Real Madrid have not lost the killer instinct they demonstrated to devastating effect in the first half of last season and which effectively gave them their second successive league title. Playing one man down for most of the second half they saw Betis equalise their early goal and then lay siege to Iker Casillas's goal. Click to continue reading...

You have to feel some sympathy for Bernd Schuster. That's a strange statement to make about a man in charge of one of the most prestigious football clubs, and the current Spanish championship title holders. However, he faces a long a difficult season with a squad clearly split in half.

The defence, now back to full strength following the return of Ramos and Cannavaro, shows signs of being as confident and solid as in the latter part of last season and has just notched up its second clean sheet in a row. Click to continue reading...

The 60,000 fans at the Santiago Bernabéu, expecting a sackful of goals last night, went home disappointed after Real Madrid only managed to put two goals past their opponents. BATE Borisov, making their debut in the Champions League, are Real's first Belarussian opposition and showed why they're likely to be the whipping boys of Group H. Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid kicked off their league championship at home with a victory, but failed to convince the local fans that they have reinforced the squad sufficiently over the summer. They left the pitch to a mixture of boos and applause barely having managed to subdue a rival that has only just been promoted to the top division. Click to continue reading...

(first, sorry for the lack of posts the last two days, we'll be back on scheduled programming starting now)

Daniele De Rossi scored his first ever "doppietta" (brace) in an Azzurri shirt to give Italy the 3 points vs. Georgia. Italy now have 6 points for the first two games and have made an excellent start to World Cup Qualfying, despite their mediocre play.

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A poche ore dl trofeo Tim che vedrà di fronte Milan e Juventus, vi riporto le parole del nostro ex Gianluca Zambrotta pubblicate oggi in una intervista su La Stampa: Ha visto Juventus-Artmedia? «Soltanto i gol, ma mi ha fatto piacere tornare in Italia e ritrovare la Juventus in Champions League.

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Not Capello. That would be wrong...

With Cannavaro it's just oddly weird. And wrong. Click to continue reading...

I just saw an article on ESPN.com that Lillian Thuram has retired from soccer due to a heart condition. He had retired from the French National Team once again and was going to move from Barcelona to Paris St. Germain for at least one more season, but has to retire due to a heart condition. Thuram is one of the last members of the great French teams from the late 1990's and early 2000's to still have been playing and was there for all of those great moments. Click to continue reading...

After a week of intensive training in Irdning, Real Madrid had their first (semi)competitive match of the preseason against Austrian opponents. LASK Linz currently leads the Austrian first division with three wins out of four, and are therefore significantly more match fit than the Spanish side. The game, which ended 3-2 to Real (with goals from Baptista, Raúl and Saviola) revealed little about what we may expect this season, but a few clues could be gleaned here and there. Click to continue reading...

Fabio Cannavaro could be about to start his third and last season with Real Madrid, according to his agent. In an interview with Italian radio station Kiss Kiss, Gaetano Fedele said that "the way things currently stand, this will be Fabio's last season wearing the Real Madrid shirt. In any case, we will see during the season whether there is an opportunity to renew the contract with Real Madrid. Click to continue reading...

Marcos Senna is being celebrated as a find, a player finally giving teeth to the much maligned Spanish defence, a noteworthy ally in its potent attack. But he is in a minority because this Euro shone a spotlight on the number of flatfooted defenses which became red meat for swift counter attacks.

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I can't say that I am shocked, but I am a bit surprised that Russia pulled it off. Holland had so much momentum going to the game that I really thought it would carry them through to the semi-finals at least. Full credit to the Russians, who played a terrific game, constantly attacking the Dutch and their one true weakness - their defense. Click to continue reading...

I can't say that I am shocked, but I am a bit surprised that Russia pulled it off. Holland had so much momentum going to the game that I really thought it would carry them through to the semi-finals at least. Full credit to the Russians, who played a terrific game, constantly attacking the Dutch and their one true weakness - their defense. Click to continue reading...

Italia and Espana (sorry guys, I can't find the tilde on my keyboard) These two European powerhouses met not too long ago. We lost 1 zilch on beautiful goal from David Villa. Ironically, that goal came off a rare defensive error from Capitano Cannavaro. Looking back at the highlights, Italy looked livelier in this one.

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Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, THE match of the quarters is nearly upon us. A mouth watering, tactical who's who in the making. Will it be an attacking extravaganza or will they cancel each other out? Will catenaccio return or will this constipated match end up with the hated penalties? Will Spain blow it again or will Italy miss Pirlo, Totti, Gattuso, Nesta, and Cannavaro?

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Though half of the national sides taking part in Euro 2008 have now been eliminated, all of the Real Madrid players who started the tournament have booked their ticket to the quarter finals with varying degrees of brilliance. Rubén de la Red, back from his season-long loan at Getafe, and still a Real Madrid player (it's not yet clear whether he will feature in the transfer market this summer) Click to continue reading...

Despite Holland resting 8 of its eleven starters the Dutch still managed to win out and give Italy the opportunity of survival.What it tells me is this Dutch side is very good.Maybe too special for the rest of Europe.This Romanian side are no slouches and the win verifies the quality of this Dutch side. Click to continue reading...

Matchday 2 of Euro 2008 has already seen some of the nations eliminated, while others have secured their passage into the knockout stages. At this point, we have not yet said a definitive goodbye to any Real Madrid players, although some have not yet guaranteed their place in the quarter finals: Pepe (Portugal): no goals this time (though he did come close on one occasion), but another solid Click to continue reading...

Cari amici, volevo condividere con voi una considerazione ...chisà come è... ma abbiamo vinto i mondiali schierando gli alfieri della Vecchia Signora (in finale Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Camoranesi più un Del Piero decisivo in semifinale e sul rigore di Berlino). E addesso, con l'Italia in preda al terrore di mancare l'obiettivo qualificazione, il ct si affida a Chiellini in difesa e Del Piero e Camoranesi in attacco (più il duo De Rossi-Perrotta).

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As all the nations complete their first game in Euro 2008, those Real Madrid players involved in the tournament made an immediate impact. Well, those who weren't injured, at least: Pepe (Portugal): scored his first international goal in his first major championship and opened up a potentially tricky tie against Turkey, momentarily taking everyone's attention away from Cristiano Ronaldo. Click to continue reading...

In last night's 3-0 drubbing of Italy (which could have been 4-0 or 5-0), the Dutch showed what kinds of magic they could have produced at the 2006 World Cup, had they not been so poorly mismanaged. Luckily, coach Marco Van Basten has learned from his mistakes and this time around, he let his strong midfield thrust forward at will - causing many problems for the Italians. Click to continue reading...

Netherlands 0-3 Italy. The Azzurri's adventure at Euro 2008 could not have started worse. 3 goals like the 3 words which can be used to describe today's match: offside, counter-attack, and defense (or lack thereof). Why offside? The pivotal point of the match (Italy's poor performance aside) was without question the controversial non-call on Ruud van Nistelrooy's [. Click to continue reading...

Italy have received the late boost that Fabio Cannavaro will be able to give a captain's contribution from the dug-out.

The Azzurri skipper, who is already on the road to recovery following last Wednesday's ankle operation, has been given the go-ahead by UEFA to participate in Euro 2008 from the bench. Click to continue reading...

FORZA ITALIA Finally my 'adopted' team get to play in the Euro's when they kick off their Group C match against the clog wearers of Holland at 20.45pm (local time). The WORLD CHAMPIONS are without their captain Cannavaro who has injured his knee whilst plying his trade for Real Madrid on their way to the La Liga title. Click to continue reading...

France Raymond Domenech's squad on paper is definitely Euro final material & the frogs will want to get one over the Italians after The World Cup Final (nut)-cracker. France posses a fantastic team with plenty of depth. They conceded just 5 in qualifying and would probably be at better odds for the trophy if it weren't for the group of death draw. Click to continue reading...

With the Bernabéu not yet cleaned of the many tons of confetti poured from the stands following Sunday night's celebrations, Real Madrid have been quick off the mark announcing a new signing. Ezequiel Garay, Racing de Santander's highly rated Argentine central defender, is set to join Real for a cool 10 million euros in cash. Click to continue reading...

Despite playing almost the whole of the second half with 10 men, Real Madrid managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit with less than 10 minutes to go and win their thirty-first league title. It's the first time they have won back-to-back titles since 1990 (though that was the last in a run of five consecutive champioships), when John Toshack was in charge. Click to continue reading...

Given the week-long gap between games at this stage of the season, press reports on Real Madrid during the greater part of the week have been concentrating on possible transfer movements during the summer. I normally don't bother reporting 90% of this stuff as it's more often than not concocted out of thin air, so I tend to wait till it's either officially announced, or the buzz is so insistent that there's a good chance it will happen. Click to continue reading...

SPAIN SOCCER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Originally uploaded by cg.9916 Resultados Champions League, Marzo 5, 2008
AS Roma's Francesco Totti, right, talks to Real Madrid's Fabio Cannavaro during a Champions League second round soccer match between Real Madrid and AS Roma in Madrid, Wednesday, March 5, 2008. Click to continue reading...

REAL MADRID Italian defender FABIO CANNAVARO has expressed his solid confidence with his teams defence, on Spanish radio "Onda Cero", & has been picked up by most Spanish... Read all the news, results, details & comments in English on Spanish Football & Sports Click to continue reading...

In the latest twist to the problems afflicting Real Madrid central defenders Metzelder has suffered a relapse of the plantar fasciitis he had nearly recovered from. All told, he's been unavailable for selection through injury or lack of fitness for most of the season, featuring in only 7 of 21 league games so far, and runs the risk of going the way of Jonathan Woodgate (though not quite as expensive). Click to continue reading...

Giuseppe Rossi took his tally to nine goals in the Spanish Primera Liga tonight with a superb strike against league leaders Real Madrid.

The 20-year-old American-born Italian footballer showed the speed of mind and guile to shift the ball past former World Football of the Year, Fabio Cannavaro in an instant before unleashing a rasping left-foot shot past arguably the finest goalkeeper on the planet, Iker Casillas. Click to continue reading...

I'm pretty bored, so I thought I'd throw my irrelevant two cents into the mix. Here's who I think were the world's best XI in 2007. Feel free to flog me, I know nothing, of course.

GK - Petr Čech
Casillas, Reina, and Buffon are all incredible, but some of the saves Čech makes are just plain silly. Click to continue reading...

Fabio Capello, who, since leaving Real Madrid, has taken up a post commentating for Italian state TV channel RAI, did not mince his words last night, as he analysed the Lazio-Real game. Interestingly, this has been picked up by the Spanish press from different perspectives, depending on who you read. Most highlight the fact that Capello thinks Real Madrid are still a team which "lacks identity". Click to continue reading...

Let's get the excuses out of the way first: It's only the preseason, the players have only been together for a week and some of them had not yet arrived from their holidays, Hannover kicks off in the Bundesliga in 10 days, whereas there are over 3 weeks to go to the start of the Spanish league.

The above are all valid, but they do not take away from the aptness of the saying pride comes before a fall. Click to continue reading...