Spain

Eden Hazard has been the target of several criticisms for his poor performance since his arrival at Real Madrid, in theory, to replace Cristiano Ronaldo's departure. However, his quality hasn’t been the same as the one that took him to the top with Chelsea.

In addition to the above, injuries and his physical shape have increased the negative comments against him and even mockery, such as the one made by Burger King, the famous burger chain.

Burger King quoted a tweet asking why the forward hadn't trained with his teammates, saying "2x1 at Burger King."

Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann fired Barcelona to a 2-1 win at home to Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga on Sunday, avenging their recent defeat to the Basque side in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Messi curled in a free kick after 20 minutes for his 650th Barça goal on the day the club pledged to sue Spanish newspaper El Mundo for publishing the full details of the Argentine's contract.

Atlético Madrid's Luis Suárez fired in two goals as they thrashed Cádiz 4-2 away in an action-packed game on Sunday to march 10 points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Suarez gave Atléti the lead in the 28th minute with a curling free kick which was cancelled out by Cádiz forward Álvaro Negredo seven minutes later before Saúl Ñíguez restored the visitors' advantage moments before the break.

Just when you thought Barcelona had turned the corner with four straight league wins and a place in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, here comes that nasty debt of $1.42 billion and the ugly realization that the greatest footballer of all-time is headed out the back door again! (Along with another Luis Suárez brace for Atlético.) 

It’s a decision every footballer has pondered at some point: When is it worth committing a red-card offense to prevent a goal from being scored? It’s hard not to think the Éder Militão red card in a 2-1 defeat to Levante on Saturday was the wrong choice.

Sevilla advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday after defeating Valencia 3-0 at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. Luuk de Jong opened the scoring in the 20th minute and then made it 2-0 in the 33rd after putting the finishing touch on a spectacular team goal.

The move involved 37 passes and 11 Sevilla players, making it this season’s golden standard in the land of tiki-taka.  

MADRID — Lionel Messi returned from suspension to help guide Barcelona to a 2-1 win away to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey.

Barca dominated the match and hit the woodwork three times but second division Rayo took a surprise lead in the 63rd minute when Barca keeper Neto failed to deal with a low cross and midfielder Fran Garcia pounced to bundle the ball over the line.