Spain

Will Ivan Rakitic Abandon Barcelona For Pep Guardiola And Man City?

The rumor mill has been heating up as clubs start making moves this January. One big-time rumor that might make waves in the coming weeks, should it turn into reality, is Manchester City’s reported interest in Ivan Rakitic.

The Barcelona midfielder has been warming the bench for Luis Enrique’s side since early December, and a move to play under Pep Guardiola might prove alluring to the Croatian playmaker.

Still, how well would he fit into Guardiola’s team?

Cristiano Ronaldo On Target As Real Madrid Make It 39 Games Unbeaten

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. 

Barcelona Lost To Athletic Bilbao In The Most Lit Way Possible

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.

James Rodriguez Took His Chance Against Sevilla By Scoring A Beauty

When you’re undefeated in 38 consecutive matches, the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rings particularly true. Unfortunately for James Rodriguez, he’s not a beneficiary of Real Madrid's continuity. The Colombian captain has been limited to four La Liga starts this season, and his minutes across all competitions amount to not even eight full matches.

Valencia CF Is A Sinking Ship That Looks Destined For The Bottom

Just when you thought Valencia’s situation couldn’t get any worse, another manager leaves the club. Last Thursday, Cesare Prandelli surprised the Valencia board and fan base by resigning just three months after taking over the team

Watch This Young Stoic Masterfully Ignore Marcelo And Sergio Ramos

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” —Probably the young boy in this video.

Sandwiched between one-half of the usual defensive line of the FIFA FIFPro World XI, this burgeoning young stoic simply does not give a rat’s a**. With a supreme display of tranquility and passive tolerance, we’ve been given video evidence of nirvana.  

Either this boy has achieved a perfect state of quietude, or, at heart, he’s such a Barcelona fan that he finds this whole charade sickening. 

Cristiano’s Son Has To Deal With The Messi-Ronaldo Rivalry Everyday At School

First grade is a time of personal discovery. At six years of age, it's a time when children learn simple things like raising their hands, not interrupting the speaker and respecting the feelings of others. It’s a time of collaboration, sharing and complex learning in different subject areas.

Unless your Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, whose elementary experience is, according to his father, like braving the comment section of any soccer website — the one place where you'll never find co-operation, manners and mutual respect.

Happy New Year From MSN And BBC!

The Barcelona and Real Madrid attacking trios of MSN and BBC took to Instagram to show us how they celebrated the New Year. From all of us at The18, we wish you nothing but the best for 2017!

Barcelona's MSN

Lionel Messi

Real Madrid’s Squad Can Actually Turn The Real World Into A Game Of FIFA

FIFA is supposed to take the reality of football, turn it up 10 notches and make it accessible for all. So, while you’re executing Roberto Carlos-esque free kicks with regularity, you know that, yes, the professionals might be able to pull this off, but not three times a match.

The FIFA Free Kick Skill Game requires you to expertly curl the ball around a wall of training dummies and into one of the four corners of the net. Again, it’s a skill that professional can pull off, but it’s not something you’d put money on them doing nine times out of ten.

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