Criminally underrated throughout his career, due in large part to having to play behind two of the greatest ever in Xavi and Andres Iniesta for Spain, Santi Cazorla's recognition has only grown in the last two seasons, primarily because of his devastating absence. While many fans were not aware of him when he moved to Arsenal from Malaga in 2012, he has always been a favorite among players and coaches in his native country.
Ilkay Gundogan. Gone but not forgotten.
The German midfielder's teammates paid a touching tribute to their fallen comrade before their match against Arsenal Sunday. Gundogan figured to be a big part of Manchester City's title challenge this season before he was stricken down.
A torn ankle ligament, adductor problems, a toe injury, hamstring injuries, osteitis pubis and muscular problems: all have conspired to give us less Marco Reus in our lives than we should ever be happy with. The 27-year-old doesn’t even have 30 caps for Germany yet, which is an offense to the footballing gods.
Following the tragic events of the Chapecoense air disaster which took the lives of 19 of the club’s players, we now have some information regarding the three players who were rescued from the crash in Colombia.
31-year-old center back Neto, as confirmed by his father, is reportedly recovering well in the hospital.
Heading into Saturday’s El Clasico on the wrong side of a six-point gap in La Liga is a less than ideal situation for Barcelona, but the mounting injuries among their defensive back line make the task at hand that much more difficult.
Real Madrid lead the Spanish league with 36 goals scored, and Barcelona’s defensive record of 14 goals conceded puts them behind the likes of Real, Atletico, Villareal and even with Real Sociedad.
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta returned to training Friday and could yet play a significant role in Saturday’s El Clasico against Real Madrid. The original timeline for Iniesta’s recovery, stated as six to eight weeks, made his participation an extreme doubt.
Real Madrid confirmed that Gareth Bale suffered damage to the tendons in his right ankle during Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Sporting Lisbon, but the severity of the injury was confirmed this morning via Madrid’s official Twitter account.
Radamel Falcao used to be the most feared striker in the world. That's not an exaggeration. At the height of his powers, he was feared more than Suarez, more than Lewandowski and more than Benzema.
In his last season at Atletico Madrid, the Colombian scored 28 goals in 34 appearances. In fact, he ranked right behind Messi and Ronaldo as one of the best players on the planet.
Just check out Falcao's stats below.
Radamel Falcao's stats:
According to ESPNFC, Tim Howard's muscle injury sustained against Mexico Friday is worse than first thought, and the Rapids' goalkeeper is in danger of missing the rest of the MLS playoffs.
Listening to Zinedine Zidane’s post-game press conferences after Real Madrid drop points is kind of like listening to a broken record. After Real’s 3-3 draw with Legia Warsaw in Poland, Zidane once again came out and used the same excuses to describe his team’s performance. There was a: