I was going to have this long thing about it being Star Wars night and all of that, but after this game I wasn’t in the mood. UGH. I’m not holding back, so you’ve been forewarned! : ) Last night’s LA Galaxy game was a rematch from the 2012 and the 2011 MLS Cup. It was just five months ago when LA took on Houston at the HDC. There is a reason these two teams have made it to the MLS Cup for two years in a row. They play their hearts out and they put on a show. You have to admit, this is what soccer is all about. Last night LA played Houston for the first and only time in the regular season and it was a great game, if you were a Houston fan.

First half both teams turned it on, LA and Houston both had an excellent run of play. LA’s rookies stole the spotlight once again. Charlie Rugg had two chances, and Greg Cochrane dominated the back line. The first half was in the palm of their hands. In the 26th minute Josie Villarreal made a run and was taken down in the 18, thus he drew a PK. None other than Landon Donovan stepped up to take it, and… missed. Yes, he missed. This is the second PK Donovan has missed this season, which is odd. He’s still getting “back in to the swing of things” as Taylor Twellman stated in the broadcast.

I just wanted to go through the TV and give Donovan a pep talk, because it was a terrible PK. No power, a stutter step, and just flat out terrible. As the first half was winding down Houston started pushing forward and were looking to steal a goal before the break. They pushed all the way until the whistle blew, and lucky for LA, they couldn’t convert a goal. The teams went into the half 0-0.

Second half started just as it was hitting midnight on the East Coast, and boy was I tired. But hey, what’s a little beauty sleep sacrificed to watch LA play? Nothing, that’s what. Until the 56th minute I was really enjoying the game, and then Andrew Driver found the back of the net for Houston putting them ahead 1-0. This was a familiar place for LA though, as they were in this same position back in December. At this point in the game Mike Magee was furious. All night he was getting beat up and the referee was not calling anything Magee’s way. It was rather frustrating for LA and me (maybe because it was 12:30 a.m.).

Bruce made two crucial subs at this point trying to get a tying goal. Zardes came on for Rugg and Jimenez for Villarreal. This pushed Donovan up top, and made the game have a faster pace. Unfortunately this didn’t matter, as the final whistle blew LA fell 1-0 to Houston. Sad day, and a tough game to watch. Again the rookies proved they were tough players. Cochrane played the full 90 and never backed down from a one-on-one chance. I was impressed with all the players, but it just wasn’t their night. Even though it was hard to watch, you can’t win ‘em all!

LA’s next game will be May 11th against Vancouver.

Gervinho was part of Arsenal’s starting 11 against Sunderland today

Arsenal kicked off their season opener earlier today with a home game against Sunderland.  The Wildcats fought hard and won their point well in a scoreless draw.

The recent departure of Arsenal striker Robin van Persie meant this was the first game without the goal-scoring captain as part of the team.  It goes without saying that van Persie, scoring the most goals in the league with 30, was instrumental in Arsenal finishing third in the Premiership.  The question now remains:  will Arsenal have a shot at the title without him?

The answer is a resounding YES.

The loss of van Persie has been anticipated all summer.  As disappointing as it is, not so much that the Holland striker left the club, but that he went to rival Manchester United. This time the club was prepared.  Unlike last season’s end of summer transfer mess, Arsene Wenger spent time and money on three key players that will keep the Gunners in contention for the title.

German International Lukas Podolski came from the Bundesliga and scored an impressive 18 league goals for his Koln team and 44 goals in 101 appearances for his national team.  Lukas started in today’s game and looked confident and eager but a lack of playing together as a team seemed evident.

Olivier Giroud is a fairly unknown French international player who played a pivotal role for his Montpellier team in the top French league.  The 25-year old led the attack by scoring 22 goals and winning the league title.  Giroud will not find the back of the net as easily as he did in Ligue 1, which was evident when he missed an easy shot in front of the net late in the match today.  That goal could have given the Gunners a win, but hopefully the striker will shake it off and return to the kind of football he is capable of playing.

Last but definitely not least, Arsenal most recently purchased Santi Cazorla who represented Spain at Euro 2012 and played successfully in La Liga.  He was given rave reviews from fellow Spaniard and Gunner Mikel Arteta and the two may often play together as attacking midfielders.

Cazorla is known for his pace, intelligent play and creativity.  He is also a very versatile player, able to play left winger but can also play right, considering he uses both feet effectively.  I predict his contribution will be crucial to the team and think he showed the most promise of all the players on the pitch today.

Obviously the team needs more time to get familiar with each other and gel but there’s promise from new and existing players.  Andre Arshavin came in around the 75th minute and had some good touches.  Defender Kieren Gibbs held steady against a more experienced Louis Saha and Gervinho had good possession of the ball, but needed help converting.

Even with quite a few injured players and an unusually hot day, the squad managed a point.  The Gunners will have to step it up quickly though as I anticipate an early and dominant start from both Manchester clubs and we don’t want to fall too far behind.  So happy the season has finally begun! Come On You Gunners!!

There’s been a few big changes in the soccer world today, folks. There’s tragic news from a La Liga team, changes in MLS and EPL and we get ready for the Euros and World Cup qualifying. It’s your Thursday Daily Kick Around!

La Liga

Villarreal were all set to present their new manager Manuel Preciado to fans and the media tomorrow, but that all as come to a halt as the horrid news that Preciado suffered a heart-attack today and passed away was announced by the club. Thoughts and prayers are with his family at the moment. What a tragic blow.

English Premier League

Premier league side Norwich City announced today they would bring former Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton on board as their new coach.

Major League Soccer

On the theme of managers for this DKA, Toronto FC – the team in MLS with the worst record thus far this season – has brought in a new manager as current head coach Aron Winter stepped down today. But who really thinks he stepped down? I’m pretty sure he was all but sacked.

Euro 2012

The Euros start tomorrow!! To get you excited about the summer tournament, our new writer Kendall Schoendienst has a break down of Group A. Read it here!

U.S. Men’s National Team

The USMNT has a lot to prove tomorrow night as they take on Antigua and Barbuda in their first qualifying match for World Cup 2014. To get you excited about the match, which will take place in Tampa, Aerys Sports’ Sarah Tyson met up with American Outlaws Tampa for a great article about the AO chapter. Check it out! 

Hello footy fans! Hope your week is off to a good start. Today we have lots to talk about, from MLS triumphs to Champions League anticipation. Plus, check out some sweet highlights from leagues around the world. All that and more, here’s your Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

In a surprising result last night, DC United took down the New York Red Bulls, largely in part to Chris Pontius, who grabbed a hat-trick. If you missed the game, check out the recap here. And definitely check this awesome slo-mo video of all three of Pontius’ goals!

We all know that yes, Sporting KC was finally handed their first loss of the season against the Timbers on Saturday. It’s a little comical that it was a 1-0 loss because of an own goal…one could say that the only team to really beat SKC so far this season has been, well, SKC. But in the grand scheme of things, Sporting is 7-1 on the season, and one of the most popular teams in MLS. But if someone had said that sentence two years ago, you might have called them crazy. Check out how far SKC has come since their rebranding in late 2010.

US Men’s National Team

If you were like me, and watched every game of the USMNT U23s in the Olympic Qualifying tournament–yes, still stings to think about it–you saw rising star Joe Corona. Corona had a great tournament, and is a young US player that will almost certainly have a future with the national team. Want to know more about Joe? Look no further.

Soccer Overseas

The second leg of Champions League semifinal action is coming up soon, with Barcelona taking on Chelsea and Camp Nou, and Bayern must travel to Real Madrid’s home turf. In the first leg, Barca fell to Chelsea, so in order to make the finals, they must win at home. It shouldn’t be a difficult task for the “best team in the world,” but they were also expected to at least draw at Chelsea, and we all know how that turned out.

Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Bayern in the first leg, and are also in a must-win situation at home to reach the finals. While all Bayern has to do to advance is draw, Mario Gomez says the German side will be playing to win. Should be two great matches, I can’t wait!

Even more bad news for Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi. The Villarreal forward had an initial prognosis of six months out of action, but it was reported today that he will need two more surgeries and will be sidelined at least 10 months. Maybe he should consult Stu Holden for tips on staying positive? What an awful setback for Rossi.

It’s that time again folks! Late Night Liga is upon you! Okay, so it’s not really ‘late’ but I couldn’t help myself, so many things to discuss!

First off, not much of a change in league standings since our last post late Friday, however, Real Madrid and Barcelona are still racing for the title. Who would’ve thunk it? Both clubs played their most important matches Saturday with positive outcomes.

Sporting Gijon visited Real Madrid at the Bernabéu and left disappointed. I can honestly say, as a Madrid supporter, I was insanely nervous to see how we performed. Real’s defense was shaky with no help from Álvaro Arbeloa, who spent most of the match with a confused look on his face. Luckily, Sergio Ramos assisted in Real’s first goal as Gonzalo Higuaín knocked the ball past Gijon’s keeper in the 37th minute. For Gijon, Cuevas scored off a penalty in the 30th giving them their only goal.

The holy trinity of Real Madrid scored one goal each. Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo in the 74th and the Frenchie Karim Benzema in the 84th minute. Both Ronaldo and Benzema were voted as Men of the Match for their fantastic (and title saving) performance on the pitch. We’re leaders for another week!

Now for Barcelona; they faced a tough Levante club at the Cuidad de Valencia. Scoring opened when Levante’s Jose Barkero scored off a penalty in the 23rd. After that, it was a long road to recovery for the Catalans, who could feel their four-point gap from Real Madrid widen. But in true Barcelona fashion, King Messi saved his club with a comeback goal in 64th minute and scoring his fifth penalty in 5 matches in the 72nd, giving Barcelona a 2-1 victory.

While on the topic of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, they enter the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals this week. Real Madrid face Bayern Munich Tuesday, April 17th. Bayern, who have been one of the top clubs in the Champions League, are looking to break down Real Madrid. This match-up is definitely one to watch next week.

Barcelona faces Chelsea FC Wednesday, April 18th. Most people would likely pull Barcelona as the victors in this match-up but if you caught today’s FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea-Tottenham, you might have to re-think your assumption. When put on the spot, Chelsea can perform.

Moving on, today’s La Liga matches were pretty bland.

Espanyol beat Valencia 4-nil and recorded their first win in 6 matches. Cristian Gómez broke open the scoring from a cut-back from Sergio Garcia in the 26th. Four minutes later, Verdú added a second goal with a shot right outside the box. Beautiful.

Álvaro Vásquez was subbed into the match just after the half to score a goal in the 58th. Espanyol’s fourth and final goal came from Kalu Uche in the 80th which gave Mauricio Pochettino’s side a total of 45 points, just behind Osasuna. Valencia failed in their two-point advantage over Málaga in the battle for Champions League football next season.

Málaga 1-1 Real Sociedad

Real Betis 1-0 Osasuna

Real Zaragoza 1-0 Granada

Villarreal 1-1 Racing Santander

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Mallorca

Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Atlético Madrid

On Monday, Getafe will host Sevilla FC.

This week is what I like to call as:

Stay tuned later in the week, either Thursday or Friday, for a very special edition of Road to El Clasico. All Clasicos are important, but this week’s Clasico April 21st is very pivotal for both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, as it could be the deciding factor on which club will raise the cup May 13th.

FUN FACT: Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi set a record-breaking tally with 41 goals each this season. I think it’s safe to say, these two are the best in the world? Probably.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest!

Welcome back fútbol fans! This past week of La Liga has been a crazy one with matches Monday-Thursday!

Current standings for the 2-12-2013 campaign are as follows:

On Monday, Málaga beat Racing Santander 3-nil with goals from Santi Cazorla, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Isco. Málaga, who were almost relegated last season, has improved tremendous amounts and will begin the weekend sitting at 4th.

Barca faced Getafe, a club who they lost to earlier in the season, came up on top as they scored 4-nil at the Nou camp with Alexis Sánchez rounding out with two goals. Barcelona are still within a 4-point reach of current leaders Real Madrid, with only 6 matches left of the season and a huge El Clasico coming up next Saturday.

Espanyol lost 2-nil to Osasuna while Real Sociedad and Real Betis drew at 1-1.

Wednesday was a whole different ballgame as all four matches were very entertaining to watch. First on the list was Atlético Madrid – Real Madrid in El Derbi Madrileño. It was a do or die match for Real, who could have seen their title hopes fall out of place. Falcao scored the lone goal for Atléti off a header from Adrian Lopez in the 55′, but it was Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo who made headlines with his 7th hattrick of the season. José Callejón scored their 4th goal minutes after Ronnie’s penalty kick.

Valencia proved why they’re sitting in 3rd after a 4-1 victory against Rayo Vallecano at the Mestalla. After a couple rough weeks, plagued with bad form, Valencia opened up the scoring in the 41′ by Jonas. Jordi Alba, Pablo and another goal by Jonas gave Valencia their win. Diego Costa fired low into the corner giving Rayo their only goal.

Granada drew with Athletic Bilbao 2-2 and Sporting Gijon beat Levante 3-2.

Thursday was another high-scoring day of fútbol as Sevilla sank Zaragoza at home with 3 goals, two from Álvaro Negredo and one from Federico Fazio. Santander lost to Mallorca 3-nil while Villarreal beat Málaga 2-1.

This weekend is another busy one for the players. Real Madrid face Sporting Gijon at the Bernabéu, hoping to pull off a victory. The whites can’t afford to be down ANY points. If Madrid grasp a victory but lose during El Clasico, they’ll still be Liga leaders, even if it’s by one point.

Levante play Barcelona Saturday as well and that match will be broadcasted on ESPN3.com at 4 p.m. ET. Levante have had a fantastic season so they’ll give Barca a little difficulty at the Ciudad de Valencia.

On Sunday, all the other clubs face off with the televised matches being Espanyol – Valencia on ESPN Deportes at 6 a.m. ET and Rayo Vallecano playing Athletic Bilbao on ESPN Deportes at 3:30 p.m. ET.

On Monday Getafe will play Sevilla at the Coliseum Afonso Perez which is a must-watch match as Getafe’s defense are a perfect match for Sevilla’s fast offense.

Ever wondered how Messi & Ronaldo match up? Just check out this video for some interesting statistics!

http://youtu.be/2SiOoiPc03Y

In other news around Liga, Villarreal took a huge blow today as Giuseppe Rossi tore his ACL in training. Rossi, who was on his way back to a good form after suffering an injury in October, will miss Euro 2012 for Italy who were to face Spain in the tournament opener.

We have an update on Barca defender Eric Abidal, who underwent a liver transplant Tuesday. Barca manager, Pep Guardiola (King of the Skinny Ties) stated that the French international was recovering well and that everything is going as planned. It’s unlikely he will return this season, let alone represent France in Euro, but we all wish his a fast recovery!

Twitter is a pretty interesting place to find weird news. Today I noticed a hashtag called #footballermovies. Some of my favorite La Liga inspired ones are ‘Guti & The Beast,’ ‘Lionel King,’ ‘Cesc & The City,’ ‘One Flew Over the Kaka’s Nest,’ ‘Xavitar,’ and ‘Don’t Messi With The Zlatan.’

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

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!

With Fabrice Muamba making significant progress after suffering a heart attack in Saturday’s FA Cup match against the Spurs, the headlines are still popping up in the football world. In today’s DKA we have a resignation by Ricardo Teixeira, Diego Forlan pulling a Carlos Tevez and of course, some more updates on Muamba’s condition.

La Liga

Villarreal appointed a new manager to finish out the season. Miguel Angel Lotina, who has managed Osasuna, Celta Vigo, Espanyol and Real Sociedad, has been jobless the past year after leaving Depotivo La Coruña last season. Jose Molina was fired after the yellow submarine placed one spot above the relegation zone on Sunday. Lotina is the 4th manager for Villarreal this season.

Even though Real Madrid dropped two points this weekend after a 1-1 draw to Mallorca, FC Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola thinks that Madrid can’t be caught in the race for the La Liga championship. With only 11 matches remaining and an 8-point advantage over the Catalans, Madrid still have a lot of work to do before their meeting with the rivals next months. Barcelona still remain the one club in La Liga Madrid have yet to defeat.

Serie A

Diego Forlan, the new Carlos Tevez? Not quite but the Uruguayan pulled a Tevez-like maneuver on Sunday when he didn’t want to come on the pitch to play in the 77 minute of Inter’s match against Atalanta. Forlan, unlike Tevez, didn’t refuse to come on but he preferred not to come on. Inter manager Claudio Ranieri said it was a tactical decision made my Forlan who was asked if he was prepared to play on the left.

Fabrice Muamba

With Muamba recovering in the hospital, the Premier League are searching for ways to improve their medical tests and treatment during matches. With no reason as to why Muamba suffered cardiac arrest, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has his own opinions:

“We need to improve the medical side for the players, we need to screen the players often, maybe two times a year and they have to be more accurate because they don’t do this. When I saw our medical two years ago, I was really worried. I said we need to do them better … what happened to Muamba and other players in the past can’t happen again.”

Eric Abidal, the Barcelona left-back wrote via his facebook account a message of support to Muamba and his family. “Fabrice Muamba, all my heart is with you and your loved ones! We’re with you and your family!”

Today’s match between Bolton & Aston Villa has been postponed. The Premier League made a statement regarding the cancellation:

“Following Fabrice Muamba’s admission to hospital yesterday evening the Premier League and Aston Villa have agreed to Bolton Wanderers’ request to postpone the Barclays Premier League match between the two clubs scheduled for Tuesday 20th March. The thoughts of the Premier League, its clubs an players are with Fabrice Muamba, his family and Bolton Wanderers at this difficult time.”

FIFA

Ricardo Teixeira has resigned from the FIFA Executive Committee this morning just one week from stepping down as the head of the Brazilian Football Confederation and organizer of the 2014 World Cup,citing his resignations as “personal reasons.”

Messi with match ball and Barcelona captain, Carles Puyol, via his twitter account.

5-1. The score for the Barcelona-Valencia match, four of which was scored by the petite Argentine, Lionel Messi.

Messi is currently one goal behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who won last season’s Pichichi award, for league goals this season at 27 with only 15 matches left to play in Liga. This match was played in typical Barcelona fashion with the Catalans reigning high with ball possession, leaving only one chance for Valencia to capitalize on.

Pablo Piatti gave Valencia their only goal in the 9′ but after that, the battle was sorely one-sided as Barça ripped their defense to shreds scoring goal after goal after…well…goal. It all began with Messi’s two goals before the half, all within a 5-minute window. Barça called all their forwards up to help Messi find that perfect goal. In the 22′ it was a low cross-pass as Pedro kicked the ball to Messi, bring the match to an even score.

The second goal in the 27′ stemmed from a beautiful defensive shake from Andres Iniesta to passed to Eric Abidal, who later crossed his shot, finding Messi near the far post leaving him one goal away from a hat trick.

Cesc Fabregas almost scored an amazing goal, but it was deflected from the under-side of the crossbar. With the pressure piling on coming into the second half, Messi didn’t score his hat trick until the 75′ despite a few dangerous chances from Barca as well as Valencia’s Feghouli.

In his 200th match with Barcelona, Messi found the will to score his fourth goal after Dani Alves couldn’t hold a shot, taking that disadvantage and turning it into his 146th goal as a blaugrana.

Andres Iniesta was subbed out for Xavi in the 86′ and scored in the 90′ when Messi slipped the ball through to Xavi who lifted it beyond Alves and in leaving Valencia stunned.

Barcelona plays next Sunday against Atletico Madrid in Liga and won’t play their second leg match against Leverkusen in Champions League until March 7th.

——-

By Maria ‘Nenela’ Dorta

Karim Benzema celebrates his goal with Mesut Ozil and Raphael Varane as he gives Real Madrid their 4-0 victory

Things are getting a little bit easier for Real Madrid, who still have a gap of 10 points between rivals Barcelona, giving them some air to breathe if they were to lose a game. There’s still a lot of league to go but no matter what anyone says, 10 points are 10 points and it will be hard for Barcelona or any other team to reach them.

Real Madrid was a little bit nervous for this game because in the first round of La Liga, they tied against Racing and the white ones knew that if Racing’s boys wanted to make their life a living hell, they have everything to do it. Madrid were playing at home and they needed to make the first goal.

The first half is where we saw a much stronger Madrid. In a lot of games, Madrid started loosing in the first minutes of the game but this time the score was still 0 – 0 until minute six, when Cristiano must have told himself “this has to change,” and launched a beautiful header to the left post, making it the first goal for Real Madrid.

Things were changing for Real Madrid and Racing was making things a little bit difficult for them. The galacticos were trying to find one more goal before of the half time but Racing’s defense was making some walls in front of their goal, preventing a a scoring chance. A second yellow for Cisma left Racing with 10 men bringing a beautiful and flawless pass from Xabi Alonso in the 45′ to Benzema’s feet giving Madrid their second goal.

The second half was a little bit different. We saw more drive and strength from the Real Madrid boys as they were making a lot of beautiful passes, however they were still struggling to finish. Some corners, some crazy passes, a lot of stolen balls but the things were just the same: Racing fighting to leave with a tie and Real Madrid looking for more goals.

At the 63′, José Mourinho made his first substitution, Özil out and Di María in. This was the first game for Di María after two month-long injury. The Bernabéu was screaming and clapping when he entered the pitch. And they had the right to. A pass from the middle of the pitch landed on his feet, he found the right spot and the right angle and shot. It was a like a shooting star that made his way across the big area to the end of the net. Madrid was up 3-0.

Racing felt defeated and we could see that in their game. It was like they didn’t want to fight anymore. They made their last substitution and Real Madrid did as well. Santander wanted this game to be over because it was too painful to keep playing without any goals, however Real Madrid thought differently. Another goal came from the amazing and delicate French boy, Karim Benzema. A small pass from Khedira put Benzema in the position to make one of the most beautiful goals so far.

With Madrid’s 4-0 defeat, they head into their first Champions League match in the Round of 16 against CSKA Moskva on Tuesday looking to keep thier undefeated CL streak intact.

Sevilla was in a hard spot this last couple of games, having not won a single game and currently adjusting to a new manager, Michel.

This weekend saw another Sevilla; in the first half they had the ball almost every minute and it was beautiful to watch. They tried and tried because they knew it was the only way they could win this game. Osasuna was there but they were like a ghost, trying to do some damage but nothing aggressive making it  a little bit sad to watch. In the 16′ a bounced ball made his way to Negredo who made a short pass to Medel and this without thinking it made a shot with all his strength and the ball was inside, the scoreboard was now 1-0.

The second half started and we could see that Sevilla’s boys were tired leaving holes in their defense but even that didn’t help Osasuna. Some opportunites for both sides but the scoreboard didn’t move. Jesus Navas and Reyes were the leaders in Sevilla and it was a delight to see them play.

The referee called 4 more minutes for extra time and what a long 4 minutes to Osasuna, when they thought things couldn’t go worse, a goal from Trochowski put the knife in their heart. A beautiful pass from Navas from the right side as he just touched the ball and went inside. After so many weeks without knowing what victory was, Sevilla had just won 2-0.

The came, they played and they prove to Sevilla fans why they never gave up. Hard work and strength can do everything.

Getafe 1 – Espanyol 1

Granada 4-1 Real Sociedad

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Malaga

Gijon 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Mallorca 4-0 Villarreal

Levante 3-5 Rayo Vallecano

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