Copa del Rey

It’s been five years to the day since Luis Suárez bit Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, resulting in a four-month ban from football, so it's only right that we return to the mad lad’s antics during tonight’s Copa América match against Chile at the legendary Maracanã. 

With top spot in Group C on the line during the final day of group play, you know that Suárez was taking it all too seriously and descending into that haze of competitive demonry that makes him both unplayable and insufferable. 

Barcelona’s quest for a fifth straight Copa del Rey title will be decided on May 25 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín after Wednesday’s 3-0 semifinal second leg victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. The aggregate score remained 1-1 going into the second half, but a Luis Suarez brace and Raphael Varane own goal in the space of 23 minutes granted Barcelona passage to the final at the expense of its El Clásico rival.

Whoever comes through the Real Madrid-Barcelona matchup will be the favorite in the 2019 Copa del Rey Final, but if you didn’t know, that match is being staged at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in Seville, home of Real Betis, and the Béticos are using that inspiration to power through the competition.

Because someone somewhere loves us, we’re being treated to three El Clásicos between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the next month. It started on Wednesday at the Camp Nou, the first leg in the Copa del Rey semifinals, with a Malcom goal vs Real Madrid leading to a 1-1 draw.

The match didn’t feature Lionel Messi or Gareth Bale in the starting lineups, though that didn’t worry Barça fans too much after they watched their side eviscerate Los Blancos 5-1 without Messi in October. 

On Wednesday, FC Barcelona will host Real Madrid in a Copa del Rey semifinal first leg at the Camp Nou. This will be the 239th competitive meeting of the sides — and the 34th in the Copa — but it’s one that many feared Lionel Messi would miss. The Barça captain suffered a thigh injury during last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Valencia, and he only just returned to training today.

FC Barcelona is calling it the goal of the season. Deadspin called it “the platonic ideal of a Barcelona goal.” Ray Hudson said it was “kaleidoscopic football of the highest order." It was the crowning achievement of the club’s remarkable turnaround against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals — shifting a 0-2 first leg deficit into a 6-3 aggregate victory. 

With the latest reports saying there’s no hope that Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson will be found alive after their Piper Malibu light aircraft went missing Monday night over the Channel Islands, the footballing world is beginning to pay its respects to the 28-year-old Argentine.