Jozy Altidore and Giuseppe Rossi are new buds at Villareal (translation from club website).

“Rossi, who lived his early years in the U.S., and Jozy Altidore, American by birth, form an inseperable duo both on and off the field. The ongoing language barrier has favored Altidore to be supported by Rossi at the moment of integrating into the group. “He’s my best friend. He’s helping me out a lot in the locker room and, besides, we have a lot in common,” Jozy commented…”

Image via ABCNEWS and MCalcio

A inside look at the Barca training sessions after their US trip as well as the new ball being used in La Liga this year.

The club that has been steeped in Basque tradition since 1898 has broken tradition by signing it’s very first kit commercial sponsorship deal.

Athletic Bilbao, who finished 11th in last years 2007/08 La Liga campaign, signed a 3 year deal worth 3.15 Million with Petronor Refining Company and as a club follows a policy of only recruiting players with Basque heritage or those who have been brought up in the region.

image via EckBall

Televisa launching Spanish language soccer channel Planeta Futbol for Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries, featuring Premier League, Mexican tournament matches and La Liga.

Image via Lexblog

Next time Villareal Captain Marco Senna gets his head up around the midfield stripe, note to La Liga keepers.

Don’t come to far off your line.

Villareal 1 - Betis 0

Although they had plenty of chances to put the game out of reach, Valencia’s come from behind win against Real Madrid has knocked the Madrista’s down to only a 4 point lead in La Liga.

ps- Marchena got knocked the uck out!!!

With the latest success that La Liga side Villareal has found, fans got their wish granted as 3,200 more seats will be added before the start of the 2009 season.

After Champions League qualification and the extra push that the team has seen in revenue, President Fernando Roig seems keen to cash in.  Remember, this was a team who’s El Madrigal stadium only held 7,000 supporters just ten years ago.

But with the team in the top flight of La Liga for the last seven consecutive seasons and the success they’ve enjoyed, the extra seats will now be added to the North stand where the away fans are stationed.

image via InfoDeportivo 

While Iker Cassillas made his 300th La Liga appearance, it was Raul that stole the show during Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Espanyol.  Stretching their lead to 8 points over Barcelona, Raul netted his 200th La Liga goal in the 74th minute after being pulled down in the box by Espanyol defender Daniel Jarque and stepping up to slot past keeper Carlos Kemeni.

Looks like that 10 grand he spent on a sleep decompression chamber was a pretty decent buy.

image via MasqueFootball

Brazil and Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to burglary and kidnapping when it comes to his family. Back in 2005, after winning the Copa America with Brazil, the “Bad Boy of Brazil” had his mother kidnapped and thankfully she was released after 61 days in captivity. Last Friday while he was away at training, his home was burgled and ransacked, the day after Sevilla’s keeper Andres Palop home was broken into while he was asleep with his family.

Good news - Sevilla went out and blasted Zaragoza 5-nil the next morning.

Here’s the “Bad Boy of Brazil” in action, squaring up with Diogo.  Did ANY of the 6 to 9 haymakers land at all?  Is it wrong to want to see Kimbo Slice throw just one hook at those guys?

Image via BBC

Losing three games in a row and four out of the last five games is unacceptable for a team like Real Madrid. Sunday’s contest saw Arjen Robben score what looked to be a goal, only to have it disallowed while celebrating in the corner. Getafe took full advantage of the call, counterattacking 6 on 2 and finishing what would be the decider in a 1-0 contest that saw Madrid lose their first game at the Bernabeu since February 2007.

Barcelona’s 5-1 win over Levante at the Nou Camp put them now only two points behind Madrid in the La Liga title race with the advantage looking to sway towards the team in form.