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 […]

Only the players know whether Los Magos (The Magi) left them with treats or a lump of coal in their shoes on Epiphany, but with this weekend's matches upcoming, they can begin the process of maintaining their good form or making up for their naughty play from last year. The preeminent fixture will be the […]

As 2010 arrives through the doorstep, La Liga returns with a vengeance from the winter break that seemingly flew by so quickly. As soon as these players finish their grapes and cava to ring in the new year, the focus needs to return to their football responsibilities. Nearing the conclusion of the first half of […]

Barcelona's star Lionel Messi has capped his great week with two goals to lead the Catalan side to a 3-1 victory over Deportivo La Coruna. Several days ago he was named the Ballon d'Or winner after a stunning year during which he led Barca to three titles- Champions League, la Liga and Copa del Rey. […]

As expected Lionel Messi succeeded Cristiano Ronaldo as the winner of the Ballon d'Or award. The Barcelona star comfortably won the prize but he admitted his surprise at the margin of victory as he received 240 points more than Cristiano Ronaldo who finished second. Messi was quite close to winning all 480 points possible as he finished with a […]

Denial Although Real Madrid needed five goals to overturn their Round of 32 tie with Alcorcón, a certain sense of denial was important in this particular situation so that they could believe that their task was not impossible. Kaká stated, "For the pride and for the history of Real Madrid, we have to win this […]

If the Copa del Rey is played, but hardly anyone cares about it, did it really happen? To say that some of the La Liga teams think of the cup as a nuisance would be quite an understatement. With the overloaded fixture list consisting of European and domestic matches, the Copa del Rey is near […]

Halloween will arrive in a few days, but for Atlético Madrid, this season has been a complete nightmare from the beginning. Los rojiblancos hit their low point with a dull thud on Saturday when they could not fend off a nine-man Mallorca team and settled for a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderón. Even though […]

Athletic Bilbao would have no problems with the proposed UEFA plan of mandating eight homegrown players in the squad of eighteen for every match or the theoretical 6 + 5 rule, where six players of the starting eleven would have to be eligible for the national team of their club's country. Athletic Bilbao refuses to […]

Ladies & Gentlemen as you well know FC Barcelona completed their greatest season ever by defeating Manchester United 2-0 in the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League Final. The win gave them their 1st ever treble as Barcelona became the 1st Spanish team to win a treble. Barca captured La Liga, Copa Del Rey, and the Champions […]

1st Leg – January 7, 2nd Leg – January 14 [Home Team – 1st Leg Listed First] Racing Santander – Valencia winner VS. Sevilla FC – Deportivo La Coruña winner Osasuna – Athletic Bilbao winner VS. Sporting Gijón – Valladolid winner Polideportivo Ejido – Espanyol winner VS. Atlético Madrid – Barcelona winner Mallorca – […]

Yesterday was the draw for the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League, the last hurdle before the group stages commence. There are plenty of interesting ties (Steve McClaren's FC Twente vs. Arsenal topping the list), but in pure footballing terms the best fixture pits Schalke 04 against Atletico Madrid. Neither is the most accomplished […]