Spain

Add another one to Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane’s trophy cabinet — Los Blancos are the champions of Spain.

Karim Benzeman scored twice as Real Madrid defeated Villarreal 3-1 in the club’s penultimate LaLiga match on Thursday at the Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium. The victory meant Barcelona could not catch its archrival regardless of what it accomplished the remainder of the season, awarding Real Madrid its 34th league title. All this despite a maddeningly perfect free kick from Lionel Messi in Barcelona’s shock 2-1 defeat to Osasuna.

Spain's health minister has expressed doubt about the prospect of spectators returning to soccer matches in September due to the threat of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.

The government's department for sport and organizing body LaLiga had hoped to let fans back into stadiums at a reduced capacity when the new season starts in September, increasing to 50% in November before full capacity returned in January.

Back in February, a policy was introduced in Spain that would limit and/or ban betting advertisements.

The proposal came after government officials stated that casinos and gambling are a growing addiction in the country. The goal is to limit exposure to gambling companies and casinos.

The policy limits advertising times on the radio, television and streaming sites like YouTube to a four-hour time slot from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

The number of COVID-19 cases per football league is a question on everyone’s mind these days. The ebb and flow of the virus around the world has left our leagues in different states of recovery.

Here we’ve made a list of the number of COVID-19 cases per football league and the number of COVID-19 cases in their respective regions of the world. 

The list of the number of COVID-19 cases per football league comes in no particular order, but we will save the best for last, so be ready.

After a harrowing week in which his reputation was dragged through the mud, Barcelona coach Quique Setien came out fighting by overseeing a spectacular 4-1 win away to Villarreal which showed the 61-year-old's coaching abilities are still in tact.

The superb display might not be enough to prevent Real Madrid from winning the title as they hold a four-point lead over Barca with four games left, but it was enough to get a vote of confidence from the club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Back in January, Pep Guardiola was asked by a reporter if he thought Sergio Agüero was the world’s best No. 9. Guardiola’s response was classic: “The best is Messi. Messi is (the best) number nine, number 10, number 11, number seven, number six, number five, number four…” 

Real Madrid took a seven-point lead at the top of LaLiga following a 1-0 victory over Athletic Club with Barcelona still to play its game in hand later Sunday. With only four matches remaining for Los Blancos, a 34th league title — and first in three years — beckons for Zinedine Zidane’s men.

Today’s victory wasn’t without controversy in the eyes of Blaugrana supporters as Real earned a second-straight 1-0 victory courtesy of a Sergio Ramos penalty. 

Atletico Madrid stayed firmly on course to secure Champions League football next season after two goals by Alvaro Morata and a late strike from Koke gave them a 3-0 home win over struggling Mallorca in LaLiga on Friday.

The result left Atletico third on 62 points from 34 games, five ahead of fourth-placed Sevilla and eight in front of fifth-placed Villarreal who both have a game in hand.

Mallorca have a only slim chance of avoiding relegation as they remained third-bottom on 29 points from 34 games, five behind 17th-placed Celta Vigo who have played a game less.

MADRID — Spain's World Cup-winning captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas has called time on his five-year spell with Porto after his contract with the Portuguese club expired on Wednesday.

Casillas, 39, suffered a heart attack during a training session last year and has not played any competitive football since April 2019.

Álvaro Cervera arrived in Cádiz after a three-year spell with Tenerife. It was mid-April when he took the job as manager, the season nearly over. Cervera was able to guide Cádiz CF to a fourth-place finish and promotion to the Spanish second division after six arduous years in the third tier. Four years on, El Submarino Amarillo is on the brink of a return to the promised land of LaLiga.