Spanish La Liga side Real Mallorca were kicked out of the Europa League due to “financial reasons”, and their place was given to Villarreal, who finished 7th last season. The decision was made due to the fact that they have debts close to 70 million Euros, and that is not allowed under UEFA’s rules. Mallorca replied that they have further investment coming in that will help reduce these debts, but Platini’s men were not to be denied.

70 million is indeed a lot of money, but still, this decision is a little bit ridiculous. Club finances throughout Europe are a mess, and punishing singular clubs like this won’t achieve anything. Other clubs spend hundreds of millions a season just on new players, with investment coming in from banks or owners who borrow and gamble heavily, yet they are allowed to go on without a problem. But it’s not that big of a surprise, as a club like Real Mallorca does not hold the same commercial value to UEFA as others.

Of course, the people who this will hurt the most will be the club’s fans, who have waited a long time to get into a European competition. It hardly seems fair that they should be paying the price for UEFA’s shady rules or their club’s faulty administration. But on the other hand – Villerreal must be unable to believe their luck right now. Who’s betting on them to go on and win it now?

Following Real Madrid’s 2-0 loss to rivals Barcelona at the weekend, a match that was watched by millions around the world, much has been talked about how Barca are certain champions of Spain now, and no one can stand in their way. Despite being outplayed, however, Real Madrid’s players are saying they’ll fight on to the end.

Sergio Ramos, one of the few Real players who looked up to standards in the game, has promised the club will “fight to the death” for the remainder of the season. Christiano Ronaldo, who was restricted to only glimmers of his potential by the Barca defense, has said that the team will not give up, and they can still win the league. Technically this is very true, as Real are still only 3 points behind the leaders, and as we all know, anything can happen in football.

You probably can’t expect anything less than such comments, but it’s hard to see who exactly can stop Barca in the world, let alone Spain. They made Real’s star-studded selection look helpless, an extraordinary achievement, considering this match was in Madrid. Ronaldo himself certainly lost out in the “battle vs. Messi” as the media had put it, and now we can say for sure that the Argentinean has taken the mantle of world’s best player away. It looks like it’s back to the drawing board for Real, and they’ll need more than big summer signings to start closing the gap again.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has stalled over a new contract at the club, apparently waiting to see who the new president will be after Joan Laporta steps down this spring. It almost sounds a bit ridiculous to suggest that after leading Barca to an incredible six-trophy season, there are questions over his future, but you never know in football. It has been reported that several top European clubs are keeping an eye on the matter, but nothing so far suggests that negotiations have broken down.

Laporta explained Guardiola’s position:

”Pep needs adequate time to reflect and come to a decision that is very important in a person’s life. He has managed for the best time in the history of Barca. He realizes that he has the responsibility to keep winning. For him, this renewal is a vital issue and not sports and family life, you must have the conviction that we can keep winning.”

But few would have any doubts as to Guardiola’s ambition and determination, and it seems like the problem stems from control over transfer decisions. Currently Guardiola shares responsibility with Barca’s sports director, and he may be holding out for the opportunity to be solely in charge. If that is the case, then they must absolutely comply. He has more than proven himself as a manager, and he should not be limited in any way. Even after one season he is already a legend for what he has achieved, and with him Barca are really starting to dominate world football.

The official reason given is that players “waste time” by taking off their shirt and then having to put it back on, but that explanation has always seemed absurd to me, compared to the other things looked over. Some teams, when in a favorable position, can basically lie around the pitch for the entire 2nd half, only for the referee to give a measly 3-4 minutes of stoppage time. Other players, of various skill levels, dive all throughout the game, but officials are afraid to sanction them (ironically, Ronaldo is sometimes an example of this too). Too often, they are embarrassed to give a free kick, but can’t produce a yellow card, because then they’d have to start booking and sending off entire teams—not exactly a good image for the game.

In contrast, it takes less than three seconds to put your shirt back on. Not quick enough to spare you the yellow card, however. Go figure!

Of course, there are many factors that may have contributed to the decline in profits. One obvious explanation would be the global recession, which is hitting businesses everywhere. Another reason, however, might just be that the current stars are focused too much on the glamour in the tabloids rather than showing what they can do on the pitch—Real’s recent humbling in the Copa del Rey serving as a prime example. Benzema and co. are yet to earn the sort of legendary standing Zidane and Figo garnered over the years.

Or it all might have a more practical explanation—Real fans already have a “Ronaldo” shirt from the Brazilian superstar’s stay—so why buy a new one with the same name? A bit of recycling never hurt anybody. Whatever the reason, Real fans will be hoping their stars start earning their huge price tags where it matters most.

It is unfortunate for the young midfielder who was selected as team captain this summer and had a promising career in years to come. Heart failures in soccer seem to be very common in recent years which makes me wonder as to why. Anthony Van Loo is one of the lucky players to know if his heart condition and have his life saved by an internal defibrillator.

R.I.P. Jarque.

The striker promised 50,000 screaming fans that he was going to do his best to score many goals and lead Barcelona to success in all competitions. During his presentation, he juggled a few soccer balls, kicked the balls to the crowd, smiled for photographs, and showed off his new number 9 jersey.

The below video shows highlights from Ibrahimovic’s official presentation including an overzealous fan who rushed at him on the field but was stopped quickly by security before reaching the soccer star.

Eto’o won two Champions League trophies with Barcelona, one in 2006 and one this past year in 2009. He scored 130 goals in 200 games with the Catalan team while he has scored 242 goals in 379 games throughout his entire career. No doubt, he will be scoring lots of goals with Inter this coming year since it is well known that scoring in Italy is far easier than in the other top European leagues.

So, what does this mean for Barcelona and their front line? Well, it looks that Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be the new striker as he has already left the Inter camp in the USA to move back to Sweden in preparation for the transfer. The Spanish club is rumored to have offered 50 million Euro for Ibrahimovic which means that they really want to acquire the striker.

It is amazing how many soccer stars have moved teams this year; and it is even more amazing the amount of money teams are willing to spend to acquire these players!

This is what 80,000 Real Madrid fans chanted at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium last night when Cristiano Ronaldo was presented to them after passing the medical examination with flying colors and signing his new contract.

To remind you, Ronaldo became the most expensive soccer player transfer in the history of the sport last month going from Manchester United to Real Madrid for nearly 131 million dollars. His transfer price eclipsed that of Zidane when he signed with Madrid almost 10 years ago.

The 80,000 people who attended the presentation was also a new world record. The previous record was the 75,000 fans who welcomed Diego Maradona in Napoli many years ago in 1984 on his transfer from Barcelona. The numbers are also much larger than those from Kaka’s presentation last week.

Ronaldo is going to be wearing a jersey with the number 9 on his back. During the press conference that followed his presentation, Ronaldo said that he would have preferred the number 7 but he was happy with number 9 as well. Needless to say, CR9 jerseys are flying off the selves in part justifying Perez’s bold move to sign the Portuguese star. This of course considering that unemployment in Spain is close to 19 percent. At least the Spanish people have something to cheer about.

Enjoy the below video from Ronaldo’s presentation (for those of us who could not be there.)

Kaka will be wearing the number 8 on his back. Interestingly, he avoided taking the number 5 which Zidane wore when he was playing for Real Madrid; apparently, the young star wanted to prevent any comparisons between him and the French superstar. Fans were so excited about the young star, that thousands of jerseys were sold before the number was know. The team now offers to add the number for free in a move certain to please the crowds.

Just to remind you, Kaka transferred from AC Milan last month for 67 million Euros. The Brazilian is the second largest signing of the season for Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo taking first place. But if you ask me, Kaka is going to be the real star for Madrid.

The below video shows a small part of the presentation with Kaka talking about his move to Spain, signing autographs, and showing off his new jersey.