Spain

Real Sociedad blitzed Huesca 4-1 at home on Sunday with two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal for a fourth straight win in all competitions to storm back to the top of LaLiga in style.

Spain forward Oyarzabal put the Basque side ahead with a penalty in the first half and restored their lead early in the second after Huesca forward Rafa Mir had headed in an equalizer. 

Sociedad's Cristian Portu and Alexander Isak then put the game beyond the promoted side's reach with further strikes, both laid on by passes from David Silva.

MADRID — Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has torn into the club over its handling of the Lionel Messi contract situation, which resulted in the forward attempting to leave in the close-season.

I don’t know if Spanish newspaper ABC is indeed as pathetically racist as it appears to be, but it’s hard to think otherwise after its recent game report of Barcelona’s Champions League win over Ferencváros on Tuesday. The author’s half-assed non-apology only heightens my suspicions. 

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman believes his side are not among the favorites to win this season’s Champions League with the Catalans having made a stuttering start to the new season.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's visit of Hungarians Ferencvaros in their Champions League Group G opener, Koeman played down media talk that the Catalans could be European champions.

“When you’re at Barcelona you always want to be there fighting for trophies, be it in LaLiga or Europe. We aren’t the favorites, but we can go far,” he told a news conference.

A strange weekend in LaLiga that included defeats for both Real Madrid (1-0 to Cádiz) and Barcelona (1-0 to Getafe) ended with Real Sociedad at the top of the table following a 3-0 win over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín on Sunday. 

Sociedad showed promise last season by advancing to the Copa del Rey final and finishing sixth in the league (the club’s highest standing in seven years), but the return of Martin Ødegaard to Real Madrid and transfer of Diego Llorente to Leeds United seemed like big losses — even with David Silva arriving from Manchester City on a free transfer.

It’s been five years since Real Madrid defender Marcelo showed up at an Alevín A training session (La Fábrica’s U-12 category) and watched on in disbelief as Takuhiro “Pipi” Nakai, then age 11, dribbled in a style that the Brazilian admitted was beyond his level of understanding.  

Pipi showing his qualities to Marcelo . pic.twitter.com/5jaFj8pWP3

Barcelona must press on with plans to renovate Camp Nou in order to replenish revenues lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic, vice-president Jordi Moix told Reuters, adding that the $957 million project will pay for itself.

The club announced a financing deal with Goldman Sachs on Monday to modernize their iconic but run down stadium and raise its capacity from 99,000 to 105,000. Should the plan be approved by club members next year, building work can begin by June 2021 and will take around five years to complete.