World football blog, features and player profiles

Voluntary banishment

The issue of top European clubs snapping up South American talent before it’s fully cooked is not a new one, but seems to have reached a new nadir this season with Barcelona striker Keirrison.
Snapped up in July from Palmeiras for 14 million euros, he was promptly farmed out to Benfica on loan by the Catalan [...]

The weekend round-up

Spain – La Liga: Barcelona and Real Madrid both kept up their 100 per cent records, Barca thanks to a 2-0 win at Malaga and Real with a 3-0 win over Tenerife, with Karim Benzema scoring twice.
Valencia drew 2-2 with Atletico Madrid at the Mestalla on Saturday, with Maxi grabbing a last-gasp equaliser for the [...]

The weekend round-up

Italy – Serie A: We start here thanks to the progress of Sampdoria, who are level with Juventus at the top after taking 12 points from 12- one of the few ’smaller’ clubs from the big European leagues to still hold a 100 per cent record.
They overcame Siena 4-1 on Sunday and owe much of [...]