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FIFA GOLDEN BALL 2011 - 23 CANDIDATE LIST | FC BARCELONA HAS 8 CANDIDATES REAL MADRID HAS 5 CANDIDATES

SPANISH SPORTS paper based in Barcelona "Mundo Deportivo" has advanced the "exclusive" news that EIGHT FC BARCELONA players have made the cut of 23 player candidates for this years FIFA GOLDEN BALL AWARD. REAL MADRID has FIVE players in the 23 candidate cut, "leaked" tonight by the Barcelona paper.

Days back FRANCE FOOTBALL handed in their initial list of 50 FIFA Golden Ball players, that has been now cut back to 23 players.

FC Barcelona FIFA Golden Ball 2011 candidates
courtesy: Mundo Deportivo

The eight Barça players are Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Cesc, Villa, Alves & Abidal. The five Real Madrid players are Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso , Ozil & Benzema. France Football will make the full list of 23 players official tomorrow. Along with the list will be published the 10 Top Coaches Candidates which includes Vicente Del Bosque ( Spanish National Team), Josep Guardiola ( FC Barcelona) & José Mourinho (Real Madrid).

The lists are "odd" (some "obvious names are missing) & this has lead many media observers to suspect that "Big Marketing" interests may be "pressuring" to give the list variety & new names. Plus the "conspiracy" theory journalists suspect that those same interests wish to avoid a final 3 candidates situation from the same Club as occurred last year with Xavi, Iniesta & Messi all from Barça.

Note, this is a "leaked" Mundo Deportive "exclusive" & we should all await the official list from France Football tomorrow to be 100% sure.

SPANISH FOOTBALL ROUND 11 MONDAY NIGHT RESULT | SEVILLA 1 GRANADA 2

SPANISH FOOTBALL with Monday Night action as the last game of Round 11 was played of LA LIGA. Here is a brief resume of things with the final result & the scorers.

Sevilla -Granada

SEVILLA FC lost at home against GRANADA 1 - 2 with the latter making a heroic comeback. Sevilla got off to a flying start with a goal buy MANU DEL MORAL just after 38 seconds. From here Sevilla dominated but failed to convert their many opportunities into more goals.

Sevilla paid the price for not finishing off Granada, when the latter then equalized via GEIJO in the 79th min & again the same player in the 89th min for the winner. A true knock-out punch by Granada!

SPANISH FOOTBALL DOMINATES "GOLDEN BOY U-21 AWARD" CANDIDATES

The list of candidates that will opt for this years "GOLDEN BOY AWARD" has been handed in with a clear SPANISH FOOTBALL flavour. The Award has a "peculiar" title but is no less prestigious as it its the equivalente to the "FIFA GOLDEN BALL AWARD", but in this case for Under-21 players.

The Spanish National players are Thiago Alcantara, Muniain, Oriol, Alvaro Vazquez, Rodrigo, Sergio Canales & Dani Pacheco, while other non-Spanish youngsters elected as candidates, & playing in Spanish Football are Varane, Courtois & Griezmann. According to some media sources the favourite is THIAGO ALCANTARA (FC Barcelona).

Thiago

Here is the full list of candidates: name, country & club:

David Alaba AUS Bayern
Álvaro Vázquez SP Espanyol
Jordan Ayew GHA Ol. Marsella
Fabio Borini ITA Roma
Joel Campbell CSR Lorient
Sergio Canales SP Valencia
Thibaut Courtois BEL Atlético
P. Coutinho BRA Inter
E. P. Dudú BRA Dinamo Kiev
Lorenzo Ebecilio HOL Ajax
S. El Shaarawy ITA Milan
Christian Eriksen DIN Ajax
Mario Götze GER Bor. Dortmund
Clement Grenier FRA Ol. Lyon
A. Griezmann FRA Real Sociedad
Eden Hazard BEL Lille
Philip Jones ENG Man. United
Sergei Kryvtsov UCR Shakhtar D.
A. Lacazette FRA Ol. Lyon
Adem Ljajic SER Fiorentina
Romelu Lukaku BEL Chelsea
Eliaquim Mangala FRA Oporto
Alex Merkel ALE-KAZ Genoa
Iker Muniain SP Athletic Club
Miguel Nelson POR Benfica
Joel Obi NIG Inter
O. Chamberlain ING Arsenal
Dani Pacheco SP Rayo Vallecano.
Rodrigo Moreno SP Benfica
James Rodríguez COL Oporto
Jack Rodwell ENG Everton
Oriol Romeu SP Chelsea
Davide Santon ITA Newcastle
Stefan Savic MON Man. City
Georgi Sennikov RUS CSKA Moscú
Xherdan Shaqiri SUI Basilea
Thiago Alcantara SP Barcelona
Raphael Varane FRA Real Madrid
Jack Wilshere ENG Arsenal
Granit Xhaka SUI Basilea

ROUND 11 SPANISH FOOTBALL LIGA SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued today-night with Round 11 of LA LIGA & five games scheduled that have given the following final results & scorers.

Osasuna-Levante

OSASUNA put end to the dream run of LEVANTE, & the top spot of the classification table, after winning 2 - 0 at home. Osasuna have always being traditionally a tough team to beat in front of their "fierce" supporting fans. The goals came via CEJUDO in the 40th min & NINO in the 44th min as Osasuna took full advantage of the low moments of Levante. The home side double combination "knock-out" punches were effective as the visitors could not recover thereafter.

Real Madrid now lead the Spanish League.

Racing - Betis

First victory for RACING DE SANTANDER over REAL BETIS 1 - 0. The winner came from a penalty transformed by STUANI in the 63rd min. Real Betis continue with their bad run as this is their 7th straight loss. Alarm bells sounding at Betis!

Bilic of Sporting Gijon

REAL SPORTING DE GIJON managed another valuable point at home with their well fought out 1 - 1 draw against ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO. All the big action was in the 2º half with Bilbao getting ahead via SUSAETA in the 62nd min & Gijon drawing via BILIC in the 70th min.

Adrian for At.Madrid

ATLETICO DE MADRID reacted to a series of bad performances & failure to score goals winning REAL ZARAGOZA 3 - 1. Atletico de Madrid Coach Manzano lifts his head out of the chopping block for now as this victory will give him much needed oxygen. The Coach also left midfielder Reyes out as punishment for his out of tone language after being substituted in the last game, his substitute ADRIAN was key to tonights victory.

ADRIAN scored two goals in the 18th & 74th min, along with team-mate & defender DOMINGUEZ in the 29th min. Zaragoza managed to take adavantage of the Atletico "caos" as substitutions were being made & that allowed POSTINGA to score a good header in the 78th min. The MVPs tonight was Atletico Turkish midfielder Turan, Diego played well & of course Adrian.

Will Atletico be able to continue with his "new found" form?

Malaga- Espanyol

MALAGA had a tough night getting their three points after defeating visiting RCD ESPANYOL 2 - 1 & in the course of events getting some pressure off the team & off the shoulders of Malaga Coach Pellegrini. However, this match had controversy & Espanyol are very unhappy as the referee called a penalty in favour of Malaga that was not & ended up being the winner.

The goals came via RONDON in the 5th min & Espanyol fought back to equalize with a 45th min goal by ALVARO ALVAREZ. The "hot" moment came in the 75th min when a non-existent penalty was called in favour of Malaga which APOÑO transformed & ended up giving his team the three points.

Round 11 Monday Night Game: Sevilla-Granada

ROUND 11 SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with four matches of Round 11 with the four Spanish Champions League representatives, scheduled mid-week, forwarding their LIGA obligations. Here is a brief summary of events, final results & the scorers.

Cuenca scores for Barça

For those who doubted, or questioned FC BARCELONA & their last performances, tonight they had their mouths shut with an smashing 5 - 0 victory over REAL MALLORCA. LIONEL MESSI was "questioned" this week & he answered tonight with a HAT-TRICK ( 13th, 21st & 29th min) to clear any debate &/or doubts. The other highlight was the first senior goal by youngster CUENCA who put in his bit of teamwork with a 50th min effort. DANI ALVES got into the party with his 90+ min goal to put the cherry on the cake. Barça as lethal as usual!

Villareal

VILLAREAL grabbed some needed oxygen with their worked 2 - 0 win over RAYO VALLACANO. However, they paid a high price for their win with injuries to Marcos Ruben, Senna & Cani, adding to the 6 month loss last week of Rossi to a knee injury. BRUNO scored first in the 19th min to see Marcos Senna missed a penalty in the 38th min. But BORJA VALERO managed to seal the 3 points in the 67th min for the Villareal second goal.

Feghouli

VALENCIA CF did what they had to do & in convincing fashion winning GETAFE 3 - 1. The goals came from Frenchmen FEGHOULI who got two in the 12th & 26th min & ADURIZ managing the third in the 75th min. For Getafe DIEGO CASTRO managed the consolation goal with his effort in the 24th min.

Higuain Real Madrid

REAL SOCIEDAD lost 0 - 1 to REAL MADRID with the latter not as "electric" as in past matches. Perhaps it was because Kaka, Marcelo, Khedira & Benzema were given a rest & because Sociedad were "sticky" all game with some aggressive pressuring. The fact is that Real Madrid dominated the first half & GONZALO HIGUAIN manged the first goal in the 8th min to which Real could not find the second to ease things & the game.

The second half saw a gradual deterioration of the Real Madrid game, while Real Sociedad lifted & created some very dangerous chances that angered Real Coach Mourinho as he watched how his team went losing tension & a firm grip on the match. Real Madrid brought on Kaka, Khedira & Benzema in an attempt to regain the initiative & shut the game with a second goal. But it wasn´t to be, instead the visitors sweated it out till the end as Real Sociedad poured on the pressure to find the equalizer. A very worked victory for Real Madrid which managed the most important thing; the 3 points.

VALENCIA CF TIES UP MEXICAN - DEPORTIVO MIDFIELDER ANDRES GUARDADO?

What is a talented World Class Mexican International Football player doing in the Spanish 2º Division? Obviously his contract has something to do with it & admirably his feeling of loyalty to DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA the other. The latter is not a good long-term career building sentiment to hold onto too long, while the former ends next season, thus making ANDRES GUARDADO a free-agent as of the 1ºst of January 2012.

Andres Guardado

This is were VALENCIA CF comes in. Apparently the Spanish Football Club has "tied" up the services of the Mexican midfielder for next season. It is clear that neither Club or player can say much before the 1ºst of January 2012, but keeping secrets in Football has never really been too effective. The only negative aspect is that Deportivo will receive zero money because there is no transfer.

Stay tuned, as news will get firmer as the season moves on. But the move is positive for Guardado who has only 25 years of age & lots of Football talent.

ARSENAL ASKS REAL MADRID ABOUT ESTEBAN GRANERO

Interesting news piece from Spanish Sports paper "Marca" that has been revealed in todays edition. Apparently earlier in the week ARSENAL representatives travelled to Madrid to have discussions with REAL MADRID Football Director Miguel Pardeza. The topic of conversation was midfielder ESTEBAN GRANERO with a personal message from Arsene Wenger of his interest in having the player over to London in the upcoming Winter Transfer Market.

Esteban Granero

The midfielder is currently finding it hard to get a regular run in the Real Madrid team as his position has a long list of competitors that are bidding for the same spot: Kaka, Ozil, Altintop, Lass Diarra, Sahin ( when fit)...etc. With this difficult scenario, the Spanish midfielder has expressed to his Club that he still prefers to stay at Real Madrid & work towards a place as the season is long & many things can happen. But, if the situation is still complex at the end of the season, & playing is still difficult, Granero may have to consider exercising his Football elsewhere.

Real Madrid has kindly said "not for now" to Arsenal who are looking for a midfielder to fill the space left open by the departure of Cesc Fabregas & Nasri, positions that have turned out to be their "achilles heel" this season. Another Club said to be very interested in Granero is Spanish Football Club MALAGA a persistent buzz in the local Football circles.

ROUND 10 MID - WEEK SPANISH FOOTBALL THURSDAY NIGHT RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL finally finished Round 10 with the last two matches scheduled in LA LIGA played tonight. Here are the results & the scorers.

Pandiani

RCD ESPANYOL notched up its third straight victory defeating REAL BETIS 1 - 0. Its the fifth straight loss for Betis which started so well the season & now are really suffering with their game. The winner for Espanyol came from PANDIANI who came on in the 2º half & scored in the 75th min. Totally effective indeed.

Diego-Muniain

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO won their rain swept home match 3 - 0 against ATLETICO DE MADRID which collapsed literally from the 68th min allowing three goals from Bilbao in the space of 8 minutes.

Beforehand, the first half was fairly even with both teams having chances & both goalkeepers very busy in keeping the scoreboard at zero. The 2º half was another story as Bilbao took over proceeding with Atletico basically disoriented in their tactical & mental mind-set. Here of course all eyes turned to the under fire Atletico Coach Manzano who may have "hang himself" tonight after this poor result & team performance.

FERNANDO LLORENTE scored first with a fluke goal in the 68th min that must have depressed Atletico & lifted Bilbao as the second came 2 mins later with a header from FERNANDO LLORENTE . Atletico was "knocked out" as Bilbao were on fire & TOQUERO got the third in the 75th min from a free-kick with his header. Bilbao worthy winners tonight.

Atletico de Madrid go back home with the rain clouds following & hoovering over them & Coach Manzano.

REAL MADRID | WELCOME BACK KAKA

REAL MADRID Brazilian midfielder is back. Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, alias KAKÁ, has suffered his time in the Desert just as Jesus, but his was a Football Desert & 16 months away from the National team. Today Kaka received the news that "officially" collaborates his "resurrection", with BRAZIL Coach Mano Menezes calling the player for two upcoming International Friendly games.

Kaká

The player will be obviously happy, but his Spanish Football Club REAL MADRID is delighted to finally have the player with the 68M€ price tag performing close to his best & scoring goals. The Brazilian has regained form & has sat on the bench regular midfield starter Ozil. Lets hope & wish that the recovering continues for Kaká as all World Football fans will be delighted to see again all your skills, & that the "injury clouds" finally blow away.

Congratulations Ricardo!

ROUND 10 MID - WEEK SPANISH FOOTBALL RESULTS | WEDNESDAY NIGHT GAMES

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued tonight with mid-week Round 10 matches that gave the following results & scorers for the six games scheduled of LA LIGA.

Rayo-Malaga

RAYO VALLECANO won MALAGA FC 2 - 0 making some suspect that things are not well at all with Malaga. This statement does not wish to take away the marvellous match that the Madrid team put in with goals from BOTELHO in the 7th min & TAMUDO in the 70th min.

Some are questioning already on the return on the big investments at Malaga.

Levante - Real Sociedad

Spanish League leaders LEVANTE continue to amaze with a last minute 3 - 2 victory over REAL SOCIEDAD. The "revelation" team came from behind to maintain until the next round the top spot of La Liga table. Real Sociedad got ahead first via ESTRADA in the 3rd min to see later in the 55th min Levante equalize via NANO. The home team went ahead in the 61st min with a goal from VALDO to see how IÑIGO MARTINEZ cancelled things with his 87th min equalizer. However, Levante has luck on their side & in the 92nd min SUAREZ put in a free-kick winner to blow the roof off the stadium.

Guiza

Top game with GETAFE drawing 2 - 2 with OSASUNA. Osasuna went ahead early in the 7th min via IBRAHIMA & he later scored again the equalizer in he 66th min. Getafe forward GUIZA also scored twice 62nd & 76th min. Points shared!

Alba scores the winner

Very worked & fought out game between REAL ZARAGOZA & VALENCIA CF that saw Valencia grab the three points in the final moments when defender JORDI ALBA scored in the 86th min.

Sporting - Mallorca

MALLORCA lost with some bad luck 1 - 2 when an own goal from J.VICTOR in the 64th min finally gave REAL SPORTING DE GIJON the victory. Earlier CASTRO put Mallorca ahead in the 16th min & Gijon equalized in the 49th min by BILIC. Sporting slowly accumulating some points to lift positions off the lower end of the ladder.

Benzema

REAL MADRID comfortably secured their match against VILLAREAL in 30 mins of great Football that was clinically precise with knife edge accuracy. Real Madrid are playing touch ball Football with the added touch of being deadly in the counter-attack. An early goal was disallowed to Sergio Ramos, but the gates opened with KARIM BENZEMA scoring in the 5th min from a Di Maria pass, then KAKA in the 11th min with a positioned driver & DI MARIA in the 30th min to have it all sown up.

The second half was more relaxed for Real Madrid dominating but not as effective with the goal with Villareal making a few incursions that were solved by a great Pepe-Sergio Ramos defensive duo. Real Madrid are currently looking good!

ROUND 10 MID - WEEK SPANISH FOOTBALL RESULTS | SEVILLA 2 RACING 2 GRANADA 0 FC BARCELONA 1

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrates mid-week action with Round 10, & with two games played Tuesday night of LA LIGA with the following results & scorers.

Manu de Moral

SEVILLA FC remains undefeated at home after drawing in the last moment 2 - 2 against RACING DE SANTANDER. Sevilla player MANU DE MORAL opened the scoring in the 36th min & again for the last moment winner in the 92nd min. Racing equalized in the 62nd via ARIEL & got themselves ahead via SAMPERIO in the 69th min to look victory in the face, but...

Xavi free kick goal

GRANADA lost 0 - 1 to FC BARCELONA under controversy & a very angry Granada post-match. It was perhaps one of Barça´s worst games, some say boring & with 7 yellow cards & 2 red cards for Granada. The only goal came from a magnificent XAVI free-kick in the 33rd min to give what would turn out to be the winning goal.

More Round 10 Liga action tonight.

FRANCE FOOTBALL 50 CANDIDATES FOR FIFA GOLDEN BALL 2011 | FC BARCELONA 10 PLAYERS - REAL MADRID 5

France Football has handed in the list of the initial 50 candidates chosen for this years FIFA GOLDEN BALL AWARD. These are now the following procedures:

1. 1st of November the list of 50 will be shortened to 23 players
2. 5th of December , three players will be named as finalists
3. 9th of January 2012 the winner will be announced

Spanish Football based players: courtesy of Marca.com

SPANISH FOOTBALL is well represented & especially FC BARCELONA which has 10 players on the list, while REAL MADRID has 5 players.

The 10 candidates from FC Barcelona are:
Eric Abidal, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves & Alexis Sanchez.

The 5 candidates for Real Madrid are:
Iker Casillas, Ozil, Khedira, Cristiano Ronaldo & Xabi Alonso. A notable name missing here is Sergio Ramos.

Another Spanish Football born player is on the list, David Silva (Man City) along with Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Gómez, Thomas Müller, Ribery, Klose, Sneijder, Van Persie, Robben y Van der Vaart, Samuel Eto'o, Kun Agüero, Luis Suárez, Diego Forlán, Chicharito Hernández, Wayne Rooney, Neymar & Antonio di Natale.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA ROUND 9 | SUNDAY NIGHT RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrated the six remaining Round 9 SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA matches with the following results & scorers.

Lass for Getafe

The REAL BETIS "bubble" loses air with every game with another defeat at the hands of RAYO VALLECANO which won 0 - 2. The visitors simply finished their opportunities better than the home side starting with LASS who "looped" a nice goal over the keeper in the 80th min & KOKE scored the second in the 89th min for the sealer.

Real Sociedad-Getafe

Two sides that are going through a rough Football period managed a 0 - 0 draw. REAL SOCIEDAD & GETAFE played a match with little to mention except the last minute opportunity for Getafe forward Pedro Leon which hit the bar. Bad luck still present & unable to shake off for Getafe.

Nekounam

OSASUNA put REAL ZARAGOZA back to earth with a convincing 3 - 0 victory. The goals came from RAUL GARCIA in the 17th min, NINO in the 27th min & NEKOUNAM in the 30thm. As you can see the damage was all done the first half hour of the match with Real Zaragoza thereafter attempting to lift but unable to shake off the triple punches.

At.Madrid - Mallorca

ATLETICO DE MADRID continue with their uninspiring & ineffective play with a 1 - 1 draw against REAL MALLORCA. The goal for Mallorca came early in the 2nd min when Atletico defender Silvio hand-balled in the penalty area & HEMED scored. Atletico managed to equalize via FALCAO with a penalty in the 41st min. From then on, Atletico dominated play but as we have all become accustomed too the goal scoring area is not smiling on them at all. Pressure is on Atletico Coach Manzano who is increasingly being questioned for his set up, tactical ideas or lack off.

Soldado

VALENCIA CF played an entertaining a hard fought 1 - 1 draw match with ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO that went down to the wire. Very tactical & battled in the midfield that saw Athletic go ahead in the 72nd min when MUNIAIN scored. But in the 89th min ROBERTO SOLDADO saved his team with an equalizer "in extremis". Emotion until the end, & Bilbao slowly getting its Football back together under Coach Bielsa.

Juanlu

LEVANTE visited VILLAREAL & won away 0 - 3 plus is now leading the SPANISH LEAGUE. Levante continues to surprise everyone & is currently the "revelation team" with hard honest work as their base philosophy. The visitors dominated from start to finished & deserved the victory with two goals from JUANLU ( 16th & 43rd min) & KONE in the 72nd min.

Note: mid-week action with Round 10!

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE ROUND 9 | SATURDAY MATCH RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL via its LEAGUE celebrated four games this afternoon/evening as part of Round 9 of LA LIGA. Below is a brief summary of the matches, the final results & all the goal scorers.

Andre Castro for Gijon

REAL SPORTING DE GIJON needed a win like water & they managed to get some pressure off themselves, & give a joy to their fans, after defeated GRANADA 2 - 0. Sporting scored early via BARRAL in the 5th min, later the second came in the 41st min via CASTRO. It was a worked first season victory for Gijon which showed ambition & faith to get their deserved three points.

Espanyol players celebrate their win

RACING DE SANTANDER still dont know what a victory feels this season as they went down to RCD ESPANYOL 0 - 1. The winner for Espanyol can in the 59th min via a "cracker" from SERGIO GARCIA.

Second win straight for Espanyol & Racing such be concerned as they truly lack resources on all lines to get themselves out of the bottom of the Spanish Football League,

Cristiano Ronaldo

MALAGA FC hosted REAL MADRID & recieved a 0 - 4 defeat that such have hurt the local side. Real started with Higuain (sub Benzema) , Kaka ( sub Ozil )& Di Maria (sub Callejon) & the Madrid Club did all the damage in the first 45 minutes.

Real Madrid were serious, quick , ball controlling & lethal, especially DI MARIA who gave 3 passes of goal & CRISTIANO RONALDO who scored a HAT-TRICK ( 22nd, 27th & 37th), with one of his goals a type of "kung fu" kick that found the net. The other came from HIGUAIN who scored early in the 10th min from a excellent Di Maria assist.

Malaga Coach Pellegrini must have shouted his head off at his team as Malaga looked much better in the 2º half as Real Madrid also took the foot off the accelerator. Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas( who notched up his 428 games with Madrid ) had to work, & hard, to keep Malaga from scoring.

Comments at the end of the match by Real Madrid Coach Mourinho were positive as he was really pleased with the performance of his team.

Javi Varas stops Villa

FC BARCELONA 0 - Sevilla FC Goalkeeper VARAS, excuse me SEVILLA FC 0. Serious match by Sevilla which was very strong the first 30 minutes until their efforts "forced" them to slowly get back into their own half & practically defend the attacking waves of Barcelona as the latter got strong & stronger. But there was JAVI VARAS ( & the the posts , bar & last minute penalty) to stop all the "missiles" fired at the Sevilla goal. The Sevilla keeper put in a "blinder" of a match as he literally saved his team from a true onslaught. Really, it was great to watch the man in action. Barça goalie Valdes also had to make a few saves ( 1ºst half ) as fate was to turn the game into a goalkeepers night.

The controversy happened in the last minute when Iniesta was fouled in the penalty area. The referee said no & then changed his mind after consulting the linesman. Sevilla player Kanoute then kicked the ball off the penalty spot to play mind games with Messi, to which Cesc Fabregas said something to Kanoute that caused a brawl between players, Cesc on the floor & Kanoute with a Red Card. The penalty was taken by Messi & yes, VARAS stopped it. Then in a last Barça attempt Pedro was floored by Sevilla defender Navarro who claimed the latter acted it all out, but he won himself a Red Card. Great , & very tense game at the end.

Final result , shared points, & Real Madrid rubbing their hands I would suspect.

FC BARCELONA | YOUNG SPANISH FOOTBALL PROMISE ISSAC CUENCA

This young SPANISH FOOTBALL promise is 20 year old ISSAC CUENCA. The forward currently plays in FC BARCELONA B, however the news was his debut with the A - TEAM in FC BARECLONA Champions League match against Viktoria Pilsen on the 19th of October.

Issac Cuenca

The youngster has a bright future ahead, either with Barça or elsewhere. But did you know that Issac has more Football talents? The below video was tapped by his mates of the neighbourhood in his hometown of Reus ( Catalonia, Spain). The man is also a very competent "Football Freestyler".

We wish the kid all the luck. Enjoy his "street skills"

EUROPA LEAGUE RESULTS | ATHLETIC DE BILBAO 2 SALZBURG 2 | UDINESE 2 ATLETICO DE MADRID 0

The two SPANISH FOOTBALL representatives in the EUROPA LEAGUE competition were in action tonight with the following brief summary of events, scorers & final results.

At.Bilbao-Salzburg

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO hosted SALZBURG for their Group F clash & both offered an entertaining match that went down to the end - with Bilbao comeback included - to finish in a 2 - 2 draw. The match had a red card given to visiting player Lindgren (75th min) which gave Bilbao a player advantage which added to their "blitz" attempt in the final moments of the match.

Beforehand, the first half was Salzburg which scored two goals against the grain as Bilbao dominated. WALLNER scored first in the 29th min followed later by team-mate LEONARDO in the 35th min.

The second half saw Bilbao put in some heroic stuff & it all paid off when FERNANDO LLORENTE scored a penalty in the 69th min & then equalized ( Lindgren sent off ) with another penalty in the 75th min. Salzburg with 10 men stood firm as Bilbao fired all their guns at them; in the end the visitors managed to get away with their point.

Udinese - At.Madrid

The Group I UDINESE & ATLETICO DE MADRID game finished 2 - 0 with Udinese scoring two quick counter-attacking goals via BENATIA in the 89th min & FLORO FLORES in the 94th min. Basically it was the same "old" story for the Spanish Football team Atletico, they dominated most of the match but could not score, it was as simple as that, plus some fine saves from the Atletico young goalie Courtois. Ahhh, there was a clear penalty on Atletico de Madrid forward Falcao not called that could have changed things... could have I said.

However there are strange signals vibrating out of Atletico & from their "goal drought". I don´t want to get too heavy too soon but there are some Coaching decisions & tactical moves from Mr. Manzano which is causing me much confusing. I cant understand why Reyes & Adrian are not starting , for example, & the defence looks wobbly.

Be what it may, the Italians did what they do best in Football, allow you to dance with them for around 88 minutes & then they kick you in the balls to win ( or score two goals).

SPANISH HANDBALL | ATLETICO DE MADRID BREAK SCORING RECORD

ATLETICO DE MADRID (ex Ciudad Real) achieved a historical record breaking the previously held by FC Barcelona in scoring 52 goals in one match. I am taking about SPANISH HANDBALL & yes, the Spanish Handball League (ASOBAL) . The unfortunate receiving opponents were ACADEMICA OCTAVIO who managed to score 27.

Atletico de Madrid currently leading the League & are doing well in Europe.

Perhaps the Atletico de Madrid Football Directives can consider allowing their Handball counterparts to exchange shirts for a day. I am sure the latter would at least score more goals :O)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | B LEVERKUSEN 2 VALENCIA CF 1 | FC BARCELONA 2 VIKTORIA PILSEN 0

The last two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs with CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualifying Group match commitments, Valencia CF & FC Barcelona, returned a sweet & sour ( or sour & sweet ) result that I will now go into more detail below with the final results & scorers.

Sam for B.Leverkusen

VALENCIA CF travelled to Germany to play fellow Group E Club BAYERN LEVERKUSEN & finished losing 2 - 1 to virtually shut for the Spanish Football Club the Euro-Champions League door. Valencia started well & looked confident with JONAS scoring in the 24th min, later creating chances ( that they did not get finished ) to set the path for the rest of the game.

But the game-plan crumbled in a space of two minutes in the second half when Leverkusen player SCHURRLE equalized in the 53rd min & when Valencia was figuring out what had happened , SAM put Bayern ahead in the 55th min with a nice curved goal. End result, a loss for Valencia.

That´s what happen when you don´t knock-out your opponent when you have him against the ropes. They more than likely recover & return a blinding combination punch!

Iniesta goal

FC BARCELONA hosted VIKTORIA PILSEN in their Group H clash & won 2 - 0 thanks to the goals from INIESTA in the 10th min, which was brilliant with some great individual skills, & DAVID VILLA in the 82nd min.

Barcelona dominated 90 % of the match & didn´t score more because they seemed to be at half gas & attempting to entertain themselves rather than "kill-off" the match. Messi hit the post in the 2º half but sinned tonight of individuality as he attempted to score "his style". Not bad, as it was great to watch, but passing to team-mates would have been more effective.

Barça won & that was their main aim, but they looked off-phase tonight, perhaps it was all too easy.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | MANCHESTER CITY 2 VILLAREAL 1 | REAL MADRID 4 OLYMPIQUE LYON 0

Heads & Tails for the SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs participating tonight in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. Villareal needed to not lose to keep their slim chances of overcoming their Group for possible qualification, while Real Madrid needed a victory to seal their place beyond the Group phase.

David Silva

VILLAREAL needed to not lose their Group A match against MANCHESTER CITY & it was never going to be easy. However, the door of hope opened for the Spanish Football Club in the 3rd min when CANI put them ahead, & this gave wings to Villareal.

But the Spanish team did not count that luck - or bad luck - was going to visit the stadium & "stick a finger" or two into them (Mourinho style). Villareal played well, very well, against the odds & put City on the ropes at times. But as the wise say you have to find your luck & Manchester City did so in the 42th min when Spanish defender MARCHENA put in an own goal to allow the home team to equalize. Bad luck for Villareal I hear some say...

The second half saw City go all out, & Villareal ( & goalie Lopez ) stood firm admirably. Until good - or bad - luck again made a visit & in the 93rd min SERGIO AGUERO - maybe off-side perhaps? - scored the winner to the delight of the home crowd & the unbelief from the Spanish players. Final result, 2 - 1 & Villareal knowing that their Euro run end with this Group. Congrats to City!

Benzema

REAL MADRID secured their place beyond the Group phase ( Group D, in fact ) to win comfortably 4 - 0 French Club OLYMPIQUE LYON. Real Madrid Coach Mourinho put on Benzema over Higuian & the Frenchmen scored in the 19th min from a Ronaldo header flick-on. Real Madrid was virtually in control of the whole match with some sporadic threats from Lyon that Casillas & the Madrid defence stopped or the Lyon forwards missed.

The goals came in a steady flow in the second half when Madrid decided to go out & "kill" the game while the French only objective was a draw. With the visitors lack of ambition , Real Madrid took the ball & happy moved things around to their liking.

Khedira

The second goal came in the 47th min when Benzema set up on a platter a ball the KHEDIRA fired home. Then OZIL got into the action with his 55th min goal sneaking the ball under the Lyon keeper. Madrid denfender SERGIO RAMOS got his goal from a Xabi Alonso corner after finding the ball bounce into the path of his power shot in the 81st min.

They are the official goals, there could have been more had the referee not disallowed a quick free - kick taken goal from Xabi that Benzema scored ( apparently without referee´s whistle blown) & some nice saves by Lyon goalie Lloris.

Overall, a comfortable night at the "Bernabeu" office for Real Madrid, something that would have been unheard off a couple of years back with Lyon.

SPANISH FOOTBALL LEADS THE WORLD IN SOCIAL MEDIA

SPANISH FOOTBALL looks like leading the Social Media area as well as World Football. A comprehensive study of "followers" on the two currently leading "Social Media" channels ( Facebook & Twitter) gives Spanish Football Clubs FC BARCELONA & REAL MADRID as the most popular Sporting teams on the planet.

FC Barcelona 2011

The below graph gives a snap view of positions & numbers. Its in Spanish but needs no real translation, plus you can also see other Football teams up there as well like Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea , Liverpool.. etc.. The non-Football Sport & Club that is high amongst the Footy teams are the Los Angeles Lakers (USA).

Interesting study & some big numbers that show the pulling power of both Sport in general & Spanish Football around the World.

Courtesy of Sportwist.com

SPANISH FOOTBALL MONDAY NIGHT ROUND 8 MATCH RESULT | ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO 3 OSASUNA 1

SPANISH FOOTBALL finished with the last match of Round 8 of LA LIGA with an exciting game of Football palyed between ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO & OSASUNA. The "Lions" got their game finally together after some difficult past rounds matches & won 3 - 1 in front of their roaring fans ( no punt intended ).

However it was Osasuna which got off to a flying start & shook Bilbao whos keeper Iraizoz had to make a double save in the 9th min to keep the visiting forward Lamah from scoring. Later on the Osasuna player would be sent off for a double yellow in the 61st min.

Muniain

Bilbao recovered from the early knock & quickly took control with youngster MUNIAIN scoring in the 29th min. In fact the Bilbao player put in a great game running roit & frustrating the Osasuna defence all night. The second for Athletic came in the 37th min via GABILONDO & JAVI MARTINEZ got his teams third in the 47th min.

Osasuna with 10 men got a penalty in the 90th min which NEKOUNAN scored as a consolation.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA ROUND 8 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued today with Round 8 of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA with four matches scheduled (tomorrow the last game scheduled). Here are the results & the scorers.

Levante 2011

LEVANTE are surprising everyone & if they keep it up will be the revelation team. Today they defeated MALAGA 3 - 0 & share top spot with FC Barcelona. Malaga was well defeated & their complaint about the 61st min red card to their goalkeeper Caballero was unfounded as he touched the ball outside his area. The scorers for Levante were BAKERO in the 14th min, JUANLU in the 31st min & KONE in the 40th min. Levante are the "talk of Spanish Football".

Real Zaragoza - Postiga

REAL ZARAGOZA managed to get three very valuable points after defeating REAL SOCIEDAD 2 - 0. The man of the match was Zaragoza player POSTIGA who scored both goals in the 10th & 49th min. The first was an overhead kick that was possibly the goal of the Round, it was simply incredible.

Romaric scores for Espanyol

RAYO VALLECANO lost to a 53rd min goal by ROMARIC to give RCD ESPANYOL the three points. Not much to add for this game, except two teams very balanced & very tactically minded with the match decided by an opportunity that was well taken. Maximum efficiency from Espanyol.

Sevilla FC

SEVILLA FC won REAL SPORTING DE GIJON 2 -1 in an entertaining game that saw a spectacular first goal by Sevilla & forward MANU DE MORAL in the 15th min. Sevilla scored a second in the 57th min by CACERES & basically secured things. Gijon did not play bad at all, their only problem was Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas who kept them out although Gijon did managed a consolation goal via BARRAL in the 64th min.

Sporting are having a very terrible start to the season.

Monday Night Round 8 game: Athletic Club Bilbao - Osasuna