La Liga

Prior to last weekend's La Liga opener, Gareth Bale was videotaped in slow motion scissor-kicking a soccer ball into a swimming pool.

This likely wasn't a Real Madrid-sanctioned practice activity, but it was still pretty cool. The fact that this is news serves as a reminder (like we needed one) that superstar footballers live wholly different lives than the rest of us.

Maybe he should have practiced scissor-kicking a ball into an actual soccer goal on an actual soccer field, given Real Madrid's 0-0 draw with newly-promoted Sporting Gijon to start the La Liga season.

La Liga started last weekend. It is a brand new 2015-16 season, but as Real Madrid played against Sporting Gijon it showed the same old problems of the preseason, and even the Carlo Ancelotti era: lack of goals.

You could say that the last great Real Madrid offensive show was in April 29, 2014 against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinal. Madrid scored four times against Bayern and eliminated them.

It’s time to face facts: the two best players in the world, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, are getting older.

Entering the 2015/2016 La Liga Season, which kicked off this weekend, Cristiano Ronaldo is 30. He will be 31 by February. The baby-faced flea, Messi, is now 28.

Both men have grown up, from young guns to team captains and leaders.

Now, just what does the future hold for the two best players alive?

Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona have had a weird last ten days.  Barca hoisted the UEFA Super Cup trophy in Tbilisi, Georgia on August 11th thanks to a 117th minute goal from Pedro that defeated a Sevilla team 5-4. Sevilla had clawed back from a 4-1 second half deficit to send the game into extra time.

Just off the western coast of Morocco lies a volcanic archipelago known as the Canary Islands. Despite its size, the Spanish-controlled territory has developed a locally based premier division called the Preferente which combines with the fifth division of Spanish football. Local Canary Island club Raqui San Isidro are becoming more popular by the day in the Preferente since Pedro’s transfer from Barcelona to Chelsea. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named to the top of the 2015 "Athletes Gone Good" list, compiled by DoSomething.org.

Ronaldo gained the top spot by finding a hot girl's phone in Vegas and returning it, then partying with her and her hot friends. Talk about do-gooder.

Bilbao, Spain hosted an incredible celebration for their returning Supercopa champions, Athletic Bilbao, who took down La Liga’s toughest opponent. A 31 year drought of trophies is now history for Athletic Bilbao supporters, and they showed exactly how much it meant. 

La felicidad es esto #supertxapeldunak pic.twitter.com/DaGAbDUhHE

So Barcelona got beat out by Athletic Bilbao for the rights to the Spanish Super Cup. More accurately, they get embarrassed. The first game was a 4-0 drubbing that absolutely no one saw coming, and the next was embarrassing for what happened, and what didn’t. 

The Spanish Super Cup is a competition which has taken place since 1982, pitting the Spanish league champion against the champion of the Copa del Rey.

Until 1995, if a team won both the league and cup titles it won the Super Cup by default. However, since 1996, if a team does the double it must face the runner-up from the Copa del Rey for the right to claim the trophy. 

This is the case in 2015. Barcelona, who won both trophies in 2015, will face Athletic Club de Bilbao on August 14 at San Mames and August 17 at Camp Nou.

Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup Tuesday and Messi was the star with two free kick goals. His immense talent was on display, and one lunatic is claiming Messi's goals were due to luck. That lunatic is Lionel Messi.

"I've just been lucky enough to score those and I'm very happy the team won and very grateful to everyone for their support and such a warm welcome," Messi said after the game.