Real Madrid doesn’t like losing players for cheap. Because of the club’s massive history in world football and its financial muscle, the players Los Blancos bring in are meant to be world-class. Apart from Real's huge wage bill and transfer budget, the amazing part of player contracts at the club are the release clauses, and young players like Brahim Diaz are no exception.
Barcelona took full advantage of Atletico Madrid and Sevilla’s 1-1 draw earlier today (as well as Real Madrid’s shock defeat to Real Sociedad) to open up a five-point gap at the top of LaLiga. Goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez inside the first half — although the lead was cut by Jaime Mata shortly before the interval — proved enough for the Blaugrana.
A 1-1 draw between Atletico Madrid (second in LaLiga) and Sevilla (third) saw Barcelona’s lead at the top of the table reduced to two points, but with the Blaugrana set to play Getafe later today, both contestants will rue the inability to take three points from the match.
According to the latest reports, 10-year-old Barcelona phenom Michal Zuk has signed a brand ambassador contract with adidas.
A Japanese club going on a preseason tour of California wouldn’t usually set the pulse racing, but Vissel Kobe is no ordinary J1 League side. After signing former NYCFC striker David Villa back on Dec. 1, the Ushi (Cows) now boast a lineup that also includes former Barcelona star Andres Iniesta and German legend Lukas Podolski.
In-depth interviews with Barcelona captain Lionel Messi are a rare thing, but they continuously reveal a humble, cerebral and analytical individual who refuses to be drawn into the trappings of fame and modern society. With LaLiga entering its winter break (Barcelona last played on Dec.
Things are not well in Bilbao. Athletic, one of three clubs to have never been relegated from Spain’s top division (the others being Real Madrid and Barcelona), are mired in the drop zone of LaLiga with only 16 points from 17 matches. However, a moment of brilliant respite was briefly offered by 37-year-old striker Aritz Aduriz yesterday when he notched this audacious penalty against Real Valladolid.
Let’s be honest, divers ruin a lot of what’s great about soccer. Flops slow the game down, they win undeserved free kicks and generally just create more annoyance than enjoyment.
But sometimes, the diver’s acting is so unbelievably poor that the dive itself becomes a work of art. Usually, it’s some of the best players in the world that are doing the diving, which seems counterintuitive.
How many goals has Messi scored? It’s hard to answer, because right this very instant, he dropped Jérôme Boateng and chipped Manuel Neuer. In the time it took you to read that sentence, he just scored a hat-trick against Levante. Lionel Messi has scored 664 goals in his career for club and country, so yes, I’m slightly exaggerating, but only slightly.