It was never a contention beyond the first few minutes, as Barcelona beat their rivals Real Madrid 5-0 on Monday night. José Mourinho’s brilliant start as Real Madrid coach came to a brutal stop at the Camp Nou stadium. After the match he conceded it was one of the worst moments for the club. It was also the worst defeat of his career.
Barcelona’s midfield dominated from the outset, with Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Sergio Busquets on top of their game. On the top of the world. For which team can possibly deal with them when they play in such an imperious way?
Then there was Lionel Messi. The Argentine magician consistently delivers above and beyond any other footballer on the planet. That includes Ronaldo, who was reduced to a frustrated and contorted, average man without the ball and without opportunities.
Barcelona play their game of clever passes, accurate passes, imaginative runs, with technique and physique all the way – from their back row to their man on top. David Villa played in his first El Clásico, since joining from Valencia, and netted twice. His seventh and eighth of the season. When Sergio Ramos was red carded in the last minutes, after an ugly attack on Messi (followed by frustrated pushes and punches against the rallying Barca players), it was the final nail in the coffin for Mourinho’s men.
Another chapter of El Clásico written.

Goals:
1-0 Xavi (10 min.)
2-0 Pedro (18 min.)
3-0 Villa (54 min.)
4-0 Villa (57 min.)
5-0 Jeffren (90+1 min.)

AC Milan beat their local rivals 1-0 at San Siro on Sunday evening. It appeared as the most one-sided 1-0 victory you’re likely to see for a long time. Current European champions Internazionale were second best at just about everything in a match which was much more than a local derby. It marked AC Milan back on top of the Italian Serie A. It might even hint towards a return to former European glory for them as well.
The only goal came from a penalty, awarded to and executed by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 5th minute. Ibrahimovic was just as emphatic against his former club Inter, as he previously has been towards former club Ajax. If he felt any pressure when he stepped up to the penalty spot, he certainly didn’t show it. Even with a laser light from the stands flickering over his face, Ibrahimovic resolutely slammed the ball into the bottom-left corner.
The clash of the Milan giants was not by any means pretty. It was never a beautiful game of football but AC Milan had come out to deal with their rivals, whatever was thrown at them. They even played the last half an hour with ten men, when Abate completely unnecessary earned his second yellow of the match. AC Milan still continued to control the game. Internazionale were disappointing but it is to AC Milan’s credit how they were in charge from start to finish. They are now favourites to win the title which they last won in the 2003-04 season.

Chris Smalling is a defender who plays for English side Manchester United. Smalling arrived from Fulham after the 2009-10 season, after having been signed already in the January transfer window. He played two seasons for Fulham and the club reached the UEFA Cup final in his last season there, at the age of 20.
Smalling made his Manchester United debut in July, in a friendly against Celtic. He scored his first United goal in a friendly against CD Guadalajara later the same month. In September Smalling was brought on for competitive matches in the Premier League and Champions League. He also scored his first competive goal for United in a 5-2 win against Scunthorpe in the 3rd round of the League Cup. Despite his limited experience from his time at Fulham, Smalling has quickly settled into the Manchester United team. On November 2nd he was given the chance to start in a Champions League match away at Bursaspor in Turkey. Smalling impressed and earned lavish praise from his fellow players and manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Chris Smalling has represented England at U-21 level.

Mario Gómez García is a striker who plays for German side Bayern München and Germany. Gómez played his way through the ranks of fellow Bundesliga club Stuttgart. He made his senior debut in 2004 when he was 18. After the 2006-07 season he was named Player of the Year in Germany. He had finished the season as one of the Bundesliga’s top scorers, despite having struggled with injuries. Gómez proved himself to be just as consistent the following season, finishing as the second highest scorer in the Bundesliga. In the 2008-09 season he stunned Wolfsburg at the top of the table, by scoring all four goals as Stuttgart beat them 4-1. After that season he was signed by Bayern München for a German football record €35 million. In his first season with the club they won the German double.
Gómez made his international debut for the German national side in 2007. In 2009 he also scored four goals in a match for his country, in their 7-2 win against the United Arab Emirates. Gómez played for Germany in both the Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup but has usually played after coming off the bench.
For Bayern München Gómez has been back in spectacular form in the 2010-11 season, which has included a hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League match against Romanian club CFR Cluj.

Tottenham have well and truly made a statement in their Group A of the UEFA Champions League;
They belong amongst Europe’s elite and at their best can beat anyone! Quite comfortably it seems too. After Matchday 4 of the 2010-11 Champions League Spurs are now top of their group, ahead of defending champions Inter Milan and Werder Bremen and FC Twente.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has thrown everything into attacking, fast paced, attractive football. In a team with the brilliance of Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart and the accurate passing from their holding midfielder Tom Huddlestone, nothing is more eye catching than their flying wingers.
On Tottenham’s left side the Welsh 21-year old Gareth Bale has risen to superstar status after dismantling the entire Inter Milan team away and at home. He is backed up by cheeky left back Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who also has plenty of pace. On the right side is 23-year old English international Aaron Lennon. He happens to be backed up by right back Alan Hutton, who also is more than willing to join in on the raids up the right flank.

Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon are both eye catching crowd favourites but still very different from each other. Bale is over 6 ft tall and races up the left side in long, powerful strides. He has also got a brilliantly accurate last ball and superb left foot finish. Lennon is 5 ft 5 inches and runs and twists and turns, with feet like little drumsticks. These two wingers are unleashed in waves of attacks, supported by the already mentioned likes of Assou-Ekotto, Hutton, Modric and Van der Vaart. Occasionally Bale and Lennon will also swap sides in the middle of the match, just to further screw with the minds of the opposing team’s defenders. Never have their qualities been more obvious than when they beat Inter Milan 3-1 at White Hart Lane yesterday. The entire Spurs team were on fire, ignited by their flying wingers – Gareth Bale in particular.

Tottenham have built a team who wants to play exciting football. The question is whether they can keep up the pace both domestically and in Europe. If they can, there is every reason that they can challenge for more silverware to White Hart Lane. There will be a good chance that they can hold on to their best players, and indeed, expect that other international stars like Van der Vaart will be happy to join them.