On March 24, 2016, Johan Cruyff passed following a battle with lung cancer at the age of 68. As Gary Lineker said, football “lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history.” He revolutionized two of the game’s most storied clubs, Ajax and Barcelona (also the LA Aztecs), but his impact is still being felt around the globe.
Yesterday, Barcelona opened a ten-point gap at the top of LaLiga with only ten matches remaining, all but guaranteeing the club’s fourth league title in five years. The performance that earned the cushion was a 4-1 away victory over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín, and all four Barca goals were of the highest order.
Barcelona looked to take advantage of Atletico Madrid’s defeat to Athletic Bilbao yesterday by defeating Real Betis and opening up a 10-point gap at the top of LaLiga, and the first half of the match at the Benito Villamarín couldn’t have gone better from a Blaugrana perspective.
In the 18th minute, Lionel Messi opened the scoring with an exquisite free kick that flew beyond Pau Lopez in goal. This was Messi’s 27th league goal in 26 games.
After being reappointed Real Madrid manager Monday, Zinedine Zidane oversaw his first training session, part deux, Wednesday. The Frenchman’s first order of business will be to hammer 18th-place Celta Vigo at Real’s recent house of horrors, the Santiago Bernabéu, on Saturday.
The18 has exclusive footage of Zidane’s return to Valdebebas, and we’re willing to share it with you for a small price — one minute of your precious time.
Only 284 days after shocking the footballing world by stepping down as manager of Real Madrid days after securing a third straight Champions League title, Zinedine Zidane has again been named Los Blancos coach on a contract running until June 2022.
Barcelona made heavy work of 3-1 victory over 19th-place Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou on Saturday to maintain a seven-point lead at the top of LaLiga. Raúl de Tomás opened the scoring for the visitors in the 24th minute, but Barca found the equalizer 14 minutes later through Gerard Pique. In the second half, a Lionel Messi penalty and a Luis Suarez goal would secure three points ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League second leg against Lyon (0-0 on aggregate).
Real Madrid stayed at the top for 1,012 days. That’s probably at least 1,005 days more than any of us have managed (I’m not forgetting that week you found $20 in a rarely-worn coat pocket and someone brought bagels into the office). But now the great Real Madrid Crisis of 2019 is upon us, and HEADS WILL ROLL!
Take away the knowledge that, at 15 years and 253 days, he’s the youngest international footballer in Norway’s history and, at 16 years and 157 days, the youngest debutant in Real Madrid history, and you’re left with a more appropriate picture of Martin Ødegaard: A 20-year-old playmaker that immediately passes the eye test with his sublime technical skills and game-changing flair.
Barcelona’s quest for a fifth straight Copa del Rey title will be decided on May 25 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín after Wednesday’s 3-0 semifinal second leg victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. The aggregate score remained 1-1 going into the second half, but a Luis Suarez brace and Raphael Varane own goal in the space of 23 minutes granted Barcelona passage to the final at the expense of its El Clásico rival.