Cry me a river!

 

Barcelona's 0-0 draw with AC Milan in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday was an entertaining spectacle, despite no goals being scored, but unsurprisingly the clash had more than a hint of controversy.

It centred around the state of the San Siro turf, which Barca coach Pep Guardiola and star duo Xavi and Javier Mascherano moaned was not suitably watered to allow them to utilise their tiki-taka passing style. The club have lodged a formal complaint to Uefa about the poor condition of the pitch, but the trio's tears would have been enough to moisten the surface ...

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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.

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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.


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Del Piero cements his place as the King of Turin

 

Alessandro Del Piero confirmed his place as the 'King of Turin' on Sunday as he scored his first league goal of the season in a 2-0 win for Juventus in the Derby d'Italia against Inter.

The 37-year-old forward will leave the Bianconeri at the end of the season after the club confirmed in October that the iconic No.10 will not be offered a new contract , but with his side now in the Coppa Italia final and chasing down AC Milan at the top of Serie A, could it be the perfect end to an illustrious career with 'The Old Lady' for His Royal Highness?

 

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بحبك دودل

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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 ...

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شو المشكلة؟

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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.

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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 ...

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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?

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