The Fußball Chatter

A brace from Karim Benzema gave Real Madrid a 2-1 win at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Thursday evening. That win, as well as Barcelona losing to Osasuna, was enough for Real Madrid to win La Liga before the final weekend of the season. This is Madrid's first league title since 2017, their 34th league title and their first major trophy since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. Following their campaign last season where they hired three managers and had a steep falloff, pressure was on Zinedine Zidane to replicate what he did in his first spell as Madrid boss but without the Portuguese icon. It's far to say that the Frenchman have delivered for Real Madrid yet again. Zidane had a fantastic spell for Los Blancos  between January 2016 to May 2018, winning nine trophies in the process including the 2016/17 La Liga title and three Champions League titles in a row, becoming the first manager in the Champions League era to win it in consecutive seasons. However, critics stated...

Kylian Mbappe Marcelo and his family  Eden Hazard  England Coach Gareth Southgate  Germany Coach Joachim Löw signing autographs  Sergio Ramos and Pilar Rubio Mohamed Salah Luka Modric and his family  Ronaldinho Thibaut Courtois  Marta Kasper Schmeichel and Stine Gylenbrand Ronaldo De Lima Mohamed Salah receiving the FIFA Puskas Award Thibaut Courtois winning the Best Goalkeeper Award Reynald Pedros winning the Women's Coach Award Didier Deschamps winning the Men's Coach Award Marta winning the Best Women's Player Award Luka Modric receiving the Best Men's Player Award Luka Modric and Marta The FIFPro XI with host Idris Elba  The Ceremony at The Royal Festival Hall in London

Luka Modrić was crowned The Best Men's Player at the FIFA Football Awards last night at London. The Croatian beat former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah to win the award becoming the first player who is not Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since Kaka in 2007 to win a FIFA Award. It has been a fitting 12 months for the midfielder who won the UEFA Champions League in May and led his country Croatia to the FIFA World Cup Final winning the Golden Ball Award for Best Player. Football's superstars, legends of the game and celebrities were in attendance with the glitz and glamour of the ceremony. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, however, were not in attendance for the ceremony. Mohamed Salah won the FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal beating Ronaldo's overhead kick against Juventus and Gareth Bale's strike against Liverpool in the Champions League Final. Thibaut Courtois won the best goalkeeper award while France's coach ...

Luka Modric beat former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah as he was awarded the UEFA Player of the Year award for his exploits in the 2017/18 season.   The awards were held yesterday during the draw for the UEFA Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo was the favorite to win the award given his productive season for Los Blancos scoring 15 goals in the UCL while Mohamed Salah had a fantastic debut season for Liverpool scoring over 40 goals in all competitions last season with 10 in the UCL. Modric was the outsider in winning the award which is a testament of the success and attention the Croatian has given over the past few months. Modric also led his country Croatia to the World Cup Final in July winning the Golden Ball award for Best Player. For the other awards, Keylor Navas was awarded Best Goalkeeper, Sergio Ramos was awarded Best Defender and Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded Best Forward by UEFA. 

Julen Lopetegui ended his first competitive game in defeat as Atletico Madrid beat their city rivals Real Madrid 4-2 winning the UEFA Super Cup. This was Madrid’s first game without Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo starting Bale and Benzema together as well as Keylor Navas in goal as Thibaut Courtois wasn’t part of the matchday squad. Antoine Griezmann started for Atletico after winning the World Cup with France while Thomas Lemar and Rodri were given their full debuts. Diego Simeone was in the stands as his four-match ban by UEFA continues leaving his assistant German Burgos with the responsibilities on the touchline. The match was held at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia. Atletico took the lead in less than a minute from Diego Costa winning a header from Sergio Ramos before scoring from a tight angle. Real equalized before half-time when Karim Benzema headed the ball from a cross by Gareth Bale. The UEFA Champions League winners then took the lead from a penalty wh...