Santos Welcomes Newcomer

After months of speculation and wild rumors, a deal has finally been stuck between Brazilian striker Robinho and his current club, Manchester City. Although the striker has made attempts to hide his unhappiness at the English club in the past, the January transfer window clearly seemed far too tempting not to act.

Robinho will finish out the season with his childhood club Santos, located on the east coast of Brazil.

So what does this mean for Manchester City now that Robinho is gone? Well, fortunately, it won't change much. A major reason for the Brazilian's departure was the inconsistency of his playing time at City. With Brazil in the World Cup this summer, Robinho is looking to secure as much playing time as possible to ensure his fitness and readiness for the competition.

As such, with talent like Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrick Vieira currently leading the team, Robinho was only promised a start every other game by current coach Robert Mancini. This clearly indicates that the striker was not seen as a necessary asset to the team (which is stupid because he is quite skilled). City, who sit in 7th place with a record of 10-3-8, had better hope they improve their status lest they start to regret letting Robinho go.

Robinho will be with Santos from ow until August 4.

Ronaldo Breaks a Nose, Handed Two-Match Ban

Madrid's resident diva has been handed a two-ban match after breaking the nose of Malaga defender Patrick Mtiliga during their match on the 24th. Ronaldo will now miss his side's games against Deportivo la Coruna this weekend, as well as the game against Espanyol next weekend.

While breaking Mtiliga's nose was completely unnecessary, Ronaldo did act out of pure frustration. Mtiliga was pulling Ronaldo's shirt and grabbing at his arms. A player of CR9's caliber is constantly being targeted by the other team- either they try to injure him to take him out of the game or resort to kick his ankles/grabbing his shirt to get the ball away.

I am in no way trying to justify Ronaldo's actions- taking a swing at a defender who's obviously failing at their job to keep the Portuguese striker out of Malaga's box- I'm just saying that it's got to be frustrating to be constantly attacked. He probably thought he'd get special treatment for being who he is (which he didn't), and now he has to pay the consequences.

A link to a video of the play is here.

Robinho Is Set to Leave Manchester City (Finally)

Robinho has been going back and forth for months about his feelings for his current club, Manchester City. No one has ever really been able to keep straight whether he wants to leave or stay put.

Well, the Brazilian striker has finally vocalized his thoughts, in pretty blatant terms. Robinho wants to leave England before the transfer window closes in order to play for Santos, a Brazilian club, on loan for the remainder of the season.

Robinho is unhappy with his current situation at Man City, where he rarely sees the field. This is not a spot he would like to be in, trying to prepare for the World Cup from the bench.

Playing on loan for Santos would fully prepare the striker for this summer's competitions. He played with the club until transferred to Real Madrid in 2007.

Hopefully this move will help Robinho this summer. After that, one can only speculate as to where he'll end up for next season.

Of Course They Did

Barcelona added yet another record to their name this weekend after their 3-0 defeat of Valladolid. The Catalan giants became one of five other teams to remain undefeated in La Liga in the first half of a season (19 games). Their official record as of Saturday is 15-4-0.

The only other teams to also go undefeated in 19 games are Real Madrid, Espanyol, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad.

Side note: another record of note is Messi's 100th goal with Barcelona, which came last weekend against Sevilla.

Two goals in two minutes gave Barcelona a strong lead over Valladolid, with a gorgeous side volley in the box from Xavi assisted by Dani Alves (20') and a long strike from Alves (22'). King Messi added his contribution in the 54th minute when he tapped in a perfect cross right on the penalty spot.

I didn't get to watch the game, which severely disappoints me (I miss too many games when I'm at school), but I've heard and read that this was a very well-played game by Barca.

Even just looking at the goals one can tell Barcelona was completely on their game. Xavi, although hailed for keeping the game controlled, exhibited his natural ability to perfectly connect with other players. Dani Alves, who always takes the longer-distance free kicks, showed why he's the man to do it with his perfectly placed long-distance goal. Messi, lethal from any distance inside the box, also proved his worth when he connected with Ibrahimovic's cross.

One can only hope that Barcelona can continue this streak of non-losses throughout La Liga and the Champions League.

Guardiola Agrees to One Year Contract Extension

After what seemed like (and probably was) months of speculation and pressure from both the fans and administration, Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola finally renewed his contract, keeping him with the Spanish superpower until the end of the 2011 season.

However, Guardiola himself has conceded himself that his time at the club is limited, despite the overwhelming success that has met him in the course of only a season and a half at the club.

"I know that sooner or later I will cease to be the coach of Barca and I have to enjoy the time I have here to the maximum," he said during a press conference.

"A coach of Barca can't be here for life just because I think you have to sign for short periods during which the coach has to earn things, with the players, with the fans," he added.

Regardless of Guardiola's coaching philosophy, Barcelona has anchored him down to the club for at least another season. The man is destined to go down in history as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

So far, under Guardiola, Barcelona has won 67 of 95 matches, six tournaments, and scored an average of 2.4 goals per game, according to soccernet.com. The "Pep Team" has lost only 9 of their 95 matches to date.

That's a pretty impressive record, if I do say so myself. Anywhere this man decides to go after Barcelona is going to be wildly successful. It's like everything he touches turns to gold.

Atletico Madrid Steamrolls to the Quarterfinals

The thrashing might have been at the expense of a second-league team, but many a Goliath has fallen at the hands of a David. Such was the case today, as Atletico Madrid eliminated Recreativo Huelva from the Copa del Rey with a 5-1 victory.

Two minutes was all it took for Atletico to extend their lead to two, with goals from Simao (22') and Aguero (24'). In the 39th minute Ujfalusi extended the lead to three for his side. The second half did not fare much better for Recre- Troest gave Atletico an own goal in the 62nd minue and although Carmona cut Atletico's lead to three in the 71st minute, Simao struck again in the 83rd and capped off the scoring with five for his side.

Even more impressive than the win was that for 19 minutes Atletico Madrid played with one less player, as Paulo Assuncao was sent off with two yellow cards in the 72nd minute. It seems that Quique Flores is starting to uncover the team that has been so hellish in La Liga in past seasons.

Although they're probably too far behind to hope for a top four finish, if Atletico continues its current success with minimal slip ups, a strong top ten finish is definitely possible. They're right now in 11th place, three points behind Villarreal.

'Pool Gets Maxi for Free, Continues to Lose

If Maxi Rodriguez was looking to escape the losing streak that gripped Atletico Madrid during his time there this season, he sure as hell didn't pick the right team to transfer to. The 29-year-old midfielder finalized a free transfer to Liverpool several days ago, just in time to help his new team lose (again) to Reading, eliminating them from the FA Cup.

Despite having (miraculously) won their last four Premier League games, Liverpool dropped today's game against Reading, a team not even in the Premier League! Even better- Reading is floating just above the relegation zone in the English League Championship, which is the league below the Premier League. That's like the US Men's National Team losing to a second-rate high school soccer team.

I did not watch the game, which probably resembled more of a train wreck than a professional soccer game, and I'm quite glad I didn't. Coach Rafa Benitez's prize possessions, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, both left the game due to injuries. Torres limped off with an apparent knee injury after 29 minutes while Gerrard never returned to the pitch after halftime.

Liverpool's goal resulted from an own goal compliments of Ryan Bertrand, who deflected in a shot from Gerrard right before the half. Gylfi Sigurdsson leveled for Reading from the penalty spot in the 90th, and after five minutes of extra time Reading pulled ahead with a spot-on header from Shane Long.

Liverpool can how join the ranks of sides humiliated by grossly under-qualified opponents, along with Real Madrid's Copa del Rey defeat to Alcorcon and Barcelona's Champion's league defeat to FK Rubin Kazan.

These defeats, which have been plaguing 'Pool since the beginning of the season, can not continue. This is supposed to be the same team that was a very serious contender for the Premier League title last season before some hiccups in their schedule handed it over to Manchester United. I, personally, have to blame the coaching staff. Rafa Benitez has to go. He is clearly not capable of handling a club like Liverpool anymore, and I'm baffled that he has not been let go yet. Mark Hughes was let go while Manchester City were just outside the top 4, while Liverpool is balancing precariously in 7th place in the League.

New management is a must, and the sooner the club owners realize this, the better off the rest of the season will be for the Reds.