While Barcelona continue on a path towards Madrification today, it wasn’t long ago that Joan Laporta held Barça up as a beacon of Catalanismo
Tag: spain
In a unique feat, three generations of Marcos Alonsos – all leading players in their own right at big clubs – have represented Spain at Wembley
Playing football is simple,” Johan Cruyff once proclaimed. “But playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.” It’s a sentiment that clearly echoed in the mind of a certain Marcos Senna when…
It is the opening day of the 2009/10 LaLiga season and all eyes are on Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu. In an all-white kit for the first time is Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s…
To see Iván de la Peña weigh up a pass was to see an artist gaze at his blank canvas. He had a whole plane of creation before his eyes. With the same…
Football stadiums always seem to fall foul to the perverse nature of war and its cruel ability to turn something designed to bring joy and entertainment into a monstrous monument of death…
“If you want to win, play me. If not, put someone else in.” Real Madrid striker Raúl was forthright from a young age, his manager at the time Jorge Valdano remembers. The…
When the final whistle blew on a mild night in Gothenburg’s Ullevi stadium, there was an overwhelming sense amongst everyone connected with Valencia that they had achieved something really quite special. It was…
Señor Dávila blew the final whistle, sending the Balaídos stadium into raptures. Celta Vigo had just qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history, a 3-2 victory over Real…
This feature is part of Duology Sometimes we aren’t gifted a logical ending to a story. Sometimes a tale is wrapped up in the most head-scratching of manners. Sometimes the final act…
This feature is part of Duology There exists a 15-second video clip, which does the rounds on the internet from time to time, that replays a moment from the Copa del Rey…
This feature is part of Duology As your footsteps take you down the corridors and closer to the trophy room of the Santiago Bernabéu, you can begin to feel them. Upon arrival,…
The namesake of the beach where its first stadium was built, Levante UD is a Spanish football club from the Mediterranean city of Valencia, with over 103 years of history. Although the club…
Nordin Amrabat spent last season living in Madrid and playing in LaLiga for Leganés, but he really wanted to beat Spain last Monday evening. Even though Morocco had already been mathematically eliminated…
The 1982 World Cup is memorable for a litany of reasons. There are so many indelible images from that sultry Spanish summer 36 years ago that it’s almost impossible to recall them all.…
Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have set a precedent, whereby clubs bankrolled by wealthy individuals and corporations can enjoy instant success and eventually maintain their meteoric rise. The trio of heavyweights…
This feature is the third in a three-part series looking at why English football struggles to produce and develop creative midfielders, how it can learn from Spanish football’s success over the past…
This feature is the second in a three-part series looking at why English football struggles to produce and develop creative midfielders, how it can learn from Spanish football’s success over the…