Category: Spain – La Liga

Super Cup Win Steadies Real Madrid

Two defeats and a home draw in its first three official matches left Real Madrid visibly bitter and frustrated coming into the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup at the Bernabeu. Yet the Merengues showed no lack of confidence…

What’s Behind the Basque Mess?

Athletic Bilbao won fans everywhere last year with a dynamic style of play that always entertained. Led by the mercurial Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, Bilbao featured a great blend of young starlets (Javi Martinez, Iker Muniain) and experienced players (Andoni…

How Does Luka Modric Fit in Madrid?

Real Madrid spent about $42 million to bring the little Croatian to the Bernabeu, so a little bit of thought must have gone into this move. At the moment, it appears that Luka has a comfortable place between Cajellon and…

Race Tightens Across Europe

ENGLAND Manchester United all but sealed a 20th English title as they opened up an eight-point lead over Manchester City with just six games left to play. United beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 at Old Trafford while Mikel Arteta’s goal…

Xavi: Madrid Bad Losers, Animals

Associated Press Sports updated 10:45 a.m. ET Jan. 27, 2012 BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has labeled Real Madrid’s players bad losers and animals after his club won their latest ill-tempered matchup. Barcelona eliminated cup holder Real Madrid…

Another Clasico, Same Result. Madrid Rues Missed Opportunities

Even with a less than stellar performance, Barcelona scraped into the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 4-3 aggregate win over Real Madrid despite letting a two-goal lead slip at Camp Nou and sweating the final quarter hour…

Brotherly Love Gives Way to Hatred

In the 92nd minute of the Classico between Barcelona and Real Madrid, with 100,000 euphoric Catalans celebrating their club’s historic performance and 5-0 demolition of the eternal rival, Leo Messi surged forward one final time, ball at his feet. From…

BARCELONA – madrid 5-0

A historical Clasico yesterday at Nou Camp revealed the enormous disparity of class between the best football team of all time and an individualistic group of mercenaries, between a club that operates with elegant collective purpose and a disjointed band…

Derby Week-End, Messi Hurt

A mid-September week-end loaded with marquee match-ups was somewhat overshadowed by Leo Messi’s injury, scarier than in actuality, an injury that came in the final moments of Barcelona’s away win at Atletico Madrid as the little man was trying to…

Elegant Demolition

Some people paid three, four thousand dollars to get to Johanessburg in July and to witness the World Cup pinnacle between Spain and Holland, a great final on paper that failed to meet expectations in terms of spectacle. By comparison,…

Roundabout

A week-end of surprises, none greater than Barcelona’s result on Saturday, pointed to potentially more balanced competition in the 2010-2011 campaigns, particularly in Serie A, Ligue 1 and in the Bundesliga. A look at the early season standings in Germany…

A Look at the Top Summer Transfers

Summer break has come to an end, as fall is fast approaching with La Liga, Serie A and the Premiership once again taking center stage. Clubs had until August 31 to make their final moves to strengthen rosters, so this…

Summer Swings

Believe it: the 2010-2011 European season is right around the corner with the Premiership set to kick off on August 14, while domestic competitions have already begun in a number of countries. With the World Cup taking up half of…

Mourinho Arrives in Madrid

The word “saga” gets thrown around loosely among Anglo-American journalists, often in an effort to create a buzz about an unremarkable story, but the Mourinho episode during the past week correctly merits this designation. The “saga” ended today with the…