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Major League Soccer deserves more attention from Americans

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Soccer in the U.S. is not as important as other sports like football or baseball. But it should be. Everywhere else it’s known as football, but in the U.S. it’s soccer because football is a completely different sport. Major League Soccer (MLS) is rapidly growing in popularity both in participation and interest. This is not a “retirement” league anymore. Now, players come to this league to play high-quality soccer. Young-talented players are moving to this league to increase their level and hope that’ll help them jump to play in Europe. Therefore, MLS should get more media attention and more interest from Americans. Fans from other sports should also follow soccer as it evolves in the upcoming years. For instance, in Argentina, soccer is like a religion to them. People do anything they can to watch a soccer match and support their favorite teams. They even missed work on the past Copa Libertadores Final between Boca Juniors and their rivals River Plate. Why can’t that soccer cult...
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Ready for the next challenge!

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Next: Round of 16 FC Barcelona faced Tottenham Hotspurs at home as their final match in the Champions League for the group stages. Barcelona was already classified to the next round but Tottenham needed a positive result at the Camp Nou to advance with Barcelona to the next round. Therefore, Barcelona presented a young-unexperienced line-up to face the matchup. On the other hand, Tottenham went at it with their best players to gain a positive result that would put them through the next round.  Although Barcelona had a young and unexperienced team on the field, they still kept the style of playing from the club which is to keep possession of the ball to approach the goal. They created many chances of goal that couldn’t be capitalized. But, they took the lead early in the game in the 7 th minute of the game with a magnificent goal by Dembele. He started the counter-attack almost in half field when Tottenham lost the ball and he sprinted all the way to the goal to score....
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The Catalan Derby Match

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What a victory at the rival’s stadium! As part of their local competition in the Spanish League, Barcelona had to face their region rival Espanyol at their home. So far, Espanyol had been a strong team in the competition. Barcelona had a tough test going away at their region rival’s home. But, Barcelona came out with the win at the end with a sensational performance once again by the team. Barcelona’s starters came back into the pitch like Suarez, Messi, and Rakitic who were rested by Valverde in the Spanish cup match in midweek.  Barcelona dominated the game, but Espanyol had a couple of good chances towards the goal that they couldn’t capitalize. The breakthrough in the game was going to be made by Barcelona’s Captain, the one and only Lionel Messi. He scored a sensational free kick from outside the box in the 17 th minute of the game to give Barca the lead. The second goal was scored by Dembele assisted by Messi in the 26 th minute of the game with a sensational curving...
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Copa del Rey matchup

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Strong finish at home! As part of the second leg in the Spanish Cup competition, FC Barcelona faced Cultural Leonesa at home to decide who was going to advance to the next round. Barcelona won the first game 1-0 and the Camp Nou was the perfect place to make a great performance and advance to the next round. Cultural Leonesa seemed to want to win the game in the first minutes because they were pushing up the field making Barcelona to defend themselves in their own half.  The home team wasn’t finding the right passes to the right players on the field. Ernesto Valverde gave rest to some of his starter players to give the chance to others who don’t get as much minutes in the Liga. Anyways, the breakthrough in the game was going to be made by Munir in the 18 th minute of the game with a sensational kick inside the box. He was showing the coach that he can also score goals when the team needs it or when Suarez isn’t playing. Another player that had a phenomenal performance ...
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FIRST PLACE on every competition

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Back on top! Barcelona had the chance to get back on top of the table in the Spanish League at home against Villareal. And they didn’t waste the chance to jump back on top of the table. Therefore, the Barcelona’s lineup looked pretty solid with a few absences due to injury like Arthur, Sergi Roberto, and their star forward Luis Suarez. The home side started dominating the game by keeping the possession of the ball, creating chances with Dembele and Messi. Although Barcelona controlled the game, the visitors found their way to create some chances of goal, but they couldn’t put it in the back of the net.  They were missing that forward in the center to get the centers coming from the sides of the pitch by Dembele and Coutinho. Yes, they were missing Suarez to complement their attack. But they kept insisting by sending centers to the box through the wingers. Furthermore, in one of these centers, the ball found a receiver to header it in the back of the net. Gerard Pique once ...
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Leaders of group B!

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Good victory away from home As part of their European competition in the Champions League, Barcelona played away in Netherlands against PSV Eindhoven. Barcelona was already qualified for the next round but wanted the victory to win the group and advance as first. Therefore, the team didn’t defend all game instead they created many chances that would’ve been capitalize into goals. On the other hand, PSV wanted to get the three points at home because of their hopes to get that third place in the group so they could then play in the Europa League knockout rounds.  As the game got underway, Barcelona started to play their game with few chances in between for PSV that they couldn’t capitalize. The first half went scoreless as both teams couldn’t find the breakthrough. A different story was to play out in the second half of the game. Barcelona finally found the breakthrough with a sensational goal by their captain Lionel Messi in the 61 st minute. To double their lead, Gerard Pi...
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Club Competition is back!

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What a game at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium!!!! After the international break, club competition returned to its normal phase. In the Spanish League, one of the most attractive games took place on November 24 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. The home side, Atletico de Madrid faced Barcelona with an incredible atmosphere by the local fans. It was a very physical game because both teams are top teams in the Spanish League and both are hoping to win the title at the end of the season.  The first half of the game went scoreless as the home side couldn’t finish the chances that they created. Barcelona couldn’t find their key players like Messi to finish the plays. It was a tough game for both sides as they battle through the first half trying to find the breakthrough. Atletico de Madrid is always a challenge for Barcelona because of the quality of their players and their good coaching staff commanded by Diego Simeone. And, playing at their stadium was even more difficult f...
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