Spain

We're not sure how Tebas is going to come back from this one.

At the Intellectual Property Summit held in Miami, Florida — an event that examines the impact of IP awareness on innovation, creative expression, commerce and society — controverial LaLiga president Javier Tebas launched himself into a passionate critique over the normalized leniency toward piracy punishments for illegally streaming soccer matches and tournaments.

He then proceeded to make perhaps the worst comparison we’ve ever seen.

Rodrygo netted a goal in each half as Real Madrid secured a 2-0 home win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, cementing their position at the top of the LaLiga table.

Real have 75 points, eight ahead of Barcelona in second and 10 clear of third-placed Girona with eight matches left.

The result hit fourth-placed Bilbao's hopes of securing a place in next season's Champions League as they are only one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, who play at Villarreal on Monday.

BARCELONA — Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves can be released from jail on a $1.1 million bail while he appeals his rape conviction, after serving about a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence, a Barcelona court ruled on Wednesday.

The conditions for Alves' release include relinquishing both his Brazilian and Spanish passports so he cannot leave Spain as well as an obligation to appear before the court on a weekly basis or whenever summoned.

The court also imposed a restraining order barring Alves from coming within 3,300 feet of the victim.

Soccer fans in the United States are getting spoiled this summer. Not only will the Copa América be hosted in the States, but some of the world’s biggest clubs have announced summer tours in the USA.

Top teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan will all play games stateside this summer.

The friendlies will take place at the end of July and start of August meaning there won’t be any overlap with the Copa América or Euros. Both international tournaments conclude on July 14.

Real Madrid survived a real scare from RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday as Vinicius Jr. scored a critical goal in a 1-1 draw and 2-1 victory on aggregate to book a spot in the quarterfinals.

Fans have a big question about Real Madrid’s win. Should Vini. Jr have even been on the field when he scored his goal?

A controversial moment took place in the 54th minute when the Brazilian winger caught Leipzig’s Willi Orbán late on a tackle. When Orbán confronted Vini Jr. about the tackle the Real Madrid man shoved the defender in the upper chest/throat area.

Johnny Cardoso might be the hottest player for the United States men’s national team as February comes to a close. The 22-year-old continued his fantastic start with LaLiga side Real Betis on Sunday with a brilliant goal.

BARCELONA — Brazilian footballer Dani Alves was convicted of raping a woman in the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison on Thursday, which he will appeal.

The top court in Spain's Catalonia region also ordered Alves, who has been jailed on remand for over a year and repeatedly changed his story, to pay $163,000 to the victim.

The appearances of Americans in Europe’s most prestigious club competition has become a norm in the past few decades. With players like Weston McKennie who has played in five straight editions of the competition and Christian Pulisic who won the tournament in 2021 with Chelsea, the UEFA Champions League has gotten accustomed to seeing the United States’ best.

With appearances, though, comes the most important part of the game and an honor that many of today’s American Champions League stars have under their belt in the tournament — scoring goals.