Spain's reliance on a core of F.C. Barcelona players in Fifa's Confederationa Cup, to maintain their style of play and dominance of the international game, would appear to have set back the doom mongerers that had brought about the end of the Catalan giant' golden era. Not only does la selección boast 9 players in the squad at the World Cup warm up tournament, but 7 are expected to start tonight's final. Facing la Roja tonight will be Dani Alves and the recently signed Neymar, taking Barça's presence in the showpiece up to 11 players. … [Read more...]
Neymar could wear Barcelona jersey for the first time against old club Santos
This week, FC Barcelona confirmed as part of Neymar's high-profile move to Catalonia that they will stage a double header friendly against his old team Santos in the build up to the 2013-2014 season in August. … [Read more...]
Valencia miss out on Champions League – and possibly lose Roberto Soldado
With Valencia’s 4-3 defeat to Sevilla on the last day of the La Liga season, Los Che missed out on a place in next season’s Champions League, being pipped at the post by Real Sociedad. The blow for the Mestalla club is obvious – however the biggest repercussion of Europa League, rather than Champions League football, could well be the departure of star striker Roberto Soldado. … [Read more...]
Falcao, Oligarchs and Super-agents….
So it looks like the world’s most heralded ‘Number 9’ is on his way to the billionaire’s playground that is the Principality of Monaco. Falcao seemingly would have had countless options but it is one of Europe’s new uber-rich clubs that have snared him, going against the grain of the historic superpowers of European football. Do the world’s footballing elite have a lot more options than they once did? Do WAG’s prefer the Carré d’Or to The Trafford Centre? Or does Jorge Mendes literally run the whole of world football?............ … [Read more...]
La Liga’s final day relegation battle
Over the past few seasons the relegation battle between some of Spain's less fashionable clubs (and some esteemed teams too e.g. Villarreal, Racing & Deportivo) has been of greater interest than the fight for the title and this season the scenario is no different. No teams have yet been relegated from the Primera Division, with four sides in with a remarkable chance of staying up or going down with just one game to play. Just two points separate 20th and 17th place as three out of Deportivo, Celta, Zaragoza and Mallorca will ultimately have to endure at least one season of Segunda Division … [Read more...]