Gotze's La Liga Dream - The Consequences

Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Mario Gotze has recently stated that his dream is to play for either of the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid or Barcelona. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder has been in scintillating form for Die Borussen over the last year, amassing 12 goals and 19 assists in 51 games. He was fairly influential in Dortmund's victorious Bundesliga campaign last season. Captain and pivotal figure Nuri Sahin left the German club this summer to join Real Madrid, leading many people to doubt Dortmund's ability to threaten for the league in Sahin's absence. But, the diminutive Gotze has only upped his game and been ever so influential in Dortmund's challenge this Hinrunde.

Whether young Mario wants to follow in Sahin's footsteps, or the thought of playing for one of the most successful clubs in the world is his main influence, Gotze's move to Spain seems fairly imminent. He surely won't make the move this January, but talks may start in June. Assuming Gotze does move this summer, here is a look at where he'd probably fit at the two clubs.

It's a Blue Blue Christmas..

It's a Blue Blue Christmas, but of a different shade. The 1st time since 1929 that Manchester City have been at the top of the table going into the Christmas season. You could also call it the Manchester Christmas in the Premier league coz not far behind are United with only a couple of points separating them from their rivals. And by the looks of their win against Fulham the title doesn't seem to be leaving Manchester for another season.

Mancini's side have been on a roller coaster ride since the start of the season dropping only 7 points out of a total of 51. While Manchester United have dropped only 9 and are in 2nd position they haven't been as convincing as the fans would have wanted them to be. On the other hand City have looked in command and have majestically surged ahead dismissing teams with ease. The number of goals they have scored in less than half the games played in a season have been testimony to the aggressive play. And it doesn't seem difficult for Mancini's men to beat the premier league record of 103 goals in a season set by Chelsea a couple of years ago. The attacking prowess at Mancini's disposal is something greatly feared in the premier league.

Who Do Milan Need For The Second Half Of The Season?

Milan started the 2011-12 season on a very poor note, with heavy losses to Juventus and Napoli and weak draws against both Udinese and Lazio. These dismal results could possibly be attributed to the injury crisis that affected the Rossoneri up until October. Robinho's return to the squad was a big boost to the team when they hosted Palermo, a turning point in the season. The Brazilian was influential in that particular game, but has failed to replicate that performance thereafter.

Milan's midfield hasn't been the most efficient in Italy this season. Barring Antonio Nocerino and Kevin Prince Boateng, Milan's midfield has been very sluggish. The likes of Clarence Seedorf and Alberto Aquilani have failed to support in attack, while the experienced duo of Massimo Ambrosini and Mark van Bommel have been abysmal with their defensive duties. In attack, Milan have been far too reliant on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Big Swede has scored 11 goals in the Serie A so far, and provided 2 assists. Antonio Cassano was in top form at the start of the season, but his illness has put him on the sidelines till the end of the season. Pato and Robinho have left a lot to be desired. Defensively, Milan have looked a little shabby when compared to last season. Thiago Silva and Ignazio Abate have been shining stars so far, while Nesta has shown his brilliance in spurts. The main worry, one that has haunted Milan for the last few years, is that left side of defence. Gianluca Zambrotta is clearly past his prime, Luca Antonini should be playing in the Serie B and Taye Taiwo hasn't been able to fit in, primarily because of Max Allegri's stubbornness towards starting the former Marseille man.

Adriano Galliani clearly has a good amount of work to do when the transfer window opens in January. Here is a look at some possibly useful signings that Milan could look to complete.

QPR TRIP AND EUROPA LEAGUE DRAW

It’s a trip to London this weekend as we head to Loftus Road to face a QPR side that have been solid at home. They are a very English side in the sense that they have a strong discipline and work ethic about them; they are very sound at the back and attack from the flanks with good wingers. 

Jamie Mackie made a comment that they will get into our faces in the game, well I don't want to make much sense from what the lad says, you can get into our faces as much as you want but at the end of the day you need to get the ball into the net to end up with something to show on the table and I don't think that will happen after the kind of resilient form we have shown away from home. Those classic defensive displays in grinding out 1-0 victories have made for a very impressive away column reading and it has already crossed the mark of last year. Well you already know that after the kind of woeful way we played away from home last season on our travels.

ElClasico : Saturday Night Sensation for Barcelona

When the final whistle went off at the end of 90' at the Santiago Bernabeu the result 3-1 would have hard to sink in, if sometime had gone off to sleep at halftime. But this is Barcelona, the best team in the world at the moment and they would have left Mourinho gasping as to what is left for him to do to beat this Barcelona side something which he hasn't achieved in 4 league meetings, the first Real Madrid manager to achieve such a feat.

Since moving to a country with a different timezone my football viewing has been made more smoother with EPL at breakfast and LaLiga at lunch or tea time. And with ElClasico at a perfect time in the day I couldn't miss it for any reason. And while I was following it, the tension certainly was rising as each minute passed by even for the neutral in me. The Barca fans must have had a tough time in the first half and the Madrid fans in the 2nd. Add to that if I was told that 3-1 was a fair reflection of the game,I wouldn't  have an option but agree as Real Madrid were made to pay for all the missed chances they ought to have finished.The reason why you can't get off your couch when your watching a football match right from the 1st second till the end of the game was once again displayed today by the universal declaration of beautiful and scintillating football.

The fastest goal in an El Clasico - 23 seconds

REALLY, RED NEV??

I had been waiting all week if there would be a decent article this week from someone who really talks sense to come up with some sort of an convincing explanation about the demise of Manchester United in the UEFA Champions league. I had been waiting for a Gary Neville column or even some comments by Paul Scholes saying something that made sense about the demise, but out came nothing. These so called Red lads are Fergie worshipers and love their manager more than they do Manchester United, otherwise there would not have been a mum on their lips when the club crashed out of the UCL in midweek.

A SEASON DEFINING WEEK AHEAD

It was a decent performance away from home at Villa Park, a place that we had not won for the past two seasons. Well if you look at our woeful away form from last season than endless stats of these type will pop up and we will keep them away for some other day as of now.

Victory was thoroughly well deserved after a solid performance defensively, Carrick is looking like a decent player again as he knew he had the reliable Phil Jones by his side who did all of the running for him. It was his trademark performance as he sat back, made interceptions and dictated the flow of the play to his liking. With each passing week its now turning into some sort of a habit to praise Jones as the lad keeps surprising me time and time again. No one had expected  him to play the no.of games he has at this point of the season but with injuries to players at crucial junctures and his versatality has prevented Sir Alex from a selection headache. It was a well taken goal by the lad who finally opened his account in the against column for the club.

The Battle Of The Borussias : The Absence Of Reus, Gundogan's Failure And A Poor Gotze Show

Borussia Monchengladbach hosted defending champions Borussia Dortmund last night, in a game of utmost importance for both clubs. The two teams were joint table toppers before the game and were looking to keep that spot with a win. Monchengladbach were without their highly influential attacker Marco Reus while Dortmund were missing the services of Moritz Leitner, Sven Bender and Neven Subotic.

The absence of Reus saw Raul Bobadilla start alongside Mike Hanke in attack. This meant that Lucian Favre started with a 4-4-1-1 as opposed to the regular 4-2-3-1. Jurgen Klopp continued with his staple 4-2-3-1.