27 September 2008 - Barça Makes Every Second Count

On 27 September 2008, Barcelona defeated Espanyol 1-2. Barça winger Lionel Messi scored the winning goal with a controversial penalty kick in the 14th minute of stoppage time.

The home side received an early gift in the 19th minute when Barça keeper Victor Valdes failed to secure a high ball and spilled it to the feet of Espanyol forward Ferran Corominas, who tapped it home. Their fortunes turned, however, when winger Anderson Nene was sent off right before the break. Nene, who had been carded earlier in the match, was booked a second time for elbowing Barça midfielder Sergio Busquets in the 45th minute.

Down to ten men, Espanyol defended bravely in the second half, with keeper Carlos Kameni making several brilliant saves. In the 70th minute, the referee halted the game and the players were taken off the field due to incidents in the stands. After a break of approximately seven minutes, the match resumed.

In the 84th minute, Kameni parried a shot from forward Thierry Henry, but it rebounded off a defender and back to Henry, who claimed the second-chance goal. The teams were deadlocked deep into stoppage time when Barça substitute forward Samuel Eto'o was tripped in the penalty area by Espanyol defender Nicolas Pareja in the 13th minute of added time. Although the contact appeared minimal, Barça were awarded the penalty, which Messi easily converted. The whistle blew almost immediately afterward.

The win was a landmark victory in a season that saw Barça claim both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.

23 September 1953 - The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

On 23 September 1953, center forward Alfredo di Stéfano debuted for Real Madrid in a friendly against AS Nancy. The French side won 4-2.

Nicknamed "the Blond Arrow," Di Stéfano is considered to be one of the greatest footballers in history. He was born in Buenos Aires on 4 July 1926 and signed his first professional contract in 1944 with River Plate. He stayed with River Plate until 1948, including a brief loan spell with Hurucán. In 1948, as the result of players' strike in Argentina, he moved to Colombian side Los Millonarios.

In 1952, Millonarios were invited to Madrid to play in a tournament celebrating Real Madrid's 50th anniversary, which the Bogotá club won. Di Stéfano impressed the scouts in attendance and initially signed with Barcelona, but issues arose over his contract rights. Real president Santiago Bernabéu took advantage of the delay and convinced di Stéfano to sign instead with the Meringues. The incident aggravated the already-strained relations between the two Spanish giants.

Di Stéfano, who had already won both accolades and silverware with River Plate and Millonarios, reached greater heights with Real, including eight La Liga titles (1954-55, 1957-58, 1961-64) and five consecutive European Cup trophies (1956-60). He also won the Ballon d'Or in 1957 and 1959.

At the international level, di Stéfano played for three different sides--Argentina (four appearances), Colombia (six), and Spain (31), but never played in the World Cup.

He left Real after the 1963-64 season, accumulating 418 goals in 510 matches for the Spanish club. He retired from playing in 1966 after two seasons with Espanyol.

25 August 2007 - Puerta Collapses

On 25 August 2007, 22-year old Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed on the pitch in the 36th minute of Sevilla's league opener against Getafe. He briefly lost consciousness, but soon recovered and was substituted out the game. He walked back to the dressing room, where he again collapsed and lost consciousness before being rushed to Seville's Virgen de Rocio hospital.

Puerta had recently established himself as a rising star for Sevilla, having scored the extra-time match-winner in the club's 1-0 win over Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup semi-finals. Sevilla supporters refer to that goal as "el gol quenos cambió la vida" (the goal that changed our lives) because it propelled them into a world-record-setting streak of five trophies in 15 months, starting with the 2006 UEFA Cup Final against Middlesbrough, which Sevilla won 4-0, and including the 2006 UEFA Super Cup, the 2007 Copa del Rey, the 2007 Supercopa de Espana, and the 2007 UEFA Cup Final against Espanyol, in which Puerta scored the winning penalty.

Puerta died on 28 August, his third day in the hospital. Doctors confirmed the cause as multiple cardiac arrests brought on by arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a hereditary heart disease.

On 31 August, Sevilla played in the European Super Cup against AC Milan. As a tribute, the players from both sides all wore shirts with Puerta's name on the back.

18 April 1955 - Once Again, Ganymede Gets Shafted

On 18 April 1955, a group including Switzerland's Ernst Thommen, Italy's Ottorino Barassi, and England's Stanley Rous founded the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, an annual football tournament for European club teams.

As reflected in its name, the tournament was designed originally to promote international trade fairs, with participation limited to teams from cities participating in such fairs. The rules limited each participating city to one team each.

Because the matches themselves were scheduled to coincide with the fairs, the tournament's first season ran for three years, from 1955 to 1958. That first season included teams from Barcelona, Basle, Birmingham, Cologne, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Leipzig, London, Milan, Vienna, and Zagreb, with the team from Barcelona (consisting primarily of players from F.C. Barcelona, along with one player from R.C.D. Espanyol) claiming the first title.

In 1971, UEFA took control of the tournament and rebranded it as the UEFA Cup, with Leeds United winning the first UEFA Cup trophy.

Starting in the 2009-2010 season, the tournament will again be rebranded, this time as the Europa League.