Barça returns to Istanbul, where football is perhaps experienced with more passion than at home. A city with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia, where three giant clubs coexist that seem willing to do anything to rule: Fenerbahçe, Besiktas, and this Tuesday's opponent, Galatasaray. Clichés say that Galatasaray has the most fans, with a more popular touch and a social base often made up of immigrants coming from the rest of Turkey. Fenerbahçe prides itself on being a team for lifelong Istanbulites, secular people who look towards Europe and revere the father of modern Turkey, Atatürk. And Besiktas is the club with a more progressive fanbase. Clichés that are not always true, since within every fanbase there is a bit of everything.

Few teams have the heart and character of this Sabadell. With a small budget and many players making their debut in the Second Division, Ferran Costa's team is having a perfect start to the season and today they took the three points from Ceuta's field in a match where all the stars were aligned against the Vallesans (1-2). But this Sabadell does not believe in stars or luck. They believe in hard work and sacrifice, and that is how they won their first away game of the season, after three draws and one defeat. Baena, with two goals, was the hero of the match.

Who can stop this Barça? It is a giant that rolls over rivals who shrink as the game progresses. Hansi Flick has a plan to win everything and puts it into practice methodically. His team defeats opponents with a ease that can often be deceiving, because it seems too easy. Usually, when you have to face José Bordalás's Getafe, you find yourself condemned to an unpleasant combat with an opponent that sticks to you like a tick. And many times, after an international break, you drop points in trap games like this one. Things of the past. Flick's Barça seems to have solutions for any obstacle and with a new 3-0 thrashing, it equaled the record for the best start in the club's history in La Liga, with eight wins in eight games. A record that dated back to the era of Tata Martino.

The Catalan Ai Tsunoda has touched the sky after years of a career full of sacrifices in judo and has been proclaimed champion in the up to 70 kg category of the World Championships that are being held in Baku. The fighter from Lleida prevailed in the final against the Austrian Michaela Polleres, one of the greatest milestones in the history of Catalan judo.

This is the story of three friends who cannot spend much time away from the water. Three men with their own jobs. One is an architect, another works at a hospital, and the third one works at a bank. And all three were great athletes. Dani Serra participated in the swimming events at the Seoul '88 Olympic Games, Sergi Roure did so at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and Àlex Amorós was an international water polo player. Good friends, all three kept swimming. And they liked to do it in open water when they spent the weekend on the Costa Brava.

For years, the figure of Cristiano Ronaldo did not fascinate me at all. I saw him as the villain of the movie. Yes, a great goalscorer, but I saw him as arrogant, overbearing, without values. Over the years his figure has fascinated me more, not out of admiration. Nowadays he makes me suffer. Behind the walls of the fortress he has built, Ronaldo lives surrounded by luxury. But something makes me think that deep down he is not happy. Those of us who are not millionaires often tend to think that money brings happiness, but we are old enough to understand that this is not the case. There are many millionaires who have planes, estates, and cars of all kinds and keep chasing who knows what.

Cristiano Ronaldo remains obsessed with always being right. The veteran Portuguese forward published a statement yesterday in which he directly attacks coach Jorge Jesus, whom he accuses of having "broken his word" for not playing him in the match against Norway played in Oslo after he had warmed up for half an hour. Ronaldo left the Portuguese training camp after the argument he had with Jorge Jesus and was no longer on the bench for the match played against the Scandinavians on Portuguese soil. Without him, the national team has continued to win its matches, while the Portuguese press wonders if the retirement of the 41-year-old footballer is not already approaching.

Where were we on August 17, 2005? That day Lionel Messi made his debut with the senior Argentine national team in Budapest against Hungary. And after just a few minutes he had already been unfairly sent off. Who could have imagined then everything that destiny had prepared for the footballer from Rosario. 21 years later, Messi has decided to close this chapter. This early morning he played his last match with the Argentine national team against Benin. A somewhat lackluster friendly that ended with a 3-0 rout. With his last goal and his last two assists in a match in which he played all 90 minutes. Although a career with such glory perhaps deserved a more dignified final act than this friendly. Or perhaps the opponent and the narrative of the match mattered little. The most important thing had been written in the previous two decades.

There is a long way to go until the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. The third Games in history on Australian territory, after Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000, are making progress and, for the moment, facing a lot of problems. This very week the mascots and official logos were revealed, but, due to human error, they were leaked a few days before the ceremony in which they were to be officially presented.

Sabadell's first draw of the season playing at home, after a very tense duel with few chances against Andorra (0-0). The 'arlequinat' team tried harder than a visiting side that did not even manage to force a corner in their favor. But when Sabadell reached the edge of the rival goal, they ran out of resources, beyond some deflected long-range shots.

The storm arriving in Catalonia has caused the suspension of sports activities and "those involving travel to the regions affected by the Inuncat plan due to the intensity and risk of rain accumulation on the coast and the pre-coastal area", as reported by the Generalitat. The Second Division match between Sabadell and Andorra, scheduled for 6:30 PM, is one of the affected events. After hours of talks, the League finally agreed to postpone the match after speaking with both parties. The match will be played, pending official confirmation, this Sunday at 9 PM, coinciding with the Girona match. The Girona team plays at 9 PM against Mallorca, a match that is currently going ahead. Another affected football match is the Primera RFEF game between Sant Andreu and Antequera, scheduled for 8 PM at the Can Dragó field. The match will be played this Sunday at 5:30 PM.

The most open MotoGP World Championship in years is knocking many contenders out of the running and it seems it could be a duel between two men: Marc Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP26) and Jorge Martín (Aprilia RS-GP). Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP26) has had a perfect weekend: he won the Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi circuit after also triumphing on Saturday in the sprint race. Two victories to put pressure on the World Championship leader. Martín finished second and sees how the difference between the two in the general standings is cut to just two points, with six races to go. The Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia RS-GP) is third.

On July 18, 1921, the police had to charge in front of the Chicago courthouse to push back the crowd that wanted to get inside. The main courtroom was packed with people so worked up that the judge kept threatening to clear the room if silence wasn't maintained every few minutes. It was the most high-profile case in years in the United States: eight Chicago White Sox baseball players were on trial, accused of deliberately losing the 1919 World Series in exchange for money offered by a mobster who wanted to win money betting. It was as if Barça or Madrid players were being tried for accepting money to lose a Cup final. Non-sporting scandals have been part of the day-to-day life of professional sports for over a century.

The life of Muhamed Conteh changed completely the first day he stepped into the Top King Training Center gym in Malgrat de Mar. His uncle advised him to practice sports and thought about martial arts. And Muha, who knew nothing at all about Muay Thai, found a path. Now he is the amateur champion of Catalonia and the champion of the Spanish Cup of this sport born in Thailand. And he has been competing for just one year. A year in which he has not yet lost a single fight.

Tourists and onlookers watched this Monday as two boats crossed the waters of the port of Barcelona with a bunch of smiling young people on board. They were the players of CN Atlètic Barceloneta, who were showing anyone who wanted to see it the most dreamed-of cup: the water polo Champions League. After more than a decade of hard work, with hits taken and disappointments, the sailor team won its second European crown a few months ago. And to present the new season, the club boasted of the achievement: "When a few months ago we went to Malta to play the final phase, we first did a kind of symbolic act with a boat through the port, to bond. And now that we have won, we have repeated it," said captain Alberto Munárriz. And that is how traditions are born. Within the club, it has already been internalized that if one reigns in Europe, they will cross the port on a boat every season. But president Julían García is not satisfied. He wants more. "One day we will all make this boat trip together. You are the next ones," he said, looking at the players of the women's team.

Anthony Gordon explains that when he was three years old he already knew he wanted to play for Barça. He watched the Catalan club's matches on television and when it was time to choose a team in video games, he did not hesitate. He would bet on Barça, the club he dreamed of playing for, convinced that his destiny was written. And in this case, he was right. Even though his family were Liverpool fans, little Anthony had more in common with Guardiola, Iniesta or Xavi when he played, than with Steven Gerrard, his idol. And in fact, as has happened to many midfielders trained at La Masia, Gordon was also told that he was too small a boy. Too short and thin. He didn't have the body and energy of Steven Gerrard. So the Liverpool Academy closed its door to him. Initially, they didn't want him at Everton either, although that club realized their mistake shortly after and brought him back, making him debut in the First Division. At Liverpool, on the other hand, they didn't realize Gordon's potential until recently, when he was already playing in the Champions League with Newcastle. It was already too late.

After a decade living away from home, one of the great names of local water polo returns to Catalonia. Albert Español (Barcelona, 1985) has traveled half the world thanks to this sport, from China to Italy. Now retired as a player, he will coach CN Sabadell. For the moment, he has already achieved a first success by overcoming the first phase of the Champions League in a very tough group played in Georgia. The great challenge for the team from Vallès is huge: to stand up to Atlètic Barceloneta, the European champion. That is to say, the club where Albert was trained, where he won everything and where the coach is one of his best friends.

Sabadell continues to add points. Ferran Costa's team drew at Balaídos against Celta's reserve team in a match where they carried the weight of the game but lacked firepower (1-1). The territorial dominance of the 'arlequinats' did not translate into clear chances in a match where they always showed the ambition to win away from home for the first time. Sabadell, however, seems to have been in the division their whole lives, even though they are one of the newcomers. They have craft and ambition. And they know how to take a hit, only to get back up afterwards.

A few weeks ago, Miquel Mañé (Calafell, 2003) was proclaimed world champion of aerobic gymnastics for the third time. A growing discipline of which Mañé has become the best-known face thanks to his good results and the magic he conveys while competing. Miquel visits ARA happy, after having achieved two of his goals: a new world title and a university degree in biochemistry at the UB. A tireless guy who achieves what he sets out to do without losing his smile.

In 1982, José Mourinho was beginning to suspect that he would not succeed as a footballer. His dream was to score goals. But he lacked talent. On every pitch, people said about him that he was just the son of Félix, his father. A man who had played more than 10 years as a goalkeeper in the First Division, in which he had won a cup with Vitória de Setúbal and had played a match with the Portuguese national team. The father was working as a coach at the time and tried to help him. In fact, he even called him up for a Rio Ave match, an act that caused a fight with the president, who accused the father of wanting to nepotistically slot in a son without talent. The fight was so notorious that both the father and the son ended up being fired. To understand José Mourinho's mind, one must understand the wounds, defeats, and frustrations that he carried for many years.