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Tottenham’s reward for getting past Inter Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League is a trip to the capital of Spain to face Real Madrid. There will be high demand for tickets, flights and accommodation in Madrid, so here is all the information you need to make sure you beat the crowd!

The Spanish capital Madrid is a great destination to visit and Real Madrid’s stadium the Santiago Bernabeu is a great arena to watch football in. The 80,000 capacity stadium is one of the world’s most famous football venues and is located in the north of Madrid.

The all-important date of the first leg in Madrid is Tuesday 5th April!

Flights and Hotels:

Madrid-Barajas Airport is located to the north-east of the Spanish capital. There are plenty of flights available from London to Madrid, with return flights for under £100. The main airline that flies to Madrid is easyJet, as they depart from London Gatwick and Luton and the journey lasts for a little over two hours. There is also the option to fly with Air Europa from Gatwick or British Airways from London City Airport, although the price of these flights, especially the latter, is generally higher.

For travellers with a reasonably small budget, the two-star accommodation offered by Hostal Maria Alcanzar II could be ideal. Accommodation is available for as little as £25 per night and its city centre location makes it perfect for exploring the city before or after the footy.

Football fans with a little more cash to spend will want to take a look at the Best Western Arosa. The four-star hotel has 126 air-conditioned guestrooms, and the hotel bar is ideal for a post-match drink. Rooms are available from around £65 per person per night, for the hotel located in the heart of the city.

If you have a large budget to dip into, then another Best Western hotel, the Best Western Atlantico is well worth considering. Also offering four-star accommodation, the hotel has 114 rooms spread over 9 floors. Ideally located in the north of the city centre, prices top £100 for a one-night stay in this hotel.

So there’s all the Madrid travel info you need, now buy you tickets by clicking the link below…

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Buy Real Madrid v Tottenham Champions League tickets here!

Mexico sealed a CONCACAF Under-20 Championship semi-final berth in style on Tuesday, with a 3-0 win over Canada in Guatemala.The win also secured Mexico’s place in this year’s Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, after they failed to qualify two years ago.

Mexico dominated throughout and created a host of good chances, but found Canada goalkeeper Julien Latendresse-Levesque in fine form.

The deadlock was eventually broken in the 33rd minute with a brilliant long-range strike from Kristian Alvarez.

Canada’s defence was carved open repeatedly by the surging Mexicans, and they had Latendresse-Levesque to thank for keeping them in touch until late in the match.

But with 18 minutes remaining, Mexico extended their lead with another superb goal when Diego De Buen crashed home a volley from long-range.

The rout was completed deep into second-half stoppage time by a 20-yard thunderbolt from Jorge Mora.

The win was Mexico’s third-straight victory without conceding a goal, and they remain on course for an 11th CONCACAF Under-20 title.

Elsewhere, Costa Rica routed Cuba 6-1 to book their spot in the last four.

The Cubans got off to the perfect start with a goal to Yaudel Lahera after just three minutes, but it was downhill from there on for the visitors.

Joel Campbell equalised from the penalty spot on 29 minutes, before another spot kick from Marlon Escoe had the hosts 2-1 up at the break.

Campbell went on to complete his hat-trick after the interval, with Joshua Diaz and Bryan Vega also getting on the scoresheet as the Costa Ricans ran riot.

Fourth-placed Villarreal kept up the pressure on Valencia with a hard-fought 1-0 win at home over Real Zaragoza on Monday.The result cut third-placed Valencia’s buffer over Villareal to six points with six games remaining as the two sides chase the third and final automatic Champions League place in La Liga.

A fourth-placed finish would see that side be forced into the qualifying play-offs for Europe’s richest club competition.

American-born Italian international Guiseppe Rossi scored the decisive goal of the match from the penalty spot with 20 minutes to play after he was upended by a crude challenge from Argentine midfielder Leonardo Ponzio.

The match itself was a spiteful affair, which saw seven players booked and Real Zaragoza’s Nigerian striker Ikechukwu Uche sent off for a second caution in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when referee Javier Turienzo Alvarez booked him for diving.

The loss leaves Zaragoza in 17th place, with only goal difference separating them from the relegation zone.

The Premier League has recently agreed a new deal for the sale of its overseas TV rights. Whilst it refuses to announce the exact figure, the amount is estimated to have doubled from £625 million for the previous deal to a staggering £1.2 billion over the next three years. The Premier League will therefore distribute record TV money during the 2011/12 season with even the bottom club guaranteed at least £37 million in rights alone. And, surely fans across the country are rubbing their hands in anticipation as they hope to see the money invested in big-name signings and wages to match.

Whilst the average £5 million increase in income per club is unlikely to make or break Chelsea or Manchester City’s season, for the likes of Stoke City and West Brom the money could make a huge difference as they look to establish themselves as Premiership sides. Likewise, more established clubs such as Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers have slipped down the table this season and, if invested wisely, the money could bring about a U-turn in their fortunes.

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But, football’s finances are still far from secure and don’t expect to see a huge spending spree quite yet. Whilst the likes of Chelsea and City have introduced huge amounts of wealth into the game which has been redistributed through transfer fees, many clubs are still stuck with bulging wage bills. For example, whilst the Premier League received £1.9 billion in income during the 2009 season, £1.3 billion of this was spent on wages. Likewise, most clubs have announced season ticket increases for next year. The most notable of these has been Manchester United who, last week, revealed they would be charging an extra £1 a game across the board.

More worryingly for the top end of the table of UEFA’s incumbent Financial Fair Play laws are set to come fully into effect by 2014. This is where the extra £5 million will be appreciated by Chelsea and Manchester City as they look to balance their books rather than face expulsion from European competitions.

Financial conservatism has clearly been adopted by the Premier League clubs in recent transfer windows. In the most recent January window, the big spenders by some margin were Chelsea and Manchester City. With the exception of Aston Villa, the other big investor was Liverpool. However, this was mostly funded not by new owners, but by the reinvestment of the £50 million received for the sale of Fernando Torres. With news of the increased TV income now public, some clubs will be forced to spend money as they look to keep both managers and fans happy. But, expect next month’s annual Football Finances Review by Deloitte to prove interesting reading about the real financial health of the game.

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FootballFanCast.com WORLD Exclusive: Robbie Savage’s Face in a Baby Scan…

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Arsenal offer the most expensive season ticket in the country at £1,825, with the most expensive single ticket for a match at the Emirates costing £94, and yet this week the Gunners have announced that they will be increasing season ticket prices for the 2011-12 campaign by 6.5%. The club, who have not won a trophy since 2005, maintain they have given careful consideration to the rise, which is in line with inflation and the 2.5% increase in VAT.

Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis, accepts that the decision to implement the increase was a difficult call to make, having frozen them for some time. “We thought about this increase, the first in three seasons, very carefully. We fully understand fans are facing rising costs in many areas of their lives and their club faces the same issues,” he explained. Arsenal will make approximately £4.5million over the next year as a result of the increase, which has caused uproar amongst the Supporters’ Trust for obvious reasons.

It has been reported that Arsene Wenger retains roughly £40million to be purchased on transfer fees and player wages, and has had this money available since last summer. The fact that the Frenchman chose to delegate his fortune so modestly on the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Sebastian Squillaci and the free signing, Marouanne Chamakh, not to mention bringing Jens Lehmann back to the club for a handful of appearances on the bench, has left Gunners fans feeling defrauded. The argument is; how can fans be required to pay more to watch exactly the same level of performance and without actually seeing their money spent on new recruits to improve on prior failings? What do Arsenal need £4.5million for when the manager is so reluctant to spend it?

Seven-time Champions’ League winners, AC Milan, offer a season ticket which at the time of writing exchanges to £116.90, or £22.90 more than one game at the Emirates, and includes all home European matches. Considering the club spent £20million on Robinho and attracted Zlatan ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano to the San Siro within the last nine months, the Rossonieri faithful are reaping astonishing value compared with English fans. Wigan are the only Premier League club who offer their fans close to this rate, their £295 fee actually being the sixth cheapest of all 92 football league clubs. Only Accrington Stanley, Bradford City, Hereford United, Crewe Alexandra and Port Vale offer cheaper season tickets than Roberto Martinez’s side, and this sorry fact seems confusing when placed against the value fans receive on the continent.

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I had a look at what the Bundesliga has to offer earlier this week (article here), and it appears German fans enjoy the most reasonable, perhaps idealistic, match-day experience. The average cost at the turnstiles at clubs in Germany’s top division is around £10, and also doubles as a free rail pass, which guarantees fans at least one easy transport route to the stadiums. Premier League fans can only dream of such stability and efficiency, but even football league clubs’ supporters suffer from exorbitant season ticket prices, with Ipswich offering their most expensive seat at over £1,000, the fourth highest in the country behind Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Arsenal do not need the extra money they are asking of their supporters but know they can get it. Unfortunately this situation affects English fans year on year, and continually leaves spectators wondering what the extra money will be used for. In the Gunners case, a section of observers are debating whether or not the added season ticket profits are directly assisting to pay for Stan Kroenke’s purchase of the club, or if they are being filtered out in other ways. For now, we must accept that football operates on a simple supply and demand principle, which never ensures new signings or more trophies but always works to the detriment of supporters.

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Listen to the latest episode of our award nominee podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and King Jacks! Don’t forget to help Razor and O’Reilly become award winners in the 2011 EPL Awards

Brazilian striker Damiao looks set to leave Internacional this Summer with a number of clubs rumoured to be chasing his signature of the highly-rated attacker.

According to Goal.com, Tottenham are known to be keen on the 21-year old as Harry Redknapp looks to expand his attacking options for next year. The striker scored 16 league goals this season and earned his first international cap in March.

Redknapp is also rumoured to be interested in a more experienced striker after inconsistent seasons for Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe.

Following the success of compatriot and friend Sandro at Tottenham and the establishment of an affiliation agreement with Internacional, Spurs are in a good position to sign the attacker.

Barcelona have emerged as rivals to Spurs in the chase for Damiao’s signature but are more heavily linked with Villarreal and ex-Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi.

Likewise, Italian giants Juventus and Roma are keen on the £13 million-rated player who has scored 33 goals in just 56 appearances for the Brazilan club.

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Imogen Thomas Joins Paddy Power For a Champion Offer! They will refund losing Champions League Final bets if Man United lose the match Make your bets now!

Liverpool winger Maxi Rodriguez could be about to leave Anfield and return to Argentina, according to The Guardian.

The 30-year old signed from Atletico Madrid in January 2010 and has made 52 appearances for the club. He enjoyed a prolific end to the season but could leave Liverpool as the club look to reduce their wage bill. Former club Newell’s Old Boys look like favourites for the player’s signature providing the two clubs can agree terms for the release of his contract which still has 2 years to run.

Liverpool have already signed Jordan Henderson and are expected to move for Blackpool’s Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing of Aston Villa. However, manager Kenny Dalglish must first clear the wage bill of high earners such as Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen whilst the future of Alberto Aquilani is still to be decided.

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The Argentinean left Newell’s Old Boys for Spanish side Espanyol in 2002. After 3 seasons with Espanyol he moved to Atletico where made 145 appearances in 4 and a half years before his switch to England. He also has 45 caps for Argentina to his name and was a part of then-coach Diego Maradonna’s squad for the World Cup last summer.

Damien Comolli came under a great deal of criticism during his time as sporting director of Tottenham Hotspur but one thing he was is decisive in the transfer market.

As a Sporting Director you are ultimately accountable for the successes and failures of your decisions which is what ultimately cost him his job following the spectacular failure of Juande Ramos.

Admittedly there have been other failures and some players who for various reasons the jury is still out on like Bentley, Gio Dos Santos, Gomes, Kaboul, Pavlyuchenko, KP Boateng (now at Milan) and youngsters like Rose and Bostock.  However it should not be forgotten that it was Comolli’s scouting network and ability to sell the club in the face of often stiff competition that helped bring in some of Tottenham’s best players in recent seasons like Berbatov, Modric, Bale and Assou Ekotto.

Without a sporting director Daniel Levy is now finding himself back at the sharp end of running a football club and all the signs are that he is struggling.  The Chairman is currently fighting on several fronts from returning to the High Court to request a judicial review of the OPLC decision, overseeing the development of clubs training facilities, exploring options for stadium improvement, negotiating fees for fringe players, battling to keep current players and apparently trying to bring in fresh faces to the club.  A great multi-tasker and negotiator he might be but superman he is not.  To be effective on all fronts is an impossible task for any one man and Daniel Levy must now relinquish some of the responsibility regarding player recruitment and retention.

Comolli, now at Liverpool has continued his bold transfer spending spree since his arrival bringing in players like Carroll, Suarez, Henderson, Adam and is now in the hunt for goalkeeper Doni and Aston Villa winger Downing.  Tottenham by contrast are struggling to keep the key players they have, offload the fringe players Redknapp no longer wants (many of which were his own buys like Palacios, Kranjcar, Keane, Defoe, Crouch) and have no clear transfer targets of their own.

Spurs must now be looking at Liverpool with an envious eye regarding their decisiveness in the transfer market which could ultimately dash Spurs own ambitions to stay in touch with the elite of the Premier League.

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Tottenham Hotspur have gained an edge over North London rivals Arsenal in the race to sign Blackburn centre-back Chris Samba, according to The Mirror.

Blackburn have valued powerhouse captain Samba at £12million, and hope that slapping such a big price tag on the defender will force clubs to look elsewhere after already losing young sensation Phil Jones to Manchester United this summer.

However Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been eyeing a deal which could involve a player or two going in the other direction in a player-plus-cash exchange, which could also allow him to get rid of some unwanted fringe players.

Blackburn will find it difficult to turn down this type of offer, although Samba’s wage demands could prove to be the problem, as he is reportedly looking for £60,000 a week.

Both North London clubs have been keen to add a big centre-half to their respective squads this summer; Jonathon Woodgate’s departure from Tottenham left the club with a gap in the position, and Arsenal’s defensive frailties were constantly exposed last season with the lack of a big man being pinpointed as a reason.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had an £8m bid for Samba rejected earlier this summer, and considers £12m to be too high a price for the giant defender. Wenger’s unwillingness to spend over the past six seasons has angered Arsenal fans, causing many to question his ambition after six consecutive trophy-less seasons.

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Arsenal look set to lose another defensive asset in goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, as him and forward Nicklas Bendtner did not travel with the squad to Asia for their pre-season tour.

Despite already upsetting the Tottenham board with an attempt to sign playmaker Luka Modric, according to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are now chasing Alan Gatagov, the Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder who is believed to have been on the Spurs radar for quite some time.

Although it has been suggested that Gatagov is being lined up as a back-up to Modric, should a deal not take place, this seems to be somewhat implausible due to the fact that the 20-year-old is simply not in the same bracket as the Tottenham man, at least not yet any way.

Gatagov is reportedly valued at around £7m by the Russian outfit, a price that is far more likely to appeal to Chelsea than Tottenham, particularly as Redknapp has been told he must fund any signings with the sale of players already at the club.

Redknapp is believed to have sent representatives of the club to meet with Gatagov when Lokomotiv came over to Bournemouth for a pre-season friendly last week, but with no deal in place, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich looks set to hijack any possible movement by the player by offering both Champions League football and a higher salary to help sway his decision.

So far Chelsea have been relatively quiet in the transfer window, however they will be looking to bolster their midfield after Michael Essien was ruled out for up to six months with a knee injury earlier in the month.

Whilst we are led to believe that Modric remains top of the Chelsea wish list, Gatagov could certainly bring some freshness to what has often been described as an ageing Chelsea side, and would undoubtedly relish a move to West London where the prospect of silverware Champions League football can be realised at such a young age.

We have seen throughout this window the kind of money clubs are willing to spend on young English players, and if Gatagov is able to play at the same level as these players, then £7m could well turn out to be a steal for either Spurs or Chelsea. It seems fair to assume that should a bidding war arise between the two clubs then Chelsea will be clear favourites so sign the youngster, and with the Modric saga still far from resolved, an improved relationship between Levy and Abramovich looks set to be put on hold a little while longer.

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