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Football is a funny game - this is the sport where anything, and I mean anything, can happen completely out of the blue. For example, no one ever imagined that Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who was literally unstoppable not too long ago, would suddenly become as anonymous as he is nowadays.

We're not there yet, but we are getting closer. The Bundesliga, Eredivisie and Ligue Un all reached the point in the season where last season's results have dropped out of the calculations for the WCR Top 25. For clubs from England, Spain, Italy and Portugal, results for last season still count because all clubs in each of those domestic leagues have yet to play five matches, but we are getting close.

Talented Nicolas Lodeiro is a young boy, who excelled on South American U21 championship.

This competition that traditionally gathers great number of scouts from all over the world is a gold mine of talents. 20-year-old Lodeiro is a star in Uruguay, playing for Nacional Montevideo.

Watch Atletico Madridvs FC Porto LIVE here Watch Atletico Madrid - FC Porto Highlights here.

Friday evening Real Madrid's most controversial figure, Ramon Calderon, resigned from his presidential duties. The 57 year old was caught up in a voting scandal, where Spanish newspapers accused Calderon of "irregularities" in the way that he got the club's accounts approved. Apparently he stacked the general assembly with fake delegates, one of whom is actually a season ticket holder at Atletico Madrid.

Pre register at the new big football site www.11×2.com today.  FC Porto vs Atletico Madrid LIVE here FC Porto vs Atletico Madrid Highlights here.

So there we have it. Aside from all the controversy of who should be in the Champions League Final, no one can deny that in Rome it's going to Barcelona facing Manchester United.

Barcelona scored a super-late equaliser in the ultra-controversial CL Semi-Final at Stamford Bridge. They played okay, but in all honesty should have had at least one penalty awarded against them.

It may have been coming for a while but you have to pay tribute to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona for their achievements so far in a season that could still get even better.

Champions and Copa Del Rey winners, his side have dominated the Primera Division this year and are worthy winners. They can, of course, claim a treble with a win over Manchester United in the Champions League final in Rome next Wednesday.

Chelsea's bid for Sergio Aguero has stalled over the striker's incredible wage demands. The Argentina star wants a staggering £10million a year to quit Spaniards Atletico Madrid for the Premier League. That would easily make him the highest-paid player in England on a whopping £200,000 A WEEK. Chelsea's top earners at the moment are skipper John Terry and [.

Onetime Toronto FC target, Aberdeen's winger/striker Jamie Smith is set to sign with Colorado as is Argentine striker Facundo Diz, who has long been rumored to be joining the mile high club.
Excerpt courtesy of the Denver Post:

In addition to signing 30-year-old French defender Julien Baudet, the Rapids — pending any paperwork snafus — will add 30-year-old Argentine striker Facundo Diz, formerly with Atletico Platense, and 28-year-old Scottish winger Jamie Smith, who was last at Aberdeen and played with Rapids assistant Steve Guppy at Celtic.

Arsenal opened their Emirates Cup participation with a last gasp win against Atletico, with 54, 224 in attendance. Both goals were scored in exquisite fashion, particularly the second, by our own Rusiian magician Andrei Arshavin. Arsena's Starting XI Mannone Sagna – Gallas – Djourou – Traore Eboue – Ramsey – Denilson – Bendtner Rosicky – van Persie There was a lively buzz around the stadium before [.

West London side seem desperate to spend money!

Though the club are keen to deliver a star signing for new manager Carlo Ancelotti with the best will in the world, Yuri Zhirkov does not fit the bill Atletico's asking price has been £50million and despite reports in Spain, no new bid is on the table.

Spanish La Liga FC Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid : Live Stream here FC Barcelona - Atletico Madrid : Highlights here Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today

As the first installment of the round of sixteen games came to an end in four different venues across Europe, Arsenal stood out as the only winner on the night. One may argue that away goals for F.C. Porto and Barcelona, at Atletico and Lyon respectively, also make them winners in terms of morale going into the second leg.

In the lead up to this weekend's Madrid derby, los Blancos' top hitman has praised his opponents' own Argentine hot-shot. Two of Argentina's hottest young forwards, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero, will square off for bragging rights this weekend when their respective clubs, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, collide in the local derby.

All of Europe's leagues are heating up.

101 Great Goals would be on the Mount Rushmore of soccer blogs -- a production that certainly keeps my small work going.
Yesterday, their main feature came out.
The top 101 goals of the season.
It's always a must see, so go see if you haven't.
Now for some links:

• Rimando: the Pinoy Jackie Robinson of MLS.

Atletico Madrid last night told Manchester United it will cost them at least £52m to sign Sergio Aguero. Starsport revealed on Wednesday how Sir Alex Ferguson is prepared to offer £45m for the young Argentina star, who is also on Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho's radar. But Atletico will hold out for the full release clause in [.

It's time for another installment of "Here are the results when certain players play and let's hope it proves something." This edition focuses on the central midfield, as one of the midfielders evidently has Benitez tied up in his basement and is demanding plane tickets to Madrid (I think it was in the Daily Mail).

Last season hardly any team could have matched Barcelona, but that is not the reason for the rest of big Spanish clubs like Sevilla, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal not to give their best in the next season.

Sevilla

Thanks to excellent form in the finish, Sevilla managed to come in third last season, which under the new rules sends Spanish, Italian and English teams automatically to the Champions League.

Let's a take a quick gander over the Champions League draw:
Group A: Bayern, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa. This is an interesting group as three clubs sort of "left behind" recently by European success find themselves grouped together. That said, any group that features Yoann Gourcouff, Franck Ribéry, Gianluigi Buffon, etc.

The legendary footballer and current Argentina manager Maradona chooses his squad without Real Madrid hitman Higuain nor Lazio Zarate.. Goalkeepers: Juan Pablo Carrizo (Zaragoza) Mariano Andujar (Catania) Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar) Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan) Nicolas Pareja (Espanyol) Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle) Gabriel Heinze (Marseille) Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan) Sebastian Dominguez (Velez Sarsfield) Emiliano Papa (Velez Sarsfield) Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield) Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid) Javier Mascherano (Liverpool) Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico [.

With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

Jermaine Pennant is in store for an exciting month.

No doubt, it is great to see two massive sides come together at a massive venue in massive form. Furthermore, if the clash between these two teams has been scheduled for months, proceedings become even more pulsating. Fans of both teams feel the chills down their spines while the neutrals across the world just wait restlessly for a cracker of a game.

The Reds' Brazilian midfielder has revealed that he could join his famous uncle's former club in the near future. Liverpool's Lucas Leiva has opened the door for a possible move to the Primera Division to join Atletico Madrid as he struggles to nail down a permanent first team place at Anfield under Rafa Benitez.

Despite forcing Barcelona to sweat big time in recent weeks, defending champions Real Madrid fell off the pace in their pursuit for a third successive La Liga title earlier tonight. At their storied Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the Los Blancos came from behind through a Klaas Jan Huntelaar strike but failed to change the 1-1 stalemate against city rivals Atletico Madrid.

After weeks of speculation, Atletico Madrid have made a bid to sign Vincenzo Iaquinta from Juventus and are waiting for a response. Atletico Madrid have made an offer of €8 million to Juventus for Vincenzo Iaquinta as they start their summer rebuilding plans early, according to a report. Los Colchoneros have tabled the bid to gauge the [.

The representative of Sergio Aguëro has landed in Italy and has scheduled a meeting with Nerazzurri patron Massimo Moratti. The Corriere dello Sport reports this morning that Atletico Madrid striking ace Sergio Aguero's representative arrived in Milan yesterday and has already contacted Inter president Massimo Moratti.

At the risk of providing more fluff...
Reforma reported a couple more things; Aguirre will live in Miami and his two main assistants - Mario Carrillo and Manuel Vidrio - will do a bulk of the scouting in person.
Also, three players Javier Aguirre is considering adding to the national team.

The former Arsenal midfielder who signed for Benfica on a season-long loan deal in August has impressed for the Portuguese outfit.

But while Benfica have the option to buy Reyes for a fee believed to be in the region of €7 million, the Eagles have decided not to follow up their interest in the player.

Gunners back in action this afternoon against . . . well, look at the title of the post, I'm not typing that again. They're a Hungarian squad, and unlike the semi-professional club we played in the last friendly, these guys are actually in the qualification stages for Europa League, so hopefully they'll provide a bit more of a test for our guys.

The Emirates Cup began on a winning note. It was good to see Tomas Rosicky back in the side and he did not do badly in the first half of play.

Wenger employed a 4-3-3 with Eboue, RVP, and Bendtner up front. But things really took off when Jack Wilshere came on in the second half.

Reina
Johnson Carragher Ayala Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres
Subs:
San Jose for Carra 16'
Babel for Kuyt 61'
Kelly for Johnson 74'
Spearing for Mascherano 79'
Voronin for Benayoun 79'
Ngog for Torres 82'
Goals:
Aguero 15'
Forlan 33'
Lucas 81'
Good riddance to these friendlies.

• Unfortunately Brasileirao's reigning top scorer, Adriano hasn't been living up to his name. Instead, the king of churrascarias wasted his chances during Gremio's 4-1 drubbing of Flamengo yesterday. Goals from Perea, Réver and a double from Jonas chalked up three points for the Gaúchos, who're now in a better position to secure a spot in the Libertadores.

After strong showings in the first leg of the playoff round, both Lyon and Arsenal are in a comfortable position to enter the group stage. Lyon can claim a tenth consecutive group-stage appearance unless they completely fall apart. The French club overwhelmed RSC Anderlecht 5-1 last week, while a 2-0 deficit would appear insurmountable for Celtic FC as they travel to London to take on Arsenal.

Arsenal 3 (Eduardo pen 28, Eboue 53, Arshavin 74) Celtic 1 (Donati 90)
(Champions League qualifier, 5-1 agg)

Another win and three more goals takes the tally to fifteen in just four games, but rather than focus on that, there is only one talking point for everyone this morning Eduardo's dive to win the penalty.

via Reuters

The Valencia kit designers obviously had too much of a Dark Knight experience.... so it doesn't matter if Juan Mata and David Silva look like they have extra chest hair. Valencia defeated Sevilla 2-0 and Freddy Kanoute was sent off for two "unfair" challenges in Unai Emery's opening test of the season yesterday.