Spain

Andres Iniesta is a consummate players’ player — his injury was felt around the planet as the loss of the Barcelona star is a loss to football as a whole. The knock he took against Valencia could’ve been a lot worse, but Iniesta is still expected to miss six to eight weeks.

At 32, serious damage to his lateral collateral ligament would’ve been devastating, and his presence was sorely missed in Barcelona’s loss to Manchester City in the Champions League.

A little over a week after Neymar put pen to paper on a new five-year deal with Barcelona, Real Madrid have announced that Gareth Bale has committed his future to the club by signing an extension running until June 30, 2022.

Last week, we implored the lot of you to look at Cristiano Ronaldo.

This week, we are imploring the lop of you to keep looking at him. He really wants you to.

Good night  pic.twitter.com/v9aHmCggSz

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 30, 2016

In order to talk smack, don’t you have to back it up? Goalkeeper Diego Alves failed to do so on Saturday in Valencia’s last-second loss to Barcelona:

When it comes to penalties, Diego Lopez is one of the best. Of the last 35 penalties he's faced, Alves has saved a staggering 17 of them; so he has good reason to be a little cocky. Two years ago, he even smack talked Cristiano Ronaldo before saving his penalty to end their title run.

Lionel Messi helped Barcelona defeat Valencia at La Mestalla on Saturday, as he cooly converted a 94th minute penalty to give Barca the 3-2 win. He also happened to lose his damn mind after Valencia fans struck Neymar with a bottle.

The match was tied at 2-2 as the minutes bled away, and it seemed destined to end as a draw. Thankfully for Barcelona, Valencia defender Aymen Abdennour was in a charitable sort of mood as he hacked down Luis Suarez in the 92nd minute to concede a penalty.

It's clear to anyone watching that while still very good, Cristiano Ronaldo is on the physical decline. Questions have arisen surrounding his ability to remain effective while not being the team’s centerpiece. He is still clearly very capable, but his ineffeciency is indicative of a man not quite ready to accept his new role. 

After over three weeks on the sidelines due to a groin injury, Lionel Messi made a triumphant return to football by scoring Barcelona’s fourth in their 4-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna. The assist was fantastically provided by Neymar and the finish from Messi was emphatic.

It must’ve been an excruciating break from playing for Messi, watching Barcelona lose to Celta Vigo and then Argentina flounder in World Cup qualifying.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously quipped before the 2009 Champions League Final that Barcelona "get you on that carousel and they make you dizzy with their passing.” The rhythm and tempo of their passing makes opponents feel as though they’re chasing ghosts around the pitch.