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.

Zaragoza crushes Valencia with a 4-0 win

Jonas trying to win the ball against Leonardo Ponzio

Real Zaragoza turned up the heat on Valencia coach Unai Emery with a thumping 4-0 win. Valencia president Manuel Llorente backed the coach after the club tumbled out of the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Schalke in midweek, but got far from the perfect response at La Romareda.

Goals from Jiri Jarosik and Ander Herrera in the first half and a brace of penalties after the break from Gabi completed a miserable night for Valencia. They finished the game with ten men as Marius Stankevicius was sent off in the 65th minute for a second yellow card he received in conceding the first penalty.

Valencia got off to a poor start as they conceded after just four minutes with Jarosik heading a Javier Paredes free-kick from the right into the roof of the net. At the other end Zaragoza goalkeeper Toni Doblas fumbled a cross from Jeremy Mathieu but got away with it.

Ikechukwu Uche had a chance to double the hosts lead in the 39th minute but his shot from six yards was weak and went wide. However, the Nigerian made up for that miss just a minute later by crossing for Herrera to knock home the second.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the 65th minute as Stankevicius brought down Nicolas Bertolo in the area. The Lithuanian collected his second booking and Gabi stroked home the penalty.

Zaragoza were rampant now and Braulio's shot was tipped round the post by goalkeeper Vicente Guaita. The keeper, although, was picking the ball out of his net for a fourth time in the 74th minute after Gabi coolly sent another penalty into the bottom corner after David Albelda had fouled Braulio to put the seal on a comprehensive win.

Benzema scores for Real and puts pressure for Barcelona

Karim Benzema celebrates his brace against Hércules

Karim Benzema's third brace in three games lifted Real Madrid 2-0 over Hercules in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Madrid remained perfect in 22 games in all competitions at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium this season and provisionally moved to within four points of league leader Barcelona ahead of its visit to Sevilla on Sunday.

With topscorer Cristiano Ronaldo recovering from a leg injury, Benzema's quality stood out in an otherwise uninspiring performance from his team.

The France striker grabbed the lead for the hosts in the 24th minute finishing off a nice team buildup, and sealed the win in the 56th with a great individual effort.

"I am (playing) well and I have been lucky to score two goals, but I have to give thanks to all the team,'' Benzema told TV's Canal Plus.

"The league isn't over and we have to work to win the games we have left.''

"Emilio Izaguirre would DIE playing for Barcelona"

Izaguirre has already faced with some Barcelona players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Spain

Emilio Izaguirre has been in impressive form since joining Celtic last summer and Hector Zelaya, a former coach of the full-back at Motagua, has now voiced his opinion that the 24-year-old would fit in very well at Barcelona. 


Motagua general manager said: "Emilio would fit perfectly in the Spanish League because of his ability with the ball. Guardiola would love Emilio because his side always attack. The way Barcelona play will suit him as the full-backs run forward."


Izaguirre is pretended by big clubs of the English Premier League: Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United.  Arsenal target Izaguirre as a posible replacement for Gaël Clichy, that the French has not renewed his contract. Hector Zelaya said: "Emilio would prefer playing for Barcelona rather than Arsenal or Manchester United." 

Negredo desperate to return

The striker may need to wear a protective mask

Sevilla striker Álvaro Negredo was able to complete Wednesday's training session without problems after missing Monday's session while he recovered from thSevilla striker Álvaro Negredo was able to complete Wednesday's training session without problems after missing Monday's session while he recovered from the nine stitches he received at the weekend at San Mamés. 

The Madrid-born striker said afterwards that he is determined to take part in Sunday's Liga BBVA meeting with Barcelona. "I have told the doctor that I want to play and we will do everything we can so that I can enter the list. I may need to wear something to protect my head as I don't want to open the stitches but that shouldn't affect my game," he explained after training. e nine stitches he received at the weekend at San Mamés.

The Madrid-born striker said afterwards that he is determined to take part in Sunday's Liga BBVA meeting with Barcelona. "I have told the doctor that I want to play and we will do everything we can so that I can enter the list. I may need to wear something to protect my head as I don't want to open the stitches but that shouldn't affect my game," he explained after training. 

Deportivo beats at Riazor 2-1 win over Real Sociedad

Deportivo La Coruna scored once in each half to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 in the Spanish league on Monday for its first win in four weeks.

Ivan “Riki” Sanchez-Rico put Deportivo in front in the 41st minute, spinning inside the area before firing a left-footed shot into the net. Adrian Lopez shot under goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to double the hosts’ lead in the 57th.

Down two goals, Sociedad played its best football in the match, allowing striker Imanol Agirretxe to head home in the 65th from Xabi Prieto’s ninth assist of the season.

Deportivo climbed five points clear of the drop zone.

At the weekend, Barcelona beat Zaragoza 1-0 to retain its seven-point lead over second-place Real Madrid, which won 3-1 at Racing Santander.

Atletico prevails over Villareal

South American pair Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero both scored in Atletico Madrid's 3-1 victory over Villarreal

Saturday’s late game was an enjoyable 3-1 win for Atletico Madrid over Villarreal, who are in poor form.

Jose Antonio Reyes gave Atletico an early lead with a screaming shot, only for Guiseppe Rossi to level for Villarreal. But in the second half the hosts prevailed thanks to goals from their trusty South American partnership of Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan.

The win takes Atletico up to sixth with two points less than fifth-placed espanyol, who are away to lowly Levante on Sunday.

Keita goal puts Barcelona in commanding position

Seydou Keita is congratulated on his goal for Barcelona

A goal from Seydou Keita helped Barcelona to stretch their lead at the top of the Spanish Liga to 10 points on Saturday with a comfortable 1-0 home defeat of lowly Zaragoza.

Zaragoza actually seemed relieved to escape without a thrashing, and Barca were relieved to have a relaxed game ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League showdown against Arsenal.

Astonishingly, Barca have dropped just seven points all season, and are on course to break all records. They now have 74 points from 27 games, 10 more than Real Madrid.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola had been in hospital for two days with a slipped disc but managed to sit on the bench, in obvious pain. He was rewarded with an efficient rather than sparkling display, against visitors who defended in depth and rarely crossed the halfway line.

Guardiola sent his assistant, Tito Vilanova, to the post-match press conference, and the latter said: “We are in good form and our results show this. We were able to rest several players (ahead of the Arsenal match) and we will be in good shape (on Tuesday).” As expected, the game was a monologue from start to finish.

But the Mali midfielder was not to be denied. He scored the only goal two minutes from time from close range, after Lionel Messi had opened up the Zaragoza defence down the right and put over a clever centre.

Real Madrid crushes Malaga with a score of 7-0 and still hopes to reach Barcelona

Real Madrid crushes a hapless Malaga at Santiago Bernabeu with a score of 7-0 and they still hope to reach the La Liga leader, Barcelona with 7 points away from them.

France international Karim Benzema began the rout after 27 minutes when he diverted Xabi Alonso's free kick into the net.

Angel Di Maria added a second nine minutes later after capitalizing on a missed interception to slot the ball into the bottom corner.

Just before the break Marcelo slammed Di Maria's pass into the corner of the net to make it 3-0.

There was no let up after the interval as Ronaldo rounded off a flowing move to register a fourth before Benzema got his second with a header from Marcelo's cross.

There was no let up after the interval as Ronaldo rounded off a flowing move to register a fourth before Benzema got his second with a header from Marcelo's cross.

Manolo handled in the area to give Real a penalty and was shown a second yellow card by the referee. Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot.

And the striker completed his hat-trick by converting Sergio Canales' cross at the near post with 13 minutes remaining before asking to be substituted.

Now, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 27th goal in La Liga, tied with Lionel Messi.

Lionel Messi puts Barcelona ahead over Real Madrid with 10 points

Barcelona have suffered and achieved an important victory in Mestalla with an important goal of  Lionel Messi  with his left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left near post assisted by Adriano in minute 75. Barcelona continued their unbeaten away run and put Real under extra pressure to win at home to Malaga on Thursday.

In the ninth minute Messi went clean through on goal but the Argentine fluffed a chance he usually buries on autopilot.

Messi had three chances to score but missed them all with goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, third choice at the beginning of the season, standing tall.

Pep Guardiola had never triumphed at  Mestalla as Barcelona's manager in the Primera Division, but knew that a win would send his side a mammoth ten points clear at the summit.

Messi scored his 27th goal in La Liga 2010-11 and 3 goals ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (24). 

Mallorca hit back for win with a 2-1 over Espanyol

Pierre Webo scores the equalizer

Emilio Nsue scored a late winner Tuesday as Mallorca came from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1 in the Spanish league.
Nsue was well placed to find the net in the 83rd minute after goalkeeper Carlos Kameni had made an acrobatic save from Akihiro Ienaga's volleyed shot.
After Mallorca had missed a penalty in the ninth minute, Espanyol led 10 minutes later at Cornella-El Prat Stadium. Alvaro Vazquez beat the offside trap to meet Jose Callejon's pass inside the area and fire past goalkeeper Dudu Aouate.
Pierre Webo headed home the equalizer for Mallorca from Sergio Tejera's free kick in the 63rd.
Mallorca moved to within six points of fifth-place Espanyol, which has lost five of its past six games.

La Liga BBVA - Round 25 Results