Spanish Clubs

The passing of the guard is a rare thing to appreciate as it happens. Sure, people love to say, “we are watching a passing of the guard,” but even if they are correct, it still takes months, sometimes years to complete. What we see from a 19-year-old Messi in this next video is a performance that happened in the middle of such a passing: the transition of Barcelona from Ronaldinho’s team to Messi’s team. In it we watch Messi score a hat-trick against Real Madrid at the age of 19, a performance that showed the world that the hype was real.

The grandest football stadium in all of Europe is about to get a little bigger. Barcelona have released their ambitious plans to remodel and increase the capacity of their Camp Nou stadium by the start of the 2021/22 season.

The renovations will see the overall capacity of the footballing cathedral increase from 99,354 to 105,000. The atmosphere and noise generated by 105,000 supporters will also be cranked up a notch with the addition of a roof which will cover the seats around the entirety of the stadium, ensuring that the noise within cannot get out.

We previously wrote that Real Madrid fans are the worst fans in the world after they jeered Cristiano Ronaldo before their game against Celta Vigo. Ronaldo went on to score four goals in a 7-1 demolition, but that didn't seem to matter. 

Sergio Ramos has been at Real Madrid for a long, long time. He has seen enough of the crowd at the Bernabeu to know what’s good from bad, and his latest quotes defending Cristiano Ronaldo speak to that. Ronaldo was booed by his own fans on Tuesday despite scoring the opening goal against AS Roma. Sergio Ramos tells Real Madrid fans to be more supportive, but he understands where they are coming from (H/T Bleacher Report).

Leg 2 of the Champions League Round of 16 resumed today with AS Roma needing a big win in Madrid, while KAA Gent only trailed by 1 on aggregate. For Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez scored in the 64th and 68th minutes, respectively. The match would end up at 2 - 0 with Real Madrid advancing on 4 - 0 aggregate. Andres Schurrle's goal for Wolfsburg was a dagger in the hearts of KAA Gent supporters. Schurrle's 75th minute goal put Wolfsburg up 1 - 0. They would advance on aggregate, 4 - 2. 

Zinedine Zidane showed an impressive ability to manage Real Madrid’s notoriously fickle fan base during a press conference on Monday.

Real Madrid absolutely demolished Celta Vigo on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo scored four goals as Real cruised to a comfortable 7-1 victory. Celta Vigo visited the Santiago Bernabeu near the top of the La Liga table, in sixth place and trailing Villarreal by 11 points in the race for a coveted Champions League spot.

Barcelona is once again dominating the European football landscape to replicate the success experienced under former boss Pep Guardiola. The Spanish giants are enjoying a long unbeaten run across La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey, but there is a different method to their madness.

If James Rodriguez is a Golden Boy, then he plays like one as well. We have all heard of a Golden Boy, or Golden Girl, who always did or said the right thing, and more so than that, always did the exceptional thing exceptionally well.

Looking through the honors of James’ on-field career, we see that same ability. He has been voted young player of the year in Argentina, player of the year in France, won the golden boot at the World Cup, and scored FIFA’s goal of the year.