Since Barcelona’s 7-0 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals last month, football in Spain has been written off by many as yesterday’s news, with Germany now the fashionable country to admire in terms of footballing philosophy.

Spain’s outstanding display against Uruguay on Sunday night, in their Confederations Cup opener in Brazil, made the world sit up and realise that they are still the best international team on the planet, however.

Vicente del Bosque’s side enjoyed over 70 per cent possession on the night, and the scoreline was actually very generous on the South American team.

Led by the sensational Andres Iniesta, who was an absolute joy to watch, the reigning World and European Champions showed the doubters that they have lost none of their attacking zest, producing football that was as good as anything Barcelona have conjured up over the last five years at times.

Goals from Pedro and Roberto Soldado sealed the victory, but it was the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets who really stole the show. Their ability to keep the ball in tight areas, with an elegance in the way they do it, was pure artistry to watch.

Perhaps these great players have been stung by the criticism aimed in their direction in recent months. The performance certainly looked like that was the case.

One of the reasons Barcelona have been found out slightly this season is because their defence has looked suspect, with Dani Alves often too far forward with dangerous opposition wide players exploiting the spaces in behind the Blaugrana‘s high line.

Spain are far more solid and consistent, however. With Iker Casillas in goal, Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos at the heart of the defence and Jordi Alba and Alvaro Arbeloa at full-back, they are a very tight unit who rarely look in trouble.

Admittedly they invariably have less to do than other sides because Spain dominate so many games in terms of possession, but when they are called upon they rarely make an error.

While everybody talks about their tiki-taka style and relentless pressing game, it is easy to forget that Spain have not conceded a goal in the knockout stages of a major tournament since the 2006 World Cup. That’s 10 clean sheets in a row in important, high-pressure games.

There can be no doubt that Barcelona’s unforgettable period of dominance is over, with Bayern Munich taking over at the top of the domestic game – especially with Pep Guardiola taking over this summer – but at international level Spain are still unstoppable.

They are arguably the greatest international side of all time, and there appears to be no sign of them slowing up just yet.

While the Confederations Cup may not be the most meaningful, competitive, international tournament in the world, Spain’s opening display suggests that they will remain the team to beat at next summer’s World Cup.

Those Spain doubters may just have to eat some humble pie for the foreseeable future.

Follow me on twitter: @henryjackson87. Go to www.onfootball.co.uk to read more of my work.

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This is the first in a series of charts that I plan to post weekly, charts that should be of interest to bank stock investors. I’ll keep the commentary brief; the charts will largely speak for themselves.

The chart below shows quarterly pre-tax earnings and assets for JPMorgan Chase (JPM) since Q1 2007:

What does this chart tell us? The blue line is JPM’s quarterly pre-tax income, which has risen steadily since its low of ($ 2.2) billion in Q3 2008. Hence the last several years of record earnings for JPM. The black line is pre-tax income ex provision for loan losses. High loan loss provisions in recent years were a major reason for depressed bank earnings. If you remove provisions from JPM’s pre-tax income, you get an entirely different trend line. Pre-tax income ex provision peaked in Q3 2009 at $ 13.1 billion, and has trended down since then. And note

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Ever since Jose Mourinho has returned to the Chelsea managerial hot-seat for the second time around, there have been wide spread rumours that the Portuguese is not a big fan of Juan Mata and could sell him in the summer as he wants to raise funds to re-shape the squad according to his own taste.

Mata recently admitted that he is not aware of such rumours as nobody ever told him that he is unwanted at Chelsea. The Spaniard insisted that he is happy at the London club and will meet his manager after the Confederations Cup is over.

Juan Mata is linked with a shock move to Barcelona

Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo has published a story on their front page that claims La Liga champions Barcelona are interested in buying Mata and he is seen as a perfect replacement for David Villa, who is a target of the Premier League side Tottenham.

Barcelona could lose youngster Thiago Alcantara to Manchester United, if the Red Devils trigger his release clause of £18 million. Malaga’s highly rated prodigy Isco (target of Manchester City), Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan, and Chelsea’s Mata are some of their preferred targets.

In other news, striker Fernando Torres has brushed off speculations linking him with Barcelona and is eager to hold talks with Mourinho.

Torres totally committed to Chelsea

The 29-year-old admits that he has a personal relationship with Sandro Rosell, the Barcelona president but he is currently not thinking about moving elsewhere.

Torres, who is in Brazil with the Spain squad at the Confederations Cup told Onda Cero as quoted on Sky Sports:

“I look forward to talking with Mourinho and to know what plans he has for me.

“The first thing I am aware of is he will expect much more from me, I expect more from me. Now I have pressure Mourinho adds and that’s a challenge for a player.”

“I want to talk with Mourinho and then prepare for the coming season.”

Michael Zorc, Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director claims that Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne would like to join the German club.

The 21-year-old spent the last season on loan at Werder Bremen and is interested to join the Champions League runners’ up.

Zorc told Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper as quoted on Sky Sports:

“We are interested in the signature of Kevin De Bruyne. We are not at the helm in this respect, of course.

“I am, however, able to confirm the player does want to make a transfer to our club.”

To wrap the segment, Chelsea are looking to sign £10 million rated French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, who plays for Sevilla. The 20-year-old, who finished his first season at the Spanish club after joining from Ligue 1 side RC Lens, has still four years left in his contract.

According to reports from the Evening Standard, Chelsea scouts have watched the defensive midfielder extensively even before Jose Mourinho was appointed and the youngster could join the club in the summer.

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