Real Madrid have lost only two games in all competitions this season. They sit atop their Champions League group (one that includes Paris Saint-Germain) and they’ve plundered 33 goals while conceding only 11. Their combined goal difference in La Liga and the Champions League is a resounding +22.
And yet, such is the nature of the beast in the Santiago Bernabéu, all is certainly not right in Madrid.
It's all going great for Chicharito Hernandez right now.
Even though he didn't score during Mexico's World Cup qualifiers (he ended up not needing to, as Mexico won both games), Hernandez has been in ridiculous form for his club, Bayer Leverkusen.
He has 11 goals in 15 games for Leverkusen after a Brace this weekend against Eintracht Frankfurt.
We didn't have a "Top Reads" last week because we were busy following the Paris attacks. And, just like France and soccer, we're back and on a mission. So here we go with the top soccer reads of the week.
1. The French and German national teams spent the night in the Stade de France. The New York Times chronicles their night.
All the talk surrounding this weekend's Clasico has centered, as it usually does, around Lionel Messi.
Thie difference this year is the talk has centered around whether Messi will play. Messi sustained a knee injury earlier this season, and has been out since September. The date aimed for as Messi's return has been Saturdays match against Real Madrid.
All eyes will be on Spain as the world’s biggest club football match is played on Saturday. The first El Clasico of the season will be held at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid hosts Barcelona.
What makes a rivalry? Does it have to be fueled by hate, or could a rivalry just be the acts of greatness shown by the two involved, where each pushes the other to reach heights they may have never achieved without that competitive adversary? In the NBA, Magic Johnson had Larry Bird; in the NFL, Peyton Manning has Tom Brady; tennis has Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer. Right now in the world of soccer Lionel Messi has Cristiano Ronaldo.
Is there anything more dramatic in the sport of soccer than a direct free kick? The referee marching off the ten yards, exuberantly laying down the vanishing spray while the entire stadium holds its collective breath, anticipating the immaculate strike. Step forward the dead ball specialist.
But who is the best in the world? Who, after going through the melodrama of scrutinizing the stationary ball and plastering their facial features with the look of ingrained concentration, actually sticks the ball in the back of the net with some regularity?
Maybe Majeed Waris of FC Lorient was mad that his team had just been scored on with a flying scissor kick. Maybe he was particularly mad at Jimmy Briand, the EA Guingamp forward that scored it. Maybe he was just mad that he got dragged to the ground and the ref didn’t make a call. Whatever the case, Majeed Waris proceeded to pull off the worst slide tackle we have ever seen, not in terms of the damage it did, but in terms of how cynical it was.
Are there better goals out there than Zlatan goals? Sure, lots of players score epic golazo's, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic has this flare that is just so....Zlatan. There are three things that are certain in this world. Death, taxes and that Zlatan will do something cool every time he steps on a football pitch. The Swedish star scored two Zlatanesque goals en rout to a 2-0 victory over Denmark and then after the match, the dude said that he sent the entire country of Denmark into retirement. It's Zlatan's world and we are just along for the ride.
Razvan Avran has a bigger house than you. He has a bigger house than me. He has a bigger house than all of us. That is because Razvan Avram, technically, lives in a stadium. Now, before visions of Home Alone-esque shenanigans go dancing through your heads, it's important to note why Avram lives in the stadium. He can't afford to live anywhere else because his club, FC Brasov, has run into financial difficulties.
Sure, it's not exactly the Camp Nou, but it's safe to say FC Brasov's stadium is bigger than your standard house, or just about any house, really.