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First off, I would like to thank everyone that voted for this years Managing Madrid awards. We'll be posting the results tomorrow so be on the look out for that. I have a great feeling that 2012 is going to be a great year for Managing Madrid and our favorite team as well.
FC Barcelona took one more step towards a possible Copa del Ray showdown with Real Madrid. They quickly dispatched Osasuna 4-0, though they still have an away leg to go.
Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi provided the offense for the Catalan side, though there was a chance that Messi would not be available for selection. He seems to have a delicate stomach.
"I didn't vomit and there was no fever, I just had a stomach ache, nothing more," Messi said. "That's why I couldn't take part in this morning's training but later on I recovered enough to be able to play."
Striker Jose Reyes returns to Sevilla, the team he started with in 1999. He left the club in 2004 and has played for the likes of Arsenal, Real Madrid, Benfica and Athletico Madrid. Who says you can't go home, right? The deal is reported at about 3.5 million euros with bonuses that could add up to another million and a half euros. In recent times, he'd fallen out of favor with now sacked Athletico Madrid manager, Gregorio Manzano.
With Theirry Henry returning to Arsenal on loan for the next couple of months, there's been a lot of virtual ink used on the subject. One of the things that keeps coming up is the French strikers' time with our rivals FC Barcelona.
As a result, many Barcelona fans, in a display of short-sightedness patent amongst culés, have reduced Henry to the status of a failure, someone who should have done better at the club but never did.
This is simply not true. I want to remind Barcelona supporters that Henry was a vital part of the most succesful FC Barcelona team of all time, equal in importance to Xavi Hernandez, Samuel Eto’o or, dare I say it, Lionel Messi.
Emphasis is mine, duh. Please do yourself a favor and pop over to EL Centrocampista to read the full essay.
Valencia has been rebuffed again by Ajax for right-back and Dutch international Gregory van der Weil. The 23-year-old defender has made it clear that he wants to play in la Liga with Valencia, but the two clubs are about 2 million euros apart when it comes down to the bottom line. Ajax has been holding out for 12m euros, while Valencia only wants to pony up 10m euros. Thus, there lies the sticking point.
Of course, his agent would like to get the deal done sooner rather than later.
"Maybe Ajax are hoping that another club will make an offer, but Gregory has already made his decision, and wants to join Valencia," Hakim Slimani told Voetbal International. "It would be good if this can be finalised shortly, so Gregory can focus on Ajax again."
You know how you can piss off one of your coaches? Miss early morning training sessions and then blame it on the chronic insomnia you allegedly have. That's what former FC Barcelona, AC Milan and current Flamengo striker Ronaldinho has done. This happened both at the end of last season, coming into this season and the recent holiday breaks. This of course isn't flying with his coach Vanderli Luxemburgo.
As far as Ronaldinho's manager is concerned it has nothing to do with a lack of sleep and more to do with the fact Ronny likes to go out and live it up. He's barely trained since they resumed play after the break on Tuesday, and Luxemburgo allegedly will not tolerate any more of his shenanigans.