It’s the hardest Job in football: The England manager position. As another crumbling failure’s reign is nearly up, the FA face one of the most important decisions in their history. Do they go foreign again? Do they pluck for a Brit? Do they go with experience or youth?

In the four years that Capello has been in charge England have spluttered and stalled and progression has been hard to see. With his woeful grasp of the English language, the Italian has failed to unite the egos and clashing personalities of the camp despite his £6m a year contract.

In short, his time at the helm of English football has been awful. Like so much to do with the national team, what promised so much delivered so little.

But what of the future you say. Well, after last week where I explored the future of the national team players, I felt it was time to explore the managerial possibilities.

The front runners:

Harry Redknapp: 5/6

The outright front runner to replace Fabio in the dugout and let’s face it, Redknapp has every right to be. Having guided Portsmouth to FA Cup success in 2008 and forged Spurs as a formidable force in the EPL, Redknapp’s stock has been on a steep rise. Redknapp has a reputation for bringing individuals together to play as one as well as developing youngsters and taking them on to the next level. Harry has openly said managing England would be the pinnacle of his career and would be hard to turn down. Perhaps his greatest skill however is his dealings in the transfer market. Van der Vaart for £8m to name one. Obviously, this is something that will be left behind if he moved to Wembley. And it is the fear that Redknapp is a club manager through and through that make some people question if he is the right man for the job.

Martin O’Neill: 8/1

A few furlongs behind Redknapp is the straight talking Irishman, Martin O’Neil. Success with Leicester and later Celtic signaled O’Neill out as a possible future England manager. His time at Aston Villa also saw the club progress but there was no silverware to show for it. Considered hot headed and never shy to tell the public about his disagreements with his employers, the FA may be weary of a public spat. Also against O’Neill has his lack of experience at the top level. He has never managed a major team (sorry Celtic fans) and has never really had to manage world class players. However, his record speaks for itself. For example, winning 213 of his 282 games in charge at Celtic Park.

Roy Hodgson: 8/1

The bookies are offering slender odds on Mr Hodgson making the move from the Hawthorns to Wembley. Once favourite to succeed Capello, Hodgson has since slipped back in the race since his debacle at Liverpool. His record, bar his brief stay on Merseyside, is impressive- guiding Fulham to the Europa League final in 2010 just one of the many highlights. What will interest the FA especially is his glittering record as an international manager. He took the Swiss to the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup and took Finland to their highest ever world ranking. What will worry the FA is the nagging question- can he succeed at the highest level of them all? The gap between managing Fulham compared to Liverpool may be miles apart. The gap between managing the likes of Finland compared to England is planets apart.

The chasing pack:

Jose Mourinho: 11/1

The first choice of many if the FA decide to cast their eye abroad. Mourinho has a CV to rival anyone and has said he would consider the England job if ever approached. He has the experience of managing at the top level and most importantly knows how to win the biggest trophies in club football. On the downside, his bulging ego and whooping pay cheque- but if you pay £6m a year on Fabio the FA won’t shy away too quickly. If the FA were to pluck for The Special One, prizing him away from Real could be a fence too many for the FA to jump.  Also, Mourinho has never managed an international team. Whether this is a big problem will be up to the man himself. And amazingly, unlike Capello, he can speak English which can’t hurt his chances.

Stuart Pearce: 12/1

Pearce is seen by many English fans as a risky punt. A novice at the managerial game, slowly learning his trade and the England job may be a jump to high, too soon for ‘psycho.’ The passion he has for England weighs hugely in his favour. The Three Lions on his chest means something to him and it is something he can (hopefully) convey to his players. This is something that Capello has failed to do. Pearce’s hopes may rest on how the under 21s perform. Do a good job with them and doors will open.

Arsene Wenger: 14/1

It’s hard to imagine Wenger leaving Arsenal. Maybe a couple more drubbings and the Gunners board may have to show him the door. The fans might not even 8 2 see him go. After years of success followed by long baron periods, the Emirates is restless and Wenger no longer looks so sure of his position. But can anyone honestly see him as the England manager? He is a stubborn man, proven by his transfer dealings, which is not what the English fans, media or Football Association want. But his record and his talent for developing youngsters may hold him in good stead. Still, Wenger for England? It’s a long shot.

The Outsiders:  

David Beckham: 18/1

Could the FA really make the gamble of putting Becks in charge? It would be a huge risk. A man with no managerial experience and a private life bigger than the players. It would be an astonishing call by the FA. But would it be the right one? Beckham has the skills to be an England manager. He commands respect from his fellow players and there is nothing he hasn’t seen or done before- ideal for nurturing the up and coming players. A successor to Capello may be far too soon though.

Alan Shearer: 25/1

Another ex-captain that the bookies reckon could be in with a shout. Unlike Golden Balls, Shearer does have managerial experience and it was far from a success- winning one of eight games as Newcastle were relegated under his leadership. His lack of experience and willingness sees him as an outsider but maybe a co-manager with Beckham. Is that such a crazy idea?

Other names in the frame: Alex Ferguson 25/1, Carlo Ancelotti 25-1, Mark Hughes 33/1, Steve Bruce 33/1, David Moyes 40/1, Jurgen Klinsmann 66/1.

(odds: Paddy Power 25/10/11)

It is never easy being an England fan. The side seems to be either woefully underperforming, in the middle of scandals or suffering from just sheer bad luck. Being an England supporter really should come with a health warning.

For generations England have promised so much yet delivered so little. The current incumbent lot seem just another run of the mill England team — bags of potential but failing to fulfil.

But do not despair my dear people, the future is bright, very bright. As you’re about to see, the team England might put out in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup could bring back the glory days, well the glory day of ’66. We know for a fact that Capello is on his way out and the current squad isn’t exactly full of spring chickens. Lampard, Ferdinand, Cole, Barry and Terry will all most probably be past their sell by dates come Brazil.

So who will be pulling on the three lions come 2014? Let’s look into the future to envision the team and how what age they’ll be during the summer of 2014:

Goalkeeper

Joe Hart, 27
Lets face it. Joe Hart has been a revelation. Not since the days of Seaman have England had someone as reliable between the sticks. His enthusiasm to put on an England shirt is something rarely seen in today’s game.

Right Back

Micah Richards, 26
He seems to have been around forever but he’s only 22. For many, he should be Capello’s first choice right back but he struggles to make it on the pitch. Since bursting on to the scene, Richards has worked tirelessly to improve his game. His blistering pace, coupled with his ever improving defending, singles him out as England’s right back of the future.

Center Back

Phil Jones, 23
Already a key component in Sir Alex’s tilt at another title. And amazingly he is only 19. The youngster has shown bags of talent at Blackburn and now at United. Under Ferguson’s stewardship the sky really is the limit. He looks at home on the big stage following his £16.5m move and will probably be key to England in Poland and Ukraine in 2012 as well as Brazil.

Center Back

Chris Smalling, 24
Jones’ team mate at United has had a steady yet impressive start to life at Manchester United. Tall and deceptively strong the former Fulham star possesses all the attributes to be a top player. He is hungry to succeed as well, having risen from non-league football to the international stage. This hunger is exactly what England needs, someone who knows what it means to the fans.

Left Back

Kieran Gibbs, 24
Ok so when I said the future looks really bright, I may have fibbed about the left back slot. Not that Kieran Gibbs is not talented because he sure has the potential to be a good player but whether or not he is international class is questionable. He also has a hard act to follow in Ashley Cole. Gibbs is one of a plethora of left backs that could be in the slot come 2014 with Leighton Baines (30) still knocking on the door as well as Stephen Warnock (33).

Right Midfielder

James Milner, 28
The versatile midfielder should be his pomp when the next World Cup occurs. Capable of whipped crosses reminiscent of the great Beckham (all hail) and killer through balls, Milner should give England the edge when push comes to shove. His versatility makes him key to England who have been cursed with rigid formations and tactics for too long.

Central Midfielder

Jack Wilshere, 23
The future captain of England. No doubt about it. Maybe not in 2014 but definitely in the future. Wilshere is the brightest young light in English football. His vision is not dissimilar to that of Xavi or Iniesta. His composure on the ball already at just 19 singles him out to be one of the players of his generation. But, like so many other English superstars, utilising that talent and turning club form into the England set up is a whole different kettle of fish.

Central Midfielder

Jack Rodwell, 23
The midfield rock that England have been missing for some time now. The Everton academy graduate is not afraid to pull his sleeves up and get stuck in. His holding ability in the centre of the park is the perfect foil for Wilshere’s more creative side. If only Capello could see that these two Jacks are the future of English football and give them some game time.

Left Midfielder

Ashley Young, 29
In recent years England have struggled with the left winger role. However, the future here is very bright with a number of talented players trying to lay claim to the place. Young has been in exceptional form for Manchester United since his summer move from Aston Villa and should be on the plane to Brazil come 2014. Just like Milner on the other flank, Young should be at his peak and with his startling pace and eye for the spectacular you would back him to make an impression on the world’s biggest stage.

Striker

Wayne Rooney, 28
The one, the only Wayne Rooney. Who else? This boy ain’t half special. But how special will the man become? Rooney is a phenomenal player at the moment and in 2014 the then 28 year old will (hopefully) be mature both on and off the field. No silly kicks at Montenegrin’s, no late night rendezvous with people he shouldn’t be with. We hope. A Rooney in form could win England the World Cup. Unfortunately for us, Rooney never seems to turn up at the big international tournaments. Hopefully Euro 2012 can pave the way for Rooney to fulfil his promise at international level.

Striker

Andy Carroll, 24
Who to pair with Rooney is a tricky one, and one that could shape England’s chances. However, sticking Carroll up there with Rooney guarantees goals. A beast in the air and with clinical finishing skills, there is no reason Carroll couldn’t rival Rooney for supremacy. One does fear that Carroll’s £35m price tag could hold his progress back though.

Other ones to watch:

England’s defence will have a solid look about especially when the likes of Gary Cahill (28) can’t make the team (in my eyes). By 2014 England should also have Stokes’s centre back Ryan Shawcross (26) in contention as well. The midfield is also shaping up to have an exciting look to it with the likes of Jordan Henderson (24), Ross Barkley (20), Josh McEachran (21) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (20) all looking like being top quality players. Up front as well the likes of Theo Walcott (24) and Danny Welbeck (23) continue to bring excitement to Wembley.

So if a 2-2 draw with Montenegro has left you feeling blue. Do not fear! England are in a prime position to take on the world. We just need a manger who can actually speak English…

Goalkeeper:
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

The Real Madrid stopper is the best goalkeeper in the world and was one of the few bright spots in Los Merengues’ trophy-less 08-09 campaign.

Defense:
Dani Alves (Barcelona)

The Brazilian right back might have been Barcelona’s best acquisition for the 08-09 season as his speed and ball handling helped Barça on both offense & defense.

Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

The Catalan captain is the best leader in football. His versatility along the backline and leadership was essential for Barça’s historic treble run when injuries & suspension threatened to jeopardize history.

Sébastien Squillaci (Sevilla)

The French international center back was the pillar for Sevilla’s 2nd best defense. The ex-Lyon defender led Sevilla in La Liga appearances and is a regular for Les Bleus.

Filipe Kasmirski (Deportivo La Coruña)

Deportivo’s young left back was the breakout star of the La Liga season. The Brazilian started every La Liga game for Deportivo and was a massive part of Depor’s surprising run to 7th place. He is on the radar of every big European club and should be a member of the Brazilian national team very soon.

Midfield:
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

David Silva (Valencia)

Los Che’s best midfielder was an important piece of Valencia’s late season run to 6th place and a Europa League spot. If Silva hadn’t missed the 1st 3 months of the season Los Che could have finished in the Top 3.

Xavi (Barcelona)

Xavi is one of the Top 5 players in the world and is a player with no perceived weaknesses. He & Puyol are the pillars of Catalan athletic pride and in every big game or tournament he wins the man of the match or player of the tournament.

Forwards:
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

La Pulga was Barcelona’s leading goal scorer in all competitions in 08-09 and his goal in the Champions League final cemented his title as World Best Player. Messi is going to be the 2009 FIFA Player Of The Year.

Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona)

The fiery Cameroon striker is the best pure goalscorer on the planet and finished 2nd in the race for the Pichichi. Eto’o is also the most reliable big game goal scorer having scored goals in Barcelona’s two most recent Champions League finals.

Diego Forlan (Atlético Madrid)

The 2nd generation Uruguayan footballer won the Pichichi award as La Liga’s leading goal scorer with 32 goals. The Atlético Madrid striker was volcanic hot as he scored 12 goals in the last 8 games of the season to lead Los Colchoneros to 4th place and a Champions League spot.

DT:
Josep Guardiola

This one is obvious, the former Barcelona player handled a supremely talented team perfectly. Guardiola was at the helm of the greatest season in La Liga history and his demeanor was exactly what Blaugrana needed to win their historic treble.

Bench:
GK: Victor Valdes (Barcelona)
DEF: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia)
MID: Juan Mata (Valencia), Duda (Malaga)
ATT: David Villa (Valencia), Álvaro Negredo (Almeria)

There it is the 2008-09 La Liga Talk La Liga Best XI. Let us know what you think.

Goalkeeper:
Julio Cesar (Inter Milan)

The Nerazzurri & Brazil #1 has become the best keeper in Italy and the 2nd best keeper in the world behind Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas.

Defenders:
Maicon (Inter Milan)

Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina)

Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Domenico Criscito (Genoa)

The youngest member of the Best XI is well known in Italy as the one of the best young defensive talents. He is on loan from Juventus and helped Genoa surprise the Serie A with their 5th place finish and a place in the Europa League.

Defensive Midfielders:
Felipe Melo (Fiorentina)

The hard tackling, often fouling Brazilian midfielder gave Cesare Pirandelli’s men and edge & toughness that helped Fiorentina get a Champions League spot. Felipe Melo led Serie A in red cards & was in the Top 10 in yellow cards.

Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan)

The Argentine midfielder is arguably the most under appreciated midfielder in the Serie A. He is a fixture in Inter’s lineup, has a knack of scoring timely goals, and a massive contributor for The Nerazzurri.

Attacking Midfielders:
Kaká (AC Milan)

Gaetano D’Agostino (Udinese)

The Udinese playmaker was 2nd leading goalscorer among midfielders and was the key to Udinese finishing with the 5th best attack in the Serie A and a surprise 7th place finish.

Forwards:
Marco Di Vaio (Bologna)

Diego Milito (Genoa)

The man known as El Principe tied Di Vaio for 2nd in the Capocannoniere race with 24 goals and was the face of Genoa’s amazing 5th place finish. The Argentine hitman will now take his goal scoring touch to Inter.

DT:
Gian Piero Gasperini (Genoa)

Bench:
GK: Gigi Buffon (Juventus)
DEF: Paolo Maldini (AC Milan) & Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)
MID: Michele Fini (Cagliari) & Simone Vergassola (Siena)
ATT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) & Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina)

What do you think about our choice for the Serie A Best XI? Let us know.

The marquee matchup featured a Top 4 meeting between AC Milan v. Fiorentinawith Champions League positioning at stake. The Brazilian duo of Kaka & Pato scored in the 2nd half as Il Rossoneri defeated I Viola 2-0 in Florence. The result did not change the standings for either squad. Milan finished 3rd despite being level on points with Juventus because Milan lost the head to head tiebreaker.

Fiorentina held on to the last Champions League spot despite Genoa pulling level on points after their 4-1 home win against Lecce. Diego Milito scored twice in his final match with Genoa to solidify 5th place. Genoa lost the head to head tiebreaker with Fiorentina to just miss the last Champions League spot and secure a Europa League spot along with Roma.

The final week of the Serie A was action packed as every match had at least two goals and 7 of the 10 matches had at least 3 goals. No one can say that Italian Serie A doesn’t play an attacking, attractive style of football.

Here are the Week 38 results and final standings:

SUNDAY, MAY 31st

Bologna 3 – 1 Catania
BOL: Nicola Mingazzini (5′), Claudio Terzi (26′), Marco Di Vaio (68′)
CAT: Takayuki Morimoto (50′)

Fiorentina 0 – 2 AC Milan
ACM: Kaká (55′) & Pato (76′)

Inter Milan 4 – 3 Atalanta
INT: Sulley Muntari (6′), Ibrahimovic (12′ & 81′), Cambiasso (80′)
ATL: Cristiano Doni (10′ & 53′) & Luca Cigarini (25′)

Juventus 2 – 0 Lazio
JUV: Vincenzo Iaquinta (3′ & 59′)

Napoli 3 – 0 Chievo
NAP: Francesco Montervino (4′), Mariano Bogliacino (7′), Piá (18′)

Reggina 1 – 1 Siena
REG: Christian Stuani (pen 45′)
SIE: Massimo Maccarone (76′)

AS Roma 3 – 2 Torino
ROM: Jeremy Menez (35′), Mirko Vucinic (74′), Francesco Totti (pen 83′)
TOR: Tommaso Vailatti (9′) & Nicola Ventola (88′)

Udinese 6 – 2 Cagliari
UDI: Asamoah (10′), Pepe (11′), Flores (15′), Pasquale (58′), Quagliarella (81′),
Ighalo (89′)
CAG: Robert Acquafresca (pen 55′) & Andrea Parola (57′)

Genoa 4 – 1 Lecce
GEN: Bosko Jankovic (22′), Domenico Criscito (52′), Diego Milito (56′ & 67′)
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (32′)

Palermo 2 – 2 Sampdoria
PAL: Fabrizio Miccoli (8′) & Davide Succi (42′)
SAM: Giampaolo Pazzini (45′) & Marius Stankevicius (59′)

Inter Milan, Juventus, & AC Milan straight into 09-10 Champions League Group Stage
Fiorentina into Champions League playoff round

Genoa & Lazio into 09-10 Europa League playoff round
AS Roma into Europa League 3rd qualifying round

Torino, Reggina, and Lecce relegated into Serie B

Amazingly Sporting de Gijón will remain in La Liga after they defeated Recreativo Huelva 2-1 at home. Sporting trailed 1-0 at halftime but scored twice in the 2nd half including the relegation avoiding goal by Luis Morán in the 67th minute.

With Recreativo & Numancia already on the way down it came down to Getafe & Real Betis for the last relegation spot. Getafe drew 1-1 on the road against Racing Santander and Real Betis drew 1-1 at home against Valladolid. Both sides were even on 42 points but Getafe stayed up because of the head to head tiebreaker. The 2-2 aggregate of the 2 Getafe-Real Betis matches favored Getafe because of the road goals. It turns out that the 2 goals Getafe’s Ikechukwu Uche scored in their February 1 match in Sevilla would be what sent Betis down to Segunda División.

Other matches of note, Espanyol’s final game at the Montjuic witnessed a magical hat-trick by Espanyol icon Raúl Tamudo as they defeated Málaga 3-0. Espanyol looked relegated 2 months ago but a run of 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in their last 10 matches to helped Espanyol fly into the Top 10.

Diego Forlan wrapped up the Pichichi with his 32nd goal in a 3-0 home win against Almería. The win clinched 4th place and the last Champions League spot as Los Colchoneros won 8 of their last 9 including 6 straight to end the season.

Here are the results & final standings:

SATURDAY, MAY 30th

Deportivo La Coruña 1 – 1 Barcelona
DLC: Rodolfo Diaz Bodipo (31′)
BAR: Samuel Eto’o (89′)

Mallorca 2 – 3 Villarreal
MAL: Aritz Aduriz (35′) & Pierre Webó (89′)
VIL: Cani (28′) & Joseba Llorente (40’& 52′)

Valencia 2 – 0 Athletic Bilbao
VAL: David Villa (7′ & 90′)

Atlético Madrid 3 – 0 Almería
ATM: Kun Agüero (19′), Raúl García (27′), Diego Forlán (49′)

SUNDAY, MAY 31st

Espanyol 3 – 0 Málaga
ESP: Raúl Tamudo (7′, 45′, pen 56′)

Numancia 0 – 2 Sevilla
SEV: Emiliano Armenteros (88′) & Juan Carlos Moreno (og 91′)

Osasuna 2 – 1 Real Madrid
OSA: Jaroslav Plasil (15′) & Juanfran (60′)
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (11′)

Racing Santander 1 – 1 Getafe
RAC: Toni Moral (34′)
GET: Granero (38′)

Real Betis 1 – 1 Valladolid
BET: Ricardo Oliveira (49′)
VLD: Marcos Aguirre (46′)

Sporting Gijon 2 – 1 Recreativo Huelva
SPO: David Barral (58′) & Luis Morán (67′)
REC: Ersen Martin (23′)

Barcelona, Real Madrid, & Sevilla qualify for 09-10 Champions League group stage
Atlético Madrid qualify for Champions League playoff round

Villarreal & Valencia qualify for 09-10 Europa League playoff
Athletic Bilbao qualify for Europa League 3rd qualifying round

Real Betis, Numancia, Recreativo Huelva are relegated to Segunda División

#5 = Improved Team Atmosphere

Let’s be real, last year’s team was good enough to win a treble but what prevented it was a poor team atmosphere. Frank Rijkaard could not handle the divisive figures in his locker room such as Ronaldinho & Deco. Don’t forget how Eto’o looked like he was headed to AC Milan and Henry was talking about how playing on the left side was stifling his goal scoring instincts for France and he needed to be in the middle. The following season Dinho & Deco were out while Eto’o & Henry fell in line without a locker room wrecking word all season. Guardiola deserves massive credit for improving the team’s atmosphere cause talent wasn’t the reason The Blaugrana went trophy-less last season.

#4 = Playing Style

Over the last 5 – 10 years we’ve seen managers cower in the face of opposition by playing a more conservative, boring style of football. A recent trend of 5 midfielders with 1 striker or more withdrawn “forwards” has seen a reduction in the entertainment value of football. However, Barça, said DAMN THAT and played with 3 strikers and they got the 3 most explosive and skilled forwards on the planet to fill their formation. No wonder fans take a liking to Barça, the Blaugrana scored as many goals this season as Brad Pitt has women sweating him. Yo, that’s a lot of damn goals. People who love the Beautiful Game want to see speed, skill, and goals. Barça gives football fans all of those things and Barça wins.

#3 = Josep Guardiola i Sala

Some people might say that the coach of the best team on the planet is only #3. By no means is this a knock on Guardiola’s acumen because his brilliance can never be understated. However, so many other factors had to line up perfectly for a coach in his 1st season as a head coach of a big club to make history like this. Mourinho has much more experience than Guardiola and he only got a Scudetto in his 1st season with Inter. Guardiola did a perfect job no doubt, but he had to go #3 because he inherited a supremely talented team that was close to history. His leadership was the spark Barça needed to get Treble and he is the 6th person to win the European Cup as a player & coach.

#2 = Joan Laporta i Estruch

Joan Laporta i Estruch is the best club president on the planet. Since his reign began in 2003, Barcelona has won 2 Champions Leagues, 3 La Liga titles, 2 Spanish Supercups, and a Copa Del Rey. He managed to maintain the integrity of the Barça shirt by keeping sponsors off the shirt but his humanitarian act of giving money to UNICEF and having the UNICEF logo on the sacred shirt was a brilliant business, PR, and charitable move. He hired Frank Rijkaard & Guardiola and he has overseen the most balanced transfer policy of any club in Europe. Everyone who gave Laporta a vote of “No Confidence” are looking stupid right now. Not to mention he’s a true Catalan patriot.

#1 = La Masia – Barca’s Youth Academy

Congratulations to FC Barcelona for showing the world how football should be played and proving that winning, attacking football is not a dream but a dream come true.

Juventus snapped a 7-game winless streak with their 3-0 road win against Siena. Juve icon Alessandro Del Piero scored twice to give La Vecchia Signora the 3 points and pull even with AC Milan on points. Il Rossoneri fell to AS Roma 3-2 at home in Paolo Maldini’s last home game. Massimo Ambrosini’s double wasn’t enough to take down Il Giallorossi. Roma’s iconic captain Francesco Totti scored in the 85th minute to give Roma the win. Totti’s goal secured Roma’s place in next season’s Europa League.

Torino fell back into the relegation zone after their 3-2 loss at home to Genoa. Future Inter Milan striker Diego Milito scored twice including the game winner in the 89th minute to secure their place in next season’s Europa League and put Torino in a precarious position for relegation.

Bologna moved out of relegation despite their 0-0 draw at Chievo, Marco Di Vaio failed to improve his chance to be named Capocannoniere as Serie A’s leading goal scorer. Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in Inter 2-1 road loss to Cagliari to move into a tie with Di Vaio at 23 goals for the season.

Here are the results & standings for Week 37:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20nd

Lazio 1 – 0 Reggina
LAZ: Mauro Zárate (26′)

SUNDAY, MAY 24th

Atalanta 2 – 2 Palermo
ATL: Gianvito Plasmati (50′ & 67′)
PAL: Davide Succi (32′) & Fabrizio Miccoli (75′)

Lecce 1 – 1 Fiorentina
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (50′)
FIO: Martin Jørgensen (90′)

AC Milan 2 – 3 AS Roma
ACM: Massimo Ambrosini (75′ & 81′)
ROM: John Arne Riise (36′), Jérémy Menez (80′), Francesco Totti (85′)

Chievo Verona 0 – 0 Bologna

Torino 2 – 3 Genoa
TOR: Ivan Franceschini (40′) & Rolando Bianchi (49′)
GEN: Diego Milito (pen 32′ & 89′) & Ruben Olivera (48′)

Sampdoria 2 – 2 Udinese
SAM: Mauricio Isla (og 32′) & Antonio Cassano (pen 44′)
UDI: Gaetano D’Agostino (pen 13′) & Felipe (61′)

Siena 0 – 3 Juventus
JUV: Alessandro Del Piero (18′ & 89′) & Claudio Marchisio (37′)

Cagliari 2 – 1 Internazionale
CAG: Andrea Cossu (34′) & Robert Acquafresca (71′)
INT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (8′)

Catania 3 – 1 Napoli
CAT: T. Morimoto (42′), Guiseppe Mascara (pen 88′), Vito Falconieri (90′)
NAP: Mariano Bogliacino (28′)

Osasuna defeated Barcelona 1-0 to keep themselves out of the relegation zone. Walter Pandiani displayed his knack for timely goals by scoring what turned to be the game winner. Real Betis slipped closer to the drop after their 1-1 draw at Málaga while Getafe secured Numancia’s descent to the 2nd division with a 1-0 win. Ex-Real Madrid forward Roberto Soldado scored his 13th goal of the season in the victory.

Diego Forlan has probably won the Pichichi trophy after his hat trick in leading Atlético Madrid to a 4-1 road win over Athletic Bilbao. The hat trick gave him 31 goals on the season as he passed Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o on the Pichichi list. Los Colchoneros have won 7 of their last 8 matches as they get closer to locking up a Champions League spot.

Here are the results & standings from Week 37

SATURDAY, MAY 23rd

Athletic Bilbao 1 – 4 Atlético Madrid
ATB: Etxeita (68′)
ATM: Raúl García (59′) Diego Forlán (73′, 77′, pen 87′)

Barcelona 0 – 1 Osasuna
OSA: Walter Pandiani (26′)

Málaga 1 – 1 Real Betis
MAL: Albert Luque (81′)
BET: Edu (43′)

Valladolid 1 – 2 Sporting Gijon
VAL: Jonathan Sesma (69′)
SPO: Diego Camacho (44′) & Mate Bilic (79′)

Villarreal 3 – 1 Valencia
VIL: Joseba Llorente (15′ & 31′) & Cani (67′)
VAL: David Villa (41′)

Sevilla 1 – 0 Deportivo La Coruña
SEV: Diego Perotti (90′)

Recreativo Huelva 0 – 1 Racing Santander
RAC: Nikola Zigic (76′)

Getafe 1 – 0 Numancia
GET: Roberto Soldado (61′)

Almeria 0 – 3 Espanyol
ESP: Iván Alonso (26′ & 71′) & Coro (90′)

SUNDAY, MAY 24th

Real Madrid 1 – 3 Mallorca
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (20′)
MAL: Juan Arango (26′), Cléber Santana (59′), Alhassane Keita (71′)

Some other notable action in the Serie A for Giornata 36 is the slide of 3rd place Juventus who extend their winless streak to 7 matches as they drew 2-2 at home to Atalanta in an empty Olimpico Di Torino stadium. Maximilano Pellegrino scored the equalizer in the 44th minute for Atalanta to share the points as Juventus couldn’t breakthrough in the 2nd half. The result is Juve’s 5th straight draw and cost Claudio Raineri his job.

Fiorentina is the complete opposite as I Viola won their 4th straight match with their 1-0 home win over beaten ’09 Coppa Italia finalists Sampdoria. Alberto Gilardino scored his 19th goal of the season to get the 3 points. 4th place Fiorentina have won 7 of their last 8 matches and now trail Juve by 1 point in the standings.

While the championship race is over, the relegation battle is still fierce. Torino kept themselves out of the relegation zone with a big 2-1 road victory versus Napoli. Alessandro Rosina’s 72nd minute goal gave Torino the points and kept them 1 point from relegation. Reggina moved off the bottom of the table with a 2-1 home win over Cagliari as Lecce fell to Bologna in a bottom 3 matchup. Sergio Volpi’s dramatic 2nd half injury time goal gave Bologna a massive 2-1 home win against Lecce. The win keeps Bologna in 18th just 1 point back of still-safe Torino.

Here are the results & standings for Week 36:

SATURDAY, MAY 16th

AS Roma 4 – 3 Catania
ASR: Perrotta (13′ & 31′), Vucinic (17′), Panucci (91′)
CAT: Tedesco (15′), Mascara (47′), Morimoto (72′)

Udinese 2 – 1 AC Milan
UDI: Gaetano D’Agostino (pen 31′) & Cristian Zapata (49′)
ACM: Massimo Ambrosini (93′)

SUNDAY, MAY 17th

Bologna 2 – 1 Lecce
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (37′) & Sergio Volpi (94′)
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (30′)

Fiorentina 1 – 0 Sampdoria
FIO: Alberto Gilardino (21′)

Juventus 2 – 2 Atalanta
JUV: Vincenzo Iaquinta (26′) & Cristiano Zanetti (36′)
ATA: Luca Cigarini (2′) & Maximiliano Pellegrino (44′)

Napoli 1 – 2 Torino
NAP: Joao Batista Inacio Pia (42′)
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (51′) & Alessandro Rosina (72′)

Reggina 2 – 1 Cagliari
REG: Fabio Ceravolo (26′) & Franco Brienza (49′)
CAG: Andrea Lazzari (18′)

Genoa 2 – 2 Chievo
GEN: Diego Milito (pen 58′)& Ruben Olivera (71′)
CHI: Giampiero Pinzi (35′) & Sergio Pellissier (85′)

Palermo 2 – 0 Lazio
PAL: Fabrizio Miccoli (pen 6′) & Giulio Migliaccio (87′)

Inter Milan 3 – 0 Siena
INT: Esteban Cambiasso (45′), Mario Balotelli (52′), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (76′)

Well the title is finally wrapped up and now La Liga’s attention will focus on the races for European cup spots as well as to see who stays in the Spanish top flight and who does not. Also the race for the Pichichi will have a very interesting turn in the days and weeks ahead.

Barcelona were given the honor guard in Mallorca, although they would end up losing after former home team star (Eto’o) missed a penalty in the dying moments of the match. The game was played with little intensity and even fewer starters for the newly crowned champs. Real Madrid made this all possible after they equalized against a Villarreal side that was vastly superior throughout the 90 minutes. Gonzalo Higuaín would make the match 2-2 even though he and two of this teammates were clearly offside. Justice would come in the form of an Iker Casillas error. The Spanish international came out badly to get a corner, but instead he tapped it back, putting the ball square on Joan Capdevila’s foot for the game-winner.

Espanyol is a point away from saving themselves from relegation, while Atlético rebounded with a big win against Valencia.

SATURDAY, MAY 16th

Deportivo 1-1 Getafe
DEP: Riki (86′)
GET: Soldado (46′)

Osasuna 0-0 Sevilla

Villarreal 3-2 Real Madrid
VIL: Pires (17′), Cani (63′), Capdevila (90’+’1)
RMA: Van der Vaart (47′), Higuain (88′)

SUNDAY, MAY 17th

Sporting 2-1 Málaga
SPO: Gerard (24′), Hélder Rosario (53′ og)
MAL: Robson (38′)

Atlético Madrid 1-0 Valencia
ATM: Forlán (29′ pk)

Mallorca 2-1 Barcelona
MLL: Arango (73′), Santana (78′)
BAR: Eto’o (10′)

Espanyol 1-0 Athletic
ESP: Luis García (69′ pk)

Numancia 1-0 Recreativo
NUM: Barkero (89′ pk)

Racing 3-2 Valladolid
RAC: Jonathan (4′), Serrano (60′), Zigic (86′)
VAL: Victor (13′), Goitom (20′)

Real Betis 2-0 Almería
BET: González (6′), Arzu (65′)

STANDINGS

Week 35 of the Serie A was full of tight matches showing the competitive balance of Italy’s 1st Division of Football. Only one match had a goal differential of more than 2 goals and there were 6 draws over the weekend. One of those draws delayed a Scudetto celebration for Inter Milan. Chievo battled Il Nerazzurri to a 2-2 draw in Verona. Luciano’s 73rd minute goal delayed Inter ‘s celebration of a 4th consecutive Scudetto.

The marquee match featured the two winningest clubs in Serie A history as Milan hosted Juventus at the San Siro. Vincenzo Iaquinta’s goal in the 60th was a quick response to Clarence Seedorf’s goal in the 57th minute as the game eventually ended in a 1-1 draw. The draw ended Milan’s 5-game winning streak but extended their unbeaten streak to 9 matches. Juventus has now drawn in 4 straight games and are now winless in their last 6 matches.

Fiorentina tightened their grip on the last Champions League spot by defeating Catania on the road 2-0. I Viola have won 6 of their last 7 matches while their main competition for that last UCL spot needed a late goal to salvage a point. Genoa drew 1-1 at Atalanta with Domenico Criscito scoring in 2nd half injury to get the point.

In the relegation battle, Torino took on Bologna with the winner jumping out of the relegation zone for this week. Both sides split the points with a 1-1 draw. Torino’s Alessandro Rosina buried a PK to give them a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute but refs returned the favor to Bologna in the 86th minute. Il Capo Cannoniere leader Marco Di Vaio sank a PK in the 86th minute to secure the draw. Torino remains in 17th place just one point out of the relegation zone.

Here are the results & standings from Week 35:

SATURDAY, MAY 9th

Sampdoria 5 – 0 Reggina
SAM: Daniele Dessena (1’& 31′), Delvecchio (37′), Marilungo (46′), Pazzini (52′)

Lazio 1 – 3 Udinese
LAZ: Tommaso Rocchi (56′)
UDI: Floro Flores (60′), D’Agostino (69′), Quagliarella (86′)

SUNDAY, MAY 10th

Atalanta 1 – 1 Genoa
ATL: Jaime Andrés Valdés (9′)
GEN: Domenico Criscito (90′)

Lecce 1 – 1 Napoli
LEC: Andrea Zanchetta (pen 43′)
NAP: Joao Batista Inacio Piá (33′)

Chievo 2 – 2 Inter Milan
CHI: Michele Marcolini (27′) & Luciano (73′)
INT: Hernán Crespo (3′) & Mario Balotelli (65′)

Torino 1 -1 Bologna
TOR: Alessandro Rosina (pen 37′)
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (pen 86′)

Siena 1 – 0 Palermo
SIE: Emanuele Calaiò (60′)

Cagliari 2 – 2 AS Roma
CAG: Alessandro Matri (34′) & Robert Acquafresca (58′)
ROM: Francesco Totti (63′) & Simone Perrotta (69′)

Catania 0 – 2 Fiorentina
FIO: Stevan Jovetic (11′) & Luciano Zauri (93′)

AC Milan 1 – 1 Juventus
ACM: Clarence Seedorf (57′)
JUV: Vincenzo Iaquinta (60′)

STANDINGS

The magic number for Week 35 action in La Liga was 3. That number was massive as 7 of the 10 matches this weekend had at least 3 goals scored, in those matches 7 teams scored at least 3 goals by themselves including the stunning 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou. Barcelona led Villarreal 3-1 deep into the 2nd half but late goals Matias Fernández & Joseba Llorente prevented a Blaugrana celebration of a 19th La Liga title while Villarreal maintains the last UEFA Europa League spot on goal differential over Deportivo La Coruna.

Real Madrid was hammered 3-0 on the road at the Mestalla against Valencia. Los Merengues have given up 9 goals in the last 2 games and have effectively lost the La Liga title. Valencia bounced back well after last week’s loss to Espanyol and maintain a 1 point edge over Atlético Madrid for the final Champions League spot.

Atlético Madrid scored 3 goals in the 2nd half at the Vicente Calderon to beat Espanyol 3-2. Diego Forlán scored twice to take down Espanyol and end the Barcelona club’s 6-game unbeaten streak. The double by the Uruguayan striker puts him 1 goal behind Barca’s Samuel Eto’o for the Pichichi.

Here are the results & standings from Week 35:

SATURDAY, MAY 9th

Athletic Bilbao 1 – 0 Real Betis
ATH: Ion Velez (28′)

Sevilla 3 – 1 Mallorca
SEV: Frédéric Kanouté (pen 33′), Luis Fabiano (60′), Jesús Navas (76′)
MAL: Aritz Aduriz (16′)

Valencia 3 – 0 Real Madrid
VAL: Juan Mata (28′), Silva (31′), Baraja (67′)

SUNDAY, MAY 10th

Málaga 1 – 0 Racing Santander
MAL: Albert Luque (pen 87′)

Almería 3 – 1 Sporting Gijon
ALM: Nieto (26′), Kalu Uche (55′), Piatti (91′)
SPO: Carmelo (16′)

Valladolid 0 – 0 Numancia

Recreativo Huelva 1 – 2 Deportivo La Coruna
REC: Adrián Colunga (43′)
DLC: Verdú (17′) & Pablo Álvarez (49′)

Getafe 3 – 0 Osasuna
GET: Granero (pen 26’& 50′), Ikechukwu Uche (54′)

Atlético Madrid 3 – 2 Espanyol
ATM: Forlán (53’& 93′), Kun Agüero (60′)
ESP: Nené (pen 38′) & Jarque (40′)

Barcelona 3 – 3 Villarreal
BAR: Keita (12′), Eto’o (36′), Dani Alves (45′)
VIL: Joseba Llorente (22′ & 91′), Matías Fernández (pen 78′)

STANDINGS

Sevilla re-established their position of 3rd place with a big 2-0 road win against Villarreal. Sevilla’s star forwards Luis Fabiano & Freddy Kanoute scored in the 2nd half to snap Sevilla’s 4 game losing streak while ending Villarreal’s 3 game unbeaten streak.

Valencia continues to hold on to the last Champions League spot as a result of Villarreal’s loss despite falling to surging Espanyol. The city of Barcelona’s other team defeated Los Che 3-0 at home to extend their unbeaten streak to 6 games and their winning streak to 4. Espanyol’s inspired run has pulled them out of the relegation zone and virtually assured their place in La Liga next season.

Atletico Madrid sits in 5th place as their unpredictable season continues. Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan scored twice for Los Colchoneros in a 2-0 win in Sevilla against Real Betis. Forlan is in 2nd place in the Pichichi standing with 25 goals as Atlético has won 4 of their last 5.

Here are the results and standings from Week 34:

SATURDAY, MAY 2nd

Real Madrid 2 – 6 FC Barcelona
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (14′) & Sergio Ramos (56′)
BAR: Henry (18′ & 58′), Puyol (20′), Messi (35′ & 75′), Piqué (82′)

Numancia 2 – 0 Málaga
NUM: Juan Carlos Moreno (1′) & Del Pino (62′)

Villarreal 0 – 2 Sevilla
SEV: Luis Fabiano (57′) & Kanouté (85′)

SUNDAY, MAY 3rd

Real Betis 0 – 2 Atlético Madrid
ATM: Diego Forlán (14′ & 89′)

Espanyol 3 – 0 Valencia
ESP: Román (65′), Pareja (83′), Nené (pen 92′)

Sporting Gijon 1 – 1 Athletic Bilbao
SPO: Mate Bilic (60′)
ATB: Iraola (90′)

Racing Santander 0 – 2 Almería
ALM: Juanma Ortiz (2′ & 12′)

Osasuna 1 – 2 Recreativo
OSA: Walter Pandiani (25′)
REC: Ersen Martin (80′) & Morris (94′)

Mallorca 2 – 1 Getafe
MAL: Jurado (9′) & Aritz Aduriz (69′)
GET: David Navarro (og 46′)

Deportivo La Coruna 1 – 0 Valladolid
DLC: Lassad (8′)

STANDINGS

Genoa got a hat trick from their superstar goal scorer Diego Milito in their 3-1 home win over Sampdoria in an intense Derby della Lanterna. Italy’s oldest club snapped a 2-game losing skid and swept the season series from their city rivals. Roma’s 0-0 home draw against Chievo sees I Giallorossi 7 points back of Genoa and virtually out of the Champions League spot race.

Juventus continued their head scratching slide with their 2-2 draw at home against Lecce. Argentina born forward José Castillo scored the equalizer in 2nd half injury time to extend La Vecchia Signora’s ill-timed winless streak to 5 games.

The Milan sides continued their winning ways with 2-0 victories. 1st place Inter moved closer to their 17th Scudetto with goals from Ibrahimovic & Muntari to beat Lazio. While Il Rossoneri kept pressure on Inter with goals from Kakà & Pippo Inzaghi to get 3 points against Catania.

Here are the results and standings from Week 34:

SATURDAY, MAY 2nd

Bologna 1 – 2 Reggina
BOL: Vaggelis Moras (87′)
REG: Franco Brienza (40′) & Edgar Barreto (46′)

Inter Milan 2 – 0 Lazio
INT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (58′) & Sulley Ali Muntari (70′)

SUNDAY, MAY 3rd

Genoa 3 – 1 Sampdoria
GEN: Diego Milito (30′, 73′, 93′)
SAM: Hugo Campagnaro (45’+3′)

Catania 0 – 2 AC Milan
ACM: Kakà (51′) & Pippo Inzaghi (27′)

Palermo 5 – 1 Cagliari
PAL: Migliaccio (29′), Miccoli (38′), Tedesco (50′), Cavani (57′), Succi (87′)
CAG: Jeda (48′)

Siena 2 – 1 Napoli
SIE: Houssine Kharja (11′) & Massimo Maccarone (25′)
NAP: Inacio Pia’ (80′)

Udinese 3 – 0 Atalanta
UDI: Fabio Quagliarella (43′ & 74)’ & Giovanni Pasquale (91)

AS Roma 0 – 0 Chievo

Juventus 2 – 2 Lecce
JUV: Pavel Nedved (54′ & 66′)
LEC: Axel Konan (11′) & José Castillo (93′)

Fiorentina 1 – 0 Torino
FIO: Juan Manuel Vargas (57′)

STANDINGS

The impressive thing about Barca’s win was that every time Real scored, Barça responded with a goal immediately.  Both times Thierry Henry was the person to swing the game back in Barça‘s favor.  Henry showed the poise and skill of a great goal scorer slotting the ball past Iker Casillas both times.  Both of Henry’s goals were set up by sensational over the top of defense passes, first by Messi after Higuain scored the opener in the 14th minute and then by Xavi immediately after Sergio Ramos scored in the 56th minute.

It was a typical Barcelona victory, a display of skill, speed, and possession.  Lionel Messi scored twice and goals by central defenders Gerard Pique & Carles Puyol completed the sweet Barcelona victory.  Lesser teams would have folded under the pressure of a supposed Real goal onslaught. Instead, Barça stayed calm and ripped the heart from Los GalactiNOs.  For Barcelona to reply the way they did against Real was impressive & showed that Barça has the mental toughness and confidence to win championships and that coveted treble. The glorious 6-2 result sent a signal to Chelsea that in a hostile environment Barça isn’t intimidated and will step on their opposition’s throat.

The 6-2 drubbing probably cost Juande Ramos an opportunity to coach Los Merengues next year.  Despite a fantastic run to stay hot on Barcelona’s heels, every time Real lost on his watch it was bad.  The 5-0 aggregate embarrassment against Liverpool in the Champions League and then this match at home with so much on the line.

It wasn’t perfect but there’s no need to nitpick a 6-2 victory.  Besides, a 6-2 victory against your fiercest rival is a time to gloat and stick your chest out. Barça outscored Real 8-2 in their two matches this season, sweet revenge from last season.  Celebrate Barça fans, Real got whipped. For The Blaugrana, its 1 trophy down, 2 more to go.

AC Milan continues its fierce late season charge with a 3-0 win at the San Siro over Palermo. 2 PK goals from Kaká and another score from Super Pippo Inzaghi gave Il Rossoneri the win. Milan extended their unbeaten streak to 7, having won 6 in that span. AC Milan has pulled 2 points ahead of Juventus and moved to within 7 points of their league leading arch rivals.

Fiorentina moved into 4th place and the last Champions League spot with an impressive 4-1 win at home versus fellow Champions League spot contender, Roma. A double by Alberto Gilardino helped I Viola to the 3 points. Fiorentina leaped over Genoa after Genoa lost 2-0 to Bologna on the road. Marco Di Vaio scored his league leading 21st goal for Bologna in the victory.

Here are the results and standings from Week 33:

SATURDAY, APRIL 25th
Chievo 1 – 2 Udinese
CHI: Sergio Pellissier (71′)
UDI: Gaetano D’Agostino (pen 35′ & 93′)

Fiorentina 4 – 1 AS Roma
FIO: Juan Manuel Vargas (6′), Alberto Gilardino (47′ & 67′), Massimo Gobbi (73′)
ROM: Julio Baptista (86′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 26th
Bologna 2 – 0 Genoa
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (pen 15′) & Claudio Terzi (25′)

Lazio 0 – 1 Atalanta
ATL: Leonardo Talamonti (24′)

Lecce 2 – 1 Catania
LEC: Gianni Munari (11′) & Simone Tiribocchi (25′)
CAT: Jorge Martínez (47′)

AC Milan 3 – 0 Palermo
ACM: Kaká (pen 10′ & pen 56′) & Filippo Inzaghi (19′)

Reggina 2 – 2 Juventus
REG: Antonino Barillá (26′) & Emil Hallfreðsson (69′)
JUV: Alessandro Del Piero (pen 48′) & Cristiano Zanetti (73′)

Torino 1 – 0 Siena
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (10′)

Sampdoria 3 – 3 Cagliari
SAM: Guido Marilungo (26′ & 43′) & Antonio Cassano (86′)
CAG: Alessandro Matri (47′), Robert Acquafresca (pen 68′), Daniele Conti (80′)

Napoli 1 – 0 Inter Milan
NAP: Marcelo Zalayeta (73′)

STANDINGS

Real Madrid got a hat trick by their icon, Raúl to beat Sevilla 4-2 on the road. The win extended Real’s amazing run under Juande Ramos to 18 games unbeaten in La Liga with only 1 draw in that span. Real Madrid’s last loss in La Liga was the 2-0 defeat to Barca in the Camp Nou on December 13th. Sevilla has lost 4 straight and lead Valencia by 1 point for 3rd place. The Barca draw & Real’s win set up an exciting and intense Spanish SuperClásico next Saturday.

Villarreal moved back into a European spot as they held off Getafe 2-1 on the road. The Yellow Submarine jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of goals from Joan Capdevila and Joseba Llorente. Villarreal now sits in 5th place just 2 points back of 3rd place Sevilla.

Espanyol continued its inspiring climb from the bottom of the table to safety with an important 2-0 win over Real Betis. Barcelona’s other team is unbeaten in its last 5 matches having won the last 4 and are 2 points out of the relegation zone with Valencia as their next opponent.

Here are the results and standings after Round 33:

SATURDAY, APRIL 25th
Málaga 1 – 1 Deportivo La Coruña
MAL: Albert Luque (32′)
DLC: Sergio González (50′)

Almería 2 – 1 Numancia
ALM: Kalu Uche (6′) & Fernando Soriano (42′)
NUM: Asier Goiria (81′)

Valencia 2 – 2 Barcelona
VAL: Hedwiges Maduro (43′) & Pablo Hernández (45′)
BAR: Lionel Messi (24′) & Thierry Henry (86′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 26th
Athlétic Bilbao 2 – 1 Racing Santander
ATH: Fernando Llorente (22′) & David Lopez (pen 42′)
RAC: Pinillos (pen 56′)

Espanyol 2 – 0 Real Betis
ESP: Luis García (4′) & Román (84′)

Valladolid 0 – 0 Osasuna

Recreativo Huelva 2 – 4 Mallorca
REC: Sisi (48′) & Camuñas (81′)
MAL: Jurado (10′), Arango (15′), ‘Chori’ Castro (76′), Keita (91′)

Getafe 1 – 2 Villarreal
GET: Manu del Moral (pen 81′)
VIL: Joan Capdevila (16′) & Joseba Llorente (43′)

Sevilla 2 – 4 Real Madrid
SEV: Renato (16′) & Diego Capel (80′)
RMA: Raúl (45′, 63′, 66′) & Marcelo (92′)

Atlético Madrid 3 – 1 Sporting Gijón
ATM: Forlán (27′), Simao (41′), Kun Agüero (47′)
SPO: Mate Bilic (48′)

STANDINGS

La Blaugrana destroyed 3rd place Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou as The Catalans rested Lionel Messi & Carles Puyol but they had a front seat to the Andres Iniesta show.  The under appreciated midfielder scored a Golazo to open the scoring and carved Sevilla’s defense in aiding the other 3 goals.

Valencia continued its strong late season run with a tough 2-1 road win versus Real Betis. Star striker David Villa added 2 more goals to his tally in his quest for the Pichichi. The victory was the 5th in a row for Los Che and put them just 2 points behind Sevilla.

The shock result of the fixtures was the 5-1 thrashing of Atlético Madrid at the hands of Racing Santander. Los Colchoneros erratic play continues to baffle its supporters. It was 3-0 before Diego Forlán’s PK ended Racinguistas bid for a clean sheet. The loss dropped Atlético Madrid out of a European spot by moving them into 7th place.

Here are the results & standings from La Liga’s 32nd Round:

TUESDAY, APRIL 21st
Real Madrid 3 – 2 Getafe
RMA: Gonzalo Higuaín (45′ & 93′), Guti (86′)
GET: Roberto Soldado (10′) & Juan Albín (84′)

Numancia 1 – 2 Athletic Bilbao
NUM: Cisma (11′)
ATH: Toquero (30′) & Fernando Llorente (48′)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22nd
Deportivo La Coruna 2 – 0 Almeria
DLC: Verdú (49′) & Lassad (68′)

Osasuna 2 – 3 Malaga
OSA: Plasil (18′) & Nekounam (33′)
MAL: Apoño (pen 4′), Lolo (72′), Salva (77′)

Real Betis 1 – 2 Valencia
BET: Ricardo Oliveira (87′)
VAL: David Villa (65′ & 79′)

Barcelona 4 – 0 Sevilla
BAR: Iniesta (3′), Eto’o (17′), Xavi (49′), Thierry Henry (54′)

THURSDAY, APRIL 23rd
Villarreal 2 – 1 Recreativo
VIL: Llorente (40′) & Cani (67′)
REC: Camuñas (1′)

Sporting 0 – 3 Espanyol
ESP: Nené (25′), Román Martínez (73′), Callejón (75′)

Mallorca 2 – 0 Valladolid
MAL: Alhassane Keita (64′ & 82′)

Racing Santander 5 – 1 Altético Madrid
RAC: Cristian (9′), Garay (16′), Tchité (38′), Munitis (65′), Zigic (87′)
ATM: Diego Forlán, (pen 62′)

STANDINGS

The FIFA World Player of the Year is the greatest individual honor a footballer can win in the sport. As it is well known, the ’08 award was won by Manchester United’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. After the award presentation, attention shifted to who could win the 2009 FIFA POY Award. Almost immediately, the 1st person that sprung to mind was the 2nd place finisher in 2008, Barcelona’s Argentine stud Lionel Messi.

His name is Andrés Iniesta

Iniesta has missed a few games this season due to injury and Barca is not the same team when he’s out. The 2 game losing skid that Barca suffered losing to Espanyol & Atletico Madrid, Iniesta was out for both matches. Even Barca’s 2-0 victory over Real Madrid earlier in the season was sloppy, if Iniesta had played Barca’s possessions would have been cleaner and the offense would have been sharper leading to a larger margin of victory versus Real.

Iniesta is also an underappreciated part of La Furia Roja’s amazing 31-game unbeaten streak. Spain’s national team is a beast right now.  However his presence cannot be underestimated, besides name a current Spanish midfielder not named Xavi that’s better than Iniesta.  He possesses a deceptive combination of speed, dribbling, patience, hustle, passing, and attitude that has lead to him being called El Anti-Galactico. That’s a compliment.

Andres Iniesta isn’t going to win the Pichichi or Golden Boot but football is a sport where the numbers don’t always measure the greatness or importance of a player. Ask Real Madrid how The Galacticos struggled without Makelele and Hierro. Iniesta is the difference between a possible historic treble and an already seen double.

Andres Iniesta is massively important for the best club team in the world and the best national team in the world. Based on those things, El Anti-Galactico is my new front runner for the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year.

Week 31 of La Liga was pretty much status quo with little movement at the top & bottom of the table. Barcelona got an 18th minute goal from Lionel Messi to beat Getafe 1-0 on the road. Real Madrid has Barca in sight with a 48th minute goal from Marcelo to win 1-0 on the road against Recreativo.

Valencia continues its run to the last Champions League spot.  Los Che romped to a 3-1 victory over 3rd place Sevilla at the Mestalla. PKs by David Villa & Juan Manuel Mata helped to give Valencia the 3 points. Valencia has now won 5 straight and looks poised to solidify 4th place.

However, Atlético Madrid kept pace with a 3-0 home win against Numancia. Diego Forlan scored his 21st goal of the season to help Los Colchoneros stay close to Valencia.

Villarreal continues their slide with a disappointing 0-0 draw on the road against Valladolid. The Yellow Submarine have fallen to 6th place having earned 4 points in their last 5 games and they will be without midfield stars Santi Cazorla & Marcos Senna for the rest of the season.

Here are the results and standings for Week 31:

SATURDAY, APRIL 18th

Athletic Bilbao 0 – 1 Deportivo La Coruna
DLC: Pablo Álvarez (86′)

Malaga 1 – 1 Mallorca
MLG: Apoño (53′)
MAL: Juan Arango (59′)

Atlético Madrid 3 – 0 Numancia
ATM: Ever Banega (62′), Diego Forlán (78′), Simao (90′)

Getafe 0 – 1 Barcelona
BAR: Lionel Messi (18′)

Recreativo 0 – 1 Real Madrid
RMA: Marcelo (48′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 19th

Espanyol 1- 0 Racing Santander
ESP: Iván Alonso (56′)

Almeria 2 – 1 Osasuna
ALM: Negredo (71′ & 89′)
OSA: Walter Pandiani (84′)

Valencia 3 – 1 Sevilla
VAL: Villa (pen 45′), Juan Manuel Mata (pen 83′), Pablo (90′)
SEV: Julien Escudé (9′)

Real Betis 2 – 0 Sporting Gijon
BET: Achille Emana (7′ & 70′)

Valladolid 0 – 0 Villarreal

STANDINGS

Juve’s draw makes them winless in their last 3 matches and with Milan’s 5-1 destruction of Torino. Il Rossoneri moved into a 2nd place tie with Juventus.  Pippo Inzaghi scored a hat trick to extend Milan’s unbeaten streak to 6.

Roma improved its chances at a Champions League spot with a 3-2 home win versus Lecce.  Francesco Totti scored twice to give Roma the victory.  Roma’s win was good timing as the other Champions League contenders lost.  Genoa lost 1-0 at home to Lazio and Fiorentina lost 3-1 on the road to Udinese.

Here are the results and standings from Week 32:

SATURDAY, APRIL 18th

Genoa 0 – 1 Lazio
LAZ: Mauro Zárate (65)

Juventus 1 – 1 Inter
JUV: Zdenek Grygera (91′)
INT: Mario Balotelli (64′)

SUNDAY, APRIL 19th

Atalanta 0 – 1 Reggina
REG: Fabio Ceravalo (40′)

Cagliari 2 – 0 Napoli
CAG: Jeda (5′) & Andrea Lazzari (92′)

Catania 2 – 0 Sampdoria
CAT: Giuseppe Mascara (pen 39′) & Jorge Martínez (48′)

Palermo 4 – 1 Bologna
PAL: Belleri (og 6′), Kjær (44′), Succi (63′), Cavani (92′)
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (84′)

Roma 3 – 2 Lecce
ROM: Francesco Totti (3′ & pen 59′), Matteo Brighi (13)
LEC: Munari (31′) & Papadopoulos (55′)

Siena 0 – 2 Chievo
CHI: Sergio Pellissier (23′ & 48′)

Udinese 3 – 1 Fiorentina
UDI: Kwadwo Asamoah (10′), Gaetano D’Agostino (pen 47′ & 69′)
FIO: Dario Dainelli (67′)

Milan 5 – 1 Torino
MIL: Filippo Inzaghi (13′, 37′, 60′), Kaká (pen 68′), Ambrosini (90′)
TOR: Ivan Franceschini (80′)

STANDINGS

The marquee match of the week featured 4th place Genoa and 2nd place Juventus. Genoa defeated Juve 3-2 as the home side got a brace from Ex-Barcelona midfielder Thiago Motta. However, the game winner was scored in the 88th minute by Raffaele Palladino as Genoa dropped La Vecchia Signora 10 points behind Inter for the Scudetto.

The Derby della Capitale was another heated affair with goals early & often and red cards late & often. 3 goals were scored in the 1st 10 minutes with Lazio’s Goran Pandev and Mauro Zarate scoring in the 1st 4 minutes to give Lazio an insurmountable lead that ultimately lead to a 4-2 victory. The victory snapped Lazio’s 3-game losing streak and pretty much ended Roma’s chances at a Champions League spot.

Here are the results and standings from Week 31:

Genoa 3 – 2 Juventus
GEN: Thiago Motta (29′ & 45′) & Raffaele Palladino (88′)
JUV: Alessandro Del Piero (pen 45′) & Vincenzo Iaquinta (84′)

Lazio 4 – 2 AS Roma
LAZ: Goran Pandev (2′), Mauro Zarate (4′), Lichtsteiner (57′), Kolarov (85′)
ROM: Philippe Mexès (10′) & Daniele De Rossi (81′)

Bologna 1 – 4 Siena
BOL: Massimo Marazzina (20′)
SIE: Emanuele Calaio (6′), Daniele Portanova (11′), Ghezzal (62′), Kharja (81′)

Fiorentina 2 – 1 Cagliari
FIO: Manuel Pasqual (53′) & Juan Manuel Vargas (85′)
CAG: Daniele Ragatzu (86′)

Inter Milan 2 – 2 Palermo
INT: Mario Balotelli (15′) &  Zlatan Ibrahimovic (pen 39′)
PAL: Edison Cavani (73′) & Davide Succi (76′)

Lecce 1 – 3 Sampdoria
LEC: Fabio Caserta (pen 59′)
SAM: Giampaolo Pazzini (11′) & Antonio Cassano (pen 30′ & pen 88′)

Napoli 0 – 0 Atalanta

Chievo 0 – 1 AC Milan
ACM: Clarence Seedorf (53′)

Torino 2 – 1 Catania
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (82′) & Cesare Natali (88′)
CAT: Jorge Martínez (85′)

Reggina 0 – 2 Udinese
UDI: (85′) Antonio Floro Flores (85′ & 90’+1)

STANDINGS

The La Liga Team Of The Week made headlines and/or played matches on the weekend of April 3 -5. The winner is:

Club Atlético Osasuna

The win also damaged Atlético Madrid’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League. Los Colchoneros are now 5 points back of 4th place Villarreal.  For their impressive and possibly relegation avoiding win, Club Atlético Osasuna are the La Liga Team Of The Week for Week 29.

This past weekend saw the resumption of play in the Serie A. The Team Of The Week made headlines and/or played matches the weekend of April 3 -5. The winner is:

Associazione Calcio Fiorentina

For their important road win, Associazione Calcio Fiorentina are the Serie A Team Of The Week for Giornata 30.

Well Serie A fans, welcome back. The national team solidified their chances of going to South Africa so now its time for the clubs to solidify their chances for either a Scudetto, European competition place, or avoid relegation. With only 8 weeks left, teams need points and need them NOW.

Inter Milan may have secured their 17th Scudetto with a lucky 1-0 road win over Udinese. Nerazzurri were gifted the 3 points when Udinese defender Mauricio Isla put the ball in his own net in the 77th minute. Inter continues to top the table with 72 points extending its lead to 9 points over Juventus.

Juve dropped points to Inter after a thrilling 3-3 draw vs Chievo. Sergio Pellissier scored a hat trick to lead Chievo but La Vecchia Signora got a point on an own goal by Chievo’s defender Andrea Mantovani. The draw breaks Juve’s 5-game winning streak.

The contenders  for the last two Champions League spots will push the drama till the very end as all the teams in contention won their matches.

3rd place Milan beat Lecce 2-0 at home on the strength of two 2nd half injury time goals from Ronaldinho & Pippo Inzaghi. 4th place Genoa kept within 4 points of Milan with a tough 1-0 road win over Reggina. Thiago Motta scored in the 78th minute to maintain Genoa’s standing. 5th place Fiorentina stayed 2 points back of Genoa with their 2-1 road win over Atalanta. Alberto Gilardino scored the game winner in the 89th minute providing heart -wrenching drama for I Viola.

Here are the results & standings for Week 30:

Atalanta 1 – 2 Fiorentina
ATL: Gianvito Plasmati (49′)
FIO: Stevan Jovetic (59′) & Alberto Gilardino (89′)

Cagliari 1 – 0 Catania
CAG: Alessandro Matri (80′)

Juventus 3 – 3 Chievo
JUV: Chiellini (34′), Andrea Mantovani (og 53′), Iaquinta (79′)
CHI: Sergio Pellissier (25′, 44′, 90’+1′)

Palermo 1 – 0 Torino
PAL: Edinson Cavani (51′)

Reggina 0 – 1 Genoa
GEN: Thiago Motta (78′)

Roma 2 – 1 Bologna
ROM: Francesco Totti (12′ & 58′)
BOL: Massimo Marazzina (26′)

Sampdoria 2 – 2 Napoli
SAM: Angelo Palombo (28′ & 63′)
NAP: Marcelo Zalayeta (44′) & Germán Denis (90’+2′)

Siena 2 – 0 Lazio
SIE: Emanuele Calaiò (25′) & Massimo Maccarone (85′)

Udinese 0 – 1 Inter Milan
INT: Mauricio Isla (og 77′)

AC Milan 2 – 0 Lecce
ACM: Ronaldinho (90’+1′) & Filippo Inzaghi (90’+3′)

STANDINGS

1st place Barcelona got a 40th minute goal from Samuel Eto’o to beat Valladolid to maintain their 6-point lead over Real Madrid. Los Merengues got a 49th minute goal from Gonzalo Higuain to defeat Malaga and stay within striking distance of Barca. Sevilla remains solidly in 3rd on the strength of Frederic Kanoute’s PK in the 33rd minute as they dropped Recreativo.

Valencia made up ground on Villarreal in the race for 4th place with a big 4-1 win at the Mestalla versus Getafe. David Villa converted 2 PKs to lead Los Che to within 2 points of Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine suffered an embarassing 3-0 road loss to Almeria and lost star midfielder Santi Cazorla for the rest of the season with a broken shin.

Atletico Madrid’s hopes of Champions League play took a big hit as Osasuna defeated Los Colchoneros 4-2 at the Vicente Calderon.  Walter Pandiani scored twice to give Osasuna the 3 points.  Osasuna has lost once since February and find themselves 2 points out of the relegation zone.

Here are the results & standings from Week 29:

Saturday, April 4th

Athletic Bilbao 2 – 1 Mallorca
ATH: Yeste (pen 3′) & Javi Martínez (83′)
MAL: Jurado (71′)

Valladolid 0 – 1 Barcelona
BAR: Eto’o (40′)

Real Betis 3 – 3 Numancia
BET: Sergio García (9′), Capi (84′), Ricardo Oliveira (pen 89′)
NUM: Aranda (39′), Barkero (pen 75′), Aranda (pen 90′)

Recreativo 0 – 1 Sevilla
SEV: Kanouté (pen 33′)

Almeria 3 – 0 Villarreal
ALM: Negredo (7′), Piatti (20′), Mane (35′)

Malaga 0 – 1 Real Madrid
RMA: Higuaín (49′)

Sunday, April 5th

Espanyol 3 – 1 Deportivo La Coruna
ESP: Iván Alonso (12′), De la Peña (39′), Lopo (og 91′)
DLC: Lassad (42′)

Valencia 4 – 1 Getafe
VAL: Mata (19′), Villa (pen 25′ & pen 60′), Albiol (56′)
GET: Casquero (pen 48′)

Atlético Madrid 2 – 4 Osasuna
ATM: Forlán (14′) & Pablo (73′)
OSA: Pandiani (7′ & 48′), Vadocz (44′), Masoud (69′)

Sporting Gijon 0 – 2 Racing Santander
RAC: Zigic (54′) & Colsa (89′)

STANDINGS

With World Cup qualifiers over until June, the wild followers of various Serie A teams can get back to cheering for their beloved clubs. This weekend play will resume with a full slate of matches.  With 9 matchdays left in the 2008-09 season, this is when teams must make their charge for a Scudetto, European spot or to avoid relegation.  Recent injuries to big name players will make Serie A matches a whole lot more interesting.

Inter Milan’s Brazilian right-back  Maicon hurt his leg against Ecuador in their 1-1 draw in Quito and is possibly out for the season.  Maicon has been a unquestioned regular in Jose Mourinho’s lineup and will test Inter’s depth in the back as they look to seal their 17th Scudetto.

Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale will reportedly miss the rest of the season after his knee injury in Italy’s 2-0 win over Montenegro.  His absence will affect Udinese in their quest for their 1st UEFA Cup.  Udinese face Werder Bremen in the quarters of the UEFA Cup with the 1st leg scheduled for April 9th.

2 teams vying for 4th place and the coveted final Champions League spot will be without their stars. 4th place Genoa will be without their talisman Argentine striker Diego Milito for as many as 3 weeks after going down with a muscle injury against Venezuela.  5th place Fiorentina will be missing Adrian Mutu after he injured his knee in a 3-2 Romania loss to Serbia.

Here are the fixtures for Week 30 of the Serie A (table standings in parenthesis):

Atalanta (10) v Fiorentina (5)

Cagliari (7) v Catania (12)

Juventus (2) v Chievo (16)

Palermo (8) v Torino (18)

Reggina (20) v Genoa (4)

Roma (6) v Bologna (17)

Sampdoria (14) v Napoli (11)

Siena (15) v Lazio (9)

Udinese (13) v Inter (1)

Milan (3) v Lecce (19)

STANDINGS

After witnessing Inter Milan crash out of the Champions League Round of 16 to Manchester United, I had the same expression as Javier Zanetti.  An expression like WHAT THE F#$%K.  What will it take for Inter to win the Champions League? 

Here’s an Inter fan’s summer transfer wish list, its short and consists of two players. 

#1 – Sergio “Kun” Agüero

#2 – Samuel Eto’o

Adding those two players would make Inter faster and more skillful in their attack.  The reason Inter hasn’t been able to go all the way in Champions League is because they don’t have consistent speedy attacking players to breakdown the quality defenses they encounter in the knockout stages.

Mourinho can coach defense, that’s not a major problem but this Inter squad has to strengthen its attack and what better way than with Aguero & Eto’o.  Nerazzurri have to do something this summer to improve the squad in order to seriously challenge for the Champions League next year.

Its wishful thinking for sure for Inter fans but wishes are meant to come true.

Who should Inter Milan acquire over the summer?
( polls)

We are into the single digits in terms of number of weeks left in the Serie A season. 9 weeks left till the end of the season and I am suffering from some serious writers’ block.  That’s ok cause, there is still a Team Of The Week.  The Serie A Team Of The Week for Week 29 played matches and/or made headlines during the calendar week of March  16 – 22.

The winner is:
Juventus Football Club

The winningest team in the history of Italian 1st first division football now gets to add Team Of The Week to their vast trophy case.  Juventus had the most impressive scoreline of the week with their 4-1 thrashing of AS Roma in Rome.  The beatdown at the Stadio Olimpico was led by Vincenzo Iaquinta’s double.  Olaf Mellberg & Pavel Nedved added goals to finish off the Romans.

La Vecchia Signora have won 5 straight and are unbeaten in their last 7 matches and seem to have recovered from the Calciopoli scandal.  Say what you want about Claudio Rainieri but he’s done well this season with the squad despite what will be a trophy less season. 

For their impressive 4-1 ass whippin’ of I Giallorossi in Rome.  Juventus Football Club are the Serie A Team Of The Week for Week 29.

The winner is:
Valencia Club de Fútbol

The team known as Los Che snapped a 6 game winless streak with their big road 1-0 win over Racing Santander. Juan Mata scored the game winner in the 77th minute to secure the 3 points for Valencia.  The win moved Valencia into 6th place and back into a European spot.

Los Che have the talent to compete for a Champions League spot but inconsistent play and financial difficulties have led to a disappointing and underachieving season.  However, this win could be the boost Valencia needs to re-establish their place amongst the elite of Spanish football.

For their important road win against an always tough Racing Santander, Valencia Club de Fútbol is the Week 28 La Liga Team Of The Week.

Genoa & Fiorentina both won to make their duel for the last Champions League place more compelling.  Genoa took care of Udinese 2-0 at home, Diego Milito scored his 16th goal of the season as Genoa maintained 4th place in the standings. Fiorentina kept pace with a tough 1-0 win at home versus Siena. Once again, Adrian Mutu saved I Viola with a goal in the 72nd minute to break Fiorentina’s 2 game losing streak and keep them in 5th place just 2 points back of Genoa.

Here are the results from Week 29 – home teams listed first:

Saturday, March 21

Catania 1 – 0 Lazio
CAT: Michele Paolucci (24′)

Roma 1- 4 Juventus
ROM: Simone Loria (48′)
JUV: Iaquinta (34′ & 55′), Mellberg (68′), Nedved (74′)

Sunday, March 22

Bologna 0 – 1 Cagliari
CAG: Robert Acquafresca (45′)

Chievo 1 – 0 Palermo
CHI: Luciano (46′)

Fiorentina 1 – 0 Siena
FIO: Adrian Mutu (72′)

Genoa 2 – 0 Udinese
GEN: Giuseppe Sculli (60′), Diego Milito (94′)

Inter Milan 3 – 0 Reggina
INT: Esteban Cambiasso (6′), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (10′ & 58′)

Lecce 2 – 2 Atalanta
LEC: Fabio Caserta (9′ & 91′)
ATL: Simone Padoin (29′ & 48′)

Torino 1 – 3 Sampdoria
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (29′)
SAM: Pazzini (8′), Sammarco (24′), Cassano (69′)

Napoli 0 – 0 AC Milan

STANDINGS

#2. The battle for the 2 Europa League spots will come down to the final week. After this week’s matches there are 4 teams tied at 43 points in pursuit of European positions.

Atletico Madrid’s tendency to play down or up to their opponents level was on the downside as they lost 2-0 at Mallorca. Los Colchoneros are holding on to 5th place with the edge in goal differential.

Valencia broke out of a 6-game winless streak with a big 1-0 road win against Racing to move into 6th place and back into a European spot. Juan Mata scored in the 77th minute to get the 3 points.

Malaga was this week’s victim of the Barcelona goal scoring machine as the Blaugrana destroyed the newly promoted side 6-0 at the Camp Nou.  The lethal trio of Henry, Messi, and Eto’o each scored with Eto’o scoring twice to bury the Andulsian side.  Malaga is now in 8th place.

The other team battling for a Europa League spot is Deportivo La Coruna.  Depor drew 1-1 at home to Real Betis wasting an opportunity to move into 5th place by themselves.  The draw puts them in 7th place.

Here are the results from Week 28 – home teams listed first:

Saturday, March 21

Villarreal 2 – 0 Athletic Bilbao
VIL: Cazorla (68′) & Fernández (91′)

Sevilla 4 – 1 Valladolid
SEV: Kanouté (7′, 42′, 69′) & Luis Fabiano (57′)
VLD: Goitom (21′)

Sunday, March 22

Deportivo La Coruna 1 – 1 Real Betis
DLC: Verdú (8′)
BET: Sergio García (32′)

Numancia 2 – 1 Sporting Gijon
NUM: Barkero (43′) & Goiria (54′)
SPG: Barral (46′)

Osasuna 1 – 0 Espanyol
OSA: Nekounam (92′)

Racing Santander 0 – 1 Valencia
VAL: Mata (77′)

Getafe 2 – 1 Recreativo Huelva
GET: Soldado (63′ & 67′)
REC: Maidana (46′)

Real Madrid 3 – 0 Almeria
RMA: Marcelo (23′), Huntelaar (52′ & 65′)

Barcelona 6 – 0 Malaga
BAR: Xavi (19′), Messi (25′), Henry (32′), Eto’o (44′ & 56′), Alves (51′)

Mallorca 2 – 0 Atletico Madrid
MAL: Aritz Aduriz (23′) & Gonzalo Castro (90′)

STANDINGS

On Friday, the Champions League Quarterfinal draw was revealed and La Liga teams were given a difficult path towards an all-Spain final. 

Futbol Club Barcelona

Villarreal Club de Fútbol

The remaining La Liga sides have a tough road ahead of them and they will have to overcome difficult opposition to prove that Spain has the best league in Europe.

Here are the quarterfinal matchups of the Champions League:

FC Barcelona (ESP) – Bayern Munich (GER) winner
VS.
Liverpool (ENG) – Chelsea (ENG) winner

Manchester United (ENG) – FC Porto (POR) winnner
VS.
Villarreal (ESP) – Arsenal (ENG) winner

The 1st leg will take place on April 7th & 8th and 2nd leg will take place April 14th & 15th.

Associazione Calcio Chievo Verona

If Chievo continues its current form they should stay in Serie A.  Its been a tale of two seasons for Chievo.  The 2008 part of the season saw Chievo lose all but 5 matches winning only 2 of those 5 as they looked like a lock for relegation.   Since the calendar turned to 2009, Chievo has been a completely different team.  The Flying Donkeys have only lost once and are currently on a 3 game unbeaten streak.  If Chievo had performed better in ’08, they could be challenging for a European spot.  What’s done is done and hopefully for fans of Chievo this 3-0 road win versus Lazio will continue a good run of form that will keep them in the Serie A. Therefore, Associazione Calcio Chievo Verona wins the Week 28 Serie A Team Of The Week.

Futbol Club Barcelona

As a Barça fan, I’ve been waiting all season to name FC Barcelona as Team Of The Week but they haven’t been worthy until this past week.  Last Wednesday, Blaugrana secured their place in the quarterfinals of UEFA Champions League with a 5-2 victory over French champs, Lyon.  Thierry Henry’s double finished Les Gones and helped Barça to a 6-3 aggregate victory.

Barça finished the week with an important 2-0 road win against Almeria.  This time the Catalans displayed their depth with Bojan Krkic scoring both goals in the 2nd half to keep Barcelona 6 points ahead of 2nd place Real Madrid.  Winning by at least 2 goals in both Europe & La Liga is undeniable.  Therefore, Futbol Club Barcelona is the Week 27 La Liga Team Of The Week.

Villarreal gave up a 2-0 lead at the Vicente Calderon to Atlético Madrid and lost 3-2 with Antonio Lopez scoring the game winner in the 83rd minute.  The win vaulted Los Colchoneros into 5th place just 2 points behind Villarreal and ahead of Malaga on goal differential.

Malaga started the make or break stretch of their season with a 2-2  home draw vs. Sevilla.  Malaga had a 2-0 lead at halftime but could not seal the 3 points and fell victim to the goal scoring talents of Frederic Kanoute & Luis Fabiano in the 2nd half. Malaga’s murderous stretch continues next week with a trip to the Camp Nou and 1st place, Barcelona.

The other team battling for that last Champions League spot is Deportivo La Coruna.  El Depor lost a tough 3-2 contest to Sporting Gijon on the road.  Sporting was one team that was able to hold on to a 2-0 lead and win. The loss put Deportivo in 7th place and out of a Europa League spot.  With 11 weeks of football left a lot can change especially when only 5 points separates 4th place from 8th place.

Here are the results from Week 27 & Standings:

Saturday, March 14

Valencia 1 – 1 Recreativo Huelva
VAL: Pablo (83′)
REC: Camuñas (54′)

Athletic Bilbao 2 – 5 Real Madrid
ATH: Heinze (og 36′) & Llorente (45′)
RMA:  Robben (22′), Heinze (34′), Huntelaar (47′ & 61′), Higuaín (pen 85′)

Sunday, March 15

Espanyol 3 – 3 Mallorca
ESP: Callejón (56′), De la Peña (71′), Nené (82′)
MAL: Arango (39′), C. Santana (60′), Jurado (70′)

Malaga 2 – 2 Sevilla
MAG: Salva (19′ & 32′)
SEV: Kanouté (74′) & Luis Fabiano (84′)

Racing Santander 5 – 0 Numancia
RAC: Óscar Serrano (16′ & 45′), Luccin (27′), Zigic (33′ & 40′)

Valladolid 1 – 0 Getafe
VAL: Cannobio (86′)

Real Betis 0 – 0 Osasuna

Sporting Gijon 3 – 2 Deportivo La Coruna
SPG: Luis Morán (48′), Barral (pen 52′), José Ángel (71′)
DLC: Sergio (67′) & Riki (85′)

Atlético Madrid 3 – 2 Villarreal
ATM: Agüero (53′), Forlán (80′), Antonio López (82′)
VIL: Matías Fernández (19′) & Cani (52′)

Almeria 0 – 2 Barcelona
BAR: Bojan (53′ & 56′)

STANDINGS:

Juventus kept Inter in their sights with a 4-1 victory over Bologna as Juve icon Alessandro Del Piero scored twice to help La Vecchia Signora win its 4th straight game and extend their unbeaten streak to 6 matches.

Inter bounced back from midweek Champions League disappointment with a 2-0 home victory over Fiorentina. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice to knock  I Viola into 5th place. Fiorentina’s result meant that Genoa would move into 4th as they took advantage of Fiorentina’s loss by winning at Cagliari 1-0. Ruben Olivera’s goal in the 85th minute gave Genoa the big win.

Here are the results from Week 28 & Standings:

Saturday, March 14

Cagliari 0 – 1 Genoa
GEN: Ruben Olivera (85′)

Juventus 4 – 1 Bologna
JUV: Salihamidžic (48′), Giovinco (71′), Del Piero (75′ & 87′)
BOL: Massimo Mutarelli (24′)

Sunday, March 15

Atalanta 2 – 0 Torino
ATL: Sergio Floccari (46′ & 72′)

Lazio 0 – 3 Chievo
CHI: Bogdani (27′), Sergio Pellissier (28′ & 84′)

Palermo 5 – 2 Lecce
PAL:Cavani (11′ & 59′), Simplício (18′), Miccoli (41′), Simon Kjær (56′)
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (17′ & 34′)

Reggina 1 – 1 Napoli
REG: Bernardo Corradi (27′)
NAP: Ezequiel Lavezzi (64′)

Sampdoria 2 -2 Roma
SAM: Giampaolo Pazzini (25′ & 43)
ROM: Julio Baptista (7′ & 70′)

Siena 1 – 5 Milan
SIE: Massimo Maccarone (62′)
MIL: Pirlo (7′), Inzaghi (48′ & 71′), Pato (55′ & 78′)

Udinese 1 – 1 Catania
UDI: Fabio Quagliarella (71′)
CAT: Giuseppe Mascara (25′)

Inter 2 – 0 Fiorentina
INT: Ibrahimovic (11′ & 90′)

STANDINGS:

The fact that no Serie A teams made the final 8 highlights a disturbing trend for Serie A fans.  Going back to the 2005-06 Champions League the number of Serie A teams advancing to the quarters has decreased every year since then.

2005-06: (3) – Milan, Inter, and Juve in the quarters
2006-07: (2) – Milan and Roma in the quarters
2007-08: (1) – Roma in the quarters
2008-09: No team in the quarters.

Since the induction of the Round of 16 knockout stage in 2003-04 only Milan has progressed past the quarters. If you go back to the beginning of the century only 1 tournament has there been more than one Serie A team in the semis, that was the 2002-03 tournament. Milan beat Juventus in a boring final that whose only drama was the PK Shootout.

Let’s see, with the exception of AC Milan, Serie A teams have struggled recently in the Champions League because of a lack of a playmaker in the middle and a reliable clutch goal scorer.

Roma have a playmaker in the middle, Francesco Totti but he’s basically carrying the attack by himself and to get to at least the semis Totti needs help.

Juventus have a playmaker in the middle, Alessandro Del Piero but he’s older and is not the passer or set up man like Totti.

Inter Milan haven’t had either. In recent memory, Nerazzurri have not had a #10 creator/playmaker in the middle to run at defenses and create opportunities for teammates. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has yet to score a goal in the knockout stages of the Champions League. The squad Inter has now is good enough to win the Scudetto but not the Champions League. Mourinho needs to get Kun Aguero and Samuel Eto’o, if he becomes available.

AC Milan have both a playmaker in the middle and a reliable clutch goal scorer. Rossoneri have a fast playmaker with great vision and dribbling, Kaka. Get Pippo Inzaghi the ball in the box and its gonna be in the back of the net. Milan can count on Kaka and Pippo Inzaghi to get the goals needed to succeed in the Champions League.

Maybe its just a cyclical thing with English Premiership teams taking their place now as the best performing league in the Champions League but if Serie A teams want to re-establish their place as an elite league, their teams are going to have to get faster, younger, and find consistency in the #10 and #9 positions.

Società Sportiva Lazio

Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña

Deportivo’s victory vaulted them over Atletico Madrid into 6th place and a UEFA Europa League spot and just 3 points from 4th place and a Champions League spot.  For scoring 5 goals and moving into a European spot, Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña wins the La Liga Team Of The Week  for Week 26.

It was truly a weekend of stars and out of this world play.  On Sunday,  every game had at least 3 goals scored. Let’s begin with the drama at the top of the table as Barcelona ended their 2-game losing skid with an important 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao.  Sergi Busquets scored his 1st goal of the season and the return of Andres Iniesta boosted the Catalans when he drew a penalty that Messi calmly finished.

In the Madrid derby, Atlético managed to end Real’s 10-game winning streak with a tough 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu.  Dutch striker Klass Jan Huntelaar equalized for Real in the 57th minute as Los Merengues were pushed by Los Colchoneros in a match that could have ended badly for Real fans as Iker Casillas made big saves to perserve a point.  The result means that Real now sit 6 points behind 1st place Barcelona.

Malaga and Deportivo La Coruna kept their hopes for 4th place and a Champions League spot alive with entertaining high scoring affairs.  Malaga went on the road and beat Getafe 2-1 with their leading scorer Moroccan forward Nabil Baha scoring the eventual game winner in the 47th minute.  Malaga now faces the murderous gauntlet of  Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Villarreal in succession for a stretch that will make or break their European hopes.

As for Spain’s West Coast team, Deportivo got 4 goals in a 17 minute stretch in the 2nd half to beat Racing Santander 5-3 at the Riazor.  Deportivo are now unbeaten in their last 6 matches and have a favorable stretch of Sporting Gijón, Betis, Espanyol, and Atlético Madrid which could vault Depor into that lucrative  Champions League spot.

Here are the results from Week 26:

Saturday, March 7

Barcelona 2 – 0 Athletic Bilbao
BAR: Busquets (17′) & Messi (pen 31′)

Real Madrid 1 – 1 Atlético Madrid
RMA: Huntelaar (57′)
ATM: Forlán (38′)

Villarreal 1 – 0 Espanyol
VIL: Fuentes (20′)

Sunday, March 8

Deportivo 5 – 3 Racing
DEP: Juan Rodríguez (25′), Riki (50′ & 59′), Lafita (58′), Verdú (67′)
RAC: Pereira (1′), Zigic (32′), Berrocal (79′)

Mallorca 3 – 3 Real Betis
MAL: Castro (71′ & 81′), Webó (74′)
BET: González (26′), Mehmet Aurelio (29′), Arzu (68′)

Numancia 2 – 1 Valencia
NUM: Aranda (41′) & Barkero (52′)
VAL: Vicente (9′)

Osasuna 1 – 2 Sporting
OSA: Nekounam (pen 28′)
SPG: Barral (7′) & Castro (18′)

Recreativo 2 – 3 Valladolid
REC: Colunga (pen 25′) & Camuñas (87′)
VLD: Sesma (7′), Goitom (21′ & 48′)

Sevilla 2 – 1 Almeria
SEV: Kanouté (5′) & Renato (62′)
ALM: Negredo (pen 70′)

Getafe 1 – 2 Malaga
GET: Contra (74′)
MAL: Eliseu (30′) & Baha (47′)

This weekend witnessed impressive hat tricks from 2 players that heated up their matches.  In Milan, veteran striker Pippo Inzaghi scored his hat trick with 7s in mind.  Scoring goals in the 7th, 71st, and 74th minutes to give Il Rossoneri a big 3-0 win over Atalanta to tighten their grip on 3rd place.

The other hat trick happened in Bologna as Marco Di Vaio distanced himself from his rivals for the title of Capo Cannoniere.  His goals were crucial in keeping Bologna out of the relegation zone and the 3-0 victory over Sampdoria snapped Bologna’s 5 game winless streak.  Di Vaio’s hat trick came at the expense of a Genoese side who were coming off a massive midweek 3-0 win of their own against Inter in the 1st leg of the semis of the Coppa Italia.

The pursuit of 4th place and the last Champions League spot did not get any clearer as Genoa & Fiorentina lost at home by 2-0 scorelines.  Genoa at the hands of Inter Milan and Fiorentina falling to Palermo.  Roma failed to fully capitalize when they drew 1-1 at home to Udinese.  Roma did pull even with Genoa in reaching 5th place as both Roma & Genoa trail Fiorentina by 1 point.

Here are the results from Week 27:

Saturday, March 7

AS Roma 1 – 1 Udinese
ROM: Vucinic (61′)
UDI: Felipe (54′)

Genoa 0 – 2 Inter Milan
INT: Ibrahimovic (2′) & Balotelli (61′)

Torino 0 – 1 Juventus
JUV: Chiellini (81′)

Sunday, March 8

Bologna 3 – 0 Sampdoria
BOL: Di Vaio (46′, 87′, 91′)

Fiorentina 0 – 2 Palermo
PAL: Simplício (48′) & Miccoli (56′)

Leece 0 – 0 Reggina

AC Milan 3 – 0 Atalanta
MIL: Inzaghi (7′, 71′, 74′)

Napoli 0 – 2 Lazio
LAZ: Rocchi (57′ & 65′)

Chievo 1 – 1 Cagliari
CHI: Makinwa (56′)
CAG: Jeda (28′)

Catania 0 – 3 Siena
SIE: Maccarone (10′), Ghezzal (69′), Jarolím (90′)

Club Atlético de Madrid

The team known as Los Colchoneros stunned Spain with a 4-3 win versus Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon.  The victory was the most surprising result on the continent as Diego Forlan & Kun Aguero each scored twice to defeat Barcelona and help their city rivals, Real Madrid creep closer to the top of the table.  Atlético did disappoint earlier in the week when they drew 2-2 to FC Porto at home in the UEFA Champions League and while usually that doesn’t make for a TOW crowning, beating the best team in Europe more than makes up for it.  Well, Barca probably isn’t the best team in Europe anymore as Atlético proved.  For their stunning victory of league leading Barcelona, Club Atlético De Madrid is the Week 25 La Liga Team Of The Week.

Udinese Calcio

Udinese was the only Italian team to win both European & domestic matches this week.  On Thursday, Udinese advanced to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Cup by defeating Polish side Lech Pozna? 2-1 to go through 4-3 on aggregate. Antonio Di Natale was the hero for Udinese by scoring a goal in 2nd half injury time to keep Udinese’s silverware hopes alive.  On Sunday, they kept their winning ways by beating Lecce 2-0 in the Serie A. Both goals came from 2nd half substitutes Gaetano D’Agostino & Giovanni Pasquale.  Udinese will now face defending UEFA Cup champions Zenit St. Petersburg in the Round of 16 as they look to be the Serie A’s best chance at winning a European trophy. For their victorious week, Udinese Calcio is Week 26 Serie A Team Of The Week.

Week 26 of Calcio Italiano produced some exciting football including the league leaders fighting back from 2 goals down. 

Inter Milan trailed Roma 2-0 into the 2nd half, then a back & forth affair ensued eventually ending with Mario Balotelli getting a double and Hernan Crespo heading in the equalizer in the 79th minute.  Crespo’s goal allowed Inter to salvage a point and keep Juventus 7 points behind.

La Vecchia Signora did gain ground on Inter with their fortunate 1-0 win over Napoli.  Claudio Marchisio scored before half-time as Napoli failed to muster an equalizer.  Diego Maradona’s old side continues to slide as rumors of locker room division continue to plague the team.  Napoli are winless in their last 8 games.

The most impressive performance came from Catania in a battle of Sicilian sides.  Catania dominated Palermo in embarassing them 4-0 at Palermo’s enzo Barbera stadium.  Catania had the match wrapped by half-time with 1st half goals by Pablo Ledesma, Takayuki Morimoto, and Giuseppe Mascara. 

Here are the results & standings from Week 26:

Saturday, February 28th

Lazio 2 – 0 Bologna
LAZ: Zárate (35′ & 81′)

Juventus 1 – 0 Napoli
JUV: Marchisio (44′)

Sunday, March 1st

Atalanta 0 – 2 Chievo
CHI: Langella (78′) & Pellissier (89′)

Cagliari 0 – 0 Torino

Palermo 0 – 4 Catania
CAT: Ledesma (14′), Morimoto (37′), Mascara (44′), Paolucci (66′)

Reggina 1 – 1 Fiorentina
REG: Sestu (21′)
FIO: Bonazzoli (23′)

Sampdoria 2 – 1 Milan
SAM: Cassano (33′), Pazzini (51′)
MIL: Pato (80′)

Siena 0 – 0 Genoa

Udinese 2 – 0 Lecce
UDI: D’Agostino (74′) & Pasquale (90’+4′)

Inter 3 – 3 Roma
INT: Balotelli (50′ & 63′) & Crespo (79′)
ROM: De Rossi (22′), Riise (29′), Brighi (57′)

STANDINGS:

Just when you thought La Liga was over fate has conspired to inject some drama into the title race like Barry Bonds injected steroids.  

Real Madrid won its 10th straight match defeating Espanyol 2-0 in Barcelona.  The veteran Merengues stepped up with Guti & Raul scoring to give Juande Ramos’ side a big road win.  The team Espanyol defeated a week earlier dropped points in a 7 goal thriller.

Barcelona lost an entertaining match 4-3 to Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.  2 goals each from Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan doomed the Catalans.  Los Colchoneros exploited a Barca lineup without Eric Abidal & Andres Iniesta and poor play in central defense by Rafael Marquez to defeat the league leaders.  The loss put The Blaugrana only 4 points ahead of surging Real Madrid injecting new life into a La Liga title race that a couple of months ago looked like it was over.

Here are the results & standings from Week 25:

Saturday, February 28th

Espanyol 0 – 2 Real Madrid
RMA: Guti (67′) & Raúl (72′)

Athletic Bilbao 1 – 2 FC Sevilla
ATH: Gabilondo (26′).
SEV: Kanouté (39′ & 58′)

Sunday, March 1st

Sporting 0 – 1 Mallorca
MAL: Arango (49′)

Valencia 1 – 2 Valladolid
VAL: Marchena (73′)
VLD: Sesma (6′) & Albiol (o.g 31′)

Racing 1 – 1 Osasuna
RAC: Serrano (12′)
OSA: Pandiani (45′)

Real Betis 2 – 2 Villarreal
BET: Sergio Garciá (42′) & Oliveira (57′)
VIL: Santi Cazorla (6′ & 36′)

Almería 2 – 1 Getafe
ALM: Negredo (16′ & 66′)
GET: Guerrón (7′)

Malaga 0 – 2 Recreativo
REC: Camuñas (54′) & Colunga (63′)

Numancia 0 – 1 Deportivo
DEP: Rodríguez (75′)

Atlético Madrid 4 – 3 Barcelona
ATM: Forlán (32′ & pen 79′) & Agüero (56′ & 89′)
BAR: Henry (18′ & 73′) & Messi (30′)

STANDINGS:

The 8th Confederations Cup will be held in South Africa from June 14th to 28th.  The current world champions, Italy are in Group B with CONCACAF Gold Cup champions – United States, Copa America champions – Brazil and African Cup of Nations champions – Egypt in Group B.  The shirt will be available in May.

Inter Milan vs. Manchester United

The Italian champions vs. The English champions, Mourinho vs. Fergie, it was the most talked about of all the Round of 16 matchups and the match was a disappointing 0-0 draw.  The Red Devils were hurting defensively as they were missing Wes Brown, Rafael, Gary Neville, and Nemanja Vidic.  Yet, their organization in the back was solid with John O’Shea & Jonny Evans filling in nicely at the San Siro to shutout Inter.

Inter’s strike duo of Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Adriano could only muster 4 shots, neither of them troubling Edwin Van Der Sar. With Man U not fielding its top defenders, Inter failed to consistently pressure the Red Devils defense and blew an excellent opportunity at home to put the defending champions in a hole.  The Nerazzurri‘s savior was Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar.

The Inter netminder was undoubtedly the Man Of The Match for the Italian champs and his performance preserved their hopes of advancing.  Julio Cesar made big saves on Ryan Giggs & Cristiano Ronaldo that could have put Inter 2 road goals down.  Manchester United controlled the match and Inter Milan should be embarrassed not to have gotten a goal or even seriously threatened Van Der Sar. Lucky for them, there is Julio Cesar and an away goals rule.

Arsenal vs. Roma

This matchup featured two teams fighting for a place in next year’s Champions League in their respective leagues.  Roma did not enter this match  in a goal scoring funk like Arsenal.  If Il Giallorossi had finished better they could have a solid 2 or 3 road goal advantage heading to the 2nd leg in Rome.

The entire match was marred by poor finishing with both sides missing opportunities to take command and put themselves in the best position to advance to the next round.  It took a 37th minute penalty from Robin Van Persie to end Arsenal’s scoring drought and magnify Roma’s finishing woes.

Another Brazilian keeper kept the Italians alive, this time it was Doni.  His save against Alou Diaby in the 66th minute preserved hope for the Romans.  Although it was poor finishing from Arsenal that could be Roma’s saving grace. 

Overall, Italian sides did not produce the finishing and attacking that they are capable of.  Both matches saw clean sheets against Inter & Roma, two squads able to score mulitple goals on anyone.  It was a disappointing display of skill for Inter & Roma and both of them will have to be spectacular in order to advance.  Serie A fans have to hope now that Juventus can light it up for Italy.

With 13 matches remaining for teams in the Serie A, it has become apparent that the fight for the lucrative European spots are becoming more fierce.   As for the scudetto, its Inter’s to lose as for the Team Of The Week,  it was tough to pick a TOW because there were no big surprise results. However a decision was made and here it is. Remember that the winner made headlines and/or played matches during the calendar week of Feb. 16-22.

The winner is:

Genoa Cricket and Football Club

2 seasons ago they were in Serie B and now they are on the cusp of a Champions League spot.  Genoa currently sit in 5th place 1 point behind Fiorentina for the last Champions League spot.  On Sunday, Il Grifone notched the most impressive win of the week by defeating Napoli 1-0 in Napoli.  Serbian midfielder Boško Jankovic, on loan from Palermo, scored in the 69th minute for the victory.  Genoa rebounded nicely after blowing a 3 goal lead last week versus Fiorentina.  If they maintain their current form they will end up in a European competition next year.  For their 1-0 road victory, Genoa Cricket and Football Club is the Week 25 Serie A Team Of The Week.