Spanish Clubs

After a difficult November and December that saw him go nine La Liga matches without a goal at one point, Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is quietly regaining the form that saw him tear up the European Championship and the opening fixtures of La Liga.

Griezmann salvaged a point for Atletico against Deportivo on Thursday after deciding that his two exchanged passes constituted a sufficient buildup and so hammered one from almost 30 yards out. The shot flew over the goalkeeper and into the right-hand corner. 

Luis Enrique has confirmed that he will step down as Barcelona manager at the conclusion of this season, bringing an end to three highly successful years as Barca’s coach. Enrique signed an extension to manage Barcelona until the end of the 2017 season after he’d sealed a treble in his first season at the helm, but questions regarding whether or not that contract would be further extended have been extinguished by Enrique’s announcement.

Barcelona climbed to the top of the La Liga table (at least until Real Madrid play Villarreal later today) after defeating fierce rivals Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon, 2-1.

Rafinha opened the scoring for Barca in the 64th minute with a goal that probably took a couple of years off Diego Simeone’s life.