Four times Real Madrid have visited Andalucia in La Liga this term – and on each occasion they have left Spain’s southernmost province with nothing. Indeed, if the capital club can draw comfort from one thing after Saturday’s lacklustre loss in Granada, it is that they do not now have to return to the region […]
Tag Archives: Real Madrid
A festival of football in Madrid by Graham Hunter
This was sublime. Football at its purest, its quickest, its most relentless — thrilling enough that if anyone had watched this sport we love for the first time tonight then they’d be hooked for life. Craving more. When so many of the world-renowned participants — Leo Messi, Xavi, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira — performed […]
Real top football’s money league… again
Real Madrid remain top of world football’s “money league” after becoming the first club in sport to earn more than 500m euros in a season. Revenue of 512.6m euros (£430.4m) in 2011-12 enabled them to lead Deloitte’s list for the eighth straight season. Barcelona were second, while Manchester United, in third, were one of seven […]
Atlético Madrid: Its time to take them seriously
Fast, physical and ruthless; second-placed Atlético have left the scars of their past behind and may be hard for Real to catch. The gap? Hang on a minute, which gap? The gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona might be 15 points, but the gap at the top is eight points. While most naturally focus on […]
In search for a bargain, scouts now trust in spreadsheets
Times have changed. Now almost everything that happens on the pitch, save for phlegm being flung from players’ left nostrils, is codified across a vast number of leagues. And, subtly but inevitably, the scout and the spreadsheet – never natural soulmates – have started to squeeze up tight, like new lovers in a single bed. […]
Runaway Train – Unbeaten Barcelona on course to obliterate record point haul
It was an astounding achievement. Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid lost only twice in La Liga last season and claimed an unprecedented 32 victories on their way to winning the Primera Division with a historical high of 100 points. No team had ever reached three figures before in Spain’s domestic competition, but just eight months on, Barcelona seem set not only […]
Five Spanish stories for 2013
New year, new challenges. The football will be exquisite, and there’s a good chance that more European trophies will reside in Spain come May. But what will be the key storylines in 2013? Here are five. Not necessarily the top five, but a handful that not everyone is talking about when perhaps they should be. […]
Málaga teach Real Madrid a lesson but cannot fathom Uefa’s punishment
There is disbelief at the decision to ban the club from Europe next season because of ‘significant overdue budget balances’ Manuel Pellegrini told his players he would see them back in work on 2 January, wished them a Happy Christmas and left the Rosaleda carrying a suit and wheeling his case behind him. It wasn’t […]
Christmas Crackers – the View from Spain
So the apocalypse failed to show on cue. It has a habit of doing that. It was also supposed to take place on December 12 (12.12.12 and all that), but it finally made an appearance on the evening of December 22, when the backside of Saint Iker Casillas was announced by Chendo, an ex-player and […]
End of the road for Mourinho?
They sit a massive 16 points behind league leaders Barcelona going in to the winter break. Following the disappointing 3-2 loss at Malaga, speculation is rife that Mourinho might be heading for his Real Madrid exit sooner rather then later. Given that they’ve just been drawn against Manchester United in the Champions League, Marcus Christenson […]
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