Spanish club Real Madrid has for the seventh consecutive year topped the football rich list this is according to auditing and financial advisory firm Deloite &Touche. Madrid posted a turnover of £433m for the 2010/2011 season to finish first ahead of arch rivals and fellow Spanish side Barcelona who came in second with revenues of £407m.

The Philadelphia Independence drafted six players in Friday's WPS draft, with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Sarah Hagen being the top pick. The big question is whether they'll get her to move over from Bayern Munich, where she's under contract.

The Independence then took UC-Irvine defender CoCo Goodson and Florida State defender Toni Pressley in the second round, Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger and Portland forward Danielle Foxhoven in the third, and Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer in the fourth round.

Freddy Adu spoke to Arch Bell of ESPN.com and, in a column published Monday, expressed an interest in returning to Europe immediately.

The money quote from Adu is here: "It would be an amazing opportunity to be able to stay here at Rayo [Vallecano]."

"I definitely miss playing in Europe," Adu continued, "I always said that when I went back to MLS, I wanted stability, and that I wouldn't go back until I could play for a top-five league.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

Ives Galarcep reports at Fox Soccer that Freddy Adu is heading to with Spanish side Rayo Vallecano for a two-week training stint. The report notes, "Rayo Vallecano is also a club that had been in talks with Adu about signing him last summer before Adu settled on a return to MLS.

The two Manchester clubs have been sensationally dumped out of the UEFA Champions League following the final round of matches this evening.

Three-time European champions Manchester United are out of this year's tournament having suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Swiss champions FC Basle 1893. United only needed a point to progress but found themselves two goals down with ten minutes of the match remaining, with Basle's Marco Streller and Alexander Frei getting the goals, before Phil Jones pulled one back to make it an anxious finish for the Swiss side.

Andre Villas-Boas's radical thinking starting to pay dividends for Chelsea Telegraph.

Last night at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea cruised through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League with a convincing 3-0 win over top La Liga side Valencia. Following the pressure laden last few weeks for Andre Villas Boas, this win came as a relief to him and the club but in essence, it means much more than that.

The Writing is on the wall for Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas. Win tomorrow's match against Valencia and hang on as Chelsea coach for a couple more weeks. Lose, and either face the sack or quit.

Tomorrow's match at Stamford Bridge will be crucial in all aspects for he Blues as the fate of their entire season hangs on the result of the match.

The 2011/12 UEFA Champions League has been an enthralling competition so far.
Out of all the groups in the group qualification phase, Group H contains 2 of the best teams in the European competition: Italian giants AC Milan and the current Champions League trophy holders Barcelona.
The other teams confined in Group H are as follows: Gambrinus liga outfit FC Viktoria Plzen, and Belarusian Premier League team FC BATE Borisov.

It was reported last week that the Russian moneybags Anzhi Makhachkala were keen on rescuing the Arsenal defender Sebastien Squillaci from his nightmare scenario at the Emirates, and Arsene Wenger will be pleased to know that the Spanish side Espanyol are also interested in the ex-French international.

Roberto Soldado grabbed three first-half goals to help Valencia thrash Genk 7-0 in a crucial result that kept alive the Spaniards' hopes of qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Jonas Goncalves got an early opener before Soldado's solo show gave Valencia a 4-0 lead before the interval.

With much of the drama removed from Wednesday's UEFA Champions League matchup between Barcelona and AC Milan (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel), the focus can turn to one of the more glaring subplots of the group stage.

Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will go up against his former team for the first time since leaving two summers ago.

Liverpool are facing stiff competition in their pursuit of Ryad Boudebouz with reports emerging claiming Spanish side Real Betis have made the Sochaux midfielder their top priority.
The Algeria international revealed recently that Liverpool have been monitoring him with director of football Damien Comolli in France to watch him in action on numerous occasions and to talk with the Sochaux president.

By Alan Duffy

Fabio Capello, with poppies at his feet, is disgusted by James Milner's poppy-less arms.

Just when we thought we'd heard the last of the bizarre poppy furore (at least until next year), The Sun are kind enough to give us one more poppy-based new story.

By Alan Duffy

That headline is meant to be ironic, by the way. Anyway, while the run-up to his prestigious friendly against world-beaters Spain was polluted by the ridiculous uproar over Poppygate, the game itself was a comapratively dull affair.

I admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the English national team (Terry, Cole, Rooney... do I need to go on?), but yesterday's win over Spain was stunning. The performance was far from beautiful but at the end of the day, Fabio Capello and his side, which was missing many stars, were able to get the job done, beating the world champions at Wembley Stadium.

Can England beat the unstoppable Spain? This was the question on many people's mind when the Three Lions hosted the world champions in Wembley on Saturday afternoon.

Well, you probably the answer to the above question as England captain Frank Lampard scored the only goal of the game to hand England a hard earned victory against the best nation in the world.

Spain are the bookies' favourite to claim the Euro 2012 title held in Poland and Ukraine but do they deserve to be in this position?
They are undoubtedly the best team in the world and have a respectable history in terms of awards. The Spanish last claimed the European title back in the Euro 2008 where they beat the German powerhouses 1-0 after a goal from the unstoppable Fernando Torres in the 33rd minute.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Lionel Messi took another step towards becoming the most prolific goal-scorer in Barcelona's history as the 24-year-old striker scored his 200th, 201st and 202nd goal for the club.

Messi's clinical penalty kick was the opening goal in Barcelona's straight-forward 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plezen as the defending champions officially booked a place in the knockout rounds and take pole position in Group H.

Manchester City have received a boost ahead of their Champions' League clash with Villarreal, with the news that the Spanish side will be missing four star players for the game.

Star midfielder Cani was ruled out for up to six weeks after picking up a knee injury in the La Liga game with Rayo Vallecano at the weekend.

Reports emerging claim that Manchester City are preparing to sell Tevez in the January transfer window for £25 million. The PFA's decision to cut in half Tevez's 4 week wage fine seems to have been the last straw for Roberto Mancini.

The club has always maintained that Mancini has the last say in the Tevez saga and with the Italian maintaining that Tevez would not play as long as he was coach of City, Tevez could be on his way out of the Premier League.

Cech mate Young Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois appears to begun his bid for first-team football at Stamford Bridge by heralding Petr Cech's demise. The 19-year-old, currently on-loan at Spanish side Atletico Madrid, reckons Cech's fitness is a concern and that the Blues' backroom staff know the Czech international's days are numbered.

There is no doubting a home win is a must tonight for Chelsea. After just a point in Valenica after dominating the game, things aren't exactly as they should be and with Spanish side taking on Leverkusen in the next two games, now is the time for Chelsea to get back on track.
Some people will think this is the easier game, but they are wrong.

Champions League action resumes tomorrow with some very interesting fixtures. Real Madrid host Lyon at the Bernabeu while Napoli travel to Munich to face in form Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

However, the match that could prove decisive in Group A will be between EPL leaders Manchester City and Spanish side Villarreal.

European U-21 Football action tonight with Group qualifiers with the SPANISH U-21 FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM playing CROATIA away & winning 0 - 2. It is Spains third straight Group 5 victory that gives them 9 points & 9 goals.The qualifiers are for the 2013 European Championship Finals places & Spain is currently in a privileged position.

Photo by Brett Sarsfield/ISIphotos.com

The international club interest in David Beckham isn't going away, and the reports from around the globe only figure to pick up steam as time elapses on the end of his current MLS contract.

The latest round includes a report from France, which states that Paris-St.

By Chris Wright

Pies' pick of the ten finest still exposures from last night's round of Europa League antics...

Shamrock Rovers' travelling support erupt in celebration after Stephen Rice had pinged home an opener for the Irish side against Tottenham at the Lane

Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko looks all kinds of 'special' while stretching to control a loose pass.

We have a mouth watering prospect of a game on Saturday night as Inter Milan take on Napoli at the San Siro. Both teams are coming off an almighty high in the Champions league as Inter Milan won away in Russia at CSKA Moscow and Napoli comfortably won 2-0 at home against Spanish side Villarreal. This is going to be Claudio Ranieri first home game as tenure as Inter Milan and he is hoping for a.

By Geoff Reid

Group A
Bayern Munich vs Manchester City from the Allianz Arena, Munich
No question, this is the match of the day with the Bavarian giants, who have had a fantastic start to this season both domestically and on the continent, against the blue half of Manchester.

Arsenal and Liverpool face fight for Valencia star

The Spanish side want to tie Paco Alcacer to a long term deal

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-09-24 22:58:15 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Valencia move to tie down starlet as Liverpool and Arsenal circle

Spanish side are desperate to keep hold of teenage sensation Paco Alcacer

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-09-20 12:39:34 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The opening round of group matches in the UEFA Champions League were completed on Wednesday with a shock in Milan, predicted wins for the likes of FC Bayern and Real Madrid proving true whereas the Manchester duo of City and United had to be content with a point in two difficult matches.

Ondřej Čelůstka proved to be the hero in the San Siro stadium as his 76th minute goal proved to be the winner in a 1-0 victory over 2009-10 Champions League winners Internazionale.

Two of European football's giants face off tonight at the Camp Nou as Milan battle Barcelona in Group H of the Champions League. The Spanish side will be hoping to put one of the competitions most successful sides to the sword as the Rossoneri are only second in European Cup wins with seven, only two behind Los Cules' rivals Real Madrid.

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In this week's review section, success in Europe for the big teams as they march towards the European finals in Poland and the Ukraine in 2012, while Wales let England off the hook.

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It's Champions League group stage time from now until the beginning of December Europe's elite clubs will be going up against each other trying to reach the knockout stages and of course the money that playing in the later stages brings.

Poulsen Completes Move to Evian

Christian Poulsen has passed a medical agreed personal terms with French Ligue 1 side Evian Thonon Gaillard, the club has confirmed this afternoon. The Dane had originally been touted to move to Spanish side Espanyol, but Evian ultimately beat them to his signature.

Espanyol Chase Out-of-Favour Poulsen

Spanish side Espanyol are said to be interested in securing the signing of Liverpool outcast Christian Poulsen. The deal being arranged is believed to be one that will take the Dane on loan to La Liga for the season, with view to a permanent deal at the end of the year.

Liverpool expects Christian Poulsen to bring an end to his Anfield nightmare by completing a move to Espanyol this week.
The Danish international joined the Reds last summer when Roy Hodgson was in charge but failed to impress under the former manager and found himself out in the cold once Kenny Dalglish took over.

Espanyol offer Liverpool misfit an escape route:
According to The Mirror,
Liverpool misfit ­Christian Poulson is wanted on loan by ­Spanish side Espanyol.
Poulson was dropped from the Danish squad earlier this week because of a lack of match action at Anfield.

Espanyol offer Liverpool misfit an escape route:
According to The Mirror,
Liverpool misfit ­Christian Poulson is wanted on loan by ­Spanish side Espanyol.

Espanyol offer Liverpool misfit an escape route:
According to The Mirror,
Liverpool misfit ­Christian Poulson is wanted on loan by ­Spanish side Espanyol.
Poulson was dropped from the Danish squad earlier this week because of a lack of match action at Anfield. And Espanyol are ready to give him a chance to get some games by solving their problem position at the heart of their midfield.