REAL MADRID - FC BARCELONA DERBY - HUMOUR OR NERVES FROM BARCELONA?

Barcelona based Sports daily “Mundo Deportivo” add humour
to the upcoming Real Madrid – FC Barcelona game next Saturday
with this cartoon from “Kap”. Both Coach Guardiola & President
Laporta are drawn saying (Translated):

“No, No. It’s not that we are afraid of the Swine Flu.
It´s the media campaign coming out from Madrid that
stinks”

¿Humour or nerves at Camp Barça?

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"EL CLÁSICO": REAL MADRID vs FC BARCELONA 2009. THE GAME OF THE SEASON

It´s the biggest Football game of the season & possibly on Earth as
REAL MADRID CF meets FC BARCELONA at 20.00 hrs (Sp.time) at the
"Santiago Bernabeu Stadium" to determine if:

1. Real Madrid can scratch another 3ºpoints from Barça & put the
difference between them & the latter to just a single point with 4
more Rounds in play of the Championship.
2. Barça win & make it "virtually" impossible to be overtaken by
Real & thus "clinch" the Spanish League title.

However, what if its a draw? Anything can happen & anything is
possible!











Speculations aside, what is clear is that the whole of Spain will
come to a standstill. FC Barcelona showed signs yesterday of
tiredness against Chelsea FC in its 0-0 draw,especially key players
like Xavi,Eto´o & Messi. Plus the fact that they were "de-activated"
by the English team may have allowed some doubt to "creep"
in psychologically into the team & that can only benefit Real Madrid.

Real Madrid will regain defender Heinz & winger Robben for the
clash,however today Guti was ruled out with a serious ankle strain
after clashing with goalie Dudek during training today.

Three days left & the clock is already in motion & counting! Tweet

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REAL MADRID TURN TOWARDS IBRAHIMOVIC & RIBERY - UNDER FLORENTINO PEREZ?

From Italy the news from “TuttoSport”, which has been gladly picked
up here by the “speculative” sporting daily “AS”, says that ex- REAL
MADRID President Florentino Perez "has made" an offer for INTER
MILAN forward ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC. That isn’t the real news as we
have heard this before, the novelty is the offer of a 15M€ /year salary
(3M€ more than what he gets at Inter) to tempt the 27 year old Swede
over to Madrid as he has a contract with his Club until 2013. A few days
ago the player expressed publicly that he would love to try something
new & the Spanish League would be ideal.

However, there is more news. The MACHESTER UNITED – KAKA
connection is real & gaining strength, so much so, that ex-President
Florentino Perez sees his wish of signing the AC MILAN star dim as
the days go by. This has forced a shift in strategy & the new “star”
& signing objective is BAYERN MUNICH French star FRANCK RIBERY.

Stay tuned! By the way an important ending note: Mr Perez hasn´t as

yet announced he will run as candiadte in the upcoming July Real
Madrid Presidential elections.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 1º LEG SEMI-FINAL 2009: FC BARCELONA 0 - CHELSEA FC 0

The first leg Semi-final clash of the Champions League between
FC BARCELONA & CHELSEA FC finished in a 0-0 draw, which could
be said was a "victory" for the English Club. One of the keys of the
game was the strategy put in place by Chelsea´s "old fox" manager
Guus Hiddink who saw everything as a two game affair & planned it
according. FC Barcelona Coach Guardiola was "outwitted" as he
did´nt see it that way & his team suffered from the frustration &
anxiety of wanting to tie it all up here at "Camp Nou"

















FC BARCELONA started strong as expected with ETO´O nearly scoring
early(above), but Chelsea had a plan: defend with a solid wall, mark
the playmakers & counter-attack when possible. This & the physical &
aggressive attitude, displaced the more skillfull, ball touching & creative
game of Barça. There was more ball possession from Barça & naturally
more chances, but ineffective as that did´nt materialize into goals
















Chelsea had there chances as well, DROGBA nearly scored mid-late
1ºhalf when Marquez passed short to his goalie that Didier caught &
shot at goal, but Victor Valdes saved the night - literally.




















The 2ºhalf was accidental & unfortunate for Barcelona, defender
Marquez did a serious knee injury & will be out for the rest of the
season, Thierry Henry clashed in a header with a Chelsea defender
that momentary left him KO & Puyol who came on for Marquez
received a yellow card that will keep him out of the 2ºleg at
London.

Barça looked for the elusive goal towards the end & had two clear
chances, one from Eto´o that Cech stopped - as all night - & the
second from Messi who did not get in on time for a clear header.

Result a draw; now it´s off to London for the decider. A bit of the
magic has rubbed off from Barça for the English & they should have
the confidence to go into their home game with a moral lift. Barcelona
played better, looked better & had all the chances, but their
impatience to score, their desire to tie it all up made them forget
that there was another game left to play, & that game is in London.
Guus Hiddink knew this, Guardiola should have reminded his players. Tweet

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FC BARCELONA PUTS A 20M€ PRICE ON ETO´O?

According to local sports daily “AS” & English paper “The Times”,
FC BARCELONA President Laporta has met with Gary Cook of the
English Club MANCHESTER CITY in London to discuss the future of
SAMUEL ETO ´O.

The 28 year old Barcelona forward ends his contract with the Spanish
Club next season & negotiations of renewal are halted at Barça as
Eto´o asks for 4 more years & a hike in his economic pretensions.

Everyone knows that Eto´o can negotiate freely with any Club as
from January 2010 if he doesn’t come to an agreement with Barça &
leave for free. Various Clubs are “sounding” out the situation along
with FC Barcelona who wishes to know the actual market price.

According to the news from England, FC Barcelona would accept a
20M€ deal & has expressed that to Manchester City. This also sets

the price for the other interested Clubs like Tottenham & Chelsea
who are also keen to get Eto ´o over to their Clubs.

For SFS the price of 20M€ sounds too low & it isn’t realistic considering
the price of other players of his same level. If asked my opinion, it’s

another story full of speculation & “testing” the waters. FC Barcelona
may not wish to sell the player at all & are just examining all possible
options before deciding what to do. Plus there is another important
element not mentioned, what does Samuel Eto´o think of all this.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 1º LEG SEMI-FINAL 2009 - FC BARCELONA vs CHELSEA FC - PREVIEW

(photo:Sport)

FC BARCELONA meets CHELSEA FC tonight in the 1ºst leg of the
Semi-finals of Champions League. Barça will have the
advantage of its home ground & must take adavantage of the
opportunities to return to London with the best possible conditions.

Two teams with two clear styles of Football; Barça with its ball
domination & touch Football & Chelsea with its more physical & aerial
play. Which will win? You will have to tune to your TV set around
20.45 (Spanish Time) & see. What will be guaranteed is that FC
Barcelona will start with its “All Star” eleven; the idea is to sentence
the semi-final tonight if possible.

Valdes; Alves; Marquez; Pique; Puyol; Toure; Xavi; Iniesta;
Henry; Messi & Eto´o

Probable Chelsea line-up:

Cech; Bosingwa; Therry; Ivanovic; Mancienne; Mikel; Belleti
(Ballack);Lampard; Kalou; Malouda & Drogba.

Three Barça players are one yellow card away from a match
suspension;Puyol, Alves & Busquets could miss the return leg at
Stamford Bridge if they receive a yellow card tonight at the Camp
Nou

As this cartoon from "Kap" in the daily "Sport" shows, maximum
respect for Chelsea as they´re going to be "a big tree" to cut down.

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FERNANDO TORRES GETS NAMED IN THE IDEAL 11 TEAM OF THE YEAR

The English Professional Footballers Association (PFA) has
handed down its Awards with the main prize, the Best Player of The
English Premier League for season 2008/2009 ( Player of The Year)
going to Manchester United veteran player Ryan Giggs.

What calls happily SFS attention is that Spanish International &
Liverpool FC forward FERNANDO TORRES was included in the
"Ideal 11 Team" of the Premier League. Here is the full list:

Edwin Van der Sar (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth),
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester
United), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Ashley Young (Aston Villa),
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Cristiano
Ronaldo (Manchester United), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Fernando
Torres (Liverpool).

Congrats to Torres & the rest of the players from Spain!

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/ 2009 - ROUND 33 SUNDAYS GAMES RESULTS

The news & the conclusion after Round 33 is that we have drama
back for the Spanish League title. Real Madrid won & closes the gap
with leader FC Barcelona to 4 points & they meet next Saturday at
Madrid in the big Spanish derby that may decide the title.

SEVILLA FC lost 1-3 to REAL MADRID in "topsy turby" game were
one man was the key - RAUL (above). The Real Madrid Captain
scored a HAT TRICK ( 44th, 63rd & 66th min) when Sevilla were
palying there best Football.

Sevilla were dominate in the first half - totally dominate - & scored
first via RENATO in the 15th min. However, the 2ºhalf saw a change
in attitude from Madrid & a drop of form from Sevilla that allowed
Real to get ahead with 3 goals from the "cunning" Raul, admitting
there were Sevilla defensive mistakes.

But Sevilla did´nt give in & the game turned again in their favour
with CAPEL scoring in the 80th min, but MARCELO managed to
score for Madrid in the 91st min to seal the result.

Remarkable performance with no brilliant play but effective for Real
that sets up next Saturday´s match against Barça as the "clash of the
season"

VILLAREAL put chase to Valencia in their attempts to get back into
Champions League positions. They are on course as they defeated
GETAFE 1-2 & put the latter 1ºpoint from the relegation zone

The goals for Villareal came from CAPDEVILA in the 15th min &
LLORENTE (above) in the 42nd min. For Getafe MANU converted

a penalty converted in the 82nd min

MALLORCA continue its great run of wins with its 2-4 victory away
to RECREATIVO who are second last on the table. Goals from
JURADO, ARANGO, CASTRO & KEITA for Mallorca, with SISI &
CAMUÑAS scoring for Recreativo

ATHLETIC DE BILBAO got more oxygen & jumped higher up the
ladder & away from the "dangerzone" with its 2-1 win over RACING
DE SANTANDER. Bilbao did the work in the 1ºst half with goals
from LLORENTE (above) in the 20th min & LOPEZ in the 41st min.
PINILLOS scored in the 57th min via a penalty for Racing.

Not much to say here, VALLADOLID 0 - OSASUNA 0

ESPANYOL begins its attmpts to save itself & stay in the 1º Division
with a 2-0 victory over REAL BETIS that takes them OUT of the
relegation zone. They know its only a start & that a loss can take
them back, but its a confidence booster & if they continue to play
like today they should do it.

LUIS GARCIA (above) scored in the 3rd min to ease the teams
nerves & ROMAN sealed it in the 83rd min. SFS wishes them luck!

ATLETICO DE MADRID get back into Uefa places (6th), although
not Champions as is the objective, but its a start. The bad news is
that they showed their Dr.Jackell & Mr Hyde personality while
winning REAL SPORTING DE GIJON 3- 1 & sending the latter
into the relegation zone.

Atletico dominated the 1ºst half & were justly rewarded with goals
from FORLAN ( a cracker) in the 20th min, SIMAO in the 40th min
& AGUERO in the 46th min. The last goal was in the 1ºst min of the
2ºhalf & Sporting immediately reacted by pulling one back via
BILIC in the 48th min.

Mysteriously, Atletico deteriorated & "collapsed" to play terribly
& although leading calling for the end of the match. This part of
their play does´nt lead to much confidence for the rest of the
seasons games. There is a serious problem within the team, the fans
will & need to keep their fingers crossed!

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TENNIS: RAFAEL NADAL WINS HIS 5TH GODÓ TROPHY

"The king of the clay courts", Spanish & Tennis World Nº1 RAFAEL
NADAL has added another trophy to the collection. If last weekend
Nadal won his 5th straight Monte Carlo Masters, today he has won his
5th straight "Open Barcelona", also more commonly known as the
"Godó Trophy".

Rafael Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard DAVID FERRER, who has had
a fabulous tournament, in two straight sets: 6-2, 7-5. The latter had
options of extending the game in the second set but Nadal was just too
strong & presistent in his long ball play to frustrate Ferrer.

Nadal now goes onto the Masters Rome tournament which starts
tomorrow.

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FORMULA 1 BAHRAIN 2009: FERNANDO ALONSO 8TH

Spanish two time World Formula 1 Champion FERNANDO ALONSO
finished in 8th position today in the Bahrain F1 race. Alonso´s team
have´nt as yet increased the speed relative to their competitors who
are well ahead in the horsepower area, not to mention the
aerodynamics.

Race winner was J.BUTTON, followed by Vettel & Trulli

(Fernando Alonso)














The Top three World Championship Table cuurently looks like this:
1. Button 31 pts; 2.Barrichello 19pts; 3.Vettel 18pts... 8. Fernando
Alonso 5 pts.

Next Race - Montmelo SPAIN - 10th of May. Lets hope Alonso can
improve his car & gives the local home fans some joy! Tweet

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MOTOGP 2009 - SPANIARDS DO WELL - LORENZO & BAUTISTA WIN IN JAPAN GP2009

Good news from MotoGp & from Japan. Spanish GP rider JORGE
LORENZO (pictured) has won the Japan Gp race in a magnificent
exhibition of riding. Jorge finished ahead of Italian World Champion
& team-mate Valentino Rossi, plus the other good news was the 3ºrd
place for DANI PEDROSA
























The added highlights came from Casey Stoner who had problems
with his bike & Dani Pedrosa who did an excellent start to get ahead
9 places & slip into 2º place behind Rossi in the first curve. From
here Rossi was´nt able to escape & Lorenzo began pulling back places
from 3ºrd to overtake Perdrosa & Rossi take the race & the
leadership in the World points table.

Race results: 1.J.Lorenzo; 2.V.Rossi;3.D.Pedrosa

World Championship points: 1.J.Lorenzo 41pts; 2.V.Rossi 40pts;
3. C.Stoner 38pts
























In 250cc Spaniard ALVARO BAUTISTA (above) managed to win the
race after a terrible start. The race was exciting as the norm in this
catagory with a competitive battle with Aoyama & Pasini. The
Spaniard now goes 1ºst on the World championship table.

Race results. 1.A.Bautista;2.H.Aoyama;3.Pasini

Word Championship table: 1.A.Bautista 34pts; 2.H.Aoyama 33pts;
3. H.Barbera 30pts
























The 125cc catagory saw victory go to IANNONE (pictured) with two
Spaniards,SIMON & ESPARAGO, finsihing 2º & 3ºrd respectively.
Iannone takes the lead in the World Champions table with 37,5pts
followed by Esparago with 30pts & third Cortese with 22,5pts

NEXT RACE - Jerez SPAIN - 3rd of MAY Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/ 2009 - ROUND 33 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Three games tonight of Round 33 of the Spanish League with the
main plate the tasty VALENCIA - FC BARCELONA clash. A serious
game overall as Barça was risking that arch rival Real Madrid close in
on its points advantage, while Valencia wants to cement its
Champions League place on the table.

FC BARCELONA started firm & confidently but kept smashing into
the Valencia wall, until MESSI scored Barça´s first goal in the 23rd min.
This woke up Valencia who took over the game & found "5 Golden
minutes" that started in the 43rd min with the equalizer from MADURO
followed 2ºmins later by another for Valencia from PABLO
HERNANDEZ (pictured below).






















Things were looking grim for Barça as they were lossing, while we are
sure those in Madrid were rubbing their hands with glee. Valencia pulled
in their defence & it was solid defending, & nerves in the Barça camp.
Coach Guardiola brought on Thierry Henry mid way to shake things up,
& hocus pocus, the magic worked when THIERRY HENRY saved his side
& equalized in the 86th min. FINAL RESULT: 2-2
























If Real Madrid can win tomorrow Sevilla Fc the points gap will be only
4 points, with the following game in 7 days time "El Clasico", the derby
off all derby´s that may settle eventually the title. However, Madrid
must ensure it wins tomorrow.
























MALAGA & DEPORTIVO played a 1-1 draw, with goals coming from
LUQUE for Malaga in the 32th min & SERGIO in the 50th min.
However, Malaga could have won when APOÑO was awarded a
penalty in the last minute, but he failed to score!

ALMERIA won last placed NUMANCIA 2-1. The scorers for Almeria
were UCHE in the 5th min & SERRANO in the 41st min. For Numancia
GOIRIA managed a consolation goal in the 81st min. Special mention
to Almeria forward NEGREDO who put in a great game serving with
passes both of his teams goals.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL: JOAQUIN CORTIZO HISTORICAL RECORD GAMES SUSPENSION HOLDER

Seeing that REAL MADRID defender PEPE has indirectly increased
worldwide interest in Spanish Football (Soccer) the last couple of days,
here is an interesting piece of “trivia” that will answer some inquiries
SFS is receiving in its email.

The person – player with the historical all time record of match
suspension in Spanish Football goes to JOAQUIN CORTIZO, a right
back from REAL ZARAGOZA (pictured) that was punished with 24
GAMES in the 1964/65 season. The action that leads to the punishment
was a brutal tackle on Atletico de Madrid player Enrique Collar which
fractured the upper part of the left leg. The upper part, imagine the
entry & the tackle, plus there was probably no television for the

replays & "YouTube" thankfully was´nt invented.

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THE PEPE & CASQUERO CASE: AN ALTERNATIVE ANGLE

The now infamous PEPE incident in last Tuesdays Real Madrid – Getafe
game of the Spanish “Liga” has spread like wildfire around the World
& has been the most discussed Football (Soccer) issue in the past
couple of days. There are opinions of all sorts, some are very extreme,
“overheated” & go as far as to suggest that Pepe be banned from
playing Football, some even have said locked away!













Before SFS goes any further, let it be clear, the actions of Pepe are
unjustifiable & are to be condemned at all levels. It is not the
behaviour that young fans should take as the “norm” or for that
matter any Sports fan, as they have seriously dimmed the prestige of
Real Madrid, Spanish Football & have directly marked the career of a
brilliant & promising Portuguese International defender. With 3 minutes
left of play & his team in a 2-2 draw situation, his foul in the penalty
area on Casquero brought into the mind of Pepe the following
nightmare: that he would be responsible for allowing League ladders
FC Barcelona to escape further on points – 9 if Casquero hadn’t later
missed his penalty & Higuaín not scored the winner 2 minutes
later - thus making it impossible of having any chance at all of clinching
from Barça the League Championship title. The Real Madrid players, &
Pepe in this case, are so singled mindedly focused on the task that it
is a straight case of winning at all costs, defeat does not enter the
equation & the reality of it being otherwise made Pepe “snap”, lose
control, go crazy & do things that has baffled & outraged many as being
outside of the normal conduct of any sportsman yet along a rational
human being. SFS repeats, I am not defeating the actions of Pepe
& agree they should be severely punished, however SFS is making
an effort to place itself – even for a moment – in the skin of Pepe
& feel the circumstances & the pressures that he must have been
under at the time.

This afternoon Pepe has received a 10 match suspension, one of
the highest in Spanish Football history, he will miss the Barça derby,
the rest of the season & part of the other. He may have already
indirectly given Barça the League title, as Real will find it hard to
replace him in defence with a player of his level – with all due
respects to the substitute who that maybe - enough personal suffering
here already do you agree? Added to all this, his Club Real Madrid
will also sanction him & that will have its slice of pain on the man.
The public, the fans & the whole World are calling for his head, his
permanent banning & writing/calling him all sorts of outrageous names
& things that in themselves may also be sanctioned if taken to a legal
court, the man is being crucified. Pepe has reacted to all this by
going out publicly & apologising to Casquero & Albin of Getafe, to his
Club & all the public, brave move under the barrage of “stones” being
thrown at him. He has also accepted to take up immediately
psychological counselling to control his competitive & aggressive
impulses so that his “violence” never appears again. Let’s give the
man another chance, at least, a minimum moment of understanding
before sending him to the “gallows”. The 10 match punishment is
enough & that hurts inhumanly any top level professional sportsperson,
plus he has the “extreme sector” of the public to remind him for the
rest of his playing days “that famous Tuesday night” in 2009.

Here are two videos that everyone should see. The web portal
“YouTube” is full of clips similar & you can have hours of “fun”
searching for more. The first is LEGENDARY Frenchmen ERIC CANTONA
losing it totally & Kung-fuing” a spectator! The second clip is a collage
of various similar incidents throughout Football’s (Soccer’s) recent
history - check out Maradona halfway through the clip; I rest my case
with both examples. By the way I left out Zidane!

Thankfully, we do live in a society with free speech & SFS welcomes
& accepts all opinions & all thoughts, liked or disliked. SFS is simply
contributing to debate & further analysis. Thanks to all the comments
& emails received, they are definitely interesting to say the least :-)




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REAL MADRID: PEPE GETS A 10 MATCH SUSPENSION

The Spanish Football "Disciplinary Committee" has handed down this
afternoon a 10 match suspension to REAL MADRID defender PEPE after
Tuesday nights “loss of control” & “violence” against Getafe players
Casquero & later Albin. That´s only what was bleamed around the World,
there also was abusive language to the linesmen & he jumped back on the
field to celebrate Higuain´s winning last minute goal when he was just sent
off with a Red Card.

The sentence is the following:
4 games for the violent kicking towards Casquero
4 games for punching Albin in the face
1 game for the red card
1 game for verbally abusing the linesmen.

One of the highest in Spanish Football History!

Real Madrid has also said they will hand down their own punishment to the
player for damaging the image of the Club nationally & worldwide. The
normal procedure is a heavy economic fine, however the Club may decide
to go further considering the extraordinary behaviour shown by Pepe & the
circumstances. Getafe President Angel Torres is not happy & has called on
Real Madrid to break its contract with the Portuguese player, an extreme
opinion from some sectors who are baffled & still cannot explain the player’s
violent outburst.

Pepe now says goodbye to the remaining six games of this season & will
miss the start of the next. The player has expressed his sincere apologises
to the players involved, his team-mates, the Club, the fans & everyone who
witnessed his actions. He has said that he will seek counselling to control his
temperament & ensure this never happens again. The best thing that Pepe
can do is to continue training, support his team-mates & the Club as they fight
to attempt to snatch away from Barça the Spanish League title, that & a well
earned break (holidays) while this all calms down & the dust settles.

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VIDEO: RACING DE SANTANDER 5 - ATLETICO DE MADRID 1

This will be good to watch, the disaster at Santander yesterday pratically
sinks any hope of finishing in Champions League positions for Atletico de
Madrid. A terrible defence, no idea of play at all that will lead to some
serious changes that will no doubt be coming up in the future at the Club,
they have too!



A stiff six Rounds left for Atletico of this seasons Spanish League. The new
frustration & anxiety, not to mention the fanbase backlash will not do any
good at all for the team in the coming weeks. Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008 / 09 - ROUND 32 MID-WEEK THURSDAY GAMES RESULTS

Round 32 of the Spanish League finished tonight with the last 4 games
giving us results & hope for some of the bottom Clubs struggling not to
be pulled in by the relegation "black hole".

















One team that has created its on hole is ATLETICO DE MADRID which
said practically goodbye to Champions & possibly Uefa as well after losing
5-1 to RACING DE SANTANDER. The Madrid team is 7th on the ladder
& the above teams are opening up a gap, in anycase with their play they
don´t deserve to be in Europe. A real disaster that will have earthquake
results in the coming weeks.

The goal scorers for Racing were CHRISTIAN ( above - 8th min), GARAY
(15th min), TCHITE (37th min), MUNITIS (65th min) & ZIGIC ( 86th min)

Atletico managed a consolation goal thanks to a penalty that DIEGO
FORLAN converted in the 61st min & takes his season tally to 22 goals.
A great personel effort that really deserves more, but...

VILLAREAL got back into its winning ways with a good 2-1 victory over

second last placed RECREATIVO who are being sucked into the relegation
"back hole". Scorers for Villareal were LLORENTE in the 39th min with a
brilliant looped goal & CANI in the 67th min. Recreativo got ahead first via
CAMUÑAS in the 1st min, but that is all they really did. Villareal go into 5th

place & are 1º game away from Valencia who are in a Champions League
position.

MALLORCA continue their excellent string of victories & breathe
comfortably at mid-table after their 2-0 win over VALLADOLID.
KEITA scored both of Mallorca´s goals in the 65th & 82nd min

ESPANYOL keep their hopes alive of escaping relegation after defeating
SPORTING DE GIJON 0-3. They are now 1º point away from getting out

of the dangerzone, however Sporting are now 1º point away from getting

in themselves. The three "oxygen" goals for Espanyol came from NENE
in the 24th min, ROMAN in the 73rd min & CALLEJON in the 75th min

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SFS FLASHBACKS: YUGOSLAVIA 0 - SPAIN 1. JUANITO & HIS FAREWELL GIFT

It was the 30th of November the year 1977 in Belgrade, Capital of the then
Yugoslavia. The Spanish national team was playing the Yugoslavian national
side for their Group ticket to the 1978 Argentina World Cup finals. The
game was a violent affair with outrageous tackles, as the Yugoslavs used all
the dirty tactics in their “hidden” box to stop Spain. Real Madrid defender
Pirri was brutally tackled & injured in the first moments that were to serve
as a sign for the remainder of the clash.

Ruben Cano scored for Spain the only goal of the match & the eventual
winner (0-1) with Spain going onto the 1998 World Cup final at the expense
of Yugoslavia. Here is a clip of the moment when Real Madrid legendary
midfielder (now deceased) JUANITO is substituted with little left of the
match & Spain leading 0-1. Juanito with a provocative sign to the crowd
highlighting his goodbye message ...“Spain go on , you stay here…”, after
enduring the hostile atmosphere,. Juanito receives this answer from the
locals:



A bottle impacted to the head as a farewell gift! Tweet

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VIDEO: FC BARCELONA 4 - SEVILLA FC 0 : LA LIGA ROUND 32 2008/ 2009

(Courtesy of Sport.es)

Here is the VIDEO highlights of yesterdays clash with FC Barcelona
& Spanish International Andres Iniesta putting us the show. One goal
& his three passes set up the others:



Thanks to Rafa for the clip.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/ 09 - WEDNESDAY MID-WEEK GAMES RESULTS

Round 32 of the Spanish League continued tonight with its mid-week fixture
with four great games played, tomorrow the last four matches will be decided.

VALENCIA CF are back in form at the right moment as they have their

eyes firmly set on cementing a Champions League table position. They

won tonight 1-2 REAL BETIS & have taken back 4th place from Atletico
de Madrid who play tomorrow.

However there is another "fight" in the Valencia camp, Spanish
International striker DAVID VILLA is giving chase to Barça´s current
League goal scoring leader Samuel Eto´o & tonight scored his teams two
goals. The 65th & 79th min "bull-eyes" take his personal season tally to
25 goals, just 2 behind Eto ´o. Both Valencia & FC Barcelona meet next
Saturday in Round 33 & it is going to be a match not to miss.

For Betis there only goal was scored by RICARDO OLIVEIRA in the
87th min to give them the consolidation prize.

MALAGA jump to 5th position & have a Uefa place with their solid 2-3

comeback over lower side OSASUNA. Malaga got ahead first via
APOÑO with a penalty in the 4th min, but Osasuna pulled it back

with two goals from PLASIL in the 17th min & NEKOUNAM in the
32th min. Then in the 2ºhalf Malaga began its comeback with pure
dominance & two goals from LOLO in the 73rd min & SALVA in the
77th min

DEPORTIVO also have Uefa as an objective & got closer tonight with a

great victory over ALMERIA 2-0. Their goals came via VERDU in the
49th & LASSAD in the 68th min.

Deportivo are 8th on equal points with Villareal & Atletico who play
tomorrow.

FC BARCELONA may have Valencia on Saturday & Chelsea next
Tuesday but they are at maximum level & "ran over" SEVILLA FC
tonight 4-0. It could have been more had it not been for Sevilla goalie &
that Coach Guardiola began resting players. By the way, Messi & Puyol
did´nt play.

From the start it was all dominance, touch Football & 1-2-3s that ended in
fabulous goals. INIESTA started the party in the 2nd min with a superb

shot, then ETO´O scored in the 16th to take his personal season tally to

27 goals.

In the 2ºhalf it continued, XAVI scored in the 49th min & later HENRY

in the 54th min, to then see the side "slow" down a wee-bit, something
Sevilla would have appreciated.

Barça are not cracking under the Real Madrid pressure, for the moment,

& maintain their 6ºpoint advantage. Everything is pointing to the big
Derby at Madrid to happen soon ( beginning of May) as its going to
be THE game!

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VIDEO: PEPE GOES "MAD" & KICKS CASQUERO & PUNCHES ALBIN - REAL MADRID vs GETAFE 2009

Yesterdays Real Madrid 3 - Getafe 2 match had a dark spot. It was the
87th min & Real Madrid defender PEPE fouled Getafe player CASQUERO
& went MAD!!! He went after the player while on the ground & KICKED
him twice, yes twice, & later while arguing with players PUNCHED Getafe
player ALBIN while his team-mate Gago attempt to keep him away.

A Red Card & penalty - that Casquero missed. However a disgraceful show
of events & a low point in Pepe´s career that may keep him off the field for
weeks. Getafe Presibent called for a 10 week suspension. See the 2
VIDEOS:

Pepe Goes Mad

Totally unexplained behaviour that may have a reason, but it´s not justifiable.
Unfortunate reaction from the World class defender that now has to live
with it all & accept the punishment. Pepe apologized after the game. Tweet

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VIDEO: REAL MADRID 3 - GETAFE 2. LA LIGA 2009

Here is the VIDEO highlight of yesterdays amazing REAL MADRID 3 -
GETAFE 2 game. Simply increidible:

(ALLOW TO LOAD!)
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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 32 MID-WEEK TUESDAY GAMES RESULTS

The Spanish League & Round 32 goes mid-week with two games played
tonight. The rest will be spread out over the next two upcoming nights.

REAL MADRID came back from the dead - they nearly lost the 3 points -
to win in the very last moment GETAFE 3-2. They are now 3º points
behind League leaders FC Barcelona who play their game tomorrow in
a difficult clash against third placed Sevilla FC. Now the pressure is on
Barça not to fail!










GONZALO HIGUAIN saved his team with two goals, the last being the
winner in the 93rd min. He is without doubt the man of the match & if
Real Madrid go on to over take Barça, the man that took them there.

Before the crazy last 15 mins, Getafe got ahead via SOLDADO in the 9th min,
to later see HIGUAIN equalize in the 45th min. Then Getafe got ahead again
in the 64th min via ALBIN & Real were looking real bad. However, Real
managed to equalize in the 86th min via a brilliant free-kick by GUTI, but
there is more!

Pepe in the 88th min fouled in the goal area & that earned him a Red Card &
a penalty to Getafe. The miracle happened when Casquero of Getafe missed
the penalty in the 89th & the winning goal. Real Madrid down with 10 men
managed to pull the victory in the 93rd min when HIGUAIN scored a "beauty"
to bring the house down, grab the 3º points & keep Real Madrid alive in their
chase for the League title. Absolutely increidible that will be the talk of the
town here & at Barcelona tomorrow.

















The other match saw last placed NUMANCIA go further into the
relegation hole after losing 1-2 to ATHLETIC DE BILBAO who have
their own problems in avoiding the dangerzone. This victory give
Athletic some oxygen as they prepare their upcoming Spanish Cup Final
against Barça.

Numancia got ahead first via CISMA in the 9th min & Athletic managed
to equalize thanks to TOQUERA (above) in the 29th min. Athletic then
took control & managed to score a second & eventually the winner in the
48th min thanks to LLORENTE

The game was a tough affair with 8 yellow cards & 2 red as both were
playing for their 1º Division lives. In this case & this match, Athletic came away
with the victory. There can only be one winner. Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL & SPORTS BLOG GOES GLOBAL

One of the founding philosophies of the Spanish Football & Sports Blog is to
give access to all global non-Spanish speaking fans to our Sports & Sportsmen
& at the same time to allow living & travelling Spaniards around the world
to maintain in touch from anywhere, anyplace & anytime with the Spanish
Sports scene.

SFS thinks a natural development is to go GLOBAL via “YouTube”. Thus it has
elaborated a clip which serves as a reminder to everyone who is interested. Here
is the video, hope you enjoy it & your feedback is very much welcomed.

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REAL MADRID OFFERS 38M€ FOR FRANCK RIBERY

According to online media ITA Sport Press, which has been picked up here by
local daily “AS”, a REAL MADRID "upcoming" Presidential candidate has
made a 38M€ offer to German Club BAYERN MUNICH for its star winger
FRANCK RIBERY.

The local paper suspects that it comes from ex-Real Madrid candidate
Florentino Perez via his chosen "World Club Ambassador" – if he wins
– Zinedine Zidane. The former is good friends with Ribery & share the
same representative Alain Migliaccio, who travelled to Munich yesterday
to talk with President Franz Beckenbauer. The word is that the Club
considers the offer not enough & wishes 50M€, but this is typical of
negotiation, as the former puts the floor-level & the latter the roof-top.
Remember there are three Clubs said to also be interested & bidding for
the French player, they are FC Barcelona, Manchester United &
Chelsea.

Stay tuned for further future developments!

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SPECTACULAR GOAL FROM EMANA (VIDEO) : REAL BETIS - REAL SPORTING DE GIJON

REAL BETIS player EMANA was the decisive man for his team scoring
both goals in their 2-0 victory over REAL SPORTING DE GIJON in Round
31 of “La Liga” played yesterday. Check the first goal out on this VIDEO,
impressive & unstoppable (keep volume down!):

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/ 09 - ROUND 31 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

Spanish Football & Round 31 of the Spanish 1º Division - La Liga -
continued today with 5 games that stir up the classification positions
at the top & at the bottom.















VALENCIA CF regained the Champions League 4th table position from
Atletico de Madrid after they defeated SEVILLA FC down to 10 men 3-1 in
a game full of yellow cards & the mentioned red.

Sevilla got ahead early via a beautiful header from French International
ESCUDE in the 8th min. Then in the 44th min Sevilla´s Adriano was sent
off with a Red Card for a penalty area foul on David Villa, that left Sevilla
down to 10 men for the rest of the match. DAVID VILLA took the penalty
& equalized for Valencia, plus took his personal season goal tally to 23 goals -
3 behind leader Eto ´o of FC Barcelona.

The second half was a Valencia white-wash as they steamrolled Sevilla &
added two more goals via MATA with another penalty in the 83rd min
& PABLO HERNANDEZ in the 94th min.




















ALMERIA defeated 2-1 OSASUNA with in form Almeria striker NEGREDO
(above) scoring twice - 71st & 89th min - to be the decisive player of his team.
Negredo is having an increible season & has already 19 goals to his tally with
many calling that he be called up to the national side. For Osasuna it was
PANDIANI who scored their only goal in the 84th min.

















VALLADOLID & VILLAREAL ended in a 0-0 draw, with the latter not
being able to lift itself from the mid-week Champions elimination to
Arsenal. Villareal with the loss of Carzola & Senna have decomposed
in their play & are slipping down the ladder. They hold 6th place, but Malaga
are just 2 points away & would dearly love the Uefa position at the expense
of Villareal.















ESPANYOL injected hope into their particular crusade to avoid
relegation with a courageous 1-0 victory over RACING DE
SANTANDER. The winning goal came in the 57th min thanks
to IVAN ALONSO (above) & lifts them from bottom place to
second last, & just a game away from getting out of the relegation
area. SFS wishes Espanyol luck!

REAL BETIS wins its second game in a row & lifts out of relegation
dangerzone with a 2-0 scoreline that puts on the REAL SPORTING DE
GIJON on the otherhand only a game ( 3 points ) ahead of 17th placed
Recreativo who is in the relegation zone.

EMANA (above) scored Betis two goals - 6th & 70th - to make him the
decisive player for his team & the match. Good win for the homeside ,
very dangerous & nervous times ahead for the loser.

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