Brian Reece

The Almería – Barcelona match had not concluded when Real Madrid took to the pitch, but a few minutes into their match with Sevilla, they knew that Barça slipped at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos and dropped two points with a 2-2 draw against Almería. Expectations were that Real Madrid would not have the […]

The marquee matchup of the weekend is the late Saturday kickoff between top four teams Real Madrid and Sevilla. The reverse fixture in early October was one of the matches of the season, and while Sevilla's title chances faded away during the dregs of mid-season, they still lie fourth in the league, they have the […]

A ridiculous question with what should be a simple answer. First, a cursory investigation. Is Barcelona on top of the standings in La Liga? Yes. Has Barcelona obtained sixty-one points from twenty-four matches, one more point than it had at the same point last season? Check. Does Barcelona have the edge in its UEFA Champions […]

After a less than impressive performance by the Spanish Armada in European competition, these teams return to their domestic responsibilities in order to regain their confidence. Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao traveled to Wolfsburg and Anderlecht, respectively, and became punching bags for those teams as both Wolfsburg and Anderlecht scored four goals on their visitors. They […]

A half-empty stadium. A running track surrounding the pitch that places the fans further away from the action. Supporters that create less noise and din than those at the Vancouver Olympic Centre, where the Olympic Curling competition is contested. The ONO Estadi hardly constitutes as an intimidating atmosphere, but RCD Mallorca has managed to maintain […]

The obvious surprising result of the previous round was Atlético Madrid's 2-1 victory over Barcelona to hand the Catalunyan champions their first loss in La Liga this season. If analyzed deeper, however, Barça's defeat at the hands of Los Colchoneros becomes less of a shocker. Historically, Atleti had a respectable record against Barcelona in Madrid, […]

This weekend, the focus will be on those teams who will play in European competition in the following midweek. The question of domestic vs. European responsibilities remains an individual club decision, but for some teams, choices become more plentiful than others. Real Madrid faces Xerez at El Chapín, but Los Blancos have the capability to […]

The Congress Hall of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland held the draw for UEFA Euro 2012 on Sunday afternoon, and while there is no clear consensus about a "group of death" among the nine groups, Spain's group would not be considered in contention for that infamous moniker. Spain was chosen in […]

The January transfer window is made for the top teams to reinforce their squads for a title run. As a whole, the window flew by with little fanfare. Real Zaragoza was one of the few teams in Europe to make sweeping changes to their roster. While their moves would hardly gather any front or back […]

Two clubs pulled the plug on their managers after a string of poor results that came to a head in the last round. Ernesto Valverde's Villarreal suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Osasuna, and Jose Luis Mendilibar's Real Valladolid could only manage a 1-1 draw at home against fellow relegation strugglers Almería. Villarreal […]

One of the unique characteristics of La Liga is that after the first half of the season, the second half schedule is a carbon copy of the first half, except that the away team will now be the home team. Thus, all those teams who did not achieve the result they desired will have a […]

The use of war imagery for the headline may not be appropriate during these sensitive times, but it aptly describes Deportivo La Coruña's predicament as they conclude the first half of their season tied for fourth place, the final UEFA Champions League spot, with Mallorca on thirty-four points (Mallorca holds the tiebreaker over Depor with […]

As La Liga heads into the midway point of the season, these next few rounds are some of the hardest of the campaign because the toil of playing for five consecutive months begins to wear on the players and the coaching staff both physically and mentally. Motivation is a hard concept to renew during these […]

With the gap widening between Barcelona and Real Madrid and the rest of the league, Valencia, Deportivo La Coruña, and the other potential contenders need to keep winning and hope that the top two slip on some wet spots along the way. Real Madrid will visit the cathedral, San Mamés, against Athletic Bilbao, and Barcelona […]

When the Racing de Santander board fired Juan Carlos Mandiá on November 9, the team had only won one game out of ten in La Liga, and they had lost the first leg in the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey against UD Salamanca, a mid-table club in the Segunda División. This job […]