Posts Tagged ‘Real Madrid’

Barcelona Defeats Betis After A Struggle

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Just a few days before Barcelona travels to Madrid to confront their archrival in the Copa del Rey they played Real Betis at the Nou Camp in la liga. Betis is based in Seville in the south of Spain. They currently lying 11th place in the league having one just seven matches and lost 10. Last season they played Barcelona shortly after they won the Club World Cup, similarly to this year, and lost to the Catalans 5-0.

While the big match is on Wednesday, as the clasico always is – in many people’s minds at least, thoughts on Sun. were on ensuring they took all the points in the league to be sure Madrid’s didn't broaden from 5 points.

In fact the match started out dangerously on Sunday night when Betis attacked early on and could have gone to assume the lead right at the start. However it Victor Valdes was on form and stopped the visitors from capitalising on their attack.

Soon after though it looked like it'd be another straightforward victory for Barcelona after going 2 goals up early on thanks to Xavi and Messi. Xavi scored in the ninth minute followed by Messi 2 minutes later to give Barcelona a good margin for the rest of the match.

However , that early lead was eroded by Betis towards the end of the first half and levelled early in the second half. Betis first scored in the 31st minute, eroding Barcelona’s advantage. That advantage was fully eroded five minutes into the second half when Santa Cruz scored again for Betis.

The stand-off continued for a lot of the remainder of the second half and it wasn’t until the 72nd minute the balance changed when Betis lost a defender to a second yellow card. A minute later Alexis put the ball home, making it 3-2; and one or two minutes before the final whistle Leo Messi scored his 2nd of the match to put the score out of the reach of the visitors.

Read a full match report about FC Barcelona v Betis on Simply Barcelona Tickets. If you’d like to see Barcelona play make sure you order Barcelona tickets online an avoid disappointment.

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How Can Real Madrid Beat Barcelona Next Time?

Friday, December 30th, 2011

Sat. night was the 1st “clasico” of the Spanish league this season, the clashes between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid that have come to symbolize the centralist view of Spain versus the country of countries espoused by many Catalans and that in the year have regularly become overheated on the pitch and spilled over into some pretty unpleasant scenes.

With FC Barcelona trailing Real Madrid by 3 points despite having played a further match thanks to having to play a match early thanks to the Club World Cup in Japan in December and Real Madrid having a unimaginable string of wins in a row it was looking as if Bara’s up to date stranglehold won't be so tight.

And having been widely criticised for his pre and post match antics, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho stayed silent on the subject of the upcoming clash, having perhaps realized that his taunts and inflaming behavior only appeared to make Barcelona’s determination all of the stronger.

However , in the 1st 25 seconds of the match something unexpected happened and Real Madrid capitalised on a rare mistake by Victor Valdes permitting their enemy to score. This looked to be the kind of nightmare start a few of the people were fearing, not believing that it might be feasible to beat Real Madrid once again in their home stadium.

This early shot across the bows from Madrid appeared to focus the minds of the Barcelona players are they shortly got back onto winning form. The game angled in Barcelona’s favor and they were obviously outmanoeuvring Madrid in spite of some powerful and threatening looking counterattacks.

Barcelona equalised after 30 minutes and seemed like they were more than back in the game. And in the second half they were soon in the lead straight to make winning look like an increasing in likelihood option. When Barcelona’s 3rd goal was scored it was clear that Madrid couldn't match the brilliance of Barcelona and despite being in robust form this season, still not in the same class.

So , what now for Real Madrid? How can they regroup as this defeat by Barcelona will have seriously dented their confidence. He's already tried 1 or 2 different systems to beat Barcelona but in the last eight encounters has won just once. So how will Jose Mourinho make preparations for the next clasico in April?

Part of the success of FC Barcelona is the youth training scheme. If you want to see them play order FC Barcelona tickets in advance and avoid disappointment.

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Long Term Investment In Players Helps Barcelona

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

FC Barcelona is a football club located in Catalonia, an autonomous area of Spain. While many people desire independence from Spain, the vast majority are content to stay part of Spain although they wish other communities within the country respected them culture and language more, most vitally from Madrid.

The tensions between FC Barcelona and Madrid are commonly demonstrated when their contentions spill over onto the football field with the groups sour rivals. Out of all of the clubs in Spain they are 2 that are famous, most successful and best financed. The most important difference between them though is the composition of the squads.

While Real Madrid concentrates on spending its substantial fiscal firepower on signing some of the world's best players, FC Barcelona has invested seriously in its youth academy and will produce lots of its star players in house. Important Barcelona youngsters include Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Victor Valdes, Xavi Hernadez, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fbregas; the bulk of the prevailing squad in truth as well as FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

One of the largest spin offs of this approach is that the players learn to read their teammates very early on. When they come to play for the primary team they fit in straight away and can run rings around the opposition thanks to their capability to virtually mind-read their teammates.

Nonetheless that isn’t to assert Madrid’s approach does not work. As I write this they are top of the Spanish League with Barcelona 1 or 2 points behind after losing their first match of the season. But it remains to be seen whether the massive amounts needed to buy new players are sustainable in the long run and other clubs in Europe, most significantly Manchester City, have looked closely at the Catalan model to bring up children within the team and play the long-term game.

Simply Barcelona Tickets provides match reports and other news as well as supplying FC Barcelona tickets for la liga and other competitions. When you visit Barcelona make sure you avoid disappointment buy ordering Barcelona tickets in advance.

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Going On Spanish Football Tours On Late Holiday Deals.

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Spain is currently the football capital of the world which draws many football fans here from around the world. Spain is renowned for having two of the most successful clubs in the world and recently won the prestigious World Cup and the European Football Championship. Barcelona’s squad is considered by many pundits to be playing the best football the game has ever seen, with star forward Lionel Messi touted as the greatest player yet. If you’re a football fan, combining a football tour of the country with late holiday deals to Costa Dorada holiday resorts makes perfect sense.

Camp Nou, Barcelona’s home stadium has a seating capacity of almost 100,000 and is Europe’s biggest all-seated stadium. Visitors can get tickets for the Camp Nou Experience and explore the stadium’s fascinating zones such as the president’s box and press area. You’re also permitted to live every schoolboy’s dream by going through the player’s tunnel out onto the pitch and then visiting the museum which houses the club’s trophy collection, club memorabilia and has interesting inter-active video displays. Football enthusiasts booking last-minute Costa Dorada holidays can take advantage of the golden coast’s fine beaches just an hour-and-a-half by road from Camp Nou.

Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid’s stadium is one of the most iconic in Europe. Constructed over 50 years ago by the celebrated Spanish architect, Jose Castell, it is located right in the middle of the vibrant capital city. Over 80,000 football fans pour through the gates on match days to see players like the iconic Cristiano Ronaldo perform his magic. To have a tour around the stadium and see the player’s benches and locker rooms as well as being able to walk through the player’s tunnel, you’ll need to buy an all-access tour ticket. If you fancy buying tickets for this unique experience, they can either be bought from the stadium or from the official Real Madrid website.

One lasting memory of your holidays would be to see Barcelona and Real Madrid playing at home in the Championship League or Spanish League, so book now to avoid disappointment.  

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Can “the special one” shrug off a poor start to the season?

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

Jose Mourinho is well known for his psychological posturing against opponents in press conferences and frequently comes across as barely in charge of himself. Having won a major battle at Real Madrid in the dismissal of General manager Jorge Valdano, his hardest internal critic, and thus securing more power for himself as Madrid’s coach this is the season he has to deliver the goods.

But while Madrid started well and we're simply a few matches in, his dream seems to have begun to unravel. He has famously stated that his second season in any club is when he delivers, but with his whole focus appearing to be on arch-rival FC Barcelona he has just had 2 big reversals that he can barely afford.

First Real Madrid was beaten by Levante, a team that is the polar opposite to Real Madrid, with low paid players and a hardly functional team that's fortunate to be in top flight Spanish soccer. And then they drew with Racing Santander, losing some imperative points which they may need in the long stretch.

A poll by Sporting paper AS which backs Madrid revealed that a lot of its readers laid the blame totally at the feet of Mourinho; while intending to shift the blame to referees and opposition players he has failed to accept responsibility himself for what many consider a dismal start. And we're starting to hear talk about another crisis year at Real Madrid.

However , how much of an emergency is it truly, when a team like Real Madrid comes 2nd in the league after a much superior teams like Bara? While fans might be disappointed their side is still mostly delivering the products.

Mourinho’s big problem will be the patience of Florentino Perez, Madrid’s president. While he has backed “the special one” so far in his career at Madrid there will come a time when he will snap. Mourinho is Real Madrid’s eleventh coach in 7 years, so that the club doesn't flinch in making such changes. Can Real Madrid’s fortunes change before that occurs?

For Real Madrid tickets and other sporting events see Euro Sports Events website.

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