SoccerBlogs

By MICHAEL KLINE

All eyes will be on Wembley this weekend, where Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will clash in the Champions League final.

The stage has been set for the German rivals to square off on Saturday, and while Dortmund may be relishing being the underdogs, surely Bayern remember what happened when they were favorites in last season's final.

Real Madrid have announced that head coach Jose Mourinho will leave the club at the end of the season after three years in charge of the Spanish giants.

At a packed press conference today, Real President Florentino Perez said"

"We've decided to bring our relationship to an end," said Perez.

Manchester United face Real Madrid at the 85,454 capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium tonight the Champions League round of 16.

Whilst this game is a sell out (although won't hit the 85k mark because of fewer seats being made available for European games), it is interesting to note that the Spanish giants do struggle to sell out their ground.

As he did in Real Madrid's final match before the winter break, Jose Mourinho decided to bench goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas again in their first match after the break against Real Sociedad. This time, however, the cosmic powers of the footballing universe thwarted Mourinho's will.

Starting keeper Antonio Adan was shown a straight red card in just the sixth minute, forcing Mourinho to put Casillas into the game.

Though it's too little too late to make a difference in swaying votes, Cristiano Ronaldo will be wearing his Ballon d'Or credentials on his boots during Real Madrid's match against Real Socieded on Sunday, a day before the award is given to Lionel Messi (probably). Nike has produced a pair of special edition CR Mercurial IX boots for Ronaldo to wear in the match that are white with a pink swoosh (contrary to what the overly shadowy picture above might lead you to believe).

Antoine Griezmann of Real Sociedad (Google Creative Commons)

With the summer transfer window looming, clubs are beginning to make their preliminary interest in certain players known, trying to get a leg up on other clubs competing for these players' signatures. Italian giants AC Milan and English titans Arsenal have both been linked with French winger Antoine Griezmann, who is enjoying a phenomenal season in Spain for his club side Real Sociedad.

Last season, Athletic Bilbao were in the spotlight thanks to their outstanding Europa League campaign, when they upset Manchester United in the last-32 before losing the final against Atletico Madrid. However, eventually their European efforts compromised their chances to finish in the top-four in La Liga and consequently denied them the chance to play in the following Champions League.

Real Sociedad are on the verge of making club history by earning a Champions League qualification spot for the first time in nine years after coming from behind to beat Valencia 4-2 at Anoeta last night. The last time the Basque side played in the elite competition was in 2003/04, where they scored 71 goals in total, and only five points separate it from fifth place Malaga at the moment.

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

Things are not getting any easier for Real Madrid.

After a 4-1 first leg loss at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals, Real return to Madrid this weekend but not to the comforts of the Bernabeu. No, Los Blancos will take the field this Saturday at the Vicente Calderon against a crosstown rival determined to beat Real for the first time in 14 years.

The Real Sociedad doping scandal took some more twists and turns today as Italian giants AC Milan have now been linked to Spanish doping doctor Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes.

After yesterday's revelations by former Real Sociedad president Inaki Badiola that players had been involved with doping practices, Real Sociedad issued a press release denying this saying that in 2008 they were ‘immersed in bankruptcy proceedings and therefore operated under administrative justice control'.

First match-fixing and now doping. Not the best day to be a football fan.

If you follow cycling, you will be aware that over the last 10 years, Spanish doctors have been linked with some of the biggest doping scandals in that sport.

With all the money that is involved in professional football it is not too big a jump to wonder if any Spanish football clubs have been involved in doping also?

Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick on Saturday saw Real Madrid to a comfortable 4-0 win over Getafe but, just as Los Blancos have spent the season in Barcelona's substantial shadow, so CR7 was outdone by Lionel Messi. The magical Argentine hit four in Barca's 5-1 demolition of Osasuna as Tito Vilanova's men extended their lead over Atletico Madrid to 11 points.

FC Barcelona bounced back from their last week surprise defeat against Real Sociedad with an emphatic 5-1 victory over a ten men Osasuna. Lionel Messi scored four goals and Pedro scored once for Barca. Lionel Messi has now scored 33 League Goals this season. He also has wrote a new record of scoring in 11 consecutive La Liga matches.

By NICK IUELE

Going undefeated for an entire season is near impossible, but Barcelona looked like they would never be beaten. However, even the greatest teams falter at times and the clock struck midnight on Barca's amazing run this weekend.

Real Sociedad became the first club to beat Barcelona this term.

Even in prosperous times, Jose Mourinho splits opinion amongst his club's own supporters. So with Real Madrid 16 points behind Barcelona midway through the season and Mourinho refusing to start beloved captain Iker Casillas in their last two matches, a poll conducted by Marca shows fan opinion (within the tiny sampling of their poll) is swaying more towards the negative.

By Chris Wright

'Saint' Iker Casillas was once again benched for Real Madrid's first La Liga game of 2013 having also been left out of their last fixture of 2012, however his replacement betwixt the sticks, Adan, was sent-off rather harshly after just six short minutes of their game against Real Sociedad, with Casillas stepping into the breach.

With winter breaks now completed, La Liga, Serie A, and Liga MX have turned the calendar to 2013, with all leagues now returning to action.

The third round of the FA Cup has kicked off the year for the English clubs, as the weekend closes out with Swansea City taking on Arsenal, and Mansfield Town hosting Liverpool.

Unsurprisingly Barcelona and Real Madrid dominated Spanish football in 2012. Barca accumulated over 100 points, whilst Real Madrid were ten points behind their bitter rivals. Interestingly during 2012 Valencia and Rayo Vallecano picked up the same number of points as each other, however Valencia drew 10 of their games, Vallecano drew just one a goalless game with Sevilla in September.

Playing this season without a shirt sponsor, La Liga side Real Sociedad have decided to use the empty space to show their appreciation for their fans and maybe make a little more money while doing so. Each Sociedad player will wear the name of a different one of the club's 25,000 members on their shirt where the name of a sponsor would normally appear.

Javier Aguirre Takes on Espanyol's Mission Impossible - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The other Catalan club's new coach Javier Aguirre

Harry Redknapp isn't the only wily veteran to take on a dysfunctional bottom of the table side this week. Javier Aguirre is a master fire-fighter but he's taken on a massive job at Espanyol.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

There were a handful of Americans who made an impact this weekend by scoring goals or delivering assist, but that was not the only bit of good news.

Oguchi Onyewu made his first La Liga appearance for Malaga on Saturday, starting and going the distance in the center of their defense.

Lionel Messi made headlines once again as he scored a club record 15th Liga hat-trick for Barcelona in a thrilling 5-4 win against Deportivo La Coruña. Meanwhile, Chelsea shone in England, Paris Saint-Germain went top in France and Bayern Munich set a Bundesliga record.

Spain
Lionel Messi is almost a one-man team as his 21st hat-trick for the club gave Barca a sensational 5-4 win at Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday night.

Below are television listings for all the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) matches on October 21, 2012.

C+ (Spain), Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East)

C+ (Spain), Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East)

C+ (Spain), Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East)

C+ (Spain), Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East), Sky Sports 1 (UK)

C+ (Spain), Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East), beIN Sport (USA), Sky Sports 1 (UK)

Follow @jonfeyerherm

Monreal's Advice for Gunners

Nacho Monreal believes that he and his Arsenal teammates should pay no attention to their critics and instead spend all their energies on achieving a top four finish this season.

It has been another disappointing season for the Gunners as their trophy-drought is set to cross the eight-year mark at the end of this season.

By DAN KARELL

Barcelona will finally get their manager back.

After over two months away, the Spanish club announced on Sunday that Tito Vilanova will be returning to Barcelona this week from New York City, where he was undergoing chemotherapy in his battle against cancer.

Carlos Vela lo anuncio en la semana previa, el Real Sociedad podría ganarle al virtual campeón de la Liga española, aunque el mexicano no anoto, su arrogancia a la hora de jugar ayudo a su equipo a derrotar al hasta hoy invencible Barcelona.

Al minuto 25 el Barcelona ya ganaba 2-0, pero la Real Sociedad vino de atrás y le quito el invicto a Barcelona.

La Femexfut dio a conocer a los mexicanos en Europa convocados para el partido contra Jamaica, el próximo 6 de febrero en el arranque de la fase final de eliminatoria de Concacaf rumbo a Brasil 2014, donde una vez más llama la atención la negativa de Carlos Vela a acudir, a la cual ahora se sumó el portero Guillermo Ochoa.