Ronaldinho could’ve been sent off hundreds of times in his career for unsporting behavior. Blessed with otherworldly control and technique, the Brazilian would frequently contort the rules of the game for his own benefit. It wasn’t fair, nobody else could or can do it now, but he got away with it because he was a god. As we all know, life has two great questions: 1.) Is there a heaven? 2.) How did Ronaldinho get this good?
When you limit your playing career to Manchester United, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Milan and Paris Saint-Germain (and represent the English national team for 14 years), you're inevitably going to play alongside some of the world's best players. What's more, if you're a really great passer of the ball, which David Beckham was, you're going to provide a few classy assists for that talent.
Barcelona's season has been a disappointment based on their lofty standards. They haven't won a major trophy yet, with the Copa Del Rey the only prize left for them to chase.
That said, it would be hard to be disappointed with Ronaldinho around. The jolly Brazilian showed up at Barcelona training yesterday to spread some good cheer and horse around with his buddies.
The premeditated pomp and choreographed farewell that John Terry bid Chelsea supporters at Stamford Bridge on Sunday stood in stark contrast to Luis Enrique’s final match at the Camp Nou. While the feel-good factor in the southwest of London as compared to the tension-riddled atmosphere at the Camp Nou could go someway towards explaining these divergent going away parties, the real variation was really only in the respective men of honor.
Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Eibar was rendered meaningless by Real Madrid’s 2-0 win against Eibar, but the event-riddled match still provided plenty of highlights.
Luis Enrique’s final match in charge at the Camp Nou began disastrously. As news filtered through the stadium regarding Real Madrid’s early opener, Eibar scored a sensational goal of their own with Takashi Inui lifting a left footed half-volley into the roof of the net in the 7th minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a bad miss on Wednesday.
Of course, he also became the all-time leading scorer in Europe's top five leagues. His brace in Real Madrid's crucial victory against Celta Vigo gave him 368 goals in 460 apperances at both Manchester United and Real Madrid.
His missed opportunity at a hat trick also reminded us that even the greatest player's can still be humbled by the game.
I thought this video was going to be terrible. Most of these club videos featuring two players playing a lighthearted game are unbearable — things feel forced, it looks like it’s the first time the players have ever talked to each other and they want to go home.
But Samuel Umtiti and Arda Turan are really good at assigning their teammates specific emojis. Maybe it’s because we use emojis way too much, maybe it’s because the nearly telepathic understanding Barcelona players seem to share lends itself to little activities like this, but Umtiti and Turan aren’t messing around.
Behind a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid earned a 4-1 victory at Celta Vigo to move within a point of clinching La Liga.
Ronaldo opened the scoring with a stellar left-footed strike from 18 yards out, and he went to his left boot again in the 48th minute to extend Madrid's lead. His first goal, number 367 in league competition, made him the all-time leading scorer across all five major European Leagues.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s unbelievable form at the most pivotal point of the season continued today with this wonder strike against Celta Vigo. With Real Madrid needing to avoid defeat to give the league to Barcelona before Sunday’s final matches, Ronaldo eased any pressure on his side with this left-footed shot from 18 yards out.
GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!
Ambidexterity: the quality or state of being ambidextrous.
You could say it’s been an abnormal season for Cristiano Ronaldo. We’ve all gotten used to the Portuguese star playing almost every single competitive match and reaching outrageous totals of 50 or 60 goals a campaign.
This season, however, Ronaldo has scored 37 goals across all competitions, and he’s appeared in 43 of Real Madrid’s 57 official games — a total of only 75%. This is a significant change from last season when he scored a total of 51 goals and played 48 of Real’s 52 matches — a total of 92%.