Mes: enero 2022

Similar to the current season, the last season was also a case of the total domination of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The two teams are considered as the only real competitors for the league title in the La Liga which may be a tad bit too harsh as Valencia, Levante, and Villarreal are all excellent sides and can give a tough time to the two Spanish giants on any day. However, their performances are and have been largely overshadowed by the two giants of La Liga.

It is amusing to see that the more competitive battle in the La Liga is at the other end of the table. The majority of the teams in the league fight hard each season to avoid relegation and this is perhaps the reason that La Liga has gained the reputation of being a duopoly. You can take an idea of this from the fact that Osasuna – the team which finished at the 9th place last season – was not safe from relegation which means that the last 11 teams of the league were contesting to avoid relegation. It can be said that this has gone worse in the current season with the last 13 team currently being apart with only a difference of 9 points.

The last season started off with a lot of hype as Jose Mourinho had become the coach of Real Madrid who had been without a league title for two years. There were many speculations about the great one to lead his side to the league title and put a stop to the ever growing dominance of Barcelona. Jose Mourinho had earlier defeated Barcelona in the Champions League with Inter Milan and the fans of Real Madrid were hopeful that he will humiliate Barcelona again in all the contests against Barcelona.

Both teams prepared well for the highly anticipated contest for the title. Barcelona loaned out Ibrahimovic and signed the top scorer of the 2010 world cup, David Villa where as Real Madrid made two big signings – Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil. It wasn’t a surprise that the first Clasico was highly anticipated affair with the Barcelona Tickets and Real Madrid Tickets in extreme demand. It can be safely said that the rivalry of Real Madrid and Barcelona can never be underestimated as the game turned out to be an absolute shocker. Barcelona came out with all guns blazing and humiliated Real Madrid to a 5-0 defeat and in the process, Guardiola took his revenge from Jose Mourinho from the earlier defeat in the Champions League.

This had a huge impact on Jose Mourinho as he radically changed the tactics of his team for the rest of the season. Barcelona went on to the win the league comfortably with a margin of three games and Real Madrid managed to regain their glory when they defeated Barcelona to win the Copa Del Ray.

The rest of the battle was amongst Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao Sevilla, Atletico de Madrid & Espanyol in the quest of the acquiring a place in the Champions League. Valencia and Villarreal turned out to be the ultimate victors with the former qualifying directly and the latter to the playoff round.

Primera Liga is the First Division of Spain’s Liga de Futbol Profesional or Professional Football League and is also known as the Liga BBVA after the bank that sponsors it. It’s one of the most glamorous and competitive leagues in the world and the crowning glory of football in Spain.

Founded in 1928, La Liga de Futbol Profesional actually consists of two divisions – Primera and Segunda, known as La Liga Adelante, but when people talk of La Liga, they are generally referring to just the First Division.

Having won 31 and 19 Liga titles respectively, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are undoubtedly the dominant forces of Spanish football and are particularly bitter rivals. Beating the old enemy is as important as winning a title or a trophy in Spain, so given FC Barcelona’s recent successes daggers will definitely be drawn in 2009-10.

Barca completed the most successful season in the history of Spanish football in 2009 by winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in 2009. And they did it by playing what was widely considered to be the most adventurous and entertaining football in the world.

Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol and, of course, Josep Guardiola are just a few of the names behind this fantastic side, which prides itself in being led by local Catalan players. What’s more the signing of Swedish goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan will add strength and variation to an already fearsome attack.

Under new president Florentino Perez, Real Madrid have responded by bring out the checkbook and after spending more than 300 million euro, glamour is back at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the shape of the New Galacticos. The superstar signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and Xabi Alonso alongside Madrid veterans such as Raul and Casillas, guarantee a real battle for glory in 2009-10.

Amongst the other top teams are Sevilla FC and Atletico de Madrid, who are both representing Spain in the UEFA Champions League this season and modest Villarreal and a talented but unpredictable Valencia CF, who are playing in the Europa League along with Athletic Club Bilbao – a reawakened giant back at the top after a long period away.

Amongst the other sides there’s always a surprise team, and Malaga, Deportivo or Espanyol could well finish in European places at the end of the season.

However, few people would back any team other than FC Barcelona or Real Madrid for La Liga, and what’s more, with this year’s Champions League Final taking place in the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid will be especially keen to stop the reigning champions raising the cup again.

This year more than ever, La Liga is down to two sides – Barcelona and Madrid.

Raul scored a penalty goal against Espanyol making it 200 La Liga goals joining an elite group of players that have scored 200 and more including ex Real stars, Hugo Sanchez and Alfredo Di Stefano.

The «king of Spain» as I like to call him is the 5th highest goal scorer ever in La Liga and he needs 52 more goals to be all time leading goalscorer.

It is debatable if he would ever achieve this honour as he is 30 years of age now and he is not getting any better. Some would say he is back to his best as he is having a good season but if the truth be told he has peaked and at this point in time he is just the best that he can be not back to his very best.

He has had 3 wasted years where I feel that he would have easily been the league’s highest ever goalscorer by now if not for that period. His problems seem to start from the obsession of Real Madrid presidents had with the so called galaticos. A term used to describe football players of immense popularity and marketing ability.

This was fine with the acquisitions of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane as they always played the ball on the ground and depended more on skill than pace which was fine with Raul.

By the time, Ronaldo and then David Beckham were bought then Real’s style of play changed with Beckham always looking for the long accurate punts that suited the more athletic and quick Ronaldo than it did Raul. Raul found himself being part of a cog to feed Ronaldo rather than in a system that suited his style of play. It was alleged that he fell out of love with the game and his damaging knee ligaments did not help his mood either. All in all it was a bad time at Madrid with there been reports of 2 camps. Raul, Guti, Michel Salgado and others said to be in 1 and Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Robinho and others said to be in the other although Carlos was more friendly towards the Raul camp than Ronaldo was.

The arrival of Fabio Capello and the subsequent leaving of Ronaldo helped to alleviate the tension at Real Madrid as far as raul was concerened and he appeared to get back his appetite for the game.

It is no coincidence that this season with Raul playing where he likes and mainly just supporting Ruud Van Nistlerooy that his goal output has improved again because last season under Fabio Capello, even though his fitness improved he was played far from the opposition’s goal as it was either in midfield or in the wings.

It has been said in the past and even Guillem Ballague, sky sports’ Spanish football expert stated that Raul is a player that is not a perfect 10 in any capacity as he felt Raul could not dribble, did not possess great pace or could use his right foot.

I have heard all this before labelled against Raul that he did not excel with any particular attribute but I disagree strongly. At his best and that was before Alex Ferguson put the kibosh on his career by labelling him the best player in the world after he tore apart Manchester United; he was the most intelligent striker in the world as he seemed to have a computer for a brain.

He knew instinctively when to lob a goalkeeper or when to round him and he really should have won the European footballer of the year on countless occasions. After all if Michael Owen can be awarded such an award then so should Raul.

He may not have been blessed with blistering pace and frankly I do not understand some people’s obsession with pacy players but he was a great player when he was at his very best. He could dribble past opponents on a 1 on 1 basis as much as any striker out there and his 1st touch was better than any striker out there save for Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus.

Perhaps he could not go past 3 or 4 opponents and unlike players like Thierry Henry, he could not exploit space afforded him because of his lack of blistering pace but unlike Henry he could exploit a modicum of room afforded him as he could turn on a sixpence and make something happen out of nothing.

He is the highest ever goalscorer in the Champions’ league with 61 goals and his country’s highest goalscorer with 44 goals in 102 matches. He is widely respected in Spain and I guess by the whole football community as 1 of the greatest if not the greatest Spanish player of all time.

Most of us want to explore the wonders that the Mother Nature has offered us in the form of traveling. Conquering the new lands to witness a great honeymoon is an earnest desire for which we keep on planning secretly. Undoubtedly the earth is tremendously filled with such exotic locations that can make you simply speechless and will blow your mind away.

Amongst the huge array of such locations Barcelona is regarded as one of the most fascinating location. This vibrant destination is the second largest city in Spain surrounded by the Serra de collselora edge to the west and situated on the Mediterranean shoreline between the mouths of the river Llobregat and Besos. The city is well known for the cultural heritage, amazing sights and is regarded as a matrimonial pilgrimage by the honeymooners.

What To Do In Barcelona?

The glorified past of the country is the spice of its appeal; it is a perfect place for the natural lovers of architecture, art, music, cuisine, uniqueness as well as aquatic things.

When is The Best Time To Visit Barcelona?

Generally Barcelona has a mild Mediterranean climate which is hot and humid but the best time to be in is May to June which is the late spring season.

Where To Go In Barcelona?

The cherry of the cake is the L’Aquarium de Barcelona located in Port Vell which is the most powerful attraction of the city. The master architect Antonio Gaudi designed Sagrada Familia, a huge temple and La pedrera are worth watching architectures.

Poble Espanyol de Montjuic is a Spanish village well known for handicraft. The Magic Fountain of Montjuic, Barcelona FC Museum, Barcelona’s Picasso museum and Las Ramblas are some of the prominent destinations that you must watch to complete your trip.

Which Hotels To Stay At?

The place is full of the best luxurious accommodations but a few near to the airport EI PRAT BCN are enlisted as;

1. Ciutat Del Prat

The hotel is situated 1.5 km away from the airport and is equipped with all advance amenities.

2. Tryp Barcelona Aeropuerto

This is a four star hotel offering you great services and features while linked to the terminal by a free shuttle bus.

3. Frontair Congress

It is a contemporary hotel positioned nearby the terminal and Barcelona airport and renders exceptionally dedicated customer services.

Barcelona has countless secrets that are unrevealed and has lot more to showcase in luminous, poignant, sensual and cherished way to make your dream honeymoon accomplished. The place with salient beauty can make your honeymoon gleaming and mesmerizing.

OK the guy is not quite a kid but he seems to have transformed Tottenham from being perennial underachievers to winners once again. In this article, I delve into this pro manager’s past to see where he gets it from.

Like most managers, Ramos used to play for several top sides but his career was cut short by injury.

He coached a number of teams since 1993, the most famous being Betis and Espanyol, however his achievements with Sevilla are what brought him to the attention of the international football scene.

First of all, Ramos took Sevilla to two consecutive UEFA cup wins and a third place in La Liga, the Spanish domestic league. This propelled him to the top of the second tier of world club managers today.

Despite Sevilla playing in the Champions League in this current season, Ramos was flattered by an incredible 6 million Euros per year offer from Tottenham that he simply could not refuse.

Incredibly, Ramos has transformed a team that have always had talent but underachieved into successful winners as seen by their recent Carling Cup win. Along the way he has claimed scalps such as a 5-1 thumping of their greatest North London rivals, Arsenal.

It seems that Ramos is a great manager and able to extract the best from his players. Just look at this quote from an interview during his time as Sevilla manager: «Sevilla don’t have any stars but we win the games on the basis of humility and a level of physical exertion that is very, very high.»

This typifies Ramos’s style and it is said that his approach to fitness and diet since joining Tottenham have played a very large part in their recent turn of form.