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SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | SELECTOR DEL BOSQUE HANDS IN LIST - CALLS UP JORDI ALBA

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL Coach & Selector Vicente Del Bosque handed in his list of Spanish Football Players that will make up the National Team for the upcoming Euro Group matches against the Czech Rep & Scotland to be played on the 7th ( Praga) & 11th ( Alicante, Spain) of October respectively.

The novelty is the call up of Valencia defender JORDI ALBA & perhaps the surprise, the call up of Fernando Torres ahead of inform Valencia forward Roberto Soldado. Perhaps the latter case is a "diplomatic" move to keep "group unity" in line & show Torres some confidence as Spain has already qualified for the Euro finals & isn´t - really - playing for their Football lives ( except Sporting pride of course).

Jordi Alba ( Valencia CF)

Here is the full list of Spanish Football players called up:

Goalkeepers
Casillas (Real Madrid)
Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)
Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Puyol (Barcelona)
Piqué (Barcelona)
Albiol (Real Madrid)
Arbeloa (Real Madrid)
Jordi Alba (Valencia)

Midfielders
Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
Javi Martínez (Athletic)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Cesc (Barcelona)
Silva (Manchester City)
Thiago (Barcelona)
Cazorla (Málaga)
Busquets (Barcelona)
Pedro (Barcelona)
Mata (Chelsea)

Forwards
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Villa (Barcelona)
Negredo (Sevilla)
Llorente (Athletic)

EUROPA LEAGUE RESULTS | ATHLETIC DE BILBAO 2 PSG O - RENNES 1 ATLETICO DE MADRID 1

EUROPA LEAGUE Group matches tonight with two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs in action with relatively positive results. Here is a quick summary of the games , the results & the scorers.

At.Bilbao

ATHLETIC DE BILBAO managed to put together a good performance at home against French team PARIS ST GERMAIN winning 2 - 0. The Group F match saw the first goal arrive in the 14th min when Bilbao player GABILONDO got onto a winger pass in acrobatic fashion to lift the roof off the "San Mames" stadium. It was see-saw stuff from here with PSG missing some real "sitters" that they would play for later. The second goal for Bilbao came via SUSAETA in the 45th min which basically sealed the match.

PSG lost SISSIKO to a red card in the 52 th min ( 2º nd yellow) which left the French down to 10 men & they dedicated the rest of the game defending & halting any more Bilbao advances. Good result for Bilbao which notches its second win in Europa League.

Juan Fran saves At.Madrid with equalizer.

ATLETICO DE MADRID travelled to France & played RENNES in their Group I clash. The match ended in a 1 - 1 draw which saw Atletico de Madrid substitute JUAN FRAN save the team from defeat with a 87th min equalizer. Earlier Rennes had got ahead in the 56th min when MONTAÑO drove home a long range shot that took a deflection.

Atletico played way below their level & questions arise about Coach Manzano & his line-ups & field placements. The Atletico Coach was heavily criticised after Atletico lost 5 - 0 to Barça in the Liga, & tonight we again saw a lack of ideas & reaction from the Coach. Mistakes in defence for Atletico & little midfield play or discipline that saw how luck played a part & Rennes didn´t put in a great match themselves.

Positive result for Atletico, but a poor image & worst, increasing doubts on how long their "luck" will last.

FC BARCELONA | LIONEL MESSI EQUALS KUBALA WITH 194 GOALS

Hi, I may have "breezed throught" in yesterdays post below on FC BARCELONA & their 0 - 5 victory , although mentioned, of an important historical milestone achieved in the game against BATE BORISOV. Argentine midfield star LIONEL MESSI made Barça History again.

Kubala - Messi

Yesterday Messi scored two goals & thus took his all-time tally with Barça to 194. This may sound normal if it wasn´t that the player equalled the mark & the second place historical goal tally position held by legend KUBALA.Again this may not impress if it wasn´t that Messi has only 24 years of age.

The historical all-time top goal-scorer is CESAR RODRIGUEZ, another Barça legend of the 40s & 50s of last Century who notched up 235 goals. Do you have any doubt that Messi will soon surpass this mark? I don´t.

The 24 year old Messi keeps on breaking records, the sky only his limit.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | VALENCIA 1 CHELSEA FC 1 | BATE BORISOV 0 FC BARCELONA 5

SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs Valencia CF & FC Barcelona had their turn tonight in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE with each in their respective Groups & in their respective scheduled matches. Good results in each case with a brief summary below, along with results & the scorers.

Lampard-Soldado-Torres

VALENCIA CF drew in their Group E clash with CHELSEA FC 1-1 in an exciting & entertaining match. The first half started with Chelsea - via Torres - claiming a penalty which wasn´t considered, & the game evolved in a very even & balanced 45 minutes between both teams.

The second half was another matter with the first 22 mins Chelsea & the latter Valencia. FRANK LAMPARD put Chelsea ahead in the 56th min, but Valencia goalie ALVES ( MVP) saved beforehand 3-4 opportunities that kept Valencia alive. In fact, Alves would later put in a couple of more saves that would lift him to local hero status. Another name to mention was young Valencia player SERGIO CANALES who guided Valencia towards the draw with his team being awarded a penalty which ROBERTO SOLDADO put in to equalize in the 87th min.

In fact, with Spanish National Football Coach, Del Bosque, in the stands one can assume that Soldado could be on the verge of "replacing" Fernando Torres as Spain´s next Nº9. Stay tuned!

Lionel Messi

FC BARCELONA won their Group H clash with BATE BORISOV 0 - 5 away from home. It was all Barça & the number five seems to be their favourite as they are beating most opponents with that "magical" goal number. LIONEL MESSI scored two tonight ( 38th & 55th min) which puts him equal second with Barça leyend Kubala with 194 goals in the history of the Club, & Messi has only 24 years of age.

The other goals came via Bate player VOLODKO with a 19th min own goal, PEDRO in the 22nd & DAVID VILLA in the 89th min. Not much more to add as it was a "Barcelona show" of Football yet again.

THE FOOTBALL COUNTER-ATTACK | CRISTIANO RONALDO - REAL MADRID GOAL AGAINST AJAX IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | VIDEO

Yesterday during the REAL MADRID - AJAX Champions League match we had the chance to all witness a perfect text book example of the use of a "counter-attack" in Football. It occurred around the 23rd min & it all started from defender Sergio Ramos ending up with Cristiano Ronaldo 16 seconds later & goal. Here is the VIDEO:

For the youngsters & the technical profiles here is an image of the build-up:

Quick, sharp, accurate, deadly & poetry in motion. Very difficult to execute but when you have so many talented players in one side it becomes easier, & yes, it gets trained & a lot.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | NAPOLES 2 VILLAREAL 0 | REAL MADRID 3 AJAX AMSTERDAM 0

Two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs participated tonight in their respective CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Group matches with mixed end results. Here is a brief summary of events, along with the final results & the scorers.

Napoles scores from penalty

VILLAREAL travelled to Italy to face NAPOLES in their Group A ( "Group of Death") match & lost 2 - 0. Villareal knew beforehand that a victory here was vital for their aspirations & may have suffered from the tension & the nerves. The Italians did the damage, & the job, in the first half with goals from HEMSIK in the 13th min & CAVANI in the 16th min via a penalty.

Villareal pulled from pride & managed to play better in the 2º half & claimed a penalty on Nilmar in the 82nd min which was not called. However, the Italians were too Italian & locked the match to their advantage & assured the three points

All uphill for Villareal from now on.

Kaka scores for Real Madrid

REAL MADRID defeated 3 - 0 AJAX OF AMSTERDAM with deadly counter-attacking play. The news from this match was the big improvement of Brazilian midfielder KAKA who put in his best performance for many months at Real Madrid. The other headline was VARANE who played from the start (ahead of Albiol) & was outstanding, & Turkish new signing ALTINTOP got a run at the end after months injured from a back operation.

AJAX played their best Football the first 25 minutes forcing Real Madrid goalie Casillas to pull two great saves to avoid his team getting behind. But the Dutch slowing lost steam & in a deadly counter-attack on speed & one touch combination Football CRISTIANO RONALDO finally riffled the first in the 25th min. Then just before the end of the first half a combination play with CR7 set up KAKA & allowed the latter to place the ball in the 41st min for the second goal. The Brazilian was ecstatic as he began to once again feel the "flow" & the importance of being a Top Football player. BENZEMA scored the third in the 48th min & it was precisely thanks to a Kaka set-up. From here the match lost intensity as changes began from both sides. Benzema went off with a pull groin muscle complaint that will have to see what are the results. Ajax admirably did not put the head down & managed to force Casillas to make another top save mid way & kept battling .

As mentioned above, Real Madrid Turkish signing ALTINTOP came on for the last 15 minutes to his & the crowds delight as he begins his full recovery & aim to get back at playing Football

Tomorrow more Spanish Football Clubs in Champions League action:
FC Barcelona (Bate) & Valencia CF (Chelsea FC)

SPANISH FOOTBALL LOSES JESUS PEREDA AT 73

SPANISH FOOTBALL has lost a member of its historical family with the passing away of Spanish Football player JESUS PEREDA at the age of 73 due to cancer.

Pereda on the left

Jesus Pereda played for FC BARCELONA, REAL MADRID ( his only Spanish League Title) & SEVILLA FC. He was also member of the Spanish National Football Team that won the 1964 European Nations Cup against Russia. His last game with Spain was against Yugoslavia in 1968. No doubt Spanish Football stadiums will be showing their respects in coming days.

From here our condoleces & sincere well wishes to the family.

REAL MADRID | ARSENAL-PARIS ST GERMAIN DON´T FORGET KAKA

The new season has been just a few weeks operating & already there is talk & rumour about possible moves in the January "Winter Transfer Market". Today REAL MADRID Brazilian midfielder KAKA is again in the news with apparent interest from ARSENAL & French Club PARIS ST GERMAIN.

Kaka

The interest from theses two Clubs is not new & sounded even before the start of this current season. Both Clubs are deficit in the midfield area & are combing the market for a creative & play making midfielder. Kaka is currently getting playing time at Real Madrid, but timidly, & depends on how he evolves & improves if he is to win a permanent place in then Spanish Football Club.

Its a long time ( Football wise) until January & I suspect that for now Kaka is happy to stay at Real Madrid & attempt to win back the lost form. But said this anything can happen in 3 months; stay tuned!

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA ROUND 6 MONDAY NIGHT RESULT | GETAFE 1 REAL BETIS 0

Round Six of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - La Liga - concluded tonight with its Monday match between GETAFE & REAL BETAS. Real Betis landed back to earth after a string of victories placed them flying high as Spanish League Table leaders . Tonight's game gave Getafe a much needed 1 - 0 victory & halted the aspirations of Betis escaping from the rest of the teams on the leader.

Diego Castro for Getafe

The winner came in the 30th min thanks to the goal by Getafe player DIEGO CASTRO. The match them turned into an end to end struggle with Betis attempting to equalize in the second half. The Getafe goalkeeper Moya really earned his money tonight & was crucial in his teams victory as he pushed aside everything Betis fired at his goal right up until the end.

Getafe did not hide at the visitors onslaught & created some chances to their merit, but as time flew by Betis became more desperate & Getafe concentrated on securing their "oxygen life saving" three points. Betis remain as Spanish Football leaders but may have had their "bubble" burst tonight, lets see what happens next round.

REAL MADRID "FOLLOWING" FRENCH TALENTS GONALONS - GREINER OF LYON

Big Football Clubs are constantly looking for & at new talent, so this story coming out of France should not really surprise. This would be correct if it was any another Club than SPANISH FOOTBALL giant REAL MADRID. Football magazine France Football claims that Real Madrid is following very closely 22 year defensive midfielder MAXIM GONALONS & 20 year old attacking midfielder CLEMENT GREINER both of OLYMPIQUE DU LYON.

Gonalons

The news adds that Zinedine Zidane has had his attention grabbed thanks to his extensive French network of "talent spotters". The ex Real Madrid player has apparently advised the Spanish Football Club to "intensify" the surveillance of both players & see how they evolve.

Lets not forget that Zidane brought over young defender VARANE this season to Real Madrid & the player is not letting down anyone, in fact , many see Varane as the next big thing.

Stay tuned!

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE | ROUND 6 SUNDAY NIGHT RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued today with the Sunday scheduled games of Round 6 in the SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA with the following summary of events, results & scorers.

Mallorca scores a goal

REAL MALLORCA breathe some well need oxygen with a 2 - 1 victory over REAL SOCIEDAD. However, they can thank the wood-work as Real Sociedad hit the post twice & the cross-bar! Real Sociedad got ahead first via AGIURRETXE in the 15th min, to see how VICTOR equalized for Mallorca in the 20th & CASTRO got the second & winner in the 49th min.

Levante - Espanyol

LEVANTE keep up their winning streak with a 3 - 1 victory over RCD ESPANYOL. RUBEN scored two for Levante via penalties in the 14th & 58th min & BAKERO scored his teams third in he 76th min. The only goal for Espanyol came via MORENO in the 72nd min.

Granada- Osasuna

GRANADA drew 1 - 1 with OSASUNA with the latter down to 9 men ( Amat & Pandiani sent off) by the end of the game. Goal for Osasuna via RAUL GARCIA in the 28th min & FRAN RICO in the 63rd min.

Real Sporting Gijon - Racing

REAL SPORTING DE GIJON smashed into the woodwork, the RACING DE SANTANDER defence & good old bad luck in their 0 - 0 draw. If it wasn´t Racing goalie Toño that stopped Gijon it was the cross-bar in the 43rd min & the post in the 73rd min from a De La Cuevas drive. One of those afternoons of Football for Gijon.

Joaquin (Malaga) - Garcia (Zaragoza) in action

REAL ZARAGOZA & MALAGA FC finished in a 0 - 0 draw. A justified result with multiple chances going to both sides & multiple misses by both teams. Tough & evenly fought out clash with Zaragoza having a goal disallowed in the 62nd min, but that is just anecdotal as both Clubs played well & both deserved the win.

Monday Night Football:
Getafe - Real Betis

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA | ROUND 6 SATURDAY NIGHT RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrated four matches games tonight as part of the scheduled Round 6 of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA. Plenty of action, goals & thus I´ll jump straight into the brief run-down of results & the scorers

Kanoute

SEVILLA FC defeated VALENCIA CF 1- 0 & ending up with nine men. Sevilla dominated the first half & KANOUTE scored in the 18th min. The second half was all Valencia CF as they attempted to equalize but midfielder Benegas missed a penalty & Valencia could not score with Sevilla down to nine men. Big surprise result.

At.Bilbao-Villareal

ATHLETIC DE BILBAO continue in their personal "nightmare" as they managed a draw 1 - 1 against VILLAREAL after getting ahead via GABILONDO in the 43rd min. But the local team ran out of "gas" with Villareal forward NILMAR equalizing in the 53rd min. Villareal happy, Bilbao still deep in analysis.

CR7 another "hat-trick"

REAL MADRID won RAYO VALLECANO 6 - 2 but don't be fooled. Terrible first half with Rayo scoring via MICHU in the first minute & basically danced Madrid until Coach Mourinho had to pull off Lass Diarra after only about 20 mins to put on Ozil to find some creativity. The central defenders tonight were Albiol & young Varane & perhaps the little time together showed, but CRISTIANO RONALDO managed to equalize in the 38th min to ease the "pressure". GONZALO HIGUAIN managed to calm things further with a second goal in the 45th min.

However, the 2º half complicated itself for Real Madrid after CRISTIANO RONALDO scored the teams third with a penalty in the 50th min, starting with the sending off of DI MARIA for hand-ball ( 2ºnd yellow) leaving Madrid with 10 men. Rayo reacted scoring its second via MICHU & showing signs of coming back to equalize. Coach Mourinho again reacted & put on Benzema ( off Higuain) & Khedira (off Kaká) to see Madrid attempt to find some solid play. It happened in the 66th min when VARANE scored from a corner, BENZEMA hammered in the 73rd min & CRISTIANO RONALDO got his HAT TRICK & Madrid's sixth in the 83rd min with another penalty.

Important victory for Real, but very suffered. Real Madrid won by pride, something that maybe good for their spirits.

Messi another hat-trick

FC BARCELONA steam-rolled ATLETICO DE MADRID 5- 0 with a LIONEL MESSI HAT-TRICK ( 26th, 78th & 92nd min). It was a one Club event tonight at "Camp Nou" with DAVID VILLA scoring in the 9th min & Atletico defender MIRANDO putting in an own goal in the 15th min. Atletico hit the croos-bar in the first 10 minutes via Thiago, but that was all.

Barça too good, Messi the "Best in The World".

ARSENAL FC EYEING SPANISH FOOTBALL PLAYER PAREJO FOR JANUARY ?

DANIEL PAREJO is a young 22 year old SPANISH FOOTBALL player, already an International in the junior categories & considered a big future promise. Raised at Real Madrid the youngster had to leave to find "playing time" at Getafe & now at VALENCIA CF. However, Parejo is not getting all the time wished to develop further his talents & some Clubs are "smelling" the opportunity to talk to the player about better horizons.

Parejo

One of those Clubs rumoured is English Premier League giant ARSENAL which needs a creative midfield player, especially after selling Cesc Fabragas to Fc Barcelona. The start of the season has not been good & the English team is already thinking about the "Winter Transfer Market" & signing players.

Apparently, Arsenal sent some scouts to watch the Valencia - Fc Barcelona match, but Parejo did not get a run. This has not stopped the English Club from approaching Valencia CF to see what they have installed in the future for Parejo, & some say there is already advanced talks.

Stay tuned for developments!

THURSDAY NIGHT ROUND 5 SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL mid-week Thursday Night action with the last two games scheduled of Round 5 of the SPANISH LIGA celebrated. Here is a brief summary of events, with the results & the scorers.

Real Betis

One of the games of the Round with REAL BETIS winning 4 - 3 REAL ZARAGOZA, & in doing so, leads the Spanish League table. Real Betis was down to 10 men after they lost their goalie Casto in the 69th min which allowed Zargoza to make a heroic last 20 min comeback attempt that fell short for them. Here is the sequence of the events using the goal scorers as a guide:

- Roque Santa Cruz ( Betis ) - 7th min
- Salva Sevilla (Betis) penalty - 12th min
- Juarez (Zaragoza) - 36th min
- Beñat (Betis) - 53rd min
- Roque Santa Cruz (Betis) - 60

Red Card (Betis goalie Casto)

- Juan Carlos ( Zaragoza ) - 75th min
- Juan Carlos ( Zaragoza ) - 78th min.

As you can see much excitement & a great match of Spanish Football. Real Betis are celebrating the fact they are "provisional" Liga leaders with 12 points.

Pandiani for RCD Espanyol

RCD ESPANYOL managed "in extremis" to defeated GETAFE 1 - 0. It was deserved for Espanyol but perhaps cruel for Getafe as they watched PANDIANI score the winner (93rd min) with seconds left of the match. The visitors were heart-broken as the home side was obviously euphoric.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA MID-WEEK ROUND 5 RESULTS | WEDNESDAY GAMES

Five matches played tonight, full of high intensive SPANISH FOOTBALL action, as part of the scheduled mid-week Round 5 SPANISH LEAGUE calender which broke the idea that LA LIGA was a "two horse" race. Real Madrid suffered in their match & has entered into a worrying downward spiral, & Barcelona drew & suffered at Valencia. Here is a summary of all the games, with results & the scorers.

CR7 against Racing de Santander

RACING DE SANTANDER held REAL MADRID to a 0 - 0 draw that is sweet for the home side but bitter for the visitors. It is a complicated week for Real Madrid that just got more complicated as rumours appear that there is a dressing room "revolt" at Real & that Mourinho may be losing credibility with his players. As always the "worms come out of the woodwork" in the worst moments & there are "enemies" awaiting with glee at any chance at stabbing in the kitchen knife. How Football can change in days, it never ceases to amaze.

Said all this, Real Madrid started with Ramos on the bench along with Di Maria ( Callejon started), some interpret the former as a disciplinary tactic & this adds wood to the "dressing room" problems rumours, but Arbeloa who started tonight has been fussing about not getting a run. With this in the foreground, Real Madrid looked slack, & more so Cristiano Ronaldo & Ozil who look 50% less than weeks back. There is no rhythm & the team plays at the long ball without any midfield creation.

Racing played at counter-attacking, doing some "hard" business on the field & defending with a "wall" to stop the "Whites" from getting the three points. It all worked, Real Madrid left without another away victory. One positive for Real...young defender Varane played & played well, the kid looks good, real fine.

The lastest is that Real Madrid President Florentino Perez went into the dressing rooms after the game to personally hug his players, Coach & his team to send them all a message of calmness & confidence. Something definitely smells...

Falcao 2011

ATLETICO DE MADRID on the other hand are literally on fire, & new Colombian signing FALCAO is exploding with another two goals ( 71st & 80th min) that formed part of the 4 - 0 victory over a worrying REAL SPORTING DE GIJON. The "Tiger" ( Falcao) could have scored more goals ( hit the wood-work & had a disallowed goal) but it was team-mate DOMINGUEZ who got his in the 67th min, & an own goal by Gijon player LORA was the opener for Atletico in the 27th min.

Great match for Atletico.

Baptista for Malaga

MALAGA defeated ATHLETIC DE BILBAO 1 - 0 to put more strain & worries in the mind of Athletic Coach Bielsa who isnt pushing the right buttons with his team. Malaga are doing their job fine & CAZORLA scored the winner in the 61st min with a fantastic free-kick that was worth three points.

Levante scores against Rayo Vallecano

RAYO VALLECANO lost 1 - 2 to LEVANTE & the former was unhappy with the visitors "theatrics", something practised with great effectiveness against Real Madrid in their last game. In fact, Rayo lost a player in the 76th min to a red card & insist in the "black magic" arts of Levante. Whatever the case there is a referee on the field that should take care of this sort of "voodoo magic" & Levante did score two goals ( KONE in the 9th min & BALLESTEROS in the 28th min), which is one more than the Rayo Vallecano goal from TAMUDO in the 71st min. As some say, Football can sometimes be "magical".

Pablo Hernandez scores for Valencia CF

VALENCIA CF drew 2 - 2 with FC BARCELONA & nearly pulled off the surprise. Valencia run over Barcelona in the first half, but apart from scoring they also missed two-three sitters that made them pay dearly in the second half of the match. The physical effort of Valencia was so tense that they lowered the intensity in the 2º half & Barça began to play their game, equalize & nearly won.

An own goal by Barça defender ABIDAL put Valencia ahead in the 11 th min to which PEDRO answered to equalize in the 13th min. But that was it for Barça, from here Valencia defender Mathieu, team-mates Benegas , Hernandez, Canales & company ran riot & PABLO HERNANDEZ scored the second in the 22nd min. Then Valencia ( Roberto Soldado the best case) missed "sitter" that cannot be explained for this level of Football.

Valencia paid dearly for the earlier misses & Barcelona took over from a tired Valencia, & CESC FABREGAS equalized in the 76 th min. Barça continued playing well & nearly won as Valencia held out with all their arts.

Tomorrow : Espanyol vs Getafe; Betis vs Zaragoza.

FIFA WORLD RANKING SEPTEMBER 2011 | SPAIN REGAINS Nº 1

World Football governing body ( organization) FIFA has released its monthly "World Rankings" for September with the SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM regaining its Nº 1 spot after falling to Nº 2 place last month. The victories over Chile in a Friendly International & Liechtenstein in their Group Euro 2012 match have served to allow SPAIN to overtake Holland.

Football World Champions star

Here are the Top FIFA Ranking Football Nations for September 2011:

1. Spain 1.605 pts
2. Holland 1.571
3. Germany 1.290
4. Uruguay 1.184
5. Portugal1.158
6. Italy 1.142
7. Brazil 1.132
8. England 1.089
9. Croatia 1.057
10. Argentina 1.024

Next list scheduled for 19th of October

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE MID-WEEK ROUND 5 RESULTS | TUESDAY NIGHT GAMES

SPANISH FOOTBALL mid-week action with Round 5 split between three days ( today, tomorrow & Thursday) of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA. Three matches tonight, which were relatively low scoring & as habitual of late, with referee controversy.

Real Sociedad in white - blue

It wasn´t beautiful but it was effective Football for REAL SOCIEDAD as they managed to win GRANADA 1 - 0 thanks to the 63rd min goal from defender ESTRADA. Deserved victory as Sociedad which placed the initiative all game & Granada only reacted late & ineffectively.

Perotti "hand-ball"

OSASUNA drew 0 - 0 with SEVILLA FC & are fuming after the referee did not call an "apparently" clear hand-ball by Sevilla player Perotti (see above image). Another match of Spanish Football with serious arguments against the level of umpiring that took away a possible victory to the home side which played better & deserved the three points.

Rossi scores for Villareal

VILLAREAL regained their lost "game" winning 2 - 0 REAL MALLORCA. The latter are seriously undergoing some difficulties that need to be solved as they could well find themselves spiralling into a classification hole so early in the season. Villareal are the other side of the coin, getting themselves back together tonight with some great play & goals from ROSSI in the 7th min & NILMAR in the 51st min. Mallorca did make a last quarter attempt to turn things around but Villareal goalie Diego Lopez stopped their efforts with some great saves, plus Mallorca had a late goal disallowed.

Tomorrow more Liga Spanish Football action with the bulk of the matches scheduled & the "Big Guns" playing.

FC BARCELONA | BRAZILIAN OSCAR DOS SANTOS ON THE AGENDA

News from Spanish online paper "elconfidencial" alerts us that FC BARCELONA is seriously following INTERNACIONAL DE PORTO ALEGRE 20 year old attacking forward OSCAR DO SANTOS. The Spanish Football Club has accelerated talks after another target "Neymar" has apparently finally decided to make Real Madrid his next Club.

Oscar do Santos

According to the source, Coach Guardiola himself has asked that the Club move swiftly to secure this Brazilian talent & thus the Club has a negotiator already in Brazil. The difficulty - as always - is that Porto Alegre asks for a transfer price of around 20-25M€, a figure that Barça ( at this stage ) is not willing to sign cheques for as yet.

Stay tuned!

THE MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFERS FOR 2011

Found this interesting "Infograph" on the most expensive transfers for 2011, & thought you maybe interested. There is a SPANISH FOOTBALL connection with departures ( Aguero to Man City) & arrivals ( Falcao to At Madrid , Coentrao to Real Madrid & Cesc Fabregas to Barça).

By the way, while on the transfer angle, rumours are that REAL MADRID has "shut" NEYMAR for 60M€ plus a 7M€ salary / season for the Brazilian youngster. Both Santos - Real Madrid will publically deny the deal & the player will not arrive at Real Madrid until the summer of 2012. That is, until Neymar finishes with his commitments with Brazil in the London Olympic Games.

Stay tuned!

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE ROUND 4 | SUNDAY NIGHT RESULTS | REAL MADRID LOSE

SPANISH FOOTBALL action today with the remaining five Round 4 games scheduled in the SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA. Big surprise with the Real Madrid defeat, plus lots of goals from Atletico de Madrid & for Falcao. Here are all the details, results & scorers.

Rayo Vallecano score their goal

GETAFE lost to RAYO VALLECANO in the local derby between the city of Madrid lesser known Liga Clubs. The winning goal came very early when MICHU headed for Rayo in the 4th min. Getafe attempted the equalizer & were not awarded a penalty which would have shared the points. Final result 0 - 1

Falcao

ATLETICO DE MADRID put in their best game this season with a 4 - 0 victory over RACING DE SANTANDER. The other winner was Colombian & Atletico new forward FALCAO who scored a HAT-TRICK ( 23rd , 35th penalty & 55th min) while having two more goals disallowed. The other goal came in the 78th min via ADRIAN who came on mid - 2º half for Diego.

The special mention goes to the Turk & Atletico de Madrid midfielder TURAN who put in a "blinder" with his passes setting up the Falcao & the Adrian goal. Atletico looks on the right path, lets hope they can stay on it.

Luis Garcia

REAL ZARAGOZA notched up a victory over RCD ESPANYOL 2 - 1. The player to mention was ex Espanyol player, now Zaragoza, LUIS GARCIA who scored the first in the 29th min & then "killed" his ex -team with the winner in the 93rd min. However, just to mention it, Garcia missed a penalty earlier, so the man was the big protaganist in all senses.

The goal for Espanyol came from JAVI LOPEZ that equalized things until Luis Garcia changed the final result & the outcome.

Kaka

Bad day for REAL MADRID which lost away from home 0 - 1 to LEVANTE after playing with 10 men from the 39th min after Khedira was sent off - unjustly in my opinion - for tussling with a Levante player. I believe Real Madrid maybe now paying for all their early controversial & past statements, & actions, in reference to the referees. Its only my intuition.

Real Madrid started with Ozil & Ronaldo on the bench, while Khedira & Kaka started. The Madrid side never looked comfortable infront of a sticky & awkward Levante which frustrated the "Whites" all night. In fact, Real Madrid missed some early sitters - especially Benzema - that they would pay for later.

Then the red card to Khedira, after a tussle involving Di Maria to which Khedira pushed aside a Levante player arguing with Di Maria for "faking it". The referee interpreted this as an aggression & thus the Red Card. However the referee was to later be the protagonist as a clear hand-ball by a Levante player in the penalty area wasn´t called, along with other harsh tackles that could have been red cards for some Levante players.

The winner came from a counter-attack in the 67th min via KONE as Levante opened up the Real defence straight after they had attempted an "attacking" play. From here, neither Ronaldo nor Ozil could fix things as the frustrations over took the clear thinking.

A big loss & a shocker!

Betis scores against Bilbao

REAL BETIS travelled to ATHLETIC DE BILBAO & won 2 - 3 to make them joint Spanish League table leaders along with Valencia CF. The visitors "rocked" early Bilbao with a 6th min goal from BEÑAT followed by a 12th min goal by NACHO. At.Bilbao managed to react & scored a goal via DE MARCOS in the 37th min , but again Betis answered with a third goal via a penalty that SALVA SEVILLA transformed in the 40th min.

From here Betis suffered all the 2º half as Bilbao put on the pressure & attacked in waves. The home team generated opportunities & had the visitors on the ropes at times. Bilbao was rewarded for their efforts in the 85th min with a goal from DAVID LOPEZ, but it was too late & Betis held on.

The three points go South.

BASKETBALL | SPAIN WINS 2011 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP DEFEATING FRANCE 98 - 85

Big day of celebrations for SPANISH SPORTS after Spain managed two out of three Moto GP bike wins, a birth in the upcoming Davis Cup Tennis Final & tonight the EUROPEAN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS Title. SPAIN defeated FRANCE 98 - 85 to proclaim themselves Euro Champs repeating the Basketball achievement to retain the title.

Pau Gasol

This is an exceptional generation of Spanish Basketball players which have put in an excellent & spectacular exhibition of Basketball against a very good French Basketball team. The MVP was JUAN CARLOS NAVARRO with 27 points tonight, followed by an impeccable PAU GASOL with 17 pts equal with an excellent CALDERON.

Juan Carlos Navarro

However, the key to the victory & title was the whoe team effort with Marc Gasol, Felipe Reyes, Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, Lull, Ibaka, Sada, Claver, Emeterio etc all outstanding throughout the whole tournament. The defensive work tonight was vital as the attacking players then made sure to get in the shots & the many triple points to make it difficult for the opponents.

Congratulations to the SPANISH BASKETBALL Team, well done guys, were are all very proud, & now its on to London & the Olympic Games.

SPANISH SPORTS | GREAT DAY IN MOTO GP - INTO THE DAVIS CUP FINAL IN TENNIS

Great afternoon for SPANISH SPORTS & Sportsmen with grand performances in MOTO GP & DAVIS CUP Tennis. In the Motor-bike area, Spanish riders won two out of the three categories, & in Tennis SPAIN qualifies for its 8th Davis Cup Final after winning France in the semi-final held in Cordoba (Spain).

Marc Marquez Moto 2

Firstly, MOTO GP action from the ARAGON GP ( SPAIN ) with NICOL TEROL winning the 125 cc category & opening further his lead in the 125 cc World Championship table, & a fabulous victory by young MARC MARQUEZ in the Moto 2 category cutting to just 6 points the lead by Stefan Bradl in the World Champions table. In the MOTO GP category Australian Casey Stoner was just too good & almost perfect to give him the victory, plus jump closer to this seasons World Title as he opens the points gap further over Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo. The latter came in third in todays race behind another Spaniard Dani Pedrosa who was second.

Here is a full summary in all MOTO GP categories of today's winners, & current point standings:

MOTO GP final race top 3 places:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda RC 212 V)
2. Dani Pedrosa (SP/Honda RC 212 V)
3. Jorge Lorenzo(SP/Yamaha YZR M 1)

MOTO GP World Championship table placings:
1º Stoner (AUS) 284pts
2º Lorenzo (SP) 240
3º Dovizioso (ITA) 185
4º Pedrosa (SP)

MOTO 2 final race top 3 places:
.1. Marc Márquez (SP/Suter)
.2. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Suter)
.3. Simone Corsi (ITA/FTR)

MOTO 2 World Championship table placings:
1. Stefan Bradl (GER) 221 pts
2. Marc Márquez (SP) 215
3. Andrea Iannone (ITA) 132

125cc final race top 3 places:
.1. Nicolás Terol (SP/Aprilia)
.2. Johann Zarco (FRA/Derbi)
.3. Maverick Viñales (SP/Aprilia)

125cc World Championship table placings:
1. Nicolás Terol (SP)241 pts
2. Johann Zarco (FRA) 205
3. Maverick Viñales (SP) 177

Next race is the JAPAN GP & just 4 more races ( including Japan) left for the season.

Spanish Tennis: Rafael Nadal

Spanish Tennis ace RAFAEL NADAL gave SPAIN an unbeatable 3 - 1 result, beating Frenchmen TSONGA 6 - 0 , 6 - 2 , 6 - 4 , & giving Spain the DAVIS CUP semi final against FRANCE at Cordoba (Spain). This gives Spain its 8th Davis Cup Final birth against either Argentina or Serbia (still to be decided).

Things complicated themselves for Spain yesterday when France won the doubles & took things to 2 -1.A victory by Spain this afternoon in singles was vital & Nadal didn´t not let his country down at all with a superb performance of Tennis.

Spanish Sports excitement continues later this afternoon as SPAIN plays FRANCE in the Basketball Euro Final at 20.00 (Sp time). Stay tuned for the result , & good luck to the Basketball squad from here.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE ROUND 4 | SATURDAY NIGHT RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with 5 games of Round 4 of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA with plenty to write about with the usual exciting action & high level performances, not to mention a storm of goals at "Camp Nou" that will be discussed below. Here is a summary of the games, with results & the scorers.

Malaga - Mallorca

MALAGA FC continue adding points, this time at the expense of a disappointing REAL MALLORCA who lost away 1 - 0. Malaga deserved the victory as they always showed the initiative & created the most opportunities with the winner coming in the 39th min when Mallorca defender Caceres put in an own goal from a Demichelis header.

Uche for Granada

GRANADA blew the roof of their stadium when their home fans celebrated their victory 1 - 0 over VILLAREAL. The latter are going through a difficult moment after losing mid-week to Bayern Munich in Champions & have lost their confidence & play. This takes nothing away from the merits of Granada which played a fantastic match, deserved to win & UCHE deserved his celebration in the 55th min as it turned out to be the winner.

Soldado for Valencia CF

REAL SPORTING DE GIJON continue without lifting after VALENCIA CF visited & won 0 - 1 with another ROBERTO SOLDADO goal in the 29th min. To the merit of Sporting Gijon they managed to lift their game in the 2º half but ran into an inspired Valencia goalie GUAITA who avoided the equalizer. Said this, Valencia deserved the victory as they were definitely the better team.

Cesc-Messi

If there was any doubt on the form or past performances of FC BARCELONA tonight they were vanished after they "steam-rolled" OSASUNA 8 - 0, yes there is no mistake, 8-0. Not much to add except that it was a "one team" show & as the goals went in the spirits of Osasuna sank further & further. It was at one stage sad to watch & they were at times humiliated by an inspired Barça in front of their home crowd.

LIONEL MESSI got a HAT-TRICK ( 5th, 40th & 76th min), DAVID VILLA scored two goals ( 33rd & 75th min), CESC FABREGAS got his in the 12th min , XAVI tasted some action in the 56th min & to add salt to the Osasuna wound the own goal from defender ROSVERSIO came in the 39th min.

By the way, Barça hit the post twice!

Kanoute

SEVILLA FC defeated REAL SOCIEDAD 1 - 0 thanks to the goal scored by veteran & Club Captain KANOUTE in the 53rd min. The match was entertaining with the home side creating more chances & always with the initiative. Deserved win for Sevilla.