Barcelona climbed to the top of the La Liga table (at least until Real Madrid play Villarreal later today) after defeating fierce rivals Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon, 2-1.
Rafinha opened the scoring for Barca in the 64th minute with a goal that probably took a couple of years off Diego Simeone’s life.
The Spanish city of Seville holds a special place in the hearts of Glasgow’s Celtic supporters. The Andalusian city was the site of the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in which an unfavored Celtic side, managed by Martin O’Neill and captained by the legendary Henrik Larsson, faced off against Porto, led by “The Special One”, Jose Mourinho.
Valencia pounced on Real Madrid with two goals in the first eight minutes Wednesday, and held on to win 2-1, which was certainly the thing that everyone expected to happen in this match. Yup.
A brilliant goal from Simone Zaza was followed by a counterattack goal from Fabian Orellana. Cristiano Ronaldo pulled one back for Madrid just before halftime, but it was too little, too late.
Jonathan Mejia came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and he's all out of bubble gum.
The Honduran international, who plays for UCAM Murcia in the Spanish second division, put three Real Valladolid defenders, plus the goalie, into a wood chipper on Saturday.
Dani Alves has slammed FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu for the treatment he received during his final three seasons with the club, calling the directors “false and ungrateful.”
After putting three past tournament dark horse Napoli on Wednesday, Real Madrid quickly turned around and showed just how frightening a prospect they are this season by defeating Espanyol 2-0.
The gap on Barcelona is four points, and Real maintain a game in hand. Cristiano Ronaldo, having just celebrated his 32nd birthday, remains a wizard on the wing. And they said he couldn't dribble anymore.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t make the headlines following Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory against Napoli Wednesday, those all belonged to Casemiro after his stunning, vital volley, but it was a vintage performance from Real’s No. 7. Whether cropping up on the left or right side of attack, Ronaldo was a constant threat to Napoli’s fullbacks, and his assist to Toni Kroos for Real’s second was sensational.
No matter the field they play on, geniuses are a difficult breed to understand. Each of them has his or her own peculiarities and habits that we will never understand because they see things on a different level. Albert Einstein once picked up a grasshopper from the ground and ate it. He also used to go on bird-watching walks while playing the violin and crying. Nikola Tesla had an aversion to jewelry; Vincent van Gogh severed part of his own ear. The list goes on.
But what does any of this have to do with soccer?
Barcelona and Alaves will face off in the 2017 Copa del Rey Final on May 27th at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid. Although the venue has already been selected, it’s incredible to think that a country that has been dominating European football in recent years can’t even set a location beforehand to play their domestic cup final.
This time around, the decision was made much quicker as Atletico Madrid had already offered to host the final months in advance, but the selection process in years past would sometimes take almost a month to determine a venue.