Daily Sports News

Barcelona won against Tenerife by a comprehensive 4-1 margin at the Camp Nou. This has increased the difference between them and second placed Real Madrid to four points. The whites now must win their match against Mallorca if they want to keep their La Liga chances alive. Barcelona president Juan Laporta said that the pressure is now on Real Madrid. There are only a hand ful matches remaining in the Spanish league and both the teams must win everything they can.

The most dangerous player for the Catalan giants was Lionel Messi. He was absolutely stunning thorough out the game and took his opportunities very well. Dani Alves also made some great forward runs in order to serve the forwards. He set up a number of chances for the forward and when needed, he got back and defended well too. Xavi was the best amongst midfielders, it seemed like the ball was glued to his feet and give it to the opposition at all.

On the other side, Tenerife’s Manolo Martinez gave a very strong performance even though the opposition scored three times. His tackles were good and gave lots of problems to the Barcelona forwards. Roman Martinez was the only goal scorer for his team in the game. His performance too was commendable and ran all over the field relentlessly.

The difference between the top two in the EPL is just one point and both Manchester United and Chelsea are trying to win all the matches in order to keep the pressure on the other side. Chelsea trashed Stoke City with a comprehensive 7-1 win at Stamford Bridge. For Chelsea, Frank Lampard was simply superb. He played in a deeper role than normal. He had big roles to play in two goals, one of which was a penalty and showed how to keep your head calm during such high pressure games. Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s talisman striker was another amazing player for the Blues. He controlled the ball magnificently and really deserved a goal in the game. Salomon Kalou too was involved heavily in the game from the beginning and was stellar when in the box. He scored a hat trick in this game and showed fine persistence through out the match. Stoke City’s performance was lackluster. The only exception was Ricardo Fuller who gave Ivanovic nightmares a couple of times in the first half. Dave Kitson was substituted in the latter part of the game and he made no efforts to hide his displeasure. But the managers decision was justified considering he was anonymous for most of the game.

Real Madrid have practically handed the La Liga title after conceding to a defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu this Saturday. Barca now have one hand on the title and now only need to survive seven games in order to win the title. Messi was one of the two stars in the match. He constantly created space for himself and terrorized the defense from time to time. Albiol was appointed to mark the Argentine and he could do nothing to stop the opening goal.

The other player who shined brightly for the Catalan giants was Xavi who had a big role to play in both the goals. He also served two more passes to Messi but he couldn’t exploit them. Had Messi scored a hat trick in here, this would haven been a 4-0 humiliation for the Los Merengues. Higuain, who has been a revelation this season for Real Madrid was like a kid who was lost in the park. He had a couple of chances but was too shy of scoring.

Ronaldo and Marcelo were Real Madrid’s best players in for the evening. The former worked his socks off in the field looking for the ball when he lost possession. Marcelo showed his pace and put pressure on Barca defense on a lot of occasions.

Donovan McNabb is changing teams, players, and loosing much needed support from Philly. This Sunday, the Eagles announced that McNabb would not be returning for the 2010-2011 season and would be traded to the struggling Washington Redskin’s system, led by no head coach at the moment. Donovan’s Eagle statistics include 148 games played, 2,801 total completions, 4,746 attempts, 32,873 pass yards, and 216 total touchdowns. Mc Nabb was traded for a 2010 second-round pick (No. 37 overall) and either a third- or fourth-round draft pick in 2011. I personally think that McNabb would be traded after the dwindling stats and off-field concerns.

“I’m really excited about my future with the Washington Redskins,” McNabb said in an interview with NFL network. “I’m eager to work with coach Mike Shanahan. He’s a very successful coach with a couple of Super Bowl victories on his resume. I had many more good times than bad.”

McNabb, a six-time Pro Bowler who was the Eagles’ first-round draft pick (No. 2) in 1999, led the franchise to five NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl in 11 seasons in Philadelphia. He leaves as the franchise leader in yards passing, completions, attempts, completion percentage (59.0) and touchdown passes. He also rushed for 3,249 yards and 28 TDs. He remains in the NFC East and I wish him a good 2010-2011 football season.

It was perhaps Lionel Messi’s best performance ever as he single handedly destroyed Arsenal and put them out of Champions League. He scored four goals and now becomes the sixth player to score four goals in a single Champions League game. The English and Spanish giants locked horns in the Champions League quarter final and football pundits hesitated to bet their money on either team since both of them were well balanced.

But Arsenal didn’t have Messi and Arsene Wenger stood stunned at the touch line as he watched as Messi put the quartet in between the goal posts one after the other. The game was won in the first half itself as the young Argentine banged in three goals in answer to Bendtner’s 19^th minute effort. Arsenal went to Camp Nou after a 2-2 lock against the Catalan giants. The aggregate score is 6-3 in Barca’s favor.

But Messi’s effort in this game must be reiterated. The modest winger insisted in post match conference that it was a ‘team effort’ which won the game for Barcelona.

All eyes are now focused on Manchester United’s game against Bayern Munich. Will injured Rooney make it to the game? or will he be baking the benches licking his wounds?

Chelsea have won what could be termed as a title decider at Old Trafford. The win was definitely not a deserved one though, as Chelsea’s deciding goal came was scored by Didier Drogba who was in an offside position. A couple of penalties in Manchester United’s favor were also not given and Chelsea now have one hand on the cup, having a two point difference over second placed Manchester United with just five games left to play.

Manchester United bitterly missed their talisman striker, Wayne Rooney who is currently out, nursing an injury. Florent Malouda was brilliant for Chelsea, he played a part in the opening goal dancing down the flank. Joe Cole had lots to contribute on the pitch. He put in the opening goal and had lots of influence on the game after that finish. Drogba’s goal in this game is his first ever against Manchester United.

For the red devils, the defenders were much better players than the forwards. Rio Ferdinand’s game play reminded us of the old days when he used to turn the back four in to a fortress. Anelka struggled to get past him and the striker was quiet for most of the game.

Manchester United scored a comprehensive 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok stadium which will give them great confidence as they go to Europe mid week to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The star of the match was Nani who just got a new contract and proved that Ferguson wasn’t wrong in giving him one. He terrorized Ricketts, Bolton Wanderers defender and set up Berbatov’s and Gibson’s goals. He also made some contributions in the defense line which reiterates his versatility as a football player.

Another important player for the day was Ryan Giggs, the Manchester United veteran who made his first start since the arm fracture. His passes were extremely accurate. Had a big part to play in second goal and was taken off later for Macheda. Paul Scholes, another Manchester United loyal, too was great and punished Bolton time and again for blunders. He was replaced later on in the match by Carrick and received a huge round of applause for the part that he played. Darren Fletcher was full of energy and ran all over the pitch looking for the ball. Bolton found it extremely difficult to handle him during the game.

Bolton Wanderers didn’t do to well in the game. Their players were lack luster and Fabrice Muamba was perhaps the only player who threatened Manchester United’s defenders.

Manchester United rubbed salt in to the wounds of Liverpool by defeating them 2-1 at Old Trafford. This loss now seriously puts a dent in the chances of Merseyside’s qualification in next season of Champions league.

Chances looked weak for the Liverpool, as Manchester United attack was headed by Wayne Rooney who is currently enjoying the form of his life. Rooney was on a 10 match goalless streak against Rafa Benitez’s men and scored from a penalty rebound to end that streak. He was the only man up front and used his chances effectively.

Apart from Rooney, Ji-Sung Park was another hero for the red devils. He showed great support for Rooney by constantly feeding him with passes and also tried relentlessly to go in to the attack all the time.

Steven Gerrard who has been Liverpool’s talismanic leader had a lackluster display. He was quiet most of the time and couldn’t get on with the flow of the match.

Fernando Torres was the only player who was ruthless for Liverpool. He opened the scoring for Liverpool nodding off Dirk Kuyt’s pass. He was later booked for the tackle on Park but Torres was the only hope that Liverpool had in the match. All others looked like children who were lost in the park.