With Real Madrid simply needing to avoid defeat to capture their first La Liga crown in five years, Barcelona held out slim hope that 11th place Malaga could use the friendly confines of Estadio La Rosaleda to play the perfect match and shock the side from the Spanish capital. That hope lasted for all of two minutes before Cristiano Ronaldo delivered Real Madrid their opener.
Bastian Schweinsteiger’s comments regarding MLS the other week were less a criticism of the league than a dash of honesty — the Chicago Fire, World Cup hopefuls though they may be, are not as good as Manchester United or Bayern Munich. Dax McCarty isn’t Paul Pogba, David Accam isn’t Arjen Robben and Nemanja Nikolic isn’t Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a bad miss on Wednesday.
Of course, he also became the all-time leading scorer in Europe's top five leagues. His brace in Real Madrid's crucial victory against Celta Vigo gave him 368 goals in 460 apperances at both Manchester United and Real Madrid.
His missed opportunity at a hat trick also reminded us that even the greatest player's can still be humbled by the game.
When it comes to stadium plans, the first thing you'd think would be an absolute must would be the implementation of a parking area that adoring fans and staff can use to actually attend a match.
In the case of the proposed expansion MLS team in Miami, they decided to omit this extremely important aspect completely.
Since the 2014 World Cup, Karim Benzema’s output for Real Madrid in La Liga and Champions League matches reads like this: 114 matches played, 64 goals scored, 23 goals assisted. With a record of over a goal per every two matches, the 29-year-old French forward is one of the most feared in Europe.
From The Simpsons to Charlie Brown and Shrek to Tarzan, we've compiled a list of footballers who may or may not have been the insipriation behind these characters. Take a look at the 11 footballers who most look like cartoon characters.