Real Madrid seems to have found a redemption arc after all came tumbling down following Ronaldo’s departure. To see their foes Atlético Madrid winning LaLiga must be a hard blow on the Merengues, but they weren’t exactly exempt of fault in the entire process. Now, with Carlo Ancelotti, the engineer of the Décima, back on the steering wheel, and Benzema leading the team like a true captain – and arguably one of the best strikers and playmakers in the world – Real Madrid might finally have a true chance to sit on the throne once again. The True Foes Simeone seems to find strategies to win … [Read more...]

The qualifying stages for Euro 2020 are coming to a close, with the final two rounds of games to be played this month. For six nations, their place in next year’s competition is already guaranteed with matches to spare. One of those countries is Spain, who were the latest to qualify following their last-gasp draw against Sweden in October.  At this early stage, UEFA Euro 2020 odds favour Robert Moreno’s side. But there is one key talking point – the lack of players representing Barcelona and Real Madrid. The times are changing and gone are the days that the big two dominate … [Read more...]

The 2019/20 La Liga season is still in its infancy just three games deep but already there are a few sides that have caught the eye for the right reasons and some for the wrong reasons. Two sides who are surprising many with their poor starts are Real Madrid and Barcelona who both surprisingly find themselves out of the top four. That means there may be some opportunity in the La Liga betting this season to gain some unexpected value – but only if you act quickly. However, those two sides often steal the limelight and with the prize of competing in La Liga so great, how have the … [Read more...]

Last summer, Kieran Trippier joined a select group of English players in making the switch to La Liga and signing for Atletico Madrid. The former Tottenham Hotspur man joins a list of ten other footballers to have moved to Spain since 1992, which includes Michael Owen, Jonathan Woodgate, and David Beckham. In the same timeframe, there have been an astonishing 135 Spanish players in the Premier League, highlighting the imbalance between the two leagues. If Trippier finds success in the foreign land, he may influence other English players to take the plunge as well. One of the main … [Read more...]

Liam Brady, Ian Harte, and Kevin Doyle share a bond of nationality and trade: they are all Irish and they were all professional footballers who played ‘abroad’, which is to say in continental Europe or North America; though in my estimation, and contrary to popular consensus, the Premier League is abroad too, a foreign league. Then there is the case of John Aldridge. Yes, he shares the characteristics of the players above, but he went one better - he was the first foreign player to turn out for Basque side Real Sociedad in some decades. The significance of this moment far outstrips that … [Read more...]

In recent years, the league has been all about the ‘big three’ of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. This year, it was no different, although Valencia now appear to be a viable ‘fourth way’ in the short term. Christian Stuani has been on fire this season for Girona. Regardless of whether or not Valencia can continue to perform with such strength, the gap between the top four has been sizeable this season. The distance between the haves and have-nots is further illustrated by William Hill's Champions League odds, which spent a significant time this April declaring Real Madrid … [Read more...]

In Spain, football, as it is commonly known, or in the United States as soccer, is the most popular sport above all others.  With the weather more on the fairer side most of the time, the Spanish national football team triumphed in both training and ended up winning the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and went on to be successful in the UEFA European championship and multiple Olympic tournaments.  The traditional Spanish word for football is actually "futbol." 19th Century “Futbol” Football initially came to the shores of Spain in the late 1900s as an imported game from the British Isles where it … [Read more...]

It was not that long ago that Malaga were supposed to be the next super club set to take over European football with a wealth of investment and promise of future glories. In 2010, then club president Fernando Sanz took to Qatar to seek investment in a club that had spent its entire existence yo-yoing between divisions. Determined to establish Malaga as a force in Spanish football, Sanz struck a deal with sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani in which Al Thani ended up taking over the club and being appoint club president a month after the take-over was completed. Suddenly talk of Malaga … [Read more...]