Philippe Coutinho was given his first start for Barcelona vs Alaves on Sunday. It wasn’t until he was subbed off that the Blaugrana really got going, rallying late for a 2-1 victory thanks to some Messi magic at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi scored on a gorgeous free kick in the 84th minute to secure all three points for Barcelona, which trailed for most of the match after an early Alavés goal. It was another moment of joy from the Argentine maestro, who had a first-half free kick touched onto the post but came through with the match on the line. 

The Real Madrid vs. Valencia match delivered a much-desired awakening. 

Having been eliminated from the Copa del Rey earlier this week against Leganés, Real Madrid seem to be back in the game after beating Valencia 4-1.

Some players just have an aura about them, a mystique that lifts the play of everyone around them, whether or not they’re on the pitch. The second-most expensive footballer of all time has to fit that bill, probably. How else do you explain Barcelona defeating Espanyol 2-0 to advance 2-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday at the Camp Nou?

Ballou Tabla is making history as the first academy player from the Montreal Impact to make a move to Europe. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder completed a transfer to Barcelona on Thursday. He’ll join Barcelona B.

Este intento de Marc-Andre ter Stegen de marcar la portería a cero en La Liga está empezando a parecer serio. Ter Stegen tiene la oportunidad de romper el récord de portería a cero del portero del Deportivo La Coruña Francisco Liaño en 1994, cuando logró mantener su portería invicta 26 veces en una temporada.

Is the magic gone at Real Madrid? That’s an impossible thing to say about the back-to-back world champions, but a shocking Copa del Rey quarterfinal elimination at the hands of Leganes (a club from the outskirts of Madrid that plays its home matches in front of 11,000) is the lowest it’s gotten for Zinedine Zidane when coupled with the 19-point gap in La Liga. 

The French manager went with an understrength side after defeating Leganes 1-0 away in the first leg, although understrength still means starts for Sergio Ramos, Isco, Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio.