The first leg of the Copa Del Rey semifinals will be the matchup of Barcelona v Real Madrid. Barcelona defeated Malaga with 2 late goals to advance and set up another "El Clasico". Barcelona and Real Madrid havealready played three matches this season including two Spanish Super Cup tilts, and a league match.
The Red Devils hold onto their spot as most valuable sports team
Forbes is out with their 2012 top 50 most valuable sports teams and Arsenal is in the top 10 in
tenth place. This is three places lower than in the 2011 list. Man Utd retains first followed by
Real Madrid. Barcelona climbed 18 spots to rank eighth.
Adriano gets the Blaugranas started after Cesc Fabregas does all the brilliant spadework. Well into the second half, Pedro is brought down in the box and Messi who comes off the bench scores from the spot. The little maestro is at the right place at the right time to sweep into goal Montoya's cross for his brace.
The USA celebrated a historical win over Mexico beating them for the first time in Mexico about
three weeks ago. Today, it was the Reggae Boyz recording their first win ever against the USA in
nineteen meetings as they took advantage of a midfield without Michael Bradley and his potential
link up with the men on top.
"You'll never stop loving me, will you, oh beautiful reflection?"
'Tis not about the money. Cristiano Ronaldo feels unloved by his club, his manager, his locker
room, and his fans.
" In regard to the Santiago Bernabéu faithful, he still lays the blame on the fans for not
unanimously defending him on the day he was booed and for not worshiping him every time he scores a
goal.
This was a muted Cristiano Ronaldo. No extravagant fist pumping, sliding on the pitch, he did
not even look at the monitor to check out his goals as his wont. He scored his 150th and 151st goal
for the club before being taken off after picking up an injury. Gonzalo Higuain scored the third
and final goal.
Nothing went right for Barcelona in the first 30 minutes. Real were rampant running all over
Barca not allowing them a whiff of the ball. It took two defensive errors to turn things around at
the Bernabeu as Pepe who made his return in this leg volleyed deep into the Barca defense.
One doesn't quite know what Mascherano was thinking but he completely misjudges the trajectory
and a lurking Gonzalo Higuain latches onto the ball and clear onto the goal making no mistake.
Nothing went right for Barcelona in the first 30 minutes. Real were rampant running all over
Barca not allowing them a whiff of the ball. It took two defensive errors to turn things around at
the Bernabeu as Pepe who made his return in this leg volleyed deep into the Barca defense.
One doesn't quite know what Mascherano was thinking but he completely misjudges the trajectory
and a lurking Gonzalo Higuain latches onto the ball and clear onto the goal making no mistake.
The little Croatian finally lands up in the Bernabeu after Daniel Levy made life miserable for
Florentino Perez. He could not have arrived sooner to help reverse Real's faltering start to the
Liga.
Spurs have tabled a bid for Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila who most Arsenal fans have included in
their fantasy team but the money offered is supposed to be a wee short of club expectations.
The little Croatian finally lands up in the Bernabeu after Daniel Levy made life miserable for
Florentino Perez. He could not have arrived sooner to help reverse Real's faltering start to the
Liga.
Spurs have tabled a bid for Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila who most Arsenal fans have included in
their fantasy team but the money offered is supposed to be a wee short of club expectations.
Paging Nuri Sahin. Please return immediately to Real Madrid, do not stop at duty free to pick up
chocolate bonbons, board the next flight. We have a problem. Only one point against the also rans.
Luka may not do it.
Getafe's heroes were Juan Valera with a superbly placed header and then Abdel Barrada, the pick
of the Azulones, in a breakaway with Adrian Colunga, finishing with aplomb.
Horrible, horrible mistake by Victor Valdes. What was he thinking? With the match in the bag for
the Catalans by a mile, Valdes's bad first touch on a back pass allows Angel Di Maria to swoop down
on him and as the goalie tries to clumsily dribble the ball away, loses his nerve and balance,
falls and a predatory Di Maria gratefully finishes off.
We did not have too wait too long for the tasty treats to begin. Tomorrow both titans clash in
the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, the first title on the line.
For Real, Pepe woke up in the hospital after his nasty clash of head with Iker Casillas and the
extent of his problems were quickly discovered when he reportedly said, " My name is Pablo,
where am I?
We did not have too wait too long for the tasty treats to begin. Tomorrow both titans clash in
the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, the first title on the line.
For Real, Pepe woke up in the hospital after his nasty clash of head with Iker Casillas and the
extent of his problems were quickly discovered when he reportedly said, " My name is Pablo,
where am I?
Looks like Real are ready to ship Nuri Sahin over on a year loan move but are balking at
Arsenal's insistence that the contract include the possibility of buying him out on a permanent
deal at the end of the stay.
Real is playing it safe in case Sahin finds form and some of the other midfielders that he
slipped down the pecking order either leave, get injured, or don't play to par.
A couple of observations: This goal would not have been scored if Iker Casillas had stayed on
the line. That was his mistake. But even the slimmest of chances punching the ball away evaporated
after he got into the way of an out of control Pepe who launches himself with the single purpose of
annihilating Jonas.
Arsene Wenger pretty much admits it. The negotiations are in the advanced stage with the arrival
of Josep Maria Bartomeu and Raul Sanllehí to London two days ago to discuss terms of his transfer.
There is just haggling over money.
It's amazing how Barca get behind a transfer when they want one.
There are evident fault lines developing between Nuri Sahin and Jose Mourinho even as it becomes
inevitable that he will leave Real Madrid on a loan move to the Premiership. The question is
where?
There is competition between Arsenal and Liverpool for his signature. Sahin prefers Arsenal as a
club where he believes he can prosper for a year under an avowed admirer in Arsene Wenger.
Kaka was there and we half expected him to be in a Rossoneri jersey but against his former club
where a rumoured return hangs in the air, he showed a deft touch assisting in three goals. Angel Di
Maria got the crowd warmed up thumping in a magnificent 25 yard volley to open up proceedings.
There is talk as per Marca.com that the 23 year old Turkish midfielder who has found playing
minutes hard to come under Jose Mourinho maybe on his way to the Premier League on loan, possibly
Arsenal. Sahin was left out of Real's pre-season match against Benfica sparking transfer
rumours.
As the recently concluded pre season match against City demonstrated, Arsenal had plenty of ball
but again lacked that killer bit of midfield creativity to unlock the defense.
This player might see a return to his former club?
Kaka's future in Real Madrid is pretty much over and Florentino Perez is ready to off load him
for €10m. However Kaka has set his heart on remaining in Europe which is why a rumoured trade to
Corinthians was rejected.
This has fueled speculation that he might be primed for an AC Milan return.
Iker Casillas, Real's captain and MC took over centre stage as Sergio Ramos played his
understudy. Pipita, CR7, Pepe, Marcelo, and Esteban Granero chipped in with their thoughts as Karim
Benzema, Mesut Oezil, and the rest of the non-Spanish speaking contingent skulked around the
corners.
All sorts of records were set in Real's title winning season.
David Alaba's handball should never have been. It was inadvertent for which the left back
received a yellow card which leaves him out of the Champions League final against Chelsea.
Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot. The Bernabeu erupted again as Ronaldo made it a
brace after Mesut Oezil dissected the Bayern defense with his through pass.
We're back! After more than a week of suffering from flu like symptoms that left me prostrate,
weak as a kitten, and delinquent with blogging. A week away from the world's game is like being
away for a lifetime. But thankfully, it was to this game that we make our return.
Pepe provides the best argument against creationism. He is also badly in need of foe vs friend
identification. The Real Madrid defender is emblematic of Jose Mourinho. If the Special One rejoins
the Premiership he will brings its collective IQ down to protozoan levels.
The best moments came in the 67th minute and the 82nd minute when Gustavo Manduca and Esteban
Solari scored Apoel's goals. At the Santiago Bernabeu no less! Real played real spoilsports to this
David slayed Goliath story as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace with Kaka, Callejon, and Angel Di
Maria adding to the tally.
Full marks to Apoel for keeping Real Madrid at bay for 74 minutes. But once they were breached,
they gave away two more goals in quick succession. Benzema scored twice after missing an absolute
howler and Kaka added to the tally. The Brazilian provided the spark needed to break Apoel's highly
organized defense by creating Benzema's first goal.
A brace scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in this weekend's, 5-1 shellacking of Real Sociedad pushed
his goalscoring total over the century mark. His 101 goals in 92 matches for Real Madrid eclipses
that of the legendary Ferenc Puskas, who held the previous La Liga record of the fastest 100 goals
from 105 matches.
Madness and mayhem on and off the field. 4 red cards, a total of 14 bookings, and 40 fouls. Rui
Faria (athletic trainer), Jose Mourinho, Sergio Ramos, and Mesut Oezil were all sent off. And oh,
there were two goals. Cristiano Ronaldo's followed by Marcos Senna's free kick equalizer that sent
Real Madrid into a raging frenzy.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co., get the job done at the Santiago Bernabeu. CSKA weren't exactly
layabouts on attack especially in the second half but Real were efficient in converting their
opportunities and rarely broke a sweat.
Probably his best game in a long, long time. Scoring a goal and creating Gonzalo Higuain's
brace. Real added two more through Cristiano Ronaldo and Sami Khadira. They maintain a formidable
10 point cushion over Barca.
Mou is shopping for a new house. Downton Abbey? He's 35th from the left.
Jose Mourinho has been spotted in London and it is driving everyone potty. He's supposedly
buying a house. Which means only four things. He's going to manage England, Chelsea, Spurs, and
Arsenal. Or maybe, just maybe he's a huge fan of Downton Abbey and wants to take it off the hands
of the Earl of Grantham.
