Europe

There isn’t a more exhaustive match in the world than El Clasico — it consistently provides high-stakes, supercharged emotions and scintillating football from the world’s best players. It also has the distinction of pitting two clubs that loath one another in a physical, no-holds-barred and often controversial battle between international teammates.

Spain rely so heavily on drawing players from these two club that there’s always that boiling subplot to analyze and critique, especially as we approach another World Cup year. 

As FC Barcelona discovered last Wednesday, one does not simply mess with the Juventus defense. On Sunday, Juve hosted lowly Genoa at Juventus Stadium with the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of Serie A to 11 points before Monday’s meeting between Roma and Pescara.

On Friday morning, the last Champions League draw of the season took place in Nyon, Switzerland to determine the semi-final matchups and gave us some very entertaining fixtures: Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid and Monaco vs Juventus. As football fans, we are all one step closer to finding out which teams will play for Europe’s most lucrative trophy on June 3rd in Cardiff. Will the Champions League Final be played between:

Real Madrid - Monaco

Real Madrid - Juventus

Atletico Madrid - Monaco

Atletico Madrid - Juventus

It’s been more than a month since Barcelona manager Luis Enrique announced that he would not be renewing his contract (which expires after this season). At this moment, Barcelona sit three points behind Real Madrid in La Liga (Real also have a game in hand), they’ve been dumped from the Champions League by Juventus but they could give Enrique the perfect sendoff by winning the Copa del Rey title. 

Sunday’s El Clasico falls on a very lovely Catalan holiday known as Sant Jordi’s day (Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia). This day, celebrated on April 23, is similar to Valentine’s Day except exceptionally better. Instead of overcomplicating matters and piling pressure on sweethearts to make it the best Valentine’s ever, Sant Jordi’s day simply calls for the mutual exchange of roses and books.

Article 49 of the official Champions League regulations stipulates how repeated yellow card cautions are dealt with and when lingering yellow cards are wiped. A suspension for yellow card accumulation is a threat from the group stage until the quarterfinals, and receiving a yellow-card suspension in the second leg of the quarters will also carry over into the semifinal first leg.

It’s come to light that the best opportunity Barcelona had to snatch a goal to begin their famous comeback against Juventus wasn’t squandered by Lionel Messi but by Luis Suarez at kick off.

Juventus defender Dani Alves was off the pitch, shaking hands with his old coaching staff (one coach playfully holding his hand long enough to incur a slap from Alves) while Luis Enrique beckoned the Brazilian to take a seat next to him.

Just as Borussia Dortmund was picking up steam, Monaco capped it immediately. Quick on the counterattack, Monaco threaded together a string of passes once again opening up Dortmund's defense. With fresh legs, right as Valère Germain stepped onto the pitch, he made an impact.  

(Goal at 1:17)

Monaco makes history as the first team to score three goals in four consecutive matches in the Champions League.