That is right folks. After giving this step a lot of thought, the moment has come to take Studz Up to another level. We haven’t been able to catch a break from figuring things out, schedules with our own football commitments and so on. But that doesn’t mean we were not working on the blog. Our vision has been to bring our views about the wonderful world of football to the blogesphere.
We are very grateful for all the support, comments and the relationships we have built over the past 8 months. The WordPress community has been fantastic!
But we also want to make the experience a bit more interactive. That is why we wanted to go to a self hosted site. We are still using the WordPress platform. After all, templates are somewhat easy to use. And for us not being that tech-friendly, that gives us a bit of a break. We are still working on minor details (esthetics), but the site is pretty much up. It took a while to figure out how to bring the studzup.wordpress.com content to the new site (migration was not an option :$), but we will keep working on it.
So come over to http://www.studzupblog.com! We will be posting our articles from there. We have lots to talk about. The past three weeks have been packed with transfers, rumors and a lot of expectation has been built around players, clubs, leagues and the future of football. Can Barcelona take off with the M-S-N trio, would Keylor Navas give Casillas a permanent ticket to the bench? How far would Atletico Chelsea go? Can PSG reach European Glory? Is Bayern Guarnich 2.0 going to be unbeatable this season? These and many scenarios will play out in the next couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to talk about it!
Cheers,
The Studz Up Team.
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
According to Barcelona’s paper Sport, Cesc Fabregas might become a Gunner again next season.
The Spanish paper claims that Cesc’s agent is London right now, meeting with Arsene Wenger. And coincidentally, Cesc is in London as well. Even fans are snapping pictures with the Euro and World Cup Champion.
Cesc’s future has been openly discussed in both Spain and England. His critics have not been satisfied with his performance and he might as well be fed up with the whole situation.
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
First and foremost, we will like to congratulate Atletico Madrid for winning one of the most thrilling seasons La Liga has had in a while.
With a much lower budget than rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona, and losing Falcao at the start of the season, Simeone made the most of what he had and we saw how Diego Costa (depending on his injury) will go to the World Cup with Spain, Arda Turan, Koke and Tiago consolidated a strong midfield and Courtois wins his second Zamora trophy. Even el Mono Burgos made headlines during the season when he wore Google Glasses during a La Liga Match against Getafe.
May 17 will always be a special day for Atletico. The exact day in 2013 Atletico won La Copa Del Rey against Real Madrid, in Real’s stadium! 2 away wins 2 years in a row. It can’t get better than that.
In case you haven’t seen them yet, here you can appreciate the highlights that show all the hard work Atletico had during the entire season, playing 1 game at a time as El Cholo would say the entire year.
Congrats Atletico and Thank You for an awesome season.
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
It can’t get better than this. 6 clubs are battling for glory in 3 different countries.
Atletico vs Barcelona fight for La Liga.
Colchoneros vs Cules. El Tata vs El Cholo. Messi vs Costa. This is the most exciting La Liga Finale in years. Atletico leads by 3 points. A tie might be enough to secure their first title since 1996. But Barcelona has been in the situation before, winning La Liga 3 years in a row (91-92-93) in the last game during the Dream Team years. Messi signed yesterday a new contract with Barcelona making him the best paid player in the world. He is now making more than $25 million a year after taxes plus incentives until 2019. That could buy him a few can of beans for lunch. This might be a morale booster for Messi, the club and fans. Neymar, Pique and Jordi Alba also represent good news as they are fit for the match. Other than Valdes, Puyol and Dos Santos, El Tata has everyone ready for their final chance to win a trophy this year. El Cholo also brings all his soldiers to the final battle. Diego Costa seems to be fit as well. He will lead the attack and might be joined by either Villa or Raul Garcia. Koke and Arda Turan will lead the midfield with Courtois holding the net. It will be against El Cholo’s code of conduct to park the bus. We expect to see sparks fly around for this match. You can remeber the 93 final game for Barcelona in the video below.
Arsenal is after their first title in a while. Wenger’s squad (and fans alike!) need some silverware to satisfy their title thirst and prepare for a very competitive, and promising, Premier League next season. Wenger might miss Ox in the midfield, but he has Ozil, Podolski, Arteta and company ready for the match. Steve Bruce will not have Shane Long nor Jelavic as strikers. Still, we are expecting an intense game as well. Wenger and Arsenal had said earlier this week that the result of this game will not influence the decision about Wenger’s future. Do you belive that statement?
Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern will not repeat the treble, but they may end up with a Double Win this season. They have Dortmund in front of them. Klopp’s team won the German Supercup this season against Bayern. They each took away wins during their Bundesliga matches for 3-0. Lewandowski has a chance to win his last tittle with Dortmund before joining Bayern next season. Klopp has all players ready for the match. Guardiola, however, will miss Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thiago Alcantara (who is also ruled out for the Spain’s World Cup squad). Bayern coach also is leaving Mario Mandzukic out, despite the Croatian striker being fit for the game. Pep explained that this was his decision, making us believe that Mandzukic won’t be back for Bayern next season. The Munich squad is the favorite for this match, but Klopp and his team might spoil the fun for Pep. Let’s see how Franz Beckenbauer reacts after the match.
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
Barcelona’s coach Tata Martino organized a BBQ after their practice today. Players like Pique, Mascherano, Adriano, Xavi, Alexis, Pedro and Dani Alves were seen in a more relaxed environment.
Was this churrasco a way for the coach to say goodbye?
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
If you want your football served Caliente, then you gotta watch La Liga. While the Premier League is having a thrilling season so far, this weekend proved that La Liga might be decided until the last minute on the last match, for 3 teams!
Barcelona looks like the cast of The Walking Dead running from the zombies of a trophy-less season, the first one since the Rijkaard years. Real Madrid is running like Bale and Ronaldo towards the finish line hoping that Atletico stops to tie their laces. And Atletico still control their destiny if they win all matches.
But this is how this weekend brought hope to Barcelona after thinking all was lost, Levante gave Atletico a run for their money and the referee gave Real Madrid 5 extra minutes to score the goal they needed to stay alive.
BARCELONA VS GETAFE
Barcelona paid respects to Tito Vilanova one last time before the game started. Playing for the first time at home since Tito’s death, the club prepared a proper good bye to the former Masia student, player, assitant coach and first team coach.
Barcelona needed the 3 points to stay alive and hope for the Madrid teams to drop points. And they thought they almost had the game in the pocket. Despite the referee allowing a goal from a hand ball play that the assistant called, the Blaugranas had a 2-1 lead thanks to Messi and Alexis. But the defense was running out of gas and they allowed a goal in the 92nd minute. That hurt a lot. Barcelona players, staff and fans may have felt a similar pain to kidney stones trying to pass through your system.
Xavi and Busquets said that it was time to move on and think of next year. Tata Martino said that he doesn’t deserve a second chance. Only Barcelona Director Zubizarreta said that as long as they have mathematical chances, there is hope. And then, this happened…
LEVANTE VS ATLETICO MADRID.
The two Madrid clubs played the two Valencia clubs. The first game took Atletico to Levante. Levante was in a OK zone, but coming across with some points may give them one more year in La Liga. Atletico is everyone’s club nowadays. The underdog everyone is rooting for and everything seemed to be working out for them. But they just couldn’t break Levante’s defense. An early own goal from Felipi Luis was a sign that this was going to be a rough day for Simeone. Levante’s golie Navas, who will play for Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup, was the player of the match. The score was 2-0 and Levante has brought hope to many Real and Barcelona fans.
REAL MADRID VS VALENCIA.
Real Madrid were the Real winners with Barcelona’s and Atletico’s mishaps. They hosted Valencia in El Bernabeu and they should have an easy game, right? After all, Valencia may had been dealing with depression issues after losing the trip to Europa League final in injury time. Wrong. Valencia showed no signs of weakness. They almost gave Barcelona and Atletico some relief. But the ref decided to give Madrid 5 more minutes for Ronaldo to come to the rescue. And Wonder CR7 scored a wonder goal in injury time to get at least 1 point. The score was 2-2 and Madrid still has chances to win La Liga.
Now let’s play the numbers game:
Atletico is first with 88 points and has 2 games left. Their last game is against Barcelona in Camp Nou.
Barcelona is 2nd with 85 points and 2 games left to play as well. Their last game is against Atletico at home.
Real Madrid is 3rd with 83 points, but 3 games remaining.
If Atletico wins their last 2 games, they don’t have to worry about Madrid and Barcelona. Even a win and a draw will suffice as they have the head-to-head advantage.
Barcelona will have to win both games and hope for Real Madrid to at least tie 1 game. Barcelona will also have the head-to-head lead as they won both games vs Los Galacticos and tied vs Atletico in the first round.
Real Madrid will have to win all 3 games left and hope for Atletico to lose at least 1 game or tie both games. They will have a 2-point lead over Barcelona if they win all games.
You can also come up with your own set of possibilities. There might be many outcomes and you can just imagine fans, coaches and players pulling down their calculators, pens and paper to come up with the best number. But the biggest drama might be this one: Imagine Real Madrid win all 3 games and Barcelona ties or beats Atletico. Barcelona would give their archenemies the title. Let the rumours begin!
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
The world of football mourned the death of FC Barcelona’s former coach Tito Vilanova. Clubs from around the world paid respect to a man who inspired his family, friends and players through his battle with cancer.
It was a very sad weekend, and the best way to pay respect to a man of football is by playing football. And all 3 top teams still with hopes to reach glory, emotions were flying high.
REAL MADRID VS OSASUNA.
Real Madrid players, fans and the entire Santiago Bernabeu gave us a very important lesson about sportsmanship. Their arch-rival was mourning the loss of an iconic figure and they paid they respect in a classy way.
In the footy context, this was a training session before traveling to Munich for their Champions League vs Bayern on Tuesday. CR7 delivered two exquisite long distance goals while Ramos and Carvajal delivered two headers to make it 4-0. They are 6 points behind the leaders, but they have a game on hand.
ATLETICO MADRID VS VALENCIA.
Atletico fans just want La Liga to finish. They can’t wait to celebrate their first La Liga title since 1996. The captain from that legendary Atletico might lead them to another title again in less than 2 weeks. However, El Cholo insists they take 1 game at a time. And they are wining 1 game at a time as well. The score was 1-0 thanks to Raul Garcia, more than enough to keep El Cholo’s team on top of La Liga.
Simeone seems to have a date with destiny, as he also prepares Atletico for their 2nd leg against Chelsea.
FC BARCELONA VS VILLAREAL
Barcelona players played their most emotional game of their careers. The death of Tito had a deep impact on his players. He was the man that coached Pique, Cesc and Messi together for the first time 14 years ago. He was Guardiola’s right man when they coached Barcelona B and brought Busquets and Pedro to the firs team. He was the brains on Guardiolas coaching staff. He visualized the strategic plays. He is the one that took over when Pep left and delivered La Liga reaching a record: 100 points. And he battled cancer for the past 2 1/2 years.
You have to give Tata Martino some credit. Keeping the team in 3rd place while coming in such short notice and dealing with multiple off field scandals out of his control is impressive. And it was understandable that Barcelona was not all there during most of the game. They were down 2-0 and it looked like Barcelona’s title chase was over. Then it was all about Dani Alves. He delivered 2 crosses into the box that Villareal defenders turned into own goals. 2-2 and it was game on. But his biggest play happened in between the goals. During a corner kick, a fan threw a banana at him. In a classic Alves reaction, Dani ate the banana! Social media went crazy and in a single, random act, Dani Alves ate racism in one bite.
At the end it was the one and only Messi who made i 3-2 final for Barcelona.
Messi’s celebration is always dedicated to his grandmother, but yesterday she shared honors with Tito.
La Liga is still up for grabs, but Atletico seems closer. Who do you think will take it? Leave us your comments below and follow @Studz_Up on Twitter.
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
We were very honored to be contacted by fellow blogger Phil from @cravingfootball. He asked us if we wanted to contribute for his blog. That was an invitation we couldn’t turn down.
We didn’t know what to write about. This has been an exciting season in so many ways and there were so many topics to discuss.
At the end we settled for the intense battle in the Premier League and La Liga this year. You can read or guest post on Craving Football’s blog here.
We are working on another guest post for Phil’s blog. In the mean time, make sure you follow his blog and on Twitter for additional news, stories and fun stuff about the beautiful game.
Have a good one and enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Did you like this post? Please spread the word and share it!
Studzup Blog 