Spain

Real Madrid’s mini-crisis heading into the weekend was completely reversed in a matter of hours. First, Barcelona travelled to Sevilla to play Real Betis. In a match that Barca were heavy favorites in, they found themselves trailing 1-0 in the 79th minute. 

Then, after Neymar had been dragged down in the box with no foul given, a Betis defender sent the ball into his own goal. It clearly crossed the line, but a desperate clearance from inside the net was adjudged to have prevented the goal by the referee.

Cast your eye over the fixture list this past week and you might be forgiven for thinking that Serie A was taking a moment to recuperate. As the Coppa Italia fixtures grew increasingly heated, with the major sides playing one another, the league featured nothing of the sort. When the highest-profile game is Udinese versus Milan, then the week’s results can probably be pencilled in before a ball has been kicked.

Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal became a mere footnote as the Blaugrana thrashed their opposition in the return leg, 5-2.

Lionel Messi registered a goal and two assists, Luis Suarez added a goal and a fantastic assist of his own, while Denis Suarez benefited from the vision of his teammates to score two. Arda Turan was also on the scoresheet for Barcelona.

2017 has just begun, and it’s already been extremely unkind to both Real Madrid and 2016 Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The current club world champions had their historic unbeaten streak snapped by Sevilla in La Liga, cutting into their lead at the top of the table.

Real Madrid ventured to Celta Vigo’s Balaidos stadium in Galicia needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit to advance to the Copa del Rey semifinals. In the end, Celta held their nerve to secure a 2-2 draw and advance 4-3 on aggregate.

The Celts earned a first half advantage when Danilo turned the ball into his own net, his second own goal in his last three appearances. A shot from John Guidetti was brilliantly saved by Kiko Casilla, but the rebound deflected off Danilo and into the net.

With Cameroonian international Carlos Kameni firmly established as Malaga’s No. 1, Guillermo Ochoa elected to accept a season-long loan to fellow La Liga side Granada in July. This is Granada’s sixth consecutive season in the Spanish top-flight, an achievement they haven’t bettered since a run from 1968-76. If they’re to maintain their status in La Liga, they’ll have Ochoa to thank.

Barcelona closed the gap on Real Madrid to two points, although Real still have a game in hand, following their 4-0 victory over Eibar on Sunday. Denis Suarez opened the scoring before goals from the attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar finished the contest.

Real Madrid’s unbeaten streak was finally ended by Sevilla after the two played each other three times in just 11 days. 

Real Madrid’s hopes of winning the treble suffered a blow as Celta Vigo scored an improbable 2-1 victory in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real will now look to overturn the deficit on January 25 at the Balaidos in Galicia. 

Zinedine Zidane has seen his total number of losses as Real Madrid manager double in the space of three days, although that speaks more for his remarkable success at the helm than it does any sort of crisis in the Spanish capital.

Hold your horses and put away the torches, I’m not here to tell you that Neymar is better than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although the top two players in the world might still outclass the young Brazilian on the pitch, they are not nearly as valuable as Barcelona’s number 11 according to a study from the CIES Football Observatory.