When he came out of the dressing room tunnel towards the bench, more than thirty photographers focused on José Mourinho. He was the man of the day: 13 years later he was returning to manage Real Madrid in an official match. The blame lies with 20 months without titles and a dressing room turned into a henhouse. Many fewer flashes photographed Manolo González, the main supporter of Àlex Calatrava, the young Barcelonian who seven years ago worked early mornings at Primark while playing for Parets in Primera Catalana and who yesterday almost spoiled the Portuguese coach's return to the League. The young Carlos Espí prevented it in the 90th minute with a saving goal for the Madridistas, who are starting this second spell with the Setúbal coach on the bench on the right foot (1-2).One of the tasks that Florentino has entrusted to the new coach is to fit Vinícius and Mbappé on the pitch, who at Madrid seem like oil and water. In Cornellà, on the Portuguese's debut, both were starters. Bellingham too, who arrived four days ago from vacation and who was one of the big surprises in the starting eleven. The Englishman immediately justified the coach's decision: before the 10th minute he connected with a header to make it 1-0 after a great free-kick from Arda Güler.Driven by the energy of the British midfielder and Valverde, Mourinho's new Madrid began its new era like a bullet. If it weren't for Clemens Riedel, who cleared a ball off the line, and Dmitrovic, with another saving foot, Espanyol would have reached minute 21, magical at Cornellà-El Prat, with the match decided. It was a mirage. A distant shot from Riedel and a deflected header from Roberto lifted the parakeets off the canvas, who are rebels at heart and who needed very little to believe in a comeback.In the longest possession of the home team, Javi Hernández accelerated an action inside the box and, just as last week he served the 2-0 to Roberto, last night he assisted Cala for the equalizer. The Barcelonian, who just last week debuted in the First Division, shot with soul to debut in the League and score a goal against Courtois, the best goalkeeper in the world. Dreams sometimes come true. The day all the international press was focused on famous people like Mbappé, Vinícius, and Mourinho, Cala managed to shine with his own light, demonstrating that, in life, dreams can often come true.

The League returns for the reigning champions, Barça. After months of waiting, Hansi Flick's team officially begins the 2026-27 season, the third under the German coach's command. It will be this Sunday (9:30 PM) at Elche's stadium in the match corresponding to the second matchday. The Blaugranas will play the first matchday of the competition next Thursday (9:00 PM) against Athletic Club, a match postponed due to the large number of Barça players present at the World Cup final.

The cycling tour of Spain started this Saturday with a time trial in Monaco, won by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), a five-time winner of the Tour. Pogacar led the 9.4 km individual time trial held in his city of residence with a time of 10.57 minutes, averaging 50.4 km/hour. Second place went to Briton Ethan Hayter (Soudal), and third was for the day's main protagonist, Welshman Joshua Tarling (Netcompany Ineos), at 4 seconds. Riders from all teams wanted to show their affection for Tarling, who decided to participate in the race despite the death of his younger brother Finlay last Friday in the Tour of Portugal. Ineos had given Josh permission not to participate as planned, but after Finlay's funeral, the older brother decided to be at the race, which will end in Granada on September 13.

Hansi Flick went on vacation describing the desire that would define the summer: to fill the place left by Robert Lewandowski, he wanted a new striker, with associative ability and who could score goals. The letter to the Three Wise Men was no secret, and the card of Julián Álvarez was everywhere. Even at the traditional Christmas dinner that Barça organizes every year with the press, the name of the Argentine forward had already been the main protagonist of the conversations before the toasts with president Joan Laporta. The highest manager found him expensive and, during the electoral campaign, said he wanted to extend the Pole's contract for one more season, an idea that Deco never valued. The priority was Julián. What we didn't expect was that Barça would start the League without having resolved the issue and having also parted ways with Ferran Torres.

Two years ago, Girona was awaiting the Champions League draw. It looked in the mirror and saw itself as attractive. Everyone was showering it with compliments. Now, none of that exists. The team is in the Second Division and is doing what it can, mistreated as it is by a sporting management that conditions everything. Departures remain stuck and, just as happened last year, August, in terms of points, is heading for the trash. In Cordoba, they suffered their first defeat of the season (2-1), and they still haven't won. If before they were whistled at as a sign of admiration, now they are whistled at as a sign of disagreement.

Barça did not fail. Pere Romeu's team presented themselves to their fans with another great match led by Patri Guijarro – on and off the field – and with goals from Esmee Brugts, Claudia Pina, and Graham Hansen that served to overcome Brighton and win a new Joan Gamper Trophy (3-1). The performance of the new Barça goalkeeper, Tyler McCamey, also stood out, as she received the crowd's ovation and could already hear her new chant.

After winning the Spanish road championship last June, everything has gone quite smoothly for Marcel Camprubí (Barcelona, 2001). The triumph was a final duel with fellow Catalan cyclist Joel Nicolau on the tough Sabiñánigo climb. “Joel is a rival and a friend,” Camprubí explains to ARA. “He rushed a bit at the final sprint and I was able to finish him off and win. I also have the sadness of seeing him cry as he crossed the finish line. It was a bit bittersweet,” Camprubí concludes. His sports director at the Pinarello Q36.5 team is also Catalan, Àlex Sans, who he highlights was key to his victory and how he helped him through the earpiece with key phrases he received at the right moment: “He told me to come in third in the sprint.” And Marcel did. Also that “it would be a long sprint,” and so it was. And at certain moments Àlex made Camprubí understand that he was the strongest cyclist in the group and to trust himself. “It was brutal,” Àlex Sans recalls via message to ARA. Ambition shines in Marcel with his broad smile as he waits to see how his body will react when the action kicks off at La Vuelta on Saturday when the cat is let out of the bag.

At La21 nobody has a bad word about Roger Hinojo (Cabrianes, 2005). Everyone who has met him since he arrived, 12 years ago, says he is an "extraordinarily normal" guy who lives far from the clichés surrounding footballers. He left home at 16 and has gone through all the ranks of the youth academy until his debut at the RCDE Stadium last Sunday at the age of 20. He had a great game. He is the man of the week in white-and-blue terms because days later he agreed to wear the number 21, which honors Jarque's memory and gives its name to the sports city of the club of his life. And this Saturday, as a left-back, he will mark Yan Diomande, the most expensive signing in the history of a Madrid team that is premiering a coach: José Mourinho.What did you hear on Sunday?

The trial for the death of former Argentine footballer Diego Armando Maradona could be postponed for a few days due to a supposed mix-up with the results of kidney analyses, which would correspond to his father, according to Argentine media reports. The death of the former Napoli, Barça, and Boca Juniors player has become a media spectacle that attracts the attention of the Argentine public, who adored the player and are now seeing the details of the star's final years, during which he was not well cared for when he was ill, come to light.

Diego Pablo Simeone is a wily old fox. He knew that the mood of the Atlético de Madrid fans with Julián Álvarez, who has pushed hard to be transferred to Barça, was tense, and he saved him from the whistles in the mattress team's first league match at the Metropolitano. The Argentine forward was the only one of the World Cup finalists who was left out of the squad for the duel against Málaga, which was decided in the second half in favor of the locals (2-0). "He is not yet ready to continue taking care of the name he has," Cholo justified in the press conference prior to the match. In the one that followed, he ironically commented on some offensive chants heard at the stadium against Julián: "They are very respectful." Obviously, he didn't like them at all.

On days when Manchester celebrated titles in Salford, that is, at Old Trafford stadium, on the other side of the city, at City's ground, a banner was hung in the stands with a snippet of an Oasis song: “Some might say we will find a brighter day” (some might say we will find a brighter day). City was already owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, but things weren't taking off. Until things worked. And yes, much brighter days arrived.

More than 9,000 kilometers from Barcelona, Bruna Vilamala (Borgonyà, 2002) is looking to make a place for herself in one of Mexico's top teams, Club Amèrica. The Catalan forward was transferred last summer after a season on loan at English side Brighton. “It’s a project that attracts me because it reminds me a lot of Barça a few years ago. It’s very nice when you start to grow, to win…, and here things are being done very well. They bet a lot on us, they give us everything we need, and right now, I think Amèrica is already the best team in Mexico,” explains Bruna after winning the treble (Clausura, Copa de Campeones de la Concacaf, and Mexican League Championship Cup) with the American team.

The Gamper Trophy presentation, played under unbearable heat in Barcelona, ended with a modest 2-1 victory for Barcelona. Hansi Flick will be able to draw few conclusions from the last test before debuting this Sunday in the League. Below are the first hot takes of the season.

The heat that made t-shirts stick to chests and backs at Camp Nou in the middle of August did not prevent almost 55,000 people from approaching the stadium to cheer Rodri and enjoy the debut, at home, of Hansi Flick's enthusiastic 3.0 project. In a match without much history against Egyptian Al-Ahly (2-1), the Gamper began with the fans – among them many tourists, as is usual in the celebration of this match during the holiday season – bowing at the feet of the Madrid-born midfielder. The former City player did not play, but he was present at the presentation of the signings. On the other hand, Cancelo could not be there, who, although he did get dressed, Barça has not yet been able to finalize all the paperwork to make his incorporation official. While Rodri was acclaimed, Frenkie de Jong received some whistles. With the captaincy withdrawn from the Dutchman and handed over to Raphinha, it was the Brazilian who was in charge of giving a speech in which he remembered the injured players, called for unity, and welcomed the new signings. Hansi Flick, for his part, had also asked for unity and managed to be loved a little more by letting himself go with some phrases in Catalan.

The signing of Rodrigo Hernández Rodri to Barça could not be fully explained without a wedding, that of his good friend Daniel Codina. This is the person who, along with other employees of the Blaugrana club, has not left the side of the shining Blaugrana signing since his arrival in Barcelona this Monday.

German footballer Jamal Musiala has explained what is behind the two episodes in which he collapsed on the pitch in just four days. The Bayern Munich player has revealed on social media that he suffers from brief and temporary episodes of absence caused by a neurological dysfunction. Musiala, 23, has assured that he is receiving medical treatment and that he is "very optimistic" about his recovery.

Impactful doping in world tennis. Australian Nick Kyrgios (31 years old) has been suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency for consuming cocaine. He tested positive in an anti-doping control carried out at the end of June at the Mallorca Open, an ATP 250 category tournament. Kyrgios, known on the circuit for his rebellious character, has taken responsibility in a statement published in an Instagram story.

“I’m still amazed when I see my face in As”. That’s what Pereza sang in the song Princesas and that’s what Paul McGrath (Barcelona, 2002) still thinks. The Catalan athlete won his first gold medal on Saturday at the European Race Walking Half Marathon Championship in Birmingham. At just 24 years old, it’s his third medal after the European silver achieved in Rome (2024) and the world bronze in Tokyo (2025). “Suddenly I find myself here. In three years, I’ve been to the Olympics and won world and European medals. It’s a bit scary, but I had always dreamed of this and it motivates me immensely to continue,” he confesses to ARA.

This Wednesday, football returns to Camp Nou. More than three months after the victory against Betis (3-1), Barça is playing at home again. They will do so in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Egyptian Al-Ahly (8 PM) which will serve to present the new blaugrana squad. So far, there are three new faces available to Hansi Flick: Karim Adeyemi, Anthony Gordon and Rodri Hernández, recently made official.

If in the most glorious eras of contemporary Barça, the leader of the midfield was Sergio Busquets, now the Catalan club has not only strengthened itself with a Ballon d'Or winner and the best player of the World Cup, but also with the figure who most closely resembles Sergio Busquets: Rodrigo Hernández is now officially a Culer. Barça will pay Manchester City a transfer fee of 60 million euros fixed, 11.5 million in easily achievable variables (such as, for example, depending on the games played in the League) and another 5 million euros in case of winning the Champions League. The Madrid-born defensive midfielder has signed until 2030.