This Pique-Neymar interview will bring tears to the eyes of many Barca nostalgics who still cannot understand the Brazilian star’s decision to leave Barcelona for PSG.
Neymar and Gerard Pique when they were teammates. Photo: @diarioas | Twitter
When FC Barcelona signed 12-year-old prospect Cristobal Munoz from a youth side affiliated with Malaga last March, the deal was heralded by Barcelona-based daily Sport as the capture of “the hottest young prospect in Spanish football.”
Dani Carvajal's fantastic reflexes prove he is a better goalkeeper than Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet, and Twitter knows it. He gave proof in the latest edition of El Clásico as he epically saved a header by Barça’s Paulinho.
The only problem is, Carvajal is not a goalkeeper. So the referee blew the whistle, sentenced a penalty kick and sent Carvajal off via a direct red card.
When the starting lineups for Saturday’s El Clasico were announced, there was really only one surprise in the 22 players named for battle: Zinedine Zidane’s decision to drop Isco to the bench in favor of Mateo Kovacic. For many, Isco has been Real’s best player over the past year — a footballer of sublime skill, technique and playmaking ability — while Kovacic’s inclusion meant one thing only: Lionel Messi limitation.
Barcelona opened up a nine-point gap at the top of La Liga with an astounding 3-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday. Real now trail the leaders by 14 points, a seemingly insurmountable margin when coupled with what transpired over the final 45 minutes in Madrid.
On Saturday, match week 17 in La Liga will boil down to one match and one match only: the El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu. Though Barcelona dares not think about losing the world’s greatest rivalry game, manager Ernesto Valverde is obviously correct in saying, “I don’t think a Clasico victory will give us the title.”
A Spain World Cup ban is an unbelievable possibility. FIFA is very emphatic when it comes to football federations' independence: they simply will not tolerate any government – or any other third parties, for that matter – influencing national soccer federations.
Similar to the rumors warning that Peru was in danger of a similar ban a few weeks ago, now FIFA admittedly has Spain in sight.
Mexican international Hugo Sánchez held records only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have surpassed in recent years. One of Real Madrid’s best strikers of all-time, Sánchez was also key for Los Blancos when it came to playing El Clásico.
With El Clásico looming on the horizon, it's time to remember one of the most successful players to ever take part in Spain’s — and arguably the world’s — biggest clash.
USWNT and Orlando Pride striker Alex Morgan (the recent recipient of the 2017 CONCACAF Female Player of the Year award) attended Saturday’s match between FC Barcelona and Deportivo at the Camp Nou in Catalonia, with Barca running out 4-0 victors while Morgan watched from the Presidential Box.