Spanish Clubs

Is the magic gone at Real Madrid? That’s an impossible thing to say about the back-to-back world champions, but a shocking Copa del Rey quarterfinal elimination at the hands of Leganes (a club from the outskirts of Madrid that plays its home matches in front of 11,000) is the lowest it’s gotten for Zinedine Zidane when coupled with the 19-point gap in La Liga. 

The French manager went with an understrength side after defeating Leganes 1-0 away in the first leg, although understrength still means starts for Sergio Ramos, Isco, Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio. 

After a long, drawn out process of shoving Javier Mascherano out of the Camp Nou and making sure the door didn't hit him, Barcelona have procured an open squad number suitable for expensive new toy Philippe Coutinho.

 @Phil_Coutinho's Barça squad number has been confirmed!#Coutinho14https://t.co/LfKAORZVuz

What an incredibly strange career trajectory Lassana Diarra has had. 

You can read about the Sevilla-Atletico Madrid Copa del Rey tie on just about any soccer website in existence, but it is only HERE AT THE18 that you can read a full breakdown on Sergio Escudero's first-minute volley goal vs. Antoine Griezmann's 13th-minute volley goal.

So.

Escudero:

Philippe Coutinho, who became the second most expensive footballer of all-time after joining Barcelona from Liverpool on Jan. 6, looks set for his Barca debut after returning to full first-team training following a spell on the sidelines with a thigh injury.

The writing has been on the wall for Javier Mascherano at Barcelona for some time, and now it's official: Barcelona announced Tuesday that Mascherano would be leaving the club, with a ceremony planned for Wednesday. Mascherano has been at Barcelona for seven and a half seasons and has made more than 300 appearances.