Prior to last night's match against Chelsea at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, Footy Factor called in some favors from our Spanish counterparts and shot some telling footage of Atletico Madrid's pre-match warm-up. Do you notice who's missing?

PS. On a side note, check out Jose Antonio Reyes' hop-step-jump over the touchline.

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Liverpool youngster Mikel San Jose may be set to return from his loan spell in Spain ahead of schedule.
The 20-year-old defender agreed to join Athletic Bilbao on a season-long deal over the summer, but has grown frustrated at a lack of opportunities in his homeland.
He has been awarded just seven minutes of action this term and feels he needs to explore other avenues. Click to continue reading...

Apoel Nicosia vs FC Porto

FC Porto will look to lock up second place in Group D with a win against Nicosia. The 2-1 victory a fortnight ago did not represent the game. Porto out-played the Romanian side for the better part of the game and Hulk should have had a hat-trick at least.

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The top European Leagues are well into their 2009-10 seasons with the races starting to take shape. In England, Chelsea remains on top but Manchester United and Arsenal are close behind. In Spain, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are in a tight battle at the top of the table. The French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga are very competitive and several teams still in position to make a run for the league titles.

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Video Info:
31.10.2009 - Liga BBVA
Athletic Bilbao - Atletico Madrid 1:0

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Friday 30th October
19:30 Dortmund v Hertha Berlin, Bundesliga, ESPN
Not a great offering from the Bundesliga this weekend. Hertha are awful and Dortmund got knocked out of the Cup in midweek. If you must get involved then have a butchers atBVB's Lucas Barrios who has scored four goals in four games. Click to continue reading...

Most of the top European leagues are more than a 1/3 into their 2009-10 season. In Spain, Barcelona is on top of the league table while Real Madrid are close behind. In France and Germany, the league tables are very close and no clear favorites so far. Inter Milan leads the Italian Serie A and are the favorites to repeat as champions.

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Jogaram em Kano, no Sani Abacha Stadium, com uma temperatura de 32º C., as seleções dos Emirados Arábes (115º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Espanha (2º no ranking da FIFA).
Esse foi o primeiro jogo, entre as 2 seleções, em jogos oficiais.
O quarteto de arbitragem desse jogo, foi assim escalado:
Árbitro: Wolfgang STARKS-ALE
Primeiro Assistente: Volker WEZEL-ALE
Segundo Assistente: Jan-Hendrik SALVER-ALE
Quarto Árbitro: Subhkiddin MOHD SALLEH-MAS. Click to continue reading...

If the Copa del Rey is played, but hardly anyone cares about it, did it really happen?� To say that some of the La Liga teams think of the cup as a nuisance would be quite an understatement.� With the overloaded fixture list consisting of European and domestic matches, the Copa del Rey is near the bottom of the top teams' priorities.

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Atletico Madrid has struggled for positive results all this season.� Well they will be kicking themselves once again as they had a match in perfect position against Mallorca in extra time.� The squad achieved the draw though with a goal in the remaining minutes from Mallorca 1-1.� Sevilla proved once again to be an outstanding defensive minded squad against Espanyol.

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Goals and video highlights from the Sporting Gijon vs Real Madrid La Liga game on Saturday, October 24, 2009. Real were beaten 3-2 by AC Milan in their midweek Champions League game, while Sporting ran out 2-1 winners over Athletic Bilbao in their last La Liga game. Related posts:Real Madrid vs AC Milan goals highlights- October 21 [. Click to continue reading...

24/10/2009Atletico Madrid - Maiorca ore 18.00Sporting Gijon - Real Madrid ore 20.00Siviglia - Espanyol ore 22.0025/10/2009Valladolid - Deportivo La Coruna ore 17.00Getafe - Athletic Bilbao ore 17.00Racing Santander - Osasuna ore 17.00Tenerife - Xerez ore 17.00Villarreal - Malaga ore 17.00Almeria - Valencia ore 19. Click to continue reading...

Sporting Gijon-Real Madrid

Sporting has been one of the hottest clubs of late with consecutive wins over Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca.� Miguel de las Cuevas has scored four goals in the last two games, so he looks to continue his streak against one of Spain's toughest defenses in Madrid.

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Four losses, two wins, one draw. It was not a good week for Spanish clubs in European competition. Champions League title holders Barcelona, previously thought to be all but unbeatable, kicked things off with a dispiriting home loss to Rubin Kazan Tuesday. A day later, the Madrid clubs turned in a pair of stinkers; Real played poorly in losing to AC Milan at home and Atletico were trounced 4-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Click to continue reading...

(video highlights di Valencia-Barcellona)
I risultati di calcio della Liga:
Deportivo La Coruna-Siviglia 1-0
38' Rodriguez
Real Madrid-Valladolid 4-2
14', 18' Raul (R), 29' Nauzet (V), 45' Marcelo (R), 53' Marquitos (V), 79' Higuain (R)
Valencia-Barcellona 0-0
Espanyol-Tenerife 2-1
11' e 60' Alonso (E), 15' Alfaro (T)
Malaga-Almeria 1-2
39' Cisma (A), 41' Soriano (M), 68' Edinho (A)
Maiorca-Getafe 3-1
31' Álvarez (M), 53' e 70' Aduriz (M), 79' Albín (G)
Real Saragozza-Racing 2-2
22' Pavon (S), 33' Arizmendi (S), 81' Tchite (R), 86' Serrano (R)
Xerez-Villarreal 2-1
18' Pires (V), 42' Bermejo (X), 80' Antonito (X)
Athletic Bilbao-Sporting Gijon 1-2
65', 76' De Las Cuevas, 81' Toquero
Osasuna-Atletic Madrid 3-0
4',25' Pandiani, 29' Aranda
CLASSIFICA - Barcellona 19, Real Madrid 18, Siviglia 15, Deportivo La Coruna 15, Maiorca 13, Valencia 12, Espanyol 11, Sporting 11, Athletic 10, Osasuna 10, Almeria 9, Getafe 9, Real Saragozza 8, Atletico Madrid 6, Tenerife 6, Racing 6, Xerez 5, Real Valladolid 5, Malaga 4, Villarreal 3. Click to continue reading...

Last week I went on and on about how Sevilla is the most overlooked club in all of La Liga.� They have beaten among the best (Real Madrid) and going into last weekend they were among the hottest clubs in all of the world.� Well you can say that I gave Sevilla the dreaded curse as well.� The club's winning ways would come to an end last weekend with a loss to Deportivo La Coruna.

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En épocas en donde el mundo entero pasa por una severa crisis económica, los gastos monetarios están mas limitados que nunca y los costos del material están por la nubes, son muy pocas las personas que se arriesgan a invertir dinero para un proyecto grande. Pero poco parece importarles a nuestros amigos del Athletic Bilbao de España que tienen en mente tirar la casa por la ventan pues están planeando construir una nueva casa para su club, el nuevo San Mamés.

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The Yank is off to a fairly mediocre start this La Liga season in weekly picks and currently sits at� 24-14 on the year.� Of course Real Madrid losing a few weeks back likely gave many� critics at least one loss and the� Yank only missed two games completely and got five correct.� So things are beginning to look up this La Liga season.

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All the top European leagues resume play on Saturday after the international break. These include the Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1. Here are predictions for the top matches in each league along with full United States and United Kingdom TV listings for Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, 2009.

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Who are the very best young players in the world?� For the purposes of this article, "young players" are those no older than 22.

First there are the obvious: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Alexandre Pato, Francesc Fabregas, Karim Benzema, etc.� Their class has been established before this mysterious "young" label vanished, and subsequently they command enormous transfer fees, if their clubs are even willing to part with them.

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Athletic Bilbao's 16-year-old forward Iker Muniain became the youngest scorer in La Liga when he earned them a point in Sunday's 2-2 draw at Real Valladolid. Muniain, who turns 17 in December and was a second-half substitute, picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area in the 77th minute and his snap shot was good enough to beat Jacobo Sanz in the Valladolid goal for the second equalizer. Click to continue reading...

Athletic Bilbao have enjoyed a notable start to the season, sitting in eighth place in La Liga following the weekend's 2-2 draw away at Real Valladolid, as Joaquin Caparros has led the team to one of their brighter La Liga starts in recent years.

Caparros, who made his name as Sevilla manager, has constructed a team that is certainly not lacking in quality.

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Talented Athletic Bilbao player, Iker Muniain scored in the duel against Valladolid, thus helping his side take a point and entered the history of Spanish football as the youngest scorer in a first-league game.

Muniain managed to level the score to 2:2, 70 minutes into the game and break the record set by Levante's starter, Xisco Nadal.

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The fifth week of La Liga action would bring some of the best storylines and most thrilling drama.� Only one match was decided by more then one goal easily making this week the best so far this season.� One unbeaten team remains as one more powerhouse has� fallen.� Who was it?� Let's starts this weeks review.

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After being brought on in the 63rd minute against Real Valladolid on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao's Iker Muniain became the youngest player to ever score a Spanish Primera division goal at the age of 16 years and 289 days old,beating Xisco Nadal's previous record by 64 days.

Muniain, who has been nicknamed "Bart Simpson" by his teammates for his eerie resemblance to the cartoon character, already has two Europa League goals to his credit and.

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In terms of the football played on the pitch, the Sevilla Real Madrid clash qualified as the best match of the young La Liga season.� Honorable mentions to Athletic Bilbao's 3-2 victory over Villarreal CF in Round 3 and the pulsating 2-2 draw between Valencia and Atlético Madrid last Saturday night, but this fixture contained everything that a writer and a supporter wanted: back stories prior to the game, vigorous and attacking football, tensions boiling over the players at hand, and incredible stops by both goalkeepers.

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After the first full month of La Liga football the Yank is a mediocre 19-12 with his weekly picks.� Thanks to Real Madrid and Barcelona I am over the .500 percent curve, but unfortunately Barca does not play this weekend and Real Madrid has the toughest match of the week� against Sevilla.� So in other words the picks just got a lot harder.

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03/10/2009Tenerife - Deportivo La Coruna ore 18.00Barcellona - Almeria ore 20.00Atletico Madrid - Real Saragozza ore 22.0004/10/2009Xerez - Malaga ore 17.00Villarreal - Espanyol ore 17.00Valladolid - Athletic Bilbao ore 17.00Sporting Gijon - Maiorca ore 17.00Getafe - Osasuna ore 17.00Racing Santander - Valencia ore 19. Click to continue reading...

Sevilla-Real Madrid

It's gonna be a showdown this weekend in Spain as arguably the best La Liga defense plays against arguably the best La Liga offense.� These two clubs only have one loss between the two of them and Sevilla is red hot right now and playing the best football they have so far during the short year.

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(video gol highlights di Werder Brema-Athletic Bilbao)
(video gol, 1-0. Hunt)
(video gol, 2-1. Llorente)
(video gol, 3-1. Frings su rigore)
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The UEFA Europa League wrapped up its second day of group stage matches on Thursday, October 1, 2009. Both of the English clubs, Fulham and Everton, won on Thursday. Many of the favorites also won in matches. Here's a full list of video highlights for Thursday's matches.

UEFA Europa League Video Highlights Thursday, October 1, 2009

FC BATE Borisov (1) Everton (2) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

FC Dinamo Bucuresti (0) Panathinaikos (1) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

Sporting Lisbon (1) Hertha Berlin (0) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

PFC Levski Sofia (0) Lazio (4) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

Anderlecht (1) Ajax Amsterdam (1) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

Werder Bremen (3) Athletic Bilbao (1) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

FC Timisoara (0) Dinamo Zagreb (3) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

Galatasaray (1) SK Sturm Graz (1) UEFA Europa League Thursday, October 1, 2009

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Video Info:
01.10.2009 - Europa League
Werder Bremen - Athletic Bilbao 3:1

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The Uefa Europa League Werder Bremen vs Athletic Bilbao : Live Stream here Werder Bremen� - Athletic Bilbao : Highlights here Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Another week of Spain's Primera Division is in the books and many of the strongest clubs continued their relentless speedy rabbit� pace towards the top of the league table and many mediocre clubs continued their tortoise pace falling towards the bottom of the league table.� So without further adieu lets find out the winner and losers from last weekend.

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All the European leagues are in full swing with teams starting to establish themselves as contenders. Manchester City is keeping pace with the top 4 in England but Chelsea and Man U remain in the top two positions. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona remain tied on points in the La Liga while the Serie A is still wide open with many of the top clubs losing earlier.

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