consisting of Luka Modric, David Bentley, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Jenas. Pavlyuchenko is considered fairly tall in the world of football, yet he's actually shorter than the 6-foot-3 Nash, who you'd never consider to be 'tall' in NBA circles. (Nash formerly played as an attacking-midfielder, not like Spurs need another of those.)

The final question, for this post anyway, is when and if Pavlyuchenko's Russian teammate Andrei Arshavin is next for White Hart Lane. In case you're wondering, he checks in at a towering 5-foot-7.

In case you missed it, it wasn't exactly the greatest debut for MLS in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League. The league's two entries into the preliminary stage of the competition were beaten Tuesday night, with CD Chivas USA falling 2-0 to Panama's Tauro FC, while the first-place New England Revolution lost 2-1 at Trinidad & Tobago's amazingly-named Joe Public FC.

The MLS teams aren't out of the compeition, since they both get to host return legs matchs on Sept. 2. The Revolution are actually in decent shape, since they scored the coveted "away goal" meaning they can advance with a 1-0 victory. In fact the Revs missed numerous chances in the final five minutes to knot the score at 2-2, including Taylor Twellman over-running a great centering pass. Chivas, on the other hand, looked pretty lost on a bumpy field in Panama and have their work clearly cut out for them.

The Revoultion and Chivas USA are trying to join DC United and Houston Dynamo in the Group Stages of the event. The latter two clubs qualified by winning the 2007 MLS Supporters Shield (best regular season record) and MLS Cup, respectively.

The CONCACAF Champions League replaces the CONCACAF Champions Cup, which actually ran earlier this year. The Champions League conlcudes in April 2009. Interestingly, the Group Stage occurs mainly in October and November, the time when MLS is in playoffs, which could pose some problems.

Also, adding more competitions like this which run concurrently with the MLS season is another reason the league ought to increase its salary cap because teams will need more players simply for depth.

There's no easy way to put this, since their inception in 1996 as the awkwardly named New York/New Jersey MetroStars the MLS' New York metropolitan area offering has been bad. Not exactly 1899 Cleveland Spiders-level horrible, but thoroughly mediocre and instantly forgettable. (Last summer I ranted long and hard about the ill-fated franchise on my own site, if you're interested.)

In short form, the Red Bulls, which have never even played in an MLS Cup final and have lost in the quarterfinals (a.k.a. the first round) five straight seasons. Since 1996 they've employed 11 different coaches, including U.S. national team bosses Bob Bradley and Bruce Arena; current Portugal coach Carlos Quieroz and even 1994 World Cup winner Carlos Alberto Parreira of Brasil.

Now under Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio things might finally be turning the corner. Although the team sold teenage striker Jozy Altidore earlier this summer to Villareal in La Liga, the Red Bulls have won three straight games including a 3-0 thumping of defending league champ Houston. Overall the Red Bulls have outscored opponents 9-1 over this span, moving them to 31 points -- sixth best in the 14 team league. These wins were the first by the team since June 25.

It's ironic, because this stretch comes after the Red Bulls were smushed 6-2 by FC Barcelona in a friendly televised on ESPN2.

Safe to say that everyone's favorite Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev has a new least-favorite world soccer player, as today one-time Brasilian superstar Rivaldo moved from AEK Athens to Uzbek club FC Bunyodkor today.

Normally, this move warrants yawns and indifference. Who cares where a 36-year-old Brasilian ends up?

What makes it noteworthy is usually players of Rivaldo's caliber -- 1999 Ball D'or and FIFA World Player of the Year winner -- don't usually wind down their careers in the wilds of Uzbekistan. Typically they head to some rich Middle Eastern state like Qatar, or even, gasp, MLS.

This was the same club, you might remember, that earlier this summer claimed had come to an agreement with Barcelona's Cameroonian stud strike Samuel Eto'o. The club recently changed its name from PFC Kuruvchi and has moved up three levels in three years. The team is currently playin in the AFC Champions League. A move like this makes people take notice of the club even if, like me, all they do is throw a cliched Borat joke around.

So could Uzbekistan become the new United Arab Emirates? Is the weather that much of a draw in Tashkent? Signs likely point to no.

At least this move isn't as silly as what came out of Romanian when a second-division player was sold for 15 kilograms of meat.

I only wish this sort of thing were possible in American professional sports. Wouldn't it have been great if the Dodgers threw in a couple cases of Dodger Dogs to the Red Sox when they landed Manny Ramirez?

The 2008 Summer Olympics are in the books, with the closing ceremony taking place in Beijing today.

As part of the closing ceremony, Beijing passed the torch on to the 2012 Olympics host, London, which was represented by England's most famous international athlete, David Beckham.

Beckham arrived aboard a trademark London double-decker bus in front of 91,000 spectators at the Bird's Nest stadium, kicking a soccer ball off the top of the bus and toward the crowd. An eight-minute presentation told the world what to expect from the London 2012 Games.

Although Beckham said he thought Beijing did a good job as Olympics host, he added, "I'm sure we will be better than them, without a doubt."

After two lost seasons, Andriy Shevchenko's disastrous flop of a run appears over at Chelsea. Numerous sites are reporting that the one-time £30 million signee is returning back to AC Milan. The deal seemed dead Friday, but was pulled off sometime Saturday, as Chelsea cull players for a run at Robinho. The deal is contingent on Sheva passing a physical.

At AC Milan Sheva was billed as the world's best striker, with 127 goals in 208 Serie A matches, before coming to England in 2006 in what most pundits saw as a trophy-signing by Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. Turns out, for once, the talking heads were correct -- though no one could have speculated how quickly the wheels would fall off for the Ukrainian. (It's like 1980s action director John McTiernan, going from directing 'Predator' and 'Die Hard' to helming shlock like 'Medicine Man' and 'The Last Action Hero' in the span of 10 years.)

Once with Chelsea, that astronomical goal-rate plummeted in a 1927 Stock Market-fashion. Overall he made seven appearances with the Blues, finding the net only nine times in 47 Premier League matches. In the 2006-07 season he was famously out-scored in the Premier League by current U.S. captain, Carlos Bocanegra -- then with Fulham 5-4 and Bocanegra was a defender.

Shevchenko is only 31-years-old and should have some decent production left. Oddly enough, the 2004-Ballon D'Or winner teams with the 2005 winner -- Ronaldinho -- at the San Siro with both fading stars trying to jump-start their careers.

At least him American model-wife Kristen Pazik (pictured) didn't appear to lose her looks or fall victim to any English dental practices during the family's ill-fated stay in London.

Isn't it bad enough that Manchester City has had to live its either life mainly in the shadow of Manchester United?

City and its extremely loyal fans have endured years of mediocrity and relegation and now have this Thaksin Shinawatra mess. Shinawatra, as you'll recall, is the former Prime Minister of Thailand, and now seeking political exile in England. Just read his Wikipedia page. (It'll make your head spin.)

Not exactly the best thing when you're labeled "a human rights abuser of the worst kind." That's something you tend to leave off your resume, if possible.

Considering my ignorance toward Thai politics, let's stick to sport.

This weekend Shinawatra has now offered to step down from the City board after he skipped a court date in Thailand. Shinawatra has also been warned to stay away from the City of Manchester Stadium for fear of his life.

It's amazing how this drama has played out. A year ago Shinawatra has hailed as a semi-saviour to City, bringing in former England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, who in turn signed a boatload of players (Elano, Corluka, etc.) which moved City from the relegation zone to mid-table respectibility. Well, a year later Eriksson is now coaching Mexico's national team and City seems on the verge of an out-an-out crisis even if Shinawatra claims money isn't a problem for him.

If there's a lesson here, it's not to allow you're favorite sports team to be sold to a man that's the target of coups and international tribunals even if that man has made billions through possible insider trading.

The best-case solution here? Shinawatra sells his interests to boxer Ricky Hatton and the Gallagher Bros. from Oasis.

In case you missed it at 2 a.m. Saturday morning, Argentina topped Nigeria 1-0 in Beijing to take it's second straight soccer gold medal.

Ironically, most of the talk before the tournament -- which is really an U-23 event with a couple cameos -- was if club teams were beholden to release their players for the Olympics, which aren't recognized on the FIFA calendar. The biggest name in this row was Argentina's 21-year-old superstar Lionel Messi, a key figure at FC Barcelona. The Court of Arbitration for Sport eventually sided with the clubs, but Barcelona allowed Messi to stay in China.

It's probably a smart move not to tick off one of the world's best players, right? Barcelona had wanted Messi back for its Champions League third round qualifier against Wisla Krakow. As it turns out, Barcelona leads after the first leg 4-0 and Messi nets the gold.

Everybody's happy, hooray!

Saturday in Beijing, Messi displayed one of his increasingly common transcendent plays. No, it wasn't the Maradonna copycat run vs. Getafe a couple seasons ago, but it was pretty nice nearly 50-yard through pass. It set up Angel di Maria's winner, which he chipped cooly over the Nigerian keeper. Watch the highlights from NBC, here. (Goal around the 2:40 mark.)

Argentina has now won six straight Olympic matches. Liverpool's Javier Mashcherano also takes home back-to-back golds and is on pace to play over 100 matches this season. Rafa Benetiz has got to love that.

The biggest question going forward to the 2012 London Games, is if the tournament will be changed to a straight U-23 with no overage players or if FIFA will make it a recognized event. Something probably has to happen on one front.

With the Olympics over, we can finally turn all our attention to the stuff that really matters. The European Leagues, the Champions League ... and yes, even MLS.