SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM EURO 2012 SHIRT NUMBERS

The "Spanish Football Federation" has made official the team shirts with the corresponding numbers that each member of the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM will wear during the upcoming EURO 2012 tournament.




Spanish Football Team


Some novelties, like Pedro,  who takes over the number 7 of the absent David Villa, with newcomer Juanfran taking the No 5 shirt from the injuried Carles Puyol.

SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM | RAMOS - PIQUE "THE ODD COUPLE"

Today SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL Coach Vicente Del Bosque talked about something that is well known in Spanish Football circles. That the probable two Central Defenders, SERGIO RAMOS & GERARD PIQUE, do not get along off the field.Del Bosque said "...Pique & Ramos do have their differences, but there will not be any problems, they will have to get along".




Ramos - Pique

We do not doubt the

SPAIN 4 SOUTH KOREA 1 | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY RESULT

The SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM played an International Friendly against SOUTH KOREA tonight winning 4 - 1. The match is part of the pre-Euro 2012 preparation schedule & the last for the players that will be giving way to the called up FC Barcelona & At. Bilbao players which will incorporate themselves to the "Spanish Camp" tomorrow.The starting 11 was:Reina; Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos, Monreal; Xabi

REAL MADRID TRANSFERS | ALTINTOP TO GALATASARAY

Current 29 year old REAL MADRID player HAMIT ALTINTOP has commented to Turkish press that next season he will playing with GALATASARAY , although it is not official between Clubs.  This obviously indicates that the Turkish International will be one of the first to move out & leave the Spanish Football Club. 



Altintop

The player came to Real Madrid last season free of transfer from Bayern

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA - 2012-2013 DATES

The 2012-2013 Spanish League - Liga - season will start the weekend of the 18th & 19th of August 2012, according to today's agreement by the Heads of the 1º st & 2º nd Division Spanish Football Professionals (LFP). The season will come to an end on Saturday June the 1st 2013 for La Liga.

With this schedule the only day on a Wednesday will be Round 37 - May the 29 st, 2013 - & that will be except

ATLETICO DE MADRID HAS AGREEMENT WITH EMRE BELOZOGLU

SPANISH FOOTBALL Club ATLETICO DE MADRID has announced that they have come to an agreement to sign 31 year old Turkish International & FENERBAHE midfielder EMRE BELOZOGLU. 



Emre Belozoglu

The player has agreed to sign for the next two years with Atletico. Emre is obvious entering the twilight of his career after playing in Italy & England, but offers Atletico contrasted experience in the

SPANISH TRANSFER NEWS | GUARDADO SIGNS FOR VALENCIA CF

The Mexican International helped return DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA back into the Spanish Football 1º st Division, that is something admirable,  as talented ANDRES GUARDADO decided to stick out the season in a lower catagory. The player has been prized with the signing for next season to a new Club, none other than VALENCIA CF.



Guardado

The Mexican will play Champions League next season & signs for

SPANISH U-19 FOOTBALL TEAM | SPAIN 2 BELGIUM 1

SPANISH FOOTBALL U-19 TEAM has defended BELGIUM 2 - 1 & thus finish on top of their Group to go straight into the up coming EUROPEAN U-19 CHAMPIONSHIPS to be held in Estonia between the 3 rd & 15 th of July.



Gerard Deulofeu


Match details ( line-ups & goalscorers)Spain 2: 13-Kepa Arrizabalaga, 2-Iván López, 3-Jonathan Castro, 4-Jonás Ramalho, 5- Pablo Insua , 6-José Campaña(c) (67´Jesús

ATLETICO DE MADRID SIGNS CRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ OF OPORTO

SPANISH FOOTBALL Club ATLETICO DE MADRID has announced via its Web that the Club has signed 26 year old Uruguayan International & OPORTO forward/winger CRISTIANO RODRIGUEZ.



Cristian Rodriguez


The player comes with an Italian passport & what is more important , free of transfer fee as his contract with Oporto ends this season. Rodriguez will sign a contract for the next four seasons after his

SPANISH FOOTBALL | DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA RETURNS TO LA LIGA

Three Spanish 2º Division Football Clubs will win a place in LA LIGA ( Spanish 1º Division ) for next season . The first two placed on the classification table go in automatically while 3rd to 6th placed Clubs participate in a "play-off" for the last remaining place.



Deportivo celebrate


This afternoon the goals from RIKI ( 40th min ) & XISCO ( 70th min) gave DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA a 2 - 1

SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM LIST | FINAL 23 PLAYERS FOR EURO 2012

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Coach & Selector Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his final list of 23 players that will make up the 2012 EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP squad.

The National Selector had to make some harsh & difficult decisions as he incorporated the absent FC Barcelona & Athletic Club Bilbao Internationals which obviously could only come into the squad with departures. Some of the

TRANSFER RUMOURS | REAL MADRID LOOKS AT LUCAS MOURA

REAL MADRID CF Coach Jose Mourinho was spotted tonight watching the Denmark - Brazil match played in Hamburg (Germany). That is, he flew from Turkey to watch specifically this game, or his player Marcelo. This would be the obvious reason, but others have interpreted this for another Brazilian player that is said to interest Real Madrid.



Jose Mourinho


Neymar is old news as it all points that

EURO 2012 WARM-UP | SPAIN 2 SERBIA 0

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM began its warm-up games before starting its Euro 2012 campaign with a 2 - 0 victory over SERBIA.

The Spanish starting line-up looked unfamiliar as the FC Barcelona & Athletic Bilbao players were missing due to their participation in yesterdays Spanish Cup Final. The line-up today was:
Casillas; Juanfran, Ramos, Albiol, Alba; Bruno, Xabi Alonso, Navas, Cazorla;

FC BARCELONA | THE END OF THE SUCCESS CYCLE ?

The image of today is the one below of FC BARCELONA with the SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) Trophy after defeating Athletic Club Bilbao 0 - 3 in the 2012 Final.



FC Barcelona 2012


However, perhaps the more emotional & longer standing image is of now ex-Coach JOSEP GUARDIOLA.



Guardiola


Last nights game was his last as Barça Coach & in the best fashion the man leaves with another title. An 

SPANISH CUP FINAL RESULT | AT BILBAO 0 FC BARCELONA 3

FC BARCELONA has won this seasons SPANISH CUP FINAL ( Copa Del Rey ) with a 0 - 3 result over ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO. FC Barcelona Coach Josep Guardiola leaves the Club in the very best manner possible with another title under his belt & adding more to his legend status at the Club.Excellent atmosphere tonight which bought the 2011-2012 Spanish Football season to an end.



Pedro

FC Barcelona

U-19 | SPAIN 2 ITALY 1

The Spanish National U-19 Football Team is a game away from securing its qualification for the next U-19 European Championships after defeating Armenia 2 - 1 earlier in the week & today 2 - 1 over Italy.

The Spaniards suffred in this game & had to make a comeback to pull back two goals ( Campaña 71 st min & Jese Rodriguez in the 83rd min).


Comeback victory over Italy


The "Euro XI Elite"

SPANISH CUP FINAL | ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO - FC BARCELONA | THE DAY BEFORE

The city of Madrid is about to be visited by 1000s of ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO & FC BARCELONA followers as both are to play the Final of the SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) tomorrow at the "Vicente Calderon Stadium" (Home of Atletico de Madrid).



At.Bilbao - FC Barcelona.


A huge game to officially close the Spanish Football season with plenty of angles & stories in play:


At.Bilbao looks to

SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM | EXCESS OF FORWARDS

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Selector Vicente del Bosque has a dilemma, a glorious problem that most National squads would enjoy having , an excess of top class forwards. Del Bosque only wishes to take 3 forwards that will be finally named in the upcoming final definite EURO 2012 list. Apart, the announcement by DAVID VILLA that he has failed to get to his playing peak physically after

LIONEL MESSI | EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT 2011- 2012

LIONEL MESSI of FC BARCELONA with his 50 Spanish League goals not only creates an all-time Liga & European record but also wins this seasons EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT AWARD. The second placed is Real Madrid player ( last years winner) CRISTIANO RONALDO with also impressive & records numbers of 46 goals ( 92 pts ).




Lionel Messi



TOP 10 European Golden Boot Award places season 2011-2012:
1. Lionel

REAL MADRID | MOURINHO - HIGUAIN NEWS

REAL MADRID CF Coach JOSE MOURINHO grabs today's Spanish Football Sports papers headlines even in the off-season. The Portuguese Coach has renewed his contract with Real Madrid another two more years, that is,  until 2016.The Liga title has lifted his spirits & he sees a real chance to consolidate his squad & again go after next seasons LIGA title & the cherished Champions League title so

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM PHOTO

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL squad began training today in Madrid without the Athletic Club Bilbao & FC Barcelona Internationals which play the Final of the Spanish Cup this Friday.
The National team selector Del Bosque called up today Chelsea Fc players Juan Mata & Fernando Torres to join the squad as it prepares for upcoming International warm-up games against Serbia, Korea & China before the

RAFAEL NADAL WINS HIS SIXTH ROMA MASTERS 1000 TITLE

Playing on a Monday at 12.00 makes it difficult for the working folk ( myself included ) to watch a great Final of Tennis. That was the case for the ROMA MASTERS 1000 Mens Final between NOVAK DJOKOVIC & Spaniard RAFAEL NADAL as it was delayed from Sunday due to the bad weather.



Rafael Nadal wins his sixth Roma Masters 1000


Spanish Sports & Tennis got a great boost with the news that Nadal

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO SPANISH CUP VIDEO

"All together. Go for the Cup". That is the name - "war cry" - of ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO in this video that the Club has just posted up on all the social media channels.The motive is to warm-up the Bilbao followers & build up the atmosphere for this Fridays SPANISH CUP FINAL ( Copa del Rey Final ) against FC BARCELONA at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid. 

Nice touch from the Club to subtitle

FERNANDO TORRES INTERVIEW | NOT COMFORTABLE AT CHELSEA FC

Spanish Football player & CHELSEA FC newly crowned European Champion FERNANDO TORRES has given a very interesting interview to Spanish Sports daily "AS" that will hit the stands in the morning. The paper has already given extracts of the interview were Torres talks about his "horror" year & the immediate future.



Fernando Torres

The interview is fresh after winning with his Club their first

TRANSFER RUMOURS | MANCHESTER CITY TALKS TO FERNANDO LLORENTE ?

MANCHESTER CITY representatives have been said to have met up with the brother of ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO & Spanish International forward FERNANDO LLORENTE , "Chus" who is also the players rep. The meeting was to express the clear interest of the English Premier League Champions to get the player over to England. That was back 27th of Abril & since then Real Madrid , FC Barcelona & others have

REAL MADRID TRANSFER RUMOURS | SERGIO AGUERO - RAMIRES

The rumour comes out of England & precisely from the daily newspaper "Sunday Mirror". The source is want it is but the rumour is not new at all especially here in Spain when it comes to Argentine International forward SERGIO AGUERO.



Sergio Aguero


The interest of REAL MADRID for the MANCHESTER CITY forward comes from the past as they failed - or backed out - to sign the Argentine last season

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO TEAM PHOTO 2012

Spanish Football Club ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO has captivated Spanish & European Football observers alike this season with their Football under the hands of Argentine Coach Bielsa. The Club has found a mix of experience & youth that now plays touch Football over the long kick up-front method. The team lost the Europa League Final to Spanish Club Atletico de Madrid but has a chance to win a title in

PARIS ST GERMAIN TO OFFER 25M€ FOR KAKA

The man is currently enjoying his holidays in Brazil. REAL MADRID CF player KAKA has said that he wishes  to remain at the Spanish Club & thinks he still has plenty to give at Real Madrid.



Kaká

However, French Club PARIS SAINT GERMAIN thinks that Kaká can definitely give plenty of Football to their Club & has an offer for the player to entice the Brazilian over to Paris. Apart from the fact

ATLETICO DE MADRID TEAM PHOTO 2012 | EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL

The last few days I have posted up this seasons team photos of Real Madrid & FC Barcelona. Today I managed to find the team photo of the ATLETICO DE MADRID starting 11 that won the EUROPA LEAGUE 2012 a week ago.Hopefully the many overseas Atletico fans will enjoy this historical pic. 



Atletico de Madrid 2012 Europa League Final


Top: L to R: Courtois, Luis Felipe, Mario, Gaby, Miranda & Godin

THE SPANISH SUPER CUP 2013 IN CHINA ?

Firstly,  a big hello to all the Chinese Spanish Football Sports readers. Secondly, you maybe in good luck as Chinese Sports Authority Li Yingchuan has let known in a public act that they are in close negotiations with the Spanish Football Authorities to play the Spanish Super Cup Final in Pekin in 2013. 



Puyol with Spanish SuperCup


This means the winner of the Spanish League Championship

SPANISH FOOTBALL TRANSFER RUMOURS | YAYA TOURE - REAL MADRID FLIRTING?

I actually enjoy this period of the end of the Football season & summer time. Apart from the warmer weather & longer sunny days, the numerous Football transfer rumours that one wakes up to everyday. 



Toure


The latest Spanish Football transfer rumour is the apparent interest ( denied by the Club involved ) shown by MANCHESTER CITY midfielder & ex FC Barcelona player YAYA TOURE towards REAL

THE INTERNET READERS BEST 11 SPANISH LIGA PLAYERS FOR 2011-2012

More than 73.000 people voted on Spanish Sports online channel "marca.com" for what they believed to be the "Best 11 Players" of the Spanish Football League season 2011-2012.



Marca - Best 11 season 2011-2012


As you can see the list is dominanted by Real Madrid & FC Barcelona players, with the exceptions being Javi Martinez (At.Bilbao) & Falcao (At.Madrid). A list that does not depart to much

DIDIER DROGBA OFFERS HIS SERVICES TO FC BARCELONA ?

According to Spanish Sports paper "Sport", based in Barcelona, the representative François Gallardo (a FIFA agent) of CHELSEA FC forward DIDIER DROGBA has offered the player to FC BARCELONA for next season.



Drogba


The 35 year old Ivory Coast International desires to finish off his career in a top level Club & the Spanish League - LA LIGA motivates the player. Drogba is said to realize that a

FRIENDLY GAME | KUWAIT 0 REAL MADRID 2

With the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE title in one pocket REAL MADRID travelled to the Middle-East to fill the other pocket with 3M€ with a "Friendly-Exhibition" game against the KUWAIT National Football Team.



CR7

The Spanish Club took 22 players & all 22 played during the 90th mins with 2 distinct line-ups in each half. It was during the first 45 mins that the goals arrived under DI MARIA in the

FC BARCELONA TEAM PHOTO 2012

The other day I posted up on this blog a team picture of Real Madrid for all the global readers & fans. I thought that it would be appreciated seeing the Club had just managed to win the Spanish League title. Thinking as always on all the Spanish Football Sports Blog readers & the various Clubs they may follow, in this case, the FC BARCELONA readers,  I looked around for a team photo that was

SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM LIST FOR UPCOMING EURO 2012 WARM-UPS

SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM Selector & Coach Vicente del Bosque has handed in his "second last" list of 21 players to make up the Spanish National Team for the upcoming Friendly Internationales between SERBIA (26th of May) & SOUTH KOREA (30th of May) to be played in Switzerland. Both are warm-up games for the upcoming EUROPEAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

The Spanish National selector has left out

TRANSFER RUMOUR | TORRES PLUS 15M€ SWAP OFFER FOR FALCAO?

Rumours & more rumours. Here is the lastest from local Madrid TV station "TeleMadrid". CHELSEA FC has offered 15M€ plus their current Spanish forward FERNANDO TORRES in exchange for ATLETICO DE MADRID Colombian International FALCAO. 



Torres with his kids

Falcao is currently hot property & one of the most wanted Football players in European Football. The Atletico de Madrid players has finished

SPANISH FOOTBALL ROUND 38 FINAL RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL & LA LIGA came to an end for season 2011-2012 with mixed emotions of joy for the winners & for the survivors, while sadness crossed over those Clubs which were relegated into the Spanish 2º Division for next season.

The main ending points of the season are that REAL MADRID won the Spanish League with runners-up FC Barcelona. The two other Clubs in Champions League positions are

TRANSFER RUMOURS | IVANOVIC ON REAL MADRID LIST ?

REAL MADRID & their Coach Jose Mourinho are already thinking about the next season. One of the positions that needs to be reinforced is the right back where Alvaro Arbeloa is the only specialist in the current squad.

Spanish sports paper "Marca" publish that current CHELSEA FC Serbian defender BRANISLAV IVANOVIC is the preferred candidate at this moment. The Serbian International has the extra

Gameweek 38 Captain Data

Powered by Tableau

P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG% Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories.

Note: above data assumes 90 minutes of action, with rotation risk not being factored in.

The data hasn't liked anyone as much as Aguero this week for some time and when you look at the numbers on a granular basis it's hard to argue. Aguero has been simply dominant at home all year (10.0 P90) and welcomes a QPR side with plenty to play for, but insufficient talent to do so barring what could be one of the biggest upsets of all time. There's an argument to be made for nerves playing a factor with City and they may play defensively if they were 1-0 up at half time, though I'd counter that with an equally (or more) likely scenario where City get ahead early and prove to be simply too much for QPR (Arsenal vs Everton springs to mind when they won the title a number of years back).

Rooney of course will be doing all he can to secure a win this week too, though with the goal difference gap so wide, I don't see United playing a ridiculously cavalier game from the start (they have to be mindful remember that City could draw). He's a good bet as always but the fixture is just so much harder than Aguero's that to pick him you're really getting too deep into who's "motivated", "nervous" or "good in clutch situations" which doesn't sit well with the statistical leanings of this humble blogger.

Arsenal, of course, have something left to play for too, with 3rd spot taking on an even greater important this year with Chelsea's presence in the Champions League final (England only gets four spots so if they win, only the top three qualify). Regardless, I would never pick against Van Persie and Arsenal are a team whose peaks and troughs don't seem to overly correlate with any one factor so just ride the waves and play Van Persie every week. As for captaining him, again the fixture is much tougher than Aguero's though if you're getting into possible outcomes, you could see West Brom going for this one, resulting in a high scoring affair (one could also argue that Hodgson will rouse one last performance from his team though and win, so like I say, the narrative isn't too informative).

If I owned van Persie and Rooney (indeed, I do) I would certainly consider selling one of them for Aguero this week, dependent on other areas of need in your team. Needless to say, I wouldn't pay 4 points to do so. Of the two, I am leaning towards selling Rooney, mainly based on the percentage of goals Van Persie accounts for. For the final game it's tough to tell how many goals will be scored with so many factors in play, so give me the bigger slice of an unknown pie, rather than a smaller piece of a possibly larger pie.

I wouldn't personally touch the Chelsea game given the total lack of incentive for them to win the game (they can't even move up or down one place in the league). Indeed, if I had money tied up in Torres or Mata I would looking to divest those options this week, not double down by captaining them.

Of the sleeper picks (sleeper in terms of captain picks rather than ownership numbers) you have to like Tottenham against a Fulham side who have been poor away from home all year, making Bale, Adebayor and van der Vaart viable options. Adebayor's xPct gives him the advantage here as when's he's played he's had a hand in 45% of Spurs' goals, a much better rate than teammates Bale (32%) and van der Vaart (37%). Spurs obviously have to go out for a win and hope for some help from West Brom to secure 3rd, but also need to win to hold off a potential challenge for 4th (which could still lead to Champions League football) from Newcastle. He's inconsistent, to be sure, but Adebayor's ceiling is as high as anyone this week and he would make a superb risk/reward bet for those looking to think outside the box in the final week.

FC BARCELONA - GARETH BALE HAVE AGREEMENT ?

The rumours that FC BARCELONA "fancies" TOTTENHAM HOPSPURS Welsh International GARETH BALE is not new at all. In fact, Chelsea FC & Manchester City also are throwing "kisses" to the left back in order to entice the player over to their Clubs. 



Gareth Bale

What is new is today's report from Spanish TV - local "Marca" Football program - that FC Barcelona has beaten other pretenders & has come

Gameweek 38 Preview

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CS Clean sheets kept at home/away based on this week's fixture Opp FTS Number of times this week's opponent has failed to score at home/away GPG Conceded Predicted goals conceded this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season Opp CS Clean sheets kept at home/away by a team's opponent GPG Scored Predicted goals scored this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season.

Here we are again. The end of another long season. Well, of course, there is still the small matter of deciding whether the Premier League trophy will reside in Manchester or Salford for the next 4 months or so, but for fantasy players, this is the end. The last transfer will be made soon or already has been and that final lineup will be set in a matter of days. Then it's time to sit back, watch your team complete the final moments of the year and reflect on all those missed transfers and botched double gameweeks.

There's some interesting storylines for the final day which may impact fantasy players, though in truth too much is probably made of team's "having their head on the beach" already as that narrative only ever seems to be applied retrospectively to teams who had a bad final game. Take Blackburn for example. I can write the story for the Lancashire papers now. If they lose, you couldn't blame the relegated players for being unmotivated as they face a season of trips to Peterbrough or Bristol City rather than Man United and Arsenal. If however Blackburn should win, they'll have done so as "brave soldiers" keeping their heads high as they show that they'll be back soon. In short, you can apply a narrative either way. The team hasn't been very good all season and chances are they won't suddenly be any different this week.

It's an understatement to say that Man City still have something to play for, with just their first title for over 40 years on the line. Again, after the results come in there will be plenty of people who "knew" what was going to happen but in reality there's a non-zero chance they blow the game or destroy QPR with the most common outcome being a solid win given the gulf in talent. Both teams need to win (assuming United don't slip up) so I'm comfortable with the data here and suggest City look like the best play of the week.

Now, one team who should be considered outside of their yearly stats is Chelsea, who have the Champions League final on the horizon. With a top-four position now out of their hands, they have nothing to play for this week and widespread changes could be seen as Di Matteo can't afford any more absentees given the list of injured and suspended players he has for the final. I don't believe many of their assets are widely held anyway, but despite the great fixture, the uncertainty over who will play is enough to make me look elsewhere for the week.

Captain data to follow later.

ATLETICO DE MADRID CELEBRATES EUROPA LEAGUE IN MADRID

Madrid is having plenty of Football street celebrations of late with ATLETICO DE MADRID doing their EUROPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS homage to the city & all their fans this afternoon-evening. Real Madrid had their glory moment last week, today Atletico de Madrid did their visiting to local authorities, the traditional bus ride & claiming of the "Neptune God Water-Fountain" with Club colours.




Some

EUROPA LEAGUE 2011-2012 | ATLETICO DE MADRID CHAMPIONS

The winner tonight was SPANISH FOOTBALL. The only sad event is that unfortunately there can only be one winner, in this case,  ATLETICO DE MADRID which proclaimed themselves EUROPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 2011 - 2012 after defeating fellow Spanish Club ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO 3 - 0. Atletico managed to win the Europa League Cup again with the last time being back in 2010.



Falcao


Atletico de Madrid

CARLES PUYOL WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY MISS EURO 2012

As the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE season comes to a close the upcoming EURO 2012 Championship beings taking over the spotlight. The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM goes in as defending European Champions & FIFA World Champions & thus are considered "hot favourites".However today we all received some bad news as FC BARCELONA & Spanish International defender CARLES PUYOL announced that he will be

REAL MADRID TEAM PHOTO SEASON 2011 - 2012

Found this pic that I thought may interest all the global Football readers & especially REAL MADRID followers. It´s one of the very latest team photos of the SPANISH LEAGUE Champions for season 2011-2012.


Team photo: Real Madrid CF season 2011-2012

Top L to R: Pepe, Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Benzema & Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bottom L to R: Casillas, Di Maria, Marcelo, Arbeloa & OzilThis line-up

MESSI 50 GOALS ON COURSE FOR EL PICHICHI

With just one Round left to go of the current SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE season there is a clear run away candidate to win the "El Pichichi" Award - Top Spanish League goal scorer - & in doing so the European Golden Boot Award.With is 4 goals yesterday against RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona player LIONEL MESSI takes his personal LIGA tally to 50 GOALS, this is an historic record smashing figure for

Gameweek 37 Captain Data

Powered by Tableau

P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories. 

This week will be a big test for Cisse owners as he clearly has the much tougher fixture on paper, but all other factors suggest he is the best play for the week. I always say that the above data is a guide rather than a hard set of rules to be obeyed and this is one scenario where there is little chance I would go with Cisse over Van Persie or Rooney. Would I be surprised if Cisse scores? Not really, City have conceded recently at Swansea, Stoke and Norwich who are all far inferior teams to Cisse's Newcastle. Would I be shocked if Van Persie drew a blank? Again, probably not, his last four games have earned 1-2-2-2 points. Handing out the armband, however, should be a question of weighted expectations and with that in mind, you have to account for the substantial (though not necessarily probable) chance that Newcastle are simply shutout by a City side just metres away from title glory in the season's marathon.

I'm still tweaking the rankings system (and would welcome comments for consideration in the off season) but I still feel that xPct needs to carry the most weight (perhaps even more than the 50% is currently receives). This is still an imperfect measure, but it does account for the opposition which the other metrics noted above do not. Van Persie is the clear leader there and that ultimately is why I will personally lean that way this week.

If you don't own either of the above options, Rooney is of course another fine option, and probably better than the above ranking suggests given Swansea's apparent surrender after a fine first season in the Premier League. Like City, United need a win and anything but a convincing victory for Rooney and co would indeed be a shock, thus pushing Ronney into a good fantasy position. His home returns of late have been excellent and he trails only Van Persie in shots on goal over the past 6 gameweeks.

If you skewed the data to account for 'form' then Rooney would probably eclipse Van Persie for the week, though I am yet to be convinced that 'form' really exists in a fantasy sense. That said, the loss of Walcott and Arteta does bear mentioning as team form is very much something that exists. We know that United will show up and play this week, though probably not with reckless abandon while Arsenal could be apathetic, glorious or anywhere in between. If nothing else, Van Persie has the golden boot to go for, so expect the shots on goal to continue (if possibly from more acute angles and longer distances than we are used to).

It's closer than the above rankings suggests between this trio but all other things considered I would go with the old pair of Van Persie and Rooney as 1a and 1b with Cisse behind them in 3rd place. Fantasy Football Scout's captain poll suggests Van Persie will get a large proportion of selections this week, in which case Rooney may become a good value pick, gaining some differential potential without much loss in potential.

Gameweek 37 Preview

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CS Clean sheets kept at home/away based on this week's fixture Opp FTS Number of times this week's opponent has failed to score at home/away GPG Conceded Predicted goals conceded this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season Opp CS Clean sheets kept at home/away by a team's opponent GPG Scored Predicted goals scored this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season.

REAL MADRID CELEBRATE LIGA TITLE IN MADRID

As the old saying goes, "...long time between drinks", or in the REAL MADRID CF case Spanish League titles. The last time Real Madrid won LA LIGA it was back in season 2007 - 2008 & all the unreleased built up "tension" exploded with joy today in the city of Madrid when the players celebrated the title with the city, the fans & they did the traditional offering of the Club colours to the "Diosa -

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA - WEDNESDAY MID-WEEK RESULTS | REAL MADRID SPANISH CHAMPIONS

SPANISH FOOTBALL tonight with the rest of the 7 games scheduled in the mid-week fixture played. The news is that REAL MADRID CF won its match & mathematically proclaimed themselves CHAMPIONS for season 2011-2012 of the SPANISH LEAGUE. Its their 32 LIGA title & they won it with 2 Rounds still left of the season.



Real Madrid celebrate the Liga title


Here are all the final results of tonight's 

IFFHS | FC BARCELONA BEST FOOTBALL CLUB IN THE WORLD

The FIFA backed IFFHS ( International Federation of  Football History & Statistics ) has released its periodical list of the "Best Football Clubs in World Soccer". FC BARCELONA continues in the top spot as "The Best Football Club in the World" with a record 44 times in that position since the IFFHS began releasing this type of report. Close behind in second place is REAL MADRID CF, plus two more

TRANSFER RUMOURS | THE MOURINHO LIST

Spanish online daily news-web elconfidencial.com , via its Sports section, talks today about possible REAL MADRID CF signings for next season. The web puts down 4 names that are sounding & is similiar to a Christmas present list but this time written by Coach Mourinho.Bear in mind that in the World of Football the Christmans season is in August not during December, & Coach Mourinho has apparently

SPANISH FOOTBALL - MID WEEK LIGA TUESDAY FINAL RESULTS

Three matches scheduled today as part of the mid-week fixture allocated to LA LIGA in order to catch up with missed rounds due to the players strike at the start of the Spanish Football season last year. Officially this round is numbered 20 which may cause some confusion to the punters. Here are all the final scores & goalscorers.



Getafe-Racing


RACING DE SANTANDER was already sentenced to

SPANISH FOOTBALL TOP GOAL SCORERS | THE RACE IS ON

The SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE may have already a title winner if REAL MADRID wins Athletic Club Bilbao tomorrow, or if Barcelona lose against Malaga FC in their game. But there is another title - on an individual level - that is totally up for grabs with still 3 Rounds left of the competition. The race for the Spanish League Top Goal scorer - "El Pichichi" - is a two man race between CRISTIANO

FC BARCELONA | TRANSFER RUMOURS 2012-2013

FC BARCELONA, along with the other big Clubs, are also thinking about next season & naturally rumours are hot as players, representatives & business interests position themselves to negotiate.


Jordi Alba




The only name that is much more than a rumour & looks almost close, is Valencia CF & Spanish International defender JORDI ALBA. The player grew up at Camp Barça before finding a new