Accusations of Cristiano Ronaldo failing to pay $16.5 million in taxes have reportedly led to the Portuguese star telling Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez that he is prepared to leave the club.
It’s that time of year again, when football’s biggest stars trapeze around different Spainish isles, drop anchor off the coast of Ibiza and sleep on the streets of Tenerife. One of these days, The18 staff is going to invest in some large dolphin floaties and report live from the Mediterranean Sea while sipping on Skittles vodka, but today is not that day.
With Real Madrid having won its third Champions League title in four years, pundits and fans alike continue to make the case that La Liga has overtaken the other major European leagues as the most elite division in the world.
There’s been quite an interesting turn of events in the Spanish capital of Madrid: less than 72 hours after winning their 12th Champions League title, Real Madrid are fighting a public relations battle after some very negative comments from long-time club servant and central defender Pepe.
Antoine Griezmann has said his chances of moving to Manchester United are six out of 10. Well, at the 1:04 minute mark in the video below, Griezmann hangs up a call from "Jose".
Découvrez comment j'ai changé la vie de Julien Boquet avec @HuaweiMobileFr. #UneHistoireDeFlou pic.twitter.com/rkx8XmMe78
Lionel Messi turned in a Midas-like performance in Saturday’s Copa del Rey final — everything he touched turned into gold. He opened the scoring for Barca in the 30th minute with an unstoppable effort from 18 yards out, he was heavily involved with a “hockey assist” in Neymar’s goal and then he settled the match before halftime with a sublime feed for Paco Alcacer and Barcelona’s third.
Outside of these pivotal moments, Messi was unplayable. He registered 101 touches in the game, including four key passes, four shots and a staggering nine successful dribbles.
The premeditated pomp and choreographed farewell that John Terry bid Chelsea supporters at Stamford Bridge on Sunday stood in stark contrast to Luis Enrique’s final match at the Camp Nou. While the feel-good factor in the southwest of London as compared to the tension-riddled atmosphere at the Camp Nou could go someway towards explaining these divergent going away parties, the real variation was really only in the respective men of honor.
Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Eibar was rendered meaningless by Real Madrid’s 2-0 win against Eibar, but the event-riddled match still provided plenty of highlights.
Luis Enrique’s final match in charge at the Camp Nou began disastrously. As news filtered through the stadium regarding Real Madrid’s early opener, Eibar scored a sensational goal of their own with Takashi Inui lifting a left footed half-volley into the roof of the net in the 7th minute.
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.