The clasico in the desert

 The Spanish Super Cup final between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid took place in the country that will host the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia, and thus, everyone should stop complaining, because Saudi Arabia is already host to a lot of sports-events, whether we like it or not.

Money talks, specially as these two sides faced one another, and the confrontation happened in the midst of the controversy of Dani Olmo being allowed to play for Barcelona despite some apparently creative financial juggling from FC Barcelona that many Spanish clubs are complaining about. That said, we have always known that there are other rules for these two sides who, despite all the controversy, are always good for some entertainment.

And the final was entertaining indeed. Barcelona was far far superior, but Real Madrid had Kylian Mbappe, who with his speed and quality was basically the only threat that Real Madrid had, and he proved it early on when he brought Real Madrid ahead. But that was virtually everything Real Madrid had to offer, and in particular defenders like Lucas Vasquez, Aurelien Tchouameni and Ferland Mendy were played around with by Barcelona's quick and excellent technicians. Young Lamine Yamal equalized for Barcelona with a brilliant strike, while Robert Lewandoski scored on a penalty committed by another poor Real Madrid player Eduardo Camavinga. By halftime the score was 4-1 for Barcelona with additional goals by Raphinha and Alejandro Balde, and when Raphinha made it 5-1 early in the second half against a Real Madrid side where Ancelotti had decided to make no changes, one thought that this could be a historical victory for Barcelona.

However, Mbappe's speed gave Real Madrid a bit of breathing space as he was taken down by the substitute Polish Barcelona goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who was correctly shown a red card (the referee did forgive red cards for Vinicius Jr. and Camavinga nevertheless), and in the subsequent free kick Rodrygo made it 2-5.

Barcelona pulled back, and that was the end result as Real Madrid showed zero threats against a Barcelona side that dominated throughout the match. And if anyone still questions the Balon d'Or: while Vinicius Jr. was invisible throughout the match, Pedri completely dominated the midfield alongside Gavi and Pau Casado to a degree that was humiliating for Real Madrid.

I don't really care that Barcelona won, but it was entertaining to see them play so well, but one has to wonder about Real Madrid: I have always considered Carlo Ancelotti one of the best managers in the world, but in this match he seemed to have missed everything. Tchouameni and Lucas Vasquez were simply not up to the task, and he had no answers to Barcelona's midfield control. It was one of the worst displays of Real Madrid in that desert afternoon in Saudi Arabia.

Great Champions League matches

 Expectations were fully fulfilled for the highly expected first legs of CL quarterfinals. I eagerly watched two of the matches.

The first one I watched was Real Madrid facing Manchester City, the match that for many was a prelude of the final, and a repeat of last season's semifinals.

The first 15 minutes of the match were crazy, with Bernardo Silva bringing the English side ahead after only 2 minutes in a free kick where Real Madrid appeared to have no wall or organization as Silva shot through. But only 10 minutes later Camavinga took a shot outside the area and the ball was deflected by Ruben Dias and went into goal for 1-1. Two minutes later Rodrygo caught City's forward defense and in his run towards goal the ball was also deflected and meant 2-1 for Real Madrid.

I was really enjoying the match a the Real de 14 Taqueria in San Salvador. It was played in a high tempo and both sides had great quality as it went into the break.

Second half Manchester City continued with a high pressure, and Phil Foden equalized for City on a marvelous strike from outside the area, where one could criticize Real Madrid for giving Foden too much space. 

It was another spectacular strike that brought City ahead 2-3 as it continued its pressure on Madrid: Josko Gvardiol scored from outside the area.

Naturally, Manchester City relaxed the pressure a bit as Madrid pushed forward, and another wonderful strike by Federico Valverde, who first-timed a pass from Vini at the edge of the area, made it 3-3, and the end result of a fantastic match. 

Last season they tied 1-1 as well in Madrid, for Manchester City to demolish Real Madrid in Manchester.
We will see how it goes this time.

The other match I watched today as Paris Saint Germain hosted a Barcelona side that has before been a stumbling block for the ambitious French side.

It appears that Barcelona will again be the end for the Parisians, as they won 2-3 in Paris in a match that nevertheless also flowed with crazy attacks.

Raphinha brought the Catalans ahead 1-0 in the first half, which was also the score at half time. PSG came out to attack in the second half and were ahead 2-1 withing five minutes on a fantastic strike by the ex-Barcelona player Ousmane Dembele, and then Vitor Ferreira following an elegant attack by PSG.

Donnaruma did not have a good day in goal, and gave the ball away for Barcelona's equalizer, although Pedri's pass to Raphinha was spectacular, and the Brazilian made it 2-2. 

It was not over, and PSG missed some big chances as Barcelona scored its winner from an unlikely Andreas Christensen, who headed the ball in from close quarters following a corner kick, in a situation where neither PSG defense or goalkeeper looked strong.

Barcelona now has one foot in the semifinals, as I have a hard time seeing PSG threatening them in Catalonia.

In the other quarterfinals Arsenal and Bayern Munich tied 2-2 in London, while Atletico Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Spain.

It will be some incredible matches next week!

This is why we watch football!

Real Madrid- Barcelona 3-1

 After Leo Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's farewell to the Spanish league both Barcelona and Real Madrid have, after some adjustments, returned to the top of the Spanish League, and after Real Madrid's awesome league win last season, both teams were head to head at the top of the league as they were to face one another in the "Clasico" in Madrid.

Real Madrid went ahead after only 12 minutes on a goal by Karim Benzema, who has risen to become the star of the team, and after 35 minutes the Uruguayan Federico Valverde brought Real Madrid ahead 2-0 on a great strike at the edge of the penalty area. Despite this, Barcelona was not shaken, and in particular in the second half threatened Madrid's goal, and when Ansu Fati came on he certainly put pressure on the home team. Ferran Torres scored one back, and Barcelona came very close to an equalizer (and in my opinion should have had a penalty), but in the last seconds of the match VAR gave Real Madrid a (correctly called) penalty kick, which Rodrygo scored on to give Real Madrid all three points, and they are now three points ahead of Barcelona at the top of the table.