FIFA has announced a 23 man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award which will be announced at a gala on January 7th 2013. Included in the list are seven players from the victorious Euro 2012 Spanish squad whilst 12 of the 23 selected ply their trade in La Liga. 6 Real Madrid players are named and 5 from Barcelona with Atletico Madrid's Falcao being the sole candidate exempt from the big two teams. FIFA and a group of experts from France compiled the list for national team coaches, captains and various journalists to vote from. … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2012
Can Atletico really challenge for the title this season?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece documenting the recent rise of Atletico Madrid and their desire to qualify for the Champions League next season. However since then, Atleti's form has been nothing short of scintillating, featuring 8 successive league wins and in Europe the club have been similarly dominant with Radamel Falcao at the helm. Currently level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, Atleti's blistering start has given them reasons to be cheerful amidst rivals Real Madrid's patchy form but can they sustain it throughout the season? … [Read more...]
Barca win late but Real slip up – European round up
Seven La Liga sides were in European action this week with five of them picking up valuable wins in both the Champions League and Europa League. There were no draws between the teams from Spain and anyone else, sadly for Real Madrid who lost to Borussia Dortmund, but one game almost shocked the football world which had remained level up until the dying seconds. Barcelona's narrow victory over Celtic very nearly had the Nou Camp raging but a 94th minute goal from Jordi Alba ensured … [Read more...]
Pellegrino given timely boost but Los Che are losing patience
Since Unai Emery's messy resignation last season, Mauricio Pellegrino has had trouble in succeeding the unpopular manager at Valencia. Having led the team to a hat-trick of Champions League qualifications in La Liga, Emery's time at Los Che came to a sad ending and was ultimately forced out amid constant financial constraints and a perceived lack of improvement. Despite a Europa League semi-final last year, it was deemed that another coach would have to continue from where Emery left off. Of Argentine nationality, Pellegrino hails from the same country as Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa, … [Read more...]
La Liga Youngsters – My Starting Eleven
La Liga - many of you watch it, many of you don't. But whether you like the football in Spain's top division or not, the players that make their money in Spain are incredible to watch. What impresses me more is the rate at which La Liga is churning out brilliant youngsters. The academies of these clubs and the various 'B' teams in lower leagues really seem to be helping the youngsters along the line. Even taking in loanees, they help advance them incredibly. … [Read more...]
Copa del Rey draw could see El Clasico semi-final
The draw for the latter rounds of the Copa del Rey was made today, setting up a potential semi-final between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Last year the two clubs met at the same stage with Barcelona progressing 4-3 on aggregate and the year before that the two met in the final. To find a season where the top two Spanish clubs didn't meet in the domestic cup you have to go back to the season before (09/10) when neither team made the final and Madrid were wiped away 4-1 on aggregate by third-tier Alcorcon. … [Read more...]
Chelsea among favourites to land Falcao signature in January transfer window
There are no two ways about it, Atletico Madrid are on a roll in La Liga right now. With 19 points from their first seven games they sit level with league leaders Barcelona in La Primera Division and their win against fellow high flyers Malaga at the weekend proved to everyone that Diego Simeone's side will be a force to be reckoned with this season. … [Read more...]
Problems within Espanyol appear to lead to imminent plight
As one Catalan club sits top of the La Liga table, another remains firmly rooted to the bottom. Espanyol have always been stranded in the imperious shadow of Barcelona, even when their boardroom crisis arguably merits more column inches than another El Clasico. Spanish website Mundo Deportivo.com revealed on Monday that the entirety of Espanyol's boardroom had resigned and allowed for elections to take place on the 25th November. This news comes as no shock concerning the recent and obvious dissatisfaction of the supporters of Espanyol. … [Read more...]
Lionel Messi wins goal of the week with a thunderous strike against Real Madrid
After an exciting weekend of La Liga action in which the shares were spoiled in the all too anticipated El Clasico, we decided that Lionel Messi's second goal - a perfectly placed free kick to take Barcelona into a 2-1 lead in the second half of Barca v Real is our goal of the week. Barca fought back from a one goal deficit after Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho's side in the opening twenty-five minutes. … [Read more...]
Could Ronaldo be set for a shock move back to Old Trafford?
Rumours in the football media and casinos in the UK suggest that Alex Ferguson could be set to make a shock move to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid - although any move would be very unlikely to happen ahead of next summer. At the moment, the chances of Ronaldo heading back to United would represent an outside bet for any sports gambler wanting to wager on the possibility, but there is little question that Ferguson is monitoring the player’s situation very closely. … [Read more...]