Barcelona's resurgence under Xavi seemed to reach a head in early April. Barcelona defeated second-place Sevilla courtesy of a magnificent Pedri strike in the 72nd minute. The squad trotted around the field applauding fans. At the time, Barcelona shot itself into second in the LaLiga table, a far cry from where it was just six […]

Using former players as managers is certainly not a new trend. Vicente del Bosque made 445 appearances for Real Madrid from 1968 to 1984. The Spaniard the returned with a managerial stint that yielded two league titles and two Champions Leagues. Johan Cruyff established himself as one of the world's greatest players on the […]

Pep Guardiola owns a monumental resumé of achievements earned during his time at Manchester City. But, things are not happy go lucky at the Etihad, at least over the last couple of months and days. Guardiola made a statement on his future on the same day Harry Kane declared he would stay at Tottenham for […]

A match from LaLiga will be aired this weekend live for the first time ever on broadcast television in the United States. With ESPN's family of networks taking over LaLiga coverage in the United States until 2028-29, this weekend will be the first gameweek of the historic ESPN/LaLiga partnership. To celebrate the occasion, ESPN will […]

Reporting from Camp Nou (although belatedly) As Ronaldinho took to the field, the last player to do so for either team, 96,315 people cheered and applauded. A chant of 'Ronny, Ronny, Ronny' started around the stadium. People smiled as he lined up with the Barcelona team for the photo just before the Joan Gamper trophy […]

Once Lionel Messi scored his club record-tying 34th goal of the season in the 76th minute to increase the lead to 4-0, the 98,772 Culés at the Camp Nou, save for a few hundred Real Valladolid die-hards, began to chant the song that every team wants to hear at the end of the season, "Campeones, […]

The sprinklers rose up from the pitch and sprayed the Inter Milan players and staff.  The Barcelona anthem, "Cant del Barça," blared through the loudspeakers as the Culés did not know whether to clap off their Blaugrana heroes or vehemently whistle at the unwanted visitors from northern Italy.  This sense of confusion permeated throughout the […]

Since I'm new at EPL Talk, I'd like to talk a little bit more (before I discuss Wednesday's match) about my history as an Arsenal fan. Slowly becoming a soccer fan in college, a 2006 trip to Europe with my girlfriend really cemented my love of the Gunners. Arriving in Paris just days before the Champions League Final, little did I know what would await me. The year before, I had been in Israel during the Liverpool-Milan game. Taking a cursory interest, I sat down with several Israelis who were screaming about how dominant Milan were. As everyone knows, it didn't end up that way. But it was enough to turn me into a soccer fan for life.

With the advantage of the away goal, Sevilla looked in prime position to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.  Unfortunately, Manolo Jiménez's team played as though they were already in the next round.  A 0-0 score line would have sent Sevilla through, and even though Diego Perotti declared that they could not […]

Hi Guys, I'm here with my first post. I'm going to be doing a weekly post on the reasons why I love the beautiful game so much. This week I will be starting, ironically, with last gasp goals. It doesn't matter how they are scored, whether it's a tap in like Aaron Lennon in last […]