Rossi to Juventus?

It would seem the Juventus have given up their chase for Sergio Aguero rather turning to Italian Giuseppe Rossi in their hope to achieve the Scudetto. Talks with Aguero broke down when Manchester City came calling with their transfer kitty. City were willing to meet what ever Athletico wanted for their start man and in turn Aguero decided to turn down Juve.

Rossi would seem the more realistic target for Juve. A bid in the region of 30 million euro would certainly secure his services. As well as this Juve are willing to tripple the wages he currently earns. As well as the monetary incentive Rossi would find the transfer back to his home country easier than other targets, not having to worry about learning a language, or settling in. He would team up with Italian International team mates Giorgio Chiellini and Gigi Buffon, and almost slot right into the first team, with Juventus desperate for some firepower up front.

It is believed that Giuseppe Marotta and Federico Pastorello (Rossi's agent) are good mates, and have already settled on a personal contract. Earlier in the week Villarreal invited Juve to bid for Rossi. It may just look as though Juventus will have some hope in the Serie A this year!

Video - Highlights from Valencia vs Villarreal

In what was tipped to be one of the tightest affairs in the La Liga's reverse fixtures Villarreal travelled to Valencia. After losing David Villa and David Silva Valencia were tipped to not qualify for the Champions League, however Los Che have proved their critics wrong and now sit 3rd in La Liga behind Barcelona and Madrid.

They destroyed the Villarreal defence with smooth passing and well worked runs to win 5-0. A good showing from Mata ws instrumental in the win as well as some clinical finishing from front man Soldado. Villarreal have all but lost hope of finishing third and sit in fourth some six points behind Valencia with eight matches remaining.

Check out the highlights below!

Video - Highlights from Villarreal vs Bayern Leverkusen

Villarreal progress through to the next round of the Europa League after a scintilating performance against German side Bayern Leverkusen. Villarreal went into the tie with a 3-2 lead and that was consolidated when they went two nil up thanks to goals from Carzola and Rossi.

Leverkusen got one back late on but it was too little too late for the Germans who are now out of the competition. Check out the highlights from the match below.

Spanish Premiera Round 18 - Real Madrid vs Villarreal - Review

A Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick has helped Real Madrid reduce the gap once again to La Liga leaders Barcelona following an enthralling 4-2 victory against Villareal. Los Blancos came from behind on two separate occasions, with Portuguese playmaker Ronaldo scoring the equaliser each time. Kaka added to the Yellow Submarine’s misery with his first goal of the season after returning from injury last week.

Villareal had taken the lead early on courtesy of Cani, but a quick lapse in concentration allowed Mesut Oezil to slip the ball to Ronaldo who finished from close range. Marcos Ruben then put his side ahead, although Ronaldo equalised once more with a header shortly before half time. He added to his tally with a third goal, before Kaka scored on his return to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The match began with Villareal eager to net the first goal; Santi Carzola had a brilliant opportunity in the second minute, but his shot was deflected wide by Spanish defender Sergio Ramos. The Yellow Submarine were soon awarded for their aggressive tactics when quick passing between Carzola and Rossi picked out Cani, who flicked the ball past Iker Casillas to give his team the lead in just the 7th minute. However, Madrid was soon on level terms when Ronaldo converted his side’s first attacking opportunity of the match. Karim Benzema, who now looks likely to stay with Madrid following Higuian’s injury, slotted the ball through the Villareal defence to Mesut Oezil, who in turn provided a clinical cross to Ronaldo before the former Manchester United star finished from close range.





A quick succession of shots, first from Madrid’s Lassana Diarra, and then from Marco Ruben, could have added to a highly entertaining first half. However, it was not long before Marcos Ruben grabbed his team’s second goal of the game after executing a brilliant lob over Casillas. Both teams then soon had an opportunity each when Cazorla and then Ronaldo’s goal were deemed to be offside. Los Blancos soon began to dominate; an equaliser seemed possible before the half time break and when Angel Di Maria was fouled outside the box, Xabi Alonso delivered a perfect cross to the unmarked Cristiano Ronaldo who drew his team level with a clinical header.

The second half began with Real Madrid applying full pressure on the away team. Ronaldo had a golden opportunity in the 64th minute when he was one-on-one with goalkeeper Diego Lopez, but the Portuguese star procrastinated on the ball and was forced to pass to Sergio Ramos, whose shot was off-target. Rossi and Benzema then each had another opportunity to find the winner for their respective teams, but were both denied by solid goalkeeping.

Ronaldo completed his hat-trick in the 79th minute after smashing the ball past Diego Lopez. Benzema’s shot was blocked by the goalkeeper following Kaka’s cross and it fell to the Portuguese playmaker who made no mistake in grabbing his 22nd goal of the campaign with a clever shot. Villareal coach Garrido protested the goal with claims that Ronaldo had been in an offside position. However, the 50 year old was instead sent to the grandstands for his troubles, along with Cani who received a red card for his complaints and for threatening to throw a water bottle at Jose Mournho from the bench.

Following this controversial third goal, anger and frustration was high on the Villareal bench. Kaka added to his team’s lead with his first goal of the season in the 82nd minute after Ronaldo provided a magnificent cross from the left that the Brazilian converted at the near post. The controversy continued when Mourinho began to celebrate directly in front of the opposition’s bench.

Los Blancos managed to hold on to their lead until full time and grabbed a crucial three points which sees them reduce the gap once again to leaders Barcelona, while Villareal remains in third place. Madrid undoubtedly dominated the second half, although Mourinho would certainly have been worried that his 9 year unbeaten home record may have been overrun during the first period of play. With the news that Mourinho will not be given funding to purchase another striker, Madrid must now ensure that each player is contributing to the team and injuries are minimal.

 

Final Score: Real Madrid 4         Villarreal 2

                     Ronaldo  10              Cani 7

                     Ronaldo  45              Ruben 18

                     Ronaldo  80

                     Kaka       82

Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

By Alexander "Real Madrid" Novo (Twitter and Facebook Follower) - Spanish Correspondant

Spanish La Liga, has it become too uncompetitive?

During the Christmas break we take time to evaluate how each of the several leagues across Europe and the world have faired both competitively and financially. The first league we take a look at is Spain's premier league the La Liga. The La Liga is rated by FIFA as the second most successful league in the world after the English Premier League. However, in recent times the league has come under much pressure to offer something new both in terms of marketing and football.

One of the biggest problems in the La Liga is that the league has seemingly divided itself - overtime - into four different tiers.

One tier is played between Barcelona and Real Madrid to win the title.

Just under them is the second tier which consists of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal, fighting for places in the champions league and the Europa league.

The third tier varies, but usually consists of teams like Atletico Bilbao, Espanyol, Getafe and Deportivo la Coruna, who are quite happy to stay out of trouble, but still play to achieve that elusive Europa League spot.

The fourth tier, of course is that between the teams trying to avoid relegation. Although the quality of the teams do not match those in the "first tier" the competition between these teams is quite exhilarating especially towards the end of the season.

These "tiers" or leagues are divided greatly by the level of football acustomed to each of the clubs. One big example of this was the recent match between Real Madrid and Levante - a team just sitting above relegation-  in the Spanish Cup , the 8-0 victory to Madrid including two hattricks to both Benzema and Ronaldo shows the difference in footballing ability between the two clubs. 

The fact that Madrid and Barcelona are always increasing the gap between all the tiers below them - mainly for money. Shows that the La Liga is bound to become more uncompetitive unless the influence of lesser known clubs becomes greater. Through both transfers and media publicity. Although everything is possible with newly promoted club Hercules putting up stiff challenges against Barcelona (1-0 Victory) and Real Madrid.



By Isidoro Munoz Mendoza our Spanish Correspondant
(Born in the Bernabeu) - Facebook follower