Football
Dembele’s ice-cool goal for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid.
Action all the time. Excellent goals. Controversies galore. Sensational passes. Unreal drama. After a weekend of football in Europe, there are almost always things to talk about, but there is so much going on that it can be hard to remember the biggest things. We try to pick one moment from the action in Europe’s top five leagues (only league action) that really stood out over the weekend.
Ousmane Dembele, one of sports’ most unconventional talents, picked the winner of the game between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which was the first big moment of the weekend.
The ball is in the middle of the field, which is where Barcelona has always liked it. Sergio Busquets gets the ball on the left side and passes it back to Pedri on the inside. That’s when he turns into Pedri.
In one smooth move, he does a body feint that sends Koke off to get a coffee and speeds up so fast that Antoine Griezmann is left far behind. Pablo Barrios comes in to stop him, but “full Pedri” can’t really be stopped. He goes around Barrios, draws in Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic, and then pokes the ball to Gavi. When Pedri and Gavi, or Gavi and Pedri, play together, Barcelona looks like it’s from the past.
Gavi holds off Reinildo with a surprising amount of strength and puts him down with a stiff arm and a quick turn. He then gives Ousmane Dembele a lot of space on the right side of the box, well inside the box, and sends him on his way.
This is where time pauses to soak in the narrative.
Ousmane Dembele was not welcome at Barcelona in January 2022. Four and a half years earlier, he had joined the club after being bought for 140 million Euros after just two seasons as a professional (at Rennes and Borussia Dortmund). The money was thrown at him as a way for Barca to get over losing Neymar to PSG. He had since started just a third of the games he could have, suffering 12 injuries along the way.
The hospital memes were no longer funny. They were now cruel. Everyone could see that he had talent, but he didn’t show it on the field, so Barcelona decided it didn’t matter. They told the public that he wasn’t committed to their future and that he had to leave. Stubbornly, he held on.
The crowd at the Nou Camp booed him at first, as they often do when they think an athlete isn’t giving it their all or isn’t good enough for their club. However, Dembele soon turned the boos into cheers after Xavi made it clear that he was behind him. He seemed to have a manager who believed in him for the first time. Dembele has paid back that faith since that messy January. Since Xavi took over as manager of Barcelona in November 2021, no other player has been involved in as many goals as he has (28: 20 goals, 8 assists). Griezmann is the only other player in LaLiga this season who has scored 5+ goals and set up 5+ goals.
Dembele doing so well that Didier Deschamps and the French national team liked him again just in time for the 2022 World Cup. He was a key part of France’s run to the final. He was disciplined and tough on defense, and he was the perfect balance to Kylian Mbappe’s speed on the other side. But in the end, it felt like an old nightmare had come back to life. He gave away a penalty and did nothing to help the team move forward. He did so little that he was taken out of the game before halftime. Another big game, maybe the biggest of them all, and Dembele’s performance was again terrible, maybe the worst of them all. For a career that was being brought back to life so slowly, this could have been a hard blow that ended it.
Dembele got the ball in the Atleti box while all of this was going on.
Unpause, time.
Dembele knows that when he takes a shot, people will come flying at him. That’s what Atletico Madrid does. Two amazing blocks from Savic and Gimenez had already stopped Ansu Fati. Pedri had a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper, but Nahuel Molina came flying in from the other side. Dembele knows he can’t get away with trying to touch the ball twice. Even though the game had only been going for 20 minutes, they didn’t have a chance against Atletico.
So, when the ball is right in front of him and two people try to stop it, he hits it hard and low. It goes through the far post and into the side net. 1-0 Barcelona.
The score would stay “1-0 Barcelona,” and the three points would put Barcelona three points ahead of Real Madrid and fourteen points ahead of fifth-placed Atletico. And it all happened because Ousmane Dembele did what he had always said he would do: use a moment of magic to decide the outcome of an important game.
Juventus beat Salernitana 3-0 in Serie A on Tuesday, with striker Dusan Vlahovic scoring two goals and setting up another to lift the visitors to 10th in the table.
Vlahovic, a Serb who has been injured a lot this season but played in the league for the first time since October, found his old form again in this match.
Hans Nicolussi gave Juventus a penalty kick when he sent Manuel Locatelli off in the 26th minute. Vlahovic converted the penalty.
Vlahovic almost scored a second goal in the 37th minute, but his shot from the edge of the box from an acute angle went just past the post.
At the end of the first half, Filip Kostic made it 2-0 when he tapped the ball in from close range after Vlahovic’s initial shot had bounced into his path.
In the last seconds before the halftime break, Locatelli ran into the penalty area unchallenged and gave Juventus a chance to score a third goal. However, Salernitana goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa reacted quickly to prevent Locatelli from lobbing the ball over him.
80 seconds into the second half, Vlahovic scored his second goal when he ran through the penalty area and shot the ball flat into the right corner.
In the 51st minute, Junior Zambia hit a cross that reached almost everyone in the box, but Salernitana striker Boulaye Dia could not stretch far enough to put the ball in the open net.
“The team responded well and we played a good first half. But after taking a 3-0 lead, we got a little too comfortable and allowed too many shots on goal. We did not move enough and stayed in the same places, and the players know we have to do better,” Allegri said.
“In the first 10 minutes we played the ball too often down the right side. We need to improve the passing game, become more supple and keep things simple.”
Angel Di Maria hit the crossbar after 53 minutes and Moise Kean hit the post just before the end of the game, preventing Juve from adding to their tally.
The win moved Juventus to 26 points after 21 games, while Salernitana dropped to 21 points and 16th place.
Vinicius Junior is a great winger for Real Madrid. He is young, talented, exciting and successful. Moreover, he is black and comes from Brazil. In my opinion, he is treated terribly in Spanish football and in some parts of the country. Partly because of the colour of his skin. What is happening is a disgrace, and people who are fair, decent, and honest should be outraged and protesting about it.
Last season, when he was still 21 years old, he was part of the best, most important and exciting duo in all of football. He and Karim Benzema combined to score and set up 100 goals and assists as Real Madrid won the Spanish and European titles simultaneously for the second time in 64 years. He played a huge part in this amazing achievement.
This season, Vinicius Jr was involved in 19 goals in 31 games (13 goals and 6 assists), in a team plagued by injuries. When Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema was out with an injury, Vinicius Jr had to take over Benzema’s duties. He’s doing a good job, even if Madrid is finding it difficult to play as consistently and strongly as they did last season.
At 22 years old, he is a winger, not a goalkeeper, not an organising midfielder, and not an experienced centre back. I say that because it’s important that you understand how important he’s become: he’s by far Madrid’s most used player this season and has played more minutes than anyone else. He has been in the starting eleven in 31 of Los Blancos’ 32 games and has played in all of them.
The European champion will play at least 25 more games this season, but could play up to 32 more. If all else remained the same, this young man with what Carlo Ancelotti calls “amazing, elite athleticism and robustness” would be in every single starting eleven XI of the Italian coach’s squad, which could be 64 games.
But if those who bully, provoke, insult and attack him here in Spain have their way, this rising star, who finished eighth in last year’s Ballon d’Or voting, will be injured or suspended for most of those games. That’s how bad people are who try to hurt Vinicius Junior .
In recent weeks, Vinicius has worked hard to play well even though almost everyone else on Ancelotti’s team has struggled for one reason or another. He’s had to watch a picture of him being hung from a bridge in Madrid, he’s had to deal with racist abuse from fans that LaLiga has confirmed in several games this season, and he’s had to deal with Valencia’s Gabriel Paulista trying to kick him in the air, which was an outrageous and unacceptable action. Vinicius is fouled more often than any other player in any of the top five European leagues. He also has to listen to or read a lot of stupid sayings from people who should know better that he, Vinicius Junior , is the problem.
If all this happened to a young, white Spaniard, I think there would be a huge outcry of horror, and everyone would agree on who is right and who is wrong. Even though I have no proof, this is my honest and firm opinion.
Mallorca isn’t the only villain in this situation, but they’re a good example of how Spain and Spanish football are letting Vinicius Junior down. Over the weekend, the winger was fouled 10 more times. In Madrid’s 1-0 defeat, opposing and home fans created a hostile environment, but not always. One of his attackers, Pablo Maffeo, tricked the referee into giving him a yellow card.
Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez, the referee, would have needed eyes in the back of his head and three or four assistants to keep track of all the tricks used to hurt, bully and annoy the young Brazilian star. Since Isco in 2013, no Madrid player has been fouled as many times every nine minutes as Vinicius at Son Moix. Ten years without such treatment.
The behaviour of most Mallorca players is sad and underhanded, because they started this growing grudge, turned it into strategic bullying, and proved that George Bernard Shaw was right when he said that wrestling with pigs is a bad idea. “Never wrestle with pigs. You’ll both get dirty, but the pigs will love it,” said the great Irish playwright.
In other words, there are some fights you shouldn’t get into, because even if you win, you always end up looking bad. That’s how it’s gone so far between Vinicius and Maffeo, Martin Valjent and Antonio Raillo, all playing for Mallorca.
This rivalry was evident in Madrid’s 3-0 win on the island in March. Referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez saw nothing wrong with Maffeo’s lunge with his legs outstretched and studs against Vinicius, which hit both of the winger’s legs, right shin and left knee. When Vinicius refused Maffeo’s offer to pick him up off the ground, a scuffle ensued. Valjent and Raillo both walked up to the Brazilian, poked him in the chest and told him to shut up. Maffeo grabbed Vinicius by the shirt and yelled at him for not shaking hands and complained to the referee. Vinicius was given a card for his protest, which meant that the one who had committed a nasty, deliberate flying tackle that should have resulted in a straight red card and a long suspension got off unpunished.
Since then, these and other players have been trying to make people believe that Vinicius is the problem.
The Brazilian player has begun to defend himself against the insults they and other thugs hurl at him. He calls them names, asks the referees to protect him, and makes angry and frustrated gestures to the sky. In Paulista’s case last week, Vinicius jumped up from the ground where he had fallen and ran toward his Brazilian colleague. He almost struck, but managed to stop himself just in time.
At this point, it’s clear that Vinicius isn’t without blame. He’s now stuck in the mud.
As G.B. Shaw warned, people who want to paint the Brazilian as a “bad guy” or a “problem” can now use his aggressive response to the attacks as false evidence of his guilt, thanks to their bad behaviour and the incredibly short attention span of some media and fans. Gaslighting is underhanded and cannot be tolerated. That’s just the way it’s.
The other day, Maffeo said: “When I was in school, my teachers said I wasn’t very good at following rules. My mother told me that the teachers can’t all have it in for me, so I must be doing something wrong. I think Vinicius feels the same way. We don’t all have it in for him, we just think there must be something.”
In the days leading up to the game, Raillo said, “If I ever had to show my kid two great Madrid players, it would be [Luka] Modric or [Toni] Kroos, but never Vinicius
Last month, when Madrid overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat Villarreal 3-2 in the Copa del Rey, Vinicius scored the first goal. After the game, a short-tempered journalist asked Ancelotti, “…but with Vinicius there are always some problems…” The Italian replied, “From what I saw, his opponents kicked him a lot today, as they always do.”
Ancelotti said Sunday afternoon, “Today the referee didn’t care about the many fouls. When fouls happen over and over again, the player should be sent off. Vinicius isn’t to blame for what is happening. He just wants to play football, but his opponents make it difficult for him because they foul him. In this case, the focus on the outside world has to change. Now it’s time to find out what happened to Vinicius today
During the night, when Paulista tried to pull Vinicius’ leg away from his body, the winger’s Madrid teammates reacted in a very important way. Previously, they often left him to himself and gave him the ball as soon as the game started again, so he could hurt the people who disturbed him.
Not this time. They also know that things will soon get completely out of control.
The Valencia defender was sought by Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and even an injured Eder Militao. It was a clear and threatening “all for one and one for all” moment that should send a message to all future rivals: If you come for him, we’ll come for you.
Nacho’s message after the defeat in Mallorca was more moderate, like Ancelotti’s. He said, “I think people are creating a bad environment for Vinicius, which doesn’t help anyone, least of all him. We all love football, so let’s stop being so stupid”
A wise theme that is both balanced and hopeful.
Worryingly, vengeful opponents have noticed that Vinicius is often prepared for four fights at the start of every game: against his teammate, against the other team, against the referee and against the fans. This is because he’s drawn into a well-planned and malicious campaign to “hunt Vinicius down and then gas him.” He’ll eventually be distracted from his main goal, which is to win games. In the end, he’ll take out his frustration and anger on himself and be sent away. Eventually, the circus will get even bigger.
Can’t Maffeo, Valjent, Raillo, Paulista and people like them realise that their actions give racists a reason to do things like call Vinicius racist names on Sunday and hang the effigy on a bridge before the Madrid derby last month?
The way Vinicius is being treated is a big, ugly and increasingly bad problem for Spanish football. It’s time for everyone who sees things as they really are to keep raising their voices until this brilliant artist can do his work without being treated badly because of who he’s or the colour of his skin.
Lionel Messi has expressed guilt for his actions during and after Argentina’s World Cup quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands in Qatar.
Messi and his teammates were chastised after winning on penalties after a 2-2 stalemate on December 9.
The Paris Saint-Germain star celebrated his 73rd-minute penalty goal by sprinting in front of Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal and cupping his ears.
Messi said Van Gaal “disrespected” Argentina in his “pregame statements” after the game.
In a Paris interview with Andy Kusnetzoff’s “Perros de la Calle,” Messi claimed, “I knew what Van Gaal had said but it [the goal celebration] happened on the spur of the moment.”
“I hated my actions and what followed. Nervous situations arise swiftly.”
At full-time, the Argentina captain argued with Van Gaal and Edgar Davids.
During a postgame interview, Messi supposedly shouted at Netherlands goalkeeper Wout Weghorst, “What are you checking fool out? Bring there back.”
In the interim, Messi expressed he wouldn’t have it differently, in spite of the huge delay to lift the World Cup.
Argentina won their first World Cup in quite a while on punishments against France in Qatar, Messi’s fifth World Cup.
“On the off chance that I needed to pick a second, I guess it would have been this one,” Messi expressed. “It’s close to the furthest limit of my vocation, finishing a circle.
“I achieved all that I had expected with the public group. Separately, I accomplished everything in my profession. It was a fitting finish to my vocation.
“I never envisioned any of this would happen to me when I began, and arriving at this point has been the best… I have no issues and can’t request much else.
“We won the Copa America [2021] and the World Cup; nothing else is left.”
Messi communicated lament that Diego Maradona couldn’t see Argentina’s most memorable World Cup triumph since the Napoli star helped his nation in lifting the prize in 1986.
Maradona, Messi’s mentor at the 2010 World Cup, passed on in December 2020.
“I wish Diego Maradona had given me the [World] Cup or in any event seen all of this,” Messi added.
“To have seen Argentina as title holders, considering the amount he looked for it and the amount he cherished the public group. I accept he from a position of great authority, as well as numerous others who care for me, invigorated me.”
De Zorzi now has a chance to become the star he has always wanted to be.
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