Real Madrid can move a big step closer to the Spanish Premier League title today with a win against Levante in one of the day's most anticipated matches.

Barcelona's shocking loss to Levante on Saturday means Real Madrid could extend their lead atop the La Liga standings to a huge ten points.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Sudan entered Monday's African Cup of Nations group finale needing a minor miracle to get through to the next round, trailing Angola by three points for second place in Group B while needing to make up a goal differential of -3 as well.

In the end, Sudan got its way.

Arsenal striker Carlos Vela, currently on loan at Real Sociedad, isn't renowned for his tackling. But having found himself on the receiving end of a trip from a Sporting Gijon player, the Mexican experienced immediate catharsis by being propelled into his own lunge on the linesman. The match official clearly bore no grudge with Vela, [.

By Chris Wright

In which Carlos Vela, formerly of the Arsenal reserves and now on loan at Real Sociedad, is shunted over on the touchline by Sporting Gijon's Alejandro Galvez during the former club's 5-1 routing of the latter on Sunday evening which, all-in-all, wouldn't have been too much of an issue had the linesman not been 'keeping up with the play' quite so admirably.

By Chris Wright

In which Carlos Vela, formerly of the Arsenal reserves and now on loan at Real Sociedad, is shunted over on the touchline by Sporting Gijon's Alejandro Galvez during the former club's 5-1 routing of the latter on Sunday evening which, all-in-all, wouldn't have been too much of an issue had the linesman not been 'keeping up with the play' quite so admirably.

Barcelona's Copa del Rey semi-finals win against Real Madrid has been tempered by a growing injury list that will make their clash against Villarreal on Saturday harder.

Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez both limped off in last night's 2-2 draw, which secured a 4-3 aggregate win.

That means Barca will head to El Madrigal missing six players in total, as David Villa, Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are already injured, while Seydou Keita is at the African Nations Cup.

Thierry Henry has already made a dramatic return to Arsenal, but today he will have his chance to try and top his game-winning FA Cup goal against Leeds by scoring in his first English Premier League match of his comeback.

The Gunners take on Swansea City in what should be an entertaining encounter, and could bring us Henry's first start since coming back to Arsenal.

The FA Cup continues in full swing today, with the biggest match-up of the weekend featuring the Manchester Derby.

Manchester City will look to take a step closer to defending their FA Cup title against a Manchester United side that is coming off a painful loss to Newcastle in league play.

Big blow for Malaga as winger Joaquin Sanchez is set to be four weeks due to a torn right thigh muscle, the Primera Division club have announced.

Joaquin complained of pain on Friday morning after playing in Thursday's Champions for Africa benefit match and, after undergoing tests, it was confirmed the former Spain international would be absent for at least the next month.

Pos. EQUIPO Pts. PJ G E P GA GP Dif. 1 Real Madrid 40 16 13 1 2 56 15 41 2 Barcelona 37 16 11 4 1 50 8 42 3 Valencia 33 16 10 3 3 26 16 10 4 Levante 29 16 9 2 5 25 19 6 5 Osasuna 25 16 6 7 3 21 28 -7 6 Sevilla FC 24 16 6 6 4 18 17 1 7 Málaga 24 16 7 3 6 20 22 -2 8 Espanyol 23 16 7 2 7 17 20 -3 9 Athletic Bilbao 22 16 5 7 4 23 19 4 10 Atlético Madrid 19 16 5 4 7 23 27 -4 11 Real Betis 19 16 6 1 9 17 22 -5 12 Getafe 19 16 5 4 7 17 23 -6 13 Granada 19 16 5 4 7 10 16 -6 14 Mallorca 18 16 4 6 6 15 22 -7 15 Real Sociedad 17 16 4 5 7 16 23 -7 16 Rayo Vallecano 16 16 4 4 8 17 25 -8 17 Villarreal 15 16 3 6 7 13 23 -10 18 Sporting Gijon 15 16 4 3 9 16 27 -11 19 Racing 14 16 2 8 6 11 21 -10 20 Real Zaragoza 10 16 2 4 10 13 31 -18 Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

Real Madrid moved back to the top of La Liga after a stunning 6-2 win over Sevilla with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging another hat-trick In what will make for some painful viewing for Sevilla fans everywhere, a rampant Real Madrid side took out their frustrations at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán following last Saturday's 'El Clasico' [.

With the word that Landon Donovan is heading to Everton in January, the Toffees are suddenly feeling confident about their chances of climbing back into the top half of the English Premier League standings. If they can make that move before the new year will depend largely on whether Tim Howard and Co.

Set your alarms for early Sunday morning, because a rare matchup between two of the world's most entertaining teams -- and players -- is on the docket.

Barcelona and Santos each took care of business to set up a meeting between the defending European champions and the South American powerhouse in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup.

So finally we've gotten this game out of the way. After Madrid's Burger King Boys (Getafe) knocked the wind off the sails of Barcelona, opening up a SIX (6!) point lead between us and them, the trolling from Cule trash talkers seems to have gone on overdrive (check out the last few posts at RMFB) – pushing the pre-clasico fever a couple of days too early.

Nel sabato di Liga, campionato giunto alla 15/a giornata, si conferma lo strapotere delle due corazzate, Real e Barcellona, prima e seconda forza del torneo spagnolo con 37 e 31 punti. L'undici di Mourinho doma lo Sporting Gijon, in trasferta, con il risultato di 3 a 0 (reti di Di Maria, che colpisce anche unContinua a leggere .

Real Madrid swept to a well deserved 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon at the Estadio Municipal El Molinón courtesy of goals from Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo. Jose Mourinho's side warmed up nicely for next Saturday's 'El Clasico' with an emphatic victory which keeps Real top of La Liga on 37 points after [.

Barcelona recovered from the quickest El Clasico goal in history to end Real Madrid's 15-match winning run and land a big blow in the La Liga title race.

Madrid entered the match as favourites based on their 15-match unbeaten run and they got off to a perfect start when Karim Benzema cashed in on a Victor Valdes error after just 23 seconds.

Sporting Gijon vs Real Madrid 0-3 Goals Highlights Video Di Maria Ronaldo Marcelo is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Sporting Gijon vs Real Madrid 0-3 Goals Highlights Video Di Maria Ronaldo Marcelo is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Sporting Gijon vs Real Madrid 2011 ( Gijon Madrid Video Below) Final score- Sporting Gijon vs Real Madrid 0-3 ( Di Maria, Ronaldo, Marcelo) Estadio Municipal, 3rd December, 2011- La Liga [.

Chelsea manager Andres Villas Boas is feeling the heat as his squad has delivered some disappointing results this season, and if the Blues are going to turn things around, they'll have to win in one of the tougher stadiums to visit in the English Premier League.

Newcastle has been one of the surprises of the season, and the Magpies won't be looking to do Villas Boas any favors as they try to stay in the Top Four mix.

This weekend's English Premier League action marked the one-third point of the season, leaving plenty of soccer left to play, but Manchester City could put a stranglehold on first place in England with a win against Liverpool today.

The Reds are the only thing standing between City and a seven-point lead atop the Premier League, and Liverpool has its own motivation for wanting to win at Anfield today.

Image: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images.

Rich boys and their toys, controversial storylines and rather startling events occurring in the shower.

What else is football but a big old soap opera?

EPL

Frank Lampard & Craig Bellamy discuss the proposed script changes.

After the international break, La Liga resumes this weekend with a big match between league leaders Real Madrid and third-place Valencia at the Estadio Mestalla.

Coming off guiding Portugal to Euro 2012, Cristiano Ronaldo will look to pick up where he left off at league level, after smashing a hat-trick in Real's 7-1 belting of Osasuna on November 6.

Messi vs Ronaldo in El Clasico (Photo: AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

We are just one month away from the next El Clasico and football fans all over Spain are clamoring for Barcelona v Real Madrid tickets!

If you are a FC Barcelona fan you have to be a little bit concerned as the clubs inconsistent play and numerous injuries seem to be hampering their run in La Liga currently.

31.10.2011 - Con goles de Susaeta (´61) y Barral (´70), Sporting de Gijón y Athletic de Bilbao empataron (1-1) por la fecha 11 de la liga BBVA (España).
En uno de los partidos más flojos de los últimas semanas, cuando la enfermería del Athletic indica las formaciones, hubo alguna sosobra defensiva entre los poblados ataques vascos.

Surprise contender Levante and Real Madrid sat back and watched Tuesday as Barcelona leapfrogged both teams to take the top spot in the Spanish league table. Both have a chance to strike back as part of a packed Wednesday afternoon of soccer.

Between full slates of La Liga and Serie A games, there's plenty of domestic action to go around, but cup play is also a big part of the day, as the remaining four spots in the Carling Cup quarterfinals will be claimed by day's end.

Sporting 6-1 Gil Vicente Video Highlights Bojinov Capel Van Wolfswinkel Goals is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Sporting 6-1 Gil Vicente Video Highlights Bojinov Capel Van Wolfswinkel Goals is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Sporting CP (Lisbon) vs Gil Vicente 2011 Final score and result:- Sporting vs Gil Vicente 6-1 ( Carrico, Van Wolfswinkel, Capel*2, Bojinov*2) 24 October, 2011- Liga Sagres- Monday Bojinov and Capel score two [.

It may seem strange to see FC Barcelona tied atop the Spanish Premier League standings with Levante, but Lionel Messi and Co. will have their chance to start pulling away from the upstarts by beating fourth-place Sevilla in today's battle of La Liga unbeatens.

Barcelona is just one point ahead of familiar foe Real Madrid, but sitting two points back is Sevilla, which will have hopes of springing an upset today.

Levante extended its best ever start by beating 10-man Malaga 3-0 Sunday for a fifth straight victory that kept it level with Barcelona atop the Spanish league.

In a matchup between the league's lowest payroll and biggest offseason spender, Levante outplayed the revamped Malaga by taking advantage of the visitors' goalkeeping gaffs.

Posiciones La Liga 2011/2012 Fecha 8
Enlace
Ps. Equipo JJ G E P GA GP DF Pts. 1 Barcelona 7 5 2 0 26 4 22 17 2 Levante 7 5 2 0 11 3 8 17 3 Real Madrid 7 5 1 1 24 6 18 16 4 Sevilla FC 7 4 3 0 8 4 4 15 5 Valencia 7 4 2 1 10 7 3 14 6 Málaga 7 4 1 2 10 7 3 13 7 Real Betis 7 4 0 3 10 11 -1 12 8 Atlético Madrid 7 2 3 2 8 6 2 9 9 Real Zaragoza 7 2 3 2 9 13 -4 9 10 Espanyol 7 3 0 4 6 11 -5 9 11 Mallorca 7 2 2 3 6 8 -2 8 12 Real Sociedad 7 2 1 4 7 10 -3 7 13 Villarreal 7 1 4 2 7 11 -4 7 14 Osasuna 6 1 4 1 5 12 -7 7 15 Rayo Vallecano 7 1 3 3 6 11 -5 6 16 Athletic Bilbao 6 1 2 3 7 9 -2 5 17 Getafe 7 1 2 4 6 10 -4 5 18 Granada 7 1 2 4 2 8 -6 5 19 Racing Santander 7 0 4 3 4 12 -8 4 20 Sporting Gijon 7 0 1 6 3 12 -9 1 Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

Adriano's goal leads FC Barcelona past Sporting Gijon (Photo: Getty Images)

After back-to-back 2-2 draws on the road to Real Sociedad and Valencia, Barcelona rebounded with a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to bottom of the table Sporting Gijon, in a result that sees the Catalans ascend to top of La Liga standings.

Adriano's goal at Sporting Gijon on Sunday meant that Pep Guardiola's team set another Spanish League record, chalking up the 24th away game on the run in which they have scored.

Barça equalled the league record away to Valencia, which was previously held by Real Madrid since 1953, when they scored in every away game from week 27 in the 1950/51 season until week 12 in the 1952/53 campaign, recording 6 wins, 7 draws and 10 defeats.

Barcelona moved to the top of La Liga after a hard fought 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon at the Estadio Molinon courtesy of a first half strike by Adriano. The champions were far from their imperious best after a superb 5-0 midweek thrashing of BATE Borisov, but managed to squeeze past a determined Sporting Gijon [.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has kept faith with Chelsea striker Fernando Torres for the Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Czech Republic and Scotland.

Torres did not make the matchday squad for Spain's previous match and his place was under threat from inform Valencia striker Roberto Soldado, who has scored six goals this season.

Tottenham and Arsenal square off today in the latest installment of the North London Derby, one of the world's premier rivalries, and in this case, a battle between teams with similar aspirations of being a Top Four team in the English Premier League.

Tottenham will be favored playing at White Hart Lane, and will look to punish an Arsenal defense that has had its problems in the early season.

Messi and Pique take on Sporting Gijon (Photo: Viktor Drachev/Getty Images)

This Sunday, the "Pep Team" returns to the stadium where they recorded their first La Liga victory in the 2008-2009 season. Some would say that " El Molinón" was where it all started for Guardiola and his players, having thrashed Sporting Gijon 6-1 after a festival of football.

It isn't often that a college soccer game headlines a day's action during the weekend, but today's South Florida/West Virginia tilt has something for all.

Along with being two of the country's top teams, South Florida and West Virginia feature some of the best pro prospects in the nation, with South Florida goalkeeper Chris Blais and West Virginia centerback Eric Schoenle among the most highly-regarded prospects in college soccer.

La Liga heavyweights Barcelona and Real Madrid will want vast improvement when they host Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano respectively on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho's Real in particular need to buck up their ideas if they are to end Barca's three-year stranglehold on the title after dropping more points in an uninspiring 0-0 draw at Racing Santander in midweek following a shock 1-0 defeat at Levante on Sunday.

Photo by Rick Osentoski/ISIphotos.com

Wednesday night represents a big night for MLS teams both in league and CONCACAF Champions League play, but prior to that, a pretty intriguing mid-week slate of European matches takes center stage.

In addition to Spanish powers Real Madrid and Barcelona being in action, some Americans Abroad should take to the pitch as well.

La Liga on ESPN Deportes: Real Madrid - Racing Santander at 2pm. On GolTV: Atletico Madrid - Sporting Gijon at 2pm and Valencia - Barcelona at 4pm. Carling Cup on Fox Soccer Plus: Brighton - Liverpool at 2:30pm and Chelsea - Fulham at 5pm. Serie A on Fox Soccer: Milan - Udinese at 2:30pm. CCL on Fox Soccer and Galavision: Dallas - UNAM Pumas at 8pm and Alajuelense - LA at 10pm.

Nothing like a nice strong, muscular back to focus the mind on a Monday morning, is there, Kickettes? Image: Getty Images/Daylife.

Stunning strikes, howling misses, gargantuan victories and inexplicable defeats litter the results this week. But you don't care about that. You care about the nekkid and the short-tents.