The Daily Ballers

Real Madrid’s spending limit for this 2021-22 season is almost eight times – or €650m (£562m) – higher than that of Barcelona’s, La Liga said on Wednesday. The Spanish league allows teams to spend a certain amount on new players, signings, salaries, coaching staff and their academies relating to income and losses. And Barcelona, who have notably struggled financially in recent years, have seen their spending limit reduced to less than a third of what it was last season. Such

Barcelona's European campaign is on the cliff after Benfica beat them 3-0 in Lisbon on Wednesday. Darwin Nunez scored twice, the second a penalty, and Rafa Silva was also on target as Barca suffered back-to-back defeats in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2000. Eric Garcia was also sent off late on after receiving a second yellow card to compound the misery on a Barca side who lost their first game of the competition 3-0 to Bayern Munich at Camp Nou.

Liverpool cruised to a comfortable 5-1 Champions League win over Porto in Portugal, with Mohamed Salah netting twice to take his Reds scoring run to six appearances in a row. Liverpool was dominant throughout, controlling the game for large parts and rarely breaking a sweat at the back. Porto also didn’t help themselves and three of the five goals were the result of poor goalkeeping, which the visitors gladly took advantage of. Salah broke the deadlock in 20 minutes when he w

Carlo Ancelotti addressed the media to offer his thoughts on the Champions League group stage Matchday 2 encounter against Sheriff Tiraspol. The coach commented that “We’re feeling down rather than being worried because we had the chance to have got the three points. The team did its job and played with great intensity and commitment and the fine margins have ended up costing us the game. We had lots of chances and could have done better in the final 30 metres. It’s difficult

A shocker at the Bernabeu as Sheriff Tiraspol beat Real Madrid 2-1 after a sensational 89th-minute winner. The drama unfolded at the Santiago Bernabeu as debutants 'Sheriff Tiraspol' stunned The Blancos in what was a highly physical affair. The Moldovan club played a highly defensive game and relied on counterattacks for their goals. Sheriff registered only 2 shots on target and had a 100% success rate scoring 2 out of both the shots. Real Madrid had the advantage of dominati

The Premier League champions were the architects of their own downfall, letting far too many attacks break down with the wrong pass or shot, as Pep Guardiola's men came up short against the Ligue 1 giants ahead of a pivotal League clash against Liverpool at the weekend. Though the visitors were on top all night, a clinical PSG side scored with two of their first three shots on target to come away comfortable winners on the night. Jack Grealish was the biggest disappointment o

Barca and Benfica face off at the group stage. Following a confident win over Levante on the weekend, Barcelona now returns to action as they travel to Lisbon to face Benfica at the Estádio da Luz in a crucial champions league match. It was the Estádio da Luz stadium, where Barcelona faced the humiliating defeat to Bayern Munich last season. Barca is also eyeing to bounce back from the opening defeat to Bayern two weeks ago and to secure their first points this season. Bayern

TEAM NEWS Manchester City Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who suffered a knock against Southampton earlier this month, will not be fit before the next international break. Left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko is City's only other notable absentee with a calf problem. Pep Guardiola was boosted by the return of Aymeric Laporte and Rodri at Chelsea following their respective injuries and must decide on whether to manage their minutes ahead of the Liverpool clash at the weekend. John Stones

How to stop the front three "I don't know this amount of quality I don't know how to stop them,m They are so good, the talent to control they are so difficult, You have to defend well without the ball and let them run when we have the ball. They are exceptional players, everyone knows it, all of them so good. Individually and they combine so good." Defensive improvements "The season for the emergency with Laporte and John injured, play Fernandinho in that position as an alte

Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid will not face further punishment from UEFA for their role in founding the Super League. The three clubs are the only founding members of the breakaway competition that have so far refused to abandon the project. UEFA threatened the Spanish and Italian sides with legal action and it was reported they could be suspended from the Champions League, but it was announced in May that proceedings would be delayed after a Madrid court accused the go

Real Madrid get back to work in the Champions League this midweek as they host Sheriff at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday evening. Carlo Ancelotti's side sealed a dramatic late win away at his former home in their opening game of the competition, beating Inter through a late Rodrygo Goes strike. The Italian will no doubt want to build momentum off the back of that win in Milan. Sheriff Tiraspol made history when they became the first-ever Moldovan club to qualify for

Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media in an online press conference in the lead-up to Real Madrid’s second outing in this season’s Champions League campaign, which sees the Whites come up against Sheriff Tiraspol at the Santiago Bernabéu (12:30 am IST) “It’s a Champions League game. We have to prepare properly for every Champions League game. We’re really looking forward to returning to the Bernabéu because we have really fond memories of this competition. The sheriff did well i

Manchester City will confront PSG on Tuesday night on an away game, PSG are frantic to get their vengeance in the Champions League. The two monsters confronted each other in the last season where Pep Guardiola's men guaranteed a couple of triumphs and finished the Parisiens' fantasy to win a UCL. PSG drew against Club Brugge two weeks prior on an away game, Ander Herrera opened up the scoreline in the initial 15 minutes, however, Club Brugge skipper Hans Vanaken levelled befo

Barcelona cruise past Levante with a comfortable 3-0 win. Following a struggling week, Barca has tasted sweet victory. Although small, the win couldn't have come at a better time or in a better style, being Barca's first in their last four games in all competitions. This sees the Catalans climb to fifth position with 12 points from six games, five behind league leaders and arch enemies Real Madrid, while having a game in hand. In addition, the home game against Levante also m

Not many players covered themselves in glory during Liverpool‘s 3-3 draw away to Brentford, with the defensive efforts bordering on shambolic. The Reds faced the Bees for the first time in the Premier League and a fascinating game was played out in west London. Ethan Pinnock opened the scoring for Brentford in the 27th min, but Diogo Jota swiftly equalized with a well-taken header before half-time. Mohamed Salah put Liverpool in front after a VAR check, but the hosts wouldn’t

Pep Guardiola declared Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea our best performance of the season so far. INTERVIEW Jesus eager to keep up good form defending Premier League champions produced a controlled display at Stamford Bridge, dominating possession and restricting the hosts to just one shot on goal as Gabriel Jesus struck to settle a keenly fought contest. Guardiola expressed some frustration after last weekend’s draw with Southampton, when he felt his players had not e

Carlo Ancelotti appeared before the press following Real Madrid's meeting with Villarreal on LaLiga matchday seven. The coach explained: “We've kept a clean sheet and that's a positive after our recent games. If you don't have your best night, it's tough to beat Villarreal. We're still at the top of LaLiga and that's the main thing. It wasn't our best display of the season because Villarreal kept the ball well, but back near the goalkeeper so I wasn't too concerned. I was dis

Real Madrid missed the chance to go five points clear at the top of LaLiga as they were held 0-0 by Villarreal at the Bernabeu on Saturday. It was the first time this season Madrid was held scoreless after outscoring opponents 22-8 in its first seven matches in all competitions. Its 21 goals in six league games were its best mark since 1987-88. Benzema and Vinícius Júnior had been carrying Madrid’s attack so far, with at least one of them scoring in five of the first seven ma

Manchester City is finally able to emerge victorious against the London side after losing 3 times to them in various competitions at the start of the year. MATCH STATS Mancity dominated most of today's match with powerful pushes, accurate passing, and an iron wall defence. Having 15 shots with 4 of them on target Mancity had the ball in possession for 60% of the match time. The impressive 88% pass accuracy and the huge number of duels won were factors resulting in today's 1-0

Table-toppers Real Madrid will be facing Villarreal in their seventh match in the league on 26 September(12:30 AM IST) to extend their lead over second place, and city rivals Atlético Madrid. Both the teams have had contrasting performances in recent games in La Liga. Even though neither has lost a game, Madrid has won four games in a row, whereas Villarreal registered their only win of the season last week against Elche, drawing in the previous 4. Team News Real Madrid - Car

Real Madrid boss, Carlo Ancelotti, appeared in the virtual press conference ahead of his side’s clash against Villarreal, on matchday seven of LaLiga (Sunday, 12:30 am IST) "We’re up against a side with great quality and experience, who are well drilled and are used to playing games at the highest level. It’s an important game and we’ll have to be at our best to win because they’re a top side". "We have to improve on the defensive side of things. At this stage of the season,

In a bizarre and unexpected turnout of events, Ronald Koeman has now been handed a two-match touchline ban, following his red card in the 96th minute of Barcelona’s goal-less draw against Cadiz on Thursday. The Dutch coach henceforth will not be allowed on the bench for Barcelona’s next two La Liga outings, i.e against Levante at the Camp Nou on Sunday and Atletico Madrid on Saturday, October 2. Koeman complained about the red card decision after the match, which came after a