Brian Reece

Amidst the whirlwind of José Mourinho at Real Madrid, the somewhat human play of Barcelona, and the managerial change in Sevilla, Villarreal's impressive start to their La Liga campaign has gone mostly unnoticed. Villarreal had a chance to top the table for the first time in its history with a win against their Valencian neighbors […]

UEFA Champions League If judging by current form at this very minute, Real Madrid might be playing the best football in Europe. After their opening few matches where they could not kick the ball into the Mediterranean Sea, their ten goal outburst against Deportivo La Coruña and Málaga in their last two matches shows signs […]

Through the first six rounds in La Liga, Valencia CF led the way at the top of the ladder with sixteen points, one point ahead of Villarreal, two points ahead of Real Madrid, and three points ahead of FC Barcelona. Along with Real Madrid, Valencia remained only one of two teams still undefeated in the […]

This weekend, the Camp Nou hosts the first match between legitimate title contenders as FC Barcelona invites league leaders Valencia into the Catalan crucible on Saturday evening. Some might argue that the Atlético Madrid – Barcelona match in Jornada 3 provided the first clash between clubs that have a real chance to win La Liga, […]

Spain limps into their second Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania, as injuries forced five of their usual call-ups from participating in La Furia Roja's two upcoming fixtures. Cèsc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Pedro Rodríguez, and Jesús Navas all have different knocks and nicks, but the man that Vicente del Bosque will miss the most is the […]

Injuries forced Vicente del Bosque to alter his standard squad for Spain's forthcoming Euro 2012 fixtures against Lithuania on Friday and Scotland on Tuesday. Xavi Hernández is suffering from tendinitis, Cesc Fábregas has an ankle injury, Jesús Navas is dealing with a thigh strain, Fernando Torres limped off against Blackpool on Sunday with a groin problem […]

Gregorio Manzano took the reins of Sevilla FC one week ago from the sacked Antonio Álvarez, and he did not inherit a club that inspired any confidence from los nervionenses that filled the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Sunday afternoon. Although the Andalusians only lost one of their first five matches in La Liga, two […]

Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán houses the match of the weekend, although the LFP did not grant the match with a glamorous time, as Sevilla hosts Atlético Madrid in a match where both teams will likely fight for a Champions League spot by the end of the season. Sevilla sacked Antonio Álvarez after they could not […]

UEFA Champions League Real Madrid's offensive woes will not be aided when they travel to the Stade de l'Abbé Deschamps on Tuesday and face an Auxerre squad who gave up the fewest goals in Ligue 1 last season with a meager 29. While Auxerre's form has not carried over to this current season, where they […]

Flashback ten years ago to the year 2000. La Liga rose to the top spot of the UEFA coefficient rankings for the first time since 1966. The final of the UEFA Champions League featured two Spanish teams with Real Madrid defeating Valencia 3-0 at the Stade de France. Despite that Champions League victory, Real Madrid […]

Early in the second half, before Angel di María opened the scoring with a sublime curler to the right far post to give Real Madrid the 0-1 lead, "El Especial," José Mourinho, lambasted referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz for showing a yellow card on Sergio Ramos for an apparent trip on young Real Sociedad starlet Antoine […]

La Liga provides its supporters and spectators with its first midweek round of the season, and through three rounds of this long campaign, the table has already sorted itself out in terms of the apparent three tiers in La Primera División. The top six teams are the same teams that usually occupy the European places […]

For the first time this season, the Spanish teams participating in European competitions will have to adjust to the quick turnaround from the midweek European fixtures to the weekend matches in La Liga. While Getafe has only been in a continental tournament once before, the other six teams are veterans of this kind of packed […]

Before this current season, Hércules CF had tasted top flight football only twice in the past twenty-five years: the 1985-86 season, when their neighbors to north, Valencia, also suffered relegation for the first time in its illustrious history; and the 1996-97 season, when the Alicante club spent one campaign in La Liga before subsequent relegation to […]

La Liga clubs spent a week on vacation after the opening round of fixtures because of the international FIFA date, although for Real Madrid and Barcelona, many of their players were on international duty. In particular, ten players from Barcelona and six players from Real Madrid traveled to Buenos Aires midweek for the Argentina – […]