Spain

Do you remember the first time soccer blew your mind? For me, it was Ronaldinho. Not even a specific clip, just Ronaldinho in general. The more and more I watched of him the more I realized that my understanding of soccer was so timidly different than what was really possible that it practically hurt; I needed to watch more highlights, and I swear I got high from them. 

I thought the days of Ronaldinho blowing my mind were done, but this one goal, this legendary goal that many of you have already seen before, has come back to do it again:

The San Siro in Milan will play host to the 2016 Champions League final as Atletico Madrid take on local rivals Real Madrid. It is a rematch of the final from two seasons ago, which Real won 4-1 in extra time, despite being down 1-0 for most of the match. This will be only the second time that a European Cup final will be contested by two clubs from the same city.  

Fernando Torres, Diego Costa and Juan Mata have all been omitted from Spain’s 25-man provisional Euro 2016 squad by manager Vincente del Bosque. In Torres and Mata, Spain have elected to drop players who’ve combined for 151 appearances, 48 goals, three European championships, and two World Cup winner’s medals. 

Costa suffered a hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on May 11, putting his participation immediately in doubt. Costa’s consistent hamstring troubles, coupled with his subpar form this season, have seen him lose his place in the squad.

Karim Benzema has 20 goals for Real Madrid so far this season, but that's not what everyone has been talking about in regards to the French striker.

Instead, Benzema has mostly been in the news for various run-ins witht the law and various appearances in various courtrooms.

We thought everything was on its way to settling itself, but we were wrong. Benzema finds himself banned from the French National Team until his legal troubles sort themselves out, putting his Euro 2016 in doubt.

Fans in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium may have had to wait, but in the end weren't disappointed by Cristiano Ronldo and Real Madrid's 7-1 victory against Celta Vigo.

It was a quiet first half for Los Blancos, with just a single goal netted by Pepe. After the break, Cristiano Ronaldo appeared on track for a stinker of a game and the crowd grew restless, issuing whistles and catcalls as Ronaldo made another poor pass.

Sunday marks what could be the end of an era, as the NFL sees two of its greatest players face off for likely the final time: Brady vs Manning.

NFL fans around the world should realize how lucky they've been to have watched two of football's greatest players. (The same thing said of David Bowie by Twitter's @JeSuisDean holds true for this rivalry: "If you're ever sad, just remember the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as Brady vs Manning.")

Carlos Vela is not having a good season for his club. Going into 2016, the Real Sociedad striker had only two goals to his name and hadn't scored since October.

It may be a good omen for Vela's 2016 that he ended his goal drought in Sociedad's 5-1 loss to Sporting Gijon Friday.

Luis Enrique stands on the touchline and watches FC Barcelona’s tremendous troika of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (MSN) nearly every day in matches and in training.

And yet, the Blaugrana boss remains amazed at what the trio can accomplish when they are at their best. 

“They are the best in the world,” Enrique told the press recently. “They have a great understanding and when they don’t all score [in a match] they’re not happy.”

Xavi Hernandez is a Barcelona legend. While in the Blaugrana, he won damn near everything there is to win. He retired on top, having been an integral part of Barca's treble win. This begs the question, though, now that Xavi is comfortably living out the early stages of his retirement in the Qatari league, where is the next Xavi? How will Barcelona replace one of the best players in its history?

All eyes will be on Spain as the world’s biggest club football match is played on Saturday. The first El Clasico of the season will be held at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid hosts Barcelona.