When Barcelona announced plans to revamp the Camp Nou at a cost of €600 million, the sporting advantages were obvious. The capacity is being upped from 99,354 to 105,000, and, more importantly, a roof is being added to cover the seats around the entirety of the stadium, ensuring that opponents encounter a wall of noise regardless of the significance of the match.
By any measure, Gerard Pique is one of the best central defenders ever, an omnipresent force in the back lines of Champions League-winning Barcelona sides and World Cup and European Championship-winning Spanish sides. Pique announced his decision to retire from the latter following the 2018 World CUp in Russia, and now everyone is talking about his shirts.
For one brief moment, let us consider the duck. To the casual observer watching from the riverbank, the duck seems to glide across the water with immaculate ease. The only noticeable deviation from the otherwise placid surface is a slight ripple emerging behind the bird, a sign that the water has been elegantly parted by the smooth feathers before collapsing back to form.
From a distance, the movement of the duck is relaxing, calm and refined.
It was surprising to see Zinedine Zidane given the manager’s position at Real Madrid after the sacking of Rafa Benitez. His only previous experience was in charge of the reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla, for 18 months, and his record didn’t speak well for himself.
Barcelona missed a chance to climb to the top of the La Liga table with a shock 4-3 defeat to Celta Vigo on Sunday. With Celta Vigo in the bottom half of the table, a Barcelona squad without the injured Lionel Messi was still expected to emerge with three points in Galicia.
However, notable mistakes from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ted Stegen, defender Jeremy Mathieu and midfielder Sergio Busquets essentially handed the victory to the home side.
In an interview with Marca week, Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué spoke with reporters about the growing soccer culture in the United States, and the interest its growth has begun to draw from players across the globe.
“I read that the MLS is the seventh biggest league in terms of stadium attendances, fans are increasingly hooked on soccer in the United States and it would be an attractive option in a few years," Pique said.
Andres Iniesta is capable of producing the wholly original — his skill on the pitch is of the once in a generation variety. In this regard, you have absolutely no hope of replicating him.
At 32 years of age, he’s still completed an average of four successful dribbles (taking on your marker and retaining possession) throughout the beginning of the 2016-17 La Liga season. That’s more than Lionel Messi.
What would’ve otherwise been a non-story had Real Madrid managed to hold on to their 2-1 lead over Las Palmas on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo's 72nd minute substitution has since blown up following Sergio Araujo’s 85th minute equalizer.
Las Palmas held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw, diminishing Los Blancos' lead at the top of the La Liga table to a single point. The main talking point from the match has now switched to Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane's decision and Ronaldo's reaction.
Barcelona traveled to Gijon on Saturday for a difficult match against Sporting. Barcelona made their travels without Lionel Messi, who will be sidelined for three weeks with a groin injury suffered against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
In his stead, Neymar and Luis Suarez inspired their side to a resounding 5-0 victory. Neymar registered a brace and Luis Suarez scored Barca's opening goal in the 29th minute.