The Spanish absolute men's coach, Luis de la Fuente, gave this Monday at noon the list of called-up players for Spain for the next football World Cup. The coach of la roja will concentrate in the coming weeks and during the World Cup event a group of players with a notable presence of Catalan players (nine) and from Barça, which is by far the club with the most representation (eight players) in a call-up that for the first time in history has no Real Madrid player. From Atlètic de Madrid, Arsenal and Athletic Club there are three players per team. The rest of the clubs that contribute talent (Chelsea, Manchester City, Osasuna, Celta de Vigo, Reial Societat, PSG, Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace) contribute with a single footballer each.

Barça has been reported to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office due to the "sponsorship signed in mid-2025 with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the document registered on May 5, which ARA has accessed, it is specified that the complaint is directed against the club, against "the [Barça] directors responsible for the litigious contract" and against the Central African country's Minister of Sports, Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga. It is requested that they be investigated for alleged crimes of money laundering, prevarication, and embezzlement of public funds. The procedure arises from an initiative by Congolese citizens residing in Spain and is coordinated with another action that was launched regarding the sponsorship that the Congo itself signed with Monaco. This complaint has been investigated by the Principality's justice system since March 6, after the French system declared itself incompetent in the first instance.

Pep Guardiola leaves Manchester City. After days when everyone knew the secret, this Friday it has been made official with a farewell video from the Catalan coach. It was a logical step, as it will allow the Santpedor-born manager to be bid farewell by his fans this Sunday in the last match of the season. On Monday night, the Daily Mail reported on Guardiola's decision to end this victorious cycle in which he has managed to make Manchester City one of the best teams in the world. Now it is official.

Barça closes a perfect home season with a new victory. The azulgranas beat Betis on the day that Robert Lewandowski said goodbye to the azulgrana fans after four seasons. Here are some immediate thoughts.

The Vega Andújar family founded a project in the sports events sector in 1999. They organized a Coca-Cola Cup and some summer camps. The idea evolved towards the distribution of sportswear, and at the beginning of the 2000s, it grew to have eight multi-brand stores. From this initiative, Gedo (Gestión de Eventos Deportivos y Ocio) was born, founded in May 2002, and it grew to the point of outfitting more than 800 sports clubs throughout the country. In Catalonia, l’Hospitalet, Llagostera, Terrassa, and Reus were part of its client portfolio. But what seemed like a solvent business was not so much in reality. In fact, up to five transactions by brothers Ricard and Jordi Vega to raise funds for the company have ended up in court due to non-payment. Other attempts to capitalize Gedo, which today is a project in limbo, have involved several professional footballers. Most have lost their money and their faith in recovering it.

Barça fell in Vitoria in the first of the three formalities left in the League (1-0). Hansi Flick presented a team rich in rotations. Next, some quick notes.

"I regret to inform you that I will not resign." Thus began Florentino Pérez's first press conference in 13 years. The all-powerful white president urgently summoned the media this Tuesday afternoon, but did not announce the name of the new first-team coach after two years without titles. Nor did he say he was resigning due to his advanced age. Quite the contrary: more belligerent than ever against "the bad guys," he announced elections "for the coming weeks" and challenged those Madridistas who want to dispute his position. "'Where is Florentino?' they ask. They say I don't exist, that I'm sick, that I have terminal cancer... I take this opportunity to tell the people who worry about me that I preside over Real Madrid every day and that I am in perfect health," stated the leader.

Barça on Sunday put the finishing touch to a fantastic League in the most brilliant way. It had never happened before and 62,000 Barcelona fans were privileged witnesses. Confirming and celebrating the championship at Camp Nou with a victory against Real Madrid is orgasmic. But doing so after the farce that the white dressing room has gifted in recent days, with fisticuffs, stitches, leaks, and disciplinary proceedings, elevates the climax to superlative levels. Not even the most optimistic culé would have imagined such an outcome. It's hilarious, as Kylian Mbappé has already done.

Eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Albacete, runners-up in the Spanish Super Cup, defeated by Bayern in the Champions League, and eleven points behind Barça in La Liga with only twelve remaining to be played. With the classic on Sunday at Camp Nou (9 p.m.) still to come, Real Madrid will complete another blank season. What was supposed to be an exciting year for Madrid fans has ended up becoming a nightmare. Xabi Alonso was supposed to bring titles back to the Bernabéu, but his ideas were never fully embraced in the locker room, much less by Florentino Pérez, who in January decided to let him go and put Álvaro Arbeloa in charge. Four months later, the results have not materialized, and the locker room has been engulfed by a hostile atmosphere. The all-powerful white president will have to roll up his sleeves in the summer to restore stability.

Hansi Flick had planned to go see Mago Pop's show on Sunday evening, but a technical problem "of force majeure" caused the Valles magician to suspend the performance. Consequently, the Barça coach was left with no other plan than to follow the Espanyol-Madrid game, in which only a white triumph prevented the mathematical achievement of his second League in two seasons on the blaugrana bench. Due to two goals from Vinícius, the celebration will be delayed by at least a week and will remain pending to achieve just one point out of the twelve available. The quickest way – and also the most pleasant – will be to get it this Sunday at the Camp Nou, in a classic that the culers will face with their belts loosened.

After a capital victory on the always charged field of Getafe (0-2), Hansi Flick gave his disciples three days off. The Barça coach has taken advantage of the break to spend a few days in Germany with his family. Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia and Eric Garcia have needed less warm clothing, deciding to rent a small boat and get wet in some corner of the Costa Brava. While his teammates enjoyed a well-deserved decompression time, Lamine Yamal began to focus on recovering from the first muscular injury he has suffered as a footballer. He suffered it shortly before halftime during Celta's visit to Camp Nou a week ago. He needed to be substituted just after converting the penalty that meant the goal of a tight victory (1-0). When he shot from eleven meters, he was already injured. The biceps femoris of his left leg had said enough at the moment he dribbled past Yoel Lago in the play that Munuera Montero punished with a penalty.

Hard-fought victory for Barça that could be worth a League (0-2). Fermín and Rashford resolve the paperwork in a well-contested clash in Getafe. Below, some immediate thoughts.

Three golden points for Barça in a match marked by Lamine Yamal's injury and a first half that lasted 67 minutes (1-0). La Liga, closer. Next, some immediate thoughts.

It has been more than a month since Camp Nou has been operating with the first two stands full. After uncomfortable tug-of-wars with technicians from the Barcelona City Council, Barça was able to implement phase 1C of the stadium's reopening to aim to accommodate a maximum of 62,000 people inside. The current season will end with this capacity, despite considerable progress in the construction of the third stand, which will house more than 40,000 spectators, reaching a capacity of 105,000.

It couldn't be. Here are some hot takes.

It wasn't meant to be. Barça, eliminated from the Champions League after falling just short of a comeback (1-2). Despite finishing with ten players, the Catalans pushed until the end. Here are some immediate thoughts.

The Camp Nou hosted a derby that ended with a blaugrana thrashing and half a League in the bag. The celebration on the pitch was justified, even if Pol Lozano and other Espanyol players didn't seem to agree. The culé players sang and jumped near the cheering stand, which has once again livened up the matches in the stadium after many months of punishment.

The starting eleven of Barça in the derby against Espanyol contrasted, and a lot, with what Atlético de Madrid presented against Sevilla. While the Blaugranas made some small rotations but maintained the backbone of the starting team, the Mattress makers made many rotations. This is how the story ended on the scoreboard: Barça won and left La Liga almost sealed; on the other hand, Atlético de Madrid lost in Seville. While it is true that Cholo Simeone had some notable absences, he took the Champions League into much greater account, aware that in the league tournament he has nothing left to fight for and that he prefers a starting eleven with fresh legs in the second leg of the quarter-finals.

Barça has La Liga within their grasp. In a very tough match against Atlético de Madrid, the Barcelona players secured three golden points that extend their lead over Real Madrid to seven in the standings with eight matchdays remaining. Here are some immediate thoughts.

Real Madrid projects an image of financial solidity that aligns with its results-based sporting DNA. However, if a detailed reading is made of the latest audited economic snapshot – at the midpoint of the 2025-26 financial year –, cracks are observed that call this narrative into question. Without denying its power as a global brand, on par with other football giants like Barça itself, PSG, or the Premier League titans, the institution led by Florentino Pérez has made available to its members documentation of 112 pages that raises some alarms.According to this latest update, the club presents a total liability of 1,780 million euros if the debt associated with the renovation of the Santiago Bernabéu is included, a stadium that is not yet finished and has requested three credit extensions so far. This is a significant magnitude that conditions Madrid's financial structure, although in comparison to Barça, which exceeds 2,500 million euros if ordinary gross debt and the credit operation to renovate the Camp Nou are added together, the absolute figure is lower than that of the Blaugrana.