La Liga Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for Jornada 20: Jan. 22 — Jan. 24
La Liga officially begins the second half of its season this weekend, and FC Barcelona has continued its stellar form with a staggering fifty-two points out of a possible fifty-seven points, a Spanish record for the opening half of any campaign. Despite this extended run of breathtaking football, Barça only has a four point lead...
La Liga Jornada 16 Review: Barcelona Ends the Calendar Year With Romp In Catalan Derby
Before the biggest match in Andrés Iniesta's career and in the history of Spanish football, Iniesta had a trillion thoughts running through his head. One of those thoughts that came to fruition was writing a message to his close friend, Daniel Jarque, on his undershirt. That message said, "Dani Jarque, siempre con nosotros," (Dani Jarque,...
La Liga Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for Jornada 16: Dec. 18 — Dec. 20
Back from personal vacation, this weekend's round of matches is the last one of the 2010 calendar year before the players go on their own vacations during the La Liga winter break. To top off the end of 2010, El Derbi Barceloní headlines the round as FC Barcelona travels to the south of the city...
La Liga Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for Jornada 14: Dec. 4 — Nov. 6
Now that the El Clásico tornado has swept through Spain, leaving bits of Real Madrid debris in its wake, everyone can take a breath and move on with the rest of the season. Real must pick up the pieces and stay in the present rather than dwell on the 5-0 beating that Barcelona handed them...
La Liga El Clásico Review: Barcelona Brilliance Buries Blancos
Josep Guardiola, known for his cool demeanor inside and outside of the technical area, channeled his feelings for all things Madrid when he refused to give Cristiano Ronaldo the ball for a throw-in on the half-hour mark. Unlike his outspoken and demonstrative counterpart José Mourinho, Guardiola usually keeps to himself, shouting and dictating to his...
La Liga Jornada 13 Review: Espanyol Might Actually Be For Real
Under trainer Mauricio Pochettino, Espanyol has gone through one of these hot streaks in every season he has managed the club. After the club fired José Manuel Esnal "Mané" in the middle of the 2008-09 season, they hired Mauricio Pochettino to get out of the relegation zone. As late as Jornada 30 in that season,...
La Liga Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for El Clásico: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
The José Mourinho - Pep Guardiola headline and the Lionel Messi - Cristiano Ronaldo headline have been covered and written many times over, so this preview of El Clásico will try to avoid these subjects and focus on the other, less talked about aspects of the biggest game in Spanish football this season. The man...
La Liga Champions League Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for Matchday 5: Nov. 23 — Nov. 24
With Real Madrid already qualified for the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona and Valencia could also seal their berths into the knockout round with wins in their group match this midweek. Barcelona will travel to Athens to face a Panathinaikos club that did not win either of their two previous home matches...
La Liga Jornada 12 Review: Real Sociedad on the Up and Up Despite the Loss to Atlético Madrid
For a club with an illustrious history, a three-year internment in the purgatory of the Segunda División almost erased the San Sebastián club from the collective consciousness. As with most historical clubs who end up falling to the second division in the past couple of decades (Leeds United, Napoli, Marseille, etc.), the main problem stemmed...
La Liga Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for Jornada 12: Nov. 20 — Nov. 22
The Valencian Derby between Villarreal and Valencia jumps out as the headline match of the weekend in La Liga. Since Villarreal rose to La Liga for the first time in 1998, their record at home against their neighbors Valencia is an impressive 7-2-2, including winning five of their last six meetings. While Villarreal lost 3-1...
La Liga Jornada 11 Review: Barcelona Produces a Complete Team Performance In Their Defeat of Villarreal
A select few matches each season define the league in terms of pecking order and/or overall footballing ability. Obviously, the two editions of El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona usually determine the fate of La Liga's crown. More specifically, in the past five seasons, the team that won the most points in El Clásico...
La Liga Preview and U.S. T.V. Listings for Jornada 11: Nov. 13 — Nov. 14
The highlight match of the weekend will occur at the Camp Nou, where Villarreal will want to display their résumé as a legitimate threat to a dominion currently ruled by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. After a topsy-turvy month of results where they looked somewhat hapless in away fixtures at Hércules and Sporting Gijón in...
