Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo, midfielder Santi Cazorla and forward Gerard Moreno combined to score a goal of rare beauty on Sunday with the ball not touching the ground during the trio’s flowing move.
A Valencia clearance fluttered into Villarreal’s half, but Asenjo lumped it straight back at Los Che on the half-volley. That thump from the heavens was deftly met by a cushioned pass from Cazorla 20 yards out.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said he was proud to have played for the Premier League outfit and joined a number of his fellow Spaniards in congratulating them for their first league title in three decades.
Virgil Van Dijk has received plenty of credit over the last two years for his stellar defensive abilities. The Dutch defender gave the Messi-Ronaldo hegemon a run for its money in the 2019 Ballon d’Or race while leading Liverpool to a Champions League title. Many say he is the best center back in the world right now.
In the summer of 2016, Bruno Soriano was representing Spain at the Euros while appearing in two group stage matches. He followed that up with another inspirational season as Villarreal’s captain, appearing in 45 games across all competitions while scoring five goals and adding three assists from his defensive midfield position.
Then, for effectively three seasons, nothing — not a single appearance for his beloved Yellow Submarine.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system is not being used correctly in LaLiga, Barcelona manager Quique Setién said on Monday following Real Madrid's controversial win at Real Sociedad.
Madrid beat Sociedad 2-1 to climb above Barcelona at the top of LaLiga but the home side were aggrieved because they had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside and Karim Benzema's winner stood after he appeared to control the ball with his arm.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was disappointed that he was only asked about the referee's decisions after his side earned a 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Sunday to climb above Barcelona and top LaLiga.
The day before the game, Zidane had been forced to defend his team against a suggestion from Barça defender Gerard Piqué that decisions were going Madrid's way after their 3-0 win over Valencia, in which Rodrigo had an opening goal ruled out.
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is set to miss the team's next match against Athletic Bilbao after the club said in a statement on Sunday he had injured the calf muscle in his right leg.
Dutch international De Jong missed Friday's 0-0 draw away to Sevilla which dented Barca's hopes of winning the Spanish title, with coach Quique Setien saying before the game he was leaving the player out as a precaution.
Real Betis became the first LaLiga club to sack a coach since the season re-started after being halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, firing Rubi who failed to win any of the team's first three matches in their return to action.
Betis lost their first game back 2-0 to Sevilla and drew 2-2 with Granada in mid-week while the final straw proved to be Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao, after Sergio Canales missed a late penalty.
In 2010, Andres Iniesta scored the type of goal for which statues are made, netting the winner as Spain claimed its first World Cup title with a dramatic win over the Netherlands. A decade later, that statue is almost ready to be unveiled.
Almost.
Set to be inaugurated on July 10, a day shy of the 10-year anniversary of the goal, we recently got a sneak peak of the Andres Iniesta statue. Except, uh, Iniesta was sculpted in the nude for some reason.
Is there a weirder new normal than what Real Madrid is experiencing? As well as playing behind closed doors, the 13-time European champion's temporary home for the rest of the season is the 6,000-seat Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium, the reserve side's ground.
Located on the sprawling training center in Valdebebas, players don’t arrive to the stadium by bus, they just sort of appear on the horizon at Ciudad Real Madrid and meander over like a high school team.