Game Recaps

In the wake of the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which took the lives of 22 members of the Chapecoense football squad, the club has begun the painful process of building towards their new season with the aim of promoting players from their youth teams. While many seasoned professionals and other Brazilian clubs have offered their support with regards to personnel, Chapecoesne president Plinio David de nes Filho has maintained that the club will stay true to its roots and values.

Barcelona dropped points to Villarreal on Sunday after a 1-1 draw, but they have Lionel Messi to thank for keeping their fading La Liga title hopes alive. With Villarreal leading 1-0 in the 90th minute, Messi stepped forward to deliver another fantastic free kick.

Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Messi has scored on 12 direct free kicks for club and country, moving him into the upper echelon of dead ball specialists.

Real Madrid cruised to a 5-0 victory over Granada on Saturday, moving six points clear of Barcelona in the La Liga table. Goals from Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Casemiro and a brace from Isco condemned Granada to their tenth defeat of the season — they’re currently 19th in the table.

The Bernabeu crowd were treated to five goals within the hour, and Real Madrid made it 39 consecutive matches unbeaten, equalling the all time Spanish record.

The prematch festivities included a presentation of Cristiano Ronaldo’s fourth Ballon d’Or trophy. 

Goals from Yaya Toure, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, John Stones and a Havard Nordtveit own goal saw Manchester City demolish West Ham at the London Stadium, 5-0. The visitors were slick in possession, holding over 67% of it, with Toure dominating the midfield and Raheem Sterling troubling a static West Ham backline throughout.

For West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, it was another torrid performance at their new home, which has been anything but a fortress this season.

Ray Hudson wasn't on this game for BeIN Sports, but he should have been, because WOW.

Sadly, this game probably won't count for anything because the second leg is at the Camp Nou and Barcelona are Barcelona. But it was fun, so it should be appreciated.

Athletic Bilbao opened the scoring, to the surprise of everyone.

No one saw RB Leipzig's season coming. The newly-promoted, corporation-owned club found themselves level on points with mighty Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga heading into their match Wednesday.

A meeting between two clubs sitting side-by-side in the Premier League table turned out to be a thoroughly one-sided affair, Manchester United traveling to the Hawthorns to play West Bromwich Albion and comfortably winning 2-0.

The gap between the top six sides in England and the rest of the division appears to be pretty large on the evidence of Saturday’s match between the Red Devils and the Baggies. United are now unbeaten in eight consecutive EPL matches, and they’ve drawn level, at least momentarily, with Tottenham, who have a game in hand.

Chelsea defeated Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday to open an early six-point gap on nearest rivals Arsenal and Liverpool. The goal was scored by Cesc Fabregas, a player who suddenly looks very much like the footballer that led Chelsea to the 2014-15 Premier League title by forming an excellent understanding with Diego Costa. 

When it comes to the Premier League this season, many are seeing it as one of the most unpredictable campaigns in recent memory. There are plenty of quality teams battling it out at the top end of the division, but when you take a good look, there are only a few real contenders that shine through. Unfortunately for any Gunners fans out there, Arsenal do not fall into that category.

Boca Juniors retained their place at the top of the Argentine Primera Division table by defeating rivals River Plate in the Superclasico on Sunday. Carlos Tevez was instrumental in Boca’s success, scoring a brace and registering his sixth assist in 10 league appearances in their 4-2 victory at River Plate’s El Monumental stadium.