LaLiga

Ask any Newcastle United supporter to identify a player synonymous with the penny-pinching reign of Mike Ashley and there's a good chance you'll hear "Joselu" as the reply.

Fresh off winning the Championship and promotion, secure in the services of beloved manager Rafael Benítez and dreaming of a splashy return to the 2017-18 top flight, Toon supporters were left frustrated by a summer transfer window in which Joselu's $6 million purchase represented the biggest upgrade to the attack.

Atlético Madrid's slender hopes of catching Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of the table took a massive hit Sunday when Barça travelled to the Metropolitano and emerged with a 1-0 victory, opening up a 14-point gap between the teams after 16 games.

It was all too predictable from this Diego Simeone side with the João Félix and Antoine Griezmann led attack failing to breakthrough and the midfield unable to gain much of a foothold against Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong.

Ángel Correa couldn't even connect on an attempted shot aimed at the linesman.

Soccer has a unique power. It brings people together and unites communities for the love of the game. It can be easy to forget about the humanity of a crowd when watching from afar. The match takes center stage and suddenly, the massive crowd in attendance is nothing more than a backdrop for the commentary crew to reference periodically. 

Not in Sevilla. Not for the fans of Real Betis.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said his team does not need winter signings as it is in good shape to resume the season in LaLiga, where they trail leaders Barcelona by two points.

The Italian coach considers that having healthy players, such as striker Karim Benzema, will be the key to face the schedule that awaits the Madrid side, who will be looking to defend their LaLiga, Spanish Super Cup and Champions League titles.

FBref.com last week published a map of its most-viewed soccer teams by state in 2022 and the results show the incredibly varied interests across the United States.

Across the 50 states there were teams represented from the English Premier League, MLS, La Liga, USL, NWSL, the EFL Championship, the English fifth-tier National League – and the U.S. national team.

“There were definitely some surprises,” Jonah Gardner, product marketing manager for FBref, told The18 in an email.

The following is a look at Argentina captain Lionel Messi's career by the numbers:

499 million

Global followers on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram (over 10 times the population of Argentina)

$120 million