Brian Reece

La Liga heads down the home stretch with five matches remaining, and Jornada 34 is littered with matches between the top and the bottom of the table. FC Barcelona hosts Xerez at the Camp Nou in the early Saturday kickoff, and both teams are running opposite of their position in the standings. Despite propping the […]

"NINO, NINO, NINO!" chanted Los Chicharreros in the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López. When shouted aloud, the chant sounded like an onrushing ambulance through a traffic-jammed street, and for Getafe, who fell victim to the brilliance of Nino, they needed the assistance of EMT workers. After a 0-0 draw at home to Real Valladolid last Saturday, […]

Last Saturday's telecast of El Clásico between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu was the highest-rated and most-watched program on Spanish-language cable television this year. El Clásico was seen on ESPN Deportes by an average of 466,000 Hispanic homes and 783,000 Hispanic viewers. As for the normal La Liga matches shown […]

Sevilla failed to show up against a desperate Real Valladolid side. Mallorca could only muster a draw against Real Zaragoza at La Romareda. Athletic Bilbao knew that a win against Valencia on Thursday would ascend them to within one point of Mallorca for the final Champions League spot. Sure, Athletic has not won away from […]

With El Clásico in the rear-view mirror, La Liga continues forward with a mid-week round that will help shape the European and relegation battles. For Real Madrid, a mid-week match should be good for them so that they can move on quickly from a mentally and physically draining edition of El Clásico. With Barcelona holding […]

Throughout Barcelona's two-year run of groundbreaking excellence, Josep Guardiola i Sala role as a tactician tended to be undervalued. He reinstituted the "Total Football" concept that Johan Cruyff, Guardiola's former manager at FC Barcelona, instilled when he was a player and a manager at the club, and he changed the culture inside the dressing room. […]

Real Madrid and Barcelona's matches in La Liga this season have almost had the feeling of high-level training sessions. A few surprises sprinkled throughout, but the inevitability of the best team in the world and the most expensive team in the world deciding the championship arrives on Saturday night. Barcelona will come off a heavenly […]

A gigantic banner covered one end of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu before the match. On this banner, the Grim Reaper and other scary creatures from movies and stories past sprawled across, and there was a message for their Madrid neighbors to the south, "Noche de Derby. Vuestra Peor Pesadilla." In English, this means, "Derby night. […]

After a mid-week round of fixtures, there is no rest for the weary as another slate of weekend matches comes much more quickly than they would earlier in the year. This last quarter of the year becomes a war of attrition, and those who consistently stay fit will reap the benefits as they take advantage […]

When Sevilla hosted cellar-dweller Xerez on Tuesday evening, an aura of uneasiness surrounded the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. In the front of the Sevillistas' minds was the poor form of their team. An extended run of indolent performances culminated on Saturday evening with a 2-0 debacle against Espanyol, where Sevilla would lose Jesús Navas for a […]

Jornada 28 is only the second mid-week round of the La Liga season, the first occurring well back in late September. Three teams in particular are glad that they get to play so soon: FC Barcelona, Getafe, and Xerez. Xerez? Yes, that same Xerez club that threatened to become the team to secure the fewest […]

While Real Madrid and Barcelona run away from the rest of the field in the struggle for the La Liga title, the tussle for the next four European spots is just as fascinating. The mix of teams truly runs the gamut from the usuals to the upstarts. Sevilla and Valencia continue to be the consistent […]

The final third of the season commences this weekend with a slate of matches that will likely impact European places more than the title race. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona will face clubs at the bottom half of the table, and barring any catastrophes, they should fend off Sporting Gijón and Real Zaragoza, respectively, with […]

With the advantage of the away goal, Sevilla looked in prime position to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately, Manolo Jiménez's team played as though they were already in the next round. A 0-0 score line would have sent Sevilla through, and even though Diego Perotti declared that they could not […]

The thrilling race at the top of La Liga came to a head last weekend, when Barcelona dropped two points at surging Almería, and Real Madrid fought back from a 0-2 deficit to win against Sevilla in the second minute of stoppage time 3-2. Now the two exemplars of Spanish football are tied for the […]