The third installment of this season’s ‘El Clasico’ match-up between Real Madrid and Barcelona could have been renamed ‘El Fiasco’. Depending on your outlook, it may have been surprising to see Jose Mourinho’s Madrid squad setup with such bullying tactics. Both coaches had strong words for one another in the press conference so I was not surprised that the atmosphere was tense.

The game was hyped in some circles as a Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo showdown to see who the true best player in the game is right now. That for me was just one of the sub-plots available. To dismiss the array of talent on both squads is naive. According to Deloitte, Real Madrid pay €192m (£170m) in wages to a squad that cost €475m to assemble. Barca hand over €235m to a group who cost €175m to buy. Barcelona spend less on transfers because of the success graduates of Barcelona’s academy — La Masia de Can Planes (loosely translates from Catalan as “The Farmhouse”) have had with the first team. Among the graduates are key first-team players Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Carles Puyol, and Víctor Valdés.

The game itself was a cagey affair in the first half with both teams not looking full sharp and taking more interest in fouling their opponents. The half-time whistle brought no relief to the tension as Barcelona’s backup goalkeeper, Pinto, was sent off for seeming to punch Madrid’s match-day delegate Miguel Porlán “Chendo” in the midst of an argument with Alvaro Arbeloa.

The game changed early in the second half when Pepe and Dani Alves both went for a loose ball and Pepe appeared to catch Alves on the shin. Alves writhed on the floor like his leg had been broekn and referree Wolfgang Stark showed Pepe the red card. Personally, I thought the referee was conned by Alves’ roilling around and at most should have given a yellow card. Don’t believe it? Watch this video!

Jose Mourinho sarcastically applauded Alves as he was stretchered off and gave the fourth official a thumbs-up for good measure. Mourinho’s performance earned him a red card and he will not be on the touchline for the return leg. Alves returned to the pitch less than 5 minutes later and appeared to be just fine.

I suspect that had Pepe not been sent off that the game would have ended as a dour scoreless draw. Pepe and Lassana Diarra had done a good job of harrassing Messi, playing in a deeper position because of Iniesta’s absence, and Xavi which stifled some of Barcelona’s creativity.

A scoreless draw was not to be after the sending off and there are two moments of pure class to discuss with Lionel Messi being at the heart of both of them. His second goal in particular deserves to be celebrated not just by Barcelona fans, but anyone who is even a casual soccer fan. It was an expression of artistry that elevates the game to the heights it should always strive to reach. Watch the marvelous second goal and tell me if you’ve seen a better display in such a big game. Remember, this is not some beer league team, this is a very good Real Madrid squad who were looking to keep the score close.

Unfortunately, things got ugly again during Jose Mourinho’s post-match press conference. Some of his remarks are completely scandalous and Barcelona manager Pep Guardialo refused to acknowledge them.

Barcelona are considering legal action against Mourinho while UEFA confirmed that its Control and Disciplinary Body would hear numerous cases against Real on May 6, ‘in relation to the throwing of missiles, a pitch invasion, the red card shown to Pepe, the dismissal of the coach José Mourinho, as well as the inappropriate statement given by Mr Mourinho to the media after the match’.

Mourinho has essentially conceded the semi-final to Barcelona stating that a 2-0 deficit will be very difficult to overturn.

AC Milan’s 3-2 win in Madrid on Matchday 3 lifted them to the top of Group C and a repeat success on home soil would take them a step closer to the first knockout round. The Matchday 3 win was a big morale boost for Milan while Madrid slumped. Madrid put a three-game winless run behind them with victory over Getafe CF on Saturday but face a tough task in overturning Milan at home.

Kaká did not have his best match in a Real Madrid shirt since his big money move this past summer. Real will need more from him if they are to win on Matchday 4. Cristiano Ronaldo will miss this match with his knee injury still on the mend. Milan’s major absence will be Marek Jankulovski while Alessandro Nesta is listed as doubtful with a thigh strain.

I’ll be focused on this marquee match-up today but there are plenty of other quality matches that I will be trying to catch up on tonight. Here’s the complete list of Tuesday’s games (my predictions in bold):

AC Milan v Real Madrid (DRAW)
Apoel Nicosia v FC Porto
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Bayern Munich v Bordeaux (DRAW)
Besiktas v Wolfsburg
Maccabi Haifa v Juventus
Man Utd v CSKA Moscow
Marseille v FC Zurich

The Real Madrid website is now carrying the full text of Calderon’s resignation press conference. In his statement Calderon said “Against the recommendations of my board I’ve decided to step down.” It will be interesting to hear the position of the board should they choose to speak with the media about this matter. “I have nothing to hide and firmly deny all the lies that have been published by various media sources in the past few days,” Calderon added.

Vice President Vicente Boluda (pictured above courtesy of the Real Madrid website) has been promoted to President and will hold that post until a general election can be held in the summer. It is thought that a new president might not be in place until July.

I could see this affecting both the current transfer window and the summer transfer window as well. The club may not make any big moves until the new leadership is in place. In case you were hopeful they would cease, I think this will only temporarily halt the rumours of Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Real Madrid. Look for the player to be used as campaign promise material for the presidential candidates.

What are your thoughts on this? How will it affect Real Madrid?

This recap comes a little late but there are still a few points I wanted to make.

First off, I was glad to see the Zenit – Juventus game proceed without incident. After the horrible incident earlier in the week, it would have been understandable had the game been postponed but the game did go on and the result did not go as Zenit might have hoped. Zenit will have to be content to defend their UEFA Cup crown as they cannot advance from Group H after a goalless home draw against already-qualified Juventus. Real Madrid’s success at FC BATE Borisov, thanks to a lone Raul goal, on Tuesday confirmed that Zenit will finish third. Dick Advocaat will be left looking for answers as his side once again dominated possession, but could not find the back of the net.

I was going to go through the groups in order but I have to get a few things off my chest first. I had the unfortunate ‘pleasure’ of watching the Villarreal – Manchester United fixture. Defending champs Manchester United are through, as are their Matchday 5 opponents Villarreal, after a stalemate at El Madrigal.

It was a fourth 0-0 draw in four games between these sides and it was not a very entertaining game. Neither team played with much energy and looked to be content with a draw from the onset. Further making this an unwatchable mess, was the constant simulation (diving) and harassing of the officials to book opposing players. Both sides were guilty of this poor sportsmanship and should feel ashamed of their behaviour. One player I’d like to single out for scorn is Joan Capdevlla.

His challenge on Ronaldo in the late stages of the match was rash and dangerous. From the multiple replays I watched, he looked to be aiming the studs of his boot at the inside of Ronaldo’s knee. ESPN’s Tommy Smyth comments summed it up nicely — it was stupid and there’s no place for it in the game. Ronaldo ended up with a visible bruise/laceration on the thigh area around the knee. The fact that Capdevila was motioning that if Ronaldo was so injured he should be substituted was another dose of poor sportsmanship on top of his already thuggish challenge. I was surprised by this as Capdevila is not normally this type of player and in a game with little on the line, I had to wonder what got him so riled. Ronaldo certainly was at his worst, diving and embellishing a number of fouls — not to mention getting himself booked for petulance over a call made by the assistant referee, but Capdevila has now gotten himself suspended for the next couple of matches and that does not help his club.

The prevailing logic is that opponents are trying to kick Ronaldo off the park. Villarreal’s tactics are being cited as merely the latest example of how opponents are trying to get under the skin of the talented United forward. Alex Ferguson has been calling for him to be more protected, which is all fine and well, but Ronaldo does not help himself out. Instead of staying upright and playing, he dives and play-acts, which casts doubt into the referee’s mind, even when he is being well and truly fouled. In the Villarreal game, he went down heavily and death-rolled his way across the pitch after only the faintest of touches. The referee bought into it and gave the foul rather than carding him for simulation.

I am not excusing Capdevila’s challenge, not by a long shot. Merely pointing out that Ronaldo is not a poor, innocent victim. He is also guilty of an offense to football. Cheating. I know in many cultures, diving to win a call is considered ‘smart’ play but I cannot bring myself to agree with that mindset. It’s plain and simply dishonest. Ian Herbert of The Independent looks back at some of the other talented players throughout the history of the game that have become the target of abuse.

OK now that the ranting is over, I will climb down off the soapbox and recap some of the other action. Group G is also decided as Arsenal defeated Dynamo Kyiv at home by a 1-0 scoreline. A Nicklas Bendtner strik in the 87th minute was just enough to see the Gunners through and give some relief to a side that’s been in a tumultuous state the last couple of weeks. The Gunners have lost three Premier League games this month and William Gallas was stripped of the captaincy after publicly criticising his team-mates. “It was what we need, reassurance, and will give us that,” Wenger told the BBC in a post-match interview. Add to that a recent win over Chelsea in domestic action and Arsenal should almost be over this whole mess, at least for the time being. Speculation has ramped up that Gallas will leave in the January transfer window but with Arsenal thin on experience it would be a risky move for Wenger.

Arsenal will be joined in the next round by FC Porto who held off a determined Fenerbahce side and picked up an impressive 2-1 win in Turkey. Lisandro scored a brace for Porto within a 10 minute span in the middle of the first half. The visitors then had to work hard to see off the match and book their place in the next round. As for Fenerbahce, they need to win at Dynamo Kyiv on Matchday 6 in order to finish third and go into the UEFA Cup.

In Group F, Bayern Munich were powered into the final 16 by two second-half goals from Miroslav Klose and another from Luca Toni as they recorded a 3-0 victory against FC Steaua Bucuresti. Bayern were stymied in the first half but made the most of their chances in the second to leave the Romanian side rooted to the bottom of the group. Bayern have been looking stronger and stronger as the season go on and most clubs will want to avoid facing them in the next round of the competition. Fiorentina’s loss to Lyon means that the UEFA Cup slot is still up for grabs as the two bottom clubs face-off in what should be an exciting Matchday 6 encounter.

I’ll have more info in the Matchday 6 preview I will be posting over the weekend.

Just a quick editorial note to start, I had hoped to complete my Group Previews before Matchday 1 but that was not the case. I will still be pushing those out, hopefully finish before Matchday 2 hits. Now, on to last night’s action.

After absences last season for perennial Champions League participants Bayern Munich (pictured at the right) and Juventus, both clubs returned to action with wins yesterday as Groups E-H were in action. Bayern, who played UEFA Cup football last season after a run of ten consecutive appearances in the Champions League competition, are hoping to reclaim their place amongst the ‘big’ clubs of Europe. Juventus, who were absent for three seasons because of their demotion to Serie B for match-fixing, are also looking to re-establish themselves as one of the elite clubs in Europe.

However, we start our review of Wednesday’s action in Group E where scoreless draws were the order of the day. Celtic were held by Aalborg BK as goalkeeper Karim Zaza not only saved Barry Robson’s penalty in the first half but also produced a number of other great saves to keep the Scottish champions at bay. Aalborg got what they needed from this away match at Celtic Park, the point will be valuable as they battle in hopes of at least making a UEFA Cup spot. Celtic had another great chance to score 13 minutes from time when Samaras burst through on goal, only to be brought down by defender Michael Beauchamp, which earned him a red card. However, Zaza again kept out the resulting free-kick from Nakamura. A bit of a disappointment for Celtic one would figure and they will now need to get something from their return match with Aalborg if they hope to progress to the knockout rounds.

Manchester United and Villarreal also played out a stalemate at Old Trafford. The boost United received from Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to action in the second half was not enough as the Spanish-based club defended determinedly. United created a good number of “half-chances” and a few clear-cut scoring opportunities but do not look quite settled yet. Yesterday’s result is not a good omen for United as the last time Villarreal gained a draw at Old Trafford, three seasons ago, United did not make it out of the group.

In Group F, Bayern Munich overcame a stubborn Steaua Bucharest winning 1-0 to kick off their Champions League campaign on a good note. Bayern defender Daniel Van Buyten scored the game’s only goal in the first half before the visitors held off a second-half onslaught in the Romanian capital.  An accurate cross from Bastian Schweinsteiger found Van Buyten, who directed a header into the bottom left corner beyond the reach of Steaua keeper Robinson Zapata. After a solid start from Bayern, the German-based giants fell a step behind to end the first half and that continued into the second half Steaua can feel hard done by to not have claimed a point from the match. All in all, this was a good match with plenty of chances at both ends and both teams playing positively.

The other match in Group F was also an entertaining affair with Lyon coming back to tie Fiorentina 2-2. Fiorentina were denied a win on their return to the Champions League after a nine-year absence by a determined Lyon side. Jean-Alain Boumsong showed some of his old uncertain Newcastle form as his poor clearance allowed Zdravko Kuzmanovi? to cross for Gilardino to glance in from close range and give the visitors an early lead. Gilardino scored again to close out the first half after Adrian Mutu delivered a cross that he steered inside the far post. Lyon had turned around a two-goal deficit against Nice five days earlier and they turned the trick again last night. Benzema, as he was all match long,  was the catalyst for Lyon. He squared the ball for Piquionne to tap in Lyon’s first goal on 73 minutes and then scored from a set-piece in the 86th to give the French champions a valuable point. Fiorentina have to be disappointed in not closing out the win and it has to be viewed as points dropped for the Italians.

Group G saw FC Porto defeat last season’s surprise side Fenerbahce by a 3-1 scoreline while Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kyiv. Porto’s win is not surprising when you consider that they had lost just one of their preceding 20 Champions League home games. Goals in rapid succession from Lisandro and Lucho had the home team flying early. Fenerbahce’s big summer signing, striker Daniel Guiza, nabbed a goal on the half-hour but Porto tightened up defensively after that and added a goal late in injury time to secure their first Matchday 1 win since 1999.

Arsenal endured a tough trip to the Ukraine as FC Dynamo Kyiv scrapped out a 1-1 draw. Dynamo seemingly took a page from the Arsenal playbook as they had plenty of possession but created few clear-cut scoring chances. They finally made a breakthrough in the 64th minute after Bacary Sagna wrestled Ognjen Vukojevic to the ground to concede a spot-kick. Ismael Bangoura converted and it looked like Kyiv’s run without a group-stage win was about to end. However, William Gallas popped up in the area to turn home Theo Walcott’s low ball across the face of goal, earning Arsenal a point and extending Kyiv’s winless run to 14 group stage matches. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stated after the match that he felt Kiev captain Andriy Nesmachniy “tried to destroy” Walcott, his star 19-year-old forward, and added that the left-back could have been shown the red card on a number of occasions.

Finally in Group H,  Sergio Ramos and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored for Real Madrid as they handled debutants BATE Borisov, winning comfortably by a 2-0 margin. BATE had chances to nick a goal from some of their set pieces but were lacking that little bit of quality that might have seen them take something positive from this match.

The glamour matchup of the group saw Juventus eke out a narrow win over UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg. Alessandro Del Piero scored from a free-kick to take all three points for the Italian club. I still think Zenit will be in the running for a top spot in this group and I look for an even better performance in their next match against Real Madrid.

(Note: Thanks have to go to 101greatgoals.com for the video links)

FC Basel 1893

How They Got Here:Basel beat Vitoria de Guimaraes (also known as Vitoria SC) 2-1 on aggregate in the third round of qualifying. Basel won the Swiss League last season.

Star Performer: MF Benjamin Huggel. An experienced member of the Swiss national squad, Huggel is a strong presence in central midfield. In his first stint with Basel he would get forward and pot the odd goal but now into his 30s, Huggel plays a more conservative game and is a steadying influence in the team. That said, he did score
a couple of important goals for Basel during qualification.

Key To Success: Basel will not be counting on any points from the matches against Barcelona so they must make the most of their other group games. If they maintain their 4-1-4-1 system and play positively against Sporting and Shakhtar they could steal valuable points from those clubs. One of the important parts of their campaign will be how new recruits Jurgen Gjasula or Marcos Gelaber will settle in. One of them will need to replace right midfielder David Degen’s contributions from last season. Degen

Players In: DF Behrang Safari (transfer from Malmo FF), DF David Abraham (transfer from Gimnàstic de Tarragona), MF Jürgen Gjasula, MF Marcos Gelabert (transfer from FC St. Gallen)

Players Out: DF Daniel Majstorovic (transfer to AEK Athens), DF Koji Nakata (released), ST Vratislav Lokvenc (loan deal expired), MF David Degen (loan deal expired)

Talking Points:Majstorovic was a massive loss for Basel. Not only was he a solid presence in central defence but he also had a phenomenal scoring record. In 85 appearances for Basel he scored 25 times, mostly scoring with his head from set-pieces as well as taking penalties. A neat little fact I came across while researching this article, Majstorovic reportedly speaks seven languages: Serbo-Croat, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German and English. He is now captain at AEK but unfortunately they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the last qualifying round.

One thing that has been hampering Basel lately is that a lot of their promising players end up leaving for the German Bundesliga. Among those that have left are Philipp Degen, Ivan Rakitic and Hakan Yakin.

Predicted Finish:I don’t envision good things for Basel. This is a tough grouping for them and I feel they will finish last in the group.

Shakhtar Donetsk

How They Got Here:Finished 1st in Ukrainian League; defeated Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 on aggregate in 3rd qualifying round.

Star Performer:DF Tomas Hubschman. After helping Sparta Prague make the Champions League group stages on a couple of occasions, the Czech central defender has helped shore up the Donetsk backline and led them to three league titles and two domestic cup victories since tranferring in 2004.

Key To Success:

Players In: ST Marcelo Moreno (transfer from Cruizero), DF Mykola Ischenko (transfer from FC Karpaty Lviv), GK Rustam Khudzhamov (transfer from FC Kharkiv)

Players Out: GK Jan Lastuvka (loan to West Ham United), MF Zvonimir Vukic (transfer to FC Moscow), ST Oleksiy Byelik (transfer to FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk)

Talking Points:Like many other clubs in ‘smaller’ leagues, Shaktar has lost a number of their top performing players to richer clubs over the last few seasons. Elano, Nery Castillo and Julius Aghahowa are some of the players to leave Shaktar in the past couple of seasons. Seeing what Elano has done for Manchester City it’s hard not to think that Shaktar could have an even stronger stake in this group with him still in their side.

However, the club still does have a number of top players in the side and should challenge for either second or third. Shaktar, though a Ukrainian-based club has an increasing number of foreign, and in particular Brazillian, players. For example, this past weekend Shaktar defeated FC Illychivets Mariupil 3-0 in Ukrainian Cup action with the goals coming from the Brazilian trio of DF Ilsinho, MF Jadson and ST Luiz Adriano. While there are more foreign players in the squad, it’s not all doom and gloom as four Shaktar players were in the recent Ukraine squad for World Cup qualifying: Andriy Pyatov, Oleksandr Kucher, Vyacheslav Shevchuk and Yevhen Seleznyov.

Predicted Finish:As I mentioned, I think Shaktar should finish at least in the UEFA Cup spot and may even challenge Sporting for 2nd.

FC Barcelona

How They Got Here:Finished 3rd in La Liga; defeated Wis?a Kraków 4-1 in the 3rd qualifying round.

Star Performer:Xavi. This is a player I’ve touted and heaped praise on since the inception of this website. Long underrated, Xavi is finally starting to get some of the acclaim from the mainstream media that he deserves. Named Best Player by UEFA at Euro 2008, Xavi’s passing and composure in the center of midfield are critical to the dominant ball possession that Barcelona typically enjoy.

Key To Success:Getting the new players integrated into the squad quickly. Barcelona are in a rebuilding phase and the squad has seen turnover at some key positions. It was a busy summer for the Catalans as they sold about 50m Euros worth of player rights and bought about 88m Euros worth. Barca have started their domestic campaign with a loss and a draw. Another draw or loss in their opening Champions League match may shake the confidence around the team and put pressure on new coach Josep Guardiola very early. A win will settle the squad and let them go on and play with a more relaxed attitude.

Players In: DF Dani Alves (transfer from Sevilla), MF Alexander Hleb (transfer from Arsenal), MF Seydou Keita (transfer from Sevilla), DF Gerard Piqué (transfer from Manchester United), DF Henrique (transfer from Palmeiras)

Players Out: DF Edmílson (transfer to Villarreal), FW Giovani dos Santos (transfer to Tottenham Hotspur), MF Deco (transfer to Chelsea), FW Ronaldinho (transfer to AC Milan), DF Oleguer (transfer to Ajax)

Talking Points:The biggest story, at least to start the year, will be the departure of Ronaldinho and how Barca perform without their talisman. Many will say that Lionel Messi is now the leader up front but thus far he has been injured for large stretches of the past few seasons. If he can remain healthy then I could see him making up for some of Ronaldinho’s offensive output. Bojan Krkic is another young star to keep an eye on. With his pace and dribbling skill he should see even more first team action this season.

Barca have made their worst start to a season in quite some time and their recent form has been poor. After losing the second leg in the qualifier against Wisla Krakow in Poland, Barca then failed to score against Numancia on the opening weekend of La Liga and only managed to score via a penalty kick against Racing Santander this weekend. Barca’s sharpness around the opposition goal will need to improve if they are to better last season’s domestic and Champions League records.

Predicted Finish:First place. Barcelona will have to struggle massively to finish lower in this group.

Sporting Club de Portugal

How They Got Here:Finished 2nd in Portuguese Liga — automatic berth to group stage

Star Performer:MF Joao Moutinho. Judging by the number of rumours and the dollar amounts being quoted for the 22-year-old playmaker, Sporting are lucky to have retained his services for another season. In 36 total appearances last season, Moutinho scored 7 times and created many more goals for his teammates. Moutinho turned down a move to Everton, who had bid in the neighborhood of £12m for his rights, and is thought to be more interested in going to Italy or Spain than England.

Key To Success: Like most of the other clubs in this group, it’s a case of making hay against the other teams in the group and anything gained from the two matches against Barcelona will be a major bonus.

Players In: MF Fabio Rochemback (free transfer from Middlesbrough), ST Helder Postiga (transfer from FC Porto), DF Leandro Grimi (transfer from AC Milan)

Players Out: DF Marian Had (end of loan from Lokomotiv Moscow), ST Milan Purovic (loan to Kayserispor)

Talking Points:This Sporting’s their third successive season in the UEFA Champions League group stage but they have yet to secure a place in the knockout rounds. Sporting exited last season’s competition before Christmas after finishing third in their section, behind Manchester United and AS Roma.

Sporting have one of the best sports academies in the world and in recent years have produced some of the games top players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani (now with Manchester United), Simão Sabrosa (now with Atlético de Madrid) and Hugo Viana (now with Valencia) The current squad boasts many academy graduates including Joao Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Yannick Djaló and several others. It is a source of strength for the club and a nice bonus this season is that they have not suffered any major losses in the senior XI. They’ve retained their core and added a few veteran players such as Helder Postiga.

Predicted Finish:I think this is Sporting’s best chance to advance and if they can defeat Shaktar in both matches, they should finish 2nd.

It’s hard to label any transfer deal that costs 21 million Euros a bargain but considering the numbers that have been thrown around this summer, Ronaldinho’s move to AC Milan looks to be cheap. The former two-time World Player of the Year (2004, 2005) signed a three-year contract at the San Siro after enduring a frustrating campaign with Barcelona. At 28, I think he’s far from being over-the-hill or past his best as many pundits have been saying. A change of scenery and joining up with fellow Brazilians Kaká and Alexandre Pato could be just what he needs to rejuvenate his career.

Milan are hoping to bounce back from last season’s disappointing campaign that saw them finish fifth and miss out on a Champions League spot and are looking for the Brazilian trio to lead their attack. Ronaldinho has payed immediate dividends on the financial front as Rossoneri fans snapped up 5,230 season tickets the day he was unveiled to the Italian media as the club’s latest signing. The club’s official website reported that it received more than 10 times the average daily volume of visitors since news of his transfer.

As pictured to the left,  Ronaldinho will begin life in Italy with a new number. He will wear the number 80, he was born in 1980, as his number 10 shirt is already taken by Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf.  AC Milan stated on their website that club policy is that they have never and would not demand that any of their players give away their number.

The other big news story coming out of the San Siro these days is that Kaká is a reported transfer target for Chelsea. However, that interest appears to be going nowhere with Milan dismissing reports that they had received a mega offer or were ready to accept one. Milan’s vice-president Adriano Galliani stated “We will never sell him. Even if we received an offer of 300m from Chelsea. The only way we would ever consider letting him go is if it was his desire.”

Barcelona will look to Alexander Hleb as a playmaking left-sided replacement after he completed a reported £11.8m (according to the BBC) move to the Catalan giants from Arsenal. The deal could rise to £13.5m depending on how well Barca do during Hleb’s stay at the club. Hleb made 129 appearances after he joined Arsenal in 2005 when the club paid Stuttgart £11.2m for his services. Hleb is Barca’s fifth signing of the summer and he joins Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres and Daniel Alves in a new-look squad next season.

One of AC Milan’s main rivals for Serie A honors this coming season will be Juventus, who made steps to strengthen their midfield. They agreed on a 10m Euro deal with Sevilla for midfielder
Christian Poulsen, who has signed a four-year deal with his new club. Juve manager Claudio Ranieri’s focus appears to be on defence as he had early brought in former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg on a free. Poulsen has developed a reputation for crossing the line and it will be interesting to see how Italian fans react to him. He was at the centre of the Totti spitting incident at Euro 2004 (Totti is still upset about it according to this goal.com article) and was labelled a “coward” for the treatment he gave Kaka (video link courtesy of 101greatgoals.com) during a Champions League encounter in 2006 while he was with Schalke.

The list of departures from Arsenal continued to grow as central midfielder Gilberto Silva leaves to join Greek side Panathinaikos. Arsenal signed Gilberto from Brazilian club side Atletico Mineiro in 2002 after he impressed at the World Cup. Silva was an integral part of the Gunners’ side that won the Premier League in 2003/04 and won the FA Cup in 2003 and 2005. Gilberto was relegated to a few substitute appearances because of the emergence of Mathieu Flamini and Cesc Fabregas. However, with Flamini and the 31-year-old Gilberto both leaving the club this summer, Arsenal will have to hope that Abou Diaby can take the next step forward. Diaby has long been touted as the replacement for former Gunners midfielder Patrick Vieira though he could have competion from Denilson and Alexandre Song.

One player not leaving Emirates Stadium, at least not at the moment is Emmanuel Adebayor. Ronaldinho’s capture has put an end to Adebayor’s hopes of moving to Milan. Milan’s vice-president had previously stated that only Adebayor or Ronaldinho would end up at San Siro this summer.

Meanwhile, after all the furor over Real Madrid’s expressed interest in Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United have tabled an official bid for Dimitar Berbatov, offering Tottenham an undisclosed amount for their star striker. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says he has no plans to sell and has  lodged an official complaint with the Premier League against Manchester United over the comments allegedly made by Sir Alex Ferguson regarding his plans to sign Berbatov.

Levy has called Ferguson a hypocrite in reacting to comments attributed to Ferguson by The Sun, comments which the United boss emphatically denies having made. Spurs have handed the Premier League a dossier of evidence compiled over the last year and I for one tend to back Levy’s claim. If Spurs’ evidence holds up then Unted are likely to be charged with tapping-up Berbatov and the whole deal may fall apart. Ferguson is considering legal action against Levy for defamation and the whole thing is set to get very nasty.

Lastly, Chelsea have agreed to sell defender Khalid Boulahrouz to Stuttgart.  Despite not having a good season on loan at Sevilla, where he struggled with both form and fitness, Boulahrouz’s performances in Holland’s Euro 2008 campaign, has pushed the deal into £4m region according to a number of news sources. Boulahrouz failed to impress during his time at Chelsea and by moving back to the Bundesliga, he hopes to recapture the strong club form he had with Hamburg before making a £10m move to Stamford Bridge in 2006.

As the old saying goes, money talks and Cristiano Ronaldo is listening. The 23-year-old Portugese superstar finally ended his silence in an exclusive interview with respected Brazilian website Terra he is reported as stating: “I would like to play for Real Madrid but only if it is true they are ready to pay what Manchester United ask of them. However, it does not depend on me.”

Reports are that he wants to leave Man Utd for the £300,000-a-week wage packet being offered to him by Real Madrid. This despite the fact that Ronaldo signed a five-year contract extension with Manchester United last April, tying him to the club until the end of the 2011-12 season. The Real Madrid offer is double the wages he is currently making at Old Trafford.

In order for Ronaldo to join Real Madrid, United would first have to agree to sell him, but its plain to see that Madrid will need to break the bank to buy the Portuguese winger. Recent reports suggested Madrid would consider tabling a £150m offer to United for the services of the Portuguese star, who joined the English club from Sporting Lisbon in 2003. Madrid already holds the record for the biggest transfer fee in soccer history, paying Italian team Juventus £46m for the services of Zinedine Zidane in 2001. They would need to far exceed that to satisfy United.

The other possibility is of a cash + players deal, which would break apart a successful squad that captain Raul has urged the management to keep together. Players that have been mentioned as going as compensation are formidable talents like Sergio Ramos and Robinho.

There are plenty of reasons for these two superclubs to be fighting over the services of Ronaldo. He scored 42 goals in all competitions for United this season, helping the Red Devils claim its second consecutive Premier League title and to win the Champions League. He was named the top player in the English Premier League and is also the odds-on favourite to win the FIFA world player of the year award in December.

There are also rumblings that Barcelona are preparing to rival Real Madrid in the race to sign the Portuguese forward. The last time these two clubs fought over a player from Manchester United as back in 2006 when David Beckham was sold by United. United accepted a £25m bid from Barca before selling the midfielder to Real for the same fee. Beckham has no interest in joining Barcelona, as he felt he was being used as a political pawn by Joan Laporta. Laporta was campaigning to become Barcelona president and seemed to be using the Beckham signing as a way of upping his profile with the voters.

As Sid Lowe of the Guardian wrote this morning, Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón is still unpopular despite two successive titles and he has missed out on signing the players he promised to sign,like Cesc Fabregas and Kaká, during his presidential campaign. This could mean that despite the cost, financially or financially + players going to United, Calderón could be desperate to make a big statement.

Ronaldo has said that he will not speak of his future again until after the European Championships but expect the media to stir up a frenzy. A strong showing at Euro 2008 would only serve to drive up the price on Ronaldo, perhaps to the point where a deal is untenable.

I remain skeptical (this could just be a negotiating ploy for Ronaldo to up his United wages yet again) but it looks like my initial hunches about this were wrong.