Cristiano Ronaldo was the deserved winner of the Ballon d'Or in Zurich last night. As he fought back tears, the Real Madrid wizard described it as “a very emotional moment.” Fifa had produced a very strong shortlist this year: Ronaldo, Barcelona's Lionel Messi (winner on the last four occasions), and Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich. Despite this high quality opposition Ronaldo had been as short as 100 to 1 ON to win the award, and it's not hard to see why. Ronaldo scored an incredible 66 goals in 56 appearances for club and country during 2013, and picking up his second Ballon d'Or cements … [Read more...]
Ballon d’Or: Ronaldo v Messi?
The two greatest players in Spanish football, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, go head to head tonight to see who will be crowned the greatest player in the world. It's an El Clasico being held in Zurich. The Ballon d'Or (or golden ball) is given to the player who has been the world's best player during the previous calendar year. Ronaldo was distraught at missing out to his arch rival Lionel Messi last year, but could this be the year that he snatches it back? La Liga blog assesses the contenders. Ronaldo is the heart beat of the Real Madrid side. He is a formidable striker of the ball, … [Read more...]
Espanyol 0-1 Real Madrid
Real Madrid clinched a vital victory over Espanyol last night to move to within three points of La Liga pacesetters Barcelona and Atletico, but they made hard work of it at the Cornella El Prat stadium. With Atleti and Barcelona playing out a goalless draw on Saturday it presented a real opportunity for Madrid to drag themselves back into the title race. Espanyol are either quite decent or very bad, there's no in-betweens for Javier Aguirre's side. Unfortunately for Madrid they met Espanyol on one of their better nights. Espanyol were resolute at the back, goalkeeper Kiko Casilla was on top … [Read more...]
Barcelona’s Sanchez makes our La Liga team of the week
Enough of Santa’s gifts and all the celebrations that comes with the festive period, the league resumed over the weekend and clubs hit the ground running immediately. At the top, there was certainly no margin for error, and that was very evident in the way Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid dispatched their opponents. … [Read more...]
Osasuna Sign Acuna from Watford
As always in early January there are lots of transfer rumours but little firm action. I have it on very good authority that at least one big name player will be joining an English Premier League club next week – be sure to read www.laligablog.com every day for the confirmation. In the meantime we can reveal a done deal – Javier Acuna has joined Osasuna on loan from Watford. Acuna is a 25 year old Paraguayan who has represented his country at under-20 level. He can pay either as a conventional centre forward or as a winger and has notched 33 goals in 148 career appearances. Acuna … [Read more...]
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Barcelona
It was stalemate at the Vicente Calderon last night as co-leaders Atletico and Barcelona fought out a nil-nil draw in front of a vociferous crowd. Some nil nil draws can be boring fare but this had excitement and flair, it was like a game of chess being played out by grandmasters Diego Simeone and Tata Martino. Barcelona boss Martino surprised many pundits, myself included, by leaving both Neymar and the back from injury Messi on the bench. This news seemed to galvanise Atletico and it was they who took the game to Barca in the early stages. Atleti's Turkish winger Arda was pulling the … [Read more...]
Results Round-Up
There have been five matches in La Liga so far this weekend, with significant results for clubs at both the bottom and top of the Primera Division. Here is the Sunday morning round-up. Athletic Bilbao 6-1 Almeria Ernesto Valverde's Athletic side continued their impressive campaign with a thumping victory over UD Almeria. Bilbao were three goals to the good within half an hour thanks to goals from Rico, Herrera and Laporte. Almeria pulled one back on 34 minutes through on loan midfielder Helder Barbosa but it was a brief respite. Aduriz and Ibai Gomez added further goals after the break before … [Read more...]
Match Preview: Atletico Madrid v Barcelona
Tonight sees the most hotly anticipated game of the La Liga season so far – El Clasico has been knocked, temporarily, off its perch as the eyes of Spain and the footballing world turn to Atletico Madrid v Barcelona. Barca and Atleti sit on top of the La Liga table this morning, five points in front of Real Madrid. They have identical records: both sides have an identical record having won 16, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their games so far. Barcelona are on top thanks to a slightly superior goal difference but that could all change tonight as they travel to the Vicente Calderon. Barcelona are in … [Read more...]
Morata Close To Signing For Arsenal
Arsenal are closing in on a deal to sign Real Madrid's exciting young striker Alvaro Morata – but only until the end of the season. Morata is a 21 year old with huge potential. He has found his chances limited at the Bernabeu, scoring four goals in twenty-four appearances, but he has shone in is his appearances for the Spanish under 21 team – netting twelve goals in eleven outings for his country. Carlo Ancelotti had earlier rebuffed interest from both Arsenal and Liverpool, insisting that the youngster was not for sale at any price, but Morata has been pushing for a move. He expected to be … [Read more...]
Pepe Mel Takes Charge At West Bromwich Albion
Former Real Betis manager Pepe Mel has today become the new head coach of Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion. Steve Clarke had performed wonders with Albion on a limited budget before being sacked on December 14th following a barren start to the season. This is remarkably similar to Mel's record who was himself sacked by Betis in December after eight games without a win despite performing miracles to win them promotion and then gaining them Europa League football. Mel was tipped for the job from the very start but in a strange twist WBA had announced in late December that they … [Read more...]