It's been said on this website that on recent form Isco is the best player in the world. I have not been saying this, but Isco made me a believer today with his performance in Spain's 3-0 win against Italy, all but guaranteeing them World Cup qualification.
Isco's first goal was a beautiful free kick that hopefully ensures Sergio Ramos never again decides he should be the one to take set pieces for Spain.
After finishing 12th in the 2014-15 La Liga season, it’s been onwards and upwards for Real Sociedad ever since. In 2015-16 they finished 9th, and last season they were the surprise European qualifiers after finishing 6th, only eight points back from Sevilla in Spain’s final Champions League spot.
Sociedad have been placed with Zenit, Rosenborg and Vardar in Europa League group play, and the club has every right to believe they can make a serious impact in the competition and even improve on their La Liga finish.
Mino Raiola, the footballing super agent with a clientele list including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Gianluigi Donnarumma, believes that Lionel Messi must leave Barcelona to show the world that he’s good at football.
Barcelona’s new transfer strategy has taken an odd twist. Unable to secure stars like Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele in a timely manner, Barca is looking to create more Lionel Messis. The Argentine star is up to the task. His wife is reportedly pregnant with the couple’s third child.
In a way, Barcelona was turning into the Robert E. Lee of world football — in desperate need of some good press. Barca fans finally got something to cheer about Friday with the announcement the club signed 20-year-old Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund for $125 million plus add ons.
New York City FC striker David Villa has earned a recall to the Spanish national team for crunch World Cup qualifiers against Italy (Sept. 2) and Liechtenstein (Sept. 5). Villa last played for La Furia Roja at the 2014 World Cup, but he retired after the nation’s group stage exit.
Let's check in on the Barcelona social media department:
Oh dear. Last night some hackers did some hacking and announced the pretend signing of Angel Di Maria to the whole world. They didn't stop there, those involved spent the rest of the night urging Barcelona to contact them to get their Twitter account back and review their security procedures.
Barcelona the club might still be mad at Neymar for leaving, but the Brazilian forward's former teammates are clearly still buddies with him.
Look how happy everyone looks in this picture!
You can tell it's going to be a special season for Real Madrid. One stat proves everything:
Real Madrid have scored in 69 consecutive games in all competitions.
Most exciting attack in the #UCL? pic.twitter.com/O7lYaUO4Kl— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 22, 2017
Every football club in the world wants to buy Lionel Messi, but there are only a few that can even begin to think about maybe trying to buy him, because Messi would cost a truly absurd amount of money. We'll start with Lionel Messi's $352.7 million release clause, a sum so insanely high that until a few weeks ago it was unfathomable that anyone would ever pay it, even for the best footballer ever.