Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, ex-FC Barcelona manager, stated Sunday that Real Madrid has bad luck, since they play in the same league as “Barca.” “Madrid’s bad luck is that they play in the same league as Barcelona. In any other league in the world they would win,” the ex “blaugrana” star said. The Dutchman’s words came after Barcelona thrashed Brazilian and Copa Libertadores champions Santos 4-0 …

Here is the original post:
Johan Cruyff: ‘Real Madrid’s Bad Luck Is That They Play Against Barcelona’

Kagisho Dikgacoi’s goal handed Crystal Palace a 1-0 win over Birmingham City, putting his side in sight of the Championship playoff places.

View post:
Football: Palace edge Birmingham

The Columbus Crew continue to keep pieces of their core together by signing two-time Defender of the Year, Chad Marshall, to a multi-year contract extension. The deal will keep Marshall in Columbus through the 2015 MLS season.

Go here to see the original:
Columbus Crew Sign Chad Marshall to Multi-year Contract Extension: A Fan’s Take

For the most comprehensive English-language guide to the midweek Ligue 1 matches, check out www.ligue1.com’s Media Guide, with match-by-match Press Kits as well as the Newsletter – a one-stop guide to the week’s top footballing news from France.

Read more here – From Ligue1.com:
Week 19: Media Guide

Barcelona arrived at the Camp Nou stadium after ripping apart Brazil’s Santos 4-0 and winning their second Club World Cup in Japan.

View original post here:
VIDEO: Club World Champions FC Barcelona arrive back at Camp Nou

Not long enough. That was my immediate reaction upon reading that LA Galaxy and US Men’s National Team player Landon Donovan was joining Everton for two months this winter. The move, scheduled to conclude before the end of February, will see the return of Donovan to his Major…

See the article here:
US Fan Reaction: Loan to Everton Good, but Not Good Enough, for Landon Donovan

LONDON (SE) – Goals may be difficult to come by when Everton welcome Swansea to Goodison Park on Wednesday.

Here is the original post:
Swansea City-Everton Preview

AMSTERDAM — With his club set to slash salary, Ingolstadt forward Edson Buddle is on trial with Championship side West Ham United this week. The US international’s agent, Richard Motzkin, confirmed the news via Twitter on Monday evening.

See the original post:
American Exports: Buddle on trial with West Ham

Marseille kick off the final round of matches before the winter break when they travel to Nancy on Tuesday where a win would send Didier Deschamps’ men fourth ahead of the remainder of the games on Wednesday.

Read more here – From Ligue1.com:
OM target provisional fourth

With the hiring of Bortolo Mutti, Palermo have now made 23 managerial changes in the last 10 years (and four in 2011) under crazypants owner Maurizio Zamparini — a man who makes Roman Abramovich seem patient by comparison. Making the dismissal of former manager Devis Mangia a bit more memorable than the many others was the fact that the naively optimistic gaffer brought a box of a panettone …

Originally posted here:
Palermo’s ex-manager brought panettone to last press conference

Real Madrid returned to the top of Spain’s BBVA Primera Liga with a convincing 6-2 win away to Sevilla this Saturday night.

Link:
Real Madrid Returns to Top of Spain’s Primera Liga

More than four decades of service will come to an end with the new year.

Read the original:
Lazio to retire from American Home Finding

Munich – FC St. Pauli consigned Eintracht Frankfurt to only their second defeat of the campaign with a deserved 2-0 win that took them to fourth in the table, level with their visitors on 39 points and only three behind league leaders Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Read more at www.bundesliga.de:
Pauli win to maintain promotion push

Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and 16 other people were arrested across Italy today in an ongoing investigation into match-fixing and illegal betting on games.

Continue reading here:
17 arrests made in Italian match-fixing probe

FORMER Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni is one of 17 people arrested across Italy in an investigation into what may be a world-wide match-fixing scam.

Read more:
17 arrested in match-fix probe

Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and 16 other people were arrested across Italy today in an ongoing investigation into match-fixing and illegal betting on games.

Read more:
17 arrests in Italian match-fixing proble

FORMER Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and 16 other people were arrested across Italy yesterday in a match-fixing sweep.

See original here:
Cops swoop in soccer fixing scandal

By CHRIS ALTRUDA STATS Editor=

Continued here:
Manchester United-Fulham Preview

HOUSTON – The Houston Dynamo’s run to the 2011 MLS Cup final proved that the team has the foundation to return to the elite of MLS in 2012.

Continue reading here:
Dynamo say 2012 roster requires tweaks, not reinvention

Manchester City and AC Milan officials meet to discuss a transfer for Premier League striker Carlos Tevez.

Excerpt from:
AC Milan meet Man City over Tevez

MILAN (AP) -AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani says he will meet with Manchester City on Thursday to discuss signing striker Carlos Tevez.

More here:
AC Milan will meet with Man City to discuss Tevez

As mentioned a few days ago, Shoreline native George John had his jersey retired at Shorewood High School on Thursday. The 24-year-old has starred in his three years in MLS with FC Dallas and his career is certainly on the up as he continues to draw interest from European teams.

Follow this link:
A stop and chat with local MLS standout George John

Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and 16 other people were arrested across Italy today in an ongoing investigation into match-fixing and illegal betting on games.

See the rest here:
Arrests made in Italian match-fixing probe

One of the conditions of the Brazilian’s release from jail was that he not leave the country and the Bavarians have failed in their bid for him to be granted special dispensation

Originally posted here:
Bayern Munich’s Breno blocked from traveling to Qatar training camp

As Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech accepted in his own words, “At the moment of the shot, I didn’t see the ball at all”. That was enough to undo Chelsea’s hard work in the past three weeks. The match against Wigan was seen as a net practice for their midweek crunch derby against Tottenham. But what Chelsea displayed at DW Stadium against Wigan was nowhere near impressive. Chelsea not only conceded …

Read the rest here:
Chelsea FC : 5 Lessons Learnt from One of the Worst Performances This Season

Borussia Dortmund will be without Brazilian centre-back Felipe Santana for Tuesday’s German Cup last 16 tie with second-tier Fortuna Duesseldorf, the German champions announced on Monday.

Original post:
Santana out of Dortmund cup tie

As a loyal fan of D.C. United, it is no surprise to me that Dwayne De Rosario was named Canada’s male Player of the Year. This is not the first honor for the All-Star athlete this year; he has already been given the Golden Boot and Most Valuable player awards in Major League…

See the original post:
De Rosario Named Canada’s Player of the Year: A Fan’s Reaction

Freiburg – It was hardly a surprise to find Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp smiling after his side had destroyed SC Freiburg 4-1 on Saturday. The win was his side’s tenth in the current campaign and rounded off a three month unbeaten league run to leave BVB in second place over the winter break.

Read more at www.bundesliga.de:
Klopp happy with BVB progress

The 2011 season didn’t quite go according to plan for Real Salt Lake. Despite all of the preseason talk centered around which trophies the Claret-and-Cobalt would be taking home this year (MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, US Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League), they ended up falling short on each count.

Link:
2011 in Review: Real Salt Lake

Palermo appointed Bortolo Mutti as its coach on Monday, replacing the fired Devis Mangia. Mangia was fired a day after Sunday’s 2-0 derby loss at Catania, which left Palermo in 10th place in the Serie A standings after only one win from its last five games. Mutti returns for a second spell at Palermo.

See the article here:
Palermo appoints Bortolo Mutti as coach