The last time FC Barcelona and Real Madrid met in the Copa del Rey, Cristiano Ronaldo and company took the trophy in the Final. Unfortunately for “Los Blancos,” the dropping and destroying that trophy from their victory parade bus is what people remember more than actually winning. For Ronaldo, Barca is that thorn preventing aspirations for soccer supremacy Read the rest of this entry »

FC Barcelona’s goalkeeper flubbed a clearance resulting in a Real Madrid goal in the first minute of the game but with a little luck and resiliency, Barcelona won 3-1 to tie their rivals as league leaders in Spain. Read the rest of this entry »

Soccer fans don’t have NBA withdrawal; we have the Champions League. And with all the drama Wednesday night – including Bayern Leverkusen’s upset of Chelsea, Valencia’s 7-0 demolishing of Genk and Arsenal being the only English club to secure a spot in the knock-out stage – the match all fans anticipated with FC Barcelona and AC Milan lived up to the hype. Read the rest of this entry »

In a move that brings new meaning to the word preemptive, Spanish soccer super-club Real Madrid signed a seven-year-old by the name of Leonel Angel Coira to a one-year contract that will put the little guy in Madrid’s development system for the foreseeable future. Read the rest of this entry »

Over in the soccer world, championships were decisively won and lost this past weekend.

Beginning in Spain, only five points separated Barcelona and Madrid in their annual two-horse race at the start of Saturday morning. By day’s end, Madrid’s title challenge was effectively over. Read the rest of this entry »

European basketball is an acquired taste, and asking NBA-centric fans to focus on a game in which Jorge Garbajosa, who played 74 games over two years for the Toronto Raptors, is the most notable player could be an absurd decision on my part. But I promise that the ending to the Unicaja Malaga – Real Madrid game from Friday night deserves your attention. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in the early 2000′s as Real Madrid assembled their Champions League-winning squads, the term “Zidanes y Pavónes” was coined to describe their recruitment policy. On one side were the world-class stars—the “galácticos” the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo—and on the other were home-grown academy products such as Francisco Pavón to plug the gaps where money couldn’t. Read the rest of this entry »

Fifa 11 follows NBA 2K11′s footsteps with a recent release on the PS3 and Xbox 360. It gives you a taste of what you’ll find in the full game with multiple difficulty settings, 3 minute halves and the following clubs: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympique Lyonnais and Juventus. The demo also features some unlockables to bide your time with like the ability to play as well as play in Emirates Stadium. Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend’s Champions League final had more than a few winners outside of deserving champs, Inter Milan. First, there was raging cokehead yet the game’s greatest player, Diego Maradona. As current manager of Argentina, he’s been utterly incompetent with his team selections, but the play of Inter striker Diego Milito—in scoring both goals—helped to solve Diego’s conundrum as to who amongst Argentina’s stable of strikers should play alongside Leo Messi. Then, there was Holland, whose two most important matchwinners, Inter’s Wesley Sneijder and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben shone brightest in the match and walked away unscathed, despite fellow countryman and resident headcase Mark Van Bommel doing his best to injure Sneijder in the match’s latter stages.

And then there was Real Madrid. With Inter coach José “The Special One” Mourinho becoming only the third manager to claim Europe’s top prize with two different teams (his first came with Portuguese underdogs FC Porto in ’04) as well as adding the Italian league and cup titles to a cabinet already including English league and cup titles, Mourinho has been talking up his chances of leaving Inter to pursue the only worthwhile club honors still eluding him: Spanish silverware and a Champions League title with an unprecedented third different team. And so, while the basketball world has their eyes transfixed on LeBron and his next move, the futbol world patiently awaits Mourinho’s game-changing switch to Real Madrid to coach the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka, and whomever else money and Mourinho’s clout will soon buy.

Over the past two seasons, Madrid has been stuck chasing their bitter rivals Barcelona team in the Spanish league. In Europe, the difference has been more damning. In the last six seasons, Barca has claimed two Champions League titles and two more semifinal appearances, while Madrid has failed to progress past the round of 16 even once. But all that will change with Mourinho. Here’s four strong reasons why.

1. Ego — Madrid’s lack of patience has made their managerial position the most unenviable, pressure-cooker situation in futbol. But that shouldn’t bother Mourinho and, if it does, we surely wouldn’t know. Sh#t-talker supreme, Mourinho says what’s on his mind and does what he wants, right or wrong. And he even fancies himself God’s gift to management, once telling the English media upon his arrival at Chelsea, “Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one,” hence the nickname. Coupled with his conquering of Barcelona with Inter, this should be enough to intimidate the defending Spanish champions.

2. Smart Spending — Though he has a penchant for buying Portuguese talent that has failed to work out (Tiago, Maniche, Ricardo Quaresma), his eye for African talent has been spot-on. Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o now look like steals and the decision to purchase Michael Essien and not teammate Mahamadou Diarra from Lyon back in ’05 was a masterstroke. In addition, he was famously against Chelsea’s signing of legend-of-the-fall-offs Andriy Shevchenko and plucking Lucio from Bayern Munich last summer was one of the differences in Saturday’s CL final.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo — Both are Portuguese, the best at their respective positions, narcissists, but most importantly, always have a point to prove. A match made in futbol heaven.

4. Lassana Diarra — At each of his most successful stops, Mourinho’s had world-class talent in his coveted “Makélelé” role of midfield destroyer—Costinha at FC Porto, Makélelé himself and Essien at Chelsea, and Cambiasso at Inter. There are few other players who can currently fill the position (Mascherano, Fletcher, Song, Busquets) but the twenty-five-year-old Diarra, who has teetered on world-class level for the past few seasons, looks poised to transcend with Mourinho’s coaching.

5. Defensive Solidity — Surely he’ll teach Sergio Ramos how to defend again.

Any recent soccer coverage (especially from that of a non-football site) must make mention of Lionel Messi. Over the past month in particular, the play of the little Argentine has suggested that he could be the greatest soccer player ever—at 22, mind you. Maradona has even said so himself (though he says a lot of things).

Saturday evening brought the big showdown: Barcelona v. Madrid, Messi v. Ronaldo, La Liga title on the line at the Bernabéu. Anticlimactic, it was. Just over half an hour, Xavi chipped the ball over the Madrid backline, and Messi, with a faint touch, converted inches of space into a clear shot on goal. 1-0. Read the rest of this entry »

The first El Clásico of the season has come to pass, and the evenness of the affair shouldn’t have been too surprising. After all, Madrid’s lack of chemistry, due to their Pollock approach to team construction, continued to plague them. And Barca, as first exposed by Russian outfit Rubin Kazan in the Champions League, simply won’t replicate their scintillating form from last season.

But yesterday’s match was noteworthy for being Cristiano’s first starring turn. He should’ve scored, but perhaps a game-changing contribution was too much to ask following a lengthy injury spell, even for the reigning World Player of the Year. That Madrid even made it a match, in Barcelona no less, is promising to them just a fortnight removed from disastrous defeat to Segunda B side Alcorcón, as well as last season’s embarrassing 2-6 loss against the blaugrana.

Another debutant made the difference, though. It was a beautiful first-touch volley from Ibrahimovic, shortly after being subbed in for Thierry Henry, that provided the win in the storied rivalry that goes some way towards justifying his hefty pricetag. His presence, though, means the the absence of the likes of Robinho and Javier Mascherano due to insufficient funds. And a lack of reinforcements could mean a reverse scoreline come April when the blaugrana have to travel to Madrid.

Messi was conspicuously ineffective, despite this being his year as the  favorite to claim Ronaldo’s crown. In truth, he’s been struggling ever since the final whistle of last season’s Champions League triumph. The weight of Argentina’s national team struggles has somewhat unfairly fallen upon him and not Maradona for his general lack of actual tactics.

If it’s anyone’s year, just look over in West London and pick out any of the boys in blue. Drogba. Terry. Essien. Chelsea are once again the machine they were in 2005 and 2006. They dispatched Arsenal at Ashburton with ease, and the return of Joe Cole may render the loss of their African contingent in January for the Africa Cup of Nations not too significant.

The aforementioned trio, in particular, are also enjoying seasons to savor with their national teams. Ivory Coast, England, and Ghana are all streaking as they head into the World Cup. The world’s elite have on eye on the wide-open summer showpiece and June’s looming quickly.

Football talk dominates the headlines now (especially with Vick landing in Philly), but across the pond, the coming weekend brings about the dawn of the futbol season in England. Just last week, the top divisions in both France and Germany also kicked off, with the likes of those in Spain and other countries to follow suit as August winds down.

Besides battling for the championships in their respective leagues, clubs around Europe will also be vying to stay in the top four (or top three in Germany, France, and Russia, and top two in Turkey, Holland, Greece, Scotland, etc.) to qualify for Champions League football in 2010/11 to compete for continental supremacy (this year’s spots obviously have been decided). Here’s a club-by-club rundown of those most likely to nab those coveted CL spots from the three top leagues in Europe.

England (EPL)

*Awash with more Arab money cash than any other league in the world, the Premiership’s Big Four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United) has now expanded into a wide-open Big Six, with Manchester City and Tottenham looking to deliver on their substantial investments.

1. Chelsea

2008/09 EPL Finish: 3rd

2009/10 Champions League participants: Yes

Bringing in a disciplinarian last season didn’t work out with all the big-name stars in their roster. With ex-AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti in to manage the egos instead of battle them this time around, look for him to coax the best out of the likes of primadonnas such as Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka.

2. Manchester United FC

2008/09 EPL Finish: 1st

2009/10 Champions League participants: Yes

Wayne Rooney simply can’t compensate for the loss of the best player in the world. But with pure wingers in Antonio Valencia and Nani, as well as Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov upfront, they’ll lack movement but retain the same fixed point system that gave them success with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The difference between Read the rest of this entry »

They don’t call it “El Clásico” for nothing. The political and societal differences between the nationalist, conservative-minded madridistas and separatist, liberal Catalans have elevated the twice-annual matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona beyond strictly footballing terms. Read the rest of this entry »

And just like that, silence sweeps over Barcelona.

Their rivals Real Madrid, in disarray the past two seasons with managerial switches and questionable signings, turned to the win-at-all costs supremo Florentino Perez to lead the club again. His last time in charge about a decade ago, he brought in one-name wonders Zidane, Ronaldo and Figo.

This week, he has outspent himself twice in a week’s worth of work. Monday it was Kaka for what’s was then a world record $90 mil, beating Zidane’s $77 million price tag. And today, Cristiano Ronaldo, for a new world record of $131 million (plus a salary of $15.7 million over the next five years with a 25% increase each year). Read the rest of this entry »