According to Cristiano Ronaldo, the balance of power in European football has shifted to Spain.

You read it, Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Manchester United winger, suggested that the Spanish La Liga is now THE league to be in European football and he claimed that one of the reasons was that star players enjoyed greater protection from referees in La Liga.

The Portuguese, who just set a record by singing a £80m contract with Real Madrid, made no secret of his dissatisfaction at what he perceived to be rough treatment from Premier League opponents during his six years at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager at Old Trafford, had even hinted that Ronaldo might be driven away from England if he was not better protected from bad challenges.

Ronaldo, the world footballer of the year, has switched to Real together with Kaka from Milan to play for a league that he claims will protect its stars better.

While Ronaldo may have a point in saying that the Spanish La Liga should now be superior, he knows that it isn’t just about the officiating. La Liga should now be superior because of the fact that it now has the two greatest footballers in the world too.

”The Premier League is a very good competition,” Ronaldo said, ”but I think that the Spanish league is going to have a little more…”

Holy shit. Apparently, Real Madrid really wants to win.

In what has been a chaotic series of events for football fans, Real Madrid just signed the two biggest stars of the sport. After signing Kaka to a whopping €67.2 million, the entire blockbuster deal involving the Brazilian is now yesterday’s news with the club now having finalized a deal involving Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.

You read it, Real Madrid just signed Cristiano Ronaldo to a mind-boggling €80 million contract, eclipsing the deal Kaka just signed with the club. The ex-Milan ace, however, has no problems vacating the spotlight for the Portuguese and, if anything, he is looking forward to playing alongside the soon-to-be former Red Devil.

”I rejoice in the signing of Cristiano,” Kaka said when, upon touching down in Johannesburg, he was informed that his new employers had made an official bid for CR7. ”There’s no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world and he will help Real Madrid fight for every title next season.”

Kaka became the world’s second most expensive footballer following his switch to the Spanish behemoths, but he was soon demoted to the third spot on the list after Ronaldo’s mega €80 million transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid went through.

As expected, questions have already been raised about…

And they did just that by beating two powerhouse teams from the English Premier League, Chelsea FC and Man-U.

Giant killers, that is exactly what FC Barcelona has become after winning the 2009 UEFA Champions League. Nobody thought this team would even make it to the final game but after shocking Chelsea FC and following that up with a comfortable win over Manchester United to win the cup, I guess nobody would question this team’s resolve form now on.

In what has become another scintillating showcase of the finest footballers in the world, FC Barcelona dethroned Man-United to become the new champions of the UEFA Champions League, controlling the game from start to finish to beat the defending champs, 2-nil.

It was a disappointing end to what has been a promising campaign for Manchester United, looking to become the first side to retain the trophy in the Champions League era.

For some reason, Man-U just couldn’t get through the defense of the Spanish football giants and for the first time in quite a while, Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t get his team going. Instead, he was getting more and more frustrated as the clock continued to tick away with defeat looming.

Barcelona jumped on Man-U right from the get-go, coming up with the first goal of the game in the 10th minute after…

Barcelona FC clashing against Manchester United in the final of the UEFA Champions League was something that everyone was dreaming about.

Manchester United advanced to the 2009 UEFA Champions League final in Rome after convincingly beating Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate. The Red Devils had to wait 24 hours after triumphing at the Emirates to know who will be their opponents come May 27 at the Stadio Olimpico.

And with all the controversy one could ever think of, it was revealed to be Pep Guardiola’s Catalan Giants FC Barcelona, after the Blaugrana controversially ousted Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona and Manchester United are two clubs from two different countries with a completely different culture all together. However, history shows that as much as they have dissimilarities, they also have similarities, which give this UEFA Champions League final a real flavor of glamor and style.

This will be a battle between the young and the old, the inexperienced one and the wise one, the great…

That’s on May 27 for all you fans who love soccer.

Manchester and FC Barcelona have moved into the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. Man-U dominated Arsenal 3-1 to win their second leg match while Barcelona shocked Chelsea with a 1-1 draw that gave them the aggregate victory based on away goals.

You read it, Barcelona FC denied us of a classic Man-U – Chelsea rivalry game for the UEFA Champions League title. Andres Iniesta scored in injury time for Barcelona as they got a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Barcelona was down to 10 men at the time so the goal was even more unlikely. Chelsea FC had led since the 9th minute when Michael Essien scored. It looked like a sure win for the Blues when Barcelona’s Eric Abidal was sent off in the 66th minute. STILL, Barcelona was able to get the equalizer in injury time.

”We fought. Pep (Guardiola) rallied us well at halftime and we never gave up to the final whistle,” said Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o. ”This is from a season’s worth a work.” Chelsea FC complained about the refereeing in the game but they really have no one to blame but themselves. Giving up a goal in injury time when Barcelona was down to 10 men was inexcusable.

Barcelona will now advance to the Champions League Final on May 27, giving them enough time to get injured Thierry Henry back in the lineup. Barcelona will be playing for their third Champions League title after…

No wonder why everybody supports Man-U these days.

Federico Macheda scored the game winner as Manchester United got a 2-1 win at Sunderlund last weekend to remain on top of the order in the 2009 English Premiere League season.

The win kept Manchester United one point clear of Liverpool at the top of the standings with a game in hand. Man-U’s win came with Ben Foster filling in for Edwin van der Sar and with Cristiano Ronaldo resting for much of the match.

Cristiano Ronaldo did came into the match at the 69th minute but it was Macheda’s arrival as a 75th-minute replacement that turned the tide for United.

Liverpool crushed Blackburn 4-0 to keep pace with United and they did so without Steven Gerrard who was rested. Fernando Torres scored twice for Liverpool in the 4-0 win.

Third-place Chelsea beat Bolton 4-3 to stay within four points of Man-U.

In the race for fifth place, it was Aston Villa getting a 3-3 draw with Everton as Gareth Barry scored on a penalty in the 66th minute. ”It was a harsh decision,” Everton manager David Moyes said. ”I thought it might have been an indirect free kick because all Joleon has done is put his foot up to try and get the ball.”

Everton is nine points ahead of Fulham in…

It was sweet revenge for Sir Alex Ferguson and his Man-U contingent.

The 2009 UEFA Champions League just got interesting after Manchester United qualified for the quarter finals, earning a 2-0 win over Inter Milan and giving Ferguson a win over his rival, Jose Mourinho.

You see, Jose Mourinho, now with Inter Milan, has been kicking Ferguson’s ass for years when Mourinho was then with Chelsea FC. It was ironic that Ferguson was in a face-off with his old nemesis again and fortunately for Fergie, Manchester United managed to pull through this time around.

Thanks to strong early starts from Man-U in each of the two halves of the fixture, Manchester United defeated Inter Milan, 2-0, to earn the trip to the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Nemanja Vidic came up with a header for Man-U early in the first half before Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the deal with another header early in the second. Of course, Old Trafford was more than happy to see their club moving on in the tournament, especially since it’s a win over Mourinho.

”My team was fantastic but they were not lucky,” Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho said.

There were times in the fixture that Inter Milan looked…

Why are we asking?

Well, since the Manchester United Red Devils just won the Carling Cup, defeating Tottenham in a 4-1 penalty shootout after the teams played to a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time, we are.

You see, United is trying to win five trophies this season, something that has never been done. They won the Club World Cup title back in December and now with the Carling Cup title, they are nearly halfway to the goal. They have a comfortable lead in the 2009 English Premier League and Man-U winning the Premiership again is very possible indeed.

Aside from playing strong in the Premiership, the Red Devils are also in good shape in the 2009 UEFA Champions League, not to mention the fact that they are into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

”We’re not going to get carried away with it,” Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. ”We’ll keep our feet on the ground. A deflected shot goes off someone’s backside at Fulham on Wednesday and you’re out of the cup. Today proved that. Without Ben Foster, we’d have lost that.”

United goalkeeper Ben Foster was brilliant for United in the victory, making big stops on Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent during the match. United also had chances to win before the shootout as Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez hit the post in injury time.

United is so deep that Ferguson chose to rest starting…

As if we care. For those of you who do, read on.

Many football teams playing in the 2008 English Premier League are dealing with injuries. Chelsea is at the top of the standings with their unbeaten start but they are already missing a number of their key players.

In their Champions League match with FCR Cluj, Chelsea was without Joe Cole, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole. What’s even worse is that they lost Didier Drogba to a knee injury in that match and he could be out of a while. John Terry and Alex were also hurt in that match.

”I need to think for the game on Sunday,” said manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. ”I have a few days to build the team again. I don’t know now what the possibilities I have for Sunday are.”

The injuries really could cause Chelsea to fall out of first place.

”If Didier is out for a while, we will have to pitch in with goals from all around the team, which we can do, though the situation is not ideal,” said midfielder Frank Lampard. ”The experience is not really there, but I believe the quality is.”

Sunderland, on the other hand, is still without striker Kenwyne Jones.

”Kenwyne’s making good progress,” Sunderland manager Roy Keane said. ”The surgeon is delighted with the way it is going. He’s working extremely hard to get back and is showing…”

And apparently, it doesn’t matter to these guys if it’s still more than a year away.

The qualifying stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa continues on Saturday as a number of high profile teams will be in action, each looking to represent their country in the largest football event of the world.

Portugal will welcome back Cristiano Ronaldo while Spain and England will each look to remain at the top of their groups. France and Germany, on the other hand, are in need of wins in their respective groups.

Spain is looking good with six points in European Group 5 as they lead Turkey and Belgium by two points. Spain has not lost in 25 games and will look to continue their unbeaten streak at Estonia and Belgium.

England has started World Cup qualifying strong and could remain unbeaten with wins against Kazakhstan and Belarus. Coach Fabio Capello has left Michael Owen off the squad for those two matches while recalling Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes was happy that…