CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Q / FINAL RESULT | FC BARCELONA 1 PARIS ST GERMAIN 1 | BARÇA WINS IN AGGREGATE

Spanish Soccer giant FC Barcelona has qualified themselves for the semi-finals of the Champions League competition after drawing 1 - 1 at home against Paris St Germain in tonight's 2 º leg return quarter - final clash. Barça goes through thanks to their away goal advantage after drawing in Paris 2 -2 , this gave the overall aggregate a 3 - 3 result with more weight to the goals scored by Barça in the 1º st leg. 

A relatively balanced  & close to the wire encounter for Spanish Football Club FC Barcelona who experienced around 20 minutes virtually eliminated from Champions League. As with last nights games with other Spanish Soccer Clubs, Real Madrid & Malaga FC, this part of the tournament is tough business & suffering is the natural path that all teams must follow to get to the Final.

Barcelona started without their star Messi on the bench & still carrying the injury received in Paris. The Argentine was however in place if needed & was indeed called into duty later on when things got complicated in the 2º half after the PSG goal.

Barcelona started the match strong with their usual possession Football & upfront pressuring. PSG held  their ground while waiting for a Barça slip which allowed the counter-attack. Tonight PSG also used the long ball tactic with Ibrahimovic as the reference. Both teams had their chances to score but the French defence stay firm & solid & Barça goalie Victor Valdes made some game savers.

The surprise came in the 51st min when Ibrahimovic used his body to protect the arrived ball & passed onto Pastore who beat Valdes for the opening goal. At this stage Barça was eliminated & rapidly called on Lionel Messi who came on to attempt to save the match. The Argentine did this with his participation & back heel that found Pedro in the goal area in the 71st min to score the equalizer & put Barça back in the match & Champions League. Now PSG was virtually eliminated & they attempted everything to get the second goal which never came in the end. Barça was through, just through. A close call which will leave PSG disappointed as they to deserved more for their efforts.


This Friday UEFA will celebrate the semi-finals draw with two German teams & two Spanish Football Teams: Bayern Munich, B.Dortmund, Real Madrid CF & FC Barcelona.
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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA | ROUND 20 MONDAY NIGHT GAME RESULT

Last match played tonight of Round 20 of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA - between REAL BETIS & ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO. The final result ended in a 1 - 1 draw.

Real Betis got ahead first very early in the 2nd min when CASTRO scored from the penalty spot. Bilbao lifted & gradually got back into the match to be rewarded in the 41st min with a ADURIZ equalizer.

The second half saw Bilbao with all the initiative & drive as they looked for the win. However, Betis goalie Adrian had other ideas & kept the home side out of the net. This & the fact that Bilbao failed to take their chances. Shared points!

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SPANISH CUP LAST 8 CLUBS

Last 8 Clubs in the SPANISH CUP ( COPA DEL REY ) : Real Madrid, Valencia, FC Barcelona, Malaga FC, Atletico de Madrid, Real Betis, Real Zaragoza & Sevilla FC.

Dates 1º leg SPANISH CUP last 8 Clubs:

- Tuesday, 15 Jan 2013

21:00 Real Madrid-Valencia

- Wednesday, 16 Jan 2013

19:30 Zaragoza-Sevilla
21:30 Barcelona-Málaga

- Thursday, 17 Jan 2013

22:00 Atletico de Madrid-Betis

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP F - G RESULTS | VALENCIA CF - FC BARCELONA

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE played tonight with two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs in action with Group duties. Entertaining matches with the following final results & goal scorers.

VALENCIA CF drew 1 - 1 in a memorable & brave Group F game against BAYERN MUNICH. The Lille victory 0 - 2 at Bate Boriskov gave Valencia the qualification for the next phase, were they will be joined by Bayern.

The grandeur of this match for Valencia Cf was that they were down 10 men with the red card to Barrigan in the 34th min. From here the Spanish team managed to play Bayern Munich one on one & even went ahead via FEGHOULI in the 77th min. Valencia beforehand missed some sitters specially one from Soldado. But some bad concentration allowed MULLER to equalize in the 82nd min.  A shame, as Valencia deserved the victory if only for the enormous effort put in. 

SPARTAK MOSCOW lost 0 - 3 to FC BARCELONA in their Group G encounter, & in the process Barça secured their place in the next phase. Great night for Barcelona & LIONEL MESSI who once again did his stuff & scored two goals ( 27th & 39th min) to get closer to breaking more Champions League records. ALVES scored the first goal in the 16th min & set the pace for the night. Andres Iniesta also shined & was magical to watch on the field.

Deserved & convincing victory.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA ROUND 11 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrated Round 11 of LA LIGA with the following games, final results & goalscorers.

REAL BETIS & GRANADA played on Friday & the former lost 1 - 2 at home. The visitors scored first via TORJE in the 8th min, & Betis equalized in the 62nd min via RUBEN CASTRO. However, Granada managed to get the victory when MIKEL RICO scored in the 73rd min.

Madrid Club RAYO VALLECANO made a great comeback to defeat CELTA DE VIGO 3- 2. Celta was two goals up when ASPAS scored in the 11th & 33rd min. Celta lost Cabral to a red card & with Celta down to 10 men Rayo reacted in grand fashion with goals from BAPTISTAO in the 59th min, TITO in the 72nd min & PITI with a penalty in the 82nd min.

Last placed OSASUNA managed a vital victory away against RCD ESPANYOL 0 - 3 & in doing so saved the job - for now - of their Coach Mendilibar. Espanyol are also having a horror season & was pumped three goals from CEJUDO in the 3rd min, KIKE SOLA in the 62nd min & OMWU in the 76th min. The local fans were very angry at the end of the match.

Top match with another comeback. REAL ZARAGOZA won 5 - 3 DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA.
Deportivo put in two goals via GAMA in the 12th min & RIKI in the 21st min. Zaragoza reacted & won a penalty in the 28th min that APOÑO transformed. The possible turning point was when Deportivo went down 10 men when a red card given to Pizzi, this gave Zaragoza wings & spaces. The goals then piled up with MONTAÑES in the 60th min, ALVARO in the 66th min & two from POSTINGA in the 77th & 82nd min. Deportivo managed a third in the end via BOLIPO. An 8 goal match!

MALAGA FC lose steam in La Liga with a loss to REAL SOCIEDAD which was hungry for the three points. The final result was 1 - 2 with goals from VELA in the 1st min & X.PRIETO in the 59th min for Sociedad, while SAVIOLA scored for Malaga in the 36th min. Malaga looked for the equalizer & had chances but Real Sociedad held firm to all the attacks. 

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SPANISH FOOTBALL | LIGA MONDAY NIGHT GAME RESULT

VALLADOLID hosted REAL SOCIEDAD tonight for the last match of Round 9 of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - LA LIGA.

Entertaining match of Football with both teams dedicated towards the cause & looking for the victory. A see-saw match that saw the result swing to each as the minutes flew pass.

The opener came for Real Sociedad via "man of the match" GRIEZMANN in the 36th min, but Valladolid equalized via ELBERT in the 43rd min. Real Sociedad then got back in the lead with another GRIEZMANN goal in the 56th min & yes, Valladolid equalized thanks to OSCAR in the 74th min. Final result 2 -2.

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REAL MADRID CF SEASON 2012 - 2013

This post goes out to all the REAL MADRID CF fans & readers. Couple of days back I posted a FC Barcelona team photo taken at one of their recent friendly warm-up matches, & to "even things up"  today I post a Real Madrid team photo from one of their last friendly matches. 

Take note that some players are missing & they are most likely to be starters, e.g. Marcelo  

Real Madrid CF

Also with so much being talked about the incorporation of Luka Modric etc,  & what will be the ideal 11 for Coach José Mourinho, Spanish Sports newspaper "Marca"  have whipped up the below image of what they think will be the idea 11 for season 2012-2013. This obviously will change as the season moves on, as players get injured & others will be given rest.

So there you are "merengues" your team photo & possible idea 11 for this new season.

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