Reuters Soccer Blog

Are Barca and Real killing Spanish football?

In our latest post on Spanish soccer, Mark Elkington in Madrid ponders the opening round of matches in La Liga and what it underlined about the growing domination of the big two.

La Liga had a familiar look to it on Tuesday morning.

Wealthy behemoths Real Madrid and Barcelona top the standings on goal difference after each recorded emphatic wins against opponents who were utterly outclassed.

Villarreal, through to the Champions League group stages after finishing fourth last term, were thrashed 5-0 by Barca at the Nou Camp on Monday night, a day after Real Madrid romped to a 6-0 victory at Real Zaragoza.

Barca’s financial clout was underlined by the fact that coach Pep Guardiola was able to start without Spanish World Cup-winners Xavi and David Villa as new signings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez scored on their home debuts in the league.

Villarreal president Fernando Roig said the growing financial disparity between Barca and Real and the rest of La Liga was killing Spanish football.

“If they only want to have two matches (Real v Barca), let them have two matches, but this isn’t good for football,” he told local media on Tuesday.

Soccer Break Thursday – United roll on

Manchester United just keep on winning despite a sluggish season by their usually high standards and will now face Barcelona in the Champions League final on May 28.

Predictions? Hard to see even a full strength United keeping Messi and co at bay, especially as Barca coach Pep Guardiola will be seeking to continue his love affair with Wembley.

Next up for Alex Ferguson’s men is the visit of title rivals Chelsea on Sunday, certain to be a much stiffer test than a disappointingly lacklustre Schalke 04 on Wednesday. Will United’s formidable home record count in their favour?

Staying in Europe, and Thursday is Europa League day. Porto take a 5-1 lead into the second semi-final leg against Villarreal, while compatriots Benfica beat fellow Portuguese club Braga 2-1 at home.

Braga, less fashionable than their illustrious rivals, play their home games at the Quarry. Could be an explosive match.

Taking a look at a wider football issue, are tickets too expensive? Read here for what Arsenal are doing to combat the rise in prices.

And finally, referees have a hard time, especially with the stakes so high in Europe, but read here to find out about a New Zealand official’s ‘empty net’ penalty decision.

Soccer Break Tuesday

Short and sweet today with little news on Monday and plenty of action to look forward to this week.

Manchester United will look to stretch their Premier League lead against Newcastle United on Tuesday, though will their Wembley antics distract them? ‘A hole lot of trouble for United’ read one headline.

The week’s big game, big being an understatement, is Real Madrid v Barcelona in the Spanish King’s Cup final. Jose Mourinho, silent before last Saturday’s ‘clasico’ which prompted a walkout by media in protest, has a tactical dilemma. Play with caution and risk the wrath of former club great Alfredo Di Stefano or attack and risk a hammering from Barcelona’s slick forwards.

What would you suggest the Portuguese coach does?

A recap of the past few days looks at Villarreal’s push for Champions League football next season in La Liga after Monday’s 1-0 win over Real Zaragoza, and the usually dogged Stoke City’s five, yes five, goal FA Cup semi-final win on Sunday against Bolton Wanderers who are enjoying a great season in the Premier League.

To round off the best of Tuesday’s reads, Toronto is being hailed as the new ‘epicentre’ of Canadian soccer and click here for a debate on developing youth talent.

Finally, which is your favourite stadium? Browse this site for venue reviews and post your thoughts on grounds you have visited. The Nou Camp in Barcelona does pretty well.

Soccer Break Friday

How can the upcoming domestic matches beat this week’s European action for goals? 19 were scored in Thursday’s four Europa League quarter-finals, with a further 18 coming in the four Champions League last eight ties on Tuesday and Wednesday.

What the top leagues around Europe do have however is drama, with most leagues set to go down to the wire, whereas only two out of eight of next week’s quarter-final second legs are in the balance.

Do you think the goings on in Europe will affect any title races? Will Inter Milan’s confidence be so badly shattered that they may as well leave Napoli to pursue Serie A leaders AC Milan?

Fan chanting made an unwelcome return to the spotlight this week, while Wayne Rooney’s swearing on camera was dealt with by the FA. Too harsh a penalty?

This time of the year some teams are already looking ahead to the next season, take for example Liverpool. They have nothing much to play for apart from an outside chance of a Champions League berth by finishing in the top four. Captain Steven Gerrard has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, however. Will that knock Liverpool off course?

Now for some transfer gossip. After another fine performance for the ‘Yellow Submarine’ of Villarreal in Thursday’s 5-1 humbling of Dutch champions Twente Enschede in the Europa League, Giuseppe Rossi is again being talked about.

Finally, a sending off for Brazilian Neymar in comical fashion. Agree with the referee or sometimes should the officials ease up on the rules?

Soccer Break Thursday – Champions League recap

Where to start after four brilliant Champions League quarter-finals, even if the intrigue for next week’s second legs has all but gone from three of the ties with Barcelona leading Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1, Real Madrid 4-0 up against Tottenham Hotspur and Schalke 04 in total charge against holders Inter Milan after the 5-2 triumph at the San Siro.

However, the appetite has most certainly been whet for the very probable ‘Clasico’ semi-final between Real and Barcelona, a meeting of the world’s two best players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. April 26 or 27 and May 3 or 4. Do not miss these dates. Not that Spain’s two leading clubs are thinking that far ahead.

There is of course more top European action on Thursday in the Europa League, which has a distinctly Portuguese feel this year. Not that Spain’s Villarreal agree mind you.

In 2003, who can forget the young Jose Mourinho leading Porto to UEFA Cup glory and the way he would rise to the top of the managerial tree in years to come. This time round there could be a similar story. Porto’s current coach is Andre Villas-Boas, who used to work under his compatriot. Could he be the new Mourinho? Watch this space…

Attention now turns back to domestic leagues so read our Premier League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 previews to bring you up to speed with what lies in store in the coming days.

A club usually associated with the English title race is Liverpool, who despite their mediocre season continue to hit the headlines. Plus basketball star LeBron James has invested in the Anfield club.

Here’s more on Wayne Rooney, the goalscorer in Manchester United’s Champions League 1-0 win over Chelsea in London on Wednesday, after it was announced he will miss the FA Cup semi-final against city rivals…Manchester City.

La Liga: The most boring competition in Europe?

A few days ago, Real Zaragoza president Eduardo Bandres said: “The Spanish league will be a matter totally and absolutely between two teams, among other things because the system for distributing television rights determines that it will be this way. It is unique in Europe and because of this the Spanish league is one of the most boring in Europe.”

The television channels would beg to differ, as they regularly run adverts or open their coverage of matches from La Liga claiming it is the ‘best league in the world’ with clips of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi running in the background.

But Bandres has a point. Five games in, and the table has an all-too familiar look about it. There are only two clubs left with a 100 percent record – Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Who has scored the most goals? Real and Barca with 16 apiece.

Who has conceded the fewest? Real with two. Barca have let in three.

Which clubs have the most money? Real and Barca are both working on budgets of over 400 million euros, three to four times greater than their nearest rivals. They rake in around half of the money earned from La Liga’s television rights, which are not negotiated on a collective basis.

Can United and Villarreal improve for Champions League?

Manchester United and Villarreal must find some misplaced form to get the away results they need in Wednesday’s Champions League second legs.

United, who visit Porto, have not looked like European and English champions recently and have a lot to do to reach the last four after last week’s disappointing 2-2 draw with the Portuguese side at Old Trafford.

Late goals by 17-year-old Federico Macheda scraped victories over Sunderland and Aston Villa in their last two Premier League games to keep them top following defeats by Fulham and Liverpool.

Jose Mourinho, Porto coach when they knocked Alex Ferguson’s men out on the way to winning the competition in 2004, said United are a very different prospect from the side who eliminated his Inter Milan last month.

“Manchester United are in great difficulty at the moment,” Mourinho told a news conference. “Porto went there, they played a good match and the result was fair. But the return leg is still open.”

Like United, Spanish contenders Villarreal also need a win or a high-scoring draw to progress after being held 1-1 at home by Arsenal. (more…)

Champions League draw — your views

So, here we go again. For the fifth successive season, Liverpool will face Chelsea in the Champions League.

Quarter-finals:

Villarreal v Arsenal

Manchester United v Porto

Liverpool v Chelsea

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Did Spain’s Euro 2008 win jinx the clubs?

Spain overcame 44 years of underachievement on the international stage when they were crowned European champions at Euro 2008. Not only did they win the tournament, but their players, their style and their attacking ambition were hailed around the world.

However, that success appears to have had a detrimental effect on their domestic teams, who have traditionally been some of the strongest performers in Europe’s club competitions.

Last week’s Champions League and UEFA Cup results are some of the worst in recent seasons.

Nine-times European Cup winners Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 at home by Liverpool in their last 16 first leg, while both Villarreal and Atletico Madrid were held to score draws at home by Panathinaikos and Porto respectively.

Only Barcelona achieved what could be considered a positive result, coming from behind to draw 1-1 away to Olympique Lyon and it was hardly an impressive performance.

In the UEFA Cup they fared even worse.

The 2004 winners Valencia drew at home to Dynamo Kiev to go out on the away goals rule 3-3 on aggregate, while Deportivo Coruna were humbled 6-1 on aggregate by AaB Aalborg. The 2006 and 2007 winners Sevilla failed to make it out of the group stages along with Racing Santander.

Riquelme whips up another storm

Less than a year after being forced out of Villarreal, who tired of what they said were his excessive privileges and lack of commitment, Juan Roman Riquelme is at the centre of a similar storm at Boca Juniors.

A sequence of listless performances from the enigmatic number 10 prompted public criticism from team mate Julio Cesar Caceres. And it all sounded very familiar.

“Riquelme appears to be saturated mentally,” said the Paraguayan central defender. “In some games, he gives the appearance that he is running, in others he is passive.”

Those were the only really cutting comments in an otherwise fairly tame assessment, yet Riquelme was furious.

For a player whose interviews rarely offer anything more insightful than “I’m happy to be in the team and it’s going to be a difficult match”, Riquelme immediately popped up on Fox Sports to launch an outspoken attack on Cacares. (more…)