By Chris Wright

Spotted during Schalke vs Bilbao last night, Schalke fans bemoaning the cost of their tickets with a frankly awesome banner though why it's in Spanish we're not entirely sure...

"€90 Entry = €1 Per Minute? Football Is Not Phone Sex!

It has been mentioned in quite a few publications today that Arsenal are talking to Athletico Bilbao about the possibility of bring the Spanish international striker Fernando Llorente to the Emirates this summer. It was reported in Bilbao that Arsene Wenger had been seen in the Basque city and had met up with Llorente himself [.

It's been 7 days since the beginning of the Dragon Year – and here we are 7 points ahead of Barca in the league table. Our 3-1 over Zaragoza and Barca's 0-0 (their first scoreless game in 15 matches) made sure of that. In a league where the margins of error between a league title or a bridesmaid finish is a hairline, 7 points is gold – it gives us that all-important precious margin for error: to account for that somewhat inevitable match that will see us drop points against a Levante, Sporting or.

Manchester City 3-2 Sporting CP footyroom.com by footyroom 1. Unlike Arsenal's fightback against AC Milan, this cannot be termed a glorious failure. City stayed in first gear longer than a learner driver on a 5mph country road. While Arsenal blitzed Milan from the first whistle, City only rose from their self-inflicted coma with 30 minutes to [.

1. How the mighty have fallen. United exited European competition last season after being out-played by football deities Barcelona in the Champions League final. This season Sir Alex's men were dumped out of the last 16 of the Europa League by seventh-placed La Liga side Athletic Bilbao. 2. Despite that low league position – a clear [.

29.03.2012 - Lejos del tránsito y más cerca del silencio que del ruido, cuando llegó a Bilbao casi sin tiempo de reconocimientos, Marcelo Bielsa se instaló en la capital (hotel Meliá).
Duró poco. En cuanto pudo se mudó a 15 minutos de Bilbao para instalarse en Getxo (Las Arenas), en el hotel Embarcadero, con excelentes vistas al golfo de Vizcaya, a metros del Puente Colgante.

Arsenal's interest in the French holding midfielder Yann M'Vila is well-documented, but with a large block of rival teams from Spain and Italy lining up to make a bid for the £17 million-rated Rennes star, Arsene Wenger has been looking at less illustrious alternatives. According to this morning's Telegraph, who always seem to have an [.

Let's take a moment to reflect on the MADNESS from the football world in the past week.

Ronaldo and Messi proved they were human beings after both missed their penalties, Sergio Ramos joined NASA, Bilbao made it to the finals of the Europa League for the first time in 35 years, Fernando Torres scored possibly the most important goal of his Chelsea career, Pep Guardiola confirmed his resignation as Barca coach, The Allianz Arena turned bright blue, Mario Gomez wore a flower 'garland' and for once in Jose Mourinho's life, he conceded defeat without outrightly blaming the referee.

They couldn't do it at the Bernabeu, but they did it anyway! Real Madrid finally picked up their 32nd Spanish League title after their 3-0 win over Bilbao at the San Mames last night. It was their first La Liga since 2008 and the Los Blancos celebrated it in the most cliché manner possible in football by singing Queen's 'We are the Champions' on their flight back to Madrid.

They couldn't do it at the Bernabeu, but they did it anyway! Real Madrid finally picked up their 32nd Spanish League title after their 3-0 win over Bilbao at the San Mames last night. It was their first La Liga since 2008 and the Los Blancos celebrated it in the most cliché manner possible in football by singing Queen's 'We are the Champions' on their flight back to Madrid.

Real Madrid's flight back from Bilbao on Wednesday night was understandably raucous after they secured the league title. The in-flight celebrations were led by full-back Alvaro Arbeloa who showed off his dance moves, which are largely restricted to the moonwalk. All the action was captured by depressive drunk cameraman Iker Casillas, who occasionally likes to [.

Although Manchester United tragically blew an eight point lead in the title race and bowed out of the 2011/2012 season as runners up, the Red Devils gained a lot from this drama filled year. If history repeats itself as it normally does, United will come back stronger and deadlier next season with a mean vengeance, just like they did after losing the title to Blackburn on the last day of the 94/95 season.

Welcome to the Friday Crackovia Club, our weekly special on the best comedy (ok, this is getting repetitive!) show from Catalonia. This week's episode had a few surprises up its sleeve again, with a church musical complete with priests in the distinct colours of the Blaugranas.

Spain's domestic cup final is on ESPN Deportes at 3:45pm: Bilbao - Barcelona for the Copa del Rey. ESPN Deportes also has the Costa Rica - Guatemala friendly at 9pm. Both Times Eastern

It's always tough to take your focus away from Clasico clashes. Hence Barca's visit to Malaga could be a herculean task in some aspect. First you have to get your feet back on the ground following a sweet victory at Bernebeu, then the big task - keeping the Wednesday's clash with real Madrid at camp Nou in the background.

02.02.2012 - Si un morbo tienen los torneos tipo "Copa del Rey" (FA Cup o Copa Argentina, entre otros), es precisamente la conjunción de todas las categorías, su nivelación en la cancha y ver como se las arreglan los más poderosos para hacer los deberes (y evitar papelones o batacazos).

04.02.2012 - El Athletic de Marcelo Bielsa y el Espanyol de Mauricio Pochettino dieron un desigual espectáculo en San Mamés, empatando en 3 un partido cambiante (box to box) y con todos los condimentos.
Bielsa "es mucho más que un entrenador... Me unen lazos emocionales muy fuertes.

NACIONAL B: ALMIRANTE BROWN 1 RIVER 1MARTIN PALERMO EN CARICATURASCOPA LIBERTADORES DE AMERICA 2012: PRIMERA FASE.BIELSA EN BILBAO (35): ATHLETIC 3 ESPANYOL 3.
caligula

Aupa Mirandes! They will play Bilbao in the leg of the second semi-final tonight, and let's hope that they'll bring more smiles to the faces of these chicos!

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Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) Recap 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Below is a recap of all the La Liga matches on February 11, 2012.

Racing Santander 0-0 Atletico Madrid

Racing moves out of the relegation zone Atletico Madrid are up to 6th place. It was a physical match with four yellow cards given to each side.

BOCA 2 OLIMPO 0LANUS 4 SAN LORENZO 1SAN MARTIN (SJ) 1 INDEPENDIENTE 0RACING 0 TIGRE 0
NACIONAL B: CHACARITA 0 RIVER 2 LA RECEPCIÓN DE RIVER EN LA PLATANACIONAL B: ROSARIO CENTRAL 3 DEFENSA Y JUSTICIA 2NACIONAL B: EL GOL DE FABBIANI DESDE MITAD DE CANCHA
BIELSA EN BILBAO (37): BETIS 2 ATHLETIC 1PREMIER LEAGUE: EVRA VS SUAREZ LA NIEVE MATA Y APLAZA EL FÚTBOL EN ITALIAMAXI LOPEZ BRILLA EN EL MILAN
ZAMBIA CAMPEON DE AFRICA
FOOTBALL´S GREATEST: GEORGE BEST (Documental) .

La Liga standing as of Feb 13, 2012 (From the Guardian)

Cast your eye at the number of goals scored by each club in the fourth column from the right. At this point is there any wonder why this is not even a two horse race anymore? The race for La Liga is effectively over as even Pep Guardiola has all but conceded defeat, for the rest it ended in September last year.

Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) Match Predictions 19 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Below are predictions for all the La Liga matches on February 19, 2012. Times listed below are GMT or local UK time.

Granada v Real Sociedad, 11:00 Granada wins 2-1

Athletic Bilbao v Malaga, 15:00 2-2 Draw

Mallorca v Villarreal, 17:00 Mallorca wins 1-0

Sporting Gijon v Atletico Madrid, 17:00 1-1 Draw

Levante v Rayo Vallecano, 18:45 Levanate wins 2-1

Barcelona v Valencia, 20:30 Barcelona wins 3-1

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Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) Match Predictions 19 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Europa League on GolTV: Bilbao - Lokomotiv Moscow at 1pm and Manchester United - Ajax at 3pm. Championship on Fox Soccer Plus: Derby County - Leicester City. Copa Libertadores on Fox Deportes: Olimpia - Lanus 5:30pm and Catolica - Junior at 7:30pm. All Times Eastern

Night of International Football around the globe with a Friendly International played in the city of Malaga (Spain). The current European & FIFA World Champions SPAIN defeated VENEZUELA 5 - 0 in an entertaining match which was basically dominated by the locals & more after Venezuela defender ( & At Bilbao player ) Amorebieta was sent off with a red card in the 64th min.

Europa League on GolTV: Atletico Madrid - Besiktas at 1pm and Manchester United - Bilbao at 5pm. AZ - Udinese 3pm - GolTV Jozy Altidore's AZ open their Round of 16 series with Udinese at home. AZ advanced at the expense of Sacha Kljestan's Anderlecht, with Udinese beating PAOK. AZ lead the Eredivisie, with Udinese 4th in Serie A.

szólj hozzá: Man United Athletic 2:3 GOALS

Marcelo "Loco" Bielsa's team came to Old Trafford and they conquered Utd in their own turf. Wayne Rooney gave the home team the lead against the run of play but Bilbao playing outstanding football was going to have its way.

Fernando Llorente equalized just before the half with the Basques scorching Utd with their free flowing, attacking football, a Bielsa trademark.

Cuando Josu Urrutia se postuló a la presidencia del Athletic Club de Bilbao y buscó al argentino Marcelo Bielsa para ofrecerle el proyecto, no se estaba equivocando. Tampoco lo hicieron los socios que votaron este verano – se llegó a la máxima participación en elecciones en la historia del club – para hacer presidente al ex-jugador y buscar con su proyecto cosas más importantes para un equipo que junto con Real Madrid y Barcelona nunca ha descendido de la máxima categoría.

Some things in life and football never change. Abramovich's patience runs out well before May, like the water supply in Chennai. Carlton Palmer's addition of spectacles and a sheaf of papers to his 'program look' still doesn't help him deliver Ganguly-like insights into the game. Torres doesn't score.

Europa League on GolTV: Bilbao - Manchester United at 2:30pm and Manchester City - Sporting at 4pm. Copa Libertadores on Fox Deportes: Juan Aurich - Santos at 6:30pm and Flamengo - Olimpia at 9pm. CONCACAF Champions League on Galavision: UNAM Pumas - Metapan at 10pm. All Times Eastern

UEFA Europa League Match Predictions 15 March 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Below are predictions for all the Europa League matches on March 15, 2011. Times listed are GMT or local UK time.

Atletico Madrid v Besiktas, 19:00 Atletico wins 2-0

Athletic Bilbao v Man Utd, 19:00 Man Utd wins 2-1

Hannover 96 v Standard Liege, 19:00 Hannover wins 1-0

PSV Eindhoven v Valencia, 19:00 1-1 Draw

Udinese v AZ Alkmaar, 19:00 1-1 Draw

Besiktas v Atletico Madrid, 21:05 Besiktas wins 1-0

Man City v Sporting Lisbon, 21:05 Man City wins 3-1

Schalke v FC Twente, 21:05 Schalke wins 2-0

Olympiakos v Metalist Kharkiv, 21:05

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UEFA Europa League Match Predictions 15 March 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Basque in the glory, Athletic.

Whatever happens at San Mamés this evening between Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United, it has to be said that the Basque fans, not to mention the players, have been a refreshing addition to European football this season. Iker Muniain and Fernando Llorente may be the brightest talents coming through the Athletic ranks, but the solidarity and sheer undying pride the club's fans possess is something that many supporters in this world of modern football could learn from.

If there's one thing we love about watching Athletic Bilbao...

... it's trying to find Waldo in the stands. (or Wally, if you're in the UK)

Following their Europa league glory at the expense of Man United last night, surely it'd be gloriously fun to be a native of Bilbao today. Unless, of course, you happen to be a Real Sociedad aficionado, which would make it very difficult to accept what happened!

Manchester based clubs Manchester United and Manchester City were both knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday to effectively end their hopes of winning a double this season.

United suffered a 2-1 defeat to Bilbao to make it 5-3 on aggregate while City in spite of beating Sporting 3-2 on the night (3-3 on aggregate) went out because of Sporting's away goal advantage.

It's easy to forget what Santi Cazorla is capable of, especially if you last saw him playing for the Spanish National Team two years ago. Although he looks like a Crackovia character (oh, admit it!), the former Villarreal man finally showed glimpses of his old self after scoring a fantastic winner for Malaga in their 1-1 draw with Real Madrid last night.

22.03.2012 - Con goles de Radamel Falcao (´50 y ´71), Atlético Madrid venció (2-1) a Athletic (Martínez ´91) por la 28º jornada de la Liga española.
Antes de enumerar causas hay que decir que el Atlético de Simeone, al que no le desespera el control de la pelota, plasmó su superioridad en el resultado.

Schalke 04 - Bilbao 3pm - GolTV The first of our Europa League games matching up a Bundesliga club against a team from La Liga. Jermaine Jones has made himself key to Schalke's chances domestically and in Europe. Schalke are third in Germany, nine points off the lead. Bilbao are 11th in La Liga. Atletico Madrid - Hannover 96 5pm - GolTV Steve Cherundolo's Hanover are 8th in Germany, losing to Bayern Munich over the.

Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) Match Predictions 18 March 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Below are predictions for all the La Liga matches on March 18, 2012. Times listed below are GMT or local UK time.

Levante v Villarreal, 11:00 Levante wins 2-1

Mallorca v Atletico Madrid, 17:00 1-1 Draw

Athletic Bilbao v Valencia, 19:00 2-2 Draw

Real Madrid v Malaga, 21:00 Real Madrid wins 4-0

Follow @jrf90thminute

Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) Match Predictions 18 March 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

szólj hozzá: Schalke Athletic 2:4 ALL GOALS

Many commentators have concluded that the heart and soul of European football lies in the Europa Cup and those who saw this match will have little to disagree with that statement. Schalke at home at the Veltins got another scintillating display from Raul, who is probably secretly relieved he's not part of the Real Madrid circus anymore.