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Iago Aspas’ late free-kick strike meant Barcelona were forced to share the spoils against Celta Vigo in a pulsating 2-2 draw with significant ramifications atop La Liga – cancelling out a well-taken Luis Suarez brace at the Municipal de Balaidos. Continue reading “Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona: 5 Hits and Flops as Aspas further dents Barca’s title hopes”
Ernesto Valverde’s dismissal on Monday felt long overdue, but how will Barcelona players – first-team regulars and those eager to impress – respond under new manager Quique Setién as they enter the business months of 2019-20 and beyond? Continue reading “3 Barcelona players who could benefit from Quique Setién’s appointment”
Barcelona snapped an eight-match winless run away against Italian sides, as goals from Carles Perez and substitute Ansu Fati helped Ernesto Valverde’s men to an impressive victory – while confining Inter Milan to the Europa League knockout stages in 2020. Continue reading “Inter Milan 1-2 Barcelona: Player Ratings as Ansu Fati makes Champions League history”
Barcelona booked their place in this season’s Champions League knockout stages following a 3-1 home win over Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund. Goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann was enough for Barca to prevail against an underwhelming BVB display – Jadon Sancho came off the bench to score a well-taken consolation strike late on. Continue reading “Barcelona 3-1 Borussia Dortmund: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis”
Barcelona edged ever closer towards their second successive La Liga title with a hard-fought win over European hopefuls Real Sociedad, but what were five thoughts from their 2-1 victory? Continue reading “Barcelona 2-1 Real Sociedad: 5 Talking Points”
Malcom scored and created another on his first Barcelona start of 2019 in an eight-goal thriller vs. Villarreal, but what does it mean for the Brazilian after a difficult first season in Spain? Continue reading “Villarreal 4-4 Barcelona: Malcom’s display gives Valverde selection headache”
Lionel Messi turned matchwinner once more as a second-half brace saw Barcelona seal a 2-0 home win over local rivals Espanyol, edging them closer towards the La Liga title with nine league matches remaining. Continue reading “Barcelona 2-0 Espanyol: 5 Talking Points”
France are through to the 2018 World Cup final after a 1-0 victory over Belgium in a tense semi-final encounter in St Petersburg. Both sides fashioned great chances, although the deadlock was finally broken after the interval where Samuel Umtiti leaped above Marouane Fellaini from a corner before heading beyond Thibaut Courtois at the near post.
In a real battle, Les Bleus came out on top and have plenty of players to thank – namely the goalscorer, his centre-back partner Raphael Varane for immense displays at the back, as well as goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for a string of impressive saves to keep the scores goalless in the first-half. Continue reading “France 1-0 Belgium: Umtiti’s header breaks Belgians in smash-and-grab victory”
After suffering a heartbreaking extra-time final defeat by Portugal at Euro 2016, the onus is on France’s golden generation to step up and justify why they’re all so highly-rated.
Continue reading “FIFA World Cup 2018: 5 keys to success for France”
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