It's now officially four crucial months to the Euro 2012 and following Fabio Capello's resignation last night, England has no manager to lead them to glory! That's exactly what Jack Wilshere groaned about ("Euro's is just around the corner and we have no manager?

Good heavens. We hope you warmed your hands first, Sami! Images via gq-magazin.de.

Avert your eyes, Kickettes! We haven't revealed this much flesh on the site in one go since Tim Howard was kind enough to get his nekkid on for ESPN, and our server collapsed under the weight of our rampant lust.

Liverpool is reportedly in talks with Real Madrid ahead of a bid to sign midfielder Esteban Granero. The Anfield side is keen to beef up their central midfield options and have earmarked a move for the adaptable 24 year old this month. The Merseyside club is lining up a bid in the region of £8m for the former Spanish Under-21 international.

Warning. This picture of Erik Lamela could cause muscle spasm and/or blindness. Image: AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca.

Domestic cup competitions dominate the Midweek Results this week, but for once, that's not a bad thing.

Go ahead and run along now, Kickettes. It's not polite to keep these pretty footballers waiting.

Brazilian Swag King Neymar arrived in Barcelona from Zurich last night to ... (*drumroll courtesy of Sandro Rosell*)... film a sports commercial. Unfortunately, he won't be staying in the city for very long and you can imagine how paranoid Santos is about keeping him anywhere near the Blaugranas, especially since they both share similar sponsorship agreements!

Real Madrid's Pipita Higuain is quite a likable hombre, isn't he? Come on now, Blaugranas... Madrid needs their own Moc Moc trio and we're pretty sure these two can improve the animosity between Brasil and Argentina!

Anyway, we just had to share Los Blancos' Christmas video with you even though you're clearly overstuffed with all that roast turkey by now.

At the risk of sounding a terribly stuck-up know-it-all it is rare I come across something in football where the statistics genuinely shock me. However, I read an article a few days ago that shed some light on an issue we all know is there but somehow we tend to look over.

Spanish football is beautiful.

Image Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe.

Are we going to talk about how hot Sami Khedira's squeeze Lena Gercke looked when she attended the 'We Love Energy Fashion' night in Berlin on October 21st? No.

Are we going to speculate on how their relationship is going since we last saw them in August?

Real Madrid all but secured top spot in Group D of the UEFA Champions League after destroying Olympique Lyon 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Goals by Karim Benzema, Sami Khedira, Sergio Ramos and an own goal by Hugo Lloris did the damage as Jose Mourinho's men continue to show that they are serious contenders for [.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Sergio Aguero rescued Manchester City with a goal with the last kick of the game as the UEFA Champions League newcomers retained hope of advancing to the knockout rounds with a 2-1 win over Villarreal.

Pablo Zabaleta fired a low cross in front of goal in the third minute of stoppage time and David Silva failed to make contact at the near post but the ball found its way to Aguero, who made no mistake from close range.

Bayern Munich youngster Thomas Muller has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to join then-Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea in the aftermath of Germany's impressive 2010 World Cup campaign.

Muller, who won the Golden Boot with his five goals as well as three assists in South Africa, contributed to the demolition of Argentina and England before the Germans exited the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Spain.

Bayern Munich youngster Thomas Muller has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to join then-Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea in the aftermath of Germany's impressive 2010 World Cup campaign.

Muller, who won the Golden Boot with his five goals as well as three assists in South Africa, contributed to the demolition of Argentina and England before the Germans exited the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Spain.

It is just talk most likely, but, according to il Milanista Milan are lining up bids for three La Liga players, Sami Khedira and Kaka of Real Madrid and Maxwell. Given the start to the season, it is understandable that the club are looking for alternatives who will solve the team's gaping holes all over the [.

Sami Khedira : "Ja ja, Freunde, I'm late for training but Mesut's not turning up, so who cares?"

Tweet This Post

...and then calmly shifts it on to Sami Khedira's lack of "sufficient intelligence."
"My player knows about these situations and fell for the trap.That's why I make him partly responsible for the defeat and I don't have a problem doing so. It is also our fault, mine and my players.An important part of the meeting I had with my players today covered similar situations to those of Khedira's red card.

Spieler müssen ausreichend intelligent sein, um zu wissen, wie man in solchen Situationen reagiert. Ich mache ihn mitverantwortlich für die Niederlage.

Jose Mourinho, Trainer von Real Madrid, gibt dem deutschen Nationalspieler Sami Khedira, der im Spiel gegen UD Levante die rote Karte gesehen hat, eine große Mitschuld an der ersten Saisonniederlage von Real Madrid im Spiel gegen UD Levante

Kaká no viajará a Croacia para enfrentarse Liga de Campeones al Dinamo de Zagreb por un golpe que sufrió en el talón izquierdo durante el partido ante el Getafe, mientras que Sami Khedira y Lass Diarra regresan a una convocatoria de José Mourinho.
El único jugador que ha salido mal parado de la última jornada de Liga ha sido Kaká, que a lo largo de la semana no ha podido trabajar al mismo ritmo que sus compañeros.

Juergen Klinsmann raised a whole lot of eyebrows on August 25th when he announced 23 year old Fabian Johnson would be included in the 23 man squad to play Costa Rica. Who is Fabian Johnson?

He's a holding midfielder/ central defender for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and his US national switch is possible because of his parentage; father is American while his mother is German.

I will keep this short and sweet in the interest of time. FIRST and foremost, Xavi's hair will look like an iguana. No, I don't refer to that pet iguana you had in grade school that eventually died because you forgot to plug in the hot rock. No, I refer to some sort of wickedly cool animated iguana who wears a Hawaiian t-shirt, travels by skateboard, constantly gives the thumbs up, and endorses a variety of delicious fruit-tasting snacks which contain little to no fruit.

Ozil : "So Sami, as I was saying to you for the thousandth time, we really need to figure out this Bromance..." / via Bellazon forums

Tweet This Post

It's been a while since we came across an in-depth interview with a Madridista and this one on FIFA.com with German international Sami Khedira certainly does the job! He spoke about adapting to the Spanish lifestyle, playing in the La Liga and facing competition from younger players.

Sami Khedira's new lady hasn't wasted any time in showing us that her WAG game is tight and probably not to be messed with. Not only did she travel to LA to watch her man's Real Madrid put a hurtin' on LA Galaxy this weekend, but she also wore a top that barely covered her chesticles and a pair of "completely inappropriate for a football match, but still lust worthy so who cares" Louboutin booties.

Real Madrid's Sami Khedira and his girlfriend, Lena Gercke, attended the Guido Maria Kretschmer Show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring/Summer 2012 on 7/7/2011. Image Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe.

Real Madrid "re"-announced their World Football Challenge roster today, and it has some noticeable changes.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil, the headliners of the Madrid side, are all still set to play in Real's USA tour.

There is quite an Iberian battle going on for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, with both La Liga sides making bids to Arsenal for their captain.

Barcelona opened the bidding. for a player they have tapped up for three seasons, last week when they made an official bid of £27m. The bid was immediately turned down by Arsenal who have a price tag of around £44m on Fabregas.

There is quite an Iberian battle going on for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, with both La Liga sides making bids to Arsenal for their captain.

Barcelona opened the bidding. for a player they have tapped up for three seasons, last week when they made an official bid of £27m. The bid was immediately turned down by Arsenal who have a price tag of around £44m on Fabregas.

There is quite an Iberian battle going on for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, with both La Liga sides making bids to Arsenal for their captain.

Barcelona opened the bidding. for a player they have tapped up for three seasons, last week when they made an official bid of £27m. The bid was immediately turned down by Arsenal who have a price tag of around £44m on Fabregas.

According to the Spanish newspaper Sport, Real Madrid have made an official offer of 50m Euros (£45m) for Cesc Fabregas,

It's an interesting move by Mourinho who is said to be interested in having Fabregas in his midfield alongside Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

The offer puts a lot of pressure on Barcelona who have been trying to low ball Arsenal all summer for Fabregas.

When the Philadelphia Union agreed with Real Madrd for a friendly on July 23, the team promised its fans that they would see the stars of Madrid and not just back ups. After releasing the official Madrid roster, it's clear that the Union managed to keep that promise.

The Madrid World Football Challenge roster is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Spain), Antonio Adán (Spain)

Defenders: Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal), Pepe (Portugal), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Marcelo Viera (Brazil), Alvaro Arbeloa (Spain), Raul Albiol (Spain), Ezequiel Garay (Argentina), David Mateos (Spain)

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Argentina), Kaká (Brazil), Lassana Diarra (France), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Sergio Canales (Spain), Pedro León (Spain), Mesut Özil (Germany), Sami Khedira (Germany), Hamit Altintop (Turkey), Nuri Şahin (Turkey), José Callejón (Spain), Roysten Drenthe (Netherlands)

Attackers: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Karim Benzema (France), Esteban Granero (Spain)

Manager Jose Mourinho will also be making the trip with Madrid.

Real Madrid is bringing the cavalry for its summer tour of the United States.

Madrid has chosen a first-choice squad for its three games in the World Football Challenge, which includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Kaka, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.

The biggest omissions are Argentines Angel di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain, who will be participating in Copa America.

*Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza was re-signed to a new multi-year contract, the club announced today.

The versatile 24-year-old, who can play either full back or in central defense as he did in college at Maryland defender, is on track for a career high in starts and minutes in his third year with the club.

The 2010-2011 La Liga season just ended, but a lot of teams are already lining up new players for next season. Here is a look at some of the major transfers of the summer so far:

Real Madrid
Following Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira's arrivals last summer, Real Madrid have again foraged in the Bundesliga for talent, recruiting the Turkish midfield pair of Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop from Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively.

Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago wants to join Liverpool, according to his agent.
The Argentine's opportunities behind the likes of Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira have been limited this season, and despite Jose Mourinho insisting the player stay last summer, Gago looks prepared to leave.
And Liverpool, who have previously been linked with Gago, is the player's preferred destination, according to his agent Marcelo Lombilla.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via poprosa.

Our newly founded 'Marketing Ploy of the Week' award must go to the Spanish government, who have cleverly utilised their capital's most wondrous sights in a new video to promote tourism. Yes, several Real Madrid players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Sami Khedira have been dressed up, blown out, made up and thrown in front of a camera in order to espouse the virtues of their adopted home city.

In der letzten Saison wechselten sowohl Mesut Özil von Werder Bremen wie auch Sami Khedira vom VfB Stuttgart nach Madrid zu den sogenannten "Königlichen". Beide deutsche Nationalspieler wurden über die Spielzeit hinweg zu wichtigen Größen in der Mannschaft von Real Madrid – ähnliches will nun auch Nuri Sahin erreichen.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid will have to do some lineup shuffling ahead of today's UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg (2:45 p.m., FX) at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona, which received word on Tuesday that Carles Puyol would be available, will be without midfield maestro Andres Iniesta, who has a calf strain.

Photo by giveawayboy

It is a well-known fact that Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid are on the hunt for a hard-working central midfielder, to play alongside Xabi Alonso in the heart of the park. Despite possessing the likes of Sami Khedira, Fernando Gago and Lassana Diarra, Mourinho is reportedly unconvinced by the trioís recent performances, resulting in the search for yet another world-class addition to the squad.

Photo by ~Ans~

Germany have made the perfect start to qualifying for the 2012 European Championships, winning all four matches to this point, to sit comfortably atop of Group A. Whilst they already possess a five point buffer over second placed Austria, the Germans are a proud nation who will be confident of attaining a maximum 30 points from their 10 allotted qualifiers (and many sports betting sites will give you good odds on Germany's clean sweep).

Mostly unchanged, but some notable absences and reappearances:
Keeper: Manuel Neuer (Schalke), René Adler (Leverkusen), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)
Defense: Denis Aogo (Hamburg), Philipp Lahm (Bayern), Jerôme Boateng (Manchester City), Holger Badstuber (Bayern), Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Arne Friedrich (Wolfsburg), Marcel Schmelzer (Dortmund)
Midfield: Sven Bender (Dortmund), Mario Götze (Dortmund), André Schürrle (Mainz 05), Lukas Podolski (Köln), Mesut Özil (Real Madrid), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern), Christian Träsch (Stuttgart)
Forward: Miroslav Klose (Bayern), Mario Gomez (Bayern) [read more]