1. Sports fan... what fun!
Confessions of a sports fan... more specifically, a footie and tennis "junkie". :)
2. Super Sunday
One of those fabulous days when football plays a big role... but this one was about the blue days that Fernando Torres had to endure with The Blues, after the widely talked about transfer from Liverpool.
3. FOOTIE, FOOTIE... and more footie!
An unadulterated and staggering passion for football... and for Pep Guardiola's FC Barcelona, with the first legs of quarter-final matches among the mighty last 8 in the 2011 UEFA Champions League as background.
4. All business... as usual!
The uber fantastic FC Barcelona win over Shakhtar Donetsk FC in the second leg of their 2011 UEFA Champions League quater-final tie at the Donbass Arena - home of Shakhtar - featuring the Blaugrana little genius, Lionel Messi.
5. Getting Closer to La Decima... but will it happen?
A feature on José Mourinho's mighty and mightily expensive Real Madrid CF as they try to cut through the beautiful fabric of football history to be the very first side to capture a 10th European title, with the first and second legs of their quarter-final tie with Tottenham Hotspur FC in the background.
6. When it rains, it pours...
A feature on two of the four bitterly contested El Clasicos between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF in a span of three weeks in April to May 2011... in the Spanish La Liga Primera Division (ended in a draw with the Los Blancos reduced to 10 men in the second half... this after a 5-0 complete thrashing of Los Blancos by the Blaugranas in Camp Nou back in November 2010), and the Copa del Rey final (won by Los Blancos by a single goal on extra time). Both matches were highly volatile where tactical battle between Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho was the centerpiece in both.
7. Let's stick to futbol... shall we?
A pre-match analysis (well, sort of) on FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF before the first leg of their 2011 UEFA Champions League semi-final tie at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, featuring the "word war" between José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola off-the-pitch where the caballero Pep was provoked into stepping out of his usually cool and charming self to fire back at the "Special One", who became "El Puto Amo" after Pep's presscon. :)
8. Barҫa! Barҫa! Barҫa! Barҫaaaaaa!
A shoutout for victory!! The brilliant Catalan giants, FC Barcelona, massacred the Spanish Capital boys, Real Madrid CF, in the latter's own pitch no less, with AWESOME brace of goals from Lionel La Pulga Messi, after a dizzying and hot-tempered match that resulted in two red cards - one each for the Clubs, reducing the Los Blancos to 10 men on the pitch - and the incredibly humiliating ouster of the tantrum-throwing "Special One" from the sidelines by match officials after stepping over the line of respect.
Surprisingly, this is among the "most read" posts in this blog. :)
9. Visca, El Barҫaa!!!
And the Catalan giants won the second leg of their semi-final tie with bitter rivals, Real Madrid CF, winning the tie outright to move on to the final of the 2011 UEFA Champions League... against the English Premier League's best, Manchester United FC at the New Wembley Arena in London.
10. Three in a row... for Camp Nou!
Three-peat! A Tale of Spanish La Liga Kingship, featuring the fabulous Catalan side, led by Pep Guardiola... FC Barcelona, as they took home the La Liga Cup - for the third time in three consecutive years, and in a glorious fashion, too
11. Ball-some Weekend. From tennis to footie... and back!
A feature on Novak Djokovic, plus bits-and-pieces of footie happenings... and a stand on José Mourinho's and Real Madrid CF's accusations thrown maliciously to discredit FC Barcelona as the latter went on to win Kingship of Spanish football via La Liga, and a chance to vie for the European title for the second time in three years, while the former had to settle for the less than prestigious Copa del Rey - their first since 1993.
12. The Djoker is in, but RF still... is the best - for me!
This is one of my personal favorites in this section, just because it is a combination of tennis- con footie-talking, and adoration for the best men who play the sports in this generation. It's just very nice to appreciate the accomplishments of these gifted men and see the parallelism with which they achieve brilliance in their respective sport. Very impressive!
Oh, and, uh, this happens to be one of the "most read" posts in this blog as well. :)
13. I fan-cy Barça... and it's fan-tastic!
I was giddy-happy to find an article in my fave news magazine, "The Economist", about FC Barcelona "money matters". While the Club continues to have money woes, and that Real Madrid CF enjoys a seat in Forbes Magazine's Top 10 Richest Sports Club in the World, it's still nice to hear Barça's commitment to keep it's shirt clean of "billboard-ish" commercial ad - for tons of money. It's nice to see the unadulterated love-of-the-game shines through at Camp Nou.
14. No messin' with Messi...
Ah, speaking of "unadulterated love of the game"... the embodiment of it all - the brilliant Lionel Messi! :)
15. Footie junkie, tennis fanatic... and a very proud one, too!
A bunch of links to nice reads about the making of the great Barcelona side of today... all related to the men's Mums.
16. Not leaving anything to chance... is the theme of the day.
A little report on Barça's tenacity to capture the 2011 UEFA Champions League title.
17. New Wembley Day!
The Clash of the European Titans! The English Premier League Champs - Manchester United FC, and the Spanish La Liga Champs - FC Barcelona, contest for Kingship in European football on the beautiful pitch of Wembley - game on!
18. More than a club... and they are European Champions, too!
Barҫa, Barҫa... Barҫaaaaaaaaa!! :) The Spanish Champions emerged as European Champions. Pep Guardiola's Barça lifted their second European cup in three years with him as manager, their third in five years, and their fourth overall. They won the fixture in the most awesome manner, too - truly a phenomenal beauty in playing the beautiful game! Absolutely unforgettable!
And, uhm, if I may shamelessly add... this is one of the "most read" posts in this blog. :)
19. And Argentina clicked on the pitch... finally!
Argentina hosts the 2011 Copa America, but the Argentine National Team was in poor form despite the many superstars in its line-up. The football phenomenon that is Lionel Messi was not being utilized properly - tactically. But they did shape up... with Messi being the "playmaker", they survived the group stage and went on to meet one of their continental rivals - Uruguay, in the quarter-finals.
20. Footie, footie! ManU prevailed over City to claim Community Shield
Manchester United FC - the 2011 EPL Champs, showed Manchester City FC - the 2011 FA Cup winners, who was boss in English Football as the two clubs contested the season opener, Community Shield. The Red Devils chased a 2-0 first-half lead by the Citizens in an impressive focus and partnerships on the pitch, claiming the Shield with a 3-2 victory.
21. Early "explosions" on the pitch
A preview of the Spanish La Liga season opener - the Spanish Supercopa, featuring the Spanish football Titans, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF - and the English Premier League's new season kick-off. Both events promise to be "explosive" in terms of football brilliance.
22. Cesc Fàbregas dribbles the ball on familiar pitch...
After a looong wait, the "prodigal son" returns to Camp Nou... and it was oh, oh, whoa! :) The Catalan giants and the culés of Camp Nou embrace the brilliant comebacking midfielder after eight years overseas at The Emirates Stadium with the Gunners.
23. Spanish Super Cup: brilliance + brawl = a disappointment
FC Barcelona lifted another silverware for beating, yet again,
their bitter rivals, Real Madrid CF, in a tightly contested and tense Super Cup final at Camp Nou. While the fixture was awesomely peppered with incredibly brilliant football that only these two great football clubs in the universe could possibly give - from both sides, but more so from the Catalans - it was marred rather disappointingly through another Real Madrid despicable act. At the face of defeat, Los Blancos resorted to reckless antics that resulted in an ugly mass brawl, which was compounded by disgusting José Mourinho's cheap, irresponsible and childish acts. *sigh*24. It's a man's world!
Bits and pieces of latest Spanish and English football goings on.
25. Remarkable week of football
An account of the 2011 European Super Cup match between FC Barcelona and FC Porto. A story of winning with the beauty that befits the beautiful game by Europe's Best - FC Barcelona. It also features Lionel Messi - the "2011 UEFA Best Player in Europe" awardee - and some remarkable stories on the Baclays Premier League. 26. Busy but never busy enough...
Stories of disapointments and incredible triumphs - FC Barcelona style - as they drew their Group Stage match with AC Milan in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League tie, and then came back with a smashing win against CA Osasuna back in the Spanish La Liga. There are pieces of stories about Real Madrid CF and their "Special" boss, José Mourinho, plus fixtures and players at the Barclays Premier League.27. Speaking of intensity and awesomeness...
A Barҫa fan's take on the impact of the beautiful game in inspiring teamwork - for a winning result - in one's workplace.
28. Footie time...
A first post on the beautiful game after almost two months of being "absent" from the football blogging scene - yeah, I've been working like mad!
29. Back to ballgame romance now...
My very first "as it happens" post... and it's on the second leg of the FC Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen tie at the Group Stage of
the UEFA Champions League. Of course, I made an incredible mistake... I didn't take note of the time! Haha.... Well, there's always a first time, ya know. The important thing is, I had fun writing this... and I'd definitely do it again! :) This is an extra-special post because it was written when Lionel Messi scored his 200th goal for Barҫa, and his 14th hat-trick. It was also Pep Guardiola's 200th match as Barҫa manager, and the Catalans scored their 500th goal under Guardiola's leadership. I'm so proud to be a part of (Barҫa) history - no matter how lame my part is! Woohoo! :) :
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83. Treble on the table... and, they took it!
A short account of the historic fourth Champions League win of FCB in the final within a decade, and my return to the UEFA Champions League blogging after two long years. This might be a turning point for FCB after a "dry spell" in the silverware division... and, perhaps, a turning point for me as well. History....
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More coming up... stay tuned!
