The Beginning of 2012/2013 Season

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After such busy summer with Euro 2012 and Olympics one after another, the new season has finally began,. The Premier League and La Liga both started during the weekend, and of course The 12th Man has a lot to update our readers, as many changes had made in many clubs.

Weekend Sum-up: Barcelona Crashed and more…

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Another eventful weekend had passed. La Liga title run seems to have come to an end, whereas City seems to stand a chance in winning Premier League title again after the surprising outcome between Man Utd and Everton. Reading has confirmed their promotion to Premier League next season but who will be the second team joining Reading for a direct promotion? Kitchee looking good in claiming the title but will Pegasus turn it around after losing two games in a row?

Weekend Sum-up: Arsenal Shatters City’s Dreams and more…

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Premier League, La Liga and Hong Kong First Division are all moving toward the end of the season, ‘Who will win the title?’ becomes the main concern to all football fans. So, will it be Man United or Man City? Real Madrid or Barcelona? Kitchee or TSW Pegasus?

Weekend Sum-up: Hong Kong FA Cup First Round and more…

 

Which one of these interest you more? Man City continues to lose points? Real Madrid continues to lead the La Liga table? Or Hong Kong Sapling managed to qualify for FA Cup second round after penalty shootouts with Tuen Mun? Guess I shall start with our local league first.

Weekend Sum-up: League Cup Semi-finals and more…

Another eventful weekend, so let’s cut the crap and start talking about it!

In Hong Kong League…

League cup semi-finals were played during the weekend, which Kitchee took on rival SCAA on Saturday and TSW Pegasus  played against Citizen on Sunday.

Matches to Catch: The European Leagues are Back

Relax, Pep. Just Breathe!Image via Daylife

After some rest, the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League will be back to business this week. With some big teams playing in Europa this season, we are pretty sure both Leagues will be exciting to watch. Let’s see which matches are up this week, that you shouldn’t miss:

Real Madrid vs Barcelona: As Ugly As Usual?

Fouls, yellow cards, red cards, players shouting at each other, pushing each other, and so on, are all nothing new in the El Clasico. So somehow we are all expecting something more than just a 90 minutes football game, whenever Barcelona takes on Real Madrid. There are people who think Barcelona players dive a lot, but there are also people who think Real Madrid’s tackles were ugly. Right or wrong, depends on how you see it.

We understand facing a team like Barcelona, sometimes you do need to do some dirty works to stop them. But to stamp on someone’s hand? I don’t think so. Please behavior yourself, Pepe. That looked really painful.

Feature: What Does Ballon D'or Tell Us?

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Messi won Ballon D’or three times in a row, well a hat-trick in winning this award is really impressive, but when the mighty Ronaldo was unable to achieve this, what does it tell us? Is it because there were no other players better than Messi? Or is it because the world already blinded from other footballing style and only know how to scream Barcelona?  This should probably be called, Football Imperialism.

Get Well Soon, David Villa!

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Yesterday we were just talking about should David Villa leaves Barcelona. Looks like he can’t go any where now. El Guaje broke his shinbone in the game against Al-Sadd today, and seems like he may needs up to 6 months to recover. This may not concern Barcelona too much, but Euro 2012 is around the corner, hope Villa can make it in time for the tournament.

Get well soon, David!

Feature: Where Should David Villa Go?

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Is David Villa’s time with Barcelona comes to an end?

Transfer window will soon be reopened and many Spanish press have been talking about the future of David Villa. The Spanish top scorer of all time was on the bench during El Clasico and was only given less than 10 minutes time to play. In the game against Levante, David Villa was an unused substitute. When a striker like him, spent more time on the bench than on the field, his future of course becomes a question mark.

Real Madrid: From Heaven to Hell

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I was just about to sit down in front of the TV right after kick off, haven’t even sat properly and there came the Benzema goal. Surely no one really saw that coming. Firstly, it was fast, the fastest El Clasico goal ever. Secondly, it was a horrible mistake by Victor Valdes. He passed the ball to a Madrid player at their own half.

El Clasico: Iker Casillas vs David Villa?

Already excited about the El Clasico tonight and planning to sleep earlier for the game? Don’t forget there are a few Premier League games on as well, one of them will be Arteta against old club Everton. Think Liverpool versus QPR will be an exciting one too. So what do we think about the El Clasico?

Champions League: The Last Battle

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Here comes the last game in group stage of UEFA Champions League and let’s see which teams are already cleared and through to the next stage:

Bayern Munich, Internazionale, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Apoel, Barcelona and AC Milan.
The rest? They will have to fight hard for their places, and no, winning is not quite enough.

Feature: Messi-Ronaldo Competition is Hurting La Liga

When everyone is enjoying the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid, counting whether Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo scored more hat-tricks in a season…Have you realized a big problem is evolving in the La Liga? Let’s call it, the Messi-Ronaldo syndrome.

How do you tell when someone is suffering from this syndrome?

Symptom 1:
They care about who score the goals more than who won the game.

Picture of The Day: ‘I Want It!’

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Well well, Fabregas looked all lovey-dowey while touching Puyol’s hand watch. His heart must be screaming ‘I want it!’, 'Okay kid, I will get you one as Christmas gift. Stop touching me!!’

Our Prediction for FIFA Ballon d'Or

'So Pep, if Messi and Xavi both got into the final 3 this year, who do you think will win?’
'Oh man! I DON’T KNOW!’ Image via Daylife/GettyImages

Yes yes, the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or is just around the corner and the 23-man shortlist was just released. No doubt that Messi, Ronaldo are both in the running and we are not surprised that Barcelona players have dominated the list, there are all together 8 of them on the list:

Rosy Glove Can’t Save Granada

We screamed (in our heart) when we saw this pink glove! They are lovely, aren’t they?

Okay, let’s get back to the topic. I think we shall give Granada an applause for their performance against Barcelona last night. Although we hoped Barca can get that three points to keep the table interesting, we were gutted for this newly promoted La Liga team.

Their performance wasn’t flawless, but they have shown determination in defending one of the best team in the world. They were 10 men down early in the second half, yet they managed to keep Barcelona away from goal. The only goal Barcelona scored last night, was an awesome free-kick by Xavi. If not for referee misjudgement, which mistaken an onside move as offside, Granada could have grabbed one point at home against Barcelona.

In the end, another Granada player, Benitez, got his second yellow and was sent off. Bad news for Barca fans, Pedro picked up an injury in the game and was replaced by David Villa. Hope he can recover soon!

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A Weekend Full of Surprises

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Remember last season there was this weekend when every team at the top of the table lost points? Things only get better in the weekend that just passed, not only teams lost points, but, in a dramatic way!

Messi Does Moonwalk Dance

While everyone is looking forward to the Manchester Derby tomorrow and nothing too exciting in the Premier League and La Liga today. Messi can keep you entertained! How? If you play Pro Evolution Soccer (PES 2012), you can look for this goal celebration. Someone posted this on Youtube and Messi does the famous Moonwalk move after scoring a goal, this may be the game producer’s way to pay tribute to pop king Michael Jackson. We really hope to see this in real life! ;)

Mata Went Home to Face Valencia

During lazy typhoon day, as we are stuck at home, we decided to do a little blog update. After some local footballs, we shall catch up on some Euro football news.

Last two days were the Champions League match days and the giants didn’t tell the same story. Manchester City lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich, but Tevez had apparently grabbed more spotlight then the match result. Manchester United only managed to get one point from the game against FC Basel, despite leading two nil in the first half, the game ended in a 3-3 scoreline. Chelsea too, only managed to get one point, facing their new signing, Mata's former club, Valencia, final score 1-1. On the other hand, Arsenal looks like they are back on their feet, another victory after the weekend game against Bolton, the game ended with 2-1 scoreline, against Greek giant Olympiakos. Barcelona and Real Madrid, too, had another victory, Real Madrid won 3-0 against Ajax and Barcelona trashed BATE Borisov 5-0, top scorer battle between Ronaldo and Messi still continue, both scored in the game.

Sadly, we did not manage to finish watching any of these games, but the results look interesting. What do you think about these games?

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