Congratulations to Atlético Madrid for winning the 2013 Copa del Rey!! They beat Real Madrid 2-1 after a chaotic game and 30 minutes of extra time. This marks the first time Atleti have beaten Real Madrid since 1999. Atlético also ended Real Madrid’s 2 year home unbeaten streak (about 40+ games). At the end of this season Atleti will have claimed 3rd place in La Liga, qualified for next year’s Champions League, and won the Copa del Rey. Congratulations!

Atlético Madrid win 2013 Copa del Rey

On the flip side, this was a terrible ending to a terrible season for Real Madrid. They’ll finish 2nd in La Liga, 10 points behind champions Barcelona. They failed to come back against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals and were subsequently eliminated. I don’t even want to talk about all the drama surrounding the club this season. And they just lost what looked to be their best shot at winning some silverware this season.

For the past two hours (and most of this season, really) my reaction to Real Madrid’s game looked something like this: 

It’s hard to blame any one party for the way this season has gone and, if we’re being honest, finger-pointing usually goes badly. However, I’m going to ask you to give me a little bit of leeway because I’m hurting pretty badly after this loss.

The main target of my anger is the ref, Clos Gomez. He did make some good decisions every now and then, but he was inconsistent and clearly lost control of the game. By the final whistle, he had handed out 7 yellow cards to Real Madrid, six yellow cards to Atlético Madrid, and a red card each. I’m not even entirely sure why Gabi was sent off for Atleti. Half the time Gomez carded a player on their first offense; the other half of the time he waited until the 5th or 6th foul to show them a card.

He’s as appalled as I was.

The one sending off that really rubbed me wrong was José Mourinho. As far as I could see, it was the first time Mou had gotten up from his seat to yell at the pitch whereas Diego Simeone had spent the entire game standing! I guess Mou had to have said something terrible to warrant the sending off, but there’s no way Gomez would’ve heard it from where he was standing.

I kinda loathe myself for saying this but…Cristiano Ronaldo deserved his red card. The idiot kicked his opponent in the nose.

Above all else, pure luck was against Real Madrid. Los blancos should have easily won this game with as many shots as they had hit the post. That plus Thibaut Courtois’s phenomenal goalkeeping display stopped about 4 or 5 of Real Madrid’s closest chances. There was one period of a couple minutes where Real kept pinging the ball towards the net and it looked like a force field was over the line flinging the ball straight back. Unbelievable.

Now all we can do is wait. Wait to see if Mourinho goes or stays (my bet is he returns to England). Wait to see which players leave Real Madrid (unfortunately I think quite a few are on the way out). Wait to see if Atlético can hold onto Radamel Falcao (probably not). And wait for the start of next season which will hopefully wash away the remnants of a shoddy season for Real Madrid.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to bury myself in comfort food.

Photos courtesy of www.ligabbva.com, www.guardian.co.uk, and tumblr.com. Check in with @AerysSoccer every day for the latest news on La Liga, the EPL, and MLS.

All hail the champions!! Barcelona have now won their 4th league title in five years. It’s absolutely incredible! This season may have been a bit weird for them, what with Tito Vilanova spending most of the season in New York for cancer treatment and the team suffering countless injuries. Nevertheless, Barça started the season strong and out paced the rest of the league by miles. Real Madrid, the defending title holders, barely put up a fight. On Saturday, Madrid’s feeble 1-1 draw with Espanyol sealed the deal for Barcelona and left a 10 point gap between 1st and 2nd place.

Tito Vilanova celebrates Barcelona’s 22nd League title in the city parade

It was pretty evident in the first half of the season that they would win the league when Barça reached the point where they were 16 points ahead of 2nd place (Atlético Madrid at the time). However, the Catalans had to wait until this weekend to celebrate. They deserved to win. There is no doubt about that. But something feels off. 

Yes, they made it to the semifinals of the Champions League for a record 6th year in a row. Yes, Lionel Messi produced more magic to score against every team in consecutive games. Yes, Barcelona will equal the 100 point record mark set by Real Madrid last season.

But the champions have a lot of questions to answer in the offseason. They were absolutely steamrolled by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semis on an aggregate 7-0. Throughout the whole season their defense never seemed as solid as it should’ve been. Last season the question was “can Real Madrid feel satisfied in their League title if they never beat Barcelona?” (They eventually did.) This season Barça managed to draw 2-2 and lose 3-1 to Madrid in the Camp Nou in the League and the Copa del Rey, respectively. At the Santiago Bernabéu, Barça drew 1-1 in the Copa del Rey and lost 2-1 in the League.

Anyways, a huge congratulations to Barcelona on their 22nd League title!

In other news around the league, Real Sociedad and Valencia are tied for the last Champions League place, both with 59 points. Right now la Real just edges Valencia out of the spot on goal differential. With three games left, both teams are going to have to fight tooth and nail for that last golden spot. At the far end of the table, Mallorca, Celta Vigo, and Deportivo La Coruña are still stuck in the relegation zone (and Celta has already played an extra game). Real Zaragoza sits barely in safety just two points clear of danger. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Barça’s prize

Wednesday:
Celta Vigo 1-3 Atlético Madrid
Real Madrid 6-2 Málaga

Friday:
Levante 0-0 Real Zaragoza

Saturday:
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Mallorca
Valladolid 1-0 Deportivo La Coruña
Osasuna 1-0 Getafe
Espanyol 1-1 Real Madrid

Sunday:
Rayo Vallecano 0-4 Valencia
Real Betis 1-0 Celta Vigo
Atlético Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
Málaga 0-0 Sevilla

Monday:
Real Sociedad 2-2 Granada

The Copa del Rey final is scheduled for this weekend at the Santiago Bernabéu between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. The Madrid teams played Málaga and Celta Vigo, respectively, on Wednesday to clear their schedules this weekend for the Madrid derby with silverware on the line. This is the only chance for either team to win a trophy this season, so the match promises to be very enticing! Be sure to catch it on Friday at 3:30 pm ET!

Photos courtesy of www.fcbarcelona.com. Check in with @AerysSoccer everyday for news on the world of soccer!

With only 7 weeks left in the season, some teams are starting to show signs of desperation. The Sevilla Derby, Espanyol vs Valencia, Deportivo La Coruña, Real Sociedad, and Mallorca all played some ridiculous games this weekend whether their seasons’ ambition lie in Europe or safety from relegation.

Goal-fest in closing 10 minutes of match end a frantic match between Espanyol and Valencia

Two games this weekend crazily ended in 3-3 draws: the Sevilla Derby (Real Betis vs Sevilla) and Espanyol vs Valencia. The Sevilla Derby, while always dramatic, couldn’t hold a candle to the second match in terms of excitement. Espanyol and Valencia was similar to the Champions League fixture between Dortmund and Málaga: the game was almost over, the scoreline 1-1, and, after the last 10 minutes, the game ended 3-3. This was one of those games where, if you blinked, you probably missed something important.

Espanyol drew first blood in injury time of the first half. Thanks to Mubarak Wakaso, the hosts went into the locker room at the break with the lead they deserved. However, right at the beginning of the second half, Sergio Canales managed to equalize for Valencia. And so the game stayed tied at 1-1 until Roberto Soldado missed what should’ve been the go ahead goal for Valencia. Instead he shot the ball straight into the goalkeepers hands! Suddenly the game became a death race and both Espanyol and Valencia fought with everything they had to come out on top.

In the 82nd minute, Verdú scored for Espanyol but within five minutes Jonas cancelled out Espanyol’s lead. As the game creeped into injury time (not sure if 3 or 4 minutes were added on), the pace continued to get more and more frantic. After an Espanyol goal was ruled offside, Soldado came back and scored in the 91st minute, atoning for his earlier miss. Valencia may have thought they’d won the game…but there was still time left! Just enough time for Espanyol to keep their new home unbeaten streak under the new coach intact. Then in the 94th minute Sergio García pulled some magic out of the air and scored at a ridiculous angle with what was the last kick of the game. Talk about chaos! This result keeps Valencia in 6th place but vaults Espanyol into mid-table over Levante.

Speaking of Levante: they lost 4-0 at home to Deportivo La Coruña. Depor. Wow. Just wow. Their new coach has just about pulled off a miracle. This is now their 4th game in a row unbeaten and the 4th game in a row in which they’ve scored at least 3 goals. Impressive! Of course Depor clearing the relegation zone means Granada and Real Zaragoza are now in hot water, but it’s incredible inspiring to see what they’ve managed to accomplish over the last few weeks.

Real Sociedad are determined to reach the Champions League next season and winning 2-0 away to Rayo Vallecano is just the way to go. Reports say that around 4000 supporters traveled to Madrid to cheer on la Real. So far they look unstoppable! Also in Madrid, Atlético Madrid stomped Granada 5-0, and guess who’s starting to glitter again? Falcao scored 2 goals over the weekend. This is the first time since December (when he scored 5 goal in one game) that he’s scored multiple goals in a game. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Banner to Málaga from their supporters: “Everything you do in life has its echo in eternity. Thanks Málaga!”

Friday:
Real Betis 3-3 Sevilla

Saturday:
Valladolid 2-1 Getafe
Levante 0-4 Deportivo La Coruña
Espanyol 3-3 Valencia
Málaga 1-0 Osasuna

Sunday:
Rayo Vallecano 0-2 Real Sociedad
Atlético Madrid 5-0 Granada
Real Zaragoza 0-3 Barcelona
Athletic Bilbao 0-3 Real Madrid

Monday:
Mallorca 1-0 Celta Vigo

Photos courtesy of ligabbva.com. Keep up with @AerysSoccer for latest updates on la Liga, the EPL, MLS, and more!

It feel good to win in someone else’s house.

It only took about 10 minutes for Atlético Madrid to jumpstart their domination of Valladolid in the Nuevo Jose Zorilla Stadium. After suffering a shameful defeat at home in the midweek Europa League fixture, Atleti looked to turn their current trend around with a sound 3-0 win.

Valladolid managed absolutely zero shots on goal. Zilch! Atleti, strengthened by the return of Diego Costa from his two game suspension, put on an impressive display netting 3 goals by Falcao, Costa and Cristian Rodriguez. This win will certainly provide a spark to boost Atleti in their upcoming matches as they had not won an away game since November and had only managed to win 2 of their last 6 games. If they want to hang on to their placed behind the league leaders Barça, they’ll need to carry this strong form on to their next games.

The other game that caught my eye this weekend was the Real Madrid – Rayo Vallecano match in the Santiago Bernabeu and what a strange game it was! Youth team product Álvaro Morata opened the scoring for Real Madrid within two and a half minutes. This was also his first start for the first team. The second goal for los blancos came from Sergio Ramos, who managed to head the ball into the back of the net even though a he had a defender clinging to his back as if asking for a piggy back ride.

Ramos: is he worth the trouble?

Then the game got really strange. I don’t remember the last time I watched a game with such a card-happy referee. It all started with Ramos who managed to receive two yellows within one (maybe two) minutes. There were 8 cards handed out by the hour mark. It was a bit surprising by the end of the game that only one player was sent off the field.

The other hilarious aspect of the game was Rayo’s coach. Paco Jémez was suspended (for some reason unbeknownst to me) and therefore had to sit in the box behind a wall of glass. By the end of the game, I’m not sure he could see out of it anymore since he had covered it with hand prints from consistent hits. Then it appeared Paco was on the phone with his assistant coach (who was down on the field) and yelling at the poor man for his decisions. Thankfully for the glass, Paco didn’t manage to break free of his containment, haha!

Other stories from the weekend include Granada holding their own against Barcelona. The league leaders barely managed to get away with a 2-1 win. Real Sociedad also has had a good run of form, and now they’re sitting happily in a European spot once held by Rayo. Mallorca on the other hand are still falling hard including their most recent defeat at the hands of Valencia. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Friday:
Sevilla 3-1 Deportivo La Coruña

Saturday:
Getafe 3-1 Celta Vigo
Málaga 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
Granada 1-2 Barcelona
Osasuna 1-0 Real Zaragoza

Sunday:
Real Sociedad 1-1 Levante
Valencia 2-0 Mallorca
Valladolid 0-3 Atlético Madrid
Real Madrid 2-0 Rayo Vallecano
Espanyol 1-0 Real Betis

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Tune into @AerysSoccer for updates on the wonderful world of soccer.

Sorry for missing my post last week folks! Life decided to get a bit too crazy to handle. But I’m back and bringing you the news from La Liga!

Yet another miserable weekend for Deportivo leaves the club in crisis

Some of the biggest happenings from Spain this weekend involved Deportivo La Coruña, who suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss at home to Granada. As a result, their manager has resigned. He’d been with the club for only a month and a half. His tenure did not bring new hope to a worrying first half of the season; since the start of the new year, Depor have lost all of their games home and away. It’s quite demoralizing to see a team which won the league title in 2000 to fall so far. If their first season back in the Primera Division, Depor have only won 3 games.

The outing this weekend went from bad to worse with little room for hope. An own goal by defender Carlos Marchena gave Granada the lead just before half time. After the break, the home team looked unsettled and nervous as sloppy play led to numerous missed opportunities and Granada’s second goal. The final straw came during injury time as a harsh tackle in the box produced a penalty. If that wasn’t hard enough, offender Manuel Pablo was sent off with a straight red for dissent, insulting and, in general, taking out his anger on the ref. Barring a complete collapse of any of the other teams above them, Depor look sure to return to the Segunda at the end of the season.

Athletic Bilbao also had a weekend they’d rather forget as they were pummeled at home by Espanyol who continue to grow stronger with each game. With once-prized striker Llorente in a bit of limbo until the summer when he moves to Juventus, Athletic are yet again looking for answers to the uncertainty that has plagued them all season.

Rayo Vallecano beat Atlético Madrid decisively in Vallecas in front of a crowd that only filled a third of their stadium. A third of the stadium. This was a Madrid derby and yet Rayo’s fans couldn’t be bothered to come out to see one of the most entertaining teams in the league take down 2nd place Atleti (who by the way are starting to show signs of weakness in their away form). Barcelona and Real Madrid both had easy wins over their opposition as both look to the return of the Champions League. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Barça’s first noon fixture in years to celebrate the Chinese New Year

Saturday:
Mallorca 1-1 Osasuna
Celta Vigo 0-1 Valencia
Levante 1-2 Málaga
Deportivo La Coruña 0-3 Granada
Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla

Sunday:
Barcelona 6-1 Getafe
Real Zaragoza 1-2 Real Sociedad
Athletic Bilbao 0-4 Espanyol
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Atlético Madrid

Monday:
Real Betis 0-0 Valladolid

Champions League play is back!! We’ve got some heavyweight matches this week and next as Real Madrid face Manchester United and Barcelona take on Italian rivals AC Milan. Málaga meet reigning Portuguese champs Porto and Valencia clash with PSG and the beloved David Beckham.

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Tune into @AerysSoccer for daily updates on the world of soccer!

A glorious team effort pulled Barça clear of Málaga in closing minutes of the match

The game looked inevitably headed to extra time with just under 15 minutes left and scoreline tied at 2-2. Both teams were going for the win, neither wanting to be eliminated. The third meeting between Barcelona and Málaga was always going to be epic given the nature of the first two clashes, Barça’s unstoppable attacking force, and Málaga’s immovable defense. But which way was the tie going to go?

It took sheer brilliance from Fabregas and Iniesta to give Barça the winning edge in the 77th minute. Fresh off their loss from the weekend, the blaugranas clearly were looking to turn things around. The first half of the match was a flurry of activity with a goal each within 4 minutes of each other, 5 yellow cards, and fouls raining down. The game looked dead even going into the halftime break.

At the start of the second half, both teams looked exhausted. However it picked up quickly again as Pique headed up the go ahead goal which took Málaga 20 minutes to respond to. In the end, Barcelona’s passing genius overran the solid defense and gave them a win on the 6-4 aggregate. Such a brilliant match and it’s a shame to see Málaga eliminated, but only one could survive.

The other quarterfinals were not quite as epic. Sevilla steamrolled Real Zaragoza after leaving the first leg as a dull 0-0 draw. Real Betis had only one goal over the two legs which came as a 90′ penalty kick. Atleti’s strong performance in the first leg was well enough to carry them past the 1-1 draw from this week onto the semifinals where they will face Sevilla. Valencia and Real Madrid met for their third clash with a bucket of drama to accompany them.

Though the game ended a 1-1 draw, the game saw Iker Casillas subbed off due to injury while los blancos ended the game with only 9 men thanks to red cards for Di María and Coentrão. Valencia, who collected 5 yellow cards themselves, played without captain Roberto Soldado and several members of their defense. All in all, it wasn’t that pretty of a game. Here are the full results from the quarterfinals:

Tuesday:
Valencia 1-1 Real Madrid
Sevilla 4-0 Real Zaragoza

Thursday:
Málaga 2-4 Barcelona
Real Betis 1-1 Atlético Madrid

The semifinals pitch Atlético Madrid against Sevilla and provide a semifinal El Clásico for the second year in a row. This creates a bit of a nervy situation for the Madridistas out there as they see their team juggle 3 games against Barcelona and 2 against Manchester United in the Champions League without Casillas who will be out for 3 months due to a broken thumb. Ouch! Across the city however, excitement thrums for the Atleti fans who hope to see their team in yet another final with the possibility of yet another trophy.

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Look for more stories from the world of soccer on @AerysSoccer.

Málaga left their goals for late in the game

As the Round of 16 in the Copa del Rey comes to a close, the remaining eight teams to meet in the quarterfinals are all in the Primera Division. This isn’t entirely surprising, but it would’ve been nice to have a Cinderella story in the competition (kind of like Bradford City in England’s Capital One Cup.)

We almost had a Cinderella team in Las Palmas who narrowly lost 2-1 on aggregate to Real Betis. The second leg of the draw saw Betis control play and create the most chances. However, Las Palmas held their own and kept the scoreline at 0-0 until the 86th minute when Rivera managed to slip through the defense and carry Real Betis onto the next round.

The midweek fixtures started with Málaga vs Eibar which saw Eibar leading Málaga 1-0 for most of the match. It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes of the game that the Champions League contestants let the flood gates open and found some incredible way to score 4 goals in the closing minutes of the game. I guess they finally woke up from their extended winter break!

The most disappointing game came from the Atlético Madrid and Getafe match up. Not only did the game end 0-0, but the whole affair was about as dull as watching paint dry. No real urgency from Atléti, who were already up 3-0 on aggregate from the first leg, nor from Getafe who just looked tired.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid blew away their competition with relative ease thanks to a few key performances. For Barça, David Villa got a starting spot for the first time in a while and scored a brace in spectacular fashion. For Madrid, Cristiano put out another outstanding game to carry los blancos in a 4-0 win to Celta Vigo. For all the recent troubles in Madrid’s back line, Sergio Ramos did nothing to help as he received two yellow for stupid challenges then accrued a 4-match ban for insulting the referee. What an idiot. Here are the rest of the results from the midweek:

Tuesday:
Málaga 4-1 Eibar
Valencia 2-1 Osasuna

Barça rolls over Córdoba as Villa makes a strong case for starting role

Wednesday: 
Real Madrid 4-0 Celta Vigo
Sevilla 1-2 Mallorca
Real Zaragoza 2-0 Levante

Thursday: 
Barcelona 5-0 Córdoba
Getafe 0-0 Atlético Madrid
Real Betis 1-0 Las Palmas

The resulting quarterfinal match-ups look like this:
Real Madrid – Valencia
Barcelona – Málaga
Atlético Madrid – Real Betis
Real Zaragoza – Sevilla

The draw between Málaga and Barcelona means these two will meet 3 times in the next two months: twice at La Rosaleda and once at the Camp Nou. Málaga already defeated Real Madrid, and now they have three chances (the first of which is this Sunday) to figure out how to stop the team in Spain that so far is unbeatable. Sounds pretty exciting to me!

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com. Follow us at @AerysSoccer for updates on all your favorite teams and leagues!

Sevilla regret loss to Málaga

Round 16 of La Liga proved to be very difficult for the home teams. Of the 10 fixtures played over the weekend, only Barcelona came away with a home win after thrashing Atlético Madrid 4-1.

I was particularly excited about that fixture since it was supposed to be Atleti’s huge test after the Madrid derby to prove they can compete with the big two. Alas, seems they still have a bit of a ways to go before they conquer that challenge. Maybe the second half of the season will provide them with a way to win.

Rayo Vallecano quite surprisingly managed to defeat Valencia 1-0 in the Mestalla, Valencia’s home. A penalty kick late in the second half gave Rayo the upper edge in the home debut of Valencia’s new manager Valverde. Ouch, that’s got to hurt!

Sevilla also had quite a disappointing weekend as they had looked to challenge 4th placed Málaga. However, after being the better team for the first half, all went wrong for Sevilla when Federíco Fazio was sent off with a straight red card for a “professional foul.”

Espanyol drew with Real Madrid off a corner kick (Madrid’s weakness this season) very late in the game. With Los Blancos failing to grab a much needed win, the league leader Barcelona pulled ahead of Madrid by 13 points and ahead of Atlético Madrid by 9 points. Now I know it’s only December, but this is La Liga and this is Barça we’re talking about. The chances of them slipping up enough for either Madrid team to catch and surpass them are slim to none. Is it too early to just hand them the trophy? Yes, but I’m not sure I see the trophy going anywhere else at the end of the season. Here are the full results from the weekend:

Saturday:
Getafe 1-1 Osasuna
Mallorca 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Granada 0-0 Real Sociedad
Sevilla 0-2 Málaga

Sunday:
Real Zaragoza 0-1 Levante
Valencia 0-1 Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid 2-2 Espanyol
Barcelona 4-1 Atlético Madrid

Monday:
Deportivo La Coruña 0-0 Real Valladolid
Celta Vigo 0-1 Real Betis

The news broke earlier today that Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova’s cancer has relapsed and he will be undergoing surgery followed by chemotherapy. So he’ll be away from Barcelona for a while but his assistant Jordi Roura will stand in his place for a while. Tito has had an incredible start to the season with Barcelona so we send our thoughts and prayers towards him and the team during this difficult time.

¡Ánimo Tito!

Photos courtesy of LigaBBVA.com and the Guardian.

Real Madrid’s Pepe and Iker Casillas lie on the pitch after colliding with each other mid-air.

Amongst the start of the 2012-13 EPL campaign, this weekend also boasts a new season for Spain’s La Liga. The new season is also hosting some new clubs that were brought up to the first division after succeeding in the Adelante; Deportivo La Coruña, Valladolid and Celta Vigo.

But today Real Madrid faced Valencia at home with the reigning champions expecting to pull a W over their opponent. Unfortunately, the match ended in a 1-1 draw with Gonzalo Higuain scoring one goal and Valencia’s Jonas equalizing.

For the Madridistas, the draw came with some head-to-head contact. After Higuain’s goal in the 10′ Sergio Ramos’ face pummeled into the boot of Valencia’s keeper. The Sevillian defender received 3 stitches to the forehead during the halftime and continued playing with a bloody bandage.

Iker Casillas kept Madrid tied with Valencia after making two HUGE saves that kept the men in white from checking the ‘loss’ tally on their record sheet. Di Maria and Coentrão looked fierce on the pitch, helping their club get those necessary shots on goal, however all shots were blocked by Diego Alves.

Valencia brought the tally up to an even score when Jonas headed the ball into the center of the box after a beautiful cross from Tino Costa following a promising set piece.

Right before half-time, both Madrid’s Iker Casillas, defender Pepe and midfielder Xabi Alonso, collided in the air with all of them sustaining head injuries. A dazed and confused Casillas looked on while Pepe was bandaged up and subbed off just before the half. Post-match it was reported that Pepe was driven to a nearby hospital to undergo tests for a possible concussion. No word on Xabi’s injury.

For Valencia, the two big players were Roberto Soldado and Tino Costa who provided many opportunities for the club, proving why their a top contender in this year’s race for the title. Gonzalo Higuain is hoping for another year of greatness, being the first Argentine to score the first league goal for Real Madrid since 1986 and totaling his official goals for Madrid at 104, equalizing Brazil’s Ronaldo’s record.

Valencia will move on to face Deportivo La Coruña next Sunday while Real Madrid face Barcelona at Camp Nou in leg 1 of the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday.

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Weekend Results

Athletic Bilbao 3-5 Real Betis

Barcelona 4-1 Real Sociedad (at half currently)

Levante ?-? Atletico Madrid (Not yet kicked off)

Celta Vigo 0-1 Malaga

Sevilla 2-1 Getafe

Mallorca 2-1 Espanyol

Photo courtesy of Real Madrid CF

Whew, what a crazy couple of days! Eden Hazard has officially made a choice on an EPL team, there’s been a few other signings, England has an official Euro roster and hell, Liverpool might even have a manager! We’ve got the headlines in today’s Daily Kick Around.

English Premier League

Welp, Eden Hazard’s had everyone hanging around wondering what he was going to. Many have expected him to head toward Manchester United or City. But he’s snubbed them both and declared today via Twitter that he’ll head to Chelsea. Hmmm.

Man United aren’t sitting back on their heels though. Some reports from Germany are claiming the Red Devils are closing to signing Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa.

Many have questioned the future of Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie. Rumors have swirled that he would follow in the footsteps of others like Cesc Fabregas and Nasri, and head out of Arsenal. But fans have a huge fighter in their corner. RVP’s wife Bouchra has urged her husband to repay the loyalty and faith of the club and fans and stay in London. 

So, Sky Sports reported May 12 that Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers turned down an approach from Liverpool about filling the  position left after the Reds sacked Kenny Dalglish. However, on their twitter account this morning, Sky Sports said to watch out for more details about Rodgers being the “odds-on favorite” for the job.

La Liga

La Liga are doing their own signings too. Atletico Madrid announced on their club Web site that Porto’s  Cristian Rodriguez, who’s contract with the Portuguese side expires next month.

Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado also has a new contract in Spain. Top club Valencia announced yesterday they would sign Guardado to a four-year deal. This is a great opportunity for the young player!

Serie A

Oh dear, the match-fixing scandals in Italy are out of control it seems. Yesterday, news broke that Lazio captain Stefano Mauri was implicated in the investigation and would miss the Euros. Juventus coach Antonio Conte is also being questioned in the proceedings. Yikes!

England National Team

New Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson announced his final 23-man squad for the Euros today. Some are surprised as Liverpool’s Andy Carroll was handed the coveted No. 9 shirt.

U.S. Men’s National Team

So, Clint Dempsey didn’t get a start against Scotland as he was nursing a groin injury. However, sources  - including myself, as I was at the USMNT open practice held at the University of Maryland yesterday – confirm that Dempsey has been training with the team. But it’s pretty clear he’s not quite to full strength. And even Clint says that he’s not ready to face off with Brazil.  Kind of disappointing news for the fans here in DC. But I personally would rather have him full strength for the World Cup qualifying matches coming up.

Major League Soccer

Okay, I got to brag a little bit. The Columbus Crew’s Emilio Renteria was huge this week in team’s wins against Seattle and Chicago. This earned him a top spot in MLS’ top three performers of Week 12. Check it out here!