But you can read about this in a million different websites from every nation on earth so in this post we’re going to do something a little different and match the two Spanish cities up in a slightly different way. As a keen poker player myself I always like to know what the best casinos are like in the city I’m visiting. We’re conducting a Europa Casino Review.  Are they 24 hour venues? Are they free to enter?  What’s the dress code and any number of smaller requirements to make the visit a good one.  Let’s check out one casino from each city and get ourselves a Europa Casino Bonus Code.

Madrid first then and frankly there is not too much to shout about here but the one that stands out is a real treat.  The Casino Gran Madrid can’t really be faulted, it’s one of the biggest in Europe and if you have two or three days spare in this great city, check this venue out.  Before you go make sure you have some photo ID, smart clothes and be prepared to pay a small entrance fee. Don’t have smart clothes? Play Roulette Online.

Casino Gran Madrid

It’s all worth it though – once inside it’s a throwback partly to old-style European casinos and partly influenced by the glitz of Las Vegas.  There’s a wide variety of table games including Texas Hold’em, European and American Roulette, Punto Banco and Blackjack.  If you want slots there’s a pretty impressive selection of video poker and Roulette Tricks as well as the standard one-armed bandits and fruit machines.

Up to Barcelona then and while there’s more of a selection here, there is still one standout venue and that is Casino Barcelona.  The location is superb overlooking the Bay of Biscay but once inside you’ve got better things to do than look at the view.  Again, don’t forget your smart clobber, your entry fee and your ID.

Outside the Casino Barcelona

Casino Barcelona has a significant focus on various different poker types but you can also try out American and European roulette, blackjack and Caribbean poker.  Slot machine fans are also well catered for.  Where Casino Barcelona does stand out is in its provision for poker tournament play.  There are regular competitions catering to every level of buy-in so don’t be scared to have a go.

Which is the best casino?  They’re both great and each should be on your list of ‘must-dos’ if you’re visiting either city.

The last time we wrote about the Copa Del Ray it was just as the teams were about to embark on the quarter final stages.  The big match up was between Barcelona and Real Madrid and over the two legs, Barcelona narrowly prevailed.  The final four teams then lined up as follows:

• Barcelona vs Valencia
• Mirandés vs Athletic Bilbao

Then by the 8th January we knew the finalists; Barcelona would play Athletic Bilbao and the final takes place on either 20th or 25th May.  Now comes one of the oddities which occurs in countries which have no recognisable national stadium; the venue of the final must be decided between the two clubs.  Unsurprisingly both Barcelona and Bilbao were happy to use Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium but in an unusual move, Real were not willing, citing imminent construction work.

No Cup Final here thanks...

Since that refusal, both clubs have been unable to agree on an acceptable venue.  Barcelona have been pushing for the final to be played at Seville’s La Cartuja while Bilbao prefer Atlético Madrid’s Vicente Calderon.  The reasons why each team will not accept the other suggestions are unclear but they may have reached a compromise with Valencia’s Mestalla stadium.

The arguing clubs have until Wednesday 7th March to reach an acceptable agreement otherwise lots could be drawn.  Two or three stadiums will entered into the draw and one will be randomly chosen.  Lot drawing is not as uncommon as one may imagine, as Spanish Football Federation vice-president Joan Gaspart explains:  “[Lot drawing] is common.  My experience of other occasions shows that in such cases the host is decided by a lot.  I already experienced this in the 1990 final.”

Looking at the issue from a wider perspective, those whose countries have a national stadium may wonder why some others don’t feel it necessary.  Spain’s fractured recent history is probably a good example of why a national stadium is sometime snot a good idea.  Would the Basques and the Catalans be willing to acknowledge a national stadium in Madrid?  Probably not.

Carlos Tevez

Manager Roberto Mancini wants him out, he’s been fined two weeks wages, has not been paid any wages since September and has not featured for the club in any way since then.  Manchester City appear to be getting some form of revenge on the man and it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve it.  If City are going to sell him they want some serious recompense for the money spent acquiring him from Manchester United – up to £47 million according to some (perhaps excitable) reports.

So who is going to pay that sort of money for him?  Not very many clubs, that’s for sure.  For fairly good reasons Tevez is not allowed to go out on loan so any interested club is going to have to pay the enormous transfer fee and agree to whatever ludicrous wage demands Tevez wants.  Tevez will probably get some sort of acceptable transfer in the end but by then City will have made their point; this is a club that’s so rich it will not be dictated to by greedy players.

Carlos Tevez has been popular everywhere he has played to start with but in the end he’s decided that he wants to move on.  One can’t help escape the conclusion that he just wants to accrue his share of the transfer payment and increase his wages with every club swap.  So he wants to leave England for Spain or Italy?  Who cares?  But those big Italian and Spanish clubs should think carefully before splashing out on this unsavoury character.

There’s not much of a break between the quarter finals of the Copa Del Ray and the previous round, in fact it’s a matter of only a few days before the quarters start and the big news is the match up between Real Madrid and Barcelona.  Before we get to that, here’s a quick refresher of the two-leg cup ties coming up over the next couple of weeks.

• Tue   17.1.12          Espanyol vs Mirandes
• Tue   24.1.12         Mirandes vs Espanyol
• Wed 18.1.12          Athletic Bilbao vs Mallorca
• Wed 25.1.12         Mallorca vs Athletic Bilbao
• Wed 18.1.12         Real Madrid vs Barcelona
• Wed 25.1.12         Barcelona vs Real Madrid
• Thu  19.1.12          Valencia vs Levante
• Thu 26.1.12          Levante vs Valencia

There’s three decent ties there and one outstanding one – El Clásico, the name given to any match between Spain’s two biggest and most successful teams.  Barcelona and Real Madrid have met 29 times in this competition and, so far, Barcelona are slightly ahead on 14 wins to Madrid’s 10.  There have been 5 draws in the various legs.

So who’s the favourite for this one?  Aggregating bookmakers odds means neither team is good value for bet – both teams are capable of getting a result at home and away;  slightly more revealing is Barcelona’s slight edge in the overall odds for winning the competition, at the time of writing 13/8 compared to Real’s 15/8.  Way back at 8/1 are Espanyol and Bilbao and even further in the distance are the remaining teams.

Gerard Pique

The players are saying all the right things for the media and Barcelona defender Gerald Pique has probably spoken for everyone involved when he says that there are no favourites in this game, or in fact whenever the teams meet.  Pique says “these matches have a lot of tension, whee you get physically and mentally exhausted.  Whoever loses is a little bit diminished….”.

Having said that, it was only one month ago that Barcelona traveled down to Madrid and turned them over 3 – 1 in their own backyard.  If nothing else, Madrid will surely be out for some revenge.

The perils of competition such as the World Club Championship were underlined last week when Barcelona striker David Villa

David Villa

sustained an injury serious enough to warrant surgery after fracturing his tibia in the semi final against Qatari side Al Sadd. Barcelona won the match but may wonder whether it’s all worthwhile after losing Villa for what may be up to five months.

While the club are not particularly optimistic, stating that they think Villa will be fit in time for the European Championships after the end of the season, the player himself appears to think he will be fit a bit sooner.  Speaking on the club’s website, Villa said “with a lot of work and people’s help, you’ll see me on the football field soon, enjoying himself like I did before.”

More crucially for Barcelona, the Champions League kicks off again in January and there’s really very little chance that Villa will be available for for any of the later rounds, even if Barcelona do progress all the way to the final.  Fortunately their strength in depth is so great that even a player of Villa’s talents will not be irreplaceable.

Barcelona Win World Club Championship Final

In slightly related news, Barcelona wrapped up the World Club Championship with a 4 – 0 win over Santos in the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan.  Anyone watching Japanese television would have been treated to one of the most bizarre post-match interviews for some time when Lional Messi was awarded the Man of the Match prize – a huge gold key from Toyota.

Messi was then pulled away from his celebrating teammates to be ‘interviewed’ by a Japanese comedian called Sanma on NTV – someone not normally allowed within a mile of post-match interviews.  It took forever for a question to be asked and when it finally game, the halfwitted Sanma asked Messi what he would do when he got old.  Clearly annoyed by this farce, Messi said that he would think about it when the time was right and walked off with his key.  Check it out: