FC Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has signed a contract extension with the club on Tuesday, May 27. Barcelona took to social media to announce the news in the evening, confirming that the new deal will keep him at the club until 2031. The 17-year-old forward, whose previous contract was set to expire in 2026,…
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win at local rivals Espanyol on Thursday, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining,…
We’re into the defining stretch of the 2024-25 season, with trophies to be won, European spots up for grabs and relegations to be avoided. All of Europe’s domestic leagues and UEFA’s three club competitions are nearing completion, which not only prompts conversation about the end-of-year awards but the next Ballon d’Or too. At its roots,…
Three hundred and four days is a long time for a footballer to go without playing in a game. And 1,135 days must feel like a lifetime for a striker to go without scoring. The former Real Madrid forward Mariano Diaz ended both of those personal droughts within the first 20 minutes of a friendly…
The Champions League gets serious this week as the round of 16 begins. To get to this point, 160 games have been completed — now there are just 29 left to play. But those 29 are the most consequential matches of the competition, the moments when each team’s key players must step up and perform….
No, you’re not dreaming, it is the year 2025. You might be wondering how on earth, then, we are sitting here discussing the possibility of Neymar returning to Barcelona this summer. After all, the Brazilian has just turned 33 years old and has only played 13 games of football in the past two seasons. I’m…
The important thing about the sentencing of Luis Rubiales is not whether he will go to prison, or how many thousands of euros he will have to pay to compensate Jenni Hermoso, the World Cup-winning footballer he kissed without consent while the world was watching. The important thing is that it represents an end to…
This is an updated version of a piece that was originally published in April 2024. “Real Madrid vs Manchester City is a modern Clasico,” former Real Madrid coach Jorge Valdano said last April, previewing the two clubs’ 2023-24 Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu. The tie that followed did not disappoint. Madrid and…
The transfer window might have closed on Monday night, but the question marks remain. As you sit here on Tuesday morning, you might be left wondering about the business your team did — or in a lot of cases, didn’t do. Why have they not brought in that extra player? Why did they let one…
You wonder what went through the mind of Alaves’ left-back, Manu Sanchez, three minutes into the game against Barcelona at Montjuic yesterday. Lamine Yamal, the player who Sanchez was assigned to mark for the next 87 minutes or so of his life, had dribbled past him and four other team-mates in practically his first involvement…