Messi scores his 'hat-trick' in a 5-0 win against Mallorca

Lionel Messi answered his critics with a superbly taken hat-trick inside the opening half-hour at Camp Nou as the Blaugrana thrashed Mallorca 5-0 on Saturday.

The Argentine striker had gone three matches without scoring, evoking criticism for his recent performances. But Barcelona’s No. 10 responded in emphatic fashion.

Messi scored his first from the penalty spot inside the opening 15 minutes, giving him the perfect reprisal for his miss from 12 yards against Sevilla. He had his second soon after with an easy finish six yards out and goal No. 199 came after 28 minutes.

Isaac Cuenca added a fourth with his first senior goal and a stunning Dani Alves strike completed the rout which helped lift Barcelona to the top of the league ahead of Real Madrid’s clash against Sociedad.

Barcelona dominated the early possession but it was Mallorca which came closest to taking the lead when Joao Victor burst onto a low cross only to divert his shot wide of the target.

And Mallorca was left ruing that miss when it found itself a goal down not long afterwards when Emilio Nsue handled inside the penalty area giving Messi the chance to end his goal draught. The Argentine steadied himself before converting the spot kick in emphatic fashion rifling the ball into the top corner of the net.

Youngster Cuenca then tormented Pedro Bigas before sending a devilish cross to the far post which Adriano volleyed, somewhat fortunately, into the path of Messi to double Barcelona's lead 21 minutes in.

Messi had completed his hat-trick inside 30 minutes with a beautifully taken half-volley after Dani Alves swung a cross into the Argentines path who struck the ball perfectly with his left foot moving his Barcelona record to 199 goals in all competitions.

Barcelona started the second half in similar fashion and had its fourth of the night when Cuenca rounded Aouate before hammering in his first-ever senior goal following Adriano’s intricately placed through-ball.

There was still time for Alves to add a fifth goal when he attempted an audacious shot from distance which dipped viciously below the crossbar to ensure it was a five-star performance for Guardiola’s men.

Mallorca failed to pressurize the Barcelona defense as the came sauntered to an end with Joaquin Capparros turning his attention to the match against Sevilla in pursuit of his first win as Mallorca’s coach.

Lineups:
Barcelona (5): Valdés; Dani Alves, Mascherano, Abidal (Piqué 45'), Adriano; Busquets (Puyol 59'), Keita, Thiago; David Villa (Deulofeu 64'), Messi, Cuenca.



Mallorca (0): Aouate; Cendros, Chico, Ramis (Crespí 45'), Bigas; Martí (Casadesús 74'), Joao, Chori Castro, Nsue; Candela, Tissone (Zuiverloon 45')


Goalscorers: Messi {1-0. 13' PK), Messi (2-0. 21'), Messi (3-0. 30'), Cuenca (4-0. 50'), Dani Alves (5-0. 90'+2)

Levante remains unbeatable in La Liga

Levante extended their remarkable early-season run when they beat 10-man Malaga 3-0 on Sunday to rejoin champions Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

The tiny Valencia-based club, whose annual budget of around 20 million euros ($27.7 million) is dwarfed by Barca's approximate 500 million, took the lead through Jose Barkero in the 14th minute before Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero was shown a straight red card for handling outside his area.

His replacement Ruben saved the resulting free kick but Juanlu, one of a slew of Levante players over 30 years old, was quickest to react and poked the loose ball in to double the home side's lead with just over half an hour gone.

A Ruben howler gifted Levante a third in the 41st minute when he failed to clear and Arouna Kone, who scored the only goal in Levante's shock 1-0 win over Real Madrid last month, broke clear to tap the ball into an empty net.

Levante's fifth successive victory put them level on 17 points with Barca, who are top on goal difference after seven matches.

Ambitious and free-spending Malaga, owned by a member of the Qatar royal family and with a budget of around 150 million euros, are sixth on 13 points.

Levante's coach Juan Ignacio Martinez told a news conference it was important to remain realistic about what the club could achieve this season and said avoiding relegation was still the main objective.

"We have to enjoy this but we know that the league is very long and we are bound to suffer accumulating points," he said.

"We will achieve our goal of 42 points (to avoid relegation) in April, although hopefully I am wrong about that," he added.

Lineups

Levante (3): Munua; Nano, Ballesteros, Juanfran, Javi Venta; Farinos, Iborra (79' Pallardo), Juanlu (66' El Zhar), Valdo; Koné, Barkero (70' Rubén Suárez)

Málaga (0): Caballero; Mathijsen, Demichelis, Monreal, Gamez; Maresca (29' Rubén), Toulalan, Isco, Cazorla (45' Sebastian Fernandez), van Nistelrooy (45' Rondon), Joaquín

Red Card: Caballero (27')

Goalscorers: Barkero (14' 1-0), Juanlu (30' 2-0), Koné (41' 3-0)

Spanish La Liga: Great movements in the summer window 2011

The summer transfer window has closed and many clubs made their movements to reinforce their squads for the starting season of La Liga.

Pedro León returns on loan to his previous team Getafe

José Mourinho didn't count on Pedro León for his squad

 Real Madrid and Getafe have closed the transfer of midfielder Pedro León to the 'Azulones'. The player returns to the club were he first caught the eye of Real Madrid on a one-year loan with Getafe reserving the right to buy him outright at the end of the season.

Pedro León joined Real Madrid ahead of the 2010-2011 season and has made six Liga BBVA outings under Jose Mourinho.

Inter completes the deal with Diego Forlán

Internazionale de Milano completes the deal signing Diego Forlan

 

Internazionale Milano have signed Diego Forlán from Club Atlético de Madrid for a reported €5m to fill the void created by Samuel Eto'o's recent move to FC Anzhi Makhachkala.
Forlán has agreed a two-year contract with the Nerazzurri and will give a press conference on Thursday. "At 32 years of age, going to a club like Inter isn't an opportunity that comes around for a lot of players. I am happy with the decision I have made," said Forlán, who scored 96 goals in 196 appearances in all competitions for the Rojiblancos.

"I leave Atlético with fantastic memories like qualifying for the [2008/09] UEFA Champions League against Schalke and winning the UEFA Europa League; also, winning the [ESM] Golden Shoe and reaching the final of the 2010 Copa del Rey, which unfortunately we lost."

Previously of CA Independiente and Manchester United FC, Forlán joined Atlético in 2007 from Villarreal CF and notched the extra-time winner as one of his two goals in the 2010 UEFA Europa League final against Fulham FC.

Having subsequently starred in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he was awarded the FIFA Golden Ball in Uruguay's semi-final run, the striker enjoyed further success this summer by scoring twice in the Copa América decider as the Celeste defeated Paraguay 3-0. In total, he spent four seasons with Atlético after three at Villarreal.

Last day for the Summer 2011 Transfers

Today is the last day of the summer 2011 transfers and many clubs are making their last moves before the summer windows closes to reinforce their squads for the season.
 


 

Barcelona 'sinks' the Yellow Submarine

Villarreal were expected to put up a fight on Monday night at the Camp Nou. They weren't expected to win, of course. It's Barcelona at the Camp Nou. But with Villarreal's strong squad and Barcelona missing Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Daniel Alves, the tandem of Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar was supposed to put the Blaugranas under some pressure. 
 
Guardiola align their players with a 3-4-3 formation. Barcelona played a back three with no true central defenders, and yet, Villarreal was able to do no such thing. It took them until the 87th minute of the match to put a single shot on target. Nilmar and Rossi hardly touched the ball while Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does, turning in a brilliant man of the match performance as Barcelona coasted to a 5-0 victory.

The newly-christened Argentine captain netted twice and provided an assist, and that doesn't count the dozen other chances he was involved in. Thiago Alcantara looked nothing like a 20-year-old as he scored a goal and provided an assist, while both Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez were able to net debut goals. Xavi and David Villa were used as substitutes. Barcelona looked better at football than just about anyone has ever looked with Xavi and David Villa on the bench.

Barcelona moves on to play...oh, who cares. If it's not Real Madrid, it'll just be the same thing all over again. And that's just fine.

Lineups
Barcelona (5): Valdés; Mascherano, Sergio Busquets, Abidal; Keita, Thiago, Iniesta (Xavi, min.56), Fàbregas (Dos Santos, min.70); Alexis, Pedro (Villa, min.67) y Messi.

Villarreal (0): Diego López; Zapata, Gonzalo, Musacchio, Oriol; Marchena, Bruno, Borja Valero (Camuñas, min.50); Cani (Wakaso, min.64), Nilmar (Senna, min.61) y Rossi.

Goalscorers: Thiago (25' 1-0), Fàbregas (45' 2-0), Alexis (47' 3-0), Messi (51' 4-0), Messi (75' 5-0)

Real Madrid with 'half dozen' of goals

Kaka scored his goal for the 'Merengues'

Real Madrid began their Spanish Primera Liga campaign in style on Sunday, as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 demolition of Real Zaragoza.

Ronaldo opened the scoring early on after converting Mesut Ozil's pass and defender Marcelo added a second to give the visitors a comfortable advantage at the break.

The second half was all one-way traffic as Ronaldo helped himself to two more from close range, while Xabi Alonso and Kaka chipped in with superb long- range strikes, as Jose Mourinho's men sounded an early warning to champions Barcelona, who begin the defense of their title at Villarreal on Monday evening.

"At 2-0 the game was already over and so it depended on whether we played together or individually and the players chose the first option so we won by a big margin," Mourinho told reporters.

Lineups
Zaragoza (0): Roberto Gago, Paulo da Silva, Fernando Meira, Paredes, Efraín Juárez, Zuculini (53' Ádam Pintér), Ponzio, Uche, Lafita, Abraham Minero (53' Edu Oriol), Pablo Barrera (82' Joel Valencia)

Real Madrid (6): Casillas, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Coentrão, Xabi Alonso, Benzema (76' Higuain), Özil (78' Kaka), Ronaldo, Di María (72' Callejón)

Goal Scorers: Ronaldo (24' 0-1), Marcelo (28' 0-2), Xabi Alonso (64' 0-3), Ronaldo (71' 0-4), Kaka (82' 0-5), Ronaldo (87' 0-6) 

Granada return with a defeat receiving Real Betis

Granada returned to the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga league after a 35 year absence with a 1-0 loss against Betis this Saturday night.

There was great expectation and a packed house in the El Carmines Stadium for the game against a Betis side that also returned to top flight action in the Andalusia derby, but the game failed to catch fire with few chances at either end and only two shots on target all match.

The match was decided by a late header from Betis striker Ruben Castro, although neither team did anything to suggest they will do anything other than struggle this campaign.

Lineups
Granada: Roberto, Mainz, Pamarot (45' Carlos Martins), Guillherme Siqueira, Nyom, Lucena, Mikel Rico, Abel (45' Yebda), Daniel González, Ighalo, Jaime Romero (67' Yohan Mollo)  

Betis: Casto,  José Antonio Dorado, Mario, Nacho Pérez, Chica, Beñat, Santos Iriney, Montero (90' Álex Martínez), Vadillo (52' Jorge Molina), Ruben Castro, Salvador Sevilla (87' Jonathan)

Goal Scorers: Ruben Castro (88' 0-1) 

Soldado to the rescue

Roberto Soldado gives the victory with a fabulous hat trick

A dramatic late double strike saw Roberto Soldado complete a hat-trick as Valencia beat Racing Santander 4-3 having appeared to be heading for defeat as the new La Liga season finally got underway on Saturday.

The season was supposed to start a week ago but a strike of a different kind - as players downed tools over wages - meant it was delayed for the first time in 27 years.

It started well with Soldado sliding the ball home after keeper Antonio Rodriguez spilled a Pablo Hernandez shot after just one minute on the pitch but he went on to head into his own goal six minutes later before the lively Lautaro Acosta gave Racing the lead after 14 minutes.

The game appeared to be going away from Valencia as Adrian Gonzalez took advantage of a poor defensive clearance to add to Racing's lead on 56 minutes but then defender Adil Rami reduced the deficit (58).

Lineups
Valencia: Guaita, Ricardo Costa (45' Alberto Costa), Adil Rami, Jordi Alba, Bruno, Banega, Bernat (45' Sergio Canales), Pablo, Piatti (67' Jonas).

Racing: Toño, Osmar, Álvaro, Domingo, Manuel Arana (78' Samperio), Diop, Picón (69' Borja García), Adrian, Bakircioglu, Lautaro Acosta (64' Edu Bedia), Munitis. 

Goal Scorers: Soldado (1' 1-0), Soldado (6' 1-1 o.g.), Lautaro Acosta (14' 1-2), Adrian Gonzalez (56' 1-3), Rami (57' 2-3), Soldado (88' 3-3), Soldado (90' 4-3)

Real Sociedad defeats Sporting Gijón in the first game of the season in La Liga

Imanol Agirretxe headed two goals to give 10-man Real Sociedad a 2-1 win at Sporting Gijon in the first game of the Spanish league season on Saturday.

Agirretxe scored with a header in the 35th minute off a pass from defender Carlos Martinez, and added another in the 65th after Xabi Prieto knocked on a cross from Alberto de la Bella.

Sporting's Miguel de Las Cuevas scored with a penalty kick in the 68th after Martinez was ejected for pulling down Alberto Botia in the area. But Sociedad held its lead to give coach Philippe Montanier his debut win.

Lineups
Sporting Gijón: Colinas, Iván Soto, Botía, Canella, Alberto Ramos, Sergio Álvarez (59' Alberto Rivera), Eguren (58' Oscar Trejo), de las Cuevas, Nacho Novo (69' Gastón Sangoy), David Barral, André Castro.

Real Sociedad: Bravo, Iñigo Martínez, Demidov, de la Bella, Carlos Martínez, Illarramendi, Aranburu, Agirretxe (82' Diego Ifrán), Xabi Prieto, Carlos Vela (89' Mikel González), Zurutuza (72' Daniel Estrada)

Goal Scorers: Agirretxe (35' 0-1), Agirretxe (65' 0-2), de las Cuevas (68' 1-2 P.K.)    

Cesc to Barcelona finally

Cesc is now officially of Barcelona 

 

 

Cesc Fabregas (24-year-old) will join up with the European champions' squad in time for Sunday's Spanish Super Cup clash against Real Madrid.

Standard Sport understands that Fabregas will undergo a medical in the next 48 hours after the two clubs agreed a structured deal of £29.8m (34m euros) up front with a further £5.3m (6m euros) in add-ons.

The add-ons will be triggered if Fabregas plays at least 60 per cent of Barcelona's matches and the club win at least three major trophies - La Liga or the Champions League - in the next three seasons.

Fabregas, who will sign a five-year contract, trained with Arsenal at London Colney this morning before the rest of his former team-mates travelled up to Newcastle for tomorrow's opening League fixture without him.

It is thought that Fabregas will be presented to the world's media at a press conference in Barcelona on Monday.

Barça keeper Victor Valdes was delighted that the former trainee had rejoined the club he left as a 16-year-old in 2003.

He said: "I think that today is a great day for Barcelona. I think that Barcelona sign a great player, from here, who will adapt easily to the system of play of the team, with a an engaging quality and of an international level. Cesc is one of the best central midfielders in the world and it is an honour to have him in the team."

Barcelona vs Real Madrid battling for Neymar

Neymar between Barcelona and Real Madrid

Neymar (19-years old) is one of the great sensations in the Brazilian football. Greatest clubs in Europe targets the Brazilian young star. Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus were interested in to sign the young star.

Real Madrid was closer to sign him in December, but the negotiations were broken. According to El Mundo, Neymar have reached an agreement to sign for Madrid after the FIFA Club World 2012. Florentino Perez used a method that he did to bring Luis Figo to Real Madrid, and now he is trying to use it for Neymar. He will be penalized for a fee of €100M if he does not keep his words to sign for Real Madrid, according to El Mundo. The negotiations between Santos and Madrid were now frozen, haven't reached an agreement.

"You have permission to speak with Barcelona" , Neymar's father to the player's representative, Wagner Ribeiro. Now that Barcelona would like to sign him in summer 2012, according to Marca. The chariman Sandro Rosell have a great relationship with the Brazilians have raised this rumors to negotiate with Santos.

There were a lot of confusion in this information about Neymar. 

Gabriel Milito returns to Independiente

Gabirel Milito returns to Independiente

Gabriel Milito (30-years old) has returned to Independiente after he was released by European champion Barcelona.

The 30-year-old centerback told the Independiente website it was a “very emotional day” after signing a three-year contract with the club he left in 2003 to play football in Spain.

Milito, whose contract was up in 2012, joined Barcelona from Zaragoza in 2006 and made 75 appearances over five seasons. He was often hampered by injuries after a serious knee injury in a Champions League semifinal against Manchester United in April 2008 led to surgery and forced him to miss the next 18 months.

Real Madrid loans Sergio Canales to Valencia

Sergio Canales will play for Valencia

Sergio Canales will play for Valencia on loan until the summer 2013 according to AS. 

Valencia have secured a buying option for Canales, believed to be worth £10.4M, while Real Madrid will be allowed to re-sign the midfielder during the two-year period which follows the player's potential transfer to the Mestalla for a reported fee of between £13M-£15.5M.

Canales, 20, had a muted first season at the Santiago Bernabeu after signing for the club from Racing Santander last summer.

The midfielder, who made 15 appearances for Real Madrid last season, will complete a move to Valencia after the conclusion of the Under-20 World Cup in Colombia. 

Sporting Lisboa signs Jeffren for €3.7M

Jeffren was presented and started his training session with his new teammates.

Jeffren Suarez became the new reinforcement for the Portuguese club by €3.7M, signing a five-year contract with a buyout clause of €30M.  He started training with the Portuguese club with his new teammates including the Peruvians Alberto Rodríguez and Andre Carrilllo.

In the conference, he have declared that he have promised sacrifices, work, enthusiasm and ambition. The player, coming from Barcelona, is excited to have major chances to play with the Portuguese club.

Barcelona have reserved an option of re-buy for the next two seasons, having an option to bring him back in case of his great progression and counting on the coach's plan.

Carles Puyol will miss the Spanish Super Cup

Puyol still in his recovery phase

Barcelona will not include his captain Carles Puyol for the Spanish Super Cup, he is not fully recovered from his injury. Puyol will miss the Spanish Super Cup (August 14 and August 17) against Real Madrid and the UEFA Super Cup (August 27) against  Porto, and probably misses the first match of La Liga against Malaga.

Hamit Altintop: "I want to join Galatasaray at January"

Hamit Altintop playing for Bayern Munchen

Hamit Altintop (28-years old) recently joined to Real Madrid in this summer, but now he is planning to leave at January to join Galatasaray.according to Diario AS.

Supposedly, Altintop had a phone conversation with the Galatasaray's manager, Falih Terim. He expressed that he is not comfortable in Real Madrid, wanting to return to Turkey, because he recognized that he will have less chances to play in the starting lineup.

"I'm an important player and the people should watch me like this. I must feel it! Unfortunately, I don't perceive it in here (Real Madrid). This is not about to play more or less, is about to feel how important I am", said to Falih Terim (Galatasaray's manager).

That if, Altintop would have marked his period to reflect his departure. Once he return and available to Jose Mourinho, he will decide. "First I want to recognize the situation from here until January, but if it doesn't change, I will leave to Istanbul to join Galatasaray", he declared.

Thiago could make his debut for Spain

Thiago could make his international debut for Spain

Barcelona starlet Thiago Alcantara (20-years old) could be in line for his Spain debut as national team coach Vicente del Bosque is contemplating giving the midfielder a call-up for the international friendly against Italy on August 10, AS reports.

Thiago's impressive form at this summer's Uefa Under-21 championships and in Barcelona's pre-season hasn't gone unnoticed by Del Bosque, and the tactician is ready to give Alcantara a chance to prove his worth next month. 

Del Bosque could also include the starlet in the squad for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein in September to make sure the player's international future is with Spain rather than with Brazil.

Alcantara is the son of former Brazil international Mazinho and holds a Brazilian passport. He is still eligible to play for the South American nation, as long as he has not played any competitive matches with Spain's senior squad, and Brazil tactician Mano Menezes has recently shown an interest in including him in the future.

Although Alcantara's unlikely to switch allegiances, Del Bosque does not want to take any risks, and could therefore hand him a call-up for the world champions next month. 

    

Albiol wants to leave Madrid

Albiol in his presentation in 2009

Raul Albiol (25-years old) wants to leave Real Madrid. Albiol have expressed himself that he wants to have some time playing on the field, but with the signing of Raphael Varane, the chances of playing diminished, making him with half-foot out from the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid is willing to include him in the operation to sign Emmanuel Adebayor, moving to Manchester City  with his Valencian ex-teammate, David Silva. 

On summer 2009, Real Madrid bought Albiol for a fee of €15M, first Spanish player sign by Florentino Perez. He made 53 appearances in La Liga for the Merengues. 

Atlético de Madrid pretends to incorporate Diego

Diego, could leave Wolfsburg to Atlético

Diego Ribas da Cunha player that sounds for Atlético in this summer. Atlético de Madrid is searching for new players after selling Sergio Agüero to Manchester City. 

Diego could abandon the German club Wolfsburg this summer sharing a fractious relationship with his manager Felix Magath, the Brazilian playmaker could leave the club for  €10M and the player's father and agent Djair Ribas da Cunha is hopeful a deal will be struck soon.

Diego only joined Wolfsburg from Juventus last summer, but he has fallen out with the club's management and is now set to quit the club. 

Santos refuses to sell Neymar to Real Madrid

Santos is not interested to sell Neymar

Santos President, Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, have sent a negative to Real Madrid that they are not interested to sell Neymar. Real Madrid have submitted a proposal of €45M for his transfer, but the negotiation were broken. "We are not interested in selling him, and we will notify it formally, the offer was given until the end of this month and the answer was no, we will formalize it on Monday. They offered two choices: either accept it or later, but don't want it"

Real Madrid wants to incorporate the Brazilian striker in this summer, preparing themselves for the Superclasico against Barcelona in the Spanish Supercup that would be played in 14 August and 17 August.

Neymar have announced that he wants to continue playing for the Peixe. "I will stay in Santos, and I pretend to honour my contract", he declared. He have a contract for Santos until 2015 and intended to play the 2011 FIFA Club World in Japan, and that his posible rival could be Barcelona.

Barcelona: Jeffren Suarez could mark his destiny to Portugal

Jerffren could end up playing for Sporting Lisboa

The young Spanish winger of Venezuelan origin Jeffren Suarez (23-years old) is living his last hour in the Catalan club. Jeffren left the "blaugrana's" concentration in order to travel to Lisbon to close his transfer to the Portuguese club. 

There were many clubs interested in his services like Arsenal, Udinese, Liverpool, Bolton and Valencia, but non of them made an official offer for Jeffren. 

Jeffren was a product of La Masia and started playing for the first team under the charge of Pep Guardiola, but he didn't have many chances to play. On 29 November 2010 he came on as a substitute against Real Madrid in El Clásico at the Camp Nou to score the fifth and final goal in a historic 5-0 win.

Sevilla: Romaric to Bursaspor

Romaric will move to the Turkish League

Sevilla have reached an agreement of transfering Koffi Ndri Romaric to the former Turkish club Bursaspor, current Champions in the Turkish League. for a transfer fee of €2M. He will join to the Turkish club in this summer signing a three-year contract. 

Romaric have made 81 appearances (3 goals) with the Andalusian club in La Liga. He came to Sevilla in the summer 2008 coming from the French club Le Mans with a transfer fee of €8M.

He scored his first goal in the 4–3 victory against Spanish giants Real Madrid on 7 December 2008. 

"Super" Malaga: Big surprise of La Liga 2011-12?

Ruud van Nistelrooy was the first reinforcement for  the Andalusian Club

 

It seems that La Liga would have season. Malaga, the club that spent the most in this summer signing big giants. Ruud van Nistelrooy (35-years old) was one of the first reinforcement moving on a free transfer from the German club Hamburger SV signing a one-year contract for the club. Joris Mathijsen  (31-years old)  was another reinforcement, also coming from Malaga CF, with a transfer fee of  € 1M signing a 2-year contract.

Jérémy Toulalan, moving from Olympique Lyonnais and French International footballer, was confirmed with a transfer fee of €10M signing a four-year contract.

The most recent singing was Santi Cazorla moving from Villarreal with a transfer fee of  € 21M signing a six-year contract. Cazorla helped Spain win the 2008 European championship. He scored 25 goals in seven seasons in the Spanish league for Villarreal.

Malaga spent a total of €52 million in this summer making giant signings.

Signings:

• Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Hamburger SV)
• Joris Mathijsen (Hamburger (SV)
• Martin Demichellis (Bayern Munich) 
• Joaquin (Valencia)
• Isco (Valencia) 
• Jeremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyonnais)
• Santi Cazorla (Villarreal)
• Nacho Monreal (Osasuna)
• Sergio Sanchez (Sevilla) 

Real Madrid falls at the Santiago Bernabeu and leads Barcelona closer to La Liga

Real Madrid lost their hope to reach La Liga title

Lafita scored twice as Real Zaragoza stunned Real Madrid, 3-2, at the Bernabeu on Saturday, sending Jose Mourinho's side to its third home loss in its last five matches at the Bernabeu.
Sporting Gijon snapped Mourinho's nine-year home unbeaten run on April 2, then Barcelona defeated Real Madrid, 2-0, on Wednesday in the first match of their Champions League semifinal series.
With the second leg at Barca looming Tuesday, Real was stunned at home again - only this time it failed to lose ground in the La Liga race, as Barca lost 2-1 at Real Sociedad to leave the gap at eight points.
Lafita took advantage of a mistake by Real and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who missed an attempted clearance, to score the opener four minutes before the half.
Gabi added Zaragoza's second goal from the spot in the 55th and, after Sergio Ramos pulled a goal back for Real in the 62nd, Lafita added his second goal to restore the two-goal lead.
Karim Benzema added a goal in the 85th for Real, but Ricardo Carvalho was sent off two minutes later and Zaragoza held on for a needed win. Zaragoza moved four points clear of the relegation zone.

Higuain may be back very soon

Real Madrid's Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain will return 'very soon' from the injury he suffered in November, coach Jose Mourinho said on Wednesday.
'For the first time he played in a little training match with the players of Real's reserve team,' he said.
'He played 60 minutes. Obviously he is not 100 per cent, but he is on his way. I don't know if he will be there for the match against Sporting (Gijon on April 2 or 3) but if he is not, he will be back very soon.
'With so many matches to play before the end of the season, it's important to be able to count on everyone.' Real have nine league matches still to play this season, a Spanish Cup final against Barcelona and a quarter-final meeting with Tottenham in the Champions League.
Higuain, who normally starts in attack for Real alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, has been unable to play since the end of November because of a slipped disc, for which he underwent surgery in the United States in January.
Real signed Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City in January to provide cover until the end of the season, but France striker Karim Benzema has made himself a first-team regular in Higuain's absence. 

Dani Alves for Barcelona until 2015

The right back player, Dani Alves, has signed his new contract for the Catalans until 2015

Dani Alves has signed his new contact with Barcelona, committing his future to the club until 2015.

The signing of the deal, agreed and announced on Tuesday night, was confirmed in a short statement on the club's website.

After months of uncertainty over the former Sevilla defender's future, he has signed a four-year deal which includes a €150 million buyout clause, which will go down in value by €25 million per season to be worth €50 million in the final year of the deal.

Alves, who is in the Brazil squad for Sunday's friendly against Scotland, returned to Barcelona to sign the contract. Earlier on Wednesday, Alves expressed his delight with the new contract.

"Being at the club for so many years is a dream,'' he said. "I'm playing at one of the world's most desired teams, which is making history. The most important thing is that I'm happy and I want to make the most of it. It is a privilege and a joy to be here.''

Valencia "falls" at Mestalla

Roberto Soldado's reaction with their defeat against Sevilla

Valencia fell to their third successive defeat with a 1-0 home loss to Sevilla on Sunday dealing a blow to their Champions League hopes.

Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic scored the decisive goal on 70 minutes to leave Valencia, who hit the woodwork twice, empty-handed as Sevilla did their European hopes the power of good.

Valencia surrender third place to Villarreal, who won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, while Sevilla move level on points with sixth-placed Bilbao.

Sevilla hit Valencia with the killer blow at the other end with Rakitic producing a brilliant first time volley with his left foot on 70 minutes.

Real Madrid earns an important victory in the "Derbi Madrileño"

Real Madrid continued its dominance over Atletico Madrid with a 2-1 win at Vicente Calderon Stadium, while front-runner Barcelona stayed five points ahead after downing Getafe 2-1 in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Real in the 11th minute, and Mesut Oezil doubled the advantage in the 32nd after Iker Casillas withstood a surge from Atletico with several saves.

Atletico finally scored in the 86th through Sergio Aguero.

Madrid has beaten Atletico four times this season in the league and Copa del Rey, and was undefeated in 21 straight Spanish capital derbies dating to 1999.

Barcelona beats Getafe at Camp Nou with a 2-1 win

Bojan Krkic scored his second consecutive goal against Getafe

Before the kick off, a video was played supporting Barcelona defender Eric Abidal, who underwent surgery for a liver tumor on Thursday, was played and his teammates wore shirts that read “We love you Abi” before the game.

Barcelona claimed a slender 2-1 win over Getafe in a typically dominant display of possession and penetration. A 25 yard screamer from Dani Alves set the hosts on their way in the first half as Bojan added a second but Manu del Moral made his opponent's grind out the win in the end.

Less than 10 minutes later, Dani Alves broke the deadlock in style. A corner was half cleared by Cata Diaz and Alves thundered home a viciously swerving half-volley into the back of the net to send the Camp Nou faithful wild.

Messi only took five minutes to conjure up a chance for Bojan and the 20 year-old duly took the opportunity via a wicked deflection to put the game out of reach for the visitors. By now, it was a case of damage limitation for Getafe as they waited to be picked apart by the Catalans. Bojan Krkic made his 100th apperance in La Liga, setting the 3rd youngest player to make 100 appearances in La Liga.

However, the striker would get another chance but it proved too late. Mosquera's cross was clinically converted with the inside of the Manu's foot precisely into Valdes' far top corner. Barca eventually closed out the finals minutes of the game but broke some sweat towards the end.