After another busy round of fixtures in Spain, here is a round-up of the league that includes 13 of the shortlist of players to win the Ballon D’or.

The Big Two

No La Liga conversation is complete without reference to Real Madrid and Barcelona, and this is where our review starts. Despite surprise package Levante topping the table for the first few rounds of La Liga, their bubble has now been burst somewhat and all attention is back on the top two. Real, under the Special One are in scintillating form, scoring for fun and managing to keep clean sheets to boot. Both Higuain and Benzema are on fire, giving Mourinho the dilemma of his life when picking his starting striker. Add to this the form of Ronaldo and the resurgence of one Kaka, and the fact that Real can now offer solutions when Xabi Alonso is effectively man marked during games, they are looking more than a match for Barca.

Of course they went into the first Classico and mauling one point ahead of their fierce rivals, so Barca will not be unduly worried. However, one thing that Real have in their locker this season is the ability to grind out a 1 – 0 win – something that was lacking last season during games where teams effectively parked the bus in front of their goal and closed down Alonso. This was shown on the weekend where Sociedad literally played with a back five at the Anoeta, yet Madrid scored early courtesy of Higuain and held on for a hard fought win. Not a vintage Madrid performance but one that shows how far they have come under Mourinho.

Regardless of Los Blancos topping the table by as point, most people’s favourites for the La Liga crown is reigning champions Barcelona, who looked back to their best at the Camp Nou, with Messi making a clear signal to fans and the media with his goal celebration after his hat trick – the prolific striker had failed to score in 3 games yet after being played in his preferred position down the centre not the dreaded wing for the game, with Barca putting a grand total of 5 past a hapless Mallorca.

The Surprise of the season

Most people thought that the team wearing blue and red stripes would be the ones to top la liga throughout the season, and they have been for the past few rounds – yet it was Levante not  Barcelona doing this. Levante have been everyone’s surprise of the season and have looked to be living some sort of footballing fairy tale thus far, before this weekend being unbeaten, even being able to claim a victory over Mourinho’s men at the Ciudad de Valencia.

In players such as Sergio Ballesteros, Valencia have a core of seasoned professionals who offer much more to the team than their average age would suggest, and new coach Martinez settling into life at Levante quicker than anyone could have expected.

However this weekend the bubble was somewhat burst with a 2 – 0 defeat at the hands of Osasuna. Several things were said after the game – Martinez praised his players for their unbeaten run, the media inevitably predicted a rapid slide down the table to mimic that of Espanyol last season and it was noted that due to their small squad who are mostly the wrong side of thirty, a couple of injuries and suspensions will have serious effects on the team from Valencia. Yet should they take the lead, especially at home, Levante are dogged in their defending and whilst they are probably not going to finish in the European places, they should manage to avoid the relegation fight they were involved in last tie round.

The best of the rest

Valencia – after a  slightly slow start, Valencia are picking up pace, and have been fast climbing the table. They now occupy 4^th place after the weekend’s victory and have their eye on the third place that is currently held by local rivals Levante. After losing their three best players – Villa, Silva and Mata over the last couple of seasons, huge amounts of credit has to be given to long-time coach – well for a league famous for waving white handkerchiefs at Managers, being at the helm since 2008 is a long time – Unai Emery, who has weathered all of this and still managed to keep Valencia widely viewed as the ‘best of the rest’.

Sevilla – Currently sitting in 5^th place, there is now a gap opening up between the top four and the rest after a shock victory for Granada at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. In a season full of surprises, this can be put down to a bad day at the office for Sevilla who next up face  a flailing Mallorca side and will expect to bounce back and take all three points.

Atletico Madrid – one side who expect to e doing much better are the second best team in Madrid, Atletico, who fully expect to be sat in the top four. However, after a poor start to the season they sit 10^th, with a sizeable gap between themselves and the champion’s league places. After a good victory against Zaragoza, Atletico will be looking to this as a kick-start to their season.  With few goals scored this season and fan protests calling for Aragonez to return, the pressure on Gregorio Manzano has been alleviated slightly, yet improvements are vital.

Malaga – the Andalucians were the team that, after a huge influx of money then players, not to mention coach Manuel Pellagrini were everyone’s favourites to break into the top four this season. However this, so far, has not come to pass, and Malaga have been struggling, and were so lucky against Espanyol receiving a penalty for a very dubious handball and do not seem to be gelling quite in the way they should be.

The relegation Battle

Getafe sit rock bottom and after a heavy loss last weekend things look no brighter with local rivals Atletico up next. A shock victory for Granada gave them much needed points, yet the newly promoted Andalucians need to improve their form and fast if they don’t want to go straight back down.  The final club to occupy a spot in the bottom 3 is Racing, and the victory by a single goal over Betis cannot be underestimated in importance. Hector Cuper and his team will be looking to now climb the table, starting with the away tie at Granada next round.

Whilst Betis and Rayo have made decent starts, only 4 points separate both these promoted sides from the relegation zones, and they are still in danger and will be looking over their shoulders until a real gap is formed.

Villarreal – after a vital 2 – 0 win over Rayo this weekend, despite the missed penalty from skipper Marcos Senna, the yellow submarines have shot up the table and out of the relegation zone to 13^th.  With an European campaign still to worry about, not to mention keeping their head above the relegation zone, Garrido has his work cut out for him.

The bottom half of the table is so tight, with only 5 points separating rock bottom Getafe and 11^th placed Rayo, so anyone who has a poor run of form or can piece together a run of victories can drastically change their fortunes so early on in the season.

Game of Next round –  Levante v Valencia

3^rd play host to 4^th in a real test of Levante’s credentials. A must see.

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The goal itself proved to be the winner in stoppage time as a cross in from the left hand side was knocked down to Baptista who scored with a brilliant instinctive overhead kick that flew past the Getafe keeper.

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There was a time when it seemed as if most of the Premier League sides were destined to end up in the hands of wealthy American owners. The Glazer’s blazed a trail with their takeover of Manchester United, and many of their countrymen were quick to follow them to the English game. However, that trend seems to have slowed down of late, and all the talk-or rumours-of foreign takeovers seems to be coming from the Middle East.

The Glazer’s seem to be looking for a way out, and Manchester United are continually linked with a sale to the Qatari royal family. They have snubbed their offers in the past, but with market conditions looking extremely volatile, they could be tempted should a new deal be brought to the table. If the deal were to go ahead it could give United the same kind of spending money as Man City, and would raise questions about whether anyone else in the league could compete with this type of investment.

Cash from the Gulf has already begun to transform the look of the game, and has changed the fortunes of clubs across Europe from the likes of Malaga and PSG, to Anzhi Makhachkala and of course Manchester City. The flow of cash to clubs with little, or no history of previous success, is turning football upside down. The incredible investment in Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi group in 2008 has changed the footballing landscape forever.

Manchester City’s owners seem to have done a good job and appear to have solidified the partnership between the Premier League and the Middle East. They have managed to attract the biggest names, pay the biggest wages, secure massive transfer deals and made promises to invest in ensuring the regeneration of the local area and the future of the club. This has now become the blueprint for Premier League ownership and it seems that there is little that many outside the Middle East can do to compete. Whilst this is great if your club is taken over by Middle Eastern owners, we have to bear in mind the new Uefa Financial Fair Play rules which begin in 2013-14. It remains to be seen what sort of impact the regulations will have on this type of ownership, but they are supposed to cut the ability of clubs to rely on wealthy benefactors.

Whatever nation the owners of Premier League clubs come from, one problem they continue to add to is the  problems of debt within the Premier League, which continue to spiral out of control. The concern with foreign owners is that they will swan in and be quick to take their money out of the club as quickly as possible, negative examples like Hicks and Gillette and-despite the trophy haul-the Glazers do not help this image. So far Manchester City’s owners have acted honourably and professionally, but it remains to be seen if the Middle Eastern owners will be here to stay.

The Arab era of investment shouldn’t signal the end of American investment in the Premier League, the likes of Randy Lerner and Ellis Short have done well at their respective clubs and shown that most American’s do know how to run sports teams on this side of the pond. The Premier League allows clubs and therefore sponsors access to a global market, and it offers the owners a chance to acquire a well known, truly global, sports brand. If this globalisation of the Premier League continues then more clubs can expect to fall into foreign hands, and in the search to stay competitive it is more and more likely that these investors will be from the Middle East, as even the American’s begin to fall behind.

This season could be the breakthrough one for the Gulf owned clubs, and signal whether it is their intent to stay. The Premier League grew used to the influx of American owners at several of its top clubs, but the arrival of the Gulf has shepherded in a new era that even the American’s and Roman Abramovich don’t seem to be able to compete with.

Do you think Middle Eastern investment is likely to end American investment in the Premier League? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below or following me on Twitter @LaurenRutter for more comment and debate.

Almunia has been out of the first team since injuring his elbow in September against West Brom. Further injuries and the good form of Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny means that Almunia could now find himself as third choice goalkeeper, and it is this drop down the pecking order which has alerted the Turkish giants to his availability.

Manager Arsene Wenger believes that Szczesny is Arsenal’s long term first choice goalkeeper so would be prepared to let Almunia leave should any potential suitor match his £1.5 million valuation of the goalkeeper – something that Galatasary seem prepared to do.

It is believed that Almunia, who has played over 100 games for Arsenal since joining in 2004, would prefer a move to Spain where Malaga and Athletico Madrid are said to be showing an interest. However, only Galatasary appear to have made a firm enquiry for the player who could be leaving the Emirates this month.

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Other teams also said to be interested are fellow La Liga sides Malaga and Sevilla, both of whom are rumoured to be preparing bids of around €10 million for the midfielder.

Lucas never really won over fans at Anfield since his £12.6 million switch from Brazilian side Gremio in 2007. Despite his inconsistent form, Lucas has only failed to complete 90 minutes in the league on seven occasions this season.

Roy Hodgson is keen to bring in a new striker and put his own mark on the team, so having some extra cash for his transfer kitty could help him pursue other targets Gervinho and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel.

The World Cup is a stage not only for established players in football, but it’s also a stage where young rising stars can showcase their talents and become household names in years to come.

Here are the top 10 young stars to look out for at this year’s World Cup in South Africa:

Mesut Ozil (Germany)

Young, talented and highly ambitious, three words to describe Germany’s rising star Mesut Ozil.

Playing his football for Bundersliga side Werder Bremen, the 21-year-old has already established himself as one of, if not, the Germans main man for World Cup glory. Ozil put himself on the map when he was just 17, when the German attacking midfielder signed for Schalke 04 in 2005. In 2008 Ozil signed for Werder Bremen for an estimated £4.3 million and has since shined very brightly.

Ozil was playing his international football for the German U-21 team and was the key catalyst to his side winning the U-21 European Championships last summer.

Ozil will be taking a huge step playing for the senior national team, but with the talent he possesses the midfielder is sure to be a big hit for Germany and the tournament in whole. A definite one to watch this summer and clubs around Europe will no doubt be monitoring the German ace in South Africa.

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Alexis Sanchez (Chile)

Known as ‘El Nino Maravilla’ (the wonder boy) the Chilean is exactly that. The 21-year-old Udinese winger is blessed with explosive pace, bags of trickery and has a keen eye for goal. With all these attributes at his disposal, the Chilean poses a major threat for any full-back that comes up against him this summer.

Sanchez has already managed to make 28 appearances for his country and has netted 11 times along the way. Chile boasts a real star in the making, and a great tournament for the young winger/striker could spark interest from a number of clubs around Europe and in England. Watch out for him this summer in South Africa, he looks to be a potential star of the tournament.

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Simon Kjaer (Denmark)

At only 21 years of age, the Danish centre-back has already established himself as a first-team performer for Serie A side Palermo in under just 2 years. A lot of interest has been shown in the 6’ 2’’ defender in recent months and a buy out clause of £11 million will no doubt attract more attention this summer.

He is currently one of the most talked about defenders on the market, and his performances this season have no doubt credited such gossip. Kjaer is young, strong, quick and very assured when in possession of the ball (everything a defender must acquire to become a great one).

Although Kjaer is still very young, he is highly rated in Europe and is tipped to be a world-class centre-back in the near future. Look out for the solid defender this summer, he is sure to be a big hit this summer.

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See the next 4 stars on page 2

Jesus Gamez was born in the town of Fuengirola on the 10th of April 1985. He played for Fuengirola’s local football team between 1997 and 2000 before being snapped up by the local first division club, Malaga, where he continued his development in the youth team there. After three years in the Malaga youth team Gamez was promoted to Malaga ‘B’, the club’s reserve team who played their football in the Spanish second division. Gamez only made 40 appearances in three years for Malaga B but his talent was clear for anybody to see, sound defensively and happy to race forward to support the attack, here was a player who looked a talent – and Malaga have a history for producing good young talents (Fernando Hierro anyone?). Gamez was promoted to the Malaga first team during the 2005/6 season, making his top-flight debut as a late substitute at Getafe where Malaga lost 3 – 2. Gamez would continue to fight for the first choice right back spot with Gerardo, a man who was naturally a central midfielder, for the rest of the season but it proved a disappointing season as Malaga were eventually relegated from La Liga in last place.

As Malaga were relegated a lot of first team players left the club for pastures anew, Gerardo included. This gave Gamez the chance to cement his spot in the first team despite being just 21 at the time. Gamez made the most of the opportunity, impressing for Malaga and becoming undisputed first choice right back. Malaga’s first season in the second division was poor and they narrowly avoided another relegation but Gamez was one of the standout performers, much like fellow youth product Alexis Ruano had been the season before – Ruano would go on to move to Getafe and then Valencia, and shone throughout. Malaga were promoted the next season in 2nd place and Gamez was again a key part of the side, making 35 appearances in the league campaign. On Malaga’s return to the first division Gamez kept his place at right back and continued to impress as Malaga surprised everyone to get an 8th placed finish, narrowly missing out on Europe. Malaga have started this season very poorly and are bottom of the table at present but Gamez has remained an ever-present in the first team and one of the better performers.

During Malaga’s successful first season back in the top division, Gamez’s links to other clubs started to arrive but Gamez did nothing to fuel the rumours, constantly insisting that he was happy to stay at Malaga and do well for them and that any club interested in him would have to sort things out with Malaga. Even then, Gamez insisted that he’d only leave Malaga for a bigger team saying “For me to go, it would have to be for a club who are fighting for something more”. More recently he has admitted to being “honoured” at Chelsea’s interest in him but claims he is more than prepared to stay at Malaga and help them out of their current predicament. In the summer Gamez was heavily linked with a move to local rivals Sevilla with the Spanish media claiming a deal was complete which included a swap seeing Portuguese winger Duda return to Malaga but the deal fell through for undisclosed reasons and Gamez remained at Malaga to play alongside Duda who joined the club anyway.

Gamez has a minimum fee clause at Malaga of 10 million euros although Malaga are reportedly willing to sell him for just 6 million which would be a bargain given how well he has played for Malaga. Given their habit of struggling a lot, Gamez would surely do even better for a bigger team. He enjoys forays down the right wing whilst is also fast in getting back to defend. At 5’11 he is not the most imposing of players but he seems to possess a good amount of strength and is capable of knocking players off the ball with ease. I was a season ticket holder at La Rosaleda (Malaga’s stadium) when Gamez broke into the first team and I, alongside the rest of the Malaga faithful, were impressed by the youngsters ability; he was the first natural right back at the club since Josemi (who left to join Liverpool) and defended a lot better than Gerardo along with being much quicker. His being a local lad also enhances his reputation at Malaga but interest from so many bigger clubs cannot be a coincidence, it is a compliment to his abilities and as far as fast full backs who can defend and cross in equal measures go, 24 year old Gamez is a fine example of one who Chelsea would do well to sign and could easily be a better option than Bosingwa.

The closest to a shock was at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan were third placed Sevilla grinded out a hard-fought win against a struggling Villarreal side who deserved at least a point. Sevilla’s usual attacking edge had been replaced by what looked like fatigue and Villarreal were on hand to dominate proceedings with their better energy and enthusiasm. Despite the performances that were to come, Sevilla struck first in this clash as Luis Fabiano gave them an early 9th minute lead but Robert Pires levelled on the half hour mark and then Villarreal took a shock lead through David Fuster an hour into the game. The lead didn’t last long as Sevilla woke up long enough to fight back, headers from Fabiano and Freddie Kanoute giving them two goals in five minutes and, despite furious Villarreal pressure, Sevilla held on for a priceless, yet undeserved, win. Sevilla remain third with the result whilst Villarreal sit just two points above the relegation zone in 16th.

The most-anticipated game of the weekend meanwhile was the Madrid derby at the Vicente Calderon with many wondering if Atletico could get past their bad form to get a result against the mighty Real. The hype overshadows the reality of how predictable the winner of this game will be – Atletico haven’t beaten Real in ten years now and their performances in the derby always seem to be below par. This game was no exception as the visitors flew into a three-goal lead courtesy of strikes from Kaka, Marcelo and Gonzalo Higuain. Atletico only managed to look a real threat afterwards once Sergio Ramos had been sent off and then goals by Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero set up a grandstand last ten minutes which saw Iker Casillas make a fine save to deny Aguero a late equaliser. Real are 2nd whilst Atletico sit all the way down in 18th.

Equally predictable was the game at the Camp Nou where Barcelona eased their way to victory over Mallorca. Pep Guardiola opted to start the game with Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Leo Messi all on the bench and his decisions seemed warranted as Messi’s deputy Pedro proved the star of the game, scoring twice to help Barca to a 4 – 2 victory alongside a rare headed goal from Thierry Henry – his first goal of the season – and a late penalty from substitute Messi. Mallorca’s consolations came from Jose Nunes and Alhassane Keita but the Balearic Islanders never looked capable of dealing with the champions attacking prowess. Barca remain top by one point whilst Mallorca drop to sixth.

Fourth placed Valencia eased to victory also, making the most of terrible defending to overcome recently promoted Zaragoza 3 – 1 at the Mestalla. Highly rated Juan Mata gave Valencia the lead and they didn’t look back with the deadly David Villa and energetic Pablo Hernandez increasing their lead before the break. Abel Aguilar scored for Zaragoza in the 65th minute who slip to 13th in the league.

High-flying Deportivo continued their impressive season, remaining just two points behind 4th placed Valencia with a 2 – 0 win at Getafe, despite being reduced to 9 men by the end. Mista’s header gave the visitors the lead but Riki was given his marching orders in the 25th minute for a second yellow card which put Depor’s position in question. They managed to hold off the Getafe attempts though and doubled their lead just before the hour through former Barca-target Filipe Luis. Not too long after Sergio was given a second yellow card which reduced Depor to 9 men but Getafe couldn’t find a way through and suffer defeat to a team with 10 men or less for the second time in a week following their defeat to Real Madrid last week. Getafe are 12th in the league.

Malaga remain bottom of the table following a 2 – 2 draw at Tenerife in a game which saw terrible defending from both sides, a weakness that is perhaps to blame for the poor positions the two clubs are currently holding. Tenerife raced into a two goal lead through strikes from on-loan duo Roman Martinez and Alejandro Alfaro but Malaga showed good fighting spirit to get back on level terms, Edinho pulling one back and youngster Javi Lopez equalising with just 13 minutes left to go. Tenerife are 15th, three points above the drop zone but both clubs will need to improve defensively if they are to stay in the division.

Xerez occupy the other position in the relegation zone, their weekend proving uneventful as they played out a dour goalless draw at 14th placed Valladolid. The home team were devoid of ideas and the visitors didn’t look good enough and thus they were both cancelled out in a borefest.

Meanwhile there was a clash between two high-flyers at El Molinon as Sporting Gijon hosted Espanyol. A third minute goal by Mate Bilic gave the hosts the lead and they held on despite a number of chances in the first half for Espanyol with the visitors’ Jose Callejon missing two fantastic chances. Sporting then showed their ability in the second half by controlling the flow of play and didn’t look like relinquishing their lead. Sporting sit surprisingly high up in the table in 7th whilst Espanyol are three points and two places below in 9th.

Sandwiched between those two sides are Athletic Bilbao who visited El Sardinero to take on struggling Racing Santander. Calls for the head of Racing coach Juan Carlos Mandia were heard as the hosts fell to Carlos Gurpegi’s header and Andoni Iraola’s penalty. Racing, a side who usually occupy a comfortable mid-table position, are in a bad patch and, sitting in 17th, are level on points with Atletico Madrid who occupy a relegation spot. Things need to improve immediately or Mandia will undoubtedly get the sack.

In the weekend’s other game Almeria and Osasuna, two distinctly mid-table teams, saw their result decided by an early goal and a late goal. Osasuna’s Josetxo turned the ball into his own net under 2 minutes into the game and striker Kalu Uche netted a late second against a side who looked lacking in ideas and all over the place. It was Osasuna’s worst performance of the season so far but they remain in 10th with Almeria now jut behind them in 11th.

Full weekend results:

Almeria: 2 Osasuna: 0

Atletico Madrid: 2 Real Madrid: 3

Barcelona: 4 Mallorca: 2

Getafe: 0 Deportivo: 2

Racing: 0 Athletic: 2

Sevilla: 3 Villarreal: 2

Sporting: 1 Espanyol: 0

Tenerife: 2 Malaga: 2

Valencia: 3 Zaragoza: 1

Valladolid: 0 Xerez: 0