Valencia led a trio of Spanish clubs into the semifinals of the Europa League with a 4-0 thrashing of AZ Alkmaar Thursday.
A glorious attacking display by Athletic Bilbao earned the Spanish side a 4-2 win at Schalke in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals at the Veltins Arena on Thursday.
updated: Sat Feb 25 2012 18:06:00
The Beginning -- A look at how English football was born and raised
It could prove to be a pivotal moment in the Italian Serie A title race -- Juventus escaped with a 1-1 draw at AC Milan on Saturday after Sulley Muntari's first-half goal was controversially disallowed despite clearly crossing the line.
Lionel Messi scored four times as Barcelona routed Valencia to keep alive their slim chances of overhauling Real Madrid at the top of Spain's La Liga.
Barcelona are through to the final of the Spanish Cup after goals from Cesc Fabregas and Xavi Hernandez saw them beat Valencia 2-0 for a 3-1 aggregate success.
Holders Inter Milan are through to the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, defeating Genoa 2-1 at the San Siro despite coach Claudio Ranieri resting a host of key players.
Juventus scored a goal in each half against promoted Novara to return to the top of Serie A Sunday.
updated: Sat Dec 10 2011 18:38:00
Shasta Darlington talks with Brazil's new Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo about preparations for the World Cup in 2014.
Barcelona ended Real Madrid's 15-match winning run to snatch back top spot in Spain's La Liga with a 3-1 "El Clasico" victory in the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Real Madrid moved six points clear in Spain after winning a fiery derby match against nine-man Atletico on Saturday and then seeing defending champions Barcelona suffer a shock first La Liga defeat this season.
Real Madrid's hopes of winning a first Spanish title since 2008 survived a stern test on Saturday, as Jose Mourinho marked his 50th La Liga match as coach with a tense 3-2 victory at third-placed Valencia.
Valencia moved above local rivals Levante to claim third place in Spain's La Liga after a 2-0 away victory in Saturday's derby clash.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have roared back to form ahead of next week's Champions League challenges, with the Spanish giants recording comfortable victories in La Liga on Saturday.
Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid were both held in La Liga as they battled to unconvincing draws.
A Mario Gomez hat-trick earned Bayern Munich a 3-0 win over Kaiserslautern at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion on Saturday to send them top of the Bundesliga.
Every time they say goodbye, La Liga dies a little. Now Juan Mata has signed for Chelsea from Valencia, just as Sergio Aguero signed for Manchester City from Atlético Madrid. For fans of City and Chelsea, the transfers are fantastically exciting, two great additions to two teams aspiring to win the Premier League. For the Spanish league, they are frightening. Despite the injection of around 75 million euros, the transfers are confirmation of a worrisome trend.
Spain international Juan Mata is poised to Join English club Chelsea after they agreed a deal for the player with Valencia.
So, Sergio Canales will play for Valencia for the whole of the next two seasons. Well, not the whole of them exactly. Canales has moved to Mestalla for two years. According to the agreement reached, Valencia will pay his wages for the two seasons and, at the end of each campaign, it will have a €12 million ($17M) option-to-buy. The other thing the agreement stipulates is that Canales will not be able to play against the club that owns him, Real Madrid. The crapping-yourself-clause strikes again.
Once the tipping point is reached departures become inevitable and the slide becomes harder to arrest than ever; what starts as an emergency solution risks becoming a permanent situation, the enshrinement of inequality and the inability to compete. Handled well, the effects can be palliated but, barring a sudden shift, the trend is unavoidable. Spanish soccer has reached that tipping point. Valencia certainly have.
Some random thoughts coming off the weekend action around the world:
updated: Sat Apr 23 2011 18:32:00
Oops! Soccer champ drops trophy under a bus. CNN's Jeanne Moos has the greatest hits of trophy bloopers.
Lionel Messi scored a record 50th goal this season as Barcelona bounced back from midweek Spanish Cup heartache to maintain an eight-point lead in La Liga on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored the only goal of the game with 14 minutes remaining to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at Valencia on Wednesday and send them 10 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish League.
Barcelona restored their lead at the top of La Liga on Sunday night with a hard fought 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp.
Fourth-placed Valencia snatched a 1-1 draw at lowly Racing Santander despite having two players sent off on Monday in a result that did little to help either side's Spanish league hopes.
Real Madrid went down to a 2-0 second leg defeat to Levante, but still eased into the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup, 8-2 on aggregate.
Real Madrid closed again to within two points of leaders Barcelona with a hard-fought 3-2 win at local rivals Getafe on Monday night with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice.
German champions Bayern Munich have confirmed the signing of Brazilian defender Luiz Gustavo from Bundesliga rivals Hoffenheim.
Andrés Iniesta waiting silently for the ball to drop, ready to secure the greatest victory in history -- waiting, as he put it in one interview, for gravity to take hold, for his friend Newton to appear ... David Villa watching, hoping, suspended in time as the ball hits one post, hits the other post and, eventually, sneaks into the corner ... Carles Puyol leaping, head whipping powerfully forward, neck muscles strained, hair everywhere, all Captain Caveman, to smash a header into the German net ... Iker Casillas, on a platform, teammates hanging on to his legs, lifting the World Cup into the air ...
Spanish Primera Liga strugglers Osasuna stunned Champions League-chasing Valencia by coming back from two goals down to earn an unlikely 3-3 draw on Monday.
Manchester United have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League as Group C winners, despite being held 1-1 at home to Valencia on Tuesday.
Espanyol continued their 100 percent home record on Sunday, beating Hercules 3-0 to move up to fourth in the table, one point ahead of Valencia.
Sevilla moved into sixth in La Liga after beating ten-man Valencia 2-0 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Spain.
Barcelona produced a masterful second-half display to come from behind and defeat Valencia 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
A stunning 30-yard strike from Andrea Pirlo sealed victory for AC Milan over Parma on Saturday night.
Real Madrid gave up top spot in Spain's La Liga to Valencia after a disappointing goalless draw at promoted Levante on Saturday.
Valencia, Athletico Bilbao and Sevilla all recorded victories on the opening day of the season in Spain's La Liga.
Every summer, football clubs all over the world throw their money away. In Granada CF's case, quite literally. One morning in July, the Spanish second-division team awoke to find that the money earned from season-ticket sales -- which it had handily "stored" in bin bags -- had been thrown out by the cleaner. Already racked by debt and in administration, Granada had lost an estimated $500,000 thanks to a woman with a mop and bucket. Luckily, in the end most the cash was found in a recycling box.
Together they form the world's greatest team -- but now with the start of the La Liga season it's time for Spain to split into it's two bitter factions as Real Madrid and Barcelona once again fight for supremacy. With the self-proclaimed "Special One," Jose Mourinho, now at the helm for Madrid and football's deadliest striker David Villa signing for Barca, it's going to be an explosive season in La Liga. Fanzone reveals what to expect...
Manchester City announced a deal to sign Spain international David Silva from Valencia on Tuesday as the big-spending English club continued preparations for success in the Premier League next season.
Barcelona have signed Spain striker David Villa from league rivals Valencia for $49 million, further boosting an already potent forward line.
English Premier League side Fulham claimed another scalp in the Europa League as they dumped German champions Wolfsburg out of the competition.
World Player of the Year Lionel Messi grabbed his second straight hat-trick in Spain's La Liga to power Barcelona to a 4-2 in over Real Zaragoza on Sunday night.
Lionel Messi scored a sensational second-half hat-trick as Barcelona beat 10-man Valencia 3-0 on Sunday, but they remain behind Spanish Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid, who beat Valladolid 4-1 in the late match.
French star Franck Ribery scored the only goal of Sunday's match as Bayern Munich went to the top of the Bundesliga with a home win over fourth-placed SV Hamburg.
Valencia have moved four points clear of fourth-placed Sevilla in the Spanish Primera Liga after a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Getafe on Monday evening.
Spanish club Villarreal will wait until the end of this season to appoint a permanent new manager after deciding to give reserve coach Juan Carlos Garrido the reins on a short-term basis.
David Villa joined Lionel Messi at the top of the Spanish goalscoring charts, hitting his 13th and 14th goals of the season as Valencia moved three points behind second-placed Real Madrid after a 4-1 derby win over 10-man Villarreal.
A last-minute goal from David Villa gave Valencia a 2-1 Europa League win at Genoa on Thursday, a result that knocked the Serie A side out of the competition after Lille's 3-1 victory over Slavia Prague.
Real Madrid snatched a 3-2 victory at Valencia to remain five points behind Spanish leaders Barcelona, who triumphed 1-0 in the Catalan derby with Espanyol earlier on Saturday night.
Big-spending Real Madrid have crashed out of the Spanish Cup in the second round for the second year in a row after failing to overturn a 4-0 deficit against third-tier club Alcorcon.
If this summer's transfer window is any indication, we can look forward to one of the most exciting European seasons in decades. With the three most expensive transfers in the history of the game recently made for amounts previously unimaginable, the stakes are higher than ever.
Former Real Madrid and Monaco striker Fernando Morientes has returned to French football after joining Marseille on a free transfer
For Europe's biggest leagues the football season has ended, the boring business of kicking a ball about is over, and now the real fun can begin as the transfer window opens.
The summer transfer market is a few weeks away from opening and already the signs are that the global financial crisis is forcing clubs to rethink their annual spending.
Villarreal have moved up to fifth position in the Primera Liga, three points behind fourth-placed Valencia, after coming from behind to defeat relegation-threatened Recreativo 2-1 on Thursday for their first win in six matches.
Barcelona restored their six-point lead at the top of the Spanish Primera with a 4-0 rout of Sevilla at the Camp Nou.
"International footballer for hire. Available for birthdays, weddings and bar mitzvahs. Children's parties a specialty. Call Valencia CF and ask for David."
Valencia beat 10-man Sevilla 3-1 on Sunday to step up their bid for the fourth Champions League qualifying spot from Spain.
Valencia striker David Villa intends to see out his six-year contract with the Spanish Primera Liga club -- even if they fail to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Manchester City beat Aalborg of Denmark 2-0 in their UEFA Cup last 16 first leg tie after it's revealed that the Premier League side are in talks to sign striker David Villa from Valencia.
David Beckham made his European debut for AC Milan as a late substutute on Wednesday when the Italian club returned from Bundesliga hopes Werder Bremen with a valuable UEFA Cup 1-1 first leg draw.
Valencia's Champions League ambitions suffered a huge setback when they crashed to a shock 3-1 defeat against strugglers Real Mallorca on Sunday.
Third division side Polideportivo El Ejido provided the story in Wednesday's Copa del Rey last 16 first-leg matches, as they stunned Primera Liga Espanyol 3-2.
Barcelona continued their charge towards the Spanish Primera title by opening 2009 with a 3-1 home win over Real Mallorca on Saturday night.
It's that time. So why not make a list of things I hope to see in 2009?
A third minute goal from Gonzalo Higuain gave Real Madrid a 1-0 victory over Valencia, coach Juande Ramos' first Primera Liga win since taking charge of the Spanish champions.
Late goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-0 in 'El Clasico' at a rain-soaked Nou Camp on Saturday to move 12 points clear of their rivals in the Primera Liga title race.
Getafe ended Barcelona's nine-game winning run but were denied an away win at the Camp Nou by Seydou Keita's second-half equalizer for the Spanish Primera leaders on Sunday.
Valencia stayed top of the Spanish Primera with a 1-1 draw at Recreativo Huelva on Sunday while reigning champions Real Madrid moved to within a point of the leaders with a 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao in a later match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Manuel Fernandes' second-half goal gave Valencia a 1-0 victory at Valladolid on Sunday to reclaim top spot in the Spanish league from Villarreal on goal difference.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has recalled Fernando Torres in place of Barcelona's Bojan Krkic in a 21-man squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Belgium.
David Villa sent Valencia to the top of the Spanish Primera Liga by scoring both goals in a 2-0 win at Malaga.
Ruben de La Red and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored second-half goals on Sunday to help reigning champions Real Madrid beat Racing Santander 2-0 in the Spanish league.
The big clubs in Spain and Italy were given rude awakenings, as the Primera Liga and Serie A finally got under way. Here, on CNN.com, we'll be bringing you a weekly review of all the previous weekend's action.
New Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has named Barcelona teen sensation Bojan Krkic in his squad for next week's friendly against Denmark, the nation's first match since winning Euro 2008.
Spanish veteran David Albelda should have been lifting the European title along with his countrymen in Austria last month. Instead, he missed his chance to even be a part of the Spanish national team -- the defensive midfielder has been locked out of the first team at Valencia in one of the more bizarre controversies in club soccer.
Former Valencia coach Enrique Sanchez Flores has been named as new coach of Benfica on a two-year contract, the Portuguese side announced on Saturday.
Argentine Federico Fazio struck twice as Sevilla improved their hopes of a second straight season of Champions League football with a 3-0 win at rivals Racing Santander on Wednesday.
Real Madrid clinched the Spanish championship for the second successive season with a dramatic 2-1 victory at Osasuna on Sunday night.
Atletico Madrid's 18-year-old midfielder Ignacio Camacho scored twice as his side strengthened their bid to play in the Champions League by beating Recreativo Huelva 3-0 and go five points clear of fifth-placed Racing Santander.
Juan Manuel Mata and Alexis Ruano scored early goals to help Valencia beat Getafe 3-1 in the Copa del Rey final at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid on Wednesday.
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