Barcelona and Valencia drew 1-1 Sunday, moving Real Madrid two points closer (although still very far away) to their rivals at the top of the table in La Liga. That result, though, was tainted by what should have been the opener via Lionel Messi and poor goalkeeping from Valencia's Neto being declared not a goal by the referee.
Take a look for yourself:
Every week The18's Giselle Cesín covers a topic about La Liga. This week we’re going over the 10 players who have disappointed the most tso far. Not the worst players. The most disappointing players. There is a difference. Please don't yell at us in the comments.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
The misfiring Ronaldo is converting fewer chances than any goalscorer in Europe. But he just became a father again, so maybe that will give him a boost?
Lots of athletes pivot to different sports after their days playing their first-choice have come to an end. Rio Ferdinand just did it with boxing. This is the first time, though, we have heard of an athlete pivoting to being a jockey. Michael Owen, the 37-year-old former Liverpool, Newcastle, Real Madrid and Manchester United striker, has done just that.
Owen rode a horse called "Calder Prince" in the Prince's Countryside Trust seven-furlong flat raced, and impressed with a second-place finish.
Barcelona’s assured display in a 0-0 draw with Juventus on Wednesday guaranteed the Blaugrana top spot in Champions League Group D, and with Lionel Messi spending the better part of the opening hour on the bench in Turin, the usual Barca suspects came to the fore to help their side navigate this tricky tie.
Barcelona-Juventus ended 0-0 and Messi only made a substitute appearance, but there was plenty of incredible soccer to go around. For example, in the first half Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets found himself being pressed by Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic. Did Busquets safely pass the ball back to a center half or his goalkeeper? No. Did he panic and hoof the pall up the pitch in the general direction of Luis Suarez? No.
Instead, Busquets calmly (and slowly) gave Pjanic the ol' Zidane roulette before (still slowly) skipping away and finding Ivan Rakitic.
Thanksgiving (if you’re in the United States) is here and while most Americans equate that with home-cooked meals, France’s Antoine Griezmann has something a little tastier for you this holiday. With Atletico Madrid needing a win to keep its Champions League hopes alive, this Griezmann goal vs Roma was more sumptuous than a well-cooked turkey and sweeter than your favorite pie fresh out of the oven.
Griezmann struck a glorious scissor-kick goal in the 69th minute, sparking the home side to a 2-0 victory on Wednesday at the Wanda.
We posited on Tuesday that Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino is the most disrespectful player in the game. But Firmino does his dirty deeds to opponents. Ricardo Quaresma is disrespectful to referees. Which is worse?
Before Firmino scored his naughty no-look goal against Sevilla, Besiktas winger Quaresma pulled off this little maneuver, nutmegging the assistant referee while waiting to take a corner kick against Porto in their Champions League match.