Victory over Madrid in the clásico leaves Barça 12 points clear. It will have been a different kind of success this seasonFranck Kessié hasn’t always been in the right place at the right time but on Sunday night at 10.53pm he was exactly where he needed to be, and when. One morning, soon after arriving at Milan, the Ivorian pulled into Milanello and parked in the space reserved for the big boss. Stopped by security, told he couldn’t go there because that was the president’s spot, he replied: “I am the president.” It fit somehow and the title stuck. That day he became The President; now, five years on, he became President, King, Emperor, anything he likes. Above all, he...
La Liga’s giants were briefly on the same page but the case against Barça has injected a level of paranoia into this title raceThe battle for the glorious past will be fought in the inglorious present. And it will be fought with heavily edited Twitter videos. Early last week Real Madrid TV released what can only be described as an attack video, aimed at the former La Liga referee José María Enriquez Negreira. If this seems a little extreme, it is worth noting this was in fact a follow-up, sequel to Real Madrid TV’s previous attack video aimed at referee Carlos Clos Gómez, now head of La Liga VAR.There have been grander, starrier, more knife-edge meetings between Barcelona and Real...
Real’s failure to beat 10-man Atlético gave the leaders the chance to go 10 points clear – but Almería spoiled the party“This is not goodbye to the league,” Carlo Ancelotti said but no one was really listening and even he didn’t sound sure, not yet. Saturday evening at the Santiago Bernabéu and it was done. Real Madrid had just drawn 1-1 with Atlético, leaving Barcelona to slip out of sight at the top, the only winners those watching in a city 600km away. If this was Diego Simeone’s final derby in the capital, the underwhelming final chapter in a rivalry he revived and suffered like no one else, a once epic series slowing to a close, he could at least...
Antony and Fred took the game by storm at Old Trafford after a first-half horror show that ended with a brilliant Casemiro blockWhat a night, what an equaliser from Fred, what a winner from Antony, in a tale of two Brazilians who downed Barcelona and lit up Old Trafford for Manchester United.Fred blazed his equaliser home moments into the second half - off his right shin - and 10,000 volts jolted through the stadium because United had just turned frustration to joy. Whatever occurred from that juncture, Erik ten Hag’s men had already stunned Barça, informing Xavi’s side that they intended to keep on keeping their fans bouncing – and singing. Marcus Rashford and Antony raced in, and the congregation...
Manchester United manager deserves credit for unlocking striker’s full potential in a way his predecessors never couldThe clock had not quite struck 8pm local time when Marcus Rashford began to glide across the Camp Nou turf in pursuit of a pass from Fred. And Rashford really is a beautiful runner in full flow: all clean lines and clear air, a player who moves as if he will never get mud on his boots. Marcos Alonso, the man who had headed Barcelona 1-0 up barely a minute earlier, moved across to jack-knife his run.Well, of course Rashford scored. The ball was running away towards the goalline and the angle was tightening and Marc-André ter Stegen is one of the best goalkeepers...