Atlético Madrid

After a difficult November and December that saw him go nine La Liga matches without a goal at one point, Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is quietly regaining the form that saw him tear up the European Championship and the opening fixtures of La Liga.

Griezmann salvaged a point for Atletico against Deportivo on Thursday after deciding that his two exchanged passes constituted a sufficient buildup and so hammered one from almost 30 yards out. The shot flew over the goalkeeper and into the right-hand corner. 

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.

Although it was overshadowed by the 5-3 lunacy that took place in Manchester, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid played their own fantastically hilarious game of soccer in Germany Tuesday.

Atletico prevailed 4-2 on goals from Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann, Kevin Gameiro and Fernando Torres, but they easily could have had eight or nine. Griezmann probably should have had a hat trick in the first half but was denied by Bernd Leno twice.

In a half dominated by Atletico Madrid, Saul Niguez's goal was unquestionably the highlight. The Atletico midfielder torched his man, cut into the middle on his left foot and rifled the ball into the top corner.

Need a goalazo? Better call Saúl. #B04ATL #UCL https://t.co/bE5SnQx6P5

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the foundation launched by the International Olympic Committee to combat performance-enhancing drugs in sports, has spoken out against Spanish football over its “alarming” lack of drug testing.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg, and Barca advanced to the final, 3-2 on aggregate. That description does absolutely no service to what's just transpired in Catalonia. 

This match included three red cards, a wrongfully disallowed goal, a ridiculous free kick from Messi that thundered off the crossbar, a contentious penalty, a missed penalty and all the other drama you’ve come to expect from a match between these two clubs. 

Barcelona, the defending Copa del Rey champions, are on the cusp of being able to defend their title after defeating Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Madrid. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi put Barca up 2-0 by halftime, but Antoine Griezmann managed to pull one back for Atletico in the 59th minute. 

Over 48,000 inside the Vicente Calderon witnessed a nightmare start as Suarez opened the scoring for Barcelona in the seventh minute. With Javier Mascherano returned to the defensive midfield role, his crunching tackle saw the ball roll free to Suarez.