Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Balotelli gatecrashes Stramaccioni's Inter unveiling

Mario Balotelli's off-field antics stepped up another notch on Tuesday afternoon when he barged in uninvited on new Inter boss Andrea Stramaccioni's first press conference. The Manchester City star parked his Ferrari outside the building, strode in unexpectedly, shook hands with the coach and the Inter directors, and then left just as abruptly as he came.

The incident is the latest in a long line of unpredictable shenanigans concerning the volatile 21-year-old, who has created more headlines off the pitch than on it in his short career.

Ranieri the clown is fired from the Inter circus

After a string of sub-standard results, Claudio Ranieri was sacked as Inter coach on Monday night and was replaced by Primavera trainer Andrea Stramaccioni.

The final straw came when the Nerazzurri suffered a 2-0 loss against Juventus in the Derby d'Italia at the weekend.

Ranieri leaves Inter in eighth place in Serie A, eliminated from the Champions League and 10 points away from a qualification spot for next year's tournament. 'The Tinkerman' joins a list of 17 different coaches Massimo Moratti has gone through in the 17 years since he bought the club.


Monday, March 26, 2012

Masterful Messi gobbles up roly-poly Ronaldo's record

Lionel Messi made history again on Saturday night by breaking the record for most goals scored in a single La Liga season by a Barcelona player. The Argentine's first-half strike against Mallorca took his tally for the current league campaign to 35, thus securing him outright possession of a record he had been sharing with former Blaugrana forward Ronaldo. All and sundry were delighted by Messi's latest feat. Well, except perhaps for a certain burly Brazilian watching at home who has now been written out of the history books ...

Sunday, March 25, 2012

شو المشكلة؟

Madrid and Mourinho batten down the hatches as media silence continues

Real Madrid have maintained their media silence ahead of Saturday's game against Real Sociedad. The Spanish capital club put a halt to the information flow coming out of Santiago Bernabeu in support of Jose Mourinho's decision not to hold a press conference after the 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Wednesday. The coach felt refereeing decisions of late have not been fair to the current Liga leaders, and is keeping his lips sealed for the time being.

From Galacticos to Jurassicos - Real Madrid Island awaits

On Thursday afternoon, Real Madrid announced the ambitious news that they are planning to spend around $1 billion on a luxury holiday resort and theme park in the United Arab Emirates

Real Madrid Resort Island, as the project is known, will have a host of state-of-the-art facilities including a five-star hotel, and a water park. Club president Florentino Perez looks to be creating his very own Jurassic Park ...


Mancini beckons Tevez off the naughty step

Carlos Tevez appeared to have played his last game for Manchester City after refusing to warm up as a substitute during his side's Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich back in September. 

However, against the odds, the Argentine came off the bench to make his first appearance since that incident on Wednesday night against Chelsea. 

And what's more, he then proceeded to provide a match-winning assist for Samir Nasri to secure a 2-1 win for City, and in the process reignited their hopes of a first-ever Premier League title. Football's a funny old game, isn't it?

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mes(si) que un club

Lionel Messi made history on Tuesday night by becoming Barcelona's all-time record goalscorer with his eighth hat-trick of the season. The Argentine's latest treble, which came in a 5-3 Liga win over Granada, took him past Cesar Rodriguez's tally of 232 goals set in the 1950s. Aged just 24, the triple Ballon d'Or winner's latest feat is certain to cement his legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, to have graced the Camp Nou turf.