Raphael Dias Belloli, Raphinha, is injured again. In the midst of debate about his immediate future at Barça, the Culer attacker fell in the second match the Brazilian national team played in the World Cup. Same problem, same muscle. In the 40th minute of the duel against Haiti (3-0), he felt a twinge in his right thigh and had to ask to be substituted. There is a tear in the hamstring fibers and he will hardly play again in this championship, although the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) will keep him called up in case they can recover him for the playoffs. It is terrible news for the canarinha and also for a footballer exposed to the benefits of petrodollars.

The signing of Marc Cucurella by Real Madrid has not only caused a stir due to his past as a Barcelona player, but it has also brought to light a list with so few names that it has only increased on two occasions in the last two decades. While it is true that we find notable cases of footballers who, in their professional careers, have worn both the Barça and the white team's jersey – Zamora, Schuster, Hagi, Lopetegui, Prosinecki, Laudrup, Figo, Luis Enrique, Alfonso Pérez, Ronaldo Nazário, Eto'o, Saviola, and Marcos Alonso–, the list of players raised at La Masia who have become professionals for the white team is shorter.

Spain, with four Blaugrana players in the starting eleven –Cubarsí, Pedri, Gavi and Ferran–, was unable to break the deadlock (0-0) against Cape Verde, a country with just over half a million inhabitants. Vozinha was the hero for his team against a Spanish side that, even with the introduction of Lamine Yamal twenty minutes from the end, could not change the outcome of the match.

Marc Cucurella is the new player for Real Madrid. The Catalan full-back, trained at La Masia, will wear white for the next six seasons after a lightning operation worked on in silence by the white club, which will pay 60 million between fixed and variables for a starting player for the Spanish national team who was on the market.

The arrival of José Mourinho at Real Madrid generates a change in the paradigm of the wide range of signings managed and controlled by super-agent Jorge Mendes. The Portuguese representative and problem-solver has operated quite a bit in recent years with Barça, as he maintains a good understanding with president Joan Laporta. This is how, for example, operations such as the landing of footballers like João Félix three seasons ago at the blaugrana discipline can be read. Although it was not a request from Xavi Hernández, who was then still the blaugrana coach, Mendes brought him to Barça with Laporta's approval because the super-agent, in the same way that he unblocks operations for club directors – he has been in charge of solving hot potatoes like Ansu Fati's – also uses his influence to satisfy the wishes of his players.

The interview that Xavi Hernández gave to La Vanguardia during the last electoral campaign bothered Joan Laporta, who was running for re-election, and Alejandro Echevarría, his right-hand man without a position at Barça. The former blaugrana coach had remained silent since his turbulent departure from the club, after having been ratified in his position in a press conference where Laporta even shed tears the day after the sushi night to end up firing him. Xavi ended up parting ways with the president-elect and with Echevarría, who, although in 2021 he was the main supporter of his return, the coach also considers him one of the architects of his dismissal. Basically, he felt betrayed by him.

The duel between the national teams of Mexico and South Africa this Thursday (9 p.m., RTVE) at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City will kick off the World Cup. Millions of fans around the planet will follow the premier competition of national team football, which will extend until July 19 in the format with the most teams (48) in history. It will also be the World Cup played in the most stadiums: sixteen, the majority in the United States, although there will also be three venues in Mexico and two in Canada.

Before debuting in his first World Cup and after a season with Barça in which he has re-edited the title of League champion and the Spanish Super Cup, Lamine Yamal has revealed some inner details on his personal YouTube channel. In a relaxed conversation, at different daily moments such as a car journey, the blaugrana star and the Spanish national team has confessed that he thought he would win the Ballon d'Or, which was finally awarded to Ousmane Dembélé, and has explained the positive impact that not lifting the award had on him.

Florentino Pérez will be president of Real Madrid until 2030, or at least that's what the results of this Sunday's elections at the white club indicate, which will be remembered for a chaotic vote count. With this new four-year mandate, Florentino will be close to almost 30 years at the helm of the club (he has been there since 2000 with a single interruption between 2006 and 2009). Now, he begins a new stage marked by internal, but also external challenges. For the first time, he will have active opposition. Enrique Riquelme, his opponent in the elections, to whom 35% of the members have given their support –a figure that has been interpreted as a wake-up call to Florentino–, has made it clear that he has come to stay: "This is not the end of anything, but the beginning of a path". But what will this path be like? And above all, will he be the only stumbling block for the white president?

It has rained since that January 27, 2024, when, after being thrashed (3-5) against Villarreal at Montjuïc, Xavi Hernández hit rock bottom and announced at the post-match press conference that he would say goodbye to the bench "at the end of the season." There were still twists to come, such as the "sushi night at Joan Laporta's house, a tearful press conference from the president to ratify him in his post, and yet another final dramatic turn to fire him at the end of the season. The former bluegrana footballer and coach ended up parting ways with Laporta and his main advisor, Alejandro Echevarría, who, although he was the main supporter of his return in 2021, the coach also considers him one of the architects of his dismissal. Basically, he felt betrayed.

Anthony Gordon is the first signing for Barça for the third season with Hansi Flick. The 25-year-old English international footballer has reached an agreement with the Catalan club. This week, the Barça sporting director, Deco, has been in England negotiating with Newcastle United. The agreement between the three parties is now a fact and the footballer will sign his contract with Barça this Friday at 13:00 in the office of interim president Rafael Yuste. Afterwards, he will be presented at a press conference.

It's not just a Spanish squad without any Real Madrid players for the first time in World Cup history, it's also a squad full of Barcelona players – up to eight, a feat the white club has never achieved – with a marked anti-Madrid accent due to the historic rivalry between the two clubs. The list, which is still causing a stir, caused havoc in a Real Madrid fully immersed in an electoral process.

The adaptation of Joan Garcia went faster than they imagined, they confess to ARA from the heart of the Barça dressing room. There was a conviction within Hansi Flick's technical staff and the sporting management led by Deco that he would be a signing "for immediate performance", but the parameters recorded in the first training sessions confirmed the success. The German coach was quick to state in a press conference that Joan had come to be "number one" in goal, and thus ended any rumors about a dispute for the position with a Ter Stegen who would end up experiencing a ordeal with injuries.

In a very short time, two decades will have passed since Joan Laporta chose Pep Guardiola as first-team coach. Besides sporting a few more gray hairs, can you imagine how the path of our Barça would have been if José Mourinho had taken the reins of the bench? Laporta, with all his strengths and weaknesses, chose with his heart. And he was absolutely right. No one can doubt his intuition: Hansi Flick is the contemporary example. Guardiola arrived at the bench after winning the Third Division league with Barça Atlètic. A title that he has always made sure to highlight in an extensive and successful record that, if it doesn't make him the best coach in history (for the one writing these lines, he is), it's close.

The staging in Vitoria was not bad, despite the team coming from the sweet hangover of Monday's parade through the streets of a Barcelona that was filled with hope. A Barça full of substitutes started with energy, but when you change more than half of the starters, it's normal for things not to work out. Alavés, a rival with their backs to the wall and who gave the azulgranas a champion's guard of honor, secured three vital points to stay in the top flight thanks to a goal from Diabaté before halftime (1-0). There will be no 100-point League, a symbolic title that will remain in the hands of Tito Vilanova.

The flag of Palestine that Lamine Yamal waved for about five minutes from the bus of the Liga del Barça celebration was held by a fan who was following the parade for a while. The azulgrana star maintained a low profile during the party, until on Passeig de Gràcia, before reaching the parade stop right in front of Casa Batlló, he himself asked for the flag to be brought to him. He did not shy away from the cameras while waving it: many fans captured an image that ended up going around the world for its symbolic and political weight.

Barça is once again the League champion. In his second season as a blaugrana, Hansi Flick has achieved a historic feat that fills Barcelonism with pride: to crown the League against Real Madrid and, moreover, in a Camp Nou packed to the rafters that was a celebration from even before the start of the match. Barça once again rules the championship. Below, 10 key moments from the journey to the re-edition of the title.

Barça culminated a historic night to remember. The 2-0 victory allows the azulgranas to conquer the 29th League in their history, the second consecutive one since Hansi Flick's arrival at the bench. The Camp Nou experienced a night full of joy in what was a party from the first moment. Rashford and Ferran Torres put the 2-0 just after the start of the match against a Real Madrid that closed a week to forget —with internal fights included— seeing how the eternal rival won (and lifted) the League right in front of their noses.

Barça is once again the League champion. In his second season as a Blaugrana, Hansi Flick has achieved a historic feat that fills Barcelonism with pride: to put the finishing touch to the League against Real Madrid (2-0) and, moreover, in a Camp Nou packed to the rafters and which has been a party since even before the start of the match.