Real Madrid

Barcelona and Alaves will face off in the 2017 Copa del Rey Final on May 27th at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid. Although the venue has already been selected, it’s incredible to think that a country that has been dominating European football in recent years can’t even set a location beforehand to play their domestic cup final. 

This time around, the decision was made much quicker as Atletico Madrid had already offered to host the final months in advance, but the selection process in years past would sometimes take almost a month to determine a venue. 

A lot can change in a few months. The gap between the draw for the Champions League round of 16 and the matches themselves can be vast. Even in countries where a winter break (or the lack thereof) is not just an annual excuse for under-pressure managers, the sides which face off in February can be entirely different from those which were first drawn out of the pots. Now, after a relatively normal week in Serie A, what should we expect from the Italian teams still in Europe’s premier cup competition?

On Sunday, the game that was supposed to see Celta Vigo take on Real Madrid the Estadio de Balaidos was postponed because of stadium concerns. Extreme weather on the Friday before the game had caused some damage to Celta’s home stadium and after a report presented by Vigo’s city council, Balaidos was not deemed safe for the game to go on. 

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.

Elite goalkeepers have to be extremely accurate with their punts. You can't just lump it down the field and hope your team comes up with the ball if you play for one of the best clubs in the world.

Inaccuracy is not a concern for Real Madrid goalie Keylor Navas, who knocked the phone out of an unsuspecting BBC producer's hands at a recent training session. Better yet, the producer was recording video at the time, so we get to watch this:

Here's a tip: if you're at a match and you want a player to give you their jersey, bring something to bribe them with, like pork.

Hey, it worked on Sergio Ramos.

Real-captain Sergio Ramos ruilt shirtje met stukjes varkenslendehttps://t.co/bfWxoSEv6rpic.twitter.com/vGqFJpnW5g

— AD.nl/sportwereld (@ADSportwereld) February 2, 2017

Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Real Sociedad has silenced many critics, especially after both Sevilla and Barcelona dropped points. Real now have a four-point lead with a game in hand at the top of La Liga. But such is the nature of the beast at the Santiago Bernabeu that Zinedine Zidane is still facing questions over a poor January that included a stretch of one win in five matches and elimination from the Copa del Rey.