While there’s still work to be done to secure its historic “Invincibles” status (most notably Sunday’s El Clasico at the Camp Nou), Barcelona took time off to celebrate its league and cup double on Monday with an open-top bus victory parade through the heart of the city.
A Lionel Messi hat-trick — with all three goals being assisted by Luis Suarez — and a solitary strike from Philippe Coutinho lifted Barcelona to a 4-2 victory over Deportivo on Sunday, securing the club’s 25th La Liga title with four matches still to play.
Real Madrid could yet ruin Barca’s unbeaten domestic campaign in next Sunday’s El Clasico, but a seventh La Liga title in 10 years was a fitting reward for a club that’s currently gone through 34 match days unbeaten (26 wins and 8 draws).
In the midst of a huge clash with Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals, Real Madrid rested a number of its regular starters for a home match against Leganes, mired in 16th place in LaLiga. The result was an uninspiring 2-1 win for Los Blancos on Saturday at the Bernabeu, one in which the visitors easily could’ve nipped a draw. The Gareth Bale goal vs Leganes was a perfect microcosm of the match for Real Madrid.
Today — Friday, April 27, 2018 — Andres Iniesta confirmed in a press conference at Barcelona’s Ciutat Esportiva that this would well and truly be his final season at the club.
Arsene Wenger is on his way out at Arsenal and it seems the Gunners don’t want to quite give up some of the old Wenger ways. Slapstick defending that harkened back to Arsenal’s worst years under Wenger cost Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid in the semifinal first leg in the Europa League on Thursday at Emirates Stadium in London.
Cristiano Ronaldo is now the player with most UCL victories in the history of the UEFA Champions League.
After Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich 1-2 in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, Ronaldo surpassed Íker Casillas, a former Real Madrid teammate, who previously held the record with a total 98 wins in the tournament.
Interestingly, both players have played the majority of their UCL games for Real Madrid.
Aside from the more technical aspects of U.S. youth soccer development, there’s a very real and very obvious significance in having players worthy of serving as inspirations to young Americans in MLS. While Lionel Messi and Neymar will always be accessible via YouTube highlights, there’s something much more tangible and effective with regards to seeing an otherworldly talent live.
Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta appears set to join Chinese Super League (CSL) team Chongqing Dangdai Lifan next season.
Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final to secure their fourth straight title in the competition, and it was the outgoing Andres Iniesta who was at the heart of everything good for the Catalan side.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the 33-year-old was on the brink of a move to Chinese Super League club Chongqing Dangdai, and the midfield maestro didn’t disappoint in securing his 31st piece of silverware with the club.
Up 3-0 at halftime of the 2018 Copa del Rey Final, Barcelona have almost certainly captured their fourth straight title in the competition. Luis Suarez opened the scoring in the 14th minute off a Philippe Coutinho assist, and Lionel Messi doubled the advantage in the 31st after a nasty back heel assist from Jordi Alba.
In the 40th minute, it was essentially game over after Suarez and Messi exchanged passes in the attacking third, leading to the Uruguayan’s second of the day (or one more than his entire Champions League campaign, if you prefer).