Bale Decides Copa del Rey Final for Dominant Real Madrid

Real Madrid have claimed their first piece of silverware as they march to the treble with a dominant performance over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. With Cristiano Ronaldo on the sidelines due to injury, Carlo Ancelotti picked the attacking trident of Bale, Benzema, and Di Maria. It was Di Maria who sparked the match into life after a deadly counterattack of one touch passing started by Isco. The Argentine latched onto the low cross-field pass by Benzema before finishing across goal, with Pinto's weak touch unable to stop the ball.

Gerardo Martino's under pressure Barcelona had plenty of time and possession to fight back, however were often unable to find a comfortable rhythm against Real's compact defending. Messi and Neymar weren't given any time with the ball by Real Madrid's defenders, and it was left to Iniesta and Xavi to retain possession and search for openings. Martino's choice to start Fabregas as a sort of false center forward was incomprehensible, especially considering the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Pedro kept on the bench. Fabregas rarely touched the ball, and Martino's side was continuously vulnerable against Real Madrid's quick transition led by Bale, Benzema, or Di Maria.

In the second half Barcelona suffered more of the same. An uncontainable Isco pinged passes for his teammates, and all of the Galacticos showed incredible selflessness in their counter-attacking play of one-touch passes. Messi continued in his mediocrity, with a couple of shots snapped wide or too weak to trouble Casillas. However, it was the 23 year old central defender Marc Bartra who found the equalizer for Barca, with his powerful header from a corner. With about 20 minutes left, Barcelona had suddenly reopened the encounter, and Martino's earlier substitutions of Pedro and Adriano (for Fabregas and Jordi Alba) now looked ready to double up and score the winner.

Yet it was another Real Madrid counter-attack which undid the Barca defence, this time manned by the unstoppable Gareth Bale. Poking a long touch past Bartra, Bale was pushed off of the field by the scorer of the equalizer, however the Welshman continued his tempestuous run around the defender and straight at Pinto before nudging the ball into the net for the winner. It was a fantastic goal which left Barcelona with only five minutes to reply, and Martino immediately threw on Alexis Sanchez in desperate hope for an equalizer. The final chance of the night fell to Neymar after Xavi slipped a sublime pass through the Real defence, but the Brazilian banged his effort against the post with a practically empty net to shoot at.

The match ended 2-1 for Real Madrid, with Gareth Bale claiming his first major trophy thanks to his brilliant goal. The disappointment of Barcelona's meek performance, highlighted by Messi's invisibility throughout the match will now surely prompt Martino's dismissal at the end of the season. On the other side of the spectrum, Ancelotti and the rest of Madrid will be celebrating the Copa del Rey victory passionately, before preparing themselves for the two other trophies which await them.

Big Names, Big Money

As the summer transfer window has finally drawn to a close, there is definitely plenty to talk about. While the ludicrously spending Premier League was definitely the center of attention as the transfer market neared its closing, there were plenty of very intriguing exchanges all across Europe. There's is a ton of dealings to talk about, so it's best to get started with the biggest of names.

The deal which everyone awaited with trepidation was that of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. It took 95 million Euros from the Galacticos to secure the left winger, who will be giving Ancelotti a few things to think about tactically. While the most obvious solution to the coach's problems would be to put Bale on the left wing and push Ronaldo to the center, what remains of Benzema? Does the Frenchman become your supersub? And that's without considering Modric and Di Maria, both left footed players which will be forced to adapt after the arrival of the latest Galactico.

While the price tag on Bale could be considered a little exaggerated, Tottenham have spent just about every penny reinforcing their squad in just about every way possible. Roberto Soldado and Roma's Argentine wonderkid Erik Lamela were the priciest of Tottenham's additions, both costing 30 million Euros each. Behind them are Paulinho, Eriksen, Capoue, Chiriches, and Chadli; all of which are exceptional additions to a side which is looking to reinvent itself after losing its most influential player. Yet there's a few important questions Spurs should be asking themselves, whether the new players can mesh together quickly enough, and whether amongst all of these additions perhaps just one defender (Chiriches) might not be enough? Only time will tell, but if Tottenham manage to seal any possible defensive worries then perhaps there's a side ready to compete for a place in the top three.

As Arsenal fans eyed their cousins full of envy throughout the window, in the final day Wenger finally found a player worth signing. None other than Mesut Ozil, the former Real Madrid man left the Bernabeu for around 50 million Euros, becoming both the most expensive German and Arsenal's most expensive signing yet. A truly fantastic signing for a side which has been searching for some stability. While the recent victory over Tottenham shows signs of recovery, with the insertion of Ozil into the team Arsenal should find even more ways to pick apart defences with their entrancing style of play. Yet the question looms, does this new signing solve Arsenal's problems? I can't say that it will, but if anything it's a definite distraction from them. An uplifting end to what seemed to be a dismal summer for Arsenal fans.

And if we're going to talk about big names, it seems nearly impossible not to mention Kaka's fabled return to AC Milan. The Rossoneri were able to nab the Brazilian for free, and it's being reported that the player took a fairly hefty cut to his wages just to return to the club with which he found the most success. While returning AC Milan legends haven't always been as successful as fans might have hoped (Shevchenko being the most obvious example), it seems like Kaka's return will give exactly what the side needs to prosper in this upcoming season. After having sold Kevin Prince Boateng to Schalke 04 for 12 million Euros, Milan needed a midfielder with creativity to support the young Balotelli and El Sharaawy. Who better than Kaka?

Are you convinced by these transfers? Have these clubs properly strengthened their squads, or are they too focussed on flashy attacking players? What was your favorite transfer of this summer? Share your thoughts on the transfer window below!

PFA 2011 Player of the Year Award Nominees Announced

Image from The Guardian

Every season there are players which light up the Premier League. This season there have been quite a few, some performing consistently and others maybe a little less. The PFA awards shortlists of the season were announced, and they seem to contain all the necessary players, even if they had to do some last minute adding on. Below are the shortlists for Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year.


PFA Players’ Player of the Year nominees:

Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)
Charlie Adam (Blackpool)
Samir Nasri (Arsenal)
Scott Parker (West Ham United)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)


PFA Young Player of the Year nominees:


Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)
Seamus Coleman (Blackpool)
Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United)
Nani (Manchester United)
Samir Nasri (Arsenal)
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

There have been many complaints that Nani should be on the PFA Player of the Year Award Nominees, as his phenomenal play cutting inside from the wings for Manchester United helped win many matches. Seeing him on the Young Player list is a little strange, but I guess it is a form of recognition.

So who do you think will win the awards? I think I'll go with Scott Parker and Nani. What about you? Share your winners below!

Friday Photos: Transfer Talk And The Asian Cup

Emmanuel Adebayor has been presented at Real Madrid. Adebayor is excited
 to begin playing, and is looking forward to having a successful loan spell with Real.

Mark van Bommel and Emanuelson debuted for AC Milan in the Coppa Italia.
The two recently joined Milan, and they helped their team to a 2-1 victory.
AC Milan will be playing Palermo in the semi-finals, and the other semi-final between
Inter and Roma. Could we see a Milan derby in the final of the Coppa Italia? 

There have been rumours linking Gareth Bale to a transfer in the summer.
Inter Milan are apparently prepared to offer 40 million Euros for the Welsh winger.

Andrea Barzagli leaves Wolfsburg and returns to Italy. Juventus have signed
the defender for just 300,000 Euros, but will the deal be worth it?

Giampaolo Pazzini has signed for Inter Milan. The nerazzurri had to pay
12 million Euros and give the speedy winger Biabiany to Sampdoria.
Can Pazzini end Inter's scoring difficulties?

While David Luiz's signing for Chelsea seemed imminent, the deal has hit a snag.
The Brazilian might not join the Blues, we'll just have to wait and see where
this young and talented defender goes.

Liverpool rejected Chelsea's bid of around 40 million Pounds for Fernando Torres.
The question is: will Liverpool manage to keep the striker over the summer?

The Socceroos celebrating their 6-0 semifinal victory over Uzbekistan in the Asian Cup.
Australia will be facing Japan in the final, and while the Samurais have been crowned
Asian champions three times already, Australia have yet to win the Asian Cup.

Ending on a beautiful note, the stunning Khalifa International Stadium where
Australia defeated Uzbekistan 6-0.

7 Players Who Made the Difference in the Champions/Europa League

Instead of doing the usual wrap up where I tediously go mention every score of every game in the Champions and Europa League, of which there are 40 in total every midweek. I've decided that when there's midweek action in European tournaments, I'll be mentioning the most influential players which played in the tournaments. It'll usually be seven (could be more, could be less) players who truly made a difference in their Champions/Europa League games, and as the competitions progress out of the group stages, I'll focus more on match reports.

So here we go:

Gareth Bale


Gareth Bale was the one-man team when Tottenham played against Inter Milan at the San Siro. Although his side was 4-0 down by halftime, thanks to an impressive display by Inter, accompanied by Tottenham's keeper Gomes being sent off, Bale managed to give the European champions a scare. He made an amazing run and finished wonderfully past Julio Cesar for his first around the 51st minute, and then in the final minutes of the match, he scored another similar goal, and then another great strike to end the match 4-3! He's truly become a fast, physical, and complete player who dominates the left flank for Tottenham, it'll be interesting if there might be any offers coming Tottenham's way for the Welshman around January.


Philippe Coutinho


Another player from the fantastic 4-3 match played out between Inter and Tottenham, and while he didn't have a massive impact like Bale did, Coutinho was instrumental in the match. The 18 year-old Brazilian didn't look out of his depth at all among all the star players and veterans which surrounded him, he was calm and composed, and he provided moments of individual brilliance. He kept possession with his smart passing, was always in the right spot to help teammates, and he was a constant threat for Tottenham. Although he didn't score, he provided Eto'o a fantastic through pass for Inter's fourth goal which the Cameroon forward finished a little sloppily. One to watch for the future, without a doubt.


Lionel Messi


While nobody can doubt the talent of this little Argentinean, it seemed like he'd had a slight dip in form recently. But it was Lionel Messi who singlehandedly secured three points for Barcelona against Copenhagen in their 2-0 over the Danish side. While we're used to seeing Messi curl in his shots with finesse, he showed that he has power in his shot as well with his first goal. A spectacular strike which flew up into the top left hand corner to give Barcelona the lead at the Camp Nou. His second goal wasn't as fantastic, just a simple tap-in, but still, Messi has shown that he can single-handedly dominate games yet again just like last season.


Adebayor


Adebayor has often been criticized for being slightly lazy, but he was wonderful for Manchester City in their 3-1 win over Lech Poznan at Eastlands. In fact he scored all three goals for the English side, it was his first which was the best: a delightful spin past a defender and a perfect finish around the keeper. His second was a pinpoint header from David Silva's cross, and his third a tap-in from another one of Silva's crosses. A truly wonderful hat trick, and the situation becomes all the more interesting for Adebayor, especially because Manchester City will be facing Arsenal over the weekend...


Hulk


Porto had to travel away to Besiktas, all the way in Istanbul for a difficult match, but having Hulk in their team made things a lot easier for the Portuguese side. Things started well for Porto, Falcao headed in from a corner to give them the lead, but their central defender Maicon was sent off before halftime for a silly foul. But that didn't matter to Hulk, the Brazilian scored two phenomenal goals, both of them being tracked by defenders as he finished with flair past the keeper. And while Porto were winning 3-0 with only ten men, they eventually got another sent off! Fernando was sent off when he got his second yellow card, and Besiktas managed to pull a goal back at the end of the match.


Maurice Edu


Rangers faced Valencia at Ibrox Stadium in Scotland, and my choosing the American, Maurice Edu, as one of the influential players this matchday is slightly ironic. Things were going perfectly for Rangers when Edu headed in from a corner before halftime, a good goal for Rangers who haven't scored too many in the Champions League so far. But it was to be a sad day for Maurice Edu, because in the second half a low cross flicked off of his head and into the back of Rangers's net. An unlucky own goal which caused the match to end 1-1 for Rangers, who happen to be second in their group, behind Manchester United, and above Valencia and Bursaspor.

Jose Mourinho

While Jose Mourinho isn't a player, I felt like I had to include him in this list. The other massive clash in the Champions League which took place was Real Madrid - AC Milan, and while the 2-0 scoreline didn't illustrate much dominance from Mourinho's side, they were much better than the Italians. It seems like Jose Mourinho is the man who knows how to take vengeance on people, he's had his revenge against AC Milan, and mainly Ibrahimovic who snubbed him at Inter to go to Barcelona. I fully expect Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid to be drawn against Inter in one of the later stages of the competition, and guess what, I think he's gonna win. That's the type of guy he is.

I hope you've like this new format of reviewing the European midweek games, please share your thoughts below!