FanHouse InterMilan

Not to be outdone by their eternal rivals Real Madrid, European champion Barcelona appears on the verge of making a major splash by adding Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a transfer from Inter Milan. What makes the move all the more spectacular is that 2008-09 La Liga second-leading goal scorer Samuel Eto'o is rumored to be going back to Milan in the exchange as well as somewhere in the range of $65 million.

As of Friday afternoon reports were varied on the progress of the deal. The Associated Press said the two sides have a deal in principle, while other outlets are reporting the two sides are still talking. The deal, it would seem, hinges on the individuals themselves, which also include former Arsenal winger Aleksandr Hleb going to Italy.

So last week, this Australian jewelry designer went on vacation in Italy, and she struck up a conversation with this nice Englishwoman named Elen about her bracelets. Elen then introduced the women to her husband -- Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard. The woman clearly has no idea who Lampard is or why he might be in Italy until restaurant employees started asking if they could get their picture taken with him. Awkwardness ensues.

Toward the end of the video, Lampard reveals that he broke a treadmill during his vacation. Perhaps Ronaldinho isn't the only one who needs to lay off the pasta.

(H/T: 101 Great Goals)

If last Sunday's Premier League Grand Slam wasn't enough to whet your appetite for club soccer at its highest hype level, two other dominant European -- La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy -- are serving up huge superclub matches that will air on Sunday morning in America.

First up in Italy, Serie A champs Inter Milan will take on European champs AC Milan in the famed Milan derby. (9:00 AM ET, Fox Soccer Channel.) Inter currently sits comfortably atop the league table once again. On the other hand, AC Milan's form in its own league has been dire. They're stuck in 11th place with only 18 points and zero wins at home. They're also listed as the away team here, despite playing at the San Siro, the stadium they share with Inter. Will that psychological edge get them over the hump?

Then it's El Clasico in Spain, as La Liga leaders Real Madrid head to Camp Nou to face 2nd-place Barcelona. (1:00 PM ET, GOLTV) Barca is four points behind Real on the league table, but they're unbeaten at home. However, they will be without Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who's out with a thigh injury. Ronaldinho might sit as well after getting an earful from manager Frank Rikjaard yesterday. It may fall to Samuel Eto'o to score goals against Real, who have had much less drama but much better results away from home. Can Real steal a win and take a commanding seven-point lead in Spain?

It was a fine day of soccer in the Champions League -- including this scoreless Valencia/Inter Milan draw that sent Valencia through to the quarterfinals -- and what would a day of soccer be without a little violence?

Actually, I'm not even sure if this qualifies as violence. I'm not sure what started the initial scuffle, but one guy runs in and accosts another, and then that guy runs like hell. Someone tried to kick him, but couldn't catch him. Video is below.

Watch for the guy in the yellow entering the right side of the frame, just a few seconds into the video. I believe that's Nicolas Burdisso. Burdisso comes into frame, and then David Navarro (a Valencia sub, who never got into the game), wearing gray, comes in and clocks Burdisso, breaking his nose. And then, and this is my favorite part, Navarro takes off running like Forrest Gump. I love that. No back-pedaling, no fake "hold me back" stuff ... just unapologetically running scared. You could argue that there's courage in that ... being so unafraid show the world you're terrified.

A couple of guys tried to trip him, but couldn't get to him. Had they taken him off his feet, Navarro would still be getting beaten right now. All of that happened after the initial scuffle (which isn't included in this video -- sorry, I'm looking for a better one [UPDATE: Found a better video]) between Burdisso and Valencia's Carlos Marchena.