Spain went into this game expected to win. The majority of Britons asked said they thought the Spanish international side were the most likely to go all the way, but first they had to get through their first game against Russia.
For the first ten minutes or so, neither team really found their feet, and it was very hard to decide who would get the first goal, but around the fifteen minute mark, Russia started to play some good football and looked very threatening, although they failed to utilize this advantage and on the twenty minute mark, the Liverpool top goal scorer, Torres made a break down the left hand side, before attracting goal keeper and coolly passing the ball into Villa for a simple tap in.
The first half in general belong to Spain, although it wouldn’t be fair to say Russia didn’t have their chances, including hitting the post, hitting the crossbar and having a one on one opportunity canceled for offside.
The Spanish side then made Russia pay for this mistake. Russia played a short corner and way over hit the cross, then Spain made a counter attack extremely similar to the Netherlands’s, where the left back ran the length of the pitch, before the ball found it’s way through to David Villa, who scored his second of the game calmly passing the ball through the keepers legs.
A number of players looked extremely close to getting booked in the first half, with the referee seeming to disallow psychical contact altogether, giving a lot of free kicks, and it was unsurprising no one received a yellow card, although this didn’t ruin what was a very good game of football so far.
Coming out for the second half and it looked like the Russians might just find a way back into this game, putting the Spanish defense under a lot of pressure for around a quarter of an hour before the tables turned and on the seventieth minute David Villa got his hat trick after an excellent cross-pitch pass from substitute Cesc Fabregas, meaning all Villa had to do was slot the ball neatly home at the near post.
The Spaniards then carried on putting the Russians under pressure, until around the eightieth minute where Russian player Roman Pavlyuchenko headed the ball in to the Spanish net to make the score 3 – 1, but this didn’t mean the Spanish stopped. With yet another counter attack they surged forward, Villa holding the ball up and chipping to Igor Akinfeyev who blasted it to the keeper, who could only rebound the ball in to Cesc Fabregas’ path for a diving header.
The first game of Group D was a good one, with lots of action, and, at last, a decent amount of goals. The Spanish played well, and thoroughly deserved the win. They certainly look like a team with the quality to win this competition.
REAL MADRID ARE THE CHAMPIONS WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
What can I say, there is no words in the world that can describe my feelings, the match was a big thriller.
A dramatic match thanks to the penalty which was granted to Osasuna on the 80th minute where we saw Patxi Puñal score in the middle of the goal. Just in the last 5 minutes of the match Robben and Higuain gives Real Madrid the title and crushes the dreams of Villareal and Barcelona.
YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!
REAL MADRID WINS THE SPANISH LEAGUE
El Real Madrid “Merengue” …. Campeón de Liga 31 2007/2008
Watch the Goals and more after the jump….
We are the champions baby, we are the CHAMPIONS…..
It is sort of a stretch that ten players are set to leave Barca in the summer, but some reports lately are saying that Barcelona are going to go through major rebuilding of the club this summer. It is sort of clear now that Frank Rijkaard is leaving and Mourinho is taking over.
Barcelona is rumored to sell Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Deco, Lilian Thuram, Edmilson, Rafa Márquez, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Gianluca Zambrotta, Santi Ezquerro and Sylvinho. Some Other rumors also state that Etoo might head to Tottenham.
It does seem a but too much, but I think Barcelona should do something as big as this to be able to compete next season. Although as a Real Madrid fan I wish they stay clueless the same way they are.
Now on the other hand, Barcelona’s shopping list is huge, they have around 40 names to choose from. They must be waiting for Mourinho to take over and choose.
The rumored names on Barca’s Shopping list are as follows:
Defense: Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna) and Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander)
Midfield: Seydou Keita and Christian Poulsen (Sevilla), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Attack: Karim Benzema (Lyon) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax)
After seasons and seasons of exclusively airing the UEFA Champions League, ART now loses those rights to Aljazeera Sport Channel. Aljazeera won those rights and for the UEFA cup for at least the next three seasons from 2009 to 2012. Aljazeera also got the rights to broadcast the UEFA Super Cups for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
What is really interesting also is that Aljazeera also got the rights to exploit those competitions on the Internet and Mobiles. It is said that Aljazeera will be selling some of he matches to free-to-air channels, those matches are expected to be in the UEFA Cup and not the UEFA Champions League.
At start there has been a few doubts on how Aljazeera Sports Channel will be able to manage to air big number of matches that play at the same time, as we know Aljazeera has now only two free-to-air channels and two “pay TV” channels, with an additional one to start soon, so to clear those doubts Aljazeera announced that they will be adding new channels that works only on matches times.
In my opinion Aljazeera Sports is better than ART, they respect the championships they have rights to, they create appropriate analysis studios they employ capable analysts and presenters. Simply speaking they are well organized, and willing to go all the way to produce high quality coverage.
In regard to ART Sports future it seems they are doomed, although some rumors say that they will be having the Italian League in FULL starting from next season, if there is any true to this it could save them but I really wish they don’t get it in full, Aljazeera is better capable to give this league the kind of attention it deserves. I really wish this Mary go around thing with the leagues ends, I wish one capable network takes all of them so we can just subscribe to one network.
When the transfer window opened Real Madrid offered Manchester United 60 millions euros for Cristiano Ronaldo, but Manchester told Real not to bother by making any offers below 100 million euros which is around £73.9 million. And even then they still might not sell the player.
Personally I think Real Madrid will eventually cave and pay whatever Manchester requests, the player is talented and Real Madrid want his badly, and it will be one of the most additions to the squad in Calderon’s history. But the real question now is who will Real Madrid sell and will this sale disrupt the harmony of the squad.
I wont be surprised if Real Madrid was successful in buying Berbatov from Tottenham and Ronaldo from Manchester United by the end of the transfer window. But at the same time, I expect the sale of at least 2 to 3 players, one of those will be a critical player who played well in the first half of this season. Lets see what happens, but I will be surprised if Real Madrid made no purchases this January.
On the 36th minute of the first half, Baptista gives the ultimate gift for Real Madrid manager, administration, players and fans. An amazing pass from Ruud Van Nistelrooy met with right-footed shot by Baptista to go through from the edge of the area to shock Victor Valdes, Frank Rijkaard, and the Barcelona fans.
What Barca fans say, and the Video Highlights after the jump…..
Real madrid played well, they effectively prevented Barca from attacking, Iker Casillas made couple of fantastic saves, but the defense line also should be congratulated on a very good display.
Barca just seemed so tired even before the match started, Ronaldinho and Eto’o just were not in it 100%, Ronaldinho tried and tried but still didnt seem in form. The only Barca player that I can say that was good was Iniesta.
Every Barca fan I have spoken to since yesterday keeps saying the same thing “Barca lost because Messi was injured”, if that is your way of thinking, and that is how you see it. Great, keep kidding yourself like that, maybe you will be able to sleep in the night
Real Madrid rumors keeps puring in, the Spanish sports daily Marca is insisting that Diarra is on his way out of Real Madrid maybe as soon as the winter. The rumor says that Schuster, altho using the player in different amount of times and positions, still does not want him in the squad and informed the board with his decision and the board have approved it.
The reason why it could be in winter rather in the summer, simply because Diarra will be playing in the African Cup in the winter which means not being available to play for Real Madrid for about 5 weeks, which makes the player even less valuable to them.
In the end, my opinion is that Schuster will miss the player if he does not have a replacement in winter, Diarra have played a good role especially when Schuster had dual defensive midfield plan. I know that Gago is there and Gago is heavily competing in that position but still Diarra will be missed.
He tried to be subtle but failed, Inter Milan’s Ibrahimovic showed his ambitions to join Real Madrid one day, but kept saying he is happy in Inter Milan, and that he wont leave because of the crowd violence in italy and so on, he even semi-attacked fabio cannavaro for leaving italy to play in spain. What do you exactly want ?!
First you say you wish you play for Real Madrid and that they are the best “They’re one of the biggest clubs in the world and everyone in the world wants to play for them.“, and then you drool over joining them “Nobody knows the future. I have a long contract with Inter Milan, but in football, you never know what’s around the corner.“, then you go back to say “I have no fear when playing in Italy because there is a lot of protection. All the players have long and important contracts and are not responsible for what is happening. Unlike (Fabio) Cannavaro, I think I’m lucky to play in Italy where I’m very happy at the moment“.
This is just a rescue call for Real Madrid telling them to please come and take me from this place. I think that Ibrahimovic shouldve never said what he said, and just focus on his football, its not as if he is exceeding expectations this season. And even if he was he just shouldn’t talk to the media in this way.
They said we wont do it again, they said it was just a coincidence, they said it cant happen, real was just lucky they said, Villareal wasn’t ready. Well, we did it baby, AGAIN 5 freakin goals and against who? against Valencia, after all the warnings and the expectations that Real Madrid will fall and suffer in-front of Los Che but Los Merengues showed what they are made of and scored 5 goals.
So we are still top of the table, but by the way this wont make me change my opinion of Schuster, i still hate his guts and i think this glory isnt made by him but 100% by the stars we have. Robinho is proving day after day and goal after goal that he is NEEDED in Real Madrid, you can easily see that he is involved in all the goals.
Our next game is against Sevilla and if we play in this way then, i expect a win of at least 3-0 scoreline.
They splashed him with cash and gave him full control, but he simply wasn’t able to reach to the level they were expecting. Do you blame them ?!
They are 18th on the EPL table, they just lost 1-2 to Getafe in the UEFA CUP, everybody expected this, we only didn’t know when.
By the way the decision to sack him was taken before getafe’s match but they waited until after the match, anyway they are hoping to get Juande Ramos Sevilla’s manager and the ex-spurs midfielder Gus Poyet as Assistant Manager who is currently Leeds Assistant Manager. But they might have to wait til the end of the season, for Sunday’s game they are giving the task to their Reserves Coach Clive Allen.
Spain went into this game expected to win. The majority of Britons asked said they thought the Spanish international side were the most likely to go all the way, but first they had to get through their first game against Russia.
It is sort of a stretch that ten players are set to leave Barca in the summer, but some reports lately are saying that Barcelona are going to go through major rebuilding of the club this summer. It is sort of clear now that Frank Rijkaard is leaving and Mourinho is taking over.
It does seem a but too much, but I think Barcelona should do something as big as this to be able to compete next season. Although as a Real Madrid fan I wish they stay clueless the same way they are.
When the transfer window opened Real Madrid offered Manchester United 60 millions euros for Cristiano Ronaldo, but Manchester told Real not to bother by making any offers below 100 million euros which is around £73.9 million. And even then they still might not sell the player.
On the 36th minute of the first half, Baptista gives the ultimate gift for Real Madrid manager, administration, players and fans. An amazing pass from Ruud Van Nistelrooy met with right-footed shot by Baptista to go through from the edge of the area to shock Victor Valdes, Frank Rijkaard, and the Barcelona fans.
Real Madrid rumors keeps puring in, the Spanish sports daily Marca is insisting that Diarra is on his way out of Real Madrid maybe as soon as the winter. The rumor says that Schuster, altho using the player in different amount of times and positions, still does not want him in the squad and informed the board with his decision and the board have approved it.
He tried to be subtle but failed, Inter Milan’s Ibrahimovic showed his ambitions to join Real Madrid one day, but kept saying he is happy in Inter Milan, and that he wont leave because of the crowd violence in italy and so on, he even semi-attacked fabio cannavaro for leaving italy to play in spain. What do you exactly want ?!
They said we wont do it again, they said it was just a coincidence, they said it cant happen, real was just lucky they said, Villareal wasn’t ready. Well, we did it baby, AGAIN 5 freakin goals and against who? against Valencia, after all the warnings and the expectations that Real Madrid will fall and suffer in-front of Los Che but Los Merengues showed what they are made of and scored 5 goals.
They splashed him with cash and gave him full control, but he simply wasn’t able to reach to the level they were expecting. Do you blame them ?!