Last night’s Copa del Rey Quarter Final 2nd leg derby between Real Betis and Sevilla had to be abandoned after the Sevilla coach, Juande Ramos, was knocked unconscious by an object thrown from the crowd. The first leg, which had been played at Sevilla’s stadium, had finished 0-0.

The incident happened after the Sevilla striker Frederic Kanoute scored. The Sevilla players then proceeded to leave the pitch whilst Ramos was treated by medical staff and regained consciousness. Ramos had been unconscious for up to 11 minutes during which time the game was suspended. Normal Spanish procedure in such circumstance [when a game is called off] is to play the remaining minutes at a later date.

The pre-match build-up to this Seville derby had been dominated by arguments between the two clubs over whether or not Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido would be allowed in the VIP box at the Betis stadium. All this a result of an stupid argument that erupted after the teams last met in La Liga a few weeks ago.

Passion run high under the Andalucian sun and the regional government had to intervene to mediate the situation. They finally persuaded Betis to allow Del Nido to attend the match. Del Nido was given a “warm” Betis welcome by a number of “intelligent” fans who threw objects at him as he took his seat. Bienvenido!

And then it just got petty, quite frankly as there was further controversy after Betis had placed a bronze bust of Del Nido’s arch-rival, the Betis owner Manuel Ruiz de Lopera in a seat just behind the Sevilla president. Let’s not forget folks, these are grown men!

“You have to point the finger at the culprit, only the culprit,” said Del Nido, regarding the Ramos incident.

“This could have happened at any ground. [Really?] Nobody can avoid this if, among the thousands of fans who enter the stadium, there are 10 lunatics, and unfortunately this happened here.” [I don't know, called me old fashioned if you like but wouldn't you hope that there were in fact zero lunatics at the ground?]

Spain’s sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky said he would be calling for immediate action from the Spanish Football Federation. I bet he is!

“This was a shameful incident,” Lissavetzky told Radio Marca. “We will be calling an emergency meeting of the Anti-violence Commission and will ask the Spanish Football Federation to deal with this with maximum rigour.

“We must stop incidents such as this or those that happened recently in Italy occurring again.”

This is not the first time an incident like this has happened. Last season’s cup quarter-final second leg between Valencia and Deportivo Coruna was abandoned after a linesman was cut on the head by a coin thrown from the crowd. Passions obviously run high with the Copa del Rey. After that incident, I understand the remaining 46 minutes were played behind closed doors one week later. We’ll see what happens this time and I’ll certainly be checking the fixture list to see when these two meet again. Should be interesting!

The Soccer Blogger

Samuel Eto’o’s lawyer (who I would presume is also his agent) has insisted that the Barcelona striker who has had some public relationships difficulties recently, has not been offered to Premiership clubs.

Following those recent difficulties (a bust-up with coach Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho) the reports coming out of the Catalan capital are claiming that the Cameroon international striker has been placed on the market by the reigning Spanish and European champions.

The reports further claim that Premiership teams, including Liverpool and Chelsea, have been given the chance to sign the marksman in the summer. Following the recent takeover at Anfield both clubs could certainly afford Eto’o, as I don’t believe he will come cheap, but I don’t really see Chelsea benefiting from him that much, unless of course, they are not going to continue with Shevchenko, although he is improving. Liverpool on the other hand definitely need a world class striker, no disrespect to those currently there. With one, this season could have been a lot different for them in the Premiership. If they hadn’t dropped so many away points earlier in the season due to lack of fire power, they may have been in with a real chance of fighting it out with Utd on Saturday for the top stop. Could Eto’o have made that difference? Obviously we’ll never know but I’d have put money on it. I wonder what Samuel will think of Anfield next week?

However, that’s just me speculating but Eto’o’s lawyer, Jose Maria Mesalles, has obviously rejected the reports that the Eto’o could leave Camp Nou at the end of the season.

Mesalles continued by insisting his client is ‘very happy’ at Barcelona and feels the rumours are mischief making from other agents. As if!

Mesalles told Spanish station Cadena SER, “No agent has any authority to put Eto’o on the market. He is very happy at Barcelona.

“But, if at any time, either the club or the player is keen to part company then we will reach an agreement, as you can’t have a player at a club who is feeling unhappy.”

Now if that last sentence isn’t meant to be a “read between the lines” hint, then I’m Diego Maradonna!

Hasta luego amigos!

The Soccer Blogger

There have been some rather unflattering photos of Ronaldinho and his expanding tummy in the papers recently but Frank Rijkaard, the Barcelona manager, has tried to play down fears surrounding the fitness of his Brazilian star.

Ronny has, by the very high standards he has set, had an inconsistent season so far. However he produced one of his best performances of the campaign to help silence the doubters in Barca’s 3-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao.

Rijkaard laughed off the photographs of Ronaldinho after Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League defeat to Liverpool that appeared to show the player overweight. There were also photographs in this weekend’s papers comparing that one from Wednesday night to how he has looked in the past. Those photos showed a different looking Ronaldinho. One with a very toned physique in comparison.

Rijkaard said of the photo, “When the photo is taken quite close by, with inadequate light or if there is some movement, it can vary the reality a lot and, in this instance, for me there are doubts. [Hmm, Frank obviously didn't see the same picture I did then. "inadequate light", "some movement", who's he trying to kid?]

“In any case, we have a medical team who always control the physical state of the players and, when there is something brought to their attention, they work with the player to resolve it.

“The player has always given great performances, and I have total confidence in him and we should be happy to have him with us. I think he is as he always is, cheerful and unaffected. For me, there’s no problem.”

I’m not so sure Frank. I think Ronny could be thinking it’s about time for a new challenge. Anyone fancy Milan then?

The Soccer Blogger

Frank Rijkaard, the Barcelona manager, has tried to quash any speculation that he could quit the Spanish giants in the summer.

Reports in the Spanish media have hinted that political in-frighting behind the scenes at the Now Camp is frustrating the Dutch coach.

However, Rijkaard has stated he never spoke about leaving Camp Nou and believes his future is with the Catalan club.

Rijkaard said, “I have looked into the future… and it says, yes, I have never said I was going to leave [Barca].

“I am happy here, and it is an honour to work here. But it is a bit much to say that I will be here many years because I know how football works.”

I think this story, the Eto’o story and the future of Ronaldinho will run and run because I will lay money that at least one of this trio will not be at the Nou Camp next season no matter what Barcelona go on to achieve this season.

Let me know your thoughts.

The Soccer Blogger

Well, talk about a week being a long time in football. 7 days ago he was recalled to the Real Madrid team by Capello after being told he would never play for Real again. Not only that he scored and if you believe the rumours, possible saved Capello his job. Fast forward 7 days and Beckham and Real are back down to earth with a bump. In the closing moments of last night’s 0 - 0 draw with Real Betis, Beckham cut down Isidoro from behind and off he went!

Capello tried to defend Becks, at least to the press by stating, “We have had little help from referees this year.

“It was a foul in favour of Beckham [moments before] and I think the referee was a little quick to flash a red card.

“I’ve seen it on television and I don’t think it merited a red card.”

What he said in the changing room however is open for debate!

The sending off aside, this was not a good result for either Real, who are trying to bridge the gap with the Winter and current Champions Barcelona. Barca play Valencia tonight. What was already a massive game has just got even bigger. Barca will want to win to put a little bit of space between them and the rest in the league and will also want a confidence booster ahead of the mouth watering Champions League tie with Liverpool in the week.

The Soccer Blogger