Real Madrid beat UEFA Cup and Supercup holders Zenit St. Petersburg 2-1 to win their first away game in Europe in two years. It was also their second successive win in Russia after beating Lokomotiv Moscow in 2003. The game was played at breakneck pace, especially in the first half, resulting in a very open attacking encounter with a large number of chances from both sides. Click to continue reading...

This has been pointed out by Dina in yesterday's comments and by some other posters around the internet, the one thing wrong with Valencia CF as currently constructed: Our lack of another goalscorer besides David Villa.

Look at the numbers: In 4 games, Villa has scored half of Valencia's 8 goals, tied with Florent Sinama Pongolle of Atletico Madird and Rafael Van der Vaart of Real Madrid as Pichichi (leading scorer) of La Liga.

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          Final     Osasuna  0 - 0 Deportivo       Villarreal  2 - 0  Racing Santander VIL: Joan Capdevila 28     Joseba Llorente 32´     Final     Barcelona  3 - 2  Real Betis BAR: Eto'o 17´, 23´     Gudjohnsen  80´   BET:  Monzón 59      Jose Mari   67´   Final     Getafe  1 - 2 Atlético GET:   Albín 75´   ATM: Cortés 30     Sinama-Pongolle 82´       Final   Real Madrid  7 - 1  Sporting Gijon MAD: Van der Vaart 18´, 33´, 47     Higuaín 37´     Robben 51     Raúl 59´, 64   SPO: Kike Mateo  51´         Sevilla FC  2 - 0  Espanyol SEV: Enzo Maresca 57     Javier Chevanton 86´         Málaga  0 - 2  Valencia VAL:   Villa 71´, 90´     Recreativo 1 - 1  Athletic Bilbao REC: Javi Guerrero 71   ATB: David López  76´       Valladolid  2 - 0  Almeria VLL: Alvaro Rubio 66     Medunjanin [. Click to continue reading...

1 - 0 Van Der Vaart 18'
2 - 0 Van Der Vaart 33'
3 - 0 Higuain 37'
4 - 0 Van Der Vaart 47'
5 - 0 Robben 51'
5 - 1 Mateo 53'
6 - 1 Raul 59'
7 - 1 Raul 64'

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Rafael van der Vaart took a hat-trick off Sporting Gijon as Real Madrid walloped them 7-1 to go second in Spain's Primera Liga - one point behind Villareal
Real Madrid 7 - 1 Sporting Gijon Highlights

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Poor Sporting de Gijón. Ten years out of the top division and on your return you have to face Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villareal one after the other in your first five weeks. On Sunday, Barcelona put 6 past them and on Wednesday night Real Madrid went one better, making them the worst defensive side in La Liga in over 50 years. Click to continue reading...

Rafael van der Vaart took a hat-trick off Sporting Gijon as Real Madrid walloped them 7-1 to go second in Spain's Primera Liga - one point behind Villareal
Real Madrid 7 - 1 Sporting Gijon Highlights

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MADRID, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Real Madrid new boy Rafael van der Vaart scored a hat-trick to help the champions thrash promoted Sporting Gijon 7-1 in the Primera Liga on Wednesday.

Sporting were subjected to a 6-1 beating at home to Barcelona on Sunday and were quickly on the back foot at the Bernabeu as Netherlands midfielder Van der Vaart completed his hat-trick in the 46th minute. Click to continue reading...

My little bro was in town so I skipped the game and took him to the BRONX ZOO. Based on the highlights I saw and commentary it looks like I missed another SNOOZEFEST. Winning like this is good for the standings but bad for the soul of a team that is supposed to be about attractive 'futbol'. Anyways here's what GOAL. 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...

0 - 1 J.Moreno 7'



1 - 1 Guti 19'



1 - 2 Barkero 23'



2 - 2 G.Higuaín 26'



3 - 2 R.van Der Vaart 33'



4 - 2 D.Cisma (Autogol) 40'



4 - 3 J.Moreno 56'



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Here I have compiled a Football Corner Dream Team and I am eager to hear what you think about my selections (leave a comment). I an going with a 4-4-2 formation and I hope you agree with my selections.

GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) (Captain)

DR: Dani Alves (Barcelona)
DL: Gael Clichy (Arsenal)
DC: N. Click to continue reading...

How 'bout this for a team: Defense consisting of Chivu, Van Damme, Heitinga, Nigel de Jong MIdfield: Maduro, Sneijder, Van der Vaart (Pienaar on the bench) Offense: Van der Meyde, Zlatan, Ryan Babel (with Mido and Tom de Mul benched). I guess you could win a Dutch title with these lads, if you Click to continue reading...

Last week Rafael van der Vaart said it was about time he'd score again for Oranje. He hadn't scored again since the end of 2007, in the Belarus freezing cold. And see, last Wednesday he scored a goal that would prove to be the winner. A goal that will end Click to continue reading...

So, La Liga is starting two weeks late as per usual. There are some positives though. I'm back from any holidays in time to watch it for one. Teams also start with there full squad, rather than half the Premier League teams who look to buy in players in the last two weeks of the window. The english scum who go to places like the Costa del Sol and Benidorm are out of the country. Click to continue reading...

Valencia's David Silva scored first but a nine-man Real Madrid rallied to beat Valencia 4-2 and lift the Spanish Supercup 6-5 on aggregate on Sunday.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sergio Ramos, Ruben De La Red and Gonzalo Higuain scored for Madrid, Rafael van der Vaart found himself on the sidelines in the 39th minute and Ruud van Nistelrooy joined him there in the 73rd.

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Bu maç İnter-Roma maçına kurban gitti. Arada zapladığımda 2 gol 1 kırmızı kart yakalayabildim. İlk maç Mestella'da 1-0 Valencia'nın olmuştu. İkinci maçta da ilk gol Davidlerin Silva olanından geldi, 7 dakika sonra da yeni transfer VanderVaart atıldı. Penaltıdan beraberliği getiren Van Nistelrooy ikinci yarıda atılınca Real 9 kişi kalmış. Click to continue reading...

Is it just me, or has this transfer window just been punch yourself in the head awful? There are less than two weeks to go until the end of August and so far... almost nothing has happened. Robbie Keane has gone to Liverpool. Ronaldinho made his bargain move to Milan, and Rafael van der Vaart [...] Click to continue reading...

The season can be said to have officially kicked off with yesterday evening's first leg of the Spanish Supercup at Valencia. And evening it was, with a kick-off at 10:00pm local time, which must mean that everyone in Spain must be on holiday, or that Spaniards need less sleep than the mere mortals who watch other leagues. Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid's love affair with Brazilian footballers seems to be slowly coming to an end. At its height, back in Florentino Pérez's last season as club president, the squad boasted five Brazilians in its ranks: Roberto Carlos, Cicinho, Baptista, Robinho and Ronaldo. As of today, with the sale of Julio Baptista to Roma for €12 million, this number now stands at two: Robinho and Marcelo. Click to continue reading...

With the start of a very exciting Bundesliga season upon us, Goal.com previews two teams daily as a part of our build-up.

Next up Hamburg who have to cope with the loss of Rafael van der Vaart... Click to continue reading...

I thought it was appropriate to quote some Pink Floyd lyrics when looking at these 2 stores in the London Times. According to this article, the Gareth Barry deal has fallen through for the 342ns time this summer due to the unwillingness of Liverpool's owners to provide the funds to sign Barry.

This other article from the London Times describes how Harry Redknapp would like to try and mount a challenge on the bigger clubs, but isn't being given any additional funds to acquire the players that he needs to complete his squad. Click to continue reading...

Finito il tormentone Cristiano Ronaldo, il Real deve far fronte alle bizze di Robinho, che ha deciso di trasferirsi al Chelsea. L'agente dell'attaccante brasiliano, Wagner Ribeiro, sta facendo di tutto per rompere con il club iberico: 'Robinho è molto arrabbiato per il modo in cui i dirigenti del Real si stanno comportando. Click to continue reading...

Now that Rafael van der Vaart has been sold to Real Madrid, Hamburger SV is shopping for an attacking player to fill the gap. Both the Hamburg press and Kicker report that the two main candidates are Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Heerenveen's attacking midfielder Michael Bradley (currently in China playing for the US Olympic team). Click to continue reading...

These two men below - Van Der Vaart & Pepe - helped REAL MADRID comeback & take the game from SANTA FE 1-2 in a friendly match to celebrate the 470th year of the city of... Read all the news, results, details & comments in English on Spanish Football & Sports Click to continue reading...

1 - 0 Seijas 41'



1 - 1 Van der Vaart 73'



1 - 2 Pepe 77'



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Bundesliga outfit Hamburg are reportedly unwilling to match £16m valuation of Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt.

With captain Steven Gerrard injured, the Reds, who have earlier failed in four separate bids for Aston Villa's £18m-rated experienced centre-midfielder Gareth Barry, are looking keen to raise funds to make a successful move for the England international, but their effort to sell the Holland international, Kuyt has reportedly come to naught.

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Robinho's move to Chelsea appears to be back on after they tabled a £19.7m bid for the Brazillian striker. Robinho is said, by his agent, to be keen on a move away from the Bernabau after Madrid attempted to use the 24 year old as a make weight in a deal to bring Ronaldo to Madrid. Robinho's agent is quoted as saying "What matters for Robinho is to leave the club and play for Scolari at Chelsea. Click to continue reading...

Hamburg, looking to regroup after suffering the loss of Rafael van der Vaart to Real Madrid, enquired about one of Liverpool's squad players, but were scared off by Rafa Benitez's ridiculous valuation. Are YOU Nike's Most Wanted? As Anfield co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are still refusing to bail Rafa out . Click to continue reading...

Hamburglu Van der Vaart, 5. Hollandalı olarak Real Madrid'e imza attı. Eğer Hamburg görüşmeyi kabul ederse bu iş biter demiştik.

Taze Milanlı Ronaldinho Çin'de altın madalya peşinde.

Everton'ın yeni stadyumundan ilk taslak görüntü. Click to continue reading...

It seems to be the new trend, managers publicly declaring who they want to buy. Luciano Spalletti's comments that Roma were looking at buying Yossi Benayoun quickly made their way to the British media and, with the Gareth Barry deal still pending, it didn't take long for the two stories to be linked to get to a 'Benayoun to be sold to fund Barry deal' scenario. Click to continue reading...

The awesome picture is courtesy of Adam over at TiAS, who also has a great post of the Summer of Soccer program in NYC.

Tons of great photos and a video. What are you waiting for?

• Edu and crew can't breathe in Beijing. [MauriceEdu.com]
  
• Is Tottenham still shopping?

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A recap of the events of the last seven days saw Real Madrid play two friendly games in London for the Emirates Cup with contrasting results, a serious knee injury to one of its most in-form midfielders, the announcement of a signing that had been widely heralded, and the retirement from international football of one of the top strikers in the game. Click to continue reading...

La Roma andrà nel fine settimana a Madrid per acquistare Julio Baptista, scrive il quotidiano spagnolo Marca. Presto, quindi, Pradè dovrebbe incontrare Mijatovic per chiudere l'affare. Le Merengues - prosegue il giornale iberico - vorrebbero intascare 12 milioni di euro per la Bestia, il club giallorosso sarebbe disposto a spenderne meno di dieci. Click to continue reading...