Spanish Clubs

Walt Disney used his considerable imagination to dream up things like Mickey Mouse, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Disney World, but he could never have conceived a little magician using sorcery to control objects and unleash all manner of hell on an unsuspecting public. Oh, right — that’s in Fantasia.

Anyway, he could’ve never told the story of an undersized scruff who went to extreme lengths to prove himself while remaining brave and unselfish in the face of never ending obstacles. Dammit, that’s Pinocchio, isn’t it?

In a recent interview with Coachmag.co.uk, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke at length about his inspirations, his toughest opponent and the opposing player he most admires. The biggest surprise came when asked about the opponent he most admired, as Ronaldo bucked the peddled notion of a rivalry steeped in hatred and answered:

In order to talk smack, don’t you have to back it up? Goalkeeper Diego Alves failed to do so on Saturday in Valencia’s last-second loss to Barcelona:

When it comes to penalties, Diego Lopez is one of the best. Of the last 35 penalties he's faced, Alves has saved a staggering 17 of them; so he has good reason to be a little cocky. Two years ago, he even smack talked Cristiano Ronaldo before saving his penalty to end their title run.

France Football announced the 30 finalists for the 2016 Ballon d’Or award with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi the favorites to take home the award they’ve entirely dominated since Kaka won in 2007. Real Madrid have six nominees on the list, Barcelona have four and Leicester City’s dream season has resulted in nominations for Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.

Lionel Messi helped Barcelona defeat Valencia at La Mestalla on Saturday, as he cooly converted a 94th minute penalty to give Barca the 3-2 win. He also happened to lose his damn mind after Valencia fans struck Neymar with a bottle.

The match was tied at 2-2 as the minutes bled away, and it seemed destined to end as a draw. Thankfully for Barcelona, Valencia defender Aymen Abdennour was in a charitable sort of mood as he hacked down Luis Suarez in the 92nd minute to concede a penalty.