SirBalon

In other words you've gotten a job as a club press officer?

He'll probably be sacked straight away for wearing that suit! How did he get that job? Granada is a beautiful place to live the lucky git.

I agree with this wholeheartedly... The suspicious and untrusting eye is always on Britain in this case because of the way we receive Amercian "culture" with seemingly open arms in the UK.

I was gutted for Márquez when he crashed out while challenging for the victory. But I'm happy for Crutchlow who's getting some interesting results early on.

Celta doctor says Rossi's injury could be serious The head of Celta Vigo's medical department Juan José García Cota said after Celta's game against SD Eibar that the Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi asked to be changed after he felt a snapping sensation in his left knee. Rossi has had multiple cruciate ligament injuries during his career, so the medical staff have taken it seriously and even after initial explorations haven't come out with any visible injury, Celta will be investigating even further due to Rossi saying something is very wrong. Celta Vigo fans are awaiting further updates in the next few hours as to what the injury may be. If confirmed that Giuseppe Rossi has a serious knee injury, then this is just such bad luck for the player who has had his career hampered with these issues from a very young age. El médico dice que la lesión de Rossi “puede ser grave”

Florentino Pérez indeed always finds a way! It's why he continues to have a slight majority of support amongst the Real Madrid 'socios'. André Gomes... Yesterday has to have been his worst performance for Barcelona and that takes some doing. He was a total ghost in the game and it was like playing with 10 men most of the time. He had two interventions of note, one was a magnificent pass from Messi in the first half for André to score and for some reason André Gomes let it run too far past his body which gave time for the defender to rectify his initial mistake and clear easily. The other intervention was a cross toward the end of the first half. Apart from that he was missing in action the whole game until he was substituted. The truth is that hardly none of the players played well yesterday and it was a very physical game. I don't know if the players had Juventus on their mind or not but that was a poor performance. Neymar who has been the best player for months overall made countless mistakes by cutting in when he should've hugged the line or staying close to the line when he should've looked inside. Messi came deeper and deeper into midfield but that was actually due to the fact Barça were being dominated in midfield where key moments were in question because Barcelona had all the possession of the ball (Málaga let them have it) without being penetrative with it. Luis Enrique has rotated too much this season and what that achieves is that the players don't get to associate properly and don't bed into accomplishing form. Iniesta is the best example of this and even though Iniesta has to be given rest more than ever these days, Luis Enrique has taken that too far because in midfield and especially the way Iniesta plays the game, he needs to play more. It's coming toward the end of the campaign and Iniesta should be playing all of them now, or at least most of them from the start. But Luis Enrique is so scared of losing him due to an injury that he has him wrapped in cotton wool practically all of the time. Rafinha out for the season now (he's had various injuries this year) hasn't helped matters either because he does fit into the system and is the perfect player to rotate with. He has hurt Luis Enrique's rotation capabilities in terms of effective quality when applied. Arda Turan's constant calf strains have also been a nightmare for the coach because he started the season so well and looked to have regained the form he was signed for at Atlético Madrid. So there are reasons for the thinness of the options because even though there are multiple players to choose from, the real quality has worn thin. What I don't understand at all is the rotation of Ivan Rakitić... The Croatian would've put that André Gomes chance from a Messi pass away with his eyes closed. That's one of his main fortes. Not only is he one of the best second line attack minded midfielders in Europe, but he is also more than just competent in the destruction of the rival's game. In other words, a must in any top midfield anywhere in the world. Obviously it was away to Málaga and Luis Enrique decided once again to rest the all terrain midfielder due to how much the player wastes himself physically in games. The thing is that Rakitić isn't Andrés Iniesta's age and he can take it twice a week! It was the biggest error yesterday because he should've been playing instead of André Gomes. If André Gomes ends up leaving Barça in the end, he won't be able to ever say that he wasn't given a chance. Luis Enrique has definitely given him that. He has played as many minutes as any midfielder this season. He's had the coach's faith and confidence which is paramount for a player to eventually show form. But that hasn't ever looked like arriving. Infact I'd say André Gomes' problems started when he was dropped from the Portugal side that won the European Championship in France last summer. That was his downfall and no longer has that form and game he had at Valencia been seen again. He needs to go to a club where he will be the protagonist once again and not just another player. Only then do I see him returning to what he was which was one of my favourite players anywhere at one point and the reason I was so happy when Barcelona signed him.

The secret plan: Griezmann to Real Madrid Presitigious French sports newspaper L'Équipe today released a front page where they make an affirmation revolving around the future of Antoine Griezmann. They speculate on certain sources they have that say the French attacking midfielder is the main priority of Florentino Pérez' Real Madrid and which would see Cristiano Ronaldo depart to pastures new. Only the other day the Atlético Madrid President Enríque Cerezo was quizzed for the umpteenth time on Griezmann's future and he could only say; "Whenever there's an important game between us and Real Madrid the same thing happens, the speculations start and I'm really tired of repeating myself because it seems you guys aren't happy with what I always tell you and you want me to invent something that gives you a headline". Only this week (Thursday) one of Griezmann's agents Eric Olhats on RMC Radio said; "Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid have all been in contact with the player and his representatives to ascertain the player's situation in reference to his future. Everyone wants to know if it's possible or not. It's the game of musical chairs. His clause is of €100m and Atlético won't negotiate with anyone for two reasons... One, he's happy at Atlético and two, Atlético know he's worth even more which means paying the buy-out clause and that also includes a 42% tax payment to the Spanish fiscal system which takes the deal in total to almost €200m". We must also remember that there is a pact of no aggression between Florentino Pérez and Enríque Cerezo where possible acquisition of players from each respective club is concerned. This goes back to when Real Madrid wanted Sergio 'Kun' Agüero from Atlético Madrid back in the day and an agreement was struck between the two entities.

A lover's quarrel.

The reason I said that is because Britain and Portugal have a 500 year old friendship that seems strange that they'd have that stance.

I'm surprised Portugal is in the lukewarm area of the graph. I don't know how much that's based on reality to be honest.

Due to the barrage of attacks and abuse Isco Alarcón has been receiving since he posted the Instagram picture (post above) from thousands of Real Madrid fans, the Real Madrid player has felt obliged to "clear" things up with this Tweet; Which reads; "Stop being so annoying, I'm not going to Barça!! What I was saying with the photo is that we're going to eat them like crisps" Why did Isco delete the Instagram picture before anyone could respond though?

Nah... Wasn't after that at all mate. Italy live off their exports though and always have done. They export almost everything there is to manufacture from food, cars, motorcycles to fashion. A weak Euro helps them as much as it helps Germany. Italy's issues with the EU are others.

Isco... You can't do that and you know it! Isco posted this on his Instagram account and already many Real Madrid fans are going mental and saying all sorts. Didn't know Barça did crisps He later deletes the photo. Isco: ¿nuevo guiño al Barça?

I don't get why you're saying that Germany benefits from a devalued currency compared to Italy mate. If you're talking exports then Italy export as much if not more than Germany. Italy rely on the export market for both employment and trade. There are other issues as to why the EU has damaged Italy apart from the fact they have such unstable governments.

LP - Lost On You

hahahahaha The character you've posted for those that are too young to know is the mascot of the World Cup in Spain 1982. His name was "Naranjito" which is a diminutive of "Orange" (small orange). My nick comes from a very famous Spanish kids football magazine called "Don Balon" which in essence means "Sir Balon" or "Sir Ball".

Yeah... He would also always go on about grass length which was annoying to say the least. But to hate a footballer over that is confusing. I see it a whole different way like a player that's dirty, sly, cheats or is an utter egotistical arsehole. If as humans we start hating other over annoyances then it's no wonder the divorce rate is as high as it is these days.

I know Spike loves his tasty digs and trying to arouse some heated upheaval in terms of an almost troll like scenario. Spike is no troll, he's too intelligent to be one but he does like to fabricate a bit of a sensationalist sensation. Infact he'd make a great member of a marketing team in my view and I know because that's my forté. I like the guy a lot but yesterday I found myself taking him serious under the reasoning I've just mentioned in this post... I mean... Look at Spike's avatar and signature... If that isn't called coaxing (something I find easy to look past because I'm indifferent to that) then I don't know what is. Naming Xavi and Puyol was extremely provocative and I fell for it because I let myself fall for it. Those two are sacred (with Iniesta being the Holy Grail of perfect human ethics where a footballer is concerned) and I will defend them to the hilt because not only are they footballing legends, but the way they managed to keep out of the hatred involved within the Barça v Real Madrid battles especially in the Mourinho era takes almost a valid acceptance as an option to be canonised. Anyway... I have no problem with hatred toward a club but where individuals are concerned I do like some substance that includes a bit more than what drunk men do as a stupid prank in front of over a million people on the streets. A hated player has to be about the way he conducts himself as a footballer.

Messi receives the now iconic "Comeback" photograph The photograph of Lionel Messi celebrating the consummation of the now historical comeback Barça managed against Paris Saint-Germain at the Camp Nou. The photograph that features the Camp Nou in a panoramic view with journalists and fans getting involved in the mass hysteria has now become so iconic that's it's made newspapers, journals and magazines all over the planet. It's a legendary photo for a legendary moment that has a legendary footballer as the centre piece. Messi received the photograph from the author and professional Mexican photographer Santiago Garcés at the Camp Nou. The photographer says that what he most likes to capture in sporting events is the power and expression of the individual. That the photograph can tell you in its own visual words what the sentiments were at that given moment. Without doubt this is a wonderful picture that will live forever like so many others in the past.

They're nothing like each other but they have one thing that's extremely important that they share. The fact they give 150% and chase down shadows like they're out to kill them.

Funilly enough both Diego Costa and Alexis Sánxhez are more similar than people think in their football and I can see how that would work out.

I personally do believe Alexis would go across town to Chelsea. I still hold hope he'll sign the new contract because he's by a million light years our best player. But if he doesn't I wouldn't be surprised if he did move... By the way, he has a very good relationship with Pedro as strange as it may seem because they were battling it out between the two for the same place in the Barça setup.

It's terrible that the fans have resorted to all of this. There's no excuse for the scenes being seen almost every week now. This is only football for god sake! It does seem to be a new era in terms of social divisiveness in every walk of life these days. No tolerance and no understanding from all parts.