As one former Barcelona player puts it: “It is the game of the century, even if there are eight of them a year.” It is a comment not just on the excellence and the expectation that comes with Real Madrid v Barcelona but also on their eclipse of all else, on the dominance and potential dilution of a […]
Tag Archives: Ronaldo
Bale’s hat-trick for Madrid
…This time, Bale bombed through from deep, space opening up before him. He played the ball wide to Marcelo and the return ball was perfect. “On a plate,” Bale said. From four yards he scored, left-footed. That fact turned out to be significant: he’d already got one with a header and another with his right […]
All in the mind – Is the brain the new frontier in football training?
Today’s soccer professionals have a battery of physios, fitness trainers and doctors all striving to fine-tune their players’ physique for optimum performance. But are football clubs missing a trick in overlooking dedicated training for the most important organ of all — the brain? Scientists at London’s Brunel University believe the game’s top talents, such as […]
Preview: Real Madrid vs Man Utd CL 1st Leg
TKTG brings together all the best articles previewing tonight’s Champions League Round of 16 clash between Real Madrid and Manchester United at the Bernabeu. BBC Sport: Sir Alex Ferguson says “getting through” the first leg of their Champions League tie with Real Madrid is key to Manchester United reclaiming a title they […]
Undeserving Messi ‘out of this world’ according to Wenger
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has suggested Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is ‘from a different planet’ as he assesses his sublime talents, but does not believe he was a worthy winner of the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year prize. … When asked whether Messi would have got his vote in the FIFA poll, Wenger […]
Real Madrid go missing again as Barcelona effort takes its toll
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 […]
Four and Counting – Messi Wins Ballon d’Or
And so we have it. What the majority of people were expecting has come to pass. His 91 goals for club and country, a total that broke Muller’s 40 year-old record, has helped Messi win the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or. In doing so he becomes the first player in the history of the game to […]
TKTG’s UEFA.COM Team of the Year
UEFA.com’s Team of the Year nominees have been finalized and voting is under way. We at TKTG have decided to cast our vote too by coming up with our own best XI. We first went through the list of nominees for each position, and then the opinion of each TKTG author on what formation to […]
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 […]
The 100 Best Footballers in the World
The Guardian’s 11-strong international panel of experts set about ranking the best footballers in the world, and end up with their top 100. #99 Diego Forlan Age: 33 Nationality: Uruguayan Team: Internacional The striker became the most capped Uruguayan of all time at the 2011 Copa América and is also the country’s record scorer. That seemed implausible when […]
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