SPANISH FOOTBALL | SPORTS | SOCCER Leading Football site

CELTIC GLASGOW 0 ATLETICO DE MADRID 1 | EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP I RESULT

EUROPA LEAGUE action tonight with the SPANISH FOOTBALL representative ATLETICO DE MADRID defeating CELTIC GLASGOW 0 - 1 in their Group I match. The victory by Atletico secures the Spanish Club the top spot of the Group & into the next phase. Unfortunately, the victory also knocks out Celtic.

Diego - Turan for Atletico de Madrid

The Scottish team was strong & fierce the first half of the match with numerous chances that Atletico goalie COURTOIS managed to cancel out ( he saved Atletico) . Celtic & Greek International player SAMARAS was a menace then & all the match & ARDAN TURAN managed to break the Scottish spirit with an outside the square driver in the 30th min that put the Spanish team ahead.

From then it was see-saw stuff with chances arising on both sides & both goalies working hard. Tough midfield action & tackles, plus a penalty not called for Atletico when Falcao attempted to score. That & the expected last moments onslaught by Celtic to attempt to equalize happened to end it all in the Spanish victory.

Lastly just an observation, Atletico de Madrid player Jose Antonio Reyes did´nt play thus suggesting that the ongoing "punishment-conflict" being put on by Coach Manzano continues & may further heat up things. The player & Club has received a 6M€ offer from Turkish Club Galatasaray & this "arm wrestle" between Coach & the player may see either Manzano out if he loses games or Reyes out in the "Winter Market". Stay tuned!

Tomorrow Athletic Club Bilbao plays its Europa League Group F match against Bratislava. Should be a top match.

FC BARCELONA 4 RAYO VALLECANO 0 | SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA RESULT

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight as the scheduled match between FC BARCELONA & RAYO VALLECANO on LA LIGA calender was brought forward to give Barça the time to prepare & travel to Japan next month for the FIFA World Clubs Championships.

The final result was a smashing 4 - 0 victory by FC Barcelona over the visitors Rayo Vallecano who paid the "price" against a doubted & questioned Barça. The Catalans have been questioned from Madrid & from their own local press on whether they have lost the edge in their play & in the Spanish League with rival Real Madrid ahead on the ladder with a 6 point gap ( now 3 until we know the outcome of the Sporting Gijon - Real Madrid clash this weekend).

Alexis Sanchez

Barça answered all their critics where they know best, which is on the field with outstanding performances from Xavi Hernandez & ALEXIS SANCHEZ, the last finally showing why Barça paid so much for the Chilean International.

His were the two first goals in the 28th min & the 40th min with sleath like actions. The third was for DAVID VILLA in the 42 nd min, a goal that also helps shut a few mouths around town. The fourth was from LIONEL MESSI in the 49th min, who played well but sinned tonight on various occasions of individual play.

David Villa

After the fourth goal, Barça took the foot off the accelerator & paced the match to a "smooth" rhythm. This allowed Rayo Vallecano to get closer to the Barça goal but without any real danger.

The end result was a message to all concerned that this Barça has still something to say this season, & beware of shaking the "dragon" too much as it may get angry!

FC BARCELONA 5 - REAL MADRID 0 | FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSARY | VIDEO

REAL MADRID is currently leading FC BARCELONA by 6 points in the SPANISH LEAGUE classification table. Some over zealous fans & Madrid based media commentators are claiming prematurely victory. They seem to have little knowledge of Football´s funny ways of changing week to week destinies, & Football´s ability of taking you down from the top to the bottom in moments.

Tonight FC Barcelona plays a LIGA match against Rayo Vallecano, put forward by Barça´s commitment with the "FIFA World Clubs Championship" in Japan mid December, & a draw or loss here would be very bad in their plans. Although at home, the odds seem stacked against Rayo.

Thus this leaves the December 10th "Clasico" as the "MATCH" that could tip the balance towards Real Madrid if they manage to win at their home stadium, or signal the beginning of a comeback for Barça if they can win. Imagine a draw? The return match at "Camp Nou" could be the "match" of all matches.

Either way or result, the Spanish Football season is still in its early stages & many things can happen till it finishes mid 2012. I would advise everyone to be cautious in their words & euphoria as Football can make you eat "humble pie".

To calm emotions for some, or lift spirits for others, today is the 1º year Anniversary of the FC Barcelona 5 - 0 victory over Real Madrid. Lets relive that moment & remember that Barça is still the same impressive history making Barça of the last 3 years, & that at the same time , a defeat tonight with Rayo, or against Real Madrid could see a "changing of the guard".

Enjoy the video ( some ), & stay tuned!

MALAGA 2 VILLAREAL 1 | SPANISH FOOTBALL MONDAY NIGHT RESULT ROUND 14

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with the last game of Round 14 in LA LIGA with the habitual Monday Night of Football. Interesting match that saw MALAGA defeat VILLAREAL 2 - 1 in a good game for the home team, with the visitors complaining that they were badly done with some referee decisions.

Toulalan scores for Malaga against Villareal

Malaga got off to a flying start early when a corner gave its fruit via TOULALAN who scored in the 4th min. Villareal reacted & perhaps played their best Football to be rewarded in the 15th min with a MARCO RUBEN equalizing goal.

The rest of the the match was Villareal trying but not being able to break the Malaga defence. ISCO scored the Malaga second in the 40th min & his team managed to shut the gate for Villareal thereafter.

Bad loss for Villareal which is having a "horror season", while Malaga get back into Euro positions in the Spanish Football League classification table.

VIDEO | IÑIGO MARTINEZ 50 mts WINNER FOR REAL SOCIEDAD | SPANISH FOOTBALL

Spectacular SPANISH FOOTBALL League goal yesterday by REAL SOCIEDAD player IÑIGO MARTINEZ in the 92nd min.

Here is the context. REAL BETIS vs REAL SOCIEDAD, the score 2 - 2 & with the whistle to be blown, Martinez fires a 50mts shot that becomes goal, the winner & gives 3 points to his team.

Watch the Video:

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA ROUND 14 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued this Sunday with Round 14 of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA with the following scheduled games. Here is a quick resume of events, final results & all the scorers.

Real Sociedad celebrate victory

REAL BETIS lost to REAL SOCIEDAD in the very last moment 2 - 3 & in the process sinking Betis further in the ladder. The Betis Coach Pepe Mel has received a "one match" chance by the Club Administrators or else he will be ceased as the teams Coach. The match started with Socieded in control via goals by AGIRREXTE in the 56th min & another by VELA in the 76th min. Then Betis made an extraordinary comeback attempt via J. PERREIRA with two goals in the 80th & 85th min. However, a fabulous ( must see) late goal by IÑIGO MARTINEZ for Real Sociedad in the 92nd min clinched the victory.

Espanyol - Osasuna

RCD ESPANYOL suffered a set back in their plans to an improving OSASUNA side. The home team lost 1 - 2 with their only goal in the 55th min via ALVARO VAZQUEZ. Earlier Osasuna secured things with two goals, the first thanks to LAMAH in the 43rd min & the second via NEKOUNAM in the 49th min. The Osasuna victory had more merit as they played with 10 men from the 75th min after Satrustegui got a red card.

Racing - Mallorca

MALLORCA defeated the troubled RACING DE SANTANDER team 2 - 1. The goals for Mallorca came via a own goal in the 46th min by Racing player TORREJON & later via VICTOR in the 58th min. Racing managed a consolation goal thanks to ARIEL in the 75th min. Big problems at Racing!

Levante back on track

LEVANTE relived some past "good vibrations" with an excellent 4 - 0 win over REAL SPORTING DE GIJON. The scorers were BAKERO in the 20th min, VALDO in the 46th min & KONE with two goals in the 52nd & 61st min.

At Bilbao - Granada

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO lost 0 - 1 to GRANADA. The visitors put in a very serious & very hard worked match to surprise the home outfit & keep their goal at zero. Excellent work by the Granada goalie & defence as they cancelled out all the Bilbao attacks. The winner came in the 31st min via IÑIGO LOPEZ for Granada who will be received as a hero back home.

Negredo scores for Sevilla FC

REAL ZARAGOZA lost 0 - 1 to SEVILLA FC in a "rough" match that looked at times more like a school yard Football match. Both teams needed a victory to lift spirits & to stay in touch with the top Clubs & positions. Sevilla got the winner via a penalty in the 23rd min that ALVARO NEGREDO scored. From here it was tough for Sevilla as Zaragoza looked for the equalizer which forced Sevilla goalie JAVI VARAS to again show his "spider" like goalie techniques. Red card to Zaragoza player Juan Carlos in the 90th min & Sevilla grab the 3 points sweating.

MONDAY NIGHT GAME
Malaga - Villareal

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE ROUND 14 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with three games of Round 14 of the SPANISH LEAGUE-LIGA. I am cuurently out of town but have managed to watch the games & have been loaned a wi-fi to post the summary. Please excuse me if it is shorter than usual. Here are the final results & the scorers.

Jonas for Valencia CF

RAYO VALLECANO hosted VALENCIA CF & lost 1 - 2. The game from my view was fairly even with Valencia more intense & deserved the victory. The visitors took their chances & were more effective. The goals for Valencia came via JONAS in the 20th min & TINO COSTA in the 56th min. Rayo managed a consolation goal late via TAMUDO in the 84th min.

Adrian for Atletico de Madrid

Match of the round & big Madrid Derby between REAL MADRID & ATLETICO DE MADRID. I unfortunately can only express my opinion as an Atletico fan who is feed up with what he sees at the Club. The big problems start in the top office, more another day, while the rest comes from Coach Manzano with decisions that simply amazes me.

Real Madrid defeated Atletico de Madrid 4 - 1 (again) with the first warning sign being putting on Salvio ahead of Reyes from the start. Being that as it was, Atletico got ahead first with the 14th min via ADRIAN, but that was all for Atletico.

Real Madrid 2011

Then the turning point came when Atleti goalie Courtois floored Benzema in the square & gave a penalty, plus earned himself the RED CARD. CRISTIANO RONALDO scored to equalize in the 29th min & Aleti was down to 10 men.

Here is Coach Manzano´s reaccion. Instead of taking off Salvio, he takes off Atletico´s most creative midfielder play maker DIEGO to put on Goalie Asenjo (this last obvious). Left without words readers with taking off Diego! Instead of fighting on, Coach Manzano thinks the team should defend the draw & play counter-attack Football.Neither happened & Atletico resorted to very rough play tactics that nearly earned them more red cards...more later.

The Real Madrid goals came obvously thereafter via DI MARIA in the 49th min, HIGUAIN in the 65th min & CRISTIANO RONALDO via a penalty in the 82nd which saw Atletico defender GODIN receive a RED CARD...told you there was more.

Important victory for Madrid as the below event then took place...

Getafe-FC Barcelona

GETAFE defeated FC BARCELONA 1 - 0 in the surprise of the Round. Real Madrid now have a 6 point advantage over Barça on the Spanish League table & the "clasico" down the road on the 10th of December.

Simple analisis. Getafe put a defensive barrier the size of the Chinese Wall & waited for their chance, a chance that came in the 62nd via VALERA. From here, the Getafe defence did their job, Getafe goalie stopped it all & Barcelona players ( Pedro, Villa, Messi ...) missed it all..& I mean missed it ALL.

One of those matches for Barça were they could not resolve the situation. Getafe smart with the resources at hand.

Now the LIGA is on fire!

FC BARCELONA - TAKE | TURNING JAPANESE

This is a great story from "Mundo Deportivo". Young 11 year old TAKEFUSA KUBA, alias "TAKE" to his young mates, has a dream, to become the first Japanese player in the history of FC BARCELONA. Young TAKE is actually a "crack star" with the Barça "Alevin C" (junior) Team. Before signing with Barça the youngster had European Clubs already knocking on his door.

TAKE for FC Barcelona

TAKE comes from Fukuoka (South of Japan) & caught the eye of the Football scouts at the Yokohama FC Barcelona Football Campus. His natural talents convinced Barça to bring him over to Spain & continue with his Football & Education at the famous "La Masia" ( Barça youth Football School). The young talent is a forward & is known as the "Japanese Messi" & apparently is famous back in Japan.

Who said you can´t grab at your dreams. Lots of luck to "Take" & we will be keeping a eye on the kid.

SPAIN 2 GERMANY 2 | FEMALE 2013 SWEDEN EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS

SPANISH FOOTBALL is not all about our male players, there is the other sex which has performed merits that gets front page news & well deserved. The Spanish National Female Team managed a "histroric" 2 - 2 draw against Germany. Why historical?

Lets have a quick look at the German record to date: 7 x European & 2 x World Champions. When it comes to Female World Football, Germany is up there with Brazil & the USA.

Spain Female National Team

The Spanish Female Team is currently in the Group 2 qualifying process for the 2013 Sweden Female European Championships. The Spaniards actually lead the Group & will again play Germany next year at their home turf , a difficult match indeed, but not impossible. Congrats to our girls!

Here is a summary of the match:

SPAIN - 2:
Ainhoa Tirapu, Marta Torrejón, Marta Corredera (Priscila Borja, 84'), Miriam Diéguez, Ruth García, Sandra Vilanova, Elisabeth Ibarra, Silvia Meseguer, Sonia Bermúdez (Ana Romero 'Willy, 88'), Verónica Boquete, Adriana Martín.

GERMANY - 2:
Nadine Angerer; Babett Peter, Saskia Bartusiak (Annike Krahn, 46'), Lena Goessling, Bianca Schmidt; Simone Laudehr, Viola Odebrecht; Melanie Behringer, Célia Okoyino, Fatmire Bajramaj; Alexandra Popp (Martina Múller, 79').

GOALS:
0-1, Goessling (26'). 0-2, Ruth (pp) (29'). 1-2, Vero (57'). 2-2, Willy (90')

The Spanish Females haven´t as yet the qualification assured but are looking good.

FIFA WORLD RANKING NOVEMBER 2011 | SPAIN STILL Nº 1

FIFA released today its monthy ranking with SPAIN retaining the Nº1 spot for the month of NOVEMBER as the "Best Football Nation in the World". However, the defeat against England in a Friendly International & the last moment draw against COSTA RICA has narrowed the points gap with the second placed nation , HOLLAND, which lost as well against Germany in their last match.

David Silva - Iniesta for the Spanish Football Team

Below are the Top 20 Football Nations.
FIFA RANKING : CLASSIFICATION UP TO THE 23rd of NOVEMBER
1. (.1) SPAIN 1.564 pts.
2. (.2) Holland 1.365.
3. (.3) Germany 1.345.
4. (.4) Uruguay 1.309.
5. (.7) England 1.173.
6. (.5) Brazil 1.143.
7. (.8) Portugal 1.100.
8. (12) Croatia 1.091.
9. (.6) Italy 1.082.
10.(10) Argentina 1.067.
11.(10) Denmark 1.035.
12.(13) Russia 971.
13.(16) Chile 970.
14.(.8) Greece 964.
15.(15) France 915.
16.(19) Ivory Coast 912.
17.(18) Switzerland 898.
18.(14) Sweden 891.
19.(17) Japan 884.
20.(22) Mexico 866.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | VALENCIA CF 7 GENK 0 | AC MILAN 2 FC BARCELONA 3

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE continued tonight with two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs involved in Group duties & with positive outcomes. Here is a short summary of events, the final results & the scorers.

Roberto Soldado

VALENCIA CF needed to win its Group E match against GENK to keep alive its qualifying hopes & they did things in smashing fashion. The Spaniards won the Belgium Club 7 - 0 in a devastating exhibition of Football. The notable observation was the HAT-TRICK from ROBERTO SOLDADO ( 13th, 35th & 39th min) that keeps the player firmly knocking at the Spanish National Team door. The other goals came from JONAS in the 10th min, PABLO HERNANDEZ in the 70th min & TINO COSTA in the 81st.

Valencia now has to meet Chelsea ( which lost tonight) in London to decide which of the two go through to the next phase of Champions.

Ibrahimovic

FC BARCELONA travelled to Milan to attempt assure the top spot of Group H against AC MILAN. The encounter was intense & Barça had to work very hard for their 2 - 3 victory where the better quality of the Spanish team - players - become the final deciding factor in the result.

Messi - Xavi

Barça got ahead first in the 13th min with an own goal from VAN BROMMEL & Milan quickly equalized via IBRAHIMOVIC in the 20th min. Then in the 32nd min a controversial penalty was awarded to Barça that MESSI transformed.

Milan then played their best Football pressuring Barça to the limit, to see their reward final come with an equalizer via BOATENG in the 53rd min. However, Barça via their star players pulled their team back ahead when Messi found XAVI with a precision pass that the latter transformed.

From here Milan felt the earlier "super human" efforts & tiredness sank in without however giving Barça a few more scares. The end result was the victory for Barça, the 3 points, the Group top spot & an fantastic Football match.

REAL MADRID - VILLAREAL | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS | GROUP A - D

Two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs had CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Group duties tonight with final mixed results. Here is a brief summary of the events, the results & all the scorers.

Ribery for Bayern Munich

VILLAREAL travelled to Munich to play their Group A match against BAYERN & lost 3 - 1, thus ( nearly impossible saving themselves ) blowing out all their Euro - Champions League candles. It was always going to be difficult for the Spaniards who have most of their big names injured & travelled to Germany with 4 juniors who saw this stage a bit too big tonight for a life saving performance.

Frenchmen & Bayern player RIBERY found his inspiration tonight & scored two great goals ( 2nd & 66th min), while his partner in crime, MARIO GOMEZ scored his goal in the 23rd min. To Villareal´s credit they managed a pride winner with a goal in the 49th min by DE GUZMAN.

Sahin for Real Madrid

REAL MADRID defeated 6 - 2 DYNAMO ZAGREB in a one way demolition job that was cosmetically made up for the Croatians by a "over-confident & relaxed" end of match Madrid that saw how the opponents scored two goals. The first for the Croatian team, by BEQIRAJ in the 81st min, was unstoppable, but the second by TOMAECAK in the 90th min was a Madrid defensive mistake. Dynamo leave Madrid with at least some pride as the goal scoreline could have been a riot had Zagreb goalie KELEVA hadn't stopped four clear chances & if Benzema & Callejon had had more luck.

Real Madrid started with this line-up:
ADÁN; LASS, VARANE, RAMOS, COENTRAO; XABI ALONSO, SAHIN; CALLEJÓN, ÖZIL, BENZEMA; HIGUAÍN,
giving rest to the big name regular players & giving Sahin a full match to see how the man is developing. Also Coach Mourinho put up front together Benzema & Higuain & as things turned out it all paid off well.

Real Madrid was 4 - 0 in the first 20 MINUTES with goals from BENZEMA ( 2nd min), CALLEJON ( 6th min), HIGUAIN ( 9th min ) & OZIL ( 27th min). Zagreb were rattled & the opportunities kept coming, but Dynamo kept miraculously afloat.

Benzema for Real Madrid

The second half saw this starting line-up for Real Madrid:

Adán; Lass, Albiol, Varane, Coentrao; Sahin, Granero; Altintop, Callejón, Benzema & Higuaín ,

& it made no difference as Madrid - less intense & more relaxed - kept flying. The goals came in the 49th min via CALLEJON & BENZEMA in the 66th min.

From here with 6 - 0 up Real Madrid had some lapses at the end that allowed two consolation goals to Zagreb. Well done by the visitors who really went through a "swallow me up earth please" 70 mins period of play.

Real Madrid are unbeaten in their Group matches with 15 points & have the top spot assured. Tonight they sent a message to all & especially ATLETICO DE MADRID who they play next Saturday in the Liga ( local derby).

MONDAY NIGHT SPANISH FOOTBALL ROUND 13 GAME RESULT

SPANISH FOOTBALL finished with Round 13 of LA LIGA tonight with its now habitual Monday Night match. Here´s a quick summary with result & scorers.

Racing - Malaga

RACING DE SANTANDER lost to MALAGA 1 - 3 in a game that was hard to figure who was worst, although Malaga did manage to differentiate itself obviously from the scoreline result. Racing are struggling this season & are very undermanned, they are the "example" of a team without resources & we hope that they can lift to avoid the 2º Division next season.We are rooting for you!

Goals came in the second half with ISCO opening for Malaga in the 48th min. Malaga again scored via an own goal from Racing defender ALVARO in the 65th min & Racing finally reacted in the 70th via ARANA with their only goal. Then in the 89th min SEBA FERNANDEZ sealed it for the visitors & secured the 3 points.

FC BARCELONA | MESSI - VILLA | STARS SHONE BRIGHTLY

Many Football observers have made the popular comment that Spanish Football Club FC BARCELONA is from another planet, making reference to the teams form of touch Football, non-stop titles & incredible "extra-terrestrial" players. I think that the comment is very relevant & even picturesque in describing what is possibly the "Greatest Football Team in History" in terms of what the popular Football canons depict as the "playing theory" of Football. This last point is debatable but no less accurate when applied with solid arguments using Barça as the main case & example. Their numbers the last three seasons leave little space to other arguments.

I add another picturesque comment: that the FC Barcelona planet rotates around a bright & giant star: Lionel Messi. The Argentine "sun" radiates most of the intense light & energy for Barça & head Astronaut ( Coach ) Guardiola knows perfectly well that all "life support" systems depend on the Messi star.

Messi - Villa

Many orbiting planets have been burnt & disintegrated trying to out place from its orbit the Messi star at Barça ( more later) . Coach Guardiola seasons back made a strategic decision that has paid dividends & has given huge success; the whole team - everyone - plays for & rotates around the "Best Player of The World". So much so, that LIONEL MESSI is what is termed in Football as "false Nº9" at Barça with total liberty of movement to do what he pleases on the field & even "free" of strict tactical responsibilities. Said in a colloquial manner, Lionel Messi is the man, the goal scorer & the star.

This has lead to a string of disappearing acts that have either burnt themselves out or have been fried by the intense Messi light. It is no coincidence that Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto´o, Ibahimovic & Bojan are all players who´s natural playing area coincides with Messi & have all reacted badly when pushed aside, & have even been pushed out of the team & Club. Messi is undisputed, unquestionable & untouchable.

The next planet which is feeling the "Messi heat" is DAVID VILLA. Villa was the sun that Valencia CF rotated around, but this particular planet could give Villa the "life-titles" that his shining light needed. The move to another Galaxy full of shining suns looked like the right move & the "titles" did come, but at the expense of become a "dwarf star". David Villa has been sent to the wings, away from the goal, to reconvert himself as a Football player at the full service of Lionel Messi. But there is more this season, Villa is below habitual goal numbers, the worst in the last 5 years. The Spanish International has started on the bench 6 out of the 12 Liga matches & when he has played, Villa admirably scores, but smells the goal too little for a natural "goal animal".

The rumours have already began to be heard that the relationship between Villa & Messi is not "cosmically aligned", although firmly dismissed by both players & Club. Other "shadow" observers have said behind closed doors that Messi does not allow others to block his light & tells Coach Guardiola his "feelings". In conclusion , Guardiola knew the risks of his "one star" strategy when he made it & till now it is working fine. Why fix something if it ain´t broke.

Villa is a strained piece, he has other Football problems on his back. New shining stars like Cuenca, Pedro, Alexis Sanchez & Deulofeu all waiting to fill the "space-time" vacuum if David Villa turns into a Barça "black-hole".

Will David Villa be the next Eto´o, Ibrahimovic of this end of season? To early to tell & be so adamant, Villa has fighting spirit & is likely to surprise us all with important goals that will make him shine again at Camp Barça. But the LIONEL MESSI light is strong & overpowering , some accept to be bathed in the Messi light while others...

Stay tuned!

SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - ROUND 13 SUNDAY RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action continued this Sunday with the rest of the Round 13 SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA games played. Here is a quick resume of events, the results & the scorers.

Real Sociedad - RCD Espanyol

REAL SOCIEDAD drew 0 - 0 with RCD ESPANYOL with the latter disappointed that they did not do more & grab the three points. The highlight was the post in the 80th min by Espanyol player CRISTIAN ALONSO that could have given his team the victory. Was not to be, thus shared points.

Sporting de Gijon victory

REAL SPORTING DE GIJON took full advantage of a GETAFE team down to 10 men after Barrada received a red card in the 61st min, to win 2 - 1. Getafe got ahead first via MIKU in the 34th min , but Sporting equalized in the 50th min via TREJO. The red card to Getafe gave Gijon the advantage & they scored the winner via NACHO NOVO in the 89th min. Valuable points for Gijon.

Osasuna - Rayo Vallecano

OSASUNA were "lucky" to get away with a 0 - 0 draw against RAYO VALLECANO which deserved more for their initiative, play & more created opportunities. Others may say Rayo deserved the draw for not scoring... your right as well.

Muniain starred for Bilbao

ATLETIC CLUB BILBAO won SEVILLA FC away 1 - 2. The last time Bilbao won Sevilla at the latters home ground was 18 years ago, plus tonight the MVP was youngster Muniain who gave the pass of the winning goal for Bilbao. The main observations was the bad defense of Sevilla all night, & the first goal coming early when Bilbao got ahead in the 5th min via IRAOLA. Sevilla managed to equalize via JESUS NAVAS in the 14th min to watch later in the 71st min Bilbao get the winner via DE MARCOS.

Sevilla fans were unhappy post match transferring their anger at the Sevilla bench.

Adrian - At. Madrid

ATLETICO DE MADRID managed to win in their particular fashion, without star forward Falcao, 3 - 2 LEVANTE. A worked victory with lots of inconsistent moments & Atletico playing their worst Football when they should have been comfortable. In a nutshell, the thinking was, give us the 3 points today & we can talk about doing good Football on another ocassion. That is , Atletico was practical, but its not good in the long -term.

In the 31st min Atletico claimed a penalty on Adrian that was not called. A pity as it was a clear foul by the Levante defender. From here it was suffering for Atletico until Coach Manzano put on "punished" Reyes for Salvio & the former gave the pass to PIZZI that opened the scoreline in the 68th min.

Then Atletico broke apart, & palyed even worst, which allowed Levante via XAVI TORRES to equalize in the 71st min. Thankfully, Atletico found some inner fighting spirit & some pride to bring back the game to their area & dominance. ADRIAN put Atletico back ahead in the 74th min & DIEGO put in the third in the 82nd min. But, yes you guess it in true Atletico facshion, Levante pulled a second in the 92nd min to again show up the Atletico inconsistencies.

A match not for Atletico fans with heart problems , but at least the three points. Said this, still lots of questions & problems to be solved at Atletico. Nearly "stuffed" it up!

Injured linesman: Granada-Mallorca

GRANADA managed to make a great comeback against REAL MALLORCA to lead 2 - 1 in the game when the referee SUSPENDED the game in the 63rd min when the linesman received an object straight into his face. The object was an "umbrella" thrown from some moron in the crowd that was thankfully taken away by Police. Great way to support your team when leading & on top ensure a hefty fine to the Club. Nothing like these type of supporters for any Club!

The goal scorers were VICTOR in the 34th min for Mallorca, & the two goals for Granada came thanks to SIQUIERA in the 54th min & MARTINS in the 61st min.

Monday Night Spanish Football:
Racing - Malaga

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE SATURDAY ROUND 13 GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with three great games as part of Round 13 of LA LIGA . Here is a quick summary of events, plus all the results & goal scorers.

Valero scores for Villareal

VILLAREAL managed to get three valuable points after defeating 1 - 0 REAL BETIS. The only & winning goal came in the 20th min thanks to BORJA VALERO. The Villareal strategy was clear, counter-attacking Football & see if they can turn their chances into goals. Real Betis faced a very good Villareal goalie Diego Lopez who made some grand saves, & they also missed their chances - lots. This last area needs to be bettered as the lack of goal effectiveness is costing Betis value League points.

Messi

Everytime that the local press ( except the Barcelona based ) doubts the state of form of Lionel Messi or of FC BARCELONA, both answer on the field with goals & victory. Barça defeated REAL ZARAGOZA 4 - 0 in a fairly "comfortable" game that saw Messi star once again.

The first goal came from a fixed free kick play that PIQUE headed to score in the 18th min. Zaragoza had some chances thereafter but did not take advantage, to which LIONEL MESSI scored the second for Barça in the 42nd min & his 14th of the season. The Barça dominance continued second half & PUYOL scored the third the 65th min & DAVID VILLA the 4th in the 75th min.

There you have it , just in case anyone had doubts of the form of Barcelona & if Messi was too tired after his Argentina obligations.

Benzema scores for Real Madrid

Top match between VALENCIA CF & REAL MADRID with goals, intensity, aggression ( in play), emotion & a near comeback that came right up to the last moment. Valencia lost 2 - 3 to Real Madrid & coming back twice with a penalty called in the last moment by Valencia ( not called ) that was seen as a block on the chest by the Real Madrid player. Honestly, it was the type of match were League titles are finally won without knowing yet still so "early" in the season who will win in the end.

The first half saw Valencia go out hard to see how Real Madrid took back control & were rewarded with a finely executed goal by KARIM BENZEMA in the 19th min. From here it was fairly even until half time.

The second half was very tense & at times close to dangerous as both sides took everything to the limit. Plenty of yellow cards, heated discussion & Jose Mourinho fired up on the sideline which in itself is a "time bomb ticking away". When Football was finally decided to be played Real Madrid went ahead via SERGIO RAMOS with a strong goal square header in the 71st min.

Then Valencia began its comeback attempt when ROBERTO SOLDADO scored a fabulous goal in the 74th min. Real Madrid then scored again when CRISTIANO RONALDO manged to win a disputed ball that Valencia goalie Alves missed in the 78th min. When everyone thought that Real had it in the bag, ROBERTO SOLDADO got the second for Valencia in the 83rd min.

However the best was still to come. Valencia poured it all on & was looking for the equalizer that had Real against the ropes. In the last moment Valencia earned a free kick next to the corner & crossed the ball to find an attempt to score blocked by Real Madrid player Higuain. Valencia claimed hand-ball & penalty, while Real Madrid claimed it hit his chest.

The referee called it a no penalty situation & blew the whistle, but the after game discussion & arguments with the referee were important. The Valencia crowd were outraged.

Independent of all the controversy, the result was very important for Real Madrid as they keep the Liga classification top spot, keep Barça away with 3 points & open up a gap with a title rival like Valencia.

MESSI vs NEYMAR + 8 CANDIDATES | FIFA "BEST GOAL OF THE SEASON"

FIFA hands every year, along with the Golden Ball Award, it "Best Goal of the Season" prize that is officially named "FIFA Puskas Award". FERENC PUSKAS was the legendary Hungarian forward who became World famous with the REAL MADRID team of the 60s & notching up an incredible 680 goals in his career.

This year the 10 nominated players are:

Spanish Football Club FC BARCELONA player Lionel Messi vs Arsenal ( Champions League )

Neymar ( Santos ) vs Flamengo ( Brazilian Football)

Wayne Rooney vs Manchester City ( overhead goal)
Ibrahimoviv vs Lecce ( Italian Serie A)
Dejan Stankovic vs Schalke 04 (Champions League)
Benjamin de Ceulaer
Giovani Dos Santos
Julio Gómez
Lisandro López
Heather O'Reilly (US female soccer player)

YOU can particape in choosing the "Best Goal" via your vote on either FIFA.com or francefootball.fr. You have until the 5th of December where THREE FINALISTS will be chosen. Thereafter the winner will be announced along with the presentation of the "Golden Ball Award" on the 9th of January 2012. I image you can watch all the videos on the mentioned sites.

Above are the two "hot favourites" - Lionel Messi & Neymar - but its YOU ( the public ) - supposedly the one/s the elect the best. Enjoy the videos!

CHELSEA FC EYES GONZALO HIGUAIN

SPANISH SPORTS paper "AS" has picked up on a "rumour" from the UK that Premier League Club CHELSEA FC has put its eye firmly placed on REAL MADRID Argentine International GONZALO HIGUAIN for next season. The paper goes on further & mentions a figure of 49-50M€.

Higuain

The story continues to describe the current "goal drought" experienced by the Chelsea forwards - Fernando Torres, Anelka, Drogba - with the current highest Club goalscorer by a midfielder in Frank Lampard. The Club feels that they need a "proven" goal "animal" which surprises as they paid 58M€ for Torres.

But the same story has a PLAN B. If the possiblity of Higuain is unreachable the other option is ATLETICO DE MADRID Colombian forward FALCAO.

At this stage it is all rumour, a story published in UK. The season is long & Fernando Torres may explode in the coming months to make this idea disappear as smoke. Stay tuned!

FIFA WORLD CLUBS | FC BARCELONA MATCHED WITH EITHER ESPERANCE OR AL-SAAD

The last time FC BARCELONA won the FIFA World Clubs Championship was back in 2009 with the below image showing the moment. The Spanish Football Club has a chance to regain the "Best Club in the World" title this year & the draw has been done matching the winner of the ESPERANCE (Tunez) - AL-SAAD ( Qatar) match as Barça´s first game

FC Barcelona begins its participation starting in the semi-finals phase (15th of December) in a tournament played in Japan & between the 8th - 18th of December

FC Barcelona 2009

The final is scheduled for the 18th of December & it is expected that the teams ( in theory ) should be Barça & Santos. The latter however has to get passed Mexicans Monterrey which has other ideas, plus beforehand Auckland City (New Zealand) & Japanese Clubs Osaka / Nagoya are also in with hopes.

SPANISH FOOTBALL | 55 MTS GOAL FROM MARTINS FOR OVIEDO | VIDEO

This occured last weekend in SPANISH FOOTBALL, concretely in a Spanish 2º Division Group 1 match between OVIEDO & CORUXO FC. Oviedo player MARTINS scored his first goal of the season in Round 13 with a 55 meter attempt that surprised everyone.

COSTA RICA 2 SPAIN 2 | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

Spanish International & Real Madrid Goalkeeper IKER CASILLAS played his 127 International match for the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM against COSTA RICA to make him the highest "capped" player in SPANISH FOOTBALL History.

However COSTA RICA nearly "rained" on the special day for Casillas & the current World Champions drawing with SPAIN 2 - 2 & again lifting Spanish eye-brows & some enquiring questions. Costa Rica played an excellent match & were more motived than the Spaniards who looked slow & sloppy, something unusual in the first 45 mins. The Spanish Team has become predictable & opponents can figure out what & where they need to tighten the screws to make Spain suffer for their victories. This, & the lately acquired habit of Spain insisting in attacking via the middle makes the FIFA World Champions smash into the opponents defensive wall. But to Spain´s credit they managed to comeback with pride in the 2º half when they changed the playing style & finally used the wings.

Brenes

Costa Rica did their initial damage in the 1ºst half being very aggressive, blocking the Spanish ball dominance & working their counter-attacking style. The first goal came via a Casillas mistake that allowed RANDELL BRENES to chip over for the first goal in the 30th min.

Campbell

Costa Rica continued with their game plan & JOEL CAMPBELL curled a "beauty" out of reach of a stretching Casillas. The Spanish defence was not looking good at this stage.

The 2º half saw Spain change tactically & bring on right winger Navas (for Mata) , Cazorla (Xavi), Busquet (for Xabi Alonso)...pushing Iniesta to the left wing. Spanish Coach Del Bosque was looking to break the "go through the middle" habit & it seemed to work. The Spaniards increased their efficiency further when David Silva came on & the chances of goal began to appear. David Villa & Iniesta had some really close calls as Costa Rica goalie Navas began working with some important saves & then the mistake by Costa Rica Coach Pinto that changed his set up to defend: Spain then was handed the iniciative.

David Villa

The goal chances began following - Ramos missed a header - & then Iniesta from his wing found DAVID SILVA who scored in the 83rd min. The equalizer came in the last moment via DAVID VILLA in the 90+ min. Spain saved by a hair.

Admirable the comeback by Spain which played a lot better in the second half & deserved their goals; Costa Rica wrongly decided to only defend & pass the initiative to Spain when they were 2 goals ahead & finally some need for analysis of the Spanish play & attempt to rectify some bad habits before the big 2012 Euro Championships

Next International Friendly for Spain will be February 2011.

REAL MADRID HIGHEST INCOME GENERATING CLUB IN THE WORLD

Italian Sports paper "La Gazetta dello Sport" yesterday published the list of Top money generating Clubs in World Football. The top two are SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs & Spanish Sports paper "Marca" has taken the report & published it today in their edition.

REAL MADRID C.F is the Football Club with most income ( generated by Football & its various spin-off activities) in the World, ahead of FC BARCELONA. English giants Manchester United & Arsenal follow, along with Italian Clubs AC Milan & Inter Milan. Below is the list of the first 6 Clubs with their income figures.

INCOME FOR SEASON 2010/11:

1.Real Madrid - 480 Million
2.FC Barcelona - 447 M
3.Manchester United - 367 M
4.Arsenal - 283 M
5.AC Milan - 228 M
6.Inter de Milán - 217 M

EURO U - 21 GROUP QUALIFIER | SPAIN 3 SWITZERLAND 0

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL U-21 TEAM is on good course towards attempting to qualify for the 2013 European U-21 Championships after defeating SWITZERLAND 3 - 0 in their Group match.

Spain celebrate a goal

Switzerland on paper are possibly the more difficult team of the Group for Spain, but goals from MUNIAIN in the 8th min, THIAGO via a penalty in the 25th min & BARTRA in the +45th min sealed the game & the three points. Spain had on average a ball possession percentage of 70%.

NEYMAR PART XXVI | FC BARCELONA SHIFTS ASIDE REAL MADRID ?

The Neymar movie is turning into a saga with more parts than Star Wars. I personally - with many others - believe that player should stay in Brazil as he looks more "piss & wind" than anything else. What the 19 year old does have which makes him the darling of everyone is MARKETING POWER & this may be more important that his Football dancing skills. In fact, Neymar could be bigger that David Beckham in this $$$ aspect, thus who needs to play Football , right?

The story up till now was that REAL MADRID had secured Neymar for next year for 56M€. In fact there was an agreement signed with penalty clause. However, news from Brazil is that Neymar ( via his Father ) has now unilaterally broken that agreement & has renewed with Santos. That is, the much written, silence pact between all parties, has in fact turned into a "back-stabbing" pact with a new shadow in play.

Neymar

The story from online Spanish paper "elconfidencial" via its journalist José Felix Diaz is that Neymar has sacked his representative Wagner Ribiero who was the "Real Madrid" contact & brought onboard Andre Curi a "FC Barcelona" man: here is the always suspected shadow.

According to sources, Neymar - via his Father - has came to an agreement ( which type no one knows) to sign with FC BARCELONA in 2014. FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has been dazzled by "the kid" & sees the $$$$ potential in marketing & has made Neymar a personal objective. This goes against the idea of his current Coach Guardiola who does not see the Brazilian as "Barça stuff", too cocky & too extravegent. However, Rosell is betting on the idea that Guardiola will leave Barça before 2014 thus that problem will disappear.

Santos & FC Barcelona Presidents are soon to meet in Tokyo for the FIFA World Clubs Championships & many believe both will iron out the fine line details.

So there you have it, another chapter to keep this series on course. Is it all part of the initial Real Madrid - Neymar - Santos agreement to make us all believe there is not agreement? Has FC Barcelona taken away Neymar from Real Madrid? What will Guardiola say about it all as he does not want the player? Will Mourinho & Real Madrid tell the player to take a hike? While Neymar "fizz" out like Robihno? Is this all just hype? Will Real Madrid go "to War" with Barça? Will Real Madrid exercise that agreement penalty clause?

Right now who cares , but do stay tuned. Things are just now getting exciting.

REAL MADRID FOLLOWING CLOSELY YOUNG EUROPEAN TALENT

According to Spanish Sports paper ( some think Real Madrid media appendix ) "Marca", SPANISH FOOTBALL CLUB REAL MADRID has Football "scouts" following closly "la creme de la creme" of young Football talent at this moment. This in itself is not new, nor is it breaking news, as one can rightly imagine that every other "Tom, Dick & Harry" will have their own scouts checking out the same talent.

What maybe of note is the change in Real Madrid priorities as the Clubs strategy is now to sign young & mid priced talents ( type Ozil) instead of signing "veterans" at astronomical prices ( eg the Galacticos). Smart idea, that needs a sharp eye on talent to make it effective.

Eurpean U-20 talent

Five current names fit the bill: Rafinha ( FC Barcelona & brother of Thiago), Munaian (At.Bilbao), Harzard ( Lille), Wilshire (Arsenal) & Goetze (Borrusia D). At this stage Belguim youngster Eden Hazrad is sounding strong as Zinedine Zidane insists in signing the player before its "too late".

Interesting 5 names, that we will have to wait & see where that finally stay or end up. As said, Real Madrid may be keen but so are the rest of the Big European Clubs. Stay tuned!