Well, it happened. Real Madrid secured a 13th Champions League title with the help of Gareth Bale’s insane skill, Benzema’s meh goal and Sergio Ramos’ ethically questionable defending.
The World Cup contenders have all released their provisional rosters for Russia, and it's clear that a few countries have an embarrassment of footballing riches. Led mostly by French and Spanish players, the following team comprised of World Cup snubs could make some serious noise if granted a wildcard into the tournament (get on it, FIFA).
It doesn’t get any more iconic than the home shirts of both Real Madrid and Barcelona. As Los Blancos (The Whites), Real is synonymous with its all-white kit. For the Blaugrana (a Catalan reference to blue and garnet), it’s stripes of the aforementioned colors. But that hasn’t stopped both Adidas and Nike from trying to shake things up on an annual basis.
Santi Cazorla is officially no longer a Gunner. Arsenal announced Monday the Spanish midfielder would not return next season as his contract officially expired at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season. It’s a sad end to a superbly gifted player whose career was derailed by injury.
Spain manager Julen Lopetegui announced his 23-man squad for the World Cup in Russia on Monday, and the big news is that the Chelsea quartet of Alvaro Morata, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Marcos Alonso have all been omitted after a disappointing season in the Premier League.
Barcelona put the finishing touches on its 2017-18 La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho scored the lone goal with a wonder strike in the 57th minute. The match also brought Andres Iniesta’s Barca career to a close.
Fernando Torres has been enjoying one helluva send-off at Atletico Madrid. Last Wednesday, he appeared as a late substitute in Atletico’s 3-0 Europa League triumph over Marseille. Torres represented Atleti at the senior level for over 10 years, but it was the first trophy “El Niño” had lifted with his boyhood club since the Segunda Division title back in 2002.
Today, ESPN published a Lionel Messi story by Sam Borden that’s scheduled to appear in ESPN The Magazine’s June 8 World Fame issue. The long-form article mainly concerns Messi’s off-field demeanor — he’s quiet, reclusive and prefers to express himself on the pitch.
Oh how things change, oh how things stay the same. The Spanish national team enters this year’s World Cup in Russia in a rather strange state. World champions in 2010 and European champions in 2008 and 2012, Spain are sort of favorites for this year’s tournament, as they’re always expected to do well.