Spanish Football News Blog

The Manchester United v Bayern Munich game is being shown live on TVE 1 on Tuesday (30th March) night.  This may be useful for those without Sky.  For those living in Andalucia, the Arsenal v Barcelona game is being shown live on Canal Sur on Wednesday (31st March) night.  It is also being shown on ITV for those with Freesat/Sky.

Enjoy

The top 10 highest paid footballers in the world includes 5 Spain based players, with Lionel Messi heading the list.  Here's the list:

The top ten:
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) €33m
2. David Beckham (LA Galaxy) €30.4m
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) €30m
4. Kaka (Real Madrid) €18.8m
5. Thierry Henry (Barcelona) €18m
6. Ronaldinho (AC Milan) €17.2m
7. Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) €15.4m
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona) €14.5m
9. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) €14.2m
10. Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan) €13.8m

La Liga claims to be the best league in the world, but beneath the glitz of the big two and lies a very different picture.

The headline was as alarmist as it was partisan. "The government," declared Spain's best-selling newspaper, "is trying to kill Spanish football." It was November 2009 and the Socialist party prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced an end to "the Beckham Law". The sports daily Marca, part of the right-leaning El Mundo group, was furious. Presidents of the country's biggest clubs threatened to lead a strike. At the Spanish League they were talking as if the four horsemen of the apocalypse had reared into view.

According to article 93 of law 35, originally introduced by the previous Partido Popular government in 2004, foreign executives earning more than €600,000 (£540,000) a year are taxed at 23%, rather than 43%. In theory, the aim was to encourage talent to come to Spain: in practice, following a modification in 2005, it gave Spanish football clubs, already boosted by the collapse of the pound, a huge advantage. Of the 60 people who qualify for the lower rate of tax, 43 are footballers.

Beckham was the first beneficiary of the new rate, hence the informal name. Or rather Real Madrid were, as he had agreed a net salary. Another Englishman, Jermaine Pennant, reveals the practical implications: Real Zaragoza pay him £49,200 a week; an English club would have to pay £80,000 to match his net salary. Cristiano Ronaldo's current salary would cost a Premier League club €5m more than it costs Real Madrid.

Now, suddenly, that privilege is being removed. The consequences will be dire. "If the government want a substandard league …" warned the league's vice-president, Javier Tebas.

Figures quickly emerged claiming that Spanish football generates 85,000 jobs and turns over €9,000m a year. The real cost to La Liga could be losing its hegemonic position, a "superiority" in which it revels.

"Objectively, Spanish football is the best in the world," announced the league's president, José Luis Astiazarán. "Spain won Euro 2008, Barça the European Cup, and our league's the best, superior to England." The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic last summer provided all the proof he needed. The best players in England, Italy and France had departed for Spain. More than €455m had been spent by Spanish clubs on transfers – a 72% increase, more than any other country. Ever.

But, insisted Astiazarán, those days could soon end. Never mind the fact that 43% still puts Spain's tax band below the 50% in the United Kingdom, revoking the Beckham Law will be the demise of the domestic game. "In a few years our league will be average because it won't attract the world's best," complained Tebas. "It is the end of the league of the stars." The law will be repealed from the new tax year but, at least, will not be applied retrospectively, so existing contracts are protected.

Tebas may even be right, and not only due to the Beckham Law, because beneath the glistening surface Spanish football is in crisis. According to José María Gay, Spain's leading expert on football finance and an adviser to Uefa: "La Liga is dying." The Osasuna president, Patxi Izco, admits: "I fear a financial meltdown." "Football," insists another director, "is seriously ill."

The €455m transfer spend disguises a troubling reality. Last year, despite winning the treble, Barcelona made only €8.8m and have a debt of €350m. Madrid signed €258m worth of players but only after their president, Florentino Pérez, turned to two friends who are both presidents of banks and who loaned Madrid €151.5m.

The argument is that their debts are serviceable. In fact, Pérez insists that high expenditure is necessary to generate money and Madrid have become the first club to take income beyond €400m. But doubts remain; costs outstrip income, shirt sales are lower than those of Liverpool and Chelsea; Bernabéu attendances are down 7%; and the debt stands at €683m. Publicly, Pérez insists: "Madrid must always remain a club owned by its members." Privately, the possibility of becoming a plc has been discussed.

But would that solve anything? The evidence suggests not. In the early 1990s, a new law obliged every club to become a plc, with four exceptions – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna, who were given special exemptions for socio-cultural reasons. Shares were issued and the slate wiped clean. It was supposed to be a panacea. The theory was simple: presidents would be more careful risking their own money. They were not. Often their fans would not let them.

"We're operating on a war economy," reveals one director, "but supporters don't see it like that. They just want to win." Jorge Pérez, the secretary of the Spanish Football Federation, admits that one director told him: "If I do a good job economically, we'll go down and they'll kill me." So he spent money he did not have. Only 8% of what football clubs spend on average can be covered by liquid assets.

Look back over the clubs who have competed in the Champions League recently and the situation is alarming: Valencia's debt is more than €600m. Like Real Madrid (who sold the their training ground for €447m to the council in 2001, wiping out their €278m debt), a property deal was supposed to be their salvation. However, the market crashed at just the wrong time. Now Valencia have two stadiums – one they cannot sell and another they cannot afford to finish building.

According to the third largest shareholder at Atlético Madrid, their debt is above €300m. Villarreal have just failed to pay their players for the first time because the ceramics industry from which their owner, Fernando Roig, makes his money has been hit hard by the crisis. Deportivo La Coruña are more than €120m in debt. Mallorca are desperately seeking a buyer and preparing for administration. Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad have been relegated and, with no parachute payment to break the fall, went into administration. Real Sociedad's president at the time was a certain Astiazarán, now the league's president.

"We need to avoid trying to compete with Madrid and Barcelona and sinking ourselves," says Ramón Monchi, sporting director at Sevilla. His club have been successful but there is concern, too: their success has been built on player sales, which requires continued success and a buoyant market. The latter has disappeared; the former depends on European qualification, hence last week's sacking of their coach, Manolo Jiménez.

In all, Gay calculates Spanish football's debt to be €3.5bn. The Spanish federation still owe the players' union €6.8m and, according to the former president of the union, Gerardo Movilla, an estimated €100m is still owed to footballers in unpaid wages. The state loses out, too: Atlético owe the tax man €15m; 50% of their transfer income is embargoed.

Michel Platini says there are five or six top-flight Spanish clubs in danger. Yet the danger is relative. The irony is that the lack of control also helps to protect the clubs from going out of business – in the short term at least.

As Spain's secretary of state for sport, Jaime Lissavetzky, puts it: "We need to be able to hand clubs yellow cards, a warning. But we have no coercive force. It's one thing taking the temperature, it's another handing out medicine." Even administration does not necessarily mean applying the brakes. While it is a last resort it is often a handy one, open to abuse. Unlike in England, there is no footballing penalty for going into administration.

The federal nature of the Spanish state, made up of autonomous communities, also offers a crutch upon which to lean. Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla have all benefited from favourable property deals involving their local councils; Atlético plan to move to Madrid's municipally owned Olympic Stadium, selling the site upon which the Vicente Calderón stands to the council. Many clubs do not have that option: Sporting, Racing, Almería, Getafe, Deportivo, Málaga, and Valladolid all play in municipal stadiums.

Valencia have been propped up by Bancaja, their principal creditor, to whom they owe €220m and who, despite the club's mounting debt, backed a share issue to the tune of €95m. "Without them we would have gone down to Second Division B," admits their president, Manolo Llorente. Bancaja are a savings bank and they do not want to upset customers by sending their club to the wall. As one director of another savings bank puts it: "Clubs have an emotional power they use as a kind of blackmail." When Sporting Gijón went into administration, Gijón council bought their "brand image". As one insider puts it: "The council could not let us disappear; Gijón without Sporting is not Gijón."

Whether or not clubs go into administration, they can never compete with the big two. Remove Madrid and Barcelona and there was a 40% decrease in summer spending. Only five clubs spent over €5m. During the winter transfer window only three clubs spent anything. But how can you ignore Madrid and Barcelona? They are La Liga. That is the problem.

According to reliable statistics Madrid have 13.2m fans while Barcelona have 10.4m. Valencia are third with 2.1m. Nearly two-thirds of all football fans in Spain support one of the big two. And supporters of other clubs almost invariably choose Madrid or Barcelona as a "second" team.

The Madrid-Barça dichotomy is self-perpetuating. The media insist they are giving people what they want, that theirs is a business decision. The editor of one newspaper admits: "Every Madrid win is 10,000 more in sales." El País's match reports for Sevilla and Villarreal the day after the clásico contained a total of no words. The director of one television channel insists it would be a "disaster" for the channel if anyone other than Madrid or Barça won the league.

The dominance is felt most on TV – and that is the crux of the issue, the precarious foundation upon which Spanish football is built. Unlike elsewhere – and even Italy is going collective – Spanish clubs negotiate individual television deals. "The lack of a centralised deal is the biggest problem we face," Tebas says. The reason is clear. Madrid and Barcelona will earn approximately €120m in rights each year until 2013. Last season's third-placed side, Sevilla earn around €20m; Valencia, currently third, make under €30m – less than Portsmouth. Right throughout the league, the imbalance is extraordinary. Competing is impossible.

The problem is the league are powerless to impose a collective deal, although they continue trying. Just as their plans – announced last week – to impose salary cuts and wage limits on clubs can only get the go-ahead if the clubs themselves, and Madrid and Barcelona in particular, agree to them.

"It's not normal to have two clubs earning 15 times more," says Villarreal's Roig, "and it's going to be very hard to get the clubs to agree to change now. There's no unity, the league has a very difficult role. I'm not worried about Sheikhs [pumping money into England], I'm worried about our own organisation."

An insider at Sevilla adds: "The mentality of every club is always purely selfish and we're not sure that it would be beneficial for us [to campaign for change]. If we push for unity we might lose our position as the third or fourth biggest club: we could get closer to Madrid and Barcelona, but we would also see smaller clubs come closer to us."

Perhaps the most fearful remark about La Liga's "big two" problem comes from Sevilla's sporting director, Monchi. "Spain," he says "reminds me of Scotland."

In 2008, the then British culture secretary Andy Burham warned of the risk of the Premier League becoming too predictable. "In the US, the most free-market country in the world, they understand that the equal distribution of money creates genuine competition," he said. Spain provides further proof from the other end of the scale. But few see it and few debate it – after all, much of the media lives off the duopoly too.

One headline in Spain recently declared: "La Liga becomes the best in Europe." The "evidence" was two-fold: Madrid and Barcelona's place at the head of Deloitte & Touche's rich list; and the "big two" racking up more points than any other team in Europe. A closer read suggests the exact opposite. Madrid and Barcelona were at the top but there was not one other Spanish club among the leading 20 and their points totals – a record at both clubs – suggest that while they are good sides, maybe the teams they are playing against are not. Valencia, third going into this weekend, were 18 points behind. No other major league has such a gap.

"We need to recognise that the smaller clubs are necessary for the competition," says Roig. "After all, 15 clásicos at the Bernabéu and 15 at the Camp Nou would be a bit boring wouldn't it?"

Some of his counterparts believe it is already too late.

Eduardo Bandrés, a former president of Real Zaragoza, says: "This is the dullest league in the world."

Source: The Guardian

Lionel Messi earned a staggering £29.7million in the last year, replacing David Beckham as the world's highest-earning footballer.

A study by France Football magazine found that the England midfielder had finally been toppled after two years on the top spot, though he stays above Cristiano Ronaldo in second place.

The £200,000 a week after-tax deal that Ronaldo signed when he left Manchester United for Real Madrid makes him the biggest earner by football salary, but Messi's burgeoning commercial deals and a £3.6m bonus for winning six trophies with Barcelona put him out in front.

The 22-year-old signed a new contract at the Nou Camp before Christmas guaranteeing him take-home pay of at least £180,000 a week, but extras pushed his earnings to more than £570,000 a week last year.

United star Wayne Rooney, arguably the best player in the world today, does not reach the top 10, but his former team-mate Carlos Tevez makes No 7 on the list.

The Manchester City forward apparently earned £13.8m last year - £266,000 a week - while Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was just behind on £12.8m.

Jose Mourinho is the highest earning coach, with the Inter Milan boss picking up £11.7m, while last year's No 1 Luiz Felipe Scolari fell to third with £8.5m after Chelsea finally stopped topping up his gold-plated contract with Uzbekistan side Bunyodkur.

Roberto Mancini jumped to second on £10.8m after taking the Manchester City job in December.

Source: The Daily Mail

Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola has stated that his club’s main priority this season is the retention of their domestic league title, rather than European glory.

Barca won both La Liga and the Champions League last term, but this time around Guardiola would settle for beating off the challenge of Real Madrid.

He said: “The main target this season is not to win the Champions League, but to retain the Liga title.

“I never discount anything, but it is clear that if we do not do well in domestic competition, we will not achieve much in Europe.

“The Liga is our main objective because I have demanded the maximum from my players in every match.

“If we are not able to maintain these levels throughout the season, things will get complicated.”

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi's Barca team-mate Pedro Rodriguez believes the Argentina international is better than Diego Maradona.

The 22-year-old has scored an astonishing 11 goals in his last five matches, grabbing a hat-trick in Sunday's 4-2 victory at Real Zaragoza.

Pedro was quoted in Marca as saying: "To me, Messi is better than Maradona. I play with him, I see him every day and to me he is the best.

"Maradona was the best player in history and, for me, Messi is even greater than he is. He is young, but has already won a lot of things.

"To me, he is better. We hope to keep giving him as much space as possible so that he can continue doing what he does.

"We are strong and playing very well, but Real Madrid will lose very few points until the end of the season.

"We have to make sure we concede as little as possible because it will be a very taxing battle until the very end. We must hope that they slip up."

Source: The Independent

Real Madrid have targeted Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole to bolster their back line for next season, according to Spanish daily Marca.

"The Englishman from Chelsea  is the player for the job. He is one of the best players in the world and wants to come to Spain," said Marca, without identifying the source.

And the paper even suggests Chelsea are "ready to listen to offers."
 
Cole, 29, is not the only left-sided defender Real have earmarked, although the former Arsenal player does, reportedly, top their list.

Marca claims Real are also keen on Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra, who could cost "about €20 million", and they are also supposedly following Lazio's Aleksandar Kolarov "very closely".

Real, who spent more than €250m last summer on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, are currently top of the Primera Liga on goal difference from Barcelona.

However, their exit from the Champions League at the last-16 stage to Lyon last week means they are now looking to prepare for next season.

Source: The Telegraph
 

While Cristiano Ronaldo crashed out of the Champions League with Real Madrid, his former club Manchester United sailed into the last eight with a 4-0 win over AC Milan. So did the Portuguese make a mistake in swapping Old Trafford for the Bernabeu? Join the debate below...

Ronaldo  left Manchester United for Real Madrid last summer to win the biggest prizes. The Champions League trophy will indeed be making its way to the Bernabeu in May, but another team will be taking it home with them.

Ronaldo will be merely a spectator at this year's final after his Real side crashed out of the competition at the last 16 stage following a 2-1 aggregate defeat to Lyon. Incredibly, it is the sixth consecutive season that Real Madrid have been knocked out in this round. For a player of the ultimate ambition, seeing two other teams play for the trophy at his own ground will rankle.

Especially if his former club is one of them. Manchester United may have been favourites to beat AC Milan, but to put seven goals past them exceeded even the most fanciful of expectations. After an uncertain start to the season, the goals of Wayne Rooney have put Manchester United in the running for three trophies.

Which brings us to the main question. Has Ronaldo made one of the biggest mistakes of his life in moving to Real? Florentino Perez may have assembled the most expensive and star-studded team in the world, but only the most blinkered could argue that it was the best.

Should he have stayed at United? Or do you think his best chance of winning trophies in the long-term still lie at Madrid? Should Ronaldo's success at Madrid be judged on trophies alone? Is it even conceivable that Ronaldo could return to United one day?

Source: The Telegraph

UEFA’s top brass descended on Madrid this week, using Wednesday night’s clash between Real Madrid and Lyon as the dry run for the main event, the Champions League final, on 22 May.

Florentino Perez welcomed the dignitaries, and a man of his ambition would have been expectant that, after a summer outlay of £260 million, he would be proudly watching his exorbitantly-assembled band of elite footballers lifting the fabled trophy aloft nine or so weeks from now.

It would have been his dream, his vision, when Los Nuevos Galacticos went from concept to star-studded reality in a few short months – to witness Los Blancos being triumphant in the tournament with which they have become synonymous.

However, one swing of a Bosnian’s boot brought the reality of failure crashing down on the Santiago Bernabeu, and left all concerned to commence the post-mortem of what is an unmitigated disaster and an absolute embarrassment for the world’s richest club.

Miralem Pjanic’s goal proved that despite the revolution, the promises of success, and an era of dominance spearheaded by the most talented footballers around, Wednesday night’s disaster seemed all too recognisable. Almost every aspect of the 1-1 draw with the French resembled a re-run of a nightmare that is now extended into its six consecutive year.  

Elimination at the Round of 16 every season since 2005 has not been of sufficient standard for a club of this stature, but this season, with this team, with this expenditure, events were expected to be wholly different.

Instead, an analysis of each area of the pitch highlights the deficiencies that have been prevalent in recent campaigns, but where does blame truly lie for such an abject result?

Defence:  

Iker Casillas was solid enough, using the full expanse of his area to nullify any raking passes from the Lyon midfield, but lacked communication with his defence, who despite consistent warnings are still hugely susceptible to cross balls into the area. Sevilla managed to exploit this indecision on Saturday evening, and had defender Cris connected with a superb Pjanic delivery prior to the equaliser, it would have almost been a carbon copy goal. Defensive lessons appear too difficult to learn for a club of this stature.

In the full-back positions, Sergio Ramos saw plenty of ball but his distribution was woeful. The Spanish international took an age to provide service into the area, and in the second half Delgado doubled up assiduously with left-back Ally Cissokho to fully eliminate Ramos’ influence on proceedings. And in the end, he gave the ball away more often than he crossed it.

On the opposite flank, Arbeloa is renowned for his conservative but effective forays forward, but was largely anonymous in the final third, and his reserved display robbed Madrid of an additional attacking outlet. With no Marcelo charging down the left flank, Ronaldo was left without a sidekick and a decoy.

Midfield:

Guti looked capable of pulling the creative strings early in the contest as Real Madrid started in typically vibrant fashion, but Lyon’s tactical reshuffle at the break applied additional pressure to him and his penchant for manipulating proceedings waned as a result.  

Lassana Diarra valiantly attempted to perform the defensive screening role, but with the attacking players in front of him with their mentality set almost permanently on the offensive, he struggled to maintain competent protection for his centre halves.  Furthermore, the Frenchman once again revealed his limited ability with the ball at his feet, relinquishing possession on numerous occasions.

Esteban Granero was given the opportunity to prove his capability at this level but was found wanting; his touch and ability to retain the ball in the final third looked tentative and nervous, particularly as the match progressed at the precarious 1-0 scoreline, and he bore the wrath of Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half for his errant passing.

Attack:

Despite being the recent darling of the supporters and in sensational form, Gonzalo Higuain can expect copious criticism for the guilt-edged chances he passed up in the first half. The latter produced an excellent save from Hugo Lloris, but his first effort, where he danced round the shot-stopper only to fire against the upright with the goal at his mercy, was an unforgiveable miss. The Argentine did not recover from that wasted opportunity.

Kaka began the match in driving fashion, almost netting inside the opening seconds, but like Guti his influence diminished as the match progressed. The former AC Milan playmaker was acquired precisely to provide the intricate passes and creative prowess to unlock defences in matches of this magnitude, but he cut a frustrated figure as Claude Puel’s organised outfit stifled his space and left the normally level-headed Brazilian staring skywards with a gaze of despair etched on his face. His misery was compounded when he was substituted 12 minutes from time to the tune of jeers from the home crowd.

And what of Ronaldo? Like Kaka, his addition in the summer was primarily to provide Real Madrid the edge against Europe’s elite and in the first half was at the heart of everything positive the Spanish side produced. He played with speed, determination and drive, typified by the desire shown at the opening goal, but as the need increased, so did CR9’s tendency to hang onto the football. Yes, he has emerged as the natural successor to Raul as the gem of the Bernabeu faithful, but he cannot do everything on his own.  

As he grew more anxious (and it was plain that the outcome of this match meant so much to him) he dribbled down blind alleys, and drove towards a compact Lyon back line with the awareness of his colleagues a lessening priority. The Portuguese looked close to tears near the end, and will he now be re-evaluating his decision to swap Old Trafford for the Bernabeu, particularly given Manchester United’s emphatic demolition of AC Milan occurring simultaneously with his club’s demise?

Coach:

The decision to appoint former Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini as the rudder to navigate this galaxy of superstars to trophies was never truly appreciated, and it is more than probable that this capitulation will sound the death knell for his short tenure under Florentino Perez. As for the match itself, though, his team started positively and created numerous clear-cut openings. Kaka, and a trio of tribulations from the hapless Higuain should have extended the lead prior to the interval, and the coach cannot legislate for the ineptitude of his players when presented with a chance to score.

However, the Chilean simply did not respond to a tactical reshuffle by opposite number Puel at half time, and his side did not re-emerge from the dressing room with anywhere near the vibrancy and drive to capture the ascendency that was necessary to finish a job that was only half completed. He bizarrely brought on Mahamadou Diarra when two goals were needed to progress - a player who hasn’t scored a competitive goal since the 2006/07 season, but perhaps the damage was already done by his introduction.

But who could Pellegrini have brought on instead? There were only three other available options: Fernando Gago, Christoph Metzelder and young Pedro Mosquera. Not a whole lot to choose from. It was clear that the absences of Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Marcelo deprived ‘El Ingeniero’ of a chance to execute another masterstroke substitution.

President:

This catastrophe will be a night that will live long in the memory for Florentino Perez for all the wrong reasons, but other than bankroll the revolution, what else can be expected of him? Yes, he exerted more than a domineering authority over transfer dealings, but then again who wouldn’t have wished to signed Cristiano and Kaka? Or Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema? He cannot be accused of a lack of ambition, but then again, with a different coach pulling the strings, it could have been a different outcome.

Lyon must take credit for absorbing Madrid’s threat before Pjanic’s supremely-timed sucker punch, and they must be considered a threat to the sides remaining in the competition, but ultimately, the internal investigation begins here and now, and someone will be made the scapegoat for a result that simply cannot be tolerated.

Source: goal.com
 

Terms such as "failure", "catastrophe" and "nightmare" filled the Spanish press this morning in the wake of Real Madrid's Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon.

Trailing 1-0 from the Champions League first leg, Madrid got a flying start when Cristiano Ronaldo put them ahead in just the sixth minute of last night's return clash at the Bernabeu and the Primera Division leaders might have had the tie sewn up by half-time after dominating the opening 45 minutes.

However, a much-improved Lyon turned things around in the second half and deservedly drew level on the night through Miralem Pjanic's 75th-minute strike.
 
That proved enough for Lyon to seal a 2-1 aggregate victory and send big-spending Madrid tumbling out of the competition at the last-16 stage for the sixth successive season.

It also ended their dreams of winning a 10th European Cup crown at their Bernabeu home, where this year's final will be held.

Madrid-based Marca, the biggest-selling daily in Spain, believe the exit will cost Real coach Manuel Pellegrini his job, with their front page announcing: "OUT. Goodbye Champions, Goodbye Pellegrini."

It continued inside: "The same upset as every year. The Whites fall after failing to take excellent chances in the first half. Lyon's changes at half-time changed the match. (Gonzalo) Higuain maintained his bad luck in Europe and Kaka didn't get going.

"Madrid again go crashing against the curse of the last 16. Lyon join Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Roma and Liverpool in the list of executioners."

Rival Madrid daily AS's front page read: "Catastrophe. Madrid couldn't overcome Lyon not even in the Bernabeu."

Inside the paper discussed how the "failure" and "nightmare" continues for Madrid and how Lyon deserved to go through.

El Pais newspaper made reference to the huge amounts of money that Madrid spent last summer following the return of Florentino Perez to the club presidency.

In a bid to take Madrid back to the top of the domestic and European game, the nine-time European champions spent in the region of €250 million on new players - including a world-record €94m on Ronaldo.

El Pais's headline read: "Football has no price."

It continued: "Lyon question the realism of the mega-project of Florentino Perez and Madrid, who ran out of steam in the second half, fell for the sixth successive season in the last-16.

"Titles are not bought, they are won."

Barcelona-based sports dailies El Mundo Deportivo and Sport, meanwhile, both went with a huge "KO" on their front pages.

El Mundo Deportivo also twisted the knife by highlighting the possibility of Madrid's arch rivals Barca defending their European crown at the Bernabeu in May.

"Madrid will not be in the Bernabeu final! Failure of Florentino's project, incapable of overcoming the last-16 of the Champions League for the sixth successive year," the paper continued.

"Barca's dream of winning their fourth European Cup in Chamartin (Bernabeu) grows."

Sport added on their front page: "The great failure", whilst underneath showing the pictures of Perez, Pellegrini, Ronaldo and Kaka with captions alongside them.

The captions read: "'Florentino, broken. 300million thrown away'. 'Pellegrini, sentenced. The Bernabeu calls for his head'. 'Cristiano, humiliated. He promised every title and has already lost two'. 'Kaka, the next problem. He left the pitch insulting the coach'."

Inside, Sport added: "Galactic humiliation", referring to the 'Galacticos' term given to Perez's star-studded and expensively-assembled squads of now and during his pervious time as president between 2000-2006.

Source: The Telegraph

You might think the French fans would be grateful to Thierry Henry, their captain and record goalscorer, for making sure they qualified for the World Cup - albeit in somewhat unorthodox and controversial circumstances.

Not a bit of it, judging by the jeering and whistling that Henry received from his home crowd yesterday. A little disappointment would have been natural, in view of the rather bloodless way that France succumbed to their more fancied neighbours Spain. But this was personal. The man could have been guilty of sleeping with his team-mate’s girl, such was the hostility directed at him.
 
Some of the ill-feeling must date back to Henry’s infamous handball against Northern Ireland - a foul so heinous that even the French are embarrassed about it. But there is also a view that he embodies his team’s current problems, being a once-mighty force who is apparently dwindling towards mediocrity. He certainly compared poorly with the Spanish forwards - first David Villa, who sprung the off-side trap to score with ease after 20 minutes - and then the ever-sprightly Fernando Torres.

Spain were majestic for much of yesterday’s game. The first half was all about control, as Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta took hold of the midfield and gradually squeezed the life out of France’s attacking play. The home side’s one real threat - the Bayern Munich playmaker Frank Ribery - made plenty of bustling runs, but he spent most of his time out on the right flank when he needed to be homing in on goal.

Spain weren’t creating bags of chances - in fact they only had two clear shots in the first half. But they were controlling possession, and given that both those shots happened to go in, there was no need to try anything rash. The result was all but settled on the stroke of the interval, when Sergio Ramos’s effort flicked the boot of Julein Escude and looped cruelly around the goalkeeper.

The second half produced more spectacle, as the Spanish maestros began showing off their tricks and flourishes. Torres replaced Villa and immediately began to harry France’s debutant Michael Ciani, who played his heart out in central defence but couldn’t keep up with the forward’s sheer pace. You would have bet on Torres to extend Spain’s lead but the final ball never quite fell for him and his one real shot was smothered by Hugo Lloris.

From a Premier League perspective, Rafa Benitez would at least have been relieved that Torres wasn’t put through a whole match. But the French defensive pairing of Patrice Evra and Bacary Sagna are both likely to be needed on Saturday, and both will feel heavy-legged after the run-around they got from Spain’s attacking midfielders. Jesus Navas, a young winger from Sevilla, replaced Iniesta just after the hour mark and spent the rest of the evening bombing up the right flank at tremendous speed.

Spain’s success took their record to 42 wins in the last 45 games, and their performance yesterday more than justified their billing as early World Cup favourites. France were disorganised and largely toothless, despite the late header that Florent Malouda directed onto a post. But at least they are going to South Africa - a position they owe to the much-maligned Henry.

Source: The Telegraph