Barcelona didn't have to twist the knife. But they did.
Leading Real Madrid 3-0 in the Bernabeu, and making a powerful statement in the first Clasico of the year, the Blaugrana could have easily killed the game off and returned to Catalonia the triumphant victors, the clear favorites in La Liga and the masters of El Clasico.
FC Barcelona stars participated in a FIFA 16 tournament and the resulting video is comedy gold. Claudio Bravo, Arda Turan and Dani Alves faced off against Neymar Jr., Jordi Alba and Marc-André ter Stegen in a winner-takes-all matchup.
Who’d the Barcelona players choose to play as? Well, themselves, naturally. With Neymar’s team sporting Barca’s away kits and the Alves squad in the traditional Blaugrana home shirts, the stage was set for a mini half-Clasico on FIFA 16.
Real Madrid have lost only two games in all competitions this season. They sit atop their Champions League group (one that includes Paris Saint-Germain) and they’ve plundered 33 goals while conceding only 11. Their combined goal difference in La Liga and the Champions League is a resounding +22.
And yet, such is the nature of the beast in the Santiago Bernabéu, all is certainly not right in Madrid.
It's all going great for Chicharito Hernandez right now.
Even though he didn't score during Mexico's World Cup qualifiers (he ended up not needing to, as Mexico won both games), Hernandez has been in ridiculous form for his club, Bayer Leverkusen.
He has 11 goals in 15 games for Leverkusen after a Brace this weekend against Eintracht Frankfurt.
His return to Brazil did not end up like he expected, but it seems Ronaldinho is not done with professional soccer just yet.
His possible next stop: the MLS.
In an interview with FutbolMLS.com, the two-time FIFA World Player of the year talked about his love for the United States and how the league’s growth is attracting talented and experienced players.
According to former best player in the world Ronaldinho, the best player in the world on current form isn't Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
No, Ronaldinho told English newspaper The Daily Mirror that his pick for best player in the world right now is fellow Brazilian international Neymar.
"Neymar, currently on form, is the best player in the world," Ronaldinho said.
All the talk surrounding this weekend's Clasico has centered, as it usually does, around Lionel Messi.
Thie difference this year is the talk has centered around whether Messi will play. Messi sustained a knee injury earlier this season, and has been out since September. The date aimed for as Messi's return has been Saturdays match against Real Madrid.
*Warning to readers with even a shred of dignity: do not read any further if you are offended by any and/or all references to Steven Gerrard's penis. Thank you.
Chapter six of Steven Gerrard's new book, "My Story," starts like this:
"The magic of the FA Cup was ruined the day my penis was bloodied and then stitched shut on an unromantic night in Bournemouth."
What makes a rivalry? Does it have to be fueled by hate, or could a rivalry just be the acts of greatness shown by the two involved, where each pushes the other to reach heights they may have never achieved without that competitive adversary? In the NBA, Magic Johnson had Larry Bird; in the NFL, Peyton Manning has Tom Brady; tennis has Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer. Right now in the world of soccer Lionel Messi has Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the official Tottenham Hotspur website, the club invites you to support the side because “in a world full of Uniteds, Citys and Rovers there is only One Hotspur - Tottenham Hotspur.” Spurs, undefeated in their last eleven matches dating back to the start of the campaign, are threatening to disrupt the established hegemony of familiar contenders.