Spanish Soccer Blog, La Liga & More

Moudrid Should Bench Their Bipolarity

2011-02-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

This year there have been 2 different Real Madrid teams. The uncertain, unconvincing Real Madrid that has trouble scoring without referee assistance and a fast, powerful squad that robs the ball in the midfield and charges towards goal with incredible velocity over and over again. You could call it the Madrid del Mourinhato vs. the Once de la Alegria

Madrid del Mourinhato showed it's head early in the season, from Madrid's preseason games in July (and narrow win over the LA Galaxy in August) until the end of September.

In October, the Once de la Alegria exploded onto the scene. Madrid started blowing out lesser competition with 6-0 score lines. They were impressive and many, including me, thought they were the best Real team in the last 12-14 years. But then they ran into Barcelona.

Barcelona's 5-0 drubbing of Real showed the weakness of the Merengues and set them back for at least 2 months. Madrid didn't immediately lose to many points - but they should have. There were numerous games when Mourinhato Madrid made the most of it's Most-Favored-Team status with the arbitros. Even in the games that they won Mourinhato Madrid looked horrible. At the midpoint in the season, Villareal was playing much better than Madrid.

Recently, victories over Real Sociedad, Levante and especially over Espanyol (when Iker Casillas was sent off in minute 2) made it seem like the Once de la Alegria was back. Now with a new striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, they'd be able to keep pace with world-beating Barcelona.

I don't think that's the case. There are still too many problems in the Casa Blanca (the White House) of Madrid. In my mind if the Merengues want to make a league of it, they need to stick with their best personnel. Here's what they need to do.

Always start Emmanuel Adebayor. Keep Benzema on the bench. The team plays much better with Adebayor on the field.
Keep Kaka on the bench. He's got horrible form and his presence means a valuable Real playmaker (Ozil, Di Maria, Granero) will have less opportunity. Addition by subtraction here.
Generate free kicks for CR7. His goals from balon parado are crucial for Madrid to get the lead and keep it.
Play Marcelo. Whether as Left Back or in the midfield, he's one of Real's most dynamic players and he opens the field for everyone else.
Always play Xabi Alonso. No one else can give form to the attack the same way.
Give Pepe some tranquilizers instead of stimulants before the game. As long as Pepe can keep his cool, the center of Madrid's defense, with Pepe and Carvalho, is solid. When the bald baller loses his head, he's a liability to his team.
Stop diving and whining. Play soccer.

That's it. I think if Mourinho stuck with the personnel mentioned above, he'd keep the "alegria." Switch it up to try to rotate players in and Real's title hopes will go up in smoke. Every time Madrid has tried to rotate, they've paid the price the poor play. They might win more than their fair share thanks to the refs, but that won't be enough to win titles.

Here's a lighthearted pop-up video view of the acting that regularly takes place in the Mourinhato

Adebayor: Mourinho's Best Mid-Season Signing

2011-02-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Jose Mourinho knew it from the start. He needed another striker. At the beginning of the year, he had the opportunistic Argentine Gonzalo Higuain and a talented-but-lazy Karim Benzema. When Higuain went down, Mourinho must have strung together a string of Portuguese-accented-Spanish curses to make the Virgin Mary's ears ring.

Mourinho had known he needed another striker and now his worst fears were confirmed. He must have made Sporting Director Jorge Valdano's ears ring as well. Throughout the first month of the transfer period, Mourinho repeatedly brought up the need for a striker in the press. The Special One is not shy, so I can only imagine that he did the same in person.

Finally, the executives at Real Madrid listened to Mourinho, they brought in Emmanuel Adebayor and he's been a bargain.

Adebayor has a lot of qualities that make him good for Real: he's fast, he's a big target, he hustles, he's usually in very good position, he finishes well and he doesn't try to do too much.

In fact, his last quality may be his most valuable. Watch Adebayor play and you'll see that in 80-90% of balls played to him, he keeps the play going. This is in stark contrast to Karim Benzema, who is often nowhere to be found or who will blow a clear shot on goal.

By keeping plays alive, the tall (6'4") Togolese creates more opportunities for CR7, Di Maria and Ozil. With players of this quality, that's a winning proposition.

Adebayor is usually in good position, too. He sets up onside with his back to goal where he can turn and shoot or easily set up the pull-back for one of Madrid's fine forwards or midfielders. He's no Ronaldo (Nazario da Lima) and he knows it; if he gets the ball too close to midfield with numerous defenders back in coverage, he passes off and let's Xabi Alonso, Ozil or CR7 advance the pelota.

Finally, Adebayor can score! The tall man has the cool confidence to put the ball in the back of the net. He's not afraid of success. And, with CR7 and Di Maria serving him opportunity after opportunity, that's a good thing.

I'm not sure which Madrid executive made the decision to sign Adebayor, but I'm going to give the credit to Jose Mourinho. If I was at Real, I'd listen to the Special One and sign Adebayor for years to come. Then, I'd start him every game until Higuain comes back. Personally, I think it's Madrid's only hope for a title.

Barcelona 3 - Atletico de Madrid 0: Too Many Superlatives

2011-02-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

Barcelona erased Atletico from the field of play Saturday night and set yet another record in the process. Barca have won 16 straight in the league - a record that trumps the record of 15 straight wins set by the Real Madrid of Di Stefano's era. Considering that La Liga is a much more competitive place in today's era, that's an amazing record.

Last year's Barcelona set it's fair share of records, yet I still felt that the Barca of the 08-09 season, Pep Guardiola's first, was the best Barca ever - and best soccer club ever. The trident of Messi, Eto'o, and Henry was just too effective for me to rate an Ibrahimovic-led Barca higher. Then came the 2010-2011 season.

This season's FC Barcelona is the best soccer club I've ever seen. They're rolling over strong, effective clubs as if they didn't exist. Somehow it seems that they're playing on cruise control, as if they were the Harlem Globetrotters sent to put on show against the local team from Bufu, Renada - population 2,106. They've already broken their share of records and they're sure to break more.

Here are a few other things that are amazing about this year's FC Barcelona club:

Their powerful trident of Messi, Villa and Pedro has 50 goals in the Spanish league - more than Real Madrid's 48 - which is the second most prolific team in the league.
Messi, Villa and Pedro have scored 76 goals in all competitions and are on pace to wipe away the record of 100 set over the course of a whole season by Messi, Eto'o and Henry.
Every (non-goalkeeper) player on Barcelona has scored this year with the exception of Javier Mascherano. It's a good bet that he'll score sooner or later this year.
Barca's second team: the one that includes Pinto, Adriano, Maxwell, Milito, Mascherano, Thiago, Afellay, Bojan and Nolito - is amazing. They're playing almost as well as the starting lineup.The ability to make rotations with a relatively small squad is one of the greatest strengths of this club.

Fernando Torres Now Plays For Chelsea

2011-02-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

You probably already know that Fernando Torres was transferred from Liverpool to Chelsea. It was, without a doubt, the blockbuster signing of the winter.

European newscast have bubbled over with scenes of fans purchasing blue jerseys with the number 9 on the back. Just in case you didn't know how excited Chelsea fans were about this transfer, one fan has made a song about it. To the tune of Frankie Valli's, "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" here's the Fernando Torres Song.

Oh, be sure to read the comments - they're almost as entertaining as the song.

This Is Not A Goal: Real Madrid 1 - Sevilla 0

2011-01-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

This is not a goal - at least not when you play against Real Madrid. The referees annulled this clear score at the end of the first half of Wednesday's Copa del Rey (King's Cup) match up in Sevilla. Madrid's 12th man strikes again. They are clearly the most helped team in Spain's La Liga.

A Memo Recieved, Tactics Changed and Other Thoughts on the 18th Jornada.

2011-01-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

2011 is here and La Liga is fully back from winter vacation. The return to action and focus showed in some of the games of the 18th week. Here are some thoughts on a few of them.

After their 2 games with Athletic, some dared to call Barcelona boring. They clearly heard about this in practice this week and their transitions from defense to offense were much quicker. Watch the goals here and you'll see that 2 of their goals originate in (or close to) there own half with just a few passes before the goal. Iniesta's goal comes from a quick transition from defense to offense and a shot from outside the box. This was a much more direct Barca.
Fans in La Coruna gave Iniesta a standing ovation as he went off. It's January and Spanish fans still celebrate a club player who plays against them. Can you think of a more beautiful display of patriotism and love of football?

Christian Ronaldo,WTF? CR7/9 has 22 goals in 18 games! Your average superstar would be excited to score 22 goals in 38 Liga matches. Ronaldo is a one-man wrecking crew.
More than any of his predecessors on the Real bench, Jose Mourinho has mental flexibility. Faced with a Villareal that was running circles around him a-la-Barcelona, Mourinho flipped the script, went with 3 defenders, sent Marcelo and Di Maria up the wings beefed up the Madrid vertebrae and took away possession from the men in yellow.
Can anyone really expect to beat Real Madrid at home with the refs on their side? Penalties missed, offsides not called and card after card shrugged off because Real intimidates the referees. This out-of-balance favoritism damages the image of La Liga and is a disservice to a team with the players and coaching (see above) to win on their own.

What would it take to get Villareal to beat the Madrids and Barcelonas of the world? Would one major star, say a forward, do it? How many Champion's League matches would they need to win to afford that star?

Does Athletico de Madrid need a new coach, new players or a really, really good sports psychologist? They were beat 4-1 by Hercules and look to be returning to their mid-table ways despite a strong start.

Malaga is buying players by the dozen - well, almost. Since being purchased by Sheik Abdullah Bin-Nasser Al-Thani of Qatar, they've picked up Sergio Asenjo, Enzo Maresca, Martín Demichelis, Julio Baptista and they're talking about Emmanuel Adebayor, and Diego Buonanotte. They're under direction of Manuel Pellegrini and are being called the Manchester City of the Costa del Sol. The players and coach are here but when do the wins arrive?

You don't have to wait until Saturday for the action this week. Wednesday's matches include Villareal-Sevilla and Barcelona-Betis. Thursday's matches feature Real Madrid - Athletico Madrid and Almeria - Deportivo.

The season is heating up, here are the goals from the Madrid-Villareal game.

Stalemate and Fresh Comeback

2011-01-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

A hard-fought stalemate and a spectacular comeback highlighted the last round of the Copa del Rey. As the King's Cup arrives at it's quarterfinals, only 2nd-division Real Betis resembles a cinderella story. Yet as the magic of an underdog fairy tale disappears, the stage is set for the hype of a battle of the titans.

The most evenly matched ties were the ones I was most looking forward to: Barcelona - Athletic and Valencia - Villareal. (Upon reflection of the score, the Mallorca - Almería draw was rather even as well.) The Barca - Athletic match turned into a hard-fought stalemate while the battle of the killer Vs (they'll sting ya!) started slow but yielded fireworks.

Athletic de Bilbao plays with more heart than almost anyone in Spain's first division, so I wasn't surprised that they corked Barcelona's prolific offense. The Basque defense held strong the first match to salvage a 0-0 tie in Camp Nou.

Athletic's hustle looked to be paying dividends in their home tie as well as they stifled Xavi, Messi and co.for most of the match. Unfortunately for them, Eric Abidal, who had never scored for Barcelona, ended his drought putting a ball into the back of the San Mames net. Athletic fought back valiantly, tying the game at 1 on Llorente's goal. Unfortunately, they couldn't get a second goal and Barcelona advanced on away goals. (In the event of a tie after 2 matches, the team with more away goals goes through to the next round.)

The Valencia - Villareal matchup was more enticing and more rewarding. Valencia and Villareal are local rivals separated by a mere 65km on Spain's East Coast. Valencia is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia. Villareal is a virtual suburb of Castellon, a city which serves as the capital of one of the community's sub regions. Think parental-favorite big brother, Valencia, meets younger, more financially successful sibling, Villareal.

This matchup started slowly with a 0-0 draw in Valencia. Things looked good for Los Che when they went up 2-0 in Villareal going into halftime. Then the tide changed. A thrilling start to the second half saw Villareal get 2 goals in 3 minutes. Once on top, the men in yellow played the pretty football that has put them third in the Spanish league to win convincingly. There's some beautiful goals here, so this is our video of the post.

There were several other interesting matches in octavos de final. Real Madrid pounded modest Levante 8-0 to equal Barcelona's total against Almeria in league play. Madrid lost 0-2 in the away leg but the game was meaningless.

Almeria made themselves the sentimental favorite of the tournament, winning 4-3 in both their home and away legs. This despite their lowly position in the La Liga table (currently tied for last in La Liga).

Sevilla went through with a flurry of goals against Malaga, winning their home match 5-3 and then mopping up 3-0 in Malaga.

The last round also served up a tie between the league's vice royalty, Espanyol - Athletico de Madrid (the alternative teams in Barcelona and Madrid respectively). Kun Aguero made the difference and Athletico goes through to the next round.

Here's where things get good. Athletico went through only to meet in-town rivals Real Madrid. The colchoneros are over matched by Mourinho's squad but they should still deliver passionate, fast-paced football. I'm looking for Flores' attack-minded squad to liven up Mourinho's typical defensive cup stance.

Perhaps even better will be the Villareal - Sevilla draw. As mentioned above, Villareal is playing heroic football. They are probably the best team per Euro (dollar) in Spain. Sevilla hasn't managed to solidify their back line since the coaching changes of late last season (and early this season) but they can score. Look for Kanoute and O Fabuloso, Luis Fabiano, to make this one interesting.

The winner of the Villareal-Sevilla match plays the winner of the Madrid derby.

On the other side of the table, Barcelona plays Betis in a rematch of the Ronaldinho era Supercopa. They'll play the winner of Deportivo - Almeria.

If the favorite wins through in each draw, and they should, the final will be between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It could be one of 4 Clasicos in April and May. Get ready for a wild Spring.

See Soccer In The Movies In Goal II: Living The Dream.

2010-12-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

I just saw Goal II: Living The Dream. Despite its wild inaccuracies, it was a highly entertaining movie that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any soccer fan.

I had seen the original Goal: The Dream Begins but I didn't realize the sequel had come out. Where Goal I is more of a feel-good, poor-boy-from-the-streets-(of the U.S. via Mexico)makes-good story; Goal II explores the darker side of stardom as protagonist Santiago Muñez hits the big time with Real Madrid.

Goal II also gives you much greater access to the stars of the game and the surroundings of a top-flight club. Steve McManaman was brought on as an associate producer and offered access to the Real training facilities, locker room and even the field of Santiago Bernabeu. Awesome!

As if access to the players and field weren't enough there are appearances by many of the top stars of the game. The Galacticos of Real Madrid make numerous appearances with David Beckham and Steve McManaman getting significant screen time. The locker room scene in Bernabeu is highly realistic but awesome nonetheless! Imagine kicking the ball around before the game with a happy Roberto Carlos, Zidane and Beckham. That's cool (even if you're not fan of Los Bancos)!

The game action looks much more realistic than the first movie. Real games footage has been blended with footage of our movie heroes so that it looks like Santiago Muñez and Gavin Harris are really receiving passes from or setting passes up for Raul, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham.

The on-ball moves might be a bit overdone but the dramatic effect doesn't ruin the movie.

One thing that bothers me bit more is that real games been re-worked with the magic of effects to be the reverse of their actual results. The opening scene shows Barcelona beating Real in Bernabeu 3-0. It's the game where Ronaldinho earned a Golden Ball and Bernabeu applauded his genius. It's the last real game you'll see.

When Real plays a Champion's League Final against Arsenal it's actually their first-elimination round against Arsenal from the 2006 Champion's League. For some reason Nic Cannon is added as an Arsenal forward. Real playing in the Champion's League final in 2006? Nic Cannon giving the Real defense fits? I guess they couldn't put Muñez on 2006 Barca because there's no way he'd break into the lineup.

Another plus for Goal II is the appearance of Leonor Varela as Spanish report Jordana Garcia.if you remember being impressed Job's girlfriend in Season 1 of Arrested Development, you'll enjoy seeing her here. I'd love to see here in more movies.

So check out Goal II at your favorite movie purveyor or you could probably even watch it (in poor definition) on YouTube.
Part 1
Part 2
You get the idea...

If you don't want to start watching the whole movie on YouTube, here's the trailer. Enjoy!

Real Madrid: The Whiners That Cried Ref! (Madrid El Equipo Mas Lloron De La Liga)

2010-12-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

So Jose Mourinho thinks that the referees were unfair to Real Madrid. Awww! Ooh boo!

I feel terrible for Jose and his team. Clearly there is a referee conspiracy against the merengues. In fact, the whole league is probably against them. And, we all know about the governments historic sabotage of Madrid!

Bullshit!

That's right, I'm going to pull the bullshit card on this one. The fact of the matter is, I haven't seen any team in La Liga that has been as coddled, if not illegally favored by the referees of the Spanish league.

Madrid isn't satisfied to be the nina of the referees ojos, they heap it on by whining about how the refs are mistreating them. What a bunch of spoiled cry babies.

Remember when Rafa Van der Vaart played volleyball with a pass in front of goal? He put both hands on the ball and literally setting it to his foot. Sporting had been winning 1-0 (in Bernabeu) and the Madrid goal totally changed the course of the game.

I've seen few more ridiculous referee calls in soccer (although Thierry Henry's France vs. Ireland handball fits the bill) but its indicative of the game-changing calls in their favor that Los B(l)ancos regularly get.

This is just one of many examples of the rampant favoritism that the referees show Madrid. Have you watched Madrid in the last 10 years? Remember when they went from Galacticos to Iker y los diez tontos (Iker Casillas and the ten fools - a term coined by a Madrid fan)? There was game after game when San Iker repeatedly saved his team with spectacular saves while Los Blancos played horribly. Then, just when you thought Sevilla, Almeria, Athletic, Gijon, Getafe, Osasuna, Valladolid or whoever, were finally going to beat Madrid, the refs would come to the rescue. I'm sure every Spanish team has their share of these examples.

Here's another example taken over the course of a season.

Want more? How about Pepe's shameless mauling of Getafe's Casquero (at the end of last season)?

I realize that you could probably find unflattering examples of the play of any top team if you looked long and hard enough. Still, you'll find more examples from Madrid. Don't believe me? Watch their games. You'd have to be delusional not to see that Real not only get more than their share of preferential treatment from the refs but intentionally try to injure players on occassion.

Even so, I wouldn't even bring this up if it weren't for the constant whining about referees that comes out of Madrid from both the Real organization but also Marca, the propaganda wing of Madrid (to be fair to Marca, they clearly love soccer and produce a very entertaining paper - day in and day out). Real's delusional supporters remind me of right-wing talking heads in the U.S., railing against the dangers of the mainstream media - it's so ridiculous it would be laughable - except that some people believe this BS.

To sum up: Madrid - quit your pathetic whining and play soccer - you have an incredible roster, one of the world's best coaches and more money than a US-government-bailed-out investment banker. Shut up and play!

What Soccer Game Should I Watch?

2010-12-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

Looking for a soccer game to watch early in the week of December 19th? If you like goals, try the Stuttgart - Bayern Munich game from the German Bundesliga.

I usually don't watch many games from the Bundesliga but I stumbled on this game on ESPN Deportes. It was a highly entertaining part of this nutritious breakfast. I won't tell you what the score was or even tell you what happened; but I will say that you won't see many games with more goals. (Warning, do not watch this game if defensive errors and bad goalkeeping make you angry.)

Enjoy!

Real Madrid - Sevilla: This is ugly

2010-12-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

The game is still in progress, but so far this game isn't very pretty.

Madrid have made more chances but you'd be hard-pressed to say they're playing well.

Di Maria dived like Greg Louganis in the 60th minutes but unlike most Madrid games, the ref called him on his bull - he got a Yellow.

Sevilla had a shot to go up 1-0 but Negredo missed a clear shot.

Now Madrid is down to 10 because Carvalho got a second yellow.

Despite the disadvantage, a horrible lack of positioning by Sevilla keeper Palop, led to the Madrid goal.

More when the game is over.

Espanyol 1 - FC Barcelona 5: The Catalan Derby Crowns An In-form Barca

2010-12-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

I was impressed when Barcelona erased Real Madrid from the field of play with a 5-0 win. I wasn't surprised when they followed that up with a 5-0 victory over Real Sociedad, but it did confirm their superb form. Yet there is no greater proof of Barcelona's transcendent, world-beating football than their victory over in-town rival, Espanyol.

Don't let Espanyol's humble history and position in the league fool you - they play Barcelona tougher than anyone except Real. And in recent years they've given Barcelona more trouble than Real.

Going into the game, Barca and the Periquitos (parakeets - read one opinion on the name here) had played 76 league games with the Blue-and-Whites as the home team. 25 games resulted in wins for Espanyol. 25 resulted in ties and 26 saw Barca win.

Espanyol even gave Rijkaard's superb Barcelona team fits. They regularly dulled the brilliance of an in-form Ronaldinho and in 2007, their 2-1 victory so frustrated Rijkaard that he broke the plexiglass of the dugout bench!

Expectations were so high that Real players openly spoke of catching and passing Barca in the league tables after the Blaugrana fell to Espanyol.

Even Guardiola complimented Espanyol.

Hay equipos que te esperan y otros que te vienen a buscar. El Espanyol es de esos que te vienen a buscar. Su entrenador ha creado una predisposición my buena. Salen muy bien con el balón, sobre todo con Víctor Ruiz. Me siento muy cercano al juego que plantea, me gusta" "Pochettino es uno de los mejores entrenadores de la Liga, viéndole se aprende mucho."

There are teams that wait for you and other that come looking for you. Espanyol is one of the these that comes looking for you. Their coach has created a very good predisposition (attitude). They come out well with the ball, especially with Victor Ruiz. I feel very close to the game that they set forth. Pocchettino is one of the best coaches in the league, seeing him one learns a lot.

So to see Barcelona not only win against Espanyol but thoroughly crush them was very impressive.

Clearly, Barcelona is firing on all cylinders. Pedro and Villa are finding the back of the net at will. Up front, Messi, Pedro and Villa understand each other. They're perfectly setting up the walls, runs into space, searching passes and powerful long-range shots that Barca needs to create to win. It's a thing of beauty.

As if the front 3 weren't good enough, the midfield, especially Xavi, is performing at an amazing level too. Xavi is not only unlocking defenses but scoring critical goals. His goal against Espanyol was an exclamation point on the amazing personal form he's been enjoying.

After this truly impressive victory, I'm beginning to wonder how many consecutive games Barcelona can string together with 5 or more goals. We'll find out. Until then, enjoy the video!

Questions about the Spanish League Going Into 2011.

2010-12-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Does anybody play better football/dollar than Villareal?
Is Real Madrid's locker room really in disarray?
How long will it take Christiano Ronaldo to piss off everyone around him?
Who will Real sign to lead the line when Higuain is out? Why haven't they signed someone yet?
How long will it take Mourinho to get sick of everyone in Madrid? What will his next challenge be?
Will Real and Barca play 4 times this spring?
Is Barcelona really considering the sale of Iniesta for 85mil?
Will Barca's debts hamstring the best team ever?
Will Atletico ever get their act together?
Why don't people give Kanoute more credit?
When will Sevilla get another coach worth his salt?
How much fun will it be to see Raul come back to Spain {on Schalke) and play Valencia?
Does Pellegrini wish he had never left Villareal? How much of a letdown is coaching Malaga?
Will Operacion Galgo and Operacion Puerto knock on La Liga's door?

I'll take on a few of these questions in the days to come.

Ready For World Cup In Brasil?

2010-12-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

Oh Hell Yeah! Let's start getting excited about this now. No one parties like Brasil. I'm going to this World Cup. Here's a video from Brasilian MC Extraordinaire Carlinhos Brown getting the crowd psyched.

Enjoy!

Is Atletico Back?

2010-12-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Atletico de Madrid had a roaring start to the season, winning the European Cup Winner's Cup (between the winner of the Champion's League and the Europa League)and their first Liga match with in a 4-0 drubbing of Sporting de Gijon. They stayed in first place for the next jornada but ran into Barcelona in week 3. Since then they've had an up-and-down season - but it's been mostly down.

Atletico has recently lost to bottom of habitual bottom dwellers Levante and Alemeria. They're on the verge of elimination in the Europa League too, where they face group-leader (and second in the Bundesliga) Bayern Leverkusen. To advance, they need to tie their way game at Leverkusen while Aris loses at home. So why are they suffering so much?

Atletico de Madrid has an amazing squad. Forlan, Aguero, Simao, Tiago, Reyes, Raul Garcia, Fran Merida, Ujfalusi, Perea, Filipe Luis, Godin and De Gea are all high-quality players. Many of them feature on their national teams and Forlan just picked up his Golden Ball from the World Cup.

Atletico's coach, Quique Sanchez Flores, has a proven track record of success, having taken Valencia to third in the league and deep into the Champion's League. So why the bad recent results.

I'm not sure what caused their recent downward run but they looked good against Deportivo. The game was open where apparently nothing was challenged in the midfield (at least in the second half). Atletico and Deportivo traded runs.

Atletico had more inspiration though. Kun Aguero scored 2 spectacular goals to take the colchoneros to victory. I hope Kun is back because he's a spectacular talent. If he gets his act together, this team can be amazing.

C'mon Atletico, mount a challenge.

Here are the highlights:

Matchups In The Spanish League This Weekend

2010-12-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

As we come out of our post-Derbi (Clasico) hangover we've got some exciting match-ups to keep us stoked on Spanish soccer.

Real Madrid vs. Valencia: (Saturday, 10pm Sp) This should be a lot of fun.
Madrid is doubly wounded by their brutal beating on Monday and by the absence of Higuain and Sergio Ramos. Valencia is on a roll, having gone 4-0-1 in their last 5 games. Valencia typically score a lot of goals - unfortunately, they don't (typically) defend very well. Will this be an offensive pitch-burner?
Villareal - Sevilla (Sunday 5:00pm Spanish time)
A match up of arguably the 3rd and 4th best teams in the Spanish League. Both teams have superb rosters. I think Villareal's home-field advantage and superior coach will carry them to victory.
Real Sociedad - Athletic Bilbao (Sunday 7:00pm Spanish time)
The Basque derbi - enough said! Pais Vasco is a small region (or country, depending on your point of view) with a lot of intense sporting fans. They passionately feel their team's colors. I don't think Athletic has ever signed a non-basque player. Real Sociedad has signed foreign players and many fans blame the teams lack of success (early this decade) on the betrayal of local talent. This will be good.
Osasuna - Barcelona (Saturday, 8:00pm Sp)
Meh! Osasuna will play tough, rugby-like defense, Barcelona will probably squeak by with a victory. I'm not too excited about this game.

I leave you with this video of a 1984 Real-Athletic derbi until the action starts. Complete with techno to augment the retro action, it's awesome!

Barcelona Vs. Anti-Barca.

2010-12-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

When Barcelona and Real Madrid met on November 29th, 2010, it was a meeting of the best team in Spanish football and an excellent team that wanted to usurp that title. It was a meeting of almost diametrically opposed styles of play and football philosophies: offense with possession vs. defense and counterattack. When the smoke cleared, only one team was left standing; Barcelona, with its eye-catching total football, was once again on top - by a wide margin. The reason for this continued dominance is the same for the success of many sporting and non-sporting organizations: the clarity of its ideas and the subsequent superb execution of these ideas that makes Barcelona the world's best football team.

When asked for comment on his victory, Barca coach Pep Guardiola had this to say, "I want to dedicate this victory to Rexach and Cruyff because they are the ones that showed us the path. This is the victory of everyone in these 15 years who has believed in this way of playing. (Quiero dedicar esta victoria a Rexach y Cruyff porque son los que nos enseñaron el camino esta es la victoria de todos los que en estos 15 años han creído en esta forma de jugar al fútbol)." The comment, like the team's football, was spot on.

Barcelona has been perfecting the ability to play offensive, interchangeable-player, ball-control football since (at least) Cruyff became head coach of the team. They inculcate it in their youth team as soon as they can put on a blue-and-red-striped jersey. Perhaps they start even earlier. Guardiola has said on multiple occasions that Barca's players have offensive football in their DNA.

Barcelona always plays attacking soccer and everyone knows it. In case you didn't, Guardiola reiterated before the game, "Mourinho knows what we'll come out and attack them, we'll be who we are: Barça. (Mourinho sabe que saldremos a atacarles, seremos lo que somos. El Barça.)

If Barcelona's style is to attack: Mourinho's style has traditionally been the exact opposite: keep your own goal at zero, the rest is a bonus. He is the master of the Champion's League, where a 2nd match tie or even minimal loss can get a team to advance. No one remembers the name of the general who lost to Pyrrhus, yet Mourinho has elevated the loss-to-advance to an art form. To do this he often plays anti-futbol or extremely defensive football.

The tactic worked to perfection against Barcelona last year. Debate the merits of Inter advancing on numerous questionable calls (annulled goals, questionable offsides, etc.) if you will, but Mourinho's tactics worked to perfection in Inter's home leg, where they outworked Barcelona and lethally counterattacked, and then held off the offensive juggernaut in Barcelona, when Inter "parked the bus" in front of goal in order to lose by only 1 point. Given this tie and others from Mourinho's resultadista career and you'd expect him to try to write defensive football into Real Madrid's DNA. Except that he can't do that.

Real Madrid fans want a spectacle as much as any other soccer fan - perhaps more. They're Spanish, raised on the football of Di Stefano, La Quinta del Buitre and recently reminded of good football by their world-cup winning team. They have an expectation that Madrid will dominate opposing teams with regal authority embodied in their name (Real means royal in Spanish). So, I'm sure Mourinho has had several lectures from management about playing offensive football. To his credit, Real has played spectacularly, with what Guardiola called, "the best counterattack in the world."

Until the clasico, Madrid was the most prolific team in La Liga, winning 10 games, with 2 draws. They scored 33 goals to their opponents 6! They pressed high, got the ball back early and their counter attacks were lightning-quick (I believe I saw one opposing coach say that the counter attacks te revientan, or blow you away). Their defense was rock solid and Iker Casillas barely had a chance to touch the ball. So, as they entered the Clasico, which team were they?

Madrid's uncertainty, met by Barcelona's unshakable certainty, was the reason for the lopsided 5-0 score.

Some analysts have claimed that Mourinho lost the game for Madrid with his tactical disposition and minimal changes. I don't agree. Proponents of this theory will cite Mourinho's errors as playing his defensive line too high and not playing the recuperating Gonzalo Higuain. They see Mourinho's lack of defensive planting at the outset as the key to the game. That was only part of the problem.

It was Madrid's players that failed as much as the coach did, because neither was sure what to do. Mourinho isn't used to coaching an offensive team and his players aren't used to playing Mourinho-ball - either version 1.0 or 2.0. With 4 coaches in the last 3 years, they can hardly be expected to have subconsciously mastered a system the way Barcelona has. This showed on the field.

The Merengues weren't sure how to initiate and maintain their quick strike offense in the face of a team that plays its own offense so well. Barcelona doesn't give the ball back. Once they have it, your best chance to get the ball back is for Barca to miss their shot on goal.

Madrid didn't run and press enough to be able to get the ball back otherwise. The distinct lack of hustle from Madrid was possibly the biggest reason that Madrid lost so badly. The teams that have given Barcelona problems in the last year have left their heart and lungs on the field. Watch Inter's effort in Milan or Kobenhavn's recent effort. These two teams gave Barcelona fits because they didn't allow the blaugrana passing game to get started. Without that effort, Madrid was stuck "chasing ghosts" around Camp Nou.

When Madrid did get the ball back, they didn't know what to do with it. They aren't built to attack from their own goal so much as to counterattack. So, when the ball comes from Casillas, what do we do? Before their players had a chance to say, "Me cago en la puta" they had two Barca defenders on them. And, when Barca got the ball back Madrid was stuck chasing ghosts again.

Barcelona was all to ready for the Madrid counterattack, too. Alves and Abidal played in offensive check all game and Barcelona got back quickly in ordered fashion to meet the few Real advances.

Barcelona played their game to perfection by any stretch of the imagination. It's never easy to beat any team 5-0 - even a team from the Segunda B. Beating Real Madrid by such a convincing scoreline should and will go down in history.

By any statistic you want view, Barcelona played perfectly. Xavi made 97% of his passes (see below), Barcelona outpassed Madrid by almost 3-1, their efficiency on goal was almost a goal every 3 shots. It was as if there was only one team on the field. That's not easy to do whatever the extenuating circumstances.

Barcelona could have scored more. If Messi's shot doesn't hit the post, if some of the early runs aren't ruled offsides, if Messi doesn't get run over by Carvalho in the second half; then Barcelona would have come out with more than 5. It's my impression that Guardiola's disciples took their collective foot off the gas after the 4th goal, too. They knew that Madrid was incapable of fighting back, so they didn't pile on the goals. (Don't believe me? Watch from about minute 65 - minute 90.)

This is a victory that Barca fans can savor for years to come. Will it win Barcelona La Liga? Probably not, but it is an amazing achievement and validation of attractive, attacking soccer.

Will Mourinho's Madrid ever be able to match Barcelona? I think at some point they will. The quality of their players and coach is too high not to mount a challenge. But that challenge won't reach maturity until Real know how they want to play. Do they want to play defensive anti-football, attractive offensive football or some combination of the two? When they reach a conclusion from the President down and give their players enough time to learn that style subconsciously, then they'll mount a challenge.

Until then, the victor and champion is Barcelona.

And, until then, I hope you enjoy this artistic, dramatic video. My favorite part comes at about 4:45 where they shoot close on the feet of the Barca players so you can see how well they keep the ball close at speed. I couldn't like this more (except for the end where the Madridistas turn on their players).

Best Goal Tournament: Messi vs. Ronaldo

2010-12-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

The voting is over and done with but this is a fun site. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more of these tournament-format best goal competitions. Perhaps a few with historical goals.

http://www.terra.com/deportes/videos-goles-ronaldo-vs-messi/?PPC=google_deportes/ronaldomessi

Barcelona 5 - Real Madrid 0: Quick Flashback to 93/94

2010-11-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a highlight video of Cruyff's Barcelona pounding Madrid 5-0 in the 93/94 season. The first, third and fourth goals are courtesy of Romario. Koeman scored the second, free kick goal and Ivan Iglesias made it a manita.

Barcelona 5 - Real Madrid 0: Historic Rout in Camp Nou

2010-11-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

Wow! I never imagined this. I've never seen a 5-0 in El Clasico (that wasn't on video tape). Here are a few quick stats and thoughts until I have time to go over this in more depth.

I could watch the first goal over and over again. Xavi passes to himself with his back heel in front of goal?!?! That has to be one of the coolest goals I've ever seen - from a guy known more for his passes than his definition in front of goal. In 100 tries, how many times would he be able to repeat that goal?
How amazing was David Villa? He didn't just open up the left side of the field, he tore a hole in it. His assists and goals were amazing.
Could Guardiola please play Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield in every important game? That combination was amazing.
Where was Madrid? I thought that they would press up high and hold more possession than they did (35% or so). They couldn't get the ball back, couldn't keep it when they had it and barely had an attack worth mentioning. They didn't even defend well.
In their first 12 games, Madrid let in 6 goals. Against Barca, they let in 5 in one game!
This is the worst that Jose Mourinho (Madrid's coach) has ever lost in his career! Previous black marks were a 1-4 loss to Man U and two 0-3s.
How will the Real Madrid player's respond to this humiliation?
The last time Barcelona beat Real Madrid was in the 93/94 season when Romario was their forward and Cruyff was Barca's coach.
Josep Guardiola has coached Barcelona in 5 Clasicos - all 5 ended in Barcelona victories.
Under Guardiola, Barcelona has outscored Madrid 16-2!
5-0 is called "una manita" in Spanish because you hold up 1 hand (mano is hand, manita, or little hand, is the diminutive of hand) and it has 5 fingers - get it?
I've seen this reported as a Manotazo or a big hand! It was a big win.
This could have been much worse. This easily could have been 6 or 7-0. Imagine!

Here's are the highlights, I'll be back with more tomorrow.

FC Barcelona - Real Madrid: Countdown to El Clasico

2010-11-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

Few soccer matches are as anticipated, exciting and fulfilling as the bi-annual League matchup between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Know as "El Clasico" or "El Derbi" (The Classic or The Derby), the match brings together two teams so impressively powerful that it seems like a "Big Bang" of Spanish soccer. The result shapes the course of the Liga to come and will live on in the memory of each side's supporters for years to come.

Few games live up to their billing as successfully as this one. Each side is easily one of the football world's ten best clubs. They could be, arguably, among the world's ten best clubs - of any sport. No soccer team has spent more money signing players in the last two years (and probably in the last ten) than Real Madrid. Barcelona matches the Madridista bank account with unrivaled teamwork, effort and player development. Real Madrid is renowned for their ability to score quickly and fight doggedly to the last minute when injuries, game flow or fortune prevent them from scoring quickly. Barcelona is known around the world for their artistic pursuit of total football: pretty passing that makes its players interchangeable (to an extent) and completely disarms its opponents. Where Madrid players and coaches regularly proclaim their own grandeur, Barcelona players and coaches are humble and hardworking. The two sides mix like oil and water.

This year, unfortunately, El Clasico takes place on November 29th - a Monday. The non weekend date makes it harder for local fans from the burb, exurbs and the country to get to Camp Nou for the game. It also makes it more difficult for viewers in this hemisphere to watch the game because it takes place at 3PM Eastern/12 PM Pacific.While it's not like shops will close and streets will be empty in downtown Peoria, Lincoln or Houston; there are a lot of fans in the United States, Canada and Latin America who won't be able to watch the game live.

If you do want to follow the game live, you can visit ESPN Deportes or on ESPN 3 (formerly ESPN 360).

Despite the lame scheduling, I'm excited about the game. Both Madrid and Barcelona are off to their best starts, points wise, in years.

This is the best Real Madrid team since some of the teams of the early 90s: it has the world's best goalkeeper, an incredibly solid defense, a tough, perceptive midfield and some of the fastest, most-accurate forwards in the world. Its signature star, Christiano Ronaldo, is off to an incredible start with 14 league goals in 12 games - a sparkling goal-per-game ratio that doesn't look to end anytime soon.

Barcelona is just as impressive! The team that won 6 trophies 2 years ago, set a record for most points in the league last year. They're on pace to break that record this year. Fresh off an 8-0 humiliation of (previously tough-defending) Almeria, the Blaugrana look to have armed their offensive trident. Messi, Villa and Pedro create walls and openings for each other better than any other forwards in the world. Behind the vision and tenacity of players like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Mascherano gets the ball back and opens up the field to the forward's creativity. This Barcelona has the potential to be the best of the last three years!

It's hard to say how a game will turn out but I'll go out on a limb to predict a 3-2 Barcelona victory. I think Real is better than the Inter team that suffocated Barca's 2010 Champion's League dreams but still not good enough to stop Messi and co.

Until the game, enjoy these videos of past matchups.

Thiago Alcantara: The Next Big Thing Coming Out of Barcelona's Youth System.

2010-11-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

In Barcelona there is constant discussion of the next great signing. Will it be Cesc? Gareth Bale? Perhaps Javier Pastore? Maybe the next great thing to prowl the pitch of Camp Nou will be a player from the Barcelona youth system: Thiago Alcantara.

Image from ThiagoAlcantara.com

Thiago is the son of Mazinho, the Brasilian midfielder known as the third man in the three-men-and-a-baby celebration from the 1994 World Cup. Mazinho was also a crucial member of the solid Celta de Vigo teams of the late 1990s.

During his time in Spain, Mazinho brought his son Thiago to Spain. Thiago found his way into the Barcelona youth system at age 13.

Thiago is now the pearl of the Barca B team. His crisp passing shows the vision of Xavi. He even looks like Xavi. As you watch the video of Thiago, imagine him blacked out in profile. Could you see Xavi? I can. Perhaps it's the shape of his head, the way he swivels it, eyes up as passes cleanly downfield. I imagine him taking in Xavi's work much as a young Kobe Bryant emulated Michael Jordan.

Yet Alcantara adds Brasilian flair to Xavi's stone-faced efficiency. His ball-handling is superb and his nose for goal, superb. In some ways he looks like Ronaldinho.

Thiago and his father clearly have plans for his future. His website, the video below and the buzz about him show marketing savvy. Yet whether I'm being market to or not, I love it.

I couldn't enjoy a video more - sick soccer action combined with a great song by the Black Keys (Tighten Up). I hope you enjoy it, too.

Almeria 0 - Barcelona 8: Video Game Soccer

2010-11-21T05:33:00.000-08:00

If you've ever played a soccer video game, chances are you've tried to win by ridiculous, never-gonna-happen-in-real-life score. 7-0. 11-1. 8-0. Barcelona made that happen on Saturday against Almeria.

In the video game, your forwards are virtually unstoppable. They weave in and out of 4 defenders, pounce on loose balls and always find the back of the net. Your midfielders pick the perfect angle for every pass and each player's stats are padded to superhuman levels. Sound anything like what happened in Mediterranean Games Stadium on Saturday?

Going into the game, Almeria was the 3rd-ranked defense in Spain's La Liga. The only defenses with fewer goals were that of Barcelona (8) and Real Madrid (5). Almeria also had Diego Alves in goal, one of the classiest, most acrobatic keepers in the Spanish league. Could their defense stop the high-powered Azulgrana offense?

Barcelona opened their account early with a slick goal from Lio Messi in the 16th minute. David Villa received the ball and perfectly set up Lio with a sweet back-heel pass. Messi's shot from just outside the penalty box crossed from left to right to end up in the lower right corner of the net.

When Andres Iniesta scored two minutes later on a bungled defensive clear attempt, the stage was set for a route.

Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, Bojan and even Almeria's Acasiete (in his own goal) all racked up goals in the historic win. Barcelona looked like they were on autopilot for most of the game. With an 8-0 scoreline as of the 73rd minute, they had every reason to be.

The route was Barcelona's biggest goleada as the away team since a 1959 beating of Las Palmas. According to El Mundo Deportivo, Barca did rack up an 8-0 as the home team in 1996-1997. That team was coached by Bobby Robson and had the original Ronaldo - el fenomeno - in their ranks together with Figo and current Barca coach, Josep Guardiola.

The result of Saturday's historic victory? Almeria coach Juanma Lillo was fired and Barcelona go into "El Clasico" with all the momentum in the world. Real Madrid and Barcelona have been trading verbal jabs like heavyweight fighters but this 8-0 route is the loudest pronouncement yet. The stage is set for more video game soccer on Monday, November 29.

In case you missed it, here's a video of the PS3-worthy drubbing:

The Decaffeinated Cup: A Copa del Rey Update

2010-11-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

Many of Spain's soccer cognoscenti have suggested that the Copa del Rey's format needs to be revised. The current format doesn't provide enough of a handicap to big teams to make the competition interesting. After Wednesday's results that impression can only grow!

Baby Barça crushed hapless Ceuta 5-1 in Camp Nou. Real Madrid exorcised their ghosts of Copa's past with a 5-1 humiliation of Murcia. Even Sevilla got in on the act with a 6-1 royal beat down of poor Real Unión. There were few results that could be considered an upset.

Perhaps some would see an upset in Betis' elimination of Zaragoza, but despite the fact the Betis currently plays in the second division and Zaragoza is in the first, these two teams are virtual equals. Betis has long played in Spain's first division and has a rich palmares to prove it. Zaragoza, while usually a first-division team, only returned to the top flight this year after a rough patch several years ago. This was no upset.

Indeed few of the big home teams had much to play for. Atletico Madrid had won their away match 5-0, so there was little reason fight hard against Las Palmas. In the end they tied 1-1 in this second leg, for a 6-1 victory.

It seems clear that Spain needs to return to the 1-game format that they used until 6-7 years ago. Up to that point, the bigger team had to win on the smaller team's home field. There was 1 game and that was it. Then, in later rounds, teams would play a 2-game playoff to see who advanced. The format was much more friendly to the Davids of the Spanish soccer world. Let's bring that back.

At least these unbalanced competitions have given us some fun highlights. Here's the Baby Barca - Ceuta palizo, I'll post Madrid and Sevilla later if I can find them.

Real Madrid - Murcia: Must-Win Miercoles For Madrid

2010-11-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Real Madrid has a must-win game in the Copa del Rey. Their opponent is modest Murcia, a team from Spain's third or Segunda B division. If Real can win, they advance in the Copa del Rey and go a long way to proving that this is the best Real Madrid team in almost 15 years.

First Los Blancos must beat Murcia. The away leg, in Murcia, ended in a 0-0 draw, despite the presence of most of Madrid's galatic arsenal.

They play today in the Madridista stronghold of Santiago Bernabéu. As if that weren't enough, Coach Jose Mourinho has asked the Madrid fans to come out and create a San-Siro-like atmostphere - in other words be loud and offensive with just a hint of violence. Whether los madrileños come out with chants or "va fan culo" or maintain their customary respect for their opponents, Bernabéu should be a stronghold for the team in white.

As a means of challenging his team, Jose Mourinho will start a much more "Spanish" lineup than usual. Expect to see Pedro León, young Sergio Canales and perhaps Esteban Granero. Mourinho may even allow one of the youth players to enter later in the game. While some may view this as a "b" lineup, Mourinho clearly expects the bench warmers to be more motivated. It's a good move that should provide Madrid with some fire while maintaining the surpise of a late entry into the game by Christiano Ronaldo or Mesut Ozil.

I expect the lineup changes, home crowd, overall history and excellent form of Madrid will bowl over Murcia. Look for the Madridistas to enjoy a fiesta of futból on this Must-Win Miércoles (Wednesday)! And, as Madrid progress in the Copa del Rey, look for Mou's men to consolidate their place as the best team from the capital since 1996-1997.