Uefa banked €3.25 billion (TT$26.7 billion) in commercial revenue for its showcase tournaments last year. The lion’s share of Uefa’s money, €2.55 billion (TT$21 billion), went to the clubs that viewers switch on their television to watch. The Champions League, which involves 79 teams, got €2.04 billion (TT$16.7 billion) while …
Read More »Financial Fair Play on the way out? Good riddance as it was never fit for purpose
Financial Fair Play (FFP) is one of those topics that invite controversy. There are those who believe that it was written to preserve the status quo of large clubs by preventing the nouveau riche from spending money to challenge the established players. Others say it is an attempt to control …
Read More »Red Devils seek divine assistance; Madrid and Milan rehearse pick-up lines
Three months ago, Angel Di Maria was the Man of the Match as Real Madrid edged Atletico Madrid to capture their tenth European trophy or La Decima. This week, Di Maria was unveiled as Manchester United’s latest signing and promptly watched his new employer flogged 4-0 by an obscure lower …
Read More »Madrid millionaires mow down sorry Sevilla; Spiderman ensnares Munich
In the not-so-feel-good story of the 2014/15 season so far, an obscenely wealthy club downed its poor neighbour 2-0 while over 31,000 spectators looked on in the European Super Cup at Cardiff, Wales. Real Madrid’s starting XI cost a combined TT$3.85 billion (£364 million) in transfer fees, which could get …
Read More »Satirical shorts: King James stirs Bernabeu; Barcelona, Brazil scrape barrel
Twenty-three year old James Rodriguez became the most expensive Colombian footballer of all time yesterday when the former Monaco attacker was unveiled as Real Madrid’s latest Galactico. Rodriguez marked his coming out ceremony at the Estadio Bernabeu by kicking footballs into the crowd and saving one exuberant spectator from being …
Read More »Mourinho’s last stand: Madrid Copa Del Rey finals live on DIRECTV
Real Madrid coach José Mourinho will aim for a special farewell to his time in the Spanish capital on Friday when Europe’s most glamorous club faces neighbours Atlético Madrid in the Copa Del Rey final at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The Madrid derby kicks off at 3.30 pm and will …
Read More »Madrid ambushes Barcelona to lift Supercopa
On the last occasion that Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova took his eye off Real Madrid boss José Mourinho, he almost lost it. Vilanova was assistant to Pep Guardiola for the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Supercopa when Mourinho inexplicably yanked at the former man’s face during a fracas. In …
Read More »Mourinho stokes fires ahead of El Clásico
It is a new La Liga season but prepare for the same old José Mourinho. As Real Madrid tries to recover from last Thursday’s 3-2 first leg Spanish Supercopa deficit, the highly successful but equally controversial Portuguese coach returned to one of his old classics by accusing rival Barcelona of …
Read More »Madrid prepares for Barcelona examination
“Are you a football fan?” I asked the taxi-driver, who collected me at the Barajas Madrid Airport. “Yes,” he said. “Real Madrid.” His eyes searched mine through the rear view mirror for a few seconds. It resembled the look of a man who had just shown off his girlfriend and …
Read More »Guardiola’s brilliance was destined to be temporary
When Barcelona’s soon-to-be-ex-coach Pep Guardiola related his “waiting for that eureka moment”, as he described his coaching ideology, many in the football world may have thought it pretentious. The would-be philosopher-coach would find the tactical strategy necessary to overcome any and every team in Barcelona’s path through a flash of …
Read More »Nakhid: Mourinho takes title but Barca keeps crown
In football, more often than not, one plus one does not yield two; never was this more evident than in the most recent Clásico, which was played on Saturday. It’s always something of an anti-climax when you write about an event at a time when all and sundry have had …
Read More »Real evolution for Mourinho’s Madrid
Some 90,000 Catalans bayed for blood in the Nou Camp; Saturday April 21 was the day they expected Barcelona to put the Real Madrid’s Galácticos to death, a slow, merciless death. But they reckoned without the special one himself, José Mourinho. We covered several tactical topics prior to the game …
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