“The fact that Real Sociedad are no suffering saps – or Real Madrid perhaps – makes the 5-0 win for ‘Qatar Foundation presents Pep’s Dream Boys!’ over La Real so darned impressive. It’s hard to know whether the match highlight was Leo Messi weaving past five defenders on the edge of the box to equal Ronaldo’s league tally of 17 goals, or the outstanding Argentine finishing off a 28 pass move straight from the second half kick-off. ” FourFourTwo

The kids are alright
“The news that January’s Ballon d’Or will be handed to one of the three musketeers, Andres Iniesta, Leo Messi or Xavi Hernandez, is significant in various ways. Despite that opening assertion, it’s not the first time that one club has offered up all three candidates for the prize. In 1988, if I’m not mistaken, Marco van Basten won the gold, with his Milan team-mates Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard slightly lower on the podium, and the next year the same guy took the top prize, challenged only by Rijkaard, again, and Franco Baresi.” ESPN