Jose Mourinho is sticking to his new year resolution – win every match in 2013. So far so good, yet this is only the first match of the new year. Real Madrid faced Real Sociedad at home beating the club 4-3 in typical Madrid fashion.

Karim Benzema, who was sporting a new hairstyle (I like to call it the Benzhawk), opened the scoring in the second minute with a right-footed shot to the center of the box. Despite Mourinho’s odd choice of not starting captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who was recently voted best keeper in the world for the fifth consecutive time, backfired as Antonio Adan brought down Real player Carlos Vela in the box and was immediately sent off. Madrid were down to 10 men within the first 6 minutes.

With a penalty in the 9′, Xabi Prieto put Real on the board and the match at 1-1. That is until Sami Khedira got his foot on the ball and scored off a corner kick from Carvalho in the 35′. Real equalized the match again, though, before the half with another goal by Prieto five minutes later then topping off with  hattrick after a goal in the 76′.

Real ended the last 10 minutes of the match with 10 men as Dani Estrada brought down Ronaldo, receiving his second yellow and being sent off. Though it was two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo that inevitably sealed the victory for Madrid, only to be scored two minutes apart from one another. The Portuguese international evened up his career stats with Madrid as he scored 171 goals in 171 matches.

Just minutes before the final whistle, Gonzalo Higuain made his comeback from injury, almost scoring a goal.

Even though Madrid were missing Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo and Coentrão, los blancos drove the ball as fiercely as they good, taking every opportunity to counter-attack and rack up those very-needed goals.

Real Madrid end the week with a Copa del Rey match against Celta Vigo on the 9th before facing Osasuna in Liga on the 12th.

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your La Liga coverage!

Photo courtesy of Real Madrid C.F.

A slumped Iker Casillas, warming the bench.

There’s no doubt that this 2012-13 La Liga campaign has been rough for last season’s Champions, Real Madrid. In fact, it’s been atrocious. Los Blancos are 16 points (and counting) behind rivals, FC Barcelona as well as 13 points behind city rivals, Atletico Madrid at the end of 2012.

The match started of rocky when it was announced that Iker Casillas wouldn’t be tending the goal for Madrid making it the first time in 10 years he has been dropped due to a technical decision. The first half was the same as the second, Malaga wasn’t going to make things easy for Madrid. Deflecting  balls,counter-attacking and a strong defense allowed Malaga to control the match.

The scoreboard didn’t see a goal until the 49th minute from Isco, giving Adan no chance to deflect. Roque Santa Cruz netted two goals for Malaga. Karim Benzema scored a goal with 10 minutes to spare after an OG by Sergio Sanchez in the 66th minute.

Madrid was unable to find an equalizer and fell to their fourth defeat of the season, doubling their losses from last season. With the beginning of this campaign becoming more ad more intolerable, supporters are looking for an excuse. The harsh truth is there is no excuse. With constant injuries, morale in the Madrid club is falling.

But at least we still have Champions League.

Scores from Around the League

Real Betis 1-2 Mallorca

Real Valladolid 1-3 FC Barcelona

Osasuna 1-2 Granada

Athletic Bilbao – Real Zaragoza (Starts at 4pm ET)

Photo courtesy of Real Madrid C.F.

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

Spanish captain Iker Casillas lifts the trophy after playing his 100th international match; the first player to accomplish that.

WE DID IT.

Spain is the first national team to ever win three international tournaments in a row. IN.A.ROW.

La Roja won the 2008 Euro Championship after  a 1-nil victory against Germany with a goal by Fernando Torres. They also won the 2010 World Cup after a lone goal by Andres Iniesta in the 116′ of extra time against the Netherlands.

And today, well, Spain pulled a three-peat after scoring four goals against their Group C counterparts, Italy. In an intense match-up between Spain and Italy, all eyes were on La Roja as they set out to lift their third international trophy, as the best soccer dynasty ever.

Fourteen minutes in David Silva scored a beautiful header from a pass from Cesc Fabregas, putting the Spaniards up early.  Italy faced some setbacks as Giorgio Chielinni was subbed out in the 21′ for Federico Balzaretti.

The Italians had a strong backline who fought hard with Spain’s three forwards Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Andres Iniesta. But it wasn’t strong enough for Jordi Alba who found the back of the net in the 41′. When the ref blew the whistle, Spain were already up 2-nil.

The second half turned out to be devastating for Italy, who fell behind Spain’s passing and pace. Antonio Di Natale came on for Cassano, bringing the much needed fire for Italy. But another hard hit would come for the Italians after a hamstring injury caused sub Thiago Motta to be pulled off the pitch, leaving opportunities for Spain against an Italian team with 10 men.

Vicente Del Bosque, who now holds Euro, World Cup, Champions League and La Liga championships, decided to bring on a true striker as Fernando Torres took Cesc Fabregas’ place. Nine minutes later, El Nino scored Spain’s third goal. But it didn’t stop there folks! Juan Mata made his first appearance in the tournament in the 87′ only to score the final goal a minute after entering the pitch. The assist Torres provided made him the Golden Boot winner ahead of Germany’s Mario Gomez.

Italy had an amazing tournament but in the end, they couldn’t cope with La Roja’s incisive attacking play and beautiful passing, who also set the record of being the first team to win a Euro final by a four-goal margin.

Needless to say, Spain is one of the best national teams in the world. Not just by their accomplishments but by how they make them. People might say they are “boring” or “dull,” well they are far from that. They have set a standard to how beautiful football should be played by being innovators of meticulous passing.

No doubt this is the just the beginning of what promises to be a very accomplished Spanish national team.

Photo courtesy of UEFA

It was a rematch of the 2006 World Cup Final. France versus Spain; only the outcome of today’s match was a redemption of sorts for the Spaniards.

The two goals of the match came from Spain’s Xabi Alonso, both in the 19′ by a beautiful header and in the 91′ off a penalty kick. The first half seemed promising for the Spanish, however their lack of a designated striker prevented them from being up an extra 2 goals. Fernando Torres came in at the second half, but couldn’t finish.

If I could describe this match up in one phrase it would be: Spain vs Benzema. Karim Benzema had no help from his teammates except Yohan Cabaye, who had a free kick but was quickly denied.

Spain advances to the semifinals of Euro, facing Portugal on Wednesday in an Iberian Derby. Big shocker there. Though there was part of me that hoped that France could somehow conquer and score a few goals. Now if you’re not too familiar with he rivalry of Portugal and Spain, let’s take you back to the 2010 World Cup.

Spain beat Portugal 1-nil, advancing to the semifinals after a ref mistakenly allowed a goal by David Villa, which was obviously offside. Since then the Portuguese have been rallying for another match up, as redemption. As long as Spain start a striker, Wednesday seems to be a very, head-to-head battle between the countries.

Our own Terry Munoz, who covered France in the Euros, gives us her perspective!

Although France lost to Spain today, I thought they played better than they had in their last game, when they faced Sweden and lost 2-0. France’s coach decided to bench Samir Nasri, and reports said that it based on his behavior after France’s lost Tuesday. Benching Nasri was a mistake, in my opinion; he’s been really good for France in this tournmanet.

They had their chances in the first half, but couldn’t score thanks to Spain’s keeper, Iker Casillas. In the first half, France was awarded a free kick and almost scored, but Casillas made a huge save. At HT, it was 1-0 Spain. France seemed to give up a little bit when they second half started, but they started connecting their passes and had a few chances to score, thanks to a few bad passes from Spain’s Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.

Unfortunately, France gave away a penalty late in the game and Xabi Alons scored his 2nd goal of the match. I think France should be proud of themselves for making it to the QFs, although I had been hoping to see a France-Spain final. Oh well, there’s always the next Euro (which takes place in France). Congrats Spain!

Stay tuned to all your Euro 2012 coverage here on Aerys Sports!

Photo courtesy of UEFA

It’s the day I’ve been waiting for since the Euro draw last year, being that I’m a HUGE Spanish supporter. The opening match for Group C was between Spain and Italy. Both are the last two World Cup Champions with Italy winning in 2006 and Spain grabbing their first in 2010. The match was the most anticipated of the group stage but no one know exactly how it would turn out.

When it comes to Spain, you need a striker. La Roja faced the Italians in their first match of the Euros yet both countries left viewers confused when their starting 11 rosters were announced.

Reigning European Champions, Spain kept the lineup heavy in the midfield without any designated striker, while Italy kept strong in the backline. With chances coming from David Silva, the men in red had no one to finish. Italy had some great shots on goal (from Cassano and De Rossi,) however Iker Casillas wasn’t ready to concede a goal or two, stopping every shot coming his way.

All of Spain’s players entering the match came from Real Madrid or Barcelona except for two: David Silva and Jordi Alba, meaning the Spaniards would rely heavily on their superb passing skills. Honestly, the first half bored me to the point where I started poking fun at my own side.

Mario Balotelli was subbed off for Di Natale after a terrible first half where Balotelli reacted a little too dramatic after a call wasn’t made by the ref. Not to mention a run where he had a chance to give Italy one up on the Spaniards, but it was poorly executed.

Within five minutes of being subbed on, Di Natale found the back of the net, flipping the ball past Spain keeper Iker Casillas to put Italy up 1-nil. But the scoreline wouldn’t stay that way for long. Cesc Fabregas scored a beautiful goal in the 65th minute giving La Roja the equalizer they wanted. David Silva was subbed off for Jesus Navas, who is a fantastic right winger, but the question remained: Who will be Spain’s striker?

The answer? Fernando Torres.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Why Torres? Let’s face it, Nando is better now at the international level than he is at the club level. Why that’s the case, I’m not sure but for some reason, he can finish in the Spanish kit. Or so we thought. I even came up with a little jingle to explain Nando’s drought.  Imagine the music of Lady Gaga’s ‘Alejandro’ but with these lyrics:

Can’t score a goal, can’t score a goal. Fernando!

Without a doubt, after subs were made for both sides, the match suddenly became the match everyone hoped for. A fast, intense example of how football should be played. Italy was fierce and Spain was determined. In the end, both countries left with one point, some happy and some disappointed.

Spain will play the Republic of Ireland on Thursday while Italy face Croatia.

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your Euro 2012 coverage!!!

Photo courtesy of UEFA

In their last friendly before the Euros next week, Spain had to face China in Seville. La Furia Roja were expected to put up big numbers but fell short, scoring the only goal in the 85th minute. However, entering the Euros, Spain has three international wins under their belts before facing Italy next Sunday.

The first period was in favor of China with Zheng Zhi almost netting in two goals but couldn’t get the ball past keeper Iker Casillas. The World Champions looked better in the second as both Raul Albiol and Andres Iniesta had chances infront of the net. The lone goal came from a 4-man run by Andres Iniesta who perfectly squared the ball to teammate David Silva.

This was the first match for Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao players, who were left out of the past two matches due to their Copa del Rey final last week. But Vicente del Bosque only chose to play Xavi and defender, Sergio Busquets.

It was a special moment for Spain’s keeper Iker Casillas who made his international debut for the NT exactly 12 years ago under coach  Jose Antonio Camacho, who just so happens to coach China.

As for the Euros, Spain are looking to defend their title after winning in 2008. With injuries to both Carles Puyol and David Villa and the questionable forms of Fernando Torres and Xavi , La Roja will have to prove themselves the best against their group opponents, Ireland and Italy. The Spaniards are favored to win Olympic gold later this summer as well.

The key in Spain’s success this summer lies in coach Vicente del Bosque, who as a former defender, is known for his very tactical plays. If Fernando Llorente stays up front, bringing his aerial ability, Spain will be a threat against their group.

Spain face Italy at PGE Arena Gdansk on Sunday at noon, which promises to be very entertaining.

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your Euro 2012 coverage!

Bienvenidos! Welcome futbol fans! We ladies at Aerys Soccer love to mix things up when it comes to our soccer coverage so we’re introducing a weekly segment: Late Night Liga. Having a busy weekend where it’s impossible to catch a match or results from the Spanish Primera Division? Lucky for you, Late Night Liga is one way to catch up on all the Liga news, rumors & recaps! Let’s get this first week going, shall we?

First off, there are only eight matches left in the season. EIGHT MATCHES. The current leaders, Real Madrid, have a four point advantage over their Spanish rivals, FC Barcelona. Valencia is currently in third place at 49 points, leaving them with an unreachable 29 point gap from Barcelona. Ouch!

This weekend of course, was nothing but interesting for the Spanish League when Barcelona faced Real Zaragoza on Saturday. The final proved the Catalans more superior as they scored 4-1 at La Romareda. Carlos Aranda scored Z’s only goal of the match after missing a penalty kick in the 25 minute. Captain Carles Puyol opened up the scoring for the defending champs in the 36 minute only to be followed by a beautiful goal from Lionel Messi three minutes later.

Messi scored another goal off a penalty in the 89 minute making the match 3-1. But it wasn’t over folks! Pedro used his lucky right foot off an assist from Messi, to give the Catalans their fourth and final goal.

Rayo Vallecano dominated Osasuna with a 6-0 victory, giving them ‘the highest-scoring match of the week’ award.

Espanyol 2-2 Real Sociedad

Getafe 2-0 Sporting Gijon

Real Betis 3-1 Villarreal

Fernando Llorente scoring Bilbao's only goal.

Today’s matches were pretty low-scoring and quite frankly, a little boring. Levante scored 2 goals over Atlético Madrid while the Mallorca/Granada & Real Madrid/Valencia matches were draws at 0. Athletic Bilbao barely sealed their 1-nil victory over Sevilla after El Rey de Léon AKA Fernando Llorente headed the ball in the top right corner.

For Real Madrid, this week was difficult. Captain Iker Casillas admitted that his club could lose the Liga title this year after dropping two points. It was only a month or so that the Madridistas were sitting comfortably with a 10-point cushion over their rivals, but with injuries & lack of focus, they’ve barely managed to ‘get by’ in matches when they took two draws last month against Málaga & Villarreal. If anything, this is a testament of how quickly things can change in competition. Never underestimate your opponent. However, Barça’s Cesc Fabregas likes to think that Madrid are the likely favorites to win the title and he sure is right about it unless of course, Madrid can’t beat Barça on April 21st.

Now this next week, things are switching up for La Liga. Like I said earlier, there’s only 8 matches left and Liga ends May 13th! Down below are the match schedules for April 9-12th.

Monday, April 9th

Málaga – Racing Santander

Tuesday, April 10th

Osasuna – Espanyol

Real Sociedad – Real Betis

FC Barcelona – Getafe (ESPN 3 or ESPN Deportes)

Wednesday, April 11th

Granada – Athletic Bilbao (ESPN 3 or ESPN Deportes)

Sporting Gijon – Levante

Valencia – Rayo Vallecano

Atlético Madrid – Real Madrid (El Derbi de Madrileño)

Thursday, April 12

Villarreal – Málaga

Racing Santander – Mallorca (ESPN 3 or ESPN Deportes)

Sevilla FC – Real Zaragoza

With that being said, stay tuned for Friday’s edition of Late Night Liga where I’ll be talking about the matches and what we can look forward to in the upcoming weekend!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter either at @AerysSoccer where you can read about news and recaps from other leagues around the world!

Photo courtesy of Athletic Bilbao

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment.

Real Madrid cannot beat Barcelona.

Why? Because we don’t know how to capitalize. No matter how many chances we get, how often we take them, we can never finish when we need to.

As a die-hard Madrid supporter, and I mean I’m literally a die-hard supporter, I am sick and tired of losing to the one club everyone thinks we can beat.

Sure, we can beat every other club in in La Liga, in Champions League, in Copa del Rey, but the one club we can’t beat is the one we need to the most.

Sometimes life as a Madrid supporter is tainted with these never-ending losses to our rivals.

Real Madrid might be sitting comfortably ahead of Barcelona in the Liga standings, with a 5 point margin, but things can change. In Champions League, we’re undefeated, having the highest amount of points possible, leaders in our group.

But for today, even with a 4-3 aggregate loss to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, for some reason I’m surprisingly at peace with everything.

Perhaps if Jose Callejon and Karim Benzema started, or Sergio Ramos’ header goal was allowed, things would have played out differently. But what I saw today on the pitch, the teamwork, the passion, the heart…well that’s what football is about, right?

I saw my captain, Iker Casillas, defend and hold back his players in hopes of preventing a scuffle. I witnessed Sergio Ramos receive a useless second yellow, being kicked out of the match and still shake hands with the referee. Respect. The one quality that Real Madrid, as a club, possess and live by.

I saw Barcelona get completely scared in the last 25 minutes of the match. They feared us, the crowd was silent. Real Madrid kept on pushing, hoping for that goal. For once, Barca was terrified of us and what we could do. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema lit a fire under the players, the supporters and the doubters with their second half goals. It was beautiful.

I’ll give it to Barcelona’s Pedro who scored their first goal and to Dani Alves, who in my opinion is a piece of overly-watered grass, for scoring a beautiful goal putting the Catalans above Madrid in score.

The dynamic between these two clubs is insane. Crazy, even. There’s a lot of bickering back and forth, unnecessary fouls, terrible acting and today was no different. I’ve learned a few things about certain players, you know, mostly about Cesc Fabregas. A man who I once adored and respected, now forever pushed over to my “I lose respect for you every time you do that” list.

And I’m not biased because if I was, I wouldn’t say that Pepe didn’t deserve the right to play tonight, or that he totally embarrassed his club with his high-octane temper. Because surely, he did.

I guess a ‘Felicidades’ is in order for Barcelona, who are advancing to the CDR semifinals and I say that in a true genuine fashion.

So what’s in store for Real Madrid? Our focus lies solely on La Liga and Champions League. The two big trophies that really matter and count for something.

It takes faith to be a Real Madrid supporter. Faith in your manager, in your players and in your heart. We struggle against Barcelona, but our faith for each other and our club is what gets us through. We never give up on our goals and we’ll fight to the finish.

That’s why I’m proud to say that no matter what, I am honored to call myself a Real Madrid supporter.

Vivimos por ti, vence por nosotros!

Photos courtesy of Real Madrid C.F. edited by myself

The weekend may be over, but everyone needs to shake off those Monday blues! We’ve got lots of news for you, plus plenty of footy action this week — including the much anticipated second leg of the Real Madrid-Barcelona Copa del Rey match up. Headlining our stories today, Mario Balotelli is in hot water because of his actions in Sunday’s EPL match, Frank Lampard’s injury from Saturday could have been worse, and the host of this year’s MLS All-Star game revealed. That and more in today’s Daily Kick Around!

 English Premier League

Guess what? Mario Balotelli is in trouble — again. Are you surprised? I’m not. Balotelli is facing a violent conduct charge from the FA after he appeared to stomp on Tottenham’s Scott Parker during Sunday’s match. Balotelli would receive a four-match ban should he accept the charge, or he could appeal. Either way, it’s not looking good for the Manchester City striker’s near-future!

While it’s bad news for Balotelli, Frank Lampard received better than expected news. Lampard was substituted before halftime on Saturday, going down with what looked to be a bad injury. Luckily for him (and Chelsea),  a scan showed that he only had a slight tear in his calf muscle, a minor injury compared to what it could have been. Lampard will likely miss this weekend’s match against QPR, but hopefully for the Blues, not much more than that.

Manchester City is still trying to unload striker Carlos Tevez, and it seems that AC Milan may be the lucky — or unlucky, depending on who you ask — recipients. Milan says they have reached a deal with Tevez, but are waiting on City, who is stalling. They want to sell the forward outright instead of sending him on a loan deal. If Milan doesn’t get Tevez, they’ve got Maxi Lopez waiting in the wings, ready to be signed if the Tevez deal falls through.

Major League Soccer

The 2012 MLS All-Star game will be played at — drum roll please — PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Union! No word on who the opponent will be or when the game will be held, but the official announcement has been confirmed (even though the press conference isn’t until tomorrow). Congrats, Philly!

La Liga

Rumors have been flying left and right that there is unrest in the Real Madrid locker room. After their first-leg defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, whispers of discontent amongst the players were heard in every corner of the world. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas squashed those rumors, saying that while there may be dust-ups from time to time, they disagreements blow over shortly after they occur. Basically: nothing to see here folks, move along!