Spanish Clubs

News of Karim Benzema’s continued suspension from the French national team must’ve reached Antoine Griezmann at some point before Atletico Madrid's pivotal quarterfinal second leg against Barcelona on Wednesday. 

Preparing for the most important game of his young club career, the immensity of the implications would not have been lost on Griezmann. With Benzema suspended, he’s now seemingly been charged with spearheading the French attack at Euro 2016 in his native France. 

Zinedine Zidane'sReal Madrid squad just advanced in the Champions League after it looked like all was lost, so he can maybe be forgiven if he said some outlandish sh** following the game.

From ESPNFC:

Zinedine Zidane said he was keeping a level head after Real Madrid rallied to defeat Wolfsburg in the Champions League, something he also claimed -- a little disingenuously -- to have done as a player.

A crunch meeting between French national team manager Didier Deschamps and the president of the French Federation, Noel Le Graet, has yielded the decision to omit striker Karim Benzema from selection for the French squad at Euro 2016.

Everyone thought Tuesday's Champions League match between Wolfsburg and Real Madrid was exciting: fans, journalists, players, etc. One man, though, stood above the rest in freaking out about the sheer excitement of Madrid's 3-0 victory that erased a 2-0 aggregate deficit and earned them a place in the semifinals: Zinedine Zidane.

Yes, that Zidane. The same Zidane that won everything there is to win in soccer. The same Zidane who could do things with a soccer ball we hadn't seen before and haven't seen since.

Sometimes we forget just how good Cristiano Ronaldo is. For example, after Wolfsburg's 2-0 win against Real Madrid last week in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, we forgot how good Cristiano is. 

Just how good is he?

Messi posted a message to his facebook followers in the lead up to FC Barcelona’s second leg against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Messi’s Barcelona lead the match-up by 2-1, but have not won in La Liga in their last three matches, the longest such streak in the era of current manager Luis Enrique. Barcelona look mortal, or as mortal as possible, for the first time a a while, but Messi’s message gives Barcelona fans reason to remain confident. 

While James Rodriguez has been struggling to assert himself into Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane’s preferred starting eleven, there’s no doubting the quality of the Colombian midfielder. His penchant for spectacular goals has left many viewers wondering just how good the talented attacker could ultimately be.