Pro Eleven Headline News
SPANISH EYES FOCUS ON EL CLASICO - Barcelona v Real Madrid
There is no doubt where the spotlight falls in Spain this weekend with the much-anticipated first Clasico of the season taking place as Barcelona face arch rivals Real Madrid at the Nou Camp.
The battle between Spanish football's two biggest clubs rarely needs any additional hype and attention.
But this Saturday's encounter has got just that, with the arrival of new coach Juande Ramos at Madrid highlighting the hugely contrasting fortunes of the two rivals heading into the game.
For hosts Barca life could hardly be any better. They are six points clear of second-placed Villarreal, on course to smash the Primera Liga record of goals scored in a single season, and have won 17 of their last 21 competitive games.
Compare that with stuttering Madrid, and it is clear why Pep Guardiola's side are firm favourites to avenge their crushing 4-1 defeat at the Bernabeu late last season.
Madrid are chasing a third successive Primera Liga title, but indifferent form, poor results and a plague of injuries has put a huge question mark against that objective and they could fall a massive 12 points adrift of Barca this weekend.
Barca midfielder Xavi said: "Barca and Madrid are like scales, when one is going well the other is going not so well.
"I don't think the situation (at Madrid) is as serious as is being made out, although they are nine points back. I don't think Madrid are in crisis."
Madrid will also be without the man who masterminded that heavy win over Barca in May with coach Bernd Schuster on Tuesday leaving the club in the wake of Sunday's 4-3 defeat to Sevilla - Madrid's sixth defeat in their last 12 fixtures.
The new man at the helm is the former Sevilla and Tottenham coach Ramos, who enjoyed a winning start to life in the hotseat with last night's 3-0 Champions League win over Zenit St Petersburg.
Arjen Robben, who scored one of Madrid's goals against Zenit but will be suspended for the trip to Barca, said: "We still don't know the coach too well.
"We first have to play in Barcelona. We'll start to know each other better after the weekend. The vibes we've had for the moment have been very good.
"We'll have to do our best to win in Barcelona. Anything could happen if we do. I feel fine from my injury, but it's a shame I'll miss the game. It's tough, but that's football."
The Barca-Madrid showdown may be attracting all the attention, but it is not the only huge Primera Liga match taking place this weekend.
On Sunday, Villarreal travel to fourth-placed Sevilla, who will be keen to build on their Madrid win having previously lost 3-0 at home to Barca.
"The objective is always the same, to be at the top and be fighting amongst the top teams," said Sevilla midfielder Aldo Duscher. "Now we have a great chance if we beat Villarreal."
There is also a big match at the other end of the table, when bottom two Osasuna and Recreativo Huelva clash at the Nuevo Colombino.
Aside from the Clasico, the other game being played on Saturday night is between third-placed Valencia and Espanyol.
The rest of the matches take place on Sunday, when sixth-placed Atletico Madrid and seventh-placed Deportivo La Coruna could add to the misery at Real Madrid by leapfrogging the champions if they lose at Barca.
Atletico are at home to Real Betis while Depor go to the team immediately below them, Real Valladolid.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao host Sporting Gijon, Numancia go to Malaga, Getafe welcome Real Mallorca and Almeria meet Racing Santander.
Ferguson Slams Spurs Over Berbatov Sale
Sir Alex Ferguson is no fan of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. Ahead of Manchester United's visit to White Hart Lane on Saturday, the Red Devils' boss believes Levy not only "milked" the sale of Dimitar Berbatov, but also has "a problem" with United from the transfer of Michael Carrick to Old Trafford in 2006.
One of the sagas of last summer was Ferguson's long-running interest in signing Berbatov from Spurs. Levy was angry about that, and accused the United manager of being "unbelievably hypocritical" and committing "probably one of the worst [tapping-up] offences by any manager in the Premier League to date".
Ferguson felt, and still feels, that Levy's rant was "embarrassing." And he believes he knows why the transfer of the Bulgarian became so acrimonious.
"I think it was all because Berbatov was coming to Manchester United. If he had been going anywhere else there wouldn't have been so much of a furor. But for some reason Tottenham still regret selling Michael Carrick to us. That's their big problem.
"They regret selling him to us, even though they wanted to [at the time]. They can't blame us for that."
United eventually snared Berbatov, just before the summer transfer window closed, for a fee of £30.5 million, and also had to loan Spurs Fraizer Campbell for the season as part of the deal.
Clearly, Ferguson remains angry about Levy's hard-line position during the negotiations.
"They milked it well on that last day — they milked it and they got Fraizer Campbell into the bargain. They got a good deal. They can't complain."
The transfer proceeded only after United stipulated that Levy must withdraw his complaint to the Premier League about alleged illegal approaches. Ferguson regards it as the most complicated transfer deal he has been involved in.
"He [Berbatov] was very calm. But [United's chief executive] David Gill was on the phone all night up to eight minutes to the bell. It was a bit of an agony. But we got there in the end."
Ferguson expects Berbatov to get some stick from the Spurs fans on Saturday, his determination to leave the North London club having been portrayed as one of the main reasons for the Lilywhites' poor start to the season.
"He's going to get the reception we expect in the modern day," Ferguson predicted. "He knows he's going to get a lot of abuse. Nobody likes getting abuse, but it's never any different and it is not going to change.
"I applaud our own fans because it doesn't happen at Old Trafford. Paul Ince is probably the only one who gets a bit of abuse and that's simply because he played for Liverpool, but it's not really drastic. You saw it last week when Dwight Yorke came off for Sunderland and got a fantastic reception. But I don't think you will change it [elsewhere]. It is modern society." -Goal
Ronaldo, Torres up for Fifa award 
Manchester United midfielder Ronaldo and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres have been shortlisted for the Fifa World Player of the Year award.
United and Portugal winger Ronaldo, 23, scored 42 goals for his club last season and collected the European Player of the Year award on Sunday.
Torres scored 33 goals in his debut season for Liverpool and the winner for Spain in the final of Euro 2008.
Kaka of AC Milan and Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Xavi are also shortlisted.
Ronaldo finished third in voting last year, while Barcelona's Messi, who inspired Argentina to Olympic gold, was runner-up to AC Milan playmaker Kaka.
The nominations were made by the coaches and captains of national teams from around the world. The award will be handed out on 12 January at the Zurich Opera House. BBC
