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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Article from Goal.com on recent "el classico" match
Goals from Neymar and Alexis Sanchez saw Gerardo Martino win his first Clasico in charge of Barcelona as the Blaugrana ran out 2-1 winners over Real Madrid on Saturday.
Jese Rodriguez scored a late consolation for Los Blancos, but the damage had already been done following the Brazilian's close range effort in the first half and Sanchez's moment of brilliance in the second.
The win moves Barcelona four points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga, and six ahead of its opponent.
Lionel Messi returned in his first league start for four weeks following a thigh injury, with the hosts also boosted by the return of Javier Mascherano and Daniel Alves.
Madrid gave Gareth Bale his first Clasico start – his second since moving to the Spanish capital – while Luka Modric also returned the starting lineup.
After Sergio Busquets and Sergio Ramos had both been booked in the opening 14 minutes, the game began to settle into its rhythm with Barcelona controlling possession for long periods and Neymar creating two quick opportunities.
Having wasted his first, Neymar made no mistake with his second after excellent work from Iniesta.
The midfielder ran at the Madrid defense before laying the ball into his teammate and the Brazilian did the rest as he placed the ball through the legs of two defenders on its way into the far corner.
Madrid was denied an equalizer in the closing minutes of the first half by an excellent save from Valdes.
Ronaldo broke down the left and delivered an inviting cross into the six-yard box, with Sami Khedira beating Adriano to the ball, but his effort was well blocked by the goalkeeper.
The hosts began the second half keen to double their advantage quickly and saw good chances for Iniesta and Neymar denied by some resilient defending.
Iniesta saw a long-range effort blocked and Neymar had a volley well saved by Diego Lopez.
Madrid had struggled to create a clear-cut opportunity, but Ronaldo came close to leveling the scores just before the hour. Modric rolled a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of the Portugal international only for Valdes to make a great save down to his right to deny him.
Benzema – who replaced Bale in the 61st minute – saw his powerful strike crash against the crossbar and bounce to safety 10 minutes after coming on.
With 20 minutes to play, there was a moment of real controversy, as Mascherano pushed Ronaldo down in the box, with the referee waving play on. Replays appeared to show the visitors had a real shout for a penalty.
The non-call would prove crucial as Alexis secured the victory with 12 minutes to play. The Chilean executed a perfect chip over Lopez from the edge of the penalty area to send the home fans into raptures.
Jese fired home for the visitors during stoppage time after good work from Ronaldo, but it was too little too late for Carlo Ancelotti's side as Barca took the Clasico spoils.
Jese Rodriguez scored a late consolation for Los Blancos, but the damage had already been done following the Brazilian's close range effort in the first half and Sanchez's moment of brilliance in the second.
The win moves Barcelona four points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga, and six ahead of its opponent.
Lionel Messi returned in his first league start for four weeks following a thigh injury, with the hosts also boosted by the return of Javier Mascherano and Daniel Alves.
Madrid gave Gareth Bale his first Clasico start – his second since moving to the Spanish capital – while Luka Modric also returned the starting lineup.
After Sergio Busquets and Sergio Ramos had both been booked in the opening 14 minutes, the game began to settle into its rhythm with Barcelona controlling possession for long periods and Neymar creating two quick opportunities.
Having wasted his first, Neymar made no mistake with his second after excellent work from Iniesta.
The midfielder ran at the Madrid defense before laying the ball into his teammate and the Brazilian did the rest as he placed the ball through the legs of two defenders on its way into the far corner.
Madrid was denied an equalizer in the closing minutes of the first half by an excellent save from Valdes.
Ronaldo broke down the left and delivered an inviting cross into the six-yard box, with Sami Khedira beating Adriano to the ball, but his effort was well blocked by the goalkeeper.
The hosts began the second half keen to double their advantage quickly and saw good chances for Iniesta and Neymar denied by some resilient defending.
Iniesta saw a long-range effort blocked and Neymar had a volley well saved by Diego Lopez.
Madrid had struggled to create a clear-cut opportunity, but Ronaldo came close to leveling the scores just before the hour. Modric rolled a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of the Portugal international only for Valdes to make a great save down to his right to deny him.
Benzema – who replaced Bale in the 61st minute – saw his powerful strike crash against the crossbar and bounce to safety 10 minutes after coming on.
With 20 minutes to play, there was a moment of real controversy, as Mascherano pushed Ronaldo down in the box, with the referee waving play on. Replays appeared to show the visitors had a real shout for a penalty.
The non-call would prove crucial as Alexis secured the victory with 12 minutes to play. The Chilean executed a perfect chip over Lopez from the edge of the penalty area to send the home fans into raptures.
Jese fired home for the visitors during stoppage time after good work from Ronaldo, but it was too little too late for Carlo Ancelotti's side as Barca took the Clasico spoils.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Champions League match day 3 - 22nd and 23rd October 2013
Exciting group stage matches throughout Europe
There will be loads of exciting clashes of the European giants this week with the headliner being Real Madrid vs Juventus at the Santiago Berneabeau . Juventus is the team going into the game with most of the hype as they look to turn their struggling start of the season with a win in Spain.
Real Madrid on the other hand, looks to be picking up a bit of form after their impressive weekend win against Malaga with goals from Di Maria and Ronaldo who were also Madrid's key players in match day 2.
Many of Juventus believe that they can get a result in Spain, one of players who stressed this was Pogba: ""There's nothing to fear,". "We will beat Real at least once and we will go forward."
Another big game to look foward to is Barcelona vs AC Milan at the Camp Nou in Catalonia. The spanish giants are overwhelming favorites after news that Milan's strike Mario Balotelli will miss the first leg of this tie.
List of other games playing on match day 3
Arsenal (ENGLAND)vs Borussia Dortmand (GERMANY)
Celtic(IRELAND) vs Ajax(NETHERLANDS)
Bayern Munich(GERMANY) vs Viktoria Plzen( CZECH REBUBLIC)
Manchester United (ENGLAND) vs Real Sociedad(SPAIN)
Shalke(GERMANY) vs Chelsea(ENGLAND)
NOT THE FULL LIST OF FIXTURES FOR MATCH DAY 3
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Champions league match week 2 results.
All predictions were correct and there were notable outstanding performances in the second round of games.
Real Madrid thrashed Copenhegan 4-0 with 2 goals from Di Maria and Ronaldo each.
Shakhtar held Man United to a 1-1 draw which came an as unexpected blow to the former champions.
The biggest upset was Galatasaway coming away with a draw at Juventus.
PSG cruised to a expected victory over Benfica without their captain Thiago Silva
The reining champions, Bayern Munich dismantled English giants Manchester City with a 1-3 away win.
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