After watching Real Madrid defeat Osasuna earlier in the day, Barcelona knew it needed to escape the Benito Villamarín Stadium in Seville with a win to stay within three points of Real at the top of LaLiga. But it’s never easy against Real Betis, and Barcelona’s own fragility away from home was clear for all to see last Thursday when they were dumped out of the Copa del Rey in Bilbao.
After Juventus’ shock 2-1 defeat to Verona on Saturday, Inter had the glorious chance of returning to the top of the Serie A table with a win on Sunday. But standing in the Nerazzurri’s way was rival AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina.
Although Milan entered the match in 11th place, the club had been rejuvenated by the January arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimović. With Ibrahimović, Milan had gone undefeated in league play (three wins, two draws) and advanced to the semifinals of the Coppa Italia.
The year is 2020. A top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash between Bayern Munich and Leipzig is being dictated by a fascinating duel between a 19-year-old Canadian and a 20-year-old American. Bayern Munich doesn’t win.
How ‘bout that for a bit of science fiction?! But that’s actually what happened on Sunday during the sort of match that proves a 0-0 scoreline can still be a damn good time.
Real Madrid opened up a six-point lead at the top of LaLiga ahead of Barcelona’s late match on Sunday following a 4-1 away victory over 12th-place Osasuna. It was Unai García who gave Osasuna an early lead before Isco and Sergio Ramos completed the turnaround for the Spanish leaders with Lucas Vázquez and Luka Jović adding late insurance goals.
While much of the soccer-loving world was fixed to ESPN+ to watch Real Madrid lose dramatically to Real Sociedad or Barcelona struggle against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Thursday, there was a bigger match going on in Spain not shown on international TV.
Real Madrid and the Copa Del Rey simply don’t mesh well. On Thursday, the Spanish giants were knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals at the hands of Real Sociedad. The loss also ended a 21-game unbeaten streak for Los Blancos.
In the most ironic fashion, Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard opened up the scoring for Sociedad midway through the first half. Alexander Isak thought he doubled the lead in the 49th minute but his goal was disallowed. No worries though as Isak would get his goal just five minutes later, and it was a fabulous volley at that.
Steven Gerrard endured what would've been an anxious second half on Wednesday night, but in the end, his Rangers side was able to keep its title hopes alive with a 2-1 win against Hibernian.
Cristiano Ronaldo finalized his transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus back in the summer of 2018, bringing an end to his nine-year spell at the Bernabeu. Juve paid Real $117.25 million for the 34-year-old’s services, and Ronaldo signed a four-year deal worth around $35 million annually.
Lionel Messi is angry. That’s not conjecture, that’s not rumor, that’s not juice being peddled by MARCA to aid Real Madrid’s LaLiga quest. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner is irate.
For a club that’s won the FA Cup six times and made it to the final on 13 occasions (only Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal have more final appearances), Newcastle’s abysmal recent record in the competition is astounding.
Heading into Tuesday’s Fourth Round replay with third-tier Oxford United, Newcastle hadn’t advanced to the Fifth Round (the Round of 16) in 14 years — that’s despite the club being a Premier League side in each corresponding year apart from two.