Categoría: Fútbol Internacional

Spain is currently the football capitol of the world. Not only did they lift the World Cup last year, but, in Barcelona and Real Madrid, they have two of the finest football clubs in the world.

Naturally, the rivalry between these two foot-balling giants is intense, and every time that they meet, both teams’ reputations are subject to immense pressure, not only from their respective, loyal fan bases, but from the world’s media too.

Both sides play in the La Liga, the Spanish premier league. When these two great football colossi meet, (at least twice per year in league competition, and more if they play each other in any of the European trophy fixtures), the name that is given to the games, (yes they actually have a special name for this particular football fixture), is «El Clasico» – The Classic.

Since these two clubs first began playing against each other back in 1902, Real Madrid have a light edge, with a total of 74 wins over their old rivals, as opposed to Barcelona’s 73.

The origin of their great rivalry is actually politically charged. Barcelona FC, more affectionately known as Barca, (correct pronunciation «Barsa»), are the champions of the Catalonian region and its peoples, whereas Real Madrid many years ago were associated with Franco’s fascist regime. This clash between the people versus the establishment was the foundation for what is one of the fiercest fought sporting rivalries in the world today.

There is one amazing story that recounts the fortunes of one Alfredo di Stefano, now a figure of legend for both clubs. His arrival in Spain from Argentina’s Deportivo Los Millonarios was amid fierce competition between Real and Barca who were both desperate to sign the player. In the following confusion over the bitter argument of who he would play for, it was decided the he would play for Real one year, and Barca the next.

The intense confrontation between the two clubs is likened to a reenactment of the Spanish Civil War, a situation heightened recently when only last Wednesday Real coach Jose Mourinho poked his finger in the eye of Barca’s assistant coach Tito Vianova following earlier incidents on the field of play. It is feared by many that the bad feeling between the two clubs may spill over into the national team side which currently boats nine Barca players in its squad.

But all rivalries aside, these two great clubs have provided some marvelous spectacles of scintillating football in recent years although it is an undeniable fact that Barcelona FC are very much in the ascendancy right now. Their explosive style of football is hard for any other club to keep up with, and they have humbled many other great world football clubs as they did with Manchester United when they beat them in last season’s European Cup final.

Barcelona FC are currently THE club to be reckoned with. In recent head to head meetings with Real Madrid Barca have won 6 out of the last 10 games outright, with Real only managing 2 wins; the other games being drawn. Barcelona chalked up their longest unbeaten run in La Liga in the last season with 28 matches undefeated, and with nine of their current team in the international team squad, they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Real Madrid eat your hearts out!

As long as there have been sport teams, there have been rivalries. Whether it’s the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox or the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, the two rival teams inevitably end up meeting again and again, forming an ongoing heated rivalry that delights fans of the sport. One such rivalry is between Spanish football teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

FC Barcelona (also known as Barça by its fans) and Real Madrid are two of the earliest Spanish football teams, both forming in the 1890s. From the start, the two teams were seen as representatives of two rival regions of Spain, the ancient kingdoms of Castile and Catalonia. Both teams were part of La Liga, a Spanish football league and a rivalry that went far beyond football quickly took root.

It was during and after the Spanish Civil War that the rivalry took on more political overtones. Dictator Francisco Franco banned all peripheral languages, such as Catalan, the language of Barcelona. Catalonia had long been associated with more progressive fashions and political ideas, such as democracy-which was the diametric opposite of Franco’s dictatorial regime. FC Barcelona suffered as a result of being a part of the Catalonian culture. Real Madrid, on the other hand, was seen by many Spaniards (and Catalonians in particular) as the «establishment» club. Though Franco seemed to favor Real Madrid, members of both teams suffered under his regime.

The fierce rivalry continued into the 1950s when both clubs sought to sign Alfredo Di Stefano to play for them. Real Madrid eventually won out and Alfredo Di Stefano went on to lead them to many wins. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid went head-to-head twice at the European Cup in the 1960s, with Real Madrid winning one and FC Barcelona winning the other. The two teams clashed once again over a player in 2000 when Luis Figo left FC Barcelona and signed with Real Madrid. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid competed against each other again in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2002, with Real Madrid getting the win. The Spanish media dubbed the match «The Match of the Century».

In the mid-2000s, the rivalry ascended to further heights when it acquired its own name, El Clasico. The term El Clasico was traditionally assigned to any South American football rivalry, but the growth of football in the Americas coupled with these two great teams’ rivalry led to the coining of the term as applied to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. This was mostly a marketing scheme communicated via GolTV, an all-football satellite channel, but the term has been embraced by fans worldwide.

El Clasico shows no signs of slowing. To this very day, the two teams inevitably seek each other out on the field to find out who is the best team in Spain. Sometimes FC Barcelona wins and sometimes Real Madrid wins, but ultimately football fans worldwide are the ones who win whenever these two giants meet on the field.

The former footballer of 42 years old, Coach Jose Angel Ziganda, was dismissed by the Osasuna team of the Spanish League this past October 13th due to the results the team has been having at the beginning of this season.

The team is relegated to the 16th position of the 20 teams in the league, with only 4 points on the first six games of the season. The team had 4 tied games with Villarreal, Mallorca, Deportivo and Numancia, and had 2 losses against Valencia and Racing. With these results and the close the team ended to relegation last season, the franchise of Osasuna decided that it was time for coach Ziganda to leave the club.

The news of his release took Jose Ziganda and his assistant coach Andoni Goikoetxea by surprise, but they do accept that the results were not the best for the club. The fact that surprise them the most was that Ziganda became the first coach in 11 and half years to be fired by the club, because in the past, the franchise did not seemed to be focusing on the results. But now the expectations of the franchise are higher as they want to get out of the last positions of the table and be a more remarkable team in the league.

Ziganda expressed that he is leaving the club a little heartrending because he wanted more time to improve the team results and get the best performances of every player, but he accepts that he didn’t managed to win and that the team needed points. »We are very sad but we have to accept it, the reasons are obvious, we have not managed to win and the team needed a change. We wanted more time, because I think that the team has been capable of winning all the games, but the club want results,» expressed Coach Ziganda.

Jose Angel Ziganda was in charge of Osasuna for two seasons, replacing the Mexican coach Jose Aguirre. In his first season 2006-07, Ziganda took the team to the 14th place of the league and leaded them into the 2007 semifinals of the UEFA Cup, which they lost against Sevilla 2-1. However, for the 2007-08 season, Ziganda left Osasuna at the 17th place and very close to relegation. Although the club directives meant to keep him for another year, giving him the chance to turn things around, but the results obtained so far were not different.

The club has acknowledged the press that Coach Jose Antonio Camacho will replace Ziganda; he already signed a contract with Osasuna until June 2009. Camacho was the coach of the Spanish national team between 1998 and 2002, guiding the team to the quarter-finals of both Euro 2000 and World Cup2002. He also coached the teams Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano, SL Benfica and was in charge of Real Madrid for two brief spells; 22 days in 1998 and four months in 2004. More recently, in 2008, Camacho was coaching Benfica again, but after some issues with the club, he decided to leave them. Now his expectations are placed on Osasuna, since he wants to take them out of the last positions of the table and convert them in a successful club in La Liga.

Similar to the current season, the last season was also a case of the total domination of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The two teams are considered as the only real competitors for the league title in the La Liga which may be a tad bit too harsh as Valencia, Levante, and Villarreal are all excellent sides and can give a tough time to the two Spanish giants on any day. However, their performances are and have been largely overshadowed by the two giants of La Liga.

It is amusing to see that the more competitive battle in the La Liga is at the other end of the table. The majority of the teams in the league fight hard each season to avoid relegation and this is perhaps the reason that La Liga has gained the reputation of being a duopoly. You can take an idea of this from the fact that Osasuna – the team which finished at the 9th place last season – was not safe from relegation which means that the last 11 teams of the league were contesting to avoid relegation. It can be said that this has gone worse in the current season with the last 13 team currently being apart with only a difference of 9 points.

The last season started off with a lot of hype as Jose Mourinho had become the coach of Real Madrid who had been without a league title for two years. There were many speculations about the great one to lead his side to the league title and put a stop to the ever growing dominance of Barcelona. Jose Mourinho had earlier defeated Barcelona in the Champions League with Inter Milan and the fans of Real Madrid were hopeful that he will humiliate Barcelona again in all the contests against Barcelona.

Both teams prepared well for the highly anticipated contest for the title. Barcelona loaned out Ibrahimovic and signed the top scorer of the 2010 world cup, David Villa where as Real Madrid made two big signings – Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil. It wasn’t a surprise that the first Clasico was highly anticipated affair with the Barcelona Tickets and Real Madrid Tickets in extreme demand. It can be safely said that the rivalry of Real Madrid and Barcelona can never be underestimated as the game turned out to be an absolute shocker. Barcelona came out with all guns blazing and humiliated Real Madrid to a 5-0 defeat and in the process, Guardiola took his revenge from Jose Mourinho from the earlier defeat in the Champions League.

This had a huge impact on Jose Mourinho as he radically changed the tactics of his team for the rest of the season. Barcelona went on to the win the league comfortably with a margin of three games and Real Madrid managed to regain their glory when they defeated Barcelona to win the Copa Del Ray.

The rest of the battle was amongst Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao Sevilla, Atletico de Madrid & Espanyol in the quest of the acquiring a place in the Champions League. Valencia and Villarreal turned out to be the ultimate victors with the former qualifying directly and the latter to the playoff round.

Primera Liga is the First Division of Spain’s Liga de Futbol Profesional or Professional Football League and is also known as the Liga BBVA after the bank that sponsors it. It’s one of the most glamorous and competitive leagues in the world and the crowning glory of football in Spain.

Founded in 1928, La Liga de Futbol Profesional actually consists of two divisions – Primera and Segunda, known as La Liga Adelante, but when people talk of La Liga, they are generally referring to just the First Division.

Having won 31 and 19 Liga titles respectively, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are undoubtedly the dominant forces of Spanish football and are particularly bitter rivals. Beating the old enemy is as important as winning a title or a trophy in Spain, so given FC Barcelona’s recent successes daggers will definitely be drawn in 2009-10.

Barca completed the most successful season in the history of Spanish football in 2009 by winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in 2009. And they did it by playing what was widely considered to be the most adventurous and entertaining football in the world.

Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol and, of course, Josep Guardiola are just a few of the names behind this fantastic side, which prides itself in being led by local Catalan players. What’s more the signing of Swedish goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan will add strength and variation to an already fearsome attack.

Under new president Florentino Perez, Real Madrid have responded by bring out the checkbook and after spending more than 300 million euro, glamour is back at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the shape of the New Galacticos. The superstar signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and Xabi Alonso alongside Madrid veterans such as Raul and Casillas, guarantee a real battle for glory in 2009-10.

Amongst the other top teams are Sevilla FC and Atletico de Madrid, who are both representing Spain in the UEFA Champions League this season and modest Villarreal and a talented but unpredictable Valencia CF, who are playing in the Europa League along with Athletic Club Bilbao – a reawakened giant back at the top after a long period away.

Amongst the other sides there’s always a surprise team, and Malaga, Deportivo or Espanyol could well finish in European places at the end of the season.

However, few people would back any team other than FC Barcelona or Real Madrid for La Liga, and what’s more, with this year’s Champions League Final taking place in the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid will be especially keen to stop the reigning champions raising the cup again.

This year more than ever, La Liga is down to two sides – Barcelona and Madrid.

Raul scored a penalty goal against Espanyol making it 200 La Liga goals joining an elite group of players that have scored 200 and more including ex Real stars, Hugo Sanchez and Alfredo Di Stefano.

The «king of Spain» as I like to call him is the 5th highest goal scorer ever in La Liga and he needs 52 more goals to be all time leading goalscorer.

It is debatable if he would ever achieve this honour as he is 30 years of age now and he is not getting any better. Some would say he is back to his best as he is having a good season but if the truth be told he has peaked and at this point in time he is just the best that he can be not back to his very best.

He has had 3 wasted years where I feel that he would have easily been the league’s highest ever goalscorer by now if not for that period. His problems seem to start from the obsession of Real Madrid presidents had with the so called galaticos. A term used to describe football players of immense popularity and marketing ability.

This was fine with the acquisitions of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane as they always played the ball on the ground and depended more on skill than pace which was fine with Raul.

By the time, Ronaldo and then David Beckham were bought then Real’s style of play changed with Beckham always looking for the long accurate punts that suited the more athletic and quick Ronaldo than it did Raul. Raul found himself being part of a cog to feed Ronaldo rather than in a system that suited his style of play. It was alleged that he fell out of love with the game and his damaging knee ligaments did not help his mood either. All in all it was a bad time at Madrid with there been reports of 2 camps. Raul, Guti, Michel Salgado and others said to be in 1 and Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Robinho and others said to be in the other although Carlos was more friendly towards the Raul camp than Ronaldo was.

The arrival of Fabio Capello and the subsequent leaving of Ronaldo helped to alleviate the tension at Real Madrid as far as raul was concerened and he appeared to get back his appetite for the game.

It is no coincidence that this season with Raul playing where he likes and mainly just supporting Ruud Van Nistlerooy that his goal output has improved again because last season under Fabio Capello, even though his fitness improved he was played far from the opposition’s goal as it was either in midfield or in the wings.

It has been said in the past and even Guillem Ballague, sky sports’ Spanish football expert stated that Raul is a player that is not a perfect 10 in any capacity as he felt Raul could not dribble, did not possess great pace or could use his right foot.

I have heard all this before labelled against Raul that he did not excel with any particular attribute but I disagree strongly. At his best and that was before Alex Ferguson put the kibosh on his career by labelling him the best player in the world after he tore apart Manchester United; he was the most intelligent striker in the world as he seemed to have a computer for a brain.

He knew instinctively when to lob a goalkeeper or when to round him and he really should have won the European footballer of the year on countless occasions. After all if Michael Owen can be awarded such an award then so should Raul.

He may not have been blessed with blistering pace and frankly I do not understand some people’s obsession with pacy players but he was a great player when he was at his very best. He could dribble past opponents on a 1 on 1 basis as much as any striker out there and his 1st touch was better than any striker out there save for Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus.

Perhaps he could not go past 3 or 4 opponents and unlike players like Thierry Henry, he could not exploit space afforded him because of his lack of blistering pace but unlike Henry he could exploit a modicum of room afforded him as he could turn on a sixpence and make something happen out of nothing.

He is the highest ever goalscorer in the Champions’ league with 61 goals and his country’s highest goalscorer with 44 goals in 102 matches. He is widely respected in Spain and I guess by the whole football community as 1 of the greatest if not the greatest Spanish player of all time.

Most of us want to explore the wonders that the Mother Nature has offered us in the form of traveling. Conquering the new lands to witness a great honeymoon is an earnest desire for which we keep on planning secretly. Undoubtedly the earth is tremendously filled with such exotic locations that can make you simply speechless and will blow your mind away.

Amongst the huge array of such locations Barcelona is regarded as one of the most fascinating location. This vibrant destination is the second largest city in Spain surrounded by the Serra de collselora edge to the west and situated on the Mediterranean shoreline between the mouths of the river Llobregat and Besos. The city is well known for the cultural heritage, amazing sights and is regarded as a matrimonial pilgrimage by the honeymooners.

What To Do In Barcelona?

The glorified past of the country is the spice of its appeal; it is a perfect place for the natural lovers of architecture, art, music, cuisine, uniqueness as well as aquatic things.

When is The Best Time To Visit Barcelona?

Generally Barcelona has a mild Mediterranean climate which is hot and humid but the best time to be in is May to June which is the late spring season.

Where To Go In Barcelona?

The cherry of the cake is the L’Aquarium de Barcelona located in Port Vell which is the most powerful attraction of the city. The master architect Antonio Gaudi designed Sagrada Familia, a huge temple and La pedrera are worth watching architectures.

Poble Espanyol de Montjuic is a Spanish village well known for handicraft. The Magic Fountain of Montjuic, Barcelona FC Museum, Barcelona’s Picasso museum and Las Ramblas are some of the prominent destinations that you must watch to complete your trip.

Which Hotels To Stay At?

The place is full of the best luxurious accommodations but a few near to the airport EI PRAT BCN are enlisted as;

1. Ciutat Del Prat

The hotel is situated 1.5 km away from the airport and is equipped with all advance amenities.

2. Tryp Barcelona Aeropuerto

This is a four star hotel offering you great services and features while linked to the terminal by a free shuttle bus.

3. Frontair Congress

It is a contemporary hotel positioned nearby the terminal and Barcelona airport and renders exceptionally dedicated customer services.

Barcelona has countless secrets that are unrevealed and has lot more to showcase in luminous, poignant, sensual and cherished way to make your dream honeymoon accomplished. The place with salient beauty can make your honeymoon gleaming and mesmerizing.

OK the guy is not quite a kid but he seems to have transformed Tottenham from being perennial underachievers to winners once again. In this article, I delve into this pro manager’s past to see where he gets it from.

Like most managers, Ramos used to play for several top sides but his career was cut short by injury.

He coached a number of teams since 1993, the most famous being Betis and Espanyol, however his achievements with Sevilla are what brought him to the attention of the international football scene.

First of all, Ramos took Sevilla to two consecutive UEFA cup wins and a third place in La Liga, the Spanish domestic league. This propelled him to the top of the second tier of world club managers today.

Despite Sevilla playing in the Champions League in this current season, Ramos was flattered by an incredible 6 million Euros per year offer from Tottenham that he simply could not refuse.

Incredibly, Ramos has transformed a team that have always had talent but underachieved into successful winners as seen by their recent Carling Cup win. Along the way he has claimed scalps such as a 5-1 thumping of their greatest North London rivals, Arsenal.

It seems that Ramos is a great manager and able to extract the best from his players. Just look at this quote from an interview during his time as Sevilla manager: «Sevilla don’t have any stars but we win the games on the basis of humility and a level of physical exertion that is very, very high.»

This typifies Ramos’s style and it is said that his approach to fitness and diet since joining Tottenham have played a very large part in their recent turn of form.

Last Sunday Real Madrid got back their advantage of seven points as well as the leadership of the Spanish Liga rankings, but the team struggled during great part of the game against Real Zaragoza before winning 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Real Madrid’s accurate effectiveness gave the team the advantage at the 65th minute thanks to the Dutch Ruud van Nistelrooy; practically the first clear attack in all the game; followed by a goal from the Brazilian Robinho assuring the locals triumph.

The game’s top player was with no doubt Real Madrid’ goalkeeper Iker Casillas. The visiting team dominated the game for more than one hour, but without any effectiveness due to Casillas’ outstanding performance.

Madrid extended their perfect record playing at home and keep heading the championship with 44 points, seven points above FC Barcelona; team that won last Sunday’s game as well against the Real Mallorca. In third position is the Espanyol after their victory on Saturday against the Villarreal as locals, and in fourth place the Atlético de Madrid.

The Catalonian team is just one point behind Barça; these teams continue the battle closely following the steps of the Real Madrid.

Despite; Real Madrid’s laborious triumph against Zaragoza there was a black spot which concerns the team; the Argentinean defense Gabriel Heinze suffered a thigh tear and will have to remain inactive during at least three weeks.

In other games of the day, Real Valladolid beat 3-0 the Getafe as the visitor, Racing de Santander won 1-0 over Atlético de Bilbao at home and Real Murcia surpassed by 2-0 the Osasuna like locals. In the meantime, Recreativo de Huelva and Almería draw 1-1.

The Atlético celebrated a remarkable defeat 3-0 against the «Depor» as visitors, headed by Diego Forlán and Sergio Aguero. Forlán assured to change the scoreboard at the 6th minute after the break.

On the other hand, the Argentinean Aguero did shine on the field in a display of talent to add a spectacular goal. And only 12 minutes later midfielder Jurado set the final figures after the local defense could not clear a corner shot.

It’s not for nothing that Barcelona is the second most popular weekend getaway in Europe. Whether you want to enjoy the sights of old Gothic or contemporary architecture, chill out at pubs and cafes, enjoy fine dining, or go sightseeing, Barcelona would make sure that you don’t have a dull moment. There are a million exciting ways of spending weekend breaks in Barcelona. Here’s what you can do in Barcelona:

Barcelona Sightseeing

• l La Sagrada Familia – the giant temple by Antonio Gaudi, which has been under construction since 1882 and it won’t be another 50 years maybe before the construction finishes
• l La Pedrera (Casa Mila) – also by Antonio Gaudi, is known for its wavy brick construction and multicolored tiles
• l L’Aquarium de Barcelona located at Port Vell
• l Barcelona FC Museum – the huge football museum is also a tourist attraction
• l The Spanish Village or the Poble Espanyol de Montjuic – the village has houses that look like architecture in different parts of Spain
• l The Barcelona Zoo – apart from animals, has picnic area, shops, and electric cars
• l The Picasso Museum – has the master’s paintings in chronological order from his earliest works till his final ones
• l Miro Museum
• l National Museum of Art of Catalunya
• l The Magic Fountain of Montjuic
• l La Rambla Street

What makes spending a weekend, especially if it’s a long one, in Barcelona more special is its mild weather that lasts through the year. Winters here are also mild and summers are sunny because of the seas.

Barcelona Nightlife

Barcelona is also a perfect place for night crawlers who like to let their hair down at discos. Café de les Delicies, and the silver fish-sculpted Peix on the 43rd floor of Hotel Arts are two hotspots in Barcelona. The city does not sleep and the party goes on till even 6 am! The night clubs are trendy, hip and spectacular. Some other Barcelona Night Clubs are:

Ø Razzmatazz

Ø Moog

Ø Elephant

Ø Piratas

Ø Pacha

Ø Shoko

Barcelona Bike Tours

Barcelona bike tour is also a great way to see the city from a different and fresh perspective. These bike tours are given by guides. They take you through medieval lanes in the Gothic Quarter, the Olympic Village, the modernist edifices by Gaudi, and beaches. You don’t even need to make a reservation with some of the tour providers; you can just get there 10 minutes before the tour begins.

Barcelona hen weekends:

Barcelona is an irresistible land that will lead you straight into temptation especially if you indulge in Barcelona Hen dos. There are innumerable packages where you will be pampered like you cannot imagine. Some of the services provided are:

u Luxurious apartments and hotel accommodation

u Spa

u Sightseeing and bike tours

u Hen meal and cocktails

u Salsa class and entry in the hottest salsa club

u Tapas cuisine

Once you go to Barcelona for a weekend, the longer it is the better and more fun for you!