Barca duly wrapped up the 2011 Club World Cup in Yokohama on Sunday with a one-sided 4-0 win over South American champions Santos in front of a full house of 68,166 fans. The team from Sao Paulo in Brazil had looked likely to provide stiffer opposition than they eventually offered after their impressive 3-1 win over J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol in the semi-final on Wednesday at Toyota Stadium. In the final Barcelona quickly imposed their possession and hard-pressing game on their beleaguered opponents and racked up possession statistics of around 75% which is the team's average in La Liga. The match was basically over by half time as Messi, Xavi and Fabregas all scored in a dominant first 45 minutes. Santos came more into the match in the second period but the individual talents of Neymar, Ganso and Elano were left chasing elusive shadows as the Catalans took the sting out of the game and Messi added a fourth late on to seal Barcelona's second Club World Cup in three years. In the 3rd/4th place play off Al Sadd made history by beating Kashiwa 5-3 on penalties after the teams had played out a goalless draw. Tags Club World Cup football

*We might be marveling at the brilliance of Barcelona every time the blaugrana grace the field, and shake our heads at the bottomless bank account of Real Madrid , but the Spanish league is as absurdly top-heavy and devalued as the Scottish leag ue. The two giants won 5-0 and 6-0 respectively on the opening day of the Spanish season, leaving Villareal president Fernando Roig to exclaim in anguish, "It's a third-world league in which two clubs are sapping the TV money...I give it three to four years. Either it changes or we kill Spanish football." In third place in La Liga last season were Valencia, a full 21 points behind Real and this season the gripes are getting louder. Seville's president has blasted Spanish football as "not the biggest mess in Europe but in the world". Euro 2008 winner Marcos Senna concurred: "The superiority of Real and Barca is brutal." Three clubs other than Barça or Real have won La Liga in the past 15 years: Deportivo La Coruna in 2000 and Valencia in 2002 and 2004. The problem is historic, with Real Madrid built up by the Franco regime into a mega-club and Catalonia focusing its cultural and political frustrations onto its soccer team. Two weeks ago I was in the Castile province of northern Spain and watched the Barcelona v Real Madrid Super Cup second leg, which kicked off at 11pm local time. It was almost like watching Spain in the World Cup with the whole town glued to multiple TV screens in the main square. TV is the problem, as the clubs negotiate individual deals which inevitably favours the two giants. The locals in Ponferrada were largely pro-Real, as is the majority of Spain, but there were plenty of youngsters in Barça shirts too, presumably having grown up on Ronaldinho. Most of Spain is like this is in my experience. The big two have too big a hold on the nation. That said, at a national team level, this period of Barça/Real saturation has coincided with Spain winning Euro U-19, Euro U-21, the European Championship and the World Cup. This season began with Spanish players going on strike over money. How long before the imbalance in La Liga results in a breakaway? * Dunga and David Trezeguet are the latest to take the Arab shilling, having agreed to take jobs with club sides in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates respectively. The 4 7 year-old Brazilian most recently coached his nation at the World Cup finals and will coach Al Rayyan, while the 33 year-old French striker leaves a storied European career including spells at Hercules, Juventus and Monaco. 'Trez' won the World Cup with France and scored the winning (golden) goal in the Euro 2000 final. He will now play for Baniyas SC. No doubt he, like Dunga, are heading to the Middle East for the stratospheric salaries and little else, but in footballing terms it still seems a shame to be moving to real soccer backwaters in search of one last big payday. *Best wishes to Owen Hargreaves as he attempts one last resurrection of his injury-plagued career at Manchester City. The Canada-born midfielder, it is easy to forget, was England's best player at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, despite, or perhaps because he had never played in English club football, gaining his soccer education instead first in North America and then at Bayern Munich. -Sean O'Conor Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

UEFA Champions League Final 2011 - Barcelona v Manchester United 19:45 GMT In 1992, with 70,000 others, I saw Barcelona win their first European Cup at Wembley. How was it such a storied club had never done it before ? Who knows, although they have made up for lost time since and are set to stay a European giant for the for eseeable future. As they enter their second final in three seasons, once more locking swords with Manchester United , Barcelona have to prove they are one of the greatest teams of all time, as many have claimed. Their swatting of Arsenal raised club football to a new height because of the intensity of the pressing and the intricacy of their close passing, a hybrid game which left Europe stunned. Man United are more direct and wide, preferring to attack than marinate possession, a legacy of their English origins: The clash of styles is one to relish; then there is the opportunity for Alex Ferguson to show he has learned from the defeat in 2009. It is quickly forgotten that Man U had Bar ç a on the ropes in the opening ten minutes, before the game metamorphosed after Barcelona scored with their first attack. The Catalans clearly have the edge, although the English setting and weather (it is cool and cloudy in London today) will give the Red Devils confidence too. Perhaps Javier Hernandez, who has electrified the domestic league this season, will snatch the crown from Lionel Messi. Not that Bar ç a will not feel at home: Pep Guardiola himself was on the turf in 1992. This Wembley is a new building however, with no resemblance to the old Twin Towers. While it promises to be a classic final, it could just as easily be an ultra-cagey affair as finals often are, where nerves and the meeting of two great teams cancel out the space and mistakes that open contests need. Spain is split between Real and Bar ç a just like England is between pro and anti Man United. Bar ç a won admirers with their tiki-taka masterclass against the Gunners, but lost many fans with their gamesmanship against Real in the semi-final. We do not like to see our heroes pretending to be injured, diving for free-kicks or waving imaginary cards in the referee's face to get opponents sent off. A fair fight and an enthralling contest is what the world has ordered. As long as the fans are happy I am. I could not afford to repeat my 1992 visit tonight as UEFA and Co. had increased ticket prices to extortionate levels. But I have fond memories of that balmy day when Catalans and Genoese came to town. The stadium fans might be an afterthought these days for the corporate circus that football has become, but the thousands of fans in London will be enjoying it more than anyone. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

In the aftermath of Arsenal 's European death in the Camp Nou, the football world is wondering just who if anyone can beat the behemoth of Barcelona to the biggest prize. The Gunners could yet turn out to be the English champions in 2011 but will not be making the trip to Wembley in May for the Champions League final . A 4-3 aggregate loss to the blaugrana sounds like no disgrace but the vital statistics paint a devastating picture - 738 completed passes from Barcelona to 199 from Arsenal, 19 shots to none. Forget the harsh second yellow card for Robin Van Persie ; the G unners were outgunned and imprisoned out of possession for the best part of the match. The Londoners failed to fire a single shot on their opponents' goal and only registered two touches inside the Barça box throughout the course of the contest. Robbed? Hardly when even their equalizer was an own goal scored by Sergio Busquets. How good were Barcelona? In the following night's clash between Tottenham and Milan , no slouches themselves, neither side looked like they could hold a candle to the Catalans. Domestically, Arsene Wenger's team are accustomed to guarding the ball from their opponents and circulating it with a sleek élan. At home against Barça, they were forced to play like an away team and in the Camp Nou cauldron hardly had a sniff of what could be called possession, struggling to string sequential passes together in the face of some truly fierce pressing high up the field. The sad irony was that Arsenal play the closest thing there is in England to Barcelona's style yet clearly have an awful lot of ground to make up. Wenger and Gunners diehards bemoaned the red card as their fall guy and have every right to release their frustration on something. The Frenchman has sweat blood and tears for years forging an Empire at the Emirates only to be cruelly reminded Rome was not built in a day. The hosts' attacking wizardry was as expected, the ferocious closing-down a shock to the English system. The pressing game properly began with Liverpool in the late 1970s before being honed by Milan in the early 1990s. Barça's pack of hounds haring after the ball were matched by their silky attackers ganging up when bearing down on goal. Playing so close allowed them to unfurl the tiki-taka tactics which let a blue and burgundy-inspired Spain bag both the World Cup and European Championship over the past three years. Lionel Messi's opener came with some quick feet and an exquisite split-second chip over the advancing goalkeeper, while Xavi's goal was a textbook example of how to zig-zag right through the middle of a tight backline. Their crack troops are primed for short sprints and talented enough to dart through tight angles. When the gaps appear, Barça's artisans have the skill to craft something magical. By contrast, when Arsenal's golden chance arrived late in the day, the sturdy yet gangling Nicklas Bendtner failed to control Jack Wilshere's pass properly and the chance was lost. The actual gap between the blaugrana and the rest of Europe is worrying. Last week I watched Barcelona defeat Valencia 1-0 away with another goal from Messi. The hosts were third in La Liga behind the big two but looked a good division below in quality as their visitors outc lassed them utterly on their own patch. Barça could have scored a hatful in the first half at La Mestalla, torturing their hosts with the same harrying tactics they used to destroy Arsenal. Surely no team in the world is using space as ruthlessly as Barcelona at the moment. So how do we beat them? Once your team has done the basics of keeping its shape and its marking tight, it could try to tempt Barcelona upfield and then hit them on the break, but you have to be lightning quick as they scurry back after the ball faster than anyone. Nevertheless, full-backs Adriano and Daniel Alves stay true to their Brazilian blood and fly up the flanks into attack, leaving yards of grass behind to exploit on the counter. Their goalkeeper Victor Valdes and back four are not as stellar as their midfield and attack, and can crack under pressure and at set pieces, as Arsenal's goal proved. Applying any pressure is the hardest thing to do as Barça not only fight like tigers for the ball but run like cheetahs on the counter, making committing men forward a highly risky business. But Pep Guardiola's men are certainly beatable by a well-organised team, as Inter showed last year on their way to the trophy. Perhaps it is only Real Madrid, buoyed by their historical feud and by Jose Mourinho, who would take Barcelona on without fear and give them a run for their money. More than a club? Certainly, but more than human they are not. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Bobby Robson's passing was an event charitably marked by the soccer world. He left the world at 76 as one of the major coaches in the world with a CV as impressive as any.

One well-known Barcelona man who was certainly not thrilled by the Blaugrana's Champions League triumph against Manchester United was Carlos Ruiz Zafón , author of international publishing phenomenon The Shadow of the Wind

Bleary-eyed and weary, a legion of football fans shuffles through the night in their warmest of slippers and clutching at coffee cups.  Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere, where watching live European football requires the stamina of Paul Scholes and the fancy-footwork of Lionel Messi - if only to avoid tripping over the cat slumbering peacefully on the living room floor. Making sure the volume is turned way down for the start of the broadcast - waking the entire household is a rookie mistake - fans in the southern half of the globe are well accustomed to 4am starts and less than productive morning meetings at work.

UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona v Manchester United While not quite beauty v the beast, the intriguing contrast of Manchester United's organisation and Barcelona's beautiful game is the power v the glory. More than the billed clash of the two fantasistas - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Stadio Olimpico will host a battle of styles to decide the Emperor of Rome. Since Brazil won the 1994 World Cup with prosaic powerhouse midfielders, the accepted wisdom has been that top-level football is no place for dainty, pretty players and that a good muscular team will top a good technical one. After pocket battleships like Hagi and Diego Maradona in the 1980s, the winning formula had a nuance of percentage over artistry and along came the giants - Patrick Viera and Gilberto Silva, Zinedine Zidane, Steven Gerrard and Michael Ballack, not destroyers but mobile cruisers who rob and repel attacks, tackle, distribute and drive forward with the ball; Goliaths of all trades.

Did you know Josep Guardiola has Mars in Scorpio, conjunct Jupiter?  Up-to-date on the fact that Mars was in Aries when Alex Ferguson was born?  Sir Alex has a lot of Capricorn in his chart, did you know? Ferguson currently has Saturn conjunct the north node of his moon. Both the charts of Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson have a lot of Jupiter and Mars activity in them at the moment. What are we on about? Find out the astrological forecast for Manchester United and Barcelona ahead of the Champions League Final this Wednesday in Rome.

World Soccer News For week of 05/20 FIFA threatens to expel Bosnia and Poland from World Cup The international football governing body has threatened Bosnia and Herzegovina and Poland with the expulsion from the current World Cup qualifiers because of their fans' ill conduct. FIFA has fined Bosnia with 45,000 USD and Poland with half as much, saying it has no intentions to tolerate hooliganism. Next time, the football bosses warn, both teams will have points deducted or will be immediately disqualified.