Spanish national team

Barcelona and Real Madrid are the dominant teams in Spain and they proved it by being the two teams that monopolized nearly half of the spots of La Furia's 30-man roster. Barcelona ended up on top as seven of their players earned call ups. There were some surprises in Vicente Del Bosque's list, but for the most part the players that were expected to be on, were.

The majority of the team that won the European championship two years ago and played in the Confederations Cup last summer will be back.

Barcelona's Victor Valdés will have at least a fighting chance to enter Del Bosque's 23-man roster as he was considered part of his 30-man list. Valdés will most likely win yet another Zamora trophy and was among the five goalkeepers called up by the Spanish coach. His level during the past two seasons have been worthy of recognition and should be on the fast track to be in South Africa.

None of Real Madrid's players were named Guti or Raúl as Albiol, Arbeloa, Ramos, Xabi Alonso will follow national team captain Iker Casillas to South Africa.

One of the big surprises was Atlético Madrid's young goalkeeper David De Gea who has become one of the revelations of the tournament. Another surprise call up was that of Osasuna defender César Azpilicueta. He has become a stalwart for the Rojillos. Sevilla's Jesús Navas also got some recognition from Del Bosque.

One player that was left off the squad was Getafe's Roberto Soldado. He was being considered to be a viable replacement for Fernando Torres. His 14 goals for the season have him in La Liga's top ten in scoring.

Some players that were left off the list were Sevilla goalkeeper Andrés Palop as well as Athletic counterpart Gorka Iraizoz. Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic, who decided to not go to Euro2008, was snubbed in favor of teammate Pedro Rodríguez who became one of the revelations of the tournament. Pedro was the first player in football history to score in all six competitions this season. He is also the team's third leading scorer behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic and soon-to-be Pichichi winner Lionel Messi.

Spain will be participating in Group H alongside Chile, Honduras, and Switzerland.


Goalkeepers:Iker Casillas(Real Madrid CF), David De Gea(Atlético Madrid),Diego López (Villarreal), Pepe Reina (Liverpool-ENG), Víctor Valdés (FC Barcelona)

Defenders
: Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid)
, Alvaro Arbeloa(Real Madrid),
 César Azpilicueta (Osasuna)
 Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)
, Carlos Marchena (Valencia),
 Gerard Piqué (FC Barcelona)
 Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona),
 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Midfielders:
 Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
 Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona)
 Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal FC-ENG)
 Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona)
 Javi Martínez (Athletic)
 Marcos Senna (Villarreal)
 David Silva (Valencia)
 Xavier Hernández (FC Barcelona)

Forwards
: Santi Cazorla (Villarreal),
 Jesús Navas (Sevilla),
 Juan Mata (Valencia CF),
 Pedro (FC Barcelona)
, Dani Güiza (Fenerbache SK-TUR)
, Fernando Llorente (Athletic Club),
 Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla FC)
, Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC-ENG)
, David Villa (Valencia CF)


Callup by team
Barcelona- 7
Real Madrid- 5
Valencia- 4
Villarreal- 4
Athletic - 2
Liverpool- 2
Osasuna- 1
Atlético- 1
Arsenal- 1
Sevilla- 2
Fenerbahce-1

Del Bosque announces Spain's 30 players

The biggest question coming into week 35 was how Barcelona would recover from their midweek shortcomings against Inter in the Champions League semis. They were also facing one of the hottest home teams in La Liga in Villarreal.

Well that answer came quickly and often as Barcelona showed everyone why they are the best road team in La Liga hands down.  They will also try to improve their home record (tops in La Liga as well) as they host Tenerife midweek.  The ball is now in Real Madrid's court as they will face a tough Osasuna side on Sunday and then head to the Ono Estadi in a match that could decide La Liga.

Lionel Messi continued with his trend of responding when needed.  He continued his trend of not being shut out in more than three consecutive matches.  The Argentine international earned yet another brace and saw his goal total reach 29 for the season.

Xavi scored one of the best goals of the weekend with his freekick and Bojan Krkic proved once again his worth in the starting lineup as he scored yet once again in La Liga.  His performance as of late has started to put Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench and possibly out of Catalunya as many speculators are starting to mention the Big Swede's exit as David Villa is in the cards for the Blaugrana.

Real Madrid in the meantime had to depend on some last-minute heroics by Cristiano Ronaldo to come away with the three points against a scrappy Osasuna side.  Ronaldo scored a brace as Madrid had to come from behind twice in their 3-2 victory at the Bernabéu.  Ronaldo scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season as they were able to come from behind against Osasuna in a match that saw some skillful goals on both sides of the pitch as well as probably the miss of the season by Macoud as he missed a wide open net.  And we all know that goals that you don't score... are scored on you.

David Villa was not a factor at Cornellà-El Prat against one of the toughest home teams around.  Instead the big man, Nikola Zigic was the difference maker as Los Che have almost assured themselves of a Champions League spot next season after their win in Catalunya 2-0.

With Sevilla playing on Sunday, Valencia could find themselves anywhere eight points clear of Sevilla with nine points left to dispute.    There should be a likely easy match for the Andalusians as Los Colchoneros will take a reprieve as they prepare for their Europa League final in Hamburg against Fulham.
 
Relegation race

If the race for the title is red-hot, then what adjectives can be used to describe the race to stave off relegation.   Valladolid had a solid chance to make a serious move, but failed to do so as they played to a scoreless draw against Getafe.  Xerez is still dreaming with a chance to stay in the top flight after they beat Alméria 2-1 thanks to an dramatic injury time goal by Bermejo.

Tenerife is now starting to give Málaga, Racing, and Zaragoza nightmares.   They were able to beat Racing at home 2-1 and put the Montañeses in the thick of the relagation race. The bad news for the boys from the Canary Islands is that they will head to the Camp Nou on Tuesday.  Zaragoza were able to maintain their distance as they got an important victory over a Deportivo side that has been in free fall since early March.

Miguel Ángel Lotina's side is now winless in their last ten matches and haven't scored a goal in 449 minutes. 

Positions
2010-11 Champions League:  x-Barcelona, x-Real Madrid
2010-11 Champions League qualifiers: Valencia, Mallorca,
2010-11 Europa League:  Villarreal, y-Sevilla, y-Atlético
Relegation: Tenerife, Valladolid, Xerez
Promotion: Real Sociedad, Levante, Cartagena

x- clinched berth
y- Copa del Rey finalist

Pichichi Race
Lionel Messi BAR             29
Gonzalo Higuaín RMA      25
David Villa VAL                 21
Cristiano Ronaldo RMA    21
Diego Forlán ATM            17
Zlatan Ibrahimovic BAR   16
Fernando Llorente ATB     14

La Liga Week 35 wrap

Barcelona are now five points clear as they were able to win by a convincing 4-0 result against Sevilla and tok advantage of Real Madrid's loss in Bilbao. Lio Messi became the 16th player in Barca history to score over 100 goals with the Blaugrana and became the lone Pichichi for at 24 hours. He also became the youngest to ever score 100 goals surpassing Patrick Kluivert. The win helped Barcelona clinch the the mythical winter title and historically gives them the precedent to win the league title.

La Liga week 18 wrap

Well the title is finally wrapped up and now La Liga's attention will focus on the races for European cup spots as well as to see who stays in the Spanish top flight and who does not. Also the race for the Pichichi will have a very interesting turn in the days and weeks ahead.

Barcelona were given the honor guard in Mallorca, although they would end up losing after former home team star (Eto'o) missed a penalty in the dying moments of the match. The game was played with little intensity and even fewer starters for the newly crowned champs. Real Madrid made this all possible after they equalized against a Villarreal side that was vastly superior throughout the 90 minutes. Gonzalo Higuaín would make the match 2-2 even though he and two of this teammates were clearly offside. Justice would come in the form of an Iker Casillas error. The Spanish international came out badly to get a corner, but instead he tapped it back, putting the ball square on Joan Capdevila's foot for the game-winner.

Espanyol is a point away from saving themselves from relegation, while Atlético rebounded with a big win against Valencia.

Deportivo 1-1 Getafe
DEP: Riki (86')
GET: Soldado (46')

Osasuna 0-0 Sevilla

Villarreal 3-2 Real Madrid
VIL: Pires (17'), Cani (63'), Capdevila (90'+'1)
RMA: Van der Vaart (47'), Higuain (88')

Sporting 2-1 Málaga
SPO: Gerard (24'), Hélder Rosario (53' og)
MAL: Robson (38')

Atlético Madrid 1-0 Valencia
ATM: Forlán (29' pk)

Mallorca 2-1 Barcelona
MLL: Arango (73'), Santana (78')
BAR: Eto'o (10')

Espanyol 1-0 Athletic
ESP: Luis García (69' pk)

Numancia 1-0 Recreativo
NUM: Barkero (89' pk)

Racing 3-2 Valladolid
RAC: Jonathan (4'), Serrano (60'), Zigic (86')
VAL: Victor (13'), Goitom (20')

Real Betis 2-0 Almería
BET: González (6'), Arzu (65')
































x-Champion
y-Clinched Champions League

La Liga Week 36 Roundup

Last week it was Santi Cazorla that was being lamented prior to Villarreal's away leg match against Arsenal. News got worse for Manuel Pellegrini when Spanish international Marcos Senna would be ruled out of the return leg of the Champions League quarterfinals in London.

Senna left the pitch limping late Saturday night after he suffered a hamstring injury in the team's 2-0 loss to Málaga. Senna's injury left Villarreal with ten men as they had no substitutions left. A timetable as to his absence has not been determined; but he will surely miss the midweek clash against the Gunners at the Emirates.

Senna scored the Spanish side's lone goal of the match midweek in their 1-1 draw against Arsenal.

Senna Out Of Midweek Clash

On Friday, the Champions League Quarterfinal draw was revealed and La Liga teams were given a difficult path towards an all-Spain final.

Futbol Club Barcelona

FC Barcelona who are chasing a historic treble will face Bayern Munich in the quarters and if they can get past the German super club than they will face either Liverpool or Chelsea in the semis. La Blaugrana are in the Copa Del Rey final and lead La Liga with a 6 point cushion over 2nd place Real Madrid. However, the most difficult trophy for a team European club team to win is the Champions League. April will make or break Barca's treble hopes.

Villarreal Club de Fútbol

Spain's other representative is Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine will face Arsenal in the quarters and either Manchester United or Porto in the semis. Villarreal is in fight in La Liga for 4th place and the last Champions League qualifying spot in Spain. April is also a make or break month for Villarreal in their pursuit of taking their footballing reputation to the next level. Villarreal lost to Arsenal in the semis of the 2005-06 Champions League and might have to go through England to get to Rome if Man U beats Porto.

The remaining La Liga sides have a tough road ahead of them and they will have to overcome difficult opposition to prove that Spain has the best league in Europe.

Here are the quarterfinal matchups of the Champions League:

FC Barcelona (ESP) - Bayern Munich (GER) winner
VS.
Liverpool (ENG) - Chelsea (ENG) winner

Manchester United (ENG) - FC Porto (POR) winnner
VS.
Villarreal (ESP) - Arsenal (ENG) winner

The 1st leg will take place on April 7th & 8th and 2nd leg will take place April 14th & 15th.

La Liga's Tough Road To UCL Final

Villarreal's Edmilson did not seem too happy at the Submarine in the role of a bench player.

On Wednesday his displeasure was known as he signed a contract with Brazilian side Palmeiras. The two-time Copa Libertadores champions made the former World Cup winner their biggest signing for the 50th edition of South America's biggest club tournament so far.

The former Barcelona man returns to Brazil and has some ambitious plans for the remainder of his career. "I know I am not a 20-year-old anymore. My plan is to win a Copa Libertadores and a Brazilian national title- two titles I haven't won yet. I wold also like to return to the Brazilian national team," said Edmilson in a communicae released on Wednesday.

Palmeiras is now the team that obtained the most important reinforcements in the transfer market for the upcoming year so far as the club's ambitions are very high for 2009. In addition to Edmilson, they also signed Brazilian scoring sensation Keirrison from Coritiba. The young poacher was voted Revelation of the Year and was the Brasileirão's leading scorer with 21 goals.

Edmilson, 32, will undergo his physical exams on Friday and will start training no later than next week as there is little reat for the weary. Palmeiras will begin their defense of the Paulista title and they will begin their Copa Libertadores participation against Real Potosí.

Edmilson Returns To Brazil

What a save by Diego López!

Villarreal Duo Wooed By City Money