Daily Archives: January 13, 2025

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 5: Lamine Yamal and Co inflict a historic humiliation

Leave a reply


“Barcelona put four goals past Real Madrid in consecutive matches for the first time in Clasico history, lifting the Supercopa de Espana with a 5-2 rout of their arch-rivals. Madrid took the lead through a fine Kylian Mbappe goal in the fifth minute — the Frenchman banishing memories of his eight offsides in that 4-0 defeat by Barca in October — before Lamine Yamal drew the sides level with a brilliant solo effort in the 22nd minute. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
>NY Times/The Athletic: The six moments of madness that sum up a Clasico defined by disarray

The Manchester clubs striving and thriving in the shadows of City and United

Leave a reply

“Living on the doorstep of footballing monoliths can come in handy sometimes. With Greater Manchester in the grip of a cold snap last week, Salford City were left without anywhere to train. The pitches at their Littleton Road base were frozen solid. Salford rent the pitches from Manchester United for a nominal fee. A call into Old Trafford asked whether there were any alternative options. The offer of an indoor pitch at The Cliff, United’s old headquarters, was happily accepted. ‘The problem we’ve got is it’s only 50 yards wide and I think only 80 yards long,’ said Salford’s manager Karl Robinson before Saturday’s trip to Manchester City. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Liverpool’s contract stand-offs, Jamie Carragher’s role, and a battle to shape the narrative

Leave a reply

“Trent Alexander-Arnold kept his counsel as he left Anfield on Saturday afternoon. The Liverpool right-back did not speak to the media at the weekend but the smile on his face underlined what a difference a week makes. He had just swapped shirts with Accrington Stanley midfielder Liam Coyle, who used to play alongside him for Liverpool Under-16s. There was also a warm exchange with visiting manager John Doolan, who coached Alexander-Arnold at the Kirkby academy at the age of seven. ‘Such a wonderful and humble guy — he showed his class,’ Doolan said. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

The Briefing: Arsenal’s worrying start to 2025, a fix for the FA Cup and Walker’s legacy

Leave a reply

“The quality was not the same, but Manchester United’s FA Cup third-round win over Arsenal felt like a throwback. The red card started proceedings, but the contentious penalty decision followed by the team-wide scuffle will be a memory that could rival some of the battles between Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides of the 1990s and 2000s. Two of the most iconic moments of that rivalry involved penalties taken by Ruud van Nistelrooy so it seemed fitting the first meeting in a cup competition between Mikel Arteta and Ruben Amorim should end with another Dutch striker dispatching a winning spot kick. …”
NY Times/The Athletic