Spain

The genius of Lionel Messi propelled Barcelona to a 5-0 victory over Levante on Sunday evening in Valencia — the Argentine was involved in all five goals with a hat-trick and two assists. Luis Suarez also had a goal and was heavily involved in setting up two of Messi’s. The 31-year-olds are alright. 

The first goal arrived in the 35th minute after Messi danced across the top of the box. With defenders circling and closing around him, Messi pulled off an impossible reverse ball which Suarez converted with sublime control. 

With findings from MARCA, we now know the latest effective minutes per game from Europe’s big five leagues for the 2018-19 season.

It’s taken 39 days and two reschedules (one due to rain, the other due to violence ) — and of course we ultimately needed extra time — but we finally have a champion of the Superclásico Copa Libertadores final: River Plate, a wild 5-3 on aggregate.

Lionel Messi had one of those matches where you just can’t defend him, inspiring Barcelona to a 4-0 win over Espanyol on Saturday. Not one but two perfect free kick goals from Messi vs Espanyol highlighted another magnificent performance from one of the legends of the game.

Messi was voted the fifth-best player in the world on Monday and wasn’t in the squad for Barcelona’s Copa del Rey win over Cultural Leonesa on Wednesday. In his first match since the absurd suggestion that he isn’t among the top one or two players in the world, he reminded everyone of just how good he is.

The transformation of the 2018 Copa Libertadores Final from one of the most anticipated club matches of the calendar year to an absurd sideshow was complete when the second leg’s staging at the Santiago Bernabéu was confirmed — a decision that turns the Superclásico into nothing more than the “most costly friendly in history,”

After 10 years of nothing but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has become the first player since Kaká back in 2007 to wrest football’s biggest individual accolade from the two behemoths of the modern game: The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner is Luka.