BARCELONA - Barcelona bounced back from their painful Clásico loss in style as they cruised to a 3-0 home LaLiga win over Villarreal with a brace from Robert Lewandowski on Thursday.
Barcelona remained second in the standings on 25 points, three behind Real Madrid and three clear of third-placed Real Sociedad, who have won their last five league games and eight consecutive wins in all competitions.
To prepare you for the tournament, The18 has launched team-by-team previews for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Here's the Spain World Cup 2022 preview. La Roja will play in Group E against Costa Rica, Germany and Japan.
World Cup appearances: 16th
Best finish: Champions (2010)
When Jarrod Bowen stepped up to take a penalty kick in the 45th minute of West Ham's match against Liverpool on Wednesday, he was already at a disadvantage. While the odds of converting a penalty are between 75 and 80 percent, just 58 percent of penalties faced by Liverpool keeper Alisson in the EPL had found the back of the net.
Despite a solid 75 percent conversion rate in his professional career, the English winger's spot kick was saved by the man in black in the Liverpool goal as the Brazilian preserved a 1-0 advantage for the Reds.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the hat trick hero when Manchester United last played Tottenham in March 2022. The two sides met again on Wednesday and Ronaldo made the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons.
United had a dominant performance against Spurs with Fred and Bruno Fernandes scoring the goals in a 2-0 victory. What caught everyone’s attention was Ronaldo — who didn’t feature in Wednesday’s game — heading down the tunnel at Old Trafford in the 89th minute.
If you're having trouble visualizing what Canada's Alphonso Davies is about to do to the old man legs of Belgium and Croatia in World Cup Group F, Wednesday's DFB-Pokal match between Bayern Munich and Augsburg offered the perfect illustration.
Augsburg took an early lead at its home ground but Bayern struck back through an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting brace and one from Joshua Kimmich to go up 3-1 with 30 minutes still to play. A Dayot Upamecano own goal gave Augsburg hope at 3-2, but it's the hope that kills you.
The 2022-23 UEFA Women's Champions League group stage began Wednesday with a marquee matchup between defending champions Lyon and quarterfinalists Arsenal at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, and the result sent shockwaves around the world.
When you think of Karim Benzema on the pitch, it's hard not to imagine him without the bandage he wears over his right arm. The piece of fabric has become a signature accessory for the Real Madrid striker. However, during the ceremony in which he received a well-deserved Ballon d'Or, people got a good reminder of why he always has to use it.
After firing Real Madrid to a Champions League and LaLiga double with 42 goals in 44 games and returning to the France national team with a Nations League title, Karim Benzema beat Sadio Mané and Kevin De Bruyne to the 2022 Ballon d'Or on Monday. To celebrate the occasion, adidas — which has counted Benzema among its stable of athletes for over a decade now — dropped a new signature cleat for Real's captain.
With the influx of statistics in modern football, one must always take an analysis they see with a grain of salt. While often useful, stats are easy to manipulate to prove a point, and they can be misleading even when they are correct.
PARIS - Real Madrid's France forward Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or award for the best men's player in the world on Monday, while Barcelona's Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women's award for a second time.
Benzema, who played a pivotal role in Real's run to the Champions League title last season, is the first French player to win the trophy since Zinedine Zidane in 1998 and the fifth after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Jean-Pierre Papin.