Europe

Saturday’s El Clasico was by no means a classic. However, as is always the case in a match which puts the world at a standstill for 90 minutes, there was no shortage of drama, intrigue and passion. No one spectator better embodied the competitive tension that reverberated around the Camp Nou than Gerard Pique’s partner Shakira.

With Lionel Messi and Neymar both guilty of wasting good chances for Barca, it was Luis Suarez who opened the scoring in the 53rd minute. 

It was always going to be difficult to match the success of his debut season with Bayer Leverkusen, but Saturday marked a new low in the professional career of Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. The Mexican striker hadn’t scored a goal since October 1st, and he was looking for his first goal in seven Bundesliga matches.

With the scores level in the 88th minute of Leverkusen’s match with Freiburg, Chicharito stepped up to take the penalty that would end his goal scoring drought and reverse the fortunes of a Leverkusen club that had lost two consecutive Bundesliga matches.

Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Everton Sunday was noteworthy for two things Zlatan Ibrahimovic did.

The one that everyone is focusing on: his kicking Seamus Coleman in the head early in the second half.

Zlatan wasn't punished on the field for the incident, but his comments after the game could cause the FA to take a closer look.

It simply doesn’t get any more embarrassing or unprofessional than this. Trailing Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the English Championship on Saturday, Preston had both their strikers sent off in the final minutes after nearly coming to blows and being separated by teammates.

Eoin Doyle had halved the Preston deficit in the 82nd minute, but he and strike partner Jermaine Beckford were subsequently shown straight reds for violent conduct in the 90th minute. 

The clash between Manchester United and Everton played out much like a GEICO commercial this Saturday at Goodison Park.

The script goes something like this:

"If you're Zlatan, you score ridiculous goals and get away with almost anything, including stomping on Séamus Coleman's head. It's what you do."

"If you're Marouane Fellaini, you come off the bench at 85' and get called for a stupid penalty at the 87'. It's what you do."

Barcelona and Madrid played the biggest game of the season so far, and both fan bases ended up disappointed after a 1-1 draw.

El Clasico looked to be going the way of Barcelona after Luis Suarez's header put the Blaugrana in front 1-0.

You might be angry with the headline, but it’s the truth. It’s not click bait, a click bait article, by definition, doesn’t give you the information promised in the headline. Theo Walcott, as now certified by the Guinness Book of Records, has better control than Lionel Messi. It's the truth, I mean, if you can’t trust the Guinness Book of Records, who can you trust?  

So it’s a subjective form of control, and by subjective I mean it’s based off of who can control a ball dropped from a ridiculous altitude, but it’s a form of control no less.

Bastian Schweinsteiger's exile from Manchester United's first team appears to be dissipating.

The German midfielder played in his first match of the season earlier this week, getting a few minutes of run against West Ham in the EFL Cup quarterfinals. Schweinsteiger made the most of his time, sending a nice pass to set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second goal.

This has led Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to say that Schweinsteiger might not be so exiled after all.

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona meet for the 173rd La Liga edition of the El Clasico on Saturday, December 3. This encounter at the Camp Nou, although only December, will go along way towards deciding who wins the 2016-17 La Liga title: Real Madrid are currently first in the table while Barcelona are second, six points behind. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the match, either live streaming online or on TV through your cable provider.