Spanish newspaper Marca has been running extensive news stories and features about Jose Mourinho's exit from Real Madrid for the past week but there still remains much confusion about Mourinho's status within the Santiago Bernabeu. The tabloid first published rumours of Mourinho's departure on Monday, though lacking firm evidence, it stated that President Florentino Perez would negotiate a package for Mourinho in June 2013 as he'd had enough of the Portuguese boss trying to take control of the hierarchy. … [Read more...]
Jose would be welcomed back at the Bridge
He oozes charisma, he's full of confidence and if the young 'hipsters' have a say, he also has 'swag'. Jose Mourinho is Roman Abramovich's ideal manager. Still to this day he probably regrets giving him the boot and it's fair to say Chelsea have never looked like the same force despite the trophies since the 'Special one' left. Pep Guardiola's is the supposed successor to the 'hardest job in football' after Rafa's done the dirty work but he would have been implemented straight away if he wasn't committed to staying on his break in New York. Despite this, it's hard to imagine if Mourinho comes … [Read more...]
Mourinho frustrated by Madrid youth system
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has spoken out against recent criticism concerning the club's Castilla team. The Portuguese boss had come under scrutiny recently because of supposedly blocking aspiring players from the B team from playing in the first team. However, Mourinho has responded to these statements by blaming the club's youth system and Castilla head coach Alberto Toril. The Spanish soccer press had been stirring up accusations all last week accusing Mourinho of buying his way out of trouble and … [Read more...]
Can Atletico really challenge for the title this season?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece documenting the recent rise of Atletico Madrid and their desire to qualify for the Champions League next season. However since then, Atleti's form has been nothing short of scintillating, featuring 8 successive league wins and in Europe the club have been similarly dominant with Radamel Falcao at the helm. Currently level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, Atleti's blistering start has given them reasons to be cheerful amidst rivals Real Madrid's patchy form but can they sustain it throughout the season? … [Read more...]
Barca win late but Real slip up – European round up
Seven La Liga sides were in European action this week with five of them picking up valuable wins in both the Champions League and Europa League. There were no draws between the teams from Spain and anyone else, sadly for Real Madrid who lost to Borussia Dortmund, but one game almost shocked the football world which had remained level up until the dying seconds. Barcelona's narrow victory over Celtic very nearly had the Nou Camp raging but a 94th minute goal from Jordi Alba ensured … [Read more...]
Copa del Rey draw could see El Clasico semi-final
The draw for the latter rounds of the Copa del Rey was made today, setting up a potential semi-final between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Last year the two clubs met at the same stage with Barcelona progressing 4-3 on aggregate and the year before that the two met in the final. To find a season where the top two Spanish clubs didn't meet in the domestic cup you have to go back to the season before (09/10) when neither team made the final and Madrid were wiped away 4-1 on aggregate by third-tier Alcorcon. … [Read more...]
Lionel Messi wins goal of the week with a thunderous strike against Real Madrid
After an exciting weekend of La Liga action in which the shares were spoiled in the all too anticipated El Clasico, we decided that Lionel Messi's second goal - a perfectly placed free kick to take Barcelona into a 2-1 lead in the second half of Barca v Real is our goal of the week. Barca fought back from a one goal deficit after Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho's side in the opening twenty-five minutes. … [Read more...]
Could Ronaldo be set for a shock move back to Old Trafford?
Rumours in the football media and casinos in the UK suggest that Alex Ferguson could be set to make a shock move to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid - although any move would be very unlikely to happen ahead of next summer. At the moment, the chances of Ronaldo heading back to United would represent an outside bet for any sports gambler wanting to wager on the possibility, but there is little question that Ferguson is monitoring the player’s situation very closely. … [Read more...]
Sevilla performance will keep Barca on their toes
David Villa popped up to score late on against 10 man Sevilla on Saturday and maintain Barcelona's 100% record in La Liga and the Champions League this season but only after coming from 2-0 down. Below par for much of the first half and the start of the second, the Catalan club were somewhat lucky to avoid a similar fate as rivals Real Madrid. Amid the poor start from Madrid, who they face next week, Barca had been running away with La Liga and seemed intent on punishing the capital side. Instead Villa's late goal ensured Barcelona exited the game which they could so easily have lost with … [Read more...]
City win temporarily covers dressing room cracks
Major inconsistency has blighted a campaign which appeared destined to go one better than last season for Real Madrid. In spite of recent cup victories over Barcelona and Manchester City, Mourinho's squad remains divided, rarely performing to the pinnacle of their combined abilities, especially in La Liga. Damaging defeats to teams who were once dominated by Ronaldo and co has plagued the beginning to their title defence. Rumours of rows within the team appear on the front pages of Marca almost daily and post-match criticism from Mourinho fuels added animosity. Two weeks ago Cristiano Ronaldo … [Read more...]