The title races in England, Italy, Germany and France are virtually over halfway through the season, while longtime leader Barcelona shows no sign of slumping in Spain.
The monthlong transfer window opens tomorrow, and only some shrewd player purchases can possibly spark a second half shake-up to what has been a predictable season.
So far, the signs aren't good.
Already 11 points clear at the top of the English Premier League, defending champion Chelsea aims to strengthen an already powerful squad by signing Portugal midfielder Maniche from Dynamo Moscow.
Maniche played for FC Porto when it won the UEFA Cup and Champions League under Jose Mourinho.
Now at Chelsea, Mourinho hopes to sign Maniche on a six-month loan deal with an option for a permanent deal.
With billionaire Russian Roman Abramovich its owner, Chelsea could buy almost anyone. But Mourinho won't want to disrupt his team, which is also going strong in the Champions League.
Lyon, which has a 12-point advantage in France; Juventus, which is eight points ahead in Italy; and Bayern Munich, which is six points up in Germany going into the midwinter break; are similarly well placed.
Barcelona is only two points ahead in the Spanish league, but a club record streak of 13 victories in domestic and Champions League games suggest Frank Rijkaard's defending champion will be tough to top.
Barca's veteran striker, Henrik Larsson, looks like moving back to Sweden after the World Cup. Rijkaard is likely to keep much the same squad for the rest of the season, although Italian news reports say he is chasing Fiorentina striker Luca Toni.
There may be more activity from teams which are chasing the leaders.
Real Madrid has snapped up Brazil rightback Cicinho from Club World Cup champion Sao Paulo. Madrid already has Brazilians Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Julio Baptista and Robinho on its roster.
Manchester United, second in the Premier League but eliminated from the Champions League, is on the verge of signing Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow.
The Red Devils, though, have cooled their interest in Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who says he's happy with his squad, has been linked with AS Roma midfielder Olivier Dacourt with Patrick Vieira not being adequately replaced since departing in July. Dacourt has had Premier League experience with Everton and Leeds.
Champions League holder Liverpool, buoyed by a streak of nine straight domestic victories, has agreed a deal with Villarreal to swap Netherlands rightback Jan Kromkamp for Josemi.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set