Spain

Former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o was taken to the hospital over concern from his involvement in a nasty car crash near the town of Nkongsamba, Cameroon, on Sunday.

Reports say that Eto’o was driving home from a wedding when a public transportation bus collided with his car head-on. He was taken to the hospital with fears of a head injury, but BBC Sport reported he escaped the incident unscathed.

Barcelona forward Ansu Fati will be sidelined for four months after undergoing knee surgery, the LaLiga club said on Monday.

Fati, who turned 18 last month, ruptured the internal meniscus in his left knee during Barcelona's 5-2 home win over Real Betis on Saturday.

"Ansu Fati has been operated on successfully by Dr. Ramon Cugat... under the supervision of the Club's medical staff," Barcelona said in a statement. "The player will be out for approximately four months."

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his side could not hide behind the referee's decisions or their injury and illness woes after they stumbled to a 4-1 defeat at Valencia on Sunday.

Real conceded three penalties for the first time in their history, all of which were scored by Valencia's Carlos Soler, while Raphael Varane also scored an own goal, after Karim Benzema had given the champions the lead.

Barcelona went into the locker room tied with Real Betis after Antoine Griezmann had a penalty saved. Lionel Messi came on to start the second half and completely turned the game around, starting with a masterful dummy run to help Griezmann atone for his missed PK.

Messi scored two goals to help Barcelona eventually beat Real Betis 5-2 on Saturday, including his first goal that wasn’t from the penalty spot this season (though his first was another penalty kick). His fake to set up Griezmann’s goal was the moment that changed the match.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Eden Hazard's positive COVID-19 test had come at a difficult time for the player just as he was returning to full fitness, but added the Belgian was in high spirits.

Hazard has only played three times this season after missing the start of the campaign with a muscle problem, after his first campaign with Madrid was blighted by two serious ankle injuries.

There have been few soccer partnerships like Dani Alves and Lionel Messi. The free-flowing Brazilian fullback built an intuitive relationship with the Argentine maestro; Alves set up more goals for Messi than anyone else during his time at Barcelona. So when Dani Alves speaks about Sergiño Dest’s role as fullback at Barcelona, he knows what he’s talking about. 

The Real Madrid stadium renovation completion date remains June 2022 with the $650 million project now taking shape after over one year of redevelopment work. 

Although the Santiago Bernabéu capacity will hardly change following the renovation — going from 81,044 to 81,043 — the biggest visual difference is the addition of a retractable roof that covers all of the pitch while the fixed roof structure protects all of the stadium’s seats. 

Lokomotiv Moscow’s Brazilian keeper Guilherme had himself a night to remember, pulling off five saves, many of the remarkable variety. But the lasting imagery of Atlético Madrid’s 1-1 draw on Tuesday will be that of the Luis Suárez yellow card for a bit of tomfoolery. 

Leading 1-0 after 20 minutes, Héctor Herrera had a ball deflect off his arm in the box, which can mean only one thing these days: VAR. Referee Viktor Kassai was asked to watch the replay on the pitch-side monitor to check out the infringement. He was joined by Suárez, who wanted to sneak a peek himself. 

One of the rarest moments in football is when, with one team trailing late, the goalkeeper rushes forward to join the attack and actually pulls off the miracle equalizer. It's rare, but it happens (our favorite example being this bicycle kick).