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Preview Schedule Spain

What To Watch This Weekend: La Liga Beyond the Big Two

February 18, 2012 — by Suman — 3

There's a whole slate of FA Cup matches in England, including Sunderland-Arsenal (see PoliticalFootballs' most recent post for a full list of those fixtures), and domestic matches in Germany, Italy, etc. But we're finding ourselves getting increasingly fascinated by Spanish football beyond the big two. So we've picked out a couple matches to focus on this weekend, involving 4 of the 14 teams that have a shot at finishing 4th in La Liga and claiming a Champions League spot for next fall: Getafe-Espanyol (which is actually a Madrid vs Barcelona matchup), and a north vs south battle in Athletic Bilbao-Malaga. (For a full list of matches televised in the US this weekend see here, or go to livesoccertv.com.) Saturday, Feb 18 La Liga, Getafe-Espanyol 12pmET (ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com): Our continuing quest to go beyond the big two in Spain. Indeed, these two clubs are severely overshadowed in their hometowns by those big two--Espanyol

Three Slightly Frozen Memories From the Milan Massacre

February 17, 2012 — by Tyler

Miserable indeed. Three slightly frozen memories, ready to be thawed and forgotten: (1) The coin toss. Compatriots Seedorf (class act and true legend) and Van Persie (legacy yet to be determined) faced each other, hugged, and exchanged symbols of their respective clubs. Seedorf was jovial, calm, confident, and looking RVP in the eye. Robin seemed unwilling, nay, unable, to look Clarence in the eye for more than a second or two. Van Persie seemed... twitchy. He looked around, he appeared distracted. Maybe he was foreshadowing (and influencing) his team's performance that night, admitting to himself that the game might be over before it begins. Maybe his mind was already tanning on the Mediterranean beaches of Barcelona or the navigating lively and bustling streets and plazas of Madrid. (2) I've been focusing on Sagna a bit, wondering if he's been thinking, "Hell, Clichy went to City, I'm just as good, maybe better, I actually start for my country, so why I

Milan Embarrass Arsenal

February 16, 2012 — by Sean

A slow, tentative Arsenal team visited Milan in Champions League knock-out play yesterday, and by god were their frailties exposed. Milan ended 4-o winners on the night, and that was a kind scoreline to the Londoners. Milan, far from the best squad they've ever had, abused Arsenal's weak defense, and if Pato and Nocerino had been more composed it could have easily been six goals to the rossoneri. Milan is not exactly impressive. They don't seem that inspired in their build up play. Most times they try and bypass the midfield with a lob to Ibrahimovich, hoping the big Swede can bring the ball down and hold it until reinforcements arrive. Last night, it worked – a lot.Whenever he gets the ball it just feels confusing. He's a big, weird looking, lanky guy with enormous feet. He's fast, technical and can score, but none of it seems like it should

Matchfixing Not Yet Suspected in “Arsenal 7”

February 4, 2012 — by Rob Kirby

Arsene Wenger was allegedly seen loading briefcase after briefcase of unmarked bills into each of the Blackburn players’ cars at precisely noon today in every time zone. The 7-1 home exhibition match between Arsenal and Blackburn in the early kickoff Saturday contained everything anyone could ask for in a match. (In that sentence, "anyone" should probably read, "any Arsenal supporter.") If only we could play Blackburn every match. Scratch that. The first meeting this past fall was one of the lowest moments of the season. Perhaps some cosmic invoice has finally been paid. Who knows, but it really was like a give-‘em-what-they-want-type performance. We needed it. But there’s a long way to go yet before we’re exactly sitting pretty. To backtrack, the checklist for the most enjoyable viewing experience: Attacking play Total Domination in Possession, and not just lame side-passes, either Hatrick from an Arsenal striker considered one of the world's

What To Watch This Weekend (Feb 3-6)

February 3, 2012 — by Suman

A whole gaggle of interesting matches to watch this weekend. We've chosen a handful each on Saturday and Sunday, including the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations, a couple each from the big leagues (Premier League, including Chelsea-ManUtd; Serie A, highlighted by AC Milan-Napoli; La Liga--the one we're most interested in is Atletico Madrid-Valencia), plus a few wild cards (e.g., a Futsal Euro match Saturday night and East Bengal-Mohun Bagun, live from Kolkata). And there's also the small matter of a Northeast (US) derby of sorts Sunday night in Indianapolis. Check back in over the weekend for additional preview notes on these matches. But since our first selection kicks off shortly... (Note: As usual, all times are ET (=UTC-5) and the given USA TV info was obtained via http://wapo.st/A56mR4. Consult livesoccertv.com for your local listings.) Friday Feb 3 Germany, Nürnberg-Borussia Dortmund (2:30pmET GolTV): Just for something to watch today, and for

AC Milan Needs to Beat the Top Teams, Stat

February 3, 2012 — by Rob Kirby

The Tevez-Pato “will he? won't he” questions ricocheted every which way this January as the musical chairs transfers song played at AC Milan, but at the end everyone retook their own chairs. Boring. Perhaps they were dating Berlusconi’s daughter, or were on £200,000 a week slave wages that no one else could match, but whatever the reason, that anti-climax will be followed up by a busy February and early March. The Rossoneri take on first-place Juventus twice in the Coppa Italia and once in the league, Napoli and Udinese in the league, not to mention the two Champions League legs against Arsenal. It all starts with the home match/grudge match against Napoli this Sunday at 2:30 ET (Fox Soccer). To put the upcoming matches in perspective, Milan has not beaten any team in the top five in a league match this season, including the painful loss to Inter in the Derby

The Inevitable Van Persie to Barcelona Endless Speculation Transfer Story

February 2, 2012 — by Rob Kirby

With Arsenal currently sitting 7th in the Premier League table, it's now truly inevitable that Robin van Persie will choose a new club come summertime, barring some miracle. But because it seems so predestined, the notion doesn’t trigger anxiety levels of Fabregas-ian proportions from summers past, where you just really didn't know what was going to happen. Even with Samir Nasri, one thought Arsenal might just take the financial hit and force the Frenchman to stick around, because surely Wenger wouldn’t let two of his three/four best players go at the last possible moment, would he? Anyhow, just as Robin’s departure seems inevitable, so too does speculation of the destination club. Cue the inevitable stories of van Persie to Barcelona. Van Persie currently ranks among the most in-form strikers in the world. It's only natural that he be linked to the best clubs in the world. Money is not the motivating

What To Watch Today (Tues 31 Jan): More AfCON, Parma-Juve, Both Manchester Sides, Mirandés-Athletic Bilbao

January 31, 2012 — by Suman

African Cup of Nations (Group C), Gabon vs Tunisia (1pmET, Al-Jazeera Sports / Eurosport International):Tunisia and tournament co-host Gabon both won their first two group games and hence will advance to the final eight (while the other two teams in the group, Niger and disappointing Morocco, will go home). So might as well take a look at two teams that we'll see in the quarterfinals, as they play for top of the group: Gabon will win the group if they do not lose to Tunisia. Tunisia will win the group if they defeat Gabon. [Update: this match has been postponed due to heavy snow!] Italy (Serie A), Parma vs Juventus (2:45pmET, ESPN3.com or foxsoccer.tv in US): Juventus still topping the table, in pole position as the race for the Scudetto enters the home stretch. We wrote this last month re La Vecchia Signora (The Grand Old Lady, as Juve is called

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Preview Schedule Spain

What To Watch This Weekend: La Liga Beyond the Big Two

Champions League

Three Slightly Frozen Memories From the Milan Massacre

Champions League England

Milan Embarrass Arsenal

Commentary England Schedule

Matchfixing Not Yet Suspected in “Arsenal 7”

Africa Germany Preview Schedule Spain

What To Watch This Weekend (Feb 3-6)

Commentary Italy Preview transfers

AC Milan Needs to Beat the Top Teams, Stat

Commentary England Europe Spain transfers

The Inevitable Van Persie to Barcelona Endless Speculation Transfer Story

Africa England Italy Spain

What To Watch Today (Tues 31 Jan): More AfCON, Parma-Juve, Both Manchester Sides, Mirandés-Athletic Bilbao