The current World and European Champions, Spain, will face France in the Stade de France (Saint Denis) in Paris tonight knowing only a win will do to guarantee them qualification for next year’s World Cup in Brazil. La Roja go into the titanic clash having dropped 2 vital home points, in a 1-1 draw at el Molinón in Gijón, against an un-fancied Finland on Friday evening conceding the leadership of Group I to France, who have a two point advantage after their 3-1 win over Georgia. … [Read more...]
Xabi Alonso Linked With Premiership Return
With his contract due to expire in June of 2014, Xabi Alonso could be one of the highest profile players to exit the Bernabeu should coach José Mourinho seek a new challenge elsewhere this summer. … [Read more...]
What now for David Villa?
Barcelona forward David Villa has been growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of game time he has been awarded under Tito Vilanova this season, perhaps understandingly so – this is, after all, a man who just two years ago was Spain’s top scorer as they lifted the World Cup for the first time since its inception. … [Read more...]
San Jose and Thiago to miss Olympics
Spain's Olympic football hopes have been hit in the last few days due to injuries which will rule out two of their star players. Mikel San Jose has joined Thiago Alcantara on the flight home from the base in Las Rozas as coach Luis Milla prepares to trim his 22 man squad to 18 in the coming days. Athletic Bilbao centre-back San Jose has contracted chicken pox and was forced to leave the training camp urgently to avoid spreading the disease on Monday whilst Thiago is still recovering from a tibia injury. … [Read more...]
The reign in Spain occurs mainly on the pitch
Last night Spain rewrote history as they became the first team to retain the Henri Delaunay trophy and in some style too as they thrashed Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and put forwards their claim to be the best team of all time. Vicente del Bosque's men won their third consecutive major tournament and in an invigorating, attractive way thanks to Silva, Alba, Torres and Mata goals. Spain strode out onto the Olympic Stadium turf riled by growing criticism of their play and a desire to change that. Their dominant and patient traditions of playing had been scrutinised and labelled … [Read more...]
El Clásico – More than a game
Since the 1950's Spanish football has been thoroughly dominated by just two clubs – Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The knock-out format of cup competitions may throw up a surprise winner here and there but La Liga has for a long time been considered a two-horse race. These two clubs have won Spain's Primera Division 52 times between them, with Real's 31 championships leading the way. Barca however just pip Real on total tournament wins with 75 and hold all the current bragging rights, with their recent tournament wins setting them apart in Spain, Europe and the World. So it's no surprise that … [Read more...]
The top 10 La Liga players of the 21st century
In football terms, few would argue that the 21st century has so far belonged to Spain. The national side has risen from the ranks of perennial under-achievers to become undeniably the dominant force in the international game, winning the European Championship and World Cup tournaments in succession. European football fans have drooled over the sublime technical skills of Spanish clubs featuring stellar line-ups of home-grown talent mixed with modern greats of the game. Catalan giants FC Barcelona developed a side which has not only won every possible major honour in club football, but they've … [Read more...]
My Spanish 2012 Olympics Squad
Tickets may not have completely sold out for the Olympic Football event, but once the hype gears into full throttle then you can be sure to see queues from as far away as Cristiano Ronaldo believes he can score from. Accumulating players from 4 countries is no easy feat and a draft of nearly 200 players have been murmured so it's unsurprising for us Brits to be perplexed as to what will materialise come August without a known squad as yet. Spain don't have to deal with that dilemma, and with their Under 21 squad winning the European Championships last year, the country … [Read more...]
How to level the financial playing field in La Liga
The first thing you usually hear when someone mentions La Liga to you is the response: "oh, well, it's just Barcelona and Real Madrid competing every year for the title". And while those two teams are undoubtedly the best in the planet, most football fans would agree that La Liga is not the deepest league. Serie A and the English Premier league have more teams capable of doing well in Europe and going after world class players. Outside of Malaga and the Big Two, we don't see great players going into other teams. Instead we see players like Juan Mata, David Villa, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and … [Read more...]
La Liga Ones to watch – Adrián López
Introducing our brand new 'Ones to Watch' feature where we preview all the most anticipated young talent ahead of the 2011/2012 La Liga season! We begin this feature with the star of this year's Euro under 21 Championships Adrian Lopez Alvarez who was the tournament's top scorer with 5 goals in Denmark last month. … [Read more...]