Spain

With Bayern Munich attacker James Rodriguez returning to Spain to play Sevilla in the Champions League this week, the Spanish media turned its attention to the Real Madrid loanee with a staple of the country’s football coverage: unsubstantiated transfer rumors.

The rumor wasn’t all that juicy, just that Bayern will certainly move to make his loan permanent this summer by activating a clause that was included in the initial two-year loan contract signed last July.

A few weeks ago, Lionel Messi reached the landmark of 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League, joining Cristiano Ronaldo as the only footballer to achieve the feat. The following comparisons between the two were inevitable, because for the last 10 years, it’s just been Ronaldo and Messi at the top of the world’s premier club competition.

In fact, you’d have to go back to the 2006-07 season and AC Milan’s Kaká to find the last Champions League top scorer by season not named Ronaldo or Messi. 

For anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention to Argentina throughout the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying cycle, Spain’s resounding 6-1 defeat of La Albiceleste comes as no surprise. Without Messi, Argentina has zero business being at this World Cup. The statistics, again, bear repeating:

Without Messi, Argentina played eight matches in qualifying. They won one. They scored 0.75 goals per game. They lost to Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia. They drew with Venezuela. Tata Martino was sacked and so was his successor, Edgardo Bauza. 

Lionel Messi interviews are an exceptionally rare thing, but the Barcelona star recently spoke on “La Cornisa,” an Argentine show on América TV. The 30-year-old, who’ll turn 31 during the summer’s World Cup, answered questions regarding the continuing evolution of his game. 

Between Spain’s run of back-to-back European Championships with the 2010 World Cup sandwiched in between, Cesc Fabregas and David Villa put La Furia in La Furia Roja. 

Fabregas was the top assist provider at Euro 2008; Villa won the Golden Boot. Fabregas assisted on Andres Iniesta’s match winner in the 2010 World Cup final; Villa won the Silver Boot. Fabregas was named to the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament; Villa tragically missed the tournament with a broken tibia (although he finished top scorer in UEFA qualifying Group I with seven goals). 

Consider it karma for Jose Mourinho. The Special One used boring tactics to beat Liverpool on Saturday and tried similarly cynical tactics on Tuesday for Manchester United vs Sevilla. This time, the result was a stunning 2-1 defeat, the Red Devils going out in the Champions League Round of 16.