In the final, Argentina defeated the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time, with player of the tournament Mario Kempes scoring two goals against a Johan Cruyff-deprived Dutch team that had refused to play in the World Cup. Menotti opted not to select 17-year-old great Diego Maradona, who had made his international debut a year earlier. Reacting […]
Alexandre Sorloth and Jose Luis Morales struck deep in stoppage time to give Villarreal a 5-3 win over Barcelona in a roller-coaster La Liga clash on Saturday. Villarreal took a two-goal lead through efforts from Gerard Moreno in the 41st minute and Elias Akhomach in the 54th, but the hosts hit back within 11 minutes […]
Haaland was favorite to win after scoring 52 times in his first season with City as the English team won the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. However, after receiving the same number of points from a scoring system based on votes from national team captains, coaches, journalists and fans, Messi was […]
“(I’m) disappointed, sad… This is football and today we have to deal with the bitter side of the game,” Xavi told Movistar. “We had a lot of expectations and excitement going into the finals and we had the worst game of them all.” Xavi turned to a four-man midfield to try to keep the ball, […]
Mitchell had already said that a win would take his team to a new dimension and there is now no doubt that they are real title contenders this season. However, Barcelona’s title defense is on the ropes. “We are seven points behind, which is a lot, but there is still more than half the season […]
Ilkay Gündogan lost the ball in midfield and with Barcelona’s defense in complete disarray, Javi López crossed to Omorodyan, who passed between the legs of Marc-Andre ter Stegen. “We can’t make those mistakes, it’s unacceptable,” Xavi said. “We are giving too much and it takes a toll.” Barcelona were easily taken apart on several occasions […]
Real Sociedad remained on top after the break but Barcelona found more stability, gaining strength at the back and closing some of the space lost to Barrenetxea and Kubo early on. Pedri returned from injury in the second half and replaced Lewandowski for the first time since August as Xavi sought more control. The final […]
Bellingham has now scored 13 goals in 13 matches for Real Madrid in all competitions. “He can reach 20 or 25 goals because he has made a very good start,” Ancelotti said. “In our mind it is not that he is a goalscoring striker, in our mind he is a very important player for us.” […]
Barça Academy, the official football school of FC Barcelona, is launching in Bangladesh as International Schools Dhaka (ISD) has formed a partnership to bring the academy to the country. The leading school is set to launch its autumn training camp, which will include a multitude of students from the ISD and other schools, all of […]
Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos’s own goal gave his old foes Barcelona a narrow 1-0 win over Sevilla in La Liga on Friday, taking the Catalans to the top of the table. Experienced centre-back Ramos headed Lamine Yamal’s header into his own net in the 76th minute to break a tightly contested deadlock. The 37-year-old […]
Benítez’s team eventually grabbed their second through newly signed Douvikous, who headed home after running onto Iago Aspas’ perfectly weighted ball. However, Barcelona quickly counter-attacked, with Lewandowski flicking the ball over Villar’s head and Félix cleverly heading the ball over the outside of the crossbar. Before Barcelona came under fire for their lack of performance, […]
However Barcelona went ahead after 25 minutes when Oriol Romeu fed Félix. The on-loan Atletico forward controlled the ball, slipped it past goalkeeper Rui Silva and then clinically fired the ball into the goal from a tight angle. “I’m very happy to start again, the emotions are great – it’s easy to play in this […]
César Azpilicueta signed from Chelsea, with Turkey’s Caglar Soyuncu coming from Leicester and left-back Javi Gallan from Celta Vigo. Joao Felix, the club’s record signing in 2019, is not seen as part of coach Diego Simeone’s plans following his return from an unsuccessful loan spell at Chelsea, and is expected to be dropped. Real Sociedad, […]
Unbreakable defence, Lewandowski’s fiery start: How Barca won La Liga
Xavi’s team celebrated at full-time, to the anger of the Espanyol fans, who invaded the pitch, with Barcelona players running into the tunnel to escape. Espanyol coach Luis Garcia said, “I haven’t seen the pictures, I always go at the end of games and as I’ve been told, it’s something that shouldn’t happen and should […]