Fernando Torres

Image: Source

The Torres saga continues, although we’re getting contradicting declarations and speculations – according to some British pundits, Chelsea put out a bid of 40 million pounds that got rejected by Liverpool. Yesterday morning it has been reported that Chelsea are mounting up a 50 million pound bid in order to get the talented yet often injured striker. However, Carlo Ancelotti has stated he has no need for new strikers, pleased with having Drogba, Anelka, Kalou and Sturridge.

Cesc Fabregas

Image: Source

Fresh off World Cup glory, Cesc is quiet about his future, letting everyone else do the talking. Barcelona, who have taken out huge loans at several Spanish banks last week and have already spent considerable sums on transfers the last two years (notably Ibrahimovic and David Villa) have already been rejected a few times by Arsenal this summer, with Wenger being adamant about the fact his talented midfielder will stay in London. Wenger seems to be quite infuriated by the media pressure being put on Cesc by Barcelona players who keep repeating the words: We’d like to see him here, it’d be great for him here. They even dressed him in a Barca shirt! Anyhow, Saturday evening reports about Barca going for one final 40 million bid, take it or leave it style.

Real Madrid Left Back – Ashley Cole? Patrice Evra?

Image: Source

This is something that has been going on since last mid-season. Real really want a left back, a natural one at least. Ashley Cole is their first option, with rumors of him being tired of the tabloids and the constant prying in his personal life, which has been quite rocky, especially this last year. Carlo Ancelotti has stated again, yesterday, that Cole is happy with Chelsea and won’t be leaving. Some sources suggest that a 30 million bid for the 29 year old will be enough to get Ancelotti to sing a different tune. Coincidence or not, Patrice Evra has put up his house for sale, and Madrid have reportedly approached United for the French defender who made quite a few headlines for the wrong reasons in South Africa during the World Cup.

Guti

Image: Source

Would you believe that Guti will be turning 34 this fall? It seems that every summer and every transfer window also brings with it the rumors about Guti leaving Real Madrid, a club Guti has been with since the age of 8 and has been capped 517 times at the senior team since 1995. Still, Guti himself has said that the rumors about Besiktas are solid and he would love to go there and join his former head coach (also winning a title with him in 2007-2008), Bernd Schuster. Maybe he’s tired of trying to fight for his place with yet another new manager.

Arsenal Keeper Saga – Now Handanovic?

Image: Source

According to reports that were buzzing around Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Barnet, Manuel Almunia (33) is on his way out of the club, but that doesn’t mean Wenger is pleased with some up and coming young keeper. Both Mannone and Fabianski have gotten their chances last season but were from consistent. After turning down the Schwarzer rumors, Handanovic seems to be the next target, although he didn’t have a great World Cup or 2009-2010 with Udinese. Still, Handanovic’s agent said that Handanovic will only leave Udinese to one of eight shortlisted clubs, with Arsenal being one of them. An offer from London has yet to arrive.

And Finally, more Joe Cole

Image: Source

We heard about Spurs, Arsenal and Man City, with Harry Redknapp’s club looking the closest to getting the 28 year old. A new challenger has emerged that last couple of days – Roy Hodgson and Liverpool. First, rumors about Liverpool offering Joe Cole 90,000 pounds a week, 4.7 a year, to travel up north and leave cosy London. Hodgson has spoken about the transfer, saying he has talked to Cole but it’s far from over. Cole needs to find a team fast to get himself ready for the new season, as all the clubs (not Liverpool, their match was rained out last night) are beginning their pre season matches.

Image: Source

Well, he wasn’t gonna spend another season with Valencia as it turned out. After a series of meeting with Valencia’s club president in the past week, the deal was made official a few hours ago – After five seasons with Valencia, scoring 108 goals in 164 league matches, including 21 last season, helping Valencia achieve a third place finish in the 2009-2010 La Liga season, meaning Champions League, Villa has finally left and arrived, at the age of 28, to a truly big club. He signed a four year contract, making around 7 million per season.

The fee is around 40 million Euro – 34.2 million pounds or just less than 50 million dollars, joining the loaded Barca attack, consisting of Zlatan, Pedro, Henry, Krkic and of course, Messi. Obviously, not everyone is going to stay, so this summer, or maybe even in the next few days, it’ll interesting to see who’ll be leaving (Henry’s departure seems to be the most obvious one).

Image: Source

Valencia wanted Krkic to be a part of the deal with Villa but eventually withdrew their demand. Pedro? fat chance. Messi? Don’t make Josep laugh. Ibra? Now, that seems interesting. Yes, he did cost about 60 mil last summer + Samuel Eto’o, but Zlatan’s overall performance wasn’t exactly satisfying this season (still, 16 goals in 29 league matches, not too bad). Villa isn’t coming to sit on the bench, and I doubt Ibrahimovic will be happy to hit the pine as well. Unless Guardiola intends to shift and change tactics again, there’s a good chance the Swede will be gone.

Image: Source

Don’t forget, Cesc Fabregas is very close to a return to his youth club, and it’ll probably cost around the same amount Villa came for. Selling Zlatan might be a good way to get that money. Barca’s general manager, Txiki Begiristain, was heard today saying Zlatan isn’t for sale.

The other interesting thing to watch as a reaction to Villa’s arrival at the Nou Camp will be from the capital, from Real Madrid. Villa was almost signed there last season until the deal blew up in the 90th minute after everything seemed to be disclosed. Now, without a title, it seems the first matter to be attended will be the head coach, and the (probable) arrival of Barca’s arch rival, Jose Mourinho. Finger lickin’ good if you ask me. More to come in the coming days.

Image: Source

With Barcelona meeting Inter for the third time this season, we take a short look at what went down in the group stage and some notes on how things will turn out on Tuesday at the San Siro, the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi Final.

Inter – Barcelona, 0-0, September 16, 2009

Barcelona – Inter, 2-0, November 24, 2009

Goals: Gerard Pique, Pedro

In both matches, including the 0-0 draw at the San Siro, Barcelona dominated the match from start to finish. Mourinho played very cautiosly in both matches. He decided he’ll try and pinch a goal if possible. If not, a draw with the best team in the world is fine by him.

Image: Source

Inter was still in transition earlier this season, with the new arrivals of Eto’o, Milito and Sneijder still sinking in. They have looked much better in the Champions league since the knockout stage began, impressively defeating Chelsea with Eto’o proving his worth.

So what now? Inter have lost their first place in Italy and for the first time in what seems to be an eternity, might not win the title. Barcelona threw away the momentum and lead they earned in their Superclasico victory over Real by drawing 0-0 with their city rivals Espanyol, finishing the match with 10 men after Dani Alves got sent off. Who’s the hotter team coming in?

Image: Source

Inter have only one defeat this season in the Champions League, the 2-0 loss to Barca in November. They are a very strong home side, but the knockout stages have also proven their worth away from Milano, beating CSKA and Chelsea in the second legs, coming as the visitors. They are a very strong and organized at the the back, and although Barcelona are efficient “bunker busters”, the third time around might finally go the nerazzurri’s way. Lets not forget Inter are coming in boosted by their 2-0 win over Juventus, including Maicon’s wonder goal.

Barcelona? Iniesta and Abidal won’t be playing, but Barca are a thinking and evolving team, all the time. Their coach is a thinker and he always tries to upgrade his team by shifting the tactics and positions. No matter where they come to, this Barcelona side is always favored and expected to win, except when arriving at Madrid to play Real. You remember how that went the last two visits, right? Messi, despite not scoring in Barca’s last two matches, is the best player on the planet right now (these things change so quickly) and he has Xavi behind him to set him up. Pedro, who has just exploded out of nowhere this season, could be the X-factor for Barcelona as all the key individuals will be heavily guarded and watched. You can’t stop everyone, and Pedro’s fantastic form of late could be the key in making their second consecutive Champions League final.

Image: Source

A frightening thought for Inter, maybe more towards next week – Messi wasn’t even playing when Barcelona beat them 5 months ago. Will Mourniho prove again that he’s the “special one”? A win tomorrow is a must. I can’t see Barcelona losing at the Nou Camp like last week. This isn’t an arrogant team and coach like Chelsea and Ancelotti are. Despite all the success in the last year and a half, Guardiola seems to be keeping his player on their toes and hungry for more. It’ll be interesting to see if Inter will succeed were Real failed just over a week ago.

Image: Source

The biggest game in the world didn’t live up to the huge expectation most people tend to build for this game, but it did clear up a few things – Barcelona are a better team than Real Madrid right now, Xavi is the best passer and probably midfielder in the world today, Lionel Messi, even on a day he hardly touches the ball, is almost unstoppable, and the bottom line – Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-0, opening a 3 point lead at top of the La Liga with seven matches to go. It was the first time in history that Barcelona beat Real in Madrid twice in a row, and achieve four consecutive victories over their arch rivals.

Image: Source

Messi & Ronaldo – It’s been an ongoing debate for the past two years who is the better player. Judging by the last two years, it’s Messi. No more criticism for not showing up for the big games (Ronaldo is still an absentee in these big moments). I still believe that Ronaldo has more to offer in terms of skills, but right now Messi is the hottest thing around.

27 League goals, 38 in all competitions, the 22 year old Argentinian is pretty much unstoppable at the moment. While Ronaldo is expected to perform alone, no matter how many “galacticos” are around him, and carry his team to victory and trophies, Messi, as good as he might be, is part of team, a finely tuned super-machine. Cristiano Ronaldo is amazing. He was pretty much alone against the Barca defense for most of the match yesterday and still managed to find a few breaks, stopped by Valdez. But his presence on the pitch means the rest of his teammates, by instruction or purely by some subconscious drive, rely completely on him. It worked pretty well at United, but he had a super defense, and a super manager. It seems it’s not good enough for a title in La Liga as long as Barcelona are this strong.

Image: Source

Guardiola - Both coaches didn’t play with their ideal lineup last night, but it showed mostly on Real. Guardiola has turned Barcelona into a tactical masterpiece. From a fantasy team last year, Barca have evolved and developed into a group of players, spearheaded by Messi, that move on offense and defense as one, something like perfect symbiotic relationship between them.

It wasn’t an elegant display of soccer that destroyed Real yesterday, rather an intelligent, well crafted attack and defensive scheme which eventually had Xavi find Messi and Pedro for the winning goals. Guardiola probably has the most talented group of players in the world to work with, but he is doing an incredible job with this team, relying not only on the brilliance of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Zlatan but also the work ethic and the on-pitch intelligence of Pedro, Dani Alves, Busquets, Keita, Pique and anyone else I might have forgotten.

Image: Source

What’s left – Well, seven games to go, Barcelona have 80 points, 3 points over Real Madrid. In case both teams finish the season with the same number of points, Barca have the edge, due to their two wins over Real this season. Looking at the remaining fixtures, Barcelona actually have the tougher road to go till the finish line, and we’re not even talking about the Champions League semi final with Inter and Mourniho. In six days its an away derby match against Espanyol which is never easy, and two very tough away games in May, visiting Villareal and Sevilla, both teams with the final champions league spot in mind. Real have four away games and three home stand left, with the toughest one at home looking like the Valencia visit. The visit to Mallorca, who have won 12 out of 14 at home this season, looks like the hardest game out of the remaining seven.

Image: Source

Arsenal are lucky to come out of last night’s game still holding a slim chance to get into the semi final. Every time this year they faced a top class opponent – Chelsea (two defeats), Manchester United (two defeats) and now Barca, Wenger’s boys have shown they may be young, talented and skillful but it’s not enough to European champions or even English champions. The first half was what Kevin Keegan once described as – "we beat them 0-0". Manuel Almunia gave the best 45 minutes of his career, only to make one of his trademark mistakes at the start of the second half. Arsenal look like frightened schoolboys playing against grown ups. Barcelona’s pressure meant the gunners were hardly able to get out of their own territory. Arshavin and Bendtner were meaningless.

Image: Source

Lionel Messi – Weak turnout from the hottest player on the planet. Got lost in the middle, just like in Barcelona’s previous La Liga match. He thrives on the wing, but Guardiola likes to switch things around. It seemed he sacrificed Messi in order ot have the wide open for Dani Alves and Maxwell.

Image: Source

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Looks like Ibrahimovic is finding his form again at the right time, scoring for the fourth game in a row, making it 20 for him in all competitions. Barca’s mixture of long balls and crosses from the wings was perfect for the tall Swede who could have ended up with a hat-trick or more easily if it wasn’t for Almunia’s heroics.

Image: Source

Cesc Fabregas – Out for the season? Arsenal won’t win the premiership, and probably won’t win the champions league. Barcelona won’t have Puyol and Pique next week at the Nou Camp, but Arsenal won’t have Fabregas and need a miracle to get by. Nonetheless, despite a pretty disappointing outing from the Spaniard, he showed tons of heart, staying on the pitch, hobbling on his injured (broken?) leg.

Image: Source

Theo Walcott – There’s something about Theo… there’s a buzz every time he touches the ball. Defenses fear him. The problem is he shows up once every five matches or so, producing something great. The rest of the time he’s either injured or just disappears while playing. Can’t let that happen, it’s time he steps up. A great performance from him next week might mean a huge upset. Very unlikely.

Bottom line – I didn’t believe in Arsenal in the beginning of the season. I didn’t believe in Arsenal when they drew Barcelona for the quarter finals. I didn’t believe in them under the Catalan blitz in the first half and not even when they evened the score at 2-2. Arsenal aren’t good enough to beat a team like Barcelona. They won’t or can’t play what is referred to as a tactic game, which is a nice way to say – really defensive. That’s why a lot of neutrals root for them, but when they match-up against the club they’re supposed to imitate, they pale in comparison. I think it’s something like an 80-20 or 70-30 against the gunners next week in the second leg. Almunia won’t be this great again. And I don’t think the referee will make such a call in the Nou Camp. Penalty? 50-50… Red Card? No way.

Image: Source

Image: Source

After the hat-trick in the weekend victory over Valencia, Lionel Messi scored “only” two in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Stuttgart, sending the European champions into the UEFA champions League quarter finals with a 5-1 aggregate win over the pretty helpless Germans, who seemed doomed from the start, not really posing any threat to the rampant Los Cules, led by Messi who did whatever he pleased most of the time and a fantastic Yaya Toure in the middle, taking the responsibilities of the injured Xavi in impressive fashion.

Lionel Messi, 13th minute

Pedro, 22nd minute

Lionel Messi, 60th minute

Bojan Krkic, 89th minute

Top 5 Goalkeepers

Number 5 – Gerard Pique, Barcelona & Spain

Image: Source

The 22 year old Catalan player has made an amazing transformation since leaving United and returning to the club he grew up in, transforming from an unwanted sub on Ferguson’s bench to a regular starter on one of the best side’s Europe has ever seen under Pep Guardiola. He’s a bit slow, but other than that, Pique is a fantastic player to have in your back four – tall, clever, strong and a fantastic aerial game on both sides of the pitch. When Puyol retires, Pique will probably be the new heart of Barcelona’s defense.

Number 4 – Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United & England

Image: Source

So far an injury-riddled 2009-2010 campaign for Rio (only 5 league appearances), but despite his recent absence and shaky form when on the pitch, he’s still one of the premier defenders in the world, and not just because of his ability. Ferdinand is probably the main reason Vidic is in this top 5, as seen in the last two seasons. He does suffer from the occasional lack of concentration, but not as much like in his younger days, and generally beams of confidence and leadership, with a knack of being in the right place and the right time to put in that crucial tackle.

Number 3 – Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United & Serbia

Getting mauled by Wolverine does that to you

Image: Source

Always considered an excellent centre back, it seemed that 2008-2009 finally saw Vidic get the recognition he deserves, finally being put in the argument of the best central defender in the world. If it wasn’t for his temperament (which usually involves getting burnt by Fernando Torres) and certain “blackout” games, he’d be number one on this list. He’s got it all, and when partnered together with Ferdinand they form what is probably the best CB duo in the world, like last season’s 14 consecutive clean sheet run, helping Vidic to win the Manchester United Fans’ and the Players’ player of the year award.

Number 2 – Carles Puyol, Barcelona & Spain

Image: Source

Heart and passion. No other footballer in the world has those qualities in him in the amounts that Barcelona’s captain has. Every tackle he dives into, every header he elevates towards, he goes into with full force, and usually wins it, first to get up when the dust clears. He gets shifted from Center to right back, depending on how healthy Dani Alves is at the moment, but even thought he doesn’t own the pace he used to have, he can shut down anyone (2009 Champions League final for example), including the world’s best (Cristiano Ronaldo). He’s not immune to an occasional blunder or mistake but he tends to make up for them with his non-stop effort during the whole 90 minutes, and despite all the flashy names playing upfront for Barca, Puyol is the heart & soul of this club.

Number 1 – John Terry, Chelsea & England

Image: Source

So he missed the penalty in the 2008 Champions league final, ruining Chelsea’s best shot at winning their first UCL title. Like Puyol, Terry is Chelsea, the only London-born homegrown player in the first team and usually the senior squad unless some youth team player gets involved somehow. There’s no shot he won’t get in it’s way, hardly ever beaten in the air and probably there’s no one who can shove him around (good thing to have Drogba on your team). Even if there is, Carvalho will be there to stop them with a dirty tackle. So he isn’t lightning-bolt fast, it doesn’t stop him from being the top defender in the Premiership and the world.

November 7th – Bayern Munich vs Schalke, Munich

Image: Source

Both teams wished they’d be higher in the tables by now, but as Leverkusen and Hamburg are suddenly losing points (Schalke drew with Hamburg 3-3 earlier this week), and Bayern maybe finding some sort of consistency (despite Van Gaal changing his lineup every time they take the pitch), this game could mean new leaders in the Bundesliga by the time it’s played.

November 8th – Chelsea vs Manchester United, London

Image: Source

The two teams have won the last five league titles in England (Chelsea 2005-2006, Man U 2007-2009) and although their fierce rivalry is a young one, it is one of the most competitive and fiercest in England. Chelsea lead the league, two points ahead of United, and have a little avenging to do after the 3-0 drubbing they suffered at Old Trafford last season.

November 8th – Lyon vs Marseille, Lyon

Image: Source

Both teams aspiring to top the table but right now are behind 2008-2009 champions Bordeaux (Lyon 2 points, Marseille 5 points and a game in hand). Although it doesn’t seem like this year will be an easy cruise for any team and all title contenders will lose plenty of points en route to May, a loss here for Marseille could seriously damage their title hopes.

November 8th – Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid, Madrid

Image: Source

El Derbi Madrileno, the 144th edition. Atletico after an horrendous start to the season are currently ranked 17th(!!!), with only one win so far after eight league games. Plus, they haven’t beaten Real since the 1999-2000 season. They haven’t beaten Real at the Vicente Calderon since the 1998-1999 season. Not too much incentive needed for los colchoneros. Real – Only 3 points behind Barcelona, but the 4-0 loss this week to a third division side in the King’s Cup has seriously hurt Pellegrini’s stature in the club.

November 21st – Liverpool vs Manchester City, Liverpool

Image: Source

Right now, about three weeks before this Anfield match takes place, Liverpool and Manchester City both have 18 points, out of the Top 4, with City having a game in hand. Liverpool seemed like the top choice as the team to be replaced by Manchester City in the “top 4″ till this week, but the 2-0 win over United while City’s home draw against Fulham could suggest otherwise. Anyway, a loser here could find themselves way behind in the race for the title and a champions league spot.

November 22nd – Bayern Munich vs Leverkusen, Munich

Image: Source

The league leaders (along with Hamburg) are the second big team to visit Bayern in November, with the Bavarians hoping to keep th winning form up to this game, and hopefully a little mess up on the way for Leverkusen could mean that a Bayern win in this match would bring them to the top of the Bundesliga.

November 28 – Genoa vs Sampdoria, Genoa

Image: Source

The Genoa derby doesn’t have the two most successful sides going at each other, but this is the best derby match to attend. Bonus for this year – although slowly fading from the top spots, both teams seem to be in contention for a champions league place, although Sampdoria took a real blow earlier this week, losing to Juventus 5-1.

November 29th – The Big Day – Everton vs Liverpool, Liverpool

Arsenal vs Chelsea, London

Image: Source

Two great derby games – one in the northwest at Goodison Park, where Everton will try to get their first league win over Liverpool since September 2006 and kick start their rather disappointing start to the season, while in London Arsenal and Chlesea will clash swords in a genuine battle for the top spot, with things the way they are right now.

Later on that day – Inter vs Fiorentina, Milan

Image: Source

An appetizer for the game coming up in a bit – Inter Milan, Italian Champions for the last four seasons, despite all the criticism, lead the Serie A, one point over Juventus, with a game in hand. Fiorentina? So far a disappointing start to the season, seven points behind Inter, in a season they hoped to become more then contenders for the fourth spot. But you never know with Fiorentina, they tend to surprise you.

The big one – Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Nou Camp

Image: Source

No need to really explain why this game is so big – but lets just say this in one sentence – the best game in the world. Always. Real have two losses from last year on their mind (2-0 in Barcelona), and two big questions surrounding los blancos coming into this game, one month from today – will Cristiano Ronaldo be healthy, cause Real are clearly not the same without him and will Pellegrini still be their manager?

Another win, but probably the worst performance by Barcelona this season. Again, it was enough for a win. Pedro scored a fantastic goal, spinning and shooting it into the corner which finished the scoring in this one. Almeria didn’t make it easy for Barcelona, who looked tired and very inaccurate, not showing the usual fluid and flowing passing game.

This win puts Barcelona, at least for 24 hours, back on the top spot of the La Liga, until Sevilla host Real Madrid tomorrow. A match that’s important not just for the top spot implication, but Sevilla playing to show that the La Liga has something more to offer than just the two mega-clubs from Madrid and Barcelonoa.

Pedro Rodriguez, 31st minute