Malaga CF: Rise & Fall of a La Liga club

Málaga CF had their best ever finish last season as the club from the Costa del Sol finished fourth in the Spanish La Liga to reach the UEFA Champions League play-offs. But all is not well for the club then their Qatari owner Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Thani has lost interest in the club and suddenly all the work of the last couple of years could simply collapse.

It all started in June 2010 when Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani bought the shares of Lorenzo Sanz, a former president of Real Madrid. The arrival of the Qatari investors ushered a new era for Malaga with Al-Thani's aim being to challenge Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the years to come.

The club from Andalusia brought in high profile players like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Santi Cazorla, Martin Demichelis, Jeremy Toulalan and Joris Mathijsen along with a high profile coach in Chilean Manuel Pellegrini. The Qatari owners spend more then 150 Million Euros on the club.

The plans seemed to work as last season the club finished fourth in La Liga, but now Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani has lost interest in the club and for months no payments have been received by the club, players have not been paid their salaries, former Spain captain Fernando Hierro resigned as manager. The new situation stalled Malaga's further push to close the gap on the Spanish giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

The club has started selling their stars. Venezuelan striker José Salomón Rondón has been sold for 9 Million Euros to Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan, while Spanish international Santi Cazorla could move for more then 20 Million Euros to English Premiership club FC Arsenal.

Malaga is simply fighting for survival then without outside cash from a new investor the chances of staying in La Liga are difficult due to the financial problems in Spain and the unfair TV rights distribution in Spanish football. The search is on but the bad experiences with the Qataris will make Malaga CF careful in choosing a new foreign investor.

Germans win European club football sponsorship league!

As with the UEFA Champions League final, it was a close run between the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga as to who takes the European club football sponsorship crown.

According to a new report from International Marketing Reports, overall primary shirt sponsorship deals are greater for the English Premiership, but averaged out by club, the Germans just edge it. For the 2011/12 season, total shirt sponsorship spend for the Premier League amounted to (Euros) E128m, whereas Bundesliga clubs achieved E121m.

However, there are 20 clubs in the English Premiership giving an average deal value of E6.4m whereas in Germany there are 18 clubs, meaning the average deal is slightly higher at E6.72m.

Commenting on the findings, report author, Simon Rines, says that there are other reasons for the Germans to be satisfied.

"If you look at the deals in detail, there is much less polarity in German deals than in the UK. The highest price paid in Germany is E26.5m for Bayern Munich's deal with Deutsche Telekom, with the lowest being FC Ausberg's E1m agreement with car components manufacturer AL-KO. There are, however, very few deals below E3m in Germany and 12 are above E4m. In England, the highest deals are for the two Manchester clubs, both on E22m, with the lowest being Blackburn Rovers on zero (charity partner) and Norwich on E0.3m (Aviva). Significantly, only 9 Premiership clubs achieve more than E4m and 11 achieve less than E3m."

Rines also points out that the business sectors backing the Bundesliga show a more mature picture.

"In England there are seven gambling sponsors. This is a concern because gambling companies tend to be short-lived and do little to help develop the image of a club. For example, it is not, appropriate to run joint promotions with a sponsor involving children if that sponsor is a gambling or alcohol company. In Germany there are no shirt sponsors from either category."

The report also shows that Spain's La Liga is the biggest struggler in terms of sponsorship investment. Several clubs went through the season without a shirt sponsor and if it wasn't for the massive E32m deal between Barcelona and the Qatar Foundation and Real Madrid's E21m from BWin, the total spend in the country would have been just E9m, an average of E0.5m for the remaining clubs.

"The figures highlight the polarity of income for La Liga clubs," says Rines. "The difference in the size of TV deals that Barcelona and Real Madrid have compared to the rest of La Liga is already huge, but when sponsorship income is added, the financial imbalance just grows. With a deteriorating Spanish economy, the likelihood is that the situation will get even worse. A lot of the sponsorships in the division are with national companies and it is almost inevitable that they will be cutting back on their marketing budgets."

VIDEO: Pep Guardiola departure press conference

There was an impressive press conference in Barcelona today! FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at that press conference announced that he would not renew his contact after four years in-charge and explains the reasons why he has decided to leave the club at the end of the season.

FC Barcelona: Guardiola steps down, Vilanova to take over

Pep Guardiola (full name Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala) announced at a press conference today that he will leave Spanish giants FC Barcelona at the end of the season after four mostly successful years in which the Catalan club won 13 titles though over the last week the club lost against Real Madrid to lose the Spanish Primera Division title and lost 2-3 on aggregate to Chelsea FC not able to defend their UEFA Champions League title.

The reason for Guardiola's departure isn't failure but that the demands of the job were too high and his energy levels too low to continue at the Nou Camp.

"Four years are long and they wear you down," Guardiola said. "I think that sincerely that the next person will have things to bring that I can't."

"Every day during four years, the demands are very high, the pressure, the necessary energy to push the players and enjoy it. I need to rest and move away," Guardiola added.

Barca still have the chance to win the Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) against Athletic Bilbao on May 25, which could take Guardiola's title count to 14.

There has been speculation for weeks on who could replace Guardiola at Barca if he steps down, but not Marcelo Bielsa, André Villas-Boas, Luis Enrique or Barca Youth coach Oscar Garcia were announced as replacements. The Barca management decided to name Guardiola assistant Tito Vilanova as his successor.

"I think the club is right (on Tito). He is more than qualified, and the players know him, he will change very little of what we do, and he will give a lot to the players and club," Guardiola said.

41 year old Pep Guardiola build one of the best teams in the history of club football during his tenure as FC Barcelona coach. Players like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez to name a few have developed great under the coach.

Guardiola said at the press conference that he had decided in December 2011 to take a break from football coaching due to the massive pressure in the club.

VIDEO: Incredible back-heel by Cristiano Ronaldo

It was Cristiano Ronaldo's 29th goal of the season for Real Madrid, but most probably the best strike of the season by the Portuguese! An incredible back-heel by CR7 within the box only a few yards away from the goal after a Mesut Özil corner, which left the Rayo Vallecano defenders baffled.

Mesut Oezil: Real Madrid's new No. 10

I will be very honest. Last summer when German internationals Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira left the Bundesliga to join Spanish giants Real Madrid I didn't believe that they would directly be able to make an impact with the Los Blancos under the new high profile manager Jose Mourinho. They have both positively surprised me.

Especially Oezil has grown unbelievably in stature over the last season. A year back I had my doubts if the move to Real Madrid is the right one at such a young age. I had written a blog entry under the title
Can Oezil make it at Real Madrid? at the time.

After year one I can say, he has not only made it, he's on the way to become one of the best players in the world. Now Oezil has the honour of wearing the legendary number 10 at Real Madrid.

Defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra was a misfit in such an iconic number which at Real Madrid has been worn by players like Ferenc Puskás (Hungary), Günter Netzer (West Germany), Michael Laudrup (Denmark), Clarence Seedorf (Netherlands), Figo (Portugal), Robinho (Brazil) and Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Oezil moves from the No. 23 jersey which he wore in season one, a number which has been worn by David Beckham and too by Wesley Sneijder in his first season at the club, so good company.

Spain's La Liga on ESPN-Star Sports from 2012 onwards

ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) has bought the rights for La Liga, the Spanish Football League, for a three year period from 2012 to 2015 to broadcast it across 18 Asian countries amongst them India.

ESS Asia Managing Director Manu Sawhney said in a statement, "This acquisition underlines our commitment to football fans in the region as we continue providing the most compelling content to our viewers, and an excellent promotional platform for our business partners. We have established a strong tradition in building and strengthening top-class football properties on our networks with the reach of our networks, multiple media platforms, world-class match presentation and our continued focus towards original, localized football programming and innovative marketing campaigns."

"The presence of the La Liga on our networks positions us as a leader in football content in Asia, and this programming is undoubtedly a tremendous value to our affiliate partners, advertisers and viewers," added Sawhney.

ESS has acquired the rights from Mediapro, the global broadcasting rights holders for the Spanish La Liga. Commenting on the development Mediapro Managing Director Gerard Romy said, "We are pleased with their commitment to showcase La Liga across new media platforms in order to extend the profile of this great football league."

ESS will broadcast La Liga from the 2012-13 to the 2014-15 season in 18 countries across the continent which includes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Philippines.

ESS has bought the rights on multiple distribution platforms - television, mobile and online for these countries as they will not only focus on the TV market but over forms of media too.

ESS also happens to be the rights holders of the English Premier League and from 2012 onwards they will be showing over 600 matches from two of Europe's top football leagues. This means that ESS will be showing matches involving iconic clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The next 2011/12 season the rights stay with Ten Sports, who will be showing La Liga until it returns to ESPN-Star Sports.

Too much El Clásico??? The lessons...

The series of four El Clásico matches between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona ended yesterday evening and to me at the end a lot around the games had nothing to do with football, but rather problems between these two giants of world football and their internal Spanish feud between the capital Madrid and the region of Catalunya.

Looking back at the results. The first match was on April 16 in the Spanish league which ended with a one-all draw with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scoring from the spot and Barca keeing their eight point lead. The teams then met only four days later in the final of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) in Valencia which was decided by a Cristiano Ronaldo in extra-time in favour of Real Madrid.

Then came the two meetings in the UEFA Champions League with especially the first match a nasty affair with two red cards and the expulsion of coach Jose Mourinho though referee Wolfgang Stark did a good job. In the end it was nearly forgotten that Barca won the match 2-0 away in Madrid through two goals from Messi, which gave them a major advantage of the return-leg.

But between these two matches Champions League matches especially Real Madrid was active in trying to portrait their rivals as unfair sportsmen, which didn't find an ear with UEFA and the fourth and final El Clásico went off rather smoothly ending in a one-all draw. First a Pedro goal for Barca which sealed the tie for them and a consolation equaliser for Real Madrid from Marcelo.

The series ended - with a win each and two draws. Both clubs couldn't win a triple, but it is worrying to me to see the way officials, players and fans have behaved over the last few weeks. Often it seemed is if it wasn't about the football, but rather open hate and aggression. Both sides have been acusing each other of things and maybe now after the end of the four match series UEFA and the Spanish Football Association should have a word with the clubs and request them to tone down next time around or otherwise hit out with tough sanctions, if that is the only way all will learn.

Then in the end it is about the beautiful game, something which seems to be getting lost...

Getafe not sold to Dubai Group just yet

In an interesting turn of events Getafe CF president Angel Torres denied yesterday after his return from Dubai that his club had already been sold to the Dubai based Royal Emirates Group.

"I was in Dubai looking for sponsors. We signed a series of agreements and protocols. No one should doubt Angel Torres. Getafe has not yet been sold," he told reporters on his return from Dubai at Madrid airport.

"First I have to inform the board of all the things that were done, then I will give a news conference," added Torres.

It sounds little different then what was said on Thursday in a press conference in Dubai where the Royal Emirates Group chairman Sheikh Butti bin Suhail al-Maktoum and his Managing Director announced the takeover of the club by the investment company.

The deal isn't off, but some follow-up negotiations might have to be done until the deal is 100% confirmed.

Getafe CF bought by Royal Emirates Group

Dubai based Royal Emirates Group were scouting the European club market for a while and in the end they decided to buy Getafe Club de Fútbol, a small club in the Madrid metropolitan area. It is now the third Spanish Primera Division club in foreign ownership after FC Malaga last year was sold to Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family for about 25 Million Euros; while Racing Santander was bought by Indian businessman Ali Ahsan Syed earlier this year for up to 40 Million Euros.

"We are very happy to sign this agreement with Getafe, which will be called Getafe Team Dubai," the group's chairman, Sheikh Butti bin Suhail al-Maktoum told reporters in Dubai.

While Getafe CF president, Angel Torres, said he hopes the agreement "will push Getafe to the highest level in domestic and European competition."

The 100 percent stake in Getafe CF is worth between 70 to 90 Million Euros with the exact figure not disclosed. The Royal Emirates Group is an investment firm chaired by Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, a member of the royal family of Dubai and they have ambitions with the club to compete in the UEFA Champions League in the coming seasons.

Currently Getafe are 14th in the Primera Division standings, but only four points away from the relegation spots though last season they finished sixth and that would be the aim of the new owners to finish amongst the top six to play either Champions League or Europa League next season and a year later they would like to see the club qualify for the Champions League.

Very high expectations for the club to deliver and if officials from the Royal Emirates Group are to be believed then they are willing to spend in the transfer market to bring in the right players to compete with clubs like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FC Valencia, FC Villarreal, etc.

El Clásico XXL. Match One a draw

Last nights El Clásico between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the Spanish Primera Division ended in a one-all draw and didn't create the sparks as the first-leg game had had on November 29, 2010 when Barca trashed Real Madrid 5-0 in a one sided display of modern day football.

What gives the El Clásico even more importance is that both clubs meet four times over a two and a half week period with both clubs still having the chance for a rare treble. The first meeting yesterday was in the Spanish league, then they meet again in the final of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) on Wednesday, 20 April; which will be followed by their two-legged UEFA Champions League semifinal - on April 27 at Real's Santiago Bernabéu and Barca hosting the second game on May 3 at the Nou Camp.

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid was sold out with 80,354 spectators and if Real Madrid had any more ambitions on winning back the Spanish La Liga title then a win was a must as Barca went into the game with an eight point lead at the top of the table.

Real coach Jose Mourinho started the game on a defensive note after the drubbing in the last game with Sami Khedira, Pepe and Xabi Alonso giving the task to block Barca's short pass game in midfield. It did work as Barca had more of the ball, but Real Madrid the better chances in the first half.

The game really came to life only in the second session as proceedings became more intense. Real Madrid had the first chance of the half as a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick dropped onto the crossbar, but only minutes later Raul Albiol would bring down David Villa to earn Barca a penalty and a straight red for Albiol. Lionel Messi would take the resultant penalty to give Barca a 53rd minute lead.

Thereafter Barca didn't push for a second against a 10 men Real Madrid and they paid the price when Dani Alves brought down Marcelo with referee Cesar Muniz Fernandez once more pointing to the spot. Cristiano Ronaldo would walk up to take the penalty and score in the 82nd minute past Victor Valdes to give Real a deserving draw.

But the draw means Barca remain eight points ahead of Real Madrid with six matches to go and having lost only one match all season it looks like that the Catalans will retain the Primera Division title.

Decisive Saturday in Europe's top leagues

This Saturday, April 2, 2011 could have decided the titles in a number of top European football leagues for the 2010/11 season. And interestingly it all went in favour of the league leaders - Manchester United (England), FC Barcelona (Spain), AC Milan (Italy) and Borussia Dortmund (Germany).


English Premier League
English league leaders Manchester United had a tough away game in London against West Ham United and the first half just proved that as United were two goals down at the break with both goals coming of penalties from Mark Noble. West Ham even had chances to make it three, but it remained 2-0 at half time and still left United with a chance to comeback.
And they just did that in style with Wayne Rooney scoring a brilliant hattrick in 14 minutes to allowed Manchester United to turn things around with a late Xavier Hernandez goal ensuring a 4-2 victory. As closest rivals Arsenal (0-0 against Blackburn Rovers) and Chelsea (1-1 at Stoke City) drew, Manchester United now have a seven point advantage over Arsenal and 11 on Chelsea. United are closing in their next Premier League title.


Spanish Primera Division
It was supposed to be the weekend that Spanish clubs are on strike, but a court disallowed such a move so clubs were forced to play. And Real Madrid afterwards would have hoped the strike had been on, then Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 at home by Sporting Gijon through a 79th minute goal from Miguel de la Cuevas, while bitter rivals FC Barcelona won 1-0 against FC Villarreal through a 67th minute goal from Piqué. This now leaves Barca eight points clear of Real Madrid in the La Liga title race, while for Mourinho it was the first home loss in over nine years. His last defeat had been while at FC Porto, a 2-3 against Beira Mar on February 23, 2002.


Italian Serie A
AC Milan took a giant step towards regaining the Serie A title after a 3-0 win against city rivals and current holders Internationale Milan. The hero of the day was Brazilian youngster Alexandre Pato who scored in the 1st and 62nd minute, while substitute Antonio Cassano added a third in the 90th minute to seal a memorable victory. It opened up a crucial five point gap for Milan at the top of the Serie A table after Inter had been closing in on them over the last few weeks.


German Bundesliga
League leaders Borussia Dortmund hosted third placed Hannover 96 in a crucial Bundesliga game. Dropping more points would have given a chance to Bayer 04 Leverkusen to close the gap further to the top, but Dortmund won 4-1 to maintain the seven point lead at the top. Dortmund were given a scare by Hannover when Mohammed Abdellaoue scored a shock lead in the 57th minute, but a brilliant solo from teenager Mario Goetze gave Dortmund the equaliser only a couple of minutes later and suddenly their got their game together as Hannover fell apart. Two goals from Lucas Barrios and a fourth from Kevin Großkreutz ensured in the end a clear 4-1 win.

Bundesliga gain extra Champions League spot

The German Bundesliga is back amongst the top three leagues in Europe and that means that they get an additional fourth place in the UEFA Champions League from the 2012/13 season onwards. As per the latest UEFA coefficient ranking England continue to lead ahead of Spain, but Germany have captured the lucrative third spot from Italy.

"Italy are no longer able to take over third spot this season," the DFL said in a statement. "The new ranking gives Bundesliga teams three starting spots in the group stage and a fourth in the playoff games of the competition."

And Italy will not be able to regain that third spot with whatever happens over the remaining European 2010/11 season in the Champions League and Europa League. The loss for Italy means a massive gain to Germany as it ensures seven instead of six teams in European competitions.

And now the Bundesliga will first target to ensure it's third place amongst European leagues and then they will push to close in on Spain and England. But will take a few European seasons.

FC Barcelona to sport Qatar Foundation logo

FC Barcelona will be wearing the logo of new sponsors Qatar Foundation from July 2011 onwards and replace the UNICEF on the front. A joint Qatar Foundation/UNICEF logo for the front couldn't be worked out.

"It has been decided that the Qatar Foundation logo will go on the front of the shirt, on the breast," Barca vice president Javier Faus said at a news conference and added, "In the end, there will be only two words 'Qatar Foundation' in yellow. UNICEF will go on the back underneath the player's name."

FC Barcelona had tried to work out a design in which both the logos could be retained on the front of the teams shirt, but that was not possible so the high paying Qatar Foundation, who are paying 30 Millions Euros for per season, will have their logo on the front.

But if the UNICEF logo would be allowed on the back of the jersey's in international competition will have to be seen. In the Spanish Primera Division it is allowed so no issues and Barca plan to sell all their replicas with UNICEF on then, but if UEFA would allow it in the Champions League would have to be seen.

La Liga side Santander is Indian!

Indian born Bahrain based investor Ahsan Ali Syed has completed the takeover of Spanish Primera Division side Racing Santander. No details of the deal have been released with speculations in the Spanish media saying that the deal could be worth as much as 40 Million Euros.

The official Statement said, "The transaction has been officially approved by both the regional government of Cantabria and the (national government sports council) after an intense due diligence process that analysed and approved Syed's strong financial capabilities to take the club forward."

Last year Ahsan Ali Syed had been one of the Indians interested in buying English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, but it had not materialised and the Rovers were in the end sold to the VH Group of the Rao family. But Ahsan Ali Syed was still interested in buying an European club, so he was scouting for opportunities and finally it worked out with Santander.

Santander are currently 14th in the Spanish Primera Division with 20 points from 19 matches. What plans Ahsan Ali Syed will have with the club will have to be seen. The sale of Santander follows last years takeover of FC Malaga by a relative of the Al-Thani family. Some third and fourth division clubs have also been taken over by foreign entities.

Afellay joins FC Barcelona

Catalan giants FC Barcelona have one of the best squads in European club football but as per the assessment of their own coach Pep Guardiola they are a little short on bench strength and that was corrected on christmas eve with the signing of Dutch international midfielder Ibrahim Afellay. And it was a real bargain then Afellay was signed for only 3 Million Euros from PSV Eindhoven, the reason being that his contract would have ended in the summer.

The 24 year old Dutch international of Moroccan origin has come through the youth system at Eindhoven and has been an international for over three years being part of the 2008 European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup squads. And now he has signed a four and a half year contract until 2015 and a fixed transfer fee of 100 Million Euros have been incorporated into his contract with Eindhoven set to get a fee on any premature transfer.

FC Barcelona official unveiled him to the media yesterday and Afellay surprisingly speaking in reasonable Spanish said, "I am very happy to join the best club in the world. I will wear this shirt with pride and respect."

And he added, "There are great players here but I am going to show what I am capable of. It is an honour for me to be here."

Over the last few month's Afellay had been linked with a number of clubs. In the summer it looked like he would sign for German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV, but thereafter the usual European giants from England, Spain, Germany and Italy showed interest. In the end Afellay signed for Barca then, "Since I was a boy I wanted to play for Barca. For me it is a dream to be here!"

In Spain fans and media alike think it is a wise signing as Afellay has the necessary standard to play for the Catalan giants. And Afellay could debut at the Camp Nou against Levante in the Primera Division on January 2.

Mourinho's lessons from El Clásico

Jose Mourinho suffered the worst-ever defeat as a club coach in Monday nights El Clásico as his Real Madrid were trashed 5-0 by FC Barcelona in a clinical display of tiki-taka football. And maybe the 'Special One' has lost some of his aura of immortality and has become a little more human with this defeat against his former employers.

But Mourinho was himself after the game as he shrugged off the defeat, saying Barcalona were the 'finished article' whereas his team were still under construction, but that still leaves him with the problem of how to play against his former club further down in the season.

The Portuguese knows that he came to Real Madrid as the messiah's who would give the club trophies and especially continental success in the UEFA Champions League. And surely Mourinho loved that feeling and appreciation. Now he has to learn that life and football isn't just a one-way street...

Real Madrid have spend over 300 Millions Euros over the last couple of summers to bring in top talent like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Mesut Özil; but Barcelona have one of the best youth development systems in the world and as Mourinho said they have build their team over the years. But with the weight of expectations and investments Mourinho will not have years to build a new Real Madrid, but only month's maybe even weeks as public pressure will be there for the team to deliver.

Mourinho's style of defensive football is also not going to work in Madrid as Real fans expect not only good results, but also quality attacking football. Mourinho has the ingredients for that, but against Barca he took a defensive stance like with Inter Milan a few month's back, only this time it backfired. Also his players lost their head a few times, so he will have to ensure that under pressure they keep their heads.

A lot of work remains for Mourinho to make Real Madrid a trophy winning unit like FC Porto, FC Chelsea and Inter Milan. But the Portuguese has the quality and knowledge as coach to deliver it. But if he will be able to do it at Real Madrid, one of the most difficult clubs to manage in world football, we will have to wait and see...


UEFA bans Mourinho

But the bad news don't end here for Mourinho and Real Madrid. UEFA has banned Mourinho from the touchline for two UEFA competition matches - the second of which is suspended for three years and a personal fince of 40,000 Euros, while the club has been fined 120,000 Euros. The players got away with no suspensions, but with financial fines. Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos have to pay 20,000 Euros, Iker Casillas has to pay 10,000 Euros and Jerzy Dudek has to pay 5,000 Euros.

The one-match bans automatically handed to Alonso and Ramos for the dismissals will stand, meaning they and Mourinho will consequently only miss the dead rubber against Auxerre.

El Clásico? No. A Barca show!

We all looked forward to the El Clásico last night, but it wasn't anything near what I would have expected. It was a demonstration of modern day football by FC Barcelona against their archrivals Real Madrid. Barca won 5-0 and the way the match went the victory was never in doubt. The 167th match between these two rivals will surely be remembered as one of the greatest El Clásicos of all times...

The match had been hyped-up like never before. Barca vs Real; Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo; Guardiola vs Mourinho. It was supposed to be the contest of the season, but all points went to Barca. The match stats simply speak for themselves. Barca - Real. Ball Possession 67% - 33%, Passes 684 - 331, Pass completion 89% - 74%. Increcible figures which just highlight the domination that Barca had in the match.

It was often one-way traffic towards the goal of Iker Casillas. After Messi could only place the ball onto the woodwork early on it was Xavi who gave Barca the lead in the 10th minute off a pass from Iniesta. At this stage Real Madrid were still in the game, but Barca doubled the lead on the other side as David Villa beat Sergio Ramos, got a cross in which Casillas couldn't collect and Pedro just had to push-in in the 18th minute. The Galacticos from the capital looked shocked after going two goals down so early with only Cristiano Ronaldo in bits and pieces trying to fight off the defeat, but sometimes he simply went overboard. On one occasion he went against Barca coach Guardiola, a real no go. It remained 2-0 for FC Barcelona at the break.

After the breather the Catalans continued their domination and sealed the game with a double strike in the 55th & 58th minute through David Villa, who on both occasions was set-up brilliantly by Lionel Messi. Barca now played tiki-taka to perfection with the crowds shouting Olé Olé and Real Madrid forced to run after the Barca players. It resulted in some rough tackles and harsh fouls, but referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez wasn't willing to hand out a red card just yet. Barca completed the rout in the first minute of injury time when substitute Jeffren scored to make it 5-0 and just thereafter the referee had to pull out his red card as Sergio Ramos with into Messi with no other intention then to hurt him, then some push and shove against Carlos Puyol and Xavi, off Ramos went.

With this win Barcelona are now top of the Primera Division league table, while Real Madrid after their first loss of the season are now second. A night to remember at the sellout Nou Camp with most of the 98,000 spectators enjoying themselves.

After the match a dejected Jose Mourinho simply said, "One team played very good, one team very bad. Deserved win, deserved loss."

Spain: El Clásico is upon us

Monday night all eyes will be on the Nou Camp in Barcelona when Spanish archrivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid meet each other in the "El Clásico", but actually it won't be the biggest derby this weekend as the Kolkata derby on Friday at the Saltlake Stadium was physically bigger with more then 100,000 people attending East Bengal's 2-0 win against Mohun Bagan. But that is the end of this Indian story as the "El Clásico" is one of the biggest matches each year in world club football, where two matches in a league season normally count little. But these matches at the Nou Camp and Bernabeu are followed closely around the world by millions of fans.

And this year this match-up has added flavour with Jose Mourinho, a former translator of the late Bobby Robson at Barca, returning to the club as a local Spanish club manager and that of the Catalans worst enemy, Real Madrid. The Special One as Mourinho is often called has had hostile receptions when coming to the Nou Camp as Chelsea and Inter Milan coach, but in the end walked away with his head high. But given Mourinho's arrogant appearance, the celebrations at the Nou Camp a few month back when Inter Milan just about edged Barca for a place in the UEFA Champions League final, it could be something never seen before even at the Nou Camp for a rival coach.

But then there is also Barcalona coach Pep Guardiola, who has a perfect record against Real Madrid, four win in four meetings since he took over in 2008. And he would like to keep that track record intact, while Mourinho is still to lose a game in the Primera Division. Someone's track record will end tomorrow night.

The match will also see the world's two best footballers take on each other. Barca's Argentinian little maestro Lionel Messi against Real Madrid's Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo. CR7 as Cristiano Ronaldo is also known has scored 15 goals in the Primera Division this season against Messi's 13. And if the defences aren't able to contain these players then a high scoring encounter is on the cards.

But there are other players look out for. Numerous Spanish European and World Cup winners will be seen in action, not together but on both sides of the divide in Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Pedro and David Villa for Barca; while Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, Raúl Albiol and Xabi Alonso could play for Real Madrid.

But the "El Clásico" could also see the debut of newcomers like Germans Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira, Portuguese Ricardo Carvalho, Argentinian Angel di Maria for Real Madrid or Argentina captain Javier Mascherano for Barca.

There is a lot to look forward to. At 21.00 CET on Monday evening is kickoff at the Nou Camp and most of us would have loved to have been there amongst the 98,000 spectators. And these matches often don't run as per script and have new heros or villians, so lets wait and see what happens...

FC Barcelona in financial trouble

Yesterday I wrote about the Balearic island club RCD Mallorca being banned by UEFA from its competitions for the 2010/11 season. And now could their big Spanish La Liga brothers FC Barcelona be following them soon?

When I wrote my blog entry I didn't know that FC Barcelona was facing this big a financial problem when I named them as an example of a big club who could face the axe due to the new financial regulations being put in place by UEFA for their club competitions. Now it will be interesting to see if UEFA asks for further financial details from Barca before confirming their place in the UEFA Champions League 2010/11 or letting them off with a warning that next year they would scrutinize them more thoroughly.

The new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and his board of directors had asked Deloitte to carry out a new audit of Barcelona's financial figures and what has come out is simply put a disaster. The old audit showed a profit of 11 Million Euros only in June, while the new audit now suddenly shows a staggering loss of 77,1 Million Euros.

The new Barca audit showed operating income of 408.8 million Euros and costs of 477.9 million Euro compared with previous figures published under former president Joan Laporta of 445.5 million Euros as income and 429 million Euros as costs, the club published on their website (www.fcbarcelona.cat) yesterday.

And that Barcelona has a liquidity problem was known in late-June when the club was forced to seek a 150 Million Euro bank loan to cover for difficulties in their cash flow. One of the key problems was salary payments to their highly paid players.
And what makes the scenario even more scary is the fact that Barca's net debt has risen from 329 Million Euros to now an incredible 442 Million Euros.

Javier Faus, a Barca vice president, said at a press conference, "There is a structural problem. The sporting excellence of the past few years has not been reflected in excellence in economic management."

To the outside world it always seemed Real Madrid where the Spanish club spending loads of money on their Galacticos, while Barcelona was focusing on their youth development programme and buying players here and there to strengthen the squad. But when one now knows these figures and also knows that the club has already spend 40 Million Euros on bringing in Spanish star striker David Villa from FC Valencia and Adriano for 9,5 Million Euros from FC Sevilla for new players, then one also understands why the club had to sell Yaya Toure for 30 Millions Euros to Manchester City and allow Dmytro Chygrynskiy to return to Shakhtar Donetsk for 15 Million Euros to even out the clubs spending in the transfer market. But still the club is trying to lure Cesc Fabregas away from FC Arsenal with a big pay package and a hefty transfer fee for Arsenal. Can Barca actually afford it?

Also Barca shows the problems of Spanish club football. Spain is World and European champions plus their clubs are amongst the best in the world, but this success has been bought by the Spanish with money which they don't have. And if a club like FC Barcelona faces such problems with all the advantages they enjoys along with Real Madrid in that country then think about the smaller Spanish clubs. Spanish clubs have more then 3,5 Billion Euros in debt, the figure is growing by the minute, and new streams of revenue are unlikely to be found and TV rights revenue is at its peak. Sadly difficult times coming for Spanish football...