Europe

The defining characteristic of any tragedy is the inability to make any sense of it. Thus, the term "senseless violence."

We are led to believe that everything happens for a reason, and when a tragedy on the scale of the Paris attacks occurs we must all try and ferret out a reason behind the tragedy, be it spiritual, ideological or otherwise. 

Before we can move on with our lives, we must know why they have been affected so.

It's said the apple does not fall far from the tree. In the case of Zinedine Zidane's son Luca Zidane, the apple fell very close to the tree, and on the way down it headbutted a Spaniard.

[#Insolite] Quand Luca Zidane se fait expulser après avoir "pété un plomb..." pic.twitter.com/P7jOu0UF2F

The finalists for the Puskas Award, the award for the best goal scored in a calendar year, have been whittled by voters from 10 down to just three.

One of those finalists was an incredible dribble goal by one Lionel Messi, who also happens to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or, given to the best player on the planet in a given calendar year.

The 2015 Ballon d'Or finalists have been announced, and the three chosen come as a surprise to approximately nobody.

The nominees, in case you live in a hole, or under a rock, or in a hole located under a rock, are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr.

A much more interesting question than who would get nominated (we guess Luis Suarez had an outside chance at Neymar's third spot, but come on) is who will win. Will Lionel Messi receive his fourth, Ronaldo his third or Neymar his first? We break it down.

Neymar's astounding string of performances has managed to get him in the mix to be one of the top players in the world. Nonetheless, off-the-field issues keep the superstar's future very murky.

Claudia Romani doesn’t deserve your attention in a referee’s kit. In a bikini, sure. In a skin tight dress, yes. She’s a model, she gets paid for the attention that her looks garner. But I don’t care what tests or qualifications she may have passed; I don’t care if she would have been the hottest ref in soccer; this good looking woman is not a referee. She would have made a mockery of Seria A if she had been allowed to officiate a match.   

Perhaps the last Real Madrid great game, complete from beginning to end, was the Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich in April 2014. Even though after that game Madrid won its 10th Champions League, the Fifa Club World Cup and had a 22-game win streak,  Real Madrid was gradually showing flaws that seem to have become more obvious during the past three weeks.

During the period from the Bayern game to now, the management, led by Florentino Perez, has committed a series of mistakes that may well lead to another trophyless season for los Blancos.

 In 2012, Lionel Messi was named by Sports Illustrated magazine as the Best Soccer Player of All Time, beating out 160 players from across time and space.

Messi beat out the likes of Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Pele. Cristiano Ronaldo had to settle for a distant 21st place.

As successful as Barcelona have been with the current Messi, there is no doubt that they are constantly on the lookout for the next Messi.

And they just might have found what the're looking for in Carles Aleña, a 17-year-old Spaniard who plays for the Barcelona U-19s and has already trained with the first team because of injuries. There is serious speculation that he could be the next big thing out of the academy that produced Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandes, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Thiago Motta, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Sergio Busquets.