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Barca win El Clasico:
Barcelona edged out Real Madrid 1-0 at the Nou Camp to win the biggest game of the Spanish football season so far. Summer recruit Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the only goal of the game in the 56th minute, just five minutes after coming on as a substitute. The Swede struck a sweet left footed volley from Daniel Alves' cross to score a goal which took Barca above their opponents to the top of the La Liga table. Real Madrid had a number of chances to win the game, with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, both missing easy opportunities by their standard. Barca held on for the win despite having to play the last half hour with 10 men because of Sergio Busquets' sending off.

FA Cup draw:
The draw for the 3rd round of the oldest football competition in the World was made this week and it threw out some interesting clashes. There will be three all Premier League affairs with Arsenal travelling to Upton Park to face West Ham the pick of them. The other two will be Aston Villa against Blackburn and Wigan Athletic against Hull City. Champions Chelsea will kick start the defence of their trophy at home to Watford, while Liverpool will travel to Championship side Reading. Manchester United have been handed a home tie against either Kettering Town or Leeds United. The matches will be held over the first weekend of January 2010.

Henry's handball saga:
The ramifications of Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland in France's play-off win just refuse to die down. The latest twist in the ludicrous affair comes with the Irish FA asking FIFA to give them an extra place at the 2010 World Cup. Having already refused a request for a replay, it seems almost impossible that FIFA will grant such a request. But the Irish FA still thought they'll try their luck.

European Round-up:
Inter Milan continued their ruthless domination of the Serie A and went 7 points clear at the top courtesy of their 1-0 win over Fiorentina and Juventus' 2-0 loss away at Cagliari. Over in the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen thrashed a struggling Stuttgart side 4-0 to go 3 points clear at the top. Werder Bremen are in second place. Giants Bayern Munich are 4th place on 24 points despite beating Hannover 3-0 in their latest fixture. In Holland, Steve McLaren's FC Twente continued their impressive form of late by beating Willem II 3-1. But Twente have PSV Eindhoven hot on their heels just 2 points behind at the top of the Ere Divisie.

Transfer Rumours of note:
Manchester City again dominate the transfer speculation with rumours of Mark Hughes launching a £50 million bid for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres gaining momentum. Sir Alex on the other hand is keener on Torres' strike partner for Spain, David Villa for around the same price. Manchester United are also being linked with a shock move for Man City defender Micah Richards to ease their defensive worries. Premier League table toppers Chelsea are turning their attention towards Bayern Munich winger Frank Ribery as the Sergio Aguero deal looks unlikely to go through. Lastly, it seems Liverpool's Dutch winger Ryan Babel will finally have his wish granted and will be loaned out to Bayern Munich in January with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.

File Photograph copyright: Tsutomu Takasu