Category Archives: ESPN

Jornada 28 is only the second mid-week round of the La Liga season, the first occurring well back in late September.  Three teams in particular are glad that they get to play so soon: FC Barcelona, Getafe, and Xerez.  Xerez?   … Continue reading →

The final third of the season commences this weekend with a slate of matches that will likely impact European places more than the title race.  Both Real Madrid and Barcelona will face clubs at the bottom half of the table, … Continue reading →

The thrilling race at the top of La Liga came to a head last weekend, when Barcelona dropped two points at surging Almería, and Real Madrid fought back from a 0-2 deficit to win against Sevilla in the second minute … Continue reading →

The marquee matchup of the weekend is the late Saturday kickoff between top four teams Real Madrid and Sevilla.  The reverse fixture in early October was one of the matches of the season, and while Sevilla’s title chances faded away … Continue reading →

After a less than impressive performance by the Spanish Armada in European competition, these teams return to their domestic responsibilities in order to regain their confidence.  Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao traveled to Wolfsburg and Anderlecht, respectively, and became punching bags … Continue reading →

The obvious surprising result of the previous round was Atlético Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona to hand the Catalunyan champions their first loss in La Liga this season.  If analyzed deeper, however, Barça’s defeat at the hands of Los Colchoneros … Continue reading →

This weekend, the focus will be on those teams who will play in European competition in the following midweek.  The question of domestic vs. European responsibilities remains an individual club decision, but for some teams, choices become more plentiful than … Continue reading →

Two clubs pulled the plug on their managers after a string of poor results that came to a head in the last round.  Ernesto Valverde’s Villarreal suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Osasuna, and Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Real … Continue reading →

One of the unique characteristics of La Liga is that after the first half of the season, the second half schedule is a carbon copy of the first half, except that the away team will now be the home team.  … Continue reading →

As La Liga heads into the midway point of the season, these next few rounds are some of the hardest of the campaign because the toil of playing for five consecutive months begins to wear on the players and the … Continue reading →

With the gap widening between Barcelona and Real Madrid and the rest of the league, Valencia, Deportivo La Coruña, and the other potential contenders need to keep winning and hope that the top two slip on some wet spots along … Continue reading →

Landon Donovan may not have put all the doubts to rest, but on a frigid day in North London, he clearly showed that he has the skills to play against a top team in a top league.   Everton should have … Continue reading →

Only the players know whether Los Magos (The Magi) left them with treats or a lump of coal in their shoes on Epiphany, but with this weekend’s matches upcoming, they can begin the process of maintaining their good form or … Continue reading →

As promised last week, here are my highlights from 2009 in American Soccer, in no particular order: U.S. National Team Beats Spain in Confederations Cup Semi-Finals: On June 24, 2009, in the Semi-Finals of the Confederations Cup, the U.S. National … Continue reading →