Frank Lampard handed Chelsea the 2-0 win over Everton with a double.

Frank Lampard took responsibility for Chelsea’s fourth win in a row by scoring twice to win 2-1 at Everton today.  The 34-year -old England midfielder has been with the club since 2001 and has yet to be offered an extension to his contract ending in June.

Today’s win helps to keep the Blues in contention for the Premier League title race and also might give some hope the club will hold onto the seasoned Lampard.

On Saturday, Manchester United took their seventh win in eight matches thanks to star striker Robin van Persie.  His 90-minute shot, his League-leading 14th goal of the season, made the score 2-0 over West Brom.  United now have a seven-point lead in the standings going into 2013.

Arsenal dominated Newcastle 7-3 with help from a Theo Walcott hat trick.  The England national has refused to re-sign with the Gunners and there is speculation he will be sold in January.  In an attempt to change his mind, for the last few games, Arsene Wenger has allowed the winger to start as center striker, his requested position for many years.  He has been very effective, but is it too little too late will remain to be seen.

Manchester City squeaked out a 4-3 win over Norwich Saturday no thanks to Samir Nasri’s first half send off.  The thrilling match was a fight to the finish, but Edin Dzeko replaced the ill Carlos Tevez up front to score two plus the usual quality from Sergio Aguero helped City hold on to the lead.

Even after Sunderland beat Manchester City 1-0 last Wednesday, Tottenham managed a come-from-behind win over Sunderland in the 52nd minute thanks to a fine strike by England winger Aaron Lennon.

Other matches played over the weekend:

Stoke City 3 – 3 Southampton

Fulham 1 – 2 Swansea

Reading 1 – 0 West Ham United

Aston Villa 0 – 3 Wigan

QPR 0 – 3 Liverpool

A Manchester Derby in the English Premier League is never typical. You can’t count on anything or which team will come out on top. What you can bet your money on, however, is that it’s gonna be one hell of a ride. The derby that took place today between Manchester United and Manchester City did not disappoint in that regard.

Was it ugly? Hell yes it was. I mean, these two are the biggest rivals in the world. Everyone tunes in to a Manchester Derby.

It was intense. A brace from Wayne Rooney in the first half, and Manchester City roaring back to tie it up in the second, with goals from Yaya Toure in the 60th minute and Pablo Zabaleta with five minutes to spare in the game.

But it would be the final goal of the match that had me grinning the brightest – and no, not just because I’m a United fan and it was the goal that won the match. No, it was how the goal went in that made me smile.

United’s Rafael was fouled just outside the box about two minutes into stoppage time for the game, giving United a dying chance with a free kick. Of course, new man Robin Van Persie stepped up to take the shot. As the ball barreled toward goal, it nicked off City’s Samir Nasri before lodging in the back of the net.

And this is why I grinned, because the second player I dislike in the league is Nasri (behind Tevez, of course). So to see United’s winning goal get a little flick off of Nasri was definitely worth the agony of being tied 2-2 with City.

However, not all the drama in the match was game related, unfortunately. Most of it came right at the end thanks to some unruly fans and a few words between United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and City’s Tevez. It all started when United were celebrating Van Persie’s goal. As the  players celebrated, a fan threw an object on to the field, which hit MUFC defender Rio Ferdinand right above the eye and of course drew blood.

Then it was if the flood gates banged open. A fan rushed the pitch and City keeper Joe Hart had to restrain him so that security officers could remove the fan from the pitch.

Then the heated words between SAF and Tevez, which I’m sure were interesting. I would have actually loved to have heard what the gaffer said to his former player. That was about the time the ref decided he might want to end the match.

Overall, another incredibly intense derby took place today. I swear, this get more and more crazy with every meeting. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next one!

Check out all the goals from today’s match here, and even the moment when Ferdinand gets nicked. You can’t see the object, but you can definitely tell it was something that ticked him off!

http://youtu.be/IJd-5-xUMp4

Manchester City won 3-1 against Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in their first home match of the season. However, this was not one of City’s best performances. Had they been playing a team of higher quality, like Chelsea or Spurs, the result would’ve been completely different. There was a positive in the game, not for City though, but for QPR. Their newest signing- Spaniard Esteban Granero- impressed in his EPL debut.

If you’re a Real Madrid fan, then you know who Esteban Granero is, aka ”Pirata”. He’s a Real Madrid canterano (someone who came up through Madrid’s youth teams). Granero spent 14 years with Real Madrid before joining QPR last week. In Real Madrid, he had a lot of competition. After all Real Madrid has a lot of talented midfielders. In QPR, he will get more playing time. In fact, the QPR manager had so much faith in him, that he started Granero in his first EPL match, only two days after signing him. He is a great addition to QPR, although I personally think the club is too small for him, having someone like him on the team will only improve QPR.

Although I was hoping to see Granero do well in his debut, I knew Manchester City would be a tough test. QPR was only able to prevent City from scoring for about 15 minutes.  After that, Yaya Toure scored City’s first goal of the match. It would take City much more time to score their second goal. The game was 1-0 City at HT. In the 59th minute, QPR was able to equalize. QPR players and supporters didn’t have much time to celebrate though, Edin Dzeko scored another goal and City was ahead once again. QPR came close to equalizing a few times, however, Carlos Tevez scored in stoppage time and City won 3-1.

QPR is lucky to not have conceded more goals. David Silva had a few chances to score for City, but wasn’t able to put the ball in the net. QPR’s best player was Granero. He created many chances and his free kicks/corner kicks were very precise and if QPR had better players, they could’ve scored more than one goal.

Thanks to international break, Manchester City’s next game will be Sept. 15. They will play Stoke City. At the moment, City is in fourth place- behind Chelsea, Swansea City, and West Bromwich Albion- in the EPL table.

What a disappointing match from Manchester City.

After coming back to win 3-2 in their last match against Southhampton, City settled for a 2-2 draw with Liverpool today. Although, to be fair, City was missing their two best players. Sergio Aguero was injured in their last match and will be out for a month. David Silva, who many people have said wasn’t in form in the last match, sat out the first half.

Last week, Manchester City was able to get 3 points in a difficult match for them. Liverpool on the other hand, lost 3-0 to West Brom. Coming  into this match, City were the favorites of course. In fact, I even predicted City would win 3-1.

Looks like I was wrong.

Although City had been slightly better in the first half, it was Liverpool who scored first. They went into half time leading 1-0.

In the second half, City started playing much better. They were able to equalize thanks to Yaya Toure. The City players and supporters didn’t have much time to celebrate though. Luis Suarez would notch a goal in City’s net, and Liverpool was ahead yet again. It looked as though City would lose this match until Carlos Tevez scored his second goal of the season.

The game ended 2-2 and City will be happy to take that point, considering how they played for most of the match. For Liverpool, this was a disappointment. They led twice in the game, only to give up goals and 2 points.

Dropping 2 points isn’t the worst thing for City, but this was a match they had been expected to win. With less than five days until the transfer window closes, many are expecting Mancini to add a few players to the City roster.

Image courtesy of sportinglife.com

Why yes, that is Carlos Tevez carrying a golf bag.  Find out why, as well as who is suing who and what you need to know before the Olympics start, all in today’s Daily Kick Around!

MLS

Ladies (and gentlemen), we have a new All-Star.  Michael Farfan of the Philadelphia Union has been added to the 18-man roster for Wednesday’s game against Chelsea FC.  He and San Jose’s Justin Morrow are the youngest players on the squad at 24.  Be sure to tune in to ESPN2 at 8:30pm EST to see if he and the other All-Stars can hold their own against the Champions League victors.

When Tottenham Hotspur face off against the LA Galaxy tonight, it will be a family reunion of sorts as they face a player who spent a significant amount of time within their own ranks.  Perhaps it will be a friendlier friendly than usual!

Not so friendly is the decision by former Union manager Peter Nowak to sue the team for wrongful termination and unpaid severance money.  He was let go on June 13 of this year, despite being under contract until Dec. 31, 2015.  It is against the league’s policy to comment on pending litigation, but you can draw your own conclusions after checking out this breakdown of his complaint.

Olympics

Get a bit of a head start and find out what you need to know about the teams competing in men’s soccer this year.  Spain will look to continue their streak of winning EVERY important international title, while Brazil will look to win their first ever Olympic gold and gain a competitive edge before hosting the World Cup in 2014.

On the women’s side, make sure to check out which players you should be keeping an eye on.  A few of our American girls make an appearance, of course.

EPL

Is Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez considering a new career option as a golf caddy?  I should think not, but he has managed to yet again cause some controversy–this time in the golf world–by caddying for fellow Argentinian Andres Romero on Sunday at Royal Lytham.  Apparently one of the main complaints was that he never put the bag down.  I’m guessing that’s a bad thing?  Maybe you golfers can let me know!

Image courtesy of Fox Soccer.

Oh lord. I don’t know about you guys, but I have hated to leave my twitter feed for more than five seconds today! The news is pouring in from possible new Liverpool managers, Tevez running his mouth (surprise), trades in MLS and much more! But in case you missed anything, we’ve got you covered in today’s Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

It was quite possibly the weirdest way to announce a trade, but Heath Pearce let the cat out of the bag today when he announced he had been traded from Chivas USA to New York Red Bulls. Needless to say, twitter almost exploded as the wait for the official word commenced. About an hour or so later, the club announced a deal had been reached with New York – Chivas would get forward Juan Agudelo in exchange for allocation money and Pearce. Pretty nice set up for everyone if you think about it…

English Premier League

Things are still hopping in EPL, even though the season is over. With the announcement yesterday of Kenny Dalglish getting sacked by Liverpool, the word came today that Wigan Athletic would allow LFC to talk to their manager, Roberto Martinez. It was rumored already the club would approach the Wigan manager, so of course this is going to add full to the fire.

Speaking of Liverpool, here is an interesting piece on what really matters to the Fenway Sports Group.

So, Survival Sunday was crazier than you think. And I’m not just talking about the incredible results that came out of the ten games broadcasted. Not only were American audiences bombarded by soccer on almost every one of Fox’s channels along with ESPN, it seems they were actually watching the games. The Washington Post reported “a total of 1,348,000 viewers tuned into the U.S. television coverage of the final day of the Premier League season, an increase of 72 percent over 2011.” That’s amazing!

You’re not going to be surprised by this – because frankly, Carlos Tevez cannot surprsie me anymore – but he’s at it again. After his “RIP Fergie” sign during the Manchester City EPL champions parade, word was the club and Tevez both apologized to Sir Alex Ferguson for the action. But Tevez fired back in an Argentina paper claiming he wasn’t apologizing for anything.  Oy vey, come on Tevez, just grow up already!

La Liga

So now that he’s won a title with Manchester City, Yaya Toure’s manager claims the player would like new challenges. Toure has said he’s happy to remain at City, but there have also been claims he wants to go back to Barcelona. If your head isn’t spinning yet, at Real Madrid to the list of rumored teams Toure could end up at. However, Toure is letting the media know that the Spanish giants and manager Jose Mourinho haven’t approached him yet about anything. But anything could happen he added. Hmmm.

English National Team

So, England has a new manager, but that doesn’t mean the dust has settled for the Three Lions. John Terry’s out, Rio Ferdinand is out … and is Michael Carrick retired or not from international play? FA says “Uh, sorta kinda not really,” and Roy Hodgson says if Carrick can prove himself better than the four starting midfielders chose, he won’t have to stay on the bench. Personally, I’m not sure what to think of the mess in England. It tends to get a bit more complex each tournament, doesn’t it?

U.S. Men’s National Team

So the first 16 members of the USMNT were announced on Tuesday and one of the guys left off was Timmy Chandler. The German-American apparently wanted “a break” from the U.S. Men’s national team, sending the fans and coaches a pretty big message. If that isn’t a “I don’t want to play for you” message, I don’t know what is.

Serie A

Remember when we shared the link about Diego Maradona owing the Italian government 32 million (pounds according to Yahoo! Sports UK) in back taxes when he use to pay in Serie A? Well, apparently Maradona is firing back at the government, counter suing them for 40 million (pounds) for “mortification and harm suffered to his image, dignity and quality of life.” I gotta say, that takes guts when you owe 32 million in taxes.

Good morning footy fans! It’s a lovely Tuesday filled with tons of Premier League & La Liga news as controversy hits and transfer rumors begin! We have more Joey Barton & Carlos Tevez drama, an EPL player gets arrested, a legend is retiring and is Falcao heading to Chelsea? All in today’s DKA!

English Premier League

QPR’s Joey Barton was charged with two charges today by the FA for violent misconduct following his dismissal against Manchester City on Sunday. After receiving a red card for elbowing Carlos Tevez, Barton also came in contact with Sergio Agüero & Vincent Kompany, being pulled away by Mario Balotelli. Apparently Barton has until 6pm GMT time to appeal any or all the charges against him. Good luck with that.

It’s never a dull moment when it comes to Manchester City, especially when Carlos Tevez is around. But sure enough, Tevez strikes back, creating a whirlwind of controversy around his celebration sign. The sign, which Tevez held up during the celebration parade for Man City’s title win, read ‘RIP Fergie.” Tevez later issued an apology directed towards Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson for his actions saying:

 ”I got carried away in the excitement of the moment and I certainly didn’t mean any disrespect to Sir Alex Ferguson, who I admire as a man and a manager.” 

You’d think that Tevez would have the knowledge to NOT hold that sign up in the air, even if it was from a City supporter. But then again, Tevez doesn’t know the meaning of ‘common sense.’

Both Ryan Giggs & Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United were awarded two awards for their dominance in the Premier League. Fergie was named Best manager in the Premier League while Giggs won Best Player. Sir Alex beat out Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Harry Redknapp and David Moyes for the award. Congratulations!

Stoke midfielder Jermaine Pennant was given an eight-week jail sentence, suspension for a year plus a 3-year driving disqualification after admitting to drunk driving in April.

La Liga

Málaga’s Ruud van Nistelrooy announced his retirement from football yesterday after helping his club reach a Champions League spot in next season’s competition. RVN has played with two of football’s greatest clubs like Manchester United where he scored 150 goals in 219 appearances before heading to Real Madrid, winning two La Liga titles. Currently van Nistelrooy is the Champions League’s all-time second highest scorer with 56 goals to back him up. In a press conference RVN stated:

“Yesterday was my final game as a professional footballer. I wanted to play in the Champions League, but it is the moment to leave. I have arrived at my physical limit and I can’t play at the maximum level. I couldn’t have had a better send-off than this. I feel happy that I am the one taking this decision. I would like to thank Malaga, the technical and medical staff for an unforgettable year. I am proud to have won collective and individual titles, but my greatest satisfaction was to be able to work day after day, year after year.”

Good news for Real Madrid supporters as Karim Benzema has made the bold statement claiming that he would love to end his career playing at the Santiago Bernabéu. The French International had a lot of help from former Real Madrid player & football legend, Zinedine Zidane in getting acclimated to life in Spain. Now if only Gonzalo Higuaín would say the same thing…

Transfer rumors are already hitting La Liga as the newest comes from Atlético Madrid. Reports circulated that Chelsea FC was looking to swap Fernando Torres for Radamel Falcao. Chelsea manager, Roberto Di Mattero has dismissed the allegations saying that he believes Torres will be wearing blue for another season.

Photo via sportinglife.com

Unbelievable. That’s one word you could use to describe, not only how the EPL season ended, but also how Manchester City won their first league title since 1968.  They did it, at home, by coming back to win 3-2 against QPR.

Manchester City got off to a slow start, just like they had against Newcastle United. It was getting close to half time and the City-QPR game was still scoreless. City needed to score soon, as Manchestr United had already scored against Sunderland. At the 39th minute, City fans finally got the goal they were waiting for. Pablo Zabaleta scored the first goal of the game, as well as his first goal of’f the season, to give City a 1-0 lead as they headed into half time.

The second half got off to a good start, when City came close to scoring their second goal within a few minutes. However, a few City mistakes ended up leading to QPR equalizing in the 48th minute, with the goal being scored by Djibril Cisse.

The drama would continue as Joey Barton, who was slightly provoked by Carlos Tevez, elbowed Tevez in the face and was sent off immediately in the 55th minute. Barton decided to lash out on Tevez’s teammate Sergio Aguero, and hit him. As Barton was walking out, Mario Balotelli was one of the players who tried to calm him down. In my opinion, that was a disgraceful thing for the footballer to do – he had already been sent off for his elbow on Tevez, but to take it out on another player like that? Thre’s no excuse for that.

QPR would have to play a man down for the next 30+ minutes. At the 59th minute, Aguero almost gave City the lead, but the ball didn’t cross the line, so it wasn’t counted. It looked like QPR would have a tough time playing 10 v. 11, but in the 66th minute, surprising everyone, Jamie Mackie scored and gave QPR the lead. Even though, QPR was playing a man down, they were now up 2-1 against City.

It was looking more and more likely that Manchester United would win their 20th league title. QPR was doing a great job of defending; after all, they were playing to stay in EPL and not get relegated. At the 90th minute, the score was still 2-1 in QPR’s favor. However, thanks to what had happened with Barton earlier, 5 minutes of additional time were added on. Nobody, including me, believed that City would be able to score 2 goals in the next 5 minutes.

In fact, United players and their fans had already started celebrating what would’ve been their 20th league title. In the 1st  minute of added time, Edin Dzeko scored the equalizing goal. No one really celebrated though, because only a win would be good enough. Two minutes later, Sergio Aguero scored one of the biggest goals of his Manchester City career. City was now up 3-2 and the stadium went crazy. They had finally won the league title.

City would go on to win the title, while United was in 2nd place. A few weeks ago, if you had asked me if I thought City would win, I would have said no way. United had an 8-point lead, but City fought back and won in one of the craziest ways imaginable. Not only were City fans excited about this win, but so were fans of other clubs, like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. It was about time that someone else had won the title.

City won the league double, beating United 6-1 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at home. Now with the league title, Manchester, at least for this season, was blue.

You’ve got to love soccer if only for the craziness it brings about off the pitch. In today’s DKA, we’ve got you news about the USMNT U23s next qualifying, Real Madrid’s new resort island (I’m not kidding), Sir Alex Ferguson firing back taunts at Manchester City and more!

It’s your Daily Kick Around!

English Premier League

What would English football be without Manchester United and Manchester City going at each other off the pitch? I know, I know – there are a great number of other things that make the EPL fantastic, but there is something about the two teams handing each other jibes in the press that is very entertaining, whether you like the teams or not. Take this week for example. Former MCFC player Patrick Vieira fired off that Sir Alex Ferguson must have been pretty desperate to call back midfielder Paul Scholes out of retirement. SAF had a few choice words to say about that:

”If you talk about desperation, they played a player the other night who refused to go on the pitch, the manager said he’d never play again and he takes a five-month holiday in Argentina. What is that? Could that come under the description of desperation?”

As a MUFC fan myself, I would have to agree with the boss. However, I love to laugh at little stories like this. It just isn’t a normal EPL week without the smack talk, right?

Speaking of bringing Tevez back, Diego Maradona – one of Argentina’s most legendary players – is taking a little credit for Tevez’s return to the EPL. Apparently, Maradona told Tevez a few months ago to get his butt back to England, not only because he was losing money, but he wasn’t playing. And a footballer not playing is … well, let’s admit it, pretty useless.

Today’s matches:

Chelsea – Tottenham
Arsenal – Aston Villa
Bolton – Blackburn
Liverpool – Wigan
Norwich – Wolves
Sunderland – QPR
Swansea – Everton
Stoke – Manchester City

La Liga

It really wasn’t the best of weeks for Real Madrid. After the dismal display against Villarreal, the team was informed defender Pepe would receive a two-match ban after insulting a ref during the game. Coach Jose Mourinho and midfielder Mesut Ozil will both get one-match bans after being ejected from the game as well. Hey, but the bright side? One of Sergio Ramos’ yellow cards was overturned, so he’s free to play this weekend.

But you know another good way to end a bad week? You could open your own island resort. Yup, I’m not even making this up. Real Madrid announced Thursday they would be building a gigantic resort island based in the United Arab Emirates. Check out this video.

http://youtu.be/1WYBtaiPyfg

This place is going to be massive, with luxury hotels, villas, a marina, an amusement park and sporting facilities.  Oh and it’s going to have an open stadium to the ocean with hologram football games. That’s right, hologram football games. It’s supposed to open in January of 2015 and is going to cost around $1 billion to build. So if you Real Madrid fans are excited about going, I would save now because I suspect this trip will break your bank account.

Major League Soccer

If you are familiar with MLSsoccer.com’s daily Kick Off feature – which is just like DKA! A link dump for all the biggest stories in MLS – then you’ve probably noticed the missing coffee mug graphic that had adorn the page for more than a year. Well, MLS would like to inform you, the Kick Off mug has retired and headed off on vacation … and you can follow him around too on his own twitter account.

Today’s matches:

Toronto – San Jose
Columbus – Montreal
New England – Portland
Real Salt Lake – Chivas USA
Vancouver – DC United 

USMNT Olympic Qualifying

It was quite the rout Thursday night in Nashville as the U23s tagged a 6-0 win against Cuba. But a tougher challenge could await them tonight as they take on our neighbors to the north, Canada, at 7 p.m. ET.  The USMNT lead their group right now; check out the scenarios for the boys for the semifinal round of qualifying!

Happy Thursday! Can you believe it’s almost the weekend? We’ve got a bunch of headlines for you today, from how the 2014 WC is already plugging into social media, to EPL results, an MLS player back in training after a huge injury and Olympic qualifiers tonight! It’s your Daily Kick Around!

World Cup 2014

So, World Cup won’t be kicking off for at least two more years (yeah, we are a little anxious too), but that hasn’t stopped FIFA from going ahead and starting the hype early on the Internet. The soccer governing body announced yesterday the WC will have it’s own Youtube channel for highlights and clips, and last week, Brazil’s national tourism board released a mobile phone game app to help those visiting the country become familiar with the 12 host cities. Have to say, that’s a pretty awesome idea.

English Premier League

Carlos Tevez is back, in case you weren’t aware. The … ahem… troublesome Argentinian striker was subbed on yesterday in City’s match against Chelsea. He bagged an assist and helped MCFC come back from a goal deficit. I’m sure City fans are excited, but one has to wonder how long the peace will last…

Speaking of troublesome City players, club manager Roberto Mancini had no problem admitting to why he pulled striker Mario Balotelli off at half time yesterday:

“I didn’t like how he played, so I made a tactical sub.”

Can say I blame him – the first half of that game was boring at best, and Balotelli missed a great goal opportunity from a gifted mistake from Chelsea’s Frank Lampard.

If you missed the Arsenal game yesterday, in which the Gunners defeated Everton and moved up into third place in the league, our own Toni Stone has a great look at the game for you! 

Wednesday EPL results

Manchester City 2 – Chelsea 1
Tottenham 1 – Stoke City 1
Everton 0 – Arsenal 1
QPR 3 – Liverpool 2

Fabrice Muamba

Doctors yesterday released startling info that Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba was dead for 78 minutes before being revived.

Mohiddin admitted Muamba’s progress had been extraordinary since he suffered a cardiac arrest at Tottenham on Saturday evening that meant he effectively died for 78 minutes after his heart stopped beating.

With news like that, it really is a miracle Fabrice is alive and making a great recovery. We wish you all the best, Fabrice, and we’ll continue to keep you all updated on his progress.

Major League Soccer

MLS on NBC had another great broadcast week last weekend as teams continued to host their home opening matches, with 145,000 fans watching Philly and Colorado. Fans and hopeful analysts alike are expecting the trend to continue. I certainly hope it does as well!

Tottenham Hotspurs announced today they would be going on a U.S. tour this summer. The EPL side will take on L.A. Galaxy July 24 and the New York Red Bulls on July 31.

Whether you are a fan or not, here is some good news: Colorado Rapids player Conor Casey trained with the team for the first time after he suffered a bad Achilles injury. Reports were that he looked pretty aggressive, but still needed work to get up to match fitness. Congrats, Conor!

USMNT

In case you weren’t aware, the USMNT U-23s will take on Cuba tonight in the first of their summer Olympic qualifying matches in Nashville. Personally, I’m expecting a great run out of the young team, with notables like Freddy Adu and Brek Shea heading up head coach Caleb Porter’s squad.

Speaking of Brek Shea, he was our pick for Midweek Muslces yesterday. Check it out!

Not everything has been smooth for the U-23s has they prepare for the qualifying run. Injuries and players being recalled to their clubs have left Porter and his staff scrambling for replacements. The last minute move to call up the likes of Union defender Sheanon Williams has left a bad taste in coach Peter Nowak’s mouth.

La Liga

Did you think Real Madrid had the La Liga title locked up? Well, you might want to rethink that. Real dropped two points last weekend to Villarreal and with Barca’s commanding finish against Granada, Real might need to start thinking about digging their heels in more to keep their lead.

Serie A

Juventus winger Milos Krasic will be looking to bow out of the Italian side this summer, as he admitted recently he regretted not leaving Juve in the January transfer window. He’s only made four starts for the Italians this season. In January, Tottenham and Zenit made bids for Krasic, but he turned them down he said, hoping to get another chance at his club.