In what has been a tumultuous past couple of months for French superstar Thierry Henry, it appears as if the striker is set to leave Barcelona. Recent news has leaked out from the Camp Nou that both the player and the club have settled on terms for Henry to leave the reigning La Liga champions.

Henry was essentially anonymous in his most recent appearance on the soccer stage with France at this year’s World Cup. He failed to ever qualify for head coach Raymond Domenech’s starting side, and when he entered the match, Henry appeared lost and disinterested.

Although Henry came over to Spain amid a wave of expectations from Arsenal, he certainly won’t be missed at the Camp Nou. Since his entrance in 2007, the French forward has failed to produce the goals he did in the English Premiership, and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola cannot wait to get rid of Henry.

Despite Henry’s contract officially ending next year in June 2011, Barcelona’s general director Joan Oliver reached a friendly agreement with the player, deeming it would be best if they terminated the deal early on.

What’s next for the French striker? His options will certainly be limited. Wherever he goes, Thierry Henry possesses a fair amount of baggage, and his recent form has been appalling. He is now well past his prime, yet remains a big-name player and a star personality.

For these reasons don’t be shocked to see him end up in Major League Soccer. Yes the quality of play is no doubt lacking, but the infusion of a star like Henry could add legitimacy to a league widely considered as being second-rate. If he does decide to cross the Atlantic and head east, look for him to end up amid the big city and bright lights of New York to play with the Red Bulls club. The Red Bulls are the current favorites to land the French striker, and the inclusion of Henry could solidify their bid in claiming this season’s MLS championship.

One thing is for certain, this is no longer the prolific Thierry Henry that used to possess the ability to completely dominate the pitch. He will follow in the footsteps of washed-up stars before him. Most of which have largely faltered in the MLS, most recently David Beckham. It will be interesting to see if Henry follows suit.

About a week ago it was widely reported that Argentine skipper would leave Liverpool and join La Liga giants Barcelona. Of course, the departure of Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure from the Camp Nou has left a gaping hole in Barcelona’s talented midfield.

News emanating from Barcelona was they were set to sign Mascherano, although a recent snag has been hit in this ongoing process. However, the Anfield club is reportedly seeking an absurd amount of money to gain the services of the Argentinean. Liverpool is expected to snub offers up to £30million for Mascherano, forcing Pep Guardiola to look elsewhere for his man in the middle.

Recent rumors have pegged Guardiola analyzing tough Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios. Despite the struggles of his country in South Africa, Palacios stood out from the remainder of his team with some truly gutsy performances. The 25-year-old is currently under contract to the Tottenham Hotspur of the EPL, but is widely believed to be available for the right price.

Although Barcelona would surely prefer the more talented, and more experienced Mascherano, the current plight of Liverpool and their impending managerial decision has made it difficult to finalize transfers. Barcelona is looking to add to their team immediately in preparation for what they vow to be another dominant season both at home, and abroad.

Palacios has earned himself a reputation of being a hard-nosed, defensively consicious midfielder over the years for the Hotspur. He is credited as playing an instrumental role in Harry Redknapp’s side capturing a fourth-place finish in the EPL last season. Conveniently, Palacios has also expressed his desire to orchestrate a move elsewhere, as it’s widely believed he would prefer to play at a bigger club. And truthfully, there aren’t too many bigger than the grand stage of Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

Although Guardiola and the Barcelona management staff likely view Palacios as a cheaper alternative to Mascherano, it is still unknown as to what Tottenham expects for the Honduran. One thing is for certain, they will not relinquish his rights without a significant price tag. Despite his Honduran passport, Palacios remains a world-class talent that would be welcome on any of the major European sides. His inclination and willingness to perform all of the ‘dirty work’ within the midfield is a crucial element of football, and Palacios has thrived in performing these duties for years.

Defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano has been a hot topic of transfer rumors this summer. The current Liverpool star has been implicated in moves to both Inter Milan, and most recently with the La Liga champions, Barcelona.

Going to the San Siro would allow Mascherano to reunite with his former boss at Liverpool, the newly hired Rafa Benitez. Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti is keen on meeting the reported asking price of a £25 million transfer fee, and it is widely believed that the debt-ridden Anfield club will be unable to resist such a large offer.

However, the most recent news emanating from this Mascherano saga places the Spanish giants Barcelona as the current favorites to land the 26-year-old. According to the El Mundo Deportivo newspaper in Spain, Mascherano would love the opportunity to join close friend, and current Argentinean teammate at the World Cup, Lionel Messi.

The imminent departure of  Yaya Toure to Manchester City in the EPL leaves a glaring hole in Barcelona’s midfield, and there aren’t many better options than Mascherano. Coach Pep Guardiola also has a significant history in his interest with the star midfielder as last season he was believed to have offered Liverpool £18m to bring Mascherano to the Camp Nou.

Although it certainly seemed like the Argentine skipper was all but destined to land at the San Siro wearing the Nerazzurri, the most recent developments could bring him to Barcelona, bolstering an already world-class midfield.

Stay tuned for the latest transfer developments in La Liga this summer, as there is bound to be an incredible amount of movement in preparation for the upcoming season.

Prolific striker Fernando Torres had a less than stellar debut at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  Substituted on in the 61^st minute as a result of knee troubles, the talented Spaniard failed to make an impact in his team’s humiliating defeat to their opponents from Switzerland.

That said, despite his struggles of late Torres remains one of the most dominant players in the game, and his goal-scoring abilities are truly unparalleled.  El Nino has spent the past three seasons plying his trade in the English Premier League with Liverpool, where he has been quite the marksman.  Over the course of his three campaigns with the Reds, Torres has netted 56 goals in just 69 games.  Scoring at a pace like that has made the Spaniard a valuable commodity as we approach the July transfer window.

Recently, rumors have emanated out of Barcelona about a potential swap for Liverpool’s lethal finisher.   The reported amount is to be £70million heading to the Reds for the services of Torres.  Despite this lofty amount, Liverpool appears on the verge of abomination.  Speculation has run rampant around the club, and amid the exit of Rafael Benitez, and the potential loss of skipper Steven Gerrard, the club can ill afford to lose a player of Torres’ caliber.

Meanwhile, Barcelona is believed to view this as a great opportunity to partner perhaps the deadliest duo in international football.  Putting David Villa alongside Torres for every other weekend in La Liga, would almost be an unstoppable combo.  And considering the hype over Real Madrid’s off-season coup of super-coach Jose Mourinho, Barcelona must try and keep pace with their biggest competitors.

New Barcelona President Sandro Rossell has been rumored to be a great fan of Torres, and has allegedly begun negotiations with the English club.  However, luring a player of his stature away from Liverpool will be tough, especially when you consider that Manchester City and Chelsea plan on partaking in the bidding for El Nino’s services.

July will be an interesting month to observe how the balance of power swings within La Liga.  Barcelona are also planning on obtaining Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, and putting the midfielder into an already potent lineup with a striker like Torres, would be a devastating combo.

Although the on-field battles between Barcelona and Real Madrid are always spectacles to behold, this year’s arms race in the upcoming July transfer window may just outdo their past performances on the pitch.

26:13 -  I was going to watch today’s match between Barcelona and Racing before I wrote a review on my position regarding Barcelona and the big time talent they have emptied their pockets to bring in.  I couldn’t do it.

Barcelona looks great.  By the time Pique’ scored their 3rd goal before the 30 minute mark the Racing home crowd wasn’t even up to jeering the Barcelona goal.  I know Racing is not a serious challenge for Barca, but come on, this is madness.

I want to mention that I did say Barcelona would get off to a great start, which they have, but I also said that at some point they would become toxic and implode on themselves.   At this point it seems hard to hold to my beliefs given how much fun the Barca team seems to be having.

I’ve seen the ball down on Barcelona’s end just a couple of times so far with just a little time left in the first half and I don’t see how Racing plans on scoring…by osmosis?  Barcelona is attacking (which I love) and Racing is piddling around waiting for an opening.  I don’t think they did their homework…Barca doesn’t give you openings, you have to take them!

44:12 – Now again, Barca came within about an inch of scoring on a worthless cross and a poorly executed header.  I’m still recovering actually because the play should have netted nothing and was so closetobeing a 4th goal for Barca.  With the offsides flag going up just as the cross was sent I can only imagine that this will happen again before the match is over, and the back of Racing’s net will be bloodied and battered when it’s all over.

………………………………..

67:00 – I went and made some dinner, flipped the TV back on and now it’s 4-0 Barcelona.  Once again, I am feeling secure in my rightness.

88:37 –  I admit, I got bored.  I flip back over and see somehow a miracle was performed and Racing scored a goal.  Now it’s 4-1.  Still feeling good.

89:30 –  Sepsi gets yellow-carded in frustration.  I’m not sure that they taught the guys in Racing that Soccer isn’t hard if you’ll play calmly.  He lost his head and now the match is over.  Not surprising, but pretty blah.

As we can plainly see, Barcelona is on a tear.  Good for them, but they better keep it up or a rude awakening will be right around the corner…

Valencia returned to the top of the Primera Liga with a 1-0 win at Real Valladolid courtesy of a wonderful second-half strike by Manuel Fernandes.

The former Everton midfielder settled the game in the 54th minute when he smashed a low drive into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards after being played in by David Villa.

It was the one moment of genuine quality in a game of few clear-cut chances, although Valencia coach Unai Emery will be delighted with the manner in which his team went about their task against a team that had won both of their opening home matches.

Sevilla coasted to their fourth consecutive win by smashing four goals past Athletic Bilbao without reply at the Estadio Ramin Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday.

The hosts have been in impressive form of late and Frederic Kanoute, who scored both goals in their 2-0 midweek UEFA Cup win against Salzburg, got the ball rolling when he netted after 27 minutes.

Renato doubled Sevilla’s lead with a header just before the interval and second-half goals from substitutes Adriano and Ernesto Javier Chevanton made it a wholly satisfying afternoon for Manolo Jimenez’s side, who who have now not lost in 22 games in all competitions dating back to last season.

Real Madrid‘s nine-match winning streak at the Bernabeu was brought to an end as they were held 2-2 by Espanyol.

Madrid had won every competitive match in front of their own fans since losing to Valencia in March, but that run came to an end in an encounter where all four goals came in the first half – and from discarded Spain strikers.

Raul Tamudo and Luis Garcia twice put Espanyol ahead only for Raul to level up both times for Madrid, who had also won six successive matches this season prior to this.

Almeria staged a superb late comeback to earn a share of the spoils from a 2-2 draw at Getafe, whose wait for a first home win of the season continues.

Getafe looked to be heading for all three points when substitute Ikechuwku Uche and captain Javi Casquero scored twice in four minutes midway through the second half.

However, it was to end in disappointment for Victor Munoz’s side as Almeria struck back to net twice in the dying minutes through headers from Alvaro Negredo and Chico to salvage a draw at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

Sporting Gijon put their nightmare start to life in La Liga behind them and picked up their first points of the season in a shock 2-0 win against in-form Real Mallorca.

The islanders came into this game looking for a win to equal their best-ever start to a season, but were stunned early on when Carmelo Gonzalez scored the opener for the visitors after 12 minutes.

Roberto Canella doubled the lead five minutes into the second half as Mallorca struggled to recover from the early goal.

Pierre Webo had the chance to pull one back when he was fouled in the area by Sporting goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar with quarter of an hour to play, but the Cameroon forward sent his shot from the penalty spot onto the post.

Juan Valera struck in the third minute of injury time to give Racing Santander a dramatic late 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Osasuna and lift the Cantabrian side out of the relegation zone on Sunday afternoon.

Racing had looked unlikely to score all afternoon, even after Osasuna’s Czech Republic midfielder Jaroslav Plasil had been sent off after 38 minutes for handling in the area.

Ezequiel Garay missed the resulting spot-kick and Racing failed to make their numerical advantage count in a low-quality second half.

But just as it looked as if Osasuna had done enough to hold on for what would have been a valuable point given the circumstances, Valera popped up with the winner after 92 minutes.

Malaga produced an exhibition of classic counter-attacking football to humble regional rivals Recreativo Huelva 4-0 in a one-sided Andalusian derby at the Nuevo Colombino on Sunday.

Much of the crowd had barely had time to sit down when Portuguese striker Eliseu Pereira gave the visitors the lead after just 38 seconds of play.

Morocco striker Nabil Baha doubled Malaga’s lead six minutes before half-time and Antonio Tapia’s side added to their tally just after the interval through Sergio Duda.

And Eliseu wrapped up an impressive win with his second of the afternoon after 62 minutes.

Angel Lafita’s goal was enough to give Deportivo La Coruna only their second Primera Liga victory of the campaign as Numancia‘s woes continued with a 1-0 defeat.

Lafita headed Depor into the lead in the 13th minute and despite Numancia’s pressing the hosts clung on to take a valuable three points.

Numancia only have four points, having not won since their shock opening day triumph over Barcelona, and drop to 17th in the table.

On Saturday, Barcelona scored five times in the first 28 minutes on the way to thrashing Atletico Madrid 6-1 on an incredible night.

Rafa Marquez, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi put the locals three up inside eight minutes as the game got off to an explosive start.

Maxi Rodriguez pulled one back for Atletico five minutes later, but Eto’o restored Barca‘s three-goal advantage shortly afterwards and Eidur Gudjohnsen added a fifth for the home side short of the half-hour mark.

The second half was less intense, but Thierry Henry wrapped up a brilliant Barcelona win with his side’s sixth after 73 minutes.

Co-leaders Villarreal scored twice in three second-half minutes to come from a goal down and secure a 2-1 win against Real Betis.

The visitors went ahead through Damia after 20 minutes and could have added to their lead in a one-sided first half.

Gonzalo Rodriguez equalised with a header halfway through the second half though and Joseba Llorente struck two minutes later to produce a dramatic turnaround.

The city of Seville takes centre-stage for the third week of La Liga action as local rivals Real Betis and Sevilla clash at the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera. Sevilla did the double over their neighbours last season, winning 3-0 at home and 2-0 away, but Betis have splashed out big money this summer and will be desperate to put one over their old enemies.

To do that though, Betis will need to improve on a disappointing run of results that has left them without a win since mid-April and with just one point from their opening two games against Recreativo Huelva and Getafe this season.

It is not going to get any easier for Paco Chaparro’s side either with their next four fixtures coming against Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal, but Betis striker Jose Mari is in confident mood.

“We have a better team than last year and we could become a good team,” said the former Spain, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan forward. With regards to Sevilla, Jose Mari does not believe Manolo Jimenez’s side will be much affected either by having to play in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, or by the summer departures of Dani Alves, Seydou Keita and Christian Poulsen – although he is glad Alves will be missing.

“Sevilla, at an individual level, were stronger last year, but the team continues being good,” he said. “It (the UEFA Cup) could affect them, but I think that they have the squad to compete in three competitions. “Sevilla’s strength over the last two years has been having two very strong forwards and two very fast wingers. I’m sure they will have an Achilles heel but they can’t have many after spending four years at the top.”

Sevilla winger Diego Capel admits his team are thinking about the derby, but insists they are still totally focused on their European match against Salzburg.

“It’s a very important game (against Betis) which we always have in our minds but this squad is very professional and we are only concentrating on the UEFA Cup game,” said the Spain international.

Surprisingly, Espanyol – after winning just three and losing 14 of their final 20 games last season – are the only team boasting a 100 per cent record after two rounds of the new campaign.

They host Getafe this weekend while, in contrast, their city rivals Barcelona travel to bottom club Sporting Gijon looking to overcome their worst start to a season in 35 years after taking just one point from two games.

Champions Real Madrid are away to Racing Santander while free-scoring Atletico Madrid, fresh from their impressive 3-0 Champions League win at PSV Eindhoven, welcome Recreativo Huelva to the Vicente Calderon.

Second-placed Valencia must again do without David Silva as they meet Osasuna, with the Spain international this week undergoing an ankle operation that will sideline him for around three months.

Numancia‘s testing start to the season continues as they welcome Villarreal, having already caused big problems for La Liga aristocrats Barca and Madrid in their opening two fixtures since winning promotion.

In this weekend’s other matches, Almeria play host to Malaga, Real Mallorca travel to Deportivo La Coruna and Athletic Bilbao take on Real Valladolid.

Real Madrid were again undone at bogey ground Riazor 2-1 by Deportivo La Coruna on the opening day of the Liga season while promoted Numancia spoiled Pep Guardiola’s league debut as Barcelona coach with a 1-0 win.

Real have not won in La Coruna since 1991 and were soon trailing when home striker Mista, who had already hit the bar, rose to head in from a free-kick in the 27th minute.

Visiting full-back Marcelo hit the bar with a cross-cum-shot just before the interval, but two minutes after the re-start Ruud van Nistelrooy pounced to volley home a deflected shot.

Parity lasted only four minutes until Alberto Lopo headed Depor back in front from a corner, and Bernd Schuster, who had left the unsettled Robinho in Madrid, was unable to engineer a fightback.

“I’m not concerned. They were simply more alert on two crosses and we dominated the game well. Overall I think we did well,” said Schuster, who refused to comment on the future of Robinho.

Numancia spoiled Guardiola’s league debut as Barcelona coach.

The second division champions broke away to score through midfielder Mario early in the first half and Barca wasted a host of chances as they laboured to react.

Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi both hit the woodwork but Numancia’s rearguard held firm to give their new coach Sergio Kresic a winning start.

“We played badly and our positioning on the pitch was bad as well. Everyone has a role to play and we haven’t done our work today. It was a major slip-up,” Guardiola said.

The performance of the day came from Atletico Madrid, who qualified for the Champions League group stage during the week, and stormed to the top of the standings with a 4-0 demolition of Malaga, like Numancia promoted last season.

Netherlands defender John Heitinga opened the scoring on his league debut and Uruguay striker Diego Forlan added two more before the break, the second from the penalty spot.

French striker Florent Sinama Pongolle made it four near the end.

“In the first third of the season we have set ourselves the objective of staying in the top three. We have taken a step towards achieving that, but it is still early days,” said Atletico coach Javier Aguirre.

Last year’s runners-up Villarreal were held to a 1-1 draw away at Osasuna when Marcos Senna’s glorious free-kick was cancelled out by Iran midfielder Javad Nekounam’s penalty.

Another touted contender for a top-four finish, Sevilla, were also held to a 1-1 draw away to Racing Santander.

Valencia are second in the standings behind Atletico after beating Real Mallorca 3-0 on Saturday.

FC Barcelona has been destroying teams on two continents this pre-season and after watching them against Chivas of Guadalajara and New York Red Bulls I am wondering whether they are that good, or the competition they are playing is that bad?

In its first five pre-season games Barcelona scored 25 goals while conceding 6. And that is without Deco and Ronaldhino! Former Arsenal player Alexander Hleb has looked fantastic in the midfield alongside Xavi and Iniesta and all three look in mid-season form.

The last time I saw Barcelona play was in the Champions League semifinal where they lost to Manchester United because they could not score a goal over the two legs. Well scoring does not look to be a problem this year.

Up front Tierry Henry has looked sharp, especially when he plays a more central role instead of being pushed out to the left. Samuel Eto’o has done nothing but score goals. I am not sure what is the cause of the problems between Barcelona and Eto’o. but if I was Josep Guardiola I would look for ways to keep Eto’o at the Camp Nou.

What has been really impressive in watching Barcelona is the incredible young talent that they have. The Barcelona youth academy is probably the best academy in the world and they are producing some brilliant young footballers. Already we have seen signs of brilliance from Pedro, Jeffren and Busquets. Jeffren and Pedro both scored in New York against the Red Bulls and they look like they will be future stars for Barcelona.

If I was a Barcelona fan I would be optimistic that this year they will give Real Madrid at run for that La Liga title. My concern would be Barcelona’s ability to shut down teams. CD Guadalajara and New York Red Bulls are not the most high-powered teams in the world and they were both able to open up the Barcelona defense for two goals each. If Barcelona can tighten up its defense, then I believe that the La Liga title will return to the Nou Camp in 2009.

Real Madrid‘s second successive La Liga title came with the minimum of fuss, and although there was a slight stumble towards the end of the season, an eight point gap over Villarreal, coupled with a +48 goal difference, underlined their undoubted superiority.

Bearing this in mind, coach Bernd Schuster has been relatively quiet in the transfer market, with the recent signing of Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart the most significant piece of transfer activity in or out of the Bernabeu.

Of course, all the talk over the last three months has been surrounding the impending arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and although few would bet against that particular transfer happening some time in the future, it appears less and less likely that the Portuguese winger will be starring for Los Meringues next season.

The other major rumor has seen Chelsea openly declare their interest in Brazilian winger Robinho but that transfer might only happen should Schuster get the green light from Old Trafford.

Another arrival is the return of Spain midfielder Ruben de la Red from a loan spell at Getafe. De la Red, who scored against Greece in the Euro 2008 finals, joins Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos in entering the new season as a European champion.

With Barcelona and Villarreal both strengthening considerably, it will be interesting to see whether Schuster’s policy of keeping a settled squad comes to fruition.

The Challengers

No team in Europe has undergone more of a transition than Barcelona under new coach Pep Guardiola. Seven players have come in and eight have departed for a total cost of $40 million, as Guardiola has wasted little time in making his mark following a dismal final season under Frank Rijkaard.

The biggest signing has seen full-back Daniel Alves arrive from Sevilla for 30 million euros, while the quick feet of former Arsenal winger Alexander Hleb are sure to excite the Nou Camp faithful.

A lowering of the squad’s average age was a major consideration for Guardiola, with veteran Lilian Thuram and over-30s Gianluca Zambrotta, Edmilson and Deco making way along with Ronaldinho, who will hoping a change of scenery will reignite his love affair with the game.

However, with striker Samuel Eto’o now been told he has a future at the Nou Camp, a new forward arrival is not likely to be in the frame.

The Yellow Submarines of Villarreal continue to punch well above their weight amongst their millionaire rivals. Last season saw them finish 10 points above Barcelona in second position, their highest-ever league placing, securing a Champions League spot in the process.

Under the astute stewardship of Manuel Pellegrini, the club have never finished lower than seventh as the Chilean prepares for his fifth season in charge.

Although Pellegrini has made plenty of changes to his squad, unlike in previous seasons he has managed to keep hold of his best players apart from highly-rated Uruguayan defender Martin Caceres, who has joined Barcelona without actually playing a first team match for Villarreal.

Euro 2008 winners Joan Capdevila, Marcos Senna and Santi Cazorla form the backbone of the side, with Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci remaining a potent threat.

Point to prove

It does not necessarily follow that a playing hero at a club will automatically succeed as that club’s coach, so former midfielder Pep Guardiola faces a tough task in leading Barcelona back to their prime after a barren two years.

Just one season after being named as coach of Barcelona’s B side, the 37-year-old former midfield maestro was catapulted into the top post after Frank Rijkaard’s departure.

Guardiola has already made his mark, jettisoning stalwarts Deco, Ronaldinho and Thuram and bringing in a host of new players. However, it remains to be seen how the new-look Barca will gel together and whether Guardiola can get the best out of Thierry Henry, after the Frenchman’s mediocre first season with the Catalan giants.

Samuel Eto’o's future continues to be the subject of debate with the Cameroon striker seemingly on his way, although the choice of destinations appears limited. If Guardiola can find the right blend in attack, he could well become a hero all over again for the club he played over 260 games for.

New Boys

Numancia were promoted to the Primera Liga as champions, with Malaga and Sporting Gijon joining them in the top division.

It will Numancia’s first season back in the top flight since their relegation in 2004-05 and that followed their previous promotion the season before.

With a capacity of under 10,000 and a completely Spanish squad not containing a single foreign import, they will find life tough this season.

After two seasons in the Segunda Division, Malaga are back in the big time. Of the three promoted teams, they certainly have the tradition and facilities to cope with promotion. UEFA Cup quarterfinalists just five years ago, Malaga are owned by former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz.

Sporting Gijon had been knocking on the door of a return to the top flight for 11 long seasons, before finally achieving that target last campaign.

Aside from much-travelled Croatian striker Mate Bilic, Gijon are another squad made up of solely Spanish players and, like Numancia, will struggle this season.

Hello

No club has been busier in the summer transfer market than Champions League qualifiers Atletico Madrid, with a host of new faces for the regulars at the Vicente Calderon stadium to get accustomed to in what should be a successful season for the capital club.

Among coach Javier Aguirre’s acquisitions are Porto central midfielder Paulo Assuncao, who will sit in front of the back four in a similar role than the one played by Marcos Senna at Villarreal.

Goalkeeper Gregory Coupet might be 35 now, but he brings a wealth of experience to the club after winning seven successive French titles with Lyon, as well as continuing to be first choice for the national team.

Another newcomer is Dutch utility defender John Heitinga on a five-year contract. The 24-year-old broke into the Ajax side as a 17-year-old and is a regular in the Dutch squad, appearing in both the last World Cup and Euro 2008.

Goodbye

Dani Guiza’s 17 million euros move from Mallorca to Fenerbahce has robbed La Liga of its top scorer from last season.

Guiza plundered an astonishing 27 goals from 37 games with the island club, after similar impressive spells with Murcia and Getafe, to earn a call-up to the Spanish national side — culminating in him scoring twice in Euro 2008 as Spain lifted the trophy.

When Spain coach Luis Aragones took charge of Fenerbahce, he knew where to go to find a striker and the 27-year-old quickly finalized a move to Istanbul after just one season with Mallorca.

Frank Rijkaard carried on a Dutch tradition when he was appointed Barcelona manager in 2003, following compatriots Louis van Gaal and the great Johan Cruyff in leading the Catalan giants.

Five years somehow seemed about the right length of time for Rijkaard’s tenure — and although by the time he had left Barcelona had ceded bragging rights to Real Madrid in La Liga, there is no doubt that, on the whole, Rijkaard’s time in charge was a success.

A thrilling late comeback against Arsenal in 2006 gave Barcelona only their second Champions League success, the same year as they lifted their second Primera Liga crown under Rijkaard. The Dutchman also led Barca to the title in 2005 and presided over an exciting brand of football that thrilled the football world.

Although he was linked with the Chelsea job for a quite a while, they proved to be just rumors. However, it seems unlikely that Rijkaard will be out of football for very long.

Swapping shirts

Daniel Alves had been linked with a big-money move away from Sevilla for a long time before he finally got his wish this summer with a 30 million euros switch to Barcelona — the biggest Spanish summer transfer

In his six years with Sevilla, Alves gained a reputation as being the finest wing-back in the world, with his marauding runs forward and tenacious tackling proving a valuable commodity in defense and attack alike.

Alves appeared set to join Chelsea in the summer of 2007 but Sevilla rejected two bids for the player, causing a rift which was only settled when Alves agreed to stay at the club following the death of his friend and team-mate Antonio Puerta.

However, a year later, the Brazilian has got his dream transfer to become the most expensive right-back in world football.