Spain

Since losing 2-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk on Dec. 1, Real Madrid has won five straight matches over a 15-day period — including Sunday’s 2-1 win over Eibar — to finish top of Champions League Group B and climb to second in LaLiga.

The quality of the previous four opponents is worth mentioning (Sevilla, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao), as is the fact that the 35-year-old Luka Modrić has started each of those matches while playing at his 2018 Ballon d'Or level.

It took way too long, but the first women's Madrid Derby between Real and Atlético was played on Saturday. The experience and quality of Las Colchoneras proved vital as Atleti claimed a 1-0 victory in the Primera División match. 

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Barcelona knocked Real Sociedad off the top of LaLiga by defeating them 2-1 Wednesday at the Camp Nou. If you’re a Blaugrana supporter, you’ll only want to see the opening 45 minutes, when Willian José’s opener against the run of play was sumptuously canceled out by Jordi Alba before Frenkie de Jong gave Barça a deserved lead at halftime. 

However, as beIN SPORTS commentator Ray Hudson said, it was “a magisterial first half followed by an absolute circus.”

Neymar was never out of the headlines while at Barcelona and his departure continues to leave ripples at the Catalan club, so all eyes will be on him when Paris Saint-Germain meet the LaLiga side in the Champions League last 16 early next year.

Due to the scheduling havoc wreaked by COVID-19 and the resulting extension of the 2019-20 season, the summer transfer was extended until Oct. 5, but when does the January transfer window 2021 open? It’s been a wild ride, but some semblance of normality has returned to European football with the January transfer window set to open on Saturday, Jan. 2 and close on Monday, Feb. 1.

Has the January transfer window changed?

Manchester United have been handed a tough draw in the Europa League last 32 knockout stage where they will face current Spanish league leaders Real Sociedad.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side finished third in their Champions League group and dropped into the second tier competition after last week's defeat by RB Leipzig. The clash with Sociedad will see United come up against former Manchester City favorite David Silva, now back in his homeland where he has inspired Sociedad to their excellent start to the domestic season.

Barcelona stopped the rot — for the time being — by defeating 18th-place Levante 1-0 at the Camp Nou on Sunday to climb to eighth in LaLiga. The home side put 13 shots on target but the only one that counted was Lionel Messi’s angled finish in the 76th-minute following Frenkie de Jong’s well-weighted ball.

It’d been a terrible week for Barcelona as last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Cádiz was followed by a 3-0 beatdown from Juventus in the Champions League, a result which condemned Barcelona to facing one of Bayern, Dortmund, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea or PSG in the Round of 16.