Perfect-Weekend-For-Football-Lovers

Reschedule everything you have planned for this weekend; it has some of the best matches of this season so far. Germany, Italy, England and Portugal, all of those countries are giving us the perfect reason to sit back on our couches and enjoy some titanic clashes amongst great footballing rivals. But which teams are we talking about exactly? To answer that, let me take you on a quick tour around Europe.

Let’s make our first stop at the Signal Iduna Park, in Dortmund. Well, when the league leaders go up against second place, it has all the makings of a match to remembered for a long time to come. When the clubs involved are Dortmund and Bayern Munich, all eyes will be on those decisive 90 minutes, where a top-form Borussia will clash against a solid leader in Bayern. The current champions are still trying to understand how they managed to lose at home in their last fixture against a much inferior 1. FSV Mainz 05. The two teams are separated by a very thin margin of 5 points, which can be decisive for Dortmund: if they win, the title is still in their grasp; if they lose, or even draw, they are practically giving the Bayern players their championship medals. The Signal Iduna Park will be full of supporters awaiting to see if Thomas Tuchel’s pupils can defeat the fierce and well-organized Die Roten. It’s truly the one rivalry that will ultimately decide everything.            

Next stop takes us to the Italian capital and former center of the world, Rome. Although it isn’t a match with the same level of decisiveness as Dortmund vs. Bayern, the AS Roma vs. Fiorentina may be the match that throws one of those teams off track from conquering the Scudetto. Although Roma are in third place, Fiorentina are hot in their pursuit, shadowing their every move – both teams have 53 points. The winner will almost guarantee their place on the podium along with a chance of keeping their title dreams alive and access to the Champions League playoffs. For the losing team, the Scudetto becomes almost impossible. You have my promise of a very intense game, in a word… Italian. What else?

On what should make our Saturday a lot more enjoyable, we now move on to what should be a thrilling North-London derby. In my opinion, the real clash will happen on the bench: two world-class managers, Mauricio Pochettino and Arsène Wenger, will be face to face in one of the most nerve-racking games of the season. Spurs are only 3 points ahead of The Gunners, and Wenger will surely encourage his team to play offensive and quick football, with the certainty that it will be different from the last fixture against Swansea, which ended up with a disappointing defeat. But with the match being played at White Hart Lane, Tottenham will have the advantage. A win is the one result that matters for both teams, and the hope that Watford surprise Leicester is the only thing both teams have in common. Two great and ambitious sides collide: who will be able to catch Leicester at the top of the league?

Last, but not least, there’s the oldest and most famous Portuguese derby of all time: Sporting Lisbon vs. SL Benfica. Being Portuguese myself, it’s easy to say that this will be the match that I’ll watch more closely, for a simple reason: this clash between the two eternal rivals is the one that will decide the 2015/2016 Portuguese champions. A single point divides the two teams, and Sporting will fight with all of their strength to increase that gap to 4 points. On the other side, we have a motivated SL Benfica, anxious to get their revenge for the 3 defeats they have suffered so far in derbies and jump ahead of their rivals at the top of the league. A tough match, for all teams (including the referees), and the answer is really in who will want it more.

Four of the most interesting derbies mark this weekend, and all of them are crucial. This weekend may determine champions and runner-ups, and we, as football lovers from all around the world, must be sure to not miss a bit of them. What a weekend it will be so let’s sit back and enjoy.

About the author – Luis Costa

Luis has a great passion for football and has been playing Soccer Manager for 5 years. He played semi-professional for 13 years and is currently a regional referee in Madeira’s football association.

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Bobby-Soldier

For a man who scored 16 goals in 76 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur, Roberto Soldado’s late-career revival never seemed as it would happen by a mere switching of settings – even if it did include a return to his home region of Valencia.

At 30 years of age, the best version of Soldado is likely already in the history books. His international prospects have been and gone, as has his chance to affirm himself as one of Europe’s most feared sharpshooters. However, what now remains is an opportunity to rubber-stamp his status as one of the finest domestic strikers in Spain’s recent memory, following on from his time with Valencia and Getafe previously. And even with a modest two goals in eight games, the early signs are good.

It took him just 30 minutes to find the back of the net in the league opener at Real Betis, while in the corresponding weeks, Villarreal also rocketed to the summit of the table thanks to a string of free-flowing attacking performances. Nine goals were notched in three games, while for added effect; Marcelino’s team took the scalp of Atletico Madrid in September. In a team headed by Soldado, one would thus assume that the 30-year-old has remained a centrepiece of their successful start. And he has, albeit in a rather covert manner that has seen remnants of his true impact lost within the flurry.

While Villarreal’s overall statistics may make for pleasant reading, Soldado’s contribution of two league goals within the team’s 13 appears rather meager. After scoring in week one and two, the goals have dried up. And as of week eight, the Real Madrid youth product has now gone 450 minutes without finding the back of the net, to draw parallels with the two-year dry spell which he appeared to have emerged from.

To look beyond his goal tally however, a much different picture quickly reveals itself. Nobody has assisted more goals in Spain than Soldado so far, and when coupled with his own strikes, it means that his contributions have accounted for just under half of Villarreal’s production in the final third.

The blistering start made by the Yellow Submarine has gone some ways to masking their underlying deficiencies, and it has been Soldado who has taken it upon himself to help cover them up in the name of their cause.

In the 4-4-2 that Marcelino remains loyal to, much of the team’s product comes from wide areas due to a lack of a central creative source. Although midfield pairing Bruno Soriano and Manu Trigueros are exceptional players in their own right, the link between midfield and attack through the middle isn’t an innate feature of Villarreal’s game, meaning the buck has somewhat fallen with Soldado.

Given the 30-year-old’s ability in protecting and distributing the ball with his back to goal – which has been consistently on show since he returned to Spain – a large feature of his game has been based around his willingness to occupy the space between central midfield and the tip of Villarreal’s attack. And while that has facilitated the team’s serenity in the final third, it has come to the detriment of his own goalscoring exploits.

Instead of being the man Villarreal look to for the final touch of the attack (as many had expected), Soldado has been doing very much the opposite due to the nature of his skillset and the team’s immediate options. Unlike strike partners Leo Baptistao and Cedric Bakambu who have cashed in on the goals more than Soldado, neither possesses the ability to occupy spaces in between the lines like he does. And as a result, it means the former two find themselves bearing down on goal at much more regular intervals than the former Spurs man, who in turn is doing much of the foundation work for his teammates.

In many ways, the variety of his attacking attributes has sentenced him to a role which doesn’t reflect his contribution in its full essence – at least to the naked eye. At the moment, Soldado is doing positive work for the team that flies under the radar of tangible notoriety and leaves him susceptible to the recurring jibes of his loss of a ‘goalscoring touch’.

For a man who is imaginably desperate to recapture just that before further time elapses on his career, he should be commended if anything.

About the author – Jamie Kemp

Jamie is a freelance sportswriter, who writes on English and Spanish varieties of football in the main. He is also the creator of the popular blog El Rondo; a spot where you can find regular musings on the world of La Liga.

twitter: @jamiekemp

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5-Understated-La-Liga-Transfers

As the glitz and glamour of the Barclays Premier League transfer window edges into it’s final week, excitement is at fever pitch as cash-laden clubs scour Europe for the next big money deal. Whilst Jim White is feverishly running around the Sky Sports News studio from one touch screen to another, the mood over in Spain is all the more calm. At the same time the English clubs have been jetting off on tours to the Middle East and Australia, Spanish clubs have been tying up deals to replace those who have set off for pastures new. One aspect of the game that La Liga can gain plaudits for is the extraordinary knack of finding players who can sell on for huge profit, or revitalising careers by using them in a unique way that their previous club hadn’t thought of. These next five signings should demonstrate those two points and more over the coming season.

Aleix Vidal: Sevilla FC – FC Barcelona

Vidal’s move from Sevilla to Barcelona is certainly a sense of deja-vu –

the narrative of Barcelona buying converted full-backs from Sevilla has been written twice before with Adriano and more famously Dani Alves. Vidal’s move has been overshadowed by the fact that the current Champions bought him under a transfer ban, which means that he cannot feature in a competitive match until January. Due to this many have failed to spot what Vidal can actually bring to the table. An absolute workhorse down the right hand side, he can often be spotted blistering past the winger on an overlap where his magnificent crossing ability can be put to use. His new coach Luis Enrique is a fitness fanatic, and Vidal’s massive stamina will fit with Barcelona’s high-pressure ethos. Vidal is a humble player, whose rise from Almeria to Barcelona has been nothing short of magnificent and his flexibility gives Enrique the opportunity to mould him into the player he wants. Surely bought to cover the right-back slot when Alves hands the baton over, and is more than capable of doing so as his Spain call up over the summer suggests.

Roberto Soldado: Tottenham Hotspur – Villarreal CF

A familiar name for La Liga watchers returns as the ex-Valencia top-scorer joins provincial rivals Villarreal on a long term deal. Roberto Soldado certainly has the pedigree needed to send El Submarino to the next level after a season which secured European football at El Madrigal once again. After two disappointing years with Tottenham Hotspur, Soldado will be keen to exercise the memories of his time in London in which he became nothing more than the butt of jokes as he failed to settle. Primarily used as a lone-striker, his return to Spain will see him link up with Leo Baptistao or fellow new boy Cedric Bukambu as part of a two. Villarreal scored 48 goals last year, 23 behind Sevilla who finished 16 points clear of them. They will hope that the return of Soldado will go someway to closing that gap, and his impressive debut goal in the 1-1 draw with Real Betis suggests that Soldado is ready to fire on all cylinders.

Michael Krohn-Dehli: Celta de Vigo to Sevilla FC

The Danish central midfielder arrives on a free transfer from Celta Vigo and may prove to be a superb acquisition over the course of the season. Although he was the key creative hub for Celta last season, his role within the team was often overshadowed by wingers Nolito and Orellana. However, his contributions were invaluable as the Galician’s recorded an 8th place finish – their highest since their return to the top flight in 2011 – as he provided 5 assists and created a total of 69 goal scoring opportunities for the team. At 32 years old and behind some serious quality at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Krohn-Dehli may find it hard to make his mark full-time, but will make an impact over the course of the season as his attacking guile allows him to find space in opposition defences. His vision is second to none, and will provide a key option should Unai Emery need more attacking presence next to Ever Banega.

Samu Castillejo: Malaga CF – Villarreal CF

One of two Samu’s who left Malaga to join the yellow submarine of Villarreal this summer, which also demonstrates how well the Valencian outfit have bought after the departures of Giovani Dos Santos and Ike Uche. Castillejo burst onto the scene 18 months ago in a Malaga side that was full to the brim of home-grown talent. Since then, his development has been rapid and he has gained plaudits equally as quickly. At 20 years old, Samu is one of the most exciting talents at under-21 level, playing primarily as a winger he possesses fantastic pace with footwork to match. His ability to create chances from wide positions will certainly be an upgrade on an area that was lacking last year. Whilst work is needed on his final ball and decision making, this acquisition is certainly a strong one which will certainly have economical benefits in the future as big clubs across Europe already start to hover.

Raul Albentosa: Derby County – Malaga CF

The lanky central defender will be best remembered for his outstanding performances for the smallest club in La Liga last season. The former Eibar central defender joins Malaga on loan from Derby County for the season with the view of reviving his career after a slight lull in the British Midlands. Albentosa is certainly an upgrade on the outgoing Sergio Sanchez, and Malaga will be pleased to have secured his signature. The primary stages of his La Liga career were certainly positive with a series of assured performances for a club that many wrote off before they played their first game. It was clear to see that after the loss of Albentosa, Eibar struggled defensively – his return to La Liga will certainly add to an exciting Malaga squad.

About the Author – Ben Jarman

Freelance football writer with a penchant for Spanish and European football. Work published by Fulham FC, Italian FA and the Evening Standard.

@sonikkicks

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