On Monday night Neymar was presented to the World’s media after passing his medical, signing his contract and a few tricks and skills out on the Camp Nou pitch. The following is a short transcript of that press conference. (Not everything is 100%, some was rushed, but you get the jest of it all).

Neymar cost Barcelona €57M – Four different parties get some of that money and the payout was €10M last year as a pre-payment and the next €47M paid out over the next 3 years.

He was handed a 5 year contract.

Neymar’s release clause at Barcelona is €190M.

Barcelona will play two games against Santos home and away as part of the deal to bring Neymar to the Camp Nou.

Now onto the question and answer with the World’s media.

Journalist: Can you win a Balon d’or during your time here? - Neymar: I’m not bothered about becoming the best player while I’m here. To me, the best player is already here, in Messi.

Neymar: There are no preference to where I play. I can fit in all positions in attack, and I’m ready to do what the manager asks me to.

Journalist: Real Madrid & Barcelona both wanted you. – Neymar: It makes me happy both wanted me, but my heart was always with Barcelona.

Journalist: What number would you like on the back of your Barcelona top? – Neymar: Not bothered, never have been. Never had a preference.

Journalist: How will you adapt? – Neymar: “Coming to Europe it’ll be a big change. It’ll be difficult, but I hope to adapt very quickly”

Journalist: What should we call you? – Neymar: Ney, Neymar, Neymar Jnr whatever you like

Neymar: Dani Alves is partly responsible for this, (me to Barcelona) He spoke so highly of the club.

Journalist: Is it true your dad once said you’d rather play 1 game with Messi rather than 100 with Ronaldo – Neymar: (Dodge the question) I’m here to help Messi, I’m glad I’m now here.

Journalist: Did the involvement of Real Madrid ‘Up’ the price – Bartomeu: Not sure about Real Madrid’s involvement, but because other clubs were interested, the price went up.

Neymar : It’ll be very easy to play with Messi because he is the best player in the world.

Neymar: I speak Catalan better than I speak Spanish. Language will not be an challenge, I’ve already started learning it.

Neymar: I wanted to cry when I was walking out of Camp Nou. It was an amazing feeling in front of so many fans, I held back tears.

Bartomeu then added that if a Santos player becomes available, Barcelona get first choice of signing them (Up to the first 3 youngsters) – No names are yet to be mentioned.

Neymar: Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world.

Journalist: When did you ‘fall in love’ with Barcelona – Neymar: I’ve always followed Barca, I’ve played against them, always admired them, since I was very young.

Neymar: “My arrival at Barcelona, it’s the ideal time. I don’t care if others don’t agree.

Journalist: Did you have a medical exam with Real Madrid? – Neymar: Nope, never had a medical with them, no.

Bartomeu: “Neymar was scheduled to arrive in 2014. But joining us in advance we had to pay €17 million more.” [Marca]

Journalist: Have you spoke to Messi in recent days? – Neymar: No I haven’t spoken to him, not yet. I’ll speak & greet my team mates soon.

Journalist: Your son’s in Brazil, will that affect your football? – Neymar: No it won’t affect me, I’ll miss him, but I’ll have people here.

Journalist: Back in 2011 you had a chance to sign for Real Madrid, why is Barca better than Madrid? - Neymar: I respect Madrid a lot, but Barca are in my heart, always have been, that’s why I am here

Journalist: How much does Neymar’s father get? – Bartomeu: All I can say is it was €57M and it was split between 4 parties. I can’t say anymore.

Journalist: Did Pele have anything to do with your decision to come here? – Neymar: No, he offers me a lot of advice and I’m happy with that, but when it came down to the transfer there was very little contact with him, so no.

Journalist: What will you say when you meet Messi? – Neymar: I’ve not thought about it yet.

To sum up the press conference it went like this – Neymar, Happy, Messi, Messi, Messi, €57M, €10M up front, Barca, Heart, Heart, Messi, Messi, Neymar, Happy.

Born on 28^th April 1988 making him still one of the young ones at 24 years old, Juan Mata over the years has won just about everything you can (Except league titles). Copa del Rey with Valencia, FA Cup and Champions League with Chelsea and of course the European Championship and the World Cup with Spain. Not too bad a start in his career as a footballer.

Talking about starts, Juan Mata’s career began in the youth ranks of Real Oviedo a club that many more people in the World are familiar with, he arrived at Oviedo at aged 10 and moved on from there to join footballing giants Real Madrid at the age of 15. At Real Madrid he worked his way up through-out the ranks and worked right up to the Castilla side where he had played in the 2006/07 season, scoring 10 goals in 39 games.

The following year, Mata would once again move, this time from Real Madrid’s B team to Valencia’s first team. There was a clause in his contract at Real Madrid, a buy-out clause that Valencia decided to activate and his father, his agent agreed to the move and it saw Juan Mata starting the 2007/08 campaign in the colours of Valencia. Mata knew he’d have to wait his chance to play for the first team, but not even himself would have guessed it would have come so soon, from constant injuries to Vicente and the ostracism to which then-manager Ronald Koeman condemned Miguel Ángel Angulo, Mata gradually made himself a Valencia’s first eleven starter.

In the first season it seemed that he wouldn’t even get the time to try to find his feet, he was thrown in at the deep end and told to swim or drown, Mata being Mata, obviously done the former, he finished his first season with the club helping them to 10^th in the league, that season he was voted the team’s Best young player by fans and players alike. Not too bad for your first full season at the club at the age of just 18 years old.

The following season he was again a starting XI player, playing to this day the most amount of league games he’s played in a season, he featured in all but one league game that campaign. Finishing the season 2008/09 season with Valencia 6^th, gaining European football. That season, Mata finished with a personal tally of 11 goals and 13 assists, clubs were now taking a look at the young, quick Spanish wizard.

One game in particular stood out that season, the 4-2 home win against Deportivo when Juan Mata did not put one ball wrong, he scored 1 of the goals and set up the other 3, a man of the match performance that any player in the World would have been proud of, this was in September 2008, just a few months later and Mata would receive one of the most important calls of his life, a call from Spanish national team manager Vicente del Bosque.

Del Bosque had seen the game, he had seen him over the last few months and he decided to call up Mata up for the senior team to play in a friendly against Chile. Mata over the years had worked hard in the U-16’s level of the national set up, the U-17’s, U-19’s, U-20’s – U-21’s right up until the Senior side. He had waited for this call, this moment for years. During his years at the younger Spanish sides he has won silverware, the likes of the UEFA U-19 Championship in 2006 and of course the trophy he would later go on to win, the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in 2011.

But in 2008 that call up to the Spanish national team was what he waited for, in the first game he was called up to, he did not leave the bench in a 3–0 home win. But on 28 March 2009, he finally made his debut, in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Turkey, a 1–0 win in Madrid. He came on as a substitute for teammate David Villa, in the 63rd minute.

The following season, the 2009/10 season, Mata continued to do what he does best, he helped Valencia finish as high up the league as 3^rd. He became more of a central figure that season, one who tried to run the game, it affected his personal stats, but that didn’t matter too much, they had managed to finish 3^rd and qualify for the Champions league, that season he had just 9 goals and 4 assists.

In the 2010/11 season, the season that would be his last for the club, he was again excellent, putting in performance after performance, the kind of performances that attracted interest from not just Spain, but abroad. He finished that league season better than the one before, this time his personal tally was up to 8 goals and 12 assists in the league.

But as most know, all good things come to an end and on 24^st of August after months of speculation, Valencia who have been known to be a selling club in recent years, sold yet another one of their stars, this time it was Juan Mata’s time. He moved to the English Premier League and joined mega-rich Chelsea in a deal for JUST, £23.5 million, which in hindsight looks like one of the best buys Chelsea have ever done, a bargain at that price.

Chelsea wasn’t just the only team interested in Mata, in fact there were plenty interested, some in Spain, England and other countries. No wonder, some to this day still feel annoyed that they missed out on such a talent.

On the move itself, Mata had stated that Fernando Torres helped persuade him to move to Stamford Bridge, saying “Fernando got me excited about the thought of coming here. He said it would be good for me here, and that I and he together could be good. I also talked to my family and friends about the move as well.”

His first season at Chelsea couldn’t have gone better, he adapted well and quickly, he was near enough right away one of their most skilful players, the fans took to him within weeks and it seemed like the move was the right one for all included. In his first season with the club he won the FA Cup and the Champions league, finishing the league season with 6 goals and 11 assists and finishing the season overall with 12 goals and 19 assists. Not too shabby for your first season abroad.

The following season, this season and it’s not gone so well for Chelsea, knocked-out of the Champions league early on and not being able to challenge for the title, they do however still find themselves in the Europa League and sitting third in the English Premier League. Juan Mata though, again is in a league of his own. He’s been one of the, if not ‘the’ key man for Chelsea this season. When he plays the team plays better, when he plays they win more. It’s really as simple as that.

Not only has he stood up and been one of Chelsea’s best players in the League, but also Europe as well as the domestic cups, for example in the FA Cup this season. He hadn’t started any of the earlier round games but he was key in the quarter finals against Manchester United, setting up one of the goals in the 2-2 draw. In the replay he set up what was the winner that saw them advance to the semi-finals. This was the final step for them in this season’s competition though as after making it to the semi-finals of the FA cup this year they got knocked out by Manchester City who are now FA Cup betting favourites to win the competition.

Not only has Mata improved Chelsea, but the opposite, there’s no doubt that adapting to another culture another league and team has helped young Mata. He’s took to the league like a duck to water. There are fans of other teams that even enjoy watching him play, wishing they had signed the Spaniard, even his fellow players admire him, showing this in nominating him for PFA player of the year award. The admiration is all around Juan Mata.

Since he joined Chelsea, Juan Mata has played 110 games for the club, scoring 30 goals and assisting 53 other goals. That’s 83 goals in 110 matches.

Since Juan Mata arrived in the Premier League he has more assists to his name than any other player – 25, (The closest to this is David Silva on 22)

Only Robin Van Persie, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero have been involved in more goals in the last two seasons for their team than Juan Mata has.

In the last two seasons he has created 182 chances for his team-mates, only David Silva has created more (197).

His favourite club to score against is Arsenal (3 goals) – He’s also scored braces against the likes of Norwich, Tottenham and Manchester United.

This season he is only 1 of 2 players in the English Premier League that has double figures in BOTH assists and goals. 10 goals & 12 assists.

Of the players to score 10 or more goals, only Frank Lampard (27.9%) has a better conversion rate than Juan Mata (26.3%).

‘’All stats courtesy of Opta, WhoScored.com and EPL Index’’

Who knows what the future will hold for the wizard that is Juan Mata, will he remain at Chelsea? Will he find himself back in the starting XI for Spain? Will he better his previous goal scoring and assist records? – One thing is for sure, at only 24 years old, Juan Mata will only continue to get better and better with every passing season, what a thought that is.

Albaespana’s last interview went down a treat, we had spoken with Spanish football commentator, Terry Gibson.

So I thought I’d go out and try conduct another one, this time we got Sid Lowe on board, Sid was more than happy to spend sometime with Albaespana (In the end, near enough two hours).

For those of you that don’t know Sid Lowe, Sid is a Spanish football…no, Sid is ‘the’ Spanish football journalist. He’s more noticed for his work with the Guardian, but has appeared on loads of different radio stations, talk shows, podcasts and websites.

He’s the go to guy on Spanish football and I’m very happy to have spoken with him about the following things, so sit back, get a drink and enjoy this (long) discussion.

Q.  Hello Sid, thanks for agreeing to chat with Albaespana. How are you?

After the second semi-final of the Copa del Rey, a thought came to my mind. With Atletico Madrid now in the final against Real Madrid, a spot in Europe for next season has now opened up.

Now for those who follow La Liga, you’ll know that the top 3 teams in the league go into the Champions league, with 4^th going into the Champions League qualifiers. The remaining 3 European spots are for the following season’s Europa League, 2 are allocated to 5^th and 6^th in the league, whilst the last is allocated to the winner of the Copa del Rey.

Now this is where it may get a ‘little’ complicated. With Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid both in the final, it doesn’t matter who wins it as they’re both well ahead of most in the league that it’s very, VERY unlikely that they’ll lose their European spots via the league. Meaning that the European spot that is there for the cup then goes to 7^th in the league.

Now the way that 8^th in the league could get into Europe is very simple, Malaga who are currently sitting 4^th (Champions League qualifiers spot) look likely to be banned from Europe next season, this meaning that the Champions league qualifiers spot would then be handed to 5^th in the league and a Europa League spot would then be put down the latter (table) to whoever finishes 8^th in the league.

So with the likes of Espanyol who currently sit 13^th on 31 points, it’s still all to play for this season in La Liga, as from themselves up to Rayo Vallecano who are 8^th in the league there is only 6 points that separate the chasing European position pack.

It was also pointed out that, Madrid, could in fact next season have 4 teams in European competition.

So with many people writing of all the leagues across Europe and stating that most if not all of them are indeed over, take a second and realise, there is still a lot to play for in this season’s La Liga.

In the last few weeks it has come to light that in the deal that took the young Mexican to the Spanish league, there was a clause placed in the contract, a clause that allows Arsenal to buy him back for a very reasonable price of just €4 million.

In the interview with (Noticiasde Gipuzkoa) when asked about Arsenal and maybe one day returning, Vela said:

”I do not rule it out, if they put it in my contract it was obviously for a reason. Their intention was to see my progress and in the past they’ve come and see me play at Real Sociedad.’’ – ‘’I do not know what will happen in the future, it’s not in my hands.’’

Now the reasoning behind him leaving the Emirates could be put down to a number of things depending who you ask, I recently spoke with James McNicholas of Gunnerblog about the young striker and he had this to say.

”At Arsenal there was initially a lot of excitement over his obvious technical ability. He was particularly impressive in the Carling Cup and quickly became famous for his chipped finishes. However, contained within that was the problem with that player, he was great at showboating against lower league opposition, but struggled to convert it when playing in the Premier League.’’

”He also suffered when Arsenal switched to 4-3-3; he generally played out wide when he is actually better off in the centre. Most were happy to see him go and are probably too ignorant to even know he’s doing great over in Spain. There was never any doubt over his ability, but more his aptitude for English football.’’

As James pointed out, Carlos Vela has come over to Spain and done very, very well at La Real. In his loan season he was settling into the side, but that didn’t even seem to take him long to do. During his loan spell he played 35 games and managed to score 12 goals and notched up 8 assists during the 11/12 season.  Real Sociedad had seen enough and were willing to part with around £4 million (the fee that he was believed to have been purchased for). In hindsight it was an excellent piece of business from the Spanish side.

This season, Carlos Vela has simply been the most important player for the Basque side. La Real sit at the moment (21^st February) 6^th in the league, in Spain that’s a Europa League position. They sit just 5 points behind a Champions League spot and Malaga (who may not even be allowed in the Champions League next season.) Carlos Vela has given his side a massive hand this season in seeing them climb up to 6^th. He’s scored 26% of their league goals, 10 out of the 38 and has also managed to add 5 assists in just 21 starts, top of the table in both for his side.

During his time at the club, manager Philippe Montanier has implemented Vela into various positions. A few games out wide-left, a few games through the centre, a couple playing off of the main striker, a handful of matches up top as a striker and also where most of his games have been played, out on the right. Two of his best position this season have been out on the right (9 games, 4 goals and 3 assists  while occupiying that position and up top as a striker where he has 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 games.) Montanier has used Vela whenever and wherever it’s suited the team and to Vela’s credit, he’s not been one to moan or complain towards the manager or the media. He’s put his head down and got on with the job at hand.

During this season, in fact in the last two seasons, Carlos Vela has grown up a lot and has a more mature style of play about him, don’t get me wrong he’s one who still loves to showboat when he has the chance, but that’s exactly when he does it now, when he can (this season he’s one of the top 20 dribblers in the league, averaging 1.3 successful dribbles per game, 30 in total this season, just 6 behind Ronaldo). He knows his role in this team and knows what is needed from him; he’s adapted and grown more into a team player than a player that wants the entire spotlight on him.

His reading of the game is much better than in previous seasons, he notices a team-mates run, he can read the play even from his position out on the wing or up top. His finishing has improved so much from his time at Arsenal, he’s no longer the ‘chip over the keeper’ kind of player, he’s so much more composed than that. (That’s not to say if the best chance of scoring is chipping that he won’t do it) Another area he’s improved in, is his passing and in particular he’s shown it in his key passes. This season alone, he’s provided 39 key passes in just 21 games an average of 1.7 key passes per game, that average sees him averaging the same amount as Cristiano Ronaldo. It also sees him averaging more key passes per game than, Andrés Iniesta, Francesc Fábregas, Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María, Tino Costa, Isco and others. The only player at Arsenal this season who has averaged more key passes per game is Santi Cazorla. It’s just another strength Vela’s added to his game.

Now I may be praising him a little too much and don’t get me wrong there are still a lot he could work on in his game, like all footballers. For one, he could work on his timing, a player who likes to be caught offside a fair amount of times, a player whose crossing could also be improved.

But on the whole and for his age of just 23 years old, Carlos Vela has taken to La Liga very, very well. It suits his style of play; it suits his game a lot.

Now whether or not he could ever come back to the English Premier League and have such an impact, well that’s something we may never witness. But if he keeps playing like he is at the moment and Arsenal continue to turn up at the Anoeta stadium, maybe Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal board will trigger that €4 million buy-back clause in his contract and then, just maybe then Carlos Vela will have the chance to light up the Emirates.

Thank you to James McNicholas for his input to the article, for more of his fantastic work you can find him over at http://gunnerblog.com/ or follow him on twitter @gunnerblog

At the end of the 19th century football was introduced in Seville by the large British expatriate population in the city, implemented by owners and managers of manufacturing companies based in and around Seville, the bug started to spread and sooner rather than later there were teams all across Seville wanting to play the beautiful game.

In 1905 a lot of football teams were created in the city, everyone who was anyone now wanted to play the ‘new’ game. One new team that was born, Sevilla FC, notice the FC rather than CF was created by Spaniards and Britons as a ‘Footballing Society’. This team didn’t play many official matches at the start, in fact the team seemed like it was made for just one purpose, a team for visiting British sailors to play against once they had stopped over in Seville whilst on their travels. Sevilla played at a lot of different venues against British sailors including the Tablada Racecourse where most games were played between the two, it wasn’t until 1909 when they eventually played against a different side, fellow Andalucians, Recreativo de Huelva in their first ‘official’ match.

Two years later and another club were born, Sevilla Balompié. Balompié translates to football rather than the Spanish version of futbol and it was founded by students from the local Polytechnic Academy. In 1914, though Sevilla FC had an internal split and a group of disgruntled Sevilla FC members in 1909 and a handful of players left, meaning, another club was born – Betis Foot-ball Club. This was the football club that would eventually join forces with Sevilla Balompie. Betis FC sought royal patronage in August 1914 and by December of that year had merged with Sevilla Balompié to form, Real Betis Balompié.

The making of these two sides formed what would be known as one of the best derbies in Spanish football. Sevilla is, as many know it, Spain’s fourth largest city and most fans from across Europe when they think of ‘derby’ and ‘Spain’ jump right to El Clasico, the Basque derby or maybe even the Valencia Derby. The one derby they should all stand up and take notice of is the Seville derby.

Now these are two clubs who can’t even agree on the history of their first ‘official’ match, some fans stating it was in October 1914 and a 3-0 win to Sevilla FC, others saying that the first derby was won by Betis in January of 1915 by a single goal to nil. The third outcome is the first official match took place on 8 February 1915, with Sevilla winning 4–3. That match though was not completed, as high tensions led an aggressive crowd to invade the pitch, forcing the referee to abandon the match. To this day some fans will continue to stick up for their sides, showing what this derby is truly about, passion.

In its time as a derby, Sevilla FC are the team that have come out on top more often than any other result whether it be a draw or a win for Betis. The record stands as of the last derby (18^th November) Betis win’s; 36 – Draws; 28 and Sevilla wins; 52.

Real Betis were the first team of the two to win the league back in the 1934/35 season (their only title in the top division to date), winning it by a single point over Real Madrid, Sevilla finished 5^th handing bragging rights to the beticos.  Later that year though Sevilla won the Copa del Rey, the first of the clubs to win the competition, beating CE Sabadell 3-0. It didn’t take long for Sevilla to win the trophy again, winning it a few years later in the 1939 season, the bragging rights were then, in favour of all Sevilla fans. Five seasons later and Sevilla would rub more salt into the wounds of the beticos winning the 1945–46 league title.

In that season, drama once again unfolded. Betis sold their star player Francisco Antunez to their eternal rivals. Once the transfer became known to the beticos however, a rage erupted from them, a reaction which forced the club’s then President to rapidly back-pedal and try to block the player’s sale. The courts did rule in favour of Real Betis eventually, but this wasn’t before he had won the title with Sevilla. The player was then due to go back to Real Betis who had won the court case, but another problem occurred, Betis didn’t have the funds available and Antunez found himself once again heading north of the city and back to Sevilla FC.

Over the years there have been some massive talking points, court cases, players moving between the clubs, fraud and a whole lot more, and this has continued right up until the last decade.

In recent history, Real Betis and Sevilla both found themselves playing in the Segunda division, at the end of the 1999-2000 season Sevilla were rock bottom of La Liga and eventually found themselves relegated, Real Betis come the end of that campaign would join them. They were both now facing the 2000/2001 season in the Segunda.

It didn’t last too long and at the end of the 2000/2001 season, they both bounced straight back up, Sevilla won the championship on 80 points, 5 ahead of Betis who were also promoted.

Since that season, both clubs have had ups as well as downs in the last 12 seasons.

In the 2005/06 season Real Betis had a major ‘up’ as they finished 4th in the league the season before which resulted in them being in the draw for the Champions League Third qualifying round. They found themselves pulled out the hat alongside Moncao, a team who had made the final of the Champions League the season before, they done surprisingly well beating them 3-2 over the two legs.

They then made their debut in the group stages, and were drawn against top opponents in Chelsea, Liverpool and Anderlecht. They beat Anderlecht away 1-0 and then managed to somehow beat English side Chelsea 1-0 at Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera in a night to remember for all that were lucky enough to be inside the stadium (Well unless you were a Chelsea fan). They also had a scoreless draw at Anfield against Liverpool but were eventually eliminated from the tournament as they could only manage third in the group.

Another up for the club, is the talent they’ve produced over the season’s. Such players as - Cañas, Luis Fernández, Edu, Fernando, Joaquín (Now at Malaga), Rafael Sóbis, ex Barcelona and Real Madrid striker Alfonso, and who can forget ‘the real’ Denílson, plus many, many more.

They did have their downs as well, one being when they were again relegated from La Liga at the end of the 2008/09 season, they then spent two seasons in the Segunda before winning the title in 2010/2011 and with it returning to La Liga once more. Their troubles brewed a little more whilst in the Segunda, when Sevilla judge, Mercedes Alaya, was investigating links between Betis and other Ruiz de Lopera-owned businesses leading to him eventually being formally charged with fraud. A week before the trial started, another twist, he tried to sell his shares to Bitton Sport which was fronted by Luis Oliver but the judge froze all Ruiz de Lopera’s assets as she thought it was just a ‘front’ eventually Luis Oliver was on the board as he bought a nominal number of shares from a third-party and was voted onto the board of directors by the existing members meaning he could stay on and run the club. The judge still wouldn’t buy it and appointed Rafael Gordillo to administrate Lopera’s shares to make sure he wasn’t somehow still running the club and wasn’t trying to help other board members rather than the clubs itself.

Another down for Betis came in 2007 during a derby match, when Sevilla manager Juande Ramos was knocked out after having a bottle thrown at his head from a Betis fan, moments after the incident the match was abandoned.

Sevilla have had the same kind of fortune as their rivals in the years after their promotion back to La Liga, winning back to back UEFA cups in the 2005–06, 2006–07 seasons beating Middlesbrough and then Espanyol. They then won the 2006 UEFA Super Cup against Barcelona 3-0 in Monaco.

Like Betis, they’ve also had some fantastic talent playing at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán over the years such as, Reyes, Dani Alves & Adriano (Both now at Barcelona), Júlio Baptista & Javier Saviola (Both now at Malaga), Diego Capel, Luis Fabiano and of course who can forget the defender who’s now at Real Madrid and maybe one of the best in the world, Sergio Ramos

As I said, they did also have their downs, like such incidences as the time four Sevilla fans, including a minor, assaulted a security guard during the derby on the 6^th October 2002 in the Sánchez Pizjuán. The attack was punished by Sevilla being forced to play their next four home matches behind closed doors, the longest term ever given to a La Liga side.

It wasn’t the first time Sevilla had been in trouble, four of their players in 1999 had attacked Betis fans in a bar, in their testimonies they said that they had been taunted by Betis fans and thought fighting was their only choice. They also then tried to justify their actions by saying “well, they were beticos.”

In 2007 the derby took a turn for the worst and also the best when Sevilla wing back Antonio Puerta collapsed and lost consciousness in the penalty area due to a cardiac arrest during Sevilla’s first match of the 2007–08 season at home against Getafe. He managed to get to his feet and walk to the dressing room, where he once again fell to the ground. He was taken to the hospital moments later but that night, Anotonio Puerta was announced dead – To make things worse for the players family, his girlfriend was expecting their first child at the time of his death.

At just 22 years old, fans and players from both sides attended the young Spaniards funeral to show a mark of respect. Since then things over the years have gotten a ‘little’ calmer, but at the end of the day it is still a very fierce derby.

I asked a Sevilla and a Real Betis fan their view on the derbi.

Sevilla fan point of view (Abshir Maxamed - @Djaalooo): Ferocious; intense, and pure passion. These words are the best way to describe the hottest local derby in Spain. A city divided in two; either you are a Betico or a Sevillista. Match stewards assaulted, bottles thrown at managers, presidents insulting each other, fans attacking players – it’s all mad. But we have also seen the city united at different points, especially after the tragic death of Antonio Puerta in 2007. To the Sevillanos in the city, a derbi means the world to them. I remember seeing on Twitter – after that magical 5-1 victory – a fan describing it as it felt like winning 15 UEFA cups. That says a lot about how the locals feel about the derbi.

Real Betis fan point of view: (Ben Hardman - @hardmanbs): ‘El derbi de Sevilla’ is the first game Béticos look for when the fixture list get released. Ever since the two clubs went their separate ways around 100 years ago there has been a tension, a raw rivalry. The city is split down the middle; families are split down the middle. Each encounter is passionate, emotion packed and highly charged. Béticos embrace the derby like no other, adorned proudly in the green and white of working class Andalucía. The unique thing amongst Béticos is that they really do live by their motto ‘Viva er Betis manque pierda’ – Long live Betis even when we lose. And it’s true. This season, Betis suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of their great city rivals. It was embarrassing and rightly so. But six days later they were back on home turf, fans fully behind them and they triumphed 1-0 over a full-strength Real Madrid. Sevilla? They lost 4-0 to Atlético and went on a five game league win-less streak! It is this support that makes supporting Betis special – and it’s not just supporting Betis but being a Bético.

Now next time you’re in Spain, or next time you get the chance to watch a derby, make sure it’s the Derbi sevillano – A derby with real passion.

As most will already know by now, Fernando Llorente is not Marcelo Bielsa’s best friend. In the summer, the striker wanted to leave Athletic Bilbao, and well, that did not go down that well with Bielsa and understandably so. He is the manager of the club and would like to keep his prized assets, so we know where he is coming from. But, on the other hand, Llorente wants to better himself, pick up a bigger wage packet and try his hand somewhere else, once again something that we can all understand.

The problem was, in fact the problem ‘is’, Athletic Bilbao wanted any club that was coming in for Llorente to pay his buy-out clause, that wasn’t going to happen. So in the end the striker stayed, yet again, another problem.

So we now have two men who don’t really like each other, we have a player who doesn’t want to be here anymore and we have a manager who doesn’t want to pick, arguably his best player, a very tough predicament to be in for a club like Athletic.

Now most clubs, and I include Athletic in this, can’t afford to have their best player sitting on the bench, no matter what’s gone on at the club, your best players must play, it is as simple as that. Well try to tell Bielsa that, as he disagrees.

This season Llorente hasn’t played more than 45 minutes in any game, he’s been benched for every game, he is yet to start a single league match. As I say, for many clubs this can’t and shouldn’t happen. If you leave your best players on the bench you better hope you have a back-up plan.

Luckily for Bielsa there is a ‘plan b’ and he goes by the name of Aritz Aduriz.

Aduriz, who had played for Mallorca after the last time he left the San Mames, enjoyed a good goal scoring return with the Palma side; during his two years at the club he scored 24 goals over the two seasons before leaving to join Valencia.

During his time at Valencia he once again continued to find the net, scoring 27 goals in his 81 appearances for the club. His time with the club came to an end in 2012 after he was mainly featuring as just a substitute.

He was then saved and brought home by his first club, Athletic Bilbao. They had put a bid of €2.5 million in for him and Valencia had accepted it.

Aduriz came through the youth ranks at the San Mames, spending two separate spells in the first-team at Athletic either side of his time at Burgos and Real Valladolid and before his time with Mallorca or Valencia. He’s been a proven goal scorer anywhere he’s went and this was one of the main reasons as to why Athletic brought him home.

Not only is he the type of player to bring you goals but anyone who has seen him play will tell you just how hard he works for the team, he links up well with those around him, can take the ball into his feet, can have it played over the top for him and at the end of the day knows where the back of the net is. Most importantly though for the club and its fans, Aduriz is one of them.

This season he has shown just why Athletic wanted him back, scoring 8 goals in just 10 league starts, leaving him just 2 goals a drift of the Colombian Falcao and 4 behind Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. This from a striker who’s playing up front for not a top three side like the two players previously mentioned, no, this is a player who’s playing for a side who sit 12^th in the league, just 4 points above the drop zone.

At this time last season, Llorente sat with only 7 goals after 10 games and with a single assist.

Aduriz’s 8 goals and 2 assists in the league so far have contributed to 10 out of the 16 goals scored by Athletic Bilbao. He now sits 1 goal and 1 assist better off than his tally after a whole season at Valencia last term, where he was given just 11 starts and 18 substitute appearances, not bad since we’re only a third of the way through this season.

A target for the frontman may be to catch or even better Llorente’s scoring of last season. Llorente finished with 17 goals and 1 assist in 24 starts and 32 appearances in total, his best return in the league was back in the 2010/11 season when he finished up with 18 goals and 2 assists.

If Aduriz does keep up his goal scoring form of 8 goals every 10 games then he’ll have no bother at all surpassing the records set by Fernando Llorente.

Every now and again, a player comes along that lights up the world with his footballing talents. A player takes to the pitch like water off a duck’s back. He shows everyone that a game of football can be fun and can be enjoyed. He gets spectators on the edge of their seats and he’s one that most scouts from across Europe, in fact the World, come to see on a weekly basis.

When a player of that calibre comes through in the game, they’re almost immediately likened to another player, past or present, that’s a star in the footballing world. This player is no different, he’s already been likened to Barcelona and Spanish star, Andres Iniesta, and to be honest they may just be right, he’s got the potential to be just as good, one day.

We all know the player in question is Malaga’s twenty year old wonder kid, Francisco Román Alarcón Suárez, aka Isco.

Isco is a player who was born and raised in Benalmádena, a town and municipality in the province of Málaga. He started his youth career playing for local side Benamiel CF, that was until he was spotted by scouts from Valencia. Valencia saw him and wanted him almost straight away and sure enough he soon went.

Now at the age of just fourteen years old, it’s always hard to move away from your home, but it’s what Isco wanted, he didn’t mind moving, even though he’d be over 650 miles away from his family. He had one dream and that dream, the ambition, was to become a professional footballer he knew what he had to do.  His parents were obviously worried, but obviously very supportive. I mean it can’t be easy to see your young son leave the family home so soon, but they trusted and backed him and he moved to Valencia.

When he got to Valencia, he shared a room and became good friends with another youngster in the Valencia ranks, young Australian striker – Theo Markelis. At the time, some called him the ‘next Wayne Rooney’, as I said youngster’s getting likened to the games stars. Between the pair they shared a good bond, built on the same hobbies, video games, music and of course football. They were both a good distance from their families and they looked after each other whilst at Valencia.

In 2010 both their careers changed, Isco’s long term friend Markelis moved on, he left Valencia B and joined Italian Serie B side Vicenza, but has since left and plays his football in his home country at Melbourne Victory.

Isco though stayed and made his way into the first team and on the 11^th November 2010 he was awarded with his first ever minutes in a senior side, he scored a brace on his debut against Logrones CF in a Copa del Rey match helping his side win the game 4-1. Right away most could see that a young starlet was on show, a player that had confidence in abundance.

He then played in his first La Liga match just three days later, after coming on as a late substitute for Aritz Aduriz. After just a handful of first team appearances at Valencia, they did what they had done with some of their more established and senior players at the club, they sold one of their own for a big lump sum of cash. Valencia, a club that does sell players because of their debts, couldn’t ignore Malaga when they came in with a €6 million bid for the youngster, they wanted to take him ‘home’.

Isco, who left home five years prior, was set on coming home. He signed a 5 year contract with his new club and had a buy-out of €21 million installed into the contract. Malaga wanted him, stumped up the cash and even though Valencia didn’t know it, they had just let go of a real talented youngster, or like most say, they did know what they had done but they needed the €6 million it was just too much to say no to.

Malaga, a club who thought so highly of him, stumped up a lot of cash to invest in this youngster, but they had a lot of belief in him, Málaga’s sporting director said on the young man: ‘’He’s the best player of his generation’’. Now this was from a man who had an eye for talented youngster’s, this is the man who discovered and signed Dani Alves for just €1 million, he knew what he was talking about.

Isco made his Malaga debut on the 12^th of September 2011, he came on as a substitute in the home game against Granada. From then on he featured in almost all of Malaga’s fixtures last season, minus the odd game here and there, nearer the start of the campaign. As we reached the end of the season he had shown through-out that he could cut it, obviously there were moments when he was a little out his depth, like any youngster in his first season at a big club.

He finished his last campaign as one that everyone was talking about, his quickness, his dribbling skills, his close control, the easiness in taking it past a player or two, the silkiness in his play, he was just a star in the making. The magical thing about him is he’s shown at times real moments of sheer brilliance, something only really special players do.

He helped Malaga do the impossible, he managed to help them qualify for the Champions League play-offs, first time they’ve ever managed to make it to the Champions league. Most would say that his first season was a very good success, a season he finished with 32 matches and 5 goals.

During the summer, there were worries surrounding the club, they were not paying the staff, the players in fact not paying anyone. The owner was getting stick and rightfully so, he wasn’t even making contact with anyone, especially the fans, he didn’t explain anything. This then hampered the side a little and with the fact that one of their main men of previous season’s Santi Cazorla left the club, he joined Arsenal to soften the clubs money problems.

This in a defeat itself to the club also helped Isco a little, he, this season as everyone has seen, has taken the challenge of being ‘the clubs main men’ in his stride, in fact he’s excelled with the chance.

This season he’s stood up, gained more confidence and shown the watching world how to play football full of confidence, he may only be twenty but he’s got the confidence and he’s well on his way to having the footballing brain of an older, more experienced player. Speaking of footballing brain, the way he plays the game is in the Spanish style, he’s still young and still needs to make the right decisions in places, mostly when at the edge of the area, should he pass, who should he pass to or should he shoot. Also, at times, he tends to go in it alone, when there is a better avenue on. Now this will obviously come in time, but for the time being he’s an extraordinary young talented player that most of us enjoy each and every week.

This season he’s stood up in games, he’s played in many positions for the team, he’s played wherever the manager asks him to, and in most games, in fact nearly all games he’s proved why the worlds talking about him. Man of the match performances in the Champions League, goals against Zenit, Betis and Valladolid, two assists to his name already. It looks likely that this is going to be a big and excellent season for the young man.

Three things are very clear.

Firstly that is Malaga’s intention of keeping him, as I said earlier he’s got a 5 year contract that he signed when he joined, taking him until 2016, with a €21 million buy-out clause. The board are working on a contract extension, they want to put him from around 400K per year up to over €1 million, nearer €1.5 million per year. They want him to sign an extension that’ll keep him at the club until 2018, but the vital point of the contract is the new buy-out clause, rumoured to be €40 million, that may scare away the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and others who have already been interested. If it doesn’t scare them away, well then at the end of the day, Malaga will get what they deserve for such a fantastic player. It will be hard though for Isco to move, after all he is back home.

Secondly, Isco who’s been in and about the Spanish set up has come through all the way from the Under 16’s up into the senior side, where he was picked for the first time, for friendlies with Serbia and South Korea in May earlier this year, he didn’t feature though. The thing is though, don’t be surprised if he’s in the squad again come Brazil 2014 and don’t’ be surprised if then, he does feature for them.

Thirdly and more importantly, if you haven’t seen the young man play then do yourself a favour and watch him. He’s a delightful little talent and at the age of just twenty, he has the world at his feet.

By Andy Hunter

There are some players who continue to thrive as the challenges they face get tougher and tougher; Jordi Alba certainly appears to be one of these. This calendar year, 2012, must have been a complete whirlwind for the 23-year-old Spanish defender. He has established himself as one of the finest left backs in the game, become a regular in the national side and signed for Barcelona.

Whilst most of this can be attributed to the fact that he is clearly a very gifted individual a significant protagonist in this story is his former manager at Valencia Unai Emery. It was he who first asked Alba to move from his natural left midfield position to playing the deeper role at left full-back. It worked wonders initially but took a little over a season for him to fully adapt.

In tandem with Jeremy Mathieu the two players dominated Valencia’s left hand side both in attack and defence. The understanding between the two ensured that they could rotate responsibilities at the drop of a hat which enabled Alba to add more components to his game. The adaptation did not go un-noticed by the national manager Vicente Del Bosque who called Alba up to the Spanish squad prior to Euro 2012 and gave him his first cap.

What became so noticeable during the summer was how positional efficient Alba is. Many full-backs are able to slightly mask their defensive inadequacies because of their pace but his actually adds to his prowess. One minute he would be flying full throttle down the left-wing and within a matter of seconds he would be dispossessing the opponent’s right winger on the edge of the Spanish box. To cap it all off Alba, he even scored in the final against Italy to prove that he had arrived on the biggest stage and was more than capable of staying there.

Whilst all this had been going on Barcelona had stolen a march on every other interested club and had agreed terms with Valencia. With serious doubts about Eric Abidal’s long-term health the club needed a long term replacement and in Alba they had found one.  The agreed fee of €14 million was a great deal for the Catalan club and with only a year remaining on his contract looked to be good business for Los Che too.

Alba has settled into his new club career seamlessly and has given Barca more solidity at full-back. Before the season commenced everyone was looking forward to seeing Alba and Dani Alves in tandem but it is the former that has grabbed many of the headlines thus far.

With his penetrating runs, technical ability and will to win he has been an inspired addition to both Barcelona and Spain in recent months and looks set to retain his position for a long time to come.

Andrew has his own site which is http://huntersworldoffootball.com/ you can also follow him on twitter by clicking on the following https://twitter.com/hunter67980

During his time in Barcelona he want to watch a match, not just any match, he went to see the big one. No, not Barcelona v Real Madrid, nope, not even Barcelona v Espanyol. He went and watched CF Martinenc v CE Tecnofútbol!

By Chris Boothroyd

There was a transport strike and services were reduced to an absolute minimum. Oblivious to this, I gave myself a handy forty-five minutes to get from my base near Barceloneta out to Horta. Forty-minutes later the metro arrived and I changed to Plan B (the only other option in reality) and made the call to go to see Martinenc host the wonderfully named Centro Europeo Tecnofútbol in what was a Barcelona derby with a rather interesting backstory: The opposing managers had spent time together on the coaching staff of the Greek side Aris Thessaloniki. Six years later the two were reunited managing in this Primera Catalana Group Two clash.

Originally I had planned to go see Horta take on Granollers. On my last trip to Barcelona I stayed near Horta so this time around I had wanted to go see them play, sadly that wasn’t the case but instead I was treated to a great game of football.

My arrival was met with a rousing cheer from the home crowd which measured a few hundred. A quick glance at the scoreboard made it clear they were celebrating the opening goal and not my entrance. Six minutes late and I’d missed the first goal, thankfully I saw a further four which provided great value for the €6 (£4.80) ticket.

The ground was a bit unique for somebody used to grass pitches, and people (and dogs) lining all four sides of the pitch. Instead, there was an artificial surface, no room for manoeuvre on three sides and a rather neat looking stand featuring a bar/cafe and some storage units. What compromised effectively the roof, was actually some terracing. A rather novel way of getting the most space out of a confined area as the ground backed onto a multi-use sports complex housing a gym, swimming pool and a few smaller pitches for 5-a-side.

No sooner had I got comfortable when Roger Segalés, evidently a classy striker, first watched a looping free-kick over his shoulder, then followed the subsequent flick on and tracked the ball right until he made contact with it with his right boot, unleashing an unstoppable volley past the Tecnofútbol goalkeeper. Not a bad introduction to the game at all.

The fun did not stop there. Both sides endeavoured to play good football and though the visitors were losing, Sergi Ciurana (right-back) and Joseph Sipeuwa (central midfielder) looked the best players on the pitch alongside Segalés for Martinenc whose movement caused so many problems. As the first-half wore in it became clear that Tecnofútbol had some talented individuals, but lacked the team dynamic of Martinenc who put together a number of fine, almost instinctive, pass and move sequences to get into dangerous situations. Segalés caused havoc dragging his markers this way and that allowing the Martinenc midfield to exploit the freed up space. Jesús watched on almost bored as Tecnofútbol got nowhere near his goal in the opening stages.

The visitors pulled a goal back on twenty-four minutes after a brief flurry of offence, though Martinenc should be kicking themselves at allowing Pedro Arce, the smallest man on the pitch, to nod home a corner. Imagine Lionel Messi defeating Pepe for a header; things like that look like they physically should never happen.

But, thankfully for the home crowd, the two goal cushion was restored before the break when Joel Martínez let rip from the edge of the box, finding the top corner.

Half-time consisted of looking at club merchandise which included the usual array of bags, scarves and a bit surprisingly, replica kit. But after forty minutes of being sat in the midday sun a drink was needed and a drink was quickly consumed. Sadly though, my lack of money meant that somebody decided not to buy suncream and to risk it. By the end of Sunday my skin was as red as Martinenc’s tops.

The home faithful tried, and failed, at getting a few chants going during the second half as Tecnofútbol began to work a foothold into the game and actually were the better side. Changes had been made and Joseph Sipeuwa was pushed back into defence where he immediately strengthened the back four with Idris coming into midfield. The tactical switch worked and Martinenc started to defend their two goal lead and finding chances to break limited by the presence of Sipeuwa thrawting them at every opportunity. Not even the introduction of Xavi improved Martinenc’s showing.

But with a midday start and the sun beating down over Barcelona, Tecnofútbol tired quickly as they pushed forward. There was a nervy feeling around the Guinardó that if the visitors could score they could well nick a dramatic equaliser, but in the final few minutes a rare counter attack from Martinec caught the Tecnofútbol exasperated, worn and out of position. After a nice interchange Jaén kicked up a gear to burst through, rounded Iñaki and gleefully tapped in.

There was a real family feel at the ground and myself, arriving as an individual and being foreign, stuck out like a sore thumb. Females gossiped, read books and newspapers and watched on, the males sat enthralled by the action and children ran around on the synthetic pitch at half time playing out their dreams before getting utterly drenched by the sprinkler system which provided a glorious burst of water with the spray being gently blown back into the stands to provide some extremely welcome relief.

There are plenty of teams in Barcelona and whilst it would be folly to ignore the virtues of the ‘big two’ in the city, if you look further down through the Spanish football pyramid the football is plenty and of good quality and probably far more affordable.

Highlights – El Martinenc guanya el derbi contra el Tecnofutbol (4-1) - BTVNOTÍCIES.cat.

Chris has his own site which is http://www.theczechup.co.uk you can also follow him on twitter by clicking on the following https://twitter.com/theczechup