LaLiga

Breaking down the severity of the Nergreira scandal for Barcelona
Features, LaLiga

Breaking down the severity of the Nergreira scandal for Barcelona

Significant developments have come to light in the ongoing investigation into FC Barcelona's payments to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). In case you have forgotten, here is a quick recap of the FC Barcelona-Negreira scandal: Barcelona made payments totaling €7 million to José María Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018 while he was the vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). Barcelona stopped paying Negreira immediately after he left his position within the CTA. Joan Laporta quadrupled the payments to Negreira in 2009 during his first term as Barcelona president. In a testimony to tax administrators, Negreira stated that Barcelona hired him to ensure that refereeing was "neutral" and t...
Transfers: Barca’s worst wage offenders; Why West Ham want Carlos Soler; Making sense of Joao Felix to Chelsea
Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Premier League

Transfers: Barca’s worst wage offenders; Why West Ham want Carlos Soler; Making sense of Joao Felix to Chelsea

Why are Chelsea going back for Joao Felix despite his 2023 flop? How might Carlos Soler help West Ham return to European football? And which three players are hurting Barcelona the most in the wage department? Here are the latest takes around the world football transfer rumor mill. Making sense of Joao Felix to Chelsea Leave it to Chelsea to make the most shocking transfer of the summer window, because for a fee of 45 million pounds, the Blues have agreed to bring Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge...on a permanent basis. It's not like Felix set the Bridge on fire when he arrived in the second half of the 2022/23 season, nor is it as if he was such a rousing success at the Camp Nou either. Felix is who he is at this stage. A very talented, very limited playmaker who plays more f...
Transfers: Barca’s Gundogan mistake, Brighton take a huge risk, Juve outsmarting Milan?
Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Premier League, Serie A

Transfers: Barca’s Gundogan mistake, Brighton take a huge risk, Juve outsmarting Milan?

Did Barcelona make a mistake by signing Ilkay Gundogan? Will Brighton's transfer gamble be worth the reward? And are Juventus getting one over on AC Milan this summer? Here is the latest analysis behind some of world football's hottest transfer news stories. Juventus stealing Pierre Kalulu from AC Milan Juventus had a lot of problems last season, but the defense clearly wasn't one of them. So much so that Gleison Bremer and Danilo were two of the best center backs in Serie A, while Federico Gatti joined Bremer with significant interest from around the Premier League. Still, Juve wanted to land a young center back to potentially start over Gatti for new manager Thiago Motta and then take the reigns as a star in defense from Danilo, who is heading closer to the end at age 33. Alth...
Why Real Madrid can’t win the treble
Features, LaLiga

Why Real Madrid can’t win the treble

Winning the treble is seen as the ultimate feather in the cap for an elite footballing institution. Since the Champions League era began in 1992, only five teams have won the treble, which consists of winning the domestic league, domestic cup, and the most coveted prize of them all, the UCL. Those clubs are Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Inter Milan. No Ligue 1 side has won the treble and only the Premier League has more than one treble winner. Meanwhile, Barcelona and Bayern are the only clubs to have won multiple trebles in their histories, and it is this fact that Barcelona fans love holding over Real Madrid. See, Real Madrid have never won the treble. Even though they have won the most Champions League titles in history, recently picking up t...
Who has the better career, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Robert Lewandowski?
Bundesliga, Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Premier League, Serie A

Who has the better career, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Robert Lewandowski?

Strikers have always been the glamor players in world football, and over the last 20 years, few goal-scorers made as many headlines as Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Lewandowski is still going strong as one of the best strikers in Spanish football, likely finishing up his career with Barcelona after forcing a move away from Bayern Munich, where he became one of the greatest strikers of all time. Meanwhile, Zlatan, who also played for Barcelona briefly, is retired and enjoying the next step in his career as an executive for AC Milan, one of his former clubs. In fact, Zlatan played for all three powerhouses of Italian football, but perhaps his period was a largely overlooked tenure in Paris as the first face of the Qatari project before the arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mba...
Real Madrid’s Best XI Since 2000
Features, LaLiga

Real Madrid’s Best XI Since 2000

Real Madrid, regarded as the most successful football club in history, has had the privilege of seeing numerous legendary players wear its iconic white kit. Over the past two decades, the club has enjoyed a golden era, winning multiple La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles. With so many great players contributing to the club's success, it leads to an interesting question: Who are the best eleven players to have represented Real Madrid since the 2000/2001 season? Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois If no one has ever dared to say it, then I'll be the first to do so: Thibaut Courtois is not only better but he's also surpassed Iker Casillas as Real Madrid’s greatest-ever keeper. Along with being a more complete keeper than Casillas (excelling in aerial play, ball distribution, and reflexes),...
The uniquely elite career of Pepe, a Real Madrid and Porto icon
Features, LaLiga

The uniquely elite career of Pepe, a Real Madrid and Porto icon

Football fans had already bid farewell to two of the best midfielders of the 2010s and early 2020s, Thiago Alcantara and Toni Kroos, as the former Bayern Munich and LaLiga icons decided to retire. Thiago's exit came after injuries robbed him of a true farewell in the Premier League with Liverpool, where he showed flashes of the player who so expertly guided Die Roten to the 2019/20 treble. Meanwhile, Kroos left world football on top, having shined as Germany's best player at Euro 2024 after conquering LaLiga and the Champions League one last time for Real Madrid as a six-time career UCL champion between the Royal Whites of Spain and the Reds of Germany. Now, world football will say goodbye to a legend on equal footing of Thiago and Kroos, with a pedigree of longevity that will ena...
Analyzing how Dani Olmo fits Barcelona lineup, realistic expectations, and criticism of transfer
Features, LaLiga

Analyzing how Dani Olmo fits Barcelona lineup, realistic expectations, and criticism of transfer

Barcelona have just signed one of the most talented players on the transfer market and one of the most impressive performers at Euro 2024, yet they are being roundly criticized by even their own fans for the move. Dani Olmo is headed to Barcelona from RB Leipzig for a 60 million euro transfer fee after weeks of negotiations, and his signing comes in the aftermath of a failed pursuit of Athletic Club star Nico Williams, who has been one of LaLiga's best wingers over the past two seasons. Williams was an even bigger part of Spain's Euro 2024 triumph and tabbed by Barcelona star and national teammate Lamine Yamal as a dream signing for Barca; the two formed an unstoppable winger partnership this summer. Olmo could be faced with the task of being the next starting left winger for Barc...
The 10 most underrated center backs in world football in 2024
Bundesliga, Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Premier League, Serie A

The 10 most underrated center backs in world football in 2024

As a position, center backs are underrated in general, because they have to do so much heavy lifting to stop the opposition's best attackers and are being tasked with more playmaking and on-the-ball ability under pressure - even moreso in modern football than ever before. Here are 10 center backs who are especially underrated. These are young players who haven't yet been picked out as top transfer targets, or they are more experienced players in their primes who have somehow flown under the radar, largely because they star for clubs outside of the spotlight. Joachim Andersen, Crystal Palace Even though Joachim Anderen has been operating at the highest level while starting for Crystal Palace in the Premier League, the vast majority of fans around the world don't know how good he is. ...
The 5 best Real Sociedad players for the 2024/25 season
Features, LaLiga

The 5 best Real Sociedad players for the 2024/25 season

After finishing sixth in LaLiga and missing out on the Champions League, Real Sociedad will head into the 2024/25 without their top-performing player of the previous campaign, center midfielder Mikel Merino. Despite that, there are still plenty of great Real Sociedad players worth knowing and watching closely next season - and not just because a couple of them could be headed to "bigger" European clubs. Before the 2024/25 LaLiga season gets under way, let's take a look at a handful of the best Real Sociedad players every world football fan needs to know. AM Takefusa Kubo Takefusa Kubo has to be the most recognizable name in the Real Sociedad squad, as he is legitimately one of the most exciting players to watch in world football because of his acceleration, close control, and emerg...