* Yes, this is a shout-out to our recently departed midfield maestro, The Martin. (Check the guest appearance.)

As you now know, a few of us will be taking over the Arsenal Offside page, so some introductions are in order. I think Homey's prepping an intro post, but seeing as I just finished a contract and have a few days free, I thought I'd come on and tell you all a little bit about myself while he gets that sorted.

It does not surprise me that Barcelona FC are continuing to take the piss with their courting of Cesc Fabregas. Their first offer was reported to be about 25 million pounds, and now after yet more public tapping up and mincing, their second offer has gone up to only 30million pounds which included numerous hypothetical add-ons:"Barcelona are offering extra payments which are dependent on all

Former Brazil striker Ronaldo announced his retirement today telling a reporter "I can't take it any more. I wanted to carry on, but I can't. I plan a move [in a game] but I cannot execute it. My time is up; but dammit it was nice."

Ronaldo has to be on anyones list of the best players of the last 25-years.

Union

With lone Union representative Faryd Mondragon on a MLS roster coached by and littered with Energy Drinks and other all-too-easy ho-hum selections, not to mention that fact that the Dragon isn't starting, does anyone around these parts really give a toss about the All-Star Game?

At first, the only kind of Philly related All-Star story Union fans seem to be able to expect is a retread of the Beckham/Mondragon meeting at the 1998 World Cup kind of story MLSsoccer.

FC Viktoria Plzen vs FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona take on FC Viktoria in the Champions League group stage tonight from the Camp Nou. Watch all the excitement live today on barcaloco.com. Kickoff is 2:45PM EDT.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE final Group matches with Tuesday night action with 50% of the Clubs playing it out. Two SPANISH FOOTBALL representatives went to work with a good & bad result that will now be summarized below with the final results & the scorers. FC Barcelona FC BARCELONA hosted BATE BORISOV with the top spot of Group H theirs & their minds already on Real Madrid for this Saturdays LIGA

From the Evansville Courier Press, January 30, 2011
The formula for developing soccer players shouldn't be like trying to solve the Rubik's cube — it shouldn't be a series of twisting, turning and guessing.
There is one club in the world that churns out world-class players more than any other.

The 1st leg of the UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals kick off on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The 8 teams remaining will play their home-and-away series this week and next. The winners move on to the semifinals the last week of April and 1st week of May. The games are being broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.

What an extraordinary weekend here in Spain, where events in La Liga took place in a counter-intuitive fashion, and more or less set the seal on the destiny of the league title, give or take an improbable implosion of form at Barcelona FC over the next eight weeks. As the weekend turned out, Real Madrid were probably wishing that the strike over television rights had gone ahead after all.

Despite overtures to delicacy, Barcelona FC has become an unwieldy force, a football leviathan. Coinciding with the city's international debut in the '92 Olympics, the club began two decades of furious attack on Real Madrid's hegemony over Spanish football with championships in La Liga and the Champions League, with Super Copas and thrashings at the Bernabéu.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona take on Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk in the second leg of Champions League play. The winner will go on to face either Real Madrid or Tottenham in the semi-final.

Links will be updated just prior to kickoff.

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Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona take on Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Links will be updated just prior to kickoff.

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Much has been made of the fact that this year's Champions League Final will be held at Wembley, with Manchester United supposedly having 'home advantage' and therefore an upper hand in their unenviable task of stopping the imperious Barcelona on Saturday.

However Alex Ferguson isn't sure that such an advantage exists in the modern game in England.

"More Than a Club" is the slogan for Barcelona FC.

Since its founding, Barcelona has been on a road of self-discovery. Some time along the way, the people of Catalonia started to envisage Barcelona as a symbol of their country—more than a club.

To some, especially in times of oppression under Fransisco Franco's long dictatorship in Spain, Barcelona FC was envisaged as the club who expressed the rights and freedom of the Catalonian people.

Harry Redknapp's opinon of Lionel Messi: "He's a skinny runt who looks nothing like a modern-day footballer really. "He has funny little legs that move awkwardly when he runs and if he turned up at your club as a 16-year-old, you'd send him away with a pat on the head and tell him he'd no chance of making it.

Who said Barcelona fans weren't creative? This couple sure has a good sense of humor. Just one problem, Shakira is totally blond and doesn't know anything about football.

Barcelona's Gerard Pique has lashed out at his team mates over their attempts to unsettle Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

The furious 24-year-old Spain international told the Spanish newspaper Sport: "We must leave Cesc in peace and let things run their course."

His midfield colleague Xavi was the latest Barcelona player to go public about Fabregas earlier this week, earning a stinging rebuke from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Featured Image: Paul Rudderow

Part one left off at the start the Second World War. Part two picks up with the first friendly in Philadelphia after the war, beginning with Liverpool's tour of the States in 1946.

Friendlies in Philadelphia following the Second World War: 1946-1960

The 1946-1947 Liverpool FC starting XI

The first international club team to travel the US after the Second World War was Liverpool FC, who toured the US from May 11 until June 12 of 1946.

TGIF: nearly but so far

OK this is a teaser for the return of TGIF, I have to say that the old format was not very interactive and it was more you readers being fed , then expressing your views via the comments. So the new TGIF will become more interactive with the best comments in the first two hours being responded to and included with the Blog for posterity.

By Kaushik Lakshman

Last week, we travelled to the Basque Country, Andalucia, and Valencia to take a look at how La Liga teams from those regions are looking ahead to the new season. In this part we will go through the two big cities of the country and also some of the other regions of the lovely country of España.

Bojan at AS Roma playing in second leg of UEFA Europa (Photo: Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

With La Liga finally about to begin after a long summer, I wanted to commence with what I hope will become a once a week article covering some of our wonderful players playing abroad in Europe. I am open to suggestions on players who will feature in these articles but to start with I will follow Nolito (Benfica), Oriol Romeu (Chelsea), and Bojan Krkic (AS Roma).

Valencia vs FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona take on Valencia in La Liga tonight from the Mestalla. Watch all the excitement live today on barcaloco.com. Kickoff is 4:00PM EDT.

Links will be updated just prior to kickoff.

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26.09.2011 - El interés de la Liga española en frases repetidas donde la palabra "competitividad" se lleva todas las nominaciones. Incluso las proyecciones hacia una Super Liga constituida por los clubes más (económicamente) poderosos de Europa cae en saco roto a partir de las elocuentes diferencias.

Lionel Messi saw his injury-time penalty kick saved by Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas as Barcelona were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou In a match in which the hosts utterly dominated the three points eluded them thanks to a heroic performance between the sticks by Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas who denied [.

A report out of Spain states that the Fire are negotiating to acquire former Barcelona and current player for Spanish 2nd division Alcorcon Abraham Gonzalez. A Google Translation of the relevant passage:

Abraham Gonzalez is about to play next season in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Why do Spanish players insist on letting their hair get so long and stringy? I get that Latin men like long hair, yada, yada, yada. Let's face it: long hair on men only works if you have a thick mop of luxurious hair. There isn't a time where Cesc Fabregas doesn't look awful because of his moppy mess of hair.

Barcelona FC's Cesc Fabregas for Puma.

Barcelona FC's Gerard Pique let's off a little steam by going to the shooting range. The World Cup winner is seen here with what looks to be an AK47. Talk about bringing the big guns out!