Barcelona

As the world prepares for The Force Awakens, the football-scheduling gods have set up a great weekend of football across the globe to watch while you wait in line to see Episode VII. Also, check out these fantastic Star Wars football kits designed by Nerea Palacios. Here are the top five can’t miss matches this weekend:

River Plate vs. Barcelona

Sunday at 5:30 a.m. EST on Fox Sports 1

We will be honest. Of all the famous former Barcelona players, Samuel Eto'o is not the one we would have expected to make a move into coaching.

Carles Puyol? Definitely. Xavi? Sure. But Eto'o? Since when do poachers go in for coaching?

Samuel Eto'o was, and is, a great goal-scorer. And now his club, Antalyaspor, has sacked former manager Yusuf Simsek and appointed Eto'o as the temporary player-manager until they can find a new coach.

It's the season of giving, and what better way to highlight the season of giving than to shine a light on a gift given by one of the best to ever do it to another of the best to ever do it. A regular gift from a regular person is nice, but a Messi gift from Lionel Messi is twice as nice.

And when you are Ronaldinho, and Messi is a close personal friend of yours, a Messi gift is thrice as nice.

Here's what happened: Messi gave his buddy Ronaldinho a signed Lionel Messi Barcelona jersey, and Ronaldinho thanked his buddy Messi for the gift on Instagram and Twitter.

Barcelona have perhaps the greatest forward line ever assembled, but for how much longer?

According to The Sun (so take this information with however many grains of salt you feel are appropriate), Barcelona's wage bill is 73 percent of its total revenue.

The Sun also reported that Barca are planning a £423 million renovation of the Camp Nou.

They’re rivals on and off the pitch, but the latest edition of El Clasico has provoked controversy that pushed the tension between Barcelona and Real Madrid to a boiling point.

Barcelona are currently pursuing a case against Manolo Sanchís and Poli Rincon through the Anti-Violence Commission over comments the ex-Real players made about Isco’s horror tackle on Neymar in El Clasico. The Spain starlet was given a straight red card, Real Madrid lost El Clasico, and that should have been the end of it. 

Xavi Hernandez is a Barcelona legend. While in the Blaugrana, he won damn near everything there is to win. He retired on top, having been an integral part of Barca's treble win. This begs the question, though, now that Xavi is comfortably living out the early stages of his retirement in the Qatari league, where is the next Xavi? How will Barcelona replace one of the best players in its history?

Neymar's astounding string of performances has managed to get him in the mix to be one of the top players in the world. Nonetheless, off-the-field issues keep the superstar's future very murky.

As successful as Barcelona have been with the current Messi, there is no doubt that they are constantly on the lookout for the next Messi.

And they just might have found what the're looking for in Carles Aleña, a 17-year-old Spaniard who plays for the Barcelona U-19s and has already trained with the first team because of injuries. There is serious speculation that he could be the next big thing out of the academy that produced Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandes, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Thiago Motta, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Sergio Busquets. 

It’s long been said that opportunity makes the man, that the big occasion grants its greatest performer an indelible place amongst legends. In today's world of soccer, one man has become synonymous with such moments. Andres Iniesta has consistently provided for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team during their times of greatest need.