Juventus: Up for title race

Inter Milan suffered a second loss of the season as Juventus blew open the Serie A title race by winning an enthralling Derby d'Italia 2-1. Juve move within five points of the Serie A leaders after Claudio Marchisio's superb strike clinched victory at the Stadio Olimpico. Felipe Melo claimed the 21st minute opener from a free-kick that appeared to ricochet in off Lucio, although the Brazilian defender was saved his blushes somewhat as his fellow countryman was given the goal. The champions responded in Turin and Samuel Eto'o levelled five minutes later but a stunning Marchisio goal, when he skipped past Walter Samuel and lifted the ball beyond Julio Cesar, was as good a goal as any to win a contest. Inter, whose lead has been cut to four points after second-placed AC Milan outclassed Sampdoria 3-0 at the San Siro, saw boss Jose Mourinho sent to the stands for sarcastic applause following the opener.Juve's Melo was dismissed late on after an incident with Mario Balotelli, who was whistled by home fans but not racially abused as had been feared.

Leonardo: We were sloppy

Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara says they have no excuses after being dumped out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich last night. David Trezeguet handed Juve the lead, but they were overrun by a rampant Bayern in Turin.
A group of around 50 fans gathered outside the stadium to protest after this disastrous 4-1 defeat to Bayern Munich. “It's terribly disappointing, but for everyone rather than just me. The club, fans and team know it hurts to go out of this competition, but we lost the last two games and tonight proved we're not capable of dealing with a situation like this,” said Ferrara. “We're not good at holding on to a draw. Bayern were superior tonight in terms of sharpness, tactics and technique. We created very little.”
The Bianconeri only needed a point to qualify and had taken the lead through David Trezeguet, but collapsed in the second half. Some would suggest they were drained from the fiery 2-1 win over Inter at the weekend.
“It's difficult to say if Inter influenced, but I don't think it's right to look for alibis. You all saw how much physical and psychological energy we poured into Saturday's match, but having said that, this is a competition that has to motivate you. “Their wide players often found space between the lines with very little resistance. It felt like we were running, but ineffectively.”

Last minute win for Roma

Roma substitute Marco Cassetti struck in the second half to sink Lazio into further misery in a sunday derby.The Biancoceleste dominated the encounter at the Stadio Olimpico but it was Roma who found the finishing touch.
Cassetti scored 11 minutes from time to hand Roma their third consecutive triumph after Lazio striker Mauro Zarate had been denied by the post.
Roma ended the game with 10 men after David Pizarro was sent off for a double booking three minutes from time.
The outcome has lifted Roma to sixth position in the standings, one point behind fourth-placed Parma, who hold the last Champions League qualifying position.
The result will be another blow for Davide Ballardini's Lazio, who are without a win since August 30 and remain one point clear of the drop zone after 15 games played.Roma went into the clash looking for their third consecutive league triumph.
The match began on time despite the unruly scenes outside the stadium but the referee did stop play early in the first half when fireworks thrown by a section of Roma supporters landed on the pitch.
Aleksandar Kolarov was first to test Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio with his powerful free-kick, which was well saved by the Roma goalkeeper.At the other end, Lazio goalkeeper Nestor Muslera did well to come off his line to anticipate Mirko Vucinic.
When play resumed after a six-minute delay caused by the fireworks, Roma showed more determination and had a good chance to break the deadlock in the 26th minute.
Jeremy Menez forced Muslera to dive to his right to save his right-footed strike towards the far post from the edge of the area.

On the half-hour mark, Matuzalem's cross-cum-shot from the right almost stunned Julio Sergio, who was forced fully stretch to clear the ball out of danger.In the 42nd minute, Zarate put a good move together, getting past two Roma defenders before surging inside the area only for his cross towards Matuzalem to be intercepted by Julio Sergio.
Roma coach Claudio Ranieri made a substitution before the break with Philippe Mexes forced to leave the pitch with a knee injury and replaced by Cassetti.

Lazio picked up where they left off after the re-start and Zarate's left-footed strike from the edge of the area towards the near post was saved by Julio Sergio.In the 57th minute, an unmarked Cassetti should have done better but fired straight at Muslera from the edge of the area.
Lazio were unlucky not to break the deadlock on the hour mark, with Zarate's right-footed strike from eight yards beating Julio Sergio but rebounding off the near post towards the path of Stefano Mauri, whose strike was met by a fine clearance from the Roma goalkeeper.Just when Lazio were playing at their best Roma made the breakthrough.
Vucinic's cross from the right found Cassetti at the heart of the area and his right-footed volley towards the near post beat Muslera.
Shortly afterwards, Muslera made a stunning save to palm John Arne Riise's right-footed volley from the edge of the area over the bar in what looked to be Roma's second of the evening.Lazio desperately searched for an equaliser but time ran out as Roma held on for victory.

Villareal: The Comeback

Joan Capdevila struck twice, including an 86th-minute winner to enable Villareal to win such a crucial match.Capdevila was not the only member of Spain's Euro 2008-winning side to shine for Villarreal either, with midfielder Santi Cazorla scoring a stunning 67th-minute equaliser just two minutes after entering the action on his comeback from injury.Villarreal's victory, which came despite the dismissals of Ruben Cani and Angel Lopez at either end of the second half, was their sixth successive triumph at home in all competitions and lifts them up to 11th.

For Getafe, the defeat means hat they stay in ninth spot. Michel's side could hardly have asked for a better start as Pedro Leon put them ahead early on.There were less than three minutes on the clock when Jaime Gavilan's cross reached Leon after flicking off the head of Villarreal defender Ivan Marcano, and the 23-year-old slammed an unstoppable volley past Diego Lopez from just inside the box.
Having winning their last two matches, Getafe were seeking to record three successive Primera Division victories for this first time since 2007, and Roberto Soldado really should have put them closer to that goal in the 11th minute.The in-form striker skipped past Diego Godin and, after screaming for offside team-mate Gavilan to leave the ball alone, had only former Real Madrid team-mate Lopez to beat, but he side-footed his effort wide of the post.Soldado, fresh from his hat-trick against Xerez last weekend, was made to rue that miss as seven minutes later Villarreal were on level terms thanks to Capdevila.

The midfielder had not played since October due to injury but he showed no signs of sloppy play as he picked up a pass on the edge of the Getafe area before firing home a brilliant volley past Ustari.That goal gave Villarreal a huge confidence boost and, despite their numerical disadvantage, they pushed forward for the win and were rewarded when Godin played the ball across goal for Capdevila to slot home into an empty net.Villarreal were reduced to nine men in injury-time when Angel earned a second yellow, but Ernesto Valverde's men had done enough to claim a remarkable win

Ballon d'Or

Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi was recieved the Ballon d'Or at an awards ceremony in Paris this sunday. The 22-year-old finished recieved almost double votes as compared to the runner-up C.Ronaldo.

Messi becomes the first Argentinian to win the Ballon d'Or, also called the European Footballer of the Year award. The accolade caps a brilliant year for the modest left-footer, who helped treble-winning Barcelona lift the Champions League title with nine goals. He also netted 23 in the league and six in the Copa del Rey. The France Football magazine award's 96 jurors gave Messi 473 points out of a possible 480, a near unanimous verdict.
Lionel Messi of Brcelona and Argentina striker, says, "I want to dedicate this trophy to my teammates, and share it with them. I'm very happy to be the first Argentine to get this honor, and the first Barca player to get it. I want to thank my family and my friends. My brothers are here today, and I want to share my trophy with them because they're always with me, they're always by my side, and that's why I want to share my happiness with them."

Voting details of the ballon d'Or award

Ballon d'Or: How the voting went
1. L Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) 473pts
2. C Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Manchester United/Portugal) 233pts
3. X Hernandez (Barça/Spain) 170pts
4. A Iniesta (Barça/Spain) 149pts
5. S Eto'o (Barça, Internazionale/Cameroon) 75pts
6. Kaka (Milan, Real Madrid/Brazil) 58pts
7. Z Ibrahimovic (Internazionale, Barça/Sweden) 58pts
8. W Rooney (Man Utd/England) 35pts
9. D Drogba (Chelsea/Ivory Coast) 33pts
10. S Gerrard (Liverpool/England) 32pts
Other British/British-based players:
11. F Torres (Liverpool/Spain) 22pts

12. C Fabregas (Arsenal/Spain) 13pts

13. R Giggs (Manchester United/Wales) 11pts

14. N Vidic (Manchester United/Serbia) 8pts

15. A Arshavin (Arsenal/Russia) 5pts

16. F Lampard (Chelsea/England) 5pt

17. J Terry (Chelsea/England) 2pts.

Ronaldo didnot deserved it

After a long wait of 2 months Ronaldo was starting his first home game and was involved in the action when Real won 4-2. Ronaldo set up Madrid's first goal and scored the fourth goal but was sent off in the last minutes of the game.
The former Manchester United star's first yellow card came after he removed his shirt while celebrating his goal, while the referee brandished a second yellow when he tackled Juanma Ortiz.
Ronaldo will now miss next weekend's game at fourth-placed Valencia, but Pellegrini has refused to come down too hard on the 24-year-old.
"It's a shame that he saw a yellow card for taking his shirt off; he should've avoided that," the Chilean coach told www.realmadrid.com."His double booking was fair because he took his shirt off and because he was involved in a series of fouls."He is nevertheless a creative player who doesn't deserve to be sent off; other players make many more fouls and never see a red card." Ronaldo said this in an interview.Pellegrini also played down Ronaldo's lack of celebration following Karim Benzema's goal in the 83rd minute, a strike that saw Madrid establish a 3-2 lead

Arsenal: Getting back on track

Before the international break Arsenal was unstoppable. They were scoring 2 to 3 goals at every game and were climbing up the epl standing steadily.Then came the curse of November, a number of injuries, three loses and suddenly the future does not look as bright as it did a month ago. Biggest lost among them was when Gunners lost to Blues at Emirates 3-0, which increased the gap between Chelsea and Arsenal at the EPL standings.

After the defeat some Wenger received a lot of criticism and people started to believe that the coach has lost it's touch. But the way Gunners played this weekend against Stoke told everyone why Arsenal is among the top 3 teams at the standing.

Another delight for the Gunners fan was that Chelsea lost to Manchester City 2-1. That means Gunners are back where we were a week ago before the Chelsea game. Chelsea lead Man Unitd by 2 points and Arsenal by 8, with the Gunners having a game in hand. What a swing of emotions the last week has been. From the despair of losing at home to Chelsea and falling 11 points out of first, so seeing Chelsea get upset and realizing the title race is back on.